Water Wings

Title: Water Wings

Author: Jen

Rating: Teen

Notes: Spoilers for all of season two.

"Admit it," Blaine teased, his fingers so solid and so firm on Kurt's back as he rubbed sunscreen onto the pale teen's skin, "this is going over much better than you anticipated." Blaine's hands dipped low into the small of Kurt's back and he groaned appreciatively.

Laying on his stomach, chin propped up by his hands, Kurt's eyes drifted around the ongoing pool party. "Maybe," he conceded, noting the way his Dalton friends were mixing exceptionally well with McKinley High's student body.

At first, of course, when Blaine had mentioned, "Your father purchased a larger house for your expanding family with, I'm quite confident, the mindset that you would take advantage of its amenities," Kurt hadn't quite caught on. To be fair, he had been seated on Blaine's lap, his fingers working through Blaine's smooth hair as the TV played on in the background. It had taken quite a few more sentences, and Blaine rather obviously pointing out that the new Hummel-Hudson house had a sizable pool in the backyard, to grasp what Blaine was leaning towards.

And then Kurt had protested, "It's not that I think there would be a problem with mixing the schools," only he had, because most of Kurt's Dalton's friends, who were Warblers, were nothing like the members of New Directions, and friction was only inherent.

"Trust me," Blaine had chuckled, pressing a kiss to the long column of Kurt's throat, "they'll mix fantastically."

"I doubt the Warblers will even want to go," Kurt had tried to argue.

Blaine's eyebrow arched.

The worst part was that they had, despite Kurt's reservations. Half of the boys from Dalton's Warblers had nearly begun clawing at each other with the prospect of being invited to a pool party where girls were expected to attend, and the other half had started slipping Kurt cups of coffee in-between classes, carrying his books for him, and a few, much to Blaine's duress, had dedicated a melody of love songs to him. Kurt had been amused, though he couldn't say more if it was from the unnecessary shenanigans of his friends, or the jealous way in which Blaine's face pinched each and every time Bradley Johnson caught his elbow in an unnecessary show of aid.

Santana, with Brittany in tow, had demanded, "Dress code optional?" and Rachel had berated her, hoping to make a good impression on the enemy, or maybe intimidate them, Kurt wasn't certain.

The point was, Kurt now had a backyard full of Dalton boys, and New Directions teens, and they were floating together in an odd sort of chaotic harmony that had Kurt puzzled.

"James," Blaine pointed out to Kurt, finger directed at a fair haired Warbler, "is obviously smitten with your star."

Kurt nodded in agreement, and was secretly thrilled to witness the blond boy try terribly hard to impress Rachel while Finn sulked around in silent protest.

"Finn won't be that well behaved for long," Kurt said knowingly, dropping his head down onto the lawn chair he was stretched out on. "Mark my words, there will be an impending water fight."

"It may begin sooner than expected." At the deep end of the pool, Wes, David, and Sam had joined forces in order to begin stealthily stalking both Quinn and Tina who had refused to move from their sunbathing perches. Mercedes, treading water in the pool already, shared a sly look with Mike and it was enough communication to forewarn the coming chaos.

Blaine set the sun block aside and urged Kurt, "Come on. We should go mingle with your friends."

"Don't want to," Kurt protested, his voice a tad bit whiny. "I'm happy here."

"Louse," Blaine teased, his fingers brushing over the back of Kurt's neck. "Don't you want to go swimming?"

"It won't be swimming." He caught the quick sight of Finn tossing James into the pool and then jumping in right after, flanked by another Warbler and Puck. "It will be my much larger, former glee mates, taking the opportunity to drag me down under the water, while my new, supposedly loyal current teammates, ponder the pros and cons of saving me."

Blaine's fingers lifted and his lips brushed at Kurt's neck instead as he leaned over him, nearly pressing their half naked bodies together. "I would never hesitate to valiantly sacrifice myself for you."

With a grumble, Kurt said, "You're my boyfriend, you're obligated."

Blaine smiled into his skin. "Don't confuse an obligation with a duty. I need my boyfriend not be waterlogged, at least not with the end of the year symposium fast approaching."

"Touching."

Across the backyard, Finn called out boisterously, "Kurt! Get over here now! You're supposed to be my brother, come help me teach these preppy boys a lesson!"

"I don't suppose," Blaine whispered to Kurt, "that he realizes as a Dalton student, you too fit the definition."

