Newton couldn't help but block the chatter of his mother and his fiancé out. He stared out of the window, wondering about the people outside his carriage. The sun was shining with its full grace, promising a good day for the children playing outside and people on streets occupied with jobs.

Newton sighed, seeing people looking at their golden carriage in wonder and envy. Little girls were asking their mothers if there was a princess, men were wondering what beautiful girl was hiding in there. Newton loved to watch, though after the death of his father nothing was the same anymore.

First thing was his mother losing a lot of their belongings and her dignity. Second was giving Newton to a man who was known for being cruel but rich for the matter.

Another sigh left his lips, eyes watching a group of girls pointing happily at each other's dresses. There were beaming smiles on their chubby faces and deep flush on their flustered cheeks.

"And the ship is the biggest one ever made, I can tell you. The captain told me everything- Newton, are you even listening?"

At hearing his name, the British boy turned to face Janson. "Sorry, Sir. I was just looking outside. It's a beautiful day."

Janson frowned at him. "You're so off lately. Please, get yourself together," he said. "It's the ship of dreams. Enjoy it"

More like a slave ship, Newton muses, the final moments of his freedom.

"We can't have you embarrassing us when we arrive. I want you at your best. There are a lot of important people there," Newton's mother perked in.

Newton fixed his eyes to his lap. "Sorry, Sir. Sorry, mother. I was just looking outside, not the end of the world."

Janson rolled his eyes, exactly when Newton did the same. "You're a hard horse to tame, Newton." But I'll break you. The last part of the phrase went unsaid, for Janson was careful with his words when Ms. Bukater was around.

Newton closed his eyes, leaning back into his chair and wondering if anyone could hear him screaming deep inside.

•••

Minho's eyes narrowed while looking at the cards in his hands. Just a few meters away from the bar he could see the ship of promises and dreams, making itself ready for the long distance journey to America.

New York was a dream for Minho, the beautiful and promising city always in the back of his mind. Now, in the midst of a card game, he realized he's never been this close to a dream of his.

The other men in the game didn't look happy at all, but for all Minho knew it could all be poker faces.

"Okay guys... show your cards. Winner gets the money and two tickets for the ship of dreams, the Titanic," a chubby man announced.

Minho narrowed his eyes a little, watching his best friend Alby do the same before everyone dropped their cards on the table. Chubby Guy #1 had the worst cards Minho could ever imagine. Alby had a decent few cards and almost a full house. Chubby Guy #2 had a full house with all the 4's in the game.

Minho stood up from his chair, grinning down at Alby, before showing his full house with Queens. Alby jumped up right after him, squeezing Minho in a tight hug, before they both started chanting and singing happily.

"Ship of our dreams, here we come!

•••

They had to race to the ship to make it.

It wasn't too hard for they only had one bag of luggage and a little crowd to work through. When they got to the ship, finally tumbling inside, they didn't complain about how busy and crowded the third class was. It was all Minho could ever dream of. Sitting on the railing of the dream ship, on his way to New York, a cigarette between his teeth and Alby right by his side.

"Shit, Minho. This is more than I ever imagined. This will change our lives."

Minho couldn't agree more. Sketch book in his lap and eyes fixed on the ocean, he spoke. "There is a world for us there, Alby. Ain't nobody's gonna take it from us now."

Alby nodded his agreement. "Ain't nobody."

•••

Newton's mother had her nose flaring up. "I can smell those lower classes all the way from -here."

A few servants came in to perfume the room, making it smell like too sweet flowers and honey.

"Mother, they have the right to be here too. Not everyone can marry rich."

His mother made a noise at the back of her throat. "I don't want you disobedient in front of your fiancé ever again. He is saving our lives and he treats you like gold."

"Like shit I'd say," Newton mumbled, watching the half amused servants hang his favorite paintings on the walls of his suite.

His mother cupped his cheeks with her sharp finer nails hurting the skin and almost breaking it open. "You better not make this even harder for me."

