Lewis hurries towards Emma's house whilst glancing up at orange sky regularly. Lewis worriedly realises that the sun has almost set and the full moon will start to rise very soon. He knows that he shouldn't be out this late, as Lewis is fairly certain that the full moon would most likely effect him in a very similar way as it does to the girls.
However, the text he had gotten from Cleo 20 minutes ago said that they needed to talk, urgently, and to come to Emma's house. Despite the risks, Lewis couldn't help himself. He needed to get to Emma's and find out what's wrong. Even though he has his own secret to worry about now, Lewis still prioritises his friends' secret above his own. Which of course has made the past month a complete and utter nightmare, as he struggles to take care of himself as well as Cleo, Emma and Rikki. He hopes that whatever Cleo wants to talk to Lewis about won't take long. He doesn't particularly want to be at Emma's house after the moon rises. He wouldn't be able to leave at that point; it would just be too risky. Lewis doesn't want his friends to find out about his secret while he is moonstruck. Besides, he would just become a massive liability at Emma's house, just another person that needs protecting from the moonlight. At least Cleo, Emma and Rikki have had experience with the moon, while Lewis has only been an outside observer, and is terrified of having to actually experience one himself.
Finally, Lewis reaches Emma's house, whose parents and brother are thankfully all out for the night. Lewis is relieved to finally arrive at the house, as he was beginning to think that this was a terrible idea and that he might not make it in time. Lewis hurries towards the front door, and knocks quickly. After a few seconds, the door opens and reveals an unimpressed Rikki. She eyes Lewis up and down, her gaze cold and hard, making him feel a little nervous and squeamish.
"Cutting it kind of close, aren't you, Lewis? Cleo is upstairs in Emma's room," Rikki eventually says as she stops examining Lewis like he's a specimen under a microscope and steps aside, allowing Lewis to walk over the threshold and enter the house. As Lewis enters, Rikki closes the door behind him.
"You know that it wasn't locked, right? You could have just come in yourself. It would have been safer that way too, in case you didn't get here before the moon rises." Rikki adds, her tone laced with annoyance and disgust, which leaves Lewis feeling a bit confused. What had he done recently to piss Rikki off like this? He has never seen her look at him with so much distaste.
"Oh, uh, sorry. I'll try and remember that for next time," Lewis stammers an awkward apology before rushing up the stairs and towards Emma's room. Lewis opens the door, and the first thing he notices is that all of the windows have been covered in cardboard and duct tape, much to Lewis' relief. Lewis then steps inside the bedroom, and turns to quickly shut the door behind him. Once the door is closed, Lewis turns back around to see Cleo sitting on Emma's bed, knees basically pressed against her chest whilst wearing a devastated, yet angry expression on her face. Lewis also observes that it looks like she has been crying.
"Cleo, are you okay? What's wrong? Did something happen?" Lewis asks hurriedly as a wave of fear washes over him, terrified that Cleo has been hurt somehow. He rushes over towards the bed, and attempts to sit down next to Cleo and put an arm around her shoulders. However, before he can reach the mermaid, Cleo shoves him away abruptly with a disgusted look on her face. Lewis is confused, hurt and taken aback by her sudden reaction, wondering what the hell is going on.
"Uh, did I do something wrong?" Lewis frowns in confusion, scratching his head and fiddling with his mess of blond hair (which he really needs to get cut as it is too long and always in his face, Lewis decides) awkwardly.
"I don't know, you tell me." Cleo scowls as she hops off the bed and stands up, glaring at Lewis furiously. Lewis can't help but wince under her glare.
"Can you at least give me a clue as to what's happening right now?" Lewis asks, feeling completely and utterly lost.
Cleo rolls her eyes, annoyed that Lewis wants to play dumb. She thought he would respect her more than that.
"I called your brother, Lenny, today. I hadn't heard from you in a while, so I thought that Lenny might know what you were doing and if there were more family arguments. He told me that a few weeks ago, you ran off after a huge argument between the two of you and didn't come back until the early hours of the morning, which you somehow failed to tell me about. Lenny almost called the police. Even putting aside that incident, none of your brothers have seen you around much at all lately. Lenny figured that you must have been with me, which we both know you haven't been around much with me either. I'm surprised you're even here now." Cleo answers coldly. Lewis' heart skips a beat, his stomach feeling like it has dropped into the floor. 'Has Cleo figured it out? Is she really that angry about me being a merman?' Lewis wonders fearfully to himself.
"You asked me to be here, so I came. You seemed upset, and clearly you are." Lewis replies, shifting on his feet uncomfortably.
"Of course I'm upset! You've been seeing someone else, haven't you?! That's why you're suddenly so secretive, avoiding me, never home, lying to me, or friends, and your family! I'm sure you're lying about your schoolwork too, huh? In reality, you're just spending all of your time with some new girl!" Cleo bursts out angrily, tears welling up in her eyes once again.
