GIVE ME A TITLE

Chapter Three

Pulling out my phone, I dialed my father's phone number before putting the small device to my ear.

Ring. Ring. Ring. "Hello?" My father's deep voice spoke. His voice was scratchy as if he was just yelling.

"Hey Dad, I was wondering if you were home. I just needed to pick something up and I noticed your car in the driveway." I was silently praying he wasn't.

"No, I'm at Charlie's. What did you need, I thought you were going to Oliver's."

"I forgot to grab a change of clothes. We wanted to go swimming." I was lying. To my father.

"Alright, just be careful. Goodbye."

"Bye Dad," I quickly hung up and opened our apartment building door. The creature looked a little pale, and his skin was flaking. He needed water, and fast.

My feet flew, and my thighs burned as I raced up the stairs to our apartment. I put my thumbprint into the parametric device on our lock before twisting the door handle.

Our apartment was as it was when we left. The kitchen had dirty dishes in the sink, there was trash in the bin. The throw pillows that were supposed to be on the couch were on the floor, and there was a shirt hanging off the arm of the couch.

Inside the bathroom, my father's 3-in-1 bottle of Axe was on the floor of the bathtub. I picked it up and sat the creature down on the toilet. They needed water, but I couldn't just run water and put them in. They needed salt water. And a ton of it. Immediately.

I stood up, letting them know I would be back as soon as possible, and left, going to the kitchen to find our big container of salt. Where the hell was it?!

Every cupboard I opened it wasn't there. My anxiety started to rise. If I couldn't get them salt water they would die.

As I was panicking, something tapped my shoulder. I jumped and turned around looking at what tapped my shoulder.

The merperson's tail had been replaced with a pair of long, tan legs. The scales around their ears had disappeared and had been replaced with some short, straight blonde hair. His jawline was strong and immaculate. His eyes had changed from cat eyes to human eyes. Their irises were blue and green, they had heterochromia.

When my eyes got the full view of them, I had a big realization.

They were naked.

I covered my eyes, hiding them from my view. "Holy crap you scared me. How did you do this? You looked so pale. So sickly and I-"

"I did what I had done to your hand. Simple." His voice was higher pitched, sounding like a teenager.

"Alright, well, why didn't you do that when I carried you for a mile? My arms are so sore."

"You had it under control, and I was working on it. Also, you deserved it, since you took me from my home."

He had a point. I had taken him from his home. "I'm sorry, forgive me but right now please go back to the bathroom. I'll bring you clothes." I stood up and walked to my bedroom as he went off in the direction of the bathroom.

Opening my closet, I realized all my pants were too short for him. My shirts would be too small as well. I had one pair of oversized shorts and a shirt that Oliver had left at my house from past sleepovers.

I grabbed the outfit and walked back out of my room and knocked on the bathroom door. He permitted me and I opened the door slightly, putting only my arm in, and handed him the clothes. "You know how to put these on I hope?"

They made a sound of approval before I closed the door and waited outside.

A few minutes later, the doorknob turned, and they stepped out. I smiled in their direction.

"So, you feel better? Hungry?" I asked, my eyes looking over his body.

"I'm a little hungry, got any fish?"

"Yeah, of course we do. How do you want it?"

"Raw."

I held back a laugh as I looked him in the eye. "I don't think you, in a human body, can consume raw fish," I was struggling to hold it back as they looked at me.

"This isn't my first time walking on Earth in a human body. Just trust me, I can eat raw fish. I have the same organs as I did, but just no tail." They sounded offended as they looked back at me.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had walked before." Guilt consumed my body as they glared at me.

"I understand humans are curious, so you can ask your questions now while you get me a fish."

"Alright. Do you have a gender?" I asked as I walked over to our deep freezer. I had been curious since I first laid my eyes on them.

They looked at me, their gaze softened as their eyes found my body. "I am a male, just like you. I chose this body when I first walked. I hated the way the female body looked, and so I had only one other option."

I was halfway inside our freezer looking for a fish for him. "Wow. I never realized that. I'm so sorry." My hand wrapped around a fish, and I stood back up. "Why did you sing while healing my hand, and, what was it about?"

"Oh, that? It was just a little tune from the ocean. It was a tune my mother used to sing to me."

"That's so sweet. Did your mother stick around for long, or do merpeople's parents leave them early in life like other species?" I handed him the fish, and he smiled before taking a bite from its side like corn on the cob.

"Most merpeople's parents stick around, but stop caring for them around the age of 18 like on the ground." He savored the bite of fish, and I almost threw up from the bits of fish guts in his teeth.

"So, um, what's your name? Did you get one when you got to the ground or did your parents name you?"

"My parents named me. Under the surface I am called Tyran, but above I'm Devy." He had chewed enough off the sides of the fish to stick it into his mouth hole and pulled the bones out clean.

"Oh nice, I'm Mateo. Can I call you Tyran in private? Like right now?" My voice had a curious tone to it as I asked Tyran the question. But, he nodded his head and threw the fish bones in the trash.

"So, any other questions you have to ask me?"

Then suddenly, I remembered my confusion from earlier on the ship, and I decided to ask him about that. "Do you know why, when you sang-."

The detection of a familiar thumbprint and the twist of a doorknob let me know.

My father was home. I was supposed to be at Oliver's, and Tyran wasn't supposed to be here at all.

Crap.