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The hours leading up to a full moon were always an anxious time for Lewis and the girls, but today was unusually tense.
“Lewis, absolutely not,” Cleo declared as she helped Rikki cover the windows in Emma’s bedroom with thick, velvety blackout curtains. With the other three Gilberts out of town for Elliot’s football tournament, her house would serve as the trio’s nighttime hideout.
“You three aren’t hearing me out,” Lewis countered.
Rikki scoffed and turned around on the chair from which she stood. “We do hear you. We hear you and your stupidity . ”
“ Stupidity-”
“They’re right, Lewis,” Emma stated as she reentered her room with a stack of pillows and blankets, “going to the Moon Pool by yourself- especially on a night like tonight- is way too risky. Sorry.” She shrugged, placing the pile at the foot of her bed.
Running a hand through his shaggy blonde locks, Lewis laughed in disbelief, “This is ridiculous. Even after all I’ve done for you, you three have absolutely no faith in me as a scientist.”
“Lewis, that’s not-” Cleo began only to be cut off by the fuming man.
“No, no, save your sympathy.” Lewis picked up his backpack from where it lay near Emma’s desk. “I don’t care what you all think. These are the only conditions under which I can collect this data, and I am more than capable of performing under them.” Slamming the door behind himself, Lewis descended the staircase and headed for the marina.
“We have to stop him.” Cleo stepped down from her chair and began to move towards the door only to be stopped by a hand gripped firmly around her right arm.
“We can’t,” Emma stated simply, her brows furrowed, “The sun will be setting soon. If we leave this room, we won’t be of any use to him.”
Rikki hopped down onto the plush tan carpet and positioned herself to Cleo’s left. “Emma’s right. The best thing we can do is check in on him and be ready to call for help if needed.”
Sitting down on Emma’s bed, Cleo grabbed a cushion and hugged it tightly against her chest. “I just hope he’s careful.”
﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏
The trip to Mako Island was fairly easy; it was getting to the Moon Pool that proved to be difficult. The overhead opening to the cavern was small and Lewis had to carefully shimmy down the rope ladder to avoid damaging any of the equipment in his book bag. Once he made landfall, the boy took inventory of his supplies and waited for the sky to darken. By collecting water during a full moon and comparing it to previous samples he’d taken during a typical day, Lewis hoped to unearth more about the cause of the girls’ miraculous transformation.
Lewis’ phone buzzed wildly in his pocket, all texts from Cleo, Rikki, and Emma if he had to guess. He switched it to “do not disturb” and then tossed it into his bag before grabbing a handful of test tubes and a pair of tongs. Avoiding any form of direct contact with the Moon Pool was crucial. There was no telling how little water was required to activate its magic.
Once the moon hung high, reflecting brightly onto the surface, Lewis got to work. Gently placing the glass tubes into the tong’s grasp one by one, he filled them with the mysterious water and wiped them dry with a rag before plugging them closed with a stopper. He collected as many samples as possible and carefully packed them back into his bag.
“What did I say? Simple task. No harm done,” Lewis said to himself smugly, proud to have proven the girls wrong. His victory was short-lived, however, as, suddenly, a bat shrieked from the cave’s ceiling and swooped down toward the man’s face.
Startled, he leaped backward. Lewis immediately realized his mistake, but before he could regain his footing, he felt himself crashing against the icy Moon Pool. Frantically, he flailed his arms and legs, trying to resurface. Lewis became disoriented as violent bubbles surged into his vision, and he felt that, no matter how hard he swam, there was no escape. His head grew light and his lungs screamed for air, but, by some small miracle, Lewis’ fingers made contact with land. Heaving, he pulled his upper body to the surface and rested his head against the pool’s stone exterior.
After, catching his breath, Lewis remembered where he was, and the panic began to set in once more.
“This isn’t happening, this isn’t happening, this isn’t happening-”
It was though, and all it took was one glance below his waist for Lewis to confirm his biggest fear: he had a tail.
“ Shit !” Lewis punched the sandy ground and let out a frustrated sob. He allowed his emotions to overflow for a few moments more before taking a deep breath and beginning to deal with the problem at hand. Lifting the rest of his body out of the pool, he sat upon its edge and examined his new appendage. Unlike the gentle orange of the girls’ tails, Lewis’ scales sported a greenish-blue- seafoam perhaps. He also noted the addition of two frilly dorsal fins. He’d have to add a sketch of it to his notebook at some point, but he was far too exhausted to worry about that in the present. He splayed his body across the cavern floor and closed his eyes, willing himself to dry off and his legs to return.
﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏
By the time Lewis awoke, it was still dark out, but he was once again bipedal. He gathered his belongings and climbed out of the cavern. Avoiding the water while boarding his boat was tricky, but he was successful. The trip back to the mainland was much slower than his journey to Mako as Lewis did his best to reduce the spray of water.
When he did finally make it back to the marina, Lewis was shocked to see a familiar face standing on the docks.
Zane wore a snug wetsuit top and colorful boardshorts as he walked to his Zodiac. The brunette, however, stopped in his tracks upon seeing the approaching vessel. Lewis carefully docked his small boat before addressing Zane, suspicious about why he’d be out so late.
“What are you doing?” The blonde questioned.
“I could ask you the same. What the hell were you thinking- running off and ignoring your phone?” Zane practically snarled as he encroached on Lewis’ personal space. “Do you know how scared the girls were? Rikki called me in a panic and told me you disappeared after a fight. They would’ve come after you if it wasn’t for the moon. I was about to head to Mako myself to drag your dumbass back.”
Lewis scowled “While that’s very kind of you, I can handle myself perfectly fine, thank you very much,” he stated, sarcasm lacing his words, as he brushed past Zane.
“Hey! We’re not done here, Blondie!”
“I believe we are!”
Suddenly, Lewis felt Zane’s fist twisting in the back of his t-shirt, forcefully pulling him back. Lewis whipped around and pushed the brunette, resulting in Zane shoving him in return. For the second time that night, Lewis found himself toppling backward into the ocean.
Below the waves, Lewis quickly swam beneath the dock, concealing his inevitable transformation from Zane’s view. He hoped the other teen would storm off in anger, so he could return to land with his secret intact. However, upon not seeing Lewis resurface, the brunette began to panic. His mind flooded with images of Lewis hitting his head, becoming unconscious, drowning, dying.
“Lewis? Lewis?” He called frantically before taking the plunge. Zane groped around the water, trying to make sense of the darkness. Something glimmered in his peripheral. Turning his head, Zane’s burning eyes were met with a blurry yet familiar mass of scales.
Breaking through the surface with a gasp, the teen was face-to-face with wide blue eyes and a mess of blonde hair as Lewis peeked up from where he lurked below the water.
“Lewis, that’s… yours? How? When? Why?” Zane sputtered, shocked.
The blonde raised the rest of his head out from the water but didn’t meet Zane’s eyes, face hot with embarrassment. “I’ve seemed to run into a bit of trouble with my latest experiment,” he muttered.
Zane blinked rapidly, his expression one of confusion- maybe even concern. “We have to go tell the girls.”
Lewis watched in horror as the brunette began to swim away. The girls couldn’t find out about his mishap- at least not yet. Thinking quickly, Lewis stretched his tail out towards Zane, curving it around his waist. The teen let out a small scream as he suddenly found himself flung into the merman’s chest, steadying himself with a hand on Lewis’ shoulder.
“What the hell?” Zane shrieked.
Blue eyes locked fiercely onto Zane’s own. “We can't! They’ll be furious… I need to sit with this for a while. Please, Zane, if I lose their friendship- their trust- then I’ll have nothing.”
Zane swallowed thickly, pressed close enough to feel Lewis’ hammering heart, to hear his shuddering breath. The blonde was terrified. Zane didn’t blame him. “Fine…” Zane spoke in an uncharacteristically soft voice, breaking through the silence, “but I’m not happy about it.”
Lewis let out a breath of relief, a portion of his tension visibly dissipating as he unfurled his tail. Zane gave the other man’s shoulder a squeeze before separating from the blonde and treading the inky water.
“Now, come on,” Zane began as he made his way around Lewis and out from under the dock. “We need to get you dried off and, at the very least, let the girls know you're alive. Swim to shore and lay low. I’ll keep watch and bring you a towel.”
