April 11th, 1912 - 2:20 pm

Katherine had no idea how she was going to find Ned in order to return his jacket. She never planned on exploring the decks meant exclusively for first-class and she would probably be arrested for it if she even tried. She had already been called vermin for being near someone of a higher status, so she did not quite like her chances.

The next day, Katherine went back up to the deck where she'd met Ned. There were few patrons milling about, many children running around and clinging on to one another.

She was not wearing the coat, but she had it slung over my forearm.

"What are you doing here again, miss?" She looked toward the voice. The man was the same one from last night, but not the one that called her vermin. The one who tried to touch her and when she didn't want him to, he called her the whore.

"I am looking for someone, not that it is any of your business." She muttered.

"It is when you're on the wrong part of the ship. I'm sure anyone you would need to find wouldn't be here." He moved closer to her and flicked her braid over her shoulder. His eyes moved to the coat in her arms. "What's this?" He snatched it before she could get her bearings. He looked in the folds of the coat, smirking once he's found what he's looking for. "Ned Banks? This explains a lot. Why you were up here last night. Women like you only want one thing from an upstanding man."

"I was returning it," she gritted her teeth.

"Were you? We'll see what Mr. Banks has to say about that." He grabbed her arm, but she yanked it from his grasp.

"Let go of me! I haven't done anything!" She yelled.

"Where do you think you're going you filthy rat?" He yanked her arm back into his grasp, squeezing her wrist to the point of pain. "We have a thief. Thief!"

Another man approached us, a worker with a long coat on and a hat that read 'White Star Line.' "What is going on here? What has she stolen?" The man asked.

"This coat here from a Mr. Ned Banks." He doesn't question the man and pulled out a set of handcuffs from his pocket.

"What are you doing?" She was panicking now. "I've done nothing wrong!" She didn't care at this point that she was drawing attention to herself.

Katherine tried not to watch as a few parents pulled away their children from where they were once playing so carelessly on the deck. The metal was cold around her wrists and this certainly wasn't how she imagined this day going. She didn't know what to do. When it's her word against a first-class businessman, she would never have any leverage.

It was then that Ned wandered onto the deck. Her eyes caught his from the other side of it. There was a woman wrapped around his arm. She was blonde and pretty, she gripped his arm tightly. He pulled his arm away from her though and began to make his way over.

"What's happened here? Katherine?" Ned asked and looked startled to see her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm just fine," she whispered, trying to keep herself calm. Ned was here. He would solve this, wouldn't he?

"Ah, Mr. Banks. I believe this is yours." The dark-haired man handed the coat to Ned.

"Yes." He furrowed his brow at him. "I still don't understand why this wonderful woman is in handcuffs and you aren't."

"She is charged with stealing your coat." The man who held onto Katherine by the handcuffed said with a laugh. "Why would Mr. Andrews be in cuffs?

"Nevermind that. This woman didn't steal my coat from me," Ned grabbed his coat and stepped toward her, she gulped as he looked at her. There was a look in his eye, a smile almost on his face. "I leant it to her last night."

"Is this really true? Was that the way of it?" The worker looked at Ned, waiting for him to confirm his answer.

Ned nodded and the worker quickly removed the handcuffs from around her wrists and moved on to other, more pressing matters on the ship. Katherine touched her wrists and Ned stepped toward her, his lips pressed together. He was about to speak when someone else did before him.

"Darling, who is this?" The blonde woman behind him asked. She wrapped her gloved hand around his arm and smiled at her. "You leant her your coat? How sweet of you."

"This is Katherine..." He said, looking at her, realizing that he didn't know her last name.

"Gordona," she filled in the silence for him. "Katherine Gordona."

"And how did you and… Katherine here meet?" The woman asked, smiling at him.

Ned sighed. He'd only been looking at her since he first came over and it was at this point that he shifted his gaze away. "Just last night, we were talking and we became…fast friends. Katherine, this is Claire Smith. Her father is the Captain."

She swallowed thickly and turned her gaze to meet hers. Of course, she was the Captain's daughter. "It is nice to meet you, Claire."

"I'm sure," the blonde looked her over and then turned away.

Katherine only felt like an insect to these people and itched to get away, but could see that Ned wanted to talk to her. She waited, patiently, as he turned to the dark-haired man.

