Geoff Ramsey analyzed the dirty walls of the asylum, tapping the bell on the corner and drumming his fingers against the desk as he waited for service. A young man with short black hair and goatee stumbled out of the office, patting down his white scrubs. His name tag informed Geoff that the boy's name was Ray, and he must have been new considering Geoff hadn't seen him around yet.
"Hello! How may I help you?" Ray asked, fixing his glasses and giving Geoff a big smile.
"I'm here to visit my friend. His name is Ryan Haywood." Geoff responded, closing his heavily lidded eyes and letting out a soft sigh. Ryan had gone crazy a while back. They found him in his basement, having tea with a tied-up local man. Ryan referred to him as "Edgar", though nobody knew why, and tended to space out and break into fitful laughter whenever the name was mentioned. Otherwise, he acted completely normal and Geoff visited him once a month to catch him up about Millie and play some video games.
"Oh yes, I was told that you would be coming around." Ray waved him forward, using his key card to go through the double doors leading to the patients' rooms. As soon as they were through, Geoff's ears were assaulted with hoarse screaming.
"I HATE HIM I HATE HIM I HATE HIM I HATE HIM I HATE HIM!" The screeching man repeated over and over. Geoff resisted the urge to cover his ears, but Ray continued walking as if noting was happening, a bored expression on his face.
"So, uh.. What's the story with the yelling dude?" Geoff asked, nearly yelling himself to be heard. Ray hesitated for a moment, clearly debating with his moral duty and the ability to share a juicy story.
"Well, I guess I can tell you. He doesn't have any family that we know about anyways." He yelled back, stepping into a room and motioning Geoff in. It was a small break room, and the screaming was much more muffled here.
"His name is Michael Jones. He was rescued a couple weeks back; the sole survivor of that crazy cruise ship wreck that happened about a month ago. Found him floating in the ocean alone on an old raft." Ray frowned, fixing himself a cup of coffee. He offered Geoff a cup, which he took, muttering a thanks. He remembered hearing about that crash in between chasing Millie throughout the house, but had dismissed it at the sound of a vase crashing in another room.
"So who's he so pissed at?" Geoff asked, sitting down and taking a sip of the bitter drink.
"Pissed at?" Ray cocked his head to the side in confusion, but continued anyways. "Well, he had a fiance, see? I think his name was Gavin, actually. They were on a cruise together. It was a special little vacation..."
"I can't believe we are actually going on a cruise, Mi-cool!" Gavin exclaimed, hopping up and down in excitement. Michael rolled his eyes, throwing their bags onto the bed in the cabin they'd been assigned.
"Of course, babe. I'd do anything for you." Michael cooed, wrapping his arms around Gavin's slim waist and planting a kiss on his lips.
"I'm so excited! What do we do first?" Gavin nuzzled into Michael's auburn curls and the latter chuckled.
"How about we go get some lunch? I'm fucking starved and that buffet earlier looked delicious." Gavin nodded and they headed off, spending the afternoon at the buffet before Michael was dragged off, rather unwillingly, to participate in several cruise games and couples' activities.
"You want me to do what?" Michael asked, staring at his fiance incredulously.
"C'mon, Mi-cool, the object of the game is so simple! We have to get the coconut from our hips to our lips without losing our hands!" Gavin smiled brightly, gesturing to the coconut like a perky showgirl.
"Do we have to?" Michael cocked an eyebrow, not at all convinced that this was a good idea.
"It'll be great!" Gavin fixed his Jersey lover with his best puppy dog eyes, and it didn't take much time before Michael gave in, allowing himself to be pulled onto the little stage-like structure the event was to take place on. The hostess fixed them with an odd stare, but Michael was used to it. He was fairly certain that they were the only same-sex couple on the boat; things like that had once bothered him, but now he only pitied the starer. Nevertheless, the red-haired woman gave them a genuine-enough smile as she placed the coconut between them. The hostess blew the whistle, and all of the couples sprang into action. Michael gave a quick glance around and chuckled.
