We Fell In Love Over Summer - KLANCE

teach me how to swim

We fell in love over summer.
So really. What was I expecting?
Not this, at least. Anything but this. But maybe that was more of a hope.
'Us against the world,' your favorite phrase. What happened? What happened?

- - -

It was a summer hotter than any before it. We used to go to the beach. Remember? You teached me how to swim. I was a boy from Texas, meant for autumn with its harsh winds. You were a boy from California, carrying the ocean in your eyes, meant for summers like that one.

I met you when I was walking to the beach. I didn't have a car or a bike so I walked the entire three miles on my tennis shoes. My feet hurt and the wind was blowing my hair in my eyes. And not even after thirty minutes, it started to rain, too.

A car pulled up beside me as I walked. Someone got out. I didn't look up.

"Hey! Are you going to the beach?"

Your first words spoken to me. I'll remember them, even if you don't. I looked up, you were a blurry figure in the rain.

"Yeah."

"Let me give you a ride."

And so I got in and you gave me a ride to the beach. When we arrived, you found out I didn't know how to swim. You laughed at me but I didn't mind because you were beautiful as you threw your head back and squeezed your eyes shut.

So, you learned me how to swim. We didn't care about the other people's stares. We were just two boys, learning how to stay afloat in the waters that were our feelings. And you teached me how to swim.

- - -

One day, we walked back from the pool together. We carried our towels under our arms and walked barefoot the whole way. The sun stood lower in the sky, it was already coming close to sunset.

"Aren't your parents wondering where you are?" I asked.

"I could ask the same about you," you replied.

I shrugged. "My father doesn't care." That was true. He really didn't care.

"My mom does care. I just don't listen to her."

I wondered what that was like, having someone back at home that got anxious when you didn't come home. Someone that told you where not to go and who not to go with. I was positive my father wouldn't care if I lay somewhere in a ditch, drunk or high. Or if I lay in some stranger's bed. He'd still be at home going through his beloved liquor stash.

I looked next to me where you were walking. "What is that like?"

You raised your eyes to look at me. "What's what like?"

"To have a family."

"You have a family."

"Not like that."

"Oh. Well, it's amazing, usually. I love them all so much." Your gaze drifted away from me and settled somewhere I could never see. "My sister and brothers are the stupidest and best people I know."

I wondered what that was like. To think someone was the stupidest and best person you knew. I couldn't imagine it.

"And my mom is the sweetest. She is always worrying about me." You rolled your eyes at that. I guess you didn't know how lucky you were. "Always setting up rules for me to follow."

"Not like you do." I had learned that much about you, you didn't like to follow the rules. Unless they were your own.

"No, not like I do." You smiled and it felt like an achievement to have made you smile. "My little niece and nephew are the cutest. They are two and five, and always want to play with me."

"Do you want children?" I didn't know where the question came from. Usually I kept quiet and let others do all the talking. But something about you made me want to ask questions until I knew every little secret you kept.

"When I grow old, you mean?"

"Yeah."

"Of course I do."

Of course you did. I should've known.

"What about you?"

"I don't know. I don't think I'd be a good father."

"Why not?"

I shrugged. "I don't know anything about children."

"You've been one yourself."

"So?"

"It's easier than you think."

I didn't really believe you. You were incredibly biased, you grew up in a family with young children and knew how to deal with them. You were just so much more suited for children. You were outgoing, funny, nice and genuinely cared about them. I already had a hard time talking to people of my own age, let alone small and nosy children.

I just couldn't imagine myself with someone else. Let alone my own children. If only I knew how you would change all that.

We walked together in silence all the way to my house. When we arrived I waved you bye-bye at my door and waited for you to commence your way. Instead, you turned around and walked back the way we came from. 

>>So that was the first chapter. I hope you liked it and leave your thoughts in the comments. Thanks for reading!<<