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Chapter Seven

Of All The Mistakes

Blaine

Somewhere between Kurt's lips and the shore, I passed out. I had been physically in pain, fused with emotionally in pain, and the light on the other side of the ocean couldn't hold my resistance.

A cold rush of water reached my legs. I sucked in a breath, only to shallow a mouthful of sand. Coughing, I looked around. Finn, the Mer Kurt knew, apparently returned me safely to the shore.

"Kurt," I mumbled, choking back a sob. I buried my face in my sandy hands. Everything hurt. The sand and salt were stinging my teary eyes, but I was literally numb, so everything was just a passing thought.

The waves that crashed into me again forced me to think that this was as close as I'd ever be to Kurt again. The ocean swallowed him whole.

I stayed in the sand for hours. When I walked home, it was black out. Really, that didn't faze me because the sun and the moonlight shouldn't be wasted on me. The guilt was tearing me apart. I'd never know Kurt's fate. I'd never know what damage I'd caused him. He shouldn't have met me. I shouldn't have gotten so involved. Rewinding it back even further, I shouldn't have chosen that dock. The blame strangled me, just as the water had earlier.

The days slowly passed. Everyday he would not show up, the harder waiting got. In my mind, he'd come one day, only to realized that I wasn't coming. I didn't want Kurt to surface and think I gave up. Yes, this was illogical. So was Kurt though.

Day four of being without him, I lay on my stomach, spread across the dock. My eyes were transfixed on the water. I only saw my own reflection. I looked sad; I felt sad, so this wasn't a shock.

"What are you doing?"

Jumping, arms had to grip me before I plummeted into the water. Through my stinging eyes, I saw Rachel. Shaking my head, I slapped the tears away.

Setting in front of me, she said confidently, "Blaine, I forgive you."

"What?" I asked, my voice quivering.

"You're forgiven for neglecting me even after you led me on. I understand that you're just confused, and I'm here to help," Rachel declared. "No need to be sad anymore."

I hugged my knees. She was so thick sometimes.

When I refused to speak, she asked, "Seriously, Blaine, are you okay?"

A noise came from the back of my throat and I buried my face in my knees. I wasn't crying; I was aching. Rachel roped my arms around as much of me as she could, nuzzling her face into my shoulder.

"Shhh," she whispered.

I couldn't face this alone anymore. "He's gone," I grumbled.

Rachel pulled my face up. "Who, Blaine?"

Thinking the name had my heart cringing. "Kurt."

"Where did he go?" she inquired softly.

My breath was shaky as I breathed in. Biting my lip, I considered my choices: a lie or the truth. Neither were simple.

"Rachel, I need to tell you something. I need to tell you something, and I need for you to not get angry. I also need for you to believe me," I pleaded.

She nodded, her hand on the side of my neck.

"Kurt isn't who you think he is. And neither am I," I sighed. "I have these feelings for Kurt that I've never had for anyone before, and I don't know if it's because I'm falling for him or because he's completely enchanting to me."

Her voice was broken, "Both sound the same to me."

"He's not human, Rachel," I said abruptly. She caught my eye, confused. "He…is a…mermaid."

As soon as the words left my lips, I wanted to take them back.

Kurt

My father stuck me in my old room. All the decorations I'd arranged personally mocked me. Everything was reminiscing of the childhood that was stolen from me. I perched myself at the window to gaze over the Undersea. My room had the best view of all the others, and when I was little, this fact made me exuberant. Now, I was just miserable. I looked over the city that held me prisoner. My heart crinkled. Don't think about him! That was impossible; he was every other thought.

I swam to the locked door. Pushing my face between the bars, I looked over at Finn who was absentmindedly staring down the hall. Usually, the barred door stayed unlocked, except at night, but my situation was different. Time outside of my room was a privilege.

"Finn," I called. "When's my father coming?"

He looked at me for a brief moment, shrugged, and stared down the hall.

Sighing, I said, "Okay, I get it; I'm still banished."

I slide to the floor. I tugged my arms over my chest. I'd rather be banished than a prisoner.

"Kurt," Finn said softly. "Kurt, I'm sorry."

My ears perked up, but I didn't move. "Why would you be sorry?"

His voice was steady. "You don't deserve any of this."

My stomach plummeted. Why was he saying these things?

Finn continued, "Do you remember who comforted you when you came swimming into the castle to tell your father about your mother?"

Those memories haven't been clear since they actually happened. Concentrating, I did have a faint memory of someone allowing me to weep in their hold as I waited for my father to return.

"That was me," he said, confirming my thoughts. "I know how you feel, more than anymore else, Kurt. My father died that day too."

I shot up. He had moved too. Now only the bar separated us.

"Apparently, the guard was taking its revenge on the sharks, and my father was the only one not careful enough," Finn said, his voice shaking. "I've only been told the story once or twice. I hate thinking about it." I reached through the bars and clasped his hand. He took a breath. "I was a mess. It got to the point where I couldn't function, so my mother asked your father for help. He said, serving the guard, like my dad did, would make me into a man. He had me watch you. I didn't understand his logic, but when I saw you, broken, salvaging for shelter and food, I realized that we were both just boys, forced into something we weren't ready for. So, I stayed. I didn't want you to be alone, Kurt."

My eyes tingled with unshed tears.

