The third floor room was filled with instruments. Flutes, drums, keyboards, guitars; you name it. Spencer also found a stack of photos on a desk when he heard a little tune coming from a guitar. More specifically; a red and white guitar that Billy was holding. Doo doo doooo do do do dooooo (insert dtmg theme song background music here) Billy was smiling sadly as he hummed along with it.

"You know how to play the guitar?" Spencer asked his friend who was looking like he was going to cry. Billy simply nodded and continued his tune. The teen shrugged and started to look through the photos. At first, they were just of a young girl with purple hair and a hat that cast a shadow across the top of her face so that he couldn't see her eyes. Then something unexpected showed up. "Uh, Billy, why are you in these pictures?" Or at least Spencer thought the little merman was Billy. Who else could it possibly be? He thought that Billy might have a little younger than him in the photos.

"Let me see," Billy said, "She was my first friend and she liked taking pictures of us together."

Spencer sensed a long story coming on, so he sat down on a stool next to some drums and waited. "My story begins when I still lived with my family and I never really fit in because I sang differently."

Flashback

Billy finished his song and looked at his mother expectantly. She sighed. "Hon, you really need to stop this fetish of sunshine and big yachts and money. It's so... land person of you."

"But Mom! Have u even heard their music before? It's much more upbeat than ours!"

"Baruch, how many times do I have to tell you to not go up to the surface and follow boats around?" Billy looked at the floor, dejected. His father looked up from what he was occupied with.

"Dear, let him express himself; he's only a guppy."

"NO! He needs to learn how to sing properly or no mermaid is going to want him!" Their argument escalated and Billy swam out of the house; a sunken ship; and did what he normally did to cheer himself up: find a ship that had music playing and follow it. He knew his parents didn't approve, but the humans looked like they were having so much fun and their music was so different. Why couldn't the other Mers accept that; accept him? A large ship passed overhead and the young merman could feel the tunes pulsing even from underwater. He swam up and kept up with the boat well after dark. He noticed this and decided to go home, but what he didn't notice was the storm coming in.

End

"I never did go back and work things out with my folks," Billy stated, stilling strumming the guitar but it seemed sadder. Spencer nodded and asked

"What about that girl in the photo? When did you meet her?" Billy continued with his story. "Normally storms don't bother us; we just swim under them where the water is calm. I had got caught in a net that had been stirred up by the storm so I couldn't swim far enough down to stay out of the waves." Billy looked away; his eyes were full of regret. "I was tossed around at the wave's mercy. When the storm stopped I had no idea where I was."

Flashback

Something poked him. "Ten more minutes Mom." His eyes were closed and he was so tired he didn't want to get up. Then he noticed he couldn't move and he wasn't in water. He gasped and tried to sit up. In front of him was an equally shocked and confused face.

"Who are you?" asked a girl, possibly his age. She had purple hair and bracelets with a black tank top and shorts. Billy was scared; a land person was talking to him! He wiggled, but the net held fast.

"Oh my gosh, we have to get you out of that." She looked caring and concerned, but the hat she wore obscured the entire upper half of her face. She pulled a pocket knife out and Billy couldn't help thinking it was true that humans eat mer-people. He closed his eyes and resigned himself to his fate. Suddenly, his bonds loosened and he was free. Billy felt her hand on his shoulder. "It's ok, you are free to go." He was grateful and did something he would have never imagined doing: he hugged her. His mysterious savior slowly hugged him back. He moved away; suddenly shy.

"Uh, my name is Billy." The girl smiled wide, revealing a gap in her teeth. "You can call me X."

End

"We became good friends after that. She restored my confidence and taught me how to play the guitar," He smiled smugly; "I know three chords". Spencer smiled back, aware there were many more chords than three but he didn't mention it. "Unfortunately guitars don't work underwater so she kept it in the house for me."

"Was this house hers?" Spencer questioned. "Where is she now?"

"One day, X was showing me how she could play the banjo and it was rather romantic. Her father saw us on the dock together right as I was about to kiss her and he was not pleased." Billy started to laugh. "I don't think I've ever seen a guy so angry in my life!" Then he stopped and went back to looking depressed. "They moved away after that. I never saw her again."

"I'm sorry dude," Spencer said. The photos were interesting; one had the two them sitting next to each other with Billy's arm around her shoulders and she was taking the shot like you would a selfie. Another featured Billy on the dock with the same red and white guitar; his expression frustrated as if he was still figuring out how to use it. The last was a candid shot of X with a surprised look on her face; though he couldn't be sure because the photo didn't show anything above her nose.

"Did you take this?" Spencer showed Billy the photo. The young adult chuckled.

"Yeah, it was one of the few times X wasn't wearing that hat and I tried to take her picture, but I had never used a camera before," responded Billy.

"Was X short for something," he asked, "or was it her real name?" Billy pondered this for a moment.

"I have no idea Brotato, she did love being mysterious." He put the guitar back on the wall where he had found it. "I wonder what's up with all these instruments though, I mean, I knew she loved music but…"

"Seems a little obsessive doesn't it?" Spencer finished. There was a slight awkward silence until Billy spoke up.

"Well, this was a brotastic afternoon Spence, though I should probably get going before your family comes back." He turned to leave, but Spencer grabbed his arm.

"I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind if you stayed for dinner." My mom has already met Billy, so I'm bet they'd be cool with it. Billy perked up considerably.

"Really? I mean, if my schedule is open…"

"Dude, my mom is making triple-fudge brownies for dessert."

"You can count me in!" He exclaimed. Spencer thought for a moment and decided he had to add a rule to his offer.

"On one condition: stay away from glasses of water. I don't think my parents are ready to know that I'm best friends with a fish that practically lives in our backyard."

"I resent that, but whatever. Anything for brownies… X made some for me once. They were almost better than peanut butter." They walked down the stairs that they had previously found and Spencer took the photos with him just in case one of his family members stumbled upon the room. "Dude what is this?" Billy exclaimed. Spencer peered around his friend to see what he was looking at.

"Our pet goldfish?" The merman mutter something about cruelty and walked into the kitchen to again to open the fridge; a Gatorade. They sat in the living room silently and the film-maker pondered what he had learned that afternoon. Billy. He looked at his friend contently chugging the Gatorade. He lost his family, his friend, so much in a short time. Then he was alone for a couple years because he scared everyone out of the house. Why did he trust me; of all people; to be his friend? Spencer then thought back to his first night in the mansion.

"Hey Billy, do you sing anymore?" Billy looked down, slightly embarrassed.

"Usually just when I'm by myself, why?"

"I think I heard you last week when I was falling asleep. You're pretty good." The dark-haired young adult was about to reply when they heard the front door rattle.

"Spencer, we're home!" his mom called.

"Is it ok if Billy stays for dinner?"

"That polite young man from the other day? Of course!"

Concerning guest reviews: Yes I will try to do fluff/cute things, but I will not make Billy and Spence a couple. There are already a ton of fics like that and I want mine to be different. Anyways, the day I try to write legit/intense romance is the day my writing fails cuase i'm not convincing at all. sorry