"We look like dancing dumbasses." Michael grinned.
"Shh, Mi-cool! I need you to move your hip to the left a little.. No, the right... Okay, there!" Gavin began to squirm around, bringing the coconut to their navels.
"I bet I could use my teeth on it!" Gavin mused. Before Michael could object and tell him how biting into the shell of a coconut was not worth the stupid cruise points, Gavin was shimmying down. He brushed against Michael's groin and the latter felt his face heat with a blush, throwing an awkward smile at the couple glaring at them beside him.
"Shtay rifht fere!" Gavin mumbled, locking his teeth into the furry outside of the nut. Michael rolled his eyes.
"Where the Hell would I even go?" He muttered, getting an annoyed look from the Brit. Gavin trailed his way back up slowly, mouth firmly clamped to the fuzzy brown orb. He pressed it to Michael's lips and let out a victorious cry.
"We won!" Gavin exclaimed happily, letting the nut fall to the hardwood floor.
"Yeah, yeah. Very exciting." Michael rolled his eyes again but couldn't help the small smile that crept onto his face. Gavin was a little ball of joy and passion and Michael loved it.
"Now, YOU come with ME." He said, dragging the surprised Brit with him. He pulled Gavin to the front of the ship where the sun was setting, hues of pinks and oranges glistening on the vast ocean. He wrapped his arms around Gavin from behind, whispering into his ear.
"You trust me?"
Gavin broke into a fit of giggles, stretching his arms out on either side, and nodded.
"I trust you."
"Good. Now, let's go make out in our room." He tickled Gavin's sides and the Brit squealed, scrambling back to their cabin.
They were woken up early in the morning by loud sirens and the sound of many footsteps.
"What's going on, Michael?" Gavin sprung out of bed, his green eyes wide with panic.
"Relax babe, I'm gonna go find out." Michael stuck his head out of the door, grabbing a worker by the arm.
"What's happening?" He saw the look of alarm in the older man's face.
"We're going down! The ship is sinking!" The man yelled, yanking out of Michael's grip and bolting up the stairs. A cold chill ran down Michael's spine and the world seemed to slow down as he ran beck into the room, grabbing a stunned Gavin and racing to the top deck.
It was a scene straight out of a nightmarish movie.
People were screaming and running, calling out for lost loved ones or praying. The ship was already tilted and going down fast, and upon further investigation they found that the life boats had broken away from the ship when it crashed. Some passengers were jumping into the freezing ocean, attempting to swim to the boats that were nearly a mile out.
"What do we do?!" Gavin yelled above the crowd, tears in his eyes.
"Jump?" Michael suggested. They were both good swimmers, and it seemed their only chance was to try the boats. Gavin frowned, looking around as if willing another option to come to them. When nothing presented itself, he gripped Michael's hand tightly.
"Okay."
They stood at the lower edge of the ship, planning out which route would be the quickest.
"On the count of three!" Michael yelled, trying to prepare himself. "1...2...3!" He jumped, falling several feet before hitting the water with a smack. The shock of how cold it truly was hit him like a train and he wanted to scream. Every nerve was on fire, begging for it to stop but he knew he still had a ways to go. He kicked up, gulping in the sweet air as his head broke the surface. He looked around frantically before spotting Gavin, who was shaking violently but otherwise unscathed. He gave a short nod before propelling himself towards the life boat, swimming as fast and hard as he could.
When he finally made it to the little boat, his muscles were weak and throbbing in pain. He barely pulled himself up, turning to help Gavin to get on before collapsing and blacking out.
When he came to, Gavin was sitting up, staring off into the distance. Michael rubbed his shoulder, his whole body aching as he sat up.
"I.. I don't think anyone else made it." Gavin whispered, his eyes red and puffy as he turned to face Michael. Michael looked out, but the ship was nowhere to be seen.
