… yeah, I don't really know how this happened…

In Which Adrian is a Mermaid:

Sydney let her feet dangle off the dock, creating small ripples.

She knew she should get back inside, the sun was nearly set, but she couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this peaceful. For once, she'd gone a whole day without thinking of her parent's fights or her younger sister's increasingly hostile attitude. She'd gone without worrying about Carly and how she was doing, or how the cat was appearing increasingly sick.

She felt completely relaxed for the first time in months. She couldn't bear to return to the lake house just yet.

She picked up a rock and tossed it into the lake. Kerplunk, it said as it landed.

She tossed another one even farther.

And another.

And another.

She grabbed a fifth one, a good sized one, and thought, I bet it'll make it to the middle. She chucked it as hard as she could and tracked its flight. Then, with horror, she watched as a young man broke the surface.

"Look out!" She cried. She knew where the rock was going to land.

And land it did.

"Gah!"

Sydney barely gave herself time to think about it before jumping in. She swam as fast as she could. "Oh my God, are you okay?"

"You threw a rock at me!" He put a hand to his head and it came away bloodied.

"I didn't!" Sydney came to a stop a few feet away, desperately searching his face for…she didn't even know what for. "I was aiming for the middle and you came out of nowhere! You're not too badly hurt, are you?"

She paddled closer and tried to get a good look at the cut.

"I'm okay." He said, touching it again. "It's not as bad as it looks. It's not even very deep."

Sydney shook her head. "There's a first aid kit in the boathouse. Let me go get it."

"I'm still swimming." He assured her. "I'll be fine."

"Well, I'm not just going to let you be on your way with a head injury that I caused. It could get infected or something." Sydney narrowed her eyes. This was the look she gave to people when she wanted them to know she wasn't budging.

"Alright, where is this boathouse?" He asked.

"Not too far. You can see it from here." Sydney turned and began to swim. She hesitated—should he be swimming in this condition? She couldn't just leave him here. "Follow me."

Sydney kicked for the side of the lake, and he started up behind her. She couldn't help but admire how smoothly he was able to swim. He hardly caused any ripples.

"So," he said conversationally, "I'm Adrian. Who are you?"

"Sydney."

"Why were you throwing rocks?" He asked.

Sydney shrugged as best she could. "I just was." She wasn't feeling up to talking just now. She was too busy worrying for his life. Sydney was no medical expert, not by a long shot, but if he was seriously hurt…

She swam faster.

The well-kept shed that jutted out into the water got bigger and bigger. The Sages shared it with the neighbors, and thank God the neighbors practically lived on the lake. The boathouse would be in ruins if they didn't keep it in shape.

"That's it?"

"Yeah."

Sydney frowned, a problem just occurring to her. Something that definitely put a wrench in her plan. "Crap. I don't have the key."

"Oh. Well. There goes the first aid kit." He didn't sound incredibly heartbroken.

"No, no." Sydney got an idea. "Wait here."

She took a deep breath and plunged. She moved deeper and deeper, and worked up the courage to open her eyes. Though the murk she could see where the wall of the boathouse stopped, and simple metal stilts kept the structure anchored to the ground.

Before she ran out of breath, she swam at the opening.

She came up between a boat and a small dock, relieved to find that the light was on. She wouldn't have known where to start looking for the light switch.

Sydney looked at the boat again. She could tell it belonged to her father because of how rusty it was. It was in such a bad state she wouldn't be surprised if it was leaking.

She hauled herself onto the dock and looked down at her sopping self. Her shorts and t-shirt dripped water at an astonishing rate. "Great. Wonder what Father will have to say about this?"

She knew what her dad would say, and she decided she would be sneaking into the house through a window in order to avoid it.

Sydney spotted the door, but as it turned out, she wouldn't need it.

"Nice place."

She jumped, startled. "I thought I told you to stay where you were!"

"Although, this boat doesn't look too good. In fact, it's near death." Adrian ran his hand over the side.

