As weird as it may sound, Calum has noticed how different he feels when he's in the water versus when he's on land, something he never seemed to notice until now. When he's out of the water, he feels a little less than average. Sort of clumsy, always a little forgetful, not the strongest guy around. That's how it's always been. He's just always been a little off.

In the water, it's like everything is sparked to life. His mind is clear, absorbing everything without any trouble whatsoever. His body is instantly stronger, swimming through the strong tide as though it were nothing but air. He can go hours without oxygen and his muscles never seem to tire. It's like he was born to be under the sea, surrounded by salt water and ocean creatures. He finds it almost uncanny how at home he feels in a place he's only known for a couple of days.

Calum leaves the house while Laura is at work and Michael is at school. He crosses the sandy beach, feeling the sand burn the soles of his feet as he walks steadily towards the water. He breathes in the salty air with relief, letting his eyes flutter shut as he steps toward the edge of the water. He takes off his shoes and leaves then a safe distance away from the water, checking to make sure not too many people are out in the water. He can't imagine what would happen if anyone found out. Nothing good.

Calum takes a breath before taking a few steps into the cold water, diving underneath the waves once he's deep enough. He can feel the slight tingling once he's under, the strength building in his legs as the scales appear. The transition goes faster now than it did his first time, thankfully. In less than a few minutes, Calum's powerful tail is strong and kicking against the forceful tide.

The boy swims easily through the water, dipping underneath hollow caves and around sparkling schools of fish. The sunlight streams into the sea and casts a white glow across the sea, making everything look like its sparkling.

Calum reaches the clan shortly after, knowing the way like the back of his hand by now. He swims into the small community happily, but furrows his eyebrows when he notices something off. He twists around, his mind muddled in confusion as to why nobody is around. The caves are empty, no kids or people playing in the center square. He grows nervous, worrying the Ashton guy made them leave because of him. He knows Ashton doesn't like him, but surely they didn't leave him to fend for himself, did they?

He's swimming through the water and checking inside caves when he suddenly notices the low and faint hum of a panicked voices in the distance, a few shouts standing out about the rest.

Calum stops what he was doing and immediately swims out of the clan, trying to locate where everyone is. He swims as fast as he can, which still isn't very fast, but the fear pulsating in his chest pushes him faster. He swims for a few minutes before finally, he turns a corner and finds all of the familiar faces from yesterday contorted into fear, all huddled together around something.

Calum slows down, catching his breath as he looks around with confusion.

He notices the man from yesterday looking as scared and worried as he's ever seen him, his golden wavy hair in a mess as his hazel eyes fill with concern. Then Ashton turns around and catches sight of Calum, and the concern in his eyes immediately hardens into ice.

"You," Ashton growls, swimming over in a flash and pressing his hands against Calum's chest, pushing Calum back effortlessly. "I told you to not come back."

Everyone turns around to see what had happened, and as the group disperses a little bit, Calum can see through the mass of bodies what the problem is. In the center of all the scared mermaids, sits Luke, tears streaming down his cheeks and eyes puffy and read. He's trapped, Calum realizes with a start, inside a net that surrounds him completely. He's clawing at the net with his hands, curling in on himself in fear and looking as small as ever inside the net.

Everyone around him looks clueless as to how to get him out. Calum feels his heart drop in his chest.

Ashton opens his mouth to start yelling at Calum again, but he stops when he hears another cry leave Luke's lips. Ashton turns back around and returns to Luke, staying a fair distance from the net but close enough for Luke to hear him.

"Stay away from the hooks at the sides, Luke, they could hurt you," Ashton says hurriedly, pointing to the sharp edges. Luke blinks at them through his tears, sniffling. "We'll get you out, Luke, I promise."

Ashton sounds extremely doubtful but nobody comments on it.

Calum floats back a bit absentmindedly as he can feel his heart fill with fear. He watches everyone, even Ashton, stare at Luke and panic without knowing what to do to get him out. If they don't come up with anything, then there is no way Luke will be getting out of that net.

Calum searches the nearby ocean floors to find something, anything, sharp enough to cut the net, but he comes up with nothing. Luke continues to cling onto the net, his bottom lip trembling.

Calum swiftly leaves the scene, turning the other direction and swimming as fast as his tail will let him. His mind is focused on Luke and getting him help, everything else blurry and unimportant in comparison. He swims as fast as he can through the tide, past all the caves and the dunes of sand until he reaches the familiar beach he only just left.

