I tap my fingers against my knee, unable to fight the anxious jitters that have suddenly plagued me. I feel like all of my nerve endings are trying to react at once and it's a sensation that greatly resembles gasoline flowing through my veins and someone throwing in a lit match. I can feel it searing through me, threating to engulf me and swallow me whole. Scott is talking but I can't even begin to focus on what he's saying. There's a rushing sound in my ears and heart beat pounds so loudly I feel like my skull is going to crack open.

"Scott," I snap, interrupting him and he looks over at me in surprised confusion, "Do I really have to be here right now?"

"What do you have someplace better to be?" Malia hisses at me, shooting a glare at me that looks like it could shred me into a thousand pieces. "I'm sure you have a long list of guys you need to go seduce and fuck."

I fixate on Malia, my hands balling into fists tightly at my sides. "If this is about Stiles," I say through clenched teeth and she bares her fangs at me.

"The only reason he's even paying attention to you is because you used your witchcraft on him, slut." She snarls and my vision turns red in fury.

"Malia," Scott says, "That was completely out of line."

"I'll show you fucking witchcraft." I say in an eerily calm tone as I rise to my feet, my eyes shifting colors as I give up the control I've been itching to release all day. The air crackles with static electricity as the windows slam open, almost tearing off of their hinges as a vicious wind whips through the room as a storm begins to culminate outside. I can see the Malia's eyes shift back from yellow to their normal color, but with a twinging of fear in them and I grin maliciously.

"You wanted to see it, didn't you Malia? You want to see what I can do?" I taunt her, my voice cold and cruel, "Wanted a front row seat to see exactly what happens when a mermaid isn't just fuckingaround."

The electricity in the air crackles again, as the rest of the pack begins to back away. None of them have ever seen me lose control, except for Scott, and even then that was only once when he had first told me he was a werewolf. Streaks of lightning can be seen through the open windows and bone-shattering rumbles of thunder can be heard shortly following them. Suddenly, the door slams open and Stiles walks in.

In a moment he's across the room, pulling me into his chest, burying my head into the crook of his neck and an arm wrapped tightly around me as if he's trying to protect me from the storm that I've created. "Who the fuck did it!" He yells, clearly furious as he scans around the room at the worried faces of our pack mates.

Scott motions to Malia and Stiles' gaze hardens. "I know you have a lot to learn now that you've shifted back, Malia, but sometimes you're such a fucking idiot."

Malia opens her mouth to say something but one look from Scott silences her. I try to focus on Stiles', his scent, how his arms feel around me, the sound of his heartbeat pounding underneath my ear; anything to ground me so that I can gain control again. Stiles pulls me tightly against him, murmuring words of comfort into my ear as he runs his hands through my hair and all at once the storm outside begins to waver and fade.

"Y/N," Scott begins slowly, as if he's testing the waters and when I turn slightly to look at him he continues. "Have you gone yet this month?"

I shake my head and I see Scott and Stiles exchange a look out of the corner of my eye. "Stiles, go with her and stay with her. She's waited too long." Scott says and I can feel Stiles nod before he quickly ushers me out of the house and down the driveway.

When we get to where the jeep is parked outside he presses me against the passenger door, trapping my body between his and the cold, metal door.

"Y/N," he murmurs, pressing his forehead against mine gently, "Why did you wait so long."

I look up at him, his amber eyes staring at me with concern and I find myself unable to come up with a good answer. "I thought I had it under control," I whisper. Stiles sighs and presses a soft kiss to my forehead before opening the passenger door for me and motioning for me to get in. I slide into the seat and he closes the door behind me before jogging around to the other side of the jeep so that he can get in behind the wheel.

We sit in silence. Not an awkward silence, but it's not particularly comfortable either, it's just silence. I can feel his hand slide to my thigh and by now I know that he's not even doing it intentionally. I turn to lean the side of my head against the window and I stare at the dark trees as we rush past them.

It's been a few weeks now since Stiles came to me asking me to teach him how to be in a relationship. A few weeks of teasing and desperate lips against skin burning with need. A few weeks of his hand wrapped in mine as we walk around school and soft kisses on my forehead when he thinks I'm not paying attention. A few weeks of drifting off to sleep wrapped comfortably in his arms. A few weeks of so much physical affection that's always been enough with anyone else. A few weeks of physical affection that should have been enough- but wasn't.

