Out of The Blue
AN: We proudly present to you, what may be the first Van Larson fic ever. And yes, I said we. This is Poppy & I's first ever collaboration. This is Daltonverse. If you haven't read DALTON by CP Coulter, do it right now! Seriously, do it!
Summary: DALTONVERSE! It all started with a distraction, a lifeguard and a lollypop. Disclaimer: We do not own glee or Dalton. Although we can wish.
Van Larson, Reed/Julian.
'Ouch!', Reed exclaimed. He had been swinging his legs from his seat in the lifeguard tower when his leg had collided with a screw, leaving a small gash in his calf. Of course, incidents like this were familiar to the ever accident-prone boy. He sighed as he carefully stepped down off the tower.
You may be wondering what Reed Van Kamp was doing sitting in a lifeguard tower. He was working a summer job at the local swimming pool. Not that he needed the money. In fact, his mother strongly disapproved and insisted the job was "beneath him". However, the truth was he just needed a distraction.
A distraction. That's exactly what he needed. A distraction from the stabbing pain he felt in his chest whenever he thought about how Shane, his not-quite-boyfriend, had left him. For Micah, his former flame. Reed should've known he wasn't over Micah… after all they had never truly ended things between them. But it was too late for regrets.
With that in mind, Reed sighed and pushed back all that pain and focused on the task at hand- finding a band aid! He circled the perimeter of the extraordinarily blue pool. He hobbled on one leg and nearly catapulted into the turquoise paradise. He would really like to be swimming right now. It wasn't like he didn't have a pool at home. It was also freezing outside so almost everyone in town was avoiding the venue. But the numbing cold helped him forget about everything. He crossed a corner, hazardously dodging one of his co-workers, and entering the glass-framed first-aid building.
Julian Larson-Armstrong was chilling in the first-air center "tending" to a girl who had slipped on the tiles outside and rolled her ankle. Or at least that was what he was supposed to be doing. Truthfully, the girl was stumbling around searching for ice while he leant against the wall checking his iPhone.
'Can you please help me?' The girl snapped. Julian rolled his eyes behind dark sunglasses. He didn't even know why he was there. His agent said something about the media and directors demanding "down-to-earth" actors. So to get his agent off his case, he took a job over Winter break at a community pool. At least, he figured, it was winter and not many people would be swimming in it..
Damn those sports people! He finally found the girl some damn ice and sent her away. Finally some peace…
Suddenly bursting in through the glass doors was none other than Reed Van Kamp. Julian knew him from school. He was always hanging around Kurt Hummel, that boy Logan was so madly in love with. Reed reminded Julian of a cherub with his rosy cheeks and curls of strawberry blonde. He really wasn't Julian's type. But he was cute.
'I need a band-aid!' Reed gasped out, looking mildly-exhausted. That or faint at the sight of the slight amount of blood from his injury. A woman behind the counter sub-consciously handed him two, 'One of these days, Reed, we'll stop saving you and you'll start saving some of the visitors!'
'I'm so sorry, miss.' He replied taking them gratefully. Julian snorted from his spot against the wall. Reed frowned and turned towards the actor. Reed had been a huge fan of Julian Larson, before he came to Dalton and proved himself to be a complete snob. Even if he was extremely good looking with his perfect dark hair, starry eyes, sexy smirk and oh God! Were they Armani sunglasses..?
'Reed! Stop it.' He inwardly admonished himself. Reed immediately averted his glance. He wondered meekly, 'What are you doing here?'
'What are you doing here?' Julian countered, sifting through another person's paperwork at the desk nearest him. 'I'm working.' Reed raised an eyebrow.
'And I'm..sifting?'
'Filing.' Reed corrected.
'Whatever', Julian smirked, 'so what is Reed Van Kamp doing working at a community swimming pool?'
'I could ask you the same question.' Reed responded huffily.
'Well..' Julian sighed, 'According to my agent, directors like...' He used air-quotations, '…"down-to-earth" actors.'
Reed rolled his eyes and Julian continued, 'So I thought I'd try my luck in a commoner's working class job'. The receptionist looked offended, but neither Julian nor Reed noticed.
'I'm just looking for a distraction' Reed admitted.