"Wait, what?!" Lewis exclaims in disbelief, eyes wide in shock, all worries and thoughts about the impending full moon completely forgotten. Lewis' eyebrows shoot upwards further than they have ever been before. Lewis was not expecting Cleo to jump to that conclusion. He was just starting to mentally prepare himself for Cleo figuring out that he now has a tail, just like her. Lewis doesn't know if he would have preferred for Cleo to actually figure out the real reason why Lewis has been acting weird or not, but certainly any other conclusion would have to be better than her thinking Lewis is cheating on her. Has he really been that suspicious? He clearly isn't as subtle as he thinks. Lewis is not a great liar, and is even worse around Cleo. He hates it, and he hates the fact that his behaviour has led to his girlfriend thinking the worst.
"No, no, Cleo, you don't understand..." Lewis tries to begin while shaking his head in disbelief, still trying to comprehend what's happening right now. It at least explains Rikki's cold behaviour to him earlier.
"What is there to understand, Lewis?! I wish you just could have manned up and told me! What's her name, huh? Is she pretty?" Cleo yells out as she paces the room with her arms folded across her chest while tears continue to pour down her face.
"Cleo! Cleo, Just listen to me for a minute, okay? Please?" Lewis interjects before Cleo can start saying anything else, and walks over to the mermaid and gently places his hands on her arms, stopping her in her tracks, no longer pacing. Cleo continues glaring daggers at Lewis, causing his heart to pang. He worries that when he does tell Cleo the proper truth, if she will be as angry as she is now and if she will ever forgive him.
"What?" Cleo spits out angrily, but Lewis can hear the heartbreak underneath the hostility, and it makes Lewis' own heart feel like it's shattering as he sees Cleo like this. Lewis' breath hitches in his throat for a moment, his eyes becoming slightly watery, causing his vision to blur, and Cleo's expression softens ever so slightly at that.
"I would never cheat on you, Cleo. There's no one else for me. It's just you and me. Lewis and Cleo. Forever and always. I love you so much Cleo, and I'm so, so unbelievably sorry that you thought I could have betrayed you like that." Lewis begins, his voice shaking a little with sadness and distress, but he hopes that Cleo can hear the truth in his voice. Cleo doesn't say anything, continuing to stare at Lewis distrustfully.
"Please, Cleo, you have to believe me. I love you more than anything; you mean the world to me. I don't want to lose you, not again..." Lewis pleads desperately as tears start to roll down his cheeks while keeping his hands on Cleo's arms. Cleo's expression softens once again, but more tears continue to stream down her face.
"If there really isn't someone else, then why have you been acting so weird lately? Why have you been avoiding me? Why haven't you been home?" Cleo sniffles, trying to regain some sort of composure. Lewis sighs before speaking again.
"Look, I'm not going to lie to you, okay? Not anymore. You have to know that I have absolutely hated lying to you, but I panicked and I didn't know what to do. I figured if I told you the truth, that you would hate me. It's stupid, and I'm so sorry. I completely understand why you're mad at me, and if you want to break up with me, I understand that too." Lewis begins, still keeping a gentle hold on Cleo's arms, and to Lewis' surprise, she hasn't pulled away yet.
"That doesn't give me confidence in you, Lewis." Cleo frowns once again, staring at Lewis with distrust.
"I know, I know... I really shouldn't have gotten myself into this mess the first place..." Lewis sighs dejectedly, finally letting of Cleo's arms and rubbing his face with his hands, feeling completely overwhelmed and stressed right now. Suddenly, Lewis, feels warm, soft and delicate hands wrap around his, and lower them away from his face. Lewis looks up and sees Cleo gazing at him, still looking upset with tear stains on her face, but she appears to be in a more calm mood. Somehow she seems to be believing the crap that Lewis is trying to say, when she has absolutely no reason to. Lewis knows that he doesn't deserve someone as good, kind and understanding as Cleo, and he would not blame her if she wants to walk away. Lewis then feels Cleo squeeze his hands gently and reassuringly.
"If it really isn't because of someone else... then why have you been acting so weird, Lewis? It's not because of your family, and I highly doubt it is purely because of school work. We can tell each other anything, remember? You can trust me." Cleo says in a quiet, but serious voice. Lewis gulps nervously.
"This whole thing has gotten out of control and I just want to reiterate that I'm really, really sorry that I made you believe that I found someone else. That is the furthest thing from the truth, believe me. But you're right though, something has been happening to me, and honestly? I'm... still trying to process it myself at the moment. I-I don't... I mean, I'm not... well I guess I'm just not ready to deal with it yet. I'm slowly trying to process it, but it will still take some time. I tried to tell you a couple of weeks ago, before our friends interrupted us. But I realised that I wasn't ready to talk about it yet. Once I've gotten a better handle on it, I promise I will tell you, okay? You deserve to know the truth, it's not fair for me to keep it from you, no matter what you may think of me afterwards." Lewis tries to explain, his heart racing in his chest. He feels like everything is on the line right now as he waits for Cleo to respond.
