Sea Blue Eyes {Narry}

Chapter 5: Destiny

Harry looked up, a pretty mermaid in front of him. She was about middle-age, long brown hair flowing behind her. She had wrinkles around her eyes, but was beautiful nonetheless. "Yes, I am." He carefully got up from the bench to shake hands formally, but instead, the mermaid wrapped him in a hug.

"It's nice to meet you, Harry. Now I understand why Niall likes you so much, you're quite the handsome fellow." Harry preened from the compliment. "And what a necklace! Where'd you get it from?"

Harry hesitated.

"Mom, I see you met Harry!" Niall came to Harry's rescue, the latter nearly dying of relief. "Harry here made that himself!"

"Oh really," Niall's mom gasped, looking at Harry with a pleased look. "You're very talented!"

"Maura, give the boy some space." A tall, burly man came through an opening. He had long brown hair pulled up in a pony tail- the whole top of his head bald, hardened cerulean eyes trained on Harry. "Name's Bobby."

Harry reached out to shake Bobby's outstretched hand only to lose what little balance he had. He began to fall forward, his head eventually where his tail used to be. He looked up sheepishly, tail fin slightly draping over his face. He looked over to Niall, seeing him face-palm. "Uh, Harry? What's wrong with your tail?"

"S-Sorry." Harry made windmills with his arms, effectively turning him right side-up. "I uh... I-"

"Harry here strained his tail on the way here. He um- had a run in with a boat in the open sea. He has trouble swimming." Niall made up a lie, mentally high-fiving himself for coming up with it so quickly.

"Oh dear! Why didn't you say something sooner?" Maura pushed Harry back down onto the bench, a worried expression on her face. "What happened with those wretched humans?"

Harry cringed before looking over to Niall, the later signaling to answer. "I live in the open sea, so there's always the risk of boats. I guess I wasn't paying attention and ran into the boat, my whole side hit it. Niall here helped me and brought me here." Harry mentally congratulated himself at coming up with a lie so quickly.

"That's tragic, darling!" Maura gasped, Bobby nodding his head in agreement. "Would you care for some crab cakes?" Before Harry could say anything, Maura was already up and out of the room, retreating behind the seaweed curtain.

Niall sat down beside Harry on the bench, heart thumping as his parents ate up every word coming from Harry's mouth. He couldn't believe this was working! He looked down when he felt Harry's tail fin brush against his softly. It was repetitive, meaning it wasn't on accident. Harry was purposely touching him, making a blush overtake Niall's cheeks. To Harry, it was the merfolk version of Footsy. "So Harry, why do you live in open sea?"

Both boys froze.

"I uh- like the freedom." Harry replied nervously, biting his lip roughly. Bobby narrowed his eyes, but said nothing as he left the room, the seaweed curtain swaying from the current created by him. "That was close." Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, good job." Niall praised him, smile big and bright.

"Niall, I never got the chance to say thank you. So thank you. Thank you for bringing me here and showing me around. Thank you for saving me. Thank you-" Harry stopped himself when Niall surged forward and pulled him in a hug, face snuggled in his collar bone and arms wrapped tight around his neck.

"Thank you for keeping me a secret." Niall said, eyes looking up at Harry, pretty blue irises bright as they stared into unusual green ones. "You're a special human." My human.