“So that was your first transformation?”

�

“Yeah.� My dad – he didn’t notice.� I mean, I was six.� I had no… immediately noticeable body parts by that point.� And he didn’t notice the change in hair color.� Partially because he was panicked, and partially because it just got covered in mud and stuff.� But when the doctor was looking me over, he obviously noticed.

�

“He went out to talk to my mom and dad, asking them about what my charts said – about being a boy.� He wasn’t sure if it was a typo or if I was changing or intersexed or what.� But of course, they insisted that I was a boy.� Of course I was a boy.� Their darling baby boy.� Why was the doctor asking such a foolish question?� Why wouldn’t he let them see me?� Why would nobody tell them what was going on?� You can imagine their panic.”

�

Blaine nods.

�

“I wasn’t allowed to leave the hospital until everything was figured out.� Those first few days, they ran so many tests.� So many tests.� I don’t think they let me sleep for about two days straight.� I was constantly being poked and prodded and listened to and observed and just-“� He stops again, drawing in a tight breath.� “I felt like some freak.� I was scared, and nobody would tell me what they were doing – and I just wanted my mom to come in and cuddle me and take me home and let me sleep in my own bed.� But there was a team of doctors trying to figure out why all of a sudden I wasn’t the Kurt Hummel that my parents had raised for six years.� I mean, in personality I was.� Nothing had changed there.� But it – I was clearly no longer male.

�

“But finally on the morning of the third day, there was a breakthrough.� I was only six, so I didn’t have oily hair or anything to worry about, so hygiene had really been the last of their concerns.� If anything, they would give me sponge baths.� But that morning, they decided that I could shower.� I had to have a nurse help me – I was still weak from the time I had gone without oxygen when I was under – but I would get cleaner that way, so they finally agreed.”

�

He gestures to the shower beside them.� “I was going to shower before you knocked.� I was hoping I could jump in before you came after me, but you were faster than I anticipated.”

�

“That explains the nakedness, I suppose,” Blaine says, the hint of a smile dancing on his lips.

�

Kurt chuckles, a nervous, light sound.� “Yeah.� But like – like I said earlier, showers are the fastest way to change back.� Which we found out then.� Because as soon as the nurse ushered me into the stream of water, I – ahh, changed back.”

�

“Can I – ask a question?”

�

“I believe you just did.”

�

Blaine rolls his eyes fondly.� “Glad to see that even in the midst of an emotional moment, you can’t resist a moment to tease me.”

�

“You make it too easy, love,” he says, leaning over to press his lips to Blaine’s.� It takes him a second to realize what he’s done, and he pulls back quickly, fumbling over his words.� “I’m sorry – I didn’t – it’s just… it’s instinct, and I didn’t-“

�

“Kurt, breathe.”� Blaine releases his hand, moving to grip his shoulders tightly.� “I promise, it’s fine.� I love you.� I told you that.� I have loved you and I love you now and I will love you – weird… genderbending curses be damned.� You’re still the same Kurt you always have been.� This doesn’t change a thing.”

�

It takes Kurt a moment to calm down, but eventually he looks back up at Blaine with a shaky smile.� “You – uhm… you had a question for me?”

�

“Right, right.”� He removes his hands from Kurt’s shoulders, resting them in his lap instead.� “So this whole – changing process.� How long does it take?”

�

He thinks for a moment.� “Uhm, a minute or so?� Maybe a bit longer.� It’s not immediate.� And I’ve noticed that it’s a bit longer to go from female to male than it is to change the first time.� I don’t know why, though.”

�

“And you – they never figured out why this happens?”

�

Kurt shakes his head for what feels like the millionth time.� “No.� All they know is that it has something to do with the water in that place, but not why it made this happen or how it’s possible or any of that.� It shouldn’t be possible.� Medically, this should be impossible.� It’s – God, it sounds like some sort of messed up fairy tale.� Which would add an extra level of irony to the fact that Azimio and his cronies call me ‘fairy’ if it were actually a fairy tale, but this is the real world.� Things like this aren’t supposed to happen.� Magic, spells, curses – none of that stuff exists.� And yet here I am.”

�

“Here you are.”

�

He looks up at Blaine.� “You’re – being remarkably calm about this.”

�

“I’m just trying to process everything.� It’s – I mean, you have to admit, it’s a lot to take in.”

�

Kurt looks down at his lap, fingers twirling mindlessly over the hem of his swim trunks.� “You – if you need to go, you can.� I know you said you weren’t, but if you… if you need time to think about things, just tell me.”

�

“No.� No, I’m fine.� I just – I’m trying to make sure that I understand as much of this as I can.� So, to recap: You fell into a lake and almost drowned.� When you woke up in the hospital, you were a girl.� And it turns out that cold water turns you into a girl, and hot water changes you back.� And you don’t know why.”

�

“I think that about sums it up, yes.” Blaine stays silent, and Kurt just watches him.� “Please say something?”

�

Blaine eventually looks up at him, his eyes shining.� “Take a shower with me?”

�

Kurt just blinks, staring back at him.� “You, uhm – what?”

�

“Take a shower.� With me.� You have to take one anyway to change back, right?” Blaine says, presenting the idea like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

�

“Well, yes.� But we’ve never...” he trails off before clearing his throat.� “We’ve never… done that before.� Are you sure you want the first time to be when I’m not – you know…”

�

Blaine smiles softly.� “This is a part of you.� It’s not something that’s going away, right?� And I’m not going away.� I’m not… afraid of this side of you.� I want to see you.”

�

There is a long moment of silence as Kurt considers it.� Finally, in a quiet voice, he says, “But everyone is still just outside.”

�

“I’m sure they’re eating by now.� They’ll be busy for a while, right?”

�

Kurt falls silent again.

�

“Please?”

�

He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and stands slowly, shrugging the towel off his shoulders.� After folding the towel – admittedly a bit haphazardly – he brings his hands the waistband of Blaine’s swim trunks.� “If we’re doing this, then you… you first.”

�

Blaine nods, leaning forward to kiss Kurt’s cheek fondly.� “Go ahead.”

�

With slightly shaking hands, Kurt unties the suit and hooks his thumbs under the waist.� He freezes then, lips pursed nervously.

�

“You’re sure?” he asks, giving him one last chance to leave, if he so desires.

�

Instead of replying, Blaine places his hands gently on top of Kurt’s and pushes, helping him remove the fabric until it pools around his ankles and he can step out of it.� He brings his forehead to Kurt’s, resting them together.� “Are you okay?”

�

Kurt nods slowly, but pulls away a second later.� “Can you, uhm – can you turn the water on?� Pretty hot.”

�

“Are you going to-?”

�

Kurt nods again, effectively cutting him off.� “Just – don’t look?”

�

Blaine agrees, and then he turns his back to Kurt.� As he leans down to turn the water on, Kurt pulls the still-damp gray shirt over his head.� Blaine sticks his hand into the stream of water, testing the temperature and fiddling with the nobs, trying to get the water hot enough to do the intended job.

�

Just as Blaine turns the shower head on, Kurt shrugs out of his suit, leaving him standing there naked behind him.

�

But Blaine doesn’t turn back around.

�

“What do you want me to do?” he asks.

�

Kurt swallows, his arms crossed self-consciously over his chest.� “Uhm – go ahead and get in.� Face the water.� I’ll… I’ll get in behind you.”

�

“Alright,” he says.� Silently, he pulls the shower curtain back and steps inside, leaving Kurt standing alone in the bathroom.