Kurt and Blaine sprang apart, and Kurt lost his footing and went down into the surf again.  Before his head could go under for more than a few seconds, Blaine caught him once more in his arms, and Kurt held onto Blaine as he gasped and sputtered. 

"You all right there, kiddo?"  Burt asked. 

Kurt wiped a shaky hand over his face and nodded, "Yeah, Dad.  Dad, this is Blaine Anderson."  Kurt gestured to Burt, "Blaine, this is my dad, Burt Hummel."

"Its nice to meet you, sir," Blaine extended his right hand while keeping his left arm wrapped around Kurts waist, completely unselfconscious about their closeness.  Kurt, however, was torn between wanting to put a mile of distance between Blaine and him under his Dads watchful squint and wanting to press even closer to Blaine.    

"Blaines teaching me how to swim," Kurt answered his dads earlier question rather belatedly. 

"Ah," said Burt, "I guess that explains why I saw you holding onto him like a koala on one of those trees."

"Eucalyptus, Dad," Kurt filled in, reluctantly letting go of Blaine and stepping out of his touch. 

"It was my fault," Blaine explained with a rueful expression.  "I wasnt watching the surf as well as I should, and Kurt was hit by a big wave.  I had to pull him out of the water." 

"Dont beat yourself up, kid.  I tried teaching him to swim when he was little," Burt said to Blaine.  "I almost didnt survive that." 

Blaine chuckled, "Well, Im only teaching him to float.  At least that way he can enjoy the water." 

"Do you live around here?" Burt asked.

"He lives in the house next door," Kurt supplied, and when Blaine gave him a surprised look, Kurt realized his error.  There was no way to recover, so he simply pressed his lips together.  Maybe Blaine would forget to ask.  

"Youre staying in Ed Rumseys house?" Blaine asked, "I thought he went to Marakesh."

"He lent us the house," Kurt responded, desperately hoping that Burt would say something before Blaine asked how Kurt knew where he lived. 

Kurt must have been very good in a former life because Burt said, "Speaking of the house, Carole and I are headed back.  Are you coming?" 

Kurt opened his mouth to respond.  Then he realized that he wasnt sure.  He looked awkwardly at Blaine.  He didnt really want to go, but there was no reason to stay if Blaine was going back to surfing.  And, really, why wouldnt he?  Maybe Kurt had imagined that Blaine was about to kiss him. 

"Well," Kurt began, "Maybe I should..."

"No, Kurt," Blaine interrupted, "We were just getting started."

Boy, you can say that again, Kurt thought, and he prayed that his dad would mistake his blush for sunburn. 

"I think Ill stay a while longer," Kurt said to his Dad. 

Burt squinted at them and then nodded, "You boys be careful," he admonished, and Kurt had the distinct impression that he wasnt just talking about swimming. 

"Yes, sir," said Blaine.  "Its nice to meet you, sir."

"You, too," Burt replied with a small head jerk, and Kurt noticed that Burt didnt ask Blaine to stop calling him "sir." 

"Well expect you for dinner," Burt said to Kurt, and then he walked out to the beach where Carole was waiting. 

Kurt gave Carole a wave goodbye, and he watched as Burt and she walked away from the water and disappeared over a dune.  Then he looked at Blaine. 

"Do you need to rest, or do you want to try some new things?" Blaine asked, and Kurt began to wonder if everything Blaine said was a double entendre. 

"Something new, I think."

Blaine gave him a smile that outshone the sun.  "Okay." 

-s-

Blaine and Kurt spent the next few hours cavorting in the sea.  Blaine taught Kurt to surf, and with Kurts agility and strength, he was a quick study, although he still tended to panic when he lost the board and fell into the water.  Blaine continued to touch Kurt, using his hands to move Kurts limbs into better position or to stabilize him, but he didnt try to kiss him again, and Kurt began to wonder if he had imagined the moment, the darkening of the eyes, the hitching of the breath. 

Eventually, they were both exhausted and panting, and Blaine dragged Kurt out of the water by his hand and they both collapsed on the sandy beach.  The heat from the sand and the sun felt heavenly on Kurts water-cooled skin, as did Blaines hand that was still clutching Kurts for no good reason.  Kurt closed his eyes, just for a second to revel in all the sensory stimuli, but as soon as they shut, he was sound asleep.    

