My Darling Lies Over the Ocean (YouTubers AU)

17. Keep your long term happiness in mind.

The lifeboat bobs gently in the water, drifting with the will of the ocean. The deck is covered by the men, curled up in pairs and cocooned by blankets. The sun has just set over the horizon, heat dispersing quickly. Though it's not terribly cool, most of them are only clothed by boxers, other articles castaway in the daytime heat.

Cry's gentle blue eyes scan the soft rippling water, his slender fingers tapping quickly against his naked thigh. Though the rest of the boat sleeps, the temperature finally permitting a bit of rest, the brunette can't lay down for even a second. Each rock of the boat sends a wave of nausea through his stomach, and he swallows hard, wondering if it's time to fish the rapidly emptying pill bottle from his drawstring bag. He kicks himself for only grabbing one bottle of the anti nausea pills, should have planned better for the small lifeboat to rock in the waves.

His eyes are searching the horizon, finding nothing but ocean. As far as his gaze can reach, he can see nothing but vast, untamed water. His lungs feel a bit tighter each time he searches for any sign of land. The salty air almost feels too heavy to breathe, and he takes deeper breaths to ward off suffocation. The air feels like saltwater in his lungs, burning and sinking low.

He reaches a trembling hand towards his husband, curled up beside him. Ken grumbles sleepily, a light sleeper from years of being woken up all hours of the night at the sound of blaring alarms. His dazed, brown eye flutter open to find his husband's usual smooth face pulled tense from stress.

"What's wrong, Cece?" Ken asks, voice low and rough from sleep. His hand instinctively paws for the brunette's slender one, and Cry intertwines their fingers, squeezing hard.

Cry's blue eyes shift to the other men in the lifeboat, wondering if they are really asleep, nearly baffled anyone could sleep with the jerking of their boat. Jack and Felix lay a few feet apart, back turned to each other and cuddled under separate blankets. Mark lays flat on his back, mouth open and breath falling in raspy snores. Ethan is curled into his side, fists gripping onto his husband's shirt. He looks stressed, even in his sleep, and Cry isn't completely convinced he's found a deep slumber. Tyler is as far away as possible from the clump, leaning against the edge of the boat. His eyes took the longest to fall closed, still swollen and red from bouts of crying.

"Why are we still out here, Ken?" Cry asks, voice low and heavy. His fingers find the pendant around his neck, free hand rubbing the cold stone for comfort.

"You said it yourself, Cece," Ken assures, pushing himself up to a sitting position. "It's going to take time. We were sailing for a while, and there are a lot of people who need saving."

"How are they going to know we're out here?" Cry whispers, pulling his legs in close to his small frame. "That walkie-talkie or radio or whatever fell into the water. That was our only way to communicate with anyone."

The raven opens his mouth, in surprise rather than having something to add. There's terror in Cry's irises, the stress of world etching deep lines into his forehead. Tears fill his blue eyes, but they don't fall.

"We have no radio, no crew member, no one's cell phone works," the brunette continues, voice low but fast. "We're all by ourselves out here. How do we know that they will even look for us? They could just think this lifeboat was never cast, went down with the ship. Ken, I don't know if anyone's looking for us."

"They have to be," the older insist, squeezing his husband's hand tight. "They'll know we are missing, and they'll search for us."

Cry shakes his head, as if Ken's idea is too ridiculous to even keep inside his head. "We've been drifting nearly all day. We have no idea how far we are from the sinking, no idea if the search party will even get out this far."