Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

This wasn’t suppose to happen. She was supposed to be holding Ruby in her arms and welding the power of the trident. Not stuck in a cage, being watched and tormented by a crab and its owner.

Chelsea looked at the prom boat; it was playing loud music with the faint sound of laughter and yelling.

Chelsea’s cage was small and had barely any room to move. The girl felt really uncomfortable; she had been in the cage for hours and had not been given any food or water. She was dehydrated, and her head was spinning.

Chelsea began to feel a bit guilty. ‘Why? Why did I believe her? I should’ve known this could’ve happened!’ Chelsea began to remember why she was in this position, why she wanted the trident. Whose fault it was for putting her in this position. Her mother.

~Flashback~

Chelsea ran to her mother’s room. Her mother, Queen Nerissa, was in the hospital. And had been for the last 5 years. “Mom!” Chelsea looked at her mother. The once very powerful and pretty mermaid queen was on her deathbed, old and withered. “Chelsea, listen to me carefully,” Nerissa said, starting to cough. “You need to go to land; you need to befriend that kraken princess and steal back the trident! You are the only one.” Nerissa started to cough violently.

~Present~

Chelsea began to cry; she never intended to hurt Ruby. She only wanted to make Ruby fall for her. But she had failed—she failed her mother, and she failed the rest of the mermaid kingdom. Chelsea had never felt so helpless .

Ruby had told her that she fit in, but to Chelsea, she didn’t fit in. She felt that she stuck out. She felt that everybody only liked her because she was popular . Chelsea felt that nobody was going to be friends with her if they knew what she was really like. A girl who loved to talk and have fun, a girl who wanted to be worry-free

Chelsea know realized that was impossible. She was going to be friendless, and she was going to rot in this cage. She had run out of chances to fix her life. She was never going to be free. And the only person to blame was herself.

Chelsea tried to wipe her tears, but it was no use; the tears kept falling. Through her tears, she spotted a small knife on the edge of the boat that was within reach. Chelsea reached out and grabbed it. She smiled at it. She then looked around. Nobody was there, and Gordon had left the boat at the dock. Chelsea looked at her left wrist and placed the knife on it. Chelsea started to make small cuts on her wrist. The slight pain not enough to satisfy Chelsea.

Chelsea then started to make deeper cuts, which would definitely leave marks. Chelsea then did the same thing with her right wrist. She then tore her pants. Taking the ripped-up pieces and wrapping them around her wrists to hopefully prevent the blood from getting everywhere.

Chelsea looked at her wrist; she still wasn’t satisfied. She looked around the cage to see if there was anything else she could use. But the only thing she saw were the metal bars that made up the cage. ‘…I could’. Chelsea slowly began to bang her head against the cage. After a few minutes, Chelsea began to bang her head harder.

Chelsea continued to bang her head against the cage until she felt blood run down her face. ‘… that… wasn’t bad’. Chelsea gently put a hand on her face, when she pulled it away, she saw that most of it was covered in blood. Chelsea started to feel a bit lightheaded.

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Ruby was on the prom boat. Dancing with Connor. When she started to hear a faint banging sound, Ruby walked to the edge of the boat and looked over in the direction of the dock. Ruby noticed that Chelsea’s cage was swaying. ‘What is she doing?’ Ruby began to feel a bit worried. Ruby looked at Connor, who was waiting for her to come back. Ruby walked over to him. "Sorry, Connor, I have to go,” Ruby said, a hint of guilt on her face.

Connor was a bit surprised by this, but smiled. “That’s okay; I had fun tonight,” Connor said, blushing slightly. Ruby just smiled nervously, walked back over to the edge of the boat, and jumped off. As Ruby swam closer to the docks, she saw that Chelsea's cage had stilled. Ruby climbed onto the dock and walked towards the boat Chelsea’s cage was hanging off of.

Ruby walked onto the boat and approached Chelsea’s cage cautiously. As Ruby approached the cage, she noticed that it was very quiet on the boat.

Ruby slowly approached the girl and noticed that she wasn’t awake. As Ruby moved closer, she noticed the blood running down her face and her bloody wrists. Ruby walked as close as she could to the girl and noticed the knife still in the girl’s hand. ‘Wha… d-did she… no she… she would never’ Ruby began to panic. She quickly pulled out her phone and called her mom. “M-mom!” Ruby's voice clearly sounded like she was in distress. “Ruby?” Agatha was clearly confused by Ruby’s tone of voice. “Chelsea… she,” Ruby couldn’t say it.

“What happened? Did she escape?” Agatha said, beginning to worry. “N-no… but she… she’s covered in blood and is… holding a knife,” Ruby started to pace. “What?! But… I’ll call an ambulance; try to stay calm,” Agatha said as she hung up.

~~

Ruby was still pacing around as the ambulance pulled as close to the boat as possible. As the EMTs and firefighters rushed to the cage to open it and help the girl, Ruby just watched. Still too shocked to do much. After a few minutes, Chelsea’s cage was opened, and she was put on a stretcher and moved into the ambulance.

As the ambulance was about to leave, an EMT walked up to Ruby and asked, “Do you want to come?”. Ruby looked at the guy and nodded her head. Ruby was sat in the front of the ambulance; all she could hear were the sirens of the vehicle.

~~~

Ruby watched as the EMTs moved Chelsea into the hospital. Ruby then walked to the front of the building to wait for her mother.

Ruby still couldn’t believe what she saw; she never thought Chelsea would do something like this. From what Ruby knew, Chelsea would manipulate anyone to get what she wanted, but hurting herself? Ruby had never thought about that; she had always thought Chelsea cared about her appearance.

As Ruby stood near the entrance to the hospital, she saw her mother running up to her. “Ruby!” Agatha pulled the girl into a tight hug. “Are you okay?” Agatha said, letting her daughter go so she could look at her. “I’m fine,” Ruby said, pulling away. “What happened?” Agatha said her tone becoming more serious. “I was on the prom boat when I heard a banging sound. When I looked at Chelsea’s cage, it was swaying a bit, so I went to check on her. When I found her, she was passed out and had blood all over her.” Ruby began to tear up from all the stress that was happening.

Agatha looked at her daughter, then started to feel bad. Agatha brought Ruby to the waiting area and sat her down. “We should probably leave soon,” Agatha said, noticing the time. “No! I want to know if she’s okay…” Ruby said, surprised at herself for saying it as loud as she did.

Agatha looked at her daughter, then sighed. "Okay... but as soon as we hear anything, we are leaving,” Agatha said.

~~~

After an hour of waiting, a doctor walked up to them. “Are you two with Chelsea van der Zee?" The doctor said almost mispronouncing Chelsea’s last name. "Yes,” Ruby said, looking at the doctor. “Well, I have good news; she will be okay; she just lost a bit of blood. But she will have to stay here for a few days”. Agatha looked at the doctor with a polite smile “Thank you”. The doctor smiled at her, then walked away. “Come on, Ruby. We have to go,” Agatha said, looking at her daughter, who was clearly lost in thought.

Ruby looked at her mother, then stood up. She followed her mother to their car. As Ruby looked out the window, she remembered something Chelsea had told her. “ My mother, Nerissa, died when I was six. She had wanted to get the trident back but couldn’t”. Ruby started to worry more. ‘What caused her to do this? Was this the first time she’d done this?'

~~~

Ruby was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Her head was filled with thoughts of all sorts of things. Thoughts about the battle, Chelsea’s betrayal, and Chelsea’s well-being. ‘Did she do this on purpose? Did she know she would get out? What could’ve caused her to do this? Was it the battle? Was it me...?' Ruby didn’t want to believe she could’ve been the cause of this.

Her thoughts were spiraling out of control…

Chapter Text

~Morning~

Ruby woke up early, not having been able to sleep. Ruby lay in her bed, too tired to get up. But as the minutes passed, she knew she had too.

As Ruby slowly walked down the stairs, she noticed her mother was awake and sitting on their couch. “Hey mom,” Ruby said, walking over to her mother. “Good morning, Ruby. The doctor called me to say that Chelsea woke up.” Agatha seemed hesitant to tell Ruby this.

“Really?! Is she allowed to have visitors?” Ruby said, looking at her mother, surprised. “Yes, but I don’t think you should go,” Agatha said, looking at her daughter. “Why?” Ruby asked, sitting next to her mother. “I don’t trust her, especially not after the battle,” Agatha said, seeming to get a little angry. “If she tries anything, I’ll just leave; she can’t do much anyway.” Ruby looked a little annoyed at her mother. “Plus… I… I want to know what could’ve caused this… If I could’ve caused this,” Ruby said, looking down. "Oh, Ruby,” Agatha said, looking at her daughter and hugging her.

“If you promise to leave if she tries anything, we can go…” Agatha said as she let go of her daughter. “Really? I promise! Thank you!” Ruby said, smiling. "Go, get ready, and we’ll go,” Agatha said, looking at her daughter, who was still in her pajamas.

~~~

Chelsea was awake on her bed, looking out the window. She felt a bit tired and was still in a lot of pain.

A knock on her door distracted her from her thoughts. “Come in!”, Chelsea had learned from the few hours of being awake that the doctors wouldn’t come into the room without her permission.

A nurse opened the door and looked at Chelsea. “There is someone here to see you; do you want to let them in?”. Chelsea looked a bit confused but nodded her head. The nurse stepped out the door to reveal Ruby standing in the doorway. “Hi…” Ruby slowly walked closer to Chelsea’s bed. “Why are you here?” Chelsea was a little annoyed. “I came to see you,” Ruby said, a little nervous.

Chelsea looked at Ruby suspiciously. “Why would you want to see me?”. Ruby sat on the chair that was next to Chelsea’s bed. “I was the one who found you and wanted to make sure you were okay,” Ruby said, smiling softly. “How did you know?” Chelsea said, looking a bit surprised. “I heard a faint banging from your cage,” Ruby said sadly.

Chelsea looked even more surprised; she had thought that nobody would hear the banging, especially not someone on a boat that was blasting music. “… the doctor said that… This wasn’t the first time you have done this,” Ruby said, wondering why she would even do this. Chelsea went silent for a moment. “… I used to..." Chelsea said in almost a whisper. Chelsea carefully pulled the blankets off to reveal her legs, which were covered in perfectly placed faded scars. “Why?” Ruby said unintentionally. “Why should I tell you?” Chelsea said, looking at her scars.

“After what you’ve done, the least you could do is tell me,” Ruby said, looking at Chelsea with a frown. Chelsea's face was a mix of anger and hurt. She didn’t want to tell Ruby why she cut herself because she didn’t know. She had been so consumed by her anger and sadness that she barely realized she had hurt herself until it was too late.

Ruby looked at Chelsea sadly. “Chelsea?” Ruby started to notice that Chelsea’s confident appearance was starting to falter. Ruby looked at the door, then climbed onto the bed and grabbed Chelsea’s hand. “It’s okay… You can cry,” Ruby said softly. Chelsea looked at Ruby and began to cry. “I… I don’t want to go back to that cage! I don’t want to be seen as a villain…” Chelsea laid her head against Ruby’s chest. “I don’t want people to like me only for my looks!” Chelsea tried to wipe her tears, but to no avail. “Shhh, it’s okay, let it out”, Ruby started to gently rub circles onto Chelsea’s back in an attempt to calm her. “I didn’t want to take the trident... I didn’t want to hurt  you."Chelsea’s voice started to become softer as her tears continued to pour down. “I-“ Chelsea’s voice was muffled by a finger in her mouth; she hadn’t even noticed her hand move.

Chelsea quickly removed her thumb from her mouth and pushed herself away from Ruby. "Hey, hey, it’s okay; if it helps you, you can continue,” Ruby said, smiling softly. Ruby realized that she knew very little about Chelsea’s past. She had only been given a few small details and nothing more.

Chelsea looked at Ruby, then laid against her. She nervously put her thumb back in her mouth. Ruby smiled softly and continued to rub circles on the girl’s back. After a while, Ruby started to hear soft snores coming from the girl. She gently laid Chelsea on the bed, turning the lights off as she left the room.

Agatha was waiting in the waiting area for Ruby to come back. When she saw her daughter walking over to her, she began to become a little worried at the sight of the girl’s conflicted face. “How was it?” Agatha said, looking at her daughter. “Fine, but..." Ruby looked at the floor. “What?” Agatha was confused. “I don’t think… putting Chelsea back in that cage will help her,” Ruby said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

“What do you mean?” Agatha said not liking the way Ruby spoke. “I think... it would be best if we gave her another chance,” Ruby said, trying her best to sound confident with her decision. “Ruby, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Agatha said as they slowly started to walk out of the hospital.

