"Alright guys, this is it." Bella whispered as she, Lewis, and Nate held hands tightly, shooting glances at the other bands on stage. They'd made the top five, and she could hardly contain her excitement.

"And the winner of this year's Battle of the Bands is..." The toothy host opened and envelope and removed a card before flashing a smile out at the audience. "Rebel Yell!"

None of them moved as their hearts sank down into their shoes.

"Well at least we tried." Nate tried to mask his disappointment. "There's always next year, guys. We'll slay next year."

"Yeah." Bella exhaled. "There's always next year."

"Top five is nothing to be embarrassed about." Lewis continued, though none of them sounded like they believed themselves.

Wearily, they made their way backstage to collect their instruments as winners Rebel Yell enthusiastically set up to play their victory set. Cleo met them at the curtain, plastering a huge smile on her face as she pulled Bella in for a hug.

"You guys were amazing." She squeezed her tightly. "The judges suck." She pulled back to give Bella an encouraging smile. "You guys ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine, thanks for asking." Nate wrapped an arm around Cleo's neck dramatically. "I suppose I'll recover, but it might take some time."

"Oh cut it out." Lewis laughed, surprising himself. "Let's go celebrate an awesome show, yeah? Want to come to my place?"

"I don't know..." Cleo started to cross her arms, but stopped as Lewis grabbed her hand tightly in his.

"Come on." He said gently. "We can just hang out. Relax. Have a couple beers. Maybe... talk a little?"

"That sounds great." Cleo couldn't keep the smile from sneaking onto her face. "I'm in."

"You guys..." Bella's eyes were glued to her phone. They darted sharply up to Lewis, then to Cleo. "I..." She swallowed hard as her face visibly paled. "We uh, we need to get to Zane's house. Something's happened."

"Fuuuck." Lewis's relaxed demeanor vanished in an instant. He shoved their second place trophy into Nate's hands and immediately booked it towards the exit, leaving the rest of the gang behind.

"Hey mate!" Nate shouted after him. "What's up?" He turned to the girls, a bewildered look on his face. "You guys all look weird."

"It's nothing." Bella managed, pulling Cleo's elbow toward her. "We'll see you soon, ok?"

"Is it about Zane?" Nate followed closely.

"It's nothing, Nate." Cleo forced a mile to her face, though her eyes were searching worriedly after Lewis. "Don't worry about it." The girls hurried to the lot, where Lewis was already pulling away.

"Man he really jetted out of here." Nate tilted his head to one side. "Do you guys want to grab a drink or-" He turned around to see Bella and Cleo all but running to their car before slamming it into gear and tearing out of the lot. "I... guess I'll see you guys later then."

Sophie didn't see or hear anything on her long walk home from Zane's house. Her mind was racing so quickly it felt like one white hot blur of thought. She wanted to cry, and she hadn't felt that way for years, not since she'd fought with her parents and decided to come back to live near Will. What had just happened?

She knew Zane was a merman. She knew he had some power. And she also knew that the full moon made him loopy and that they'd been dealing with complications caused by a weird stone he'd found. She knew all of that, and it was more than plenty for her to process. Yet still, there was more? How many secrets were they keeping from her? She paused, taking in a long breath before releasing it slowly, trying to keep from feeling overwhelmed.

One emotion was rising to the top, above the plethora of others bouncing around inside her. She was ripped open with hurt. For the first time in her adult life, she'd felt like she was a part of something. A team. Instead of her usual independence, she had people she had wanted to help. And those people had all been lying to her, even her brother.

Sophie swallowed hard before continuing to march towards her house. She had been stupid to think that any of this had been real. None of them wanted her as a friend, they never did. There was no way she was going to keep up with this weak, weepy performance. She was firey mad, and she wasn't going to be taken advantage of anymore.

"She's going straight to the news." Rikki paced rapidly, chewing on her nails as her mind raced.

"Are you sure you don't want me to go after her?" Will repeated the question from his seat in the pool chair, his head held in his hands.

"I don't know." Rikki ran a slightly shaking hand through her curly hair. "Yes. No. It might make things worse." Rikki rarely felt overwhelmed, and she definitely didn't like it now. She always had an answer, always had a plan, but this was new territory. Her eyes slid to Zane, who was back to swimming in lazy circles around the pool. He no longer seemed interested in Rikki's presence; the moon and the water were enough to occupy his attention for the time being.

