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Chris McLean is terrified of the ocean. Not that he would ever admit that, because incredibly handsome and professional people like Chris are not supposed to be scared of anything. But it is true: the ocean terrifies him.
He wasn’t always like this, though. Like most people, Chris always used to love swimming in the sea; as a kid, trips to the beach were always a favourite vacation of his, and paddling in the sea was so much fun, and as he got older, he still enjoyed wading about in the shallow waters by the beach and sometimes swimming awkwardly whilst trying not to swallow any of the salty water. Chris isn’t the strongest of swimmers, but he always felt safe as long as he had someone with him, and he was never scared in the ocean.
But… he is now. It all started two years ago, not long after he finished filming Total Drama All Stars. Of course, if you watch the footage of that show, you’ll see Chris happily chatting to the camera as he floats on debris out at sea, the pieces of the destroyed island bobbling about around him. So only a few days after it happened, he was still fine in the ocean.
After a long time on that crappy island spent tormenting those teens and mourning the destruction of his cottage, Chris felt the need for a vacation. So he and Chef, his partner, decided to hop on a plane and spend some time relaxing in Hawaii.
And on that awful evening, Chris floated on his back in the ocean whilst Chef sat on the beach, drinking lemonade. The sun was setting, turning the sky a beautiful shade of orange, whilst the clear water shone orange too. Chris stared up at the sky, his arms fanned out beside him as he floated on the water, and kicked his legs slightly so he drifted parallel to the almost empty beach. And he was so relaxed he could almost fall asleep…
The tug of the sudden current made Chris jump, and he flipped into an upright position. Looking all around him, he saw he was now in a strip of water that looked cloudy compared to the rest of the sea, and… and it was pulling him out to sea.
It was a rip current. Chris had read about them, but never actually seen one. The currently didn’t pull him under, but it did cause him to drift out to sea at a remarkable speed, leaving him wanting to puke.
Chris went to put his foot on the seabed, but his feet simply kicked through water. The beach seemed so far away; how had he drifted this far so quickly?
He tried to swim against it, but the current was too strong.
He tried to wave a hand at Chef to get his attention, but the moment Chris stopped flailing his hands beneath the water to keep himself afloat, he started to sink. He trod water furiously, kicking until his legs cramped, and he wanted to cry.
Was he drowning?
But this was nothing like in the movies. In the movies, the person would thrash and scream at the top of their voice and someone would come to save them. But all Chris could do was pathetically tread water and try to keep his head above the surface, breathing so fast he didn’t know what to do.
Chris kicked until he hauled himself above the surface enough to wave his arms around for about a second.
“Chef!” he screamed, so far from the beach he wanted to cry.
Before he had chance to see if Chef had seen him, Chris sank again. He kicked with cramping legs, accidentally swallowing the vile, salty water as he thrashed his arms, and finally got his head above the surface again. Salty water burning his eyes, Chris tilted his head back, his face the only thing above the water. Yeah, this was nothing like in the movies.
And he knew he couldn’t keep himself from sinking forever; eventually, he would get tired and stop treading water, and then he would drown.
But then…
“Chris!”
He heard splashing and Chef’s booming voice. Was Chef… coming to save him?
“Chris, what the fuck!?” Chef yelled, and Chris realised Chef was using the rip current to carry him out to sea as quickly as he could. He swam towards Chris with strong strokes, and then he reached him. Chef wrapped his arms around Chris, hauling him above the water, and Chris slumped against his partner, coughing and sobbing and gasping for breath.
“Chef, I…” he mumbled, and Chris puked, hacking up a combination of stomach acid and sea water.
“Come on, let’s get you back to the beach,” Chef said, sounding just like a lifeguard.
Chef got Chris to cling to his back, arms around his neck, and he slumped against Chef, too tired to really watch what was going on. But he felt Chef kicking violently to the side, and then…
They were out of the riptide, floating in still water as the rip current churned beside them. So that’s all it took to get out of that thing?
Chris closed his eyes, listening to Chef’s heartbeat as Chef swam back to the shore. When they reached the beach, Chef carried the rather limp Chris over to where he had been sitting, and rested Chris on his beach towel. He wrapped Chris’ towel around Chris’ trembling shoulders, and Chris just sat there, humiliating tears running down his face.
He coughed, hugging the towel, and all he could do was sob. Chef saved him, but he nearly drowned.
He nearly drowned.
And even as Chef hugged him, cradling Chris in his arms just like when they cuddled on camera way back on Total Drama Island, Chris could do nothing more than sob and shiver. He was so scared.
All because he nearly drowned.
An ever since that evening, the ocean has terrified Chris. There doesn’t even have to be rip current for his heart to race, although he nearly pukes with fear if he does see one of those. All he really knows is that being near the ocean freaks him out, and if a role needs him to stand on the beach, it takes a lot to suppress his fear. And if for a job someone wants him to get into the ocean, he turns it down; no amount of money will get him back in the ocean after what happened to him.
He knows he’s pathetic, but he can’t help it. The ocean… it just terrifies him.