I don't own Sam or Dean, or Supernatural. But I do own Tyson, Leah, Brian, and any other characters you don't recognize! Hope you enjoy!

Drip drops from flying pieces of stray water splashed and dropped all along the solid and liquid surface, flowing along the manmade waves. Voices of talking, screams and laughter and splashing echoed throughout the room and the occasional blowing of a whistle from the man in red who sat on top of the white chair, cooling down the rough housing and the daredevils fussing on the high dive. The water was crystal clear. The scratches on the once piece of black lined tile was viewable.

Ty Gunner stared down at the crystal clear liquid as his heart pounded against his chest and the lump in his throat swelled, making it hard to swallow. Oh why didn't he just admit that he was afraid of the water in the first place? Why did he accept the damn invitation to this birthday pool party in the first place? Because what 14 year old is afraid of the water in the first place?

"Hey Ty! You coming in or what?" Leah Nichols, the girl who had invited Ty to the party in the first place and who made his knees turn to gel every time she was mentioned, called as she swam over to the edge of the pool on the shallow end where Ty was cowering.

"Um...yeah." Ty nodded.

"Good, we're playing 'Marco Polo' and...guess what? You're Marco!" Leah smirked as she slapped some water on Ty.

Ty put his arms up in defense as his side twisted and turned to be his front, the water slashing against his exposed skin and bathing suit, thinking that he was sure his name was Ty. He laughed and smirked at Leah like he was going to get her back for that. He didn't know what came over him, but he started making a run towards the pool where he'd jump in, but put the brakes on and halted right at the edge in panic. His heart began to race again.

"Are you ok?" Leah wondered.

"Yeah…it's just…I have this thing…a health thing. Initial cold water shock and I don't get along well." Ty fumbled with his fingers, hoping Leah would buy into his lie.

"But the water's like 82 degrees." Leah smiled and shook her head. "You're so cute!" She swam away to the other side.

Ty chuckled nervously as he waved at Leah who was swimming towards the group of party guests who were all hanging around one area of the deep end of the pool. He should have pretended to be sick this morning. It'd be easy because every time he talked to Leah, his heart raced and he felt like he was going to throw up, even more so now that a pool of water was involved. God he HATED the water. But this was a party with all of his friends, the popular kids and the girl he had been crushing on since the fifth grade. No way was he going to make a cowardly little baby out of himself now.

The 14 year old took a few steps back, sighed then made a dash for the pool. He jumped in the air and held his eyes, and breath, shut tight as he felt the coolness of the chlorinated pool water consume his body. Under the water, he sank towards the bottom, but never quite came into contact with the floor. His opened his eyes and let his limbs flow as he stayed in a sitting position, taking notice of all the lower bodies in bathing suits around him. A few people were swimming under the water, smiling, hair flowing through the crystal clear liquid that had the ability to present itself as three different forms. One of the swimmers waved to him since they were friends.

Ty was anxious. He hadn't been in the water, let alone under it, since he was a little kid while going through the experience that triggered his fear of water. He was flowing into the stages of panic, heart beating against his chest, the lump in his throat nearly choking him. He was ready to breakdown, hyperventilate but he knew what was going to happen if he did that. And he did not want a set of water filled lungs again. But he wasn't in open water and he wasn't in a lake or a river. There were no plants or rocks or anything that could hold him down. There was nothing down there but tile and the occasional pool toy that escape their respective owners. Nothing could hold him down and there were lifeguards and people all over the place. And he could swim, he just didn't like to. This was probably one of the last places where the odds of him drowning to death were unlikely. When Ty decided that he was going to be alright, for now anyway, he swam up to the surface, taking in a huge breath of oxygen, filling his protesting lungs. It felt good.

"Ty, you made it!" Leah smiled as she swam over to him. "I've never seen your hair wet and sticking against your forehead. I kinda like it."

"Really?" he smiled. 'Maybe I should start swimming again. Then Leah would be at my house all the time! Swimming in MY pool!' he thought.

"Yeah. It's cool. Come on, the game is starting," Leah said as she swam over to the deep end of the pool where everybody was waiting. Ty nodded as he mustered up the courage to make it over to the deeper end of the pool. Swimming was one thing, something he knew how to do. But trying to swim when Ty felt like he was drowning in the memory that haunted him was a whole other thing.

