AN: I just want to apologize for me taking so long to post this! I've had this written for a couple of days now, but I got a bit busy with school and work, but I'm here to post this for you now! I love all of the feedback that I've been getting and I really, really appreciate all of it! What do you guys think of Zac and Lyla? I ship it (;

"I bet Cam did this on purpose," Lyla nearly shouted as she walked in circles around Zac's coffee table, her fingers twisting this way and that way, as if they were mirroring Lyla's ability to make such simple things so much more complex than they actually were. "I bet he's trying to expose us because he's…because he's jealous! Because he's angry that he can't be one of us!"

"I'm not so sure about that, Lyla," Zac replied. His tan face mirrored his thoughts as his lips thinned into a straight line. He was trying to think. "I've known Cam all my life and even if he was jealous or angry, I don't think he would have tried to expose us."

"He tried to become one of us!" Lyla's temper was getting the best of her today. Even the weather seemed to know how the mermaid felt. "Now that he's failed at that, all he has left to do is expose us!"

Zac only shook his head and Nixie and Sirena – the two always seemed to fade into the background whenever Zac and Lyla were together – merely looked at each other, unsure of what to believe.

"Well, I mean, did you ever think that Cam would try something like becoming a merman like you?" asked Sirena meekly. Sirena had always been a bit quieter than the other two, but today it was almost as if Nixie wasn't there at all. Sirena tossed her innocent look at Zac and he sighed deeply, unsure of what to say, really.

"I think that I'm going to go for a walk," he replied, getting up from the couch where he had been sitting, which caused Nixie to drop Zac's toy action figure, startled by his irrational idea.

"Are you out of your mind?" she asked, her brows rose in surprise. Although Nixie had been relatively quiet throughout Lyla and Zac's little spout, there was almost nothing she cared more about than keeping her secret – their secret – from the knowledge of the public. She narrowed her eyes at him, almost accusatory. "And risk exposure?"

"It'll only be for a second," said Zac meekly as he combed his fingers through his hair. They all stared at each other for a moment before Zac grabbed his jacket and dashed through the door. Lyla, Sirena, and Nixie knew all too well how it felt to lose someone that they were once all so close to. It was difficult to come to grips with, and it was something that nobody ever wanted to deal with.

"He's been through a lot," whispered Lyla. Her voice had gone soft and her eyes trailed after him as the door shut behind him. For once, Lyla sounded tired and defeated.

"Zac's a friend now, Lyla, but if he exposes himself, he's exposing us, and there's nothing that we'll be able to do to fix any errors that he makes," Nixie breathed in disbelief. She felt Zac's pain, but she did not want to deal with his stupidity as well. Sirena glanced uncertainly between her two best friends and almost grimaced. They always fought and it always hurt her to see them both on the opposite side of the spectrum all of the time.

"You know, it's funny that you're the one talking about Zac risking exposure when there was someone else in this room that almost blew it for all of us!" Lyla heaved, her bright eyes darkening as she cast Nixie a look.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nixie was taken aback by Lyla being so accusatory.

"Guys, please, just settle down. It's not worth fighting now! It's all in the past!" Sirena pleaded, her pale eyes becoming glassy and her face contorting with worry.

"How can I settle down when every two seconds Nixie's trying to make me believe that we shouldn't trust Zac when Nixie was the one who almost exposed all of us with her rash decision to let Cam have the trident after Zac put it back?" Lyla was furious and it was like nothing Nixie had ever seen before. The air was so thick one could have cut it with a knife if they tried.

"I thought it would be the best dec—"

"You weren't even thinking, Nixie!" Lyla laughed. She could not believe that Nixie would be so thick.

Normally, Nixie would have been the most rational of the three mermaids. She would have come up with all of the clever plans and come and save the day like she always did — or liked to think that she did — and normally she would have had a witty comeback with plenty of sass to knock Lyla off her haughty pedestal, but so far, today hadn't been normal. Not in the least.

"I'm leaving."

Nixie did not bother to angle her body as to avoid collision with Lyla's bony shoulder as she made her way out of Zac's place. Despite having called Zac out for wanting to leave before, Nixie could not have bared to stay another minute with Lyla trying to pin everything on her. It could not have been her fault. Nixie was feeling bitter and resentful and unforgiving. She decided that she would not be the one that would apologize first. She was hurt and wasn't she already hurt enough?