“Mom, Chelsea is clearly having problems of her own. I don’t want to add to them,” Ruby said, sounding more upset. “She is clearly having issues with her self-esteem. And I want to help her. I know what she did, and I won’t forget it, but I don’t want to leave her hurting,” Ruby said, looking at her mom with slight tears in her eyes. “Okay, but how will we know she won’t cause problems?” Agatha said she was not convinced by Ruby’s idea. “Leave that to me,” Ruby said, completely confident in herself.

~~~~

Chelsea woke up to see that Ruby was gone and that it was quite late. Chelsea noticed that her bandages were changed, and there was food next to the bed. Chelsea was not very impressed by the food but was too hungry to care. After she finished eating, she went to the bathroom to wash her tear-stained face.

Chelsea sat back on her bed. A nurse had told her that a therapist would be there tomorrow for a visit. As Chelsea lay on her bed, she noticed that her bandage on her head was falling. Chelsea pushed the call button for a nurse. After a bit of waiting, a nurse knocked on the door. “Come in!” Chelsea was getting tired of yelling. “You called?” The nurse looked at Chelsea, a little confused. “My bandage is falling,” Chelsea said, sitting up. The nurse smiled at Chelsea and walked closer to the bed.

The nurse carefully took off the bandage and replaced it with new ones. “Thank you,” Chelsea said as she watched the nurse leave. Chelsea had learned that her name was Holly.

Chelsea laid down and put her thumb in her mouth. A bad habit she never broke as a child that really helped to soothe her. After a while, she fell asleep.

Chapter Text

~Morning~
Chelsea woke up to see Holly cleaning up a few things in the room. “Oh! Good morning,” Holly said, noticing that Chelsea had woken up. “The therapist will be here soon; I will bring your breakfast shortly,” Holly said, leaving the room with a smile.

A few minutes later, Holly returned with Chelsea’s breakfast. “Enjoy!” Holly said as she left the room. Chelsea looked at her breakfast; it looked better than it did yesterday. Chelsea had quickly finished her meal and heard a knock on the door. “Come in!” Chelsea looked at the door to see Holly. “The therapist wants to know if you’re ready to see her,” Holly said, cleaning up the remains of Chelsea’s breakfast. “I guess...", Chelsea wasn’t sure if she was ready, but she knew she would have to do it eventually.

“Alright, she will be here soon." Holly said before leaving the room. After a bit of waiting, there was a knock on Chelsea’s door. “Come in!”, Chelsea sat up, looking at the door. “You’re Chelsea, correct?” The therapist said as she walked into the room. “Yea..” Chelsea looked at the therapist. She was a young-looking woman. With tan skin and her hair pulled into a bun.

The therapist sat next to Chelsea’s bed and smiled. “My name is Kate”. Kate looked at Chelsea and could tell she was nervous. “It’s okay if you’re nervous; I won’t force you to give me answers,” Kate said, smiling softly. Chelsea looked at Kate, starting to smile. “So tell me, have you done this before, the cutting?” Kate said as she pulled out a notepad.

Chelsea looked a little surprised. “… yes”. Kate looked at Chelsea, then wrote something down. “Why did you do this?” Kate said, looking at Chelsea with a smile of comfort. "I-" Chelsea knew this was going to be brought up, but she was still surprised by the question. “I… did this because... I thought it was a good punishment,” Chelsea said, fidgeting with her nails.

“I thought that because I hurt others, I should be hurt too," Chelsea said, not really remembering what was going on in her head when she cut herself. Kate wrote something down, then looked back at Chelsea. “And why did you think that?” Kate asked. Chelsea thought for a moment, “I never met to hurt anyone; I just wanted the trident. When I had to hurt people, I felt guilty, so I punished myself." Chelsea was trying her best not to cry. Kate looked at the girl and said, “If you want, we can take a break”.

Chelsea shook her head. “I’m fine”. Kate looked at the girl but said nothing. “What about the first time you did this?” Kate looked at her notes. “That time... was because my mother had died. She had been injured for years, all because she wanted to protect me. I thought that it should’ve been me that got hurt, not my  mother."Chelsea was very close to crying. She had to fight the urge to cry and put her thumb in her mouth.

Chelsea then began to ramble about her past; Kate was just listening, writing things down. “Why did you go through with taking the trident?” Kate asked, seeing as that was the reason for most of her problems.

“Before my mother died, she had told me to avenge her." Chelsea said her eyes were very watery, but she refused to stop until it was time.

“I didn’t want to disappoint her, especially not when it was the last thing she wanted from me,” Chelsea said, her voice cracking every now and then. “Alright, well, that is all the time we have, but it’s okay if you need to cry or take a break,” Kate said, smiling as she left.

After Kate left, Chelsea burst into tears, crying to herself. After a while, she managed to calm down and put her thumb into her mouth to keep herself distracted.
~~~~
Chelsea was playing a game on her phone when a knock on the door distracted her. “Come in!” Chelsea was seriously getting tired of yelling. "Hey,” Ruby said, walking in slowly. “Hey…” Chelsea felt a little nervous but didn’t know why.

“Why are you back?” Chelsea said, still confused as to why Ruby would spend time with her. “To see you, of course. How are you feeling?” Ruby said, sitting next to Chelsea’s bed. "Fine,” Chelsea said, blushing slightly. Ruby smiled softly; she then started to ramble about her dating Connor and the prom.

Chelsea just listened, heartbroken that Ruby had found someone else. Chelsea tried her best to give support and encouragement, but it was hurting her too much. “Ruby?” Chelsea was trying her best not to sound hurt. “Yeah?” Ruby stopped her rambling and looked at Chelsea. “Is it okay if you step out for a few minutes?” Chelsea didn’t want to hurt Ruby’s feelings, but she needed a break.

“Okay… I’ll be back,” Ruby said, standing up to leave. As Ruby left, Chelsea could feel the tears forming in her eyes. Chelsea was now alone. She walked to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She had known that Ruby liked Connor, but she didn’t want to believe that she didn’t have a chance to be with her.

Chelsea walked out of the bathroom and pushed the call button. Fearing that if she was left alone for too long, she might do something stupid. Chelsea laid on her bed and began to cry. A few minutes later, Holly walked into the room. “Chelsea? Is something wrong?” Holly immediately started walking towards the girl when she realized that she was crying.

Chelsea didn’t say anything; her cries becoming more like hiccups. "Shhh, it’s okay,” Holly said, gently holding Chelsea’s hand. Holly then noticed a stuffed shark on the small table next to Chelsea’s bed. Holly carefully took the shark and gave it to Chelsea.

Chelsea looked at the shark. Ruby had put it there when she arrived. The girl then started to hug the shark close. After a few minutes, Chelsea calmed down. “What’s wrong?” Holly said, sitting on the chair next to Chelsea’s bed. “That girl... I like her,” Chelsea said, a slight blush appearing on her face.

Holly looked a bit confused. “What’s wrong with that?”. Chelsea’s blush faded. “She likes someone else." Holly looked at the girl, surprised, and said, "Oh..." “Well, you may still have a chance. A girl with no interest in you wouldn’t be as worried as she is,” Holly said, smiling slightly. “Wha?” Chelsea looked at Holly, confused. She knew Ruby was worried, but was she really that worried?

“When you first arrived, that girl wouldn’t leave until she knew you were okay,” Holly said, laughing softly. “Really? She was that worried?” Chelsea said, looking at Holly with a small smile. “Yeah, well, I have to go, but if you need anything, you know what to do,” Holly said, standing up. Chelsea watched as Holly left, feeling a bit better.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on Chelsea's door. “Come in!”, Chelsea was seriously getting tired of yelling. Chelsea looked at the door to see Ruby walk in. “Hey...” Ruby walked in, a little nervous. “Oh, you found the shark,” Ruby said, smiling at the sight of the girl hugging it. “Yeah, thanks,” Chelsea said, blushing slightly. Ruby then walked over to Chelsea’s bed; she climbed on it and gave Chelsea a hug. “Wha?” Chelsea looked at Ruby, confused. “You looked a little sad, so I thought I’d give you a hug,” Ruby said, letting go with a small smile on her face.

Chelsea looked at Ruby and smiled, her blush deepening. "Thanks...", Ruby just smiled, a faint blush on her face. Chelsea gently grabbed Ruby’s arm and pulled her closer, hugging her a bit tightly. Ruby was surprised at first, but soon relaxed. As the minutes went by, Chelsea began to feel a bit tired. Chelsea's eyes began to close.

Ruby noticed this and was about to get up when Chelsea held onto her. “Don’t go, please.” Chelsea looked at Ruby with tired, pleading eyes. "Okay," Ruby blushed as Chelsea gently moved them to lay on the bed. Chelsea still clinging onto Ruby. Ruby looked at Chelsea; she had put her thumb in her mouth, and her breathing had slowed. She had fallen asleep. Ruby gently got out of the bed, careful not to wake up Chelsea. Ruby turned the lights off and left the room.

“Did she fall asleep again?" A nurse said as she looked at Ruby. “Yeah?” Ruby looked at the nurse, a bit confused. “I’m Holly, Chelsea’s assigned nurse,” Holly said, smiling. Ruby looked at Holly and smiled nervously. “You’re the nurse that takes care of her?” Ruby was a little confused. “Yes, if she needs anything, I’m the one who is supposed to take care of her,” Holly said, still smiling. Ruby looked at Holly. “Well, thank you for taking care of her,” Ruby said, smiling politely as she left.

Chapter Text

~Morning~

Chelsea had woken up to see Holly in the room. “Good morning,” Holly said, walking over to Chelsea’s bed. “The doctor said we can take your bandages off—at least the ones on your arms,” Holly said, gently taking off Chelsea’s bandages.

Chelsea was struggling to focus, still a bit tired. “The therapist will be back tomorrow for another visit,” Holly said, throwing the bandages away. Chelsea looked at Holly, then at the scars that were covering her wrists and forearms. “You do have to take a shower today, since you haven’t in the last two days,” Holly said, placing a towel at the end of the bed.

“Okay…” Chelsea said, looking at the towel. “I’ll be back with your new clothes,” Holly said, leaving the room. Chelsea then grabbed the shark plush. That had moved closer to the end of the bed while she was asleep. Chelsea hugged it tightly, though she didn’t like the smell that came from it.

Holly came back a few minutes later with a new hospital gown. “Here, everything else is in the bathroom,” Holly said, leaving the room. Chelsea picked up the clothes and towel, taking them with her. As Chelsea gently removed the bandage around her head, she saw the bruise that was forming.

Chelsea didn’t like how it looked but decided to ignore it for now. As Chelsea showered, she realized how long she had been away from water. She was very dehydrated, and her skin felt a little rougher than normal.

~~~~

Chelsea was sitting on her bed, playing a game. Holly had just put new bandages on her. The hospital gown she wore made her feel exposed, but she had no better clothes to wear.

A few minutes later, Chelsea heard a knock on her door: “Come in!” Chelsea said, a hint of annoyance in her voice. Chelsea saw the door open to reveal Ruby. "Hey,” Ruby said, smiling brightly. "Hey,” Chelsea said, putting her phone down and looking at Ruby. “The doctor said you only have to stay for two more days!” Ruby said her voice was filled with excitement.

Chelsea looked at Ruby with a smile and said, "Really?". Ruby nodded her head and said, "Yes!" Ruby continued to smile. “And since you don’t have a place to go, my mom is letting you stay with us!” Ruby said, blushing slightly. “What?! Really? She’s letting me stay." Chelsea was a bit surprised. “Yeah, but you can’t cause any ‘problems’ or she will put you back in that cage,” Ruby said, a hint of anger in her voice.

Chelsea, just continue to smile. “I won’t cause any problems, I promise!” Ruby just looked at Chelsea. ‘Her smile is so pretty.'

.

.

.

.

.

.

‘what?’

Ruby was surprised at herself for thinking about Chelsea like that. “Ruby?” Chelsea looked at Ruby, confused. “Huh? Oh, sorry, I spaced out,” Ruby said. Chelsea looked at Ruby, then at the door. “Ruby, is it okay if... we cuddled?” Chelsea said, blushing. Ruby looked at Chelsea, surprised. "Okay," Ruby said, a faint blush visible.

As Ruby gently climbed onto the bed, Chelsea began to blush deeper. ‘I can’t believe I asked her that!’ Chelsea was a bit embarrassed by the question but was happy that Ruby agreed. Ruby gently laid next to Chelsea, holding her close. Chelsea blushed bright red as she realized how close she was to Ruby’s chest. Chelsea began to internally scream in panic.

Ruby started to gently play with Chelsea’s hair, making it into a small braid. “Why is your hair a bit damp?” Ruby continued with the braid. Chelsea started to relax into Ruby’s touch. “I took a shower earlier, and my hair hasn’t dried,” Chelsea said, the sound of a smile clear in her voice. Ruby continued to mess with Chelsea’s hair. Ruby then looked at Chelsea; she seemed to have a real, genuine smile. ‘I’d never thought I would see that' Ruby continued with Chelsea’s hair; the girl seemed to relax more and more.

An hour had passed, and Ruby was still messing with Chelsea’s hair. She had made a few small braids all over Chelsea’s hair. A knock on the door caught the two by surprise. “Sorry to interrupt you, but visiting hours are over,” Holly said, seeing Ruby still there.

Ruby looked at Holly, then at Chelsea. “Bye Chelsea..." Ruby said a hint of sadness in her voice. Chelsea watched as the girl left, not wanting her to go. “You’re lucky you don’t have an IV,” Holly said, looking at Chelsea. “Huh?” Chelsea looked at Holly, confused. "You are not supposed to have other people in your bed,” Holly said, putting a few things down on one of the counters. “I won’t tell, but do be careful when she’s here; I’m not the only nurse,” Holly said, walking over to Chelsea’s bed.

“If you really like her, then maybe you should tell her,” Holly said, sitting next to Chelsea’s bed. “You won’t know if she likes you unless you tell her,” Holly said, giving a small smile. Holly then stood up and walked towards the door, saying, “Just think about it.” Holly then left the room.

Chelsea looked at the door, ‘I guess I have nothing to lose. Chelsea lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, deep in thought.

~~~~

Chelsea was waiting for Holly to return with her food, but Holly was taking longer than usual. Chelsea was growing hungrier by the minute and wanted to eat. "Sorry, I’m late,” Holly said, entering the room. “It’s fine,” Chelsea said, pretending she wasn’t bothered by the lateness.

“Here you go,” Holly said, setting Chelsea dinner on the small table that went over Chelsea’s lap. Holly then left the room, giving Chelsea a small smile.

As Chelsea ate, she wondered what it would be like if Ruby liked her. ‘You know she doesn’t like you,’ a voice in Chelsea’s head said, as Chelsea imagined a nice life with Ruby. ‘She won’t ever like you’ Chelsea was surprised at what the voice was saying; she had never heard it before. ‘You caused her too much pain; she won’t forgive you ’ Chelsea looked at her half-eaten meal in shock.

Forgiveness. That’s all she wanted from Ruby. She loved Ruby; she did. But she knew that it wasn’t possible for Ruby to like her back, not after everything that happened.

Chelsea was pulled out of her thoughts by Holly entering the room. "Sorry, is something wrong?” Holly said as she saw a terrified-looking Chelsea.

Chelsea looked at Holly. How was she supposed to explain this? "A voice in my head said, "Chelsea was trying her best to ignore the feeling of hurt the voice made her feel. Holly looked at Chelsea, concerned. “A voice?” Holly slowly walked over to Chelsea.

“It said... that Ruby..." Chelsea was still trying to process what the voice had said. "Hey, hey, it’s okay... Breathe," Holly said, noticing that Chelsea seemed to be stressing out. Holly took Chelsea’s hand gently. "Breathe," Holly said, taking a deep breath.

Chelsea looked at Holly, but instead of taking a deep breath, the girl brought her thumb to her mouth.

Holly looked at her with a soft smile. She had seen the girl sucking her thumb in her sleep before. She knew it wasn’t good for her, but it was really calming the girl down, so she said nothing.

After a few minutes, Chelsea removed her thumb from her mouth. “The voice… it said that Ruby would never forgive me, that I had caused her too much pain." Chelsea looked at Holly’s hand that was covering hers. Holly looked at Chelsea; she didn’t know what to say. “Do you think Ruby will forgive me?” Chelsea said, looking at Holly. She wanted to know the truth.

Holly seemed taken aback by the question. “If she’s spending as much time with you as possible, then it could be possible that she has already forgiven you,” Holly said, smiling softly at Chelsea, knowing she needed the comfort. Chelsea looked at Holly and smiled. “Thank you; I needed that,” Chelsea said, blushing out of embarrassment. Holly smiled as she handed Chelsea the stuffed shark that had fallen off the bed.

Chelsea hugged the shark tightly as she watched Holly leave.

She felt a little scared to fall asleep but after a while she managed too…

Chapter Text

Chelsea looked around; she was in an unfamiliar place that definitely wasn't the hospital. She realized that she was in a castle, one that looked really similar to the one she grew up in.

