Spring turned into summer and life on Radio Rock fell into a comfortable routine. There was always music, there was always food, and there was always time for fun. We took to playing some football, or soccer as the Count insisted upon calling it, every Wednesday afternoon. I'm sure it goes without saying that we lost many a ball over the side of the ship. The day we played with our last ball, Kevin was given first kick off. It surprised no one when it went flying off into the wild blue yonder. I think we all about tackled the poor guy, so it quickly went from football to rugby.

I was surprised to find out that Angus actually couldn't swim. Upon hearing this, I said, "But, Ang, you live on a boat."

"Oh, I wasn't aware of that. Thank you, Chelsea," he replied, rolling his eyes.

He walked away and the Count came up behind me. "I have an idea. You grab his feet, and I'll grab his arms, and we're going to throw him in the water. That's how we teach people to swim back home."

Just considering the humorous side of this, I agreed. We ran up and tackled Angus, grabbing our respective appendages. Then we carried him over to the side of the boat. It was then that I had some doubts. "You're sure throwing him in is the best way for him to learn how to swim?"

"Absolutely," the Count replied.

"Ok."

We launched him over the side and he screamed all the way down. While we watched him splutter and splash, the Count said, "Although, on second thought, that might just be for kids."

"I can't touch the bottom!" Angus cried unhappily.

"Yeah, I think if you throw in an adult...it doesn't work that way."

"Goodbye!" Angus lamented before sinking a bit.

"Good lord," Quentin sighed, coming to see what all the fuss was about. He threw Angus a life-line, then left it up to us to pull him up. We just held onto the rope, letting Angus stay in the water for a bit.

One night, about a week later, we all gathered for a powwow topside to just talk and play some random games. I plopped down beside Felicity, and I had to hide a happy grin when Gavin sat himself on my other side. We leaned against each others back, but angled into the circle well enough to still be a part of the group. "Deprivation!" Dave announced as our first game. There was a general consensus on this game, so it began. "You first, Count."

"Ok. Hmm...oh, I've got you limeys beat. I have never had a sexual dream featuring a member of the royal family. Raise your hand if you have been equally deprived."

I was the only one who raised my hand, while on both sides of me, there were admiring murmurs of, "Princess Margaret."

I gave Gavin a funny look, then explained, "There are no good looking men in the royal family. I mean, really, have you seen Prince Charles?"

"Fair enough," the Count said. "Still! Six points for me!"

We applauded him. "Alright, your turn, Felicity," Dave said.

"I have never had sex with a man," she said.

"Risky one."

"Yeah...I didn't...I don't know."

Again, I raised my hand, and this seemed to draw every last eye to me. "What? Is being a virgin bad?"

"Well, no," Dave said slowly. "It's just, we all sort of assumed..."

"So, un-assume. I've never had sex with anyone. Let alone a man." It almost went unnoticed that Angus had not raised his hand until my eyes fell on him. "Oh god. No way!"

"Aah. Damn it!" he said.

"Do tell!" Felicity implored.

"Oh, ok. It was at school, obviously. Who hasn't?"

"Um, me!" Gavin replied.

"Alright. Besides you guys. It was just once...and his name was Jackman."

I just leaned my head on Gavin's shoulder and busted out laughing. "Of course his name was Jackman," Count said.

"Ok, you can laugh," Angus said, "but actually, he was something of a god."

I picked my head up and replied, "You know, I bet he was!"

"I was curious," he finished.

"Sadly, Felicity," Dave said, "you only get one point. One point for Felicity. Your turn, Chels."

I thought for a moment, then stated, "I have never kissed a blonde. I know I've got Gavin and the Count both beat. Up with your hands if you've never kissed a blonde." Carl and Felicity were the only ones with their hands up. "Oh, I'm sorry, Carl," I said. "I suppose that horse that licked you on the face was a brunette?" Everyone started laughing and he smiled.

"Actually, it was a red-head," he answered.

"Does it count if it was your mum?" Kevin asked abruptly.

While the others guffawed, I replied, "Yes, that counts, Kev."

"Then, I get to put my hand down!" Carl announced.

"Six points for Chelsea!" Dave said. "Well done. Now, mister Gavin Cavanaugh."

"Right," Gavin began. "Bit of a strange one, this. I have never been on a date with a girl..." We all immediately opposed this statement. "Wait, wait! And after sex thought she wouldn't notice if I let go a bit of...wind." Not entirely certain I wanted to know where this was going, I turned a little more so I could stare at him. "Did so, and realized that it wasn't wind...it was diarrhea." My jaw just dropped. "So, I've never been in bed with the girl of my dreams with poo all over the sheets behind me. Raise your hands if you've never done that."

Wanting to laugh and puke all at the same time, I stuck my hand in the air. Others followed suit. All except... "David!" Angus exclaimed. My hand that was in the air slowly descended to cover my mouth in shock.

"You...bastard," Dave muttered.

"What? I didn't tell anyone!" Gavin retorted, laughing.

Carl said, "You did, though?"

"Yeah."

"What did you do?"

"Well, I told her that my wife would be home in five minutes, so she left," Dave replied.

"So, you got away with it."

"Eh...it's a bit of a grey area."

"Tell 'em," Gavin prodded.

"The problem being that my wife then came home..." We all exploded into laughter, "...and I got in a lot of trouble for...pooing in the bed at four o'clock in the afternoon."