Sometime later Kurt awoke to an, "Uh oh."

Kurt opened his eyes and then squinted at the brightness, taking a moment for his eyes to come into focus.  The sound was Blaine, who was kneeling over Kurt with a concerned look, his hair backlit by the sun. 

"What?" Kurt murmured sleepily, wanting to drift back into the delicious nap from which he had been so abruptly awoken. 

"We fell asleep," said Blaine, as if that meant something. 

"Oh," replied Kurt, who was starting to wake up now, but who still couldnt see what the big deal was. 

"Your skin," said Blaine pulling back his lips and gritting his teeth. 

Oh. 

Kurt looked down at his chest, which was beet red.  Oh geez. 

"Oh, geez," he said, scrambling up. 

"Oh, Kurt.  Im so sorry."

"No, no," Kurt shook his head and made a dismissive hand gesture.  "Im sure its not that bad.  I should probably head back, though, and do...something."

This wasnt good.  Kurt was usually very careful with his skin.  He hadnt had a sunburn in years, but he still remembered how painful it was.  He walked over to his towel and gathered it up, along with his umbrella, t-shirt, and sunscreen--a fat lot of good they had done him. 

By the time he had his things, Blaine had collected his surfboard, and he fell into step beside Kurt as they walked back to their houses along the dusty beach road. 

"I had fun," Kurt told Blaine honestly.  "Thank you."

"I had fun, too," Blaine smiled.  "Im sorry about your skin."

"Its just a sunburn.  Ill recover."

"Yeah, but it just seems a shame..." Blaine bit off whatever else he was going to say.  Kurt glanced at him sideways, but Blaine had turned his head away so that Kurt couldnt see his expression. 

Blaine was a puzzle to Kurt.  He was so friendly, and there was all the touching, but maybe Blaine was just like that.  It wouldnt be the first time that Kurt has mistaken niceness for attraction.  His humiliating experiences with straight guys in high school had taught him that much.  Blaine was gay; Kurt knew that.  The Ohio show choir circuit was too small, and Ohio was too provincial for gossip like that not to trickle down.  But Kurts experience with gay guys in college was that the guys who were attracted to Kurt were never the guys Kurt was attracted to.  Well, except Adam, and apparently Kurt wasnt attractive enough for him, either. 

Kurt let out a sigh, and Blaine looked as him quizzically. 

"Oh," Kurt scrambled to make up an explanation that didnt make him sound pathetic, "I was just thinking that I wish I had packed some looser clothes."

"I like your clothes."

And there it was again. 

"Thanks," Kurt replied lamely, and Blaine said nothing. 

They reached Blaines house first, and they paused at the head of the driveway.  "You should really take a cold shower and try to cool down your skin," Blaine advised. 

"Okay," Kurt nodded.

There was an awkward pause and then Blaine said, "Well, see ya."

"See ya," said Kurt, and he picked up his feet and forced himself not to look back as he continued back toward his garage apartment.

-s-

Heeding Blaines advice, rather than returning directly to his quarters, Kurt stepped into the outdoor shower and turned on the cold water.  Stepping out of his swim trunks, he let the cool water sooth his skin and dissolve the salt.  He also realized he had sand in some unfortunate places, and he meticulously removed every grain.  He grimaced to see a horrible, swimsuit-shaped tan line on his legs and another at his waist.  He looked like a red man wearing very white shorts.  God only knew what a disaster hed made of his face.  Oh, and look, the undersides of his arms were lily white, too.  And his back. And the back of his legs.  This sunburn wasnt just painful.  It was stupid-looking. 

After Kurt turned off the water he realized he hadnt thought to retrieve a towel, so he grimaced and pulled his rinsed but sodden swim trunks back on, hissing as the fabric touched his burned legs. 

Dripping, he trudged up the stairs to his apartment, and he had just grabbed a towel when he heard a knock on the door. 

Opening it, he was stunned to see Blaine. 

Blaine held up a bottle of green gel.  "Its chilled aloe vera," he explained.  "I thought maybe I could rub some on you." 

Kurts impulse was to say, "You dont need to do that," but he realized in an instant that it would have been the single most stupid thing he would have ever, ever said.  So, instead, he stepped back and said, "Of course.  Thank you.  Come in."