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Sunday’s, Juliette had decided, were date day. She didn’t care if it didn’t flow as well as date night (that was fridays).
School was finally out for summer, and Juliette found herself with too much free time that she almost didn’t know what to do with it.
So she chose Sunday as a time to pick a fun activity with Calliope and actually take advantage of their summer break.
Her dad had offered a seasonal summer job interning at his office, and as much as she appreciated the offer, Juliette would rather spend her time any other way.
Three weeks in, and Date Day had become a success. Calliope was pretty chill (as usual) and left the planning down to Juliette, who had discovered a love for organising and arranging events.
But somehow, there was always something that managed to go wrong.
Firstly they went paint-balling, which completely unleashed Cal's competitive side. Juliette had left the arena looking like a child’s finger painting. But it definitely had been fun.
For the next week, Jules decided on something a bit more tame, a butterfly garden. But she hasn’t anticipated Calliope’s (in her opinion, totally irrational) fear of butterflies. Maybe she shouldn’t have kept the destination a surprise.
Last week had been a trip to a carnival. And yes, Juliette just wanted to ogle Calliope’s arms as she threw tennis ball after tennis ball into the bucket, winning a giant green tortoise stuffed toy which she handed Juliette with a smug grin.
The day was mostly a success until Juliette had spotted a funnel cake stand and was insistent to try at least every flavour. Calliope held her hair back as she threw up in the car park, just as they were about to drive home.
So today, Juliette had planned to pull out all of the stops and was determined that the day was going to be a success. No ruined clothes, no fears of butterflies and certainly no vomiting.
But Calliope threw a spanner in the works by sending a text that Juliette completely did not expect.
”Get changed into something comfortable. I’m picking you up at 12 :) “
This was new, Juliette thought as she scoured her cupboard. Calliope usually handed her the reigns for Date Day, she certainly didn’t plan the day herself.
But she welcomed the change. The only problem being that Juliette had the fashion sense of a middle aged, divorced school teacher.
What was comfortable? What did that entail? How does one dress comfortable? Shouldn’t all outfits be comfortable?
Okay, something basic and cute, Juliette reasoned. It was summer, so the shirts were probably a no. Maybe a t shirt, nice and basic.
Juliette moved to her drawers, picking up a few t shirts and trying to choose which one would be best. She was stuck between a pale yellow top, embroidered with flowers and a soft purple ruffled t shirt.
Purple, Cal’s favourite colour. Awesome, great. Now what to pair it with. Most of their activities were physical, so a skirt didn’t seem practical, but neither did jeans.
Why was this so difficult.
Okay, pants. Juliette finds a slim fitting pair of navy pants and decides they’ll work. The outfit won’t suit a catwalk runway anytime soon but it was comfortable and cute enough, so it would have to do.
What does one even bring to a mystery date?
Juliette wishes Ben was here, instead of visiting his father. Yes, she did miss her best friend, but she also missed his preparation advice and fashion sense.
A knock on the door distracts Juliette, and she throws her phone and purse into a small backpack. She opens the door, and finds Calliope leaning against the frame.
Its ridiculous how giddy seeing her girlfriend makes her feel, but Juliette doesn’t think she’s ever been as happy as when she sees Calliope. “Hi” Cal smiles.
Juliette smiles dopily. “Hi” she must be making what most people in her life refer to as ‘heart eyes’ because Calliope looks amused as she pulls her into a kiss, tugging on the belt loop of her pants.
”You look very cute” She proclaims, and Juliette almost preens at the compliment. Calliope doesn’t always verbally express her feelings, especially now the couple are so in tune that they can get a basic sense for how the other feels. So the compliment is endearing.
Calliope is wearing a short sleeved blue tank top and sweats. They’re wearing each other’s favourite colour and if Ben could see right now, Juliette knows she’d never hear the end of it.
“Why thank you” she almost skips to Calliope’s car full of anticipation and excitement. “And you look wonderful, as always”
Calliope laughs, “charmer” she notes, climbing into the driver’s seat. And she isn’t wrong, Juliette could happily spend most of her life complimenting her girlfriend.
”So, where are we going?” Juliette considers their options , maybe a movie, or bowling. Calliope could be hard to read sometimes, and her face is stoic. “It’s a surprise Jules!” She insists
Juliette is not one for surprises. She likes knowing exactly what she’s going into, so that she can plan for most outcomes. But this seems like it will be a fun surprise, so she doesn’t push it.
