Chapter Four

Saturday came quicker than anticipated. It was difficult to get out of the depression he had fallen into but with a couple blunts and a trip to The Rig and he was fifty percent back on his feet.

Caribbean Cove was a two hundred acre expanse of land with tall, rigid structures of colorful plastic tubes and where there weren't tubes, were blue surfaces of the pools. At the entrance they were given a map to the area with little boxes on each ride to keep check of what you rode and what you didn't. The grounds were surprisingly free of litter and on a Saturday evening at 12 noon when it was 103 degrees Fahrenheit out, the place was jam-packed with swarms of bikini-clad women and children and men walking around in their trunks. Next to him he could practically feel Blaine's excitement vibrating out of him.

"Which ride do you think we should go on first?" Blaine asked, gazing doe-eyed at everything as though it was the first time he laid eyes on plastic.

Kurt wasn't nearly as elated about it. All of the rides looked enormous and magnificent and he hated the ticklish feeling when his stomach dropped as he plummeted to his supposed death below. He surveyed the map in his hand and picked out the smallest, not drawn to scale, ride. "How about this one?"

Blaine followed his finger then looked up at him and grinned. He expected the boy to be a little upset. "The easiest ones first? That's a good idea to prime us up for the bigger ones." He was all smiles and dimpled-cheek and sparkling, brown eyes. His arms couldn't stay still at his sides and now and then Blaine would give a little bounce on his feet.

"To the ticket booth, I guess," Kurt said with an impassive smile. His stomach was doing somersaults and when he looked up at the sky-scraping rides his palms started prickling with sweat and his heart rate quickened. This was his worst idea for a date yet. He quickly looked back down at his feet to stop from discouraging himself any further. This was for the Skanks. It was all for the Skanks.

Blaine was already nearing the ticket booth so Kurt jogged after him. His green and blue striped tank top was sticky with sweat against his chest and his blue trunks were loose and airy. His flip flops slapped against the tiled ground, splashing in little puddles of water. The satchel hooked on his shoulder bumped lightly against his side as he ran. Blaine had worn a green Henley tee and bright, blue trunks with his unruly hair free of gel. Kurt wondered what it looked like when completely wet.

"Two tickets for Sidewinder Blast, please," Blaine said to the ticket seller. In the glassed booth was a woman with dark hair and a bang just shy of her eyebrows. She wore a teal polo shirt with the Caribbean Cove monogram of a cave on the sands of a beach with a dolphin in mid-air. She was chewing a gum loudly and obscenely. No, not chewing. Popping. Kurt felt a Chicago song from the musical coming on.

She moved lazily to retrieve the tickets when like a little child, Blaine lit up and shouted, "Oh no wait!" She glared at him, stuck the gum out of her mouth and went back to popping. "What's that gold card for?"

"The Gold Card gives you the ability to try every single ride without having to return to the ticket booth over and over again. It's cheap and very convenient for families who plan on staying for long hours," she recited in an even lazier drawl. Her pink gum appeared in front of her teeth and disappeared again. Kurt found himself instantly annoyed by it.

Blaine turned to Kurt, all ecstatic and shit. "Can we buy it Kurt? Please!"

And what a big, horrible monster Kurt would be for denying him. "No. I don't think we have enough time for that."

The brunette's face fell. "Come on. I bet you don't have anything to do for the rest of the day. It's only ten rides anyways!"

"Seventeen actually," the girl corrected, "and an eighteenth is under construction."

"Blaine, we shouldn't-"

"It's only fifty dollars a person you know," she drawled.

"We'll take it," Blaine announced without seeking acquiescence from Kurt. By the time he was about to protest Blaine had already slipped the money through the slot in the glass window and was receiving two gold guards with silver, adjustable chains.

"Blaine, I said no-" But the stupid girl was tapping the window behind the sign that said NO REFUNDS in red, bold letters with a smug, satisfied smirk on her face. Her cheeks moved as she popped her gum. Kurt bristled but said nothing. He cursed once in front of Blaine already and it wouldn't exactly be an accomplishment to do it again on their second date. Wordlessly he followed Blaine to the drop-off area to safeguard their bags. The man in charge had salt-and-pepper hair, a grey beard and tired, droopy eyes. Were all the people here lazy bastards? This guy was probably thirty and with a little black dye, a weight-loss program and some kind of reconstructive surgery to lift his eyes and get rid of that double, no wait, triple chin and he'd be more pleasing to look at.