He swims into the shallow side until he can finally feel his legs coming back, and then he sprints up the hot sand, ignoring his shoes, and running across the beach to get to his house.

Calum bursts inside, thankful Laura is still gone, and he fumbles around the kitchen to find the sharpest knife he can get. His fingers shake as he searches, his heart thumping loud in his chest. His hair is dripping wet, dripping water all over the kitchen floor and counter. After a few agonizing minutes, he finds a sharp enough knife under the cabinets, and his fingers slip on the handle as he fumbles to grab it.

Turning back around, he sprints back out of the kitchen, sliding a bit on the water as he goes. Calum can feel his heart beating so hard in his chest it's almost painful, almost jarring. He can still see Luke's terrified expression and all of his friends and family cluelessly standing around and watching in horror.

He shakes his head as he leaves the house, running around the side and sprinting across the beach towards the water. He can't figure out why all of them were all frozen in shock and unsure of what to do. Maybe it's because he hasn't been... who he is for very long and the rest of them have been for their whole lives. Maybe it's a mermaid thing, going into a state of shock when they see or get caught in a net. Maybe they simply had no idea what to do. It's not like they have any knowledge outside of the sea that they live in.

Calum crashes into the waves without hesitation, not even stopping to wait for his tail to form before diving deep under the water, pushing through the water. Once the scales cover his legs and he can feel his tail kick against the tide, he swims faster towards where he knows Luke and the rest are, the knife safely grasped in his hand.

When he reaches the group again, nobody has moved much. Luke is still crying quietly, everyone still surrounding him worriedly. Calum grips the handle and pushes through everyone as gently as he can, and he comes face to face with Luke. He can feel Ashton's angry eyes boring into the back of his head.

"I can get you out, Luke," Calum says hurriedly, lifting the knife to show him. "See?"

Everyone around him gasps at the large object, their eyes wide in surprise and wonder as they stare at it. Calum forgot they hadn't exactly seen one, at least not one so close, before now. The boy carefully places it on the net and starts cutting through the thick netted material, slashing through the twisted net until he leaves a hole gaping large enough for Luke to safely swim out. The moment Luke is out, everyone surrounds the blonde with relief and hugs him, Luke soaking up the energy and attention from his friends and family with relief.

Calum drops his arms, watching with a small smile. He places the knife down safely on the edge of one of the caves, moving a few rocks to keep it in place. He glances up, looking around just in time to see Ashton swim away from the scene, disappearing around the corner. Calum's shoulders drop and his chest grows heavy. He doesn't understand why Ashton hates him so much, and he especially doesn't know how to fix it.

"Calum!" Luke's voice rings out above everyone else's, and the boy glances up to see the blonde swimming eagerly forward, throwing his arms around Calum enthusiastically. Luke embraces him tightly, making Calum choke a bit.

"Thank you so so so much," Luke says softly, squeezing him even tighter. Calum hugs him back the best he can. "I don't know what would have happened if you weren't here."

"It's no problem, buddy," Calum says with a laugh as Luke slowly releases him. "I'm glad you're okay."

Once Luke returns to the joyous group behind him, Calum lets out a breath and quietly rests against one of the slippery rock walls. His chest feels heavy, and he watches everyone celebrate from afar.

He glances down at the dark blue scales covering his legs, shimmering in the shifting light of the ocean. He touches one reluctantly, cold and slippery against his finger. He doesn't belong here, Calum thinks. They've all been mermaids for their entire life, and then he shows up and expects to be treated the same? Of course not. The judgement from Ashton isn't something out of the blue.

Calum sinks a bit, thinking about how sick he got when he stayed out of the water. He really, really doesn't want to grow ill again. But he also doesn't want to intrude onto a clan of friends and family that he has no place being in.

He then remembers the relieved and overjoyed look on his mother's face when Luke brought him in the first time, and he presses his lips together frustratedly. She had told him to come back despite what Ashton had said, and as much as Calum appreciates it, it's clear that Ashton runs the place here. People look to him for decisions and it's quite clear what his opinion of Calum is without even asking.

Calum crosses his arms, feeling small for the first time in his life in such a vast and open ocean. Maybe all of this was a mistake after all.

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A/N im in the school library trying to not let anyone see i'm writing fanfics lol

sorry this hasnt been updated in so long! it'll be update more now that clean is finished plus i love this story so

so guys whats your favorite color?? mines blue

thanks for reading! vote and comment pls! love u to the moon

bye