Kurt knows better than to come too far up on the beach, especially during the middle of the day, but he can’t help himself. Ever since the afternoon when that boy showed up, Kurt finds himself more on shore than in the waves. Oh, his father would have a field day chewing him out if he knew, but Kurt doesn’t care. For the first time in his life, his father’s opinion doesn’t matter because this boy is beautiful. Yes, Kurt has seen dozens of attractive boys before, but this one…there’s just something magical about him. Every step he takes is like a dance, every word he speaks - a song. And his eyes - from what Kurt can see of them, even from a distance - are a shade of hazel so unique that they appear almost as golden as the sun. They remind Kurt of the sparkles the setting sun throws on the water, or fireflies flitting around in the night sky, silently calling out to each other with their brilliant displays.

Kurt wonders if this boy’s eyes are that shade all of the time. Are they different in the early morning, when he wakes from a deep sleep and first opens them? Or in the evening, after the sun has set and the moon comes out? Does the silver light of the full moon change the color of his eyes? Kurt bites his lip thinking about waking up to those eyes, going to sleep gazing into them, having them look at him in the same, ridiculously dreamy way that Kurt is staring at him now – like a lovesick seal.

Kurt is obviously not the only one who thinks these things about him. This boy is popular. He’s never alone. He seems to have a loyal following of boys his age. They gravitate towards him, needing to be close to him, always vying for his attention.

That’s the only reason why Kurt knows this boy’s name. Someone in his entourage calls it out almost every five minutes.

“Blaine! Have you seen this video?”

“Blaine! Come over here and play ball with us!”

“Did you bring your guitar this time, Blaine? I want everyone to hear that song you were thinking about for sectionals.”

“Blaine! We were thinking of having a bonfire later. Do you think Cooper can score us some beers?”

Kurt says the boy’s name to himself with a tiny sigh.

Blaine.

The boy from the beach’s name is Blaine.

He’s been here every day, coming to this exact same spot for close to a month, and with any luck, he’ll keep coming. Kurt hasn’t seen him before this summer, so he can only assume he doesn’t live anywhere nearby. Just a vacationer, enjoying the sand and sun for this one summer.

As far as Kurt can tell by the change of seasons, and what he sort of knows about the habits of humans by watching them come and go along his beach, Kurt only has two months left to see this boy, to watch him from the safety of the rocks while he pals around with his friends.

Kurt has never wanted legs before in his life. Even as a young merchild, when curiosity about the things he didn’t understand overwhelmed him, he always felt lucky to have the ocean as his home. He had never wanted to change that for anything. The sea gave him everything he wanted. He had no need to leave it.

But watching this boy, knowing that two months from now he might never see him again, Kurt wants legs so badly. He wants to be human. He wants to walk on land. He wants to be the kind of handsome, normal boy that would catch the eye of a boy like Blaine.

Blaine.

The boy with the sun in his eyes.

***

…Lies Between Your Eyes and Mine

Blaine doesn’t hate the beach, but he’s not what one would call a beach-goer. Gritty sand in his suit and between his toes never appealed to him, nor the salty air that causes his baby-fine hair to frizz. And don’t get him started on the water - seaweed, pollution, Exxon-Valdez. Even if none of that were an issue, whales and fish do their business in the ocean. Just putting a toe in makes him cringe, especially during the early morning, when a thick layer of brownish, oily foam can be seen carried in on the waves. (What even is that??) Yet regardless of all that, Blaine has visited the beach every day since the last half-day of school, without fail.

His friends are stoked, since every one of them would live at the beach if someone let them, and it’s usually so frickin’ hard to get Blaine’s ass out there. For the past two years, he didn’t go at all. Not one single day. Not even for an hour.

His family simply figures that Blaine is getting more time in with his friends since this is his last summer before senior year. And for a boy like Blaine, who’s so serious about his studies, his music, his extracurriculars, working to become valedictorian and trying to earn an acceptance into one of the most exclusive performing arts colleges in the U.S., it’s nice to see him cut loose, get out of the house, experience a world outside of his bedroom where he spends hours on end composing music and arranging numbers for his school’s show choir.

But to be honest, Blaine doesn’t really care about experiencing the world outside his bedroom. And as much as he loves spending time with his friends, he has no problem spending his days alone with his guitar, his piano, his violin, or his mixing equipment. Blaine and his friends see one another at school. They have memberships to the same gym and the same country club. During the winter months, when the beach isn’t an option, they meet up on weekends at the bowling alley, the movies, or for mini-golf.

Blaine is definitely not lacking for time with his friends.

He’s glad that his friends and family are happy about his change in attitude about the beach, but that doesn’t alter the fact that all of them are wrong.

But Blaine can’t tell them why he’s really going.

It’s to see him.

God, he’s beautiful. Blaine sees him every time he goes to the beach, laying out on the sand, the sunlight reflecting off the silvery-blue and jewel-green scales of his magnificent tale. After Blaine comes home, showers, and climbs into bed, he lies there thinking about that tail, about how wonderfully it compliments the boy’s pale skin, brings out the color in his complicated eyes - so many variations of blue, green, and grey all fighting to be seen. It’s positively mesmerizing. Blaine lies in bed, and imagines lying beside this boy in the sand, staring up at the stars. Blaine has a hundred questions to ask him. He wants to know everything about him. But even if they just lay together in silence, enjoying one another’s company, that would be fine, too.

Sometimes Blaine falls asleep fantasizing about doing just that, and wakes up with a smile on his face. He has to laugh at it. Blaine is so damn infatuated with this boy, and the boy probably doesn’t even know Blaine exists. Blaine is always part of a crowd, and among his friends – all handsome and athletic young men - it’s kind of easy for him to get lost. At first, Blaine thought the boy was shy, hiding behind the rocks since he never peeked out beyond them more than his head and shoulders. But, for some reason, he’s starting to come bit by bit further up on land. Maybe he doesn’t get a chance to see people all that often. The beach they go to is private – “owned” (though Blaine’s not sure how a single person can own a beach) by a generous friend of the family who lets them use it, and their beach house, while he’s away.

Blaine has never seen a mermaid before…or a merman he guesses would be the case. He would have never believed they existed if he didn’t see one with his own eyes. But there he was, and more glorious than any creature Blaine could ever imagine.

Unfortunately, Blaine has not had the chance to say so much as hello to the boy. Every time he even hints at going to the beach, about nine people show up out of nowhere to join him. And now that they know he’s addicted, they pretty much assume a daily excursion. He can’t lie and say he’s not going if he is. They’d probably just decide to hang at his house anyway. And if not, they all know where the beach is. They’d just show up, and he’d get caught.

But Blaine has to find a way.

He only has around two months before school starts up again. After that, he won’t get a chance to go back to the beach, probably not even before he leaves for college. He won’t get to meet this merman if he doesn’t find a way.

And Blaine has to meet him.