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When Kurt makes the drive to Bord’eaux that Saturday, it’s almost on auto-pilot, because that’s what happens when you take a route often enough. And Kurt does, because there’s always some reason to stop by at the bar. To tell Sebastian how his first experience on an L.A. tv set went (gruesomely, with too much time during takes, too much light, and way too much make-up), or to take over a shift, or just to unwind when he has an extra-stressful audition ahead. On those occasions Sebastian usually manages to have Mandy or Alex or someone else to come in and take an extra shift, and they go out and take a long walk along the beach. On days where he can't find a replacement Kurt just hangs out in the shop with him, and in between serving customers they’ll talk about anything and everything from the upcoming presidential election to who their favourite Power Ranger was as a kid.
It’s probably weird, he thinks for possibly the millionth time as he takes the final exit. Actually, scratch that: he knows it’s weird. It’s weird that he’s taken up the habit of driving a good hour and a half single way nearly each week to go have drinks with a bunch of surfers he barely has anything in common with. It’s weird that he actually has fun hanging out with them, that it’s the highlight of his week, that he misses it when he has to skip a week for work- or audition-related reasons.
It’s definitely weird that spending the night in Sebastian’s bed has become a normal part of this routine - even if he’s managed to keep himself and his hormones in check and stick to actual sleeping (so far).
Small blessings.
He parks the car and makes his way to the bar, but as soon as he steps into the fresh, air-conditioned space he can tell something is off, because it is completely empty. The music is playing, and the 411 is on the screens, but other than that there is no sign of anyone. There are no customers, no one is filling the shelves (the cold wax is almost out, Kurt sees), and there’s no one behind the counter either.
“Hello?” he calls out. “Sebastian? Dax?”
For a moment, there’s no response, and then he hears a stumble in the kitchen, and a woman steps out.
“Oh hey Kurt!”
“Uhm… hey?”
There are few things as disconcerting as someone knowing who you are when you have no idea who they are - and Kurt is pretty sure he has never seen this woman in his life. She is beautiful, no doubt, with piercing green eyes and dark blonde hair put up in a bun at the back of her head. She’s tall, too -Kurt guesses she’s got at least two inches on him-, her long limbs accentuated even more by the black-striped dress shorts and loose black crop top she's chosen to wear. She definitely reminds him of someone , but somehow he can’t put his finger on who, or even in what context.
“I’m sorry, and you are?”
“Veronica.”
It sounds like it’s supposed to clarify anything. It doesn’t.
“... do we know each other?”
“No,” Veronica says airily as she leans forward on the counter to take a proper look at him. “I do have to say, Bas was right: you do look prettier in real life than you do on pictures.”
“Bas?”, Kurt asks, now genuinely confused, but Veronica ignores him.
“I did think you’d be taller, somehow, though…”
“I’m 5’9.”
“Hmmm…”
It almost feels like she’s undressing him with her eyes alone, and Kurt is much too gay to be comfortable with that - let alone from a woman he’s never met before. But there’s still something familiar about her, something about the way she’s looking him up and down, nagging at the back of his brain…
“Say, Ron, did you find the- Babe!”
Sebastian, who’d peered around the door, comes storming into the shop, straight at Kurt, and before Kurt even has the chance to say anything, he’s enveloped by two strong arms.
“You’re here!” Sebastian beams, as he pulls back a bit, and Kurt smiles, trying not to stare too much at the expanse of naked skin right in front of him. He really should be used to that by now, but somehow the sight of Sebastian in nothing but loose board shorts still takes his breath away - especially when they’re hanging as low on his hips as they do today.
“Shifts at work got reshuffled,” he shrugs, forcing himself to look at Sebastian’s eyes. Weirdly, it doesn’t quell the heat in his stomach at all, on the contrary. “It worked out this way. Is this a bad time? Why is there no one in the shop? You should’ve told me if you needed help.”
“Oh, yeah, no, I actually think I’m just gonna close today.” Sebastian waves his hand dismissively. “Surprise visit, so we’re having an impromptu party. Which, by the way, did you meet my sister yet?”
“She’s your sister ?” Kurt exclaims, and suddenly the pieces fall together - the familiar air, the piercing green eyes…
“I sure am,” Veronica says, an amused smile playing around her lips. “Bas, I thought you said he was smart?”
