Author's Note: I am back! more than a year later... sorry bout that :( I was uninspired and busy with other things for a while, and as i mentioned earlier i was stuck on this specific place. It is not great,but soon we will be past this part and we can get on with the interesting storylines! Anyway, what inspired me to update was that someone favourited the story recently, which made me happy that there are still people who read it even though it hasn't been updated so long. I can't promise anything, but hopefully i will get better at it! So without further ado, here is the next chapter. It isn't very long but it's better than nothing right? Enjoy! :)

After Graduation: Chapter 21

The following day the mermaids had decided to go swimming together just the four of them, since they were all free for once. The problem now was Rosie. Since she technically was Emma's guest she was sort of responsible for her and couldn't just leave her by herself. Fortunately Emma's mother came with a solution to take Rosie with her to the market that would be open despite it being Easter. She knew Emma wanted to spend some quality time with her old friends whom she hadn't seen in a while. Rosie didn't mind too much and understood Emma wanted some privacy. Also she didn't want to intrude on her time with her friends, most of whom Rosie had just met for the first time. She was extremely grateful that Emma had invited her, and she didn't want to be a bother.

So at 11 O'clock Rosie and Mrs. Gilbert headed for the market while Emma met with the other three mermaids at their usual spot. They enjoyed swimming all of them together immensely as it was the first time since summer that they had all been together in the same place at the same time.

They loved swimming around looking at the sea life and just being around each other without actually having to say anything, since it was rather difficult to talk underwater. After a while however it seemed that they made a silent unanimous decision to head for the moon pool, and they all sped off in that direction.

When they all came back up for air they all just leaned on the edge, talking about their lives. Since the other three saw each other somewhat regularly, it was mostly Emma who talked about her life in Brisbane and them filling her in on their lives. Although they did speak to each other fairly frequently through messaging or video-chat, they mostly talked about general things and left out details, so now was a good time to catch up on those. Besides, it just wasn't the same to speak in person.

After talking for hours they finally headed back to shore. They could have spent all day there but had not planned it so it was the hunger that made them leave. Especially Rikki was one to complain about the need for food. When the arrived back on land they together went to a café nearby to have some food and continue spending time together. It was a bit strange for Emma and Bella, because despite spending a lot of time together during the summer, they had not known each other that long, and it became especially noticeable when the others were talking about things where one of them wasn't present. However they still liked to spend time together despite it.

After a while Emma excused herself though, as she did not want to leave Rosie at her mothers mercy for too long. After she left the other three quickly followed suit, realising that they all had other things they needed to get done.

The evening was spent at home for most of them. Well, for the ones that lived at home at least. Bella spent the evening with Will as Sandra was out with Nate anyway. They did not get to see each other as much as they liked since they did not have any classes together anymore and were busy with their respective jobs. Therefore they treasured the times they could spend together like this evening. Since Will lived in his boathouse it was a good place for them to be together without interruptions. At Bella's dorm room there was always the risk of Sandra coming in. They spent the evening chatting and kissing and just being with each other.

Rosie enjoyed a family dinner with the Gilbert's and she liked that she was treated as part of the family. She had enjoyed seeing the city with Mrs. Gilbert during the day, and now listened to the others conversing about their day. They included Rosie asking what she thought of everything and how she was feeling, and although she shied away from the attention, she did feel comfortable enough to at least talk a little bit.