Ignoring the stinging sensation on his face, Newt decided to occupy himself by helping the servants. His favorite paintings got a special place. Picasso was his favorite painter. Not really famous among others, but Newton could see so much in his art.

A smile tugged on his lips when finally all the paintings were hung around the place. He pointedly ignored Janson's loyal assistant Ava making comments on the art.

"It looks ugly. And weird. Why does Sir Janson even keep you around?"

Newton shrugged, perching on the edge of a chair tiredly. "We all wonder."

At that very moment Janson himself walked into the room. "Hideous, I find this,," he announced, taking the room in, before stepping close to Newt and pulling him to his feet. "At least there is one beautiful thing I can admire here."

Ava gagged and stalked out of the room, leaving Newton alone with Janson.

"I'm not a little toy you can admire, Sir."

Janson rested his hands on Newton's hips. "You're whatever I want you to be, honey."

Newton could smell the alcohol on Janson's lips. He held his breath and wondered if he could ever get out of here. Janson leaned in to kiss him. Newton closed his eyes and did everything not to gag.

•••

Minho was leaning over the railing, one day after the Titanic took off. It was still a beautiful feeling to see the sea down below him, the sky above him and more sea at the horizon. He felt on top of the world, standing over the railing and screaming on top of his lungs.

"I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD!"

For a man with not one penny and only a sketchbook on hand, he had a pretty big mouth. But he didn't believe there was a single soul in the whole planet that was happier than he was.

•••

Newton wants the lamb with extra sauce and don't forget the beans with it," Janson told the servant at the dining table.

Newton cleared his throat. "Actually I'd like the-"

Janson gave him a stern look. "I know what you like and what you don't, my love."

At the other end of the table was the captain with the most important part of his crew. They all gave him a pointed look that said shut up, you should be happy to be alive.

His mother fixed him with a glare as well. "I'm sure Sir Janson knows exactly what is good for you, Newton."

Everyone went back to laughing and cheering, seemingly not noticing Newton's bad mood and the tense sort of air around him and his fiancé. A helpless feeling of loneliness crept up in Newton's heart.

Everyone around the table was wearing their nicest clothing and their hair was smoothed down in an official way. Newt felt like his hair was too tight and heavy in the bun on top of his head, his earrings pierced in pain and his corset was too tight.

Janson's hand was perched on Newton's upper thigh, an invasive presence that made his stomach knot in the most unpleasant ways. What would he give not to be here...

He would murder someone just not to be here.

Suddenly, an idea graced his mind.

•••

Minho sat on the third class deck. His eyes shifted from his sketchbook to a little girl, happily holding onto her father.

This was what he wanted in life, to be carefree and to draw.

Alby was at his side, making comments here and there on people and on the drawing. "You should get paid for this, man. It's shucking art."

Minho smiled at Alby, before giving his attention back to the sketch. "Money is the last thing on my mind when I'm drawing. When I draw, it's me, my paper, my pencil and my model. No money. Money is complete bullshit."

Alby snorted at that, turning to look at the deck on top of them. Minho looked up as well when Alby made a low whistle. "Look at that little vanilla cake."

Minho raised an eyebrow. A tall young man was leaning against the railing, looking deadly serious, big eyes staring off into distance longingly. He wore his blond locks up so the wind wouldn't mess them up. His light green gown flowed over his frame beautifully.

"I call dibs," Minho muttered, making Alby laugh.

"You ain't getting him in your wildest dream, Minho. It's a first class beauty, ya see."

Suddenly the boy's eyes shifted down to Minho's. For a split second they made eye contact before the blond man shied away and looked to a completely other direction.

Alby made a noise at the back of his throat. "I think he noticed us staring."

Minho raised an eyebrow yet again, still looking at the gorgeous rich blond male. Suddenly, a man appeared behind the beauty and grabbed him sternly by the arm. The blond looked like he might break under the pressure and was ushered back inside the first class without further argument.

"Interesting..." Minho muttered.

•••

Newton didn't know how his life had turned into a never ending circle of pain.

