The rising sun is a welcome warmth we all very much need. My teeth are past chattering. Everything is numb, even the ache in my muscles. The waves have finally died down, retreating to the hell from whence they came, leaving behind a docile flicker of light blue surrounding us as we lightly float along. I wish that’s the last we’ll see of the storm, but with our luck, we’re not hopeful. The co-pilot is lying on his back in a puddle of water, ears-deep and snoring. There’s only a slight rocking now, tiny aftershocks of what was, and it’s enough to soothe his pain away with blessed unconsciousness.

“You know what I want to do when we get back?” Terence asks.

I’m eager for the idea of survival, but I can’t hide the skepticism in my voice. “No, what?”

He smirks, kneading his hands. He’s a good man. I hired him because he was a family man, and a loyal one at that. I figured a family man would be more careful with the plane because he always had someone he cared about to go home to. I should have interviewed weather conditions, too. I wonder if a thunderstorm has a list of references.

“When I get home, I’m going to take my wife on that vacation to Australia she’s always wanted to go on. I’ll take her there, show her some kangaroos and then fuck her senseless.”

Sean and I laugh.

Rubbing my hands together, I pick up the cue, and take a deep breath. “Okay, since we’re playing the we’re-going-to-be-rescued-somehow-miracle-game, I’ll bite. When I get home, I’m going to direct one of Sean’s screenplays into a feature film. I’m going to hire Emma Stone as the lead, and we’re going to fall in love on set. I’ll definitely without a doubt fuck her in her trailer while people whisper outside.” Sean and Terence laugh, and I add, “And maybe we’ll even get married.” Sean’s eyebrows go up over a wide grin. Terence chuckles, throwing me a knowing look. With comedic flare, I admit dryly, “And then we’ll get divorced of course. That’s how we do things in Hollywood.”

We wait for Sean to throw his hat in the ring. The sky is brightening with every passing second and the knowledge that we’re going to be at the sun’s mercy next, with no water or food, has just occurred to all of us. This little game is a welcome distraction.

Sean inhales and closes his eyes for a second. Then he opens them like he’s looking to heaven for courage. “I’m gay.” He sighs. “When I get back, I’m going to have sex.” He looks down at his hands. “For the first time.”

I blink and my jaw slackens, completely taken off guard with this one-two punch revelation. He turns his head and slowly meets my eyes, resigned to whatever is about to come.

I’ve always known Sean didn’t date a lot of girls.

There have been a few, but compared to the multiple notches tagged in my bedpost, they were nothing. But I always attributed that to his romantic, idealistic nature. I thought the guy wasn’t satisfied until he found one he truly cared about and that just hadn’t happened yet. I had no idea he was a virgin…and I never in a million years would have guessed he was gay. My own brother, who I spend most of my time with, and I didn’t know.

Shaking my head at myself, I push his shoulder, making his body sway back. “You’re a virgin and you’re gay? What the fuck, Sean? So…that means you’re an idiot, too?”

His blue eyes ice into narrow slits, ready to fight me. “Jack, I knew you would never understand. That’s why I—”

I cut him off. “—Damn right I don’t understand. If I was gay, I’d be fucking EVERYBODY. What have you been doing pretending you’re straight and not taking advantage of that? Never having to worry if you’re going to get laid or not? Do you know how much ass those guys get? Excuse the pun.”

Surprise lights him up and he laughs. “Fucker! You had me going there.”

I grab his head and grate my knuckles into his head. “Yeah, you were going to fight me, weren’t you? How would that have played out, do you think?”

He’s laughing hard, years of pent up shame released. I let him go but not before mussing up his hair and looking at him like I can’t believe you never told me. He’s smiling from ear to ear, tiny lines creased into the sides of his eyes, but his expression shifts as he looks at Terence.

Terence gives him a cockeyed smile and shakes his head. “Don’t look at me. You like what you like, and that’s how God made you. But wow… since we might just die out here, can I be candid?”

