Part 12.

Jaehyun came home with a smile on his face. “Take a look at this.” He said and showed Taeyong and Johnny a small boar. “This island is rich with animals.” He said.

Johnny nodded in awe and helped Jaehyun get it to their small table. “We’re lucky.” He said and Taeyong followed them over to the stone. Johnny got out a dagger but he hesitated as he put the blade to the stomach of the creature. Jaehyun looked at Johnny who was frozen. Taeyong smiled and reached out a hand, closing it around the dagger’s handle and Johnny’s fingers. Johnny let Taeyong take it and there was a look of relief upon his face. “Thank you.” He said in a small voice.

  “No problem,” Taeyong said and moved his eyes to Jaehyun. The other was looking at him fondly. It made Taeyong’s heart swell. 

Johnny went over to sit so that he was facing the two. “This island has its own eco system, the predators, the prey and the vegetation, it’s an amazing island.” He said and Taeyong felt relief flood over him again at the fact that at least somebody was being positive. “If we keep on fighting and learning, we could live here for years.” He said and Jaehyun and Taeyong looked up at him at the same time. Johnny’s eyes widened. “Not that we will. We’ll get home.” He assured them and Jaehyun chuckled at the other. Johnny smiled. “Ten seems a bit…” He started and Taeyong stopped removing the organs with wide eyes. Jaehyun was looking at Johnny and Taeyong hoped they didn’t notice his reaction. “He doesn’t seem that happy here.” The taller continued.

Jaehyun hummed. “Well, it has been hard.” 

Johnny nodded and then tilted his head to the side. “But he is always so stubborn and not afraid of a fight. Why does it seem as if he… has lost hope?” Taeyong almost couldn’t breathe. For a moment Johnny’s eyes showed a look of sorrow, and not just that but worry and… hopelessness. 

  “I’m sure he’ll come back around soon.” Taeyong spoke up. Jaehyun had dropped his gaze to a spot in the sand as if he was thinking hard. 

  “He really loves you Johnny,” he said and looked up at the taller, “the fear of losing you must’ve hit him hard.” 

Johnny looked like he understood. “But I survived. I’m okay.”

  “You still have bruises.” Taeyong pointed out and Johnny looked down at his hands. 

  “Maybe he’ll feel better when I’m fully healed?” He asked and Taeyong nodded as if that sounded true. He, of course, knew that wasn’t the case. Jaehyun smiled.

  “That sounds right.” He said and stepped over to pat Johnny’s shoulder. “Maybe give him a little bit of love.” He suggested and Taeyong couldn’t help but snicker. 

Johnny grimaced. “How?” 

  “When you kissed the bridge of his nose,” Jaehyun recalled and the other’s eyes widened. 

  “You saw that?” 

  “We have eyes, Johnny.” Taeyong reminded the taller.

Jaehyun nodded with a chuckle. “Ten have experience with dating and you… obviously do not,” - Johnny cocked a brow, - “But I know he wouldn’t expect of you to know everything, but I could give you a little tip.”

Johnny held up a hand. “Jaehyun you just finally confessed to Taeyong that you’ve been crushing on for all the years I’ve known you guys. Maybe I shouldn’t take tips from you.”

Taeyong stiffened and looked at Jaehyun. Jaehyun was as red as the blood on Taeyong’s hands as he was still trying to focus on getting the boar ready. Jaehyun looked at Johnny pleadingly. “Just listen.” He begged and Johnny looked like he wanted to laugh but instead he nodded and let Jaehyun speak. “Don’t hold back, I know, we all know you want to be around him 24/7 but you’re not because… yeah why aren’t you?” 

  “That would scare him away…” Johnny said and Taeyong chuckled and shook his head. 

  “Ten loves attention.” Jaehyun argued and Johnny looked deep in thought. “Try it out.” He said with a smile and Johnny nodded and got up. 

  “Alright, I’ll try.”

Taeyong watched Johnny go into the jungle towards paradise and he put the dagger down for a moment. Maybe this could bring hope back into Ten’s eyes. Taeyong was praying for it with all his might.

If Johnny didn’t succeed, Taeyong would have to do something. 

Johnny came upstairs after school only to find Mark playing on his guitar. Johnny gave the other a look before he went over to his bed and put his stuff down. Mark put down the guitar too. Johnny stopped taking his stuff out of his back when he remembered the first night. He had heard Mark crying and the worst thing was that Mark was trying so hard to stay quiet.

Johnny sat down on the bed and glanced at Mark. The other was touching the strings but he didn’t play. Johnny cleared his throat. “Uhm, you can play, if you want.” He said and avoided eye-contact. Mark blinked with wide eyes before nodding and he picked up the guitar. 

  “Pick a song.”

Johnny almost chocked. “What?”

Mark smiled. “I don’t want to play something you don’t like, pick a song.” He grinned.

Johnny scratched the back of his head. “Anything Mumford and Sons or the Killers?” 

  “Ah, I know a song.” Mark chuckled and Johnny turned to watch Mark in expectation. Mark replaced the capo on his guitar and whipped out his phone. After listening through the song he started imitating the chords and Johnny turned back to his homework with a snicker. 