Chelsea began to hear yelling and went to see where it was coming from. As she moved, the castle faded away and formed a destroyed coral reef. Chelsea immediately started to panic, realizing where she was.

The battle field

The place where she had almost been killed

She watched as mermaids and krakens were fighting, including her mother. The fight was getting worse by the second. Chelsea then saw a mermaid swimming towards her mother with something in her arms. Chelsea started to panic. ‘This can’t be happening!’ Chelsea thought watching the mermaid. The mermaid tried to protect the small child from all the debris and blood. ‘Why is this happening?’ Chelsea watched as Ruby’s mother, Agatha, started to attack the mermaids near the mermaid with the child. Chelsea had grown to hate that mermaid, whom she had learned was named Celeta.

Celeta swam as fast as she could away from the hits of the kraken princess. Chelsea watched in horror as the mermaid grew closer and closer to her mother. Agatha was way too close to hitting Celeta. Chelsea continued to watch in horror as Agatha almost hit Celeta with the trident that she was trying to fight away from her mother. Nerissa had barely protected the mermaid but was seriously injured.

Nerissa had yelled for everyone to retreat, but she stayed and followed Agatha as she hid the trident in the well of seas. Chelsea quickly looked in the direction of Celeta, only to realize that the area had changed.

She was now in the mermaid hospital when she saw a small girl swim down the hallway and into a room. Chelsea followed the girl, and when she opened the door, she saw her mother lying in bed.

“Chelsea I thought I told you to leave me alone,” Nerissa said, looking at the small child. “I know, but I wanted to see you!” The younger version of Chelsea said she had a sad-looking smile on her face. “Not now, Chelsea; you need to leave,” Nerissa said, pointing at the door. The girl looked at her mother, then left.

Chelsea looked at her mother; she had changed; she looked more weak and tired. Chelsea saw the girl come running into the room again. "Chelsea, listen to me carefully.” Nerissa started to cough. “You have to get the trident back; you have to avenge me!” Nerissa raised her voice as her coughing grew louder and more intense. The girl was quickly pulled out of the room by a few nurses. Chelsea followed the girl out of the room. Just then, a nurse walked up to the girl. “I’m sorry,” the nurse said, looking at the young girl, who was crying.

Her mother had died, and the small girl was now all alone.

Chapter Text

Chelsea woke up to feel tears running down her face. She was very confused. How did that happen? She was way too young to remember most of that. Chelsea walked to the bathroom and washed her face.

Holly would be there soon to check on her. Chelsea lay on her bed, thinking about the dream. She had been told stories about the battle but hadn’t been told the full story. ‘Why did that dream feel so real?’ Chelsea felt like the dream was real, but she knew it wasn’t. The stories she had heard never ended with her mother yet for everyone to retreat.

Chelsea was so deep in thought that she hadn’t noticed the knock on her door. “Chelsea? Why are you up this early?” Holly asked, looking at Chelsea confusedly. “Huh? Oh, I uh couldn’t sleep,” Chelsea lied. “you okay?” Holly asked, noticing that the girl seemed distracted.

“Yeah, I… just had a strange dream,” Chelsea said, not bothering to look up. “Okay… I’ll bring your breakfast soon,” Holly said, placing something down on the counter before leaving, a bit concerned for the girl.

Chelsea looked out the window, still distracted. ‘Just one more day...'

~~~~

A few minutes later, Holly knocked on the door. “Come in!” Chelsea said she barely put any effort into making her voice heard.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Holly said she placed Chelsea’s breakfast on the tray. “Yeah…” Chelsea said, looking at her breakfast. “I’ll let you know when your therapist is here,” Holly said, leaving the room.

Chelsea began to slowly eat her food. She didn’t know why she felt so… distracted. There just seemed to be an endless cycle of thoughts in her mind, and she didn’t know how to stop it.

~~~~

Holly knocked on the door and opened it to see that Chelsea had only eaten half of her food. “Your therapist will be here soon,” Holly said, cleaning up the tray and a few other things before leaving.

Chelsea wasn’t too excited to see her therapist, but she knew she needed the help. She had been dealing with so much pain and stress on her own for far too long. Chelsea patiently waited for her therapist to arrive.

~~~~

After a few minutes, Kate knocked on the door. “Come in!” Chelsea, at this point, was very tired of yelling. “Hey Chelsea, how are you?” Kate said, sitting down. “I’ve had better days…” Chelsea admitted. “Oh, well, I hope it gets better. Today I want to get to know you better and see what else we can do,” Kate said, smiling softly.

Chelsea looked at Kate, a bit confused. “O-okay” Chelsea started to feel a little nervous. “Remember what I said last time: if you need to cry or take a break, it is okay to do so,” Kate said, noticing the slight change in the girl. “Tell me, what was your childhood like?” Kate asked in the softest voice she could.

“I know you told me that your mother died, but had anything else happened to you?” Kate said, trying to clarify her question. “Well… I was told many stories of the battle growing up,” Chelsea said, hugging her stuffed shark. “What kind of stories?” Kate said, writing something down.

“Well, most of the stories were about my mother and how powerful she used to be," Chelsea said, looking a bit sad. “Holly told me that you had a strange dream last night; can you tell me about that?” Kate asked. Chelsea looked at Kate, surprised, but nodded her head.

“My dream was mostly of my past, the battle, and my mother's death,” Chelsea said, trying not to tear up. “Can you tell me about the battle?” Kate said with a caring smile. “Most of it was just fighting, until a mermaid named Celeta; she was my nanny as a child,” Chelsea said, hugging her shark closer.

“She brought me onto the battlefield. From what I’ve been told, she brought me there because the castle was under attack and she thought I would be safer with my mother,” Chelsea said, trying to remember what the mermaids had told her. “After my mother yelled for everyone to retreat, I saw her in the hospital... I watched her die for the second time…” Chelsea had tears running down her face. Chelsea looked at Kate; she was smiling sadly. Chelsea had left the part where she almost died out, not wanting to admit it just yet.

Chelsea then put her thumb in her mouth. Kate watched as the girl tried to calm herself. “Do you want to take a break?” Kate said, seeing the girl in such a state. “No…” Chelsea said, removing her thumb. Kate smiled softly. "Well, then, do you want to move on?”, Chelsea looked at Kate and said, “o-okay”.

“Tell me, do you have any other methods of calming yourself?” Kate said, looking at Chelsea. “I like to listen to music and watch movies,” Chelsea said, a bit embarrassed. “Mostly newer songs, but if I’m feeling really stressed... I like to listen to kid songs,” Chelsea said, an embarrassed blush covering her face. “And what kind of movies?” Kate asked and continued to write things down. Chelsea’s blush deepened. “….mostly kid movies.” Chelsea started to nervously play with the fin of the shark plush.

"Are there any specific movies you like?” Kate asked, wanting as many details as possible. “Sometimes I watch trolls or the emoji movie…” Chelsea looked at her hands nervously.

(I actually watched the emoji movie while writing this ;-;)

“What do you do if you can’t listen to music or watch a movie?” Kate asked, looking at Chelsea. “I usually just try to be alone... If it’s really bad, I might run away from the area,” Chelsea said, still continuing to mess with the shark.

“So from what you’ve told me and what Holly told me,” Kate looked at her notes, while Chelsea began to feel more embarrassed. ‘What did Holly tell her?’.

“It seems you’re more inclined to be drawn towards childish things, and that’s okay. I believe that it might be because you never really had a childhood.” Kate looked at Chelsea with a sympathetic look. “Many people who didn’t have a childhood or a good childhood tend to act childish." Chelsea just listened as Kate spoke, trying to process the information. “I think I want you to focus on actually accepting your inner child and start expressing it,” Kate said, her clam voice never changing. “What do you mean?” Chelsea was a bit confused.

“I mean that because you didn’t have an actual childhood, you have an inner child wound. It may be harder to do on your own, though, so maybe try to get some you trust to help,” Kate said, looking at Chelsea for any signs of confusion. “So you want me to act like a child?” Chelsea said she was trying her best to understand.

“Kind of, I want you to express your childlike self and feelings. I know that it might be hard to accept, but I promise it will help you,” Kate said, smiling softly. “How do I do that?” She knew she sucked her thumb, but what else could she possibly do? “Well, you can start by doing stuff you liked to do when you were younger. You could also express your childish energy,” Kate said, giving the basics. “There are other things you can do, but I would rather you make the changes for yourself to make sure the changes work for you,” Kate said, smiling. “Okay…” Chelsea said she was starting to understand better.

“Unfortunately, our time has run out. I will talk with whoever is taking you home about future therapy sessions," Kate said, smiling as she handed Chelsea a small note. Kate left the room without saying another word.

Chelsea looked at the note; it was just a better description of what Kate wanted her to do. Chelsea laid on her bed and grabbed the phone. Ruby had gifted to her. She decided to watch a show she liked as a kid, ‘curious George’.

As Chelsea watched the show, she remembered why she liked it as a kid. The show was funny, yet entertaining, and had a bit of a lesson.

Chelsea enjoyed watching the show until she heard a knock on her door, interrupting her episode. “Come in!” Chelsea looked at the door to see Ruby walk in. “Ruby!” Chelsea said with a smile. “Hey Chelsea,” Ruby said, looking a little sad. “Is something wrong?” Chelsea asked, starting to feel worried about Ruby. “No, I’m fine,” Ruby said, trying to act normal. "Ruby, that’s a lie,” Chelsea said, knowing that Ruby could never tell a good lie.

“What happened?”, Ruby looked down. "I... broke up with Connor.” Ruby’s voice was so soft that Chelsea almost didn’t hear her. “What?! But I thought you liked him." Chelsea said she was confused. “I… thought I did,” Ruby said, still sad. “Oh…” Chelsea looked at Ruby, then thought for a moment. “Come here,” Chelsea said, moving over to make space for Ruby. Ruby looked at Chelsea, then climbed onto the bed.

“Want to watch something?” Chelsea asked as she pulled out her phone. “Sure…” Ruby looked up at Chelsea; she had a small smile. “What do you want to watch?” Chelsea asked, looking at Ruby. “I… don’t really care,” Ruby said, leaning onto Chelsea’s shoulder. Chelsea looked at Ruby, then put on an ‘inspector gadget’ episode. Ruby looked at Chelsea confused; Ruby never thought Chelsea would like something like this. “Ruby?” Chelsea had noticed that Ruby was looking at her. “Huh? Sorry, I just didn’t think you would like something like this," Ruby said as the intro song played.

“I liked it as a kid. My therapist said that I should express my childlike self. Whatever that means,” Chelsea said sarcastically. Ruby started to laugh. “Thank you,” Ruby said after she calmed down. “For what?” Chelsea said, looking at Ruby, confused. “For this, it helped me forget about Connor,” Ruby said, still smiling softly. Chelsea just smiled and laid her head on top of Ruby’s.

After a few episodes, Ruby noticed that Chelsea looked tired. “Chelsea?”, Chelsea looked at Ruby. “You look tired; I can leave if you want,” Ruby said, getting up. “No!” Chelsea said, grabbing Ruby’s wrist and pulling her back down. “Sorry, I… I just like your company,” Chelsea said, blushing softly.

Ruby looked at Chelsea, then smiled. After a few more episodes, Ruby noticed that Chelsea was struggling to stay awake. “Chelsea, if you’re really that tired, I think you should get some rest,” Ruby said, starting to feel worried about the girl. “I’m not tired…” Chelsea was betrayed by her body as she let out a yawn. “Sure, just try to rest, okay?” Ruby said as Chelsea closed her eyes. Ruby put Chelsea’s phone on the table next to her bed so that it wouldn’t fall.

She then quietly left the room.

Chapter Text

~Morning~

Chelsea woke out to see her breakfast already next to her. Chelsea looked at the time, it was only nine. Ruby and her mother would be there at noon to pick her up.

After a few minutes, holly opened the door. “Oh! Good morning” holly said smiling brightly. “Your friend is here to pick you up” holly said her smile impossible bright. “What? Already?” Chelsea said looking at holly a bit confused. “Yes, apparently your friend was too excited to wait” holly said giggling a bit. “Here” holly gave Chelsea a few clothes that ruby had brought for her. Holly then left the room.

Chelsea went to the bathroom to change. After she finished, she heard a knock on the door. “Come in!” Chelsea was a bit happy that she wouldn’t have to yell as much. Chelsea looked at the door to see holly walk in “sorry, I forgot to take your bandage off” holly said helping Chelsea’s take off her head bandage. The wound had healed faster then expected.

"Come on” holly said leading Chelsea to ruby and Agatha. “Hi…” Chelsea said a little nervous. “Chelsea!” Ruby said excitedly, ruby went over to Chelsea and gave her a hug. Chelsea just laughed as ruby let go. “Come on girls!” Agatha said slowly walking away. Ruby then gently took Chelsea’s hand and walked towards her mom.

~~~~~ 

Ruby took Chelsea to her room. “Since we don’t have any extra rooms, you will stay with me!” Ruby said pointing to the mattress that was next to Ruby’s bed. Chelsea looked at the mattress, it looked decidedly comfortable. “Okay…” Chelsea looked around the room, having never been in it before. “Want to play a game?” Ruby said looking at Chelsea, who was standing still. “Huh? Oh sure…” Chelsea said following ruby to the living room. The girls then spent a few hours playing games on Ruby’s Nintendo.

The girls were so busy having fun, they didn’t notice the time. “Girls! Come on it’s time for dinner” Agatha said from the kitchen table. “Okay!” Ruby paused the game they were playing.

The two girls sat at the table next to each other, the rest of Ruby’s family sitting around them. Chelsea looked at the food in front of her, it was mostly seaweed with a few other things from the sea. Chelsea then realized how long it had been since she had eaten something like this.

“Chelsea?” Ruby looked at Chelsea confused, she was just staring at her food. “Huh? Oh sorry…” Chelsea said picking up her fork.

Chelsea began to eat, actually liking the way it tasted, though she didn’t quite like the texture. As Chelsea continued to eat, she started to feel a bit nauseous but didn’t know why. Chelsea continued to eat, ignoring the feeling.

After half her plate was gone, the feeling was more apparent. Chelsea looked up from her plate to see that she and Agatha were the only two left at the table. “Is everything okay?”ruby asked noticing the slight change in the mermaid’s behavior. “Yeah…” Chelsea said smiling softly at ruby.

Chelsea continued to eat, despite her brain yelling at her to stop. She didn’t want to eat, but felt that if she didn’t Agatha might not let her stay or worse.

