Thank you all for your alerts and reviews. I got inspiration for this from a trip to the swimming pool. Lame, huh? But, this takes place after the "New York" season finale, and it takes place at the beginning of Blaine and Kurt's wonderful summer together.
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, unfortunately, or the wonderful movie, Moulin Rouge!. I wish I did. Sometimes. Well. All the time.
II. Under The "Sea"
Time Frame: Post-"New York" / Pairings: Klaine and hints of Finchel, Brittana and Puckleberry
Just a simple one-shot in which Kurt teaches Blaine to swim
(and Rachel demands that Finn call her sexy)
"Blaine...?"
"Yes?"
"Are you busy this Saturday?" Kurt asked, head on his boyfriend's lap as they watched a movie together (Moulin Rouge!, to be exact; it was one of Kurt's all-time favorites).
"Very busy with you," Blaine smirked, kissing Kurt's forehead. Rolling his eyes, Kurt stood up, picked up the DVD player remote, and paused just before Satine and Christian began to sing 'Elephant Love Medley.' Blaine's eyebrows rose as Kurt turned to face him excitedly.
"There is going to be a… a little soiree at the Lima Community Pool on Saturday night."
Attempting to stifle his own laughter, Blaine choked out, "A pool party?"
Kurt looked absolutely taken aback by his boyfriend's response and sat down on the couch beside him again.
"Blaine, the Lima Community Pool holds this little party for the upcoming seniors each June. To be honest, I hate the smell of chlorine and how it makes my hair smell even after days of using Tresemmé, L'Oreal, Infusium 23, and other shampoos and conditioners, and my skin burning under the sun…but I digress. We're only upcoming seniors once, and I would love to spend the day with you at the pool, despite how corny and cliché the concept of a date to the pool sounds," Kurt blabbed, taking Blaine's hands in his. "So, what do you say?"
Blaine gave him a withering expression, folding his hands in his lap. "…The pool."
"What's your problem with the pool, Blaine?" Kurt asked tentatively, slightly scooting away from him. "Everyone will be there – Mercedes, Rachel, Finn, Sam, Quinn – you can even bring Wes and David over here so that everyone can socialize and whatnot."
"Wes and David wouldn't mind, I bet, but…"
"…But what, Blaine?"
"Never mind. I will go with you to that pool party," Blaine said finally. Still wondering what was up with Blaine and swimming pools, Kurt sighed.
"You will tell me what your problem with swimming pools, Blaine James Alexander Anderson."
"Thank you very much for using my full name against me, Kurt Elizabeth Hummel," Blaine replied surreptitiously, looking up at Kurt innocently—he knew Kurt would not give up without a fight. Blaine was determined to make him give up his grilling run. "I love it when you interrogate me, by the way."
Kurt grumbled, his face flushing slightly. "Don't play coy with me, Blaine."
"Koi fish can be found in Asia—specifically Japan. I think they sell them at the pet store near my house in Westerville," Blaine said, holding up a finger in a matter-of-factly motion. Well, that was a stupid cover-up. "How about we buy a pair and name them Ralph and Lauren? Oh, and I love you."
"…I love you, too. Despite that being cliché and amazingly cute, we are not talking about Asian fish," Kurt sighed, leaning on his shoulder and looking up at him. "Blaine, you seem to have a problem with public pools."
Blaine took one look at his boyfriend's bright blue-green eyes and groaned internally. Unfortunately, his only weaknesses in their arguments were Kurt's eyes and singing voice. In this situation—it were his eyes that tugged at his heartstrings. Keeping a mental note to learn how to resist puppy-dog eyes in arguments (which he hoped would never happen again), he looked at Kurt embarrassingly and muttered to himself – he would save the rest of the truth for later – "Okay. I admit it. I'm not a big fan of swimming pools in general. Remember the pool in my backyard? Yeah, I don't swim in it at all. Actually, I haven't swum in it since I was eight, to be honest. It's not exactly my best friend, and Kurt – I know you were expecting a more articulate answer or better explanation, but…"
"Did you nearly drown when you were eight?" Kurt asked bluntly, taking his head off of Blaine's shoulder. "Because I think you're tall enough to swim in the five foot section of the pool now, I think – or at least walk in it."