Lewis swam slowly after Zane, watching his lean muscles stretch and contract as his long arms cut through the sea as he carried himself to shore. He was the last person Lewis would have called for help, yet here Zane was, scurrying across a moonlit beach in search of a towel. The brunette eventually returned to Lewis’ side with the blonde’s backpack as well as two towels from Lewis’ boat. Lewis expected to be handed both, but as soon as he began to dry his upper body, the other man dropped the backpack and lowered himself to his knees beside the blonde, taking the second towel and running it across Lewis’ glimmering scales.
The merman let out a surprised squeak that caused Zane, a rosy hue and timid expression painted across his face, to meet his eyes.
“I figured that if I helped, you’d get your legs back quicker.”
“Oh,” Lewis cleared his throat as he tried to regain his cool, “thanks, mate.”
Soon enough, Lewis regained his– thankfully, fully clothed– typical lower body. Zane offered him a hand as he rose to his feet, a little unsteady from his time spent with fins. He picked up his bag from where it lay in the sand and slung it over his shoulder before giving his legs a stretch.
Zane dusted off the sand that clung to his knees. “Ready to head to Emma’s?”
Lewis let out a shaky breath, a tornado of anxiety swirling around in his stomach. “I guess we have to go eventually… You meant what you said, right– that you won’t tell the girls about the whole... tail thing? You promise, right?”
“I promise,” Zane said firmly, and Lewis could tell that he meant it. “Now let’s get going before the girls think we’ve both been carried off in a rip current.
﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏
The walk to Emma’s house was awkward, to say the least. Lewis could probably count on one hand the number of times he and Zane had been alone, including tonight. He had no clue what to talk about, and it was likely that Zane shared the sentiment. Therefore, besides the occasional comment on the clearness of the night sky and Lewis’ half-hearted attempt to spark a conversation about fishing, the two men remained silent.
Once they arrived at the girl’s front door, Zane was the one to knock as Lewis cowered in shame behind him, dreading the earful he’d surely be getting the second he walked into the house.
Before the door opened, it shook with a loud thud that could likely be explained by how Emma held a hand firmly in front of her eyes, taking no chance of accidentally seeing the moon.
“Hey there,” Zane greeted before gently pushing past Emma to step into her home.
“Zane!” the girl exclaimed in relief upon hearing the brunette’s voice. “Where’s Lewis? Please tell me that he’s okay!”
“Hi…” the blonde spoke softly from where he stood nervously upon the welcome mat.
“Idiot! We were so worried!” Emma stepped forward and swung her spare hand around rapidly, trying her best to find and slap Lewis.
The man darted around her and leaped into the house, using Zane as a human shield once more.
“Don’t put me in the middle of this,” Zane smirked as stepped back and shoved Lewis in Emma’s direction.
Emma whipped around to face Lewis as he shrieked about Zane’s betrayal. “Whatever!” She grunted in frustration. “Just lead me back to my room so we can let Cleo and Rikki know that Lewis is fine. I’ve covered all of my windows, so it’s safe up there.”
Zane and Lewis walked slightly behind Emma– each of them resting a hand on her shoulders. They guided her away from table corners and walls and eventually up the stairs. Lewis had to admit he was impressed that she hadn’t fallen on her face when she had gone to answer the door.
As soon as the trio stepped foot into Emma’s bedroom, the other two girls swept in on Lewis, pulling him deeper into their moon-proof fortress. One second they were checking him for injuries and the next they were scolding him. Eventually, Emma joined in as well, the three girls circling him like a frenzy of hungry sharks. It made Lewis’ head spin. Zane, on the other hand, found the commotion amusing, chuckling off to the side.
“Listen, I’m sorry, okay?” Lewis exclaimed. “I was wrong. You were right. Now, can you please stop chewing my head off?” The blonde pleaded. “I get enough of that from my mother.”
“You deserve to be chewed out!” Rikki argued.
“She’s right,” Cleo concurred, ”but we’re just glad you’re not hurt–”
“Or part fish,” Rikki quipped, making Lewis gulp nervously.
“Did everything go alright on Mako?” Cleo questioned. “You were gone for an awfully long time.”
“I uh- um well-” Lewis glanced nervously at Zane. If there was one thing he wasn’t, it was a good liar.
Thankfully, Zane was proficient in that field. “He didn’t even make it out from the marina,” the brunette piped up from where he stood against the wall. “Something was wrong with that rickety, old boat of his. He was fiddling with the engine when I got down to the dock. Not much of a mechanic though, this one. Thankfully, I was there to save the day. I fixed it up for him before dragging him back. That’s why it took so long.” Zane smirked, aiming a knowing wink in the other man’s direction.