I could feel it more and more with each passing day. I could feel the power growing inside of me, gnawing at me, begging to be released. I could hear the wind and lightning and chaos calling to me. Whispering my name like an old lover trying to regain my attention, and I had the solution in front of me. I had the solution with his lips pressed against my skin and his hands gripping at me and his body shaking and quivering beneath me. But Stiles could never just be a solution.

I could have slept with him. Of course I could have, and that would have instantly quieted the turmoil within me. That would've been enough. He wanted me to teach him everything there was to know about the physical aspect of a relationship and of course he would have agreed to it if I had asked him. Hell, he probably would have agreed especially if I had told him I needed it. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. He deserved for his first time to be with someone who he loved. And while I loved him, a fact that was becoming more and more solidified with each passing smile and soft touch, it wasn't enough to make his first time what he deserved it to be.

"We're about 10 minutes away," He says quietly, his thumb rubbing softly against my thigh. A gesture that I'm sure he meant to be comforting but instead feels like hell. Each gently brush of his hand against me feels like a thousand stabbing sensations. Love. Need. Want. All of it culminating together, and all of it overwhelming.

"I know. I can feel it."

He looks at me confused and I sigh. "I keep forgetting this is the first time you'll see it. I guess I should explain it all to you."

For the most part I had only ever told Scott and Stiles the bare minimum of what being a mermaid meant. The knew how the allure worked, they knew that I needed a certain level of constant physical affection hence my many boyfriends through the years. And they knew about the one night a month that I usually made a trip out to the coast by myself. But I had never truly shared with them how it worked.

Stiles glances at me attentively and I bite my lip finding the best way to start. "Most things in the world are controlled by the patterns of the sun or the moon. Plants and humans and most animals follow the cycle of the sun. But the supernatural for the most part follow the cycle of the moon."

"Sure, like how most of the pack changes on the full moon." He interjects and I nod.

"Mermaids are similar, but instead of the full moon, for us it's the new moon. While most of the supernatural is at their strongest at their full moon and that's why we change for us it's the opposite. We're at our strongest and relatively full control for almost the entire lunar cycle, our control is constant so long as there is moonlight. And so on the new moon, when there is no moonlight and we're at our most vulnerable we're drawn to the sea. It's to remind us where we came from, and where one day we will return. In the water on the new moon we are protected. Not only from threats to us, but from ourselves as well. Most mermaids spend a full 24 hours in the water when the new moon comes."

"But you didn't. There's only 6 hours left of the new moon Y/N. Why didn't you go earlier?" He asks as he pulls into a dark parking lot and I can smell the tang of the salty air and hear the crash of the waves breaking on the sand. Stiles parks the jeep and cuts the engine and suddenly the world is silent.

"Because I was scared." I tell him simply, avoiding his gaze as I open the door and get out of the jeep. "You can just leave me here. I'll find a way back in the morning."

"I'm not just leaving you here Y/N," He scoffs and I grit my teeth in irritation.

"Well what the fuck is there for you to do until I come back." I hiss at him and he looks at me in surprise as he opens the trunk.

"I'm coming with you." He says simply as he begins pulling a wet suit and scuba tank out of his trunk.

"Stiles, what is this?" I ask him with a sigh, my heart feeling painfully heavy in my chest.

"I got certified a few weeks back," He says shyly, just barely meeting my gaze as he runs a hand through his hair nervously. "I was hoping that you would let me tag along with you one of these times."

"Why would you even want to, just so you can see what I look like with a tail? Seeing me naked wasn't good enough for you?" I snap at him. Trying to push down the feeling of absolute betrayal. I knew of a few mermaids who had found love and would spend their most vulnerable night exploring the waters with their significant other. It's something that is cherished in our community because it was so rare for humans to be able to see past our allure.

I turn away from him, absolutely furious, as tears begin to prick at my eyes as I stomp away from the jeep and towards the beach. I can hear him shuffling after me but I don't look back at him as I head across the sand. I'm less than a foot away from the water and he's calling my name but I still ignore him until I feel his hand enclose around my wrist and he yanks me back.

