Chapter Three:

After the boys had got over their excitement and eaten their pizza last night, Lukas and Emil's father had returned home from a day's work out on his fishing boat and offered to drive Tino home. He was a lovely man, very kind and funny. Quite the polar opposite from his wife but they got along so well, Tino noticed. Now it was clear where his sons got their pale hair colour from, as their father, Julian, had hair a shade or two lighter. Before Tino left, he suggested to Lukas and Emil that perhaps they should still try to understand a little more about what happened to them. It was obvious that it had something to do with that island that they got stuck upon, and that cave hidden away within the volcano. Emil wasn't keen on the idea at all, and made it very clear that he wasn't finding this at all amazing or exciting, and so he would not be going anywhere near water if he could help it. But Lukas agreed with Tino, and the pair agreed to meet on the beach early the following morning.

The time was currently 6am. An odd light from the early morning sun swept peacefully over the town as Tino passed through the empty streets on his way down to the beach, earphones in and a slight spring in his step. Unlike Lukas's, Tino's house was more towards the centre of town and so it was about a 25 minute walk to the place where they said they would meet. Lukas suggested that they head way down the beach, far away from his beachfront home too, and towards a closed off part right at the far end. It was a secret little area surrounded by large rocks, perfectly shielded from the rest of the beach, just in case there were any passers-by that would undoubtedly be shocked by the presence of two mermen.

Soon enough, Tino's sneakers sank into the golden sand as he reached the beach. He walked along the shoreline, gazing out to sea as he made his way toward his meeting place. He could see it in the distance; where the beach came to an end and a steep cliff stood proudly at the end point of the long stretch of sand, curling in a little bit to create the little cove that Lukas was talking about. Squinting a little bit, Tino brought up a hand to shield his eyes from the low sun that was rising just behind the cliffs on the horizon in front of him and could just about make out a silhouette perched on top of one of the smaller rocks a little way before the cove. He recognised the neat, blonde hair instantly. Waving an arm around to attract Lukas's attention, Tino broke into a jog and soon approached him.

"Hey, good morning." Tino greeted as Lukas jumped down from his perch atop the rock, landing gracefully on his feet in the sand below. He was a little out of breath by the time he reached Lukas, which was something he should work on, as he shouldn't really be as tired as he was just from covering a short stretch like that in a light jog.

"Mornin'."

Lukas slipped his shoes from his feet, slipped his school tie off from around his neck and began to unbutton his white shirt. Tino looked a little puzzled as to why Lukas was undressing himself, but after the trousers were also off and Lukas stood before him in a pair of swim trunks he face palmed, groaning at his stupidity.

"I never even thought to bring a spare set of clothes or a pair of swimming trunks."

Lukas laughed a little before setting his neatly folded pile of clothes down on a flat rock at his feet.

"Just use your underwear or something." Lukas slowly began to walk around the large rock that separated the beach from their little cove and towards the water's edge.

Now, Tino wasn't entirely self-conscious, heck, he'd gone swimming in the lakes back in Finland completely naked after the sauna*, but that was with friends he'd known since elementary school. Lukas was little more than a stranger, and he had a nice body. Tino sported some love handles that sat on his trouser waistband and had a pretty bad case of acne on his back and chest. Stripping off didn't sound too good right now.

He shook his head. "No, I'm good. Plus, I'm only going to get my feet wet I think. The change will happen regardless of where I get wet, right?"

Lukas shrugged. "Okay, just do whatever."

Tino loosened the laces on his converse and kicked them off, putting them down next to Lukas's clothes and balled his socks up inside. Then the two made their way to the water's edge.

"So what are we doing? Just gonna go for it, or…..?"

Tino cast Lukas a glance, hesitating as he waited for a suggestion.

Lukas bit his lip. "I don't know. I suppose so, yeah."

The two boys took hold of each other's hands and gingerly entered the water, the waves lapping gently around their ankles.

"Shouldn't we try to count how long it takes for the tails to appear?" Tino suggested, but it was too late to start that now. The tingling feeling washed over them, and the transformation began. In a matter of seconds, the pair flopped face first into the shallow water, two long tails trailing behind them.

