Two Different Worlds (Re-Write) - A Hermitcraft Mermaid AU

Chapter 17 - Lonely

Grian and Scar don't cope well when they're apart from eachother 

Scar had really thought this would be easy.

Spend a few days away from Grian for his own safety, use it as an opportunity to be with his friends, and when the ship was gone and the danger had passed he could go back to normal.

Except, 2 days hadn't gone by before he was badly missing his boyfriend. And a week hadn't gone by before he was bored to death. And 5 minutes hadn't gone by that morning before Xisuma noticed something wrong with him.

"It's almost depressing to watch him." Scar heard Stress admit, before X made his way into the small house. BDubs was (obviously) still asleep, so he was careful to be quiet.

"Are you alright?" He asked. "You don't look great."

"Is it Grian?" Zedaph asked sympathetically, poking his head through the empty window. Sometimes Scar wished he had glass blocking the windows or a door in the doorway, like how Grian had described human houses.

"No." Scar lied, rolling over to face away from them. "I just feel sick."

That much was true. He'd gotten far too used to being above the surface with Grian, and the now constant pressure from the water was giving him headaches.

"What's wrong?" Xisuma asked, stress quickly replacing the sympathy in his voice. "You're not sick are you? Or hurt?"

"I haven't been anywhere in days." Scar admitted glumly, ignoring his friend's panic. "There's nothing to hurt myself on."

"Ohhhhh... I get it." X sighed, smiling a little. "You're sick of being at home."

"No, that's not what I-"

"You're tired of us already?" Tango asked dramatically, throwing a hand to his forehead in mock distress. "Are we not good enough for you anymore?"

"I didn't mean th-"

"Have we finally been replaced by your precious boyfriend?" Wels added, wiping away fake tears as he held back his laughter.

"Will you abandon us forever to live with him?" Stress continued, not doing as well of a job at hiding her giggles.

"Guys, stop it!"

"I guess we'll help you pack your bags..." Joe sighed, shaking his head.

Scar opened his mouth to protest again, but was cut off by an angry groan.

"Would everyone please stop talking and get out?" BDubs snapped, sitting up with an annoyed expression on his face. "The sun hasn't even finished going up yet!"

The group laughed, but Scar's face turned red with shame and embarrassment.

"It's ok, we were only teasing you." Xisuma said softly, letting his friend lean against his shoulder. "If you really do want to leave and be with Grian I'd understand that."

'Except, he wouldn't.' Scar thought to himself, knowing how quickly the relationship would end if X found out about his and Grian's awkward little 'secret'.

Then he had a thought; what if he did want to stay with Grian? What if his boyfriend had to leave and he was forced to either go with him or stay with his family? How could he explain that to Xisuma? And what if he chose one, but never saw the other again?

Thinking about it made Scar stressed, so naturally, he didn't think about it any more. But the idea still made him uncomfortable and nervous... hopefully it was a problem he'd have time to figure out before it happened.

"You... you wouldn't actually want to leave us though, would you?" Wels asked, a look of concern in his eyes at the idea. Scar initially shook his head, but then sighed.

"I... I don't know." He admitted. "Grian doesn't really live here... he travels around a lot. If he leaves again, I'm not sure if I'd go with him or stay."

He chose his words carefully, telling the truth but not all of it. Xisuma frowned, before smiling a little at his friend.

"It's alright, if that decision needs to be made, you know we'll always have your back, right?"

The words gave Scar relief, but at the same time brought underlying guilt to the surface. He'd hate to think of how sad X would be if he left them all behind (to be with a human of all people)... or how angry he'd get if he found out what Grian actually was.

"Now come on, I'm not letting you lie around all day feeling sorry for yourself." Xisuma decided, pulling his friend out of bed and dragging BDubs with them.

When Iskall said that Grian got restless easily, the blonde had passed it off as another of their lighthearted jokes.

Now he was really starting to see how Iskall was right.

There was so little to do on a boat, especially when the only thing he had to entertain himself was a packet of cards and his own friends. But he couldn't even talk to his friends, because they were too busy talking about the other ship that had turned up, and so he was left with the cards.

So instead of practicing his (non-existent) sleight of hand skills, Grian decided to explore the island a little further. He'd been with Scar almost every day since he arrived here, and was too distracted with his boyfriend to go much further than the beach.

The sun was slowly setting in the sky as he pushed leaves and bushes out of his way. He could hear the distant calls of birds, but didn't bother looking for them. It would be dark within a few minutes anyway.

'And cold', Grian thought to himself, suddenly wishing he had something to keep him warm. There was that red sweater he almost never wore, but it was buried in some box back on the ship.

But just when he was ready to try and go home again, Gri spotted tiny lights floating through the air. Fireflies. He couldn't help but smile as they buzzed around his head, lighting the sky up like stars.

He'd have to bring Scar here someday. He doubted his boyfriend had ever seen a firefly before... or any other kind of bugs.

Thinking about Scar made his chest feel like it was being squeezed too tightly. Not how it had felt when he'd first started crushing on the merman, but in more of a sad way. He didn't like it.

5 days and he was already missing his boyfriend that badly. It was like he was addicted to him, addicted to his smile and laughter and the way it felt when they kissed each other. And when it was suddenly pulled away for so long, it left Grian with an empty feeling inside.

"It's for his own good..." Gri mumbled to himself, as fireflies landed themselves in his hair. He knew they were doing the right thing, making sure Scar wasn't near the other ship until they were certain it was safe. Certain he would be safe.

It still didn't give him any comfort though, and the empty feelings were still there. Sighing, he shook the bugs away and made his way home.

Next chapter's gonna be angstyyyy...

- Xan