The Little Merman: Book One

Chapter 9

"Aries? You in there? Aries, I'm sorry! Just...just put a towel on and come out here. I'll be outside the door..."

My grip loosens on the gun at Jacob's voice, the object sinking to the bottom of the faucet with a loud metal on metal clash.

"Aries?!"

"The curtain fell!" I scream back, rushing to stop the blood flowing freely from my wrist. Down not across. Plan B doesn't sound all that appealing right now as it did an hour ago. With Jacob's constant reminders outside the thick wooden door my mind clears, the pain swimming up my arm like salmon as I press down harder with a cloth, begging for a distraction from the bloody floor.

There's a light knock, Jacob's weight causing the door to creak as he leans against it. "Aries, are you alright in there?"

"Perfect!"

"Why are the lights off?" I can practically hear the arm fold in his tone, the raise of an eyebrow and playful rise of the lip as if already knowing I'd done something. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"You're interrupting my shower!"

He lets out a light groan. If only he knew... "Hurry up! Becca is waiting for us!"

Becca. I reach for the gun, swapping it with the soaked cloth and holding it to myself without hesitation. If I'm going to die it should be at my own hands and no one else's.

Tears have spontaneously started to fall, my chest rising and falling with each painfully dry breath. "No!"

"What? Aries, what's going on?! Open the door!" There's a hint of panic in his words, Jacob knocking against the door quicker, his hands barely leaving the wood before they slam back against it. "Aries! Please! Just open the door!" But his voice is drowned out by my cries and the clicking of a safety lock, the noise traveling through to the other side. "Aries! Please don't! Please! Aries, lets just talk for a minute alright? Put down the gun and just talk." He's already calm, breath slowing as he gently tries the knob again.

And my guard is broken. "J-Jacob..." I'm a snot-ridden mess, dried tears crusting in the corners of my eyes, a sensation I've never felt before and could of gone my whole life without knowing.

"Can I come in? I think I may know what this is about." Reluctantly, I force my legs to carry me to the door, pulling the chair from the knob and yanking Jacob inside by his arm. He reaches for the lights but not before swiftly placing the gun behind him out of my sight and grasp.

"No, you don't."

"This about what happened at the beach...when I kissed you."

I stare at the floor, moving away when he reaches for my hand. I don't want or need his sympathy and the hurt on his face shows. "Actually it isn't." The venom oozes off my tongue but Jacob pretends not to notice, making a grab at my arm instead and applying the much needed pressure.

"Then it's about when you said you loved me."

With a hasty jerk my arm is free from his restraints but he pulls me into a tight hug, my body pressed flat against his as he smooths back my reddish hair, gathering it all to the very back. Jacob tilts my head up by the chin, our eyes meeting briefly until I choose to focus on the wall length mirror behind him. "Maybe." I growl though a small part of me begins to smile despite the growing pain in my arm and throbbing headache.

"Please don't kill yourself...Aries I know that it might be hard but it isn't the end of the world-"

"Yes, it is!" Jacob's eyes widen the slightest as I push past him, nearly slipping on my own blood as I exit the bathroom and sprint down the hall to my own room.

Caspian lays stomach up on the bed, legs draped over the edge as if he still had fins. He sits up at the sound of the door, an instant frown settling over his lips when he takes me in. "Aries..." It's only a light sigh but it speaks a thousand words., Caspian jumping from the bed to grab a nearby glass of water.

"I'm going to die anyways."

"That doesn't mean it has to be soon." With a steady hand he pours the contents over the bloody wounds, my skin slowly pulling from both ends to connect cleanly in the middle.

As I watch the skin mend on it's own I'm distracted by the white cloth over my hand, a reminder of the beach, the burn, the kiss. "Why is it working fine now?"

"I 'Googled' it or so the humans say." Caspian chuckles under his breath, the contagious laughter spreading through me until I'm bubbling at the brims with it. "Burns aren't open wounds so the water couldn't go into your body and heal you." The laughter soon dies down, familiar wrinkles rising to the surface of his skin in between his eyebrows. "You could've died, Aries." His voice is empty, a hollow void of emotion as he wipes the back of his hand underneath his eyes. "Never again."

I search my mind for the right words to say but come up empty, just blank stares his way as he drags the water down my arm, red staining the ground with each minuscule pour. The door flies open, Caspian dropping the glass where it shatters against the floor, my arm half healed and Jacob's eyes wide.

"I-I-" At a loss of words once more, Caspian takes the lead, blocking my body with his own when Jacob takes two trembling steps forward.

"You're Mermen."

"No-"

"Max did that same trick when I skinned my knee...we were five...he said there was no one else..."

"Max?!"

But he ignores my question, continuing to ramble to himself in the wide open doorway. "I always suspected it. The mysterious shipwreck, how you knew nothing about anything here, not even carpets! That weird storm on a perfectly sunny day, how freaked Max got, why you stuck your hand in the fire and all those weird terms you use. Why you're so obsessed with kissing me!"

"I'm not obsessed!"

"This was the witch wasn't it? You sold your soul for some stupid kiss with just any ol' land boy!" I don't know when this turned into a yelling competition, Jacob accusing me of things I've never done and Cas defending me seconds afterwards.

"I didn't want a kiss from any guy I want a kiss from you!" I scream, slamming the door behind him, the force of the impact vibrating and echoing throughout the walls. "True love's first kiss!" Reaching up to wipe away my tears my hand is stopped by Jacob, his lips falling onto mine with such a gentle grace you'd think it was the salt air and not a man who'd brushed so lightly across me.

There's been a silence in the air these past four weeks that's now pierced by our interlocking lips, his hands tangling through my hair until I pull back gasping for breath. Caspian has already left but my cheeks still shine red from embarrassment at the thought of him watching me kiss another boy. Jacob rests his forehead on mine, catching his breath as he gives me a light peck on the nose.

"I love you, Aries."

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Terribly awful chapter but I've been super busy with Black Rose and homework. I wrote this In 30min but will be coming back to fix it because its super rushed. Hope you don't mind too badly!