#directorjames

He was glad when the car ride was over and he could finally sit down on Tom's sofa. He was completely exhausted, but at least he didn't have to be sick in an empty house.

♒ our muses stranded on an island after a shipwreck

It was freezing and Colin was shivering involuntarily. He’d wanted to take his wet clothes off after hitting the shore, but Bradley had stopped him as the sun would surely burn them without the extra protection. They needed to get to shelter first and the trees were still quite a bit of a walk away. Colin was huffing and gasping as he was exhausted from the swim alone, even though Bradley had done most of the work. Colin had passed out at some point, but woken up again closer to shore, entirely amazed by the fact that he was still alive.

They reached the shadows of the first trees, but Bradley urged him on to walk a bit further into what they’d started to call ‘the forest’, although it wasn’t a forest at all. A collection of palm trees.

"At least we’ll be able to find something to eat, here," Bradley said as he looked up into the trees to see if anything was blooming. He could already spot a few coconuts. That was good. “Colin," he said more urgently as he saw the younger boy swaying dangerously on his feet.

"I’m just holding you up, Bradley," Colin muttered. “I can’t go on…"

"You don’t have to," Bradley said. “You’ll be safe here for a little while. I’ll have to check for creatures, though," he added.

"Yeah, okay," Colin said, clearly not quite there anymore.

"Colin!" Bradley said, right when the younger’s knees gave in. He caught him before he could hit the sand and slowly helped him down to sit. They needed water… Not the salty ocean water, but water that would hydrate them. They’d lost so much during their trip to the beach.

"You should have saved someone else," Colin said. “Back on the ship. You should’ve saved someone useful…"

"You are useful," Bradley objected. “I love you!"

"I was dying to begin with," Colin said, evidently feeling guilty. “There were children aboard that ship. They still had a whole life ahead of them."

"Colin, Colin…" Bradley spoke, his voice broken by the emotions that were rushing through him. "You are still a child, you’re seventeen."

"Yes, well…" Colin started, but before he could say anything else Bradley was kissing him.

"I want to spend every second of your life with you, alright?" Bradley said. “And I’m going to make sure your life is as happy and long as it can possibly be. That’s why I saved you and not anyone else."

"I love you," Colin said, eyes opened to look up at his boyfriend. “Thank you…"

"Now, you better get back in shape, because I’m going to need you to gather enough things. We’ll need a proper shelter from the weather. We also need to think of something that can catch the rainwater, if it ever rains here… Otherwise we need to find a way to filter the seawater," he went on. Colin was listening and through the sadness and dread of their stranded existence, he felt himself smile at Bradley’s practicality.