10th April, 1912

I woke with a start – there was so much noise outside. I had spent the night in my suite, and frankly could have done with another hour or so of sleep - mainly because Will had insisted on keeping me up all night laughing about Dalbeattie. I rubbed my eyes, feeling a twinge of guilt. I still couldn't believe I didn't want to talk about Dalbeattie anymore. God...I suddenly had an awful feeling – could my sister have been right? That this relationship was merely an infatuation with a dashing man in uniform who seemed to have an exciting life?

No. I pushed the thought away as I climbed out of bed and stumbled over to the washbasin to splash cold water on my face. Will and I had something more than that, so much more. In that case, I concluded, my disinterest in Dalbeattie was most likely due to boredom. I had spent so much time wishing I was there that the reality of the memories was long gone. Everytime Will mentioned it I idealised it – deliberately omitting the bad weather and frights from my mind.

I had just pulled a dress on when I heard a knock at the door. It was probably Will – telling me to hurry up and get something to eat, most likely. I sighed at the thought, and opened the door.

"Good morning, lovvie."

Will grinned as he presented me with a bunch of daffodils. They were beautiful.

"Oh...thank you, Will."

His grin faded at that, and he followed me inside.

"Ada, I've been meaning to ask you...are you ill?"

"No. Whatever gave you that idea?"

"I shouldn't have mentioned it really...it's just that...well, you've changed in the last few days. I thought there might be something wrong." He looked concerned.

"I'm sorry, Will. Really. I just..."

My voice trailed off as I placed the beautiful flowers in a delicate porcelain vase. I saw Will's shoulders sag in defeat out of the corner of my eye. He sighed and spoke again.

"It's no matter, Ada. Anyway, I just came to let you know that passengers have already started to board and, if you would like, the junior officers have offered to give you a first hand experience of their tasks."

"Making tea?" I laughed softly, then turned to face him. "Did you write to your sister?"

He looked surprised at the question. "Yes, I did."

"Ah. Good. She'll be pleased."

There was a silence. Not a pleasant silence, like the ones I was used to. It wasn't the sort of silence where I could lean my head on Will's chest and just listen to his heartbeat, feeling perfectly content. No, it was awkward. Will was the first to speak.

"I hired a maid for you."

His voice was suddenly dull. I felt a twinge of guilt.

"No, Will. No. I don't need a maid."

"You do need a maid, lovvie. You'll never get yourself into those dresses I bought you without a maid. There's a corset there and everything."

I sighed and looked at him. How did he manage to seem so alert after being awake since the early hours of the morning? I suddenly felt the need to find out if something had gone wrong - I moved towards him and kissed his lips. He seemed surprised, before smiling down at me.

"Ah lovvie, you do know I love you more than life itself, don't you?"

"I...I hope so."

"And no matter how little time I spend with you, you're always on my mind?"

I smiled and he kissed my nose, sending that familiar tingle down my spine. All my feelings for him surged back and I could hardly contain myself. Will stepped back and smiled.

"So do you want to spend the morning with Jim?"

"What about breakfast?"

"I'm fairly certain that he will have sandwiches nearby, lovvie. He always does."

Jim Moody spent the rest of the morning chattering to me between his duties. He was checking tickets and room numbers – because, as he said, Wilde didn't believe he knew the ship well enough. Apparently he and Lowe were laughed at by the other officers for not knowing the ship too well (although, he said, they did) - and so Jim had volunteered himself for this job to prove them wrong.

"Besides," he said. "When we launch I'll be up on deck."

"With Will?"

"Yes. Funny really – that it was supposed to be Lights. Does Will talk about it at all?"

"He's disappointed."

"Well he would be. He'd be mad to not be disappointed." A group of first class passengers crowded the doorway. "Yes, your rooms will be that way, sir."

I looked at him and laughed. "That way? That's not very helpful, is it?"

"No. But they can wander in that direction, get help from a steward and I'll still get credit."

I liked spending time with Jim. He was the youngest of the officers, and the complete opposite of his name. I had pointed it out to him, but Harry had contradicted me immediately. Which hadn't gone down too well - but at least that disagreement, like all of their disagreements, had been minor and short-lived.

I stood there with him for a couple of hours, my thoughts sometimes wandering back to Will, wondering what he would be doing. Something uninteresting, I reasoned. Why else would he want me to spend time down here?

"What time are we leaving, Jim?"

"Noon." He scratched his head. "I wish this lot would hurry up."

So it went on for the next couple of hours. Eventually Jim breathed a sigh of relief and signalled to some men on the dock.

"All passengers on board!" He yelled, handing me a clipboard, before unhooking the gangway from the door.

The men started pulling the gangway from the door, and Jim turned to me with a grin. I looked past him, as two young men came running up the gangway – which had already been moved far enough that they couldn't just step on board. Jim turned to them reluctantly when I pointed, and briefly glanced at their tickets.

"Have you been through the inspection queue?"

"Of course. Anyway, we don't have lice. We're Americans – both of us!"

Jim looked slightly skeptical, but then sighed, nodded and stepped aside.

"Right. Come aboard."

The two men jumped on board and barged through the other passengers, running – although it seemed strange they would start running around a ship they probably weren't familiar with. Jim and I went in the same direction, Jim grinning like a madman.

"Do you want to go up to wave?"

"Why?"

"I don't honestly know. Everyone does though. Besides, I have to go to find your fiancé before he has me fired. Those late passengers kept me...well, late."

We made our way back up on deck, and Jim left me there while he went to find Will. I sighed. I was bored already – I could tell now that any company I had previously found with the officers was going to vanish now that the voyage had started. They would always be on duty, and that left me with the first class passengers who were now surrounding me. I felt completely out of place in my plain dress compared to the women who were dressed up so nicely.

"Ada!"

I turned to see Lights running towards me.

"If you see Wilde, you did not see me pass this way."

"What the -"

He ran on before I could ask. Wasn't he supposed to be on duty? Of course he was – all the officers were. I frowned and wandered over to see if I could spot Will, ignoring all the cheering and waving.

"Miss Banks."

Wilde stood behind me, out of breath.

"Have you seen that bast-" he paused. "Sorry, have you seen Mr Lightoller pass this way?"

"No. Why?"

"That idiot has just informed me that Mr Blair has the lookout binoculars."

"But Mr Blair-"

"Exactly. Please excuse me, Miss Banks."

I watched him walk away, stifling a laugh. Will had decidingly laughed off the whispers of Davy's revenge – the revenge which, he had claimed, wouldn't harm the name of the White Star Line. He was right, after all – the missing binoculars would be a nuisance and he would make his feelings known, but without causing any real damage.

I wondered if Lights had told Will yet – still, now that Wilde knew it was only a matter of time before all the officers and other seamen did.

A/N – I just wanted to say thank you (again!) to the people who have reviewed so far. I admit I've been just a little bit distracted since I last updated – I went to see Star Trek, you see, and that got me watching TOS again. Which put this story to the back of my mind. Sorry about that! Anyway, until next time – live long and prosper (see what I did there?!)!