*Never ending screams*

“Swimming lessons.”

Mal’s words were unamused as she stared out over the water, hands on her hips as Evie shifted beside her. Ben had invited Mal, Evie, Jay, Carlos and Doug out to the magic lake he had taken Mal to for their first date, promising a picnic and day off to simply enjoy themselves. Instead, the king had produced bathing suits for everyone, declaring the trip to be their first swimming lesson.

“Well, I figured since none of you could swim, it’d be a good time to learn before summer really hit. I wanted to bring you guys to my family’s beach house once school’s out, I just thought…” he frowned, shifting slightly as his girlfriend stared him down. “I just thought it would be a nice gesture, I’m sorry Mal.” Mal let out a long sigh, reaching to pull her hair up into a ponytail before reaching to take the bathing suit Ben held out.

“It is, Ben. It’s just...on the Isle, if someone knows your weakness they can use it against you...so we’re a little apprehensive when it comes to admitting we can’t do something. You know?” Ben nodded enthusiastically, a smile gracing his lips as Evie also reached out for the bathing suit offered to her.

“Doug, you won’t let me drown, right?” She asked coyly as she turned to her boyfriend, a hint of concern in her voice as she glanced out over the still waters. Doug smiled, pulling her into a hug and giving her forehead a kiss as he hummed.

“Of course I won’t. I’m an excellent swimmer, Evie, don’t you worry. I work as a lifeguard every summer.” Evie beamed at him, and beside her Jay took the red and yellow swim trunks with a smirk.

“Swimming shouldn’t be that hard, right?” Ben shook his head, and Jay moved to go towards the small changing rooms set up at the opposite end of the small pier. Carlos followed, taking the black and white trunks from Ben as he passed him silently, and Mal and Evie moved to their own change area to get their swimwear on.

“I figure we can work on the girls first and get them use to floating, then work on the guys?” Ben’s question caused Doug to look up from where he was gathering paddle boards, the bespeckled teen giving a nod at the idea before holding out two boards to Ben.

“We can give them those while we teach the girls the basics. I figure, they’re more likely to stay towards the shallower water until they know how to swim a bit better so it should be safe, right?” Ben nodded, and Doug smiled as Evie made her way back down the pier, giving a little spin to show off her suit before taking Doug’s hand. Mal joined them after a moment, slipping between Evie and Ben to lean against the taller boy as they waited for the last two to join them. Jay came bounding out of the change room, t-shirt slung over one shoulder as he turned slightly to call for Carlos to hurry up, and the youngest of the group joined them at a much more sedated pace, shirt still on and trunks hanging low on his slim hips.

“I don’t think you got my size quite right, Ben...I’m a bit smaller than a medium.” Ben gave him a sheepish grin, and Carlos shrugged as the girls turned towards the water.

“So I assume you’re teaching me how to swim then, Ben.” Mal’s voice held a hint of amusement as Ben nodded, and she moved to slip into the shallow waters around the gazebo their picnic items were in. “Then let’s get this party started. I’m expecting the most royal lesson ever.” Ben chuckled, and Jay moved to put his legs in the water, taking the paddle board that Ben offered him. Ben offered one to Carlos, the smaller teen taking it and setting it to the side as he moved to slide into the water as well, moving further out than Mal to tread water, Ben moving to his girlfriend’s side.

“Don’t go too far out, Carlos, there’s a drop off not too far from here that you can’t really see.” Doug called out, and Evie gave a chuckle as Jay snorted at the warning, speaking up as Carlos waved them off.

“You guys, Carlos can swim. It’s fine.” Ben’s brows furrowed as he watched Carlos swim out towards the small island in the middle of the lake, his stroke near perfect, before returning a confused look to Mal, who pat his cheek.

“It surprised us too, Ben. I fell into some water while we were back on the Isle, when the others’ parents tried to escape through the caves? And Carlos was the only one who could rescue me...he wasn’t even afraid of the crocodiles, just dove right in.” Both Ben and Doug paled at the mention of crocodiles, turning their attention to where Carlos was doing lazy backstrokes in the water.

“So how come he never taught you guys to swim?” Doug asked, moving to get into the water before turning to offer Evie a hand down as well. Evie let him lift her into the water, shivering slightly as the gentle waves lapped at her stomach, before responding.

“We never knew he could. He still hasn’t told us who taught him; I know it wasn’t Cruella, but there’s only a few people who actually know how to swim on the Isle and none of them are people Carlos would willingly talk to. Mostly the pirates, you know?” Still seated on the pier, Jay splashed his feet some before slipping into the water as well, placing the paddle board under his chest at Ben’s insistence.

“I’m pretty sure Harry taught him to swim.” All eyes turned to him as he stared out at where Carlos was still swimming on his own, offering the younger teen a wave when he glanced over with a wide smile.

“Carlos hates Harry, Jay.” Mal stated, brows furrowed as she considered her friend’s words. Jay shrugged, attempting to kick his feet in mimicry of Carlos’ movements while keeping himself afloat with the board.

“Now. They use to do barge runs together, when we were kids. You wouldn’t have seen them, Mal, you never did the runs and Evie was locked up in her castle, but they use to always work together to get the really good shit before they just...stopped hanging out together I guess. Around the time you stopped hanging out with Uma, when she started hanging out with Harry and Gil I guess? Once that happened, I never saw him with Harry again.” He gave a small shrug as Carlos made his way back to the group, turning onto his back to float as he cleared his throat.

“You guys over here talking about me?” He asked, teasingly, and Ben flushed as he rubbed the back of his neck, caught out.

“I had no idea you were such a good swimmer, Carlos. I thought you couldn’t swim on the Isle, but I guess I was wrong.” Carlos snorted, letting his fingers tap on the surface of the water as he floated between Mal and Evie, bumping into Jay and causing the older teen to chuckle as he pushed him towards Doug.

“Harry Hook taught me to in the barge harbour when we were kids. Our parents had a thing for a bit, and while mom was more likely to try to drown me than care if I knew how to swim, his dad thought I might make a good pirate if they stayed together for more than a few quick, uh...you know.” He blushed slightly at the insinuation, turning to stand upright in the water. “Harry was a pretty good teacher, actually, and in exchange I taught him how to mix a better tar pitch to patch up his dad’s boat.” He shrugged, kicking off from the ground to float on his back again. “He taught me how to hold my breath real long too. Came in handy more than once.” Ben and Doug exchanged a look with Mal and Evie, who shook their heads no as Carlos gave a hum. “But yeah, I know how to swim. I’m a damn good swimmer, actually.” Jay splashed him and he sputtered, standing up again.

“Yeah, and you never said a word to us! You totally could have taught us to swim and you didn’t.” Carlos stuck out his tongue, splashing the ex-thief back, and Mal gave a growl as she reached out to grab both boys arms to prevent more splashes.

“I just never knew you guys wanted to learn! You never showed an interest in swimming.” Evie nodded, and Ben gave a small smile.

“Well, we can teach the girls if you want to teach Jay.” Jay perked up, paddling his way awkwardly to Carlos to waggle his eyebrows at him playfully.

“Teach meeee.” He whined, causing Carlos to give him a shove under the water. Popping back up almost immediately, he sputtered at his friend and made a face as he clung to the paddle board. “I said teach me, not drown me!” Carlos grinned, reaching out to flick a leaf off of the other teen’s shoulder, and Ben shook his head with a chuckle.

“Come on, Mal, i’ll teach you how to tread water...over here, where it’s safe.” Mal snickered as Doug lead Evie away from the two boys as well, pushing her gently in front of him as he protected her from the sudden splash fight that broke out between the two remaining teens.