As always, thank you for reading! Reviews are always appreciated and I hope you are enjoying the story so far!

Disclaimer: I do not own Mako Mermaids or any of its characters/ideas. I also do not own a Netflix to watch Mako Mermaids because I just use my boyfriend's. However, all of the OCs are my own creation.

Chapter 6: Too Soon to Share

I rode my bike home from the store and dropped off my new outfit in my room. I carefully hung the dress in my closet and put the necklace and earrings on my jewelry tree.

I looked at the picture of me, my mom, and my dad that was taped to my mirror. It was taken when we were all at the beach on the Fourth of July. My dad was holding a hot dog that he immediately devoured after the picture was taken. My mom was laughing at something behind the camera, her beautiful green eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. I was in the middle, with my arm wrapped around my mom and looking up at my dad. He was my hero and my best friend. She was my confidant and my biggest supporter.

I decided to walk down to the beach. I needed a minute to clear my head and, while I do not enjoy swimming, I love watching the movement of the ocean. The sound of the waves and the feeling of warm sand between my toes never fails to soothe me.

I put on a bathing suit, filled a small cooler, and packed a towel and some sunscreen. I still had about two hours to myself before I needed to get ready for my date tonight.

I found my favorite spot on the beach, a nice flat area near the dunes, and laid out my towel. The sun was warm on my back as I laid on my stomach, with my head resting on my forearms.

All of a sudden, my tranquility was interrupted by a Frisbee hitting the back of my leg.

I slowly peeled myself off the towel and reached for the Frisbee. A group of guys ran up to me, expressing their apologies.

"It's fine." I said, slightly annoyed. I handed them the disc and they ran off.

"You can join us if you want to." I heard one of the boys call back to me.

I looked back up to see Dillon grinning. I laughed to myself and ran over to him.

"Once again, sorry about hitting you." He said, as we walked over to join his new friends.

"It's all good." I replied. "I needed to get my mind off things anyways."

"Is everything ok?" He said, stopping to turn to me and put his hand on my shoulder. "I'm here if you need anything."

"Maybe we can talk about it at dinner." I said, surprised that he had his hand on me and even more surprised that I was willing to open up to him.

I never really talked to any of my friends about the death of my parents. Most did not understand what I was going through. Others simply drifted away out of fear of not knowing what to say. I didn't want to lose Dillon over something that happened in my past but I also didn't want to stay so lonely.

We finally met up with Dillon's friends after walking to a spot that was farther away from each-goers.

"Merissa, this is Nick, Bentley, and Austin." Dillon said as the guys all waved back.

"Bentley and Austin both life-guard with me and Nick works at the bait shop on the pier."

"Nice to meet you all." I said, before we started to toss the Frisbee around.

After a while of throwing the disc to each other, Bentley suggested that we go in the water. My eyes shot over to Dillon in a way to plead him to make an excuse so that I didn't have to join.

"Hey guys, I'm pretty tired," He said, picking up on my signals that I would do anything but get into the ocean. "I think I might sit down for a bit."

"I'll join him," I said, rushing to catch up to him as he made his way to my beach towel. "It was nice meeting you all!"

We returned to my spot by the dunes. He pulled a bottle of water from my cooler and offered me one.

"Thank you for covering for me." I said, taking the bottle with my eyes cast downward. I should be able to stand up for myself, but sharing my fear of water would mean sharing my entire past. It was just too soon to share.

"You're welcome." He replied. "If there is anything that I can do, just let me know. I don't know why you are afraid, and you by no means have to tell me why, but I just want you to be OK. I hate to see you hurt like this."

I felt myself start to tear up. I have cried more in the past twenty four hours than I have in the past two years. These were happy tears, though. No one had taken the time to care for me or go out of their way to make sure that I was alright. Empty condolences and heartless apologies were all I have received in the past year and a half.

I tried to hide the tears that tickled my eyes and burned my cheeks, but to no avail.

"Merissa, look at me." Dillon said, lightly cupping my chin in his hand and turning my face towards him. "Like I said before, you don't need to tell me what is troubling you, but I am here for you. If you still want to talk over dinner then I am more than willing to listen. If you are too upset right now, we don't have to talk about it."

"It's OK," I said, wiping what I hoped was the last of the tears from my face. "I am just happy that someone cares enough to listen."

"Are you sure that is all?" He asked, his gaze still locked on my face.

"I'm sure." I said, looking back up at him.

We sat in silence for a minute, simply looking at one another. He smiled at me and I smiled back.

A loud ringtone suddenly interrupted our moment together. I forgot that I had set an alarm on my phone to let me know when it was time to start getting ready.

"I am so sorry," I said, scrambling to try to find my phone in my bag.

"It's no problem!" He replied, laughing and helping me in my search.

We eventually found the phone and cut off the alarm. He helped me pack up my things and we walked back to our houses together.

"I can't wait to see you soon!" He called as I walked up the stairs to the house.

"See you soon." I said, blushing.

I turned back to see him grinning and walking into his house.

Tonight was going to be fun.

Thank you so much for reading! I can't wait to upload more material for you all!

-Crispin Robb