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"PASSPORTS?" The moms asked in unison as they were double-checking their list.
"Check!" Everyone else responded.
"Okay! It looks like we got everything. Everyone ready to board?" Mrs. Addison asked, looking at her family with an excited look on her face. Everyone nodded and started heading up the ramp onto the boat.
Mr. Pankow pulled out his phone, "Hey, everyone look this way and smile!" The families huddled around his cell phone for a quick selfie at the base of the ship.
The two families walked into the main lobby of the cruise and were immediately greeted by smiling employees who escorted them to the sign-in desk. While the parents checked in, the kids began to explore the lobby.
"Dude, this is so cool!" Ollie, Erin's younger, exclaimed. After a while, the parents walked over to the kids, who were now patiently sitting in the corner on their phones, and handed each of them their room key.
"So it looks like the kids get to share a room, and the parents get to share a room. Is that good with you guys?" Mr. Addison asked.
"Works for me. Where is our room?" Dylan, Rudy's younger brother, asked.
"823 midship, which I think is... oh wait, it's this way." Mrs. Pankow responded. The two families walked through the ship and the crowded halls to find their rooms.
"Yay, here it is. We're in room 813 right down the hall, so if you guys need anything, just let us know. Also, the front desk told us that there is a teen and young adult club that you guys might want to check out. They sounded pretty cool." Mrs. Pankow said as they stepped into their children's hotel room for the next 15-days.
"Oh woah, this is really nice," Erin exclaimed as she walked into the room. There were two double beds, a nightstand, and then a bathroom. It was small, but it was gorgeous, nonetheless. And who cares what your room looks like when you are on a cruise to Europe?
"Our dinner time is at 6:30. So let's meet up around 6:20 outside of the dining hall." Erin's dad said.
Once they got to their rooms, everyone started unpacking their stuff and getting settled.
Erin and the younger brothers sat around the room as they watched Rudy finish unpacking the last few things from his suitcase. When he was done, Ollie asked, "Yo, Dyl, Erin, and I are going to explore the ship you wanna come with?"
Rudy, realizing he was still in his old soccer jersey and exercise shorts, responded, "Yeah, that sounds like fun. I should probably shower before dinner and change into something a little nicer, but I'll meet you back in the lobby. Is that cool with you guys?"
"Yeah, that's fine," Ollie responded. "Bye, RuRu," Erin joked as he closed the door behind her. Rudy scoffed to himself as he walked into the bathroom to shower.
After his shower, Rudy walked over to his drawer to find something to wear for the evening. He ultimately decided on khaki shorts and a floral button-down. It looked touristy, but who cares. Rudy was just starting to change into his outfit when Erin walked in.
Erin opened the door and quickly closed it, quickly realizing what she had just walked in on. Rudy promptly threw on his clothes before opening the door to see a red-faced, embarrassed Erin sitting in the hallway.
"Oh my God, I am so sorry," Erin said genuinely.
Rudy started laughing lightheartedly, "Ever heard of knocking before?" Erin's face somehow got even redder. "Haha, I'm just kidding. It's totally fine." Rudy said, giving a reassuring smile.
Erin stammered at her words, still trying to recover from the embarrassment she just endured. Be cool. Be cool. It's no big deal. It's nothing I haven't seen before. She thought to himself.
"Well, it's not like I haven't seen you naked before, so I mean," Erin blurted out.
Rudy's eyes got super wide, "Haha, I'm sorry, excuse me?"
Erin tried to recover, "Uh, ya know, when we were kids. We would bathe together and stuff, uh, remember?"
"I'm just yanking at your chain, of course, I remember. You're just too cute when you are embarrassed," Rudy said, pinching Erin's cheek like a grandmother.
Erin pushed Rudy's hand away from her face and laughed, "You're the worst, Rudy!"
"Haha, If there is anyone who should be angry here, it should be me! You just defiled my manhood, crushed my self-esteem." Rudy pretended to be dramatic, the sarcasm evident in his voice.
Erin laughed at his attempt to make her feel bad, "Oh please, do you want to see me naked, would that make you feel better about yourself?"
"Hmm," Rudy pretended to think and put his finger to his chin, "Nah, you've seen one pair of boobs, you've seen them all. So I think I'll pass." Rudy said confidently, making both of them laugh.
"Then, will you please forgive me and forget about this whole thing ever happening?" Erin asked.
"What? I don't even know what you are talking about." Rudy said, winking.
The two best friends walked down the hall to the lobby laughing at the situation which had just previously occurred. The two met up with their brothers and then began to explore the ship.
After exploring for a while, the brothers went off on their own to find the teen club. Erin and Rudy walked up to the top deck outside, where the sun was just beginning to set and the boat was just starting to sail.
"The sunset is beautiful tonight," Erin said, looking out.
"Yeah, I definitely think I could get used to this," Rudy said, admiring his best friend who was admiring the beautiful scenery.
"Wait, Rudy, we should do the thing that Jack and Rose do in Titanic movie," Erin said as she grabbed Rudy's arms and wrapped them around her waist. Rudy stood behind Erin as she stuck her hands out to mimic the iconic Titanic pose from the movie. The two laughed as they held that pose for a second. Then, without a word, Erin dropped her arms, placed them on top of Rudy's, and leaned her head back onto his shoulder.
The two stood like that for a while, probably longer than they should have, but they didn't care. It felt natural, safe, comfortable. It was a moment neither of them will ever forget.
Breaking the silence, Rudy asked, "It's almost 6:20, we should probably head down to dinner."
"Yeah, of course," Erin said as she untangled herself from Rudy's arms.
"Oh, and maybe we could go to that young adult's place our parents were talking about after dinner?" Rudy suggested.
