Zane closed his eyes as the water dripped down his face and over his shoulders. He panted as he forced himself to look at Sophie, who was watching with wide eyes.
"Nothing's happening." Sophie immediately felt angry with herself for falling for their distraction. She rolled her eyes, landing them with laser-like directness at Zane. "I'm going to the café, asshole. You guys hear that?" She raised her voice, yelling around the corner. "I'm going to the café now!" She spun on her heel and stalked toward the door.
"Sophie-" She heard Zane call from behind her, his voice strained.
"What?" She hissed, shooting him one more scornful glance back at him as she paused.
Zane could feel it starting, the tingling at his waist that signaled the change. He groaned as he fell backwards to the floor, catching himself hard with this wrists.
Sophie's mouth dropped open as she watched Zane changing. His legs melded together, the scales that now covered them reflecting the light off the kitchen walls. His lower half seemed to stretch and fill out somehow as what used to be his feet flared out into a large gossamer double fin. "Holy shit." She breathed. "You're... you're-"
"A merman." Zane propped himself up on his hands tiredly, though he couldn't look away from Sophie. "I told you."
"Yes you did." Sophie was looking at him with new eyes as she walked slowly over to kneel in front of Zane. "Does it hurt?" She couldn't take her eyes off of the fin.
"It used to feel really weird." Zane didn't have enough energy to lie. "But now it feels... good., I guess."
Sophie looked up at him, taking a few seconds before speaking. "You're the mermaid."
"Merman." Zane breathed.
"Merman." Sophie's eyes were tracing over every inch of Zane's body, making him feel more than a little exposed. "In...credible." She held a hand out over his scales. "Can I?
Zane nodded, waiting as Sophie lightly ran her fingers over his fin.
"It's real." Sophie wasn't sure if she was speaking to Zane or herself. She could feel Zane's muscles controlling the tail, there was no way this was a costume. She traced her fingers over the glistening area where Zane's scales melded back into tanned skin, feeling how seamless it was. She pulled her hand back, suddenly aware of the face that her hand was resting on his hip. There was no way he was faking. She just couldn't believe it.
Zane steeled himself. He was already this far into this, he might as well see it through. Clearing his throat, he balanced himself on one hand so that he could hold the other out over himself. "Back up, I'll show you the rest." He waited for Sophie to scramble backwards before clenching his fist to steam the water off of himself.
"Whoa..." Sophie watched, mesmerized as the steam floated up towards the ceiling and away from Zane. "You didn't say you had powers too."
"That's the only one." Zane winced slightly as his legs reappeared, leaving him sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him. He stood, brushing off his pants as he turned to face Sophie.
"It's so cool, though." Sophie wasn't sure she'd blinked once in the minutes since Zane had transformed. She nodded her head towards the back door. "I mean, Zane..." She paced as she spoke. "This is just incredible." She shot him a look, gleam shimmering in her eye. "So.. any chance you want to... show me in action?"
Zane's eyes flickered to the back windows that overlooked his pool. The pool had a privacy fence, and it was nighttime. Plus, even if he hated the circumstances, a swim would be great on this stress-filled night. He cast a wary glare at Sophie. "No cameras."
Sophie held her hands up in surrender, her face honest and somehow younger-looking. "I swear. I just want to see."
Zane wordlessly walked out the back door and down the steps, feeling slightly excited in spite of himself. Sophie followed close behind, almost bumping into him when he stopped at the pool's edge.
"You're going to get splashed." Zane nodded moodily toward a chair further back from the water.
"I don't care." Sophie dropped down to sit at the pool's edge, leaning her elbows forward on her knees for a close, clear look at the water.
Zane didn't look at her as he pushed off the deck, slicing into the black water. He stayed near the surface so that Sophie could see the transformation easily. As it completed he allowed himself a few seconds to sink down into the cool, giving his tail a few powerful flips around the pool before surfacing and looking toward Sophie, who hadn't moved a muscle. Zane warily swam up to her, propping himself up on her elbows at the pool's edge. His eyes slid up to hers, waiting for her to say something. He lifted a shoulder impatiently. "Well?"
