Stranded Together

Chapter 25

🟣Blake's POV🟣

"Uggghh. I'm so hungry." I groan as I push my feet to keep going. It's mid afternoon meaning Gabe and I have been alone here for several hours now. We decided a while ago the best move we could make was to walk along the beach and try to find anyone that could help us.

"Shut the fuck up. You don't think that I'm hungry too? You don't hear me fucking complaining about it." I just roll my eyes and don't bother giving him a response. I just can't right now. With my head still pounding, my sore and now scabby feet, along with my stomach aching for food, I have zero energy to fight him. I honestly just want to collapse into the sand and pass out.

The burning afternoon sun isn't helping the situation either. Yes it dried off our damp clothes, but now we're just sticky with sweat. I feel the heat on my shoulders and at the back of my neck; I'm definitely going to be more than a little sunburnt tomorrow.

"How much further?" I whine struggling to keep up with Gabe.

"Fucking hell can you stop complaining?!" He asks obviously agitated. "Jesus Christ you're annoying." He mutters under his breath, but I still manage to hear it.

I throw my head back and inwardly groan. I roll my head side to side cracking my neck in the process; a bad habit of mine I can't seem to stop despite the fact that I'll probably regret it when I'm older. I stretch my arms above my head and crack my back, finishing my weird routine that I find oh so satisfying.

As I click my knuckles I glance out to the ocean. The water is so calm; beautiful really. The water is reflecting the suns rays in the most perfect way, making the horizon twinkle giving me hope.

The sky is rapidly changing colours letting me know that dusk is approaching. Every time I blink I catch a glimpse of a new shade of pink that I never knew existed. This is every photographers dream landscape shot. I reach down to my pocket to grab my phone only to realise that the ocean stole it from me last night.

I sigh as I tear my eyes away from the view and watch as Gabe creates footprints in the untouched immaculate sand. I've never seen sand this perfect before. I can only compare it to freshly fallen snow-unmarked and pure.

I try to follow and stand in Gabes footsteps, but it's hard to match his long strides. I concentrate on leaping into each marking he makes, distracting myself from my unabating hunger in the process.

We continue to walk in silence. The only sound being the soft crashing of waves on the shore.

"Hey Gabe-." I start noticing something strange, but he cuts me off.

"I swear to god if I hear one more word out of you." He grumbles.

"No Gabe I'm being serious." A frown makes its way onto my face noticing the quality of the sand has change. It is no longer pristine and untouched, but is now littered with footprints. My head begins to spin as I look around frantically.

"We've been here already." I whisper more to myself, reality sinking in making me slightly nauseous.

"What?!" He immediately halts and turns to face me.

"We've passed that boulder already." I point out a bit louder. "This is where we started.

"What did you say?" He asks through gritted teeth not wanting to believe me. He looks more than mad. He is furious.

"This is where we washed up. I'm positive. We've done a complete circle." He's silent for a moment and just stares at me, his right eye twitching ever so slightly. He's going to explode.

"FUCK ME!" He screams kicking up the sand. He continues to scream profanities at the ocean. While he's doing so I  allow myself to finally fall to my knees, my body praising the action. Every fibre of my being seems to be aching.

Soon enough Gabe does the same. He's facing away from me but I can still hear his muffled sobs. I don't know why, but my heart hurts as I watch him break down. I haven't seen him cry since we were children.

An overwhelming feeling of emptiness consumes me as I watch his body shake as he tries his hardest to contain himself. I feel warm tears run down my face when I blink. Why is it so hard seeing Gabe this way?

My body protests, but I push myself to stand up. I don't bother wiping my tear stained face as I step over to Gabes hunched and broken figure. I hesitantly place a hand on his shoulder and give him a light reassuring squeeze.

"Get off me." I barely hear him mumble. Confused, I glance down towards him. He's clenching and unclenching his fists in his lap; I can see his white boney knuckles every time his fists harden. "This is all you're fault." He spits aggressively, roughly shoving me away.

I stumble backwards surprised by his forceful action, and struggle to find my balance on the uneven sand. I frown at him as he quickly gets to his feet, his piercing blue eyes never straying from my face.

"What the fuck is your problem?" I ask my voice raising. All sadness in both of us leaving only to be replaced with anger.

"YOU!! You are my problem!" His voice raising also. He takes two steps and he is already towering over me. I nervously take a step back, slightly fearful of his harsh tone. "This is all your fault." He repeats shoving me again, only this time I fail to keep my balance and fall backwards into the sand. "None of this would've happened if it weren't for you. I wish you were never born. All you ever do is fuck up my life." He hisses looking down at me in disgust.

"Fuck you." I grit feeling my heart pound in my throat.

"No Blake, fuck you." At that he turns and walks away, leaving me in the sand.

Tears begin to fall again, but for a completely different reason. I don't know why I expected anything different from him.

I don't hold back the sobs that want to escape my lips. I bring my legs to my chest and hug them like my life depends on it; I cry into my knees.

Why the fuck is he like this...

By the time my tears subside and my erratic heart returns to its regular speed, darkness has consumed the sky and Gabe is no where to be seen.

"Shit."

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Posted: 24/12/21

~AshLeeJ~