Author: Cha-Cha

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or the show so please do not sue.

Front Crawl

Watching from the edge of the pool, Kevin watched his partner dive gracefully in the pool and set off at a speed Kevin could only hope he would one day one able to compete with. It had taken him quite a while to get the hang of the doggy paddle and being able to keep it up for any distance but he was starting to feel a lot more confident with the stroke, and wanted to try something new. To be honest with himself, he was hoping he could learn the stroke Javier was doing, front crawl.

Going down to the shallow end of the pool, the opposite end to his partner, he sat on the edge and allowed himself to slide into the water, gasping slightly as the cold water made him shiver. He knew it would warm up, but those first five minutes were always the worst.

Looking back over at his partner, Kevin realised there were several parts to the stroke, breathing, face in the water, kicking and the action of bringing your arm up in the water and putting it back in the water. It looked easy.

Deciding not to disturb the other man for a few minutes, Ryan decided to try out the stroke, see if it was as easy as it looked. It was not unusual for Javier to turn up a little early to their sessions, as though 6am on a Sunday morning was not early enough, to get in a little practice and, as the other man had put it, to be able to keep up part of his fitness routine. Today had been unusual as Kevin had not been able to sleep, insomnia was unusual, but a pain when it did strike, so he had decided to get to the pool a little early as well.

Seeing that Javier was doing lengths down the pool, whereas Kevin normally did widths, Ryan realised he was going to have to part of a length so they didn't collide, and therefore disturbing Javier's work out.

Remembering his kicking, Kevin pushed off from the wall of the shallow end and started with his doggy paddle before trying to put his face in the water for a few moments, and swinging his arm back towards his body before bringing it up his head, landing back into the water with a splash. It didn't feel very elegant to him, nor did it seem to move him very far as his feet hit the bottom of the pool immediately after.

Gritting his teeth, he pushed off again from the bottom of the pool, this time bringing his arm up and around quicker, followed immediately by the next arm. Realising a need to breath, he pulled his head up, going back to doggy paddle again.

'Nearly got it bro.' A voice spoke next to Ryan's ear. Kevin gave a squawk and immediately sank, panicking when his feet didn't instantly reach the bottom. Although the water was only up to the bottom of his neck, it was enough of a surprise he went under. He was only under for a split second before an arm around his middle got him upright and standing, patting him on the back as he coughed up the small amount of water he'd accidently swallowed. 'C'mon, just walk forwards,' Javier's voice instructed him, and relying on his trust in his partner, he followed the instructions, realising slightly that they were headed back into shallower water again. 'Want to tell me what this was about?' Esposito's voice was deceptively calm, and Ryan could immediately tell that his partner was cross about something.

'Swimming?' Kevin answered quickly before adding 'you've finished you're work out?'

'I can see you were swimming, I mean why didn't you tell me you were here? Do you know how dangerous it is for a beginner to swim on their own? You could have drowned if I hadn't spotted you! What if you get into difficulty?'

'You swim on your own,' Ryan immediately protested, he had known his partner was in the pool, he hadn't been alone. He felt safe when Javier was nearby.

'I've also been swimming since I was three, I was on the school swim team, and I know Nita, my sister, is watching out for me.' Javier retorted, anger starting to creep into his voice.

'I'm sorry bro, guess I didn't think it through. I just didn't want to disturb your work out. I was only planning to stay near the edge in the shallow end.' Javier nodded; he believed his partner was telling the truth, that he truly hadn't thought this one through.

'Just don't do it again.' Esposito warned his friend, 'why are you here so early? I thought you hated getting up at 5.30am on a normal Sunday.

'Insomnia.' Ryan shrugged. Javier nodded, he knew his partner had complained of it sometimes but it had never seemed to be anything serious or as a result of anything, just one of the Ryan mysteries.

'Since you seem to be so keen to learn front crawl, I think I'd better teach you the proper way to do the stroke, and away from the deep end.' Esposito moved the conversation on; he knew Ryan wouldn't do it again, but still managed to make a subtle jab. Maybe not so subtle by the way Kevin's eyes rolled.

'I hadn't meant to go that far; I was just trying to stay out of your way.' Ryan knew he had been forgiven, it was not in either of their natures to hold a grudge, especially against each other, but that wasn't to say it wouldn't be the last time they spoke of the incident.

'Next time, get in my way! Now, front crawl, you have the right motion with the arms coming up and over, but remember the doggy paddle, you need to scoop the water behind you,' Javier began to explain the motion, demonstrating it in the water, Ryan's attention completely focused on his partner.

When Javier had explained the technique and Ryan had shown him the motion while standing up, Kevin crouched down and pushed himself off, his strokes still unsteady and uneven, almost getting it right, but struggling to get each of his body parts moving in the right rhythm, his breathing was out of sync with his arms, while his kicks seemed to slow and speed up depending on what he was remembering. The one thing he did not worry about was who was next to him.

Nita smiled from the balcony at the two men below in the pool below; amazed at how their friendship had blossomed over the year and quarter they had been swimming together. Her brother had been a good teacher to his partner, and Ryan had come one leaps and bounds since that first lesson, he had also stopped blushing so much when he saw her, although that one was work in progress. Maybe in a few years Ryan would become a competent swimmer instead of the nervous beginner he still sometimes showed, but one thing she was sure of, their partnership and friendship was only going to get stronger and stronger. She couldn't have asked for anyone better to take care of her brother.