Sophie paused, looking at Zane dead in the eye before taking in a breath to continue. "Thank you for telling me." She said, her voice hitting a tone Zane wasn't sure he'd ever heard from her. "You can trust me."
Zane opened his mouth automatically to respond, but closed it, confused. He was more than a little caught off-guard by Sophie's words.
"It's just." Sophie continued, looking down at her knees as she spoke. "I... don't have many friends."
Zane didn't know what to say to that; she wasn't wrong. "What does that have to do with-"
"I just want you to know that I'm really glad you trusted me with this." Sophie rarely let down her mask of cockiness; it made her feel too vulnerable to be comfortable. "It means a lot to me. I..." She took a deep breath, extending a hand to Zane. "I won't let you down."
Zane took her warm hand in his cool one and shook it, momentarily at a loss for what to say. He'd prepared himself for Sophie to react in several different ways, but nothing he'd readied himself for had included this. He cleared his throat, forcing strength back into his voice as he steeled his face. "Now let's talk terms." He kept his voice firm, unwavering as he tried to sound powerful.
"Terms?" Sophie's expression was blank as she blinked at him. "Terms of what?"
Zane raised an eyebrow. "The terms of me going public, Sophie."
"I'd forgotten all about that." Sophie exhaled. She was speaking the truth. She was too in shock to think coherently at the moment; her head felt too... full somehow.
Both of them jumped as the back door flew open, casting a beam of light on the pair. Rikki ran outside, eyes searching desperately for Zane's.
"Oh my god." Her hand flew to her mouth as the words escaped. She was looking at Zane in a way she never had before, feeling an overwhelming wash of emotions hit her like a brick. "Zane..." She barely whispered the name as her terrified eyes cut to Sophie.
"Rikki-" Zane immediately braced his hands on the edge of the pool to pull himself out. Sophie jumped to her feet, backing up slightly as she watched Lewis, Cleo, and Bella run outside as well as Zane began steaming water from his skin.
Cleo gasped loudly when she saw Zane transform back into a man in front of Sophie, who was watching him with the widest eyes she'd ever seen.
"What have you done?" Lewis's voice was quietly terrifying as he stood in front of a panting Zane.
"It's ok." Zane could only look at Rikki. He felt depleted, small as he raised his hands to address the group. He knew that there was nothing he could say to make this alright. He'd made a huge decision on his own and without talking to a single one of his friends about it. A hollowness gutted him as he looked at the betrayal in everyone's eyes. He took a long breath, holding it before powering ahead. "Sophie knows, guys." He allowed his eyes to flicker to Bella and Cleo, who were still standing frozen just inside the gate. Bella appeared to be holding back tears as she balled and unballed her fists. "And she knows that you all know about me." He spoke calmly, clearly. At least the years he'd spent speaking at his dad's meetings had been good for something. "That you all know what I am. We can stop lying to each other now."
The group was silent as they walked inside the house. Zane poured himself a tall glass of whiskey, which was immediately plucked out of his hand by Sophie, who downed it before dropping onto the couch.
"You." Rikki stalked past her boyfriend, jabbing a finger in his direction before flicking it towards the stairs. "Now."
The room was silent as Zane followed Rikki. Sophie was the only one who didn't seem angry, but she also didn't seem like herself as she eagerly looked from person to person, clearly wanting someone to say something.
Zane knew he had to face her, and it terrified him. Mentally, he reviewed each of his reasons for doing this, though now they each seemed somewhat empty. Rikki slammed the door behind them, whipping around to face him.
"What the fuck, Zane?" She crossed her arms tightly over her chest. It rose and fell violently as she breathed hard, her eyes burning.
"I couldn't tell you." Zane launched right in, but gently. "I'm sorry-"
"You're sorry?" Rikki's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. "You think that after just coming right out and telling Sophie what you are you get to say sorry?"
"Rikki please, just let me explain-" Zane pleaded, reaching for her arm.
Rikki pulled away from him roughly, stalking to the other side of the room. "What could you possibly have to say for yourself?" Rikki felt breathless with anger as she glared at Zane. She'd been mad at him plenty of times in the past, but this was different. Worse.
