"Come on! We've gotta get there as quick as possible!" Justin said as he grabbed one of the oars and began to paddle.

Brian promptly reached for the other one and paddled along with the kid, who was going at a rapid pace. "Jeeze, what's the big hurry, Sunshine?" Brian asked.  "Do I smell that bad?" he joked.

The blond rolled his eyes and continued to paddle, not looking at Brian as he said, "It has been a long night, and I'd really like to get back to where I'm supposed to be, now. I'm probably already in deep shit trouble", he explained. "And...you do kind of smell." Brian laughed a hearty laugh and continued to paddle.

Several minutes later, the boys made it to the shore, puffing and panting. Justin felt a night of no sleep really catching up with him, even through all the 'excitement'. Both boys leapt out of the dinghy, landing on the wet sand thankfully. They were exhausted. "Oh, thank God", Brian panted. "We fucking made it."

Justin nodded in relief and stood up, his legs slightly shaking. He took his time taking small steps until he felt grounded enough to walk properly while Brian laid in the sand. "Come on", Justin called to him. "Let’s go find civilisation." Slowly Brian rose to his feet and glanced back at the dinghy. He walked over to it and collected the flare gun and bullets that were in a box on the life boat. "What are you doing?" Justin called. Brian merely turned back and ran towards the impatient blond. "Seriously? What are you taking that for?" Justin asked when he saw the flare gun in Brian's hands.

Brian shrugged, looking at the gun. "I dunno. To shoot the bad guys", he joked as he put the gun and bullets in the pocket of his jacket. Justin rolled his eyes and began walking towards the trees, Brian jogging after him. "Hey, wait up!" the brunet called.

*****

The tropical forest was incredible, with trees that shot to the heavens. Both boys looked around in awe as they ventured through the potentially dangerous place. Brian thought that if they were in a rainforest, they must be far away from any people. Justin groaned when he voiced this idea. "Well, I am right, aren't I?" Brian asked the boy. Justin looked over his shoulder at his companion to reply to him when Brian said, "Whoa, Look out!"

Justin looked in front of him again and yelped, leaping backwards. He had almost walked right into a spider web with a huge, hideous spider in it! The teenager jumped back so far that he bumped into Brian, who caught him in his arms. It took a short moment for Justin to recover enough from the shock before he stood up on his own again. Laughing, Brian asked the boy, "What was that all about?"

Shuddering in disgust, Justin answered, "I hate spiders!"

Brian laughed again and reached over to pat the kid on the shoulder. "Aw, now it's alright there, sonny. Brian saved you from the big bad spider!" he teased.

"Oh, shut up", Justin replied, a small amused smirk on his face. He straightened up and said, "Alright. Time to march on." Brian shook his head in amusement and followed the boy.

Ten minutes later, Brian and Justin heard the sound of water. They followed the sound until they found the source. "Oh my God", Justin commented when they reached it.

"Holy shit", Brian said slowly, looking at the most incredible thing he'd ever seen in absolute awe. Before the boys was the most beautiful blue lagoon any man had ever laid eyes on. Both boys were positive of that fact.  The lagoon had a water fall at the far end of the deep blue body of water.

After several seconds of staring at this beauty of nature, Justin cleared his throat and said, "Alright, let's keep moving."

Brian looked at the boy like he was mad. "Wait, wait, what?! You want to just leave this place?" He asked. Justin simply gave Brian a 'no-nonsense' look. "Oh, come on! Look at it! We have just found the most incredible lagoon on earth and you just want to forget about it? Don't you wanna at least go for a swim?"

Now it was Justin's turn to look at Brian like he was mad. "We just spent the night floating around in some shitty dinghy and you want to take a swim? I mean sure, this lagoon is...well it's beautiful, but all I'm interested in is finding my way back."

"I know we had a crappy night, but look where we are now!" Brian said, enthusiasm and persuasion in his voice. "When are we ever going to come back here? Never! Just think of the experience, man! Think of the college essay you could write!"

Justin thought for a moment, looking at the lagoon. It did look awfully inviting. It was all so tempting... Finally, just when Brian had thought he'd won the boy over, Justin sighed and said, "People will be looking for us. We should get back." And with that, Justin turned and resumed walking. Taking one more look at one of nature's masterpieces, Brian sighed and followed the kid.

It was going to be a long day...  

