Prompt: Fallen Angel AU - Part 2 (Taken from 30 Day Dark Fandom / OTP Writing Challenge)

Setting: Canon, except instead of being Zac's childhood best friend, Cam is an angel banished from heaven for his deviant, humorous behaviour, and who falls victim to the charms of a self-confident human/mermaid girl.

Rating: T

Pairings: Cam x Nixie

Warnings: Contains Cam having a dilemma, cliches, and Nixie being too observant for Cam's liking.

Recommended Listening: Strange and Beautiful (I'll put a spell on you) - Aqualung

Fallen Angel AU (Part 2)

When humans fall in love, they often deem their object of affection to be an angel. Cam thought quite the opposite. Nixie was nothing like an angel; she was so much more.

Angels, as far as he had learned from his vast experience of them, were rigid, wooden creatures that followed strict rules and maintained a constant sense of self-righteousness. They were snobbishly dignified, haughty and possessed by a vigilant need to be good. As far as Cam was concerned, they were hell to be around.

Nixie lacked all of those qualities. She couldn't care less about the opinions of others, using her own gut instinct to decide her morals. She was brash without being obnoxious, blunt and to the point without being intentionally cruel. True, she'd taken a little getting used to, but by now Cam knew what to expect with her. More than that, he craved it, needing her company more than he'd ever have thought possible.

She'd been cautious around him at first, which was probably sensible. He appeared as a teenage male that no one around town had ever met before, and out of the blue he had taken up a sudden interest in her. Whilst others probably would have filed a restraining order, however, Nixie had let it play out, curious to find out what Cam's angle was. In the end, there was no angle. Cam was simply and openly whole-heartedly fascinated.

He trailed her round when she visited the café, chatting idly to her just to hear her reactions. They were always bold, framed by sass and wit. Her intelligence was obvious, but she wasn't arrogant about it. There was an underlying humbleness about her that kept her sober, making her unassuming and kind despite her dark humour.

Cam loved to listen to her, no matter what topic she was discussing, just to feel her voice. Her words went beyond speech and communication, imprinting upon him a warmth that was more than skin-deep. It sounded stupid, and at time it made him feel stupid when he was left there tongue-tied with his heart in his mouth, but it was the basic truth. She affected him.

Eventually Nixie became accustomed to his company, and after a while she even started to seek him out. As a homeless angel banished from heaven, he didn't exactly have anywhere important to be, thus she learnt to rely on him whenever she needed someone. He was more than happy to oblige, secretly touched by her coming to him, although outwardly he would always playfully tease her about it.

They began to spend their evenings together, in a location that became known as their 'spot'. It was a secluded area concealed behind a bank of rocks, located on a deserted section of beach. The only way to access it was to carefully clamber down a temperamental and narrow passageway on the coastline, and to then scale up across the rock pile. From there it was simply a matter of navigating their way across the rocks until they dropped down onto the untainted sand. It was the sort of place where you had to know it existed in order to reach it, and thus it guaranteed them the security of solitude.

At sunset, Cam began to doubt heaven to be the most beautiful place in creation. The burnt ambers and fiery reds of sunset were like something out of a painting when viewed from the beach, Mako island the only blemish on the horizon, acting as a contrast to the vibrant colours. The evening air was always relaxingly cool, and the area was enclosed by rocky banking, preventing any rogue breezes from spoiling the mood.

Cam and Nixie would sit together on the shore every evening, looking out across the sunset, talking quietly amongst themselves. It was during those serene evenings that the good-natured insults and banter would step aside to make way for some more genuine heart-to-hearts, Nixie made comfortable by the isolation and Cam sedated by the gentle atmosphere. It was during those evenings that Cam knew he loved her.

"Are you alright Cam?" She asked him one evening, squinting out at the light of the setting sun, her brown hair brushing across her face in lazy strands. When he gave no immediate answer, she pursed her lips and glanced over at him, her brow furrowing as she scrutinised him analytically.

Smirking on automatic, fidgeting uncomfortably under the close inspection, Cam shrugged and leant back on his hands, trying to act casual. "Sure I am. Why?" He asked, looking back at her. Once his eyes met hers though she glanced away, returning her gaze to the ocean. Her lips pressed together tightly, and she took a moment to answer.

"I don't know," she said, although the reluctance in her tone betrayed the lie. "Sometimes you just seem kind of… lonely."

Snickering, although his insides felt as if they'd suddenly grown very cold, Cam shook his head and leant forward on his crossed legs. He too looked out at the ocean when he spoke, "Well that's stupid. Why would you think that?"

Saying nothing, Nixie turned to face him, and Cam wasn't sure what should cause him more heartbreak, her pained expression or the fact that he could never have her. Her eyes searched him without reserve or contempt, and for the first time in his life Cam felt as though someone might genuinely care about him.

He couldn't speak for a moment, his throat constricted. "I guess I am, sometimes. Isn't everyone?" He tried to joke, forcing a crooked smile onto his lips but once again Nixie didn't buy it, effortlessly seeing through his guise.

"You don't just seem lonely sometimes, Cam. With you it's constant." She fidgeted, rubbing her arms with her hands awkwardly. "I mean sure you're funny and warm you smile a lot but," she hesitated momentarily, glancing at him to reinforce her courage, "you always seem so sad."

Sighing lethargically, Cam knew then that she'd seen into him far too deeply. He'd always assumed that he'd been the perceptive one, the guardian angel who watched loyally over her shoulder. As she looked at him now though, he could tell that she'd seen far more than he'd believed. She'd been watching too.

"I lost something Nixie, something important, and I won't get it back for a long time," he told her thickly, trying his hardest not to let his voice crack. He'd kept it together ever since he was kicked out of heaven three months ago, but with those soulful, sympathetic blue eyes fixed upon him, he wasn't sure he could keep that up.