"I can't explain it." He shook his head wearily, using all of his strength to look at Rikki in the eye. "I just felt... obligated. I had to do it. I wanted to do it for the group."
"But we had a plan, we knew what we were doing-" Rikki walked toward him, her emotions almost making her shake.
"For how long though?" Zane raised his voice slightly. "Forever? When Sophie wants something she doesn't give up; she would have found out about Bella eventually. This way, she will stop looking. She found me. Plus." He shook his head tersely. "She did tell me she had proof-"
Rikki raised her voice momentarily before dropping back, though her anger was clear and raging. "We don't just give up, Zane. We figure things out. Together."
"You're not listening to me-" Zane held up his hands as Rikki shot daggers with her eyes at his words. "She had proof, Rikki. She had photos from her damn cameras."
"You saw her pictures? She did have proof?" Rikki had suspected as much, but it was still painful to hear out loud.
"And video." Zane let out a long exhale, the gravity of his situation beginning to feel very real.
Rikki clenched her jaw, shaking her head before opening her mouth to continue. "And she got you-"
"The night I swam home from the café." Zane finished for her. "I think that's when I knew I was going to tell her. When Will told us we didn't know where her cameras were. I just knew."
"I think I did too." Rikki felt her anger transitioning from raging orange flames to a hotter but somehow calmer blue scorch. She dropped her arms, looking at Zane with dead eyes. "But you had no right to do what you did, Zane. This isn't how we do things, we never have."
"Oh come on, that's hardly true." Zane couldn't help himself, though he knew he shouldn't be speaking. "When we got together you didn't tell the others."
Rikki swallowed, a quiet anger building up in her voice as she spoke. "The fact that you're comparing my not telling the girls about dating you to your fucking telling our goddamn enemy our biggest secret is incredible, Zane. Do you even realize that?"
"But I didn't tell her about you or the others." Zane said quickly, desperately willing Rikki to listen to him. "I only told her about me."
"That's what you just don't understand, Zane." Rikki shook her head as deep sadness began to creep into her chest. "We are all in this together. Your secret? It is our secret. Because no matter how much you try to reject it, we're not going anywhere."
It was the first time Zane had ever heard those words, and he hated that he couldn't fall into Rikki's arms right at that moment. So much had changed so quickly. Somehow, standing with Rikki in his bedroom made him feel comfortable, familiar, despite the situation. Hesitantly, he walked up behind her, waiting for her to turn to face him before closing the rest of the distance between them. He took her hands in his, gently rubbing his thumb over the knuckle of her left hand before speaking quietly. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you."
"I just wish you'd gotten to be a merman back when it was fun." Rikki felt exhausted as she looked at Zane, sadness clear in her eyes. "You would have loved it."
"I believe you." Zane rested his head on hers, closing his eyes for a moment.
"You can't do this anymore, Zane." Rikki hoped that for once Zane was listening to her. "You're not being careful enough."
"I'm trying." Zane said weakly.
"No, you're not." Rikki answered surprisingly firmly, lifting her head to meet his eyes. You've been a merman for six weeks, Zane. Six. And now both Nate and-" She swallowed hard before continuing. "Sophie know about you."
"C'mon, though, Rik." Zane stepped back slightly, his natural defensiveness bristling. "I have been trying, it's not like I knew Sophie would get pictures of me-"
"You fucking told her, Zane." Rikki didn't want to keep fighting, but she simply couldn't understand how Zane could defend his actions. "You let the secret get out-"
"You girls did the same thing, you know." Zane wanted to stop the biting words from escaping his mouth, but they poured out. "You got caught by Denman the exact same way, just like you said." He hated himself instantly as Rikki's face became livid.
"Fuck you."
Zane didn't move as Rikki brushed past him and out the bedroom door. He heard his front door slam. Through the window, he watched Rikki march down the drive and off into the night. He didn't blame her. At that moment, he hated himself.
It was several minutes before Zane could work up the courage to walk downstairs and face the rest of the people he hoped were still willing to be his friends. He took the stairs down slowly, only daring to look up after he realized that no one was paying any attention to him. No one was even in the living room.
He frowned, following the chattering voices that were coming from his kitchen. He stood in the doorway, crossing his arms as he took in the scene in front of him.
