Rowan watched Kaerius from his window. He waited until the Thalassic Mortal returned to the sea before packing his bag and going downstairs for breakfast. He was surprised to see his mother sitting at the breakfast table with a big plate of toast, untouched.

"Rowan," she said and connected her fingers. "Join me at the table, or I'll lock you in the house until you do."

Rowan clenched his jaw to stop himself from rolling his eyes. He sat down and stared at her carefully. She hadn't seen Kaerius, which meant that she wasn't sleep deprived. Rowan wondered why some people saw him and not others.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"To have breakfast with my son. Is that too much to ask of you?"

Rowan didn't break the eye contact, trying to melt the icicles staring back. "You want to talk about what's wrong with me, so I'll tell you." He picked at the toast. "I almost died. I thought I was going to die, so excuse me for wanting to go away by myself for a bit. How can you not understand that? What I went through was traumatic. Did it occur to you that maybe I'm not bouncing back like you do?"

Mandy listened, and to Rowan's surprise, her frown loosened. "You can drop the attitude," she said, and Rowan reflected on his words. He was quite snappy that morning. "And yes, it has occurred to me that you're struggling. Making friends with Thalassic Mortals proves that you're not coping well. They're dangerous. You can't trust a word they say."

Rowan swallowed the toast, and his throat was too dry. "I know that," he said quietly, thinking about how stupid he was to trust Kaerius.

"Can you make a promise to me that you won't go near them again, not without me there?" she asked, leaning over the table to rest a hand on his arm.

"I'm not going on another hunt with you."

"I wasn't implying that."

Rowan stared at her. It was physically impossible for him to stay away from Kaerius, but he was going to try his damn hardest. "I have to go, I'll be late-"

"Rowan," Mandy said. Her voice was soft, but her eyes were still sharp and alert. "Trust me when I say this-

"I have to go." Rowan pulled away, and his eyes left hers. He didn't look at her again because he didn't want her to see his tears. Rowan didn't trust her, he didn't trust anyone, not even his father, not anymore. When Rowan left the house, he kept thinking about how it was possible to feel so alone in a world so full.

A person's mind was the loneliest place of all, yet quietly muttering in the depth of Rowan's thoughts was Kaerius's voice, keeping Rowan a stitch away from falling apart.

* * * * *

"Rowan Solar. Nice of you to join us," the tutor said when he walked through the door. Nobody else heard, and she had said it quietly to not embarrass him, but Rowan still turned a little red.

"Sorry. I had a bit of a... family related emergency and illness," he said, scratching the back of his head. She was a short woman, making Rowan look like a giant.

"That's alright, but in future, please email when you won't be attending."

Rowan nodded and turned to find a seat. The only available space was next to a guy who did not look happy to see him. "Jack," Rowan said, slowly sitting next to the guy who was in his group project.

Jack pushed his glasses up his nose and crossed his arms, successfully ignoring Rowan's existence.

"Um, you said you'd message me on Facebook to arrange meetups. I didn't get a message," Rowan said and pulled out a notebook. He had so much to catch up on.

"You didn't turn up to lessons the day after I talked to you, so I decided that you could either reach out to me or fail the assignment," Jack said, staring ahead to avoid eye contact.

"I see." Rowan fiddled with his pen, trying to ignore Kaerius's voice. Rowan felt the sea creature's anger. "Well, I'm sorry for ghosting the project like that. I had reasons not to be here, but it takes a minute to send someone a message, so I apologise for not making an effort."

Jack eyed him quickly before his gaze sprang back to the board. "That's actually very mature of you," he said, sitting up straighter. He paused, then said, "I accept your apology." Rowan was about to relax, but Jack turned to face him at lightning speed. "If you ever do that again, I'll make sure you fail. Understand?" Jack's pointed finger was centimetres away from touching Rowan's nose.

"I understand." Rowan waited for a few minutes until he was sure Jack was done. "So... Do you want to catch me up to speed with everything? I'm free for an hour at three."

"I'm free then too." Jack watched Rowan tap his pen against the table. "We haven't done as much as you would think. Some other group members are dumb and don't understand."

"That's a little harsh," Rowan said, looking around to see if anyone was listening. Working with Jack wasn't going to be an easy task. "We did only start a few weeks ago. Give them a chance."

Jack eyed Rowan again. "No, Solar. No chances are taken with my education. Either work as hard as me or get the low grades you deserve."