After Agatha left the table, looking suspiciously at Chelsea. Chelsea finally decide to get up , throwing the rest of her food. Unfortunately for her, ruby saw this. “Chelsea?” Ruby walked up behind Chelsea, making the mermaid jump a bit. “What are you doing? Ruby said looking a bit confused. “Ruby…” Chelsea nervously turned to face ruby. “What’s wrong? I thought you liked the food?” Ruby said an innocent look on her face.

Chelsea looked at ruby, a hint of guilt on her face. “I do…  but wasn’t that hungry” Chelsea said leaving out the nauseous part. Ruby looked at Chelsea suspiciously, before they had even sat down Chelsea was complaining about how hungry she was.

“Can we just go to your room…please?” Chelsea said starting to feel a bit dizzy. “Yeah…okay” ruby said a bit surprised by the girl saying please.

Ruby lead the girl back upstairs to her room. Chelsea slowly followed, becoming more dizzy.

Ruby was sitting on her bed Chelsea’s next to her looking a little pale. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Ruby said looking at Chelsea concerned. Chelsea looked at ruby “yeah, I’m going to get some water…” Chelsea said standing up, walking towards the door, only for her to trip and fall.

Ruby immediately went Over to Chelsea “Chelsea?!” Ruby helped the girl sit up. “Ugh…” Chelsea groaned, her head beginning to hurt. Ruby carefully picked Chelsea up and put her on the bed. Chelsea was surprised by this, she hadn’t know ruby was this strong outside of water.

“Here just lay down, I’ll go get you some water” ruby said looking at Chelsea with a worried expression. “Ugh… okay” Chelsea said laying down her head in immense pain.

Chelsea laid there, the nausea feeling growing stronger. Chelsea sat up running into Ruby’s bathroom.

~~~

Ruby opened her door to see Chelsea gone. She looked around her room to see her bathroom door slightly open, Ruby walked over to the door, but didn’t open it. “Chelsea…?” Ruby heard a few faint grunts. When ruby didn’t get an answer, she opened the door slowly, only to see Chelsea leaning over the toilet. “Chelsea!” Ruby placed the water cup she was holding on to the counter, then went over to Chelsea and pulled her hair away from her face.

After a few minutes, Chelsea’s had finally stopped, and was now shaking against ruby. “It’s okay” ruby said. Ruby got up and grabbed a towel wetting it before going over to Chelsea, wiping her face clean.

Ruby then picked chelsea up and brought her over to the mattress, setting her down carefully. Ruby then put the glass of water in arms reach of the mattress, but not to close, so that it wouldn’t get knocked over.

Ruby then left the room, walking towards her mother’s room. “Mom?” Ruby knocked on the door. Agatha open the door and looked at her daughter. “Ruby? Is something wrong?” Agatha said a little confused on why her daughter was there. “Uh… Chelsea-“ ruby was cut off by her mother “what happened?” Agatha said a hint of worry in her voice. “She’s sick…” ruby said nervously. Ruby had only got sick a few times, but it was never like this, so she had no idea what to do.

“Oh? Is she okay?” Agatha asked, though she didn’t like Chelsea, she couldn’t help but be a little worried. “She… threw up and I don’t know what to do…” ruby said fidgeting slightly. “Oh…” Agatha looked at Ruby’s door down the hall. “Okay, come on” Agatha said walking to Ruby’s room. Ruby followed her mother. The two slowly entered the room, only to see Chelsea still lying on the mattress, but the water cup half drank. Ruby carefully knelt next to Chelsea. “Chelsea?” Ruby looked at the girl, she looked really uncomfortable.

“Ruby…” Chelsea tried to speak but only low groans escaped. “Shh, don’t speak” ruby said looking at Chelsea worriedly. Chelsea looked at ruby, then sat up and ran to the bathroom. Ruby followed her knowing what was happening. Ruby knelt next to Chelsea, pulling her hair back.

Agatha watched from the doorway, worried for Chelsea. She didn’t know how to take care of a mermaid, but it couldn’t be that hard, right?

Agatha went to her bathroom,  looking at all the medicines she hadn’t used before. She looked through a few of the labels before she found an unopened bottle of chewable tablets for nausea and vomiting.

Agatha brought the bottle back to Ruby’s bedroom, only to find Chelsea lying back on the mattress and Ruby sitting next to her. Agatha looked at Chelsea. She looked extremely uncomfortable, with sweat running down her face. Agatha gave ruby one of the tablets, then left to get Chelsea some more water.

Agatha came back with two water bottles. “If this continues, call me” Agatha said leaving the room with a worried face.

Ruby carefully gave Chelsea the tablets and the rest of the water cup.

Chelsea carefully chewed the tablets, it having a strange taste. Chelsea looked at ruby, she looked worried. Chelsea wanted to say something, but knew she couldn’t. Chelsea then got an idea, and pulled out her phone.

Ruby looked at Chelsea confused, she had pulled out her phone and was typing something. Ruby’s phone then dinged. Ruby looked at her phone to see a message from Chelsea.

Chelsea

Hi :)

Ruby looked at Chelsea, she was looking at her with a small smile.

Chelsea

Hi

Ruby looked at Chelsea, she was now smiling brightly.

Chelsea

Can we go watch

something please?

Okay

Ruby stood up, and helped Chelsea to get up. The two then walked down the stairs, the movement making Chelsea a bit dizzy.

The two eventually made it to the living room couch. Ruby turned the tv on and looked at Chelsea. “What do you want to watch?” Ruby asked. Chelsea thought for a moment, then pulled out her phone

Can we watch the little rascals?

Ruby had never heard of them before but decide if that’s what Chelsea wanted then she would be fine with it.

After a while ruby felt Chelsea’s lay her head on her shoulder. Ruby looked at Chelsea, she seemed to asleep. Ruby gently laid her head on top of Chelsea’s. Soon after she fell asleep.

Chapter Text

~Morning~

Ruby woke up to see Chelsea gone. Ruby immediately started to panic. “Morning Ruby!” Chelsea said, sitting next to Ruby, who clearly looked confused.

“I- uh…” Ruby was very confused. “Hm? What’s wrong?” Chelsea said with a fake pout, acting like nothing was wrong. “Nothing… How are you feeling?” Ruby said, looking at Chelsea, who looked normal. “Fine…” Chelsea said, looking at the floor.

Ruby smiled at this happy that Chelsea felt better. “That’s good. Do you want something to eat?” Ruby said, standing up and walking into the kitchen. Chelsea was a little nervous about what Ruby had in mind, but she couldn’t deny the fact that she was starving.

"Yeah, okay,” Chelsea said, following Ruby. Ruby looked around the kitchen, pulling out a few supplies that were clearly not from the sea. Chelsea was a bit confused. She had never had homemade food before; she had no idea what Ruby was making.

After a few minutes, Ruby was done cooking and placed a plate of food in front of Chelsea. Chelsea looked at it strangely; it was shaped like seashells.

“What is it?” Chelsea asked, looking at Ruby with an innocent look on her face. Ruby looked at Chelsea, dumbfounded. “They’re pancakes; have you never had them before?” Ruby asked, placing her own plate on the table.

Chelsea looked at her plate, then at Ruby "No." There was a hint of nervousness in her voice. Ruby gently smiled. “Try them; you might like it,” Ruby said, sitting down and starting to eat from her own plate.

Chelsea stared at the food for a moment before cutting a piece with her fork and eating it. Chelsea was surprised by the taste and texture. ‘This isn’t so bad.' Chelsea then started to eat a little faster, finishing her plate in a few minutes.

Ruby noticed this and was trying hard not to laugh. After a few minutes, Chelsea's plate was empty except for a few crumbs. “You really liked them, huh?” Ruby said, smiling brightly. Chelsea realized what she had done and blushed in embarrassment. “Y-yeah” Chelsea said, cleaning her face with a napkin; somehow she had managed to miss her mouth more than once.

Ruby finished her plate a few minutes later. Even though Chelsea kept telling her to hurry up, Ruby then picked up all the dishes and cleaned them. She then walked over to where Chelsea was on the couch.

Ruby sat next to Chelsea, giving the girl a surprise hug. “What do you want to do today?” Ruby said, smiling, letting go of Chelsea.

“Can… we go seashell hunting?” Chelsea said, with a bit of an embarrassed blush on her face. “Sure!” Ruby said she was excited to spend the day with Chelsea.

The two girls went to Ruby’s room and got ready. “Bye mom!” Ruby said, shutting the door as she followed Chelsea out. She was just glad her mother allowed them to go out.

As the two slowly walked to the beach, Chelsea was rambling about some of the seashells she had collected before. “There was this one-“ Chelsea was cut off when she bumped into Ruby. “Ugh, why did you stop?” Chelsea looked up from behind Ruby; there was a group of kids standing in front of her, only a few feet away. The kids were looking at them, and one of them ran up to Ruby. Chelsea then realized who they were.

Ruby’s friends.

Ruby had been so busy with Chelsea and Connor that she had forgotten to update her friends about what was happening.

“Ruby! Where have you been? And why is she with you?” A girl with pink hair pointed at Chelsea with a look of anger. "Uh..." Ruby was too stunned to speak; she was not expecting to see her friends. “We’re here to look for seashells, so leave us alone,” Chelsea said, trying to hopefully intimidate the girl into leaving.

“I’m not talking to you,” the girl said, not even bothering to look at Chelsea. "Ruby, explain,” the girl said, her tone becoming more stern.

“I uh…” Ruby sighed. She knew this was going to happen, but not this soon. "Look, Margot, Chelsea, and I are friends now,” Ruby said, leaving out the other details.

“But why?! She tried to destroy the city!” Margot said, seeing to get more angry. This made Chelsea feel a bit hurt knowing that she would now be known as ‘the girl that tried to destroy the city’. “I know, but I forgave her,” Ruby said, seeming to get angry at the rude comment.

Margot looked at Chelsea, her usual confident expression gone and replaced by one of guilt. “Fine, whatever! But I’m still not happy!” Margot said, rolling her eyes.

“Anyways, the rest of us are going to hang out; want to join?” Margot said, pointing at the other kids that were still talking to each other. "Uh..." Ruby wanted to join, but "Ruby, you promised we could look for seashells!” Chelsea whined like a toddler while also pulling on Ruby’s arm in an attempt to drag her away.

"Sorry, Margot, but I made a promise,” Ruby said, a guilty smile on her face. Chelsea then smiled and pulled Ruby away, leaving Margot just standing there.

Chelsea then jumped into the water, with Ruby soon following. The two swam out into deeper water, swimming as close to the ocean floor as possible.

“Look!” Chelsea said digging up a seashell that was mostly plain but had an interesting shape. “Oh cool!” Ruby said, though she didn’t understand the importance of the shell, she was just glad Chelsea’s was happy.

Hours passed, and Chelsea had managed to find 15 different seashells. “Can we go back?" Chelsea asked, letting out a small yawn. "Okay,” Ruby said, giggling. Since Chelsea was much smaller in the water, it took a lot more energy to swim than it did for Ruby.

As the two swam, Chelsea seemed to be getting more and more tired. “Chelsea?” Ruby looked at the girl. “Huh?” Chelsea looked at Ruby, confused. “You look really tired; do you want me to carry you?” Ruby said, smiling softly. “Okay…” Chelsea said, holding onto Ruby’s hand.

As the two walked back to the house, Chelsea just couldn’t seem to stay awake. She was constantly tripping and bumping into Ruby. “Chelsea?” Ruby said, catching the girl once again before she fell. “Huh?” Chelsea looked at Ruby. Ruby now noticed the slight eye bags under Chelsea’s eyes.

“Are you sure you're okay to continue walking? I can carry you if you want,” Ruby said worriedly. “I’m fine…” Chelsea then leaned onto Ruby, not being able to stand correctly.

“Sure…” Ruby picked up Chelsea and carried her bridal style. Chelsea almost immediately fell asleep.

Once Ruby arrived back at the house, She gently placed Chelsea on the bench next to the door. Ruby then unlocked the door and carried Chelsea inside, the girl having fallen into a deep sleep.

Ruby then carried Chelsea to her room, placing her on the mattress. Ruby then left, leaving the lights off.

~~~~~~~

An hour later, Ruby was sitting on the couch playing a game on her phone. When she heard someone walking down the stairs, Ruby turned to see Chelsea walking down the stairs.

“Hey Chelsea,” Ruby said, smiling. Chelsea didn’t respond; instead, she walked over to Ruby and sat next to her. “Chelsea?” Ruby was a bit concerned. “Hm?” Chelsea laid her head on Ruby’s shoulder. “Is everything okay?” Ruby asked, looking at Chelsea.

“Yeah…” Chelsea said her eyes were still closed. “Okay…” Ruby continued to play her game. After a few minutes, Ruby noticed that Chelsea had fallen asleep again.

Ruby let Chelsea be, knowing that she was probably very tired. Ruby continued to play her game despite Chelsea moving every so often.

Chapter Text

~Morning~

When Ruby woke up and tried to sit up, she felt a weight on her chest. She looked to see Chelsea still asleep. ‘Oh! That’s right…’ Ruby had somehow managed to accidentally fall asleep, with Chelsea still lying on her.

Ruby tried to lift Chelsea off of her, but Chelsea was holding onto Ruby’s shirt and wouldn’t let go. “Chelsea?” Ruby gently tapped Chelsea, trying to wake her up. “Hm?” Chelsea looked at Ruby with sleepy eyes. “Can you let go?” Ruby said, pointing to her shirt. “Oh… sorry,” Chelsea said, letting go, a hint of blush visible.

“It’s okay," Ruby said, a small blush evident on her face. "Morning, you two,” Agatha said, walking up from behind the couch. Ruby turned to face her mother. “Did you see us?" Ruby said, embarrassed. “Yeah, how could I not? You two really seem to really like sleeping on the couch,” Agatha said clearly as a joke.

Ruby blushed deeply. How could her mother do this to her? “Anyways, you two go get ready; we’re going out today,” Agatha said, smiling. “For what?” Ruby asked, confused. “New clothes for Chelsea,” Agatha said, pointing at Chelsea, who was wearing Ruby’s clothes. "Oh,” Ruby said, only now realizing that Chelsea had been using her clothes.

“Come on,” Ruby said, dragging a semi-awake Chelsea up the stairs.

~hours later~

The girls had finished shopping and were now back home. “Ruby?” Chelsea was lying on her mattress while on her phone, and Ruby was in her own bed. “Hm?” Ruby said, looking at Chelsea. “Do you... think I’m pretty?” Chelsea asked, not looking at Ruby.

Ruby was surprised by this: “Of course you are! Why would you think that I wouldn’t?” Ruby had a comforting smile on her face. “It’s nothing…” Chelsea said, looking at her phone. Ruby wasn’t happy with her answer; it was obvious that something was wrong.