“You think I’m smart?” Kurt asks curiously, but Sebastian’s not looking at him anymore, glaring at his sister instead, but she just laughs.
“Oh, he thinks a lot of things about you,” she winks, and Sebastian takes a step towards her.
“Ron… you promised .”
Kurt can’t see his face, but it sounds threatening enough. Veronica, however, doesn’t seem impressed.
“I promised I would behave tomorrow , you didn’t say anything about today.”
“Just keep your lawyering to working hours, will you?” Sebastian warns , and Veronica puts up her hands . "You know what I meant."
“Fine, fine, I’m behaving already.”
“Thank you.”
There’s a beat, as if Sebastian is expecting Veronica to put in a final word of protest anyway, but when she doesn’t he turns back to Kurt, the smile back on his face.
“Come on,” he says, “I’m gonna lock up shop, and we can go out and join the others.”
.
‘The others’ it turns out, are the usual suspects: Alex, Dax, Ginger, and Mandy. Apparently Veronica’s surprise visit combined with the nice weather has inspired them to hold an impromptu party, and from the volume of the laughter Kurt can tell they’ve been at it for a bit already. Even Mandy, usually the grumpy one, seems in a good mood.
“Barbro!” Dax exclaims as soon as he catches sight of Kurt, and with a smile Kurt undergoes all the hugging and fist bumping that accompany every arrival at the bar. Even after all these months he’s not sure whether he likes it or not, but it does make him feel welcome and part of the group every time, so he just lets it happen.
“Hey Dax,” he smiles. “How’s it going?”
“Good!” Dax beams. “It’s going good! Goof didn’t tell us you were coming, are you gonna be on the jury too?”
“Jury?”
“For the competition,” Ginger explains, but Kurt just stares at him.
“Competition?”
“We’re having a friendly surfing competition,” Alex tells him. “You know, just the four of us, just to pass the time - and Ron and Dax are gonna judge.”
With a sad face, Dax points at the knee he busted two weeks prior, and that’s impeding him from surfing for the time being.
“Kurt can’t judge though,” Ginger says quickly. “I mean - I think we all know who’s got his vote.”
"Hey!"
“Well, he can’t compete either,” Sebastian laughs, “seeing as he still refuses to let me teach him.”
“You don’t know what that salt water will do to my hair! ” Kurt exclaims indignantly. “Not to mention that horrible synthetic blend those wetsuits are made of.” He shudders. “I have very sensitive skin - what if I’m allergic?”
“The suits are neoprene,” Sebastian says pointedly. “Your iPad sleeve is neoprene. You’re not allergic.”
“Come on, Kurt,” Dax tries to coax him, bumping their shoulders. “You're here nearly every weekend. You should at least give it a try.”
“Not to mention you actually work here,” Alex pipes up. “Sometimes. How can you give someone advice on what wax to use if you don’t actually surf yourself?”
“Hey, I'll have you know that I'm an excellent waxer," Kurt huffs. Sebastian had taught him two weeks prior, and Kurt had discovered he found the repetitive motion of circling the wax over the board to be very relaxing. Sebastian, who absolutely loathed the job, had proceeded to pass on each and every waxing job to Kurt. "Trust me, I know wax ."
“Ah, but do you know boards?” Ginger asks. “Do you know how a longboard gives you a lot of stability but not so much speed, or how a fish is awesome for stuffing around on mushy two-feet waves but absolutely useless when waves are overhead, or how the lower volume of a shortboard gives you that much more agility?”
“Of course I know,” Kurt says grudgingly. He’s sat in on them comparing boards and performances for hours on end - he could probably identify any surfboard with just one glance, and list all advantages and disadvantages to boot.
Probably .
“And how do you know?” Ginger asks again. “Because we told you? Or because you’ve experienced it?”
“Seriously, what’s up with you guys trying to get me on a board today?” Kurt exasperates, and then turns to Sebastian. “Did you set them up to this? Is this some kind of bet on who’s gonna get me to give in?”
“I’m innocent!” Sebastian protests, laughing and holding up his hands in surrender. “You can do whatever you want, babe, I told you - it’s up to you.”