"Marvel, we will need to speak about how you have treated Ms. Gordona last night and today." He told the man.

"You know well that the only person I answer to is Mr. Williams, Ned." Marvel sniffed, but before shuffling away he turned to Claire, "Your brother is looking for you. He says it's urgent."

Claire rolled her eyes. "I'll see you later. I must see what brother dearest is complaining about this time." She kissed Ned on the cheek and walked away with Marvel.

She could see a muscle in Ned's jaw tick as he clenched it. His fists were clenched at his side as well as he turned back to her, a smile easing onto his face. "I apologize for all this, Katherine. I truly do."

"I only wanted to be sure that I returned your coat," she whispered to him, looking down at her feet. She'd hardly expected any of this to happen.

"Yes, thank you. I really appreciate it." He's quiet for a moment. "Would you consider joining me for dinner tonight? To repay you for all you've gone through."

That doesn't sound like the best idea. Not after the way she's been inspected by these people. "I'm not sure. My sister and brother-in-law would worry..."

"Please? It will be grand." Ned boasted, grasping her hand. "I warn you that I am not above begging."

She bit her lip. "Ned," she whispered. She didn't know how long she could pretend he didn't have feelings for him. "I can't."

"Please?" He whispered.

"I don't—" She sighed.

"Please?" He begged.

She sighed, looking out at the water and stepping away from him. She leaned against the railing.

"I want to make it up to you, Katherine." He said, following her. He stood respectively next to her, turned toward her.

The truth was that Katherine was afraid of going anywhere near this high life. Especially alone. She was nothing like any of these people and that fact would probably be glaringly obvious to anyone who bothered to pay attention.

"I won't fit in," she said, flatly.

"I'll see to it that you will." He offered his arm to her. "Have a walk with me?" She slipped her arm through it and he guided her away.

"So, Katherine," he said softly. "I want to get to know you better."

"What do you want to know?" She laughed, looking up at him.

"What's your favorite color?" He asked, looking down at her.

"So we're starting with the deep stuff?" She asked, winking.

"No need in superficial conversation," he shrugged.

She laughed. He was funny like she remembered her dad to be. "It's green. Like the forest. Growing up we lived in the middle of Paris, so it wasn't often that I would get to see that much greenery. Sometimes when my father had time to spare or days off work, he'd take my sister and me to the outskirts of the city. There was a pond there and we'd sit and have a picnic and play in the water." She didn't expect to say all that, but the memory captivated her. She'd never remembered that before. "Even after I moved to England with my sister I never saw my much of the color. I hope in America. What's yours?"

"Orange like the sunset. I like watching the sun and the stars… it reminds me of my father too." He explained, gulping as he looked ahead at the sky. "That's why I came up here last night. I wanted to see the stars. It just took my breath away."

"Your father must still be very important to you," she stopped walking suddenly and led him toward the railing once more.

"He is," he nodded. "I miss him. My mother… she can be rather cold."

She felt for him and leaned into his arm. "I'm sorry, Ned." She whispered.

"No need," he smiled at her.

"Ned!" They both look in the direction that the voice came from.

A small, middle-aged woman was making her way toward us. Her hair was a short blonde; it actually appeared slightly brittle. Her eyes were a watery green and she was dressed in fine clothing, white silk.

"Hello, mother." Ned nodded to her.

The woman eyed her. She couldn't even imagine what she must look like with her arm wrapped through her son's.

Katherine was wearing a somewhat new dress, meaning it was one that Melinda had made for her before they left with the last bit of money they had to buy fabric, and her hair had just been tied up quickly before she left her cabin.

Ned was dressed in what could probably be considered casual clothing for his status, but he looked well put together. A blue, long-sleeved sweater and beige pants. No stains or wrinkles in his shirt, not a hair out of place.

She pulled her arm away from his and stepped away. She couldn't imagine what his mother thought of her at that moment.

"Who is this?" His mother asked.

"Mother, this is Katherine Gordona." Ned introduced her, smiling in her direction.

She coughed to clear her throat. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Banks."

"Charmed, I'm sure." His mother was looking at her like she was an insect, a dangerous insect that needed to be squashed quickly.

There were two other women with Mrs. Banks and Ned took no time in introducing them to me as well. "Katherine, this is Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Shepard." The latter woman looked almost gaudy in her adornments.

