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Early in the morning in the summer, when the pool isn’t officially open yet, Heather teaches Barb how to swim. She’s lucky to have a girlfriend who works here as a lifeguard and as such has the keys to the pool, Barb guesses—and the word still trips her up. Still makes her heart race and her hands feel hot.
But it’s true, isn’t it? They are… together. Heather grins at her from the edge of the pool, already in her red lifeguard swimsuit—which Barb likes quite a lot, red is an excellent color on Heather, and it accentuates her figure nicely—waving a little. Her smile is cute. Barb’s breath is hitching in her throat when she walks closer, the resistance of the water against her skin pushing her back a little as she reaches out to hold on to the edge.
She can still stand in this part of the pool. It’s the only reason she said yes—and because Heather offered to do it when no one else is here yet.
Barb doesn’t really like the pool. Which she guesses is kind of a bummer when she’s so close to someone who loves the pool, who loves swimming and the summer and summer fun, but hey, it’s the truth. It reminds her of old memories of boys yelling mean things after her and girls giggling behind their hands. It’s just… not a good place for her, generally.
Heather giggles, too, but it’s a happy giggle. A kind one, and though the other girl can be rough around the edges and overly protective and spoiled at times, she’s never been mean to Barb.
“You can’t swim?” she remembers her exclaim in surprise, back when they weren’t yet dating, back when their hands were still clutched together because that’s just what girls do, right? “I have to teach you!”
Back then, Barb could have never imagined this. Could have never imagined another girl feeling like this about her—could have never imagined Heather’s laugh, and the soft feeling of her lips, and her whispering into the dark, “it’s always been girls for me too, Barbara,” and, “I like you so much,” and, “do you really want to be with me?” and, “I think this is what I’ve always been looking for.”
(She’s not alone anymore. And—and she’s never fully been, of course, she has Nancy and her family, her parents, and she loves both, but—
But before, she had no one who understood. No one who was just like her. It’s only now that she knows there’s nothing wrong with her, because there’s nothing wrong with Heather, either.)
“You good down there?” Heather grins, lifting her feet to press them to the edge, raising her knees to her chest. It’s not all that warm yet, early as it is, and they are both shivering. Barb thinks her teeth are even clattering a little.
None of that would make her want to leave, not even the pool with all the water in it. Not this place, not the morning chill, not the bathing suit clinging to her. Nothing at all would make her want to leave right now.
A smile spreads on Barb’s face, too, when the other girl takes her hand, lifting it to her mouth to press a kiss to it, before lifting her brows.
“Yes,” Barb replies. She still feels a little sheepish around Heather—a little giddy, a little nervous. Heather’s hand is shaking a little. “I’m very good.”
Heather hums in response, before dropping her legs back into the pool with a splash and a huff. Barb squeaks when the water hits her—she hasn’t put her head under water yet, so her shoulders and her neck aren’t used to the cold feeling—but by then, the other girl is already right next to her in the water. Wraps her arms around Barb’s waist to squeeze her, once, twice.
God, Barb thinks she might be dreaming, but Heather’s lip-gloss is tacky when she presses a kiss to her cheek. Her face is burning, and Heather’s grin is just… dazzling. She’s everything.
“Alright,” the other girl says. “Let’s go!”
Right. Swim lessons. Right. That’s what they came here for, isn’t it? Barb shivers. Bites down on her bottom lip. Anxiety returns to flood her body—she doesn’t… she doesn’t know if she can do it.
“It’s okay,” Heather laughs, like she can read her thoughts. They are so different—Barb is quiet and likes to read and doesn’t really know what to do with makeup and fashion while Heather is loud, and confident, and has beautifully styled hair and loves shopping and will do Barb’s makeup for her because she likes doing it. “Don’t worry, it will take you a while anyway. Today’s just for getting you used to it, so we’re just gonna paddle around a little bit. Have fun, y’know?”
It’s… sweet. All of this is.
“Thank you,” Barb says, and Heather laughs again, before simply dropping down and letting her body sink into the water until she’s fully submerged. When she resurfaces, her hairstyle is ruined, but the way her dark hair sticks to her face is pretty anyway. Especially with the way she smiles.
“I should thank you,” the other girl says, brushing her hand up Barb’s arm, before tapping against her nose with her index finger. It makes Barb’s chest swell—makes butterflies flutter in her stomach. It’s early in the morning in Hawkins, and they’re outside, but there’s no one around to see them, so they can be who they want to be. They can—“It’s not… well, I’m very glad you take an interest in my hobbies. And that you, uh, want to try them out even if they’re not really your thing, y’know?”
Barb swallows.
Heather is—Heather is loud and confident and takes no shit. But Heather is also so caring and kind, and sometimes, like this, she gets sheepish, too. Shifts where she’s standing in the water, droplets of it rolling down her cheek and her shoulders, her legs long down in the water, and Barb adores all of her, really.
She doesn’t exactly mean to kiss Heather right that instant, didn’t really think it through, but that’s what she ends up doing. Brushes her hand up the side of the other girl’s neck to cup her cheek, to lean in and press her mouth to hers. Heather’s lips are soft—her breath warm, her lashes brushing against Barb’s cheek as she closes her eyes. Even with all the water, her lip-gloss still manages to be sticky.
When Barb leans back, looks at Heather’s dark eyes, cross-eyed with how close they are, looks at Heather’s furrowed up brows and her pretty, pretty lips, she knows there’s no place she’d rather be. Knows she’d learn swimming a million times over if it’d make the other girl happy, just how Heather hangs out in the library with her, reads a romance novel next to Barb with her fantasy novel in her own hand.
Heather swallows. Her face is flushed. She lifts on her tiptoes, presses her lips over Barb’s again, and for some reason, Barb thinks, I’ll have lip-gloss on my lips even though she didn’t do my makeup today, and for some reason, that’s a nice thought.
They share things, all the time. Somehow, even like this, in the early morning in Hawkins’ still cold pool, Barb feels warm.