A/N: Okay um, this chapter takes place about a week or two after the last one. Will's much better and he and Bella are more solid in their relationship. LOL hahaha…what am I laughing about you ask? Well I'm not tellin'. You'll find out soon enough…and I think you'll guess right away because it's kind of obvious what's going on in most of this chapter even though I don't actually SAY the word until the end. Confused? Yeah, well just read…you'll see what I mean. I don't have anything else to say so…enjoy this chapter and review! Thank you! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own H2O just add water.

CHAPTER 10

Will's POV:

I was walking down the streets of our town, feeling better than I had in weeks. Not just physically better, but emotionally better too. I had been doing a lot of thinking while I was sick and I had come to an exciting and slightly frightening conclusion. It was with that conclusion that I was making my way towards a very special shop in particular on this quiet July afternoon.

I reached my destination a few seconds later and I slipped inside the door, a ringing of a little bell above the door greeting me, and trying to look calm, cool, and collected, but in reality I was scared out of my wits.

"Can I help you?" I jumped as an old man behind the counter looked at me questioning.

"Oh, um no I was just uh…looking, yeah," I stammered like an idiot. The man chuckled lightly.

"If you say so," he said, a twinkle in his eye. I got the feeling that he knew why I was there and the thought made me blush furiously. Was it that obvious?

I continued my "just looking" throughout the many displays, ruling out every possibility for even slight imperfections. Then I saw something. It was nothing like I had imagined; I had never thought of doing something like this, but somehow the uniqueness of it all made it perfect. I looked up and saw the gentleman a few feet away, putting some items on a shelf.

"Excuse me?" I asked politely, attracting his attention. He turned around and faced me, setting his items on the countertop.

"Yes?" He asked pleasantly, "Are you finished looking?" He smiled.

I grinned, not feeling awkward anymore when I realized what this purchase actually symbolized. I motioned to the display I had been looking at before.

"Yes, I'm finished. I think I've found what I'm looking for."

(Two weeks later)

Bella's POV:

The girls and I were all gathered in my room, making plans for my nineteenth birthday party that I was having next week. My birthday was in exactly two days and sixteen hours but who counts? Will does actually, he's been texting me every morning for the past week with a countdown. I'm surprised he hasn't started counting the minutes yet. I grinned at how cute that this actually was.

"I think you should a Hawaiian theme," Cleo suggested, "I know it's been done until it's dead, but maybe we can add a new twist."

"Yeah, like in the tail," Rikki remarked sourly. "Let's try for something that DOESN'T involved water in any way. I don't want to be rushing off into a closet or a bathroom every five seconds."

"Well do you have any other suggestions then?" Cleo asked impatiently. "What else can we do?"

"How about we try a barbecue or something, but do a serious theme so people don't suddenly start water fights." Rikki proposed.

"Serious theme? Like what?" Cleo questioned, pulling out her pencil and notepad.

"How about…" Rikki's voice trailed off and she thought for a second. Then her eyes lit up. "I've got it!" She cried.

"Well?" Cleo asked expectantly, "What is it?"

"Let me spell it for you." Rikki said. Cleo nodded and turned to her notepad.

"I-D-O," Rikki began. Cleo nodded.

"N-T-K," Cleo scribbled those down too. By now I could tell that Rikki was up to something; she was grinning evilly, but Cleo was too intent on making each letter picture perfect to pay any attention to her.

"N-O-W," Rikki finished. "Now, read that," she said, leaning back into the couch.

Cleo set down her pen. "Okay, I-D-O-N-T-K-N-O-W – Oh Rikki!" She cried in exasperation. Rikki burst into laughter and I joined her. Cleo looked at us in mock anger, but it didn't last long. She started laughing with us and a few minutes later we were all sprawled across my bed, hot and breathless. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and I quickly pulled it out. The text was from Will.

"U wanna go 4 a swim l8r? I havent been 4 awhile…"

Actually, he hasn't been swimming since the drama with the tentacle. I had been swimming with the girls as always, but I missed swimming with him more than I had let on. He'd been pretty much back to normal for about a week or so now, but he had been avoiding the water and I could understand that. His stings were about healed though, and I'm glad that he actually wanted to go swimming.

