Yay! Time for a new story! I am excited for this, and I hope you all are as well. I have many twists and turns planned and hopefully you will all love them as much as I do.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with The Originals...I just like to play around with the characters at times. I only own the plot...mostly.

Chapter 1 - The Cruise

"I was thinking about staying with Sam again tonight."

Hayley sighed, shaking her head, as her best friend planned to ditch her for the fourth night in a row. In most cases, Hayley wouldn't mind Keelin staying at her girlfriend's place. But in this case, she was not thrilled. She'd never liked Sam. And she never would. Sam was not right for Keelin in any which way.

"Is that okay with you?"

Using her best fake "I am fine with it" voice, Hayley replied, "Of course, Keelin. It's okay with me."

"Are you sure?" Keelin wondered hesitantly. "You don't sound like you're okay with it."

Hayley chuckled half-heartedly. "Why wouldn't I be okay with you giving Sam a fourth chance?"

Keelin sighed. "Hayley..."

"What?" Hayley asked as she began pacing the living room out of frustration. "Can't I be worried about my best friend staying in a bad relationship?"

"Hayley, it's not..."

Hayley cut Keelin off immediately. "Don't you dare say it isn't a bad relationship," she warned her. "All she does is use you and you know it."

"You don't know her like I do, Hayley," Keelin insisted. "She's not using me."

"So then you're official again?"

Keelin was silent for a moment before answering, "Well, no... not exactly."

Hayley rolled her eyes. "Aka she's using you," Hayley pointed out, walking over to the coffee table where the mail was. "You don't even love her, so why do you keep going back?" Hayley asked, genuinely curious as she picked up the mail and started going through it.

"I... I don't know," Keelin answered honestly. "Maybe it's due to the fact that I'm afraid of being alone."

"You are not alone," Hayley said, shaking her head. "You have me."

"It's not the same, Hayley."

Hayley frowned, throwing piece after piece of junk mail down onto the table. "You know it is okay to be single this day and age," Hayley pointed out. "I mean look at me, after Jack and I broke up there were many guys who wanted me, but I chose to stay single because I know I deserve more than to just be used."

"Yeah, I know, but..."

Coming upon the last piece of mail, Hayley's mind wandered off and she didn't catch the rest of Keelin's sentence.

"Oh my god!" Hayley exclaimed almost dropping her cell phone.

"What?!" Keelin asked, her voice conveying her concern, from the other end of the line.

As she stared at the piece of mail in her hand, a card, Hayley insisted, "You need to get home right now!"

"What? Why?" Keelin asked confused. "Is everything okay?

"Just do it!" Hayley demanded, rereading the card.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Hayley assured her. "Just get home, like yesterday!"

With that Hayley hung up the phone.

As she looked over the card again, Hayley felt herself panic. The date on it was two days from now. Between her break up and all else that had happened in the past few months, Hayley had completely forgotten the plans she had made a few months before everything went to shit.

Throwing the card down on the table, Hayley rushed to her bedroom. She had to be ready for when Keelin got there.

~AllAtSea~

"Hayley, where are you?" Keelin's voice echoed through the apartment as the sound of the door closing followed soon after. "And why are all of my suitcases out here in the living room?"

Hayley walked out of her bedroom, down the hall and into the living room. "Because you need to pack for a two week cruise."

Keelin raised an eyebrow, eyeing her friend curiously. "Wait. What?"

"Due to Jack and I's untimely break up, I had completely forgotten that we booked a cruise for this year," Hayley explained, rushing around the apartment collecting everything she needed to pack.

"What does this have to do with me?" Keelin wondered as she walked into the kitchen.

As she followed Keelin into the kitchen, Hayley told her, "The cruise was booked for two people. I can't go alone."

"Why not?" Keelin wondered, opening the fridge and pulling out a bottle of water.

Hayley guffawed. "I can't go on a cruise alone!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms and leaning back against the counter. "That would be so boring and just not worth it."

"You know I would go if I could, but Sam..."

Hayley huffed, rolling her eyes.

"Wait, is that why you want me to go?" Keelin questioned her, unscrewing the bottle cap. "To get me as far away from Sam as possible?"

Hayley's eyes widened. "What?! No! I wasn't even thinking about her."

"Are you sure because..."

Hayley cut her friend off. "I have more important things to think about right now than anything to do with your not actual girlfriend," Hayley snapped unintentionally. "Sorry. It's just that the cruise leaves in two freaking days!"

Keelin scrunched her eyes. "Then why are you in a rush today?"

Hayley smacked her forehead with her hand. "Because the cruise ship is docked in Miami."

Keelin's eyes grew to the size of saucers. "Which means..."

Hayley nodded. "Since this is basically last minute, we won't be able to get a flight out so driving it is," Hayley informed her. "And it takes 12 hours to get there driving."

"We?" Keelin asked, cocking an eyebrow. "I still never said I would go with you."

As she pushed herself away from the counter, Hayley put on her best puppy dog face and then walked over to her friend. Keelin did her best to avoid eye contact. She knew what would happen if she caught sight of that look.

"Please, Keels," Hayley said with a smile. "It would mean a lot to me if you would be my plus one on the cruise."

Keelin sighed. "Hayley, I have things to do around here."

"Oh, come on, Keelin. You've been saying lately how you wish I'd revert back to my old fun self from before my break up," Hayley reminded her. "Maybe these two weeks at sea will be just what I need."

Hayley could pinpoint the exact moment when Keelin finally gave in to her pleas. Her shoulders slouched and she looked up at her with a defeated expression on her face.

"You said the cruise is two weeks?"

Hayley nodded her head, forcing herself not to jump up and down and squeal with excitement.

"Okay, fine. I will go." Keelin shook her head. "Who knows it could be a lot of fun."

Hayley threw her arms around her friend, pulling her into a hug. "I knew you'd eventually see it my way!" she exclaimed. "The next two weeks will be amazing."

"They better be," Keelin replied, hugging her back.

Pulling away moments later and turning to leave the kitchen, Hayley said, "We need to pack and get some sleep so we can leave first thing in the morning."

Keelin sighed as she followed Hayley out into the living area.

"And this will be a good time to get you away from Sam, too," Hayley said quietly, smirking.

"I heard that!" Keelin called after her. "And I knew it!"

Hayley shrugged. "You'll thank me later," Hayley said in a sing song voice. "And no take backs!"

"Whatever," Keelin replied; Hayley could imagine her rolling her eyes as she said it. "Hey, you know what? I was just thinking..."

"Thinking what?" Hayley asked, turning her head to look at Keelin.

Keelin smirked. "Wouldn't it be ironic if you ended up falling for someone on this cruise that you were supposed to take with your ex?"

Eyes wide, Hayley shrieked, "Seriously, Keelin?! Don't you even say that!"

Laughing, Keelin returned to the living room and grabbed her suitcases. "You have to admit that it would be pretty funny and definitely ironic."

"I am not going on the cruise to have a fling," Hayley told her friend adamantly. "I am just going to have fun and show Jack that I'm not letting his cheating ass get to me anymore."

"You go girl!" Keelin called back over her shoulder as she walked down the hall to her room, her suitcases in hand.

"Watch it happen now that she said it," Hayley thought to herself, retreating to her own room to finish packing.

There it is! Chapter 1!

Let me know what you thought of it! All thoughts and feedback are very welcome.