Rowan tried phoning Jack, but he wasn't answering or reading his messages. "I hope his dad hasn't found out because if he has, we're all in trouble."

Kaerius looked up from lying on the floor. Michael wouldn't let Rowan out of the house, so they were in Rowan's room, and Kaerius was so bored, staring at the ceiling seemed to be the only interesting thing he could do. "Yes. Mandy, in danger."

Rowan tried to reach for his laptop, but Kaerius yelled, "No work. Rowan rest."

"Kaerius, we're both bored out of our minds. Let me do something." When Rowan was left to do nothing, all he could think about was his wrist. It hurt so much; he sometimes had to pinch himself to focus his pain somewhere else. Michael had given him pain relief which helped a little bit, but not enough to relieve Rowan of the constant reminder that his wrist was broken.

Kaerius got up off the floor and jumped on the bed. He surprised Rowan by straddling his legs and sitting on his thighs. "Better closer to Rowan."

"Okay," Rowan whispered, immediately thinking of something other than Kaerius sitting on him with his hands resting just above his waist. "Um-" his eyes trailed up Kaerius. He had seen the Thalassic Mortal without clothes many times, so he knew what was under his ripped jeans and royal blue jumper. "Kaerius, do you have to sit there?"

"Hurting Rowan?"

"No... it's just..."

Kaerius read Rowan's thoughts. Rowan couldn't yet hear Kaerius, and Kaerius was glad. "Ohhhh. Kaerius pretty, I see."

Rowan blushed when Kaerius grinned with mischief.

"Well, yes. I'm not gonna pretend that you're not insanely hot."

"Hot?" Kaerius frowned and touched his skin to check.

"No," Rowan chuckled, hurting his ribs. "By hot, I mean you're very attractive." His cheeks blazed.

Kaerius watched his skin going blotchy. "You hot too."

"Even with bruises and a broken nose?"

"Of course."

Rowan could barely process the amount of affection hugging his heart. It made him a little breathless, and a little more in love. "This bond thing is a lot more fun when we stop fighting against it."

"Yes," Kaerius agreed. "Feel good." He looked down to Rowan's t-shirt and picked at the hem. When Rowan didn't move, Kaerius started to lift his t-shirt to his chest. He had the intentions of looking and touching, but dark bruises covered Rowan's ribs. "Ouch," Kaerius said, very gently brushing his fingers across his chest and down his stomach. "Very ouch."

"It's okay," Rowan whispered, watching his hands. "It looks worse than it is."

Kaerius traced over Rowan's bellybutton and down until he touched the waistband of his shorts. "Heal like Thalassic Mortal. Feel better soon."

Kaerius's deep voice was pleasure to Rowan's ears. He moved his good hand and touched Kaerius's knee. The physical touch was small, but it was enough to let Kaerius know that Rowan wanted more.

Kaerius hovered over him with hands on either side of his head. He leaned down with eyes only for Rowan's mouth. Their lips touched, and Kaerius's breath hitched. Every time they kissed; the intensity was thicker. The bond knitted together. Recently, they both knew that only a few stitches were needed until they connected properly.

"You taste of salt," Rowan whispered against him.

"Quiet," Kaerius mumbled and kissed him again. Kissing no longer felt like the intentions of just one of them. Their affection had synced; they had the same intentions, the same amount of love, the same needs. "Rowan taste... human."

Rowan smiled into the kiss. "What does that taste like?"

"Quiet."

"Very demanding."

Kaerius lifted his head. Rowan was amused and judging by the size of his pupils, very happy too. Kaerius's eye absorbed Rowan's beauty, so when his mouth touched him again, it felt like the waves colliding with the sand; so natural and powerful. He was learning to love the human, and Kaerius would go far enough to say that he did love him. Of course he did. Their souls were meant to touch and to live side by side. Out of the billions of humans and millions of Thalassic Mortals, their souls chose each other. Loving one another was easy when they wanted it, and Kaerius wanted nothing more. Rowan made him smile, gave him comfort, made him happy, made him safe.

Rowan's good hand smoothed up the side of Kaerius and around his shoulder. He wanted to kiss him harder, though his broken nose was already giving him grief for letting Kaerius's nose touch it. When Rowan slowed down, Kaerius did too, understanding without needing to hear the words.

Kaerius slowly moved to the side, softly kissing Rowan. They kept their faces close when they stopped; close enough for their foreheads to touch. After a while of lying together, Kaerius asked, "Rowan scared?"

"Of what?"

"Future."

"My mum and the curse?"

"No." Kaerius's hand rested on Rowan's bruised cheek. He applied so little pressure, Rowan only felt his warmth. "Kaerius and Rowan future."