Ruby stood up and walked over to Chelsea. “Tell me, what’s wrong?” Ruby noticed the slight flinch that Chelsea made and the slight tears in the girl's eyes. “I… when we were shopping, this group of girls kept following us and were pointing at me and laughing,” Chelsea said. Her self-esteem had always been low, but now it seemed nonexistent. Ruby was surprised by this; why hadn’t she told her about it sooner? “Oh Chelsea..." Ruby pulled Chelsea into a hug, one the girl clearly needed.

After a few seconds, Ruby felt Chelsea begin to cry. Ruby let her knowing that she was still new to expressing her emotions to others. Ruby held Chelsea carefully, attempting to calm her by rubbing circles on her back.

After a while, Chelsea had stopped crying and fallen asleep. Ruby gently laid the girl down, careful not to wake her. ‘This can’t keep happening,’ Ruby thought as she left the room. This process was clearly going to take a while—a long while.

Chapter Text

2 months later

Chelsea’s therapy session had finally gone from three days a week to two, with a slightly reduced time. The girl had made great progress in expressing her emotions better but still struggled with nightmares, except they weren’t as often.

~~~~~

Chelsea woke up that morning feeling really energized. She and Ruby had been trying to work on a better sleep schedule. Instead of just sleeping whenever they were too tired to stay awake.

Chelsea looked at the time; she had an hour until the others would be awake. Chelsea went to the living room to see Ruby on the couch. "Hey, my floppy baby guppy girl~” Chelsea said, sitting next to her. Ruby hated the nickname at first but grew to like it. "Hey,” Ruby said, smiling. “What are you doing?” Chelsea asked, looking at Ruby’s phone. “Playing a game; want to try?” Ruby said, showing Chelsea how to play.

After minutes of them taking turns at the game and failing, Agatha walked down the stairs, followed by Ruby’s brother Sam. “Ew! Mom! Ruby and Chelsea are being lovey-dovey!" Sam said, whinnying like a toddler. "No, we’re not!” Ruby said, looking at her brother, not noticing the way Chelsea was blushing.

“You are too!” Sam’s said, punching Ruby’s arm lightly. “Hey!” Ruby then hit her brother's arm. “Both of you stop it!” Agatha said, stopping the two from hitting each other again. Chelsea just watched; this was not the first time she had seen the two play fight, but she still was not used to it.

Ruby then sat back down next to Chelsea, giving up on her brother. Chelsea was just giggling at the frown that Ruby had. “Hey! You can’t be laughing!” Ruby said, “I’m sorry... It’s just your frown is too cute!” Chelsea said, blushing slightly.

This made Ruby a bit embarrassed. "Whatever..." Ruby said, looking away, trying to fake her anger but failing.

"Hey Chelsea, we’re going out today for a bit. Will you be okay here alone?” Agatha said, looking at the two girls. “Huh? Oh yeah,” Chelsea said, smiling at Agatha. “Alright, Ruby, go get ready,” Agatha said, cleaning up a few dishes in the kitchen.

~~~~

“Bye ruby!” Chelsea said, waving at Ruby from the doorway. Just then, Nessie, Ruby’s sea dog, ran up to her, making her jump.

While Chelsea had been staying with the gillman’s, she learned that she was scared of sea dogs. Chelsea slowly backed up from Nessie, then ran to Ruby’s room. Chelsea slammed the door closed and locked it, not wanting to take any chances of the dog getting closer to her.

Chelsea then laid on her ‘bed’, pulling out her phone to play a few games to pass the time.

After an hour, Chelsea felt a little tired but didn’t want to take a nap, not after the last time she did.

While it was just a nightmare, it felt so real and a little too scary for Chelsea to be comfortable sleeping alone. Usually Ruby would be here, or another family member, but she was alone.

As the minutes passed, Chelsea grew more and more tired. It was hard for her to stay awake. ‘How long will they take?’.

Eventually she gave up; she was too tired to stay awake any longer, plus she was 16! She shouldn’t be scared of a nightmare.

So she fell asleep.

~~~~

Not even half an hour later, Chelsea woke up with tears running down her face and terrible thoughts running through her head.

She now agreed with herself that she would never nap alone again. She got up, walked to the bathroom, and sat next to the bathtub.

She couldn’t handle this; why did she have to have a nightmare? And why was she so scared? She was 16 for crying out loud!

Chelsea sat in silence, not knowing what to do. She didn’t have Ruby to comfort her, and she really didn’t want to find comfort in the sea dog.

Chelsea looked around the bathroom; there wasn’t much to see, but it always felt strange when Chelsea was there.

Chelsea then spotted a piece of glass on the counter. Chelsea had accidentally broken a small hand-held mirror a few days ago, and some pieces had yet to be cleaned up.

‘I could…’ Chelsea then remembered the promise she had made to Ruby. If she felt like hurting herself, then she would tell her, or if she didn’t want to, she would try to distract herself and get away from anything she could potentially harm herself with.

‘Ruby will be home soon; then I can talk with her. I don’t have to do this'. Chelsea sat there on the floor for a few minutes, trying and failing to distract herself.

Chelsea then looked at the piece of glass again. ‘She won’t notice, right?'

Chelsea then shook the thought out of her head. She couldn't, and she wouldn’t, no matter how tempting it could be!

But a person's will is only so strong. Chelsea had grabbed the small piece of glass and gently ran it against her arm, but without any pressure, so as not to make a cut yet.

‘She wouldn’t notice a few cuts, right?’ Chelsea was about to make a cut when she felt a bit hesitant. ‘I shouldn’t be doing this. I should just wait for Ruby.'

Chelsea was barely touching her arm with the glass when the bathroom door opened. “Chelsea?” Ruby stood in the doorway with a look of confusion and hurt on her face at the sight in front of her.

“What… what are you doing?” Ruby said she did not want to believe what she was seeing. “Ruby… I was—I'm—I'm sorry! I didn’t mean to! I-it was an accident!” Chelsea said, standing up and dropping the piece of glass.

Ruby looked at Chelsea with a look of hurt. "Chelsea..." Ruby slowly walked over to the girl and gently hugged her. “I- I’m sorry,” Chelsea said, not hugging Ruby back. “For what?” Ruby said, letting go so she could look at her.

“For this…” Chelsea said, looking at the piece of glass that was now lying on the floor. “You didn’t cut, did you?” Ruby said, glancing at Chelsea’s wrist. "No..." Chelsea replied in a low voice. “So why are you sorry? You didn’t hurt yourself,” Ruby said, picking up the glass and tossing it into the trash.

“I know, but I could've..." Chelsea said, looking at the ground. Why was Ruby so calm about this?

“Chelsea, I don’t expect you to just immediately forget about hurting yourself and not do it. It takes time, a lot of time, and sometimes you get down, but please remember that you’re not alone, okay?” Ruby said, placing her hands on Chelsea’s shoulders. “Okay…” Chelsea said, smiling softly at the kindness Ruby was showing her.

"Now, do you mind telling me what caused this?” Ruby asked softly. Chelsea didn’t really want to talk about it, but she knew that if she didn't, it would probably end up bad later.

“I… I had another nightmare." Chelsea didn’t like the term nightmare because it sounded ‘childish’ but it was the best way to describe her dream.

“Again? What was it about this time?” Ruby said sadly, this was the third time this month, and it was only the second week of the month!

“My mother,” Chelsea said, sitting back down next to the bathtub, Ruby sitting with her. "Oh..." Ruby wasn’t really that surprised, but she was very worried. Chelsea's past nightmares had made Ruby almost punch a hole in the wall from the things Nerissa had said, even though she knew they were fake.

“What happened?” Ruby asked, trying to keep her voice soft. “I was at the castle then..." Chelsea had told Ruby a few things about her past, but there most of it was still a mystery to ruby. “Remember how I told you I grew up alone?” Chelsea said she felt a little guilty that she hadn’t told Ruby this, but she just wasn’t ready.

“Yeah, why?” Ruby said she had a bad feeling about this. "Well, I wasn’t completely alone. There was this mermaid soldier who was taking care of me, even after everyone else had left,” Chelsea said with a sad smile.

“He was like a brother that I never had,” Chelsea said, and Ruby just listened. “We went out to play hide and seek outside the castle because that was where we always played, but..." Ruby could tell Chelsea was close to crying, so she gently took the girl and gave her a side hug.

Chelsea didn’t complain and even started to melt into the hug. “I was hiding, and he was seeking, but then a kraken appeared and saw him. He told me to run away, but I couldn't. I was too scared, and then..." Chelsea’s tears spilled, her mind a hurricane of emotions and memories.

“He was killed." Chelsea said her voice was so low that Ruby barely heard her. “And in my dream, he was there, and I did nothing! I just watched…” Chelsea said her emotions, which she had bottled up since his death, finally spilled out.

“But this time it wasn’t a kraken; i-it was my mother and she." Chelsea's breath hitched as she continued to cry. “S-she told me that I was useless and that I served no purpose for the kingdom,” Chelsea said. She couldn’t handle all these emotions. “And then she killed him!”

“Oh Chelsea, you’re not useless, and you do serve a purpose,” Ruby said as she hugged Chelsea tighter.

Ruby wasn’t sure how long they had been sitting there on the bathroom floor, or how long Chelsea had been crying, or when she passed out, but she did know that there was still a lot about Chelsea’s past she didn’t know.

Chapter Text

Chelsea woke up on her bed; when she was put there, she didn’t remember, but that wasn’t important. What was important was not talking about what happened yesterday, even if Ruby asked.

Chelsea looked around, only to realize that she was alone. ‘Everything will be fine. Hopefully she won’t ask'. Chelsea got up and walked out of the room and down the stairs. When she walked into the living area, she found a stressed-looking ruby.

“Ruby?” Chelsea slowly approached the girl. The girl immediately looked at her. "Oh, hey,” Ruby said, her voice a bit low.

Chelsea walked over to Ruby and sat next to her. “You okay?” Chelsea asked, noticing Ruby's odd behavior. “I’m fine, just tired,” Ruby said, looking at Chelsea with a soft smile. “Okay…” Chelsea was a bit suspicious but ignored it.

“Chelsea, can I ask you something?” Ruby looked at Chelsea, hoping she would let her question her a bit. “Uh sure?” Chelsea hoped she wasn’t going to ask about what happened.

“Why did you come to land?” And how long have you been living here?” Ruby asked, her voice filled with curiosity. She knew very little about Chelsea’s past.

“I-“ Chelsea knew eventually Ruby would bring this up, but was she ready to tell her?

"Uh, you know what? I’ll just tell you everything..." Chelsea's voice was filled with uncertainty and a bit of nervousness.

“After the battle of the trident, my mother was injured, but not badly. When she had tried to get the trident back, she was seriously injured; that’s what landed her in the hospital.” Chelsea was trying her best to remember everything that had happened, but she had been so young that she could barely remember.

“She was only supposed to be in the hospital for a few weeks, but something happened—no one knows what—but it worsened my mother’s condition." Chelsea’s began to fidget with her nails, and while she really didn’t care about her mother's death since she never cared for her, it still hurt to know she was gone.

“Once she died, all the staff at the castle stopped showing up, even my nanny, who was supposed to care for me." Chelsea had only been 7 when the last of the staff stopped showing up. “The only person who stayed was one of the guards; he was like a brother to me." Chelsea was having a very difficult time trying not to cry.

“And then he died; I couldn’t take it; I was alone. Eventually I went to land for the first time, but that's when I realized that I could cut my legs and the marks would be hidden well enough that no one would notice." Chelsea looked at her wrists, which were covered in faded scars. The marks were so faded that you could barely see them, yet some marks were still visible.

‘Not that anyone would care' Chelsea's eyes were blurred by the tears that threatened to fall.

“After I realized that I wasn’t needed, I ran away and came here.” Chelsea looked at Ruby for the first time since she started talking. Ruby had a surprised yet sad look on her face. "Chelsea..." Ruby gently pulled Chelsea into a hug. Chelsea was a bit surprised by it but started to cry.

She had never told Anyone her full backstory, and she had no reason to. But now that she talked about it, she realized how bad her childhood had been.

Chelsea cried for a few minutes, with Ruby trying to comfort her in any way. After Chelsea managed to calm down, she fell asleep.

Ruby carried the girl to her bedroom and set her on the mattress. Ruby smiled sadly at the girl. How could anyone do such a thing?

Chapter Text

Chelsea woke up and noticed that she was once again alone. ‘Where did Ruby go?’ Chelsea wondered, looking at the time; it was the weekend and only 7 in the morning. Chelsea got up and left the room. As she slowly descended the stairs, she saw Ruby on the couch, asleep.

‘Why is she here?’ Chelsea didn’t want to wake her up, not after last night.

Chelsea sat on the very edge of the couch, careful not to mess with Ruby.

Chelsea sat there in silence, mindlessly staring at the wall, not knowing what else to do. She had not put her phone to charge last night, and it was currently at 10 percent.

Chelsea was startled by a movement next to her. She looked to see Ruby waking up.

“Oh, hey Chelsea," Ruby yawned as she sat up.

"Morning,” Chelsea said, her voice lacking its normal expression.

Ruby could tell something was bothering her. “Chelsea, is something wrong?” Ruby asked, getting the girl to look at her.

“No, I-it’s nothing." Chelsea had a very obvious fake smile on her face.

Ruby didn’t believe the girl, so she gently took the girl into her arms, giving her a soft hug.

Chelsea was a bit surprised by the hug, but relaxed after a second.

“Your mother was a terrible person, but you are your own person. What she did has no effect on you, not anymore.” Ruby let go of Chelsea a bit so she could look at her.

Chelsea smiled softly; she knew Ruby was right. Her mother had never cared about her, but she was dead now, so why did it matter?

Chelsea was free; she wouldn’t have to worry about her mother or the mermaid kingdom, not now and hopefully never.

Chelsea got a bright idea; she was showing a lot more affection to everyone, especially Ruby. So she decided to do the best thing she could right now—a kiss, of course, on the cheek.

It was a small thank you, nothing else. Friends could do that, right? Well, no time to think about it!

Ruby was smiling at her but turned away. Chelsea then leaned in and was about to give the kiss when Ruby turned her head, now facing Chelsea.

But, of course, it was too late. The two lips had met.

Chelsea pulled back immediately, realizing what had happened. “I- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for that to happen!” Chelsea stood up and backed away slowly from Ruby.

Ruby looked at Chelsea, surprised, her brain taking its sweet time to process everything.

"I-I uh” Chelsea was trying to read Ruby's face, but at the moment, it was too difficult. So she ran—she ran out of the house and as far as she could.

Ruby finally processed what had happened: Chelsea had accidentally kissed her, the girl had kissed her! But now she was gone.

Ruby looked at her front door, seeing it wide open. She had been too slow to stop Chelsea from leaving.

Ruby thought about trying to find Chelsea, but she would come back later, right?

Ruby didn’t want to think about that; Chelsea’s would be back; she just needed a bit of time, and then the two would talk and sort things out.

Everything would be fine.

.

.

.

.

.

Except everything was not fine.

Chapter Text

Ruby had stayed up the whole night waiting for Chelsea to return, only for the entire night to go by without a single sign of Chelsea.

Ruby had told her mother what happened, but she had said to just wait and give Chelsea time.

But how much time would Chelsea need? A day? A week? A month?

Ruby didn’t want to think about not seeing Chelsea for a month. That would be torture.

The two were just becoming closer! She wanted Chelsea to return, but her feelings were a bit conflicted.

She had a slight crush on Chelsea’s but didn’t think she would like her in return.

Ruby lay on her bed. Even if she wanted to look for Chelsea, what would she say when she found her? And where would she have gone? To the ocean? The mermaid kingdom? Somebody’s house?

Ruby’s head was spinning with so many thoughts. Why did it have to be this hard?

•~~~~•

Chelsea was hiding in a dark yet spacious cave. One she used to come too often.

It was where she had stayed after coming to land. She had made herself a small space in the very back of the cave, far from the entrance, with much of her stuff still there.

Chelsea looked at all of her stuff; it hadn’t been touched since she started attending school with Ruby.

Most of it was old; some were things she had gotten when she would go out with the mermaid guard.

Chelsea then looked at her sad excuse of a bed. It was nothing more than a very thin mattress and a blanket that had small holes in it.

Chelsea sat her on her small bed; there wasn’t much she could do besides let herself drown in her thoughts.

‘What if Ruby hates me? She would’ve followed me if she didn't. Maybe she doesn’t actually care about me. Maybe she was just trying to make me happy so she could hurt me. I don’t see why she wouldn’t.'

Chelsea's mind filled with different scenarios of Ruby hurting her.

She knew Ruby wouldn’t do that—not before. But now? She didn’t want to know.

She wrapped herself in the thin blanket; the cave was cold despite the warm climate outside of the cave.

She really didn’t understand it, and now she was regretting not paying attention in science.

As the minutes passed, Chelsea grew more and more bored and lost in thought. She wanted to clear her head by swimming, but the cave only had a small pool of water, and she didn’t want to be in the ocean, not now. Not with the possibility of Ruby looking for her.

So she settled for the pool of water.

As she sat in the shallow pool, she realized how cold the water was, but it felt quite nice.

‘Hopefully Ruby won’t find me’ Chelsea relaxed more as she got used to the cold water.

After about an hour, Chelsea decided to get out of the pool after starting to get bored.

She didn’t have her phone or the shark plush Ruby gave her to keep herself busy.

Chelsea then remembered something; it was a puzzle that had been gifted to her by... she didn’t want to remember.

She had never completed it because it was so hard; the pieces were small and had interesting shapes, far different from a normal puzzle.

As Chelsea looked for the old box, she heard faint laughter from outside the cave, but it was far enough that she wasn’t concerned.

‘Right, I'm still on the island.’

The first time Chelsea had to stay in the cave, she was incredibly annoyed by the laughter and shouting, but eventually she had grown used to it.

Chelsea finally found the old box hiding in a corner of the cave with some of her other old stuff.

As soon as Chelsea opened the box, she realized that it would be two times worse than when she actually did have light. But unfortunately, she didn’t have another option; it was either struggling to put together a puzzle or struggle with her thoughts. Which were already running wild.

‘It’s okay, I can do this…’

Chelsea found a small lamp that used a match to be lit up, then began to work on the puzzle, first trying to complete the edges.

It was way harder to find the pieces than Chelsea originally thought. But she managed somehow.

She had at least completed two bottom corners and connected them, but it would probably take weeks to finish in the dim lighting.

Of course, Chelsea had the time, but it was starting to bore her.

Stuck in a cave with nothing else to do was definitely unexpected, but what to do now was the question.

Chelsea went over to her ‘bed’ and lied there.

She wanted to go out and do something, but the risk was too high. If Ruby was looking for her, she would be caught, and then who knows what would happen?

‘Well, the best way to waste time is by sleeping.’

Chelsea covered herself with the thin blanket as she laid her head on the mattress. It was uncomfortable, but it was better than sleeping on the floor.

It took a while, but eventually Chelsea fell asleep.