"Why couldn't he be this chill when Sophie was here?" Rikki asked angrily. "Why did he have to command me to get in the water? Of all the things he could have asked."

Will sighed, checking his phone as he shook his head. "Bella and Cleo will be here in five minutes. Lewis should be here-" They both looked up as the back door swung closed. "-Now."

Lewis exploded breathlessly through the gate, his eyes searching the pool deck wildly. "Why is he in the water? Why wouldn't he read the paper?" He paused for just a moment, working to catch his breath before continuing. "What the hell happened?" He looked to Rikki. "Should you even be out here right now?"

"Sophie knows." Will spoke up quietly. "She knows about the girls."

Lewis didn't react but to shove his hands into his pockets and turn his attention to Rikki, who couldn't look him in the eye. "And how did she find out?" His expression and tone were unreadable.

"I underestimated the power of the moon on a new merman; I couldn't get him to read the paper." Rikki felt as if she were explaining a wrongdoing to a policeman. "Sophie came to the house, I don't remember why. She had a reason..." Her voice trailed as she tried to remember what it was before shaking her head and moving on. "He got out and jumped into the pool. He commanded me to get in the water... She... she saw." Her voice trailed off. For possibly the first time in her life, she felt completely deflated. "Everything that could have gone wrong did. Well..." She corrected herself as she cleared her throat. "At least, it feels that way right now. He hasn't said anything since, and doesn't seem like he really wants to." She forced herself to look up at Lewis. "Say something, Lew."

Lewis had been silently watching Zane, who had calmed down even more considerably. The scientist's body appeared still, but his mind was racing too quickly for him to settle on where to start.

Rikki and Will looked up as Bella and Cleo burst through the pool gate and hurried to Rikki. It was clear from their expressions that they received Will's texts. The group stood silently for several seconds, the lapping of the water the only sound as it echoed off the walls.

"So... what do we do now?" Bella spoke up timidly, looking to each of her friends in turn.

One by one, each set of eyes rested on Lewis, who still hadn't moved a centimeter. He waited another handful of seconds before pulling his attention toward the rest of the group.

"Why are all of you looking at me?" His face was blank as he spoke the words, then shrugged. "I tried to tell you. I said it was a bad idea to leave him alone with Rikki. I told you we should have been here to help instead of going to some stupid competition. I told you guys we should run more tests, I tried..." He let out a defeated exhale. "I tried." Lewis dropped his hands and began walking briskly towards the gate.

"Wh-" Rikki stammered. "Where are you going?"

Lewis paused but did not turn around. "I'm going home. Call me tomorrow. No, don't. Whatever, really." He sighed, dropping his head to his chest. "I just don't care anymore."

Cleo swallowed hard, a lump in her throat making it hard to breathe as she watched him until the door swung closed behind him.

Zane felt as if he were floating away on a cloud. He stretched his arms over his head, arching his back as he relished the comfort of... wherever he was? It didn't take more than half a second after opening his eyes to rippling morning daylight to realize he was in the water. His heart instantly sunk to his stomach. He was supposed to be waking up in his basement next to Rikki. Instead, he was in his pool, which meant that something had clearly gone terribly wrong. He hurried to the edge of the pool to dry off and find the others.

Zane pushed his back door open timidly. He could hear hushed voices coming from the kitchen.

Rikki jumped to her feet as Zane walked in. "Hey..." She hurried to him, looking him in the eyes closely. "Don't say a word." She pressed her fingers to his lips worriedly. "We were dumb, Zane." Her lips made a white line as she pressed them together. "Just nod, don't speak. Do you remember anything from last night?"

Zane shook his head slowly, holding up his hands in supplication. He stepped back from Rikki's reach, looking to each of his friends with increasing anxiety. His expression darkened immediately as his eyes landed on Will.

Will noticed the instant chill in the room. "I'm... going to try to find Sophie. See what I can do." He took a couple steps backward, waiting for someone to stop him. "Yeah... I'll be in touch with you guys." He hurried from the house.

"What the hell was he doing h-" Zane choked as Rikki slapped her hand back over his mouth.