Kurt slid his satchel across the table and Blaine his backpack. The guy picked the bags up and threw them haphazardly into a compartment.

"The fu-" He stopped himself in time. "Thank you for being gentle," Kurt said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

The man spared Kurt a glance. “Your hands please.” They placed their hands on the counter and watched as he took out a stamp and turned the dial to 40. He stamped Blaine's wrist and Kurt was pretty sure he stamped his extra hard. Kurt turned away, disgusted and then a waft of breeze floated by with the smell of food on it. Salty fries, greasy fried chicken, cholesterol-filled chili hotdogs - his mouth watered at just the thought of it.

"Hey, how about we get some food first?" Kurt asked, already turning towards the food court.

But either Blaine didn't hear or he ignored him and took Kurt by the hand to begin pulling him along. "This is gonna be so awesome, Kurt!" Blaine said over his shoulder. The crowd of people made it hard to maneuver but Blaine never let go of his hand. A handsome boy passed by, his ridged abs gleaming and wet from the water, his dirty blonde hair slick and falling into his eyes. The boy pushed it back and met Kurt's eyes. Kurt winked at him but he turned up his nose. Kurt flipped him the finger. "-swim, right?"

He had stopped walking and was looking at Kurt, waiting for him to answer. "What?" Kurt asked. "Sorry, I was fascinated by the rides."

The kid smiled. At that angle the sun was directly behind him and made Blaine's body glow a golden, brown color and his hair looked like they were dusted with light brown speckles of sunlight. He really was handsome, Kurt decided. They started walking again and eventually came to the first ride. The steps to the top looked more than fifty feet high, or maybe he was just over-exaggerating.

Nope, it was definitely more than fifty feet high.

Kurt's bravery faltered. "Shouldn't we go in the pool for a little bit first? Get ourselves accustomed to the temperature of the water before going on the rides, if you know what I mean."

Blaine shrugged. "Sure. A ten-second dip is cool." In Kurt's mind, he expected them to be there for ten minutes to three hours.

They rounded the ride and Kurt went in the water first, descending small steps into the shallow area. Behind him, Blaine followed. He waded out into the water until it was chest-high and then floated over to the side to hold on so he wouldn't be bombarded by the fear of his feet suddenly lifting off the ground. Blaine stayed in the center of the water, his hands moving gently to keep his body afloat. He was looking at Kurt curiously.

"Can you swim?" Blaine asked.

Kurt's heart did a little two-step and his face flushed red. "I can't actually. Never got the time too and I had no one to teach me."

"Oh." Blaine looked down into the light blue of the water, his brows furrowed and deep in thought. "Can you float?" Kurt shook his head and when he did, Blaine beamed. "Let me teach you then."

Kurt knew exactly where this was going and started rejecting it before Blaine even made his way over to him. "I know what you're thinking Blaine and the answer is no! I don't want to learn how to float, thank you very much."

"But we're in a water amusement park, Kurt!" Blaine said coyly. He was getting closer, and fast. "You should at least know how to get back to the surface."

"I know what to do already!" Kurt yelled and tried moving to the side, away from Blaine. He cursed under his breath at the slow rate he was moving at, the water pushing him back. "Kick with your legs and flap your arms."

Blaine's laughter reached him, nearer now. Kurt looked back and saw that the boy was enjoying the cat and mouse chase, purposefully moving slow to give Kurt the idea that he was moving fast. "If you're trying to fly, sure. But what about when you resurface? How do you plan to get to the end of the pool?"

He honestly hadn't thought of that and was relying on some kind of natural momentum to push him towards the edge of the pool. He now realized how stupid that sounded. One of the base of the rides was submerged in this pool and Kurt found relief in hiding behind the plastic structure. It was the lowest level, and an acrylic glass structure rose behind him and the shadow over his head was formed by a floating pool, connecting to the third level above. Kurt wondered how many levels there were and was so occupied thinking he didn't see that Blaine was trying to move stealthily through the water to sneak up on him.