 Interesting.

And so Johnny got himself ready to ask Ten out for a walk. Which ended up with him walking back and forth and making breathing exercises and Jaehyun was laughing at the other. Johnny went over to kick Jaehyun when Ten arrived and all of them turned quiet. Ten frowned at their behavior until Johnny stood up straight and went over to Ten. Taeyong sat down beside Jaehyun and the two watched Ten’s eyes widen and Taeyong loved the look of expectation in Ten’s eyes. 

Johnny reached down and took Ten’s hand in his. “Wanna go for a walk?” He asked and Ten stared at their hands before nodding a little exaggeratedly. 

  “Sure,” he added with a smile and Johnny beamed and led Ten with him down the beach to the cliffs. On the other side of them Jaehyun had helped Johnny make a little romantic scenery ready and Taeyong watched the two walk away with his hands over his heart. This gave him hope, and he glanced at Jaehyun only to realize how grateful he was for the other. He turned around and took Jaehyun’s hands in his. The other blinked at Taeyong in surprise. 

  “Well, now,” Taeyong said and cleared his throat. “We have a little time to ourselves too.” He said and bit his lip and Jaehyun’s brows flew up.

  “Oh,” he gasped and then let go of Taeyong’s hands to reach down to tug the other’s thighs over his legs. Taeyong chuckled and Jaehyun’s hands found a spot on the other’s waist, caressing the other with a soft smile on his lips. “Wasn’t that the whole point of this?” He asked teasingly and Taeyong laughed. 

  “Sneaky you,” Taeyong played along and the two sat there looking into each other’s eyes and felt as if they were already home.

Johnny closed his eyes after another noise from the other end of the room reached him for the 27th time. He tried hard to focus on the review he had started on a book he read, but he found himself unable to concentrate because of the sounds Mark made.

Another groan reached him and Johnny looked up and turned around to snap at Mark when he saw the other had his hands pressed to the sides of his face, staring down at a book before groaning again. Johnny frowned. What was the other doing? 

Johnny cleared his throat and Mark’s eyes moved up to look at him and then he quickly sat up straight. Johnny found an awkward pause settle over them and he waved a hand towards Mark. “What are you doing?” He asked in a rather small voice, so he cleared his throat to seem more confident. 

Mark blinked before he took the book and threw it to the foot of the bed. “Math.” He hissed and Johnny just watched the other for a moment. A blank expression on his face. Mark looked up at Johnny with a pained expression and to the younger’s shock Johnny burst out laughing. 

Mark watched Johnny throw his head back and he even fell down on the bed, rolling around while clutching his stomach. His laugh filled the room with a powerful yet gleeful noise and Mark couldn’t help but start laughing too. 

  “It’s not funny!” He whined and got out of the bed, because Johnny only pointed at him and laughed even harder. “I hate math!” Mark argued but got laughter in reply. “Stop!” Mark laughed and went over to Johnny before grabbing his arm. “Johnny!” He cried but the sight of the taller laughing ended making Mark laugh too and he fell to the ground.

When the two stopped laughing Johnny was in pain. “I think I just got a six-pack.” He breathed and wiped a tear off his cheek. Mark put his head on the bed. 

  “I think I just got an F.”

Mark chuckled. Johnny laughed.

Both of them didn’t know that everyone could hear them and Brooke stood in the hallway looking up with a look of awe on her face. 

Johnny kept trying not to hold Ten’s hand too tight. It was smaller than his, rougher than what he knew it was once was, but it fitted perfectly he thought. He tried to breathe and to think of good conversations but suddenly he realized that they were walking in silence. 

  “So…” He started out and Ten snickered.

  “So,” he repeated and looked up at Johnny with the brightest smile on his face. “Where are you taking me?” 

Johnny pointed above the black rocks ahead of them. “Just over that rock.” He said and found himself at a loss for words. He was rummaging through his mind, but he still couldn’t come up with anything interesting. Ten kept looking up at him, Johnny could see that out of the corner of his eye. He wondered what Ten saw. For one moment he felt deeply insecure and he thought to himself that this couldn’t happen. Him and Ten. They were stranded on an island, their friends had died, they still hadn’t found a way out and now he was stretching his hope a tad too much by trying to seduce Ten, or whatever he was trying to do. 

Ten must’ve sensed Johnny’s change of mood, because as they reached the rocks and were going to climb over them, Ten stepped in front of Johnny, taking both of Johnny’s hands in his. “Hey, Giant, it’s okay.” He said and Johnny blinked, surprised by the small nickname and the reaffirmation that he was doing well. “Have you dated before?” He asked and curiously watched Johnny’s face for a reaction.

  “Look at me, Ten,” Johnny said and gave Ten’s hands a small squeeze. “I don’t want to screw up.” He admitted while looking down and Ten’s chuckle made him look up at the other.

  “We’re on a stranded island, Johnny, you can’t up.” He said while still laughing. “Dating is… when you’ve tried dating it ends up getting boring because people follow the same rules. Do whatever you feel is right. Because to me it is all amazing.” 

