Now it was Oscar's turn to notice that Mer seemed to be avoiding him. Oscar figured he didn't know what to say to him about what happened and let the merman be. They'd eventually find something to work with and settle things down. The only thing that they would talk about was food and watching TV. Oscar mostly stayed in the studio to crank out more paintings and Mer would putt about in the other areas of the house. It was civil but the tension was thicker than usual and Oscar was starting to get a little uncomfortable with it all.

After a few more days, he finally couldn't take it and went to Mer's room, knocking on the door. He opened it a little and Oscar cleared his throat.

"Um... I... Look, I'm sorry that I got a little dramatic and everything. I wish I didn't do that but..." Mer opened the door a little more. "I just... I feel like I've failed you. I know you said you don't think of it that way but it's just..." He sighed, unsure what to say. "I'm sorry I was ignoring you and everything but this tension is too much."

Mer didn't say anything and also didn't look right at him. He fidgeted for a moment and then moved the door so he could lean on the jamb.

Can we get more clothes?

Oscar gave him a confused expression. "More clothes? Is there something wrong with the ones we got?"

Mer looked a bit frightened and swallowed. They... they don't fit right anymore.

Oscar frowned. "I don't get it."

Mer straightened up and turned sideways for Oscar to see. Oscar turned his head again in confusion.

"What am I supposed to look at?"

Mer made a face and pulled up the shirt all the way. Oscar looked at Mer's stomach, seeing the bump that had never been there before and he looked up at Mer with a slow glance.

"What...?" he asked slowly and quietly.

Mer just kept the shirt held up and swallowed, unable to figure out a way to form the words with his hands, his mind, the pen. Hell, if he could talk, he wouldn't even be able to say them. This wasn't necessarily unheard of for his kind but it was unheard of for him... and most definitely Oscar.

Oscar just stared at the milky white taught skin that was attached to his best friend. Where abs used to be was a little dome, as tight as a drum. It was unmistakable... but it had to be impossible. Not necessarily because Mer was a man but it was because... Oscar suddenly looked up at Mer and his eyes widened as he threw his hands over his mouth.

"OH GOD!" he screamed. "Oh my god! Oh my GOD!"

Mer put his shirt down and stepped towards him but Oscar backed away, looking at him with a horrified expression. Mer blinked in confusion as he tried to walk closer but Oscar took another step back.

"Okker-"

"What have I done?" he said softly. Mer turned his head quizzically. "Oh my god, Mer, look what I caused." He looked up at him. "I'm sorry... I'm... I..."

He suddenly bolted out of the house, leaving Mer in utter confusion for a moment when he realized what Oscar meant. Without warning, tears welled up in his eyes and trailed down his cheeks. Oh Oscar...

************************

Kyle opened her door and frowned. "Why do you look like that?"

Oscar had his jaw clenched, trying not to cry.

"Can... Can I come in?"

Kyle moved her mouth to the side but opened the door more as Oscar took in her apartment. It was quaint and somewhat tidy save for all the papers that were scattered around the couch.

"What are you doing?"

"Minding my own business." She growled. "If I had known you were coming, I would have cleaned up a bit. You ever heard of a cell phone?"

"I'm sorry, I just... Something just happened and you're the only one who would believe me... Or at least entertain the idea without making me feel like a lunatic."

She nodded, seeming to understand what he meant, and went to the kitchen. She grabbed two bottles of beer and threw one to him.

"It's 11 in the morning..."

"You look like you need it and besides, it's five o'clock somewhere. Tell me what happened."

Oscar started telling her most of what happened as they made their way to the couch. She started cleaning up some of her papers so they weren't so in the way when Oscar told her about Mer being pregnant. She looked up at him in confusion and he nodded that it was right.

"Pregnant?"

"Yeah..."

"Is h a seahorse merman?"

"He looked like a regular merman to me the last time I saw his tail. I didn't see a curl to it or see any ridges along his back or something."

Kyle gave a small smirk. "Someone's been reading the gift shop picture books..." she sang.

"It's either that or the smutty pirate novel that's right next to it. Is that a local author?"

"Sylvia is a big fan of the mythology here. She's got another one about an octopus-man. Very... intriguing."

"Don't you mean, en-wrap-turing?"

Kyle chuckled. "I'm not going to get into a dad joke duel... What did you say when you saw what happened to Mer?"

"I just... I realized what I did. My absence caused that to happen and I just... I felt so horrible... After all that and in the end... in the end it's come to this."

"It's come to what? Mer being pregnant?"

"We you not listening to the story I just told you?"

"Yes, I got that about you not being there and that allowed this... person to come and do something horrible to Mer and with him being pregnant it's obvious that she did a few other things with Mer. But it's come down to what? He's pregnant now and you get to wallow in self-pity? It's clear that he was raped and is bearing that fruitage? I mean, so far all you seemed to have cared about is how you feel about everything happening. What about him? What about the fact that he's had to endure a shit ton of stuff probably much, much worse than becoming pregnant?"

"Getting raped isn't exactly the night of someone's life." Oscar snarled.