"OH MY GOD!" I cried, laughing so hard it was difficult to speak at all.

Later, as everyone retired to bed, Gavin stopped me by the door to go below. "Were you planning on spending the night in my room?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Go get a blanket and some pillows. I want to show you something."

I frowned a bit, but nodded. "Ok." I went down to my room and grabbed the comforter off my bed and my favorite pillow, then I ran to Gavin's room and grabbed his pillow, then lugged it all back outside. I was surprised to find that all the lights were off. Every single one. And I couldn't see shit. "Gavin?" I called into the black. I jumped a little when his hand touched my shoulder.

"Here I am. Sorry."

"What are we doing?"

"Come on." He took my hand and tentatively led the way through the dark to the stairs that led up to the highest deck. "Mind that broken one. Up we go, come on."

All the way up we went, me getting more and more baffled. "Gavin, really, what are we doing?"

"Just shut up and play along." I rolled my eyes and assented. Finally, we got to the top. "Give me the pillows." I handed them to him, and he positioned them against one of the masts, then plopped down and laid his head on his pillow. "Do join me," he said when I remained standing.

"Why?"

"I want to bloody show you something. Lie down!" I scowled and did so, but kept my eye on him, unsure of what he was planning. "Now, look that way." He pointed up at the sky.

Slowly, I did as he asked. When I saw, I gasped. It seemed that every star in the universe was visible. Orion, Draco, Big Dipper. "It's beautiful!"

"Told you, but no, you were too busy worrying about what I was trying to do."

"Wow," I breathed. "How did you come about discovering this?"

"I got bored one night and came out here. I switched off the lights, and that's what I found. Thought you might appreciate it."

"It's wonderful, Gavin. Thanks."

"Yeah. My pleasure, pigeon."

I spread the comforter out, asking, "You want some?"

"If you wouldn't mind."

"Here." I gave him some of the cover, still maintaining a bit of distance between us. "Are we spending the night out here?"

"Probably, considering the way you fall asleep wherever you want."

"Ok," I yawned.

After a while, Gavin quietly asked, "Would you do this with Simon?"

"Absolutely. Why?"

"Nevermind. So, you've really never kissed a blonde?"

"Not once."

"Have you kissed anyone?"

"Well, yeah. They all had dark hair though."

"When was your first?"

"I was still in school. I was 17. It was a guy named Eric. He was a year ahead of me, and we were at a party. Spin the bottle." My speech was choppy. This was not something I really wanted to be talking about with him.

"Did it turn into anything?"

"No. We did talk more afterwards though. I just got a friend out of it. What about you?"

"Hmm. I was 17, and her name was Diane. We were both at a football game. At the end, when our team won, I just grabbed her and kissed her. She didn't object."

"It seems like no woman can," I muttered.

He looked over at me. "And what about you? You haven't kissed me."

"No...I guess that's true," I sighed. Of course, I was thinking that it didn't mean I didn't want to. "It's freezing out here. I'm scooting closer." I scooted a lot closer than I had originally intended. It was almost like my heart was taking over, doing something my brain didn't approve of. He had his hands behind his head, so I put my head on his chest and just kind of curled into his left side.

He slowly looked down at me, then back at the sky. "Ok," he said plainly.

I fell asleep right there, my head on Gavin's chest and all. We slept up there the entire night with Midnight Mark and Smooth Bob providing a soundtrack. It was about an hour into Simon's shift when I woke up. The sun was still new, so it was still cold out. As I blinked myself a little more awake, I realized that Gavin's left arm was draped around me. I stared at it for a while, attempting to process all the emotions it evoked. It was like a dream come true, honestly, but in my mind it was also a line I had hoped not to cross. I wasn't going to let Gavin this close. He wasn't the kind of guy that stuck around, and I didn't want to get hurt. As gently as I could, I slid out from beneath it, slightly lamenting the loss. I left him there, dead asleep, and went down to the studio. Simon waved at me. I returned it, then rubbed my eyes and sat down outside, waiting for him to get done.

At 8, Angus came down to relieve him. "Morning, Chels," he said when he entered.

"Hey, Nutsford."

"You alright?"

"Fine. You?"

"Wonderful."

"Great."

He and Simon switched out, and Simon came over to me. "Hey, you," he said.

"Hi," I answered, smiling up at him.

He sat down beside me and asked, "What's going on? You're never up this early."

"Well...Gavin and I slept on deck last night, and I woke up early."

"Oh...where's he at?"

"Still out there. He was still asleep."

He seemed to be struggling with something, and finally, he blurted, "I have to ask. Why were you out there?"

"He wanted to show me the stars when you turn off all the lights," I explained. "I fell asleep...on his chest...so we just stayed." A bit of a grin started growing on his face. "No, Simon. You cannot say I told you so. I have not said anything about being in love with him."

"You don't have to," he replied shortly. "I know."

"No, you don't know! I don't want a relationship with him. He obviously can't keep a steady one. He screws 'em and leaves 'em. Not me."

Simon shrugged. "You never know. You might just be the girl he changes for."

I nodded. "Oh, yeah. Cliché as hell."

"But so romantic!" he swooned, leaning against me. I laughed and shoved him away.

Later though, I was watching Gavin's broadcast, and Simon's words began to haunt me. Every time Gavin's eyes flicked to me behind those sunglasses, I gave him a small smile and wondered, would I...no...could I change him?