Afraid of Love

Chapter Nine

Felix crashed back up to the surface, sputtering. He splashed around and hacked up water before he was dunked back under for a few seconds. "Felix!" Toris yelled, running to the edge. He lay down onto his stomach and held out his arms. Felix latched onto him and crawled out miserably.

Felix flopped onto the wood. He tried to catch his breath, but it didn't last long before he spewed up as much water as he could. Toris combed Felix's wet hair back. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Felix pointed back to the water. "T-Tino… Tino!"

Toris' head whipped up, only to see Berwald kick off his shoes and dive into the water. Something was wrong. Why wasn't Tino resurfacing?

Tino's P.O.V

I thrashed about wildly. It was so dark! I tried to make out any light; anything that would tell me where the surface was. But I couldn't see anything, not the sun, not me, not anything. All there was to see was dark, green, murky water. I kicked and twisted. I cursed my stupid pride. If I had learned I would never be drowning!

I opened my mouth to scream as I felt something brush past my leg. Wasn't Australia famous for sharks!? But that was a big mistake as I felt dirty water rush into my mouth. Closing it was useless now, but I still did. (AN: Drowning in Sydney Harbour is very very real. You do not want to swim in there, particularly at night. It's filthy and it's full of sharks. Particularly bull sharks. But don't worry; I don't think there has been a shark killing there in 50 years… yet. But there have been plenty of drowning. Welcome to Australia, we will refuse to pay for you funeral. Oh, I also dare you to type up Sydney Harbour Shark in Images and Sydney Harbour Drowning… not in images. Those poor sharks. They were calmly eating their human casserole when some asshole comes up and starts taking pictures! God, there is no privacy nowadays!)

'It's seaweed.' I thought dully as I realised that whatever had wrapped itself around my leg was just hanging, not moving at all. 'I'm at the bottom. Or it could be a squid. Either way I'm still fucked.'

I felt hazy, and my limbs slowly stopped moving. I was so tired, and it was so cold. Who cares, anyway? It might be nice to just forget it forever…

Wait, what the hell is that? No! No! No no no no no! I did not sign up for this! I wanted a nice, peaceful drowning, not being ripped apart by a giant shark! There was something darker than the water around me, and guess where it was heading. Yep, right towards me. I think it's above me, maybe. I tried to swim away, but my arms were so heavy.

I tried to ignore the burning in my lungs, but it was too much. I opened my mouth and closed my eyes. Thankfully, unconsciousness took me before I felt something latch onto me and pull me through the darkness…

I felt a pounding in my chest. On my chest? I wasn't sure. My head killed, my throat was sore and my eyes were burning through closed lids. And it was so hard to breathe. There was something on my lips, forcing air into my mouth… Wait, something was on my lips!?

I quickly shoved the thing away from me and tried to sit up. That was a big mistake. I tried in vain to hold back my tears when I vomited the entire contents of my stomach onto the wooden walk way beneath me. Ew. It wasn't my fault that I cry whenever I vomit!

'God, it's cold.' I thought as I lay there shivering. No sooner than I had thought that, two strong arms wrapped themselves around me. Someone's head buried itself on my good shoulder. They stayed there, as if they didn't realise how panicky I was becoming.

Here I was, sitting on the hard ground, soaked and traumatised with someone holding me. I shuddered and squirmed but they wouldn't let go. I sobbed as I felt flashbacks force their way through me.

Someone much bigger walking towards me. I'm scared…

Oh, God, why won't they let go?

They run their hand through my hair, and smile.

Please, it's hurting me!

Their hand snakes around to the back of my head. I'm stuck now, and they won't let go.

Let go! Please, please let go.

They like me. I don't like them, not anymore.

"Oh, Tino…"

"Oh, my little Tino…" they say with a predatory smile.

I'm going to throw up again.

They bend over and stroke my face. I shudder, but they don't notice. Please, someone…

Please! Someone…

Help me…

Help me…

"Tino? Tino. Tino! Are you okay?" The person holding me asks.

I looked up finally, and strangely enough I felt relieved. It was Berwald. Berwald, who's hair and clothes where soaked and his glasses carelessly thrown on. Not fully realising what I was doing, I reached out cupped the side of his face.

