Morning broke and the cold air of dawn was masked by our hot breath.
We were so close, there wasn't much room to stretch.
I woke up first, gazing at the bright orange sunlight that lit up the inside of the tent.
It was calming.
I could hear the rush of water as the waves forced it to collide with the cliffs edge.
Korain woke up after me and instantly became startled.
His cheeks, the color of peaches and flushed by his expression.
He stuttered and apologized for falling asleep on our conversation the night before.
He wasn't alone.
The scare of being lost, made me exhausted.
The dark night and soft sound of waves didn't help much.
We unzipped the sleeping bag and stretched our limbs.
I pulled the tent open and breathed in the fresh morning air.
We wondered how long it would be until our class would start searching for us.
If they were even searching for us from the start.
Our hopes needed to stay high.
Korain stared at me and it looked like something was clear on his mind.
He seemed nervous at first glance.
He strolled up to the top of the cliffs edge.
I followed.
I could see a never-ending stretch of ocean and the sun rising on its rim.
My stomach ached to swim in it.
I forgot how long it had been since I last visited.
I could feel exhaustion forming inside me.
It wasn't from lack of sleep.
It was worse, and it was addicting.
Like a withdrawal that creeped up on you.
I walked a few steps behind him, heading back to the tent.
I turned around as I heard him speak.
He spoke words that confused me.
Words that escaped his mouth in a burst of fear and relief.
It was lifting a weight off his shoulders, but it was baring down on mine hard.
Switching a title of owners.
He confessed.
In the only way he knew how to.
Calmly panicking in his mind and letting romance escape his lips.
I was smitten and then reality hit me.
It pulled me into a darkness that scared me to the core.
What could have been worse, losing him because I'm unable to accept his love or confessing the lies that I kept hidden from him?
I made my choice.
I loved him.
I craved him and forced myself to submit.
I confessed.
I told him lies that shadowed our relationship.
Secrets that he didn't believe.
I knew he wouldn't believe.
It was too outrageous.
He took it as rejection.
I took it as confessing my sins.
It a moment of panic, he shouted at me.
Waves of emotions flooded our judgment and grasped the most painful of words out of his mind.
"You could have just rejected me, not think of an excuse to avoid the subject."
"It hurts worse."
I tried to approach him, but he moved away so quick that I never saw what happened.
Shock is what formed the terrifying look on my face.
"What happened?"
"Where did he go?"
I scrambled to the edge of the cliff and saw nothing but a circle of bubbles that lifted from the oceans depth.
Split second thoughts wasn't a choice in a matter of saving him.
I leaped into the water not caring for my own life.
What is my life anyways?
I pushed my fin against pressured water and rushed to the bottom.
I found his body, limp from lack of oxygen.
His weight was overbearing.
It sank me faster than I was swimming.
Pushing myself to the surface wasn't a case.
I had to do something.
Only the romance novels I read every night would teach me this.
It was like a cheesy romance.
I pulled the last bit of oxygen that I had out of my chest and kissed his lips, pushing the air into his lungs.
This wasn't my first kiss.
It might have been his.
I kept my eyes closed.
Too scared to face him.
I always watched him.
The way he smiled, laughed, and even when he would ramble about his love for music.
Being surrounded by water.
Completely empty of air.
It made me miss the moments when I wasn't having to worry about secrets and if he might hate me for having them.
I wasn't starting to care more about myself.
I was secretly relying on him to be strong for me.
I was a mermaid and he was a man.
Too different beings, floating in a scene of life and death.
The extra push of air gave him enough time to last until I could get us to shore.
I pushed his body up the beach with the rest of my strength.
He was breathing after a few air compressions and the spew of water that rushed out of his lungs.
I heard people.
They were yelling.
I could see the students from our class down the beaches shore line.
Their forms coming into vision slowly.
He would be safe, but I wouldn't be.
Tears rushed from my eyes as I pushed my tired body back into the ocean.
Every muscle screaming at me to rest.
I disappeared.
Searching for my reason to accept.
If only the ocean would give me peace to understand.