Take A Walk With Me (One-Shots and More)

An Illegal Swim, A Deadly Storm, And A Letter (Merome)

"Mitch," Jerome grinned, looking over at his best friend. "We're breaking the law!"

He was giddy. Never before had he done something like this - at least, not with Mitch. Sure, it wasn't a felony, but it was still a crime. They could get a hefty fine if they were caught.

If they were caught.

"You're that excited about this?" Mitch smirked, looking over at Jerome. He'd broken the law, minorly, so many times before, that it had lost its thrill.

But now that he was doing it with Jerome...

Thrill fell to the back of his mind, and the urge to impress had taken over.

"Of course, buddy."

Night swimming was a creepy experience, especially in the open ocean. Normally, the beaches were still alight at this hour, and for the public to use, but a hurricane was brewing, and all the seaside had been locked down.

Mitch just chuckled and pulled his shirt off, throwing it in the back of the car. He turned the keys in the ignition before yanking them out and dumping them in the cup holder. "You ready?"

Kicking off his shoes, Jerome nodded. The two pushed open their doors at roughly the same time, and stepped out. Mitch had driven the car up onto the beach, past the parking lot, so as soon as their weight was under them, the sand sunk in between their toes.

"Race ya!" Jerome called, bolting down the beach. Rolling his eyes, Mitch followed, catching up before the younger could even reach the first wave. He pushed Jerome aside and splashed into the water, frothing foam surging over his ankles. Already, the water was higher than normal, but neither boy took notice.

"Okay, you actually work out, that's not fair!" Jerome groaned, then, as Mitch shrugged, lunged and pulled them both to the ground.

Salt water splashed around their heads, and Mitch shoved Jerome off him. He scrambled back, further into ocean. Jerome got to his feet, but Mitch stayed down. Waves started crashing over his body, and, like a madman, he started laughing.

"That's creepy as fuck."

"I know," Mitch smirked, staring up at his best friend with narrowed hazel eyes, oaken hair splayed across his forehead, silver earrings looking more like pearls than the metal they actually were. A lone strand of seaweed was tattered across his shoulder.

And he was grinning, white teeth glinting in the moonlight.

He looked less like a human and more like the Little Mermaid equivilant of a Cheshire cat.

Jerome splashed water at him, and Mitch stood, only to rush deeper into the water. He didn't really think about how far out he was going until the gentle waves started to lift him off his feet.

"Miiiiitch," Jerome called, starting to swim out to him. But instead of answering lightheartedly, panic started to set through him.

"Please tell me that's not rain."

Rain, in Florida, meant thunder and lightning. Inland, thunder and lightning meant power outages. But here, on the coastline, and especially out in the water, thunder and lightning meant hurricanes.

And the hurricane that had been coming was expected to be a Category Three on land, leaving it to be much, much more over open waters.

Jerome froze up.

"That's rain."

Swallowing hard, and getting a mouthful of seawater in the process, Mitch tried to swim back towards shore. Suddenly, the waves were bigger, the tug stronger. Real fear sunk into his bones, and he started to struggling, fighting. But the current was real, and it was dragging him out to sea.