FEAR ▷ Denis Stoff

eight

"Why are we here?" I asked him looking around at the huge lake in front of us.

"Because I wanted to swim." Denis said, shrugging off his shirt, "Don't worry I brought you a bathing suit."

"Of course you did." I laughed.

"I brought everyones." He grinned.

"Have you had this planned?" He nodded.

Of course.

I turned around and all the guys had already threw off their shirts. I guess a little swimming wouldn't hurt.

Denis handed me a two suits and Kassidy and I separated to go into the changing rooms.

I took a look at the bathing suit. It was a light blue two piece with white stripes on it. It fit perfectly.

How had he known my size? God only knew.

Kassidy was waiting outside my dressing room when I walked out.

"How're you holding up?" I looked at her with a smile.

"Well, I'm about to go swimming with one of my favorite bands and the singer has a thing for my sister. I think I'm doing great." She smiled back.

"You really think so, hm?" I turned a bit pink.

"Are you blind? Of course Denis does." She shook her head.

"Yeah, kind of." I joked.

"Do you like him?"

I stopped walking and thought about it.

"We just met..."

"That's not what I asked though."

"I don't know." I answered honestly.

Luckily we reached the lake. Everyone was already in the water. Kassidy ran and jumped, leaving me standing there.

"Oh good! It fits!" Denis grinned at me.

"Yeah, it does." I confirmed.

"The water is nice. You should come in."

I shrugged. Truth be told, I hated large bodies of water. They were one of my worst fears. I had almost died in one. It happened before Kassidy was born. I was only seven years old and I had really wanted to go into the pool at my aunt's house. I had done it by myself and I remembered trying to grab onto someone or something. I remembered inhaling the water and feeling my body sink and being helpless. I woke up later with my parents sobbing over me, thinking I wasn't going to make it. To this day, I still have breathing problems.

Swimming absolutely terrified me. No one but my close family, excluding Kassidy knows about it. It wasn't exactly something to flaunt about.

Denis had gotten out and had walked up to me.

"Are you alright?" He sat down next to me, giving me a look of concern.

"Uh, yeah." I nodded.

"You aren't. You're about to cry. What's bothering you, shorty?" He took my hand in his.

"Swimming is one of my worst fears." My voice cracked.

I hated myself for crying over this.

"What's the reason?"

"I almost drowned when I was seven."

"I'm so sorry. If I had known, I wouldn't of brought everyone here."

"No, it's not your fault. It's alright. Everyone is having the time of their lives."

Denis let go of my hand and put his arm around my shoulders instead, "I'm gonna sit here with you instead."

"No, go have fun." I shook my head.

"I'm having quite a lot of fun right here."

I rolled my eyes, "It's a really beautiful day out, though."

"How about we walk in the sand then?"

"Again with the cliché stuff?"

"I am all about cliché shit."

"Whatever floats your boat."

Denis stood up, bringing me with him. We joined hands and walked the short distance to the lake. Kassidy was throwing shells at Sam whilst hiding behind James. She fit right in with them. The guys were all just big man children who swore a lot. Ben and Ciara had ran off somewhere. We all knew where and why.

"Hey shorty, do you trust me?" Denis looked at me.

"What?" I asked confused.

"Do you trust me?" He repeated.

"Yeah, I gu-" Before I could speak, he threw me onto his back and jumped into the water.

I screeched and held on to him for dear life. He swam out further so the water went up to his shoulders.

"See? If you trust me, then you can trust that I will keep you safe."

"As long as you don't try shit like that again." I wrapped my legs around his waist and clung to him even tighter.

"I kind of like this."

"Shut up." I frowned.

***

Denis helped me resolve some of my fear. I hadn't been in the water since that incident so of course, I didn't know how to swim. He was starting to teach me. We did it away from everyone else so they couldn't laugh at me. I was still afraid to go in, but not to the point where I would have an anxiety attack. It was pretty nice.

Everyone had lost track of time and before we knew it, the sun was setting. As we walked to the car after changing, it started pouring rain down. Ben wanted to drive so James sat next to him. Cameron and Sam sat behind them. Ciara and Brandi had gotten in a rental and Kassidy, Denis, and I sat in the far back.

Ben told me they used to tour in this a couple years back before they could afford an actual bus. It took us awhile to get back to Denis' apartment.

"I could order a pizza." Denis looked at me once we were inside.

Ben had dropped us off and went wherever they were staying.

"As long as it's cheese. Sofia's a vegetarian!" Kassidy called out.

"What? How do you not live without bacon?" Denis asked astonished.

"I hate bacon. It's all grease and fat." I pretended to gag.

"That's what's good about it! I can't believe it!" He shook his head.

"It's gross." I insisted.

"Whatever shorty." He laughed.

I rolled my eyes as he dialed the restaurant and told them our orders.

"Kassidy, would you like to watch a movie?" Denis asked.

"Which one?" She looked over at him.

"Toy Story."

I snorted and flung myself onto the couch. Denis came and sat next to me. Kassidy gave me a look while walking to us and sitting down on the other side of me. I couldn't help but smile. 

I didn't know how to end this oops next update is on Friday though so :)