Waking up next to Janson. Being a doll, corset on. Breakfast, talking to the other dolls. Lunch, practicing to become a better doll. Dinner, falling asleep next to Janson. Repeat.

He didn't know how he'd ended up like this. He was having another fancy dinner with the most important people on the ship. Again, his mother's icy eyes bore onto him. Janson's lustful hands alight on his body. People talking about him behind his back.

He felt hopeless. He felt less than everyone in the world. He couldn't go on like this. He couldn't imagine himself surviving one more routine day in this circle of pain. How could nobody hear him screaming? All he did was scream. But nobody heard.

"I-I need some air."

•••

Newton's hair fell loose when he ran to the deck. He ran and ran until his feet hit the railing.

It didn't matter anymore for him. Life was over as it was. He didn't want another routine day. He wanted to live. He wanted to live, but all he could think about was dying.

When he took a few breaths, trying to calm himself, he noticed the painful bile in his throat.

Was he really doing this? What was his father thinking in heaven?

There was no other way out, Newton realized. His hands, leaning on the railing, shook. He tried to steady his step as he climbed over it.

Nobody cared...

Tears blurred his vision, but he willed them away.

Nobody could hear him screaming...

"S-sorry, Daddy..." He closed his eyes, leaning forward and-

"Don't do it," a calm voice called, no hurry in the husky sound.

Newton looked around, seeing a young Asian man walking towards him. His hands were shaking slightly, like Newton's.

"Stay back," Newt warned once. "Don't come any closer."

The Asian held his hands up in defense, but took a tentative step forward nonetheless. His stance didn't falter at Newton's burning glare. "Just gimme your hand. I'll pull you back."

Newton's eyes went wide. "No! Stay away from me." He leaned forward again. "I mean it. Don't come any closer."

The Asian was only a few feet away now.

"I'll let go."

Minho frowned, stepping aside from Newton, showing with a gesture that he only wanted to throw his cigarette away.

Newton was breathing irregularly. The blur fogging his sight cleared up a little and he saw the handsome Asian was leaning against the railing, not far away from him. "You won't jump."

"W-what do you mean I won't jump?" Newton's eyes got fierce with anger. "You're not to tell me what to do, or not to do. You don't even know me!"

Minho raised his eyebrows. "Well... If ya wanted to jump you would have done it already."

Newton blushed. "Go away! You're distracting me."

Nobody can hear me screaming...

"Well... I can't go now. I'm already involved."

Newton watched the Asian, perplexed. "W-what?"

"If you let go now, I need to jump after you. I'm involved."

Newton shook his head. "Don't be absurd? You'll die."

Minho shrugged his jacket off. "Well, I'm a great swimmer, so."

Newton frowned. "The fall would kill you."

"No, it would only hurt a lot, sure. But it won't kill me. Truth being spoken, I'm more concerned about the water being cold." Minho lazily pulled his shoes off, making a show while stretching his back. He looked at how the blonde boys face shifted.

"H-how cold?"

"Probably freezing."

Newton's eyes went wide. That was indeed very cold.

"My dad used to take me ice fishing... and one time, on a cold nasty winter, I fell through the ice into the water. You know, Ice fishing is-"

"I know what ice fishing is!" Newton said angrily.

Minho put his hands up in surrender. "Sorry. Sorry. You just look like an indoor person, you know."

Newton narrowed his eyes. "So?" His hands still gripped the railing like a lifeline.

"So... I fell through the thin ice. And I can tell you... that water, same as down there, is so cold, it feels like a thousand of knives are stabbing you over and over again."

Newton looked at the so said ocean. There was only darkness down there.

"You can't breathe. You can't think... At least only about the pain..."

Newton shuddered at the thought. He hoped this would have gone fast. Not slow and painful.

"That's why I don't look forward to jumping after you... But I guess it's your call."

Newton bit his lip.

"Deep down I'm hoping you'll come back to the ship so I won't have to die this way."

Newton felt very attacked suddenly. "You're crazy," he told the Asian.