BACK IN THE TAYLOR FAMILY HOME IN PITTSBURG

The phone rang in the quiet Taylor house. Jennifer Taylor dashed to take the call. "Jennifer Taylor speaking", she said pleasantly into the phone.

"Mrs. Taylor, It's Alison Waters from St. James High School", the caller said. Jennifer listened closely, instantly feeling a deep worry fill her veins at being called by her son's school. "I understand your son Justin Taylor attended the Humanitarian Senior trip to Trinidad..."

"Y-yes, that's right", Jennifer responded, her voice shaking. "Has...has something happened?"

The woman on the other end of the conversation sighed; the kind of sigh a person does when they have bad news. "I'm afraid so, Mrs. Taylor..."

Jennifer clutched her chest with her free hand, feeling it tighten. "Oh god..." she said quietly as tears began to well up in her eyes.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Mrs. Taylor, but it seems your son has gone missing", Ms. Waters informed the frightened mother.

"M-missing?!" cried the emotional woman. "How, when, why?!"

"Well, apparently some students attended some party on a boat last night without their teacher's knowledge and...well it appears your Justin did not return to the hotel with his friends", explained Ms. Waters.

"A party?" Jennifer said in shocked confusion. "This...My Justin would never break the rules...I...how can this be? Where were the darn teachers! How could they not know that all these kids went off on their own?!"

Another sigh was heard from the other end of the phone. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Taylor, but you and your husband are required to come to the school. All of your questions will be answered."

"Yes, we'll be there immediately", Jennifer informed the woman before hanging up promptly. "Craig!" she called out to her husband in panic. "Craig, something terrible has happened! It's Justin! We have to go now!"

MEANWHILE, ACROSS TOWN AT THE KINNEY RESIDENCE

Jack Kinney was startled awake by the ringing of the telephone. He had been drunkenly snoozing away on the couch, a half-empty beer still in his hand. "Joanie, get that, would ya?" The man called out to his wife.

An unimpressed Joan Kinney walked into the room and picked the phone up out of its holder. "Too lazy to pick it up yourself", she muttered under her breath before answering the call. "Hello, this Joan Kinney", she greeted. Her neutral face fell and a frown creased her forehead as she was told the unsettling news. "My...my goodness, are you certain?" she asked the police officer on the other end of the line. "My...God, I...don't know what to say."

Jack rolled his eyes at his wife's antics. Overdramatic old hag, he thought as he looked at her grumpily, the alcohol in him fuzzing his vision a little.

"Well, no actually", Joan said into the phone. "I haven't spoken to him in a while. I didn't even know he was going on a trip." Jack's ears picked up at this. Who was this 'he' she mentioned? Probably the blasted boy, he decided. What's the little shit gone and done now? “Oh…alright…Yes, please do…Thank you, officer…bye, bye now.”

Joan hung up the phone and took in a deep breath. “What trouble has that bastard gotten himself into now?” Jack asked the slouched woman.

“Jack, he’s gone missing”, Joan replied, worry on her face.

Jack tried sitting up, but gave up when the pounding in his head grew stronger. He groaned and looked at his insufferable wife through squinted eyes. “Ah, the little shit is probably just off dicking around like usual”, he slurred.

Joan shook her head. “No, Jack. That call was from the Trinidad police. He said Brian went missing on some kind of boat. This is serious, I’m concerned for him.”

“What the fuck is he doing in Trinidad? Little asshole. You’re probably just overreacting, Missus. The boy is fine”, Jack answered back, taking another swig out of his beer bottle.

“But, Jack I-“ Joan began, only to be cut off by her drunken husband.

“Quit yapping and make dinner already, Missus”, he ordered.

With a sigh of defeat, Brian’s mother walked into the kitchen. I’ll pray for you, Brian, she thought, closing her eyes.

BACK AT THE HOTEL

“Alright, so I’ve got your numbers and emails, and you’ve got mine”, Michael said to Hunter and Daphne.

“It’s absolute shit that we have to leave”, Hunter complained. Daphne nodded in agreement.

Ben put a hand on his nephew’s shoulder and said, “Next time, don’t go messing with the rules, kid.” The relatives smiled at each other and shared a quick hug. Ben shook Daphne’s hand. “It was nice to meet you, Daphne”, he said to her with a smile.

Daphne almost melted at the look. Cuteness must run in their family, she thought, looking at Hunter and blushing ever so slightly. “You too, Ben. And you, Michael.”

