Mermaid romance (one-on-one//closed)

"Carter stop, please," Arria took another step back, "I love you but this isn't right. Come on Carter. Just understand that. I don't want another repeat of… Yuri." He hoped the name would snap Carter back to attention and make him understand a little bit.

“I’m not Yuri,” Carter said, digusted by even the name of the merman. He took Arria’s hand, pulling him towards the house. A couple of people eyed his half-nakedness, especially Breigha who was giggling, but Carter didn’t see them. He tugged Arria towards his room, then shut the door behind them to get some quiet.

"Carter no. You say you're not him well then why the hell are you acting like him!" Arria snapped, surprised he even did. He never got angry but he was right now and tears began to form in the corners of his eyes. Arria reached for the door to leave. If Carter couldn't drive he'd walk, he'd memorised the way anyway.

“What are you talking about?” Carter drawled again, putting a greedy hand on Arria’s chest, “Arria, I love you.” He was in such a daze, he couldn’t even think straight when he forcibly pulled Arria close to him and kissed him. He couldn’t see what he was doing, how he was hurting Arria.

Arria kneed Carter in the groin and pushed him off him, "I know you wouldn't have done that if you weren't drugged but don't do that again." He wiped away his tears and left the room and the house, headed back towards the beach.
It's fine. He wouldn't have done that if Breigha hadn't spiked his drink.
Once at the beach he took off and chucked Carter's shirt to the side and waded into the water. His tail would come back at any moment.

Carter reeled, sliding to the floor, gasping for breath with spots in his vision. Oh gosh that hurts. Tears winked in his eyes, and gosh he could barely focus. He cursed, curling in on himself. Breigha peeked her drunk head in the door, saw Carter there, then closed the door without a word, leaving Carter on the floor in pain alone. Once he finally recovered, he wearily made it to his bed and collapsed on it, his last thoughts centered around Arria, I need to talk to him…

Arria could feel his tail forming again and breathed a sigh of relief. Once it was back, he let the broken shorts drift to the beach with the shirt and dived into the water, swimming home as fast as he could. As he arrived, he found his friends waiting for him, he swam over and they followed him into his house, Arria collapsing into a fit of tears while his friends comforted him. Eventually, he cried himself to sleep and his friends fell asleep in the living room.

Carter awoke with a heavy headache, but a thought still on his mind as the sun rose. I need to talk to Arria… He shot out of bed, headache pounding harder. Gosh, where is my shirt even? Carter was ashamed of himself from last night. What had happened? He quickly changed, getting in his car and driving straight to the beach. He swam out to the rock pool in desperate hope of finding Arria. I’ll wait there all day if I have to.

Arria was already there with his friends, quietly talking about something or another. When Arria noticed Carter he looked away and the guys exchanged a look. Herla swam over, arms crossed and looking extremely unhappy with Carter, "What in Triton's name did you do?" He hissed, "Actually, I have some what of an idea so you better have some damned good explanation as to why."

Carter looked at the merman. He was so unprepared, he at least thought he’d have time to plan out an explanation beforehand. He was surprised the merpeople were even at the rock pool. “I- I- I didn’t mean to do that, gosh, I don’t know what happened, everything had been hazy,” Carter frantically tried to look at Arria, to catch his eyes, to make sure he was alright.

Arria kept his gaze away although he could hear everything being said perfectly clear.
"You should have been more careful, getting drugged like that. And even then you should have acted more responsibly. Gods, Carter I-"
"Herla, stop," Arria finally spoke up, "Can you guys leave us alone, please?" He asked and the mermen nodded, Herla glaring at Carter the entire time as they swam away.
Arria sighed and looked to Carter, he looked like he'd barely slept the entire night.

Carter immediately, yet slowly, approached Arria. Gosh, I had been drugged? By who? “I- I didn’t mean to, I would have never done that is I would have known what I was doing, Arria, gosh, I’m so sorry.” He reached out a hand towards Arria, but quickly retracted it in shame. He said apologetically, vowing to himself, “I’ll never touch you again. Never.”

Arria sighed again, "It's fine, Carter. I know you wouldn't have touched me like that if you were sober. You don't have to not touch me again, just… ask," He gave Carter a wobbly smile before it disappeared, "I think you need to have a talk with Breigha about drugging peoples drinks next time you see her."

“Breigha?” A flare of anger rose inside him, but it disappeared for later. He desperately wanted to wrap his arms arms Arria, to comfort him, but he lost that right. Instead, he pressed his face into his hand, saying with a muffled voice, “Please, please, please, please forgive me. I didn’t want that to happen, I wanted you to be safe with me around.”

Arria swam over to Carter and placed his hand on his cheek, "Carter, yesterday night wasn't your fault. I forgave you right after it happened. Yes, what you did was wrong and brought back bad memories but if you'd hadn't been drugged you would never have done that, I know it. I've always felt safe and loved around you and… I couldn't imagine being without you."

“Can I hug you?” He whispered, looking up into Arria’s sweet eyes finally. He held his breath, muscles slightly tense as he watching Arria for a response. I just want to hold him, make sure he’s alright…

Arria gave Carter a soft smile and kissed his cheek, "Yes. Yes you can." He said gently.

Carter quickly wrapped his arms around Arria, then of course he started crying into Arria’s shoulder -even though Arria should be the one crying- as he whispered, “Thank you for stopping me, Arria, gosh, I don’t want to be like… that.”

"I-I know. And you're not, I know you aren't like that. I love you and one mistake isn't going to make me change my mind. Just don't do it again." Arria said, tangling one hand in Carter's hair while the other wrapped around his neck.

Carter let out a quiet sob which he had tried to stifle, but it came out anyways and he subconsciously tightened the hug as he cried, “I’ll never. Never do that again.” He said I was like Yuri… Carter was disagusted and ashamed with himself.

"I know you won't…" Arria buried his head in Carter's neck, closing his eyes as tight as he could. He let out a sigh and pulled Carter as close as he could to him, stroking his hair to calm the other down.

Carter slowly dissolved into just small sniffles and quiet tears, holding onto Arria for support. After a few moments he quietly said with an attempt at a smile, “You have a very strong kick, you know.”

Arria gasped and looked down at his lap, "I-I'm really sorry for that. I didn't know what else to do since you weren't listening to me and I'm not as strong as you so pushing you wouldn't work and I-I… I'm sorry."

“I’m happy you did that, Arria,” Carter told him, laughing a small bit, “I’m happy you defended yourself.” He lifted his head to look into Arria’s perfect eyes, “I would rather get kicked in the groin a thousand times than ever hurt you like that again.”

Arria smiled a little, "I know… I'm still sorry I did it, though." He said, biting his lip a little as he wiped away Carter's tears that had fallen.

“You shouldn’t be sorry,” He told him, leaning his head into Arria’s soft and gentle hand. “I love you, Arria,” Carter whispered quietly. My sea boy…

Arria smiled and let his own tears finally fall, "I love you too, Carter." He gently and slowly, pressed his lips to Carters.

Carter kissed him back softly, as gentle as he could be as he hesitantly brushed a hand through Arria’s hair. He never wanted something like last night to happen again. Never, he vowed to himself.

Arria let more tears fall as they kissed, unable to hold them back anymore. He tightened his grip on Carter as he kissed him and cried.

Carter brought his hands up to Arria’s face gently, using the pads of his thumbs to wipe away the tears. He tried to clamp down his own tears but couldn’t stop crying along with him. His toe brushed against Arria’s tail on accident, but he pulled his leg away in case Arria didn’t want that anymore.