"Will you just fucking listen to me." He growls and I'm taken back by his tone. "I know what I'm asking you." I stare at him blankly, not sure I'm actually processing what he's saying. "I've done the research. I know what it would mean."

"Stiles you can't possibly know what it means."

"Of course I know what it means." He yells, startling me "I've known what it's all meant all along, but I needed you to let me in. I needed you to see it."

"See what, Stiles."

"See that I fucking love you, Y/N. And I have since we were kids. Did you think I didn't do the research on it once Scott was bitten? Did you think I didn't scour every source known on this fucking earth to figure out what you were once I learned about the supernatural? I know it all. The cycles, the allure, what it symbolizes when someone goes into the water with you."

"No," I mumble, trying to pull away from him. "You don't love me. It's the allure. You've spent too much time around it, trying to be my anchor, and it's confused you. You just wanted my help learning how to be in a relationship and teach you everything you needed to know to please whatever lucky girl you fall in love with."

"Y/N I never needed your help to know how to be in a relationship. I never really needed your help with any of it. But I needed you to look at me as something more than just your dorky best friend and that was the best idea I came up with. I kept losing you. Every month to a new guy, and I tried to ignore it because I knew you needed it but how could I possibly continue ignoring seeing the love of my life give herself away to guys that were completely blinded to how amazing you are."

"Stiles, you don't know what you're talking about and I don't have the control to argue about this with you right now." I snap and a look of absolute irritation flashes across his face.

"You're going to fucking deal with this." He growls and suddenly the sand is no longer under my feet as he sweeps me up into his arm bridal style and walks with me straight into the water. I try to wiggle out of his arms but he holds on to me tightly until he's waist deep in the water and I don't have any legs anymore to kick at him with. Instead my legs have been replaced with a dark blue tail, the scales across it shimmering in the water in various different hues and shades of blue.

"Y/N." He says as he tears his gaze away from my tail to look me in the eyes, "Your allure has never worked on me. I've loved you since we were eight years old. I've loved you since before I knew what attraction or lust even was. I've loved you for you the entire time I've known you."

Suddenly, his lips are on mine and the kiss is loving and hungry all at once. As if he's desperately searching for a sign or hint that his love is returned and all at once I give in. I give in to the feelings that I've tried to push away for so long. I give in to the feeling of loving him with every fiber of my being. When we finally break apart he grins at me and for the first time in a long time I blush.

"Don't look at me like that," I tell him, my cheeks burning with embarrassment.

"I'm going to look at you like this every day for the rest of your god damn life." He says, capturing my lips with his again. I pull away from him and giggle as he kisses me on the tip of my nose.

"Go get your wet suit, you loser, I don't have all night." I tell him and a look of excitement flashes across his features. He sets me down gently in the water and takes off in a jog back to the jeep. "You don't need the tank!" I yell after him and he flashes me a thumbs up.

Sttiles comes back a few minutes laughter, his wet suit clinging to him and I admire him for a few moments and he smirks at me. "I know, you find me irresistible. I think you're falling susceptible to my allure." He says and I laugh.

"Come here, you idiot," I say and he wades in towards me. "You trust me, right?" I ask him and he rolls his eyes at me.

"Of course I trust you. Do you think I'd be out here standing in the middle of the ocean if I didn't trust you?"

I press myself against him, finding his lips with mine, and pull him under the water with me. His eyes widen in surprise but he doesn't break the kiss or pull away from me. I slide my tongue along his lower lip, signally him to open his mouth, and he does without any hesitation. I softly blow some air into his mouth and signal for him to close his mouth again as I pull away from him.

"You can breathe and speak under the water now." I tell him, my lips close to his ear and he looks at me in surprise.

"W-what? How?"

"Mermaid magic." I say with a grin, "Now catch me if you can." I add, turning and swimming away from him and within moments he's swimming after me.

We spend the rest of the evening exploring under the water, and when the first streams of sunlight finally begin filtering through the waves be surface. Swimming lazily back to the beach. I direct him to a little cove with a few rocks I can pull myself up onto, waiting for the sunlight to fully hit my tail so that my legs will reappear.

"Let's get out of here, I'm starving." I holler to him as I jump off the rocks and he scoops me up, cradling me tightly against him.

"Let's go home." He murmurs against my damp cheek and I grin.