First of all, I would like to thank the user "White_Wolf998" over on ao3 for their fic "Adrift" which is an attempt to salvage post season 3 and I feel that they're doing a good job so far; Polymarine fans and season 3 haters alike should definitely check this out if you haven't already. Chapter 4 of that fic was also the inspiration for this AU fic; it would take too long to explain how, but I am enjoying writing this so much and I hope that you all will enjoy reading it!

Summer was always the best season to the people of Bristol Cove, not only did it mean that the cold winters of Washington were a temporarily distant memory, but it also meant long days on the beach in addition to all of the tourist dollars that their mermaid festival brought them; an enjoyable past time for all, especially the teenagers.

Loud music played as the kids from the local high school partied the day away, dancing, talking and drinking in their friend groups and it was all observed by a silent watcher from the water; the eyes were the farthest down that she allowed herself to show. Her dark brown hair floated freely around her as the sun beat down on the top of her head; it bothered her a little but she was too fascinated by what was going on to dive back into the water.

These "humans" were dangerous, her people had always reminded the younger ones almost as soon as they were born that these were a dangerous race who had once slaughtered many of them without mercy and that they were to be avoided at all costs. However, this one had always been accused of being too curious for her own good and her curiosity of humans was no exception.

They fascinated her, even if they are destroying her home and have killed her people; it wasn't like they were coming down to hunt them. Their ways seemed strange to her, she witnessed them play and make loud noises, they danced like her people sometimes did despite the physical differences…she wanted to be among them, at least for a little while.

She knew that she would be able to be on land among them, those stories are well known also, but it was still dangerous as they didn't know how to blend in with the humans; otherwise some of her kind might have taken over long ago, along with the fact that no one wished to stay on land forever, the water was freedom to them.

But…she still wanted to explore the land world…she needed to think on this.

She dove back into the water to rejoin her family and perhaps memorize them if she ended up going away for a while.

Beach parties at night were even more popular with Bristol Cove teens than the daytime ones, especially when there was a moon shining down on everything; it made the water seem more magical than the sun was capable of. But even those parties had to wind down eventually as the kids had to go home and crash into their beds while hoping that their parents wouldn't notice their possible hangovers.

Not so for Maddie Bishop, who would rather stay out as late as she could and risk facing her dad's anger over going back home and facing a mom who was high off her ass; the longer she wasn't going to face reality the better off she was emotionally. It was too bad that she had only managed to smuggle a couple of extra beer cans on her person when the party started winding down and she was almost finished the second one.

After witnessing her mom's substance abuse for years now she really didn't have much of a desire to drink too much lest she end up like Susan; but she still drank to relax and always timed it so that she didn't take another bottle or can until she was sure that she wouldn't get drunk. She finished the can as she stared out at the water that looked so bright in contrast to the darker edges; she waited for few moments before she slowly stood up and dropped the can on the sand.

A quick look at her watch told her that she didn't want to go home yet, but the party was over so the only thing left was to walk along the shoreline until she was sure that her mom would be passed out before she would start her walk home; her dad was working late again and so she shouldn't get caught this time.

She had just started to walk when something that had been watching her made their way toward the beach.

The mermaid hadn't taken long to decide what she wanted to do, as soon as she had returned to her family she had fell back into the boredom that she had been suffering from lately and had only lasted a while before she had returned to the surface; if only after avoiding her sisters' ever watchful eyes.

The colour on the water was different than when she had left but it was still pretty in any case, especially since this light didn't hurt her eyes from looking at it; it was after she had turned her gaze from the object in the sky did she spy the lone human that was sitting in the sand.

They were clearly a female, her dark skin somewhat reminded her of her sister and her sister's daughter, the young mermaid could admit that this human was pretty; she couldn't quite tell from this far away but she wondered if the female was strong like her race and she thought that the human could be quite taller than her.

Her last thought was confirmed when the female stood up and began walking away, if she was truthful she felt a little sad that the pretty female was going away before she could talk to her; perhaps she might come back after a while?

The mermaid made her way closer to the beach but by the time she reached the sand, the human female was too far away to see her, but she wasn't going to give up; she crawled onto the sand until she was fully out of the water and that was when the pain began. She had almost forgotten about this part of the stories, that not only was the change from her true form to her human form quite painful, but there were also warnings of how many things could go wrong during the change; including the risk of death.