"Sure wut time?"

"3 ok? Ill meet u at my place"

"Sounds good c u then!"

"Ok luv u =]"

"Luv u 2 :)"

"All things considered," Cleo panted, "I think the barbecue idea IS pretty good, we just need a good theme. What do you think Bella?"

I didn't answer. I was staring at Will's last text and grinning like an idiot. It was amazing how something so simple could make me so happy. "Ok luv u" and then his quirky equal-sign smiley face. I used to take little things like texts for granted before, but I had promised myself I would never make that mistake again.

"Bella? Bella? Earth to Bella!" Rikki waved her hand in front of my face. "Are you still here?" She complained sarcastically.

I shook myself. "Yeah, I'm still here; sorry about that," I apologized hastily.

"What were you looking at on your phone?" Cleo asked curiously, giving me a funny smile. "What was so interesting that you completely zoned out on us?"

I blushed. "Nothing," I said, lying through my teeth. "I was just texting, that's all." That was the wrong thing to say; I realized it the moment the words left my mouth.

"Texting?" Rikki said, crawling over to where I was. "Texting who?"

"Oh come on do you even have to ask?" Cleo said mischievously. "Who do you think?"

"I don't know!" Rikki cried, faking bewilderment. "Give me a hint."

Cleo giggled. "Well he's tall, handsome, and has pretty blue eyes that send Bella to another world!"

Rikki pretended to be thinking. "Well…there's only one person who comes to mind. Is it – "

"Oh stop, both of you!" I cried, throwing a pillow at them. Immediately they burst into giggles, and I was already laughing. Then Rikki lunged forward and made a grab for my phone. I shrieked and tried to hold it out of her reach, but she had taken me by surprise. She fell on top of me and managed to pry my fingers away from my phone.

"No!" I cried, still laughing, "There's nothing to see!"

"We'll see about that," she said, clicking my phone on.

"Oooo let me see!" Cleo squealed, peering over Rikki's shoulder.

I groaned and flopped back on my pillows. I might as well just prepare myself for all the teasing I knew was soon to follow. I smiled though, because this was actually sort of fun in a weird sort of way. It was nice that I had someone for them to tease me about, so I watched with amusement as the girls scrolled quickly through my texts going "aww!" or giggling as the situation required.

"So you're going swimming?" Cleo cooed, looking up at me and away from my phone.

I sighed dramatically and pretended to be annoyed. "Yes, we're going swimming; it'll be his first swim since that full moon. Are you two done yet?" I crossed my arms and tried to look stern, but it was hopeless.

"So things are going good between you two huh?" Rikki said smoothly, passing me my phone.

"Yeah, pretty good," I said confidently, "although you would probably already know that by now since you've read our most recent conversations," I added, raising one eyebrow.

"True, but I just wanted a personal confirmation." She said smartly. "So are you two serious?"

I frowned. "Serious? I don't get it?"

"About each other,' Rikki explained patiently. "Will's almost twenty and you'll be nineteen in…" she paused and reached for my phone again, flipping to he most recent text. "…in two days and now fifteen hours."

"Oookkkaaayy…" I said, dragging out my word slowly and raising now both of my eyebrows. "I'm still confused."

"She means, do you think you might want to…" Cleo paused. "…Spend the rest of your life with him?"

I was still confused. Spend the rest of my life with him? But people only do that when they're…

Oh my god.

I gasped. "Wait…hold it!" I cried looking from one to the other. "You mean do I want to MARRY him?" My mouth dropped open and I continued to stare at them.

"Exactly." Rikki said bluntly. "After all, you're not kids anymore and you seem totally in love, so that's basically the next step. Unless you want to be rebels and just move in together, I mean that could work too; I'm not saying it wouldn't – "

"Rikki!" Cleo screamed. "Let's stick to the point!"

Rikki shrugged. "I was just giving her more options," she defended herself. Cleo rolled her eyes and shook her head. Then she turned back to me.

"Bella we're not saying that you will marry him, but we were just wondering if you've ever thought about it."