Cleo stares at Lewis thoughtfully, trying to figure out if he's lying. He has always been a terrible liar, especially with Cleo. It's how she even realised something was wrong in the first place. However, as Lewis is talking to her now, Cleo doesn't catch even an inch of unease, or any of the usual tells that Lewis has while lying. Of course, it's clear that he's very uncomfortable and scared of something, but Cleo knows for sure that Lewis at least isn't lying. His eyes are filled with sadness, sorrow, guilt, and a desperation for Cleo to believe him. Cleo's heart breaks a little just by the amount of pain in his eyes right now. She can't believe that she could even think that Lewis would cheat on her. Lewis is just not that type of person. However, she reminds herself not to beat herself up over it, because what else was she supposed to think with the way Lewis has been acting lately? Cleo takes a step closer to Lewis, and looks deeply into his ocean blue eyes.
"Okay... I believe you. I believe you, Lewis. Whenever you're ready to tell me what is really going on with you... I'm here for you, just like you have always been here for me. You know that. Whatever it is that's going on, we can get through it together. I love you so much and you mean the world to me. Nothing will ever change that, okay?" Cleo finally says, meaning every single world. Cleo feels her eyes stinging again, but this time, she knows it's because of her relief that her worst fears hadn't come true. Cleo gives Lewis a reassuring smile as she continues to hold his hands.
"Thank you, that really means the world to me right now." Lewis replies, breaking out into a smile as fresh tears roll down his face. His body feels numb and giddy; Lewis hadn't realised that he was holding his breath while waiting for Cleo to answer, and that he was fearing the worst. But thankfully, Cleo believes him, and still loves him. Lewis feels that it's too good to be true. She even is allowing Lewis some time to figure out how exactly to break the news to her and the rest of their friends about Lewis' recent... changes. Lewis couldn't be happier right now. He pulls his girlfriend into a a warm hug, both of them holding onto each other tightly and whispering reassurances to each other.
After several minutes, allowing enough time for the two teens to calm down, Cleo and Lewis pull out of the hug, wiping their last tears away from their eyes as they beam at each other, both of them almost feeling like this whole ordeal has brought them closer together. 'Maybe Cleo won't be too mad about me being a merman after all,' Lewis thinks happily to himself, deciding to hold onto that hope.
"I'm glad we sorted that out," Lewis sighs in relief, his heart feeling whole again now that Cleo isn't upset with him.
"Me too." Cleo agrees, tucking a lock of her wavy brown hair behind her ears. It's a habit that Lewis finds adorable.
"I'm sorry if the others were rude to you when you came in, by the way. I, uh, told them my suspicions about. I'm sorry. I should have talked with you about it first, before telling Rikki and Emma without solid proof..." Cleo sighs, hanging her head in shame. Lewis chuckles and gently lifts Cleo's head back up to look at him, and caresses her face for a moment, admiring how beautiful Cleo is.
"It's okay, I deserved it. Rikki definitely looked mad, and I didn't even see Emma." Lewis grins, and Cleo gives a small smile in return.
"Might as well go downstairs and explain to everyone that you didn't cheat and I was totally wrong and jumped to conclusions. Rikki will be annoyed because she spent so much time convincing me everything was fine, but after I told her about how I called your brother and explained your weird behaviour again, she eventually agreed with my suspicions." Cleo says, making her way to the bedroom door, holding Lewis' hand in hers.
"I'm just glad we talked about it. I hate it when people in movies or tv shows have a simple misunderstanding, but because they don't talk about it, they turn it into a huge drama. It's so annoying. Why can't people just talk it out?" Lewis replies with an exasperated hand gesture, causing Cleo to giggle. Cleo opens the bedroom door and walks out, still holding onto Lewis' hand.
Lewis quickly follows along with her lead, more than happy to sort the misunderstanding with his friends out now, but he knows eventually he will have to admit the full truth. Slowly though, he's starting to feel okay with that fact. His friends wouldn't just turn him away now that he's changed, right? Lewis doubts it. Surely their friendship with Lewis means more than that. And even if Emma, Rikki, Zane and Ash for some reason aren't super okay with it, Lewis knows that he will always have Cleo here for him. That much he is certain of, and he hasn't felt this certain about something since the whole Mako Island business began for him and his friends a few years ago.
Unfortunately, due to the two of them being completely in their own world whilst they were talking, neither Lewis nor Cleo have realised that the full moon has now risen.