Sink or Swim

17

Harry's POV

April 12th, 1912 - 6:45pm

I sighed as I leaned against the wall of my stateroom as I sat on my bed and looked at Fred, who looked back at me.

"You have to tell her," he said. 

"No."

"You have to."

"I can't."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because," I sighed, "there's no point. She's off to marry that rich banker."

"So?" he scoffed, "she slept with you. She spent her first time with you. That should be more than enough proof to tell you that she loves you...or at least feels something for you."

"I've only known her for about three days, Fred," I replied, "I can't be in love with her. It's illogical."

"Mate," he smirked, "we're on the ship of dreams! We got here through luck. I'm positive, none of that luck has worn off yet."

I bit my lip as I looked down unsure, "what should I do?"

His eyes sparkled as he smiled brightly and he nodded towards the door, "go tell her."

~

I decided not to tell her yet, and instead decided to spend some time with Fred around the parlor. He was supposed to meet with Millicent at eight and for now we were just talking and drinking like we usually did when we hung out.

"So you're not going to tell her?" Fred asked, letting out a puff of smoke from his cigarette.

I laughed, "no, Fred. I'm not. I want to wait a bit, until I'm sure she might actually feel the same way."

We heard laughter nearby and turned to find our friends, George and Timmy making their way to us. 

"Hey there," George smiled as he took a seat next to me. Timmy smiled at me and clapped Fred on the back.

"What did we miss," Timmy said, his Irish accent thick and distinguishable.

"I'm trying to get Harry here to admit to his lady love that he loves her," Fred shook his head. I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"Oye!" Timmy cheered, looking at me, "way to go mate! Who is it? Is it the lass from Paris? Janet?"

"Or that girl Alexandra," George asked. I sighed and looked to Fred who smirked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Neither," I mumbled, looking at the table in front of me, "it's Jane."

"Jane?" George asked, looking confused, "who the shit is Jane?"

Timmy laughed, nodding at George, "agreed. I don't remember any Jane in our area."

"That's because she's not in our class boys," Fred said, "Harry here, has fallen in love with Jane from the first class crowd."

Timmy and George gaped at Fred before they slowly turned their attention to me. I looked at them innocently, slowly bringing my thumb up to my mouth and gently biting on the nail before I set it down again and shrugged.

"I can't help how I feel," I defended, "you all act as if I had a choice in who I fall in love with."

"You do, Harry," Timmy said, "you can control your limitations, meaning you can keep yourself from falling in love with people you can't have."

I shrugged, suddenly feeling unable to fight for myself.

"He's right, mate," George said, "I mean, as much as we'd love to see a woman on your arm, it won't mean anything if she's a first class lass like Jane. It would never happen."