Thomas shielded his eyes from the sun as he got out of the taxi. It was a warm day in June and New York was bustling like always. Those early days of summer were his favourite time of the year. Everything still had that fresh shade of green before the heat in August would give the whole city a dusty look.

Thomas looked up at the towering vessel on the pier. It was massive and reminded him more of a swimming city than a ship. "Woah, look at this thing! It's huge!" he called out to his travel partner and best friend Teresa who just got out of the taxi, packed with bags like a mule.

Teresa's face was mostly hidden by a ridiculously big sunhat and a pair of sunglasses that reminded Thomas of a fly. She marvelled at the ship and agreed with him.

"That really is a massive ship. It looks beautiful. Come on, let's get on board and check out our cabin. I hope it has a balcony!" She dragged Thomas along the quay towards the big check-in building and chattered happily. Thomas was glad to have her as a friend.

A few weeks earlier, he had won a 30 day luxury cruise for two on the biggest cruise ship of the world: The Mirage of the Seas. He had hardly believed his luck and asked his best friend Teresa if she wanted to come. Since their semester at university would not start before late August, it was a perfect opportunity. Naturally, she had agreed and not talked about anything else for the last three weeks.

And Thomas had been pretty excited himself. He had never been on a ship in his life and could hardly believe his luck. He knew that he would never be able to afford only a single night on that ship. Going to university assured that your wallet was always empty.

Teresa bounced up and down impatiently as they reached the queue of people waiting to check-in and board the vessel. Thomas looked at her bags again.

"Two suitcases and three handbags?! Are you sure you brought enough dresses and shoes?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow, then looked at the single small suitcase he had brought. Teresa looked at him as if he had just asked her the most ridiculous question in the world.

"We will be on the ship for four weeks, Tom," she stated matter-of-factly, "and this place will be full of rich people in expensive outfits. I don't want to be seen wearing the same dress twice."

"Alright, alright!" Thomas threw up his hands in defence and laughed, "people will just have to deal with seeing me in the same t-shirt twice… or three times. I mean, they do have laundry services on there, right…?"

Fifteen minutes later, Teresa and Thomas were on their way to their cabin. The lottery price was one trip in a double cabin, so they would have to share a bed. But since he and Teresa and been best friends since they were little kids, neither of them had a problem with that. They had often slept at each other's houses and despite their parents' secret wishes and not-so-secret teasing, never felt like dating would be an option for them in the first place. Teresa had decided to leave her luggage at the check-in and have it brought up by the room service later.

"This is it." Thomas stopped in front of a blue door with the number 808. "They really didn't exaggerate when they said 'luxury cruise'… wow!" Thomas exclaimed when he swung open the door to reveal a spacious cabin with a massive bed, a big TV, a secluded dining area and a balcony. Teresa rushed past him with a delighted squeal and was out on the balcony within seconds.

"We're really high up. Look at the view, Tom!" It was a beautiful view indeed.

"These will be the most relaxing weeks of my life," Thomas sighed happily as he leaned on the ship's rail.

After all of their luggage had arrived and been stowed away safely, Thomas and Teresa decided to take a walk and discover what the gigantic Mirage of the Seas had to offer. As they found out, the ship not only had several swimming pools, water slides, theatres, cinemas, restaurants and bars, it also had a casino, a nightclub, a spa area, a mall and sports courts.

Like little kids in a candy shop, they admired everything and couldn't decide what they wanted to try first. Thankfully, they had been given several hundred dollars' worth of vouchers for entertainment of food along with their tickets, or they would definitely be broke by the end of the trip, Thomas thought.

In the end, they settled for a cocktail at one of the bars at the very top of the ship with a perfect view of New York City for their departure. With a colourful cocktail in his hand, Thomas felt relaxed and happy. He watched as people gathered on the deck as the ship roared to life. Waving and whistling, they said good bye to Manhattan and left behind the crowded streets.

"I am so happy you asked me to come," Teresa said with a smile. "You're really the best friend!"

"You would have killed me if I had asked anyone else," Thomas joked and laughed as Teresa clutched her chest in mock pain and gasped.

"What kind of monster do you think I am?!" she chuckled and took a sip from her drink.

"Excuse me, can we sit down here?" someone behind Thomas asked politely with a British accent.

"Sure, take a seat," Thomas replied and turned around to see who had asked. He saw it had been a guy who looked no older than himself, tall and with dirty blonde hair.

"Thank you," the blonde said and smiled. Next to him stood a slightly shorter, Asian guy who simply nodded as thanks and then took a seat.

"I'm Thomas. This is my friend Teresa," Thomas said and extended his hand towards the blonde sitting down next to him.

"I'm Newt and this is Minho" Newt took his hand and shook it, then waved to Teresa who returned the gesture.

"So, is this your first cruise?" Thomas asked curiously when Minho ordered drinks.

Newt chuckled. "Actually, no. Minho and I used to go all the time when we were kids. But this is the first time we had the chance to go alone. A few other friends of ours are here, too… but I have no idea where they are now. I haven't seen them since check-in," Newt shrugged.

"It's our first time!" Teresa laughed. "We couldn't decide what to do first. I bet it will only be a day or two before you hear an announcement that Tom got lost and needs to be picked up at the playground."

"Hey! That's not fair!" Thomas protested and crossed his arms when Minho and Newt started laughing.

"We can show you around later if you want," Newt offered and smiled again. Thomas thought that Newt's smile was really pretty. When he saw Newt's confused face, he realized he may have stared a bit too long.