"Zane, I love you, but if you say another word I swear I will nail you in the balls. Got me?" She waited for Zane's frusterated nod before releasing him cautiously. "Go and sit down." She gestured toward the couch. "We'll fill you in on everything."

Nate paused as he walked on the beach, squinting as he saw a familiar face in the distance. He'd seen the red hair before anything else, but he recognized Will soon after. He and his sister were arguing hotly about something. Nate took a few steps forward, straining to hear what could have made them so angry with each other.

"Shut the fuck up! I'm sick of everyone's lies!" Sophie screamed, turning on her heel to stalk away from her brother. Nate stepped back slightly at the look on her face. She seemed... furious. Sophie naturally had a bit of a hot streak through her, but this was straight up rage.

"Get away from me, Will!" She shoved her brother before marching pointedly away from him down the shoreline. She saw Nate standing in her path and dropped her head back in frustration. "Go away asshole, I don't want to talk to anyone."

Nate held his hands up in surrender. "Consider me gone." He raised a shoulder, waiting as Sophie stalked past him before continuing to walk toward Will. "Well she's a right ray of sunshine this morning."

"You're not wrong." Will said tersely.

"Ah, what else is new, right?" Nate squinted out over the water. "You going swimming today? I was thinking about fishing later and-"

"I'll talk to you later, Nate." Will turned on his heel and headed back toward his home without another word.

"Or I could just go fuck myself." Nate shrugged. "Everyone sure is in a great mood today."

Zane's heart pounded in his chest as he spotted Sophie. Sure enough, she was just standing on the pier outside the café looking out at the water, exactly where Will had reported to Rikki she was heading. He approached her timidly, suddenly unsure of what to say next. The general consensus among the group was to try to talk to her and gage what she was planning to do next. There were a few people enjoying the sun, but at least it wasn't overly crowded out here. He nervously tapped his fingers against the palm of his hand as he walked.

Sophie locked eyes with his, hers stony and unreadable. She didn't move other than to watch him closely as he moved toward her.

Zane took in a long breath, mentally working up the nerve to speak, though it felt as if his deep breathing was producing no usable oxygen whatsoever.

"You lied to me." Sophie beat him to it, her tone accusatory and filled with vehemence.

Zane visibly deflated. "I... I don't think I actually lied to you..." He began weakly. "I mean, I didn't exactly tell you the truth, but I don't think I ever li-"

"Are you fucking serious right now?" Sophie didn't recognize the emotions that were currently beating out of her skin. She didn't know if she wanted to scream or cry or... She settled for a prolonged exhale. "I have nothing to say to you." She said in a clipped tone as she shoved roughly past Zane, coming close to knocking him off of the pier.

"Jesus Sophie, there are people around." Zane muttered as he barely caught his balance on an anchoring post. "You almost knocked me into the water."

"There are people around?" This time Sophie broke, shrieking the words and drawing plenty of attention to them. "Damn, you are a selfish asshole, Zane Bennett! I should shove your ass right off of this dock for everyone to see." The fire in her eyes burned brightly as she glared at him.

"Sophie." Zane lowered his voice, placing a hand on her shoulder as he cast a self conscious glance around them. "Can we go somewhere and talk? Privately?"

"Talk? What could you possibly want to talk to me about?" The redhead fell into her default sarcasm as she marched her way down the sidewalk.

"You know what we need to talk about." Zane said in a hushed tone, almost jogging to keep up with her.

"OH!" Sophie dropped her head back, shouting the word to the sky. "You want to talk about the fact that you're a-"

Zane quickly pushed his hand over Sophie's mouth. "C'mon, Soph." He pleaded with her. "Please."

"I thought that's what you wanted, wasn't it?" Sophie wrenched herself away from his grip. "Don't you want to go public and be a celebrity?" She glared at him wordlessly for a few seconds before storming away. "So you lied about that too." She shook her head at Zane's wordlessness. "Of course you did! So what, were you guys just making fun of me? Laughing behind my back while you lied?" She abruptly changed direction, shoving past Zane on her way back toward the café.

