As soon as Cody left, the pain seemed to come all at once.

Before, everything had been a swirl of confusion. His body seemed to move mechanically. He only needed to focus on one task at a time. There had been no time to think. Survive and find the other survivors. That was his body's mission.

Now, his ankle was throbbing with pain. He had walked so far on it. It had hurt before, but now it was unbearable. His forehead also stung a little. Reflexively he put a hand on it and winced when he felt a bit of wetness there. He pulled his hand away.

Blood. A lot of it.

No wonder Cody was kind of freaking out about leaving him alone.

Head wounds leave a lot of blood, he reminded himself. It wasn't as bad as it looked. He shut his eyes, willing himself to push any fear to the back of his mind. He was alive. It was okay. It wasn't like he was having any trouble breathing or anything else like that.

A heavy clinking sound drew his attention suddenly.

One of Chris's camera towers swayed in the wind. It had been heavily damaged in the explosion, but it was still standing. Maybe if the camera was okay, somebody would come. It's not like Chris was doing the entire show by himself. Somebody knew. They had to.

Unless-

What if the explosion was about something bigger? What if everything else was going crazy outside of the island. Shouldn't someone be here by now? It had been hours.

At least, that's what it felt like.

When he had come to after the explosion, Chef's body was still warm.

He shivered. Back then, he had been talking to Chef about some mystery novelist or something stupid like that when he saw a flash from the corner of his eye.

Then he felt an overwhelming chill. A light of some sort was shining and coming closer-

"Scrawny!" Chef had gasped. Noah had been confused at the time, trapped in his reverie. Why was Chef yelling? What was his problem? It seemed so urgent, whatever it was. Noah's usually sharp mind was molasses and his body refused to move.

"GET DOWN!" a sergeant-like voice shouted and the next thing he felt was Chef shoving him down to the ground, knocking out his breath.

Then he saw the smoke and fire. "Chef!" he tried to cry out in terror, but no words came out. He lost consciousness soon after. Maybe it was the smoke. Maybe it was the stress, and he had fainted because of it. Noah still didn't know.

When he woke up. Chef's body was still draped over him.

"Chef-" he whispered, shaking the man lightly.

No response.

"Chef-" he suddenly stopped mid-shake.

Half of the man's face was gone, and the back of his head was charred black. Noah's stomach curdled and he made a noise from the back of his throat.

There was no way he was alive. No way.

He had never Cody about that part. How horrific Chef had looked. Cody wasn't someone you could tell those gory details too. He wouldn't be able to say it out loud anyways. He would remember that sight on his deathbed.

It took a long time to get out from under Chef's body. The man was large and made of solid muscle. He easily weighed more than twice as much as Noah did.

Chef was a hero and had saved his life, but Noah only felt sickened by the dead body. He should have been thinking of Chef's heroism, and treating his corpse with an appropriate amount of respect instead of kicking and screaming and crying in his desperation to get free from it in his disgust.

Once Noah was free, he had made his way to the cabins and he regretted it immediately. There had been blood everywhere. The cabins had collapsed on everyone and Owen had been impaled by one of the timbers.

The moment he saw that, his mouth had gone dry. He shook in place until he remembered how to use his legs again so he could run to a corner and retch.

Owen. His friend. The only one who could look at Noah in all his sarcasm and see friendship. If anyone else mentioned his diminutive stature as much as Owen did, it would have really pissed him off, but when Owen said it, it only brought about feelings of resigned exasperation and a sort of...comfort. There were no complications with him and Owen. Owen was his big buddy and he was- he was-

Noah cried again. He stayed near the cabins for a long time, before he tried to look for signs of anyone else. It took a long time to convince himself that he had to know the truth about everyone, even if he wasn't sure he could accept it.

So he walked around telling himself, anyone but Cody, feeling ashamed for the thought and for caring so little about anyone else. It was only expected of him, he thought bitterly. Sarcastic Noah. The boy who doesn't care about anything but his books. The know-it-all who was useless when it really counted.

He didn't find Cody and he had looked everywhere. He probably would have been near Gwen's body if he had been around. She was probably the last person he thought of before he-

That was his train of thought before he reached the woods and saw a figure shivering near the trunk of a gigantic tree. His heart thudded painfully in his chest. Nobody else was unaccounted for for. It had to be him.

Cody.

He was alive.

He had been nowhere near the blast. The sudden discovery had sapped all of Noah's energy. Everyone was dead, but Cody was alive. Alive. He could say it again and again in his head, but it was hard to believe.

Even after kissing him, it seemed like nothing more but some feverish dream. Maybe he was dying, trapped underneath the timbers of Chef's cabin and this was his final hopeful dream.

If this was a dream, it wouldn't hurt so much. Chef had saved him so he could still feel pain and reality-

so he could kiss Cody and have a chance.

No, he couldn't forget chef. He had already been disrespectful. He hadn't buried him. Maybe he should have if they weren't going to be rescued in awhile.

"Noah!" Cody's voice cried, cutting through his regrets. He ran to Noah, his eyes look anxious. "How are you?"

Noah forced a smile, hoping to reassure Cody that he was somewhat okay.