Johnny smiled and he let Ten cup his cheeks and press a kiss to his cheekbone, Ten kind of tugged him down towards him and Johnny was smiling brightly after it and he helped Ten up on the rock and the two climbed over it together. 

Johnny’s hands were too rough to touch Ten’s skin, yet he couldn’t help but draw patterns on the bronze skin and he tasted Ten on his lips. How they ended up in each other’s arms, how Johnny was suddenly hovering over Ten, lips on Ten’s neck, Ten releasing sounds that made Johnny’s stomach tingle. He had no idea of how they ended up like that and he felt this animalistic drive pull in him and for a moment it wanted to take over his hands, it wanted to grip onto Ten’s hips and it wanted to do stuff Johnny had never done. He pulled away, panting; face just inches away from Ten’s. Ten opened his eyes and looked into Johnny’s. There was pleasure in Ten’s eyes; now slight confusion but also something else that Johnny had seen before. Desperation. A kind of desperation for something to happen, for something to take your attention away from a dark place and bring light to the moment. Johnny frowned as he shifted between looking into each eye as he was reading the boy beneath him. There was something going on in those eyes, something happening inside of Ten’s mind that Johnny hadn’t noticed. He’d been too caught up in their daily routines to notice how far Ten had crawled into his mind. 

Johnny sat up and Ten reached out for him, swinging his leg over Johnny’s and ending up in his lap. “No.” He said in reply to Johnny’s retreat. “No, please.” 

Johnny’s eyes widened when Ten leaned in placing a kiss on his lips. Johnny reached up and cupped Ten’s face. “What’s wrong?” He asked and Ten’s eyes glistened, he dropped his gaze and looked down. Johnny caressed Ten’s cheek, “is it me?” 

But it wasn’t him. 

Ten sunk off Johnny’s lap and leaned against the rock beside Johnny. Ten’s eyes looked so empty and so lost when he looked at their feet that was stretched out in front of them. “I feel a little bit hopeless.” He admitted and Johnny grabbed Ten’s hand and squeezed it. 

  “That’s okay.” He told the other. “Ten, we’re stranded on an island,” Johnny said and Ten chuckled at Johnny who threw out a hand to show Ten the obvious. “Somehow,” he continued, “I have felt hopeless my whole life but on this island, I feel like there is actually something worth fighting for.” 

Ten was quiet. Johnny took himself in running a hand through Ten’s bangs. The smaller looked up at him and his eyes looked sad, but there was also a glint in them. Johnny’s heart screamed out that it was for him, that that glint was the love Ten had for Johnny. He hoped that was the case, because he was sure he was looking at Ten in the same way. 

  “I’m sorry,” Johnny said and turned his body towards Ten. “For the time when I treated you so cruelly.” 

Ten shook his head. “You didn’t know better.” He smiled a little, trying to reassure Johnny. 

Johnny nodded in agreement. “I’ve only had one friend, Ten.” He said. “I didn’t know that we were friends. It was a connection stronger than that. Not love but just… yeah, I guess a friend.”

Ten frowned, focusing on the ‘had’ part. “What happened to your friend?”

Johnny sighed. “When I started to learn guitar… It came a little suddenly didn’t it?”

Ten nodded, “it did.” He admitted and also turned his body to face Johnny. “You closed off even more than before.”

Johnny smiled, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “He left that guitar for me.”

  “It was the note he left behind for me.”

Ten squeezed his eyes shut.

Johnny and Mark were sitting in front of Johnny’s window. The moon’s light was seeping through and bathing their faces in its cold light. Outside the winter had covered the whole world with white, like a soft white blanket tucking the cars in and it was all so silent. The two of them weren’t talking, most of the time they found that they didn’t need to do that. Mark had been sad and Johnny had invited him over to sit in his bed. The younger was sniffling and wiping his cheeks, it was the night before Christmas and often that was a time when the kids were the quietest in the whole orphanage. 

Mark cried out loud and Johnny’s gaze moved to rest on the other. Mark noticed and he wiped his cheeks with his hands. “I miss my mom.” He cried. Johnny looked pained and he sighed.

  “I miss her too.” He said but Mark knew he was talking about his own mom and the two fell into another silence. 

Mark eventually stopped crying. “Sometimes,” he started, “I wonder if I should follow her? She must be lonely without me. She said I was all she had.” 

Johnny frowned but he couldn’t find any words to say. After a little bit of thinking he looked at Mark. “Are you lonely?” He asked and Mark sniffled.

The other shook his head. “No,” he said and smiled, “because I have a brother now.”

When Oscar came up to wake them up to look for gifts he found the two sleeping in the same bed and he turned quiet before closing the latch again. Brooke was the one who woke them up, but not before taking a picture. Same picture that Johnny received when the news reached him. 

A/N:  Are you guys still with me? Sorry for not updating that frequently, life is busy hahah <3
- Also a small note, Oscar is a character based on my brother and hahah, he is a fan of Johnny so I had to add him to this story!