Hey Guys!

I hope this chapter finds you well. Thank you for the support! I finished this chapter last night. Be prepared for sexual references.

Let me know what ya think!

I love you!

J

There was a soft current it felt good. Andrina's hair flowed wildly around her head. Usually she had a head piece on. Something that kept it all contained in a somewhat former manner, but this day was different. She didn't want to be Princess Andrina. She wanted to be loved for who she was, not the title that she had been born with.

Anthony had black hair, blue eyes, and the most beautiful tail Andrina had ever seen. It was midnight black, with specks of diamond colored dots on the scales. His body was muscular, but not as muscular as Tritons. She felt like her heart was already his.

"Why do I feel like I know you already?"

Anthony smiled. She was all he had dreamed of for years now.

"I went to the same school as you… I could never get the courage to ask you out on a date. I never thought you would like me. It took me 20 years to finally approach you."

"I never saw you. I wish I had. I'm so tired of being Princess Andrina. I want to be me. Most of all I want someone who knows me for me…" loves me for me. Andrina thought to her self.

Anthony gently held her face in his hands. Something told him that he was moving too fast, but somehow he knew it would be alright. She needed him. Anthony needed Andrina. Cradling Andrina made him feel alive. He bent down to kiss her. She leaned in. Their tails intertwined.

Andrina knew that this shouldn't be happening. She shouldn't be having sex with someone she'd known for a couple of hours, but she liked it. He held her in his strong arms, and kissed her. She leaned into his neck. There was something…. So freeing about the experience. To be held in such away that made her feel special.

Mean awhile, Ariel was travelling. He said he lived near the crow. There was only one residential area by the crow so it shouldn't take too long to find him. Ben… that's who she was looking for. She pushed aside the feelings of her reoccurring betrayal. Maybe Alana was right. Maybe they could start off as friends. Surely that wouldn't break any rules. Mermaids are allowed to have friends of the opposite sex. Its normal. Maybe. Maybe not. All I can do is try.

Ben sat in the open space of his home. Surely I messed up my chances with her.

I'm pushing her too hard.

I love her.

This is going all wrong.

"I have to go away." Ben thought out loud to him self.

"Please don't Ben. Maybe we're going too fast, but please don't go. I'm not used to it. Being with out them… but I can't just sit at home crying. I need you to make me laugh. I need someone there. Please Ben."

"Ariel, I thought I lost you. I'm here but I can't stop my feelings from growing the way they are. I can't leave. My heart wouldn't be able to take it."

Ariel stopped. She floated aimlessly for a few moments. Her mind drifted back to the dream. The passion. The love. That connection that was still tying them together, and yet here she floated in front of another man. A man she liked, but wasn't sure she could love not the way Ben was loving her.

Ben swam further into the house, not sure what to make of the situation. Did he have a chance at all?

Maybe he did, because as he went further into his house, she followed. Sitting down on the couch, Ben thought. There was so much that he didn't know about her. So much to be uncovered. So much to be dealt with. Was it even worth it?

"You know, when I was little I was scared to leave my parents house. Especially after my mom died."

Ariel felt a twinge of sadness. She knew that feeling too. For years it was difficult to leave the palace. People were always telling her that she looked just like Athena. That she acted just like her mother. It just made the pain worse, how could she live up to the reputation of her mother? She barely knew her.

"I understand, I always felt like I was living in my mother's shadow. Even now, people in the palace look at me. I know that they are looking at me and thinking of my mother. I never feel good enough." Ariel sighed.

"I always wondered why my mother had to try to have another baby anyway. Why wasn't I enough?" Ben stated. He had never opened up to anyone like this before.

"What do you mean?" Ariel was curious.

"When I was five, my mother became pregnant… it was a hard pregnancy for those 11 months she couldn't eat much. The doctor said be careful. She was. She didn't do anything majority of the time…"

"Wow…"

"Then one day, I came home and she was on the couch, breathing heavy, trying to get it out of her. But it didn't come. It got stuck, and by the time the doctor got there it was too late. She bled out right in front of me." Ben took a deep breath… what if she thought he was weak now?

Ariel moved closer, and put her arms around him. The full weight of her embrace felt magical to him and comforting.

"Its not your fault, Ben. Things happen. I thought I caused my moms death for years, but we were just up at the surface at the wrong time. Its okay…"

Ben looked at her. Her eyes were soft, her arms wrapped around him. Ben couldn't resist. He hoped that Ariel wouldn't either.

Gingerly Ben kissed her face. It was soft. Easy to slide down. He took his time working down the length of her body.

It took Ariel a minute to realize what was happening, but she didn't stop it. She just rolled with the program. She allowed herself to open up. To become vulnerable.

Ben enjoyed himself. It had been an eventful first time. Ariel waved. Suddenly she was tired. She wanted to go home. Ben hoped that maybe this was the start of something new. Maybe he had a chance.

She doesn't think I'm weak. She let me do it…. What did I do? Is this really happening.

Ben closed the shell door, for the rest of the night he remembered her scent, the feeling of her hair against his chest.

Although Ben had a good night, he didn't know the turmoil that his good time had caused in Ariel's heart. But he might never know.