After the first semester came to an end and the winter break began, Darya had decided she wanted to follow in her mother"s footsteps. She wanted to be a marine biologist and study the sea that she loved so much all while keeping a secret that could tear two different worlds apart.

Darya entered her house on the last day of school before the break and threw her bag on the bench just inside of the doorway. She walked lazily toward the living room and plopped down on the couch. The house was quiet and dark aside from the Christmas tree in the corner of the living room and the lights strung up along the trim of the house.

She sat in the darkness with a mind filled with questions and theories about what"s going on under the waves. She knew that she made the right choice. Him being in her life was dangerous and even though that poison worked on Johnson there was still his stepson walking around with the knowledge he has.

Tyler still believed that Darya was wearing one of those fake tails they made for performers and doesn"t believe what they told him about his step-father and him thinking she was a real one. That was the biggest silver lining that came out of the whole situation; Tyler was ignorant.

An hour pa.s.sed by and Darya barely noticed. It wasn"t until Marty opened the back door and walked into the house that she moved at all.

"Darya? Why are you sitting in the dark? By yourself?" He asked her as he made his way to the couch where she was still sitting.

"Darya?" He asked again when she didn"t answer him. Marty knew Denise was out of town for the last couple of days so he had been spending nights with her to keep Darya company like he usually did.

"Sorry, I"m not paying attention today." Her words were quiet and soft. She didn"t even notice when a tear slipped out of her eye and down her cheek.

"Are you crying? What"s going on?" Marty asked her when he took a seat on the couch. He knew she hadn"t been the same since she told her father to leave and never come back but it"s been six months and all she"s been doing is studying and sitting by the ocean.

"I didn"t realize I was crying, sorry." She wiped her tear away and stretched a fake smile across her face. Marty, of course, saw through this.

"Stop bulls.h.i.tting me, Dar. I"m your oldest and best friend. h.e.l.l, I"m your only friend and I can"t see you like this anymore. I"m sorry you didn"t get the father-daughter story you always wanted. I"m sorry that Johnson ruined everything for you, but this funk needs to stop. I"m not usually mean to you but I"m going to be right now." He stood up and took Darya"s hands in his even when she protested, he still pulled her off of the couch.

"The only way to get you out of this funk is to show you that you made the right decision." She didn"t understand what he was saying until he pulled a little blue sh.e.l.l out of his pocket.

"Where did you get that?" She asked him, it was the one she found that day when Raj first showed up in her kitchen.

"Sorry, I took it from your room the other day. I remember Raj saying something about using a sh.e.l.l to communicate.

"Yeah, I remember that, but he has to have the same kind of sh.e.l.l." She countered.

"Exactly, I also remember him telling you that he looks for blue sh.e.l.ls as well so there is a high chance that he has the same one. Just take a chance and call him." Marty pushed the little blue sh.e.l.l into her hand and she wrapped her fingers around it when he did. The warmth of the sh.e.l.l was a bit shocking but he"s had it in his pocket for the last couple of days so it made sense.

"What if he doesn"t want to speak to me? I told you already, he has another daughter that is supposed to take over after he steps down. She was there before me and will be there after me. What"s the point?" She plopped back down on the couch and clung to her depression spiral.

Marty loved his best friend, but she was beginning to frustrate him.

"I don"t care about Gemma and her role down there. You are his daughter and there is no replacing you. I know you were only down there for a few weeks but that"s not where your life is. Just because your father is there doesn"t mean you have to be. If this sh.e.l.l thing works then you can talk to him without anyone else knowing the secret. I know you can"t go to the cave anymore because of that b.a.s.t.a.r.d but that doesn"t mean your relationship with your father has to go away."

Marty stood in front of her while she thought about what he was saying. No one had put it that way. There was no reason that she had to cut off all communication from him. Sure the cave was off limits but maybe a "phone call" would help her out. She knew her love for Marty wasn"t displaced.

"I knew I loved you for your brain, Marty." She said in a more upbeat tone that made him smile. She was finally coming around.

"How is this supposed to work. Should I go stand by the ocean? I know I used to speak to him through the link but I"m too far away for that." She explained.

"We can try that. Do you want me to sit with you out there?" He asked while he watched her run her fingers over the light blue color of the small sh.e.l.l.

"I think I need to do this by myself. Thank you, Marty." She leaned over and kissed his cheek lightly before taking her leave for the beach.

Marty and Darya had always been close, and if you asked anyone around town or at their school they would tell you that they were "too close" but it didn"t matter to them because they knew what it meant. But in that shared moment of grief and pain, their relationship took a turn for the better, and from that day forward it would be stronger than it ever has been.