Half an hour later, Kurt pulled up in front of Mercedes Jones' house.

"Hey, you're late!" she yelled cheerfully, waving to them as she descended the steps of her front porch where she had evidently decided to wait for them.

"Does that mean the pool is closed?" Artie called back with a grin.

She laughed. "Nope!"

"Then we're not late," Kurt retorted, hopping out of the car and giving Mercedes a hug and peck on the cheek that drew a delighted grin. "Welcome home, girl. I missed you!"

"Oh, me too! I had a great time in D.C. but I kept thinking about you and wishing you were there with me."

"What about me?" Artie asked, feigning offense.

Mercedes stepped up onto the running board of the Navigator to give him a firm hug. "Of course, you too! You know the best thing about coming home is seeing my favorite home-boys."

He laughed. "That's more like it."

Kurt had lifted Artie's wheelchair out of the back and set it next to the truck, snapping the brakes in place.

"You need any help?" Mercedes asked, stepping back to give Kurt some room as he slid his arms around Artie's lean torso and legs, and Artie looped an arm around his neck.

"No, we've got it," Kurt said, easily lifting his friend out of the vehicle and backing up a couple of steps. It was a move they had made a number of times since Kurt and Artie had renewed their childhood friendship early in the school year. By now, neither one was the least bit uncomfortable about the semi-embrace required to transport the other boy back and forth.

Mercedes' brow furrowed as she watched Kurt set Artie in the seat of his wheelchair before reaching back inside the vehicle for the sports bag they had packed. Locking the car, he put his keys into one of the zip-pockets and handed the bag to Artie.

"What the heck are you wearing?" Mercedes finally blurted, looking Kurt up and down as he turned to face her.

Kurt smoothed his T-shirt and tugged at the hem of his shorts, trying not to appear self-conscious. He knew that he had failed miserably when Mercedes and Artie both laughed. "They're Artie's," he admitted. "My own clothes weren't exactly appropriate for an afternoon by the pool and I didn't have time to go shopping."

He had grabbed a quick shower at Artie's house and the other boy had loaned him swim trunks, the blue and white Hawaiian pair, and a plain white T-shirt to replace the sweat-stained garment he had been wearing. Unfortunately, Artie was a little shorter and about twenty pounds lighter than he was, so the outfit was noticeably tight. Paired with the high-top sneakers that he had put back on for driving purposes, Kurt knew that he probably did look pretty ridiculous.

"Maybe this was a bad idea."

"Oh, no, it wasn't," Mercedes countered, seizing his arm and all but dragging him toward the back yard gate. "You look adorable and Tina and Quinn are going to think so, too."

Kurt cast a pleading look over his shoulder but Artie just grinned and wheeled his way along the path behind them at a sedate pace, no help whatsoever.

Tina and Quinn were both in the swimming pool already and they smiled brightly at the sight of the new arrivals. Tina levered herself out of the water and ran straight over to Artie, giving him a kiss of welcome as she took his bag and tossed it aside, setting her wet self on his lap with no concern at all for his own dry state. "I was so happy when Mercedes said you guys were coming!" she gushed, beaming at them both.

"Me, too," Quinn offered. "I haven't seen either one of you in weeks."

"Scheduling conflict," Kurt said with a smile. "Seems like whenever you aren't working, I am."

Quinn had taken a summer job at a local restaurant. She had moved back in with her mother and had plenty of available cash again, but several months as an outcast with no resources beyond the charity of friends during her school-year pregnancy had given her a strong desire to make certain that she had a way to earn her own money.

"Guess so," she agreed, laughing delightedly as she took a good look at his outfit. "Nice legs!"

Kurt blushed, crossing his arms over his chest and trying to appear dignified when Tina got into the act with a playful wolf-whistle. He had known that being exposed from ankle to mid thigh was going to get some heckling from the girls, but he had not expected it to be quite so embarrassing. "Go ahead, laugh it up."

"We're just teasing," Tina assured him. "Artie has cuter knees anyway."

Artie's plaid swim-trunks were considerably longer than Kurt's, exposing his somewhat atrophied legs from the knees down. He had also been a little self-conscious about wearing shorts in public, but he smiled at Tina's sincere compliment.

Kurt jumped and squeaked in surprise when Mercedes gave him a playful swat and said, "Maybe so, but Kurt's got a seriously cute butt."

"Hey!" he protested, setting all three girls giggling. Pointing a threatening finger at his best friend, he said, "Do that again and I will splash the weave."

Mercedes just stuck her tongue out at him.

"Come on in, you guys," Quinn invited. "The water is great!"

"So, is anybody else coming over today?" Artie asked, steering his chair closer to the pool.

Mercedes shook her head, gathering her hair up into a knot and pulling on a cheerful-looking red swim cap. She removed the beach-wrap she had been wearing and revealed an equally bright red bathing suit with black cross panels and a cute little skirt around the bottom edge. "I thought about asking Rachel but she would have wanted to bring Finn, who would have wanted to bring Puck, who would have invited Santana, and so on. We decided we wanted a jock and cheerleader free afternoon."