Kurt squints.
“Don’t even pretend I’m the one missing out when you and I both know you only want to get me into a wetsuit so you can ogle my ass.”
“Guilty as charged,” Sebastian winks. “But hey – your ass would look fantastic and you know it. Or are you gonna try and tell me you haven’t thought about it?”
Kurt has no reply to that -because he has, of course he has-, and he glares at Alex for having brought it up in the first place. At least she has the decency to look contrite.
“You know what I’ve been thinking about, actually?” he asks, and it’s worth it to see the hope flaring up on all their faces. “The new monologue I’m learning for my audition. It’s Chekhov, any of you want to hear?”
There’s a collective groan, Dax threatening to empty his beer over Kurt’s head while Alex attempts to clamp her hand over his mouth from where she’s sitting, and Kurt laughs as he struggles to break free, grin widening when he catches Sebastian’s eye.
It’s not what he’d expected coming to LA, to meet this group of ocean-loving wave enthusiasts who have neither heard of Sondheim nor particularly care to get to know him, who have nicknamed him ‘Barbro’ and slap his back with enough force to make him choke on his drink, who are so vastly different from him in every respect that Kurt doesn’t understand how keep finding things to talk about. Still in a city full of overly ambitious people who will betray you just for the chance of getting a new role or a slightly bigger part, somehow these are the people that feel most like home to him, and he couldn’t imagine it any other way.
“Anyway,” Sebastian says, when the assault on Kurt has died down a bit, “do we actually still wanna do that competition? Because the waves are basically perfect right now and I really wanna get out there.”
“No no, I’m coming.”
“Me too!”
“Just gonna switch into my suit, brb.”
Before Kurt knows it, everyone’s scattered to go to the bathroom or to get their boards, and he’s left alone with Veronica, side by side in beach chairs looking out over the ocean.
“So… ‘Barbro’ huh?”
Kurt glances at her, and then chuckles, a little embarrassed.
“It’s a play on ‘Barbra’. Barbra Streisand? And because I’m a… bro . At the bar. And hey, anything's better than 'Goof'.”
Now it’s Veronica’s turn to chuckle. Her brother's surfer name was a target of many jokes at the bar, something she was no doubt aware of.
“I do agree with that
.”
“They were very proud of themselves,” Kurt continues, "they called me at like... 2am or something, cause they couldn't wait to tell me, they were so excited."
“You know, somehow that doesn't surprise me in the least,” she says. “Though I didn’t know they were aware of the existence of Barbra Streisand.”
“Oh I made them take a test,” Kurt says airily, and Veronica glances at him sideways, as if to check whether he's pulling her leg.
“I did!”, he says. “They made me a test too about the surf stuff, so it was only fair, really.”
“So you’re not into the… surf stuff?”
Kurt shrugs.
“I’ve grown to appreciate it, I guess? But no, I don’t immediately feel the urge to jump on a board or anything, if that’s what you’re asking for. I mean, well - you’ve heard them just now, they’re not gonna give up until I try it, so I know I’m gonna have to cave someday but… you know. Next summer, maybe, when the water is a little warmer.”
Veronica nods thoughtfully.
“I was a little surprised when Bas first told me about you,” she says, and Kurt snaps to look at her.
“He told you about me?”
“Just a little.” She chuckles. “Anyway, he doesn’t usually meet too many people outside of his little surfer universe, so it was… unexpected, to hear you stuck around.”
Kurt hesitates. He doesn’t know Veronica, after all, except for the fact that she’s apparently a very successful lobbyist. And while Sebastian seemed to talk about her with genuine affection the few times she came up in conversation, he really doesn’t know all that much about their relationship, or how much Sebastian would’ve told her about… them .
“We’re both very passionate people,” he finally says. “About different things, but still. And I appreciate people who go for things 300%.”
“Right,” Veronica says. “You’re in the acting business, correct?”
“I am, yes,” he says. “Or well, I’m trying to be, like the half of the bay area population, I suppose. Nothing major so far, but it's only been a few months and I have a couple of auditions lined up so, you know…"
"Well, that's great, no? Good for you." Veronica leans in a little closer. "By the way, between you and me, I've always felt like my little brother would have been a great actor. It's really too bad he didn't go into law school, he would've made one hot piece of lawyer. Gotta give the jury something to look at too, don't you think?"