Michael nodded with a smile before reaching over to shake the girl’s hand, then Hunter’s. “If anything happens, I’ll let you know”, he told the teenagers.

Before either one could respond, they were summoned by their irate teacher. “You two, let’s get a move on!” Mr. Christianson called to them. Giving one final nod to Michael and Ben, the teenagers raced off to their group as they left the hotel to travel back home.

“I should call my mother and let her know what’s going on. I may have to stay here longer than planned if necessary”, Michael told his lover. Ben gave Michael a kiss on the cheek and walked away to give him a moment of privacy. Michael dialled his mother’s number and waited for her the answer. “Hey, mom”, he said into the phone.

“Sweet heart!” Debbie Novotony greeted cheerfully. “How are you?”

Michael rolled his eyes and smiled at his mother’s cheerfulness. His smile disappeared when he remembered what he’d called to tell the enthusiastic woman. “Uh…mom…I have something to tell you…”

“Oh, no, you haven’t gotten yourself into any trouble have you?” Debbie asked.

Michael cleared his throat nervously. “Not me…it’s Brian.”

Michael heard his mother huff out a breath. “Oh, what’s he done, now? Fucked someone he shouldn’t have?”

“No, Ma. He’s missing. We went to this boat party last night and he didn’t come back. Now we don’t know where he is. I’m really worried about him, Ma”, Michael told his mother.

“Didn’t come back from a party, huh? Sounds like typical old Brian to me, honey”, Debbie said calmly.

Oh great, it’s the gang all over again, Michael thought before telling his mom, “I’m serious, Ma. I think he’s in trouble. This other kid never came back from the party either. They called the police and everything”, he explained.   

Debbie thought for brief moment before responding. “The police, huh? Shit, maybe he really is in trouble.”

“That’s what I’m saying, ma. He could be anywhere…shit”, Michael said.

“Sweetie, I’m sure he’ll turn up”, Debbie assured her son. “Even if he really is in trouble, he’ll be okay. He always is.”

Though his mother’s words were nice to hear, Michael couldn’t help but think it would be a while before everything was alright again.

LATER, BACK ON THE ISLAND

Justin groaned with each step he took. “Argh, my feet hurt like shit!” he complained.

“Yeah, well keep moving, kid. You’re the one who wanted to hurry up and find a way back”, Brian grunted back, ignoring the pains in his feet.

“We’ve been walking for hours!” Justin pointed out. “Why the fuck haven’t we found anything?”

Brian looked around, over the cliff they were standing on. He puffed, trying to return his breath to normal. “Holy fuck”, he breathed. “Do think we might actually be stuck here?”

Justin’s eyes widened. “Oh, God…do you mean, like…this is a deserted island?!” he exclaimed.

The brunet looked at the blond seriously. “Yeah, I think it is, Sunshine”, he said dejectedly.

“Shit”, Justin said plainly.

“You can say that again”, Brian said. “Come on, we’d better get back to the beach.”

Justin followed Brian as he began walking back the way they came. “Fuck, this is going to take forever!” he complained.

*****

A while later, the boys finally reached the beach again. Sweating and fatigued, they dragged their legs towards where they left the dinghy…only to discover that it was gone!

“Oh shit!” Brian cried, running towards the shore.

Justin ran after the man despite his exhaustion. “It’s…it’s gone…” he said in disbelief. “We’re…stuck here!” He felt his legs become wobbly and his head get light.

“No…” Brian said quietly. He looked back at Justin standing behind him, noticing the kid looking faint. Quickly, he stood up and caught overtired boy in his arms as he fell. A small smile formed on Brian’s face as he looked at Justin’s sleeping one. Poor guy’s all tired out…and a total drama queen! Brian thought, shaking his head in amusement, despite their unfortunate predicament.  Picking the boy up, he walked away from the shore and laid the boy down on the sand.

Ten minutes later, the blond opened his eyes to see hazel ones staring at him. Gasping, Justin sat up with a start. “What…what the fuck happened?” he asked in a daze.

“You passed out. Guess your tiredness, added with the shock that we’re fucking stuck here got the best of you”, Brian explained. “Don’t blame ya, kid.”

Justin closed his eyes and groaned when he remembered all that had happened. “Shit…we’re really stuck here…”

Brian nodded and slowly stood up. “Come on. Let’s go find somewhere to sleep for the night”, he said, helping Justin up.

“This is so shit”, Justin commented as they searched for a safe place to camp.

TO BE CONTINUED