Exposed

Chapter 2

Newfound Fame

Author's notes: I don't own H20: Just Add Water, only my OCs Jessie Dove, Morgan Thompson, Wayson and Lorelei Chatham and David and Derek Smith. This is a sequel to my other H20: Just Add Water fanfiction Replaced. If you haven't read that one you might want to read it first or else this might not make a lot of sense.

They stood with bodyguards flocked around the two of them as people waited one by one to get autographs from the two merpeople. They also wanted them to pose for pictures. They obliged and took pictures with everyone there only in human form. It would've taken even longer if they had posed for pictures in merpeople form as well. They smiled and waved, acting like they couldn't be happier.

A little girl had come up to Lorelei and asked if she could be a mermaid too. That's what really tore at her heartstrings. "I'm sorry, sweetie." She said. "But it's just us. We don't know how to make you a mermaid." She had lied and she had hated it. It was for the best though they couldn't have people turning themselves into merpeople all the time.

They had bodyguards now too to escort them back to Max's boatshed. They had to take many twists and turns to loose the paparazzi. They couldn't have them knowing where they were staying. "Hey guys." Wayson said.

"Um hi, Wayson..." Morgan said looking at the two men next to the siblings. "Who are these two men?"

"This is Bob." Lorelei pointed to the one on the left. "This is Rob."

"Well, why are Bob and Rob here?" Will asked crossing his arms.

"They're our new bodyguards." Wayson told them. "Apparently being famous means you have psychotic fans and stalkers."

Jessie frowned at that. "Did something happen? Are you two okay?"

"Nothing happened." Lorelei said. "It's just for precaution."

"We have some presents for the rest of you." Bella said. "Can they stay here? It's a...private matter."

Wayson asked them to stay there while the twins joined their friends in the other room.

"First, this is for Charlotte." Cleo spoke up. She handed a box to her and watched as she opened it.

Her face lit up, "It's a locket like yours!" She said looking at Emma, Cleo, Rikki, and Bella's. Her's had an orange stone though. "And a crystal necklace."

"With a stone from you know where." Cleo winked.

"Thank you so much you guys." She looked at them with tear-filled eyes. David squeezed her shoulder in silent support.

"The next one is for Morgan." Rikki said. The mentioned girl looked up surprised. Rikki handed her a box like Charlottes. It held another locket like theirs only with a green stone and a crystal necklace. "The Crystal is from Hawaii where you and Jessie changed."

"And the same with yours." Bella told Jessie handing her a box.

Thank you so much." Jessie smiled gratefully at the girls. Her locket had a purple stone.

"This is yours Lorelei." Emma told her.

"But won't all of us wearing the same necklaces...won't other people make the connection that you guys are like us?" Lorelei said confused. She glanced at her locket which had a pink stone.

"We stick together." Emma said firmly. "If they make the connection then who cares? We're all supposed to be in this together anyways right?"

They smiled thankfully. "And of course here's a crystal necklace for you Wayson." Morgan handed it to him.

He grinned at his girl friend putting it around his neck. "Thanks."

"No problem." She smiled.

Jessie and Charlotte then each gave the twins a crystal necklace as well. Charlotte gave one to her boyfriend David, while Jessie gave the other to Derek.

"We would have made you guys lockets too but they're kind of more of a girl's jewelry item." Max explained.

"It's fine." David reassured the mermaids.

"It was really nice of you guys to do this for us." Derek smiled.

The twins thanked the girls and put them on. They knew that whatever they faced. They would do it together.

"Of course it would be your sons friends who exposed us." The other man hissed. From meeting Denman that morning things had just gotten worse. A merman, a member of their council had come to call.

"Lay of Bahari." Dylan Smith shot back. "It was a land boy who exposed them."

"After the land changed mermaid told him about herself."

"She trusted him."

"Obviously it was a mistake." The cocoa skinned man replied. "All the pods have retreated into more remote regions."

"Good for them." Dylan replied.

"They want all the rest of the natural born merpeople from land to join them."

Dylan let that sink in. "What about my sons? What about Liana?"

"Your sons may join you."

His eyes narrowed "What about Liana? I won't leave her." His wife smiled from the shadows at her husband loyalty to their family.

"They have agreed that if she is changed into one of us...she may join you and your sons."