They drive for a short while, and Juliette begins to guess the possible places. “Oooh, go karting?” She asks, pointing at a large sign. Calliope shakes her head. “Nope”
A sign points out a close by golf course, “crazy golf?” Juliette hopes, but Cal offers another shake of her head. “No but that does sound fun” and Juliette agrees, it definitely does.
After about twenty minutes, Calliope pulls into a car park and Juliette almost leaps from the car to find out where it actually is that they are going.
A small building is the only place nearby, and they link hands as Calliope leads them into the place.
Juliette gulps when she reads the lettering - Lesiure Centre. Now this could logically only mean two things, either Calliope had hijacked Date Day to take Juliette for a workout (unlikely but the lesser of two evils)
Or, they were going swimming. Juliette almost shudders at the idea alone.
Now yes, she was a legacy vampire and the daughter of one of the most powerful matriarchal figures. But, Juliette Fairmont could not swim.
It wasn’t for lack of trying. When she was younger, the family would take trips to the beach and both her parents and siblings would try to help.
But it just never seemed to work, and after flailing about uselessly, her parents decided to stop trying. Instead, she would dig giant castles with her dad and watch the twins splash about.
Juliette didn’t consider herself afraid of many things. Social situations was probably quite high on the list. But spiders and water, were also up there.
But nothing trumped upsetting her girlfriend, so Juliette grips Calliope’s hand tighter and let’s her lead them into the leisure centre.
Maybe they were just having a workout, just in a fun, cool, totally non water location. Maybe,
”Hi, I booked online for two swimmers. The name is Burns” Calliope tells the receptionist, and for a brief moment, Juliette considers faking a collapsing.
Or maybe the stress will make her collapse for real. Maybe this is actually what kills a legacy vampire. What a way to go, dying of embarrassment at not knowing how to swim in front of your girlfriend.
For once in her life, Juliette is quiet. She follows Calliope down the leading hallways, to the changing rooms and inspiration strikes.
”This is such a fun idea Cal. But I don’t have a swimming costume or anything!” Success. “Oh don’t worry, I come prepared” Failure.
Calliope hands her a two piece swim suit, which happens to be in her size. Okay, think. What else could possibly distract them from the swimming.
Juliette notices how they’re the only ones in the changing rooms and an idea forms. She leans in to kiss her girlfriend, but Calliope doesn’t seem to notice as she enters a stall to get changed.
”Fuck” Jules’ curses under her breath, reluctantly entering the adjacent stall and putting on the swim suit. Admittedly it’s a nice costume, a baby blue bikini top and matching bottoms. Her favourite colour.
Maybe she should retire Date Day. It’s clearly cursed. If she even makes it to the next one, Juliette thinks dramatically as she stuffs her clothes into a locker with more force than she needs to.
“Ready?” And Juliette is speechless for a completely different reason. Maybe it won’t be so bad to sink to the bottom of the pool, not when Calliope looks like that. She is wearing a purple bikini set and Juliette can’t seem to drag her eyes away.
Cal laughs, “you gonna stand here starring at me all day?” Juliette replies under her breathe “I wish”.
The pool is empty, which is a saving grace. The only thing worse than making a fool out of herself in front of Cal, would be a big crowd watching her do so.
Calliope strides into the pool with a certain elegance and grace. Juliette watches her, momentarily distracted from her impending doom.
She reaches the middle of the pool, water lapping around her waist. Juliette just stares, because her girlfriend is totally unreal.
”Jules?” Calliope calls, pulling her from the thoughts. Juliette nods. “Yep. I’m fine. All good down here. Just on my way” she fires a false grin, and begins to walk over to the pool.
Okay, maybe this wouldn’t be as bad. She could just hang out in the shallow end and look at Calliope. There’s surely no drowning risk from that.
Juliette flinches as she dips a toe into the pool. The water isn’t even cold, but it’s unfamiliar. She doesn’t mind a quick shower, but submerging into the water is out of her comfort zone.
Taking a deep breathe, she climbs down the stairs fully and eases into the water. Calliope swims over, and she manages to make that look graceful.
Juliette is distracted (again) watching her girlfriend, and slips on the step. She shrieks loudly, and before falling under, feels a strong pair of arms wrap around her waist.
