Hey everyone,

Here's the latest update :-) I hope you guys like this so far, I sort of had to cut this bit awkwardly in half because I ran out of time. You'll get the rest of the date on Friday.

Much love,

Robin

*

Date Part I

Matt picked me up again and drove me to school and we didn't say much on the way there until he at last couldn't keep silent any more. "How'd it go? Did you guys work things out?" Since I'd been holding my tongue like a coward because I knew he wasn't going to like what I had to say I flinched guiltily when he broke the silence.

He noticed how I'd twitched and frowned, "Okay, spit it out. You're clearly worried I won't like it." I could see his knuckles turn white around the steering wheel, he deserved to know though, he'd eat himself up with worry if I kept my mouth shut. "My dad was in the wind when I got home... We never talked." "Shit Dani! Were you alone all night? Why didn't you call me?" I heard the worry and hurt more than I heard the anger so I went with the truth when I answered.

"Because it hurt that he wasn't there and I didn't know how to deal... I just wanted to have some time to myself, lick my wounds, all of them." His eyes softened immediately and he raised his arm to tug me under it. "Darling... I'm sorry..."

"Let's forget about it, instead you can do something to cheer me up," I told him while I relaxed into his side. Too bad he was just turning into the school parking lot. "Alright, see Jamie over there? Wanna make out again where she can see?" I elbowed his side, "You just want an excuse to kiss me. Leave Jamie out of it." He grinned, "Alright busted. Do I get to kiss you now?"

In answer I leaned in to brush my lips against his chin and darted away again before he could grab me. "Date first fish boy," I teased when he groaned and made a grab for me. I was already slithering out of the truck and out of his reach but I felt lighter, my laugh genuine. "Alright I'll take you on a date, get back here!" he answered and I relented and went around the hood of the truck to lean against his door and kiss him through the window.

He didn't rush, didn't ignite this time. He was just really gentle and tender when he brushed his lips against mine, more an affectionate greeting than a prelude to sex. One hand he folded around the side of my face, cradling me to him, "Tomorrow I'll take you on that date. You're off around noon then right?"

I hadn't actually expected him to take my demand for a date serious, it felt oddly flattering to realize he did want to do that. "You know I wasn't serious right? You don't have to take me anywhere, I'm happy just to spend time together..." He started smiling, "Yeah but I want to." His hand slid down my cheek to curl around my throat while he focused his dark eyes there with an intent look. "Just pack your swim stuff kay?"

I laughed, "Of course you'll take me swimming on this date." "Naturally, I love swimming with you, you're so goddamned beautiful in the water." The husky note in his voice had me shivering and I was about to lean into him for another kiss when Dev and Mitch popped up on either side of me, "There you are, hurry or we're going to be late." They dragged me away under protest and I could see Matt grinning as he drove off, then I noticed Jamie standing to the side with an angry glare on her face.

*

"You know most girls prefer going to the cinema, or dinner or something on a first date... So they can dress up and all that." I told Matt conversationally as I lead him down the path to the beach near my house. I'd walked home because apparently the Corenth's had finally been sighted yesterday and were far away. Matt had shown up an hour later for our date, telling me that we could head out from the beach here if I felt comfortable with that.

"Yeah but you're not any girl, you're Dani, you don't like all that frivolous bullshit anyway," Matt said in response to my comment. I shrugged, "Hey you do realize I make jewelry in my spare time right?" I fingered the seashell necklace I'd made myself and had put on this afternoon in an attempt to look nice.

Matt cocked his head to the side to look at the strands of tiny pearlescent shells and the woven strands with shells I wore around my wrists on one side. On the other I had the sheath with the knife that Thorne had loaned me. "You made those yourself? Did you always work with shells or is that a new thing since the tail?"

"I've always loved working with the seashells... The tail has made it really easy to find the pretty ones that I need in good condition." "It looks beautiful," he said earnestly as we reached the spot on the beach where a bunch of huge boulders lay tumbled together. "You get in first alright? Then I'll tuck your wrap in my pack."

I did as he told me, wading in quickly and tossing the wrap back at him the moment I'd gotten it untied. Since I didn't want to get a full look at him stripping, not like this at least, I turned my back and faced towards the sea. A minute later he was in the water with me and fully transformed and we headed out together toward Sharkfell.

Matt had a canvas, watertight pack strapped to his back and his harpoon gun slung from a strap over one shoulder. Like always he also wore his own knife strapped to his left bicep. With the weapons and the tattoos he had such a bad ass vibe to him that I could half imagine him with a trident going off to some mermen underwater war.

