"What happened?" Alex yelled. He had heard a terrible scream and was the first to rush for help.

"Lafayette. He fell!" Thomas answered as he looked down at the hole. The gym was over 50 feet high.  Luckily, he ha fallen into a pool.

"Oh my God!" Thomas winced. "His body is sinking!" He quickly took off his shirt and jumped.

Alex took off his shirt as well, but he hesitated. he knew how to swim well, but after what he had gone through, he did not want anything to do with water unless he really had to.

You can do this, he thought. For Laf.

Still partially hesitant, he jumped into the pool. Thomas had been able to get Laf's unconscious body, but he was having trouble getting Laf on the edge of the pool. Alex got a hold of Laf and both were able to push him onto the floor. Thomas and Alex got out and sat on the edge. Alex started to do CPR on Lafayette. When it wasn't working, Alex grew desperate and did mouth to mouth. After doing it twice, Laf inhaled deeply and started coughing, eyes opening. 

Thomas and Alex shared a look of relief. Laf sat up, tears involuntarily falling slowly due to how much he coughed. "What happened?" he asked  when he was able to talk again.

"You fell off a hole in the vent." Thomas said matter-of-factly.

"And we came to save you." Alex added.

"Really?" 

"Yeah, man." Alex answered. "I'm your friend."

"And your mom and my mom would whip my ass if they found out you died but I could have helped you." Thomas said on his part. Alex slapped Thomas' shoulder, and Thomas laughed. "But seriously," Thomas' face turned serious. "I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if you would have died."

"Aww thanks, guys," Laf answered, pulling both into a hug. Both hugged Laf, but refused to hug each other. Laf noticed and yelled, "You better hug each other or I will push both of you into that cold water!"

Startled, both hesitantly hugged each other. They forced themselves not to flinch, finding that the other was surprisingly warm, despite them just coming out of water. They relaxed their arms and leaned into the hug (NO, NOT THEIR LIPS, YET), the three of them connected for a good five minutes.