"What about the land changed merpeople?" Dylan asked.

"The ones who have not been exposed yet are welcome to join the pods." Bahari responded.

"What about their significant others?"

"They'd have to be changed as well in order to live with the pod."

"The Marine biologist already suspects some of them though." He pointed out.

"Then they must leave at once." Bahari replied. "Relay my message to all of them. They have a week to decide." He stood ready to leave.

"And their human family members. What about them?"

Bahari gave him a sad look. They have not been permitted to join. "

"Why not when their boyfriends or girlfriends are allowed?!" Dylan demanded.

"The council deems them untrustworthy.' Bahari responded. "We have observed their human family's. The Mermaid with the sister Kim? She is not trustworthy. As well as the parents of the Mermaid Bella. Rikki's mother is also unworthy. If her daughter is exposed she will come back for fame and fortune."

"What about Emma? Charlotte? Jessie? Morgan?"

"Emma's family is found to be trustworthy as well as Morgan's. Her family is descendants from other merpeople. Cleo's step-mother and her father are alright. Cleo's birthmother we are unsure of. Jessie is an orphan. Her parents drowned when she was young."

"And Charlotte's mother?"

"She is welcome." Bahari said curtly. "Her father should he make a reappearance is not."

"What about Charlotte's father?" Liana spoke up. "I thought he had died."

"He abandoned Charlotte and her mother when she was born. The same with Rikki's mother." Bahari replied. "I must return to the council now and to my son Badru. I will return in a week with whoever wants to join the pods. If I were you. I'd make the right decision and join us and out family Dylan."

"I want to." Dylan said, "But my sons will not leave their friends to face this alone. They are loyal to a fault."

"Just like their father then." Bahari gave the Native American man a wry smile. "You are the exact same." His smile faded a moment later. "We miss you Dylan. Me, and Tyne, We were like brothers remember?"

"I know." He sighed sadly. "But things have changed. I made a life on land."

"You move every few years to keep your secret. And now with your sons being changed it would be far easier to join us in order to be safe."

He glanced at the picture they had taken once they had all gained legs together. Bahari, himself, Ren, Caspian, and Tyne. Liana had given them some old clothes of her brothers for all of them and she had taken a picture of the five of them.

Bahari was an African American Merman, Caspian was Hispanic, Tyne was from Greece, Ren was from Asian descent, and Dylan had native American roots. They had all been brought together unexpectedly when they were young mermen. They had met in merman school, when they had been paired together for a project on inventive ways to hide themselves from humans.

Bahari was now a member of the merman council with a son that was made by the moon Badru. The others were also part of the merman council along with 2 others. Finn (a red haired Scottish merman), and Zale ( a blonde haired, blue eyes merman). All of them had gone to school together. He had used to be a part of the merman council, until he had fallen in love with Liana and made a life on land. They has all been best friends at some point.

"I miss all of you too." Dylan told him. "But I can't leave my sons friends to this life."

"They can join us." Bahari said.

"No, the two that were exposed." He clarified. "Maybe if we had approached and taught the land changed merpeople the laws and how to conceal themselves. Maybe then this wouldn't have happened."

"It's possible." Bahari replied. "But they had mermaid family members. It was their job to teach them our ways."

"Maybe." He trailed off.

"The Council has talked about sealing all the moon pools." Bahari said suddenly.

Dylan looked shocked at this. "What?! But what about the moon ceremony when new eggs are taken to the pools to become mermen and mermaids?"

"We've come to an agreement with the mermaid pods." Bahari said. "We will join forces we will procreate together like we used to too ensure our survival."

"That didn't work last time." Dylan replied. "We wanted to suppress the mermaids so that we could rule over all of them. Remember the war?"

"Of course we learned about it in school." Bahari said.

"But they didn't tell us the truth about it until we became members of the merman council." Dylan reminded his old friend. "They made it out as if the mermaids had started the war and not us."

"I know brother." Bahari said. The affection in his voice surprised the other merman. Their group of friends had called each one of them brother, to remind themselves of their sibling like bond. He hadn't heard that said to him in so long. "I have to leave. Don't forget. One week." Bahari strode past him slipping into their secret cave and underwater entrance. Once his blue tail had formed he was gone.