Everyone had helped themselves to his fridge and had congregated at his kitchen table. Lewis had a can of beer in one hand and a half-eaten sandwich in the other. Both Cleo and Bella were elbow deep in the chips, and Sophie was on the phone.
"Yes, make that 3 large pepperoni pizzas." Her eyes darted to Zane's as he walked into the kitchen. "Thanks." Sophie made a dumb, guilty face as she set the phone down. "Sorry man, we were just down here waiting for Rikki to finish reaming you out and we realized we were all starving."
"She's not lying." Lewis spoke with a mouthful of sandwich. "You want anything?"
Zane paused for a moment, unsure of how to act. The atmosphere in the room was... casual? "Yeah." He shook himself out of it, walking toward the refrigerator to grab a beer, which he took a long pull from before taking a seat next to Lewis at the table. His eyes flickered to Sophie, who was actually smiling as she talked to Bella and Cleo. The three laughed at something Bella had said, almost appearing like they were getting along. What in the world was going on?
"Oh stop, now." Sophie's teasing voice carried over the others as she turned her attention to Zane. "So settle a bet." It was so rare to see her smile like this, not just smirk. "Do you, like, transform when you cry? That's water, right?"
"Yeah, but not real water." Cleo put in. "Tell us, Zane." She gave him a cool-but-getting-warmer look as she propped her head on her hand expectantly.
"What?" Zane tilted his head to one side. "Why are you guys talking about that?"
"We're just so fascinated by it all, Zane." Bella's tone was mockingly sweet, though her eyes glistened with mischief. "Got an answer?"
"When was the last time you saw me cry?" Zane couldn't keep his normal cockiness out of his voice. Whatever was going on, he was more than willing to go along with it.
"Ok then, sweat, Mr. Macho." Sophie elbowed Cleo as she rolled her eyes.
"No." Zane grinned back, shaking his head. "It has to be water water."
"Fascinating, Ariel." Cleo swatted at Zane's shoulder as she walked back to the refrigerator to refresh her drink.
"So Rikki's pretty mad at you, huh?" Sophie leaned forward on her elbows, cocking her head at Zane.
"That's one way of putting it." Zane's fight with Rikki came crashing back; he squeezed his eyes shut as he took a deep breath. "She's pretty raging."
"I don't blame her." Sophie sat back, crossing one leg over the other. "I mean, things are going to be so much different after you go public. Everything's going to change."
"What's changing?" Lewis looked up from his phone.
"Well, things will be different once Zane tells everyone what he is." Sophie lifted an dropped a shoulder. "Obviously."
Lewis choked, warranting a smack on the back from Cleo before he could speak again. "He what?" He stood, leaning forward with his hands on the table. He didn't speak angrily, but he was firm. "You can't do that to him, Sophie. Please." He looked to the rest of the group, the majority of which was already voicing agreement.
"It's not me, guys." Sophie also jumped to her feet, holding her hands out in defense as she turned to point at Zane, who had not moved from his seat. "He told me he wanted to."
"Is that true?" Bella frowned as she turned to Zane. "You told her you wanted to tell the world your secret?"
Zane felt every eye in the room land on him. "I... I did. I knew that Sophie wanted to, uh, represent a mermaid, and-" He shrugged nonchalantly. "I guess I'm the next best thing, you know?" He cleared his throat as Sophie giggled and sat back down, already ready to jump into another topic of conversation.
"So I was thinking, that when Zane decides he's ready to come out-" She began.
"Do we have to call it that?" Zane raised an eyebrow, finishing his beer.
"-When he's ready to expose himself-" Sophie taunted him as he choked on his new drink. "-We can handle it one of two ways." She ticked the items off one by one. "One, we can do it little by little. You know, tell a scientist, write a paper, do a study, let it trickle out. Or, two." She paused for a long sip before continuing. "We just do it on live tv or something; let the world know all at once." She flipped her eyes towards Zane's. "Which do you prefer?"
"Actually, Sophie..." Zane felt a pang of nerves return as he formulated his question. "Is it ok if we, maybe, held off for a bit? I still want to go public." He added quickly, hoping she'd hear him out. "Don't worry, you'll get what you want, but do you think we could adjust to this new... relationship... before we do that?"
