Cleo and Rikki quickly make their way back to the mainland shortly after that, neither of them wanting to miss the burying of the coffin. Even though they both know it is going to be painful, it's still better to be there and cry rather than not at all. Their families and friends are relieved when they return, to which Cleo and Rikki then had to lie about where they had gone.
About an hour or so after the coffin has been lowered into the ground at the cemetery, everyone begins to leave the cemetery, a lot of people still crying and sniffling. Even Lewis' mother informs Cleo that she is leaving, the two of them sharing a quick hug before a still distraught looking Kelly McCartney departs. Emma, Rikki, Ash and Zane also begin saying their goodbyes to Cleo, reminding her that they will always be around if they need her.
"Are you going to be okay here by yourself? Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Emma frowns worriedly, unsure if she should be leaving her friend here at Lewis' freshly buried grave, sharing a tombstone with his father.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just... I need to be by myself for a while. I'll catch up with you guys later," Cleo tells her friends, trying to put on a reassuring smile. After a little more convincing, Cleo's friends hesitantly begin to leave the cemetery, sending Cleo multiple uncertain glances. Even Zane looks concerned, much to her surprise. Cleo watches as her best friends walk away, presumably to try and get back to the routine of their normal lives as much as possible. Cleo sighs, wishing that it could just be that simple for her. Once the mermaid's friends have disappeared from view, Cleo turns back towards the gravestone in front of her, which reads:
'Here lies Matthew McCartney. He was a loving husband to Kelly McCartney and a cherished father to Daniel, Lenny, Zac, Jacob and Lewis McCartney. Matthew will forever be in our hearts. 1968-1999.
Here lies Lewis McCartney. He was the adored son of Kelly and Matthew McCartney and the youngest of his four brothers; Daniel, Lenny, Zac and Jacob. Lewis was also the beloved girlfriend of Cleo Sertori. Lewis will forever be in our hearts. 1993-2010.'
Cleo kneels down beside the grave and looks down at the coffin in the ground for a moment. The hole hasn't been filled up yet, but Cleo assumes that it will be done in the next day or so. Not that Cleo sees any point in burying the coffin in first place, considering there's no body inside. However, she can't blame Mrs McCartney for trying to give herself closure on the whole thing. In her mind, Lewis went missing two months ago and is most likely to be long dead and his body will probably never be found. Cleo figures that, despite how horribly heartbreaking it is, accepting that Lewis is dead must be somewhat easier for Kelly to accept rather than the idea that Lewis could still be alive somewhere, suffering. As someone that is in the latter position, it's certainly not a nice feeling, Cleo can attest to that. She supposes that if Lewis were dead, then he would at least be at peace. That has to be why so many of his friends and family have just come to accept that fact after a couple months of no clues as to where Lewis could be. Hell, even Emma, Rikki, Ash and Zane are starting to become highly doubtful about finding Lewis. They don't exactly have any leads. All they have right now are suspicions that Doctor Denman could maybe have something to do with his disappearance, but even that they can't be 100% sure of.
"I really miss you, Lewis... I love you so much. I just wish you were here. I need you," Cleo mumbles quietly, silent tears welling up in her eyes and quickly falling down her face. The mermaid's heart yearns for Lewis' warm, reassuring embrace, or the soft press of his lips against hers. Even just being able to hold his hand again would mean the world to Cleo right now. Memories of her life with Lewis begin flashing through her mind, only making her heart break even more. Lewis and Cleo have almost always been inseparable ever since they first met when they were little. Lewis has been in Cleo's life for almost as long as she can remember. Things were finally beginning to get back on track between the two of them. Lewis was learning to accept his new life, with Cleo being there for him every step of the way. Even though Lewis had only started to accept himself in the last few weeks before he disappeared, Cleo is already completely used to him being a merman. In some ways, it had made the two grow closer together. It was like it was meant to be. Unfortunately, that fleeting moment of joy and contentment with their lives did not last. Cleo is feeling extremely ripped off. Why can't life just give her a break, just for once?
"It's a weird feeling, isn't it?" A familiar voice speaks up from behind Cleo, causing the mermaid to jump in surprise and turn around in the voice's direction. She watches as Lenny McCartney walks up to her, a sad and defeated expression on his face.
"What's a weird feeling?" Cleo asks in confusion as Lenny kneels down next to her, staring at the gravestone.
"All of it, I guess. But especially seeing the coffin. The gravestone now has my brother's name on it as well as my dad's. It just... it makes it feel more real, I suppose," Lenny sighs sadly, eyes stinging as he tries to hold back the tears that are threatening to fall.
