Rebound (Rhett)

[Rhett Goddard]

Rhett still wasn't comfortable with Ulrich's compliments and probable flirts towards Rhett. They always seemed rather odd and out of place, although they did seemed honest. It was maybe that what troubled Rhett, the sheer naive honesty. He was used to things so different, he was used to subtlety, to sarcasm, to irony, to saying one thing and meaning another. It made Ulrich a good person, a very good person, but Rhett wasn't sure if it was a good thing. All in all, he was slightly relieved that Ulrich knew how to defend himself, because people like that get hurt a lot.

Specially by people like Rhett.

He didn't say anything to the compliment, just as he didn't say anything as Ulrich got into the pool. It was rather cute to see him do that. For someone who didn't know how to swim he seemed quite comfortable in the water and Rhett could have sword he noticed a small smile at some point.

"I think that's the..." Yep, Ulrich was stepping into the deep end, which was clear when his head got completely underwater and water started to splash everywhere. "Merde."

It occurred to Rhett that his instincts and reflexes were rather off that day, or maybe always. A big lot of other people would have jumped into the water to keep Ulrich from drowning, but Rhett remained there in his spot. Other people might have freaked out and started screaming for help, but Rhett remained silent. Rhet was... watching Ulrich struggle for air and for something to grab on. It then occurred to him that Ulrich could die, that indeed, as the German boy had said, people do die from drowning. He also remembered that back in the courtyard, he did say that he wouldn't want for Ulrich to drown because of him. Then why wasn't him doing anything?

Am I in shock? Rhett wondered. He knew that sometimes, when things like this happened, some people zone out and are unable to actually react to what happened around them. Rhett hadn't actually lived that himself and, at least at the moment, couldn't recall having seen people in a state of shock. This alone made him realize that, perhaps, he was indeed in shock, as he couldn't believe that he hadn't seen something like this before.

I AM in shock. He blinked strongly and looked at Ulrich. MERDE! He blinked again and found himself suddenly back in his feet, as if he had been flying around without noticing for some seconds. Just how many seconds though? It wasn't a time to ask. Rhett's limbs finally acted on reflex and the blonde immediately dove into the water, reaching Ulrich a moment later and pulling him to shallower end of the pool.

There, however, he realized that Ulrich was no longer responsive. He wasn't reacted, he had passed out. Instinctively, too, Rhett managed to pull the boy out of the water and lie him down on the floor.

He was scared, he didn't know what to do, and not knowing, well, that made him feel even more scared.

"HEY!" Rhett yelled at the guy swimming. "HELP!"

No response. The swimming boy couldn't hear him and it made sense.

He thought of getting the nurse, the doctor, but just how long that would take? Ulrich was lying there in the floor, looking dead. Rhett could swear his skin color was changing too, but he didn't quite know if it was just him panicking and seeing things that weren't there. Was Ulrich dead? No, Rhett knew he wasn't. He also wasn't sure if this ESP or not, but he was sure that Ulrich wasn't dead. Maybe it was just Rhett wishing that Ulrich wouldn't die at that moment that made him feel sure. He had to remember that, he had to remember his words, he didn't want Ulrich to die. He had to do something.

Mimicking what he had seen in TV and in films, Rhett knelt next to Ulrich's body and started to push the boy's chest strongly and with a steady rhythm. Come'on, come'on. He kept at it. He knew the rhythm was important, he also knew that mouth to mouth in between pushing the chests helped. So he did just that, he went to Ulrich's face, locked lips, and pushed as much hair as he could into the other boy's mouth. He did it for a couple of seconds before going back to chest and then went back to mouth to mouth. Come'on, come'on.

[Ulrich Schneider]

Ulrich's eyes fluttered open. His eyes burned from the chlorine and he had to blink them a few times to clear his eyes of the chemical and to adjust to the light. The next thing he noticed was the pain in his chest from the chest compressions Rhett gave him. He was sore, but his pain couldn't make a more powerful tactile feeling flooding his senses. A pair of lips, Rhett's lips, were pressed against his own, making them tingle gleefully. Ulrich was utterly confused. What happened... kissing...?

And then he felt a breath of air forced into his lung, which forced him to start coughing violently. He rolled over, allowing the water that built up inside his lungs to force its way out onto the floor. That's when Ulrich's mind started to rationalize the situation. He realized that Rhett preformed CPR on him.

"You saved me," Ulrich strained to say as he was finally starting to catch his breath. He knew he could trust Rhett, and he's glad he did. His respect for the boy just went through the roof.

Looking out to the water, Ulrich realized his mistake. He took things too quickly and ended up going off the deep end... literally. He still wanted to learn how to swim, but it could wait. After nearly drowning, the desire to get right back in the water wasn't a top priority at the moment. His mind was more occupied by other things anyway... like the fact that he basically kissed Rhett... his first kiss...

