A/N: this story is already posted on fanfiction.net. Many people have helped me with it to varying degrees – betas, sounding boards, legal advice, and medical. Thank you all, for everything you’ve done over the years to help make these boys come to life. It’s been a long journey that will finally close after five years.

Thank you, reader, for your patience and support during this time. It’s meant the world to me.

If you’re new to At the Deep End, I ask that you please bear in mind that this was my very first attempt at writing. I’ve elected to not change anything from when I first started. This is my baby, and I’ve grown along with it, as I hope you can see once we arrive at the other end.

In the mean time, enjoy.

ooOoo

JPOV

The sound of my whistle pierced the air once .

“Go!”

I smiled as I watched the kids jump into the water at the same time. Feet first, of course, some holding their noses and scrunching their eyes shut as they hit the water. They quickly resurfaced and treaded water as they held out their arms for balance .

“Well done! Keep treading water until I blow my whistle, then swim to the other side of the pool and climb out. Carefully and one by one. No pushing!”

I shot a stern look to the blond haired boy on the far right, James. Always the trouble maker, he scowled for a moment before concentrating on treading water. I nodded once and let my eyes roam over the rest of my class. I had four girls, five boys, all between 9 and 12 years of age. They’d made remarkable progress during the last month. It was my first month as their teacher; my first month in town, as a matter of fact.

I thought back to my first week here. My father had had to relocate us once again, this time to Seattle. It happened every few years, due to his work. I know I was old enough to go it alone by now. I was in my twenties after all, but I chose to move with my family. We were close, and it was never boring. My sister Rose had moved with us as well.

One thing I always did upon moving to a new place, was search out the swimming hall and join the swimming club. I volunteer my time as a swimming teacher for kids, and usually end up as a life guard, too. And for fun, there is always water polo, whenever I can find a club that has a team.

This time, I lucked out as the club I found had it all. After I was done with the kids, I’d have to hurry and get ready for training. I was only subbing this particular class until their usual guy came back from some conference or other. I looked at the clock and blew my whistle, chuckling softly as I watched the kids scurry to the side of the pool and climb out one by one.

“Alright kids, shower time! No running!” I shook my head as they grabbed their stuff and walked to the locker rooms.

I followed after them, since I needed to put away my uniform and grab my swimming trunks.

“Emmett, man… please tell me you’re early.” I said, looking at the big guy as he walked out of the showers. He stood several inches taller then me and he was very muscular. His cropped brown hair was plastered to his head and he looked already set to start training. He grinned and shook his head.

“Nah, man, you’re running late today! Better hustle, Cullen’ll be here today. He’s already changed and grabbing gear, I think.” His voice practically boomed and bounced off the walls. Didn’t anyone ever teach him the concept of an indoor voice?

“Great… ” I replied, as I hurried through the shower, pulled on my trunks and walked back into the swimming hall. The rest of the team seemed to be there already. This was a mixed team, and I’d learned quickly to never underestimate the girls. I gave a small wave to them as I walked over to Emmett. I heard the girls giggle and rolled my eyes. Never failed. Whereever I went, there were bound to be some heads that turned. I smirked at Emmett who gave me a knowing smirk before he turned to look for someone across the pool.

I followed his gaze and saw a tall guy walk out of the storage room with the bag of balls we used for training. I frowned as I looked him over. He seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place him. His bronze hair was plastered to his face, making it hard to really get a good look at it. He was muscular but lean; a typical swimmers’ physique, pretty much like myself really.

“Cullen! Good to have you back man.” I heard Emmett roar.

He looked up at the sound of his name and grinned as he saw Emmett. His eyes were bright and his face seemed to light up as he smiled.

“Hey man. It’s good to be back, I hate going to those conferences. I’d much rather be here playing with you guys.”. His voice, though it carried across the pool easily, was velvet smooth and warm.

He snickered and then looked at me. His green eyes flickered with some emotion, but I couldn’t tell what.

“Looks like we’ve got some fresh meat. Who’s the new guy, Em?”

He seemed a little weary, but I had no idea why. Those eyes never left mine, and I felt goose bumps all over me as I stared back. Those eyes… so familiar…. I let my gaze roam over him again, taking in every feature from his hair, to his eyes, to his angular jaw and down his torso. When I reached his groin, I snapped my eyes back to his. No way… that can’t be him, just someone that looks like him, that’s all..