"Yeah, I get it, Lenny. This all feels like a horrible nightmare that I can't wake up from." Cleo agrees, turning her gaze back down to the empty coffin lying in the ground below them. Cleo and Lenny continue to sit in silence for another few minutes, both of them knowing that there aren't any words that either of them could say right now to make one another feel better. Instead, they just sit on the grass and listen to the birds chirping in the trees, where the leaves rustle with whispers from the cool wind around them. The mermaid is extremely grateful for the silence between her and Lenny as they both grieve internally. How could words ever patch up the hole in Cleo's heart that Lewis has left behind? As for Lenny, Cleo is sure that there's nothing she could ever think of to say to make Lenny feel any better about losing his youngest brother whom he loved dearly. Eventually though, Lenny does finally speak up again, breaking the growing silence.
"I'm sorry for telling you to not come by the house. That was dumb. It probably would've helped Mum a lot if you were around these last few weeks; not just the day we had to plan the funeral arrangements. As you can imagine, she has been a complete wreck. We all have, of course, but I think Mum is desperate for some type of normalcy through all of this. She has been trying so hard to distract herself..." Lenny apologises, glancing over at Cleo with a sad and guilty look in his eyes. Cleo looks back towards Lenny and gives him a small, but appreciative smile.
"It's okay, Lenny. I get why you didn't want me there. You guys needed to grieve properly as a family, anyway. I wouldn't have wanted to get in the way of that. Plus, I've barely even had the energy to leave my bed for weeks. Today is the first time I have left the house for something other than school or work in I don't even know how long," Cleo replies.
"The worst bit about seeing this coffin and grave though, is knowing that there is no actual body in the coffin." Lenny adds, gazing at Cleo carefully. The brunette teenager starts mentally putting her guards up as she begins to suspect where this conversation is heading.
"A lot of missing people never get found, unfortunately." Cleo says, her curly brown hair flying around her as the wind continues picking up.
"Yeah, but this is different, Cleo. And I'm pretty sure you know it, too." Lenny states seriously, eyebrows narrowing into a frown, just as desperate for answers on what really happened to Lewis as he was the day that Lewis disappeared.
"Believe whatever you want, Lenny. But I don't know what happened to Lewis," Cleo replies in a harsher tone than she had intended, but she doesn't feel too guilty about it. The teenage mermaid is getting quite sick of Lenny and the police trying to force the truth out of her. It has been weeks of non stop questions and suspicions, which Cleo doesn't know how much more she can take of it. Not to mention that Emma and Rikki are constantly reminding Cleo to not let anything slip about merfolk or Mako Island, which is just as infuriating as the former. Cleo really doesn't need a reminder of what is at stake here. Everyone just needs to back the hell off her for a while. She is still very much in the middle of grieving for the boy that she loves dearly. Even though Cleo is sure that Lewis is still alive, she is very afraid of the increasingly likely possibility that she may never see him again.
"Okay. Fine. Maybe you don't know why Lewis disappeared. But you know that he's alive, don't you?" Lenny says, refusing to back down.
"What, so you think he's alive then?" Cleo quickly retaliates, raising an eyebrow sceptically at the 23-year-old.
"Yes. I do," Lenny nods determinedly. Cleo blinks in shock, not knowing how to respond to that. How can Lenny be so sure that Lewis is alive? Her friends, who know the truth about Lewis and what Cleo found on Mako Island the night he disappeared, are even starting to lose faith. But Lenny somehow believes that Lewis could still be breathing out there somewhere?
"I... I haven't told my mum or brothers about my suspicion. It would hurt them too much. These last couple of months have been awful for them, but I think they are slowly starting to get better each day. They're trying to move on with their lives, slowly accepting that Lewis is really gone. There's no point of destroying all of that unless I can know for certain that Lewis is alive, and somehow get him back home. Their mental health is fragile enough at the moment." Lenny continues, answering the question that Cleo was thinking before she could even move her mouth.
"I think that's a bit of a stretch, Lenny. Perhaps you're still in the denial stage of grief?" Cleo suggests uncertainly. Lenny rolls his eyes and huffs in annoyance.
"Ugh. Don't try and pull that shit on me, Cleo. I'm not in denial, okay? I know that something terrible has happened to Lewis, but my gut instinct is telling me that he's still alive," Lenny comments while shaking his head, disappointed that Cleo would try and dismiss his theory entirely. It also makes him more suspicious of Cleo altogether. Wouldn't she want to hold onto the hope that Lewis could still be alive?
"You believe that too, don't you? You think that Lewis is still alive?" Lenny asks, eyes furrowing into a frown.
"People go missing all the time and are never found. It has been two months since Lewis went missing. It's safe to assume that he's dead." Cleo states in a monotone voice.
"Stop lying!" Lenny shouts angrily, catching Cleo by surprise.
"I'm sick of this, Cleo! If you know something that could help us find Lewis, why aren't you saying so? Stop acting like I'm dumb. You and your friends have known what has been wrong with Lewis for some time now! And I think that you know why he's missing, too." Lenny continues as he glares at the mermaid.
