*Blake Christopher*

As Nicole and Bella brought me to Mako Island, I knew I had screwed up.

Lainey probably hated me now. I would too, if I was her. I mean, I guess I couldn't really help my reaction to them; it's not every day you find out your best friend's a mermaid. Of course this explains everything now.

I was holding my breath as they led me through the water. I swear they were swimming this fast just to scare me. It was working. They were smiling as they sped through the crystal clear water. I was sort of annoyed. How could they like swimming this fast? Nicole explained it as "exhilarating". I explained it as "creepy".

I looked at Bella and Nicole's huge grins they had plastered on their faces and wonder how swimming made such an impact on their emotions like that. Bella certainly wasn't that happy just a bit ago. She was yelling her head off at me. Honestly, I was scared. I have never, in my life, been that freaked out by a girl. I thought she was going to go on fire or something. I didn't even know she had it in her. She always was more of the shy, quiet girl.

After going up to get me some air twice, we were near the island. We surfaced once more and they told me to take a really deep breath. I asked them why and they rolled their eyes.

"Just do it." They told me at the same time. I sighed and followed their command. We plunged into the blue and entered a small canal. I wondered where we were going. They were mermaids after all. Maybe Atlantis?

But no. We were only heading for a small cave. As we neared the surface, I realized it wasn't just a cave.

It looked like a dormant volcano. When my head popped up above the surface, I realized that we were in some sort of pool beneath the hole of the volcano. The water was actually really cool and peaceful. It was almost fluorescent, and it reflected off the blue crystals in the cracks of the cave's walls. This really was relaxing. No wonder the girls loved it here.

I suddenly noticed that a song was playing. At first I was confused. Uhhh… why the heck is music playing here? But then I realized someone must have set up a battery charged radio in here. I snorted in my head. Way to ruin the whole "mystical" feeling in this place.

Cuz I'm breathin' in,

And I'm breathin' out.

I'm wide awake but I can't hear a sound.

But I'm breathin' in,

I can't think about.

Another you, another me, another now…

The slow, sad song echoing off of the walls contributed to my guilt somehow.

I looked at a corner of the cave and saw a small figure curled up into a ball, facing away from us. I instantly recognized her.

"Lainey?" I asked, half convinced she was dead or something. The only thing that gave it away was the silent sobs. "Lainey are you okay?"

I could tell she was sort of stunned. Obviously she wasn't expecting me. She slowly turned around and blinked a few times before answering.

"Blake?" she asked trembling.

"We'll give you two some alone time," said Bella as she nudged Nicole, who seemed to want to stay. She sighed and they both dived into the crystal waters.

I got out of the pool and walked over to Lainey. "Lainey, I…"

"Save it, Blake." She said in a bitter tone. "You don't even care at all."

"No, Lainey, I really do," I said as I grabbed her arms. "I feel so stupid for acting the way I did. I didn't mean to be like that."

Tears were threatening to spill out. "Well it's a little too late, isn't it?" she asked, trying not to burst into tears. But she did anyways.

As her sobs rocked her body, she buried her face in my chest. I was a little uncomfortable but realized trying to move would only make things worse for her.

"I'm sorry, Blake!" she said in between sobs. "I wanted to tell you so bad, but I couldn't, and then I kept having nightmares where you hated me for being a mermaid, and then you actually did find out, and you did the same thing…" She started crying again.

I hugged her and pulled her in close. "Its okay, Lainey." I whispered to her. "It's okay."

After a few moments she looked up at me and pulled away a little. She tried to dry her tears with her hands. I wondered why she didn't grow a tail. Bella and Nicole said on the way here that water triggers the transformation, but she was crying and wasn't popping a tail. Maybe since tears are from her body, she wouldn't grow a tail from them.

"I'm sorry I kinda freaked out there Blake," she said, calmed down a lot. "I understand if you're gonna hate me forever and…"

"Lainey…" I said softly as I touched her face, trying to comfort her.

Then I leaned in and kissed her.

Ohmygod. I actually kissed her. I had never dreamed that this would ever happen. I mean, yeah, I had always wanted it to, but I didn't even think it was possible she liked me. But judging by the way she kissed me back, she must have.

I felt so happy as I kissed her. It was like kissing a cotton candy cloud. Her lips were tainted with fading cherry lipbalm, and they were soft as roses. After a bit, I pulled away. She kept her eyes closed for a bit.

"Lainey?" I asked nervous, hoping I hadn't totally screwed things up even more.

She opened her eyes and there were little tears in her eyes. I immediately felt ashamed. "I'm so sorry, Lainey, I didn't mean to…" Then she reached out and kissed me again. And it wasn't any more disappointing than the first kiss. When we were done, she looked back up at me.

"Thank you, Blake." She said, her tears still on her eyelashes.

"Why are you crying?" I asked in concern.

"Because I'm happy!" she said, as the tears spilt over her blue eyes. I leaned in and kissed her again.

"Ahem," said a voice behind us.

We turned to see Nicole and Bella tapping their fingers on the stones outlining the pool in impatience. How long have they been there? I wondered as my cheeks burned bright red.

"Well," said Nicole. "We did enjoy the little- er- show, but we do have to go soon. It's getting sort of late." She indicated towards the night sky above us. It was turning purple.

"Right," said Lainey as her cheeks flushed an even brighter red than mine.

"We'll let you two love birds catch up," giggled Bella as she and Nicole dived back under the water. After another quick peck on Lainey's cheek, she dove into the water after them. I sat there amazed at her tail. She caught my attention again by stoking my chin and looking into my eyes.

"You coming?" she asked. I grinned and came in after her. She grabbed my hand as we plunged beneath the pool and swam through the ocean. This time she kept it slow, pointing out the beautiful creatures of the deep to me. The sunset made the water unbelievably beautiful, and everything in it too. That included Lainey. Her hair sparkled in the waves as she swam gracefully in the water. She smiled at me and we kissed again underneath the water. And I don't know about you, but you really should try it.

When we were finished we sped away, I realized I was getting used to the speed as we were almost at the little secluded beach. Nicole and Bella were already there.

As I got onto the beach and Bella dried me off, I was staring at Lainey the entire time. Honestly, I couldn't believe she was a mermaid. It was so unreal. But I loved it. My girlfriend, Lainey the mermaid.

(A/N: Sorry if you thought this one was a little corny! Also sorry about telling you this would be up yesterday. I was just too busy. Anyways, hoped you liked the little romantic thing that went on between Lainey and Blake here. The song mentioned in here is Another Now by Kate Alexa. I'm not sure what's going to happen next episode, so that one probably won't be up for a few days or something. Sorry bout that! But if you send some ideas to me I could get it done faster! Also, don't forget to review! Love you dearies! ;-P)