“Lewis!” Cleo exclaimed as she hit his arm. “What if your engine had broken while you were out at sea? This is why you shouldn’t go out there alone!”
Lewis grimaced. Of course, he was thankful for the assist, but did Zane really have to paint himself as a hero and Lewis as an idiot? On second thought, maybe that was an accurate depiction of how this night had gone.
“Girls, I already apologized. Can we please just let this rest? I’m exhausted.” Lewis was about ready to sink into the floor.
“I second that,” Zane yawned and pushed off from his place on the wall. “I should head home.”
“It’s pretty late, Zane,” Emma interjected. “You shouldn’t be walking home. You’re welcome to share Elliot’s room with Lewis. It might be a bit cramped, but the sheets are freshly cleaned.” She smiled brightly at the brunette, making him feel a bit sheepish.
“Not that you boys care about hygiene,” Rikki asserted, tussling Lewis’ hair.
Just as Zane was about to decline Emma’s offer, he looked to Lewis and saw a silent but urgent pleading in his eyes. Despite how badly he wanted to leave this crazy mermaid slumber party behind and go lay in his plush, king sized bed, even Zane couldn’t help but feel guilty at the thought of leaving Lewis alone in his newfound condition.
“I guess that would be okay.”
Lewis was so relieved that he could’ve cried.
The trio of girls then wished the guys goodnight, politely kicking them out of their sleepover.
Lewis, more familiar with the home’s layout, lead the way to Elliot’s room. Its walls were painted with a gentle blue and absolutely drowning in sports memorabilia and superhero posters– it was all pretty standard for an eleven-year-old boy. Unfortunately, so was the twin sized bed nestled in the corner.
“Emma wasn’t lying,” Lewis sighed, “it’s going to be a tight fit.”
Zane huffed and shoved past the blonde, “It’ll be fine. Just keep your hands to yourself.”
“Oh whatever-” Lewis began only to be interrupted with a slightly damp slap to the face– Zane’s wetsuit jacket. Lewis’ face turned red– from what he chose to label as anger. Zane was standing next to the tiny bed and, apparently, stripping down to sleep, sliding out of his flip-flops. Lewis didn’t blame him. He wouldn’t want to sleep in a half-dry bathing suit either. When Zane got to the waistband of his boardshorts, however, he stopped.
“I don’t have any jocks on.”
“What-” Lewis sputtered out, his face growing even redder.
“My trunks have a liner and I was planning to go home after I found you. I don’t have underwear.”
Not wanting to condemn Zane to have to sleep in wet boardshorts or wanting to sleep hip-to-hip with someone wearing wet board shorts, Lewis tried his best to think of a solution. “Maybe Elliot has got something you can borrow,” Lewis suggested doubtfully, knowing full well how ridiculous that must sound.
Zane rolled his eyes. “I know that I’m slim, Lewis, but I’d like to think that I’m a bit beefier than a middle schooler.”
“Unless you’d like Emma to catch us sneaking downstairs to snoop through her dad’s underwear drawer, I’m not sure what else you’d like us to do. It can’t hurt to look.”
And so the two men dug through dresser drawers and sifted through Elliot’s closet until they found a suspiciously large pair of sweatpants sandwiched between two t-shirts.
“Thank God,” Lewis exclaimed as he tossed them to Zane. “They must’ve gotten mixed up in the wash. I was worried I was going to have to see your ass.”
“You wish!” Zane scoffed.
Lewis smiled lightly and turned his back to give Zane the privacy to change. He took the opportunity to grab his own change of clothes out of his backpack. He, thankfully, was prepared to sleep away from home. His pajamas consisted of plaid navy pants and a plain white shirt– nothing special. “You decent?” Lewis questioned once he was finished.
“Yep,” Zane replied. When Lewis turned around the brunette was standing at the foot of the bed, hanging his swimwear to finish drying on the wooden frame. The grey sweatpants– likely belonging to Emma’s father– hung lazily over his hips– the waistband too big for his slender middle. Lewis didn’t understand his compulsion to stare.