They took a few moments to wipe the wet sand off their faces that splashed up from when they had fallen rather ungracefully before they turned to look at each other. Tino couldn't help but grin as he looked Lukas up and down, admiring his tail. He glanced over his shoulder to compare his own to Lukas's and found that they were quite different. Not only in colour but in shape too. Tino's flipper fanned out quite a lot more than Lukas's did, who's was a lot thinner and a little more delicate looking. Lukas on the other hand though still didn't seem so sure about the situation. He looked at Tino's tail rather sceptically before glancing back at his own. He moved it around a little, getting used to the unfamiliar feeling of controlling a tail rather than legs.

He returned his attention back to Tino when he poked him in the shoulder.

"Hey. Why don't we see what it's like under the water?"

Now that put a hint of a smile on Lukas's face. He had always liked the ocean and his favourite pastime was either sailing or reading a book by the water's edge. He couldn't even begin to imagine what it must feel like to swim freely through the depths of the sea without the weight of a wetsuit or oxygen tank.

"We have around an hour and a half before we need to start getting to school, so I guess it wouldn't hurt to take a quick swim," he paused for a moment and lowered his face towards the shallow water that he was lay in, "But first shouldn't we maybe just put our faces under and see… well, see if we need to breathe or not?" Lukas's face heated as he suggested the idea. Although it did sound like a really stupid thing to say, it was a good question. Neither of them knew what it was going to be like under the water. Would they be able to see? Talk? Breathe?

"Okay. So I guess I'll just lie down? Stick my face in there a bit?"

Tino laughed in spite of himself as he awkwardly repositioned and lay down flat in the water, craning his neck up struggling to keep his head out of the water. The shallow waves splashed up onto his chin and his mouth, and he poked a tongue out to lick it off his lip subconsciously.

"Hey! It doesn't taste bad! I can hardly taste the salt!" Tino grinned over at Lukas who was now also lying flat on his stomach.

"Really? Well that's a plus, I guess. Alright. So on the count of three?"

Tino nodded, "On the count of three. One… Two… Three!"

The pair took in a deep breath and thrust their faces in the water upon the last count and comically held their breath for a few moments with their cheeks puffed out and eyes screwed shut. Hesitantly, Lukas cracked open an eye and was overwhelmed by what he could see. Instead of a stinging rush of salt water entering his eyes, his vision was as clear as day, as if he had his eyes open on dry land! He studied the shallow sea floor in front of him that was only inches from his face and could pretty much see the grains of sand floating in the water, each little piece of broken shell, every tiny pebble. It was unreal! He turned his head to glance over at Tino on his left and found that he still had his eyes closed. Lightly, Lukas poked a finger into Tino's puffed out cheeks and made him jump in alarm at the touch. His eyes flew open and he inhaled sharply in shock, but didn't start to choke on the water. Now that he was breathing under the water did Lukas notice the tiny little slits in the side of Tino's neck. They opened and closed when he inhaled and exhaled. Gills!

Bringing his face up out of the water, Lukas smoothed his wet hair back and out of his eyes. Gliding his fingertips over his neck, he felt around for any trace of his gills, but found none. The spot where they should have been was now closed up and smooth, just as it normally was, allowing him to breathe from his lungs when out of the water. He lay there in the water for a few moments letting his mind wander. Not long after, Tino emerged; a constant stream of excited words falling from his mouth about how cool this was. Lukas laughed as Tino flipped himself onto his back and lay back down in the water, the back of his head resting against the sandy sea floor, looking up at Lukas and smiling from the shallows beneath the surface.

Finally, Tino stopped messing around and brought himself back out of the water again and positioned himself once again on his stomach next to Lukas.

"So… we've pretty much tested everything out. Everything but swimming." Tino said, still a little breathlessly.

Lukas sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Tino, I'm still not too sure about this." He held out a hand in front of Tino to show that he was shaking a little. Lukas had always been quiet, shy and a little stand- offish at first, and it usually took him a while to open up to people. That didn't mean he wasn't a good person, he just chose to hide his shyness and anxiety through sarcastic comments and very few words. But this situation was different, and a little hard for him to handle. He was forced to interact in a social situation with a person he'd barely known for only a couple of days and tied to him by the burden of growing a giant fin.

To his surprise, Tino placed an outstretched hand next to his own and he noticed that he too was trembling.

"I know, me neither," Tino said with a gentle smile, placing his hand over Lukas's and gripping it tightly. "But this is something that we have to get used to. We don't know how it happened, and we certainly don't know why, but it's better if we figure out as much as we can, and maybe how we can control it. And sorry that you got stuck with me of all people." He finished with a shrug, taking his hand away from Lukas's and instead fiddled ineptly with a wet strand of hair, twisting it between his fingers and averting Lukas's gaze.

