Chapter Warnings: Drowning, panic attack

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"Oh my stars, Goth, the look on your face was priceless!" Palette laughed out loud, wiping tears of mirth from his sockets.

A few moments passed before a surge of water followed by copious flailing and splashing motions came from Goth's direction. The taller skeleton continued laughing as he made his way over, the water reaching a little more than halfway up his sternum now; as soon as he came within range, however, a pair of hands scrabbled against his ribcage for purchase and he had to throw his hands out to balance himself.

"Woah!" Palette's arms reached around to hold Goth, who was now grasping tightly around his neck, as he let out a little chuckle, "What's the rush? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were-"

His sockets widened once he took a look at his friend; a good look. Goth's breathing was quick and panicked around coughs and wheezing noises; the way his eye light had blinked out made his sockets look like hollow craters and his entire frame was shaking violently as he held onto Palette for dear life.

Goth was scared... no, not just scared; he was absolutely terrified.

Palette tightened his grip on the frightened skeleton as concern wormed into his features, "Hey, what's wrong?" His worry grew when he received no response. "Goth? Goth!" he shouted, only to get more rapid breathing and a thousand-mile stare in return; it was as if the monster clinging to his neck wasn't even present.

Hooking his right arm under the crook of his friend's knees, Palette held the shuddering monster close and waded toward the shore as fast as the water surrounding them would let him. Glancing down every few seconds showed Goth was still staring off into space, eye light still missing, still trembling, his grip never loosening from the taller's neck; he was actively working to control his breathing, though, so there was progress.

"Hey, is he okay?" A taller man in a white shirt with a red cross and shorts jogged over with a bag slung on their shoulder; Palette recognized the guy as the lifeguard who had been sitting in the nearby tower.

"Yeah; I think he got scared by something out there, but he's breathing and he should calm down in a little bit," Palette replied, running a hand soothingly down Goth's spine; he was a bit disappointed that he got no response.

The lifeguard stared at Goth for a moment, seemingly accessing their condition, then nodded, "I'll need to file an incident report; once I get it written out, I'll bring it over for you to review and sign." He gestured to a tower with a chair at the top and a little shack next to it, "If he gets worse or needs any medical treatment before then, you can find me at my station."

Thanking the man, Palette continued up the beach toward their umbrella; by that time, Goth's eye light had finally returned, albeit dim, and he was more or less breathing normally. The shaking was still present, but his grip had slackened from fatigue.

Sitting on his blue towel, Palette placed the curled-up skeleton in his lap and wrapped them in a secure hug. Laying his chin on top of their skull, he muttered quiet assurances as he waited for the lifeguard.

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"Why didn't you say something?" Goth looked away as Palette questioned him, "I wouldn't have pestered you to go out there if I knew you couldn't swim." 

... So he said, but Palette still wanted to kick himself; Goth has been giving him clues since they arrived that he didn't want to go into the water, even if most of them were subtle. The smaller skeleton's reluctance to come in the first place should have been a huge red flag because he rarely turned down an invitation.

Of course, Palette was too excited that he had finally managed to convince his best friend to come to the beach with him that he didn't see the warning signs... and now Goth was laying on his lap, recovering from a panic attack; one that he had caused.

"Because... it's embarrassing," the smaller admitted, shame etched on his face as he played with the drawstring of his damp hoodie, "The only water I've ever been near is a bathtub or a kiddie pool, so I never got to learn. Learning to swim never seemed important... at least, not until now... and you were so excited when I finally said yes. I... I didn't want to disappoint you."

"I'm more disappointed that you thought you couldn't be honest with me," Palette countered, earning a wince from his companion; he sighed, "Look, that panic attack you had out there really scared me; I had no idea what was wrong. Imagine what could have happened if I didn't come over-"

The mental image of dust floating atop the water flashed through his mind and he viciously shook the thought away; it didn't happen!

"Sorry...," Goth hunched in on himself, hugging his arms closer.

"It's okay," Palette quickly assured the smaller; his expression softened as he placed a hand on their skull, "just talk to me next time. Please? I would rather not do something than risk you getting hurt because you tried to push yourself past your limits, okay?"

A hesitant eye light rose to meet his pair and Goth softly replied, "Alright."

With the conversation finished, Palette slowly eased the smaller into a sitting position and walked toward the basket. At his friend's questioning glance, he said, "We didn't bring all this food to look at it, right? I want to try some!"

Comprehension dawned on Goth's face and he scooted over as well, reaching into the basket to pull out two sets of plates and utensils. "Maybe later we can practice how to swim?" the taller skeleton suggested. He couldn't say he wasn't expecting the crumpled paper napkin to the face.

Word Count: 993