"You– are– distracted– " Wes snapped, punctuating each word with a blow to Blaine's helmet padded head.

Blaine stumbled, the hands framing his face to work on his blocking getting knocked away as Wes's fist connected with his head.

"Well if you didn't keep mentioning how distracted I supposedly am, then maybe I'd stop thinking about it," Blaine snapped angrily, throwing a punch of his own.

His gloved hand rammed into Wes's shoulder and knocked the other man back onto his ass. Blaine grit his teeth in frustration and yanked one glove of with his teeth, tossed it aside and then removed the other. Having Wes constantly badgering him about his distractions was only make him lose even more focus. The more Wes mentioned Kurt or how he needed to focus the more it started to slip from Blaine's grasp.

Last night was still lingering heavily in his mind. He and Kurt had spent another amazing night together, first going out with Kurt's diving group for dinner and then returning to Blaine and Puck's room. Puck had been mysteriously absent once more and Kurt and Blaine had taken advantage of that, spending several hours together in Blaine's bed, hips rocking and mouths working slowly over each other's bodies. It was first time Blaine could ever recall feeling so intimate with another person, and for him it had been more than just sex. The entire time he'd felt like a slingshot was going off in his chest, randomly shooting his heart and stomach and making his insides feel like goo.

"You need to focus," Wes snapped, climbing to his feet, looking furious. "You're letting that guy distract you and its going to cost you the games. You're the best chance we have at a gold medal for boxing and you're just going to blow it over some stupid guy– "

"He's not just some guy," Blaine argued back, fury zapping through him. "He's– fuck."

He spun around and slammed his ungloved fist into the punching bag. Behind him Wes winced at the sharp slap and blew out a deep, frustrated breath. Blaine dropped to the ground, massaging his knuckles. Today had been the worst training session he'd had in years. He'd been missing punches, skipping parts of training routines he knew ass backwards, and more importantly he wasn't focused at all while he was working on his blocking. If he got distracted like that just once in the ring he'd be finished. He'd take a couple good blows to the face and his head would being buzzing and pounding so much he'd never recover in points.

"Look, I... I get that you don't really– have never really had a... love life," Wes sighed and plopped down next to him. "But you've been working towards this for years, Blaine. I just don't want to see you screw it up."

"I– sorry about your shoulder," Blaine mumbled, flexing his wrapped fingers carefully.

"Wh– oh, forget that," Wes waved his apology off and tugged Blaine's hand over to examine it. "Looks all right. Doesn't feel too tight or anything?"

"No, just stinging," Blaine replied. He sighed then, and brushed his sweaty curls off his forehead. "I... I do want this, Wes, so much. But w- with Kurt, I just... I don't know. There's something so... different when I'm with him," Blaine tried to explain. He tapped his chest. "It's in here and it's not at the same time. Sometimes it feels like its surrounding us or hanging in the air and if I could only just catch it or something it'd all make sense... I sound like an idiot... "

Wes was gazing at him in a way he never had before and it unnerved Blaine. It was as though Wes had figured something out that Blaine couldn't yet.

"You sound like you're falling in love," Wes corrected quietly. He buried his face in his hands and groaned. "Christ, why do you have to pick the worst times for this?" When he looked up and caught sight of Blaine's expression he added, "Not that I'm not happy for you, yanno, but just– the matches, Blaine. You've got to focus on them, and then focus on Kurt when you aren't training or fighting."

Wes stood up and helped Blaine to his feet. "Just take the rest of the day. Think about all of this, and figure some way to either use this to help you focus or find a way to block it off, because if you don't– " Wes broke off, looking pained at the thought. "Just get your head on straight, okay?"

Blaine nodded, and promised to do so. Maybe he'd talk this over with Kurt and figure something out. After all Kurt seemed completely able to focus during his competition yesterday. There had to be some secret he could share to help Blaine out.

"And don't spend all day drooling over him in that Speedo!" Wes hollered after his retreating back.

Feeling slightly guilty that he was, in fact, heading straight to Kurt's competition, Blaine ducked into the locker room quickly and changed. If Kurt had some helpful advice then he'd feel less guilty. But if he ended up doing what Wes had just said, and then spending the night having fantastic sex well... Wes didn't need to know that.

There was just enough time before Kurt's semi-final for Blaine to run back to his room, drop off his bag, and shower. When he was cleaned up and dressed, Blaine wandered back into the hall, pulling his phone from his pocket as he went. He was just about to text Kurt when two pairs of arms were flung around him and together hoisted him off the ground.