"There are all sorts of bacteria in lakes and you just submerge yourself!?" Sydney forgot about the door and headed straight over to where she knew the medical kit was stored. "You have an open wound; do you know how stupid that was?"

"I'm fine. Besides, I'm about to get treated by Nurse Sydney, and she knows her stuff. She won't let me get an infection." Adrian put his arms on the dock, but didn't come out of the water.

"Are you going to come up?" Sydney asked with an underlying tone that said, this isn't a question—it's an order.

But he shook his head and smiled. "Why don't you come back in?"

Sydney was on a one-way road to exasperated. Was he flirting, or was he being serious? It's an odd thing to be serious about, Sydney thought, refusing to get out of the water. But it seems an equally odd thing to flirt over.

"I'll stay up here, thanks." She'd already started the drying process. Maybe, if she took her time and walked back to the house, no one would be able to tell she'd taken a dip.

Sydney knelt down and rifled through the kit, pulling out a bottle of fresh water and some gauze. She leaned over and cleaned the cut thoroughly. He'd been right. It wasn't as bad as it looked.

Adrian scowled when he saw her reaching for the band-aids. "I hate band-aids. Can we just… not?"

"I'm the nurse and I say you're getting a band-aid. Which one?" Sydney left no room for argument.

"The blue one." He said moodily. "But I'll pull it right off as soon as we part ways."

"And that'll be on you," Sydney said, "but while you're under my watch, you will wear it."

She aligned it with the cut and stuck it on. "There."

Now that she wasn't so worried for his health, she realized he wasn't all that bad looking.

In the golden wash of the boathouse's dying light bulb, she could see his eyes were a spectacular shade of green. And where before she had noticed his features were clean cut, now he almost looked like a Greek sculpture.

His chest was nice too. Pale, but he wasn't beefy and blocky like some guys. He was lean. He had a swimmers body.

Before she could stop herself, her eyes strayed ever downward. And they saw nothing.

His skin didn't fade like you'd expect, it just blacked out. There was a white strip of skin just below the water and then… nothing. No swimsuit, and no legs.

For a moment she caught the faintest glimmer and thought, Is he wearing sequined swim trunks? But then the glimmer was gone and she was back to looking at nothing.

The sound of his voice penetrated her thoughts, and she looked up to see him staring at her.

"What?" Sydney could feel her face turning beet red.

"I asked if you could tell I wasn't wearing anything." Adrian repeated.

Sydney's mouth fell open and she slapped a hand over her eyes. "Are you serious?" She squeaked. "You're a skinny dipper!"

His laughter echoed oddly off the boats and the water. "You should've seen your face!"

"You've been naked this whole time!" Sydney avoided his gaze and hastily repacked the kit.

She didn't want to think about it—she actively tried not to—but she couldn't help it. It didn't look like he was naked, at least not from what she'd seen. It looked like there was just nothing under his torso.

There was no way he was skinny dipping.

"You're lying." She called him out on it. "You are wearing something. Dark swim trunks, you have to be."

"Am I?" He was playing with her, she was certain of that.

"You are a piece of work." Sydney shoved the first aid kit onto its place on the shelf.

"Aren't I?" Adrian's wicked expression hadn't gone anywhere. "But in all seriousness: thank you."

Sydney nodded. "You're welcome. You can leave now."

"See you tomorrow?"

Sydney studied him. He wasn't the type she generally associated with, but she had just hit him with a rock. Seeing him again would mean she could make sure he wasn't suffering any long-term effects. "Maybe. If you promise to wear clothes."

Adrian chuckled. "Sure thing."

Sydney made as if to open the door.

"You think I'm wearing something," Adrian interrupted her progress, "but do you really want to take the risk?"

There was ample space between Adrian and the door. Enough space for Sydney to see things she really rather wouldn't—if he was telling the truth. Which he wasn't.

She sighed and dropped her hand. "Fine. Risk infection."

Adrian grinned once more before slipping below the surface.

It might've just been the poor lighting, or the water distorting things, but Sydney could almost swear that before he disappeared completely… she saw a tail.