The two men climbed into the small bed. Lewis climbed in first, failing to account for the fact that he’d be sandwiched between Zane and the wall. Once the brunette joined him under the covers, the two shimmied around, trying and failing to get comfortable in such close quarters. Eventually, they agreed to lay back-to-back– contiguous, their warmth and steady breathing shared.
Breaking through the silence, Lewis decided to ask something that had been nagging him. “Zane?” He began, an anxious tone seeping through.
“Hm?”
“I know that it’s a lot to ask but… on nights like this, when there’s a full moon– will you help? If something goes wrong, I can’t clean up the mess. Not like I used to.” The reality of his situation was really starting to sink in. By falling into the Moon Pool, Lewis hadn’t just complicated his own life, he had generated a new source of trouble for everyone else.
Zane was silent for a moment, likely considering the weight of the question. “I’ll do it… but because of Rikki and the others, not because you were an idiot who dove into the Moon Pool knowing full well what would happen.”
Lewis whipped around to face the back of Zane’s head. “I fell!”
Zane turned as well, meeting the blonde’s fiery gaze. “Whatever, you were stupid to go alone and you know that.”
“It’s not like I could’ve taken one of the girls!” Lewis countered. “Would you have liked to come so I could’ve pulled you in after me?” Lewis tried to hold Zane’s glare, but he couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of Zane sprouting a frilly tail.
“Not a chance,” Zane smirked.
“That’s what I thought.”
The two were silent for a while, just smiling in the darkness in a way Lewis was sure must’ve looked absurd.
“Thank you for coming to look for me,” Lewis spoke into the night once more.
“It’s whatever,” Zane replied with a yawn.
“It was thoughtful- which must’ve been very hard for you.”
Zane rolled his eyes and groaned, “Stop being sappy and go to sleep.”
Lewis chuckled. “Night.”
“Night.”
The two closed their eyes and awaited sleep— laying nose to nose.
﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏
When Lewis awoke, Zane was gone, his soft snoring replaced by the gentle pitter-patter of raindrops against the bedroom window. Was he wrong to have expected him to be there, stretching out his lanky limbs while complaining about the quality of the mattress? However, Lewis supposed that the only promise Zane had made was to help during full moons. He had no obligation to help Lewis conceal his secret this morning.
“I’d thought you’d never wake up.”
Lewis lifted up his head. Zane was leaning against the door frame, stretching his neck with a groan before stepping inside and letting the door close with a click behind him.
“I thought you had gone home,” Lewis spoke as he scooted to sit on the bed’s edge.
“No, I just had to piss.” Zane pulled up his sweats a bit only for the waistband to reclaim its risqué position along his hip bones. “It’s raining pretty hard,” he began as he rejoined Lewis on top of the bed, “I doubt it’ll let up anytime soon. You’ll be stuck here a while.”
Lewis sighed, “Great.”
“Chin up, Fishboy,” Zane jested, “there are worse ways to spend a Saturday than being cooped up with three pretty girls.”
Lewis rolled his eyes. “Didn’t Rikki just break up with you? You could at least pretend to have some virtue.”
Zane scowled. “I’m kidding. Emma acts nice, but I know she doesn’t trust me. Rikki and I are cordial, but she probably still wants to shank me. Also, I know that you have your eyes on Cleo. I at least have the decency not to get in the way of that. Though, if you don’t make a move soon, some other bloke is bound to scoop her up,” the brunette asserted, punctuating his sentence with a smirk.
“It’s not like that,” Lewis countered. “She and I are just friends. I’m not looking for anything more.”
“Whatever you say,” Zane replied, doubtful.
Annoyed with this conversation, Lewis stood and cracked his back. “Speaking of the girls, they’re probably up by now. I should check on them– make sure that nothing happened with the moon.”
Zane trailed wordlessly after Lewis as he exited into the hall and descended down the staircase. In the living room below, the three girls sat in a row on the couch, chattering quietly– likely about the unfortunate weather.
“Morning, boys,” Rikki yawned, the first to notice their entrance.
Emma turned to face them next, “Did you two sleep alright?”
“That bed is awful! I think I need a spine transplant. Your poor brother must have the posture of a sixty-year-old,” Zane whined as he pushed past Lewis and flopped down onto one of the Gilbert’s beige armchairs.
Rikki scoffed, “We should’ve made you sleep in the yard.” She then turned her fiery glare to Lewis. “You, Mr. Runaway, go make us some tea. All this rain is giving me the chills.”
