Nate couldn't keep himself focused on work. There was a solid chunk of him that wanted nothing more than to pull Zane into the back and let him know exactly what Sophie and Ryan were cooking up. Well, what Sophie was cooking up. Ryan still seemed relatively sure that the whole thing was some kind of joke, but he was going along with it anyway. Nate wondered if maybe he had the hots for Sophie or something.

"Nate?" Judging by the tone of voice Bella used to call to him, it probably hadn't been the first time she'd tried to get his attention.

"Sorry, babe." Nate cleared his throat. "What's up?"

Bella looked pointedly at the other members of the band, each of which was working on getting everything put away for the evening. "You helping?"

Nate gave her a long look before reaching for his keyboard cord. Bella, gorgeous Bella, was acting so normal, yet hiding such a big secret. He'd never have guessed.

"Let's go, Nate." Rikki flickered the lights impatiently. "Do you need to be told how to lift or what?"

Nate gritted his teeth. Normally, the girls' haughty behavior wouldn't have bothered him, but now? They had no idea who they were messing with.

Zane sat restlessly in his office, chewing on a pen as he looked out the window. He squinted, focusing on the head of red hair he saw moving down the beach. He was on his feet immediately, almost knocking Nate over as he ran through his office door. "Be right back." He tossed his notebook at Nate before jogging out of the cafe and a couple blocks-ish along the shore."

"Ew, get away," Sophie whined, noticing Zane catching up behind her. "How many times do I have to tell you to leave me a-fuckin'-lone, yeah?"

"C'mon, Sophie," Zane said gently. "Just talk to me. We were friends there, for a bit." He found himself at a gentle jog in an effort to match her brisk pace, but he kept up.

"No, we weren't," Sophie said stiffly. "You were lying to me the whole time."

"How can you say that?" Zane cut her off, taking a quick step in front of her. "Sophie, no one was supposed to know about me. He shook his head vehemently. "Nate caught me. And the gang, well, the only reason they knew is because all us guys transformed, not because I was anything special-

"Hold a tick." Sophie put up a hand. "Are you telling me my brother-"

"He's not anymore," Zane said quickly. "He's back to normal now. So's Lewis." His eyes dropped to his shoes. "I'm the guy who kept his tail." He raised one shoulder. "It was a whole thing. Your brother is a douche."

"Don't I know it." Sophie rolled her eyes before studying Zane. "I would have liked to hear those stories." She said finally.

"You still can." Zane raised his eyebrows. "Sophie, I will tell you anything. Everything." He reached for her hand, holding it in a firm handshake.

Sophie watched him for a few moments before pulling her hand back from him. "I'm sure there are reporters out there who will be thrilled to hear the whole thing." She turned on her heel and marched a few steps away before turning back to look at Zane. "You could still work with me, you know." She shrugged. "It would make the whole thing go a whole lot more smoothly!"She threw two fingers in the air as she flipped back in the direction she'd been walking. "Later, Z!"

Zane's hopes crashed as he watched her walk away. He finally identified the pain that was pulsing in his chest.

It was guilt. True, hurting guilt. Sophie had every right to be mad at him and he knew it. The pain of what might have happened was hard to accept. In fact, he wasn't going to accept it. He jogged after her, walking quickly to match her pace. Sophie did not slow down.

"I'm not giving up on you, Sophie." He said firmly. "You're my friend. You need to talk to me."

Sophie flipped her middle finger at Zane before refocusing on the path in front of her. "Keep following me and I will scream, Zane."

Zane jogged to a halt, exhaling deeply as he watched her go. He shook his head hard, turning to head back to the cafe.

"You know what?" Sophie called, making up her mind.

Zane turned around hopefully. "We can talk?"

"Sure. You know, fine." Sophie raised a tense shoulder, her face softening a bit. "Let's talk, Zane." She clenched her jaw thoughtfully. "Meet me at the dock down the beach from the cafe in an hour. I have to run an errand; I'll meet you there."