Okay, it wasn't a real kiss... he wasn't even conscious for most of it... but his lips still tingled with the dazzling sensation of the embrace. It was odd feeling, but good. He couldn't help but touch his lips to make sure they haven't fallen off or anything like that. The whole situation was strange yet intriguing to Ulrich. He wanted to experience the whole lip to lip thing again... just without the almost drowning to death part.

"T-thank you..." he said sincerely, "for saving me."

The blushing came back again. Ulrich was embarrassed and intrigued all at once. But despite his mixed emotions, he look at Rhett and actually smiled, "I knew you wouldn't let me down."

[Rhett Goddard]

Rhett fell exhausted next to Ulrich as he coughed out water. He was facing up and placing his hands in his face, realizing just now what had gone down. The thought occurred to him just as Ulrich said the words out loud. Did I just save someone's life? It was odd. It seemed odd. It sounded odd. Far too odd. That was for sure, Rhett just didn't quite know of that was good.

"I did..." He said softly.

Rhett seemed far more zoned out than Ulrich. If anyone got closer, it wouldn't be hard to think that the one that almost drowned was Rhett, as he looked more exhausted and shocked than the German boy.

It was just something hard to explain. Rhett had taken huge steps away from his past self, and this one was a very important one. It wasn't like the past Rhett wouldn't have saved someone life, but the fact that this one did, made him realize something: he cared. It wasn't either something specifically about Ulrich, it was something general. Rhett used to be someone who didn't care one thing about any other person around him. Then Odion came and he cared about Odion, and he thought Odion was special because of this. Odion had to be special if Rhett cared about him. He was unique. But now, now Rhett had saved Ulrich's life and he wondered if he could care about other people, and he wasn't sure if he was entirely comfortable with this.

"Yeah, it's..." Rhett said as he sat up. "fine, I guess." He passed his hand through his wet hair, combing it back so it wouldn't bug him in his forehead. "Are you ok?"

[Ulrich Schneider]

"I'm fine," Ulrich insisted. He was physically okay, but his mind was racing with increasingly more intimate and affection thoughts about his savior. He was feeling a lot of things at the moment. For one, he felt eternally indebted to Rhett for saving his life. He was thankful the older boy dove in and dragged from the arms of death before breathing life into him again (literally), but other feelings were present as well. These feelings were way more unfamiliar; they were strong and growing stronger. It was a bond, like friendship, but Ulrich felt something more, something much more potent. He didn't quite know what to call it though.

He sat up and stretched his arms out to embrace Rhett in a well-deserved... hug. Yes, a hug. Ulrich wrapped his arms around the older boy and squeezed. It was tight but not too tight, a comfortable hug. He rested his head on one of Rhett's shoulders and spoke softly. "I don't know how... I can't thank you enough..." he tried explaining, "you... I... uh... I owe you a lot..."

Seconds later, Ulrich released Rhett from the embrace and peered out to the water. "I guess we can put off swim lessons for a little while.."

Needless to say, despite almost dying, Ulrich still wanted to learn how to swim, and he still wanted Rhett to teach him. He trusted Rhett more than anyone now. Swimming could wait though, he wasn't going to need to sneak through a body of water before taking down an enemy for quite a long time. "You want to go do something else?"

[Rhett Goddard]

Rhett was about to get up when he got ambushed by a hug. Yes, the word was ambushed because not only it was surprising, and it was a lot, but because it felt threatening. Suddenly he was off, somewhere lost in his thoughts on what had happened to Ulrich, and suddenly Ulrich was hugging him and thanking him for what had happened to him as well.

It was awkward, the wet skin in their arms, chest, neck and back touching like that, so warmly. Rhett's mouth was slightly opened and he suddenly thought that he wasn't really breathing, so he started to do so with strength, making a very soft sound which in his mind, he thought, sounded so loud and terrible that was just making things awkward. He remained motionless at first, and thought this was the way to go, but he saw himself to compelled to give the hug back, so his arms wrapped the other blonde as well. Still, he couldn't really say anything.

Abruptly, it ended, and Rhett almost stood with a jump, taking a small step away from Ulrich just as his cheeks blushed slightly. For the smallest of seconds, he remained there, before a small pressure in his shorts, or Ulrich's, rather, warned him and forced him to use his hands to cover his groin just as he turned around to give his back to Ulrich.

"I..." He instinctively looked down. Great, how am I going to hide this now? "I think it's surely too much for today... Erm... could you pass me one of the towels," He showed his left hand to Ulrich, hoping he'd put one of the towels in it without walking around to see what Rhett was attempting to hide. "please?"

[Ulrich Schneider]

Ulrich found it odd the way Rhett moved after being released from the hug. The older boy quickly dropped his hands in front of his crotch before turning around. It was strange, and for a moment, Ulrich didn't think much of it. But then a spark of revelation hit him and he realized what was going on.