“Uh-” Lewis began, his mind suddenly filled with images of himself flopping around with a mermaid tail in the kitchen.
Zane stood up abruptly– all eyes turning towards him. “I’ve got it,” he stated firmly, moving behind the couch and to the stove.
Rikki whipped her head around, fast as lightning. “What’s gotten into you?”
“What do you mean?” Zane questioned, crossing his arms against his bare chest.
“I don’t know. You’ve just never struck me as the tea-making type.” Suspicion laced her tone.
“Is wanting to be helpful a crime?”
“No, just out of character…” Emma mumbled from Rikki’s right.
Watching Zane brew a pot of tea was truly a spectacle. He stratched his head as he dug through the cabinets in search of supplies. The girls giggled and tried their best to offer directions through fits of laughter. Zane was clueless in the kitchen– like he had only ever seen this action preformed on a television screen.
Eventually, he produced a half-decent pot of tea, carefully distributing it to Lewis and the girls as he did his best to avoid any droplets splashing free from the mugs. His face was slightly flushed, likely embarrassed over his inept attempt at housewifery.
The group spoke softly in between sips, making small talk about school and the approaching summer. Zane was fairly quiet. He offered fragments of input here and there, but he mostly just watched the dynamic between the long-term friends play out.
Once they were all finished with their drinks, Emma collected the mugs and placed them into the sink to be washed later.
“You boys are welcome to use my parents’ shower,” She spoke from where she stood. “Cleo, Rikki, and I will use the tub in the hallway bathroom for obvious reasons.”
Lewis swallowed thickly. “I’ll just wait until I get home. Thanks though.” There was no way he could take a shower, but the girls would be suspicious if he insisted on using the bathtub as well.
“Lewis,” Cleo began lightly, “not be mean, but you smell like a fish.” The slight wrinkle of her nose told him that she wasn’t lying.
“I’ll go fetch some towels for you guys. Their room is just down there,” Emma stated, motioning with her head before heading upstairs to the linen closet.
Lewis and Zane exchanged a knowing glance, excusing themselves and making their way to the master bedroom.
“How am I supposed to shower without legs?” Lewis whispered harshly once they were out of earshot.
“How the hell am I supposed to know, Fishboy?” Zane growled in reply.
“Stop calling me that!”
The two men continued to bicker just outside the bedroom door until, eventually, the sound of someone clearing their throat cut through their argument.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Emma spoke, an unamused expression across her face. “Here are some towels. Please don’t kill each other. My parents will kill me if you get blood on their carpet.” She flung the towels their way and then left to rejoin the girls.
“She can be pretty scary,” Zane mumbled.
“Tell me about it,” Lewis grimaced in agreement.
The two men agreed that Lewis would shower first to give him more time to dry off afterward. The blonde walked into the bathroom and flipped on the light, immediately taking note of the minuscule shower he was going to have to shove his giant fish tail in. There was no way he could do this.
Cracking open the bathroom door, Lewis called out Zane’s name sheepishly.
The brunette sat lazily at the foot of the Gilbert’s bed, fiddling with his Nokia. “Huh?” He asked without so much as a glance.
“I think I need help.”
Well, that sure got Zane’s attention. “What? Like… in the shower?”
“Can you please just come in here?”
“You better have pants on!” He grimaced.
“Of course I do!” Lewis spoke, his face red as he threw open the door.
Zane groaned dramatically as he stood and sauntered over to the tile floor. “What the hell am I supposed to do?” He asked as he closed the door behind himself.
“I don’t know,” Lewis sighed. “I just don’t see this going well.”
“Whatever,” Zane mumbled, “I’ll sit in here, but I don’t know what you expect me to do if you start sliding across the floor. Now, go hop in and put your tail on. I don’t want to see your bare ass.”
Lewis rolled his eyes.
Zane sat on the toilet lid, turning to the side and averting his eyes as the other man slipped out of his pajamas and switched on the shower head. The brunette heard a deep breath followed by a disruption in the shower stream. Then there came the small shriek as Lewis flopped onto the floor, his blue tail springing forth and his fin sending shampoo bottles cascading down with a crash. The brunette swiveled around to make sure Lewis hadn’t concussed himself.