"Ok, you got it." Zane agreed, nodding eagerly. "I'll meet you there."

Sophie spun on her heel and continued walking away, reaching for her cellphone as she did.

"I'm just saying, guys, I don't think she's going to give this up." Rikki felt, at this point, like she was repeating herself. "She's pissed." The blonde shook her head, crossing her arms tightly.

"But that doesn't mean we cave to her, Rikki." Cleo paced vehemently. "We've kept the secret this long, we - "

"This long?" Rikki couldn't contain her laughter. "Cleo, think about what you just said." She paused. "Tons of people know what we are. And they're not all our friends. And we've not even been mermaids for 5 years yet."

"I don't care." Cleo flipped her hands as if shooing the words away. "Every single instance of someone who found out what we were is unique. And not one of them exposed us publicly. Successfully, anyway."

The pair quieted as their table was approached by a familiar face.

"Lewis." Cleo wasn't sure what to say as her boyfriend took a seat opposite them at the table.

"Hey," he said quietly, running a hand through his blonde, shaggy hair. "Look... I don't want to be angry anymore, ok?"

Cleo looked at Lewis for a long time before she spoke. "I know. Me too" Her voice cut through the silence. "I know we weren't fair to you. You're always there for us and we pushed you away." She stood, gesturing for Lewis to follow her to a quiet place in the cafe. The pair leaned against an unattended drink rail on the other side of the building before continuing.

"I get it." Lewis answered, looking down at his fingers as he traced his knuckles. "I do, I mean, I was running you girls ragged."

"Zane too." Cleo shrugged a shoulder.

"Yeah, Zane." Lewis shook his head. It would take a while longer to get used to Zane being one of the mer-gang. He sighed slowly, forcing himself to meet Cleo's eye. "I was trying to help you."

"I know you were, Lewis," Cleo answered quickly. "I do, I-" She looked down, shaking her head slightly as she decided what to say next. "I know you were trying to help"

"After what happened last month..." Lewis's grip on the rail tightened, his knuckles turning white with the grip. "I can't let something like that happen again, Cleo. I can't."

"Lewis, we've told you a thousand times, everything turned out - "

"Do NOT say that everything turned out ok!" Lewis quickly pulled his temper back down under control. "You guys have been so supportive, and it's been great, but we all need to stop pretending like everything ended up hunky-dory."

"Hunky-dory?" Cleo quickly wiped the grin from her face. Lewis clearly wasn't in the mood.

"I'm exhausted," Lewis confessed, leaning forward as if he was doing a push-up in the railing. "It's exhausting, being friends with you guys."

"I'm... sorry?" Cleo was confused by his statement. "What are you talking ab-"

"Every time you guys need something, you call me." Lewis cut her off.

"Well, you've always told us to call you-" Cleo tried to interject, but Lewis continued.

"Each and every time you get in trouble you call me." Lewis paced, his arms crossed tightly. "You are completely dependent on me."

"I think you have a savior complex." Cleo blurted out."You like doing those things, Lewis, you're always begging us to do more and more!"

"Well not anymore," Louis said firmly, catching her hand. "Everything you've said was fair. But Cleo." He slid his thumb over her knuckles. "It's like I'm addicted to you. I think about you all the time." He paused, calming himself with a deep breath. "I obsess over your safety because I love you."

"I know." Cleo could feel her anger melting away. She reached a hesitant hand to run her fingers through his long hair, pulling his face close to hers so that she could kiss him. She took a moment to breathe him in before resting her forehead on his. "We'll figure things out."

Lewis nodded, suddenly exhausted as he rested his head tiredly on her shoulder. "I've missed you guys." He exhaled.

Nate appeared at Cleo's shoulder, leaning far too close to her for comfort. "Hey, Lewis, I had an idea for a new run on that song Bella showed us earlier -"

"Not right now, Nate." Lewis cut him off.