Rowan raised his brows. Jack wasn't afraid to talk his mind. "I guess I can't argue with that. But can you work as hard as me?"

Jack hummed an interesting response. "I set the standards around here Solar," he said, but this time, when he glanced Rowan's way, Rowan saw a hint of amusement shining through his thick glasses.

* * * * *

Kaerius had never swum so furiously. He left an angry trail of sand behind him from the aggressive waves of his tail. When he reached the kelp beds, he ripped them out as he swam. Hearing Jaiker's voice only fuelled his rage.

"You, old fish!" he yelled, swimming up to the sea creature with long grey hair and an even longer beard. Kaerius didn't stop moving until Jaiker's back was pressed against the side of the outer cave. Jaiker didn't look the least bit worried. The fact that he wasn't surprised by Kaerius's appearance angered the young Thalassic Mortal even more. "Did you lie to me?"

"That's for you to find out when you try to get rid of the bond and kill an innocent life."

Kaerius slapped Jaiker's tail was his fins. "That means you did lie! How could you give me hope like that?"

"Kaerius," Laiken said, swimming to them, ready to intervene if things got physical. "He didn't give you hope. He gave you an opportunity to get to know the human and to realise that your soulmate bond is special."

"So, he finally told you that he lied! Why are you not mad?" Kaerius asked, also slapping Laiken's tail with his fins.

"You're not listening to us Kaerius. You were wrong to want to kill a human. I'm not happy that Jaiker did that to you, but you have to understand that your actions have consequences, especially with the goddess watching you."

"I know," Kaerius muttered, backing away and trying to calm down. "The human knows now anyway, and he wants nothing to do with me. Are you happy now? Your little plan drew us further apart."

The Thalassic Mortals were silent. All Kaerius could hear was the quiet gurgling of water in his ears.

"He wasn't supposed to find out. Did you tell him?" Jaiker asked.

"No. He read my mind."

"Quit the attitude," Laiken said, lightly nudging him with his tail.

"I'm serious," Kaerius scowled. "He read my mind!"

"Oh..." Jaiker said, gently massaging his long grey beard. "You're at that stage quicker than I thought."

"What stage?" Laiken asked.

"The kissing stage," Jaiker replied, and they both looked at Kaerius who slowly sank to the floor.

"You kissed him!" Laiken said, sinking down with him. "That's... great- I think!"

"It is. Our angry young fish is in love," Jaiker said and was rewarded with a pink colour spreading across Kaerius's cheeks.

"I'm not in love. I don't do love. I'll never be in love," Kaerius snapped.

"But you kissed a human... a HUMAN. That bond must be strong to make you, of all sea creatures, kiss a HUMAN."

Kaerius slapped Laiken's webbed hand away. "Touch me, and I'll bite your fingers off."

"Aw, Kae is embarrassed," Laiken teased and provoked him by tugging on his tail.

Kaerius spun like an angry shark and bared his teeth uncomfortably close to Laiken's cheek. His uncle backed away, but he was still grinning.

"Stop, or I'll leave and never return," Kaerius warned.

"Because you'll be on land with your boyfriend?"

If looks could kill. Laiken would have lost his life a hundred times already. Kaerius seethed with anger. He started pacing back and forth, so Jaiker put an end to the teasing.

"Kaerius, you're clearly upset that Rowan isn't happy with you. Do you need guidance?" Jaiker asked.

Kaerius didn't reply straight away. The other Thalassic Mortals allowed him time to calm down first. "He doesn't trust me anymore. You can't even begin to understand how much that hurts."

Jaiker looked away for a moment like he was chasing a memory with his eyes, but it was swept along with the current. "Then let's start to rebuild it. Trust can be glued back together, but you have to understand that it will always have cracks. His trust in you might never be as strong, but you can at least show him that you'll never make the same mistake again."

"How, Jaiker? I've already apologised. He won't accept it."

Jaiker swam closer and rested a wrinkled hand on his shoulder. He stared into Kaerius's magnificent purple eyes. He watched for long enough to detect the bond, and he felt the strength which was like a strength more powerful than the biggest current in the ocean. "You have an advantage."

"And what's that?" Kaerius sighed.

Jaiker smiled and patted his shoulder. Even in his old age, his smile never failed to brighten his eyes. "Isn't it obvious?" he chuckled. "You're soulmates."