"But he's pregnant with you here now." Oscar blinked. "Don't you get it? Everything that happened is nothing compared to what is going to come. One, it's in the past, so there's nothing to be done. Two, you both agree that you not being there was shitty and made things happen. Three, you're here now. At the most pivotal and climactic time of this horrible event, the aftermath of all that torture and pain, you're here now. Not only for physical support but emotional and psychological. You're here now."

"But what do I do? I can't shake these feelings of guilt. Knowing that-"

Kyle threw her hand up. "Stop. Tell me this: why are you even here?"

"What?"

"Answer the question."

"To get some clarity..."

"No, why are you here, in this place, with me, at this time." Oscar looked at her. "Mer is at home and you're sitting here talk to me?"

Oscar's eyes widened as he realized what she was saying. Seeing he was about to spiral again, Kyle grabbed her friend's shoulders and shook him.

"Listen to me... Hey... Stop being dramatic." Oscar breathed in deeply. "Here's what you're going to do: you're going to go to your car and turn it on. Then, go back home. When you get there, you find Mer. When you find Mer, you hold him and tell him that everything is going to be okay because you're here now and you aren't going to leave him in the lurch again... right?"

"Right..."

"So again, why the hell are you here? Where should you be?"

Oscar nodded as he got up. "Right... I gotta go." He headed to the door and turned back. "If we need you for anything, would you... be okay to come take a look?"

Kyle smiled. "Of course."

Oscar nodded and left. Kyle shook her head and picked up the living room a little bit.

"What an idiot..."

**************************

Oscar opened the door to the house and went straight to Mer's room. He knocked on the door but no one answered.

"Mer? You in there?"

He knocked on the door again and then opened it, finding it empty. He looked around for a moment and started looking all over the house for Mer. He called for him but there was no response. Oscar started to panic and ran out the backdoor, running down the beach. Did I fuck it up again? Did I make him want to leave because I can't take a fucking hint? He looked around but didn't see anybody with bright blue hair and he put his hands on his hips, trying to figure out where he could be. He had looked in all the rooms and didn't see hide nor hair of his friend and he even looked in his own room, thinking he'd find him in there. He watched the ocean for a moment, contemplating on where he would be.

Oscar eventually sighed, knowing that standing there wasn't going to do anything and ran his fingers through his black hair, He walked back to the beach house and went to his room to take off his shoes when he heard water running. He looked behind him at the bathroom and walked over to it, opening the door. He found the shower running and could see someone at the bottom of the shower through the foggy glass. He opened the door and saw Mer scrunched up in a ball as he lay in the floor. Oscar sighed in relief and turned the water off, stepping into the walk-in shower. He stepped over Mer's long legs and slid down beside him, his butt getting soaked but he didn't care. There was something important that had to be done...

"Mer?" he said softly.

Mer didn't move and Oscar crossed his legs, leaning on his knee.

"Are you awake?" Mer nodded. "You don't have to respond, I just need you to listen... I'm sorry that I ran away earlier. It was not the reaction you were expecting, I'm sure, and it's definitely not the reaction you needed. All this that's happening to you has had to be so tough on everything; your mind, your body, your emotions... I can literally only imagine what you've been through and if what I imagine is as bad as what I've thought, then living it was probably ten times as horrible. Your endurance through it all is sometimes baffling, I know I would have probably been in a worser shape... I probably would have put the sole blame on me and have resentment, hating me...

"But you never have. For whatever reason, you... never blame me." Oscar chuckled a little, putting his head back. "Maybe it's because you know I'll do enough of that to my own self... Truth is, I had a feeling I knew what you had gone through but you didn't want to talk about it, so it wasn't so... real. You acted okay and you seemed like your normal self but when you showed me your stomach it just... it just solidified everything. There's no denial in that, you know? Even if you hadn't hinted at it or anything, that's just not something that can have any other explanation behind it. A person gets pregnant from one thing only, you know?"

Mer moved his head so he could look at Oscar through a small space between where he had his arms covering his head.

"I understand your concept of blame and your thought process on it but it's still painful to know that if me being here would have done just a little bit to stop this..." Oscar sighed, putting his face in his hands. "I'm so sorry that I wasn't there for you physically, to keep it from happening, or to at least rescue you sooner... But I promise I'm here now. I won't leave you to deal with this on your own and I will do everything I can for you. I'm right here, okay?"

Mer finally pulled his arms from over his head and sat up, his green and blue eyes puffy and red from crying. Oscar watched him but didn't move, letting the merman come to him if he wanted. Mer pulled his legs up under him and watched Oscar for a moment and breathed in with a shuttering breath.

R-E-A-L? he spelled, pointing at Oscar.

Oscar smiled. "Yes, I'm real. I'm here and I won't leave you."

Mer's lip trembled as he leaned over and took Oscar's face.

"Real..." he whispered and tears escaped his eyes as he crumbled into Oscar. "Okker..."

Oscar wrapped his arms around his friend and held him close as he sobbed into his chest. Oscar pet his head and hugged him tight, not letting go.

"You're safe now." He said softly, kissing Mer's temple. "I won't let you go... I won't let you go..."