"Now you don't know that. We made it to a boat, others might have too." He offered, but he didn't sound as hopeful as he meant to. Gavin closed his eyes, resting his chin on his knees.
"What do you think caused it?" He spoke up after several minutes of silence.
"Does it really matter?" Michael frowned, scooting closer to the Brit. Gavin shook his head, brow furrowing.
"We should get some sleep." Michael suggested, laying down on the hard bench and patting the area beside him. Gavin nodded silently, and they both fell into an uneasy slumber.
Michael woke up sore, hungry, thirsty, and disoriented. He sat up abruptly, the cold, harsh realization of where they were hitting him. Gavin was already awake, sitting up and staring out into the horizon.
"Morning." He mumbled, voice hoarse.
"He,y Gav." Michael gave him a weak smile. They were silent for a long time, absorbing all that had happened in the past 24 hours. It was so sudden, Michael was almost convinced it was a bad dream, expecting to awaken in the little cabin at any moment.
Around midday, Gavin finally broke the silence.
"When I was ten, I got grounded for three months for sneaking out to go try and egg a house. But we all forgot the eggs, so we showed up at the house empty-handed without the faintest clue on what to do next." He chuckled. Michael smiled.
"Way to go, dummy." He ruffled Gavin's golden brown hair and the other swatted him away weakly. They spent the rest of the day telling each other everything they could think of, from little stories of their childhood to insignificant dreams they'd left behind a long time ago. They laughed a lot, soaking in the sound as if it would fill the bitter hunger gnawing at the both of them. It wasn't so bad, that first full day. But they had no idea how much worse it would get.
The second day was much quieter. They didn't have much to say to one another, only holding each other in pained silence, occasionally hearing the growl of their own stomachs.
"I'm so hungry, Michael. And so, so thirsty." Gavin whined, looking down at the ocean water longingly.
"I know, Gav. But we can't drink that water. It would only make things a million times worse. It's gonna be okay. Any day now, a rescue plane is gonna see us down here, pick us up, and take us straight home." Gavin looked away, tears forming in his eyes and Michael only held him tighter.
Eventually, night fell upon them and they fell into empty sleep.
Michael blinked awake on the third day, sitting up slowly.
"Gav...?" He looked around quickly before seeing the younger man bent over the side of the boat, cupping the ocean water into his hands and drinking it up greedily. "Gavin, NO!" Michael screamed, pulling him back by the scruff of his shirt as hard as he could.
"It's okay, Michael! It's fresh water! It's all fresh water!" Gavin turned to the older man, flashing him a crazed smile. "I've been drinking it for an hour and I feel better already!" Michael was horrified, pulling Gavin close to him and stroking his hair.
"Gavin no you can't! This isn't fresh water, okay? It's ocean water, and that's salt water! It'll only dehydrate you faster."
Gavin squirmed against Michael, but the latter only held him tighter.
"Let. Me. Go! I'm thirsty and I want to drink the good water!" Gavin whined, struggling harder.
"Shh. It's okay, it's all okay. They're gonna come and rescue us soon." Michael whispered over and over, and soon Gavin stopped fighting, crying into Michael's shoulder. After an hour, he sat up suddenly, looking around wildly.
"What?" Michael questioned, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Look Michael!" Gavin grinned, pointing out to the ocean. Michael turned hopefully, but there was nothing there.
"What are you looking at? There's nothing." Michael spat, more bitter than he meant to.
Gavin only smiled wider. "You donut, it's the ship! It didn't sink, it's right there! We just gotta swim to it!" He scrambled to the edge of the boat, ready to jump, but Michael grabbed him by the waist.
"Let me go! You little arsehole let me go! We can get to the boat! Why do you keep holding me back?!" He screeched, flailing wildly.
"Gavin there's no boat! You have to stop, okay?" Michael's eyes stung with tears as he worked to control his fiance.