"What do you want to do Liana?" The merman asked looking to his wife for an answer.

"I'm okay with whatever you choose Dylan." She told him.

A sigh escaped the merman. "I was afraid that you were going to say that."

"Hey they're over here!" A reporter called out. "Wayson! Lorelei!"

The three of them were walking towards Rikki's café for lunch. The twins quickened their pace with their two bodyguards at their sides. Wayson gripped his girlfriend Morgan's hand keeping her close to him. "Great, just great." He muttered aggravated.

"You know I can take care of myself." Morgan told him looking a little irritated at his over protectiveness.

"I know." Wayson said. "It's just a precaution. You're with Lorelei and I and people are going to want to know why."

"What are we going to do if we get...splashed?" Lorelei said careful to keep her voice down.

"We'll have to make a run for the back room then." Morgan whispered back. "Or the water, the backroom might be easier though."

Wayson nodded to acknowledge her suggestions. "Are you sure you want to go through with this? We could find a more secluded place for our first date."

"It's fine, Wayson. I want to act like everything is normal." She explained. "Like we're two normal young adults on a date."

"But it's not, we're not..." The Merman sighed, "And like Lorelei said, if we get splashed..."

"Then we'll deal with it." Morgan assured her boyfriend. "We'll make a break through the back door and into the canal."

Wayson looked doubtful, but he nodded. The three of them then entered the café with their bodyguards, Bob, Rob, Frank, and Jacob (who were only added later as an extra precaution.

The reporters fired off questions when they walked in at the brunette girl.

"Who are you?"

"What's your name?"

"How do you know Wayson and Lorelei?"

"Are you a mermaid too?"

"Are you Wayson's girlfriend?"

"Just ignore them." Wayson told her. "Don't answer anything."

Normally Morgan would hate someone telling her what to do. These were special circumstances though. She decided that the best thing to do would be to ignore the paparazzi and stay silent.

Lorelei scanned the café looking for a sign of the boy, Byron, who had helped her escape the crazed people when she and her brother were exposed. She had been hoping to see him so that she could thank him for his help. He was the only one who besides their father had even tried to help them escape. People were taking lots of Photographs and videos, of them both on Cameras and phones.

"Looking for Byron?" Morgan murmured, only loud enough for the three of them to hear her.

"Yeah, I wanted to thank him for his help. He was the only person beside our dad that even bothered to try to help us." Lorelei tried to justify her reasons for wanting to see the tan skinned, blond haired, blue-eyed, surfer.

"You have a crush on him don't you?" Wayson said quietly.

The three of them took their usual booth for their group. Without the others though there it felt wrong somehow. They should all be there together in their booth, at their café. They should be hanging out, and laughing there together. Those days were gone now though. Everything had changed and they were sure that it was definitely NOT for the better.

"Of course not." Lorelei shot back. "I thought I made it clear in the interview earlier." She sat across from her twin brother while Morgan sat right next to him.

"It's okay to like someone else." Morgan told her. "Kris was a jerk."

"Yeah, I have to say that I approve sis." Wayson responded. "He seems like a decent guy, unlike Kris. I always had a bad feeling about that guy."

"And you were right." Lorelei said bitterly.

Wayson gave his sister a sympathetic look. "I really wish I wasn't though."

"It's fine." Lorelei responded. "Sometimes bad things happen and there's nothing we can do about it."

"That was from the Lion King wasn't it?" Morgan said with an amused smile.

"Yep, Charlotte said the same thing to me this morning." Lorelei then frowned. "Well she said the quote to me and I asked if she had quoted The Lion King."

The two of them smiled. "And I don't like Byron. At least not the way you're implying." She quickly added.

Her brother and his girlfriend both gave her looks that clearly said that they weren't buying it.

The twins had gotten a call from their father who had been visited by one of the members of the merman council, who also happened to be an old friend. Dylan called Max and put them on speaker. He explained everything that Bahari had told him.

Silence followed his speech. They all adamantly refused to leave their families and friends behind. Dylan sighed in response. "I figured that you all would probably say that. If you change your mind though let me know before this week is over that's when Bahari will be back to escort any unexposed merpeople to the pod."

Once Morgan, Wayson, and Lorelei returned from their outing, thankfully without any incidents, they all gathered around in the sitting room.