"Did you find Chris's boat?" he asked blearily.

Cody nodded. "Yeah, but his radio wasn't working. It was just static."

Noah sighed. Great. Maybe his theory was true. It was the end of the freaking world, and he had probably creeped out the only living person.

"The explosion probably knocked out the circuitry or something," Cody said, sounded somewhat doubtful. "Chris probably got some interns to try out a challenge and it ended up backfiring-"

"Or not." Noah said lowly.

Cody looked at him uncomfortably. Obviously he had also considered the possibility that something very wrong was going on outside, but he had wanted to stay positive about the whole thing.

At least, until he had to bring out cold reality.

"Noah?" Cody asked uncertainly, his teal eyes getting larger. "Do you think-?"

He just couldn't let Cody have any solace, could he?

Maybe if he pushed these thoughts away somehow-

"It's nothing." he tried to say lightly, but the sudden attempt at mood whiplash left him dizzy. Cody sat beside him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders to hold him steady.

"Hey, you're looking pretty bad. Maybe I can get you something to eat or drink."

"I'm not hun-" Noah started.

"You didn't even have lunch. You skipped it to go to chef's." Cody prodded him. Great. He was using a tone of voice that was probably reserved for children or other helpless creatures.

"I wonder what ruined my appetite." Noah said sarcastically. Cody rolled his eyes, but he seemed a little bit relieved as he dug into his pocket and pulled out a handful of candy.

"What are these?" Noah asked. They looked like some kind of fruit candy. Leave it to Cody to always be carrying around sweets.

"Jolly ranchers. They're really good. Try the red ones."

Noah ate it reluctantly. It wasn't very filling but it was better than having Cody leave him again. Cody sighed and leaned against Noah a bit, leaving him very aware of the fact that Cody's arm was still wrapped around his shoulders.

"Any ideas of what else we can do?"

"Maybe we should go out to the beach. A boat could come and uh- and"

He felt sleepy. It was really hard to stay awake. Cody felt so warm, it was getting hard to-

Cody shook him lightly. "You probably shouldn't sleep. Your eyes are pretty unfocused and- you shouldn't sleep." There was a wetness to Cody's eyes. He was fully facing Noah now, his fists clinging to Noah's dirty sweater so tightly that his knuckles had gotten white.

Noah's head started to hurt again. He shouldn't sleep. He couldn't, but it was getting pretty hard to stay awake. He felt his eyes starting to close.

I'm sorry, Cody, he thought blearily. He only needs to rest for a little bit.

"No!" Cody shouted, his eyes blazing, grabbing Noah's shoulders roughly.

Suddenly, he pulled his face up and he was kissing him roughly and possessively. Noah's eyes shot open, overwhelmed by Cody's sudden and unexpected passion.

It was a far cry from the quick peck on the lips that he gave Cody before. The kiss made Noah dizzier than ever before, but he was more awake than ever.

When Cody was done, Noah was gasping for air, his hands clinging to Cody's forearms.

"Wha- What was that?" he asked, uncharacteristically frazzled and totally stumped. Cody was the biggest girl chaser on the island, so how was this even possible?

Cody's face was incredibly red. He backpedalled away from Noah, as though he had been possessed and had done something horrifying.

Maybe it was. In Cody's eyes.

"I don't know. I was just WORRIED and-and you were falling asleep soIhadtowakeyouUP!" the last part was said in a voice that resembled more of a squeak than a boy's voice.

"Wake me up?" Noah asked, dully, a hand covering his own lips.

"Yeah. I wanted you to stay awake. It just happened."

There was a long silence and Noah curled up his legs, trying to find something to say. The silence was so incredibly painful. After a while, Noah was almost praying for another reprieve. Another explosion, a giant monster- anything.

"I don't know-" Cody whimpered. Finally. "Maybe we should just forget it?"

"Like when I kissed you?" Noah asked, unable to keep the terseness out of his voice.

"I didn't want you to leave me. That's all you get."

Noah sighed. This is stupid. This was going to drag on forever, if he didn't do something. He slowly pulled himself up, trying to be careful not to put too much weight on his hurt foot as he made his way towards Cody and slowly slid back down to the ground, using a nearby tree as a guide. He had an irrational feeling that sudden movements would actually spook Cody and so he approached him carefully.

Cody inched away, but he bit his lip and gave up his feeble effort to avoid the conversation.

"You've liked me for awhile? Since the beginning?" he asked, looking Noah straight in the eyes, challenging him to give a real and honest answer.

"I don't know." Noah whispered, fiddling with his hands. "I don't do...feeling stuff that much."

Cody smiled wryly and scooted closer to Noah, pulling him down for a gentle kiss. Noah tensed at first before relaxing into the kiss. It didn't feel real.

He put some weight on his ankle, and he inwardly smiled when the pain reminded him that this was really happening.

After the kiss was done, Cody couldn't look him in the eyes, even thought he couldn't let go of Noah's hand.

"It's probably all these emotions from the explosion and everything." Cody said in a choked up voice, obviously trying to justify his actions to himself. Noah could see the haunted look in his eyes, the way Cody was closing up the possibility of something between them with his denial.