"No! It's getting away! I hate you, I fucking hate you! I hate you so much! You're trying to make me die, aren't you!?" Gavin turned to throwing wild punches at Michael, screaming and crying. "You want to murder me! I hate you!" He landed a punch against Michael's eye, but Michael only held him tighter, refusing to fight back.
"It's okay, Gav. You don't mean it." He whispered to himself, sobbing quietly as he tried to calm the struggling man.
"No I hate you! I hate you I hate you I hate you!" Gavin repeated, screaming until his voice was hoarse and he could no longer make any noise. His movements became weaker, and he gave up, panting loudly.
"I'm so tired, Michael." He whispered before curling up and passing out. Michael gently moved the hair out of Gavin's face, grazing his thumb over his cheek softly before willing himself into sleep.
When he woke up the next day, he felt weaker than ever, hunger pains wracking his body and his throat as dry as sandpaper.
"G-Gavin?" He choked out, sitting up slowly. Gavin was hunched over the edge again, and Michael knew exactly what he was doing. Michael pulled him back with what little strength he had left, but Gavin didn't fight him this time. He fell back like a rag doll, head landing in Michael's lap. His eyes were bloodshot and his face sunken, the skin stretched tight with sunburn and blisters.
"Hello, beautiful." Michael smiled, twirling a finger into Gavin's locks. Gavin smiled back before falling into a fit of coughs.
"Michael, lets get married." Gavin reached out a weak hand and Michael grabbed it, squeezing it gently and nodding.
"Do you, Gavin Free, take me, Michael Jones, to be your lawfully wedded husband?" Michael choked out, tears streaming down his face.
"I do. Do you, Michael Jones.." His voice faded out for a moment and he seemed to stare at nothing in particular. "Take me, Gavin Free, to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"You bet your ass I do." Michael grinned. "I now pronounce us husband and husband." Michael leaned down and connected their lips gently, barely pressing them together.
"We're gonna be okay, right Michael?" Gavin asked, a deep frown forming on his face.
"Of course, Gav." Michael held back a sob. "We're gonna get out of this, and were gonna go home and have a real wedding, with flowers and frilly shit and everything. Then we're gonna adopt a beautiful little girl."
"I like children, Michael." Gavin interrupted, staring off into the sky.
"I know you do, Gav. Then we're gonna grow old and be dumb old people sitting on the porch and telling stories to our grand kids that they don't even wanna hear. " He was openly crying now, but a blissful smile spread across Gavin's face.
"That sounds nice Michael." He said, turning to the side as another coughing fit struck him. He coughed onto Michael's hand, several specks of blood spattering it.
"It sure does. I love you, Gav." Michael whispered, petting down Gavin's hair.
"Don't cry, Michael. I love you too."
By midday, Gavin was gone. Right in Michael's arms, it was almost like he fell asleep. Michael cradled him in his arms, crying and telling him all the things they would do when they got back. That night, Michael held Gavin as he fell asleep.
-
"Wow. That poor guy." Geoff ran a hand through his already-messy hair.
"Yeah, it's really fucked up. I can't even imagine what I would do if that happened to me." Ray said, spinning his straw around his empty coffee cup.
"But how did he survive so long? He had to survive nearly two weeks, that's not possible. I mean, his fia-husband didn't even make the full week. Even without downing sea water, he should be dead." Ray frowned at Geoff, clearly confused.
"Can't you.. Can't you hear?" He gestured at the door leading to the hallway where Michael Jones was still screaming. Geoff listened again, but he was still repeating the same thing.
Suddenly, Geoff's face contorted to a look of horror.
"O-oh." He breathed out; Ray nodded solemnly in return.
"C'mon, I'm sure Ryan is wondering where you are. He's been talking about your visit." Geoff nodded, his face pale as he followed Ray out the door.
As they left the hallway, the final words of Michael Jones still echoed through his mind.
"I ATE HIM I ATE HIM I ATE HIM!"