~Riley's pov~

It's been a few weeks since Tom saved me from the Eel Leviathan. I've started seeing him come closer to the reef. I smile and wave everytime I see him, but he acts like he did something wrong and swims away. It's almost as if he's watching me. It was kinda cute.

And, if I'm being honest with myself, I've started to developed feelings for him.

I invited him to stay in the reef, and to my surprise, he accepted. I show him to a nearby cave and he instantly took a liking to it. It was quiet, dark enough to sleep in, and was away from all the noisy fish. He made himself at home and thanked me for inviting him fo the reef. It made me feel goo to see him so happy.

Later that day

I swam up to my friend, Angel, to hang out and talk. Angel was a beautiful Reef mermaid. Her tail had lovely pink scales that had dark tiger shark stripes. She had long, elegant, fins that flowed behind her as she swam. Any merman would swoon if they saw her.

"Hey, Angel!" I call out to her

She turns around and smiles,

"Hi Riley! Glad you could hang out with me today,"

I swim closer to her and we both just sorta gossip, tell jokes, and play a few games. After a few hours or so, we went up to the surface and laid on some of the smooth rocks to sunbathe. We just lay there and relax in the warm sunlight.

"Hey, Ri. Can I ask you something?" Angel asked.

I look over to her with a lazy smile,

"Anything," I reply.

"Has any Merman caught your eye yet?" She asked.

Oh jeez... what do I say to her?! Do I tell her I like Tom, or should I lie? No, lying is bad. I cant lie to my friend. I take a deep breath and reply to her.

"Uh, w-well, yes. But you have to keep it a secret!"

"Oh, Of course, I understand. So, who's the merman?~"

"Well, its Tom. The Shark merman I invited to the reef"

There was silence for a moment, but Angel broke the silence with a laugh

"Ooh, Riley~ you bad, bad, mermaid, you~ I didnt know you were into that~" she teased.

"W-What?! No, no. It's not like that! It's just that I started having feelings for him ever since he saved me from a leviathan when I was trying to find Luna. He's really sweet and protective and... I think I love him"

Angel sighs and looks at me like a mother would to a child.

"If you really love him, you know what you have to do." Angel explained.

It took me a second to realize what she was talking about. When I did, my face turned red. I slipped back into the water too cool off the nervousness in my stomach. Angel dove in with me and smiled. I look at her with a face full of worry and doubt.

"What if... what if he doesn't accept me?" I say to her.

She takes me by the hand and looks me dead in the eyes.

"If he doesn't accept you, I will find him and beat him up."

I giggle and smiles, nervousness easing away.

"You know what to do right?" She asks me.

I nod and give her a hig, which she gladly returned.

"Thank you, Angel." I say before letting go of her and swimming off.

I swam through the reef trying to find a small Anemone. In a courtship, Anemones symbolize love and commitment. Like how to clownfish do for each other. Mer-people only give anemones to one and other if they want to express their love to another.

As I was about the pass the red coral tree, there it was, a small blue anemone sitting at the base of the coral tree. I swim over to it and pick up and smile. It's perfect!

I quickly swim to Tom's cave and see him sharpening his harpoon. I hid the anemone behind my back as he looked up at me with a smile. He put down his harpoon and swims up to me.

"Hello Riley, what brings you here?" He asks with a gentle smile.

I present the blue anemone to him. His eyes widen slightly as he gently takes the small anemone in his hands. He looked at the small sea plant then looks back at me in disbelief. I smile, knowing that he accepted me. With this, I start the courtship dance.

I swim up to him and swirl around his tail, being careful of his fins, spiraling up until I reach his back. I keep my tail wrapped around his and lightly kiss his shoulders. He shivers a little. I blow bubbles near his ear fins and he flutters them a little. I give him a gentle kiss on the neck, near his gills, and release my tail from his and swim over his shoulder and turn to face him, hoping that he would return the courtship. I didnt know if Shark-mers had their own

He swam up to me and wraps his arms around my waist and pulled me close to him. He laid his head in the crook on my neck and bit down. I yelp out in shock and in slight pain. He releases his teeth from my shoulder and I smell blood. He licks the wound where he bit me and held me in his embrace.

He marked me.

"I love you, Riley. I was worried that you didnt feel the same." He confessed.

I wrap my arms around his torso and lay my head on his chest.

"I love you too, Tom."

And we just stay in the cave. Being the happiest two mer-people in the world.

The end