But the stories were nothing compared to the sensation of her bones breaking and the flesh of her tail sloughing away as she dragged herself more inward; she was able to see her skin change colour and she also felt her face somewhat change its shape. She lay there, tired, naked and vulnerable from her first change and waiting to see if the female returned.

'I guess mom should be asleep now,' Maddie sighed after looking at her watch before she turned back the way she came. 'Just two more years of high school Maddie, then you can get out of here and do whatever you want.' The problem was that she didn't even know what she was going to do with her life; other sixteen year olds were concerned with partying and breaking as many rules as they could, they didn't have to deal with a junkie for a mother like she did…

'And yet I get stuck with the party girl label when there are other far more deserving of that title;' she sighed. It wasn't fair, she always considered herself somewhere in between party girl and goody two shoes; she wasn't like Janine or Melanie, but at the same time she could admit that she wasn't a saint that had golden light shining from their ass, like…Ben Pownall for example.

She didn't know him that well, Hollywood usually portrayed the Sheriff's and the kids of the local rich parents as running in the same circle in small towns but that definitely wasn't the case in Bristol Cove; pretty much the most interaction they would have was the occasional friendly greeting in the school halls.

From what she could see, he did go to parties but his lack of drinking made her look like she was on a constant bender and he didn't act like an asshole one would expect from with a family like his so he had that going for him; if given the chance she may like to get to know him more…her train of thought was interrupted when she noticed something, or rather, someone on the sand where she had been sitting before.

'What the hell?!' She jogged the final pace to where the person, a girl around her age she guessed, was laying outstretched on the sand with her eyes closed; a close up showed that she was breathing but she appeared to be in pain, she also saw that it looked like the girl had dragged herself from the water.

'That's weird,' she thought as she reached out to touch her while noting that this girl didn't look familiar to her at all; when her hand got a few inches away from the girl's shoulder, her eyes suddenly opened and she shot up, Maddie couldn't help but notice her blue eyes, which were so dark that it almost seemed…exotic.

Her hair that was a few centimeters above her shoulders was damp and partially caked with the sand that she had passed out in as was most of her naked body; a body that Maddie was trying desperately not to stare at, which was strange because she'd had no trouble with being with the girls in the changing rooms for gym…

She inwardly shook herself out of her thoughts, this girl might need help and this definitely wasn't the time to be thinking those kind of those thoughts.

"Are you okay?" Maddie asked gently trying not to scare her. "Do you need help?" She held out her hand and waited to see what the girl would do. At first the girl seemed to be confused by the gesture and stared at it for a few seconds before she hesitantly reached her own out to touch hers and allowed herself to be pulled up; she still didn't say a word.

"Are you hurt?" she asked as she carefully allowed herself to look over the girls arms, they were covered in scratches, but nothing that looked like they didn't come from dragging herself along the sand. The girl still seemed to be confused, as if trying to understand what she was asking.

'Maybe she doesn't understand English?' Maddie thought this was a strong possibility and knew that she had to be really, really careful about how she handled this; who knew how this girl would react to fear.

"You don't have to be scared, I'm not going to hurt you," Maddie still kept her voice soft and this seemed to soothe the girl as she squeezed her hand tightly and Maddie took this as a good sign. That was when Maddie realized that she had a problem, she couldn't bring the girl home with her (especially with her mom the way she was), but she couldn't take her to Doctor Abbot because what the hell was she going to say?!

In between a rock and a hard place, she chose what she thought was the least difficult option.

"Come on, I'll take you to my house," she said as she gently pulled the girl along and it was to her relief that the girl didn't resist. The long walk back was somewhat awkward as the girl didn't make a sound and Maddie was feeling too many emotions to try and make small talk; plus she had to plan how to sneak the girl past her mom, also she knew that she had to eventually call her dad. When they finally did reach her house, she turned to the girl.

"We have to be quiet, I don't want to wake my mom up;" she whispered and the girls' expression was still so neutral that she couldn't tell if she understood or not but she had to take the chance anyway. She and the girl came up to the door and she unlocked the door carefully with her keys and slowly took her hand from hers and wrapped her arm around her back and led her inside.

It was to Maddie's immense relief that her mom was passed out on the couch as she had predicted (and the irony wasn't lost on her); it was also to her relief that the girl did indeed stay quiet as Maddie led them up to her room and showed her to the bathroom that was attached which she was thankful for since her mom wouldn't wake up from the water running in this one.