Lewis stared up at him, his blonde hair splayed and his body bent at strange angles. The majority of his top half hung out of the shower as he held his tail straight up in the air, attempting to avoid any further collisions. Zane couldn’t help but laugh.
“Oh, shut up and help me!” Lewis whined.
Whipping tears from his eyes, Zane stood up and towered over the merman, shaking with each chuckle. “You’re certainly not as graceful as the girls.”
“Maybe not, but I sure can punch you harder.”
“Not as hard as Rikki,” Zane countered.
“Not as hard as Rikki,” Lewis sighed in agreement. “Now, can you please help me get situated?” The blonde pleaded, defeated.
“If I have to,” Zane groaned. “Bend your tail and give me your arms.”
Eventually, the two men managed to contort Lewis’ frame in a way that allowed him to fit all of himself in the space– though, it was undoubtedly a tight squeeze. Zane then collected some of the bottles that had been strewn across the floor and squirted the necessary products in Lewis’ palms. He then rinsed him off with the handheld shower head once Lewis had finished scrubbing the suds across his damp skin and hair.
“This will never not be weird,” Lewis sighed.
“What? The tail or showering together?”
“We aren’t showering together !”
Once the men were finished, Zane hooked his arms under Lewis’ own and dragged him across the bathroom floor, throwing the towel that rested on top of the counter at his face as well as his pajama bottoms.
“Dry off and put your pants back on. It’s my turn.”
“Thanks, mate.”
Zane shrugged. “Don’t mention it. Seriously. If you ever tell anyone about this, I’ll strangle you,” he said with a smirk- though, Lewis wasn't sure if he was joking.
Once his legs had returned, Lewis got dressed, leaving the bathroom so Zane could shower as well. He ventured back out to the living room in search of the girls. If his shower fiasco had proven anything, it was that he couldn’t shoulder this secret from them any longer. Regardless of how scared he was, he had to tell them. He couldn’t do this alone.
After finding the living room to be empty, Lewis went upstairs. Cleo was alone in Emma’s room, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of a full-length mirror and brushing her hair. The sound of a hairdryer drifting down the hall told him that the other two girls were still getting ready in the bathroom.
“Hey,” said Lewis as he knocked softly on the already open door.
“Lewis!” Cleo smiled. “Come in.”
The blonde walked in and sat down beside the girl. “We didn’t get to talk much last night,” he began.
“No, we didn’t.” Cleo agreed, pausing brushing through her hair in favor of chewing on her thumbnail, a nervous habit of hers. “I’m sorry that we yelled so much. It must have seemed harsh, but we had been so worried. You understand that, right? If something had happened– If you had touched the Moon Pool– It’s just so hard, having to hide such a big secret from everyone.”
“Actually,” Lewis cleared his throat and swallowed thickly, “I wanted to talk to you about something–”
“Is it about you and Zane?” Cleo blurted out. Both her and Lewis’ eyes went wide. Cleo’s face bloomed into a bright red and she slapped a hand over her mouth, obviously regretting her outburst. “I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t rush you! What were you saying?”
“What were you saying?” Lewis questioned, absolutely puzzled.
Cleo nibbled sheepishly on her thumbnail once again. “When Emma was still downstairs, she heard a crash coming from her parent’s bathroom, so she went to make sure that everything was okay. Except, the thing is, when she walked into the bedroom, neither of you was in there. Then,” Cleo continued, her face redder than ever, “she heard both of your voices in the bathroom. Were you two… showering together?”
Lewis was speechless– and also quite red. How was he supposed to explain himself?
Thankfully, Zane chose this moment to burst into the room. “Hey,” he interrupted unceremoniously, dressed in his now dry swimwear and holding Lewis’ backpack, “it’s not raining anymore so I’m heading home. Lewis, you should get going before it starts up again,” he announced, shooting the blonde a pointed look.
“Uh, yeah.” Lewis shot up quickly. “See you later, Cleo. Tell the others I said bye.”
“Lewis, wait–” Cleo began, brows furrowed.
Lewis, however, was already scurrying out of the room and down the stairs, not even caring that he was about to walk home in his pajamas.
“Mate, wait up!” Zane called out, trying to catch the blonde before he walked out of the front door. “What’s wrong with you?”
Lewis turned to face Zane, still shell-shocked. “The girls think that we’re gay for each other.”