In all honesty, Lukas was glad to be in this together with Tino. Sure, he was basically a stranger, but he could see that he meant well and that he was a kind-hearted person. He got on well with Emil and his friends at school, and his happy personality made this whole situation a little more bearable.

"There's no one else I'd rather be stuck with." Lukas said, elbowing Tino playfully in the ribs. "Now, how do you suggest we get ourselves out of this shallow water and into the deep?"

Tino's face lit up as Lukas showed an interest in his suggestion on going for a swim.

It was a little awkward, and not to mention embarrassing, as the two boys struggled to move in the shallow water and towards the deeper part of the sea. The waves came rolling in and splashed over their heads as they dragged themselves further and further out, and trying to move without the use of your lower body was extremely difficult. But eventually they made it out far enough to dive under the water and begin to move their new tails around.

Once under the water it was suddenly exceedingly easier to move. Their tails, which seemed to weigh so much more on land than they did now in the water, were feather light and glided through the water easily and powerfully. With one strong flick of the tail, Lukas slipped gracefully through the water and into the deep. Here he was completely submerged within the blue waters, surrounded by the beginnings of a coral reef. Tino followed close behind and soon enough the pair were far out into the depths, all kinds of small fish and sea creatures parting as they swam through the new world that lay under the water. Finding a swimming style was easy enough, and soon the pair were gliding through the water like they'd been doing this for years! Moving through the water was easy enough, but was a lot slower than imagined. Unlike fish, their bodies weren't exactly streamlined, and so it was tough to push themselves through the water at a fast pace. Though there was nothing to complain about! Taking it easy was the best option right now while still getting used to the situation.

With a sudden burst of confidence, Lukas swam powerfully ahead of Tino and dipped down behind a coral reef and peeked out at his new friend through holes and gaps within it. Tino laughed and waved back, though no sound came out of his mouth when he did so. Sound travelled differently under the water, and although they were now part fish, their voices and upper body were still of course human, and so talking and making sound under the water probably wasn't possible.

Instead, the two boys decided to communicate by mouthing the words and using hand motions to signal to each other which direction to explore next...

Emil hated chemistry. With a deep and burning passion, he hated every minute of it. As much as he tried, he just could not understand any of the materials and things that he was being taught. It made him look dumb and stupid, and was so embarrassing. It was his first class that morning, and he was currently sat, bored out of his mind, entertaining himself by staring at the girl in front; who was playing with her hair and twisting it into little tiny braids. Suddenly, a piece of eraser hit him in the back of his head. Choosing to ignore it, he continued to stare forward until two, three, four more pieces hit him. He whipped his head around to shoot a death glare at his attacker. To his surprise, he found that it was that Chinese kid. Li… Xiao Wang? Something like that. He'd never really interacted with this guy before, and frankly he wasn't doing a good job at setting a first impression.

"Will you stop it? I'm trying to concentrate here!" Emil snapped under his breath, eye's locking with Xiao's wide, innocent ones as he rocked back and forth the back two legs of his chair, probably just as bored as Emil was and was finding a way to entertain himself.

"Emil? Is your social life suddenly more important than my lesson?" Patronisingly, like all teachers do, Mr Walker stopped his teaching to call Emil out for turning around.

"Tell me, Emil, how do you separate the atoms in a drop of water?"

Finding that all eyes were suddenly on him, Emil shrank down in his chair and wanted nothing more than to slide down under the desk and lie there for the rest of the day. He hadn't really been paying attention, and hadn't the slightest clue where to begin when separating goddamn atoms.

"Uh… you just take the… uhm… I don't know, Sir."

"That's what I thought. How about you pair up with someone who wasn't rude enough not to pay attention in my class, and that actually knows what they're doing for the experiment then, hm?" A couple of students in the class giggled as Mr Walker continued before motioning to the test tubes full of water and the equipment that was on each desk next to the students.

Emil's head felt like it was going to explode. His face was burning red from embarrassment. The students began to get up and move around the classroom, grabbing aprons and plastic goggles to get ready for the experiment they were about to do. Xiao walked past Emil's desk on his way to the aprons and bumped his chair as he did so. Emil, who still hadn't gotten up and was slouched sulking at his desk, glared at Xiao as he passed, biting his tongue and balling his fists up in an attempt to suppress his frustration. He was refusing to look anyone in the eye who tried to come over and be his lab partner, and was just staring at instructions for the experiment on the board at the front of the class when a couple of students around him started pointing at his test tube and shouting. His fists clenched even more as he was growing more and more annoyed at their shrieking, when suddenly his test tube of water began to rattle around and the contents of it were bubbling like crazy, sending drops of burning hot water spilling out from out of the top. Quickly he scrambled out of his seat and safely away from the scalding tube of water.

