it was never meant to be (mcyt os's)

Fire Pearl (karl x sapnap)

(art by @copix on twitter :))

As the crew watched the sun rise above the shining water, Nick was alone in his cabin, processing what happened the day before. His hands were still shaking and his scar is fresh. He almost lost a member of his ship. His mental wouldn't be able to handle something like that. Since the attack he didn't leave his cabin. The water was so quiet, an attack didn't even cross his mind once. But they were clever and fast. Clay tanked a bullet for him and almost died. His best friend would have died for him, it didn't let him sleep well. The thought on its own almost killed him. The reaction time of the older one was amazing, maybe a bit too good. His eyes crossed the bloody knife on his desk. Fresh blood ran down the wooden table, reminding himself of the bad leader he was.

"You good in there?"

A knock on his old door pushed him out of his thoughts.

"Why are you up again?"

Though Nick didn't notice it, the crew was worried about him. Except for Clays wound nothing bad happened to them. They killed the attackers and continued heading south.

"I'm fine, though I'm worried about you. You couldn't have noticed them, they were attacking from below."

Clay watches over Nick like he's his younger brother. After his dad died, he was the only one he could trust.

"Stop worrying about me the whole time, Clay. It's annoying."

It burns.

"Eat something."

"Just go. I don't need your advice."

It hurts so much.

Although Nick is an arsehole to Clay sometimes, he never said anything back to him. He also never gave him up. How are you supposed to protect someone, who doesn't want to be protected?

"You know I won't let you drown. Not in water and not in self-pity. You would've died yesterday, please be happy with the way it turned out."

Nick sighes and looks at the knife. Being a captain is harder than his 17 year old ass thought as he ran away from home.

"But you can't really walk!"

"Please let me in."

Water was no longer just outside of the boat, but also on Nicks face. He didn't cry in a long time. The last time was probably at the funeral of his father, Clay was also there. He was always there. He was the one person he could run to, if his mother drank too much and got abusive.

With tiny footsteps Nick made his way to the door before opening it. A tall and handsome guy with dirty blonde hair and green eyes looked at him smiling. And as soon as Nick saw that smile, he felt like 14 again. The man in front if him always kept his gorgeous and heartwarming smile. It made him feel bad because of how he treated him. Nick wanted to speak, say anything. Thank Clay for what he did for him in the last years. But he was faster. Nick was pulled towards the big man and muscular arms wrapped around him.

"Thank god..."

"Clay..."

Nick had to pull himself together so he wouldn't cry on the spot. That's the way his dad always hugged him and Clay knew that. It always comforted the younger one. No matter what is going on in his life right now.

"Everything is fine, yeah? I'm okay, the crew is okay and you're okay. That's all that matters."

Although Alex was a really bad cook, it was enough to grill some fish. They all sat together and ate the last stock of meat.