I'm not going to let myself write anymore of this until I've finished Assembly, but I just wanted to see what everyone thought.

One time Blaine found a book in his grandma's living room, when he was five or maybe six, and it was the biggest book he'd ever seen. On the front there was a picture of a mermaid, only he didn't know it was a mermaid, he thought it was a fish that was halfway through eating a lady so he picked the book up and ran into her kitchen where she was cooking his dinner and dropped it at her feet and asked her about it. She chuckled, picking the book up and setting it on the table, and then doing the same with him. She explained that the lady was fine, and she wasn't being eaten, and that she was a mermaid. A mermaid is a lady who isn't a lady, someone who has a beautiful tail instead of human legs, and who lives under the sea. Blaine gazed down at the illustration, transfixed. Are there boy mermaids too? Mermen, yes, his grandma answered. Could I be a... merman? She chuckled again, and patted his head. Maybe one day.

There was a story about mermaids in the book so she sat with him while he ate and read it to him, tapping his chin gently at the intervals where he would become so drawn in that his mouth would hang open. He clamoured to see the other pictures, the other mermaids with tails every colour of the rainbow and hair that shimmered in the sun amongst the seaweed, and the one merman, this pale, muscular man with black hair and a dark green tail. He was supposed to be the bad guy, but he was Blaine's favourite, the one Blaine stared at when his grandma washed the dinner stuff up.

They spent the rest of the evening in front of the fireplace, talking until Blaine's parents came back from dinner. She told him everything she knew about mermaids, about how strong they are inside and out, and how territorial too. Ones with red tails had special powers, were shapeshifters with psychokinesis, ones with blue tails were musically gifted and ones with purple tails? Well ones with purple tails were royalty. They were all linked by blood so they all made up the royal family that ruled the seas. No-one had seen one in decades, though, they seemed to have died out, so right now the seas were being ruled by an all-powerful red-tail.

So does that mean mermaids are real? Blaine wasn't stupid, he knew the difference between real and make believe. But the way his grandma was talking to him... It was almost like she believed in them. And she was the smartest person Blaine knew. She told him to tell her if he ever saw one. Then his parents arrived to pick him up.

They saw each other every two weeks after that, and there was only one subject on Blaine's mind. I'd have a blue tail! I would, dad bought me a guitar!

What are weddings like for mermaids?

Do they ever come on land?

Of course he would have a blue tail, and he would have to bring his new guitar over next time, she told him.

Weddings are beautiful. All the merpeople in the sea come to watch and there's a special band of blue-tailed folk to sing you down the aisle. Fish swim in patterns around all the guests and you feast on kelp and seaweed until your tummy bursts!

And the only way a mermaid can come on land, is with the help of a red-tail, who would cast a spell to turn them human. This would mean leaving all your family and friends, because once you've been changed, the odds are you'll never see the red-tail again. Humans and merpeople don't often communicate, but it isn't forbidden, simply rare. Red-tails can turn humans into merpeople too, but that's even less heard of.

He dreamt of kelp and red-tails that night.

Xxx

When Blaine was eight, his family moved to Ohio. It was further from the beach, but his parents didn't care. He only saw Grandma every few months now, and every time she looked older and remembered less about mermaids.

When Blaine was fifteen, his grandma died. He was left the book on mermaids, but it lived at the top of his closet. Well, until one of his friends found it, and used it as proof that Blaine had to be gay. After that, it was hidden in the attic. It wasn't like mermaids were real, anyway.

And when Blaine was nineteen, he took his first trip to the beach, the only thoughts on his mind being enjoying the sun, and checking out the eye candy.

From the sea, Kurt had very much the same idea.

I'm really, really looking forward to writing this! (Meaning y'all should go leave pretty comments on Assembly so I'll finish quicker! [I'm sorry, I think I'm funny.])