"Emil! What did you do?!" Mr Walker came over, panicking a little as the water began to bubble over out of the test tube and spill onto the desk, a cloud of hot steam surrounding it. Suddenly, the glass tube shattered from pressure of the hot water, and the metal stand that the test tube was in was slowly beginning to glow red from the heat that was somehow bubbling the water.

"I-I never even touched it!"

Emil's fists unclenched as he stood, and the water began to settle a little and cool down. It wasn't bubbling anymore and the metal was fading back to its usual colour.

Mr Walker and the rest of the class were in shock, trying to register what had just happened. Emil stared at his hands, and noticed that his knuckles were white and a little blistered. That couldn't have been from just clenching them, right?

"Right… Uh, okay class. I'm going to check the water pressure and heating system of the… of the science block. So put your aprons and goggles away, we will continue this experiment next class. Take a seat and I will be right back. Don't touch any of the equipment."

Their flustered teacher left the room, and the students began to settle back down into their seats. A hum of confused chatter filled the classroom. Emil gingerly sat back down in his chair and looked around the room. What the hell just happened?

"I seriously still can't get over this morning. It was just incredible! We have to bring Emil with us next time." Tino swung excitedly off of Lukas's arm as they left the classroom and headed for lunch. It had just been the two of them in their previous English lesson as Berwald and Mathias had a slightly different timetable and had gym class whenever they had English. They would all re-join at lunch though, and Emil would join them too. Emil was in the grade below his brother and his friends, and so he shared no classes with them at all, and the only time they were together during the day was when they were all on lunch.

Tino and Lukas were just walking toward the cafeteria when Emil came running down the hall, shrieking their names at the top of his voice.

"Lukas! Tino! You guys will NEVER believe what just happened!"

He approached them and took them both harshly by the wrist and marched them straight towards the boys bathroom. Luckily, everyone was at lunch and it was pretty much empty. Lukas and Tino stood around awkwardly exchanging glances as Emil busied himself with filling one of the sinks full of water while he waited for some guy to hurry the hell up, finish peeing and get out of the bathroom. Finally he left in a bit of a hurry when he got unnerved by Emil staring at him impatiently until he'd finished.

"Emil… what's going on?" Lukas leaned his weight on one leg and folded his arms across his chest.

"Okay. So I was in chemistry class first thing this morning, and the weirdest thing happened. A test tube full of water started going crazy and heating up. I accidentally sort of… found my power. Watch."

Taking a few steps back, Emil moved away from the sink full of water and extended his arm out towards it, palm flat and turned down facing the floor. Then, slowly, he began to curl his fingers in towards his palm and began to clench his fists again. Sure enough, the water in the sink began to bubble. The tighter Emil clenched his fist, the hotter and more steamed up the water got.

"Emil! Oh my god, that's amazing!" Tino came behind him and slapped a hand on his shoulder, grinning with excitement. Dropping his hand, Emil stopped the water from bubbling and soon enough it returned to a regular old sink full of water. Looking over his shoulder, he beamed at Tino, feeling great about finally having a power of his own.

"Sure, it's great, but you used your power in the middle of class?" Lukas snapped, though he didn't sound angry as such, instead he sounded worried.

Emil just gave him a look as if to say 'are you kidding me'.

"Sure, Lukas, I boiled up a test tube full of water right in front of a class of 15 people with my magical mer-creature powers. No, of course not. I'm not stupid, it was an accident!"

Lukas sighed and rubbed at his neck.

"I know, I know. Sorry. I'm still getting used to this whole… mermaid thing."

"Merman." Emil corrected.

"It doesn't have to be on your mind all the time. Though we do have to accept it and be careful around water now," Tino reasoned, suddenly being serious about the situation. Then he turned to Emil, "Especially in classes like chemistry where water could be spilled from anywhere."

The three boys made an agreement to be extra careful from now on, and to not use their powers in public unless it was absolutely necessary, which was highly unlikely. Keeping their secret was going to be hard, but if they watched what they were doing then it should be a bit easier to handle.

