Sleeping With Sirens (A Siren's Love, Reimagined)

Fifteen: The Rising Tide

DAY FIFTEEN

I don't know how long we stayed there, deep within our underwater world. But it was long enough that my pain slowly ebbed way. She pulled it from me with every touch, every kiss.

I resisted at first, too comfortable with living in it, too fearful of what, or who, I would be without it. I tried to draw strength on her words. Words that would bind me to her if I let them.

But the thing is, I was never meant to be bound.

Not by her, not by my mothers.

But that, my friends, is the problem. There was a part of me that craved to be under the control of her, splayed and vulnerable, her lips on my skin, her fingers exploring parts of me that had been damaged. She healed them, these shards of glass, she pieced them back together. And I was addicted.

We finally surfaced, water dripping from my skin, my hair plastered to my face, my lips red and puffy when I turned to look back at her. My feet slid into gritty sand, warmed by the sun that shone across her face, lighting up the dark waves of longing in her eyes.

"When will you be back?" I whispered, willing myself to remain strong.

She smiled, and I felt very much like that song; "Falling Apart" by ARMNHMR, RUNN. I felt more pathetic though, because I knew I would be seeing her much more often now that my parents knew.

She answered my question through the bond. "I will see you tomorrow morning." My relief at the shortness of her trip was overshadowed by the worry at the beating she had taken the last time she was home. My breathing stalled at the rush of anger and protectiveness I felt, and no matter how many times I told myself that she was a five hundred year old Syrena, that she didn't need me to protect her, the siren in me still hungered for blood.

"Hurry back." I thought at her, and her eyes flashed.

"Always."

I closed my eyes as she dove beneath the water, her tail slicing through the waves and out of view. After a little while the sea gentled, and I heard the footsteps behind me, not bothering to turn my head. My mom sat down in the wet sand beside me, her arm wrapping around my shoulder. I turned my head, breathing in her sea salt scent, tears pricking my eyes. My life had gone from zero to three hundred in two weeks, and I felt majorly overdue for one hell of breakdown. Not to mention, the bond between Luna and I left me achingly fragile and needy. I absolutely hated it because I've always been somewhat independent.

But I knew I couldn't refute what was between us and I genuinely didn't want to. Luna was...incredible to me.

I wanted to know more, to see her let down those mile high walls and break apart for me.

I was grateful that my mother didn't talk, just let me bury my face into her neck and cry for how fucked up my life was. Apart from the sadness, there was a healthy amount of fury, too, buried deep beneath the fear that Jack had instilled within me. It writhed and seethed, urging to be set free. I had heeded Luna's words, and I knew she was right to tell me that Jack had no place in my life anymore. But it was hard when my body remembered differently, and there was nothing I could do to control it.