"Trust me, you don't want to know the truth!" Cleo retaliates warningly, her patience finally snapping. She can't do this anymore. She's had enough of lying to basically everyone in her life; it's never going to end. Cleo jumps to her feet and attempts to leave, but Lenny gets to his feet as well and grabs her by the wrist.
"So there is something going on! You do know something!" Lenny exclaims breathlessly, his anger quickly disappearing and turning into shock and a small spark of hope. Maybe he could get his little brother back after all.
"Maybe there is. But trust me, Lenny. You don't want to know about it." Cleo snaps as she pulls her wrist out of Lenny's grasp and begins storming back through the cemetery, back towards the entrance. Of course, Lenny hurries after her.
"I'm his brother! I think I deserve to know the truth. I can handle it, I promise!" Lenny pleads as he walks alongside Cleo, his heart beating furiously in his chest due to fear and anticipation. What could be so bad that Lewis couldn't tell him, and now when his life's on the line, Cleo can't even tell Lenny what is going on?
"Just drop it, Lenny. Please. The truth isn't going to help anyone, especially not Lewis." Cleo sighs tiredly as she continues to hurry out of the cemetery, refusing to look over at Lenny. Suddenly though, she stops in her tracks as Lenny rushes in front to block Cleo's way. Cleo startles back a little, almost tripping over her own feet in the process.
"Cleo. Whatever it is that's going on, you can tell me. I can help you. Lewis is my little brother, and I love him to the end of the earth. I would do anything for him, just as I'm sure you would. I promise I won't tell anyone whatever the secret is, okay? I just want my brother back. I will do whatever it takes." Lenny tries to convince Cleo once again, his breath hitching in his throat slightly as a wave of terrible possibilities of what Lewis could be going through right now enter Lenny's mind. Lenny sniffles for a moment and quickly blinks away the tears beginning to form in his eyes.
Cleo stares at Lenny for a moment, feeling hesitant. Her heart aches seeing Lewis' brother in this much pain, desperate for the truth and for a way to find Lewis. Cleo knows that Lewis and Lenny were always closer than their other siblings whilst growing up. She has a feeling that if Lewis is never found, Lenny is going to struggle the most in his family to move on. In fact, Lenny is in a fairly similar situation to Cleo: they both suspect Lewis is alive and has likely been taken by someone, and won't rest until they find out who, where and why. Cleo knows that she will never recover if Lewis is never found, and she would not be surprised if Lenny is the same.
Maybe telling Lenny the truth isn't the worst thing after all? It's not like it'll change the fact that Lewis has been taken by someone; most likely Doctor Denman. What harm would telling Lenny really do if Lewis is already captured? Unfortunately, Cleo realises that Lenny will never just take her word for it that Lewis is a merman. No one would, as it's an absolutely ridiculous and absurd idea to basically every human on the planet. If Cleo tells Lenny the truth, she needs to give him visual proof; she would have to show Lenny that she is a mermaid.
If Cleo were to go ahead with this, she can't get her friends involved in it. She knows that they will do everything in their power to stop her if they somehow found out about this. If Cleo really were to spill the truth, she wouldn't tell Lenny about Emma or Rikki being mermaids though. She would only mention Lewis, and of course, herself. It's not fair for Cleo to put her friends' lives in danger so carelessly. She would only tell Lenny the bare minimum, only what he absolutely needs to know.
The more time that the mermaid spends thinking about telling Lenny about Lewis and herself, the more certain Cleo becomes in believing that this is the best decision. If she doesn't tell Lenny the truth, he may wind up going insane and never be the same again. It would break Lewis' heart if he ever found out that happened to his brother. Cleo can't let it happen, even if it means risking her own freedom. Honestly, what has she even got to lose at this point? If she can't find Lewis, the least that she can do is give Lenny some closure.
As Cleo hears Lenny clear his throat awkwardly, she suddenly realises that she just left Lenny hanging. Cleo quickly shakes her head, snapping out of her thoughts, and looks over to Lenny determinedly.
"Okay. You want to know the truth? Fine. I'll tell you everything. But I can't do it here. Meet me at the jetty tomorrow at 8:30pm, after dark. I promise I will tell you the whole story then. Make sure no one follows you. Don't tell anyone about this. It has to stay between just the two of us. This is very important, Lenny. Do you promise?" Cleo finally answers in a quiet, but deadly serious voice.
"Y-yes, I promise." Lenny stammers in surprise. He really wasn't expecting Cleo to agree. Lenny hasn't really thought about what he'd do if he finally convinced Cleo to come clean. He never expected to get this far with getting answers, even though he has so desperately wanted them. At least he has another day to think about it and come up with a plan.
"Good. I'll see you tomorrow, then." Cleo replies with a relieved smile before walking around Lenny and hurries out of the cemetery as he stares after her with confusion, while also worried about what tomorrow might bring.