"Blainey!" Brittany squealed in his ear, shaking him up and down with the aid of her beach volleyball partner and girlfriend, Santana.

"Looking sharp, Hobbit," Santana commented as they set him back on the ground. She looked over his jeans, sweater, and neatly styled hair. "At least you didn't put your gel helmet on. Just the sight of that thing makes me nauseous."

"It's better than the static afro I usually have," Blaine reminded her, self-consciously patting his curls. "This– it does look all right, doesn't it?"

Brittany smiled brightly at him and tugged at a stray curl dangling on his forehead. "They're my favorite thing about you," she informed him happily. "When I see them I know you're a unicorn, and when you hide them you aren't."

Santana smiled at Brittany and linked her arm through the blond girl's. Blaine nodded slowly at Brittany's words, still not entirely used to the strange woman. They'd actually met back in high school, after Puck had been released from juvie and had joined the boxing club that Blaine was part of. He hadn't seen much of the two girls since then, not until the trails for the Olympics had started last year. The two had started dating in high school and gone to the same college in California, Brittany for dance and Santana for vocal performance, only to discover what an incredible team they made on the beach. They worked seamlessly together, and had actually beaten the two women who had won gold at Beijing and Athens.

"You're going to see that wanky boy," Santana said suddenly. "you're awfully dressed up for sex, though."

"I– we aren't– he's got a competition today," Blaine stammered, stepping around them and heading towards the elevator.

"Oh, Sebastian didn't mention you two being smitten enough for that," Santana replied, following after him. Brittany skipped up on his right side to join them. "So has he fucked you hard yet? I bet you'd love that– "

Embarrassed, Blaine jabbed his finger against the down button to call the elevator and ignored the question.

"Don't turn so red, Blaine," Brittany scolded. "You'll turn into one of those ninety-nine red balloons and your head will pop off and fly away."

"Uh huh," Blaine agreed absentmindedly, stabbing his finger against the button again.

"I want to see this British piece of ass you're banging," Santana decided suddenly.

The elevator door chimed and then slid open. Blaine was yanked into it by Santana, Brittany hopping after them and hitting the button for the ground floor.

"What– you don't– it's really nothing exciting," Blaine tried to tell her, but Santana wasn't having any of his attempts to dissuade her.

"We're going with you," Santana said flatly. "If you're going to fall head over heels for some Brit then I at least get to meet him when he's jumping off springboards with his dick flopping around in his Speedo."

A wave of anxiety crashed over Blaine at her determination. It was that he didn't like Santana, it was just that she could be very... well, blunt. He really didn't want Kurt to get offended by some of the things she might say. Brittany was easy enough to explain away with just a hopeless look, but Santana could cause a lot of problems for him.

The walk over to the Aquatic Centre was filled with a lot of sexual questions from Santana as her and Brittany skipped along at his side. Blaine found himself answering all of her questions in the vain hope that if he told Santana enough then she wouldn't pester Kurt or come off as rude.

They flashed their passes at the entrance, and waded through the thick crowd towards the section Blaine had sat at yesterday. There were a lot more people here today, Blaine realized as they finally pushed through and headed to the top. Kurt's diving teammates were already seated up there, and when they spotted Blaine they waved him over.

"Oy, Anderson! Up here, mate!"

Waving at them, Blaine motioned for Brittany and Santana to follow him up to the group.

"Hey," Blaine greeted, sliding onto the bench beside Quinn. Of the group she was the one he'd talked to and gotten along best with. "This is Brittany and Santana," he introduced as the two women dropped down on his other side.

Before any of Kurt's teammates could say a word, Santana turned to them, plastered on a bright smile and asked, "So do any of you have dimensions of this Kurt guy's dick? Blaine refuses to talk, and I need to know so I don't buy him a dildo bigger than what Kurt's packing."

The diving team snorted with laughter at her words. Quinn rolled her eyes, but gave Blaine a small, questioning smile. "I thought you were strictly a top?"

Santana ducked around Blaine and stared at her in amazement. "Seriously? He hasn't bottomed with this Kurt guy yet?" She turned her sharp eyes to Blaine, looking offended. "What is wrong with you? Or is his dick is super tiny– "

"His– he's perfectly acceptable," Blaine blushed as the group continued to laugh around him. "And no," he added, answering Quinn's question. "I switch. We just... haven't yet. If Kurt even does."

A murmur ran through the diving team as they conferred stories. The only man in their group, Blaine thought his name was Chris, told him, "Dunno if he does. He doesn't really... date a lot."