"I don't know," Kurt hesitates. Veronica seems friendly enough, but he can’t shake the feeling that he’s being set up somehow. "I'm not sure he would enjoy suiting up every morning."
"Oh god , is he still not over that high school trauma?" Veronica sighs. "And he looked so good in that blazer too. Wait, I might have a picture somewhere…" She whips out her phone and deftly starts scrolling through some folders until she's apparently found what she was looking for. "There we go… thank god for the internet and its archives, am I right?"
"Oh my god…"
On Veronica's phone, there's a group picture of six guys in matching private school uniforms in a row, all beaming widely at the camera with their arms thrown loosely around each other. Sebastian's at the far left, but that doesn't keep him from pulling full focus. Because Veronica's right: he definitely rocks that blazer, even if his hair makes Kurt cringe. It's by far the most formal thing Kurt has ever seen him wear, and he drags his fingers over the screen to zoom in closer.
"What a baby face, huh?" Veronica laughs. "He was such a little bitch, too, when he first opened the shop I was like, no way that's gonna happen, people are just gonna come once and never return because he'll either insult them or piss them off before they've even paid."
"Well thank god it didn't work out that way, right?" Sebastian says, squatting down next to Kurt. He's wearing Kurt's favourite outfit, the black-and-blue spring suit he'd been wearing when they first met, and Kurt can't resist touching his shoulder, picking at an imaginary piece of lint.
"I was just showing Kurt how adorable you look in a blazer," Veronica explains, nodding at the phone in Kurt's hand, and when Sebastian looks over and sees the picture, he groans.
"Oh my god, Ron, you said you’d behave ! How many did you show him?"
"Just this one," Veronica reassures him. "I looked for the ones from that talk show you hosted but I couldn't immediately find them."
"Talk show?"
"It was a science show and Ronny I swear if you ever show him those I will break into your apartment, steal your goldfish, and fry him," Sebastian warns, and Veronica gasps.
"Fluffy? You would never!"
" Watch me ."
For a few long, painful seconds, the two siblings just glare at each other, and even though by now Kurt is incredibly curious about a young Sebastian hosting a talk show, he can't help but feel a little triumphant when Veronica is the one giving in.
"All right," she says. "No pictures from NASA's Kids Science News Network, promise."
"RON!"
"Goof, you ready?"
"Yeah yeah," Sebastian says distractedly as Ginger, Alex, and Mandy join the group, keeping his focus on his sister. "Behave? Please?"
Veronica glances between her brother and Kurt, and for a second Kurt feels like she might say something, until she seems to decide against it.
"Fine," she finally huffs. "But you're both idiots, I'm just saying."
“What'd I miss?” Dax asks as he now also joins, planting his chair next to Kurt in the sand, and Kurt shows him Veronica’s phone.
“High school pictures.”
“Ha!” Dax laughs. “Yeah I remember those - we made so much fun of him for that.”
“Aaaaaaaand I think it’s time to go,” Sebastian says, rolling his eyes, as he gets up with croaking knees.
“Wait!” Alex looks around the group. “Have we decided on the prize yet?”
“Same as always, no?” Ginger says, looking at Sebastian questioningly. “Free drinks for a week?”
Sebastian nods, but Veronica puts her finger up.
“Actually,” she says, “I was just talking with Kurt and we had a better idea for a prize.”
Sebastian raises an eyebrow as he glances at Kurt, but Kurt shrugs. Sure they’d been talking, but not about any prizes?
“The winner of today’s competition…” Veronica says slowly, letting the tension build as she looks at each of them in turn, “... will be allowed to teach Kurt his first ever surf class!”
“What?!”
“No way!”
“That’s not- I never-”
“That is so coooooooool!”
While everyone is freaking out, Kurt glares at Veronica, who beams back with a wide smile. This is not at all what they talked about - he knows it, and she knows it, but he can’t back out now, not with everyone so excited to finally get him on a board - and that's another thing they both know. Sebastian in particular seems electrified, a fire in his eyes that tells Kurt he is determined to win this, and honestly?
Kurt wouldn’t mind.