A similar thing had happened to him before, the same day actually. It was when first imagined Rhett skinny dipping. He knew what kind of physical intrusion Rhett was afflicted with, and the way Rhett chose to hide his problem by turning away so similarly to how Ulrich did when he had the problem confirmed the German's suspicion.

Ulrich blushed, a lot, and he quickly found himself being confronted by the same exact issue as Rhett all over again. "Yeah," Ulrich replied as his hands moved down to hide his own crotch, "one second..."

He crept toward the two towels and immediately picked the up. He held one at his waist to shield his own problem before accurately tossing the other right into Rhett's left hand like the trained marksman he is. "I... uh... I think we should get out of here..." he said nervously.

Ulrich could not take his eyes off of Rhett. He watched every drop of water as it slid down the French boy's muscled back and made wet trails on his skin. He enjoyed the sight and even had growing desire to reach out and touch Rhett. He wanted to feel the same warmth he felt in the hug and much, much more, but he stopped himself. He knew it was a risky thing to do.

The temptation grew stronger as the seconds passed, making his growing issue in his pants swell even further. It was becoming harder and harder to resist, but he ultimately succeeded. He dried himself off the best he could without agitating his problem and started making his way back toward his dorm. "We should go get dressed before... before we... catch a cold... or something..."

[Rhett Goddard]

Couldn't agree more. Rhett thought as he caught the towel with his hand. Still giving his back to the German, Rhett started to dry himself, rubbing his skin softly with the towel. He started with his hair and face and then went to his chest and abdomen, muscle by muscle, he continued while trying to breath rhythmically to calm himself down.

"Shouldn't we go to the nurse?" He asked, after all, Ulrich did almost drown. "They probably will give you something."

After drying his legs, he placed his towel around his waist, as if he weren't wearing the shorts underneath. He thought the extra-layer could help hide the little monster in his pants, and although he was a bit right, it wasn't one hundred percent effective. Knowing he was acting a bit weird, and not sure if Ulrich had noticed or not, Rhett decided he could no longer remain giving his back so obviously to the other blonde anymore, so instead turned and walked back to where he had placed his shirt and put it on. Not once looking at Ulrich in the eye.

"I don't really know much about first aids and such," He said as he started to lead the way out of the gym. "and I doubt you know much about drowning when you don't even know how to swim, so it might be a good idea."

[Ulrich Schneider]

"No, I'm fine," Ulrich replied to Rhett's suggestion about seeing the nurse, "I promise." He kept walking until they eventually arrived to the dorm where he opened the door and stepped inside. "Your clothes are on my bed."

Ulrich's body was still damp, which was making him start to shiver. He held his towel in front of his crotch to continue hiding his issue that had stuck with him even after Rhett covered himself up with a shirt. He was cold and goosebumps crept across his skin while he blushed.

Very quickly he began rummaging for some clothes. He wanted to get changed as soon as possible in order to warm up and cover his issue, but he accidentally dropped his towel, making it very obvious to Rhett what was going on, even without his ESP. With one arm barely hanging on to all his clothes, he reached down with his free hand and snatched his towel back in place.

"Uhh.. s-sorry..." was the only thing he could say. He was frozen still, unsure of what to do next. It was probably the most embarrassing situation he has ever been in, and easily one of the oddest. "I... It's not... uh..." He was nearly speechless. "I'm... going to go get dressed now..."

He walked into the bathroom and changed into a simple white t-shirt and a pair of black atheletic shorts in a matter of seconds before walking out and facing Rhett once more. "Rhett... umm... do you want to hang out again soon?"

[Rhett Goddard]

The walk back to Ulrich's place was rather long, yet in this case, it was good. Rhett's problems were solved before getting there and the towel was hanging around Rhett's neck by the time they got there. Inside, Rhett nodded at Ulrich and took his clothes from the bed. He was going straight to the bathroom when he decided it was a good idea to get a bath, after all, the smell of chlorine wasn't among his favorites. Rhett turned around just in time to see the other blonde have an accident with his towel.

As Ulrich, Rhett was frozen in his spot. His eyes immidiately, by reflex, darted in that directions, but then they looked away. He was thankful that Ulrich reacted quickly, and just as quickly got into the bathroom. The blonde was stuck there. He thought of waiting for Ulrich to walk out of the bathroom to then ask, as he initially thought, to use his shower, but something convinced him otherwise. If his "little" situation had been solved while walking here, it definitely back again now. No... The more he stayed there, the worse. By the time Ulrich walked out of the bathroom, Rhett had already his pants on and was finishing tying his shoelaces.

"Sure," Rhett answered softly. "I guess." He stood there in silence for a moment. "I better leave, take a bath at home and all that." He nodded to himself and kept awkwardly silent again before showing up his palm as a "bye" handsign. "Tchüss."

Turning around, Rhett headed to the exit, not quite sure if they were going to practice parkour the next day, just sure enough that the question at the moment would be far too awkward.