Deciding it was probably best that they went and found Berwald and Mathias; the trio left the bathroom and headed for the cafeteria. Berwald and Mathias were sat at their usual table in the far corner of the canteen, and Mathias waved over to them, bellowing at them from across the room.

"There you guys are! Hurry up will ya!?"

Lukas visibly cringed on Mathias's behalf as several people stared at him. He didn't seem to care though, and kept on grinning stupidly in their direction.

"Are you guys going to the party on Saturday?"

Mathias asked excitedly as Lukas slid onto the bench at the table next to him. Emil slid onto the opposite side and into the empty space beside Berwald, and Tino plonked himself down on the end.

"Yeah! It's at Sadıq's place!" Mathias continued before taking a bite from his sandwich.

"Well, are we invited?" Emil asked, he too busying himself with taking his sandwiches out of his lunchbox and tucking in.

"Yeah, everyone is. It's open invitation, so bring a couple more friends along if you want. Oh and you're invited too, Tino, of course!"

Plans were being made then on who would be going to the party at what time, who would be getting a ride from who, until Lukas asked what type of party it was.

"It's a pool party. Don't think I'm gonna go though if you guys don't." Berwald answered Lukas's question, resulting in Mathias slamming his hands down on the table in disbelief.

"Aw, Waldy! I'm goin'! Are you not gonna go with your bestest bud?"

Berwald just rolled his eyes and picked at the crust on his sandwich, completely ignoring Mathias's question.

"Well… I guess if it's a pool party then I'm not bothered for going." Lukas sighed as if he was completely uninterested.

"Me too." Tino and Emil both echoed.

"Whaaat? Guys, come on! Everyone is gonna be there! I don't wanna go by myself!"

"Tough. You're going by yourself. We don't want to go, do we guys?"

Emil cast glances at Tino and Lukas, who both shook their heads.

"You guys are weird… Man, I'm really disappointed! Guess I gotta go tell Sadiq that I'm not coming then... I'll see you guys later."

Mathias ushered for Lukas to let him out from the bench, and when he moved, trudged away and out of the canteen; bag slung half-heartedly over his shoulder. The table was quiet except for the sound of Tino rustling around in his packet of chips until Berwald mumbled something.

"He was really excited to go with you guys, yanno. He's been drivin' me mad talkin' about this party and how we haven't spent time together as a group outside of school since the spring vacation…"

Lukas sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I know. I'm just not in the mood for a pool party. It's too much of a risk for- uh, there's always too many stupid jocks at those parties who will be too rough or toss you in when you're not expecting it. It's not my scene."

Tino felt a little awkward, as if he was intruding on a friendship group. He had no idea how long everyone had known each other, but it seemed like they were all pretty close. Still though, he decided to voice a suggestion.

"How about we have our own party? Not that we will invite anyone else! But what about just the five of us? Or four, I mean, I don't have to be there, but you could just have a small gathering at one of your houses? Like… I dunno… a movie night?"

Lukas cracked a smile. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea, and of course you're invited, Tino! You're one of us now whether ya like it or not."

Berwald nodded in agreement, perhaps a little too eagerly, and caught the attention of Lukas and Tino, causing his cheeks to heat up into a furious blush.

"What? Was jus' agreein' with ya…"

Tino smiled, feeling over the moon that he'd been able to find friends so quickly after moving away from his home. Though he still didn't feel like he knew enough about them. Berwald seemed to like Marine Biology, and knew a lot about the sea, and well, was pretty smart…

"Hey, Berwald…" Tino casually got Berwalds attention while Emil and Lukas were lost in a conversation, though it sounded a bit more like an argument, over mackerel.

"What do you know about Mermaids?"

Emil and Lukas instantly stopped their little disagreement and their heads whipped around to glare at Tino. Lukas's jaw was clenched a little, and he shook his head. Berwald looked a little confused, and pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"Uh… Nothin' really. Why didja ask?"

Tino winced as Emil kicked him hard in the shin from under the table.

"N-No reason!"

Berwald didn't seem to buy it, or want to drop the conversation, but he did anyway, and the remaining four at the table tucked into the rest of their lunch.

The Thomassen family had just finished eating dinner when Julian asked a favour of his son while he was loading the dishwasher.

"Lukas, I was wondering if you'd be able to help me out this weekend?"

"Yeah?" Lukas let on that he was still listening even though he was a little busy. After putting in the last few dishes and starting up the wash cycle, he stood up and turned to his father.