"What? No, Soph." Zane jogged after her. "That wasn't it at all. Sophie... I'm sorry." The words had once felt foreign in Zane's mouth, but he'd gotten relatively used to saying them over the last two weeks. "Really." He pushed through the beaded café entrance, catching her hand and finally got her to stop walking. "Really. I should have told you the truth."

"Yes you should have." Sophie whipped around to face him, yanking her hand back so she could cross her arms. "How long have they been mermaids?"

"A while..." Zane kept his voice low, casting a self conscious look around him at the semi-crowded eatery. Luckily, it didn't appear that anyone in the café was paying them any attention save for Nate, who was watching them from behind the counter with a confused look on his face as he absently dried a glass.

"And how long is a while?" Sophie continued, tapping her foot angrily.

"For a few years." Zane said quickly. "Listen, could we go to the back office and talk-"

"Years!" Sophie ignored him, drawing a few curious and few annoyed looks from the patrons at her outburst. "And Will knew they whole time, didn't he?"

"For a while, yeah." Zane held his hands up in defense at the look on Sophie's face. "What? You guys did just move here a year and a half ago."

Sophie turned away from Zane as the embarrassment of tears pricked at her eyes. "I thought you trusted me. You could have told me the truth, you know."

"No, I couldn't have." Zane replied quietly. "It wasn't my secret to tell."

"Oh please." Sophie groaned. "Wasn't your secret to tell? You didn't trust me, Zane. Even after I kept your secrets you still couldn't trust me."

"Well can you blame me?" Zane couldn't help the touch of anger from leaking out into his words as they spilled out uncontrollably. "I mean, you were going to expose Bella to the whole world, of course I didn't trust you."

Heat blazed in Sophie's eyes as she lost the tenuous control she'd held over her anger. "You..." Her voice was menacingly quiet as she glared, unblinking at Zane. She closed her mouth, shaking her head rapidly as if to shake her brain into regrouping. She took one step back, centering herself in the dining room as she took in a deep breath. "Zane Bennett is a merman!" She shouted the words, her eyes flipping crazily around the room. A few confused looks were shot her way, although no one seemed to know what to think about her announcement. "Did anyone hear me?" Her voice grew shrill. "I saaiiidddd..." She wound up once again, this time with virtually every eye in the café trained on her. "Zane Bennett is.. a merman!" She relished the spotlight, eyes gleaming as they flicked around the room, triumphantly waiting for a response.

Time stood still for Zane as he waited for the small crowd's reaction. Should he run? Would they follow him? He could probably make it to the bay and swim away before anyone caught him.

The patrons shared uneasy looks with one another, a few whispers echoing through the air as they narrowed their eyes at Zane with curiosity and confusion.

"What, didn't you hear me?" Sophie sounded slightly unhinged as she shouted the words. "Zane Bennett is a scaley, half-fish, changes when he touches the water, merman!"

"HA! Hahaha!" A piercingly loud laugh come from behind the counter as Nate dissolved into hysterics. The rest of the room joined him in hearty laughter after a moment, dropping their heads back as they laughed at Sophie. Nate rolled his eyes as he wiped a tear from one of them. "Sophie, you are freaking hilarious, you know that?" He walked casually to clap a hand on Zane's shoulder. "A merman, huh? And ya never thought to mention it?"

It took everything Zane had to make his lips turn up into what he hoped was a casual smile.

"Come on, Flipper." Nate shook his head, still laughing as he played off the lingering chuckles coming from the customers. "I need you to sign off on our fruit order for next week." He steered Zane's shoulders toward the hall as normal café chattering resumed. "Let's get you out of here, bud." He muttered as the two made their way. "Merman. Hilarious." He made a face at a group of giggling high schoolers on the way.

"No, Zane!" Sophie was still standing in the middle of the dining room. "Don't you dare walk away from me!" She looked to the patrons wildly. "I'm not joking and I'm not crazy." She paced the again-silent room as she ranted. "Just throw water at him, that's what does it. He transforms when he touches water!"

"Yeah right, Sophie." Nate continued pushing the joke angle as Zane stood frozen. "And I'm a vampire, hold the garlic. Come on, this is so lame."

"Don't believe me?" Sophie grabbed a glass off the counter. "Just watch." She chucked the contents in Zane's direction, crossing her arms in satisfaction as it hit Zane directly in the chest, splashing over several other people as well. "Just watch!"