The sky was darkening and the clouds were beginning to cover the sky. A storm was coming and there would be no way to escape it. Ms. Santos said that it would not have even been safe for a mermaid — or merman — to try to swim in it, unless they were tucked safely away in their moon pool or so deep in the ocean that their magic could protect them, but the three of them had not been strong enough for that yet. Nixie no longer knew where she was going. She just knew that she had to keep on walking far away from Lyla and her judgmental stare.

The bouncing of a small tennis ball against a solid, hollow wall and a firm, wooden floor could be heard as one entered the home room of a boy who made a lot of mistakes — more than was normal, he was sure.

"You know what's weird, Arty?" breathed Cam, speaking to his ever-playful boxer puppy as he tossed the tennis ball against the walls of his room. Cam glanced at his dog and frowned. "Sometimes I think that I should really think some of these things through."

His parents had been grateful that Cam brought home dinner for them, though his mother insisted that he sit down with the rest of the family and eat her tomato soup, which was kind of her ritual to ward away sickness whenever a big storm was coming. Cam usually got a cold anyway. But there he sat at the mahogany table with a half-smile, half-smirk played on his lips, despite how forced they might have appeared. He wasn't feeling up to spending dinner with his family, but he quickly made an excuse to leave the table to get back to his room and throw his tennis balls and talk to his dog, despite him not understanding a word he said.

"I feel guilty for it," said Cam as he laid against his navy blue and white pillows. He rested the back of his head on his arm and leaned shut his eyes. The rain was beginning to pelt against the glass panes of his window and all he could think of was the girl he used, manipulated, and let down. "I don't want to tell them that I'm wrong because that makes me look weak, but it also makes me look like I know what I did wrong. I just…it's all still pretty awkward, if you ask me."

Cam shook his head, clearly flustered, before sighing heavily at being unable to make a decision. He let his thoughts wander — he probably should not have let that happen — and a girl with beautiful dark locks and plump pink lips came to mind. It was not what he should have been thinking about and he quickly tried to change his thoughts. He turned to face his boxer.

"She's still pretty, Arty."

"Cam!" his mother shouted from the next room.

"Yeah, mom?" Cam replied unenthusiastically.

"Go get some broth from the shed!"

Cam sighed, but reluctantly complied. The rain was falling harder now, so he yanked his clear, plastic umbrella from his closet and made his way down the stairs and towards the family shed.

"Oh no."

Nixie's eyes were wide with horror and disbelief at her stupidity. She wandered far from Zac's place and she had no idea where she was or which road she took to get there. Nixie had been far too focused on the fight she had with Lyla and wondering if Sirena had taken her side and where Zac had been and why Cam used those tactics to get her to walk right into his hands like some sort of stupid land girl.

And what was worse?

It was beginning to rain. Nixie saw the first drop fall onto her jacket and quickly dashed into a small, blue shed that was beside the trashcans of someone's home in a nice little suburban neighborhood. Hopefully nobody would see her as she forced open the door and entered the dimly lit space.

"It's better than nothing, I suppose," Nixie said to herself and she made herself comfortable on a soft bag of soil and allowed cradled her arms. It was beginning to get cold and Nixie had no idea how long it would be. She looked around and saw plenty of gardening tools. Had Ms. Santos not told her about her hobby of gardening, Nixie would have thought this as the shed of murder weapons. It still could have been. However, Nixie also spotted cans of food that could be edible, though she had no idea how she would open a can.

The storm was beginning to drop rain like little bombs and Nixie was careful not to get wet and she forced the doorway shut and backed away from anywhere where a drop of water might get through. Nixie went so far as to pull the plastic tarp over her head in case she was going to get wet. She allowed her head to fall against the wooden panels of the walls, but quickly became panicked as she heard footsteps approaching.

Maybe they aren't coming towards me, she thought. Maybe they're not coming to the shed. Stay still just in case.

But the doors of the shed were thrust open as thunder boomed all around and Nixie jumped, nearly causing the plastic tarp to fly off of her. She heard footsteps approaching and grabbing cans from the wall that she just perched her head upon. The stranger was so close to her because the shed was small and Nixie could feel her heart beating in her chest. The person did not seem to notice her hiding under the tarp, most likely because of the dim light. They walked away and she heard the doors of the shed closing softly. She breathed a sigh of relief, but it was not long before the tarp was torn off of her and she met a pair of blue eyes and tanned, white skin.

"Were you reading my mind?" he asked.

It was Cam.

K. So. It will be better soon, I promise! This was more of a filler for later! I'm pretty sure that there's going to be a season two of Mako Mermaids from the research me and countless others have already done! Please leave me some feedback on my work!

TELL ME:

What's the pairing you're looking forward to most in the Netflix series?