"It's not my height, and I'm 5'8"," Blaine mumbled, hurt. Kurt sighed and pressed his lips to Blaine's.
"I love your height. And I'm sorry for assuming."
"Thank you. But…the thing is…" Blaine began slowly, his face becoming redder, "I'm deathly afraid of the water. I'm aquaphobic, Kurt. Incredibly, admittedly so. I mean, I can deal with showers, baths and everything and can stay in a tub for a long time, but in large bodies of water, especially in pools and open ocean water, especially when the water goes up past my knees, it just…triggers all of these drowning fears. I just feel like it's going to sweep me up and—and…" He gulped, shuddering at the thought. "You must think I'm ridiculous. I'm sorry."
"Blaine, drop the dapper act. You don't need to say sorry, and no, you are not ridiculous at all. You want to see ridiculous?" Kurt laughed, pointing at himself. Blaine pulled Kurt closer to him by his and kissed his cheek in response.
"Whatever you say, Mister Hummel. You are no more ridiculous than I am."
"Say, you know how you went with me to prom to get over your…past?" Kurt began slowly. Blaine blinked. He knew where this was going. "How about we go to the pool this Saturday, and I teach you how to swim. It'll be fun!"
"Fun," Blaine said dully, letting go of Kurt quickly.
Kurt was determined to win this time. "Well…you can sit down on the beach chairs while I swim. As long as we go together, I don't mind."
"…I trust you."
Kurt jumped in his seat and hugged Blaine tightly, despite Blaine looking incredibly weary. It was going to be a very long Saturday afternoon.
"Now that we've come to a consensus, would you like to sing Christian's part of the medley?" Kurt asked politely, lying down on Blaine's lap again. Blaine nodded and smiled bemusedly as Kurt picked up the DVD player remote and pressed play.
"Local pools, the bane of my existence. Disgusting bathrooms, people walking around looking like cherries and such with no regards to their skin," Kurt said distastefully, adjusting his wayfarers with his bag-laden hand (full of proper conditioners, shampoos, and plenty of bottles of sunscreen), as he and Blaine stepped through the gates of Lima's community swimming pool. "I love a good challenge."
Blaine gave him an incredulous look, but kept his hold on Kurt's hand. The pair walked to the admissions booth and showed their school IDs, and the lackadaisical-looking clerk merely waved them off and let them continue to the actual pool area, where they heard loud music blasting from the speakers and the sound of laughter echoing from the pool. Splashes were heard, as well. Blaine's grip on Kurt's hand tightened, and Kurt squeezed back gently, smiling at him. Blaine just knew that his eyes were comforting, despite him wearing sunglasses.
"You look adorable in pink sunglasses," Kurt said enthusiastically as they began to search for a pair of beach chairs to lounge in for the afternoon. Blaine laughed.
Blaine responded sweetly, "Why, thank you, Mister Hummel, but I say: you look wonderful yourself today."
Kurt blushed as they took their seats by the pool. Blaine grinned as Kurt placed his bags down by his chair and held onto the bottoms of his shirt. Kurt quickly pulled off his shirt, revealing a well toned, muscled torso and built arms. He took off his sunglasses and placed them on his chair, and gave Blaine a sly look (and ample time to look at him), and jumped into the pool, water splashing everywhere. Blaine jolted a little, but kept on laughing, remaining where he sat.
Members of the New Directions were there as well. He saw Rachel and Puck pass by together as they headed over towards the barbecue area (Blaine was well-aware that Rachel was a vegan, so he assumed she would merely eat a veggie burger), and he saw Finn enter, looking awkward as ever. Kurt had offered him a ride in the Navigator, but Finn immediately rejected his offer, saying that it would be better if Kurt and Blaine had gone ahead since they were dating. Blaine attributed this abnormal, un-Finn like-behavior (since he usually didn't mind being in the same car as Blaine and Kurt 90 percent of the time; the other 10 percent of the time he wasn't in the car was when the boys were making out) to the fact that he was bitter at the fact that Rachel had gone with Noah Puckerman instead of him. Mercedes and Sam followed, with Tina, Mike, Brittany, Santana, Lauren, and other students entering the pool as well.