He threw his body into the water with a splash and tried bouncing away but no matter how much he bounced, he didn't move any faster. Blaine's curls were damp and stuck to his forehead and it was then Kurt saw that he had taken off his shirt. A tuft of brown hair, so light it was barely visible, dusted his upper chest and there were no visible signs of serious working out except for the natural biceps of his arms. Kurt envisioned himself holding on to those biceps, his fingers digging into them as Blaine thrusted away inside him-

Blaine had sprung at that last moment, thinking that Kurt was luring him by using false stagnancy. He bowled Kurt over and the both of them plunged under the water, Kurt's hands reaching up to grab onto any part of Blaine instinctively. He swallowed a mouthful of water through his mouth and the bitter taste of chlorine gagged him. Automatically he breathed in and the cold water through his nose burned his lungs and nostrils. He could see above him the shimmering image of the sun on the surface of the water and feel a heavy weight pushing him lower, deeper. A lone figure was standing on the side of the pool, dressed all in black and watching down at him. He reached up his hand for help but the person turned and walked away. Then there was a hard motion in the water that sent ripples around him and suddenly he was rising, rising toward the surface-

Kurt broke through and drew breath sharply through his mouth. He coughed and wheezed as the water in his lungs forced its way up. Blaine was there behind him, patting him on the back and telling him to breathe and swallow, breathe and swallow but his brain must have been swamped with water too because saying it was easier than actually doing it. Breathe and swallow processed as choke and splutter. It took several minutes for him to calm down but the experience under the water felt like hours.

Blaine, the cunt, was laughing. Kurt pushed him away angrily and shouted, "That wasn't funny Blaine! You could have killed me!" Blaine's laughter died away. He looked confused.

"Kurt, we only spent like two seconds under the water..."

His nose was burning and his chest still ached. Two seconds? Was he fucking serious?

"Kurt, are you okay?" He came closer and Kurt had to bite his lip from cursing him and fight back his body's natural instinct to push Blaine away from coming closer. Physical contact always made things worse.

"I'm fine," he bit. Blaine left Kurt to himself for a while to calm down and regain his composure. Kurt was thankful for the space and wrapped his arms around his chest, the cold air biting into his skin now registering. Underneath the water had felt so long, so familiar like if he had such a god-awful experience already that he couldn't remember or his brain had blocked out as a defense mechanism. And the weight pushing him down probably wasn't even Blaine if they had resurfaced in two seconds. Not to mention the person standing on the bank of the pool which would have been impossible since all there was was the clear, glass barrier. A voice was telling him to remember, but remember what? He was in desperate need of a smoke right about now. He should have snorted some coke before coming here to give him the courage to go through with this.

He chewed his bottom lip. They only spent about ten minutes there and already he had a near death experience. But he couldn't give up, not yet.

He looked up at Blaine who was staring at anything but him. "I'm being a real joykill here, aren't I?" He laughed half-heartedly.

"It's ok," Blaine said with a small smile. "We all have our fears." Kurt was going to correct him but gave it a second thought. Was he really that afraid of the water? "Do you want to go home?" Kurt was taken aback. He stared long and hard at Blaine and the sincerity in the kid of the sacrifice he was willing to make inspired a funny feeling in his chest. An emotion of some kind. It made him not want to deny Blaine his fun.

"Don't worry about me, Curly-Q." The nickname spilled from his mouth without any thought or disregard and he instantly regretted it. Luckily, Blaine only smiled.

"I get that a lot, especially from Sue," he said.

Kurt cringed. A nickname from Sue wasn't a nickname at all - it was an insult. "I think I'll just stick to Blaine." He tugged at his tank top. "So..." He felt heat rising in his cheeks. "About floating...?"

Blaine's lips turned up. "Come on." He held Kurt's hand, their fingers clasping together. Kurt liked the way his hand fit in Blaine's. They waded out of the shadow of the ride and floating pool. He heard the splash and felt a little spray as someone flew off one of the rides and landed. They walked past 6ft in the pool and as soon as he reached 7ft, he realized the ground fell away beneath him and panic kicked in. He pulled back, tugging on Blaine's hand. Blaine looked at him, those brown eyes staring fixedly at his face and kept pulling Kurt. His feet lifted off and he kicked, trying to get closer to Blaine. There was nothing beneath his feet besides deceiving water. He pushed and kicked then threw his arms around Blaine's neck and held on for dear life.

