Shadow at the Water's edge.

Confrence

When Alex pulled into the driveway, he was pleased to find that Nick's car was vacant. At least he had more time now to think up an explanation for Vivian. Although he knew he was only delaying the inevitable.

"Are we going to go inside?" Vivian's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he smiled as he turned the car off and unbuckled.

"Yeah, sorry, I'm just a little distracted." He stepped out of the car and said quickly.

"Hey, stay there, I don't want you walking on those legs." She sat obediently and waited for him to come around and get her out of the car.

"This might seem weird but how much do you weigh?" Vivian laughed and gave him a mock shocked face.

"Alex, you never ask a lady her weight." He grinned and paused on the porch.

"I know that but - could you open the door? Thanks - you're just a lot lighter than you look." She shrugged and said dismissively.

"Sea nymphs have a very strong but light bone structure, kind of like birds, except our bones aren't hollow."

Alex kicked the door shut behind them and deposited Vivian on a bar stool as he said.

"I'm starting to understand why you didn't want to go to the hospital."

She rested her chin in her hand and watched him open the fridge and survey the contents.

"It wouldn't take them very long to figure out the truth, and then I'm afraid I'd end up in a lab." She shivered and rubbed her arms before turning her attention back to Alex.

"What are we going to do?"

He looked up, blowing a lock of hair out of his eyes.

"Um...well we're going to eat something, and then either eat or watch TV until my friends arrive, or Nick."

"What are you going to tell your friends?"

He shrugged.

"Honestly I have no idea, I don't think they'd believe me if I told them the truth."

"You believed me."

Alex thought for a moment about this, he shouldn't have believed her, he should have taken her directly to an asylum, but...he had been in the wreck, he'd seen her. Maybe he was the one who needed to go to the asylum.

"Yeah, I did...I shouldn't have, but I did."

Vivian watched him with inquisitive eyes, she didn't know why she trusted him so much. Something had told her how to find him, she had been drawn to him. Sea nymphs never ignored instincts, it was one of the things that they could always trust. There was something different about this boy, he was special, set apart from the other humans.

"Why did you believe me?"

He shrugged.

"I don't know. Crazy right?" She smiled and he shook his head and cleared his throat.

"Right, so do sea nymphs eat normal food?" He loved the sound of her laugh, and was happy that he was the reason she was laughing.

"I'm technically human right now, so yes, I do eat normal food."

"What sounds good?"

"Peanut butter sandwiches." He smiled and pulled out a variety of jellies, and then set these down in front of her with a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter.

"Peanut butter sandwhiches it is."

They spent the next several minutes making a plate of sandwiches and 'accidentally' getting the ingredients on each other. When they were all finished, they moved into the living room, Vivian insisting that she could walk on her own.