”Hey, hey. It’s okay. You’re okay” Calliope looks concerned, and Juliette melts into her touch. She buries her head into Calliope’s chest and refuses to move. “Jules? What’s up?”
They finally pull apart, and Calliope takes her hands. She notices they are shaking and frowns. “It’s the shallow end baby, so it’s safe, you just would’ve went under”
The thought isn’t pleasant. Juliette can barely tolerate water as it is, so being stuck under would be even worse. Cal seems to pick up on her discomfort, and looks as confused as ever.
Juliette sighs. “It’s silly” she begins, her hands fidgeting together. Then Calliope seems to realise. “You can’t swim, can you Jules?
A small silence falls over, and Juliette is too embarrassed to speak. “I can totally swim” she finally bursts out, “I’m just rusty”
Calliope isn’t convinced. “It’s just me, you can tell me anything Jules you know that” she squeezes her hand and the affection bubbles away in her chest, clenching tightly.
”I can’t swim” She acknowledges, because Juliette can’t deny Calliope anything. Not when she looks at her with such love and warmth.
Calliope strokes her hand. “I should’ve asked before I planned this. I’m sorry, I didn’t want to worry you” Juliette is quick to reassure. “No! I’m sorry! You made all these plans, and it’s just me running everything”
This shouldn’t feel as embarrassing, but Juliette can feel her face burning. Even children could swim, and she could not.
”Not everyone can swim. I shouldn’t have assumed” Calliope replies, and Juliette is just glad she hasn’t let go of her yet, arms still holding her waist.
”No, I should be able to swim” Juliette exclaims. “I’ve just never really liked the water, and my parents never really taught me how. Mom just stuck us in the sea and waited for us to try and swim. It never worked with me though, and dad had to get me out” she reminisced.
Calliope watches her, taking it all in. “What is it you don’t like about the water?” She asks carefully, grip still tight and safe. Juliette considers the question.
“I don’t like the unknown” she finally states. “I just don’t like being underwater, and I feel like I don’t have enough control of myself in water. Like a stone. I think I’ll sink” she pottered, miserably. Calliope poked her cheek gently. “Hey, enough of that”
“I’ve got an idea” Cal suggests, hesitantly. “And don’t feel obliged to try it or anything. If you want, we can leave right now” Juliette smiles at her sweetness, leaning closer into her touch.
Calliope continues. “How about I try and teach you a few strokes? But I wont let go of you, so there’s no way you can go under the water” Juliette gulps at this.
All it takes is one wrong move and she’d be sinking like the titanic. It probably wouldn’t kill her, but she assumes drowning isn’t a nice experience.
But she trusts Calliope. With her life. Out of everyone in the world, no-one makes Juliette feel as loved and safe as her girlfriend. So when Calliope promises to keep her safe, she trusts that.
”Okay” she finally decides, and Cal seems surprised at that. “Okay?” She echoes, like she was expecting Juliette to suggest leaving instead.
”I trust you” is all she can say, because it’s true. The water is still scary, and even in her arms, she’s still frightened. But she trusts Calliope to keep her safe.
And Juliette would be damned if she let another Date Day go wrong. Today, was going to be a success. So Juliette was going to swim, and not drown. That was her plan.
“Okay. So first you can lie on your stomach” Calliope instructed, arms remaining on her hips as Juliette shifts forward in the water.
She feels like a dog, swimming in the sea to their owner. The whole thing seems ridiculous, especially when even babies are competent swimmers. But she pushes the embarrassment away, and tries to focus.
”Good, good Jules” Calliope praises. “Now, bend your legs out further” Juliette wobbles, and Calliope’s arms flex around her hips. “Easy. I’ve got you”
She follows the instruction, and gives an experimental kick. A hand moves from her waist, to her chest as Juliette begins to fall into position.
“So push with your arms, and kick with your legs at the same time. I’m going to hold you, but just enough to stop you from going under. I don’t want to hinder your movement” Calliope explains, her grip is lighter but still there.
Juliette listens and gives a hard kick, pulling at the water with both hands. She doesn’t move, but the water ripples. “Good. Go again but time the actions more, so they are in sync”
Success. The stroke isn’t pretty or even that useful but Juliette feels herself slide across the pool, propelling by her actions. She shifts up into the standing position and let’s Calliope envelope her into a tight hug.
“You did it!” She breathes into her ear, and looks so happy that the sight presses at Juliette’s chest.
”I did it!”