 

flashback

We were laughing and talking about the training we’d just had. We all came from different parts of the country, some even came from overseas. A camp, if you could call it that, for water polo. I finally got to go that year. I was 16, gangly but good looking, and a little cocky. We were all in the shower, getting ready for dinner after training as usual. Some of the guys had, over the last few days, made jokes about who they’d made out with. We were all the same age, and by the sound of it, we’d all had our fair share of girls.

 

That night, after dinner, and back in our cabin, the subject had come up again. One of the guys, Laurent, had smuggled in a bottle of whiskey and dared us to have a drink. So we did, and it started a truth or dare game. Laurent and Mike both came from New York. At that point, I lived in Houston, Texas. The other guy, Edward,   a lanky boy with bronze colored hair and vivid green eyes , which were hidden behind black rimmed spectacles, was from Chicago.

 

I never thought I’d see any of them again. Ever. So I decided to play the game. What did it matter, right? I’d never see them again, so there would be no need to feel awkward or embarrassed. We’d gotten pretty drunk as the game went on. I’d so far been pretty good and chosen truth. The dares had been pretty tame for the most part. Laurent had been dared to sneak into the supervisor’s office and steal his whistle. Mike was told to strip and run to the pool house and back. Edward had also gone for truth. We’d been sitting next to each other, and it felt like electricity was building in the space between us. It was both tantalizing and a little frightening.

 

It was Edward’s turn.

 

“Dare.” he said this time.

Laurent looked from Edward to me, a sly grin forming on his lips “Dare?.. ok… I dare you to kiss Jazz here… full on the lips… with tongue.”.

 

I don’t know who looked more shocked; me or Edward. We stared at each other for a moment. I wasn’t sure whether I wanted him to take the dare or not.

 

“Ok…” Edward nodded to Laurent, then turned to me slowly. I swallowed, feeling nervous and more excited than I’d ever be willing to admit, at the prospect of him kissing me. He leaned forward and put his right hand on my neck, slowly pulling me to him, as he slid it to the back of my head. My eyes were locked on his as he put his lips to mine. I gasped slightly at the jolt that seemed to go through me when our lips touched. His eyes widened a little and then closed. His lips began slowly moving against mine. I couldn’t help myself and I deepened the kiss, the sensation of electricity coursing through me increased and I sucked his bottom lip gently, eliciting a soft moan from him.

 

I did a mental happy dance at the sound of his moan. I’d done that…

Laurent and Mike were forgotten as he traced my lips with his tongue, asking for entrance. Closing my eyes, I opened my mouth and slid my tongue into his, our tongues languidly caressing each other for what seemed like hours before we both had to come up for air. I could taste the whiskey and something that was solely Edward as we kissed.

“Cullen, this is Jasper.” Emmett said snapping me out of my trance. “ He just moved here… where from again, bro?”

He turned to look at me and I shook my head slightly as I answered “California.”.

“California, you say…” Edward sounded almost puzzled but just shrugged and put down the bag he’d been holding.

“Well, welcome to the team, Jasper”. He smiled and nodded, though his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Thanks.” I muttered. He looked at me for a second longer and then turned his attention to the team.

“OK guys!” He shouted, as the girls muttered. He grinned at them and winked, which made them giggle. Bella and Alice were definitely girls in every aspect, especially their behaviour and appearance.  But in the water, you’d never know it. They gave everyone a run for their money. I had yet to see anyone catch up to Alice when she had the ball. Bella was a little clumsy on land but was in her element in the water.

“Let’s get started.” I heard Edward say, and I turned my attention back to him.

The training consisted of the usual stuff. Stamina was our focus, we had to swim back and forth as quick and as often as we could down the width of the pool. I tried to not think about anything other than the task at hand. I wasn’t successful, and my mind went back to a few hours after that kiss.

It was dark in our cabin. Everyone had gone to bed. I could hear Laurent’s breathing even out and Mike’s soft snores as he too, fell asleep. Everything was quiet. And yet I could not fall asleep because my mind had gone over that kiss again and again. I let out a sigh and closed my eyes; another vain attempt to sleep. Suddenly, I felt my blanket being lifted and a weight on my mattress, as someone slid into bed with me. My eyes snapped open; I was about to say something when I felt a hand over my mouth, and a whisper at my ear. 