"Come on, mate, it would make things sound epic-"

"Nate, fuck off, yeah?" Cleo raised her eyebrows pointedly. "You two can talk band stuff later."

"Fine." Nate pushed off the railing, looking for anyone in the small cafe that didn't treat him like shit, but finding no one. Zane was lying to him, Lewis dismissed him, the girls were lying to him and they didn't appreciate him. His eyes landed on the folded itinerary from Sophie sticking out of his music folder. Fine. He was decided. They wanted him to fuck off, right? He'd do just that.

Ryan tapped his foot as he adjusted his position, trying to get the blood flowing through his legs in his cramped spot tucked underneath the dock. He was wedged into the darkness where the dock met the sand, barely two inches above the lapping of the water. He felt like he had sand in places he didn't even know he had, and he was getting more and more annoyed with every passing minute. He checked his waterproof watch for the tenth time. Sophie had met him at 10 as promised, shown him where to hide, and promised to be back soon. That was 45 minutes ago. He sighed, feeling like a fool. Sophie was probably laughing at him, hiding while he waited for her to prove that merpeople exist. He shook his head, preparing to call it quits. Then, he heard the approaching voices, one male and one female. He couldn't see anything above the wooden slats of the dock, but he had a great view of the water.

"I'm just saying," the male voice spoke, "I'm glad you're letting me talk to you about all this."

Ryan placed Zane's voice quickly. He watched the shadows of their feet as they walked over his head toward the water.

"You wanted to explain," Sophie said tersely. "So explain."

"I..." Zane shuffled his feet.

Ryan felt self-conscious as Zane's voice pitched down as if he were looking right at his hiding place. He could barely see them through the cracks in the dock, but he had a relatively good vantage point as the pair spoke.

"We've never come right out and told anyone, Soph." He said gently. "Well, I guess Emma came out and told Ash, but none of us have ever told a soul willingly." He swallowed hard. "Rikki didn't even tell me."

"Yeah?" Sophie couldn't keep the hurt out of her voice, though her face showed no emotion. "And how did that make you feel?"

"Not great." Zane's voice was so quiet that Ryan had to crane to hear it. "I'm just saying, it's not something you come out and tell people." He glanced up at her. "Until I showed you."

"And, WHAT did you show me, Zane?"

Ryan winced. Sophie wasn't being exactly subtle, clearly raising her voice to ensure he could hear Zane's response.

"Come on, Sophie." Zane rolled his eyes. "I want to be... friends, you know?" He raised a shoulder. "We can go for swims, explore out at Mako, you can get to know the girls better. I really think you guys could be great friends if you just got to know each other a little better."

Sophie took a long breath before answering. Despite her best efforts, she could feel the firey-hot anger in her chest start to cool. She swallowed hard, stoking the flames within her as she steeled her resolve. "Sure," she lied. "We should all hang out or something."

Ryan rolled his eyes. Nothing the two of them had discussed gave him any reason to believe anything magical was going on. He was ready to get out of this buggy, sandy, hiding place.

"Thank you, Sophie." Zane felt like a weight was being lifted off his shoulders. "You have no idea what that means to me. I promise not to lie to you again. From now on, you're one of us."

"Glad to hear it." Sophie gave a tight smile. "Shall we go in?"

"Sure." Zane hesitated before reaching out to pull the redhead in for a tight hug. "Thank you." He murmured.

"Yeah." Sophie wriggled slightly, pulling away. "Hey, did you see the moon tonight?" She faced the water, pointing out over the dark waves.

"Not really." Zane chuckled, turning to look. "I guess I don't pay much attention to it when it isn't full."

As he pivoted to head back to the cafe, Sophie turned the other way, knocking into him full force.

"Shit, Zane, I'm sorry!" She called as he lost his footing, falling off the deck into the ocean below.