~~~~~~

Ruby was stressed, and trying to find Chelsea was proving difficult.

She didn’t know if Chelsea knew anyone else on the island or if she would hide in the ocean.

The possibilities were endless!

It was only her and her family searching for Chelsea.

.

.

.

Well, there was an idea.

“Please Margot! If we all look for her, the sooner we’ll find her!” Ruby was practically begging her friends to join the search.

“I don’t know Ruby; I mean, I get that you want to find her, but maybe this should stay with your family.” Margot wanted to help Ruby, but she really didn’t want to find Chelsea.

“Please, I’ll do anything!” At this point, Ruby was desperate.

“Anything?”

Ruby immediately regretted her word choice.

“Anything…”

“Fine, I’ll get the gang together, and we’ll meet at your house.”

Ruby was happy that Margot agreed, but she was a bit nervous about what Margot wanted her to do.

Well, that would be a problem for later; right now she was going to search for Chelsea!

Chapter Text

The group met in front of Ruby’s house.

“Alright, so you guys search around town, and me and my mom will search the water,” Ruby said, going over the plan one more time.

“If we find anything about Chelsea, we alert each other, got it?” Ruby had a determined look on her face.

“Got it; now let’s go!” Margot said her positive attitude showed in everything she said.

Ruby and her mom walked to the edge of the walkway, where the railing to the sea was.

Ruby jumped first, with her mother following after.

“You search the right side of the island; I’ll search the left side,” Ruby said, pointing behind her.

“Alright, try not to get into any trouble,” Agatha said as she looked at her daughter before swimming away.

Ruby swam away, looking for any sort of place someone could hide.

As she swam, she saw no sign of Chelsea.

‘Why does this have to be so hard?’

Ruby continued to search, looking in small caves, tunnels, and ravines. Until she reached the spot that she and her mother agreed to meet up at,

“Ruby! Did you find anything?” Agatha asked as she approached her daughter.

“No, did you?” Ruby's voice was low, with just a hint of sadness.

“No, I’m sorry. Maybe your friends found something?” Agatha said this in hopes of cheering her daughter up.

Ruby and her mother returned to land, meeting the rest of the group at the docks.

“Did you guys find anything?” Ruby asked, looking at her friends.

“No… but I’m sure we’ll find something tomorrow. I mean, this island is huge; she can’t be too far,” Margot said, smiling as brightly as always.

“I guess you’re right,” Ruby said, a little disappointed.

“Cheer up, Ruby; maybe we’ll have a better time tomorrow.” Agatha gently hugged her daughter.

Ruby hugged her in return, but she still felt a bit sad.

“Let’s forget about this for a bit and go eat,” Margot said as she pulled her phone from her pocket.

“I heard about this new place that just opened up, and I think it’ll be amazing!” Margot said she was showing Ruby a picture of the place.

It was a small building, but very brightly decorated.

“Sure? I guess…” Ruby was unsure of herself but didn’t quite know why.

“You guys, go on. I have to head back home. I love you, Ruby,” Agatha said, waving bye to the teenagers.

“Bye mom!” Ruby called out as Margot grabbed her arm and tugged her along.

After a few minutes of walking, the group made it to the small cafe.

The group entered the small cafe, only to find that it was even more brightly decorated on the inside.

“Look at this place!” Margot eyed the place in amazement.

“It sure is something...” Ruby said she was not used to seeing so many colors in one spot.

“Hopefully, we won’t go blind,” Bliss said.

“Bliss! Seriously?!” Margot said.

The usual banter between the two oddly comforted Ruby.

“Let’s just order,” Ruby said, averting her eyes from anything bright but still giggling at her friends.

“Yeah, whatever,” Margot said, following Ruby to the counter, leaving Trevin and Bliss together.

~~~~~~~~

The sun was setting, and yet she didn’t feel a bit tired.

The nap she had taken earlier lasted longer than expected.

Chelsea stared at the sunset. She was hungry and in pain.

Her mattress was firm and uncomfortable, making her body ache when she woke.

She had no food and was starving, but she was still scared to leave the cave.

All she could do was stare at the ocean water at the entrance of the cave.

She would need to find food sooner or later, but for now she could do without.

She continued to watch the sunset until the stars appeared. It was a beautiful sight, but she wished she didn’t have to stay in such a dark and cold cave.

She missed Ruby; she truly did. But her fear was something she could not escape.

She hated it.

She wanted to leave to find Ruby to apologize for her actions, but she couldn’t.

And it was killing her.

Chapter Text

Ruby was less excited for today. 

They hadn’t found any sort of trace of Chelsea, and she didn’t have any idea where she could be.

They had done a basic search around the places she was usually but found nothing.

And today they were going to search until they couldn’t see. 

Ruby wanted to find Chelsea; she just wished it wasn’t this hard. 

~~~~~

Boredom was killing Chelsea, and so was her hunger. 

Just a bit longer, and she would be able to hunt for food.

The last few days had been rough; she had only been able to go out on one successful hunt and manage to capture a small fish.

It wasn’t the best source of food, but it’ll have to do. 

She was just glad she could actually stomach raw fish. 

And her boredom was no better. The puzzle could only entertain her for so long. 

‘Why did I have to run away? Why did I even think a kiss was a good idea?’ 

Her thoughts were catching up to her boredom.

‘What if I...?’ 

Chelsea had become so bored that she decided that rocks would be her new source of entertainment. 

“Hello, Miss Stone, How are you this lovely evening?” Chelsea was holding two rocks. One she named Miss Stone. 

And the other, “I’m doing quite well, Mr. Boulder.” 

.

.

.

.

.

“Ugh! This isn’t any better! This just makes me look crazy!” Chelsea thought as she dropped the rocks on the ground and laid back in exasperation. 

Yep, definitely bored. 

~~~~~

Ruby swam aimlessly; she was looking for any place someone could hide, but that was easier said than done. 

Some caves were housing sea life and not Chelsea. 

But as her search continued, her hope of finding Chelsea that day was slowly dwindling. 

Ruby was struggling. 

‘Come on, Chelsea, where are you?’

~~~~~

Ruby once again met up with her mom and friends. 

“Sorry, Ruby, we couldn’t find anything,” Margot said as she looked sadly at Ruby.

“It’s okay, Margot; you guys are trying your best.” Ruby said she was trying her best to smile, at least a little. 

“Come on, Ruby, it’s time to go,” Agatha said, hugging her daughter as they walked away.

~~~

Once back at their house, Ruby flopped onto her bed. 

Lying there all alone didn’t sit well with her. Especially since the room was overly quiet. 

Usually, Neisse would be there, causing some sort of noise, but he was currently with Sam.

The quiet was really starting to bother Ruby, making her feel worse about not being able to find Chelsea. 

And she hated it. 

She wanted to find Chelsea, not only to fill the silence but to figure out what that kiss meant. 

Had it been an accident? Or was it intentional? but that wouldn’t explain her running away. 

Nothing was helping her come closer to an answer. 

~~~~

Nights were not any better for her sanity. 

The sound of the crashing waves and the constant seagulls screaming were getting to Chelsea’s head. 

Maybe she should find a better place to stay or maybe move across the globe. 

It’s not like anyone would even notice. No one even knew she was there. 

…

All this super-hard thinking was making her hungry; luckily, it was late enough for her to hunt for some small fish.

Yay…

Chapter Text

Ruby woke up feeling worse than yesterday. And honestly, I feel a little hopeless.

Would she ever be able to find Chelsea?

Ruby got off her bed and began to get ready. They were still searching, so she couldn’t be too upset. 

After a few minutes, Ruby walked out of her room, down the stairs, and to the kitchen. 

“Hey, Ruby,” Agatha said, greeting her daughter with a sympathetic look from the kitchen. 

She had seen the two grow close and couldn’t help but feel bad for both girls. 

“Hey, mom,” Ruby said, lifting her head up to look at her mother. 

“Ooo~ Ruby misses her girlfriend!” Sam called out as he ran down the stairs. 

“Sam! Stop that!” Agatha said, glaring at her son. 

Ruby groaned, and she put her head down. Not even bothering to correct her brother on her and Chelsea’s relationship. 

Sam just laughed and ran away. 

“Don’t listen to him; I’m sure we’ll find her,” Agatha said, trying to reassure her daughter. 

Ruby just listened to her mother, still sulking. 

~~~~~

Chelsea was extremely bored. She had managed to catch a few small fish on this hunt, but that did little to sedate her boredom. 

So the next best thing she could think of was to reorganize everything she had in the small cave. 

She did have a lot of old stuff that she might be able to do something with. 

As she began to organize everything, she began to notice something. 

This wasn’t just her old stuff; it was theirs as well. 

Chelsea picked up a hand-knitted scarf; it had been a gift to her. 

She gently ran her fingers over the yarn. 

It was the same feeling that she remembered and loved so much. 

Chelsea continued to organize the old stuff, coming across different things that had been given to her by them. 

Only to find the one thing she was hoping to avoid. 

A small picture frame. With a picture of her and them.

Chelsea’s eyes immediately began to tear at the sight. 

After everything that had happened, she still missed them. 

‘Why did they leave?’ 

Chelsea held the picture close. 

She was lucky that she was on the floor; her entire body felt weak. 

Why had they left? They promised they wouldn’t. 

Chelsea began to cry softly. 

Did they lie to her? Was it because they didn’t care for her? What had been the reason? 

Chelsea looked at the picture again. She had been so happy then, but now...

A wave of anger came over her, and she threw the picture. 

The sound of glass shattering made her realize what she had done. 

‘Shit’

She wasn’t supposed to do that. 

She quickly got up, walked over to the picture, and shakily picked it up. Glass fell off as she did so. 

The glass for the frame had completely shattered, and the frame had split into two. 

But the picture, it had ripped. 

Chelsea stared at the two halves. 

Her breathing became erratic and hard to control. 

Why had she done that? Why did she throw it? 

Chelsea’s panic and anger began to rise and rise as more tears fell. 

They had promised to stay, and they had left! And now she realizes that Ruby had wanted to stay and did stay, but she was the one who left. 

‘What an idiot I am’ 

Chelsea continued to berate and belittle herself. Only causing her situation to worsen. 

She felt as if she couldn’t breathe, and everything had become too much. 

~~~~~

Ruby was once again searching the waters, this time at the small nearby island that wasn’t very far from the main island. 

‘Maybe she's here,’ Ruby thought as she walked onto the beach, returning to her normal form. 

Ruby looked around the small island, looking for any place that someone could hide or seek shelter in. 

That’s when she found a small, dark cave, just a little ways from the main beach. 

As Ruby approached the cave, she began to hear noises coming from inside. 

