Blaine digs through his dresser drawer as he talks. “Come on. This won’t be as bad. She said there would be no alcohol involved.”

“That may almost be worse,” he mumbles.

“Which one?” Blaine holds up a pair of swim trunks in each hand.

As if on autopilot, Kurt points to the pair in his right hand. “This does not mean I concede to your horrible plan, though.” He sighs. “Seriously, what makes you think this is a good idea? A bunch of teenagers and grilling – fire, Blaine, teenagers and fire – and an outdoor pool. In Ohio. It’s bound to be cold.”

“It’ll be fun! It’s the last few days we have before our senior year starts. Shouldn’t we enjoy them? I mean,” he begins, walking over to Kurt and draping his arms across his shoulders, “this is our last year together – the entire group. Then everyone splits up for college. Our time together as a group is limited.”

Kurt takes a deep breath, his shoulders sagging slightly. “I just… I really don’t like swimming, and I don’t know what else there will be to do, you know? Can’t we just – all go see a movie next week or something?”

Blaine leans in and kisses him slowly, eventually pulling back just enough that they aren’t technically kissing anymore despite their lips still brushing together as they talk. “You know most of the girls won’t swim either. You can lounge about with them and look irresistible.”

He hums in agreeance. “What fun is it looking irresistible if you won’t act on it?”

“Who says I won’t?” Blaine all but growls back, sliding his hands from Kurt’s shoulders down to the small of his back – just low enough to tease.

With a sigh, Kurt asks, “When are we supposed to show up?”

Blaine simply grins triumphantly before crushing their lips together again.

----------------------

The ride over to Rachel’s is a bit tense. Kurt shifts nervously in his seat, staring wistfully out the window, fingers idly playing with the corner of the towel sitting on his lap.

Blaine’s driving, singing along loudly to some top 40 hit on the radio. After a moment, he glances over at Kurt, wondering why he isn’t singing as well. His eyebrows furrow together and he asks, “Are you okay?”

This startles Kurt back to reality, and he snaps his head around to look at Blaine, his eyes wide. “Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“If you really, really don’t want to do this, we can still turn around. It’s just – you look upset.”

Kurt sighs. “I’m fine. I just don’t like pools. It’s okay.” He gives Blaine a small smile, trying to be reassuring. “Like you said, I’ll just lay out with Mercedes and the other girls. I haven’t talked to them much recently anyway.”

“You sure? We can still turn around.”

He reaches over and grabs Blaine’s hand, threading their fingers together. “I’m sure. It’ll be fine, right? It’ll be okay.”

“Why does it sound like you’re trying to reassure yourself more than me?” Blaine asks.

“Probably because I am.”

“Are you – afraid of swimming? Do you not know how?”

“So many questions,” Kurt mumbles.

Blaine squeezes his hand. “I’m just trying to understand. I don’t want to push you into something that’s going to freak you out or anything. I don’t want to be that guy, you know?” He runs his free hand quickly through his hair before grabbing the steering wheel again. “Goodness knows we’ve both had enough of that in the past.”

Kurt exhales slowly, smiling softly over at Blaine. “You could never be that guy, Blaine. I know you have nothing but the best of intentions.”

“Will you tell me what it is, then?”

Kurt swallows. He could. He could tell him now and Blaine would apologize for pushing the party. He’d probably turn around and take them back to his house where they would curl up and watch a movie, lounging together on Blaine’s couch in comfortable, safe silence.

Instead, he just says, “Chlorine’s bad for your skin, that’s all. It dries me out. It takes days to recover.”

Blaine chuckles softly. “Oh. Is that all?”

Kurt nods, his stomach knotting up with guilt. “That’s all.”

Someday.