"Oh my God," he breathed. He felt Blaine's feet kicking in the water, his moving hands somehow keeping both of them afloat. Then he became aware of how close he was to the brunette's face. They were actually breathing the same air! Kurt turned his head and noted with a shock that their lips were just a hair's breadth away from each other. Then again, why was he even shocked? It wasn't as though he never came this close to Blaine before. He leaned forward and connected their lips, sliding his tongue into Blaine's open mouth. He tilted his head so their lips slid perfectly together, in a soft, sensual motion that made his nerves tingle. Their kiss was slow, languid, and Kurt wished it could have lasted longer if it wasn't for an incessant ringing noise that cut through the tranquil air surrounding him.

Blaine pulled back first and turned his head sharply to the left. The lifeguard was crouching down at the side of the pool, a red whistle in his mouth blowing profusely. Kurt realized he was the guy he winked at earlier.

"Excuse me, but this is a family-oriented park," he said. Even his voice was sexy, like the lifeguards on Baywatch. "Public display of affection is not allowed, or else I would be forced to remove you from the area." Kurt removed his hands from around Blaine's neck and floated away so there were a couple of inches between their bodies.

"Happy?" Kurt said indignantly. The lifeguard nodded, got up and walked away. "Ugh. I bet if I was a girl no one would have said anything. Homophobic motherf-" He sighed in agitation. It was becoming harder and harder not to curse.

Blaine shook his head as though he was just waking up. "We were treading water...right." He took Kurt's hands and paddled farther away from him. He didn’t know what treading was but he hoped it was a lot easier than floating. "Place your hands flat on top of mine." Kurt did as told. Blaine's firm hands kept Kurt floating. "Now start kicking your feet but when you're doing it, make sure your toes are pointed."

"Wouldn't I catch cramp easier that way?" he asked.

The kid shrugged. "Never happened to me." Kurt went ahead with it and started kicking his legs furiously. Blaine started laughing. "You're not angry at the water, Kurt! Make it gentle, smooth-"

"Like that kiss?" Kurt hinted. He smiled proudly as Blaine bent his head and blushed.

"Yeah, I guess." Kurt slowed down his "angry" kicking and tried for gentle and smooth. Blaine nodded and said he was doing great.

"Keep your hands on mine. I'm going to teach you the motion to keep your body afloat." Blaine moved his hands farther apart and to the side, Kurt's hands on top his following. Then he plunged them sharply down into the water and up again in a circular motion. He did this several times so Kurt would get accustomed. "I'm going to pull away my hands n-"

"Wait wait!" Kurt panicked. "I'm not ready yet! Don't let go, okay?" He stared wide-eyed at Blaine and the boy smiled gently.

"I'll catch you if your sinking, Kurt. I'm right here."

Kurt hated the babyish voice Blaine used with him, and hated even more how dependent he was on him. His words sounded immature and weak to his own ears, much less to Blaine. He was acting like such a coward when he'd done more dangerous and death-defying things. He swallowed and allowed Blaine to slide his hands from under his. When his support was gone, the initial reaction was to kick furiously and flap his arms wildly and then his body started sinking and the water was rising up, suffocating him, crushing his lungs-

Strong hands held his waist and rose him back up. He was breathing heavily, like you could have sworn he just went under. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Kurt apologized profusely, angry with himself for being so weak. "I don't know what's wrong with me!" Blaine shh-ed him and told him it was natural for first timers to be so scared of sinking. It wasn't normal for someone to immediately become accustomed to water, especially knowing that drowning leads to death.

"Treading water is harder than it looks. The doggy paddle is much easier though."

"Ok," Kurt said confidently. "I like the sound of that better." Blaine moved behind him and placed him in a half crouch in the water.

"Reach forward with your hands, as though you’re trying to bring the water towards you." He lined up his forearm with Kurt's and followed through with the motion. Kurt picked up easily and again was aware of the weight of Blaine's chest pressed against his back. "Paddle your legs like I just told you." He repeated the action. "And that's the doggy paddle." Blaine moved away from behind Kurt and left him there. Kurt started laughing then, amazed that he wasn't sinking and drowning like he expected. With the hand and leg motion he felt his body begin to move forward and then he was turning and paddling back to the side of the pool, then back to Blaine again. Halfway there his legs and hands started getting tired. He kicked and paddled then threw himself on Blaine to stop from sinking.