"No, actually I'm Minho. But hey, that's what everyone says about me. At least I'm not the person hanging from a railing, ready to die a slow and painful death."

Newton gave a shaky breath. The fall looked at least ten times deeper and the cold was five times more intense now.

The Asian's hand gently slid over his. "Just take my hand and come back. You really don't want to do this."

Newton was shaking like a leaf in the autumn air. But he did take the Asian's hand, tears streaming down his face.

Newton's hands were slippy and sweaty. His legs were tired and his body was aching.

The Asian smiled at him, looking deep into his eyes. "I'm Minho Park Dawson."

Newton smiled slightly. "Newton DeWitte Bukater."

Minho snorted. "Write that down for me some time."

Newton chuckled, shivering in the cold of the night and realizing he wore no jacket. Minho saw him shivering and pulled him over the railing, but suddenly...

Newton slipped.

An agonizing scream left his lips and both his hands clasped around Minho's.

"I got you!" Minho called, using all the power in his body to push Newton back up. Another scream left Newton when he fell a little and slipped a little bit more. Tears blurred his vision and he realized that he didn't want to die today.

"HELP!" He yelled as Minho's face got redder with every second of trying to keep Newton up. "HELP ME PLEASE!"

"I won't let go!" Minho said, determined, using all he had to fully pull Newton back onto the wooden deck.

Newton helped himself being pulled up, and together they got him back over the railing. They fell on the deck, Minho on top of Newton. They were panting and puffing tiredly. Newton didn't remember ever being so relieved.

Minho had a smile on his face, keeping his weight off of Newton. Happiness shone in his eyes. "Hell of a night." He chuckled.

The smiling stopped as four guards came to the deck, having heard Newton's screams.

They saw the scene: Minho with half of his clothes off, Newton looking so disoriented right under him and tears dry on his cheeks.

"Step back!" The guard yelled at Minho, pointing his revolver at him.

Minho stood up slowly, hands behind his back.

"D-don't hurt him." Newton said weakly, standing up on his shaking legs. "He saved me."

But once again nobody heard him.

•••

Janson was right in front of Minho, looking angry and yelling at the poor third class. "You thought you could touch MY Fiancé?! Well, I got news for you, Mister! I-"

Newton couldn't take it any more. A blanket had been placed around him and a glass of water pushed into his hands. He stood up and came to stand next to Janson. "Stop Sir. Stop, he saved me."

Janson raised an eyebrow, a hard iron hand clamping around Newton's arm. "Saved you? He wanted to touch you! To rape-"

"No! It was an accident, Sir! He saved me."

Janson narrowed his eyes, so did the guards and the people watching. "Saved you from what?"

Minho was watching the scene with mild interest, his hands bound behind his back and a guard on either side of him.

"I-I was looking over the railing. To see the propellers... but I leaned down too far and luckily, sir Dawson was there to save me. He pulled me back on the deck before I fully fell over. We should reward him. Not lock him up."

Never in his life had Janson looked so doubtful. But Newton wasn't one to give up, making his best puppy eyes at him. "Without him, I wouldn't be here."

Janson looked at Minho. "Is this true, did you save my love?"

Minho immediately nodded. "I couldn't just let him fall over."

The guards released him and one even patted him on the shoulder. "That makes you a hero fella. Good job."

Newton smiled privately at him, looking back down at his feet immediately when Janson turned to him. "Happy you aren't hurt, much."

Minho gave Newton a smug smirk, looking how Janson wrapped an arm around him.

"You must be freezing, let's go inside." Janson took a hard grip on Newton and lead him inside, feeling how the blonde was still shivering in his arms.

"Wait!" One of the guards called. "Shouldn't you give this one a reward for his good deeds?"

Minho watched as Janson sighed and gestured to Ava. "Give him twenty, that'll be enough."

Ava immediately reached into her purse and handed the money to Minho without any form of thanks, only an icy look.

Minho took the money reluctantly. "Look, money isn't what I'm aiming for."