"You know what the most painful part is?" He asked rhetorically, speaking quietly so that she couldn't hear him tremble. "I may end up never getting it back."

"Why not?" She asked gently, matching his hushed tone. He hesitated for a moment before answering.

"Because there's something else, something I think I want more. But I can't have both."

Nixie did not know that Cam was, in fact, a literal angel. Cam knew that Nixie was, in fact, a literal mermaid, but somehow trading species secrets had never felt appropriate to him. He was after all trying to stick to the rules during his stay on earth, not wanting to risk extending it. Despite that, however, he was breaking one of the most important and well-known rules in the book. Don't fall in love with mortals.

Even up in heaven it was a cliché. Angel meets mortal; Angel falls for mortal, quite literally. To love a mortal was to eternally give up your wings, no chance of going back. To love a mortal was to become one. To love a mortal was to give up on ever-lasting life, to turn your back on your duties and life purpose, all in the pursuit of one beating, fragile, heart-wrenching emotion. Love.

Even with a complete understanding of all these things, however, Cam was beginning to lose sight of his initial purpose. The need to return to heaven, to the responsibilities he shirked and the people who despised him was beginning to seem less and less appealing. A life of sitting on the beach at sunset with Nixie sounded like the only kind of life worth living.

Yet he was no human. He'd been born an angel, and it was the only life he'd ever known. As an angel, he had no need for food or water, no sense of cold or physical discomfort. He didn't experience pain or need in the same way, and so for those three months he'd managed to survive. Were he to lose those benefits, however, he'd doubtlessly end up dead within a matter of days. He was born to be an angel.

Nobody up in the palace above the clouds could do anything about his bleeding heart until he made the first move, however. For the moment, he could simply wait and watch her, gazing in through the metaphorical frosted windows at the girl he could never have. Her laughter, her wit, her unexpected and unrivalled concern, all of them were things he was not allowed. A kiss was well out of bounds.

All in all, the situation seemed pathetically hopeless.

In the end, it was Nixie herself who took matters into her own hands. All around her, her mermaid friends were falling hopelessly and desperately in love. Sirena and David had been a couple for a while, but recently they'd started becoming obviously serious. As for Lyla and Zac, they'd been uncertain frenemies one minute, passionately in love the next. Nixie had realised that she was being left behind, and that finally, there was nothing holding her back. If they could all break the rules and fall for a land boy, why couldn't she?

She invited Cam down to their usual spot on the beach early one morning, when the air was freezing cold and Cam's breath rose in plumes of misty vapour. He clambered over the rocks as usual, and then dropped down onto the sand and straightened. As promised, she was there waiting for him, stood just before the shoreline, the rolling waves threatening to make contact and turn her, but never quite managing it.

"What's up Nixie?" Cam greeted her jovially, putting on his best cool, cheerful smile, even though his heart was drumming double time in his chest. It was getting more and more difficult to be around her as he forgot why he loved heaven piece by piece, and only ever saw more reasons to stay on earth in Nixie. He knew he couldn't though, knew he shouldn't-

"Cam," Nixie said quietly when he stood beside her, her voice so fragile that for an moment Cam thought she might be crying. He stepped forward, getting a better look at her turned face, and found instead that she was smiling from ear to ear. Gone were the defensive scowl and sarcasm, replaced by a vulnerability that was almost naive, although Cam knew her to be anything but.

Her smile softening, Nixie turned and took his hands in hers, clasping them tightly. "I'm sorry I got you up so early. I didn't really know how to do this," she apologised, laughing nervously as she ducked her head, her cheeks flaring. She was blushing, smiling, and holding his hands. The explanation was obvious. Cam knew why she'd asked him down there, what she wanted to say.

"Don't," Cam said in a ghost of a whisper, all at once terrified. He hadn't expected this all to happen so soon, to happen now. His fear must have shown in his voice, for Nixie looked up at him with a drop in her smile, trying to work out what had gone wrong.

Frowning, she loosened her grip on his hands and then dropped them. "Cam?" She said, taking a step back from him. "Why are you-" she cut her own question off, shaking her head, looking angry with herself as she clenched her fists at her side. "Never mind. I was being stupid."

He was sure that she would start crying, but when she braved looking up at his eyes her frown relaxed and she seemed calmed by what she saw there. Straightening, she inhaled slowly to fortify herself and then looked him straight in the eyes. "I just wanted to say that I like you, Cam. Actually, that's a lie. I love you. I love you and your ridiculous goofy smile, your terrible jokes, and the fact that you're always there."

Once she'd finished, she nodded to herself assertively and then dropped her eyes. "If you don't feel the same way, fine, I can deal with that. I just wanted to-" She was cut off, however, by Cam kissing her.

Certainly, his head was screaming at him about the fact that now there was no denying it, and any time now he would lose his wings. They're all going to see, and you're never going to be able to go back now. You've fallen. But whilst his head threw a tantrum, the rest of him didn't care. She'd said that she loved him, in true, stubborn Nixie fashion, even after she thought that he'd said no. She was worth losing everything for.

He kissed her, lips to lips, and then took her gently in his arms, cupping her neck with gentle hands. He could feel a warmth start to spread through him, a glowing, overwhelming heat that he'd felt many times before, but he ignored it, pushing it away to snatch a few more moments. "Nixie," he said, breaking apart, unable to help smiling as he said her name and looked at her, the kiss still singing on his lips. "I love you too. And I'll be back for you. I promise."

She didn't have time to ask him what he meant, however, for as the warmth started to pull him away, he dived in, stealing one last kiss. And then, in a burst of light that lasted for only a fraction of a second, he vanished.