I slowly placed my hands on his shoulders while I felt the intensity of his breathing as he inhaled and exhaled heavily against my neck. "Tavin?" my voice came out as a whisper but it only prompted him to tighten his grip on me more, as if he feared that I might vanish into thin air.

The atmosphere was chilly as the evening breeze gently pelted us. I gazed into the horizon with my lips parted; the sky was painted with an array of colors, blending shades of orange, red, and purple. But my whole being was aware of the man who was clutching me, his silent sobs wracking through his shaking body and mine. I waited until he calmed down while silently giving my support and stroking his back gently.

He had stopped trembling now, but he still held onto me. I gave him his time, and then finally, he pulled away from me.

"Candace..." he began, assessing us and our surroundings, "We- You are alive, I am not dreaming, am I?"

"No, Tavin. We made it, we are alive," I confirmed gently.

"We did? I just-" he paused, squeezing his eyes before opening them to look at me, "I just needed time to process everything and register the fact that you are here in front of me, alive."

Tavin looked ahead into the horizon dazedly. It took him a few minutes before he began to speak softly. "Everything happened so suddenly...When I was pushed down from the boat, I thought everything was over. But then, I was relieved," he said the latter in a whisper, I almost didn't hear it.

"...Relieved? Why?" I inquired, my tone matching his.

"I have nothing to live for anymore...my family-" his words caught in his throat and he took a minute before he continued, "I took my family for granted and now, they-they don't exist anymore. The moment I was pushed into the sea, for a second there, I gave up fighting and accepted my fate so I could join my family, to tell them that I appreciate and love them. But then, I heard you..."

My eyes widened as I looked up at him, and he gave me a small smile before looking back at the sea, "I heard you screaming out my name. Then I was reminded of how you would be alone if I had given up. Even though it was kind of forced, you were my only companion these days, in the middle of nowhere. If not for you, I would've gone insane or something. And I couldn't let the same happen to you. You said we were a team, remember? You and I?"

He came back for me. He fought his inner thoughts and swam up to save me. My heart warmed and my mind eased; Tavin could be trusted, he came for me, he is not like...Greg and George.

You can trust him, Candace.

My lips tugged into a smile, "Yes, we are a team. Thank you...thank you for not forgetting me."

God knows what would happen if I had been alone with those two men.

"I couldn't leave you to fend for yourself. So...I hauled George into the sea with me and-" Tavin stopped before he stilled, his eyes struck wide with realization. "Tavin," I scooted closer to him in concern.

"I killed him."

His voice was a soft whisper that was taken by the breeze that filled the silence. Tavin looked down at his outstretched palms with wide eyes.

"I- I killed someone. I strangled him to death..."

I gulped down my dry throat, knowing exactly what he was feeling. I recognized the signs of his distress -darting eyes, labored breathing and the trembling hands that clutched his head as he started breathing heavily.

I quickly held him by the shoulders and looked into his eyes and I told him what I'd been telling myself when I had the same kind of mental breakdown before for the same reason, "I understand, Tavin. You are not at fault for what happened. The situation forced you to act the way you did...without it, we wouldn't be where we are now. We had no idea what kind of people they were... Sometimes, we don't even realize what we're doing in such extreme circumstances that we end up carrying out actions before we can even process them," my hands clenched as realization sunk in. "...Unfortunately, that's the reality of survival, we learned it in the cruelest way. We had to do it for self-defense; for our survival. We did what we had for survival even if it was...even if it was taking someone's life forcefully..."

In convincing him, I was convincing myself too. Tavin placed his hands on his eyes, slopping down against the boat with a deep sigh. His trembling had stopped, but his eyes still held the weight of the world. "Why do I feel that this won't be the last time we would face such a situation? But... what did you say all that like you also...?" he trailed off before he looked at me with wide eyes. "Candance, what happened while I was knocked out?"

I couldn't meet his curious gaze as the image of what I did haunted before my eyes; the hopeful eyes, the desperate expression when he thought I was going to help him up, "Greg- I...I drowned him."

I was responsible for someone's death. I killed a living person.

Tavin was silent for a while. "Is this what we will have to face while we are stranded in the ocean? Dammit, Candace. I'm sorry you had to face that alone. Are you...feeling okay after what happened?"

"Yeah, I feel better but not entirely. You are right, though. This might not be the last we'll have to face in the future."

Tavin nodded slowly, calmed down and not as shaken as before, "I was afraid I couldn't save you...just like I couldn't save my family in time." He looked up at the evening sky with a sad smile, "I've never regretted anything in my life than how I treated them before and took them for granted."

"What do you mean?" I couldn't help but ask.

"You could say my family was well-off, and we were a family filled with so much love. We had come on this cruise to celebrate my birthday which was last month. But all I ever did was ditch our meals together and have fun with girls, party all day, and have the 'time of my life'. I had no worries, and I was high on my happiness. I didn't even meet my family for the whole of the last day at the ship, to be honest," he let out a bitter laugh at that, "I didn't- I didn't see them for the whole day...that last day we spent on the ship...I couldn't- I didn't even talk or check on them. Just partied and had fun all day until-"

I was taken aback when Tavin unexpectedly broke into sobs in front of me; it felt like someone twisted a knife in my heart. Did he go the whole day without seeing his family on the day the ship was sunk?