Saltwater splashed onto Ryan's face as he held still, knowing that it'd be virtually impossible for Zane to spot him in the dark. A few seconds ticked by before Zane's hand appeared, reaching up to grasp the edge of the dock.

Sophie crouched down, looking quickly from side to side. "I am so sorry, man." She reached out an arm. "It's all clear, you can come out."

Zane glanced back and forth, only his head and torso out of the water. They were in a secluded area and no one was out at this hour. The girls had even crawled out at this exact place more than once. He briefly gave thought to swimming over to Will's, but a combination of distaste for bumping into Fishboy combined with the desire to show Sophie that he trusted her took over.

Zane took Sophie's hand, bracing the dock hard with his other hand as he lifted himself out of the water.

Ryan's mouth dropped open as he watched Zane's body as it moved past his view. Below his belly button was... no way. Ryan rubbed his eyes, shaking his head slightly. He reopened them just in time to see a pair of gossamer fins with water dripping from them flip over onto the dock.

"It's fine, Sophie," Zane was saying, laughing slightly. "It happens all the time. I swear, ever since I first transformed I've had a lot of practice doing this."

Ryan couldn't see exactly what was happening, but he could see steam seeping through the planks. He heard Zane stand a few moments later. The geologist's heart was racing, pounding loudly in his chest as he fought to stay quiet.

"I'll see you later, yeah." Sophie was bidding Zane goodnight. "Bye."

Ryan stayed frozen as two pairs of feet walked down the deck, staying extra still as they passed over him. He wasn't sure if one minute or 5 passed before he heard another pair approach.

"Ah!" He jumped as a familiar head of red hair swung into view.

"Told ya." Sophie said smugly. "Now, hurry up - Nate is meeting us at my place in 15."

"Friday's the day, boys!" Sophie practically sang as she jumped through the door of her apartment, making Nate jump.

"Jesus, Sophie, ease off the caffeine." Ryan groaned.

"You're late." Nate jumped to his feet. "If Friday's THE day, that means we've got prep to do tonight, yeah?"

"Why else would we be here?" Sophie laughed as she dropped her notebook on the desk. Listen up, I have the exact rundown of how this is going to go." She handed each of them a typed itinerary. "You." She directed a hand at Nate. "You'll tell Zane that you saw me messing around with cameras by the moon pool."

"Right." Nate nodded.

"And you," Sophie gestured to Ryan. "You will be ready with the press outside the cafe. The second any of them come running out, you douse 'em."

"And you're sure this is what will do it?" Ryan raised an eyebrow. "It seems awfully... simple."

"And that's why it's perfect," Sophie said firmly. "I know exactly what they'll do. They'll book it out of there. And we'll be ready. Zane thinks we're friends." She rolled her eyes. "He won't overthink; he'll panic."

"We have 3 interviews set up for the next day." Ryan raised one shoulder. "I know, it's not a lot, but it was hard to get even those three. Almost everyone laughed at me when I tried to sell them on the story."

"That's fine," Sophie said breezily. "It won't take long for the mainstream to pick it up. By the next day, we'll be celebrities. And how many people are on-call for tomorrow?"

"Same three." Butterflies fluttered in Ryan's stomach as he thought about how much his life was getting ready to change. He was low-key terrified. "Are you sure you don't want to wait a week or so?" He cleared his throat, "I mean, what if nothing happens? We'd be a laughingstock."

"He has a point." It was obvious that Nate had been pondering the same thought. "You told me the girls were mermaids too. But I haven't seen it. What if Rikki walks out first and nothing happens when they water her? What if you're wrong?"

"If you think I'm wrong, then get the hell out of here," Sophie said dismissively. "Don't be a part of this if you don't want to. More money for me." She narrowed her eyes at the two men. "Plus, they aren't supposed to target Rikki or any of the others. Just Zane." Her tone steeled. "Are you two in?"

"Of course." They muttered.

"Good" There wasn't a hint of laughter on Sophie's face. "Now, get ready."