Kurt lifted his head and called back to Finn, "If you need me to save you, you have much larger issues at hand, Finn." Then he watched as several Warblers bombarded him all at once. "Plus," Kurt said to Blaine, "Rachel is no wilting flower. Watch for yourself." As predicted, Rachel's hands fell from her waist where she's been staring in a desponded manner at her boyfriend's antics. She gave a loud, warlike cry, and then launched herself into the pool.

"We could take this moment instead," Kurt proposed, flipping onto his back and having to raise a hand up to shield his eyes from the sun, "to engage in specific teenage activities that neither Dalton, nor my father, allow for us to frequent often enough."

"Or you could just say you want me to properly kiss you," Blaine laughed out. He cupped one hand to Kurt's cheek and leaned in, fitting their mouths together and letting his tongue slip past Kurt's full lips. He felt Kurt hum happily underneath him, his hands anchored on Blaine's shoulders, and with a bit of bravado, he let his leg slip between Kurt's.

There was a sudden though in Blaine's mind, well justified, and against Kurt's lips he asked, "Your father isn't here, right?"

Burt Hummel, in Blaine's truly honest opinion, was a very intimidating, actually quite terrifying, one hundred percent hostile and overprotective bear of a man. Blaine, of course, could understand why the man guarded Kurt closely, feared for him, and took his parenting to a level that Blaine had never quite witness before. But it was scary all the same. More than that, the way the man would stare at him, as if he were waiting for Blaine to make either an unwelcome move, or one too forward, was unsettling. Kurt had assured him, weeks ago, "He actually likes you, he just can't bring himself to admit it just yet, or that he really does trust you with me, which is something," and Blaine still wasn't sure if he believed Kurt. Burt made Blaine scared to hold Kurt's hand in the man's vicinity, let alone kiss him.

Kurt angled himself up, leaning up on his elbow, and kissed Blaine with fervor. "He and Carole went out," he promised, "the won't be back until late tonight. They still haven't moved past the honeymoon phase." There was slight annoyance to Kurt's tone as he added, "It's been half a year, now."

"Indulge them."

It was easy to agree with Blaine, who was spectacularly distracting in his short, blue trunks, slicked back hair and pink rimmed, vintage looking sunglasses.

A surge of water rained down on them and Kurt sputtered while Blaine rolled off him good naturedly.

"Get your butt in the pool," Finn warned, and it looked to Kurt that suddenly the Warblers he'd been valiantly taking on by himself, at least until Rachel had joined in, were now united in their front to drag the last two holdouts into the water. Even Quinn swam by Finn playfully while Tina floated half on Mike's back.

Puck heaved himself out of the pool, dripping wet, "Or we will make you."

Blaine tossed his sunglasses aside. "Look," he pointed out, "even Artie is in the pool." But Kurt didn't think that counted, because he was floating on his back lazily while Brittany supported him, Santana supervising. For Artie, Kurt supposed the water was something freeing. It was not the case for Kurt.

"I don't want to mess up my hair."

Blaine looked down at him skeptically. "I plan to mess it up later, so why not capitalize on the head start being offered to you?"

"I don't like the water," Kurt fussed.

"Well," Blaine offered, shoulders falling a bit, making Kurt's stomach clench, "if you change your mind."

Kurt offered him a little wave, settled his hands on his stomach and closed his eyes. As much as he relished in the idea of being able to slide next to Blaine's slick body, he couldn't bring himself to get in the pool. It wasn't worth it, and ultimately, he was more than happy to just sunbathe on the partially cloudy day, and take advantage of the sun without burning.

It was only a minute or so, of that much Kurt was sure, before water was dripping down on him once more and he had to open his eyes.

"What?" Kurt demanded, peering up at Sam and his goofy expression. "The bathroom is down the hall and on the left."

Wes slid into view next to him, a Cheshire smile on his face that had Kurt's heart beating a little harder.

"Kurt," Wes said a bit disapprovingly, "just because you're hosting, doesn't mean you ought to leave your guests to fend for themselves."

Strong hands were under Kurt's armpits right after that, and Puck's voice was heavy near his ear as he said, "We did give you an opportunity to drag your ass into the pool all by yourself. It's our turn now."

"No!" Kurt called out in a panic as Finn caught his legs and he was lifted into the air. "Do not even take me near that pool. I'm not kidding! Put me down now!"

They neared even closer to the pool and Mercedes, hanging over the side, laughed out, "It's cold, but you'll survive."

"Blaine," Kurt breathed out desperately, reaching for the nearby brunet. "Don't let them throw me in."

There was clear hesitation in Blaine's face, maybe as he caught the strain in Kurt's voice or the sheer panic as he twisted in the air, but then David gave Blaine a rough shove and he was catapulting into the water soon after.

"Stop whining!" Puck commanded.