'Hm..' Julian's smirk broadened, 'Touché.'
'Honestly, what part of a needing a distraction would you understand?' Reed chastised uncharacteristically. Reed was generally very docile, but when people were ungrateful he couldn't comprehend it.
'You don't understand how hard it is being me.' Julian murmured huskily. Reed sighed, exasperated. He didn't even know if Julian was being sarcastic or not. This banter probably would have gone on longer but the pair was sadly interrupted by one of their bosses who ordered them back to work. This time, Julian took over Reed's position at the lifeguard tower and Reed began running the endless errands for Mischa, the trainer of some of the girls who were having their sessions. "Reed go get my whistle"
"Reed I need my clipboard"
"Reed, we need extra towels"
Reed was sent half running across the tiles (thankfully because of a lack of swimmers they remained reasonably dry) back and forth at Mischa's will.
Julian sat casually in the tower, lazily watching the boy as he ran his errands. Julian was thankful for the tints in his shades so no one could tell he was admiring the younger boy. He was in fact quite cute… Very cute indeed…
Reed gave an inconspicuous sigh of relief when Mischa ceased her demands. He lent against the glass wall, his fingers slipping to his lips in habit. He chewed them, anticipating another order from the woman. Julian gave a slight laugh, hoping that Reed wouldn't catch this. Reed was so.. predictable. Julian crossed his legs, he was starting to get bored even. He'd taken this job so he could enjoy some isolation. Instead, he was unsurprised at the predictability of everything. Everything from the girls in their lessons, who were barely listening to Mischa's commands because they were too busy giggling and swooning over Julian, to Reed's usual nail-biting. Was it bad that he wanted something unexpected to happen? Something dangerous or exciting? Right now his life was like the pool. Shallow, clear and never changing.
All it needed was something to break the surface…
Julian Larson-Armstrong would get his wish. Mischa called some things to Reed that Julian didn't catch. But he did notice the small boy drop to his knees and reach across the pool to collect a straying safety board. When this attempt wasn't successful, the strawberry blonde rose to a crouch and tried again to fish it out. And then he lost his footing, and reached desperately for the edge with his highly-damaged nails. But in seconds, his curls had been submerged in turquoise blue.
The girls in the other pool didn't seem to notice the disturbance as Mischa was busy distracting them with non-encouraging shouts about their swimming techniques. It seemed in fact Julian was the only one who noticed. The only one who noticed that Reed was not coming up for air.
Julian immediately jumped down from the tower and dived straight into the pool, probably wrecking his designer sweater which was not meant for swimwear. As he pulled Reed to the surface of the water his heart raced with an unfamiliar emotion.
It was fear. Yes, Julian Larson, one of the greatest rising stars in Hollywood, was concerned for the life of this poor young cherub like boy. He never felt more ridiculous.
'Reed? Are you okay?' Julian gasped as he held the small boy in his arms, once he had pulled him to safety.
'Julian?' Reed sounded confused.
'Are you okay? Have you broken anything?' Julian asked. The other boy tried to sit up but slumped back against Julian. Not that Julian minded. His sweater was already wrecked. And the feel of the boy in his arms… it wasn't… bad. Not at all…it was almost… pleasant.
'Fine.' Reed breathed, although he didn't exactly look fine. His rosy cheeks had paled, even. His eyes lingered closed and he inhaled heavily.
'You're pale.' Julian observed, 'You need some sugar.'
'I certainly do not.' Reed mumbled.
Julian smirked, passing Reed the lollypop he'd taken from one of the jars in the first aid room. He'd wanted it, but.. Well, Reed could be dying. He couldn't exactly withhold it from him.
Reed allowed the purple sweet to be placed in his hands. He was tingling all over, everything felt surreal. And he was hopelessly light-headed. But he wasn't sure if that was as a result of nearly drowning or because of the sensation of being saved by Julian Larson. He was ninety-per cent sure he'd actually bashed his head and was in a coma right now.
