Lewis McCartney and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Week

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

When Lewis woke up again it was already the next day. Apparently staying up all night twice in a row had left him more exhausted than he thought. He woke up with a much clearer mind than he had the previous evening. A clear enough mind to realize that maybe, under his current circumstances, a fishing trip was a bad idea. He had only been awake for 10 minutes and was already in a panic knowing that his brother had a whole day planned out on the water. The water that could, within seconds, reveal a lot of things about Lewis that he wasn't sure he was prepared to reveal to his brother.

He thought about how he might be able to get out of the trip, but there was a part of him that didn't want to get out of it. Despite the danger that a fishing trip presented, he really could use the relaxation. He hadn't even realized how long it had been since he last went out fishing with his brother until Leo mentioned it. Leo was another reason he wasn't convinced that ditching out would be the best option. At best Leo would be disappointed that Lewis wasn't going, and at worst his worry for Lewis would skyrocket and lead to a confrontation that likely wouldn't be fun for either of them. Not going on the trip was seeming like a worse and worse decision with every passing minute. So if he was going on the trip, he would have to do everything he could to prevent any merman transformations.

When Leo knocked on his door to see if he was ready, Lewis was dressed in a sweater and a pair of jeans, fishing hat perched on top of his head. With his fishing equipment he had packed a pair of gloves and a towel in case of emergency. He did his best to put on an innocent smile as his brother looked him up and down.

"Are you sure you don't want to put on something else? It's like 26 degrees out." Leo asked raising an eyebrow.

"It gets chilly out on the water Leo, I don't want a little cold to ruin our fishing day!" As he spoke he picked up his equipment and started to walk downstairs, leaving no more room for argument.

"Alright then, just don't start complaining when you're sweating your ass off on the boat in that sweater." Leo followed him down, thankfully shrugging off the odd behavior. The last thing Lewis wanted was to spike Leo's worry once again.

They managed the short walk to the docks without any incident (although Lewis had already started to overheat in his outfit) and started to head out onto the water. Lewis opted to let Leo steer so that he could stay as far away from the slight spay of water trailing behind the boat. His brother once again raised an eyebrow at this behavior, but let it go quickly. When they got to their family fishing spot Leo stopped the boat and began the process of setting up his bait and lure. Lewis followed suit, putting on his gloves before putting his special lure onto the fishing line. For the third time that day Leo looked at Lewis curiously.

"Gloves? Since when are you afraid to touch bait?" There was suspicion in his voice, but luckily Lewis already had an excuse at the ready.

"I got a cut on my hand yesterday, didn't want to risk getting salt water in it or getting the bandage wet" He spoke casually enough, and he had even put a band-aid on his hand to make sure that Leo wouldn't have anything to question.

Once again his odd behavior was shrugged off and he and Leo cast off onto opposite sides of the boat. For a few moments they sat in silence, until Leo finally broke it with a soft sigh. Lewis looked over to see his brother with a soft smile gracing his lips, he was honestly a bit surprised to see him so relaxed. It seemed like they both really did need this.

"I forgot how relaxing this really was," He said, "Why did we stop doing this again?"

"The twins said that it was boring so we stopped going on weekend fishing trips together." Lewis responded, taking his eyes off the water to look at his older brother.