"Y-you saved me?"

And here is the strangest thing of all. Berwald smiled. He held me even tighter; maybe he was hugging me? I was so confused, why wasn't this bothering me anymore? Now that I knew it was Berwald, I wasn't afraid. He was holding me and I wasn't crying. I was freezing up, sure, but maybe that was just the cold.

"Oh, Tino, I was so scared. You almost died." Berwald looked back up and cupped my face with both of his hands. Okay, now this was getting a little uncomfortable. "Tino, never, ever do that again."

I nodded. Oh, sure, sure, like I had totally done that on purpose. Yep, I get it, no drowning myself. Point taken. Now could you please let go of me? I might have found it okay before, but Berwald's time limit was up and it was time to find another source of comfort that he can hug. Maybe he could use a teddy bear? I pulled out of his grip and struggled to my feet, though admittedly I had to lean on Berwald's shoulders to do that.

I looked down at my wet clothes in disgust. "Great," I muttered. "Now I'll catch pneumonia." I groaned as I felt a dizzy spell and swayed. Berwald quickly stood up and put a hand on my shoulder to steady ne, which I shrugged off.

"We need to take you to the hospital."

"Me too!' Felix added from where he still sat on the ground. "I'm feeling really shitty, too. Like, I didn't almost drown, but still. I'm soaked."

I rolled my eyes before shaking my head to Berwald. "No, I'm okay. I'm just cold and wet and my sling is gone." I told him, clutching my left arm to my chest.

"Tino, you're not okay. You're going to the hospital, even if it means that I have to pin you down until the paramedics arrive."

Toris nodded. "Yeah, I've already called them."

I scowled at Berwald, but he was undeterred. "Fine," I huffed. "I'll go to the stupid hospital." Grumbling to myself, I sat next to Felix on the planks and pulled out my phone. "Great, my phone is dead." I tried to rub away some water with my… wet sleeve. No wonder it wasn't working.

"It's better your phone than you." Berwald said quietly. I didn't know exactly how to respond to that. I resolved to stare at my hands until the ambulance came. My teeth chattered and I tried to stop shaking. 'Just think of the desert. A nice, warm desert. Full of volcanoes and suns and heaters and anything else that emits heat.'

"Huh?" I looked up, confused as Berwald draped his jacket over me. He must have taken it off sometime during the afternoon. "Oh, thank you." I said as I snuggled into the huge jacket. It was hell of a lot better than trying to will myself warm.

"Oh thank God!" Felix exclaimed as he saw the blue and red lights of the ambulance. I could hear the tell-tale siren as it got closer. "It's about time. Jeez, what if someone was dying here?"

The hospital kept Tino under surveillance for three days. They had assured Tino (and Berwald) that nothing was dangerously wrong pretty much as soon as he arrived at the hospital, but they had wanted to keep Tino there because of mild pneumonia. Felix, the lucky bastard, had gotten let out almost immediately. The only thing that was wrong with him was the danger of getting a cold from his wet clothes.

Berwald had visited Tino every day. He had made sure that he didn't overstay, otherwise he might creep Tino out. That didn't stop him from bringing flowers, a balloon and a Get Well Card. Of course, he had made a weird picture when he sat in the waiting room for hours with those things. And let me tell you, Australia's health system is not good. Berwald had to sit there for five hours. Five hours! And apparently, that was normal. He had to sit for five hours among screaming kids, a bleeding man, an obnoxious kid talking on a mobile, a coughing man and several people who were speaking very angrily in another language. It wasn't fun. But still, it was worth it if he got to see Tino, even if it was only for a couple of minutes.

Currently Berwald was driving Tino home. For some reason, Tino's roommate (whose name Berwald had yet to learn) had refused to pick up Tino and take him home. He said that he wouldn't let Tino in his car even if Tino had two broken legs, was blind and a fire was approaching. Not even then.

Berwald looked at Tino out of the corner of his eye. The blonde hadn't anything the entire drive. Well, to be fair Berwald hadn't said anything either, but at least he didn't look like he was sulking. On the other hand, Tino did look very cute when he was pouting. Berwald sighed and prepared himself for the conversation that he was about to begin.

"Tino, is it okay if I ask you something?"

