Author's Note: Hey guys! This is my very first fanfiction! I've been meaning to write one for a while, now, and I'll be straightforward for what you can expect from my stories: I'll try to get a chapter up a week, but I'm still in school and have homework every night and on weekends... When I do post chapters, they may not be very long, unless you'd all rather read longer, farther spaced out chapters... Anyway, I'll try to update frequently, and if you want, you can request chapter ideas and storylines... I'm pretty open to that kind of stuff... Anywayz, hope you enjoy chapter one of One Can Only Try.

~Jillianna

*

"Hal, come on. Our stateroom's this way. Stop ogling at every man you see." Halley could be such a pain, sometimes, especially when there was a boy, or as she called them all, a man involved. And since we'd gotten on the ship, we'd passed just over a hundred male passengers and crew workers. Halley couldn't keep her eyes in her head.

Halley glared at me as I peeked over my shoulder and I only stifled laughs as I held my head high and kept on sauntering down the hallway, the green velvet I wore swishing between my legs with every step.

We were on our way to America. The whole family, Halley, Tommy, Mum, Da and I had been in England and Scotland, along with my fiancé Charles, to announce our engagement. Tommy, Mum, Da and Charles had gone back to America on an earlier ship, leaving Halley and I to shop in Paris before we had to return. We'd only just gotten news that they were all back in Philadelphia when we arrived in Southampton, two days before Titanic was to set sail.

I missed Charles already. He was the man of my dreams… literally. Since the day I met him, I'd dreamt about him nearly every night. It was pure luck and nothing more or less that all the girls he was assigned had other men, and he was one of five serious suitors for me. We loved each other dearly, and we both knew it. The wedding was set for June, and I couldn't wait. Halley, on the other hand, had big men issues.

From the time she was allowed to play outside with other children, she'd hung around the boys in her heavy petticoats, them all dressed in dark slacks and polo shirts or overalls. She liked all the boys… and it was only a minor inconvenience that none of them really liked her back. At the ripe age of sixteen, though, Halley was to be engaged soon after my wedding. Suitors were still analyzing her, like a prize show horse, deciding on whether or not to sign the final contract. It was only a matter of time, now, and Halley couldn't keep still.

As we approached our staterooms, I was dragging Halley by the wrist, completely embarrassing her. Well, that's what she gets for going all goo-goo eyed for every male she lays her pretty little eyes on. As we entered the stateroom, though, she forgot all about her embarrassment, and I dropped her wrist as I let the door slam behind us, forgetting of her foolishness.

It was a one-roomed suite with two mahogany beds and red velvet drapes that hung to the floor around them. There was no porthole, but a window in the far corner, and beside it was a door to what I imagined would either be the closet or the bathroom. Our belongings lay unpacked on our beds, our suitcases tidily closed and positioned against the wall. Wow… I thought, immensely impressed. The White Star Line has really outdone themselves with this one…

I heard a muffled cry from Halley, and assumed it was out of delight as she flung herself onto her own bed. "I finally get my own bed!" she screamed into the bed, and I couldn't help but laugh. We had shared a bed at the last few hotels we'd stayed at throughout England and Scotland and Halley absolutely hated it.

I sat gingerly down on my own bed, removing the shawl from my shoulders and gliding my hand over the fabric of the bed sheets. Silk. I should have guessed. This was the Titanic, of course…

"Fal, do you think we'll have our own maid and steward? Wouldn't that be just lovely? Oh, that would be utterly wonderful!" At sixteen, Halley truly was a handful.

She had a halo of blonde curls that surrounded her long pale face, a short and curvy figure that would leave any man's heart beating wildly in his chest, and the round and strikingly deep grey-blue eyes the color of the ocean on a rainy day. I, however, was nearly opposite, as I had the same curls, yet a dark shade of black, a curvy figure, yet I was taller and more matured, and the same round eyes, yet a dark green color as opposed to her light and cloudy blue. My skin and face shape, though, were same as hers.

The ship had started moving, then, and I proposed that Halley and I go out on the boat deck in a few minutes, after the farewell crowds had died down some. Her eyes lit up, as they often did when she was excited, and she grinned widely, her perfectly straight and white teeth glistening. I sighed, rolling my eyes, and stood. "But no boys. You know perfectly well that Mum and Da are finding you a suitor this instant."

Halley's nose wrinkled as her brown furrowed, and I could tell she wasn't all too happy. "We're on a ship. We ought to have some fun. I won't tell if you have an affair with someone…" "Halley!" I shrieked my eyes wide as I glared at her. "You know I love Charles with all my heart and being on a ship is no excuse! The gossip will get back to America anyway, no matter where we are."

She crossed her arms and pouted, her pink lips protruding from her face. "I hate being a Collins. We've got too many expectations to keep up." I frowned as I walked to the door, beckoning for her to follow. "It's not so bad… We basically get our pick of the finest male meat this world has to offer. What more could you want?" She was still pouting as she brushed past me and out the door, and I could just hear her mumble, "I want some fun, once in a while."

*

"Well it's a lovely day, at least," I pointed out, trying to cheer up my stubborn sister. I guessed she was still upset I wouldn't let her go off cavorting around the ship with the men she wanted to, most of whom I assumed were already married and merely looking for a thrill.

Halley grunted in reply, staring off into the ocean thoughtfully. I sighed, leaning against the rail beside her. A breeze blew, gently tugging my dark hair loose of the bun I had piled neatly atop my head just hours before. "Look…" I reasoned and Halley glanced at me from the corner of her eye, refusing to turn her head. "I'm sorry I have to keep you so locked up, but we both know you're still young and a bit naïve. Plus, Mum and Da will have someone picked out soon, and you'll probably be engaged before Charles and I get back from our honeymoon." Halley shrugged, grunting again, this time without looking at me.

I shook my head, only slightly defeated, and continued staring out to the ocean. There was comfortable silence between us for a few minutes; the only sound was that of the steel hull of Titanic slicing through the water crystal, the wind flying off the deck and the polite conversation and laughter of first class passengers strolling behind us.

"Hey, Fallon?" Halley finally asked, and I raised my eyebrow, unused to her calling me by my full name. This time it was I who grunted in response. "Do you love Charles?" I blinked, still looking at the horizon, both my eyebrows now raised, before I frowned. "Of course I do. I chose him, and he chose me. We love each other with all our hearts, and I miss him very much, right now." I meant every word I said.

Halley nodded slowly, as if accepting the answer to her question. I didn't even have to ask her the reasoning behind her inquiry, as she spoke again before I even had the chance to.

"I was just wondering because I know of many married and engaged couples who hardly know each other and don't even love each other. I just hope I have what Charles and you do, some day." I smiled, my heart warmed by her comment. "You're not as naïve as you look," I teased, getting a slight giggle out of her.

There was another few seconds of the comfortable silence between us before Halley announced that she was getting cold and that we should probably get back inside. "You're right," I agreed, suddenly becoming aware of my cold bare arms and probably reddening cheeks.

Halley turned away from the rail and began to walk as I lingered behind for a moment, staring into the ocean, the sun just beyond its highest point of the day. I assumed it was just after two in the afternoon, as it had been around one when we left our stateroom and we'd been out for at least an hour.

"Fal, are you coming?" Halley stood at a door that led inside, her hand on the brass doorknob. I nodded and began walking towards her. I was almost at the door where Halley waited expectantly for me, when a terrible weight was thrust upon me and I fell to the cold wooden deck as Halley screamed my name.