Mix-Up

Chapter 11~ Fountain of Youth

Craig's POV

I paced around my living room for hours, trying to figure out how I was going to tell Melody that we had been seen kissing and that there was a photo going around. Oh, dear God. How am I going to tell her? I knew that showing her the photo was a bad idea since the fans had gone so far as to call her a gold digger and a slut among other things. I didn't want to scare her away because of what other people thought, but it was looking like that was my only option. I knew I'd get too tongue-tied otherwise. Furrowing my brow and clenching my jaw with determination, I went upstairs to get the enchanted shell. Taking a deep breath, I began to picture Melody in my mind.

"Princess Melody of Aquifenia," I whispered over the concoction of calcium carbonate. It began it glow soft greens, blues, and mixes of the two before I heard her voice.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Melody. It's Craig."

"Oh, hey Craig!" She sounded chipper. Oh God, this is going to crush her.

Melody's POV

Rose, Nessie and I were still talking about whatever we felt like when my conch started glowing. Confused, I picked it up and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Melody. It's Craig," the other voice said.

"Oh, hey Craig!" I answered, happy to hear from him.

"Hey, Mel. I... uh... I need to talk to you about something. In person. When are you coming back to Earth?"

"Well I can come back tomorrow, but it would have to be in the afternoon. I have some things I have to do in the morning. Why, did something happen? Oh Poseidon, are you ok?" I asked him, growing worried. I looked at Rose and Nessie, panic in my eyes.

"I'm ok, Mel, but something did happen and it's not something I can tell you over the... er... shell."

"Ok, I'll be there say about noon-ish tomorrow."

"Ok, thanks. And Mel?"

"Yeah, Craig?"

"Please don't hate me."

"Why would I ever hate you?" I asked, chuckling a bit. My girls had gathered that there was no immediate danger and had started laughing at the fact that Craig had called me.

"You'll see tomorrow. Hey, is that giggling? Who's with you?"

"Oh, my friends. We're having a girls day, but it's fine. I'm usually the but of the jokes anyway."

"Do me a favor?"

"What's that?"

"Tell them I said 'I love you'."

"I will," I laughed, before hanging up.

"So?" Rose asked, a mischievous glimmer in her eyes.

"You're not going to believe what he said," I squealed, putting on the fake charm.

"Tell us!" Nessie whined.

"He said he loved me," I answered after a few tension-filled minutes.

"He did not!" Rose gasped.

"You're right, he told me to tell you that. Devious little asshole, isn't he?"

"You're crushing my heart," Nessie sounded disappointed.

"Sorry, girls. But I do think he likes me. He sounded like he wanted to talk about something serious. And we have had our first kiss-"

"You what?" Rose asked, exasperated.

"Yeah, he kissed me the first day we met, and couple times after that. It's not official though, we're just testing the waters so to speak."

"And you didn't think to mention that earlier?"

"It slipped my mind."

"Melodonna Cordelia, you are in so much trouble!" Rose chastised me.

Timeskip To The Next Day

Craig's POV

After recording with some of the guys, I made myself some lunch. When I finished, I glanced at my phone. 11:45

"Shit, I gotta go," I cursed myself before cleaning up and heading back to the cove. I didn't have to wait too long before Melody emerged from the ocean, looking absolutely gorgeous.

"Hey!" She smiled.

"Hey," I waved.

"So what happened?"

"I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to say it. Someone took a picture of us kissing and posted it online. Everyone knows you exist. Look," I said, showing her the photo.

"Nobody knows what I am, do they?"

"Not as far as I know. Why?"

"Then this is something we can deal with. I can understand why you're freaking out though. This complicates things a bit. But everything's going to be ok."

"God, I love you," I sighed, so relieved that she didn't hate me that I didn't notice that I'd said.

"Do you want me to prank my friends again?" She asked. I took a moment to realize what I'd said.

"No. No, I really do love you, Melody Cordelia. I love you with everything I am. And I want to ask you to be my girlfriend. Please?" She took a moment before taking a deep breath and smiling widely. She walked up to me and took my face in her hands, and on instinct, my arms encircled her waist.

"I'd love to," She whispered on my lips before kissing me. When we broke apart, I felt so much better, but something was still bothering me.

"We still have a problem to deal with."

"And we will deal with it. Maybe we make a video telling them our story, excluding everything supernatural?" She suggested.

"Do you think that would work?" I asked.

"It doesn't hurt to try. Now come on, we have a problem to deal with."

Time skip to after the video is posted

Craig's POV

"This is so nerve-wracking. How are you so calm?" I asked her.

"Simple, you're anxious enough for both of us. Relax."

"But-"

"But nothing. Everything will be fine. Look, people are commenting," Melody said, pointing to the screen. Overall, everyone seemed happy for us, but there was a lot of discord about the huge age gap and the fact that Melody wasn't 18. We had explained that most we would do until then was kiss, but it still left people worried.

"Told you everything would be fine," Melody smiled, and I couldn't help but kiss her.