The ship had departed from South Africa and was now on its way to India, where they would be docked for three weeks. This was scheduled to be the longest break of the term and if the feeling in the room shared by Tom and John was an indication, it was going to be fun.

The tension was so thick that you could cut it with a knife. Or, in this situation, a meat cleaver. Knowing what he knew and Tom had been careful to hide the cassette in his lock box under his bed, he was quite happy to let John take the first step. At least that was his plan when they pulled up anchor. But that was almost a week ago, and Tom was losing patience with his roommate at a rapid pace.

Tom tried to keep busy with schoolwork and the odd poker game, but even that wasn't keeping things cool.

Monday night. The South African coast was a speck in the distance. The ship was cutting through an almost dead calm sea, but that was the only thing calm…

Tom slammed his textbook closed and glared across the cabin. John was engrossed in his own work, and appeared to not even hear the thud.

"Johnny?" Tom swiveled his chair.

Cena didn't answer, continuing to stare at what appeared to his English composition text.

"Cena?" Tom gritted his teeth. "John!"

John still did not reply. It looked like he wanted to say something, but was holding back.

"John." Barely holding everything back himself, Tom got out of his chair and walked over to him.

"You're blocking my light." After almost a minute of silence, John finally spoke up.

"Well, tough shit." Tom retorted "Could you please tell me what the hell is going on?" He knew, but he wanted John to start the convo.

"Tom, this time you need to back off." John was barely controlling his anger. He wanted to tell Tom everything, but Trish's words were going through his mind on a loop. "I know you've helped me before, but this time not even you can fix this."

"Dude, is this just about how confused you must be right now?" If there was something that Tom was good at, it was bullshitting.

"Bro, what? No, man." John answered "It's nothing like that."

Tom sighed. "Okay, fine. I was going to wait until you felt comfortable enough to get the ball rolling, but at the need for me to keep my stress manageable…" Tom went on to spill his guts. John was skeptical at first, but when he heard the audio tape, his own stress disappeared.

"You see, bro, even when you don't want it I got your back." Tom replaced the tape and made sure to lock it up.

"What now?" John asked

Tom knelt in front of his friend and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Well, it all depends on you. Now that you know that I know what that cunt is holding over you, your best plan is to pretend that I don't know that you know that I know what she thinks that only you and she know… if that makes any sense."

"I dunno. It sounds complicated." John smiled "But what happens if she ends up knowing that you know…?"

Tom squeezed John's shoulder. "Then she will also that what we know can put her away for a long time. But the biggest question is, now that you know, where does that leave us?"

"What do you mean?" John inquired

Tom chuckled and gave John's shoulder another friendly squeeze. "You know exactly what I mean."

"Yeah, I think I do." John smiled back.

Tom nodded. "I think you do, too." He stood and kissed John on the forehead. "I'll be back in a bit and we can finish this talk."

"Where are you going?" John asked

"Just talking a walk… tonight went a lot differently than I planned."

John was asleep by the time Tom returned. His walk also went a lot differently than he'd planned. He did not count on running into Justin in the corridor and ended up going back to his room for another talk. Tom had correctly sensed that Justin was feeling things for him as well, but the last thing he wanted was more awkwardness and trying to balance relationships with three different people whose names began with "J". He knew that Trish would be on the dock at Madras, just a few days away, and that made things even more convoluted.

"Here goes…" Tom gently shook John's shoulder.

...

Madras… hot, humid, and crowded. That didn't include the hundreds of family and friends that lined the docks for what was unofficially called 'Spring Break'. A point had been made in the application brochure that this was the point in the voyage when the ship was usually put into dry dock for general maintenance and cleaning. It had been recommended that if parents could only make one port of call during the term, it should be this one.

As they had with every other stop, John and Tom waited side by side at the railing, looking for whoever had shown up.

"Never asked ya, bro. Who ya seein' here?"

Tom sighed. "Nobody. My brother just started a new job, and Jason and I still ain't talkin'…"

"Shit." Cena cursed softly. What the twins from hell had done still pissed him off to no end.

"Don't worry, man." Tom turned "Justin and I are gonna relax. Plus I got enough homework to last me several breaks right now."

"I wish I could hang with ya, but…"

"As far as she knows, our friendship is over." Tom waved at Justin across the deck. The South African started walking toward Tommy. "We'll decide what to do once we leave India."

"I dunno if I can wait that long." John said

"Put up with her for the next three weeks, okay. Your life will be much easier if she thinks she has you right where she wants you." Tom said quietly. "And once we're back on the sea, I will make it worth the while." He added this with a lusty grin that made tingles go right to his groin.

"Hey Hardy." Justin clapped him on the shoulder. "Are you ready for the break?"

"Yep." Tom said "I hope you can handle three weeks with me."

John felt another twinge of jealousy go through him. Even though he knew that this was a part of Tom's plan to expose Trish, he really wanted to be where Justin was.

"See ya, Cena. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Tom clapped him on the back, and then followed Justin down the ramp. John waited so not to make Trish suspicious, but he started to seethe when he saw the looks she was giving Tom and Justin as they passed. He was thankful that his parents were not here to witness this. John could not lie to his parents and if questions started to be asked, things would get real fucked-up real fast.