"Sounds like a certain Hobbit I know," Santana quipped, giving Blaine a pointed look. "No wonder you two get along so well. Can't be bothered to find decent fucks throughout the year so you get it all out of your system with each other for a few weeks. Planning on banging each other at Rio, too?"

"I– shut up," Blaine grumbled. Just the thought of where he and Kurt might be in four years – two separate continents, two vastly different lives – made his stomach seize up.

Quinn looped her arm through his and pecked him sweetly on the cheek as the announcer came over the loud speaker.

The competing pairs were announced, the crowd screaming the loudest at Kurt and Tom's names. As the host competitors they were easily the largely British audience's favorites to win.

"So how does the scoring for this work?" Santana asked the group at large. "I don't have a thing for dicks flopping around in Speedos, so I've never been to a diving competition... "

Quinn, Chris, and the rest of the divers started to explain the scoring process as the first round went underway. Santana didn't seem to understand it much better than Blaine had yesterday, but on his second day of watching the competition, Blaine found himself better able to make accurate calls for each pair. According to what Quinn had told him yesterday, the synchro pairs were much easier to judge one way or the other. If they weren't together during the diving then it was glaringly obvious as Blaine found out with the fifth pair that went.

He wince right along with the rest of the group as the two divers, flipped and twisted in completely different rhythms.

"They're done then," Chris commented from before Blaine. "They'll need nine-fives just to qualify for the finals after that."

Sure enough the judge's scored them with fives across the board, giving them the worst score Blaine had yet to see. Yesterday's competition had been much better as far as how the divers had performed. More than one pair were off throughout the rounds, and while Tom and Kurt were doing fairly well the rest of the team didn't sound too hopeful.

"Forms are all shot," one of the woman commented with a frown. "They've always had a lot of trouble with staying together."

"But they're doing pretty good, right?" Blaine asked uncertainly.

He glanced at the score board briefly, before letting his eyes wander back to Kurt and Tom sinking into the hot tub. They were in fifth place at the moment, with only one round to go. It seemed quite likely that they'd make it into the finals, which were set to begin a few hours after the semi-finals ended.

"I don't think they'll medal, but they should get through," Quinn acknowledged. "The Chinese are too good."

Blaine glanced up to the springboards as the Chinese finished their last diving, slipping into the pool below in near perfect synchronization with barely a splash. There were two other competitions that Kurt was a part of, but it still disheartened Blaine to know that at least one of the Chinese men would be part of each. They were incredibly good, nearly sixty points ahead of the rest of the pairs.

As Kurt and Tom hopped back out of the hot tub Quinn caught their eyes with her enthusiastic wave. Kurt smiled and gave her a little wave in return, then his eyes landed on Blaine and his grin bloomed into something so bright and delighted that it made Blaine's stomach knot up in an altogether pleasant way.

Once more Blaine was distracted by Kurt's physique, watching the lines and muscles of the paler man's body shift as he stretched a few times down on the platform.

"He's very pretty, Blaine," Brittany commented, reaching over and tugging on that same loose curl. "Does he like your unicorn curls, too?"

"I– y- yeah," Blaine managed to whisper. His throat had gone dry as Kurt caught his eye, winked, and turned away to stretch a little more, his Speedo sliding right up his–

Santana whistled shrilly next to him, followed by a loud catcall in Kurt's direction. Blaine dropped his head into his hands as Santana hopped to her feet, shaking her chest and shouting cruelly to Kurt.

"Show me that ass, boy! Yeah, hike up the front, too!"

Horribly embarrassed, Blaine peered out from between his fingers to see Kurt, blushing pink, readjust the back of his Speedo until it was securely covering his ass. In the process, though, it had slipped down his hips another inch, and while nothing new was exposed, Blaine's mind immediately painted the picture for what was there, and all of the things he'd love to do with Kurt's wonderful body right now.

For their last dive, Tom and Kurt did something new Blaine hadn't seen before. He was surprised by how well they prepared the backwards... twisty thing or whatever Quinn had just called it. He wished he could slide that easily into focus right after a moment like that. As soon as Kurt even popped into his head his stomach turned into a bubbling, giddy mess and his heart thudded faster. It was the most distracting thing Blaine had ever encountered, and yet Kurt had figured out how to move past it.

Or perhaps his feelings weren't what Blaine's were.

A knot of worry worked its way down into Blaine's chest, settling there like a bowling ball.

The last round ended, with Kurt and Tom advancing on to the finals, which were set to start at seven in the evening.

