merman bill x ford

Part 4

Bill was healing up fast and he did not like it, he wanted more time to stay with ford, he really liked him. Bill had figured out what to do to prevent his quickly approaching departure from ford, he'll simply just pretend to still be hurt, that'll work...right?

The next time ford came to check bill's wounds (which looked almost healed up) he started moaning about it hurting 

"OW IT HURTS!" bill whined while ford looked confused and worried

"oh i'm sorry...but it doesn't look bad.." ford said quietly, moving his hands away from bill's tail

"well it hurts!" bill said pouting 

"maybe it's something internal" ford mused, looking closely at bill's tail. Bill shifted a little in the water at ford's stare

"so i guess i should stay a little longer till you figure this out" bill said casually 

"i guess so" ford agreed. He thought about how much he liked bill and how much he would miss him when he left. But bill's tail looked fine, ford suspected maybe something else was going on. 

over the next few days bill continued to complain that his tail hurt even though it looked fine. Any other time the well being of his tail wasn't brought up he acted in his same happy and slightly annoying self. Ford was getting suspicious about the honesty of his friend.

One day ford finally decided to confront bill about his suspicions. He found bill lounging in his tank with his arms behind his head and his eyes closed. Ford called out his name as he approached him.

"ugh bill?" ford called to the blonde 

"yes sixer" bill replied without opening his eyes

"well i've just been wondering about your honesty" ford said keeping his voice light and casual 

"oh really? Well you know you can trust me, right?" bill still didn't open his eyes

"oh i know that..." ford said as he slowly approached bills tail with an outstretched hand, while bill remained unaware of the action. He reached bill's tail and ran his hand along the shiny surface as he watched bill's reaction

bill shivered at the touched and stared wide eyed at ford "y-you're stroking my tail?.." bill asked quietly

"and doesn't seem like it hurts" ford said with a raised brow, moving his hand away from bill's tail

bill bit his lip "no! it's just..." bill stared into ford's brown eyes and sighed in defeat "..alright alright...i'm sorry for lying....my tails fine..." bill mumbled 

"but why did you lie? I thought you wanted to get better" ford asked confused 

"i did....i just..loved spending time with you...i didn't want to leave you" bill confessed, staring into the water of his tank 

ford nodded in understanding "oh bill why didn't you tell me how you felt?" ford asked softly with a kind expression 

bill still refused to look ford, keeping his eyes down "i'm not supposed to get this close to a human....we're not even supposed to talk to humans....they warn us that your kind will hurt us..." bill explained quietly. ford recalled how much bill didn't want his help the first time they met

"...so that's why you didn't want me to help...but i'm your friend like you said...you know i'll never hurt you" 

"i know that...i just.." bill sighed going quiet 

"it's ok...you must have been brought up to think that" ford said as bill nodded "... don't want you to leave either...but you can't stay in that small tank...i don't want to keep you away from the ocean"

"no it's ok...i've never been liked much by other merpeople...they think i'm annoying...but i would like something bigger...i dont want you to stay cooped up in this tank" ford said as he looked at bills rather small tank

"hmm...how about you go back to the ocean until i get something better for you. i'll get you back when it's ready" ford said, already thinking up some ideas 

"you will?!" bill exclaimed happily "ok i'll stay close by. oh i can't wait!" 

ford smiled at how happy bill looked. He could always count on bill to bring him a smile.