Blaine caught him by the arms, laughing. "That was cute." Kurt rose a brow at him but said nothing. No one ever called him cute. Hot, yeah. Sexy, sure. But never cute. "Are you ready for the rides yet?" He was all smiles by then and was already heading towards the edge of the pool ahead of Blaine.

*o*o*o*

The second worst mistake Kurt had ever made in his life was riding the Deep Abyss. It reached a staggering height of eighty feet, rising intimidatingly up and up as though it wanted to touch the sky. It had taken them a good ten minutes just to reach to the top of the damn thing, and now Blaine expected him to go down?!

"Fuck no!" Kurt cursed without thinking. "No way in fucking hell am I going down that insane piece of shit, Blaine!"

The brunette's face registered complete shock at the crude language and Kurt was almost sure he had scared him but the expression was overridden by the impulse to laugh. Blaine tried to keep his mouth closed but his lips trembled and the laughter burst out of him, doubling him over and making him hold onto the railing for support. The landing they stood on had no roof, to make things worse and the guy manning the ride was half asleep on himself on a wooden chair. From up on that height, the world below spread out around him beautifully from east to west, north to south. The houses were minute and far away and if he squinted one eye and held up his hand, he could place his finger on the tip of a faraway mountain, just so. The people below were walking ants with specks of color on them. The pools were circles of blue placed at random intervals and the other rides were no match for the Deep Abyss.

Looking down made things in his stomach churn and roil and threaten to come back up. The pool they would land in looked so small and useless, like if he threw himself off now he wouldn't land anywhere near it. The fear of falling on the hard, tiled floor, cracking his skull in two and breaking every bone of his body over-rode his thoughts. The image of his blood-spattered body on the ground, splattered across the tiles like a splash of red and white paint, his bones and flesh thrown in random directions. A lump in his throat made it hard to swallow and Kurt took an automatic step back, then another, and collided into Blaine's chest.

He spun around quickly and then wished he hadn't put the deep fall behind him. He understood why it was called Deep Abyss now. His hands flew up to grip Blaine's biceps and his heart fluttered when he felt the hard muscles beneath his fingers. He squeezed and tried not to smile. He glanced down and saw the small pudge of his stomach. He wasn't surprised that there were no hard-packed muscles there. He resisted the urge to touch it. When he looked at Blaine's face, the brunette was looking down at him with this funny expression on his face, a mixture between awe and admiration and the kind of look you got when you saw a puppy with milk smeared on its whiskers and muzzle.

"What?" Kurt asked, annoyed.

But Blaine just shook his head. "Nothing. Ready to go?"

Kurt gasped. "Of course not! Was the voicing of my evident displeasure unheard or something? Because I believe I said it pretty loud for the whole damn world to know! I am not going on that ride, Blaine! It should be called Insano for insane adrenaline junkies who like this shit!"

"Actually, Insano is the tallest water slide in the world in Brazil at 134.5ft." Kurt tilted his head to the side and saw that a random guy in a white vest, grey and green trunks and a slim, lightly muscled body had spoken. His head was a mess of wet blonde curls.

"You're not helping," he replied through gritted teeth and tilted his head forward. Blaine held onto Kurt's wrist and removed them from his biceps. He spun Kurt around to face his impending doom and wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist. The pressure on his back was oddly reassuring.

"Have you ever wished you could fly, Kurt?" Blaine whispered in his ear. He took one step forward and forced Kurt's leg forward too. Kurt pressed his body firmly against Blaine's back.

"Blaine, don't-" he warned, but the boy ignored him.

"Have you?"

Kurt rolled his eyes but answered anyways. "Yeah, maybe when I was smaller. Every kid has that phase, along with the teacher phase too."

"Have you ever dreamed of yourself flying? Flying away from here, from everything. Have you ever felt like this world was a cage and you were a bird that belonged in the wild trying to get out? And then one day the cage is left mysteriously open and the world is stretched out beyond you, above you, beneath you, the opportunity just begging to be taken and all you have to do is spread your wings and-"

Kurt didn't notice that they were at the edge of the slide now because his eyes were glued to the horizon and his mind occupied with the thought of soaring over it all. "-fly". A rush of air, a whirling of wind and the sound of crashing waves in his ears and Kurt was flying off the edge, falling off the Deep Abyss with his voice lost to the wind.