Newton turned to Janson angrily. "Twenty? Only twenty for saving your fiancé? Is that what I'm worth?" He asked angrily, blanket still tugged around him and face stained with tears of shock.

Janson smirked, looking Newton over once. "Hmm... You don't sound happy, my love. And all I want is for you to be happy."

Newton narrowed his eyes. "Well... You gave me the impression I'm worth only twenty for you."

Janson turned to Minho, who was pretty impressed at how Newton just played that. "You know what, savior of the day and my fiancé; tomorrow you can join us at dinner. You'll feast like a king and we'll get to know the new hero of this ship."

Minho saw the disgusted look in Janson's old eyes. He saw that Janson didn't like it how Newton was watching him with a gleam of hope.

"Sure. I'll be there." But only for the blond beauty, he thought, not caring how easily Janson seemed to get annoyed at his informal way of speaking.

"Great, can't wait to hear your story from the beginning to the end." Janson turned away, grabbing Newton's arm and walking back inside to their suite.

Newton turned his head, only to see Minho give a smile and a wink.

Mouthing a soft, 'thank you' was all Newton could do before turning the corner and losing sight of Minho.

The only two people on the deck left were Ava and Minho now. Ava looked him over twice, noticing that his shoe laces were not knotted. "How interesting that Sir Newton suddenly slipped, but you already had taken off your shoes, isn't it Sir Dawson?"

Minho couldn't respond as she had already turned the corner after the other two.

•••

Newton sat tiredly at his makeup table, brushing his long hair out of his face, night gown already on, the exhausting night weighting him down. He was humming a soft song his father used to sing, while brushing his hair. Now Newton needed to brush himself and also sing himself. A pity, really.

Suddenly the door opened and Janson stepped inside. Newton felt exposed in only his gown; normally he made sure to lay in bed before Janson so the older male wouldn't get to see him.

"Newton, I want to talk to you."

That wasn't the voice Janson used when he was in trouble, Newton thought in relief. "Sure," he said, putting the brush down and looking at his fiancé through the mirror.

"I know you've been feeling down lately..." Janson said, stalking over. "And I don't understand why. I can give you everything you want."

Newton looked down at his lap. 'Everything' was such a big and overrated word.

"So. After what happened tonight, I don't think it did anything good to your little head, so.." Janson circled the table, standing next to him now. "I wanted to give this on our proposal gala, but I think you could use a little boost right now." Janson had a box in his hands, and slowly he opened the lit.

Newton watched curiously as one of the biggest diamonds he ever saw came into view.

"Oh my..."

"The heart of the sea, it's called. When I saw it, the first thing in my mind was you. Your beauty will adorn this necklace like nobody else."

Janson stood right behind Newton now, wrapping the necklace snug around his pale neck. Newton's jaw dropped. The biggest diamond he ever seen was hanging around his neck.

Janson was glowing in pride. "You look like you can be my bride."

Newton blushed, eyes drifting back to the mirror. All he could see were his own tired eyes.

"It's 56 karat. It was from Lodewijk the fourteenth. If you could open your heart just a little more for me, I'd give you everything in the world."

Newton's breath hitched when he felt Janson's crotch rubbing his backside. He jumped off his chair and quickly walked to the door, cheeks flushed with embarrassment and a knot in his stomach.

"I-I it's lovely S-sir. Thank you. I'll b-be going n-now." As fast as he could, he disappeared in the bedroom, hearing Janson's cruel laugh from the other room.

All he wanted was for Minho, that third class stranger, to convince him life was worthy again.

•••

"Alby, guess what."

"What?" Alby asked rolling over in the bunk bed and yawning.

Minho had a bright smile on his face. "Remember the blonde guy, first class we saw this afternoon?"

Alby sat up, nodding, "Remember him? Of course, he's a piece of angel."

Minho snorted, climbing in his own bed. "I saved his life just a few moments ago, and I'm having dinner with his friends tomorrow."

"Dammit Minho! You're one lucky son of a bitch, I can only say!"

Minho smiled, closing his eyes and sighing contently. "I know, right?"