 

That same feeling of electricity was there again, and I knew it was him. Edward’s breath caressed my ear as he spoke “Shh, it’s just me… I couldn’t sleep either…”

 

He was leaning on his arm as he looked at me, the hand covering my mouth began tracing my jaw. I turned my head and whispered “I can’t stop thinking about…”

 

He nodded and leaned down, his lips gently brushing over mine. My breathing sped up and my mind seemed to stutter to a halt. 

 

“Me neither. I don’t know why, but I can’t get you out of my head.”

He kissed me again, his tongue tracing my lips slowly. I turned my head slightly and sucked his tongue into my mouth gently. I could feel his hand move down from my jaw to my neck and   to my chest. I’m sure he could feel my heart pounding like crazy.

I heard the whistle blow; the memory disappeared, and I stopped swimming to look at Edward. He had Emmett help him put the goal up and throw the balls into the water. Emmett took goal and we all had to try and shoot the balls past him. Emmett was good and blocked most of our attempts. My head wasn’t with it though, and subsequently my attempts to shoot a goal were easily thwarted.

We each took turns, one after the other, so it was easy to watch Edward as he went through the motions of the exercise. I made sure to not get too close to him. Even so, I could feel my skin cover in goose bumps again as I saw his muscles ripple with every move he made and the water trickle down his shoulders. Once or twice I noticed him shooting furtive glances my way, and I would quickly turn my head and take a few strokes to go further in line. I shivered slightly as my mind wandered again to that night.

Edward’s fingers trailed over my chest in a small figure eight, grazing over my nipples lightly. I moaned into the kiss as my body responded to him in ways I had never responded to a boy. It felt like my skin was on fire each time he touched me, the longer we kissed.

 

My cock twitched as he took one of my nipples between his fingers and rolled it gently. I couldn’t supress another moan, and I slid my hand to his neck. I opened my eyes to find his locked on mine, searching, as I let my hand glide down his back slowly; my eyes never leaving his. We were both questioning silently, our hands moving tentatively over the other’s body. When my hand reached the small of his back, I paused, realizing that he was not wearing any clothes, and for the first time I let my eyes wander down his body.

 

I took in every inch I could see in the darkness, his chest moving with his ragged breathing. His cock stood at attention, his tip glistening slightly with his arousal. My eyes flickered back up to his, questioning.

 

“Have you ever…” he whispered.

 

I knew what he was asking and I shook my head “No….”.

 

Our eyes were locked together and my hand had slid to his thigh, my thumb was rubbing it soothingly. I’m not sure who the gesture was for. Was I trying to sooth him, or my own nerves? I could feel his hand slowly trail down my chest as he came to rest just above my pelvis.

“Hey.. Jasper!” I heard Bella call, at the same time I felt a ball bounce off of my head.

“Ow, hey!” I glared at Emmett, who just grinned and shrugged.

“Jasper?” I heard her again. I turned to her, treading water to stay afloat.

“What, Bella?” I shook my head slightly, in part to shake off the memories, and because Emmett had hit me hard.

She giggled. “You ok there, handsome?”

“Yeah… yeah, I’m fine. Just got a lot on my mind, I guess.”

I shot her an apologetic look and sighed. I watched as the others climbed out of the pool; Emmett and Edward pulled out the goal and placed it back in its spot. Bella began rounding up the balls and tossing them hard at Emmett and Edward with a wicked grin on her face. I chuckled and decided to join in on the fun. After all, we needed to put the balls away didn’t we?  Plus, I owed Emmett for that one to the head just now.

“Knock it off guys!” Edward glared at us, as he gathered the balls up into the net and hauled them back to the storage closet. We climbed out of the pool and I quickly went to the locker room. I wanted to get out of here, and fast. Those memories were still fresh in my mind and I did not want to be the butt end of Emmett’s jokes once he noticed the resulting… problem. And he would notice. He always did.

How I managed to get showered, changed and on my way as quickly as I did, I’ll never know. I am grateful, however, that I managed to do so without having to meet Emmett or Edward. It can’t be the same guy…. The Edward you knew was from Chicago. It’s just a coincidence. I kept telling myself this as I secured my bag over my shoulder and grabbed my bike. It’d be good to pedal home, maybe get the… frustration…. worked out. I grumbled slightly and had to adjust myself before I was able to get on the bike and get going. Those eyes though….. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and focused on traffic, going as fast as I could on my bike. I made it home in record time. I put my bike in the garage and walked into the kitchen.