The room waited in amused silence as drops of water rolled down Zane's face. A titter of laughter began to spread through the room as Zane shook liquid from his hands before holding them up. "Yup, some merman, huh?" He shook his head. "Get out of here, Sophie." He managed to speak calmly as he frantically counted to ten in his head. "I'm not in the mood; this is a place of business." He shot a mildly irritated look in her direction before taking the two steps down the hall to his office door. Nate slammed it closed behind him as his friend immediately fell to the floor only just a fraction of a second later.

"It doesn't happen right away!" Sophie was still trying to command attention from the room, but no one was taking her seriously. A rolled napkin bounced off her back as laughter echoed in her ears.

"Lame as hell." A blonde Sophie recognized as a regular shook her head as Sophie walked blankly toward the exit. "You got water all over my new suede shoes."

"Super lame." Another customer echoed. "Crazy bitch, it wasn't even funny."

Sophie said nothing as she walked out into the cooling evening air. She didn't have a clue how to manage the emotions she was feeling, and she definitely didn't know what to do next. After a few minutes of thought, she turned her feet towards town. Maybe the café hadn't taken her seriously, but there were other places she could try; she wasn't about to give up this easily.

Neither Zane nor Nate had said a word since they'd made it into the office five minutes ago. Zane still lay splayed on his stomach, his tail outstretched behind him. He didn't know if he'd ever felt so much fear followed by such acute relief in his entire life. He panted as he rested his forehead on the cool floor, still trying to force his heart rate back to something resembling less than a hum.

"What the hell's gotten into her?" Nate asked as he twisted the lock on the door. "She's lost it, man. That was close"

Zane pushed himself up onto his elbows, wincing as he took in a deep breath. "Thank you, Nate." He managed, his eyes darting back and forth as he tried to process what had just happened. "Did she... did she leave?"

"I dunno mate, I'm in here with you." Nate waved his hand in the direction of Zane's tail. "Don't you want to, you know, take care of that so we can find out?"

"Right." Zane didn't feel as if he were truly present in the situation as he reached his hand out to begin steaming the water dry. He stood shakily, using his desk for balance.

"You ok? Nate was watching him closely.

"No." Zane felt ten years older than he had at this hour yesterday. "No, I don't think I am."

"So are you going to tell me what's going on?" Nate crossed his arms lightly, making an effort to appear less curious than he felt. "She seemed cool with everything the other day and now she's screaming about you and the fact that you're a..." He let his voice fade out, making a 'dot dot dot' motion with his finger. "So... more secrets?"

Zane's silence and avoidance of Nate's eyes said more than he ever could have with words.

"You know..." Nate kicked at his shoes as he spoke, eyes glued to the floor in front of him. "I've been a good friend to you. For almost our whole lives, you know? You can tell me things. On purpose."

"I know." Zane didn't turn around until he heard Nate leave the office and pull the door closed behind him.

'She's gone.'

The message from Nate lit up Zane's phone mere moments later.

Zane sighed, leaning forward on one arm as he typed a message back, hoping Nate would listen to what he had to say. After a couple more moments of thought he dialed Rikki. They needed to figure out what in the world to do next.

"I still say we all just leave town." Cleo said bitterly from her place lounging on the couch. "We move, get away from her before she can expose all of us."

"We can't just leave our families." Rikki repeated the same point she'd made since the first time the idea had been suggested. "I'm all my dad has. And Cleo, your family would be heartbroken."

"I know." Cleo also repeated an already established answer.

"Maybe it's time we give up?" Bella spoke up for the first time in a while, drawing surprised looks from Zane, Rikki, and Cleo.

"What?" Zane stood. "No way."

"I'm just saying." Bella stood as well, rubbing her temples for relief from the headache pulsing between her temples. "We gave it a good run guys, but let's drop the emotion and focus on the facts." She ticked them on her fingers as she walked aimlessly around the room. "How many people know our secret now? It's..." She counted in he head for a moment. "Eight? Nine? Maybe more, if Denman shared her research?" She shook her head. "The odds are against us, guys. Maybe our luck's run out?" She leaned against the wall. "Maybe it's just time to give up and go with it."

"But we can't just let it happen." Zane pushed back.