"Please," Kurt begged. "Please, you don't understand."

"Guys," Rachel said, coming into Kurt's view. "Maybe you shouldn't-"

The water was freezing when Kurt hit it. His breath released, he inhaled instinctively, and then choked, flipped, and froze.

When he was four his parents took him to the nearby park. There were ducks, and Kurt had always been a curious child. His mother had placed a few slices of stale bread in his hands, directed him towards the fuzzy, yellow ducks and instructed, "Just break off little pieces and feed it to them." His father had shown him how a moment later, and Kurt had taken off.

The bread had gone too fast, and the ducks hadn't seemed to understand, as they circled around Kurt, quacking and nudging at him, that there was none left. Kurt reached out and petted them, letting them jostle him gently while his parents kissed each other.

The water in the pond had been icy as well.

The more Kurt thought about it, the more trauma associated with water he could find in his past. There was the incident where he'd slipped off his Uncle Andy's boat and flailed hopelessly until his father had noticed and jumped in after him. And he'd also fallen through thin ice years previous and nearly caught hypothermia in the aftermath. Water, Kurt had learned long ago, was not his friend, and it was probably the reason he'd never learned to swim.

He was out like a light, floating slowly to the bottom of the pool long before anyone realized the problem, and ages before strong arms wrapped themselves around his torso to propel him up to the surface.

Kurt remained blissfully unaware as Sam knelt over him, hands locked together and pushing hard on his chest while Blaine bent forward, tipped his head back, squeezed his nose closed and then breathed for him. It was, likely, a positive thing that he was not aware of Rachel sobbing behind them, or Finn taking over for Sam when he became exhausted.

The first thing that came to him, as he choked and coughed up the water he'd inhaled moments earlier, was the way Blaine's forehead was pressed to his own. There were fingers in his hair, nails scraping gently into his scalp, and someone was holding his hand. He could hear Blaine whispering, "You're okay, we've got you, don't panic, I'm here, just breathe," and it was in a breathy way that Kurt couldn't make sense of.

Regardless, bone weary and still disoriented, Kurt was content to lay there, still and his chest burning painfully, until the ambulance arrived and Blaine climbed in with him.

"You don't have to come," Kurt could hear Finn saying, and it took Kurt a moment to realize the statement was directed to Blaine. Finn, Kurt came to understand, was the one holding his hand. He hadn't let his hand go, and his grip had never wavered. "Kurt is my brother. You can come after. Rachel will drive you."

"We love him equally," Blaine said a bit fiercely. That seemed to be the end of the argument.

"I can't swim," Kurt had said bluntly to Blaine the following morning. He'd spent the previous night in a deep sleep aided by antibiotics, and pain relievers. He could recall nothing of the pool party, and very little from the morning before it. The memory loss aside, it was the look of honest fear on Blaine's face, and the way he hovered over Kurt, that had Kurt confessing his lack of affinity for the water.

"Why didn't you say something?" Blaine implored. "I never would have tried to get you into the pool if you had told me. Finn and the others wouldn't have thrown you in, either."

Silent for a moment, Kurt traced the back of Blaine's nearby hand with his fingers, following the creases and tracing the veins. "What you see with us now, with me, and with Finn and even Puck, it wasn't always the case. This is the best case scenario, and it's the end result after over a year of hard work and understanding and trials. We're friends now, Blaine, but we weren't always. They were never like … like Karofsky was, but they were bullies, and a part of me will always be scared."

Blaine demanded, "Scared they'll hurt you?"

"Never physically." Kurt's eyes met Blaine's. "Emotionally, maybe. I was worried that if I told them, they'd make fun of me. I know, it sounds stupid, but-"

"It doesn't sound stupid," Blaine interrupted, sighing deeply. "You just don't understand how frightened we all were, Kurt. No one understood that you were in trouble right away, not even me. We went right along, splashing each other, laughing, and you were drowning feet from us."

"Who noticed?" Kurt asked with a wince.

Blaine leaned up and pressed a chaste kiss to his forehead. "You can thank your resident diva for that. She started screaming the second she realized you were in trouble. Puck's the one who actually brought you up, and then we started CPR. I feel wretched, Kurt, will you forgive me?"

Frowning, Kurt managed, "There's nothing to forgive. I didn't tell you I can't swim because I was afraid. That's not your fault. It's mine."

A knock sounded at the door and Blaine straightened up as the whole of the Dalton Warblers, and New Directions, streamed through the door.

Kurt said loudly, "I highly doubt that the hospital staff would willingly allow this."

"Hush," Rachel commanded, his fingers tugging at Finn's wrist expectantly. "Go on," she urged at him.