Like last time Quinn pulled Blaine down to join them on the pool deck, only Blaine now found himself confronted with several camera crews, all clearly hoping to catch the same greeting Kurt had given him last time. They weren't the vicious paparazzi, and didn't hound him with questions, but Blaine could feel the weight of their expectations as Quinn pulled him along and over to the hot tub where Kurt and Tom were relaxing.

"Hi," Kurt greeted, pulling himself out of the tub, and eyeing the number of cameras that had followed Blaine, Quinn and the rest of the team over. He seemed to realize what Blaine had because he waved at them, gave them a smile, then motioned for his friends and Blaine to follow him off the main deck and into the changing rooms.

"Looks like they were hoping for another kiss," Quinn commented wryly as they reached the calm, safety of the changing rooms.

Kurt nodded, biting his lip as he looked over at Blaine. "If you want to– to see me again, then I understand– "

"No, of course I want to see!" Blaine nearly shouted in his rush to get his words out. "I love spending time with you," he admitted quietly.

There was an echoing silence around them, and then Chris said rather loudly, "Well, I could use a visit to the loo. Couldn't the rest of you?"

The rest of the team quickly agreed, ducking out into the hallways of the complex and leaving Kurt and Blaine alone.

After staring awkwardly at his feet for several long moments, Blaine glanced up, intent on changing the subject before things became too uncomfortable.

"I don't know how you manage to focus so well," he said wistfully. "Especially after Santana shouted that."

"A friend of yours?" Kurt asked quietly.

"Kind of. She's one of our beach volleyball players."

"I just... focus," Kurt decided, looking uncertain on any other way to phrase it. "Actually, seeing you up there... that helped me."

"It did?" Blaine said in disbelief. "Cause every time I think about you in training I take a fist to the face."

Kurt smiled slightly at his words, but there was also a note of concern in his bright eyes that tugged at Blaine. He tentatively stepped closer, and Kurt's smile widen as he settled his still damp arms on Blaine's shoulders, looping them around the other man's neck.

"Yeah, I mean, yesterday it was a little distracting at first because I didn't actually think you'd show– ""

"I said I would and I meant it," Blaine assured him, reaching up and brushing a bead of water off of Kurt's cheek. "It probably sounds crazy, but... I don't ever want to break a promise I made you."

"It's not crazy," Kurt murmured, his hand coming up and cupping Blaine's where it was still lingering on his face. "What is crazy is that I started imagining you as the pool. So I was diving into your arms, and... you probably think I'm bonkers now."

As a reply Blaine leaned up and kissed Kurt softly, sucking the water off his lips and tasting the chlorine still on his skin. It was several minutes before he pulled away, and when he did his throat was tight and he found it hard to breathe.

"I wish I could figure something like that out, too," Blaine said sadly. "Every time I think about you I just get more distracted, and I'm always thinking about you and just– I really care about you, Kurt."

Kurt dropped his forehead against Blaine's staring intently at him as they swayed a little. "You're the sweetest man I've ever met," Kurt said sincerely. "This is all so fast, isn't it? But I... I've never felt like this," he admitted, one hand coming up and stroking slowly through the curls on the back of Blaine's head. "I didn't think it was possible to feel this incredible with someone I've only just met."

Blaine nodded in agreement, too scared to say anything more of what he was feeling. Kurt's words lifted a great deal of worry from his shoulders, because he had been constantly second guessing just how deep Kurt's feelings were, and if they even matched his own in that regard.

"I might have a solution to your focus problem," Kurt said thoughtfully. "Think about this." He squeezed Blaine a little more and stepped closer, until his bare feet were wedged between Blaine's shoes.

"But that's the problem," Blaine began in exasperation. "I do think about this and– "

"No, I mean, this," Kurt corrected, taking each of Blaine's arms and guiding them up his bare skin from his waist to his chest, hooking them around him tightly.

A little mesmerized Blaine let Kurt position him how he wanted, letting his arms be bend into a decent blocking position as the inside of his elbows locked under Kurt's shoulders.

"Pretend I'm here," Kurt whispered softly, kissing him on the cheek soothingly as his arms tightened back around Blaine's neck and pulled him closer. "I'm right here in your arms, holding you tight and not wanting to let go."

"I– I don't know," Blaine said, slightly breathless at the proximity of Kurt's body. They were pressed together tightly, the water on Kurt's skin making Blaine's clothes damp as they held each other close. "I usually use my anger– "

Blaine faltered and stopped. Only Wes and Puck knew the truth behind the anger and focus he drew from; the bullying, beatings, and ultimate hospitalization. His parents and brother knew as well, but beyond that he'd told nobody. He'd never trusted anyone enough to let them into that locked up space in his head.