Rowan was silent for a while, thinking. "I guess I feel a lot of things. Scared, yes, Nervous, yes." His hand found Kaerius's waist, and he rested it there. "The future doesn't matter to me anymore. I wanted to get a degree, make lots of money, have a social life, pets, lots of holidays and stuff, but I never thought about, you know, relationships. Well, not enough to think about what I would do if I met someone I really liked. When we're with each other like this, I don't see any reason to think about the future. I know I'll always be happy because we'll be together. Won't we?"

"Yes." If Kaerius could look inside himself, he imagined his heart and all that surrounded it to glow and gleam and twinkle. It felt that way, and he knew Rowan felt the same. "Bond very, special. Make life special too. Love more- strong- than Kaerius- Than I thought."

"It's hard to describe because I've never felt anything like it," Rowan said, and Kaerius nodded against him.

"I never thought I'd love a human."

"I can hear your thoughts again."

Kaerius felt a content coolness running from his neck to his toes. "Good. English hard."

Rowan shuffled closer until their bodies were touching, not just their faces. Their legs wrapped around each other. To Kaerius, that was a hug, and he welcomed it by closing his eyes and letting his senses feast on Rowan's presence.

* * * * *

The boys didn't remember falling asleep, but they were woken by Michael softly saying their names. Kaerius woke up first with a heavy chest because Rowan was lying on him. Michael smiled when Kaerius stared sleepily.

"food's ready."

Rowan woke up when Kaerius patted his back. He groaned and rolled away, almost falling off the bed. "I fell asleep?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"You both did," Michael chuckled. "You must have needed it." He watched as Rowan peered down at his wrist, then the pain returned to his face. "Come on, your mum's waiting."

Mandy was already seated at the dining table when Michael, Kaerius, and Rowan entered. Her eyes followed her son, waiting for him to look at her, so she could give him a warm smile. Rowan didn't look, and he sat at the other side of the table.

Kaerius didn't look at anyone. He could only stare longingly at the cooked salmon, realising how hungry he was.

When Michael started talking about how nice it was to have a day doing nothing, Rowan glanced at his mother, expecting cold judging eyes, or exhausted eyes, or eyes staring into the distance, not seeing him at all. Mandy was looking right at him, smiling. Her eyes brightened when he looked, and he couldn't help but smile back. He had to remind himself that his mother wasn't her; she was different now.

"Are you okay, mum?" he asked.

"I'm getting there," Mandy said and even her voice was softer. "So, your dad tells me you're at university."

Rowan nodded.

"What are you studying?"

"Oceanography."

"That's great," Mandy said, and Rowan stopped holding his breath.

"You think so?"

"Did- did the old me not agree?"

"You wanted me to be a hunter."

Mandy looked so disappointed. Rowan had to look away. "Well thank the goddess that you chased your dreams. Though I'm hardly surprised that you chose a subject like that. Did you still go in the sea even after the curse? Michael said it affected all of us."

"I swam in the sea almost every day."

"It's true," Michael chuckled. "Everyone used to say that the ocean was his real mother. He used to scare me half to death when he'd jump from the cliffs. He was only eight when he jumped from the pier. Everyone thought I was mad to let him do it, but I always knew the water would look after you. I knew you were a sovereign of the sea. Sometimes I'd catch you just staring from your bedroom window with the window wide open, feeling the sea breeze. You'd watch the water for ages."

"Do you remember when there was that terrible storm, and you took me to the cliffs to watch the water?" Rowan asked.

"Yes, but that's only because begged me to go. You even asked if you could swim in it."

"I was so mad at you for not letting me," Rowan chuckled. "I understand now though, why you never went in the sea with me. I would've seen your tail."

"I wonder what would have happened if I told you about the curse years ago."

"I would've moved to yours. I'm not sure if we would have figured out what really happened to mum if we didn't meet Jack. I have class tomorrow. Maybe Jack will be there."

Michael stopped chewing. "You're not going to university, not until you're better."

"I'm-"

"No, fine," Kaerius interrupted. "Rowan hurt. Kaerius feel it."

"Yeah but-"

"Rowan hurt. Need rest." Kaerius scowled at him. "No argue."

"But-"

"I feel you hurt. Kaerius no lie."

Rowan thought about arguing, though he somehow knew that Kaerius would argue until the end of time. "Fine. I'll email my tutors and tell them I'm ill or whatever."

Kaerius gave him a satisfying nod, and Rowan noted that Kaerius was probably used to getting what he wanted when he wanted. Kaerius went to sleep, ate, had fun, saw new parts of the world, and it was always on his terms. Not all humans had the same luxury.

As they ate, Kaerius and Rowan kept sharing glances, and thoughts.

They were closer than they were yesterday and more in love than they were that morning. The bond was tightening, what would happen to their bond after the third stage intrigued Rowan. His relationship with Kaerius was already abnormal. They listened to each other's thought, that was odd enough.