"Sure." Sophie surprised even herself at how quickly she answered the question. What surprised her even more was that she meant it. "I mean," She composed herself. "Yeah, take your time. We'll get the ball rolling whenever you're ready. In the meantime..." She looked to the others, feeling suddenly out of place as they all stared back at her. She frowned, tilting her head to one side. "Where is my brother?" A bitterness was evident in her voice. "I know he knows about this." She mentally shook herself, pushing down the feelings of betrayal.
"He's not welcome here anymore." Zane surprised Sophie with his harsh tone.
She widened her eyes, noting that no one else jumped to Will's defense. "Alright then." She shrugged, hoping the tone in the room would lighten once more. After several seconds of awkward silence she let out an audible exhale, checking the time as she hopped to her feet. "You know, I'm actually going to head out-"
"Sophie-" Zane cut her off. "Do you think, now that you know, you might be willing to turn off the cameras? Take them back?" He spoke tightly. "You'll get to take plenty of pictures, better ones. Someone could hack that data and steal it; we don't want anyone exposing this secret before we do."
"As I was literally just saying..." Sophie slung her bag over her shoulder, flashing a smile at the table. "I'm going to go home and dismantle. Wouldn't want anyone else getting a look at Gills, here." She smirked as she walked toward the door, turning back one more time to face the group. "I'm not going to say anything, ok? Not until you're ready." She had so much more she wanted to say, but she forced herself to simply wave goodbye before disappearing through the door.
"Zane, can I talk to you?" Bella appeared at his elbow, gesturing to the other room. She had a troubled look on her face. They wouldn't be missed, Cleo and Lewis were already in deep discussion over the events of the night.
"Of course." Zane followed her into the living room, a few steps away from the kitchen. In truth, he was exhausted from talking, but he knew he owed the girls an explanation at least.
Bella looked Zane dead in the eye before opening her mouth to speak. "Did you do this for me?" She didn't waste any time; the question had been gnawing at her since she'd seen what he'd done.
"Yeah." Zane had a hard time maintaining her gaze, though he wasn't sure why. "I did."
Bella let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding as tears she'd been holding back for an hour came spilling out. "Why?" She kept her face strong though inside she felt like she was crumbling somehow.
"Because of what happened." Zane lifted a shoulder slightly as he looked for the right words. "You know."
"I do." Bella didn't know how she'd ever forget it. Just over a month ago, when the boys had accidentally switched into mermen, leaving the girls human because of an ill-timed kiss. Will had told Rikki he loved her, and because of his love for her when they'd switched back Bella's power had been changed forever. It was still a big adjustment for her, though she wasn't going to pretend she didn't enjoy the convenience of being able to instantly dry herself. "And that sucked, Zane. But that wasn't your fault. What does that have to do with this?"
"You just don't deserve to have to deal with anything else." Zane said simply, letting the words come easily. "You've had your share of shit this year, Bella." He reached for her shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "We're going to get through this, ok? And not you, not Rikki, not Cleo, no one else gets exposed. Just me." He nodded, confidence returning to both his head and his voice. "I can handle it."
Bella couldn't help but smile at his swagger, though she hoped it wasn't just empty optimism. She laughed as she fell into Zane's arms, hugging him to her tightly. "Thank you." She breathed, unable to think of anything she could say that would adequately convey what she was feeling. "Thank you so much."
"You're welcome." Frozen for just a second, Zane allowed himself to relax a bit and accept her gratitude, hugging her back. For the first time, he knew without a doubt that he'd made the right decision. Every uncertainty he'd had was washed away as his friend held him tightly.
"She apologized to me, you know." Bella pulled back, wiping mascara from under her eyes. "Before you came downstairs. It was really strange, she actually sounded like she meant it. Said she was sorry for terrorizing me. Is it actually possible that she won't turn into her usual brand of tyrant? And I actually think she likes the fact that we're all mad at Will; she is too. But anyway." She grinned briefly. "Let's go see what the rest of the family is arguing about." She turned back towards Cleo and Lewis.
"Yeah." Zane smiled in spite of himself. "Let's."