"Right, coming from the guy that came right out and told Sophie in the first place." Cleo couldn't help but argue.

"And if I hadn't she would have exposed Bella." Zane defended himself stiffly, unable to keep the volume of his voice from increasing.

"We don't know that for sure, you screwed the whole thing up!" Cleo all but yelled, anger barely masked as she briefly lost control of her emotions.

"Calm down, you guys." Rikki said wearily. "We're not going to get anywhere by fighting."

"So... are we friends with Will again or what?" Bella spoke up after a minute of tense silence.

"No." Zane answered firmly. "I don't want him around."

"Okay." Rikki said tiredly, stifling a yawn. "He did try twice to talk to Sophie today, but she's furious with him too; she wouldn't talk to him.

"Good." Zane clenched his jaw. "He'll steer clear if he knows what's good for him. He shot a furtive look at the girls out of the corner of his eye before clearing his throat. "So... listen." He sat up a bit, rolling his shoulders back as he took a deep breath. "I need to talk to you guys about something."

"What now?" Cleo asked warily, rolling her head to the side to look at Zane.

Zane sighed, bracing himself. "I think we need to tell Nate the whole secret."

"Tell Nate about... us?" Rikki frowned. "What you want to start telling everyone now?"

"Yeah Zane, no way." Bella shook her head. "Enough people know already, that's the point. We're in enough trouble as it is..."

"I know." Zane nodded, standing. "I do. It's just..." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Sophie is furious."

"No shit, Sherlock." Rikki raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but I think she's mostly just mad we lied to her." Zane took a couple thoughtful steps across the room. "I think if we'd told her the truth from the beginning she would have been okay with it."

"Oh you do, do you?" Rikki stood to face her boyfriend. "Because as I recall, she was raging about how she was going to out Bella to the world. She didn't seem super understanding."

"She's been... different since, though." Zane tried to explain, though he knew he wasn't doing a good enough job. "She liked being part of the team. I think she's... I think we hurt her feelings."

"I don't want to argue about this right now." Rikki waved a hand in the air absently. "Sure, let's just say you're right. Whatever." She rolled her eyes. "What does that have to do with telling Nate about us?"

"Nate's been a good friend." Zane said softly. "He really protected me today at the café when Sophie tried to expose me. He's been trustworthy ever since he found out."

"Which was what two, three weeks ago?" Cleo's voice grew louder. "Big freaking deal, Zane. So he hasn't tried to impress a girl with his buddy the merman yet, that doesn't mean he can handle knowing everything."

"I don't want this to happen again, alright?" Zane turned to face the room. "He's my friend and I trust him. I know we've all had our issues with him at some point, but you all have to admit he's grown up a lot since school."

"Do we have to admit that though?" Rikki squinted her eyes up at her boyfriend. "I've got to side with the girls on this one, Z. It feels like a bad plan to tell him. Look." She walked to him, rubbing her palms on the thighs of her pants as she approached. "Since you changed, both Nate and Sophie have found out about you. Two people I never wanted to know the secret." She raised a shoulder. "Sophie found out about all of us and freaked the fuck out, then tried to tell your secret to everyone today. That is terrifying." She took one of Zane's hands in hers. "You could be in a tank right now if you hadn't made it to the office in time."

"Exactly." Zane pulled his hand back, in a move that surprised both of them. "If Nate hadn't been there I very well could have been found out. He helped, Rik. You should have seen the way he turned it around on her. I was frozen."

"I appreciate your loyalty to your friends, really I do." Rikki said gently. "But the answer is no. Do not tell Nate our secret."

Zane shook his head, looking down at the floor. "Okay, I won't say a word." He said grimly.

"Jesus, Zane." Cleo couldn't keep the sourness out of her voice. "It's like you want the entire world to know about us." She stood, tossing her bag over her shoulder. "I'm going home; I'll talk to you guys tomorrow."

The remaining three were silent as she stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind her.

"Think she's alright out there on her own?" Bella craned her neck to look out the front window.

"I don't think I'd want to be the one to tell her no." Rikki said glumly. "She's not herself; she's too worried about Lewis."

"He still isn't talking to anyone?" Zane was surprised, he'd not known Lewis to display much of a temper before.