Still, after they’ve all left, jogging cheerfully towards the ocean, he turns to Veronica.
“I never should’ve trusted you.”
She laughs cheerfully.
“No,” she says, as she settles in to watch her brother and his friends start paddling. “You really shouldn’t have.”
.
"So how does this work, exactly?" Kurt asks Dax. "Do they take turns or does everybody just… go ."
"They just go, basically," Dax laughs. "I mean, obviously you just upped the stakes with offering yourself up as the first prize, but really this is more of an excuse to get together and show off. Just, you know, enjoy the show, and whoever makes you laugh the hardest or impresses you the most or, you know, you'd rather have as a teacher-" he winks, "is the one who gets your vote."
He raises his hand, apparently signalling to Sebastian and the others that they are ready, and soon enough the whole group is paddling out, and the fun can start.
And it is fun, even for Kurt, which surprises no one more than himself. He quickly realises this is actually the first time he's seen Sebastian surfing -not counting that one time during a morning jog that seems like ages ago- and he loves finally getting the chance to see him where he feels most at home: on a board out on the water.
Objectively Kurt knows that Sebastian is not the best surfer -Sebastian had practically told him so himself- but he doesn't know enough about surfing to be able to judge whether that is actually true, or just false modesty. What he does know, however, is that he can't keep his eyes away from the black-and-blue figure out on the water. It doesn't matter that he doesn't know the first thing about surfing, it doesn't matter that Sebastian's moves are probably not technically perfect. Because there is a grin on Sebastian's face that reaches from ear to ear and never once leaves his face, not even when he overbalances and falls butt-first into the water. Kurt can't stop laughing, and Dax and Veronica with him, especially when the first part of Sebastian to appear back above the waves is not his head, but his middle finger.
It's no surprise then that, by lunch time, Sebastian is unanimously declared the winner of the competition, and Kurt doesn't even care if the whole thing might have been rigged from the moment Veronica offered up Kurt for a prize.
"Congratulations," he tells Sebastian when they're sitting next to each other during lunch. They've carried out a few tables from the bar onto the beach, and pizza has just arrived. "You were really great."
"Why thank you," Sebastian grins as Kurt takes another bit of his Hawaiian. "That means a lot, coming from you."
Kurt can't reply, his mouth still full of pizza, and so he bumps his shoulder against Sebastian's in protest. Sebastian simply bumps back.
"So, you're ready for this afternoon?" he asks and Kurt frowns, wiping his mouth.
"What's this afternoon?"
"Your surf class?”
Kurt's eyes widen.
"No. No, Sebastian, no, not this afternoon, no, I can't !"
"Why? You got other plans?"
He doesn't, Sebastian knows that he doesn't. And it's not like he's trying to chicken out – after what he's just seen he's actually almost looking forward to the whole thing. It's just that this afternoon… well, it's a little sooner than he'd planned.
"I don't have anything with me," he tries. "Swimming gear, and towels, and-… and-…"
"A wetsuit?" Sebastian suggests. "A board? Booties, maybe? Because obviously you have those lying around at home, right?"
Kurt glares at him.
"Come on, it's gonna be fun. High tide hits in about an hour, the waves will be perfect."
"… I thought you said the waves were best just after low tide?"
"For more experienced surfers, yes. Low tide means waves are faster and more hollow, aka more fun if you know what you're doing. Conversely high tide means slower, more forgiving waves, aka better if you're just starting out. Although you're probably gonna be mushing around in the whitewater for a while first anyway but who knows? You might be a prodigy."
"I'm like 99% sure you just bullshitted your way through that explanation just to convince me," Kurt says, eyeing Sebastian suspiciously, and Sebastian bursts out laughing.
"Ginger!" he calls out. "Hey Ginger! Your little sister is learning to surf, isn't she? Why didn't you invite her this morning?"
"What?" Ginger stares at Sebastian, the confusion apparent on his face. "Are you insane? She couldn't surf that tide, she'd break her neck. Did you want to talk to her? Cause she should be here in an hour or so, I told her once the high tide hits the waves will be perfect for her."
Sebastian beams, the look on his face when he turns back at Kurt nothing short of triumphant. It's equally ridiculous and adorable and Kurt rolls his eyes, not quite prepared to admit defeat but too amused not to.