“Lay it all out,” I say.

Terence looks up at the sky, then back to alternate between us. “I’ve always been a little jealous of you two. I’ve been taking you all over the world, and yeah, that means I go there, too, but I can’t take my wife with me, and you know, it’s different without her there. Lonely. And I’m on the clock. But the photos of you guys with all these women and parties–your youth and everything laid out in front of you. It looks incredible. But here you are Sean, this whole time, you’ve been a virgin and lying about your sexual preference. And Jack, you’ve been wanting to make films, is that it?” I nod, finally admitting it without hesitation. “I guess no matter where you are in life, you’ve got dreams you’re not fulfilling. Why is that? I mean, what are we waiting for?” He glances down to Steve sleeping in the raft, and quiets his voice out of respect. “I’ve been telling my wife someday for Australia for over a decade now. What the fuck am I waiting for? It’s always been there! What if I don’t make it back and can’t take her?” He gets choked up, and like a man does, he quiets himself before it gets out of hand.

“You think we’re going to survive this?” Sean asks.

I exhale deep and long. “I don’t know. I keep expecting to see fins circling us any minute.” I begin humming the theme song for Jaws.

Sean pushes me. “Stop it! Not fucking funny.” We all quiet, looking out at the blue horizon, infinite in all directions. Fiddling with the tattered belt of his life vest, Sean admits, “I’m glad it’s finally out.” He straightens his shoulders, leans over and lands his elbows on his knees, the vest pushing up around his shoulders. “I’m gay. I’ve known it forever, but it’s finally out there. For whatever it’s worth, I feel good. It’s been really hard hiding that from you.” He turns his head and looks at me from the corner of his eyes.

“Yeah, well I wish you would have given me a little credit.”

His eyes narrow on a smile. “I never know with you.”

“So you keep telling me,” I mutter, slightly annoyed. I shake out a leg that’s falling asleep, and bring my ass off the raft to punch it a few times, get the blood moving.

Sean stares out and his eyes narrow as he leans forward. “Hey, look!” His arm shoots out to point. “What’s that?!”

Terence and I look to our right and squint into the distance. It takes me a second to see the thin line stretching up out of the ocean. We watch it grow taller and Terence’s spine lengthens with it. Mystified, he whispers, “Holy shit. That’s a submarine’s periscope!”

Sean and I look at each other in shock. “Is it one of ours?” We all wait in suspense. A few moments later a U.S. Navy submarine breaks the silvery surface, ripples cascading off from it, the dark shadow of its hull like a whale under the ocean’s top layer.

The three of us rise up and yell, laughing and waving our arms wildly in the air, as the raft rocks beneath us. Steve wakes up with a jolt and cries out from the horrible ache in his arm. Staring up at us, and waking up to what’s happening, he marvels in disbelief, “What’s going on?”

Laughing from our guts, we all yell at him, “We’re saved!” “We’re fucking saved!” “I can’t believe it! It’s a submarine! Look!”

His face lights up and he rises up on his good arm. “Oh my God!” He laughs, eyes wide with joy. He joins us yelling.

“HEY!”

“OVER HERE!”

“WE’RE HERE!”

“HALLELUJAH!”

The sub’s cockpit opens and an officer rises up out of it, waving at us as the hull makes its way steadily toward our raft. “You okay?!” he calls over through cupped hands.

We explode. “YEAH!!” “WE ARE NOW!”

Terence starts to weep. “I get to see Cory again.” He screams to his wife loud enough that she might just hear him, “I’M COMING HOME, CORY! Don’t give up on me, baby! And warm up those sheets because we’re not leaving that bed FOR DAYS!!”

Sean and I clap each other on the back, grinning. “We’re gonna make it,” he whispers, astounded.

With adrenaline pounding, I wipe away the wetness from my eyes with one hand, the other around my best friend. “We sure are.”