Mermen of the Gold Coast: Season 2

Chapter 1

Hi guys, I hope you enjoy season 2 :)

It had been half a year since Denman and Lara had escaped. Everyone had been on edge for the first couple of months, as they were scared one of them was going to come for Ash or Lewis. Lewis was still coming to terms with the knowledge that Denman was his biological mother. His friends had reassured him there were no hard feelings about it, they understood that Lewis couldn't control what his mother did. But Lewis was still worried that they would change their minds and turn on him. 

Neither Denman or Lara had made a move yet, which was freaking Lewis and Ash out. Though the others weren't so scared anymore. They thought Denman and Lara had given up, but Lewis and Ash didn't believe that. They were certain one of them was going to attack and were still on edge.

However, the upside of Cleo knowing that they were mermen meant that Lewis didn't have to keep lying to her. He felt so much closer to Cleo now. Lewis had wanted to ask her out now that she knew the truth, but he was so scared of losing her. What if she rejected him? Lewis would rather have her in his life as a friend than not at all.

Seeing Ash and Emma together made Lewis feel a pang of jealousy every time. The same happened with Zane and Rikki, though they kept insisting they were not a couple. It was obvious they had feelings for each other, it was only a matter of time until either Zane or Rikki would confess. It left Lewis feeling left out and lonely as they often went on double dates, though Rikki would hit Lewis if she knew he referred to them as double dates. 

Lewis was determined to gain the courage to ask Cleo out. Miriam was having another big party again; she wouldn't normally invite him. Lewis was certain she only did last time to find out weaknesses she could use against him. But this time Lewis was sure it was to try and impress Zane, as Miriam knew he was one of Zane's best friends. Lewis discovered that Miriam had a crush on Zane. He was wondering if he should warn Rikki, but she would just get mad at him for implying she liked Zane.

Lewis wanted to ask Cleo to go to the party with him. He wished he had Zane's confidence. Lewis made his way to the Juicenet café as he was meeting Cleo there. On his way there he froze in fear, Denman was talking to a young man. Denman was here! Though Lewis had known she would come back, a part of him hoped she wouldn't. Lewis quickly ran the rest of the way to the café, he looked back and thankfully Denman wasn't chasing him. So, she must have not seen him. 

Though she was his biological mother, Lewis couldn't think of her as his mother after everything she had done and wanted to do Ash. Lewis had only noticed Denman today, it made him worry about how long she could have been here without him or his friends realizing it. He hoped Ash would be at the Juicenet he needed to warn him about Denman.

He found Cleo waiting for him at their usual table, but there was no sign of Ash at the café. Lewis hurriedly sat opposite Cleo.

 "Lewis what's wrong?" Cleo asked in concern when she saw how panicked Lewis was.

"Denman is back".

 What? She can't be your mother threatened to tell the truth about you being her son if she came back".

"I know but I definitely saw her just now. She's so obsessed with Ash and finding answers about merpeople that maybe she doesn't care about her threat anymore".

 "If you really saw her, then I believe you. We need to tell Ash, he's in danger and so are you Lewis. We shouldn't be here, what if Denman comes to the café?"

"You're right let's go back to my house", Lewis said and when Cleo agreed they quickly left. Lewis texted Ash while they walked, telling him about Denman.

Lewis was freaking out the entire way back to his house, as he was worried they would bump into Denman but thankfully they didn't. Lewis still wanted to ask Cleo out, but with Denman back he wasn't sure if now was the time to ask. Lewis put that thought to the back of his mind for now. He texted Rikki, Zane, and Emma too, and they agreed to have an emergency talk at Lewis' house.

Ash was talking with his siblings when he got Lewis' text. Ash's world crashed around him when he saw that Denman was back. Ash would never be free of Denman; she would always come after him. It was times like this Ash wished he had a normal life and had never become a merman. But he wouldn't be so close with Zane and Lewis if all this hadn't happened, and he may not have had a relationship with Emma. Ash reminded himself that was worth going through the pain Denman had caused him.

 After telling his mother he was going to Lewis' house, he left and was very jumpy on the way there. Like Lewis, he was scared that Denman was going to grab him at any moment. But he made it to the house safely. Everyone hugged him and Lewis when he arrived.

"We have to call the police!"

"You know we can't Cleo, if we do that, they'll find out Ash, Zane and Lewis are mermen", Rikki said rolling her eyes.

"Well what are we going to do then? Denman is going to come after Lewis and Ash. We have to do something", Cleo said in exasperation.

"There's not much we can do, we'll just have to make sure Ash and Lewis are never alone", Zane said. "At least one of us has to be with them, that way we can protect them from Denman".

"I agree with Zane", Emma said, "As we can't go to the police, we'll have to protect them instead".

 "It's scary how often we are agreeing these days", Zane said smiling fondly at Emma.

Emma rolled her eyes playfully, "Don't expect it to be a constant thing".

Ash smiled at Emma happily, he was glad she and Zane were getting along more now. He was relieved they were no longer at each other's throats all the time. Ash had found it uncomfortable when they were arguing all the time, thankfully it was just playful bickering now. While the others were getting snacks and drinks, Ash took the opportunity to talk to Lewis alone.

"Are you doing okay Lewis? This must be hard for you".

"I should be the one asking you that after everything Denman put you through".

Ash put his hand on Lewis' shoulder, "You went through a lot because of her too. We've been best friends for nearly all our lives, you can tell me anything".

"I'm finding it difficult to process that Denman is my biological mother. If she finds out I'm a merman too I'm scared that being her son won't stop her experimenting on me".

"I understand that, we'll make sure she never finds out. Denman only knows about me, even if it means she focuses all her experiments on me I will never tell her about you and Zane. I have been through her experiments before, I can handle it".

Lewis gave Ash a sympathetic look, "I just wish you didn't have to go through all those horrific experiments. You are the last person who deserved it. I know the others want to protect us, but I want to protect you too. I promise I won't let Denman anywhere near you", Lewis said as he hugged Ash.

Meanwhile Denman was at her new house looking at a photo she had taken of Ash as a merman. Lewis had thought he had destroyed all her evidence, but he was wrong. Denman had kept this photo on her all the time and had kept it a secret from him. It wasn't enough alone to prove that Ash was a merman, people would just think she photoshopped it.

But it was enough to remind Denman of her mission and it gave her the motivation to continue finding a way to get Ash back so she could redo her experiments and do new ones. She also had a photo of Lewis; she hated that Lewis knew the truth now and had found out because she had accidently let it slip.

Despite this Denman wanted her son back too, now Lewis knew she couldn't ignore her desire to be his mother. She had missed so much of his life for her own selfish reasons. She didn't want to miss anymore of Lewis' life. Denman knew she was risking her sister exposing the truth of her past, but she was willing to risk it to get her hands on Ash and Lewis.