Either way, feeling slightly ridiculous, Reed unwrapped the lollypop and placed it in his mouth taking a long taste. Reed sensed Julian's eyes on his and his cheeks flamed just a little bit. Julian noticed and fought the urge to giggle. That would be very un-badass. It was bad enough his sunglasses were probably broken, lying in the bottom of the pool. Now there was no hiding that his full attention was on the boy whom he was still holding in his arms, sucking a lollypop.
Reed asked through the lollypop, 'What?'
'Nothing' Julian murmured, his glance slipping. Reed responded by immediately squirming out of his arms. 'Whoa, whoa.' Julian murmured, lowering him onto the ground, 'Easy. You don't want to pass out. Do I really have to remind you that you just almost drowned?' Reed remained silent at this, and Julian reluctantly set him down. It wasn't long before Julian realized the smaller boy was trembling. He went to remove his wrecked sweater, but it wouldn't serve him much in its dripping state. He didn't want to rush Reed, but he did have to find him something to dry him. He had his hand awkwardly on Reed's arm, debating in his mind whether or not he should just carry the boy.
'Uh.' Julian muttered clearing his throat, 'Put your arm on my shoulder. We need to get you dry'. Reed obeyed, draping his arm over. He pursed his lips, all the while reminding himself that the actor was probably completely straight. Even if he was famous Reed should not get the jitters. Even if those jitters may be suffocation-induced. Julian pulled him to his feet slowly. It took Reed a moment to get his balance, the concrete looking eerily close at one point. Julian helped him along, until he could walk by himself. As Julian was closing the glass door, he heard one of the girls swimming squeal, 'I found his sunglasses!'
Reed dropped onto the rubber bed that ran along the window sill. He'd found himself on a quite a lot of these beds. Julian pulled up a chair, as far away as possible without making things even more awkward. He didn't know why he was concerned about Reed at all. They'd had a grand total of one conversation in their whole life. It involved Reed, flustered, introducing himself as those Windsor twins leant on his head of curls looking rather above-it-all. Reed broke the tension murmuring , 'I feel so stupid.'
'Huh?' Julian said, looking up.
Reed shook his head, 'It wasn't enough that I fell in the pool. You were probably laughing, and then I couldn't even get out of the water. Seriously, You saved me.'
'What's wrong with me..?' Julian asked.
'That's exactly it.' Reed replied, 'Absolutely nothing.'
Julian gave him a strange look, but didn't argue at all. Reed looked even more flustered by his lack of protest. Julian chuckled a little, touching his dark hair in habit but finding no shades. Reed swallowed anxiously. Realizing how oddly unfamiliar this situation was, Julian pulled his chair back behind the wooden desk and stood against the wall again, a little further away. Reed mumbled, 'You don't have to stay you know? There's no lifeguard out there..'
Julian shrugged, 'Mischa will see if someone's drowning'
'She didn't see me.' Reed pointed out.
'She wasn't looking for you.' Julian uttered.
'Oh, and you were?' Reed murmured, silencing the taller boy. Hell how did he do that?
'Well..' Julian said thickly, 'I am a lifeguard.'
'And we all thought you didn't care.' Reed smiled.
Julian sighed, 'Isn't this a little weird for you?'
'A little.' Reed admitted, brushing back a damp curl, 'But not because you're a Stuart.'
'Then why?'
'I don't know.. because you're famous..maybe.'
'Coming from the son of Hilde Van Kamp?' he asked.
'Yes.' Reed replied, surprising Julian again, 'Coming from just that person.'
'You're kinda contradicting yourself here.'
'No I'm not.' Reed paused, 'It's my mother that's known.'
'I s'pose.' Julian muttered. 'But it's not like you aren't recognizable.'
'Recognizable?' Reed brushed the statement away politely, 'Please. Maybe at school, or at home…But, you. You're different.'
Julian nodded slowly, 'Well maybe I am, but it doesn't mean much.."
"Mean much in what instance?' Reed frowned slightly.
"Well…' Julian shrugged, "..Aren't you meant to be working?'
Reed looked appalled, 'So much for your concern! You don't-'
'Hey, ease up.' Julian smirked, 'I was only kidding. I'll do it for you, okay?'
Reed colored bright red, 'Oh! I..uh, thanks..'
'Whatever.' Julian exited, leaving an especially rosy-cheeked boy sitting extremely upwright.