"I've liked you for awhile." Noah admitted, a heavy burden disappearing with the admission.

Cody pulled his hand away, almost roughly.

Noah swallowed the lump in his throat, chilled by Cody's sudden coldness.

"Bridgette brought a surfboard. If you lay on it, I can drag you to the beach."

Noah nodded. "Don't be gone too long," he said flatly.

Cody grunted and left, returning with a long surfboard.

"Are you sure you can pull me?"

"You're pretty shrimpy too, you know." Cody said huffily.

"Yeah, yeah." Noah muttered, laying on the board.

Fortunately, the beach wasn't very far so Cody didn't have too much trouble. When they arrived he tossed Noah a water bottle and they both drank silently.

"We should build a fire." Noah suggested. They'll know where we are if somebody's looking."

"I don't really know how to make one." Cody hesitated.

"It's pretty easy with a lighter." Noah said, pulling out a skull shaped lighter. It obviously belonged to Duncan.

"H-How did you get this?" Cody asked, creeped out. If Noah was digging into people's pockets-

"I found it on the ground, Cody. I'm not a grave robber. Geeze."

"That's not a grave." Cody said tightly. "Don't be so flippant."

"I'm sorry I didn't make a big show about breaking down. It's not like you even went back and checked on everyone," Noah said evenly. He immediately regretted his words.

Cody turned away, his face pale.

"I'm sorry. You didn't even know what happened. It would have been pretty reckless."

Cody didn't respond as he gathered up some sticks and lit them on fire before fanning them to make the fire grow. Once it was going, Cody walked around it, poking it to keep it going.

The sun had already sank by the time the fire was full strength, and neither of the boys could sleep. All they could do was stare into the fire with haunted eyes.

"It's dark now. Maybe nobody will come for us." Cody whispered.

Noah shook his head. "Maybe they don't know we're here and they're looking for us. Maybe they'll come in the morning when they're sure everything is clear."

Cody shook his head, and started to cry. "For somebody who's always sarcastic, you're not a very good liar." he sobbed.

Noah hesitated before putting a hand on Cody's shoulder.

Cody hugged Noah tightly, knocking him down so that they were both laying on their sides. He held on tightly sobbing, and soon, he felt Noah shaking as well, even though his sobs were silent.

They both lay there for the night, sleeping a restless sleep.

"Hey, kid, are you alright?" a man with a coast guard uniform asked gently.

Cody opened his eyes and saw the boat from behind the man's shoulder. He sat up suddenly, nearly headbutting the man on the nose.

"Careful." the man soothed, not the least bit angry. His voice was filled with patience and understanding and concern. Cody wanted to cry. They were saved. He started looking around for his companion frantically.

"Noah's here. Where'd he go?" Cody asked frantically, looking around.

"You're uh...friend's on the boat. He's pretty hurt. He should be fine, but maybe a hospital needs to check him out. Are you okay?"

Cody stood up quickly. "I'm fine. Get us out of here. I don't want to stay here another second!" he shouted.

Cody held Noah's hand as a man in a military uniform walked into Noah's hospital room, his lips pursed tight in a grim line.

"We didn't know that a show was being taped here. That island is a designated territory for the US Army. It had been clearly marked, but we had footage of Chris McLean tearing down the signs. He had been filming there illegally. If we'd know we would have never did those bomb tests."

Cody glared at his feet and Noah gritted his teeth. It's Chris's fault. He'd finally went too far with his show. Of course the cheapskate would cut costs by shooting someplace secret where he didn't have to pay any fees. He didn't count of the bomb tests, though.

"There might be a few questions you have to answer for us, though," the man in the military uniform said stiffly. He handed Noah and Cody a card. "Just call this number if you have any questions."

Then the man was gone.

Noah lay back down on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Do you think Chef knew what was going on?" he asked, sounding lost.

"Most likely," Cody said honestly, knowing that now wasn't a good time to sugarcoat anything, "but he saved you, so I think he more than redeemed himself."

Noah shut his eyes, and Cody saw that he had the smallest smile on his face. "Thanks."

The smile was small, but it was different than Noah's usual smirks.

Cody couldn't resist. He kissed him softly, almost hesitantly. It was so fast, almost a peck, but it had a tenderness that lingered afterwards.

Noah looked at him with wide eyes. "Cody?"

"I don't think I'm used to these kind of feelings yet, but I can't just run away from them."

We can take it slow, Noah said with a smile.

Cody wanted to laugh,. If Noah kept giving him these sincere smiles just for him, he was going to be the one who won't be able to take it slow.

That night, as they waited, Noah and Cody huddled together with Cody sitting on the chair beside Noah's bed and using him as a pillow.

They both had nightmares that night. They would probably have more in the days to come, but Noah and Cody were not alone. They had each other

THE END

OMG. I finished a multi-chapter. I wish I had broken this into 3 chapters instead of 2, though. This was a looong chapter. So just to warn y'all, I like writing about angst and despair, so in future fics, I will only torture Noah and Cody more, so get used to it.

I already have several plot bunnies.