"Blaine, you're missing out on all the fun," Kurt pouted, leaning on the edge of the pool. Blaine leaned forward and their noses touched.
"I am having fun," he whispered, and kissed Kurt's chlorine-tasting forehead. He sat back in his chair and continued to watch Kurt swim around near him. There were other people in the pool, but they paid no attention to the couple, which they thought was best. "I may not say this often, but you look incredibly sexy."
Flushing a dark shade of red, Kurt smiled and ducked under the water with a splash, getting Blaine's face wet. Blaine saw his boyfriend's figure retreating to the deeper part of the pool. Sighing, he went back to sit on their beach chairs.
"Hey, it's Dolphin Two!" an airy, familiar voice exclaimed. Blaine turned around and waved to Brittany Pierce, who was walking arm-in-arm with Santana Lopez.
"Hi, Britt," he smiled serenely.
"San, I thought he goes to Dalton?" Brittany asked confusedly, blinking.
"Kurt probably brought him," Santana smirked, rolling her eyes. "What's good, hobbit Warbler?"
"I'd appreciate it if you stopped calling me hobbit, and my last name is Anderson, but everything is fine. How about you?"
"No, I like that nickname. Unfortunately, as long as you're with Kurt, I'll be calling you that. Otherwise I'd call you something else very snarky and bitchy, especially since you're technically our glee club competition," Santana shrugged, "Unless you transfer. Then the 'Warbler' is dropped."
"I've been thinking about it," Blaine mused. "Are you guys going to swim?"
"Of course. Aren't you?" Brittany laughed. Blaine shook his head. "What? I thought all dolphins swim?"
"Britt…" Santana rolled her eyes. "Come on let's go. I'm hungry. Clearly hobbit doesn't want to talk. He's probably too busy eye-fucking Kurt and having little fantasies about his little boyf—"
"Bye, Santana, I hope to see you guys around," Blaine said warily, turning red again. Santana gave him a sly smile and dragged Brittany over to the barbecue area.
"Bye, dolphin!" Brittany shouted. Blaine huffed and sat up in his seat. He watched Kurt as he gracefully swam through the pool, talking to some friends from school. He saw his boyfriend talk animatedly to Mercedes and Tina, who had just entered the pool. Hands waving, hair matted down and looking pasted to his head so adorably, his blue-green eyes shining. Looking, as he ridiculously said earlier, 'sexy'.
Basically, Blaine Anderson was jealous.
He hated that he was so scared to swim, so scared to even dip his feet in the pool. So, he decided to take a leap of faith. Taking a deep breath, he pulled his shirt off, put his sunglasses on his seat, and walked towards the edge of the pool. He touched his foot to the edge of the water. It was cold. The mere touch made shivers run up his spine, and his hair stand on end.
"Hey! Kurt's boyf! Anderson, need some assistance?"
"NOAH, NO!"
"PUCK!"
That was when Puck was feeling generous, and pushed Blaine into the pool. Into the six-feet-and-three-inches deep section.
The impact of the water touching his skin was a nightmare. He was completely submerged, and was flailing for dear life under water. In an attempt to open his eyes, all he saw was blue. Tile and blue. Water, everywhere, water eating him up, and to no avail, the chlorine was stinging his eyes madly. He couldn't breathe. He thought in panic, goodbye, cruel world, I love you Kurt, I love you, and the simple image of Kurt's face appeared in his mind, for what he seemed like the last time—the water was flooding up his lungs, his ears, his everything—his eyesight was beginning to blur, and it was just like when he was eight years old all over again…
The next thing he knew, he was being dragged to the surface by two, long, pale arms. He gasped for air as his face broke into the surface, the sunlight beating down on his face. He felt more hands push him up to the pool deck, and his hands felt as if they were burning against the hot metal of the pool drains as he grabbed a hold of the top.
"BLAINE JAMES ANDERSON!" he heard Kurt's voice cry out. Blaine blinked, his eyes still burning from the chlorine. Kurt knelt down next to his boyfriend and held him in his arms. "Oh my god, what on earth happened?"
