About two weeks passed after we did away with Radio Sunshine, and not a single thing of interest happened. I spent most of it staring at Gavin when he wasn't looking and staring at anything but him when he was. My mind kept going back to the morning topside and his arm around me. I liked it too much. I kind of started avoiding him again, and this time, he noticed. One afternoon, he cornered me in the hallway. "You're avoiding me," he stated plainly.

"Why would you say that?" I asked, ducking around him.

He followed, apparently intent upon getting an explanation. "You haven't been around for one of my broadcasts for weeks. That's not like you. And you're walking away from me. You never walk away when I'm talking to you unless you're mad, and you don't seem mad. So, the only conclusion I can draw is that you're avoiding me."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not."

"Then what's up?"

"Nothing."

"Liar."

"Leave me alone."

"Why?"

"Because!"

"Not until you tell me what I've done!"

"You haven't done anything!"

"So stop walking, turn around, and talk to me!" He caught my arm, and pulled me to a stop, then turned me around. "What the fuck is going on with you? You're acting very strange."

"I'm sorry," I sighed. "It's just some stuff I'm trying to work out, and you distract me."

He grinned. "I distract everyone. I'm beautiful."

I turned and started walking again so he couldn't see me smile. "No argument there," I muttered. "You haven't done anything, Gavin. I'm not mad," I told him over my shoulder. "Don't worry about it."

"But I do worry about it!" he called.

"Don't!"

I managed to escape him for the next couple days. He seemed to be actually giving me space, rather than me just fighting for it the whole time. I really needed to pull myself together and decide what the heck I was going to do about all of this. I looked at Gavin and all I wanted was to be able to hang out with him forever, and play with his bangs, and try on his sunglasses, and all other manner of girly ideas. I loved the way he smiled, especially at me. I loved his clothes, I loved his voice, I even had some amount of fondness for his teeth, of all things. This wasn't supposed to happen...but it was anyway.

One night, I was chilling in the kitchen, snacking on an apple when the Count came in. "Chelsea! Guess what!"

"What?" I asked, bored.

"Carl's got a girl on the boat!"

"Say what?" I sat up straighter.

"You remember that one that came on a few months ago?"

"You mean Quentin's niece? The girl who ended up sleeping with Dave? What was her name? Marianne?"

He nodded. "That one."

"It's her?"

"Yup. She brought a friend too."

"Ooh. Kinky."

He grinned. "I don't think she's going to be involved. She's just here to hang out."

"Where is she? I want to meet her." I jumped off the stool I had been sitting on and followed him to where a girl was being surrounded by all of the guys minus Carl, Quentin, and Gavin. "Hey, back off!" I cried, shoving through them to her rescue. "Give the girl some room."

"Hello," she said once I reached her.

"Hi, I'm Chelsea," I said, shaking her hand.

"Margaret."

"If you'll follow me, I'll take you to the living area. It's much less confined, so these fellows will have less of an excuse to crowd around you."

She smiled. "Ok." We all made our way to the living room and sat around a table just talking. Margaret proved to be a very fun person to talk to. I liked her. A little bit into the conversation, Felicity brought her a cup of tea. "Oh, thank you, that's...lovely." I glanced up at the pause in her statement. She was staring at Felicity with this vaguely shocked smile on her face.

Felicity looked like she was choking on her own esophagus, but she managed to get out, "Lovely," in response. I turned to look at the Count who was sitting next to me. He looked rather shocked himself considering his eyebrows were about half way up his forehead. He met my gaze, then we both just grinned widely.

Later, when I realized that Felicity and Margaret had both disappeared recently, I ran to Gavin's room, laughing the whole way. I knocked on his door, and when he granted me entry, I busted in. "Guess what!" I cried.

He looked up at me from where he was lounging on his bed, a magazine that was actually not porn in his hand. "What?"

"Carl's lost love that he borrowed a condom from you for is here, and she brought a friend who disappeared right around the same time as Felicity, and no one knows where they went."

He didn't respond for a moment. Finally, he calmly sat down his magazine, then pulled his sunglasses down to the tip of his nose, looking at me over the top of them. "You're kidding," he replied, eyes wide. I grinned and shook my head. "Well, that's bloody brilliant."

"Isn't it? I..."

Someone else knocked on the door. "Yeah?" Gavin called.

The Count stuck his head in. "Hey, Gavin...oh, sorry." He glanced between the two of us curiously.

"Not a problem. What's up?"

"We, uh, we're going to set up a microphone outside of Carl's room."

"Broadcasting the status of his virginity, are we?"

"Absolutely."

"Count me in."

"Me too," I said. "It's about time that boy got some."

"This coming from what will probably be the only virgin on board by morning," Count remarked.

