“You’re back,” Dick says, slowly lifting himself onto the dock. “I was worried you’d forgotten about me.”

You’ve been meeting up every summer, whenever you visit your grandma, ever since you cut him out of some fishing wire. You’d both been children then. You’re different now. He is, too.

He can’t help staring at your face. You’ve changed. His heart does a flip. You’re beautiful. He knows, though, that being a mermaid while you’re human means his crush can never go anywhere.