"Here goes nothin'." John followed the long line of students and faculty off the ship.

The first week was fine. Well, other than John being treated like a lap dog by the girl that he had loved at one point. Several times he thought to himself that if she pulled one more power trip, he was going to tell her about the recording that was now safely stored in Dean Ambrose's office safe (at his suggestion). Why he hadn't told Tom 'screw the plan, screw her, and let's just screw each other and deal with it later' he didn't know.

"Johnny, you coming to bed?" Thankfully, she hadn't tried to get overly amorous. The thought of having sex with her was rapidly becoming more repulsive the longer he thought about it. He'd settled for long showers each morning and the company of his hand. (Usually accompanied by thoughts of what Justin and Tom were doing which depressed him a little, or thoughts of what he and Tom could be doing. That worked a lot better.)

"In a minute or two, babe. I'm just gonna get some air." He called over his shoulder. The night was hot, but not sticky-hot. A few minutes outside wouldn't hurt.

"Don't be too long." She answered "I'm bored."

Fuck, no…

One of the precautions John had taken before leaving the ship was to memorize, then delete, Tom's emergency cell number. If Trish found that, shit would really hit the fan. John dialed, but he could not make himself push the send button. He settled for sending a text instead.

Tommy, I don't know how much more I can take of this… please bro, is there any way we can meet up sometime soon? I really need you.

That bad, eh? Tom responded almost immediately. John replied with *sad face emoji*.

Pick a time and meet me at the Cathedral of the Holy Name. You know?

Yeah.

Cool. Once you figure it, send me the time.

Trish?

What about her? *pissed off emoji*

How do I explain?

Lecture for religious studies course? Thankfully J and I have decided to spend the day apart tomorrow. He wants to lounge on the beach… ick.

Thanks, bro, U R a lifesaver. Will text in a.m.

Gotcha. Laterz.

*smiley face*

John quickly erased the conversation and took a deep breath before going back into the hotel room.

Tom closed his phone and went back inside. "Sorry Justin, that was John."

Justin shrugged "Problems?"

"Eh, nothing he shouldn't be able to handle on his own…"

"I sense a 'but' coming on." Justin interjected

"There is. Unfortunately, it's a private matter." Tom sat down at the table and resumed dinner.

"Nothing to do with you and I hangin' out, I hope." Justin reached for the pitcher of iced tea and poured a generous glass full.

"Nah." Tom reached for another piece of Butter chicken. Every night the past week, Justin had cooked dinner. A different Indian dish each time and it was all incredible. From Beef Vindaloo, to butter chicken, to lamb kebabs, and those were just the dishes he could pronounce. "If it was, I would tell you."

Justin nodded.

"I would like to know where you learned to cook like this." Tom stuffed his mouth with warm naan bread.

"Internet." Justin answered "I came here with my family when I was in my early teens and fell in love with the food. I figured why pay for it when I could make it for cheaper."

"If this is the way you cook, you're gonna make someone a real nice wife." Tom felt guilty right after he said it. Not because of what he said, but because of what he knew.

"Sorry." He quickly apologized. "I shouldn't be taking this lightly. I know…"

Justin waved his fork at Tom, cutting him off.

"Tom, you're a stand-up guy. So am I. You know I have deep feelings for you."

"We covered that on the ship. I know." Tom breathed out.

"But I know that it isn't meant to be between us. You've got people."

"Let me cut you off, Justin." Tom set his fork down and reached for his own tea. Drinking half the glass at once, he thought carefully about what he was going to say. "Okay." He cracked his knuckles and looked across the table. "I haven't been one hundred percent honest with you."

"You haven't?" Justin looked alarmed

"More like 95 percent." Tom finished the tea and set the glass down. "There are a couple things that I haven't told you…" Tom briefly described what had gone down between Jason and himself (thanks to the twins from hell), and briefly touched on his relationship with John since leaving Los Angeles. (leaving out the sex)

"…so I don't know where I stand with Jason, and John? Right now, I dunno what he wants either." Tom sighed "And don't take this the wrong way, it's not that I don't think we could work, I don't want to make a promise that I know I will probably break. I don't want to hurt you and if we start getting too close…"

"Tom, I understand." Justin replied "I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed. I mean, you're an awesome guy and whoever you end up with will be the luckiest man on the planet."

"Thanks." Tom answered "You're awesome too. You deserve someone who will make you the focus of their world. Right now, that can't be me."

"Fair enough."

"But there's no law that says I can't jerk you off, right?" Tom refilled his glass while Justin almost dropped his.

"What?"

"I mean, you masturbate don'tcha?"

"Who doesn't?" Justin answered

"Exactly." Tom answered "So come on. We're gonna be around each for another couple of weeks. Might as well have a little fun." He grabbed his glass and went in to the bedroom. After a short pause to let this sink in, Justin followed.

AFTER A MUCH NEEDED BREAK, I'M BACK BIZ-NATCHES! SORRY FOR COCKBLOCKING WITH THIS ENDING, BUT YOU KNOW ME.