I smiled. "Just makes me more special!"

"You're already pretty damn special. You don't have to brag about it," Gavin said, rolling his eyes and grinning.

The Count glanced at him, then back at me. "Right. Well, I'm going to go help Harold with the mike. See you two by at least dawn, ok?"

"Got it," I replied, saluting him out the door. I glanced at my watch. It was already after 1 am. "Can I sleep over?" I asked. "It's already late, but we might as well get a couple hours of sleep."

"Yeah, that's fine. I don't know if I'm actually going to sleep or not, though."

"Ok. Fine by me." I clambered onto his bed on the side closest to the wall, then maneuvered myself under the blankets. As I laid back against one of his pillows, I asked, "You really think I'm special?"

He glanced at me, then pushed his glasses back up his nose. "A little bit."

I smiled and rolled so that my back was facing him. In my mind, I said 'Gavin, you're a little special too' and then it turned into a huge passionate encounter, but in reality, all I said was, "Night."

"Night, Chels."

I awoke to Gavin poking me in the ribs. "Get up, pigeon. It's almost dawn. The Count will have our heads if we're late."

"Yeah, yeah, alright!" I muttered, shoving his hand away.

"You going dressed like that?"

"Why the hell not?"

"I dunno. It would've given you an incentive to get up."

"I'm hungry. That's an incentive to get up," I groaned, sitting up.

"Come on, then." He offered me his hand, and I stared at it a minute before finally just taking it.

We ran through the halls to Carl's and Kevin's room. Everyone else except Quentin, Felicity, and Margaret had gathered outside. The Count waved at me. "Rise and shine, princess."

"Yeah, fuck off," I told him. "I'm going to get some food."

"But he might come out!"

"At the literal crack of dawn? Uh, no. He's a smart kid. I'll be back in ten minutes tops." With that, I defiantly made my way to the kitchen. I got myself a cup of tea, then fixed some toast. After buttering the toast, I started back towards Carl's room. I took my time, arriving back at almost precisely ten minutes from when I left. I grinned when I saw the Count actually check the clock then give me a thumbs up.

We were sitting there for nearly two hours. I kept nodding off onto Simon's shoulder. He would let me sleep for a few minutes, then wake me up again. About an hour into it, the Count went over the radio, explaining to listeners what was going on. Finally, when I was about ready to give up the whole idea, Carl's door crept open, and he backed out. The Count immediately began Dancing in the Street and everyone around me cheered. I managed to at least clap. "At last, ladies and gentlemen, Carl has emerged from the Chamber of Love!" The Count announced into the microphone. "Carl, say hello to the 20 million people who have been waiting with bated breath to hear the news whether or not you have indeed misplaced your crucial cherry tonight!"

"Come on, guys!" Carl groaned, motioning towards the door.

"I think that's a yes! Is that a yes? And remember, the response 'I'm not going to answer that question' means yes."

"I'm certainly not going to answer that question," Carl replied.

"You just did! We have lift off!"

John, who was waiting in the corner with his own mike cut in with, "Yes, newsflash! A nice young man has lost his virginity in the North Sea. More soon on that breaking story."

"Well done, Carl!" Simon cheered.

Suddenly, the door opened again and Marianne walked out, wrapped only in a sheet.. We all mumbled quiet good mornings. "Morning," she replied.

I almost got up and left to go sleep some more, but I noticed a door open in my peripheral. I turned around and saw Felicity stick her head out, followed closely by Margaret. "Holy shit," I laughed. Everyone craned around to see.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if you could see what I see now," Count cried. "They'll be dancing in the street all over the United Kingdom tonight!" As Carl and Marianne made their way back into their room, The Count called, "Carl, well done!" Carl just smiled and waved us off.

Marianne and Margaret left later that day. We all went topside to see them off. Felicity had a sign that said 'I LOVE YOU' on it that she had decorated with hearts. It was pretty cute, but the best sign was Kevin's 'MARGARET, I LOVE YOU TOO!'.

After bidding them farewell, The Count and I wandered to the nose of the ship to hang out. "Can I ask you a question?" he said after a long lull in the conversation.

"Sure."

"Are you and Gavin together and just not telling anyone?"

I snorted. "Why?"

"You spend every free moment with him. You sleep in his bed half the time. I mean, maybe it's not my business, but I've been wondering. I'm pretty sure everyone else has been too."

I glanced over at him. He was just running his index finger around the mouth of his beer bottle, watching me. "We're not together," I answered. "We're just friends."

"Like you and Simon?"

"Exactly like me and Simon."

"Except you desperately want to have sex with Gavin and not Simon."

I stared at him, trying very hard to dispute this, but I was tired of it. "Am I so obvious?" I asked.