He looked much like he had that first time I'd seen him in the water and as we swam I admired the graceful, efficient way he sliced through the waves. His dark tail was nearly black, the darkest of all the men I'd seen so far, while the underside rippled with several shades of dark blue.

Though at first it had seemed a little strange to see his face with the fin-like ears, which were much more dramatically black and blue shaded, I had gotten used to it and now thought it was really pretty. In fact I kind of itched to be allowed to touch them, which I figured I'd now be able to do to my hearts content.

When Matt guided us up for air after fifteen minutes I easily circled around him and then draped my arms around his neck. His eyes lit up immediately and he shifted to cradle me to him and keep us both afloat. "I love swimming with you," I admitted, "It always seems so effortless with you." As I spoke I stroked my fingers over the left ear, liking the smooth texture and enjoying discovering the different spines and colors.

Matt slid his eyes closed and tilted his face to give me better access, "Well I love your hands on me. Woman..." he let out a soft groan and hitched me tighter against his body so I could feel the defined ridges of his muscles against my belly and my breasts were crushed against his pectorals. After a moment he let go of me, muttering that if he didn't we'd never get to our destination.

He took me on a sightseeing tour around the area, showing me all kinds of pretty underwater vistas while we slowly but steadily got closer and closer to the island. We were circling around it and I had never fully explored this side of the reef around the island but it was still really beautiful.

"Alright, almost at our destination," Matt told me when we surfaced again. "We're nearly at an underwater tunnel that'll take us to a cave I want to show you." He wrapped an arm around my waist and tugged me against his body, while he pulled out a rather serious expression. "It's a difficult swim to get there okay? It's really dark and there's a strong current to fight. There's air at the other end but the swim takes twelve to fifteen minutes almost."

I wondered why he'd take me there if he thought it was risky, especially breathing wise for me. "I want you to hold onto my shoulders so I can pull you through the current, I know you're a strong swimmer but I know the best way to get through it." I nodded immediately not in the least opposed to piggybacking a ride, not if it meant I got to hold onto him.

"But Matt, I've noticed I can hold my breath longer than fifteen minutes now... I think it's closer to seventeen, when I'm not panicking at least." Which meant that the fifteen minute swim shouldn't be an issue. I saw him smile, "I should have realized that you weren't done realizing your potential yet. Alright when I signal you to, hold on to me and try to make yourself limp. Trust me."

"I do," I said simply and together we dove. I stuck close to him as we went deeper than I expected, down the side of an underwater cliff. It was getting darker and I was starting to feel a twinge of fear, since the dive reminded me so much of the deeper trench I'd struggled in with Gavin. Except this time I could still see the wall rise up on one side of me. Then I felt more than saw a current sweep out of an opening in the side of the cliff.

Matt gestured at me then and I immediately swept in to cling tightly to his back, making use of the strap of the harpoon gun and his backpack to anchor myself tightly to him. He started swimming as soon as I had a good hold and swept us into the dark hole in the side of the cliff, enclosing us in darkness.

My eyes were good in the underwater dark but I still could barely make out the walls of the tunnel around us. I felt how Matt twisted us agilely this way and that while powering through a heavy current that fought to expel us from the tunnel. I wondered how he could even remember which way to swim in this darkness and then I caught a flash of luminescent green down the wall of the tunnel and another in the next curve. There was another tunnel splitting away there in another direction I noticed.

A moment later the current suddenly dropped away and more green luminescence glowed from the rocky walls around us in swirls that reminded me of galactic nebulae. I saw another tunnel curve away to our left while the bigger one we were in seemed to continue on ahead. Matt swung us into that side tunnel which was really narrow, causing us to almost bump against the sides and the luminescence was gone, making it really dark again. I'd never have considered going in it on my own.

The small tunnel widened so suddenly that it took me by surprise and at the same time the wider pool was lit up from above and below by several different colors of light. Blue, the same green as before and even a kind of yellow and red.

It wasn't until Matt swam up and we were suddenly breaking the surface with our heads that I realized it wasn't just an underwater cave. There was breathable fresh air inside it and now that my head was out of the water I could see a small stone plateau above water level and a shaft rising up all the way to the surface of the island on one side of it. I was so stunned by the serene, private beauty of the place that I was just staring, still clinging to Matt's back.

"You can let go now darling," he said with a smirk. "We've arrived." Ignoring the pleased look on his face I let go of his shoulders and circled the cave, ignoring the only way in. The walls were coated with some kind of algae that glowed in the dark somehow. Underwater it was mostly blue and green but up on the ceiling you could see red and yellow as well, it almost looked like a sunrise or sunset and it was really beautiful.

*

So what do you guys think of Matt's retreat/hidey-hole? Sounds pretty right?

Much love,

Robin