"Kurt, I'm so sorry—" Blaine heard Puck exclaim—
"—He doesn't know how to swim! He's afraid of the water!" Kurt bellowed, his voice choking. Blaine attempted to sit up, and another helpful person handed him a towel. "Blaine, speak to me, Blaine, oh my god, oh my Gaga—I will kill you, Noah Puckerman! MERCEDES, HE'S NOT TALKING!"
"Calm down, boo—" Mercedes said calmly, but Kurt cut her off.
"I WILL KILL YOU, PUCKERMAN!"
"Kurt!" Mercedes shouted, pointing to Blaine, whose eyes were fluttering open.
"Kurt," Blaine said hoarsely.
"DON'T YOU SEE? HE'S NOT TALKING!" Kurt sobbed. "Someone call the paramedics!"
"KURT E. HUMMEL, LOOK AT YOUR MAN," Mercedes shouted, grabbing Kurt by his shoulders. Kurt looked down at his boyfriend.
"Um, Kurt…" Blaine mumbled. Kurt's sobs seized immediately, and the taller boy looked down at the obviously alive boy lying on his lap. Kurt hugged Blaine tightly and kissed his forehead. "Ow, Kurt, you're hugging me too tight—"
"Is there anything wrong here?" Blaine looked to his right and saw a lifeguard making his way toward them. Kurt shook his head fervently and shooed him away. "Well…I heard a commotion…"
"He's fine. Perfectly fine," Kurt said in a high voice and then the lifeguard walked away, affronted.
"Dude, I'm so sorry, I didn't know," Puck groaned, kneeling besides Kurt and Blaine. Rachel was standing behind him, looking livid.
"You are so stupid, Noah," she snapped, hitting him up side his head.
"What? I said I'm sorry!" Puck exclaimed, frowning.
"It's okay, you didn't know," Blaine grumbled, sitting up. Kurt pushed his boyfriend back down on his lap.
"You are going nowhere. I am staying with you here until—"
"Can you guys teach me how to swim?" Blaine asked all of a sudden. Puck, Rachel, Mercedes, and Kurt stared at him. "I know I just had a near-drowning experience, but to be honest, I'd like to be over my silly little irrational fear."
"Don't call it that," Kurt scowled.
"My…fear, then," he sighed.
"Why would you trust me? I just pushed you into the damn pool," Puck snorted.
"Think of it as…well, an easy apology."
Puck shrugged. "Fine with me. Let's go, shorty."
"No," Kurt said bluntly, folding his arms. "After you nearly drowned? No way, Blaine, you are not going back in there. There is no way I'm letting you back into the water. You know what? I was crazy for forcing you to come with me. Let's go." He stood up and held out a hand to his boyfriend, frowning. Blaine looked at Kurt, pouting.
"Kurt, I want this," he mumbled. Kurt blanched. "I want to swim with you."
Kurt muttered something incoherent, and his shoulder slumped. "Fine. I'm getting Finn to help out, too. And we better make this quick. My skin feels a tad bit hot."
"Are you sure it's the sun?" Puck snorted. Kurt glared at him.
"Positive," he blushed. Blaine smirked, took Kurt's hand and stood up. He felt a bit woozy, seeing the pool before him, but he took a deep breath, and walked around to the other side of the area with his friends…to the kiddie pool.
"Okay, so I told you guys I wanted to learn how to swim, but…aren't there too many kids here?" Blaine flushed, staring at the three-feet tall children's pool. Indeed there were a number of children swimming here.
"Right. Too shallow," Kurt and Rachel muttered. They both grabbed him by his arms and led him over to the five-feet area.
"Okay…um, well, uh," Blaine spluttered.
"Do you want to learn, or not?" Kurt asked. "Dear sweet baby Jesus, Blaine, I'm not forcing you or anything, but—"
"I'm going to do this," Blaine grumbled.
"Are you sure, Warbler?" Rachel asked, her eyebrows rising. She was looking at him sternly, her arms folded now.
"HEY, RACHEL!" a loud voice called out. Before Rachel could turn around, a figure swept her off of her feet, and threw her into the deeper section. Spluttering, Rachel resurfaced, pissed off and looking for her offender. Finn was standing by the edge of the pool, now next to Blaine and Kurt. Puck was already gone by the time Finn arrived, and Mercedes had disappeared.
