Sorry about the wait, guys... still don't own Titanic... and I decided to answer my reviews this chapter.

titanicgirl1625 - Aw, thanks! It means so much when I hear people say that. And in response to your other review... you'll just have to see who dies. That private message was one of the sweetest things I've ever recieved, thanks so much!

Mickey Mouse Gloves - First of all the pen name is really cute! And second, thank you very much.

I decided not to tell Mark and Uncle Jim about the possibility that Mark's father (his name was Lionel) was here. All it would do is put them on the edge and ruin our fun. That couldn't happen... we had been without fun for too long.

It was night, and I couldn't sleep. I had put a coat on and was walking around the ship.

"Hey, Cassie, are-"

"AAH!" I screamed, sure it was Lionel, but instead, Jack's hand was resting on my shoulder. "Oh - sorry, Jack... I thought you were Li - I-I mean... someone... else..."

He looked at me, concerned. "Are you okay? You seemed a little scared."

I was terrified, I was shaking, I was about to vomit. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not." he said wisely. "Come on, you can talk to me. We might be living near each other soon - your uncle Jim, Mark, and Fabrizio and I were talking about it."

"Really?" I said, forgetting my conflict for the time being. "That'll be great! We were planning on going somewhere near New York, but Mark said nothing was definite."

"I was talking to him before, when you and Cora were in your room, and he said he would come to Wisconsin with Fabrizio and I, and probably your Uncle Jim will come too."

I was delighted. "This is great! We can all be a family and Lionel will never-" I cut myself off in mid sentence. Cassie, stop talking!

"Who's Lionel?" asked Jack. I shook my head. "Cassie... who is Lionel?"

"I can't tell you!" I wailed. Jack put his arm around my shoulders.

"Of course you can," he said gently. And through his soft persuasion, I suddenly found myself telling him everything. I burst into tears and spilled everything to this man whom I hardly knew, or at least hadn't known for very long. Once I was done, he gave me a hug. "Cassie, this is serious. We should tell-"

"We can't!" I said almost wildly. "Mark - Uncle Jim - Cora - they can't know. They can't know!"

"Can I tell you a secret?" he asked. I nodded, wiping my eyes.

"Tonight, I stopped a girl from jumping off the ship. And then I was arrested for supposedly trying to rape her. And now, I've been invited to dinner in first class tomorrow."

I was speechless. "First class is easy to pull off," I said without thinking. "Me and Cora did it and everyone thought we were - I mean - ..."

"You and Cora sneaked into first class?" he demanded, raising his eyebrows. I nodded guiltily.

"Yeah..."

Instead of looking angry like I'd thought, he looked hopeful. "Can you give me some pointers? I have no idea what to do!"

I laughed too. But Jack grew serious after a few moments. "Cassie, if you run into Lionel again-"

"It's not Lionel," I insisted. "It can't be."

"Well, if you run into him again, you tell Mark and Jim, okay?"

"Okay..." I crossed my fingers behind my back. They would not know. We were going to have fun on this ship if it killed us.

After a few more minutes of talking, we went our separate ways. Jack's room was all the way on the other side of the deck, so the poor guy had a pretty long walk ahead of him.

That next morning, nearly all of the steerage passengers were on the deck, in the stern of the ship because where we walked was according to class. Jack was drawing funny faces for Cora in his sketchbook, and I was in a staring contest with Fabrizio, Merdoc once again twined around my shoulders. Mark and Uncle Jim were playing chess. Tommy was watching them, saying that he'd play winner.

My eyes felt shriveled from not blinking, but Fabrizio wasn't even tearing up.

"Hey, Fabrizio," I said, "look!"

He blinked unconsciously and looked behind him, and I started laughing. He turned back to me, looking exasperated.

"You leetle a-cheater!" he yelled, but I knew he was kidding around. Then his eye caught this blond woman sitting at a table with her family. He stared.

"Fabrizio?" I asked after about thirty seconds. "Hello? Fabrizio?"

Too late, he was gone into space. I shook my head and walked over to Jack and Cora. "Having fun?" I asked, looking at the faces Jack was drawing. Some made me laugh and others were plain creepy.

"Yeah!" they both said happily. I sat down and watched him start to draw another face. After a few minutes, I noticed that everyone was quiet. I looked up. It was that redhead from the lift, and from when we first met Tommy.

"Hello, Mr. Dawson," she said formally. Everyone was staring at her. We were in the steerage part of the ship. No one could think why she was here. "Would you care to accompany me on a walk?"

Jack looked bewildered. "Uh, sure." He masked it quickly with an easy grin and stood up. I stood up with him.

"You tell me you save a first-class girl, and yet you fail to tell me she's that same girl from yesterday!"

"Sorry..."

"Jack," I said, looking up (way, way up, because I'm so short) at him. "She's...not like the other first-class girls. I can tell."

"You're right," he said, grinning. "She's not." And he walked away with her.

"Well, shut my mouth," I said, scowling after them.

Tommy, Mark, and Fabrizio exchanged glances, then started laughing like a bunch of idiots. I shook my head. I then got an idea to follow them into first class. I decided not to bother with the fancy dress again, because I would lose them. Worst came to worst (in other words, if I were caught) I would say I had been invited into first class along with Jack; he would vouch for me and I had a feeling the redhead would also. I started to walk along after them, putting a finger to my lips when Cora saw me. She giggled silently. Merdoc, clearly wanting nothing to do with this, jumped off my shoulders and settled next to her.

I followed Jack and the redhead, who had just started talking about the weather, until they got to about the middle of the ship. Suddenly, Jack smiled.

"I think we have an eavesdropper," he said, turning around. I pretended to be looking over the rail, but Jack caught my shoulder. "Hey, Cassie."

"Hi," I said sheepishly. Jack grinned.

"Rose, this is Cassie Meyers. Cassie, Rose Dewitt Bukator."

"A pleasure," I said as I swept a curtsy, cheeks burning from embarrassment.

"The pleasure's all mine," said Rose politely. "Meyers? Are you of any relation to a friend of my fiancee's? Lionel Meyers?"

Jack's face grew serious and urgent, and he looked pointedly at me. My blood ran cold. Lionel was here. I almost screamed. He was ruining everything!

"Cora's birthday party is today! Let us at least go to that!"

He ruined Cora's party.

"Oops, I do believe that's irreparable."

He ruined the rocking horse Mark was making for her.

And now he was ruining our escape to America!

"Miss Meyers?" asked Rose, looking concerned.

"I - I'm - oh my god..." I turned around and started back for steerage. "Nice meeting you, Miss Dewitt Bukator! I'll see you later, Jack!"

Oh, my dear god. Lionel really was here.

I ran all the way back to steerage, fighting to calm myself down. I didn't stop on the deck, where Mark, Uncle Jim, Tommy, Fabrizio, that girl Helga, Cora, and Merdoc were probably still lounging around. I went right into our stateroom and threw myself on the top bunk of my bed, crying my eyes out.

Everything was ruined.