"Not answering calls or texts." Bella recited the same answer she'd given Rikki not an hour before. "Isn't answering the band's group text either." She sighed. "He's freezing us out."

"Has... he ever done that before?" Zane knew Lewis had known the girls' secret the longest; they had plenty of history he wasn't privy to. "Gone silent?"

"Never." Rikki answered immediately. "Not even when we tried to get him to."

"I don't blame him for being mad." Bella admitted, crossing her legs to sit indian-style. "I really don't. I just hope he gets over it soon. We need him."

"He and Cleo have been best friends since grade school." Rikki sank back down onto the couch. "She'd never admit it, but she's lost without him in her life."

"Are they even still engaged?" Bella asked, receiving a bleak shrug from Rikki in return.

"I hope so." Rikki tucked a strand of curly hair behind her ear. "I wish he'd talk to us long enough to let us apologize."

"It's not been very long." Zane tried to sound matter-of-fact, though the idea of managing things without Lewis's expertise did make him nervous. "Just give him a little time, he'll be back around."

"I hope so." Rikki yawned, checking her watch. "It's later than I thought, guys. Let's get home and get to bed." She helped pull Bella to her feet, the pair making their way to the door. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, ok?" She turned to Zane. "And don't, Zane. Don't say anything to Nate."

"Got it." Zane nodded reluctantly as the door swung closed behind them.

It was late that night when Nate heard the beaded café entrance rattle as he finished locking up. "Sorry, we're closed." He called over his shoulder. "I'm just about to lock up."

"Not yet you're not."

Nate whipped around when he heard her voice. "What are you doing back here?" He crossed his arms defensively.

"I just stopped in to say goodbye for a while." Sophie said sweetly as she perched on a stool, resting her chin on two folded hands.

"Finally checking yourself into the loony bin?" Nate wished he had his phone on him; he'd left it in the office.

"Very funny." Sophie cocked her head to one side, watching him. "Almost as funny as the acting display you put on earlier."

"What was that about, man?" Nate couldn't help but ask, leaning forward on his elbows. "You said you were fine with it, why in the world did you have to try to dick over Zane like that?"

"Do you think he trusts you?" Sophie asked without acknowledging his question. "Do you think he tells you everything?"

"Of course he trusts me." Nate gave away nothing. "I mean, sure, you two are having a lovers' quarrel or whatever; I know he's dealing with something between the two of you, but he'll tell me about it tomorrow. He said he would." He added the last bit for good measure.

"No he didn't." Sophie didn't miss a beat. "Although maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you do know everything already."

"Yeah, maybe I do." Nate stood up straight, puffing out his chest a bit.

"So he told you why I'm so angry with him?" Sophie opened her eyes wide with faux innocence.

Nate tapped the counter with his index finger as he rifled through his mind for a good bluff. "He's mad at you... because you're forcing him to go public." He nodded triumphantly. "So you decided to do it without him."

"You're only half right." Sophie smirked. "'Like I said, I just stopped in to say a brief goodbye. I had a very successful meeting earlier and my new employer wants me to stay closer to the head office until I can give them all the information I have." She popped off of her seat. "I'll see you around, Nate."

"Wait, what information are you telling, exactly?" Nate hurried around the bar to her. "Are you still trying to tell people about Zane?"

"Why bother only telling people about Zane?" Sophie paused before she reached the exit, turning back to face Nate. "Why not just tell everyone about all of them? Zane, Rikki, Bella, Cleo..." She sang the names, relishing the look of confusion on Nate's face. "What, so you didn't know?"

"Know..." Nate echoed the word, though he hadn't processed it. "What, that they know about Zane?" It felt obvious now that she'd said it. "Of course I knew that." He bluffed. He felt kind of silly, honestly. Of course they all knew about him. Why would Lewis know and not Rikki? It all made so much sense.

"No, you poor sweet idiot. That they're all merpeople, of course." Sophie said matter-of-factly, leaning in close. "Every. One. Of them." Her expression darkened briefly before she wrenched a plastic smile across it. "Zane doesn't trust you for shit." She gave him a scrunchy kind of smile before turning on her heel to walk outside. "Feel free to tell anyone you'd like." She trilled over her shoulder. "I know I will!"