Ruby walked into the cave cautiously. 

~~~~~

Her thoughts were a mess, and her face probably was too. 

Her tears were not stopping, and her panic just seemed to get worse. 

A gentle hand was then placed on her shoulder, making her jump and panic even more. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” 

~~~~~

Ruby cautiously made her way inside the cave; its extremely dim light was not helping. 

That’s when she found the source of the noise. 

A bunch of bats were hanging from the ceiling, and some were flying around. 

Ruby looked at them in shock and slight disappointment. 

~~~~~

Chelsea looked up, only to find a boy around her age standing there, clearly nervous. 

“Are you okay?” The boy asked. 

Chelsea wanted to yell at him and tell him to leave her alone, but she couldn’t speak, her voice failing her. 

“Hey, hey, uhm, it’s okay,” the boy said, looking a little frantic.

“Here, try following my breathing, okay?” The boy got on the ground with Chelsea. 

“Here, deep breath in, hold, now out,” the boy repeated the steps, with Chelsea trying her best to follow. 

“There you go, just like that,” the boy said, continuing to take deep breaths. 

It took a while, but Chelsea had finally managed to calm down, but she still wasn’t over what had happened. 

“W-why are you here?” Chelsea asked, looking at the boy suspiciously. 

“Oh, well, my ball rolled in here, so I came to get it,” the boy said, holding up a soccer ball that Chelsea hadn’t even realized he was holding. 

“Now, why are you here?” The boy asked softly, almost making it seem more suspicious. 

Chelsea didn’t trust the boy, so she stayed silent. 

“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me, but you should probably find somewhere better and safer to stay. You know there’s a homeless shelter,” the boy said, hoping to lighten the mood a little.

Chelsea didn’t want to show her dissatisfaction with the idea, but the boy seemed too oblivious to notice. 

"Well, I better get going; the shelter isn’t too far from here, and though they don’t let people have too much stuff, you may have to get rid of some things,” the boy said as he stood up. 

Chelsea didn’t like that idea. 

“Well, bye!” The boy said this, waving as he walked off.

~~~

It had been a little while since the boy left, but Chelsea was still a mess. The night was still so far away, and she didn’t have anything else to do. 

But she so badly wanted to go for a swim, if only to clear her mind for a few minutes. 

While sure, she had the pool of water in the cave, but it didn’t help much in clearing her head. 

She wanted the freedom to swim around that only the ocean waters could provide. 

So instead, she sat there bored on her mattress, waiting until she could finally go swimming.

~~~~~

Ruby was disappointed when she returned home; the bats had luckily not noticed her when she entered the cave, which was good, but that meant that Chelsea wasn’t in the cave. 

Which left so many more places to continue to search. 

‘Ugh, why does this have to be so hard?’ Ruby thought as she face planted onto her bed. 

She was tired but didn’t want to go to sleep. 

She wanted to continue her search. 

She wanted to continue to search until she finally found Chelsea, but she knew her mother would never allow that. 

Maybe one day she’ll do it, but for now, exhaustion has made its way to her. 

~~~~~

It was finally nighttime, and she could swim freely. 

As Chelsea swam, she felt free and happy, even after all that had happened. 

She was okay, and she would be. Hopefully. 

Best not to dwell on that.

She had the entire night to be free, and that’s what she was going to do. 

Chapter Text

She was as exhausted; she had been true to her word when she said she was going to spend every minute possible clearing her head. 

Now, she was unfortunately paying the price—exhaustion. But it was worth it, as now she didn’t think much about the past few days.

She laid on her bed; she was trying her best to sleep, but there was just too much noise coming from outside the cave.

‘Ugh, why today?’ 

Chelsea pulled her pillow over her face, groaning into it as another yell was heard. 

‘That’s probably some dumb toddler or something’ Chelsea thought as she adjusted her pillow to cover her ears. 

She was too tired for this.

~~~~

Ruby woke up confused; she couldn’t tell if she felt well rested or more tired. Oh, well, she’ll find out later.

Ruby got ready for the day, again not feeling as hopeful for the search. 

“Ruby? Come on, breakfast is ready!” Sam called from her door.

“I’ll be there in a minute!” Ruby yelled back. 

She didn’t need to do anything; she just wasn’t sure how she was feeling. 

Ruby took a deep breath, trying her best to calm her thoughts. She walked out of her room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen, where the rest of her family already was. 

“Ruby! How's my little guppy doing?” Ruby’s father smiled at her as he set a plate down for her.

“Good, I guess, still haven’t found Chelsea,” Ruby poked at her food with her fork. 

“I’m sure you’ll find her; you’ve never given up before, and I don’t see you doing it now,” her father smiled at her. 

His words felt useless to her; she hadn’t gotten any closer to finding Chelsea. She had no clues, and the girl was a mermaid; for all she knew she could be half way across the world!

Ruby let out a small sigh; she needed to calm down. This wasn’t going to help.

~~~~

The noise had died down, but it was still too loud for Chelsea to fall asleep. 

Chelsea groaned as she tossed on her bed. 

She hated this so much, but she couldn’t leave; she didn’t want to leave.

‘It’s fine, it’s fine; they’ll be gone soon enough,’ Chelsea thought as she tried to calm herself. She knew if she didn't, she had the possibility of yelling at everyone to shut up.

This was going to be a long day.

~~~~

Ruby swam through open water, trying desperately to find anything. She knew Chelsea’s favorite spots in the ocean, but none of them had anything about where Chelsea could be.

Not even the small island that Chelsea liked so much and claimed to have grown up on had any clues.

Though now that she looked at it, it seemed much different than what Chelsea had described. 

None of it helped, and Ruby was beginning to feel more helpless by the minute.

~~~~

Chelsea was angered; at noon the noise had quieted but still be heard.

But now? All she could hear was yelling and screaming. 

‘Why won’t they just leave?’ Chelsea was beyond exhausted; she could barely keep her eyes open. She wanted to rest badly, but the noise was just too loud.

And it was overwhelming. 

~~~~

Ruby was struggling; she felt hopeless and alone. 

Her friends had found nothing, her mother had found nothing, and she had found nothing. 

It was as if Chelsea had just disappeared. 

Which could be possible, since there was still a lot that she didn’t know.

But it was getting late, and she needed to get home. 

She swam home slowly, her father’s words echoing in her mind. 

They had helped, but it was still so hard to be hopeful in a situation like this.

Once Ruby got to land, she walked slowly to her house. 

It was unusually loud on the beach, which meant that something was happening. 

But Ruby didn’t care; she was tired and wanted to be home.

As she walked past the beach, she could tell that it was some sort of huge party. 

Good thing she lived far enough from the beach she wouldn’t have to listen to them until they finally stopped.

~~~~

The noise had finally stopped about two hours ago, but now that wasn’t the problem. 

Chelsea couldn’t sleep; the noise had gone away, but now that it was night, she had to go find food.

Which meant no sleep. 

Chelsea was not happy; she was tried, exhausted even. 

But she knew she had to hunt or she would go hungry. 

This was going to be a very long night.

Chapter Text

Weeks had gone by, and there was still no sign of Chelsea.

Ruby’s friends had managed to search about half the island, while Ruby had managed to search most nearby islands.

Which still left so many places to look.

It didn’t help that school was starting up in a few weeks.

Which meant she had to find Chelsea.

~~~~

Chelsea was beyond exhausted; last night's hunt had gone really badly, and she hadn’t slept well in days.

The past few days had been rough, and she was starting to regret running away.

She sat on her bed with tears in her eyes; she had never expected it would be this hard to live out here.

Especially since she had experience living out here.

She laid back on her stiff mattress, staring at the roof of the cave.

Maybe she should leave.

~~~~

Ruby was staring at the wall from her bed; she had not bothered to get up.

“Ruby?”

Her mother called out from her open door, but Ruby didn’t want to answer her.

“Ruby, we can’t give up now; I know she’s out there somewhere; we just have to find her,” Agatha said, hoping she sounded hopeful.

“What if we never find her?” Ruby asked, her voice low and slightly shaky.

Agatha looked at her daughter closely.

“What if... what if I never see her again?” Ruby’s voice was extremely shaky, and Agatha could hear the sadness it carried.

Ruby finally looked up at her mother, tears brimming her eyes.

“I want to find her... I do, but it’s hard knowing she's out there, hiding... from me.”

Agatha looked at her daughter; she could tell this was difficult for her.

“Ruby…”

Ruby wiped at her eyes, “It’s fine... I’m fine; forget I said anything.”

Agatha looked at her daughter and slowly walked over to her bed, sitting right next to her.

“We'll find her, I promise, no matter how long it takes,” Agatha smiled at her daughter softly.

“Really? You’d do that...?" Ruby looked at her mother, uncertain.

“I’m still not entirely okay with her staying with us, but I do have to admit, she’s grown on me." Agatha held Ruby’s hand.

“And I know how much you like her.”

Ruby’s face flushed. “I don’t know what you mean…”

Agatha looked at her daughter with a raised eyebrow and said, "Sure, you don't.”

Ruby blushed a little more.

Agatha stood from the bed, “Well, I hope you’ll get ready and join the search; that is, of course, if you’re up to it.”

Ruby nodded her head, smiling at her mother.

“Maybe we’ll make some sort of progress; you never know." Agatha smiled once more at her daughter from the doorway.

“I hope you’re right…” Ruby said softly.

“We’ll find her, Ruby; it just takes time.”

~~~~

Chelsea had made a very dumb decision.

Yes, she knew it was bad, but old habits die hard.

‘It’s just a small cut. No one will ever know.'

Chelsea kept repeating the words in her head over and over again as she held the knife against her wrist.

But she couldn’t do it.

The promise she made to Ruby echoed in her head.

But the urge to cut was getting stronger and harder to fight off.

She couldn’t handle it; she couldn’t handle being alone.

The cave and its uncomfortable silence were making her increasingly anxious.

She wanted someone there with her to hear the heart and breathing of someone other than herself.

Her own breath began to increase in pace.

She couldn’t do this; she couldn’t harm herself.

She would not relapse again.

So she did what she knew best.

She grabbed the hand-knitted scarf, wrapped it around herself, and ran.

Where she was going, she didn’t know. All that mattered was that she was out of the cave and away from the knife.

~~~~

As Ruby walked the streets of the island.

She would normally search the ocean, but she had wanted a change in scenery.

But as she walked, a strange feeling grew in her gut.

But she ignored the feeling, knowing that it would not help in her search for Chelsea.

And she wouldn’t let it stop her.

Chapter Text

It didn’t take long for Chelsea to run out of breath.

After all, she was never a very athletic person.

But it was only when she stopped running did she realize where she was.

An abandoned house, one she was all too familiar with.

‘No… why here?’

Chelsea wanted to run away again, to run until the house was out of sight.

But her body wouldn’t let her; instead, it slowly inched closer and closer to the house.

The house itself looked just as she remembered it.

Only looking slightly unkept, with a few missing shingles from the roof.

But it also looked so foreign.

Chelsea walked to the front door and was a bit surprised when it opened.

She carefully took a step in and almost immediately wanted to cry.

The house was just as she left it.

But things were clearly different.

Most things were untouched, but some things looked like they were beginning to fall apart.

It creeped Chelsea out, seeing the house in a state she never imagined it would be in.

Chelsea walked slowly through the house.

She scanned the areas, looking at the things that were left behind.

That’s when she came across a hallway lined with photos.

Photos of them .

Chelsea’s eyes watered, but she continued to look at all the pictures.

That was until she saw a picture of them and her.

She broke down crying.

She missed them. And it hurt knowing that she didn’t know where they were.

The house was empty, void of the life she once knew. The life she had grown accustomed to.

She missed it. She missed it all.

She had taken that time for granted; she didn’t think something like this would happen.

She just hoped that wherever they are, they knew she missed them. And that she had cared.

~~~~

Ruby was back at home.

After wondering the island for a bit, she got tired and returned home.

It wasn’t that late though, so she didn’t have much to do.

“Ruby?”

Ruby turned to her open door.

“Sam?” Ruby looked at her little brother, confused.

“I know you’re busy and all... But I was wondering... would you want to play a game with me? You know, to get your mind off everything?”

Ruby looked at her brother. The truth was that once she started high school, she stopped spending as much time with him as she normally would.

“Sure, why not?” Ruby got off her bed and followed her brother down to the living room.

“So, what game are we playing?” Ruby asked as Sam started up the Nintendo Switch.

“Mario party, duh,” Sam said as he handed her a controller.

Ruby smiled as she took the controller from her brother. He had been begging her to play with him, but she had always refused.

“You better not let your dad find out you’re playing without him,” Agatha called out from the kitchen.

“He’ll be fine missing one game,” Sam said as the game started.

~~~~

Chelsea hated herself for allowing herself to wonder in the house longer than she should have.

And as she lay on her old bed, she thought about the past few weeks, and before she ran away.

She had to admit, she felt like she was losing her mind the longer she was alone.

She absolutely hated it.

She needed someone to be with her, near her, holding her close.

She needed Ruby.

But would Ruby want her back? Would she allow her to come back?

There was only one real way to find out, but was she ready for the truth?

Or would she end up running away with more hurt than when she started with?

Maybe, just maybe it was time to go home.

~~~~

“No fair! You cheated!” Sam cried out.

“No, you’re just bad at the game,” Ruby said, teasing her brother after he lost.

“I know you cheated!” There’s no way you could’ve beaten me!” Sam huffed.

“What’s all this noise about? Wait a minute... are you playing Mario Party without me!?” Arthur cried as he walked into the living room.

“Uh… no?” Sam said, turning to his father.

“We were just starting the game! Want to join?” Ruby said, holding out a controller for her father.

“Don’t mind if I do." Arthur took the offered controller and joined the two on the couch.

“Let’s get this game started!” Sam cried out as the game began.

~~~

Ruby felt happy—really happy.

Now that she was older, spending time with her family was becoming more rare, and with Chelsea missing, it was definitely less than Ruby would’ve liked.

But now that she was playing a game with her brother and father, she felt genuinely happy.

“I won’t let you win this time!” Sam cried.

“Yeah, right,” Ruby said; she was clearly going to win, or at least it seemed that way.

But a knock on the door rang out.

“I’ll get it,” Agatha said as she walked to the door, already knowing that no one else would get it.

Agatha walked to the door and opened it.

“Hello?”

Agatha was stunned.

“C-Chelsea…?”

Ruby heard her mother from the door, and her blood froze.

“Ha! I told you I’d win!” Sam said, grinning.

Chapter Text

Ruby stood in front of the mirror, looking at herself.

This would be the first Halloween that she would celebrate with Chelsea.

“You ready?” Chelsea called out as she walked into the room.

She was dressed as a vampire.

“Yeah, I guess,” Ruby said, going over her own costume of a spider.

“You look fine, Ruby,” she said as she walked over to her.