"Shh," Kurt mumbled, nuzzling his nose against the crook of Blaine's jaw and then brushing his lips over the spot. "You don't have to tell me everything if you don't want to."

"But I do," Blaine found himself saying, and it was terrifying and startling for him to realize that he did want to confess all of these things. "Look, I- I want to share myself with you. I mean, more than just physically, and this... the reason I even took up boxing is hugely important to me."

"Okay," Kurt breathed, watching him closely.

"When I was i- in middle school I got bullied. A lot," Blaine confessed, a spark of anger flickering in his chest. "I came out in eighth grade, when I was fourteen, and I... I got a lot of crap for it. All my friends ditched me, I got beat up all the time because I was really small back then, and just... I had one friend after all of that. He was gay, too, and we went to this school dance together and got the shit knocked out of us. Me more than him," Blaine said shakily, the grip he had on Kurt's chest tightening to an almost painful degree. "They cornered him first and I... I tried to stop them and so they focused on me and he was able to run for help, but..." Blaine pressed his face into Kurt's neck, breathing hard and fighting the tears and anger raging through him. "I was scared all the time after that. I refused to go to school, and my parents ended up transferring me to a private high school the next year. My brother made me start boxing once I was out of the hospital. So when I fight now, I use that; that anger and those memories and all of that fear and turn it into something I can control and fuel myself with."

"Blaine... "Kurt whispered, sounding heartbroken at his words.

"And I don't know how to use this amazing and beautiful feeling you give me," Blaine finished, "not like I use that. I can't figure out how to work it into all of that."

Kurt shushed him, and wrapped him up tighter, warmer, tangling a hand into Blaine's curls and massaging his scalp. It was a gesture Blaine's mother was fond of using on him, and the connection, and the fact that it was Kurt's natural instinct to do something so soothing for Blaine was overwhelming. Tears started pouring out of Blaine's eyes at the touch, and the memories still crashing through him. God, he was wreck. There was no way he was ever going to get his head on straight enough to make it through to the finals; he'd be lucky to pass the next round.

"Just do what I told you," Kurt said softly, pulling back a little and taking Blaine by the shoulders. He guided Blaine's hands back into his defensive, blocking position and settled himself back against Blaine's chest, his mouth pressed against Blaine's ear as he continued to speak gently to him. "I'm here in your arms, and those same bullies are that guy you're about to fight. They're trying to take me away from you even though I'm clutching you so tightly, they want to take this away," Kurt murmured, kissing the edge of Blaine's ear as Blaine's muscles tensed at the image his mind was creating before his eyes. "Don't let them."

Blaine's vision swam, both from the tears still lingering on his lashes and the idea of those high school aged boys cornering his younger self and a slighter, baby-faced Kurt. His fist jabbed forward sharply, knocking them both towards the wall with the force of the movement, but instead of his fist colliding with the blurry face of his oldest tormentors it met only air.

Kurt's mouth sought out his, firm and dry as it pressed in reassuringly and brought him back to the present. This man, the one making his chest constrict and expand like a bubble, was safe in his arms, was his to hold even if only for a little while longer.

"I won't let you go," Blaine rasped between rough, needy kisses.

They broke apart as the changing room door burst open on the other side of the room. The diving team was back, and this time they'd brought Santana and Brittany along.

"Hurry up," Tom called. "We've only got ten minutes until we start again."

"Wanky!" Santana added at the sight of them tangled together and breathing heavily.

"I- I'll just be a minute," Kurt told them, dropping his forehead against Blaine's once more. "Did that help?"

"Yeah," Blaine muttered, eyes drifting closed as he hugged Kurt a little tighter. "That should help. I– I'm sorry," he added more quietly, "for, like, crying on you and– "

"Hey, no," Kurt cut in, ending his babbling with a kiss. "You mean a lot to me, too, Blaine. I want to know everything I can know about you, even the worst."

Nodding as he dried his face on his sleeves, Blaine let Kurt step away from him and back over to his diving group. He and Tom waved goodbye and headed back out to the diving pool as Blaine joined the rest of the group.

"Looking a little rough," Santana said under her breath as they shuffled back out to the stands. "If he hurts you I'll set Puck on him and unknot the razorblades in my hair– "

"No, he– it's not. He's wonderful," Blaine sighed, hugging himself a little as he dropped down on the benches to watch the final competition.

Whether or not Kurt won tonight Blaine was content knowing he would still have the other man around beyond tonight. He still couldn't define or place what exactly their relationship was, but it was poignant and more powerful than anything Blaine had ever felt.