Escape the Sea (COMPLETED)

Chapter 12: Heartfelt

  Josh stared at his girlfriend then back at the mermaid on the floor, thinking of a plan to get Lydia out of this mess. "Well?!" Lauren yelled, still waiting for her answer. "I never knew about this!" He lied. "Yeah right, I'm not stupid Josh!" "It's a costume! See? Doesn't it look so much like, um, plastic?" He stuttered. He was usually so good at lying, he didn't understand why at that exact moment he couldn't find words. Lauren looked at him with a "are you kidding right now?" face. "She can't get into a costume that quickly doufus! You have to try harder than that." She said, putting her hands on her hips. "Why would you lie for her? What has she ever done for you? She's just using you for personal gain! You're just the person who takes care of her." She handed Josh his phone that was in his back pocket. "If you could just snap a pic of this thing, we could win millions! You can finally move out of your parent's house." She said, very convincing. "No. I promised I wouldn't say a word." He said, assertively. "You'd rather help HER than ME?!" She yelled. Josh scarcely nodded his head. "Fine! You know what, since you'd do anything for her and not care penny for me... WE'RE OVER!" She screamed. Then she looked over at Lydia and hissed "I will get you sea slug, if it's the last thing I do!" With that, she stormed off with her eavesdropping friends trailing behind.

Josh's best friend, Caleb, walked into the room with 2 huge Leis over his head. "Bro, that party is lit! Aren't you coming?" He asked, punching his friend on the arm. "Not now." Josh said, obviously disturbed by something. "Josh? You ok bro? Oh hi Lydia!" He waved at the, now very scared and puzzled mermaid on the floor. She gave him a weak wave. "What happened? Did you and Lauren fight? She seemed pretty mad when she walked out of the room." Then a light bulb came on in his head. He looked down at Lydia and back at Josh. "Yup." Josh said. "How?!" He was freaking out; so many thoughts were racing through his head. "I don't know Caleb, ok? I don't know! All I know is that I'm screwed. She BROKE UP with me, all because I was trying to protect Lydia! I don't even know why I brought her here! She's caused nothing but stress and frustration in my life and I already have enough of that!" He yelled in frustration, not thinking about his words. "Dude." Caleb looked at his heartless friend, shaking his head. He pointed at something behind him. Lydia. "I'm sorry." She said, trying to fight the tears. "You know, you could've told me to leave! I would've left! Your mother was wrong about you, you haven't changed a bit. And to think, I actually fell in with love you." She said, feeling extremely hurt.

Now completely dry, she ran out of the room, she could feel the golf ball sized knot in her throat. "Lydia!" Caleb called. "No. It's for the best." Josh sighed. "Are you serious Josh?! You're just going to let her go? Will you stop thinking about yourself for 5 minutes and smell the coffee? She just said she loves you! She's the best thing that could've happened to you! She brought you out of your shell; you were the Josh I knew in middle school again whenever she's around! You never loved Lauren. She manipulated you to think you 'loved' her but you don't! You know you don't." Caleb tried talking some sense into his friend, which seemed to be surprisingly working! "What have I done?" Josh contemplated a way to get her back. "What are you doing here for? Go get her!" He rushed. As Josh got up, he put his hand on Caleb's shoulder and said "Thanks bro." "Go get your girl." Caleb smiled. Josh repeated that in his head "My girl... my girl." He dreamed as he ran to the pier Lydia and him were at last night, hoping that she'd be there.

Lydia stood at the edge, tears trickling down her pale face. "I should've stayed." She said through her whimpers. She didn't have any energy. If she jumped in, who knows what could happen. She could really damage herself, but she had to. No matter the cost. She didn't belong here. She didn't belong anywhere. "Lydia! No!" Josh screamed as she jumped into the warm water. He ran towards the edge of the pier and without a shadow of a doubt, he dived in. He opened his stinging blue eyes to see Lydia floating in the deep blue. She didn't seem to move and her breathing was very faint. Josh swam as far as he could and grabbed her by her slim waist. He pulled her up to the surface and used the little bit of strength he had left to put Lydia on top of the pier. "Lydia, Wake up! Why did you jump in?! This is all my fault!" He cried. "I'm SO sorry! You don't stress me out or anger me! You actually bring me a lot of joy. You always find some way to make me smile. Sometimes, unintentionally. It was Lauren that has me stressed out, not you." He felt the tears coming as he whispered "I love you." And as he was confessing, he felt a cold hand hold tight to his. Lydia opened her hazel green eyes and smiled. "It's ok. I love you too." Josh had a big smile on his face. "Lydia! You weren't dead? Or almost dead?" He asked, puzzled by the sudden energy in her voice. "I was out cold until you touched me. It was like a rush of electricity." "How is that possible?" He asked, holding Lydia's hand. "I'm not sure?" She answered. They looked into each other's eyes and they both felt the love in that moment.

"Josh?" Lydia asked. "Ssshhh" he whispered as he leaned in and kissed Lydia, it was innocent and sweet. Josh held her tight, having one hand on her waist and the other on her cheek. He never knew he loved her so much until now. He never wanted to let go! They both felt something in their hearts that they never felt before. Was it the want to be with each other? Or was it... more? "Lydia!" A deep voice called. Lydia immediately separated herself from Josh and looked to see who it was. "King Titus?!" Lydia trembled. It wasn't time to come back from migration yet! Why on earth was he there?