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He rests his forehead against the tile edge of the pool and goes still for a long moment. Then I hear a wrenching sound in his throat, a helpless, depleted wail, and his shoulders start shaking with sobs. Without even thinking about the water, I slide into the pool and pull him against me. He buries his face in my neck and wraps his legs around my waist andcriesso hard I can feel it tearing through his body. Something tells me he hasn’t cried since before the first day his coach took him home and all his dreams turned into nightmares. “That’s right,” I say against his wet hair. “You made it. You don’t have to fight any more. You’re so fucking brave.”
He moans, breath shuddering, his tears and snot leaking down my shoulder.
“I’m never going to let you go, ok?” I nuzzle the back of his neck. “I want you to stop listening for a second. Ready?”
He nods.
“Promise you won’t listen?”
He nods again, and I can feel his body starting to calm. “I love you so fucking much. It doesn’t matter if you want me to or not because I can’t help it. It’s my secret, and I’ll never tell you.”
He lifts his face, swipes at his eyes roughly. “Were you saying something? 'Cause I couldn’t make it out over all the applause.”
“Nope. Nothing at all.”