"Uh yeah, sure, that would be awesome!" Thomas said awkwardly and gave himself a mental kick in the ass.

Minho got up, his drink in hand and slapped Newt on the shoulder. "We will see you around I guess. Newt knows this ship inside out."

"And I will make sure you don't get lost, Tommy," Newt added with a wink as he got up and followed Minho. Thomas just waved lamely, processing the nickname Newt had just used so naturally. No one had called him Tommy since primary school, but somehow he did not mind.

Teresa nudged him with her elbow. "Looks like someone made a new friend, Tommy."

"Oh shut up Teresa," Thomas laughed and hid his face in his cocktail glass.

"So… Newt was kinda cute, wasn't he?" Teresa asked casually when they strolled along the boulevard on the ship's main deck. Thomas choked on his drink and coughed loudly.

"What?"

"I said, Newt was cute… oh, that rhymes!" Teresa laughed. Thomas glared at her.

"Would you stop that?" Then he decided to ignore her and change the topic. "You feel like getting something to eat? I am starving." Teresa nodded enthusiastically.

"You're not the only one. I could eat a whole cow."

In the end, they settled for a relatively healthy snack from a salad bar, knowing all too well that they would stuff their faces with more than enough unhealthy food in the days to come. The ship was heading along the East Coast of the USA towards Savannah and would reach Florida in a few days. Thomas was excited thinking about it. Key West would be one of the promised highlights of the cruise and neither he nor Teresa had been there before.

Just as Teresa had predicted, most of the passengers on the ship seemed to be either rich young people or seniors who preferred spending their pension on cruising the USA over knitting pullovers and scarves for their grandchildren. A surprisingly big percentage of people on board seemed to be relatively young though.

Later in the evening just before sunset, they got ready to head towards the night club near the bow of the ship. Apparently, Minho and Teresa had agreed to meet up there while Thomas had been talking to Newt. Thomas whistled and gave Teresa a thumbs up when she came out of the bathroom and whirled around to show off her shiny blue dress.

"Don't you want to dress up a little bit?" Teresa asked him and raised her eyebrows at his casual outfits. "It's really hard to get you to ever wear anything but a t-shirt and jeans," she sighed.

"I don't want to steal the show," he laughed. "You look sparkly enough for both of us. I think that will do."

That was fair enough for Teresa and she threw one last look into the mirror, making sure that her long dark hair looked perfect, before leaving the room with Thomas.

The club was packed with people. Most were dancing, many were at the bar and drinking and some were standing on the edges of the dance floor and tried to have conversations despite the loud music. Teresa gestured Thomas to follow her to the bar. She ordered another fancy cocktail for herself and a beer for Thomas. The one cocktail earlier that day had been more than enough 'sugar water' for Thomas as he had complained.

"Hey Tommy, nice to see you again," a voice said close to Thomas' ear and made him jump. Newt laughed and patted him on the back when he saw the startled expression. "Oh sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. It's so loud in here you can hardly talk without invading someone's personal space."

"Isn't that the whole point of the loud music?" Teresa replied with a mischievous grin.

"Teresa, would you please just-" Thomas started but changed his mind mid-sentence.

Newt just smiled at her and turned to wave at Minho who had just ordered two drinks for them at another bar. He spotted them and walked over, placing two beer bottles on the counter in front of himself and Newt.

"Hey! Nice to see both of you here. Newt swears that this place is, and I quote 'the most amazing night club on any boat in existence'," he grinned, "A boat! He calls this a 'boat'!" Then he turned around to Teresa. "So, you wanna dance?"

"Minho! And you wonder how you always scare away anyone we meet!" Newt gasped and feigned a scandalized expression.

"Oh no, that's alright!" Teresa exclaimed, "I would love to dance!" And with that, she disappeared into the crowd with a grinning Minho on her heels.

"How do you like it here so far?" Newt asked over the sound of some electro dance song. Thomas did not know a lot about music and never kept up with recent artists. Thomas realized that Newt leaned in closer than necessary again.

"Uh, it seems really nice, I guess," was all he could get out. He took a step back to bring some distance between himself and the blonde who either did not seem to notice or just pretended he missed it.

Thomas was always a little wary of people who invaded his personal space. But Newt did not even seem to do it on purpose. Maybe it was just his natural behaviour? He took a sip from his beer bottle and leaned against the counter, watching the crowd dance. Newt did the same, looking back between Thomas and the dance floor.

"Do you like to dance?" Newt finally asked casually and looked at the beer bottle in his own hands.

"No, not really," Thomas replied and could have sworn he saw disappointment on Newt's face just for a split second, "I am, uh, really bad at it," he added lamely.

"I don't believe that!" Newt laughed, "No one is bad at dancing! Dancing is just about having fun," he added and nodded. "Look, Minho and Teresa seem to have fun," he said and pointed at the two when they were visible for a few moments.

"I prefer to stay near the bar on safe territory," Thomas explained. Newt chuckled at that.

"Fair enough." Then he pointed at Thomas' now empty beer bottle. "Do you want another one? Drinks are on me."

"Oh no, no, that's alright," Thomas shook his head, "I can get my own beer."

"No way. It was our idea to come here, so you are our guests."

Before Thomas could object, Newt had already ordered two more beers for them.

"Thank you!" Thomas smiled and they clinked their beers together.

"To us and the best holiday of our lives!" Newt cheered happily.

A/N:

I hope you enjoyed the story so far. English is not my first language but I am trying my hardest. c:

This story will eventually have drama, action, romance, horror, fluff, ... yes, it will be a rollercoaster ride.

Please let me know what you think!