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July 11th, 1882.
I stood there, wearing the swimwear he had graciously gifted me, back when he was more selfless. I didn’t ask him to, nor did I really expect to be standing here in the first place, getting ready to swim with my unlikely best friend. By now, I was already ready yet it was like I was just frozen there, stalling as I gazed off into the lake. There was just one thing I couldn’t stop thinking about: drowning.
I didn’t fear the water, more that I felt haunted by it, knowing how I’d been abandoned in a stream similar to this one when I was still only a newborn. It shook me to my core, and so I hated the water. I thought I’d never choose to swim in the rivers and streams, even after 12 grueling years. I couldn’t look at it without thinking of how my father almost let me and my mother die in that flood.
He grabbed my attention, slightly annoyed at how I’d been wasting time, letting those thoughts consume me like a fool. “What are you waiting for?” He asked, scolding me for my foolish behavior, and I brushed it off. “Nothing, I’m sorry.” I simply responded, raising my head back up again to meet his eyes after hanging my head low. He sighed in response and urged me to come into the water, and that sigh had made me remember that he had hated when I acted formally around him like I would around his father. I should’ve acted more casually but.. I wasn’t sure how to do that, how to connect with him, even though I wanted to.
I pushed my thoughts aside though, making my way into the water and joining him. The water felt freezing at first but I started to adjust to it, it started to feel warmer the longer I stayed there. There was something about the water that I couldn’t easily adjust to though, and it was being in the water itself.
My mind panicked slightly, at the floaty feeling I felt upon being submerged in this lake, and my hands instinctively clung onto Johnny. His once slightly irritated expression turned into a teasing smile, asking me if I was scared, since it was surprising that someone of my age didn’t know something as basic as swimming. “I’m.. I’m just not used to swimming.” I responded with somewhat of a lie, it didn’t quite reflect the panic that welled inside me. With a chuckle, I heard him respond kindly to me. “You know, I can help you swim.” Help me swim? Would he really do something like that for me? By now, I’d expected Johnny to become distant with me after we’d recently been pitted against eachother in our races, but it felt like he’d only grown to respect me more and it made me feel a stupid kind of fuzziness inside me.
“But, you have to stop clinging to me if you want to learn.” He added on, speaking more sternly, and I quickly pulled away to his request.
I’d spent the afternoon of that day with him by my side, I felt like a late learner yet I was glad to have him teaching me. “It’s not like walking, you know.. You gotta lay down, and move your arms back and forth to keep moving, and it might seem scary but you'll be fine.” He promised, it felt comforting to hear those words from Johnny, even if it felt silly to be protected by my younger and shorter competitor. I did as he’d asked, awkwardly lowering myself to do as he instructed.
“Am I doing it right?” I asked, looking for his approval. I was met with his smile, his lovely smile that I’d grow to love more as time passed, and he swam alongside me.
“You’re doing great!” Johnny responded enthusiastically, and we were swimming together in that lake, pretending we were racing against eachother like we would during our horse races.
Soon enough, I had won against him at his own game, even though I was still only new to swimming. I gloated about my victory, it felt good to win even if there was no prize here outside of fun. I couldn’t help but mess with him over his loss at our little game. “I won! So, where’s my prize?” I boasted, just to feel Johnny splashing my face with water and the sound of a raspberry noise coming from him to mock me in return. He was sticking his tongue out at me, playfully messing with me back after I’d bragged to him. I went to cover my face in surprise, I had never dealt with someone splashing me like that, and so I splashed him back. Soon enough, we were attacking eachother with the lake’s water like the free and undignified fools we were in that moment, having mindless fun together as we exchanged splashes and laughs.
Once we were done fighting, he looked at me as if he wanted to say something and so I just stood there, looking at him. Then, he started to squint his eyes, looking intently. “Hey.. There’s something on your face.” He noted, and I felt confused, immediately asking where. He pointed to my lips, and right when I was about to check if there was something on them, he’d already went in to kiss me. I immediately froze, I hadn’t felt a greater shock than feeling Johnny suddenly kiss me, especially in such a silly prank that made me look like a fool. I could feel him smiling against my lips, his arms wrapped around me for a short moment, before he pulled away.
Even after he pulled away, my mind was still spinning, asking a million questions. Why? Why did he kiss me? Why did he trick me? Did he love me back? Or was this just to shock me? As I tried to recompose myself, I asked him. “Why did you do that..?” I looked dumbfounded, since it was my first kiss, with another man and my own competitor now too. “You asked for a prize. There it is.” He said nonchalantly, shrugging as he spoke. That moment was more incredible to me than he could’ve imagined.
“You’re.. right, I did ask. Well, uh, thank you.. Johnny.” I responded, clearing my throat but unable to stop the blush spreading to my cheeks and how my heart pounded. “For teaching me how to swim, and for being with me today, and for.. my prize.” I was so sheepish, God, Johnny never stopped making me feel like a fool whenever I was with him. I’d believed emotions like love were ridiculous, useless for someone like me, and yet that Joestar had me wrapped around his finger.. and I’d hoped I had him wrapped around mine.
July 11th, 1882: Add-On.
After I detailed the events of this day, I remember there was something I overlooked, in the midst of all my lovely memories of this day. I was at the stables, alone with nobody else there but the horses, and I was quite used to being here at night tending to the precious animals while everybody else rested. Though there was a visitor tonight, it was none other than Johnny. He kept me company quite often, even though he got scolded for trying to befriend someone as lowly as me. “Why aren’t you asleep, Joestar?” I asked, I would refer to Johnny by his last name whenever I was working, even though I knew Johnny hated it and hated how I had to be formal with him despite our friendship.
“I had a nightmare.” He explained in his tired voice, I didn’t know why he’d chosen to come to me, did he find comfort in me? “Oh. Did you.. try going back to bed?” I asked, unsure of how to respond, Johnny looked so sad thinking about whatever nightmare he had. He nodded, and the room grew quieter. I saw his expression dimming, and I felt worried. “I had a nightmare that Dad got mad that I kissed you and took you away from me, and it felt so real, and.. and I had to come see you to make sure you were still here.” The vulnerability I heard in his quivering voice made my heart ache, even though I usually don’t involve myself in people’s emotions, I couldn’t help but hug Johnny in these dark moments when we were both still lonely children that leaned on eachother.
I held him, I suppose after Nicholas had died, Johnny would sometimes choose me as a replacement for that hole in his heart and I chose to fulfill that role of giving him comfort even if I could never be his older brother. “It was just a dream.. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone, it’s our secret.” I promised him, I wasn’t good at comforting people nor was I ever good at it, but I had to for Johnny. I couldn’t bear to see him cry like this, even though I didn’t feel an obligation to comfort those crying to me, my heart held a soft spot for the shorter boy crying into my shoulder.
“D..Do you promise?” He asked, and I nodded, promising him that I wouldn’t let anyone know. Of course, I wouldn’t dream of letting that rich pig I’d secretly despised know about me and Johnny’s relationship, but I knew the boy was still on edge. He held up his pinky finger to me, asking me to pinky promise, there’s a part of me that feels some sort of pity knowing just how innocent Johnny was in his younger years. I wrapped my pinky finger around his, promising him once again, with my other arm around his back. “Go back to bed.. Johnny.” I said, I remembered that it was the first time I used his first name while I worked for his father’s stables. With a sniffle, he hugged me one more time before leaving the stables and returning back to his home.