Galeophobia {crankiplier}

Together

TW // blood/injury

{ Ethan's POV }

Ethan quickly swam along the empty sand with determination. He didn't even know if Mark would still be there, or if he'd have to go find him, but a deep longing in his heart kept him going, until it didn't. Ethan suddenly halted to a stop as he saw a shark in front of him. It was one he hadn't met before, causing his heart to drop. He had pale skin, bright green hair, and a grayish tail that had a black tip on one of it's fins.
The shark then quickly swam towards him and leaped onto him, digging his teeth into Ethan's shoulder. Ethan screamed with pain but managed to get away from the grasp, throwing the shark off of him. The shark bolted towards him again, but he dodged it. He managed to grab onto Ethan again, slamming him onto the ground, pinning his arms. "JACK, STOP!"
Ethan heard a voice call out, causing the shark to look up in confusion. He recognized the voice to be Mark. "Why?" The shark asked, annoyed sounding. "Because-.." Mark paused. "Because I said so" He finished. Jack furrowed his eyebrows, but let go of Ethan anyways, him immediately getting off the ground and swimming away from Jack. Ethan winced, grabbing his injured shoulder. Mark looked over to Ethan with a worried expression, then quickly swam over to him. "Are you okay Eth?" He asked in a slightly panicked voice, looking over his wound.
"Y- Yeah.. It just hurts" Ethan responded.
"Uh... what's going on?" Jack asked, looking over at them from behind Mark. Mark looked back to Jack. "I can't explain yet, we need to get back to the kingdom and heal Ethan's wound" Mark said.
"Ethan?..." Jack asked with confusion, looking over to him. "That's a seal." He added.
"Well I know that, come on we need to hurry!" Mark said, carefully scooping up Ethan and starting to swim, Jack reluctantly following behind.

The three made it to the familiar broken down room, Mark laying Ethan down to sit on his bed. "What is this place...?" Jack asked, scanning the rubble and objects along the floor. "It's where Ethan's been staying" Mark replied, opening up a small box full of medical supplies. Jack furrowed his eyebrows. "You... You've been hiding a live seal here? Why?" Jack asked, less angry now and more confused. Mark paused, then continued getting the bandages out and wrapped Ethan's shoulder. "He's my friend" Mark replied simply.
Jack seemed like he had something else to say, but just sighed, not having the energy to argue anymore. He slowly swam away from the entrance and sat on the floor while Mark finished wrapping Ethan's bandages. "So what happens if the king finds out he's here?" Jack asked, looking out the entrance. "Then we leave" Mark replied.
Jack stayed silent, still looking out to the open sea. He got up from the floor and swam closer to the entrance. "Well, I should go. I guess I'll just tell them it was an unsuccessful hunt." Jack said, looking over to Ethan before he left. His blue eyes seemed sad, like his words held a lot more meaning in them than what was said. Ethan shivered. Mark swam over to sit next to Ethan.
"So... what was that lady about?" Mark asked. "That was Kathryn. We've been friends since we were pups... she can be a bit protective." Ethan replied, smiling fondly. Mark smiled then his smile faded a little. "You know you can't live in two worlds at once... which one would you prefer, Ethan?" Mark asked, his voice soft. Ethan looked over to him, looking into his sad dark brown eyes. "Can I... confess something?" Ethan asked.
Mark nodded, and Ethan sighed. "I feel a certain way whenever I'm around you. Whenever I hear your voice or feel your touch, It feels like my chest is getting hit with warm rays of sunlight. My heart starts beating faster and my face gets really warm, you make me happy. No one's ever made me feel like that in my life. I want to stay with you to figure out what that means..." Ethan confessed, running his hand over his chest, where his heart is. Mark didn't say anything for a few seconds, which slightly worried Ethan. Suddenly, the taller leaned into Ethan and their lips met. Ethan felt a sharp sting of instinctual fear, but quickly calmed down, returning the kiss. Ethan moved his hands up to cup Mark's face.
Although it felt like they could've stayed like that forever, they eventually had to separate to breath.
The two stared into each other's eyes, trying to catch their breaths. "I love you, Ethan." Mark confessed. Ethan felt his face heat up more, and his eyes started watering. He hugged Mark, putting his face to his chest, Mark returning the hug. "We'll figure out a way to get out of this, where we can be happy. Trust me." Mark softly said, rubbing circles into Ethan's back as he cried.

A/N: i was planning for this to be way longer, but if i made anymore plot points then i would literally never finish this lol