Mermen on Accident (DNF Mermaid AU)

I said 'Kiss' not 'Make out'

"He needs air!" I yell.

Sapnap shakes into action. "Give him air!"

"What do you mean? How? He'll die if I swim him from the bottom of the ocean!"

"Kiss him."

Sapnap said it as if it was obvious. Obvious that if I kiss him, he will somehow have air? He was crazy!

"What? For how long? Do you think I can just do CPR that long? Are you crazy?" My voice is frantic at this point. George was slowly, but surely changing back into a human. He clutches his mouth with one hand, the other grips my shoulder tightly.

"No you idiot. Mermaids have a magical breath. You have to give him some of it."

I look at George and he stares at me with fear in his dark brown eyes. My mind races at a million miles an hour. Do I have to kiss him? Or can I just blow on his face? Would that even count as air?

There's not enough time for me to think about it. I'm practically hyperventilating at this point in pure fear. I look George in the eyes. He looks about to cry, red faced, but he moves his hand from his mouth as if giving me permission, or maybe it was because he no longer had the strength to clutch his mouth. The grip on my shoulder weakens as well and slips off. His eyes roll back.

I take a deep breath in and my brain runs rampant. Bubbles blow from Georges mouth and I steel myself.

It's just a kiss. I'm saving his life.

I quickly press my lips to his. My hand pushes his face to mine from the back of his neck. His lips are soft and warm. He doesn't respond at first so I move my lips against his again in a desperate attempt to revive him with my 'magical breath'. My heart leaps when I feel his lips move against mine.

And then, I feel like I can't pull away. His lips were so enticing, so sweet, so soft. George's grip returns to my shoulder and he pulls me in. Our lips dance perfectly, as if rehearsed. It was like nothing I had ever felt. The best kiss in my whole life. I couldn't stop. It was like I was completely famished and the only thing I craved was Georges' sweet lips. And he replied passionately. It was magical.

And then I felt like I was slapped in the face by an invisible force. My brain screams; I'm making out with George right now.

I'm broken from my trance and I pull away. George blinks up at me, mouth slightly agape.

"What the hell was that?" Sapnap asks.

My shoulders lower from their previous tensed position. George's face is bright red, but he breathes out quickly reassuring me that my breath was in fact magical. In more than one way...

I face Sapnap, still clutching George's shoulders.

"I said kiss him. Not full on make out."

I feel my face warm from embarrassment.

Why did I do that?

Sapnap blinks hard. "I'm feeling some serious tension between you two. I think you need to work some things out."

Karl winks at me. I look anywhere but the faces of the boys with me, utterly embarrassed that I had passionately kissed my best friend in front of two mermen I had only know for a week.

George seems to feel the same.

Sapnap continues, "As for the prophecy, you're going to need to find the mermaid queen. No one knows where she lives, but she is on land. She has a code word, 'pearl gate', for when people want to contact her. You'll have to do the rest on your own. Now you two get out of here before George loses his breath." He pauses and then mutters, "Although I'm sure he will be fine after the kiss you just gave him."

Karl snickers.

I swallow thickly. "Yeah. Okay. Thank you."

Sapnap leads us from the cave and points us in the direction of shore. I pull George behind me by his hand. He grips my hand firmly and kicks his legs as I swim us towards shore.

We swim silently forward, warped sun shining on our backs through the water. I occasionally readjust my grip on his warm fingers and George does the same.

My mind replays the feel of his lips on mine over and over. The moment his lips moved against mine it was like I was pulled into a trance that I couldn't break. It was magical. It felt like my whole body was tingling, fingertips, face, arms, until the moment i pulled away. Every time George's grip shifts in mine, a shiver runs up my arm reminding me that George is still here and that I had kissed him.

"Hey Dream?"

My head turns to him quickly at the sound of my name on his lips.

"Yeah?"

"Umm..." he clears his throat awkwardly. "I just- thank you."

"Thank you?"

"Yeah. For..." Kissing you? "saving me."

I pause. "Oh... yeah. Always."

The silence feels loud. My tail swishes behind me. George shifts his hand again. I glance up at the surface of the water where the sun beams gleam sideways through the waves. A colorful fish swims lazily by. My eyes drift to the sand parallel to me. A bright red crab hides under the grainy ocean floor from a meter long striped shark moseying his way along the sand.

I look over my shoulder at George. He has his freehand outstretched like you would out the window of your car on a windy road. He kicks rhythmically. I scan his face and bite my lower lip. My eyes land on his strawberry lips, smiling at the bright orange fish that swims by. His gaze lands on me and I snap my eyes forward.

Why was I staring?

I sigh out loud. The shore approaches quickly and soon enough George is above water again. He gets on his feet and winces. I slowly drag myself onto the sand.

"You're hurting?"

He sits in the sand. "Yeah. My ankle still hurts."

"Oh yeah." I had forgotten about that after all the commotion. "Let me just-" I gesture at my green tail as it shifts back into legs.

I clamber to my feet and pull George to his. He wraps his arm around me and we slowly wobble along the beach.

The sun beats down on us, and without the protection of water in between us and the sun, it feels even hotter. I huff as I help George towards our bikes and the road. A couple people are laid out in the sand on beach towels with abnormally large umbrellas and sunglasses, but other than that, there weren't very many people out on a sunny day like this.

George grunts. "Thanks again."

I look over at him, shifting my grip around his shoulders. "This one is payback for when you had to carry me."

George chuckles and turns his gaze from his footprints in the sand to my sun kissed face. His smile makes me smile back. I watch George's dark eyes dip to my lips and back up. It's subtle, but I saw it. Our steps slow until we stop. My eyes flicker across his face quickly. George's lips part in shock. He saw it too.

I blink and shake my head.

"What are we doing?" I ask.

George looks away taking another step in the sand. I follow at his pace.

"What do you mean?"

I sigh. "I mean, about the kiss. What was that all about?"

George looks confused. "Don't ask me. You were the one that kissed me."

"You were the one that kissed back!"

"I don't know what you're talking about." George refuses to look up from his feet, shaking his head in disapproval.

"Okay, listen. It was a once in a lifetime circumstance. It doesn't have to happen again."

George looks disappointed.

"What we really need to figure out," I continue, "Is why you turned into a human in the middle of the ocean."

Got another chapter down. Finally some romance? Is it finally feeling like DNF now?

Thanks for reading! <3

1376 words