Cold as Ice

Tommy's eye sleepily fluttered open. For a second he had to remember where he was, what he had done, and who he was still in. Tommy couldn't fight the smile as the memories came back to him. He gently squeezed the sweet armful that was silently snoozing. Leah's eyes slowly opened as well.

"What time is it?" She mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

"It's late, I should probably go." Tommy yawned. Leah's arms quickly hugged him close to her. "I'll be back tomorrow morning, you need your sleep."

"Please stay here."

Tommy kissed her once again on her forehead and gently slipped himself out of her. He then proceeded to get dressed, handing Leah her clothes as well. Leah just plopped her clothes on the bed as she clung the sheet to her and looked up at him with a pout.

"There are four beds; I don't see why you can't stay."

Tommy laughed and pulled her close to him. He slowly kissed her lips as his hands rand up and down the smooth material of the sheet.

"Get dressed and go to sleep. It'll be morning soon. Let me go dream of you." He whispered huskily. Leah reluctantly let go and sat down on her bed with a bounce. Tommy gave a smile and grabbed her hand.

"Until the morning, love." He kissed her hand and slipped outside her room. Leah tiredly put her clothes back on and flopped back onto her bed. She reveled in the fact that her bed still smelt like him. She surrounded herself in the sheets and pillow, breathing him in. She laughed when she realized how cramped the bed truly was.

'No wonder he wanted to leave.' She thought with a slight smile.

Leah allowed her eyelids to close once again, as she dreamt of the Irish men she was proud to call hers. As Leah slept, she dreamt of her future, and how it now seemed brighter. She dreamt of the house her and Tommy would raise together. She dreamt of seeing his face every morning, and loving him each night. She dreamt of the children they'd raise, a little boy that was a spitting image of his father. She couldn't help but think of how crazy this was, she had just met Tommy and she was all set to spend forever with him. Her life had never made sense though, so why should her new found future be any different.

Leah had fallen into the deepest of sleeps. She hadn't slept that good in a while. She forgot all thoughts of struggle, Officer Phillips, and the past. She forgot everything and just slept. She was asleep so soundly that she didn't even feel the shudder of the shop and its sudden stop. She was locked in dreamland, and was content to remain there.

Tommy, however, awoke with a start. He quickly jumped down to feel a cold wetness by his feet. Someone in his room flicked on the light and he saw that there room was slowly being flooded. Tommy grabbed on his shoes and his bag and headed out of his room. He wasn't even fully dressed, he just ran for it.

Running down, he saw his friend Fabrizio walking into the hall. Fabrizio obviously has no idea what's going on. Tommy shouts at Fabrizio and he quickly hurries to gather his belongings and join Tommy. The two if them rushed into a mob of other passengers, following a group of rats.

"If this is the direction the rats are runnin', it's good enough for me." Tommy quickly said while pulling on his brown sweater. Suddenly, a realization hit him; Leah.

He quickly came to a halt, and Fabrizio just looked at him in confusion.

"I've got to go back; I'll catch up with you." Tommy said pushing his bag into Fabrizio's arms. Tommy could here Fabrizio yelling something at him in Italian, but he didn't care. He needed to reach Leah.

Dodging panicking families, Tommy ran through the hall frantically calling Leah's name. He hastily reached her door and banged on it as loud as he could, praying that she was still in there.

Leah could distantly hear the sound of banging and her name faintly being called. Finally, she began to come out of her sleep mode and awoke with a jolt. She rolled to get out of bed but landed in a pool of icy water. She sat up with a shriek, which only made Tommy pound on her door harder. She crawled to the door and picked herself up. As she opened the door, he burst in, hugging her tightly.

"We have to go now!" He said with worry written all over his face.

Leah grabbed her bag and shot him a nervous glance, "What's happening?"

"The ship's sinking, we gotta move!" He said grabbing her hand and pulling her down the hallways. Their footsteps made splashes all along the hall, but they didn't care. Hand in hand, they hurried as fast as they could.