I was silent. Did I want to marry Will? I knew I loved him, there was nothing to question there. And didn't people who loved each other always get married? Did Will want to marry me? I tried to picture us married. Living together, having children, him coming home from work and me being there…I couldn't stop myself from smiling at the happy pictures that filled my mind. And then our kids…would they be mers too? Will and I still had human genes; they could be human too.

Rikki grinned and nudged Cleo.

"I think we have our answer," she said quietly. Cleo nodded and silently pulled out her phone and typed a quick message, so quick that I didn't even see. She hit send and shoved the phone back into her pocket.

Lewis's POV:

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out and checked the screen. The message was from Cleo.

:)

That was all – just a smiley face. But it was all I needed. I smiled to myself and sent a new text – not to Cleo though, but to Will.

Did u get it?

A few minutes later he replied.

Yup & its perfect

When r u gonna do it?

The answer I received surprised me.

This afternoon we r going swimming

The moon pool?

Exactly

I smiled. He really knew how to do things right, didn't he?

Well good luck

Thanx g2g

Zane's POV:

"Okay, now you're sure about this?" I asked incredulously. Will nodded.

"Absolutely positively sure." He said firmly.

"You've thought it over," I said skeptically.

"I've thought it over," he replied, "And I know what I'm doing."

I seriously doubted that – it's not like he's had loads of experience or anything – who does for this kind of thing? But I could tell that he was serious.

"You realize that it could go either way, right?" I said slowly, not wanting to rain on anyone's parade. I know I can be a bit thoughtless sometimes but I'm not that cruel. "It could ruin everything if you got – "

"–Yes I realize that too," He cut me off, "And it's a risk I'm willing to take." He grinned suddenly. "After all," He added, "The pros DEFINITELY outweigh the cons."

Even I had to smile at that.

"Well good luck then mate," I said, slapping him on the shoulder as he turned to leave the café.

"Thanks," he said, pulling his phone out and clicking on the lock screen.

"It's almost three, I'd better get going. I'm meeting Bella at my place before we leave for our date."

I raised my eyebrows. "Any particular place in mind?" I questioned.

"The moon pool!" He called over his shoulder as he left. Original – no – but perfect…

Yes.

Will's POV:

I finished talking to Zane and headed for my place. I had already been to the moon pool once today, although I hadn't done any swimming to get out there. I had used my motorboat and just left an important object in a hidden spot – an object that I didn't trust to survive the transformations from human to mer and vice versa. Right now I went inside and hurriedly changed clothes. Dressed in a blue T-shirt and Bermuda shorts, I looked comfortably casual – which was exactly what I was going for. My phone buzzed, and I clicked on the screen to see a message from Bella.

On my way c u soon! :-)

:-D

I sent back a great big smiley face because I knew that she loved it when I did that. And it pretty much described how I felt anyway. :)

Bella's POV:

I was walking down the pier to Will's house. I had just texted him. I was about to knock on his door when I got a response.

:-D

I grinned and rapped lightly on the door. It was open before I was even finished.

"Hey," Will said, smiling as he opened the door.

"Hey," I replied, standing on my tiptoes to give him a kiss. "You ready for this?" I said, motioning in the direction of the water. He nodded confidently.

"Absolutely, positively, totally, and completely ready," he said smartly, kissing me between every word.

I giggled and grinned at him. "Well in that case we might as well get going," I said, starting down the pier. He followed me good-naturedly until we were at the end. We both looked around instinctively to make sure there was no one else around. There was no one in sight, and with that we both dived in at exactly the same moment. We hit the water with a clean and quiet splash, letting ourselves sink as we transformed. I grinned at Will after he grew his tail; I'm still surprised every single time he transforms. It seems unreal, and I know he feels the same way about me. We joined hands and began swimming towards Mako slowly. Will hadn't used his tail for a while, and I didn't want him to get sore by doing too much. Besides, there wasn't any hurry. We took the time to admire the fish and coral reefs that we passed on our way. I watched Will as well for the first ten or fifteen minutes. He looked a bit hesitant at first, but after a bit he began to feel more comfortable. I could see the muscles in his tail rippling as he swam by, and I didn't think that he could look happier.