"All right," he sighs. "All right, you win. Let's get this over with."
.
And that's how, just under an hour later, Kurt finds himself walking out on the beach in one of Sebastian's old spring suits. It feels much too tight, clinging to his shoulders and thighs like a second skin and making him infinitely grateful he wasn't forced into a rental one. He knows Sebastian is very particular about keeping the rentals clean and in proper condition, but still…
“Looking good, Hummel!” Alex tells him with a wink as she passes him by, and he resists the urge to wrap his arms around himself, suddenly very aware of the way the suit accentuates every curve of his body. He’s spent enough time ogling Sebastian in them, after all - he knows how these suits were basically designed with objectification in mind.
Sebastian himself, however, doesn’t seem to be in the ogling business at all, at least not when it comes to Kurt. The observation both reassures and disappoints Kurt, and he tries to distract himself from his dilemma by focusing on the task at hand, following Sebastian’s instructions as he moves behind him to take both their boards under their arms -Sebastian’s usual short board on the left, Kurt’s long board on the right- and carry them to the edge of the water.
“Come here,” Sebastian tells him as soon as they’ve laid down their boards, beckoning Kurt to come closer, and when Kurt complies Sebastian grabs him by the shoulders, turns him around, and then… pushes.
“Woah!” Kurt stumbles forward, trying to maintain his balance. “What was that for?”
“You’re a natural,” Sebastian says simply, and Kurt glares at him.
“While I appreciate the compliment,” he says, “the class hasn’t even started yet.”
Sebastian laughs.
“No, I meant: you’re natural footed,” he says. “When I pushed you, you put your left foot forward to regain your balance, which means you favor that foot.”
“I could’ve told you that,” Kurt huffs, still a little indignant, and Sebastian’s expression immediately turns repentant in that way that Kurt knows means he can’t be angry with him, not really, and he sighs.
“Forget it,” he says. “So now that that’s cleared up, what’s next?”
“Your board,” Sebastian says, pointing at the different parts of Kurt’s board in turn and making him say the names.
“Nose, tail, rails, deck, skegs, leash,” Kurt drones, annoyed. “Come on, Seb, is this really necessary? I already know this stuff, you know I do.”
“Just making sure,” Sebastian smiles. “So, first thing you’re gonna do is…?”
“… paddle out?” Kurt says, but Sebastian shakes his head.
“First thing you’re gonna do is attach the leash,” he says. “That way you won’t lose your board, and it’s less likely to smash someone else in the head if you wipe out. It might hinder you occasionally, but when it’s crowded, and especially when you’re a beginner, for your own safety and that of others… please just wear the fucking leash, okay? All right. So what’s gonna happen is, you’ll be paddling out on the waves like this-“
Sebastian lies down on his board on his stomach, gesturing for Kurt to follow his lead as he starts to pretend-paddle with his arms, looking much like a turtle who's fallen over and can’t get up anymore. It looks downright ridiculous, and Kurt fails spectacularly trying not to laugh. Sebastian takes it in stride, though, grinning along as he tells Kurt to lie down on his own board already. Kurt does as he’s told, but it still takes another five minutes before he manages to stop giggling long enough to get some practicing done, because each time he thinks he’s over it he glances at Sebastian, who then proceeds to make the most ridiculous faces and sends Kurt spiraling again.
After the paddling comes the popup, and it immediately becomes a whole lot harder to concentrate. Because suddenly Sebastian's hands are all over Kurt's body, moving his legs and arms and hips into the right positions, showing Kurt where to place his hands and feet.
“... bend your knees,” Sebastian tells him as he physically moves Kurt’s knees in the right position. “It’ll help keep your balance. Hips like this… yes, exactly… shoulders back… there, perfect.”
They’re eye to eye now, and Kurt nods, even if he has no idea what Sebastian just said because his knees are tingling, his shoulders are burning - a trail of sparks all over his body everywhere Sebastian has touched him.
It’s all in your head
, he tells himself sternly,
this suit is 3mm thick, you can’t actually feel the touch, it’s all in your head. He doesn't like you, not like that, he doesn't, let it go.