“I don’t know... Maybe I should’ve been something else,” Ruby said, slightly hating the way she looked.

“My floppy guppy girl, you look fine—better than most humans ever will in a costume like that,” Chelsea said, cupping Ruby's cheek so that she would look at her.

Ruby blushed slightly. “You really hate the humans, don’t you?”

“You know I do; I mean, do you see how stupid they are?” Chelsea said, frowning slightly.

Ruby chuckled. She had tried to get the girl to understand human nature, but the girl refused to listen.

“Not all of them are like that,” Ruby said as she turned back to the mirror.

“Most of them are, especially ones with crabs.” Chelsea was clearly still a little angered when Gordon was brought up.

“He’s not all that bad; just give him a chance,” Ruby said as she looked over her costume again.

“I refuse,” Chelsea said, crossing her arms.

Ruby laughed a little, then turned to face Chelsea.

“I promise you look good,” Chelsea said, seeing the look on Ruby’s face.

“I think you need some encouragement." Chelsea cupped Ruby’s face and peppered kisses all over.

“H-hey! Careful, you’re going to get your makeup on me!” Ruby giggled at the soft kisses.

“Would that really be such a bad thing?” Chelsea said, pressing one final kiss to Ruby's lips.

“It would ruin the look,” Ruby said, smiling now.

“You wouldn’t hate it though,” Chelsea said, smiling in return.

“Girls!”

Agatha’s voice could be heard calling for them.

“Are you ready?” Agatha called out.

“I guess we better go,” Ruby said, feeling a little sad that the two would have to stop being so lovey-dovey with each other.

Chelsea quickly placed a kiss on Ruby’s lips, then ran out of the room laughing.

Ruby smiled as she followed after her.

Ruby walked down the stairs to see her brother and Chelsea excitedly talking.

Ruby knew she and Chelsea were a little old to be trick-or-treating, but Chelsea wanted to at least experience it before she turned 17.

“Come on, Ruby! If we leave, know we can get all the good candy!” Sam said as he turned to her.

“I’m coming; give me a second,” Ruby said as she reached the bottom of the stairs and grabbed the bag her mother had set out for her.

“Come on!” Sam called as he started to walk out the door.

Ruby smiled as she followed Sam and Chelsea out the door.

“So, where to first?” Ruby asked as she closed the door behind her.

“We’re going to the Bayside area; they have the nicer houses, so they’ll have better candy,” Sam said as he started walking away.

“All the way out there? Are you sure about this?” Ruby said she was a little concerned that they may be going too far.

“It’ll be fine, plus if anything happens, you have cool laser eyes!” Sam said as he led the way.

“I’m not going to hurt anyone with my laser eyes.”

“Awww, you wouldn’t protect us?” Chelsea said, clinging to Ruby’s arm.

“W-what? No, of course I would; I just don’t want to hurt anyone if I can help it.” Ruby stumbled over her words, the question catching her off guard.

Chelsea giggled, “You’re too kind to people.”

Ruby huffed but smiled anyway.

“And you aren't,” Sam called out as he ran off towards a house.

“Wha-? Hey!” Chelsea yelled, chasing him.

Ruby followed behind them, laughing.

Sam stopped in front of the house, laughing as he knocked on the door.

“I’m not that bad,” Chelsea grumbled as the door opened.

“Trick or treat!” Sam said, holding up his bag.

“Oh, hello there, you guys look so cute." An older woman stood there with a bowl of candy.

“Here you go,” the woman gave them each a handful of candy.

“Thank you!” Ruby said as the candy was dropped into her bag.

“Come on, Ruby!" Sam called as he started to walk away.

“Hey! Don’t walk too far without us!” Ruby called out as she followed after him.

“He really is a little troublemaker, isn’t he?” Chelsea said, giggling a bit as she walked beside Ruby.

“He really is,” Ruby agreed as Sam approached the next house.

“Come on, you guys are slow!” Sam called as he walked up to the door.

“We wouldn’t be so far behind if hadn’t run off,” Ruby said as Sam knocked in the door.

The door opened to reveal a younger man.

“Trick or treat,” the three said unintentionally in unison.

The man smiled, then looked at Chelsea and Ruby.

“Aren’t you guys a little too old to be trick or treating?” The man said as he dropped candy in all of their bags.

“It’s our last year,” Ruby said, trying to be polite, but she knew Chelsea was a little upset about it being mentioned.

“Thank you,” Ruby said as the three walked off.

“I don’t get why people care about how old we are,” Chelsea huffed as they walked.

“It’s just candy; why does that have an age limit?”

Ruby understood Chelsea's reasoning, but she didn’t have an answer either.

“It’s fine, it was just one person; there are plenty of other houses to go to,” Ruby said, trying to cheer her up.

Ruby smiled at her before placing a quick kiss on her cheek.

“I guess going to more houses couldn’t hurt,” Chelsea said as she looked at Ruby, softly smiling.

“Come on! You guys are so slow!” Sam called out as he walked ahead.

The two giggled and caught up with him.

The next hour went by pretty fast, their bags gaining lots of candy and other small little things.

“Woah! Look, I got a snake!” Sam held up the toy snake.

“We’ve got so much!” Chelsea said as she looked through her own bag.

“Come on, you two, we have to get back home; mom still wants to watch that movie,” Ruby said as she looked back towards the other two who were falling behind.

"Well, make it, Ruby; you don’t have to worry about it,” Chelsea said as she started to walk beside Ruby.

“I know, I just don’t want to be late; we said we’d be there at 9,” Ruby said as she looked at Chelsea.

Chelsea glanced back at Sam, who was too busy looking at his candy.

“Don’t worry, baby, we’ll make it on time,” Chelsea said as she placed a soft kiss on Ruby’s cheek.

Ruby blushed; she was not used to being called that.

"Cute,” Chelsea said as she smiled.

Ruby flushed more; she didn’t understand how Chelsea could make her feel this way.

“Ew! This is Halloween, not Valentines!" Sam cried as he looked away in faked disgust.

Ruby smiled; she loved Chelsea and didn’t care that her brother was not happy with their display of affection.

The three made their way back home, laughing and smiling all the way back.

Once the three made it back, Agatha was waiting for them.

“Go change out of your costumes, and I’ll start the movie in a few minutes,” Agatha said as she started getting a few snacks set up.

The three went to go change into their pajamas.

“Ruby, hurry up!” Chelsea called as she knocked on Ruby’s door.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Ruby said as she opened the door.

“You took forever,” Chelsea said as she pouted slightly.

“You’re so clingy sometimes,” Ruby smiled.

Chelsea blushed slightly. “I am not.”

Ruby giggled and quickly kissed her cheek.

“Let’s go; the others are waiting for us,” Ruby took Chelsea’s hand.

The two made their way downstairs to the living room.

“There you guys are; it took you long enough,” Sam whined.

Agatha, Arthur, and Sam were all sitting on the couch waiting for the two.

"Sorry,” Ruby said as she joined them, Chelsea sitting right next to her.

“Alright, before I start the movie, does anyone need anything?” Agatha asked as she held the remote.

A chorus of no’s was heard.

“Okay, let’s get this movie started,” Agatha said as she pushed play.

The nightmare before Christmas started.

Chelsea snuggled up to Ruby.

Ruby pulled a blanket over them.

The movie played as it got later and later.

It wasn’t that surprising when Sam fell asleep first, about a quarter of the way through the movie.

“Look at him,” Agatha whispered to her husband.

“I’ll take him to bed,” Arthur said as he stood up.

He knew the boy was old enough to go to sleep himself, but it was nice to know and see that he could still be put to bed.

Arthur carried Sam up to his room as Agatha, Ruby, and Chelsea stayed watching the movie.

Chelsea laid her head on Ruby’s shoulder; it was clear that she was struggling to stay awake.

“Someone’s sleepy,” Ruby whispered.

Chelsea shook her head. "I am not.”

“Sure you aren't,” Ruby smiled softly; it was very clear that she was lying.

Ruby placed a soft kiss on Chelsea’s forehead as the girl started to doze.

Arthur came back down the stairs, saying that he was heading to bed as well.

“Seems that you and I are the only ones left awake,” Agatha said, turning to her daughter.

But Ruby had her head on top of Chelsea's, looking to be half asleep.

Agatha smiled softly and paused the movie.

She then walked over to Ruby and said, "Ruby, darling, it’s time for bed.”

Ruby’s eyes fluttered open and looked around in confusion before landing on her mother.

“Mom?” Ruby was confused.

“It’s time for bed.”

Ruby took a second to process her mother’s words before nodding her head.

She carefully stood from the couch, careful not to disturb Chelsea.

“Up to bed, you have school tomorrow,” Agatha said, her motherly tone clear.

Ruby nodded her head and carefully, carefully picked up Chelsea.

She carried Chelsea up to their shared room and laid her on her mattress.

Yes, Chelsea had been living with them for a while, but they did not have the time to clear the old storage room out so that Chelsea could have her own room.

But Chelsea didn’t mind, especially since that meant she was closer to Ruby.

Ruby softly kissed Chelsea's forehead as she draped a blanket over her.

Ruby then climbed into her own bed, feeling tired herself.

It had been a really fun night, and now that things were better with Chelsea, she couldn’t imagine herself without the other.

She couldn’t help that she felt like a fool being so in love with the girl.

But she didn’t mind; she loved Chelsea a lot, and it was clear that Chelsea felt the same.

As Ruby lay in bed, she smiled; she didn’t care what the future held for them. She was just happy that she had these sweet moments with her family and now girlfriend.

As she slowly drifted off to sleep, Ruby couldn’t wait for the morning to repeatedly tell Chelsea how much she loved her. Just as Chelsea would do to her.

But she wouldn’t care, and neither would Chelsea. The two were deeply in love, and that’s all that mattered.

Chapter Text

The game of Mario Party was long forgotten as Chelsea stood in front of the Gillman family.

“Hi…” Chelsea’s voice was quiet and shaky.

Ruby stood frozen, not knowing what to think or say. After all this time she had spent searching, the girl had just shown up.

“I—uhm, I’m sorry I left…” Chelsea looked nervous, maybe even a little afraid.

“I-it’s fine, I guess…” Ruby said almost instinctively, though it clearly wasn’t fine.

The entire room was filled with an uncomfortable tension. What were they supposed to do? What were they supposed to say?

“Ruby…” Chelsea began but didn’t say anything more, but it was clear something was on her mind.

“I—I’m sorry I left. I—I didn’t—I wasn’t thinking, and everything had happened so fast—I panicked… I mean, you were kind of just sitting there, blankly. I didn’t know what to think…” Chelsea's eyes pricked with tears as she explained herself.

Ruby took in her words; she knew she had reacted slowly, but did Chelsea really think her reaction was bad?

“I—I’m sorry… after everything you’ve done for me… I shouldn't have left you like that...” Chelsea fiddled with her hands.

“Chelsea…” Ruby didn’t know what to say. What could she say? “You don’t have to apologize,” Ruby tried, hoping it would soothe the girl’s nervousness.

“No, Ruby, I do. I hurt you; I shouldn’t even be here! I put your family in danger and almost killed you! Why do you forgive me? Why do you act as if none of it happened? I know it was months ago, but—” Chelsea's words were full of guilt. She seriously didn’t understand why Ruby was so kind to her after everything she did. She manipulated her, used her, betrayed her, hurt her, and almost killed her. And yet here she was, staring at her with hurt and confusion.

“Chelsea…” Her eyes were pure and innocent, something Chelsea was jealous of.

“You really don’t understand, do you?” Ruby took a step closer to Chelsea. Chelsea looked a little scared but didn’t back away. “I care for you, Chelsea, more than you realize. And I know what you did; I don't think I'll ever forget it, but you had a reason—”. “Not a good one,” Chelsea interrupted Ruby.

Ruby was a little taken aback by the statement, but continued. “Chelsea, your mother isn’t here to control your life anymore. You don't have to feel guilty for something your mother told you to do.” Ruby gently took Chelsea’s hands in hers.

Chelsea blushed slightly but didn’t pull her hands away. “Do you really forgive me?” Chelsea’s watery eyes met Ruby’s beautiful turquoise  eyes.

“Of course I do; I forgave you a long time ago.” Ruby smiled softly. “You mean a lot to me, Chelsea. I care for you and your feelings; please don’t hide them from me”.

Chelsea looked at Ruby for a moment, taking in her words. She knew it was dumb that she still doubted Ruby, but now, she felt safe with the girl so close to her.

“Ruby…” Chelsea was a little breathless.

She had never been so close to Ruby before.

‘She looks beautiful.’ Chelsea turned her head away from Ruby as the thought crossed her mind. “I… thank you; you mean a lot to me too,” Chelsea whispered.

Ruby smiled and pulled the girl into a hug. Chelsea was a little surprised but hugged back. She had never felt so safe and comfortable before. But she loved it.

The rest of Ruby’s family watched the entire scene. It wasn’t until now that Agatha realized how much it seemed that Chelsea was suffering.

Ruby had told her bits and pieces of Chelsea’s past but had said that she didn’t want to tell her anything that might hurt Chelsea if she shared it without her permission.

“Can you promise me something?” Chelsea asked, pulling away from the embrace enough to look at Ruby.

Ruby looked a little worried but nodded her head. “Can you promise me… that you'll never leave me? I don’t want to be alone... not again.” A light blush dusted Chelsea’s face.

“I promise,” Ruby said with no hesitation or uncertainty in her voice. Chelsea was a little surprised that Ruby agreed so quickly, but she was also happy.

“Can you promise me something?” Ruby asked with faint hesitation.

“Can you promise me that you’ll tell me everything that bothers you? No more secrets, no more hiding?” Ruby asked gently. She knew it was a lot to ask of the girl, but she knew Chelsea would try her best.

“I can’t promise I won’t make mistakes… But I'll do my best,” Chelsea said, smiling warmly.

“That’s all I could ask for,” Ruby hugged Chelsea again, before letting go. Chelsea then turned to Agatha.

“Thank you for letting me stay with you…” Agatha smiled, “Of course, you’ve made some real improvements over these past few months, and I'll be honest… I enjoy having you around.”

Chelsea smiled at this; she knew Agatha had hated her at first, but now the woman was almost like a mother figure to the girl.

“I think today has been quite eventful, but uhm… can we start thinking about dinner?” Arthur spoke up. Agatha turned to her husband and glared at him. Once he saw her glare, he awkwardly picked up Sam and walked to the kitchen to avoid her gaze.

Once Arthur was out of the room, Agatha turned back to Ruby and Chelsea. “I’m assuming you’re hungry?” Agatha questioned, looking mostly at Chelsea. “Very…” Chelsea said quietly. She had had such a chaotic start to her day that she hadn’t had the chance to eat.

“Give me a few minutes and dinner will be ready.”