"FINN HUDSON! I TOLD YOU, I WASN'T GOING TO TALK TO YOU EVER AGAIN!" she said shrilly. Some people in the pool rolled their eyes and swam away from her.
"I think we should just start," Kurt muttered, leading Blaine to the pool ladder. Kurt went down into the water first, and held his hands out to Blaine, who hesitantly took one step into the water.
"I'm so sorry, Rach!" Finn pleaded, jumping into the pool and swimming towards her.
"What exactly happened?" Blaine asked as he gripped the sides of the ladder tightly, the balls of his feet already in the water. Kurt rolled his eyes.
"Something about Finn not thinking she was 'sexy' or something. It was a stupid argument. So, again, she went with Puck. Same old story, except she didn't make out with Puck this time."
Blaine took a deep breath. The water submerging his feet felt horrid, but he kept on going. He was finally waist-deep, still gripping the ladder, and he felt Kurt wrap his arms around his waist.
"Don't worry, I've got you, babe," Kurt said softly. Blaine finally made it into the pool, and the water was merely up to his torso, but he was still panicking and his heart was hammering madly. "Shhh, it's okay. Calm down."
Blaine gulped, but felt more at ease with Kurt beside him. He could still hear Finn and Rachel's shouting match from the deep-end ("Excuse me, Finn, I didn't ask for your apology, or your people-throwing skills!" "Well, I'm really sorry, Rachel, and it just came out! I didn't mean to say you weren't sexy, I mean—" "Oh my god, Finn, just shut up!"), but tried to ignore it in order to calm down. He felt Kurt's hands move up to his shoulders.
"Are you feeling better?" Kurt said softly, touching his forehead to Blaine's. Blaine smiled and nodded. "That's good. Okay, Blaine, before I teach you how to float and whatnot, let's walk around the pool so you can get the feel of it all." Blaine nodded again.
"Thank you, Kurt," Blaine mumbled. "I'm sorry."
"Don't say sorry. And if I don't finish teaching you today, we can always come back here once a week, and I'll give you lessons, free of charge."
"How about…we just…walk around the water, first?" Blaine whispered. Kurt shrugged.
"As I said, let's get the feel of it first," he winked, and they proceeded to walk around the pool. They looked back to the crazy thing Kurt newly dubbed the 'Finchel Fiasco' and saw them still shouting at each other.
"I challenge you to a game of chicken!" Rachel shouted. She called Puck over, and he waved sheepishly towards Finn, who was fuming. Finn looked around, and gestured for Brittany to come over.
Kurt snorted when he saw Rachel mount herself on Puck's shoulders, and Brittany on Finn's. Santana jumped into the pool as well, and remained behind Puck and Rachel, lounging on the edge of the pool. Then, they began their little chicken fight. Kurt knew exactly what was running through Santana's mind when the young Latina swam quickly and quietly behind Puck and Rachel, and she yanked at Rachel's bikini, which fell off.
Rachel immediately covered herself, and Puck, taken aback, accidentally dropped her into the pool. Finn's eyes widened and let Brittany off, hurrying towards his girlfriend.
"Rachel! Rachel!" he exclaimed. Santana was laughing madly, and so was everyone around the pool.
"Oh, how I love my friends," Kurt muttered sarcastically, to Blaine's laughs. "Hold on, I'm going to do some damage control."
Blaine remained where he stood, and felt more at ease. He watched as Kurt made his way towards his friends and saw him grab a hold of Rachel's bikini top, handing it to her. Strangely enough, Rachel was laughing as well.
What a Saturday, he mused. Kurt swam back to him and pecked him on the lips quickly while the Finchel Fiasco distracted everyone.
"Feeling better?"
"Yeah. Much better. You know, Kurt, I love you. Thank you."
"I love you, too."
Next Time: Cabaret!Klaine, an AU in which a very reluctant Blaine Anderson is dragged to the best cabaret in town by his two best friends, Wes and David. The girls don't catch his eye. A young, blue-eyed waiter does.
Reviews are welcome. Thanks!
Love,
Sam