Looking over his shoulder, he proceeded to unlock my door and floated inside. We swam to my bed then sat, shoulder to shoulder.

He finished his story. "You went to the shore every single day. I was so furious with you because this is where the chain of unlucky events started. I let you go though, and I kept quiet about it because I was positive you would have been punished. Like this," he motioned to the room. "Soon, I realized you were coming to see that boy. He showed up everyday, as did you. I kept my distance, and let take comfort in him."

My body was shaking. Finn hesitantly reached over to hold my hand.

"The day you interacted with him, I was such a mix of emotions. You were so happy, and I couldn't control feeling the same for you. What you were doing though was forbidden. If he would have pulled you out, I was ready to strike, Kurt. He didn't though. You both eased into each other's worlds, and I realized that you had complete control of the situation and spent years building that up. I trusted your judgment," he pressed his face into his palm. Speaking through his fingers, I heard, "This is my fault."

I placed a hand on his shoulder.

He said, "When you brought him to your cave, when you kissed him, I told your father."

I dropped my hand from his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Kurt."

"Why, Finn?" I asked indifferently.

"I didn't realize you were in love with him. You've broken so many rules. To me, when you pulled him under just to kiss him, that was stepping over the line. I never expected all of this. I didn't know what to expect. I wasn't thinking clean. When we were in the Undersea again, the way you gave up on him, the way you gave up on yourself killed me. You were never one to give up, Kurt, which is why I released you," he was up again, facing me. "Kurt, I don't expect you to forgive me. Never. You're allowed to hate me until we're both dead, but despite all this talk about marriage and Amiss Mer's, you and Blaine…that was real."

I seemed to forget how to breathe. My arms were across my chest, almost forcing my ribs to work pushing and pulling air around my body.

"Your father will be here in about an hour, when the sun is turning orange." He went to the window, fidgeted with it, and then slid it open. "If you swim straight up then over, no one should see you, but hurry, okay, Kurt, please."

It took me a moment to register what he was telling me. Instead of speaking, I rushed to hug him.

I muttered, "I do forgive you, Finn. You've given me so many chances. You're normal. You make mistakes. That's okay."

Pulling away, he smiled down at me. "Make sure this one's not one."

A took a second. In the next second, I slipped my body through the window and shot up.

Blaine

Rachel jerked her body away. Her expression was apprehension and shock. I doubt she believed me.

"Blaine…"

"Rachel, this is crazy, I know, but I'm not!"

"Really? Because you sound pretty insane!" she yelped.

The only way she'd believe me was if she saw him, and there's a slim chance of that.

"Where is he? Why isn't he here?" she said, as if reading my mind.

I choked on my words. Before I could explain, something shot out of the water. It flung beside me but grabbed Rachel's feet. She hit the dock floor. Her body was being pulled away. I swiftly looked from her ankles, down the thing's arms, until I saw his face.

"KURT!" I cried.

Grabbing hold of Rachel's upper body, I tugged. Kurt hissed. I managed to get her out of his grasp for a second. In this moment's gap, I jumped forward and took hold of him. He was still growling, his nails cutting into the skin over my shoulders. I held tight to his face.

"Kurt! Kurt, you need to look at me! Kurt!" I wailed. "Rachel, you need to go. Wait and I'll drive you home."

"Blaine, he's…oh my God! He's…" she fumbled over her words.

"Now, you can believe me!" I bellowed. "You need to leave though!"

As Rachel got further away, Kurt's expression softened. When she was completely gone, he pulled me closer. I fell onto the dock and gripped him tight. I pressed my face into his neck, my eyes suddenly wet.

"Blaine," he sobbed.

"Oh, Kurt," I returned.

We just held each other for a few minutes. I was the one to pull back. I held his face, and he rested one hand on my cheek and the other over my fingers.

"You're okay!" I said, my voice cracking. "Are you free, or…?"

His head ducked. My heart gave a heavy thump. I pressed our foreheads together.

"How?" I questioned.

"Finn," he said simply.

"How long?"

"Not long…"

I tugged him into my arms again. I'd have to lose him all over again. Nothing ever worked out for me.

"Kurt, I have so much to say to you," I whispered.

"Is there a short version?" he retorted. I felt a small smile being pushed into my neck.

I made myself look directly into his eyes. "I was stupid to think you'd be safe with me. So much could have went wrong. I was selfish. You sacrificed everything for me, and I couldn't even recognize how I was actually consenting to your prison sentence."

Kurt shook his head. His hollowed eyes made my heart empty. "No. No, don't you ever think that, Blaine. I almost got you killed."

"You're the reason I'm alive, Kurt."

He reached up and played with a small section of my hair, just looking into my face.

"Of everything that's gone wrong, Blaine, my biggest mistake was waiting. We could have had years. Now we have minutes, and it's not fair to either of us."

"I'm glad you came at all. You made a pretty huge entrance into my life, Kurt."

His breath became shallow. Looking into the orange sun, he bit his lip.

"Blaine, can you come everyday still? Like you did before you knew me? Six o'clock? When the sun is orange."

"Kurt, I'll never stop being here."

"I'll never stop trying to escape then."

He stared deeply into my eyes of the shortest, longest second then he drifted back into the water.

Before he went under, he declared, "They can't touch this, Blaine, what we have."

My heart shattered as he dipped under.

"Never," I mumbled.