Tainted Tides

Chapter 12

*Ant's POV*

The next few days made me increasingly confident about Dec. We would spend every morning with Robbie and Stephen, planning and organizing the infiltration. Every word Dec spoke for the plan, and for me, seemed genuine and heartfelt. It truly felt like he wanted to simply be useful.

The morning planning session became an integral part of our routine. After lunch, Dec would go back to helping Phil with repairs. Luckily, since he had been doing so well over the previous weeks, repairs were pretty trivial all around the ship. After his time with Phil, he would always join me to watch the sunset. Albeit that aspect of our routines became much more silent than before, he would still make sure he was standing close enough to brush against my shoulder.

He never asked me about my behaviour. I'm certain he noticed though. He simply acted like nothing was wrong.

He gave me the space I silently pleaded for.

I loved that he did that.

He didn't sip my drink, he barely spoke a word, he simply stood next to me, silently telling me he was there for ME and nothing else. Robbie was definitely right. It was all going to be okay.

As much as Dec convinced me everyday that he was worthy of my trust, I still couldn't bring myself to tell him who she was to me... She meant too much to me, to risk her safety to any extent. If she let herself get imprisoned, she must have known I was coming for her... I couldn't jeopardize that.

Thankfully, Dec didn't pressure me to tell him anything I didn't want to. Within a few more days, I was feeling comfortable around Dec again. He'd shown nothing but genuine compassion and I couldn't help but feel a bit guilty about my behaviour. Soon enough I was back to thinking about Dec constantly. I was talking to him normally as well; I simply couldn't go more than a few days without hearing his melodious giggle.

It was addictive.

All was back to normal and going fairly well until three days before we arrived at Newcastle. It was no surprise that Charles was causing trouble. It started with hearing the occasional rumor about Dec spending a lot of time with me, which couldn't definitively be attributed to Charles. The usual jokes about Dec 'putting his mouth to use' that you would normally expect aboard a ship of men. But that's all they were at the time: jokes. Most of the crew didn't really care about our closeness; what mattered was that Dec was damn good at his job.

Soon, Charles became bolder with Dec, out of jealousy of our closeness I presume. He would bump Dec while he was carrying lumber or trip him when he wasn't looking. All he would get from Dec is a momentary threatening glare. Dec would refuse to respond beyond that; as if Dec was giving him a silent threat.

For someone as sociable as Dec, his silence carried a damning weight.

Two days before we arrived at the navy port, I suspended all non essential work on the ship until after the attack. On that day, I stood at the forecastle deck to address my crew.

"We've got two days left lads. I will explain the plan tomorrow morning, but today, we are doing combat training. It's been a while since we've had a proper fight, and I know you guys are itching to beat some navy ass, but I'd prefer if half of you didn't die in the process." I said with a smirk to lighten the mood. "You know the drill. No guns, no vitals, and no deep cuts. Get to it!"

Testosterone filled the air as my crew let out a rowdy cheer. Several small circles formed over the deck with 2 men in the center at a time. I scanned the crowds to find Robbie, Stephen, and Dec. Robbie had already found himself in the center of a circle on the starboard side, showing off as per bloody usual.