"Hey come on, Gunner!" one of the other party guests called, growing impatient while the group waved for Ty to get his ass over to them.

Ty took a breath then swam over to the group. But because he took his sweet ass time, and because he was dubbed as being Marco by Leah earlier, the kid who had called him over shoved Ty under the water, demanding that he count to 10 while the others swam away. Ty panicked and the bubbles were coming up fast as he flailed his arms up and down, trying to resurface. It was the swim and the attack of the lake plants all over again.

"Oh man! What a little pussy!" the kid laughed when Ty finally resurfaced. "Geese, man, can't you take a joke?!" he asked.

"That was low, Brian," Leah said as Ty swam over to the ledge of the pool and pushed himself out.

"What a pussy," Brian noted as Ty tried to control his heart rate.

Leah rolled her eyes and swam over to her frightened friend. Well, they weren't exactly friends, per say. They were more along the lines of just classmates who knew a little about each other. But Leah had always thought Ty was a nice guy, and his few friends seemed down to earth, not like most of the guys that loved to surround her.

"Hey," she said as she hopped up next to him. "You ok?"

"Eh, I'll be fine." he shrugged. "Can't believe you're actually talking to me and not laughing."

"Brian can be…a jerk," Leah said, not wanting to be rude. Really she wanted to say he was a fuming jackass who had no remorse for anyone and was like a hungry shark. Once he learned your fears and weaknesses, he charged and never let up, never went easy. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you didn't really know how to swim…"

"No, I know how to swim….I'm just…I'm afraid of the water…" Ty looked down, ashamed.

"Why are you so afraid?" Leah wondered as Ty looked at her, questioning why he should tell her. She'd probably just laugh at him. He's 14! It's pathetic to be afraid of the water! He couldn't even get into a bathtub of water without freaking out! "I promise I won't laugh. Everyone's afraid of something."

"I'm afraid of the thing that 75% of the human body is made up of. Trust me, whatever it is you're afraid of doesn't even come close to the level of embarrassment of what I'm afraid of and brings joy to my seven year old cousin who is in love with the water!"

"Ty, I'm afraid of clowns, absolutely terrified of them. I haven't been to a circus or an amusement park since I was seven because of them. And I'm not going to name names, but I know someone who is absolutely terrified of roller coasters. Seriously, no one can ever mention clowns and roller coasters to us without throwing us into a fit of panic."

As he stared down at the pool before him, Ty remembered the day his life was provisionally snatched from him. He was looking up at the surface where all of the oxygen his body so desired was stored, as it got smaller and smaller. Lesser and lesser before it was just a glimmering shine of small light as the sun shined down on it beneath the murkiness of the water. He fought tooth and nail against the water as his lungs burned and tightened up against him. Thrusting his fists forward as powerful as he could and kicking the one foot that wasn't caught, it was all he could do to try and save himself. But all it did was get his already trapped foot tangled further in the mesh of underwater plant life, eventually reaching up and wrapping around his ankle. His adrenaline was rushing so fast through his body, but his young mind was so focused on getting his head to the top first, that he didn't even think of trying to break the plants with his hands right then and there. Or maybe it was the fact that he was just a kid, not a survival expert, and he was panicking.

Minute by minute, second by second, his lungs tightened and burned. The water around him swirled and swirled and even went on to tease him with the bubbles that were floating by because of his body's motion. Ty then tried to pull his ankle and foot free with his hands, but the desire to take a nice, long, big breath of air was being dangled a little too close, like a worm on a well hidden hook hung before a hungry fish. Moments later, Ty couldn't take it. His body protested and forced itself against him as Ty opened his mouth wide and took a giant gulp of air replaced by an extra large drink of lake water. And everything went dark.