"Wasn't that a question?" Tino griped. He sighed. "I'm sorry, go ahead."

Oh, thank you for that, Tino. Now Berwald was definably feeling confident and unthreatened. Not. "Both you and Felix fell into the water, but Felix floated straight to the surface. Why did you sink?"

Tino glared at him, but it wasn't as strong as it could have been. "And why is that important?" he snapped, desperately trying to put off Berwald. He couldn't tell him- it was so embarrassing!

"I'd like to know why you can't swim in case you fall in again. Is it a physical problem, like a breathing problem, or do you just need to learn?"

Tino looked at him shocked. "How did you...? Never mind." Why was he even asking? It was so obvious. He looked at his knees, blushing. "I could swim, if I learned, but I never did."

Berwald nodded to himself. That was okay; he would pay for Tino's swimming lessons. Or maybe he would just teach Tino himself? Berwald wasn't a bad swimmer. But he needed to know why, still. Was Tino too conscious of his body? But h shouldn't be too up-front about it. He should start with a joke! "If you didn't know how to swim, then why'd you move to an island? Australia of all places, they even have deadly butterflies here."

Tino rounded on him. "You think it's funny?" Oh no. "You think it's funny that a grown man can't swim, or can't even ride a bike? It's not my fault!" But he hadn't meant it like that… "And as for me moving to Australia, it's none of your business! So you can just shut up!"

Berwald crouched as much as he could while he was driving. That was a big, big mistake. No more jokes for now. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to offend you. But still, why can't you swim? I promise that I won't judge you."

Tino looked at him suspiciously. Maybe he had jumped to conclusions when he had accused Berwald of laughing at him. Berwald wasn't like that. Tino wasn't sure if he even had a mean bone in his body. Oh great, now he felt guilty! "Alright, it's no big deal, really. My mum just never taught me how to swim, and there were a few… accidents," Tino said carefully. "That involved water. So I never tried to learn and as I got older it just got too embarrassing." Tino scratched the back of his head and looked away.

Berwald did his best try at a smile. "You don't need to be embarrassed. Uh, if you want, I can teach you. There's a pool at my place." Berwald offered, faintly blushing.

"Huh? You would really teach me?" Tino asked, shocked.

Berwald nodded. "Of course. You need to learn."

Tino frowned. "I don't know…"

Berwald shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. "You can if you want, it's up to you." In actual fact, Berwald was desperately hoping that Tino would agree. He really wanted to spend more time with the younger blonde. And another thing he was curious about was the accidents Tino had said he had been in that involved water. What was that about? Despite his curiosity though, Berwald wasn't foolish enough to push his luck by asking.

Tino smiled. "Thank you. You're right, it is about time that I learn how to swim."

Berwald nodded, satisfied. They didn't speak for the rest of the trip. Well not until they were about five minutes away from Tino's apartment when Berwald remembered something.

"Tino, who is Mathew?"

"Huh? How do you know Mathew?" Tino asked, confused. When had he talked about Mathew?

"You mentioned him when you called me. You said that he was watching you."

"What?" Okay, now that was weird. Tino blinked and laughed as he remembered what Berwald had misunderstood. "Oh, no it's okay. Mattie is a really good friend of mine. We're really close, especially since…" Tino cleared his throat. "He's the restaurants financial adviser, and my boss' brother. He's also like his little assistant. Yeah, he never misses anything because he's always watching." Tino said in a dramatic voice. "That's just because no one really notices him. I swear he has super powers, like The Invisible Woman! Have you seen that movie? It's so cool! You know the Fantastic Four, right?"

Berwald spent the rest of the trip listening to Tino prattle on about The Fantastic Four. Not that he minded, though. Tino's face was always so animated when he rambled. It was nice to see Tino looking so happy.

Berwald dropped Tino off in front of a unit of buildings. He tried to ignore the bit of disappointment he felt when he wasn't invited in. Oh well, there was plenty of time. Maybe he should drop by Tino's work sometime?

AN- Sorry, nothing much happens in this chapter. And just so you can sleep well when you holiday in Australia, we really do have deadly butterflies. I didn't even know at first! I just threw it in for a joke! Then I looked it up, and it turned out to be true…