“You ok, babe?” Sebastian asks, worry in his eye, and Kurt nods again, forcing himself to tear his gaze away from Sebastian and focus on the task at hand. But it’s no use - his entire body feels like it’s on fire, and it takes much longer than it should before he finally manages a satisfactory popup.
Immediately, there’s a choir of whistles coming from higher up the beach, and Kurt looks up to see the entire crew cheer and clap at his apparently incredible feat of jumping up onto his feet. It makes him painfully aware of the fact that they are being watched. He shows them his middle finger.
Maybe it's because it took Kurt such a long time to get it right that Sebastian makes him practice the move over and over again, because it feels like forever before Sebastian is finally satisfied, and he allows Kurt to go into the water. Except that, once he’s there, Sebastian stops him when they’re only waist deep to once again start repeating all the different steps for the take off and pop up.
“Yes, I know ,” Kurt sighs after the third repetition. “You’ve only just told me that a gazillion times. Now can I just go and get some surfing done already?”
Sebastian laughs, obviously amused by Kurt’s impatience, though he insists that they run through it one more time before he finally - finally- gives Kurt the go-ahead.
.
Paddling out on the ocean is a little different from the pretend-paddling they’ve been doing on the beach, but Kurt adjusts quickly, and it doesn’t take long before he feels confident enough to try to get up. He’s patient though, looking back over his shoulder to wait for the right moment, and when it comes he acts fast: hands on the board, pushing up and-
He’s launched headfirst into the water, salt stinging in his eyes before he even thinks to close them, and he has to resist the urge to gasp for breath as he gets sucked under, tossed around every which way, the leash on his board pulling him even further down. He frantically waves his arms, kicking his legs to try to get back to the surface, and when he does he only just manages to suck in half a gulp of fresh air before the next wave crashes over him.
“Stop that!” he sputters when he finally breaks the surface again, only to find Sebastian laughing at him. “The board slipped, it wasn’t my fault!”
He’s not sure how it happened - he knows for a fact he did everything right. And it’s not like it’s hard: he's just watched Sebastian and his friends do it for hours on end, hell, he’s done it himself on the beach more times than he can count just ten minutes ago.
“Your body was too far forward when you were paddling,” Sebastian tells him, obviously trying to be supportive but still unable to keep the grin off his face. “Rookie mistake, we’ve all been there. Look at your markers, stay centered. And paddle . Go deep, don’t be afraid to develop speed - the faster you go the less it will matter if your weight is too much to the front and the less chance you’ll have of pearling.”
“Yes, sir ,” Kurt drawls, not really paying attention as he struggles to point his board’s nose back to the direction of the beach. Falling off the board first thing is disappointing, but Kurt is nothing if not persistent, and he’s determined to get it right this time.
“I’m just trying to help,” Sebastian says soothingly, “I know there’s a lot of things to think about, it takes time to get them all right at the same time.”
“Yeah, yeah…”
Unfortunately though, and much to his own frustration, Kurt quickly discovers that Sebastian is right. Because although Sebastian makes it look easy every time he shows Kurt what to do, whenever Kurt tries, it always goes wrong somewhere. When he gets the paddling right he’s too late to pop up, when he gets the popup timing down his weight distribution is wrong, and when he manages to place his feet exactly where they’re supposed to be he’s so surprised he’s actually standing that he wipes out anyway.
“Don’t dive off!” Sebastian tells him after one such an occasion. “Jump back butt-first, away from the board, you don’t want your head to lead the charge in case you hit something.”
“I know that!” Kurt says indignantly, an hour’s worth of frustrations almost getting the better of him. “You think I don’t know that? I tried, okay? I tried!”
“Hey, hey!” Sebastian wades through the waves, making his way over to Kurt. “Ssh, calm down, you’re doing great, okay?”
“Don’t try to sugarcoat this,” Kurt huffs, shrugging Sebastian’s hands off his shoulders. His feet are cold, his hands are cold, his stomach feels bloated from all the seawater he’s ingested and he’s done. He’s just done . “I suck. I never should’ve let Veronica talk me into this.”
“Hey, where are you going?” Sebastian asks, grabbing him by the arm to pull him back, but Kurt pulls himself free and soldiers on, trailing his board behind him as he wades back to the beach. “You’re not giving up, are you?”