When Ty woke up, it had been a week and a half later. He had no recollection of anything that had happened after he blacked out. But he did remember being trapped by the plants, his struggle against them, and the gulp he took that he was told took his life away for seven minutes and 29 seconds exactly. He found out that Bryce was the one who saved him. That Bryce had seen deep down in the water, his blurred vision of a limp, free-flowing, lifeless brother. But he wasn't the one to pull Ty out. He was too young, wasn't strong enough and didn't have the lung capacity to work his brother free from the tangled mess he had gotten himself in. So he called for help. That's when Bryan and another visitor enjoying his day out on the lake dove into the water. They cut Tyson free, and Bryce was there to help pull his brother to the grass where Bryce had immediately started doing CPR because he had learned how to do so the week before in school.

Ty sighed. "I've been afraid of the water ever since."

Leah was speechless. She struggled to find the words to put into play, but how do you respond to someone who had gone through what Ty had gone through? "Wow…that's...I had no idea…." She finally found the words, jumbled and broken. "But, you know, you shouldn't be ashamed of being afraid. Anyone who went through what you did probably would never go near water again."

"But I'm 14, it's pathetic!"

"But you almost died! You're fear is valid. A clown got in my face and smiled…a deranged, creepy looking smile, when I was seven at a circus when they were trying to make me laugh and I've been afraid ever since. Want to talk about pathetic, I'm pathetic."

"No you're not." Ty smiled as he shook his head.

"Thanks….Listen, this place has an arcade in the lobby. We can go check it out if you want."

"Thanks, but no thanks. It's your party…and…well, I think six years is a long enough life span for this fear." Ty stood up and slipped back into the pool, determined to get over this fear.

The water splashed and slid against him and Ty hated the feeling of just floating around in the water on the deep end of the pool as he flailed and kicked his legs, keeping his head above water. His heart was pounding and his gaze was all over the place. He just couldn't get comfortable in his own chlorine water soaked skin. He kept trying to tell himself that there was nothing in the pool that could drag him down and hold him under. Not even Brian Jackass because the lifeguard would be on him so fast, Ty wouldn't even be able to fully panic under the water.

"Gunner, you gonna puke?" Brian laughed as he splashed a wave of water right in Ty's face.

"Yeah, right all over that disaster you call a face!" Ty threw back when he was able to open his eyes again which caused everyone in the pool to laugh, except Brian. He just glared at his water hating classmate.

After everyone's laughter dispersed and Brian chilled his guns and called off his comebacks at Ty, the game of Marco Polo commenced. But instead of Ty being Marco, Brian was dubbed as Marco. The second he sunk under the water, everyone swam away, keen on all hopping out of the pool and keeping it as low key as possible so none of them get called out as being a fish out of water. Brian looked like an idiot swimming around with his eyes shut, trying to get anyone involved in the game. Everyone stood around the pool, occasionally splashing or mocking a swimming sound to throw Brian off. Ty was especially planted in a garden of smirks at Brian's lack of common sense and refusal to catch on. But when 10 minutes had gone by and Brian had tagged no one, he began to wonder what happened to his insane hunter skills from all of those hunting trips with Dad, had gone and opened his eyes. Everyone pointed and mocked and laughed at him like he couldn't do anything right. Ty especially was in hysterics, grabbing onto his rib cage for some sort of support. Brian targeted his glare at Ty. He was not about to be mocked by a guy who looked like he was about to piss his pants every time he saw a pool. Brian made a dash towards the edge of the pool, slick like a dolphin and determined like a shark attracted to blood in water. He grabbed hold of Ty's ankle and pulled him in.

Ty's fists and hands pounded through the water and his lungs were constricting from the lack of oxygen. His eyes would shoot open and closed whenever the chlorine contaminated water would overwhelm his sparkling shades of baby blue. He projectile swung his arms out as far as they would go and kick his legs and feet with all his mighty force. But all he could think about was being eight years old, being at that lake and being held down. The fiery burning of his oxygen deprived lungs screamed in protest to be filled. But Ty knew all too well what would definitely happen once he took that glamorous breath of air. He began to panic. His heart raced and he yearned to hyperventilate out of panic. But Ty forced himself harder and harder to shoot up to the surface, but it was like something was holding him under. And the more and more he thought about it, the more and more he felt like he was eight years old…all over again…

I know there was no Dean and Sam in this chapter, but they will be in the next chapter! I promise! -AMaximander500