Will, Bella and Sophie sat on the couch with the twins. Max and Mrs. Chatham sat in the two arm chairs. The rest of them were either sitting on the floor or leaning against one of the walls.

Lewis knelt on one knee in front of Cleo suddenly.

"Cleo Setori, you are the love of my life. Ever since I first met you, I knew you were the one." Cleo covered her mouth and started in disbelief at what was happening. "Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" Lewis pulled out a box with a moon crystal set in the engagement ring.

"Yes, YES!" She shouted in pure happiness. They all cheered when she accepted.

"Looks like now we have two weddings to plan." Will pointed out.

"I guess so." Ash replied.

They all decided to celebrate the occasion with some sparkling cider, and some snacks.

Rikki had chosen Bella, Emma, and Cleo as her maids of honor. She asked Morgan, Jessie, Lorelei, and Charlotte to be her brides maids.

"I thought there were only supposed to be one maid of honor and three brides maids?" Wayson frowned confused.

"Yeah, well I'm doing it differently." Rikki said.

"Same here." Zane replied. "I'd like Will, Ash, and Lewis to be my best men, and Wayson, David, Derek, and Byron to be my groomsmen."

Lorelei looked up at the mention of the surfer's name. "Byron?" she questioned.

"Yeah, that's not a problem is it?" Zane asked.

"No, not at all." She assured him. "I've been meaning to thank him for helping Wayson and I when we were exposed."

"So, first Emma will walk down the isle with Ash, followed by Cleo and Lewis, and then Bella and Will." Rikki began.

"Then Byron and Lorelei will walk down the isle." Zane continued.

Lorelei did a spit take. "Excuse me?"

The others looked confused by her reaction except for Wayson and Morgan. "She's developing a bit of a crush on Byron." Morgan explained.

"I am not!" Lorelei protested.

"She is, don't listen to her." Wayson smirked. "She just doesn't know it yet."

She shot a glare at him before Zane continued. "Alright, anyways, after Lorelei and Byron, will be Wayson and Morgan, then Jessie and Derek, and Charlotte and David."

"So who else are you guys inviting?"

"Well, Nate, my dad and Rikki's father." Zane said.

"As well as Mr. Setori, and Sam, Emma's parents and younger brother Elliott, Mrs. Chatham and Max, Sophie..."

She looked shocked at the revelation. "What? But I thought you hated me."

"I don't." Rikki said. "I may not like you very much but I don't hate you."

"Then why are you inviting me to your wedding?"

"I think that everyone deserves a second chance. This is yours Sophie." Rikki said. "Don't waste it."

Her eyes lit up in happiness. "I won't, I promise."

"And David and Derek's mom and Dad, Charlotte's mom, Maybe Bella's parents... if that's okay with you?" Rikki said.

"It's fine." Bella said curtly.

"And I'd like it if you would sing for the wedding as well Bella, along with the other girls." Rikki requested. "And maybe the band?"

"I'd love to." Bella said, "I'll call the guys right now to ask them." She went off into the next room to talk to them.

She came back a moment later saying that they had agreed; but that they wanted to have a band meeting.

"What for?" Will asked.

"We haven't practiced in a month. I've been AWOL because of this whole situation." Bella explained. "They want to know why."

"Make up something then." Morgan suggested.

"I can't just lie to them!" Bella protested.

"You have to Bella." Emma told her.

"I hate lying to the guys."

"If you tell them Bella." Cleo began, "They'll link you to us and then they'll know."

"But I can trust them." Bella said. "I know that they'll keep the secret safe."

"We don't know that for sure Bella." Ash responded.

"I'll keep you guys out of it." She told them. "I'll tell them that it's just me."

They all glanced at each other. "Bella, you can't." Will pleaded.

"How about we take a vote?" Lewis suggested. "All opposed?" Everyone raised their hands except for Bella.

She shot them a glare before storming off. Will and Sophie ran after her to make sure she didn't do anything rash.

Author's notes; Clewis wedding plans will be coming up soon, plus their going back to college for their classes. I know the proposal sucked and wasn't that well written, but as I've never witnesses a proposal (or been proposed to) I'm not really sure how it goes other than the kneeling and presenting a ring and asking the other person to marry them.