Finn cleared his throat, then declared, "We're totally mad that you nearly drowned, dude," Finn looked as uncomfortable as Kurt felt, "because we kind of screwed up, and if you want to hate us forever, that's cool, and I mean, your dad already yelled at me this morning, and then my mom did, and then they did it together, and then-"

"Finn," Rachel said tryingly, "this is not how we rehearsed it."

Finn took a calming breath. "You said no," he managed finally, "and we should have listened. So we want to make it up to you, while you're stuck in bed, and you sort of have to stay there."

"Do I even want to know?" Kurt asked Blaine.

"They're going to sing for you," Blaine responded, firmly pushing a hand down on Kurt's shoulder. "The least you can do is listen."

Kurt nodded slowly, then added, "But if this is One Republic's Apologize, I will riot."

It turned out to be Nirvana's All Apologies, a song that Kurt couldn't readily say he was familiar with, but the a capella version being presented to him was smooth and touching in a way that he couldn't deny. And it was for that, and the way that all of his friends looked genuinely so sorry, that he let the gay reference in the song slide, willing to take it as empathetic, and not something satirical.

He was out of the hospital by the afternoon, and being tucked into bed by Carole while his father demanded to know what he could bring Kurt from the kitchen.

"Nothing," Kurt had told him tersely. "In fact don't step foot in it. And for god's sake, don't turn on the stove." His father had understood.

Kurt had, in all honesty, expected the near drowning incident to simply fade from the minds of his friends. He went back to Dalton, and back to the Warblers, and his dorm room. Blaine was there, Monday morning, to walk him to the cafeteria for breakfast, and they kissed in the kind of way that was inherently natural to Kurt, and satisfying.

It wasn't until Thursday, when Wes and David trapped him on his way back to his dorm after his French class, that he suspected something was wrong.

"Don't bother screaming," David warned.

Wes nodded sternly. "The rest of the school will not rescue you."

He was manhandled, albeit gently, towards the gymnasium, and then through the locker room door.

"Change," David commanded. "We have your swimming suit. Get changed."

"Gentlemen," Kurt offered, swallowing thickly, "may I remind you of the last time-"

"Change," Wes reinforced. They both looked unmovable and Kurt, his stomach churning unhappily, did change. Wes and David changed as well, and that fact did little to help the situation.

It was how he ended up sitting on the steps to the pool's shallow end, every single person from the pool party with him, also in the pool.

"Kurt," Sam remarked, up to his neck in water as he knelt down, "the pool is heated. How awesome is that."

Kurt nodded slowly. "Yes, very cool."

"Kurt," Rachel announced, her voice a tad shrill as she dragged a nearby box at the pool's edge a bit closer. "Pay attention, this is very important."

"There are girls in the pool," one of the Warblers whispered to the boy next to him. "This is so worth the detention we're going to get for this."

Rachel cleared her throat specifically towards them, and then at Santana who had been flirtatiously winking in their direction. "The issue at hand, ladies and gentlemen, is that there is a member of our group who does not know how to swim."

"Rachel," Kurt said lowly, feeling his face heat.

Blaine ribbed him with his elbow, and said, "Pay attention."

"So we," Rachel continued, "are going to fix this."

"You're going to teach me how to swim?" Kurt asked incredulously.

From the box Rachel extracted a pair of bright orange, rubber waterwings, and declared, "I made sure we had enough for everyone."

Puck deadpanned, "No way. No way you're getting me into those."

Rachel's eyes narrowed. "We agreed, Noah Puckerman, that we were going to be supportive of Kurt during this exercise. Now, if he'll need to wear them, if only for a while, then we'll all be wearing them as well."

Slowly, Puck asked, "I have to wear them for as long as Hummel does?"

Finn was already sliding a pair of his own on as he said, "Sounds fair enough to me."

"Just so we're clear?" Puck added.

She handed both Kurt and Puck a pair. "For as long as it takes."

Kurt could emphatically say, after that afternoon, that it was Noah Puckerman who taught him how to swim, and in what appeared to be record time.

"Admit it," Blaine teased later that night, curled around Kurt as curfew drew closer, "today went better than you expected." The words were reminiscent of the pool party, something Kurt had only begun to remember in pieces.

"Maybe," Kurt responded.

Blaine's nose tickled the back of Kurt's neck as he said, "At the rate you're going, I'll have you waterskiing by summertime."

"Dream on," Kurt mumbled, but maybe he'd give the idea another thought, later, when he was a stronger swimmer. Anything to get Blaine back in his short, tight swim trunks.