"You can clean yourself up in here, I'll go find you something to wear;" she told the girl before she left the bathroom and shut the door behind her, leaving the girl to her own devices.

The mermaid had no idea what she was supposed to do in this enclosed space as she barely understood what the human had said to her but she thought that the female had said that she was supposed to clean herself here; she started to panic a little now since she wondered if she was going to expose herself if she didn't figure out what she was supposed to do.

She took a quick look around before her gaze fell something odd; she went to a big chamber and stepped inside before she pulled on a small knob and nearly jumped out of her skin when water began to emerge from above her head, fear creeped into her at the thought that she might change back in this space where she would be discovered…

But that didn't happen, much to her relief, which made her realize that this wasn't her water; perhaps humans had a different kind of water? It felt nice…being able to feel water on her new human skin without any worry about changing back. She looked down and saw that the gritty things that had been stuck to her hair and skin were beginning to come off under the water; without much more hesitation, she went under the falling water.

As she started washing, she experimented with the knob and felt the water change temperature as she turned it from side to side; she settled on cold because it reminded her a little of the ocean depths that were home. She didn't come out until she felt all of the sand was gone from every inch of her body; she was still dripping water when she heard the door knock.

As she looked through her drawers for something to give to the girl (which was a little hard since she was a bit taller than her guest), Maddie opened her flip phone and dialed her dad's private office number, hoping that he would be there and not out on patrol at the moment because she didn't want to have him race home and then have to answer to the town council as to why he had to leave his route so abruptly. She put her phone on speaker to make it easier to talk as she continued to rummage; it took a few rings but her dad eventually picked up.

"Sheriff's office, Sheriff Bishop speaking."

"Hey dad," Maddie began hesitantly as she tried to gather her courage.

"Maddie? What are you doing up so late?" Dale's voice was firm and she knew that she had no choice but to speak up now; there was no turning back.

"There's a bit of a problem here…"

"Is it your mom?" She heard his chair creak and assumed that he had been sitting back but had sat up as he asked the question.

"No, she's fine…for her…" the last part was said quietly and it was to her relief that he didn't scold her for that. "It's just that…I found someone on the beach…" the whole story came tumbling out after those initial words.

"I left her in the shower to clean off the sand," she finished. "I know I should have taken her to the hospital, but she seems so skittish that I wasn't sure if she would be overwhelmed…"

"Maddie," Dale interrupted her babbling; "it's okay, I was about to pack it in for the night anyway so I'll help with the girl when I get back, alright?"

"Thanks dad, I'm just looking for some clothes for her now."

"Alright, we'll see you later."

"Later dad," Maddie hung up as she finally found some clothes in the bottom of her drawers from a couple of years ago before her slight growth spurt; the girl might still be too tiny for them but it was the best that she could do.

She knocked a couple of times before she entered to see the girl was finished showering but was just standing there letting the water drip off of her, not even trying to reach for the towels. She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

"You can use the towels, it's okay," she told her kindly as the girl looked up in confusion as she was talking. She pointed to them and the girl seemed reluctant as she carefully grabbed a towel and looked shocked at something about it before she began rubbing it in her hands; she looked at her now dry hands and the connection seemed to be made and so Maddie decided that it was time she made her exit.

"You can put these on when you're done," she said before she closed the bathroom door.

This felt so wonderful, this "towel" as the human female called it and she didn't have to shake the water off now! But the coverings that she had given her had taken a few moments for her to be able to figure out how to put them on so that it fit like it did on her; although even the mermaid knew that they were somewhat ill fitting.

She turned the strange device like she had seen the female do to open up the spaces and saw her on the strange high thing that was squarely in the middle of this larger space.

"Sorry, it was what I thought would fit you the best;" she said with a small laugh as the mermaid continued to stare at her as she walked over to the bed.

"My name's Maddie," she told her before she seemed to think of something and pointed to herself; "Maddie," she repeated and the other girl's brain seemed to make a connection.

"Maddie," she repeated as she imitated the pointing gesture towards Maddie.

"That's right!" Maddie said proudly. "What .Is. Your. Name?" Maddie said this slowly in the hopes that the girl would be able to understand and answer. It was just as the girl was about to open her mouth when a soft knock sounded on the door.

"Maddie?" Dale's voice was on the other side.