“What’s the point of continuing?” Kurt snaps as he turns around. “I think it’s pretty obvious I’m not going to win Olympic Gold for surfing any time soon.”
“Was that the goal of today?” Sebastian asks. “Because I don’t wanna be that guy, but surfing isn’t an Olympic sport, so that wasn’t gonna happen anyway.”
Kurt rolls his eyes, though he doesn’t continue his trek to the beach, which Sebastian seems to take as a good sign, because he slowly wades up to him.
“Look, babe,” he says once he’s caught up. “You’re doing just fine, okay? This was your first time on the water and you're already standing! Don’t give me that look, I saw you stand up for three seconds at least. That's more than some of my other students manage even after several hours, I promise."
Kurt huffs, still refusing to look at Sebastian. On the beach, he can see the rest of the crew talking and laughing amongst themselves, no longer paying attention to him or Sebastian, so it seems like they haven’t seen his massive failing as a surfer, which is a small comfort at least.
“Babe,” Sebastian says softly, hooking a finger under Kurt’s chin to make him look at him, and Kurt reluctantly obeys. “Look, which one of us is a certified surfing instructor?”
“… you.”
“And who works with beginning surfers on a daily basis?”
“You.”
“So who is in the best position to judge your surfing skills?”
“… you,” Kurt admits grudgingly.
“That’s right,” Sebastian says, reaching out to frame Kurt’s face with his hands. “Me. So would you please believe me when I say that you’re doing great?”
“But we’ve been here for over an hour and I haven’t even caught a single wave yet,” Kurt exasperates. “All I do is screw up and wipe out and annoy the real surfers. I haven’t even left the whitewash yet! It looks so easy when you do it but I think we can both agree I’m just not made for this.”
But Sebastian just laughs.
“You know how long I’ve been surfing, Kurt?” he asks. “Nineteen years. I would hope I make it look easy, and not to discourage you but I would also hope it’s not possible for you to learn in an hour what I’ve been working on for nineteen years.”
Kurt grumbles, and Sebastian takes a step closer.
"Look, Kurt... if you've had enough for today I understand. Just don't give up because you feel like you're not moving fast enough."
His hand moves up to cup Kurt's cheek, and Kurt looks up.
"You did great, okay?" Sebastian says softly, and then smiles. "And it was my honor to be your teacher today."
Who even says that , Kurt thinks but then he's lost in Sebastian's eyes, in the touch of the hand against his cheek, and he swallows.
“I’d still like to get back, now,” he says quietly, and Sebastian nods.
“We can do that,” he says. “Absolutely, we can do that, let’s go.”
He wraps his arm around Kurt’s waist, gently leading him out of the ocean and onto the beach, and he doesn’t let go until they’re inside the house. They each take a quick shower, and by the time they make it back downstairs Alex and Dax are already setting up a campfire.
"Ah, there's our little grommet!" Ginger calls out, and Kurt sticks out his tongue.
"If I'm sick tomorrow I expect each and every one of you to bring me soup," he says.
"Did you at least enjoy it?" Alex asks, and Kurt shrugs.
"I didn't drown, I count that as a win."
"He did great," Sebastian takes over, "he stood like three or four times, but you know, balance is tricky."
Ginger nods thoughtfully.
"Because of the ego, you mean?"
"Exactly," Sebastian says. "And especially Kurt's - it's so big and heavy, it just ow!"
He dives away, but he's too late, and Kurt's fist hits him square in the shoulder.
"Hey!" Kurt knows they're just messing with him -he's heard this particular joke a million times before-, but that doesn't mean he has to let them walk over him. "I'm not some cocky tourist!"
"Except you sort of are?" Sebastian quips, but this time he's prepared for the fist, and he smoothly grabs the wrist and pulls Kurt in, hugging him close. "We still love you, though."
Kurt grumbles, but doesn't say anything. It's nice to be cuddled by Sebastian -even the hot shower wasn't able to fully chase the ocean chill out of his bones- and so he settles in, grateful that no one really comments about the two of them for once. Tomorrow, he'll worry about what it means, and what he's supposed to do with that, but for now, he's just gonna enjoy this.