She nodded to them happily but was startled at the trumpet fanfare that came from somewhere on the ship.

"Why do they always insist on announcing dinner like a damn cavalry charge?" Mrs. Shepard complained and Katherine had to bite her lip to keep a chuckle from leaking out.

"We should all get ready for lunch," Ned said. "Mother, I have invited Katherine to share dinner with us tonight."

"How nice," his mother spoke, but from her tone, Katherine can tell that it was anything but. Mrs. Banks walked away with Mrs. Smith, leaving just Katie and Ned and a very eager Mrs. Shepard.

"Mrs. Shepard, I need your help." Ned turned to her.

"Ask away my dear boy." The woman smiled

"Could you help Katherine find a dress and get ready for tonight?" Ned asked.

Katherine bit her lip. None of this sits well with her. She still didn't want to come to dinner.

"Of course, I'd love to." Her voice was light and fluttery, like butterfly wings.

"Thank you," Ned smiled. He looked at her and said, "Everything will be fine. I'll see you at dinner." He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek, his lips near her ear. "And then we'll have another moment alone after dinner."

Once he's gone, Mrs. Shepard turned to Katherine. "Do you have any idea what you're doing, dear?"

Katherine looked over and sighed. She had no clue. None whatsoever.

"You're about to go into the snake pit, my dear. I'll see to it that you at least look the part." Mrs. Shepard said, smiling at her and holding out her hand.

The older woman took Katherine back to her quarters. Mrs. Shepard had several trunks lined against the walls and she stood before all of them for a few minutes, tapping her finger on her chin. She pulled out one closer to the end and began digging through its contents. "Aha! I've found it. This is perfect." She turned around and showed Katherine a midnight blue dress.

"That's very beautiful," Katherine had never seen a dress this close up. She'd always looked at them through a window, but to be able to touch the soft material was so mesmerizing to her.

"Well of course it is. Now, we just have to do something with that hair." The older woman hummed.

It took nearly an hour of prepping by Mrs. Shepard before she announced that she was finished. Mrs. Shepared pulled Katherine in front of a full-length mirror and she gasped. She'd never looked like this before. The dress was stunning and the color reflected off the eyeshadow around her eyes.

Mrs. Shepared applied minimal makeup to her face, but enough that it made her skin glow, and her hair was shiny and soft to the touch and fell in a wave down her back. "You look beautiful, dear. Now that you look the part, you need to remember a few important rules because Mrs. Banks is not one to be trifled with and she can ruin you before they even serve the first course."

"I sensed that from her," Katherine whispered, smoothing her polished hands over her dress. "She doesn't like me very much."

Mrs. Shepard pulled Katherine toward the sofa in the middle of the sitting room and sat down next to her, putting a hand over hers. "I understand that you do not come from a wealthy background, so I will give you some guidance." Katherine turned her gaze to the floor, but Mrs. Shepard gripped at her chin, forcing the young lady to look her in the eye. "The first lesson, never turn away first. Now, I was like you once. I lived with my father and traveled with him as he tried to find odd jobs that would pay for the next meal. When you come from that you realize just how trite these high-class people can be, but you must play the game darling. I can see that the Banks boy likes you, his mother doesn't have as tight of a grip on him as she may like to think she does."

Katherine nodded and listed as Mrs. Shepard went on to tell her rules about which utensils to use at which points in the meal, reminded her to sit up straight, and had to tell her several times to keep eye contact even when she felt inferior.

"You're a beautiful girl, Katherine, and might I add you are a much better person than that Claire girl." Mrs. Shepard reminded her. "Ned's fond of you. I can see it in the way he asked me to watch over you. He cares."

"But she's Ned's mother's favored choice. I saw it in her eyes. There's no way she'll let me near Ned alone tonight," Katherine sighed, shaking her head. "I'm not sure I have an interest in him in that way anyway."

"I don't want to infer, my dear, but these things have a way of sneaking up on us." The woman reminded her.

"I don't know how to thank you, Mrs. Shepard." She squeezed her hand and smiled.

"No thanks necessary. I enjoy these kinds of things. I never did have a daughter, you know. Only boys." The woman sighed, tucking her arm around hers as they walked out into the hallway. "And you can call me Frances, dear." Katherine smiled at her. "You shine up like a new penny. Now we mustn't be late for dinner."