Exchanging a glance with Quinn, Kurt asked, "So, you're saying I should go?"

"Of course not. What she really means is that we decided on a no-perfect-bods policy for today," Quinn corrected, lifting herself out of the water and patting her stomach, which was still not quite back to its pre-childbirth flatness.

Grinning at her, he quipped, "So, you are saying I should go."

All three girls groaned and splashed water at him, making Kurt laugh.

"Boy, when you can take your shirt off without causing a massive case of snow-blindness, maybe we'll talk about perfection," Mercedes teased, pretending to shield her eyes as Kurt peeled off his borrowed T-shirt and revealed a toned but extremely pale upper body.

"She has a point," Artie agreed, also removing his shirt. He, too, was rather pale but his natural skin tone was a couple of shades darker than Kurt's and therefore not as shocking.

Kurt kicked off his sneakers and rummaged in his bag for the sun block. "I'll have you know that there are women who would kill for my complexion," he said haughtily, slathering protective cream thickly over his exposed skin. "Is it my fault that I have mixed Irish and German heritage that happens to be incapable of tanning?"

Apparently realizing that she had offended him, Mercedes offered, "Let me get your back."

He handed her the bottle, smiling a little. "You always got my back."

"Damn right," she agreed, grinning back as she began spreading lotion smoothly over his skin.

Tina likewise aided Artie, removing his glasses and setting them safely on top of the sports-bag. Kurt waited until she was finished, then approached his crippled friend. "Ready?"

"Yeah, but you better hold on tight. Tina got me pretty slick."

Kurt smirked but kept all comments to himself as he once again lifted his friend from the wheelchair. Going to the shallowest part of the pool, where the water was only about three feet deep, he said, "Hold your breath."

Jumping over the side, Kurt allowed his momentum to carry him until he sat all the way down, allowing the water to go over both of their heads and diminish the initial shock of cold in one burst before standing back up and letting go of Artie's legs. They floated up with no resistance from his muscles and Kurt was easily able to move them both to a seat on the underwater bench built into the wall of the pool.

"Okay?"

"Great," Artie agreed, nodding his thanks as Kurt released him. "Anyone want to race to the other end?"

Tina swam over. "How?"

"I'll show you," he offered. Taking a breath, he bent his body and then launched forward; grabbing the water with both arms and pulling into a smooth breast stroke. There was no kicking, naturally, but his powerful upper body moved easily through the pool and carried him quickly to the other side where he simply did a U-turn through the water and swam back using a freestyle stroke. Bobbing in place with small motions of his arms, he smiled at his four astonished friends. "Kid stuff. Swimming was one of the first things I learned in P.T."

"That's awesome," Quinn said. "I'll race you."

The others gave them a countdown. "Three. Two. One. Go!" cheering and screaming as their two friends took off.

Artie was fast, but Quinn Fabray had been an athlete all her life and she sped to the finish line nearly a body length ahead of him, panting and gasping with laughter as she surfaced. "Artie . . . wow, I didn't think I was going to make it for a minute! If you hadn't tired yourself out with that demo swim, you'd have beaten me for sure."

"Rematch later?" he asked, grinning hugely.

"You're on," she said at once, the competitive fire that had once made her Sue Sylvester's star Cheerio flaring to life at the challenge.

Tina poked Kurt in the shoulder. "What do you say? Race?"

Smiling at her, he asked, "You want a head-start?"

"Like I need one against you," she scoffed. "Mercedes?"

The other girl raised both hands and laughed. "No way. I'm just the host here. I'll leave the speed-racer stuff to the rest of you guys."

Kurt and Tina got into position against the wall while their friends again provided a count-down. On the word, "GO!" they burst forward.

Both proved to be strong swimmers but Tina could not keep up with the pace Kurt set for long. By the time they hit the turn, he was well in front of her and continued to gain distance until he finished the race half a pool-length in the lead.

"Jesus, Kurt!" Tina blurted, coming to a tired stop next to Artie. "Where did you ever learn to swim like that?"

"My dad started taking me to classes when I was just a toddler," he admitted. "I've been swimming all my life. Actually, before this school year it was about the only form of exercise I ever engaged in voluntarily."

She splashed water in his face. "You could have told me!"

Kurt laughed and splashed back. "And missed seeing the look on your face? I don't think so." He sent more water flying at Quinn. "What do you say, should I race the winner after you and Artie have your rematch?"

"You're on. I will destroy you," she said calmly, using both hands to create a wave, which Kurt ducked, sending it into Mercedes' face instead.

"Oh, you are gonna pay for that," Mercedes yelled, flailing both arms to send a mighty splash back at them both.

Within seconds, it was a free-for-all, five teenagers shrieking and laughing as they all did their best to drown one another, loving every minute of it.