1 month later

Life on the island isn't too different from life back at home. After the excitement of living in a new place and getting used to being with humans life seems almost routine. With Emmett and me officially dating we decided it was best that we start things off right and not live together. He of course continued to stay on his boat and Rose was nice enough to let me move in with her and Jasper never found a new waitress so I helped out when he really needed it.

Emmett wasn't too happy that I spent so much time around the bar with drunk guys everywhere but Rose and I convinced him nothing was going to happen as long as we stuck together. It also helped that whenever I worked Emmett refused to leave. The only person who had ever caused any problems was Jacob and his group of idiots. Last week when they came in and gave me hard time I "tripped" and spilt an entire tray of drinks on them. That stunt may have cost me two tables worth of tips but at least I got rid of the guys and was able to get Emmett's stress level down.

Of course this was not enough to keep them away forever but they did get the hint and left me alone from then on. Talking to Rose about them explained a lot. Apparently, Jacob and Emmett have been enemies for a long time and he would do anything to piss Emmett off; which included hitting on me. Before I came around he was always messing with her which got Jasper on his bad side.

It made me feel a lot better that it wasn't anything personal towards me but it really annoyed me that it was personal against Emmett. I took every opportunity to make their experience at the bar unpleasant. When it came to getting a tip from them I just didn't care.

Over the month I had missed being in the water countless times. We would spend time at the beach and it killed me that I could not join everyone in the water. Emmett would arrange during the day for us to go out alone on the boat so that I could have freedom in the water. One time a coast guard boat showed up while we were swimming and Emmett had to chase them away. He got in trouble for diving alone but it was just a verbal warning. This week however all of us would be going out on the boat.

There had been an incident at the bar and two guys got into a fight and put a huge hole in the wall, so Jasper and Rose had to close down until the wall was fixed so we had a couple of days were we could do whatever we wanted. It was decided that we would go out on the boat. The guys would go fishing and Rose and I would just lie around getting sun tanned.

We had a great time the first night. The guys cooked the fish on the grill for everyone and Emmett made me a salad. We finished off 2 bottles of wine and I learned that wine goes straight to my head. I may not be considered a light weight when it comes to beer or liquor but apparently wine is a whole different animal.

The last thing I remember of the night was Emmett letting me lean on his shoulder as they reminisced about the old days. I learned more about Emmett's past love life than I ever thought I would know. Rose told me about every girl from his first kiss at age 5 up to me.

When I woke I had a massive headache and felt like death. I groaned when the boat shifted due to a larger wave and thought I was going to barf all over the bed but luckily I was able to keep it down. On the night stand next to me was a bottle of water and 2 pills that I quickly swallowed.

Wearing my bathing suit, sunglasses, and a large sun hat I ventured out to join everyone else on the deck. Emmett had prepared me a big bowl of oatmeal and on a normal day I would have enjoyed it but this morning it just made me sick. The site of all the food almost had me running towards the edge of the boat to throw up.

"Someone looks a little green at the gills. Have too much fun last night Bella?"

"Oh shut up Jasper. I never made fun of you when you work up with a hang over."

I pulled my chair over to the shaded area away from everyone else which I hated but it kept me from feeling like the sun was piercing my eyes. It took nearly 2 hours for the pain medicine to fully kick in and take away my headache. I was finally able to move around not feeling like the walking dead but the sun was still too intense.

Emmett and Jasper had been fishing all morning and Rose was sun bathing reading some romance novel with a clichéd couple on the cover. The guys were giving up on fishing since neither one of them had caught a thing all day. I don't understand how they can waste that much time doing literally nothing. They didn't talk, they just sat there waiting for a fish to come along and get caught.

Eventually everyone decided they wanted to go for a swim before we ate dinner. Of course I was not going swimming so I decided to pull my chair over to the edge so that I could watch them. The sun overhead felt amazing but nothing compared to watching everyone have fun in the water.

I have to admit I was super jealous that everyone else was in the water and I was left out. Part of me wished that I could just tell Jasper and Rose the truth but the other part was still not sure if I could trust them. Emmett assured me they would not tell a soul, but you never know people until they get the chance to turn on you.

"Hey Bella, can you hand me a towel?"

I tossed a towel at Jasper who then proceeded to shake like a dog to get the water off of him. Luckily I was out of the splash zone. It was getting dark outside when Jasper got out of the water and Emmett and Rose soon followed suit.

With nothing else to occupy my time I was able to prepare a fairly decent meal for everyone. I prepared a salad to start, had steaks for everyone else marinating waiting on Emmett to cook them, steamed vegetables would be ready when the steaks were done as well as a tray full of perfectly ripened strawberries stuffed with cheesecake filling and sprinkled with graham cracker crumbs. As a substitute for steak I also made myself a black bean burger which Emmett would cook with the steaks.

Emmett was manning the grill while Rose played with the radio and Jasper and I set the table. Rose finally found a song that she didn't mind listening to and Jasper flipped out. He literally started jumping all over the deck and was dancing like a maniac. At one point he tried to dance by Emmett at the grill but got smacked with the spatula.

I had never heard the song that was being played before and working at the bar I had heard several songs now. Rose was also rocking out by the radio but not nearly as bad as Jasper. Emmett even seemed to be bobbing his head. I had to admit the song did have a good beat to it but it was not the best song like Jasper was acting.

I tried to give him plenty of space when I walked around him to go get the glasses for our drinks but I clearly did not as he accidentally elbowed me in the face causing tears to burn my eyes and me stumble backwards. Not only did I trip but I fell completely over the railing and barely had time to catch my breath before I hit the water's surface.

I could hear Emmett yell my name and when I looked up I could see the haloed images of Rose and Jasper looking over the edge trying to find me. The only though running through my mind was the pain that was shooting through my nose. I knew it wasn't broken but it certainly didn't help diminish the pain any.

Emmett was in the water and at my side pulling me to the surface in record time. I was pulled over to the back of the boat where the ladder was but at this point Emmett just waited for me to act. Clearly I wasn't able to climb the ladder but neither was I able to just disappear under the water. The moment to be truthful was upon us and I just hoped they were as loyal as Emmett said they would be.

"Bella! Oh, my God! I am so sorry… Are you ok? Let us help you get out of the water."

Jasper reached down to take my hand which I refused to take. I looked at Emmett with tears in my eyes but this time I wasn't sure they were entirely from the pain in my nose. This moment could change everything. Not just for me but the entire world. If humans knew about Mermaids they could hunt my entire species down until we no longer exist. This would be the biggest moment of our lives.