"I need you to come and help me out again this weekend on the boat. Tom is still sick and I need someone I can rely on to skipper for me. I know this is the second weekend in a row I've had you doing this, but I know how much you enjoy it. What do you say?"

Lukas felt his face pale. True to his dad's word, he really enjoyed being out on his dads fishing boat and lending a helping hand when he could. But with the recent changes and developments, there's no way he could risk being on a fishing boat, where literally everything around you was wet, all the way out at sea. It was just too risky. Though if he told his father that he couldn't do it, then he would ask why. He needed a valid excuse.

Leaning back on the counter, he crossed his arms across his chest and flipped his hair out of his eyes.

"I can't, sorry Dad. I already said I was going to that party with my friends, remember?"

Julian rubbed at his temples. "Oh god… yeah I forgot about that. Do you really have to go? I don't know who else to ask to lend me a hand. Emil won't be caught dead on my fishing boat, will he?"

Speak of the devil, Emil came sauntering into the kitchen with some dirty dishes. Lukas glared at him for not bringing those in 30 seconds earlier when he loaded the damn dishwasher.

"No, I won't. And I thought we weren't going to that party. Are we going again now? Did Mathias call or something?"

Feeling panic rise in his chest, Lukas struggled to think of a cover up story now for both not being able to help his Dad, and now also for the fact that he wasn't actually going to the party, but needed to pretend that he was in front of his parents in order to get out of this whole mess.

"Um, yeah of course I am. Don't be stupid, Emil. No, Mathias didn't call but I thought it would be nice if we could surprise him and go. Also why didn't you bring those dishes in earlier? I literally just put a load in the dishwasher!" Changing the subject, Lukas snatched the dishes from Emil and headed over to the sink with them. He might as well wash these two dishes by hand instead of waiting to put them in with the next load, which would probably not be until tomorrow when they ate breakfast. Slamming them down into the sink, Lukas was just about to reach for the tap when suddenly he remembered exactly just what would happen if he turned them on and put his hands in the water. Quickly, he snatched his hand away and stared in fear at the taps. He'd never realised just how many dangers there were around the house now, and how much he came into contact with water in his daily routine. He was expected to unload the dishwasher too when it was done, as that was one of his chores. How could he explain to his parents that he'd never be doing that chore again?

Tears of frustration started to prickle in his eyes, and he scrubbed at them angrily with his sweater sleeve.

"Lukas, what's the matter?" His father asked, voice laced with concern as he approached his son and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Lukas simply shook it off and mumbled that nothing was wrong, and that he just wanted to be left alone. Emil exchanged quick glances with his father when Lukas left the room, who in return cast him a sad look and shrugged his shoulders. If something was wrong, Lukas nearly always went to his father for advice, so this behaviour left Julian a little unsure of what to do.

"Lukas!" Emil called as he too left the room to follow Lukas.

"Leave me alone, Emil."

Just before Emil could reach their room, the door slammed shut in his face and left him standing frozen on the other side of it, completely unsure of what to do. This is when sharing a room was difficult. Lukas clearly needed some alone time, but Emil didn't feel like going back downstairs to face his parents. Instead, he sat himself down on the floor outside of his room with his back to the door. Inside he could hear faint sniffles. It was completely unlike Lukas to cry from frustration; usually he was calm and collected and found a way to bottle his emotion. But not this time.

Inside the room, Lukas had laid down on his bed, hugging his knees to his chest. His mind was full of all the things that were now impossible for him, and what the consequences might be if anyone were to ever find out about his secret. But this was the reality of the situation now. The reality of their lives. Could the three of them really do this all on their own…?

A/N: Hi! It's been a while since we've seen each other, huh? I've had a lot of writers block these past few months, and on top of that I've been travelling! I went to Finland recently to visit my friend and we had a brilliant time. :) But this is also where my little * comes in...

*Fun fact! From what I have experienced, nudity is not a big deal in Finland at all. After I went to the sauna with my friend, we went swimming in the lakes ourselves. There are showers there and changing rooms in a small hut beside the lake, but they are not split into genders. Everything is mixed gender, so even though my friend is male and I am female, we were still in the same showers/changing rooms etc. It was actually quite refreshing to be that... well, free - in more ways than one. So for some people who may question Tino going swimming naked after the sauna, I can assure you that I can see it happening 100%.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all next chapter!