He smiled. "Only to an experienced eye. You keep up a nice front. You know, I'm sure he would if you asked."

"Seriously, Count? Do you really think I would just meander up and ask, 'Oh, hey Gavin, can we go have a fuck in your room real quick? Yeah? Thanks.' I'm not that kind of girl!" I glared at him darkly for even suggesting it.

"Oho! There's emotional connection too. I see. So, are you in love with him, or what?"

"I...well..." This was it. This was the moment of truth that I had been needing for a long time. If I admitted it, things would just be better. "Yeah," I sighed. "I think so. Don't tell anybody any of this...please."

He put a hand to his heart. "I swore to be your protector. None of this shall pass beyond this conversation unless you wish it so."

"I just hope I can trust you," I muttered.

"Chelsea! That hurt! Of course you can trust me. Cross my heart and hope to die," he finished. I smiled over at him and he gave me a very brotherly one-armed hug. "Don't you worry. I'll take this to my grave."

"Well, you'll certainly get there before anything actually happens with Gavin, in any case. Do you think he actually feels anything? Like, ever?"

Count laughed. "Deep down, there might be a few stirrings. You might have to dig for them, but I think he does. And if it helps at all, I heard Angus and Dave talking the other day. They said that they've never seen him get this close to a girl without fucking her. Said he must really see something in you if he's still interested. Of course, they then decided that you two are screwing around without telling anyone, but since you know you're not, that ought to mean something, right?"

I smiled. "Yeah, I guess it does in its own weird way. Thanks."

"You know, I think he..."

"SHH!" My head had whipped towards the skinny entrance to the nose of the ship. Those familiar boots were coming.

Within a few seconds, Gavin popped around the corner. "There you are. Been looking for you all afternoon."

I looked up at him and smirked. "It's only 1:30."

"Well, it felt like all afternoon considering what time we got up," he replied with a pointed look at the Count.

He held up his hands. "Hey, you all were the ones who agreed to be present. You didn't have to go. You could've slept to your heart's content."

"Besides," I said, "I thought you said you weren't going to go to sleep anyway."

"Did he? And you're trying to put the blame on me!" Count muttered, feigning indignation. He stood up, winked at me, then left.

Gavin watched him go, a little puzzled looking, then took his vacated chair. "What was that about?"

I shrugged. "Just Count being Count. So, what's up? Why are you looking for me so desperately?"

"I was out of your company for more than an hour. I was having withdrawals," he fired back.

I grinned. "Shut up." He smiled over at me, and that scary heart palpitation that occurred whenever he did such a thing almost took my breath away. He looked out on the waves, and I suddenly got the urge to delve into the past a little. "Gavin."

"Hmm?"

"When you left Radio Rock, where did you go? You know, looking for your bigger and better things?"

He lit up a cigarette, then replied, "That, dear girl, is a secret."

I moved to the edge of my chair. "Yeah, and what's the point of a secret if you can't tell someone?"

He puffed thoughtfully on his paper-wrapped tobacco, then answered, "Good point. Well, if you must know, I went away to discover the meaning of life."

"That is slightly bigger and better than living on a cargo boat as a disc jockey," I commented.

He nodded. "I went to Africa, I traversed India, popped in on South America. I took drugs you couldn't dream of made from the kidneys of animals you've never even heard of, but I still hadn't found it. Then one day, I was in this little bar in Guatemala with this chick who was so beautiful. I mean, it was impossible to talk to her, you just wanted to have sex with her the whole time." I rolled my eyes, but smiled. "Anyway, she went for a swim, and I just sat there and I thought, 'Odd. I've got money, chicks, drugs, time on my hands, but I still haven't found what I'm looking for'. And then I noticed this old Guatemalan guy...face like an old shoe...and he walked across the room, and there in the corner, I hadn't seen it before, was a jukebox. He put in a coin, and he pressed three buttons." He paused, and I watched this strange, almost ecstatic smile stretch across his face. "And then..."

He let the pause go on long enough for me to get antsy. "What?"

"Get Off My Cloud by the Rolling Stones," he concluded.

I grinned. "I love that song."

He nodded. "So do I. The opening drums started and I couldn't stop myself from starting to dance along. By the first chorus, I was on my feet. Me and him and eventually that chick danced our hearts out. At the end, he let out a victorious cry of 'Rock and roll!'" He paused again, taking a puff of his cigarette. "I got a ticket home the next day. You see, the thing that make sense of this crazy world...is rock and roll. I was crazy to think I could ever leave it all behind." He glanced at me, noted my 'drinking in every word' expression, and chuckled. "Lucky for you."

I absolutely could not stop the smile that split me face. "Lucky for me," I said.