Swim Away (Mermaid)

Chapter Nineteen

When I got my legs back, I stood, and looked at the guy laying on the ground. I felt bad at the thought of leaving him behind. If I chose to stay, he would think the whole mermaid thing wasn't a dream. My only choice was to leave him there. Hopefully, he would believe that this wasn't real.

I silently apologized to him, then ran, only to stop and realize that this made me feel like a horrible person. Why couldn't I make a decision? I tried to reminding myself that he ould be fine.

My feet twisted around, facing his body. He was still laying still, his face planted in the sand. I pressed my lips together and turned around again. My back was facing him and that was when I chose to run. Running through the sand and hoping to make it home.

With each step I took, I was fighting against myself not to look back. There was a secret to be kept and that was what I had to do. He would be fine.

I hoped.

But I caved in and glanced over at his still body. And before I could do anything else, I smacked into someone.

"Lara!" He called, happily. Noah was holding onto my arms and without much thought, I ran into his arms. My heart was pounding with joy at the sight of him and calming me, kind of. If only the worry and guilt could disappear with a simple and reassuring hug.

But this was reality, and something like that would never happen. So I pushed him away, realizing it was unlike me to come close to someone like that. It was a new feeling that I couldn't process.

He didn't object, as if he knew it was coming. Noah knew I didn't hug and that left a worried expression on his face. "What's wrong?"

"There's a guy over there and he's unconscious." I knew I couldn't handle what happened on my own.

Noah followed my gaze, then his eyes landed on me.

"I couldn't contact anyone, so I didn't know what to do." I could feel the rush of my guilt and tried to calm myself. Not only that, he saw me in my tail and that was enough to make me go a little crazy.

He waited patiently as I tried to recollect myself.

"Thank goodness you're here," I said. "I really need to rest, I'm not myself right now."

"I'll take you home," Noah said as he was about to carry me, but I placed my hand in front of him, shaking my head. I wanted him to help the boy on the sand first. "You know you're always going to be first."

This wasn't the time for him to be sweet and protective. I didn't like that he had to be my Protector. The whole thing was too weird for me.

"We can't just leave him there." Without another word, I walked back. It was odd that, even unconscious, he made me feel like I had to do the right thing. I grabbed Noah's hand and hoped he would follow.

"Fine," he replied.

I smiled when he started to follow me.

When we reached him, he wasn't where I left him. The shape of his body was visible on the sand. Chills ran down my spine. He couldn't have gone far.

"Where did he go? And who is he?" Noah asked, staring at the sand.

"I don't think you know him. Well, he has sandy blond hair, gray eyes, and a little taller than you." Before I could even form another thought, Noah pulled me closer to him like I would disappear at any moment. My heart sped up a bit, not sure why he was acting the way he was.

Noah's eyes froze on the sand, looking far away. I started to worry that he'd forget who I was at that point, it was worrying me.

"Asher?" Noah finally spoke. So he knew who Asher was? Which didn't really add up, since Asher seemed new and hard to find.