But then he turned his face towards me. His smile grew broader, his eyes got brighter, and he swam closer to where I was, his fingers brushing my cheek as he pushed a few strands of hair from my face. He kissed my cheek lightly, and then continued swimming. I noticed him picking up the speed bit by bit, and I frowned slightly. He shook his head and smiled encouragingly, letting me know that he was all right and that he wasn't doing too much. I smiled back and we began to swim a bit faster.

We arrived at the moon pool about five minutes later. I surfaced quickly, in need of air. We can hold our breathe for long periods of time, that's true, but I don't like to do it unless it's absolutely necessary. Will surfaced right after I did, having let me enter the narrow passage from the sea into the pool first.

"How do you feel?" I asked him as his shook the water from his hair.

"I've never felt better," he answered confidently. "Man, it's nice to swim again!" He jumped slightly and let himself crash back into the water like a whale. I laughed at his antics, but I stopped laughing when he didn't surface again right away.

"Will?" I called, beginning to look around me.

"Boo!"

"Aaahhh!" I screamed, whirling around to find Will staring cheekily at me. His hands quickly wrapped around my waist so I couldn't get away.

"Gotcha!" He cried triumphantly, swishing his tail back and forth in a sort of mer victory dance. I tried to look stern, but I could never really be mad at him. I started giggling and let myself fall on top of him, catching him off guard as he supported my weight. He recovered quickly and wrapped his arms around me tightly.

"You know I love you, right?" He asked softly, his breath tickling my ear.

"Of course I know that," I answered, resting my head against his chest. "Why wouldn't I?"

He shrugged silently and hugged me a little tighter. "I didn't say that right. Do you know how much I love you?"

I looked at him strangely. "Why all these questions and specifications?" I asked curiously. "Is everything okay?" My eyes grew fearful. Was he going to break up with me?

"Yeah, everything's fine," he assured me. "The truth is…that I have something to ask you, and I'm just trying to speculate whether you'll say yes or not." He smiled whimsically at me. I could tell right away that he was nervous and excited.

He wanted to ask me something? What on earth could he want to ask me that could have him so worked up? I thought he had just been excited to swim again, but now it seemed like there was something more to this.

"Why don't you just ask me?" I suggested slowly. "Then you won't have to speculate; you'll just know."

He thought for a second, and then nodded somewhat nervously.

"Okay," he said. Then he looked around. "This is probably not the proper way to do this, but sometimes the proper way isn't the most appropriate, is it?" He said it like a question, but I don't think he expected an answer. I didn't say a word.

I heard him take a deep breath and then he began to speak words that I would remember for the rest of my life.

"Bella, when we broke up, I was a mess," he began bluntly. "I started thinking seriously about what it would be like to live without you." He looked at me seriously. "And I've come to the conclusion that I can't."

I bit my lip to catch a little gasp before it slipped out. What was he getting at?

"Then when I got sick," he continued, "I thought about ways I could ascertain that we would be together forever, no matter what. But the thing is, nothing in this world is absolutely certain, the comet last year proved that for sure, so I decided I'd go with whatever was almost certain."

Almost certain? "I'm confused…" I said slowly, looking at him questioningly.

"Just let me finish," he said patiently. "I'll get there…eventually…" He grinned and took my hand in his under the water.

"We're not going to live forever," he began again. "But we can leave something that will last forever." He looked at me tenderly. "They say true love lasts forever, and I know the love I have for you is as true as it can possibly be."

I could feel my heart swelling with every second, but my mind was a jumbled mess. The conversation with the girls…Cleo's knowing gaze, the direction in which Will was steering the conversation...was he going to…?

"And that's why I want everyone to know how much I love you and that all I ever want to do is make sure you're safe and happy." He was now holding both of my hands. His eyes fastened on mine as he said, softly yet clearly,

"Bella, will you marry me?"

A/N: Cliffhangers have now becoming the norm for this story, so I hope you're not too furious with me… :-} I'll post the next chapter as soon as I get time and feedback so please review. This was a fun chapter to write, but it still wasn't easy. Did you like the proposal? Review and tell me! :) Thanks for reading! :)

Ella:-D