"And I feel like the meanest a*shole on the planet for berating my brother that day," he said, tears running down his cheeks at an alarming rate. "R-Remember when we first met at the bar, I got a phone call? I ignored my brother w-when he called me, asking me to come p-play with him because he was bored and l-lonely..." He paused, hiccupping and sobbing to get his words out. "A-And what did I do? I scolded him and ignored him..."

Unable to bear the situation any longer, tears welled up in my eyes as I gathered him into my embrace, holding him tightly. As soon as I did it, it was as if I had opened the floodgates - he wept uncontrollably, tears pouring out of him like a broken dam.

"My parents aside, my b-brother had many years ahead of him, he was s-so innocent and h-happy... All that t-taken away f-from him in a n-night."

I gently rocked him from side to side. Losing his brother must've hurt him the most. I know if the same happened to me, I would feel suffocated as if I was drowning in an ocean of sorrow.

"H-He must've been so scared and utterly helpless..." even though his words were muffled by my shoulder, I heard him clearly enough to know that he had never witnessed such immense pain ever before. My heart felt as if it had been pierced with a thousand arrows in sync with his tears.

Tavin was clearly someone who had girls swarming around him and teased and flirted with every female who breathed his way when I first met him; but seeing him now... so broken and pained, it was clear that he was experiencing a deep sense of grief, guilt, and despair. He sounded overwhelmed by his emotions, seemingly unable to find a way out of his pain.

I was suddenly consumed with extreme guilt for not offering my support during the nights he had spent in grief, crying for his family. I had persuaded myself that I would be intruding and making him feel pitied if I offered my support, but the reality was that he needed it so desperately.

Behind his teasing smiles and words lay an unimaginable pain from losing three people he loved dearly, all at once. He had to bear it all alone. As he tightened his grip on me, I realized how wrong I was to have ignored him and not comforted him while he grieved. Even if he hadn't known it, he had wanted someone by his side, but I had stayed away, afraid of crossing boundaries and being accused of showing pity.

"I'm sorry," I breathed out, a tear cascaded its way down my cheek, as I regretted and apologized for not having been there to support him and for the pain he had experienced and is experiencing. He was trusting me enough to unveil his emotions in front of me, and I was content that our bond has gotten stronger through our various incidents of survival.

"Let it all out. I hope that they are wishing for your safety, watching you from above. No doubt they wouldn't want anyone facing the same tragedy as them," I said in an attempt of soothing him, and I felt him nodding against my shoulder. He pulled away from me when his sobs had ceased, his reddened eyes rimmed with dry tears. He sniffed a little, "That was...not very manly of me, but thank you, Candace. I didn't think so before, but I really needed your comfort. Thank you."

"I must admit, witnessing this side of you was an eye-opener, but I'm glad to be of help. However, I have to apologize for not offering my support to you sooner," I condemned regretfully and he shook his head while wiping his tears away with a corner of a blanket. "No, you were not wrong. Emotions hit you in the most sudden and unexpected times..."

"Hmm," I trailed off, my mind going to my own family back in Canada. Were they searching for me? Do they think that I'm dead? I took out my phone from under the tarp and turned its power on. "Damn, we still don't have any signal."

"Were you trying to call someone?" Tavin asked.

"Yeah, I was hoping to reach out to...my own parents."

Tavin spun to stare at me, his eyes opening wide as if he didn't expect my answer. "Oh shit, I've been too drowned in my sorrows to notice that you also have people to worry about," Tavin crouched in front of me in worry, "I'm sorry for not asking earlier, did your parents also happen to be on the ship with you?"

"God, no," I quickly shook my head, unable to picture it or fathom the thought of losing them in the same tragedy that had taken the lives of so many others. "Only Larisa and I boarded the cruise ship." Then I brace myself for what I was going to tell next. "I-I had the nastiest fight with my parents before boarding the ship."

"Since we are sharing our sob stories, I can assure you that I will be a good listening ear," Tavin suggested and I gave him a thankful smile, but at the same time, I felt a pang of remorse within me for not having offered my help to him in the same way. "That is if you want to, of course," he cut in when I stayed silent.

"Well," I began after taking a deep breath, "Larisa won two tickets for this cruise and she wanted me to go with her. I had recently gone through a tough breakup with my ex, and I needed to get away from everything to have a change of scenery. So, I saw this as a perfect opportunity to take a little relaxing vacation and forget about the outside world for a while. It was also my first time on a cruise, so I wanted to try it out.

"My parents were against the idea. They were the overprotective type and feared for my safety, especially when it was just me and my friend, who was just another girl. However, I argued with them, refusing to let them control me and told them how much I craved this experience. I left home without making up with them. I can't help but feel regretful for ignoring their warnings. I don't know what to do if I never see them again..." my voice trailed off as my vision blurred.

Tavin wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me close to his side, sensing my distress. "We'll make it out alive," he promised reassuringly. " Especially after the scare we had earlier, we must be ready for whatever comes our way. This time, we have to think about ourselves and put ourselves first. "

Nodding shakily, I tried to push away these emotions and feelings and focus on survival. But the thought of my parents, and how they must be feeling, weighed heavily on my mind. I had not even called them once during my time on the ship, and the guilt was overwhelming me to the point of suffocation. I shouldn't have left home with a dent in our relationship.

I had to do everything in my power to make it back to them alive.