"So you really rescued him?" Rich asked listening to the story in awe. "Wow, my best friend's a hero!"

  "And you got invited to join the first classes for dinner? What is happening." Alana added.

  "It's not really that big of a deal-" Jared tried to say.

  "It's a huge deal!" Rich shouted.

  "It is isn't it?!" Jared couldn't contain his excitement anymore. "And there was a moment after where our eyes met, and God his eyes..." He felt his heart skip a beat just remembering.

  "Looks like Evan's not the only one who fell last night if you catch my drift." Rich winked at Alana.

  "Oh shut up." Jared tried extremely hard to hide his blush from his friends.

  "Well why you were getting all close with your crush, Alana and I explored the bottom of the boat." Rich bragged. "You should see how neat it is down there. Plus there's someone you have to meet!" He looked at Alana and the two of them exchanged a smile. Honestly Jared had no idea how Rich was making so many acquaintances already. He hoped that he understood they'd all have to part ways once the ship docked in New York.

  "Oh really? Who is it?" He asked. Rich stood up and beckoned him to follow. "Come on, we'll show you!" He started leading the way with Alana. Jared followed after them, still not quite being able to shake away the memories of Evan. He had felt something whenever he was comforting the boy, a sort of connection. What were the odds of being there that night? What if he hadn't saved him?

  He continued to follow after the two as they led him down to the lower internal part of the ship. It was kind of quiet since mainly everyone was out and on the higher decks. They stopped near some piping and Alana started looking for something in her pocket.

  "We found him yesterday and he really seems to like us. His name's Connor." Rich explained. Jared was confused since no one else was here yet. Alana found what she was looking for and set it on the floor.

  "I'm not following." Jared raised an eyebrow as he looked at them.

  "Hush. You'll see." Rich shushed him. There was a flicker of movement among the pipes and Jared squinted so he could see. A flash of gray appeared and out came...

  "That's Connor?" Jared looked down at the rat that appeared. It took whatever offering Alana had left on the ground and started nibbling on it.

  "Isn't he the cutest!" Alana grinned kneeling down beside the animal.

  "I mean..." Jared watched as the rat sniffed Alana's hand looking up at her questioningly a moment.

  "He's not scared of us for whatever reason, so he's like a pet! Or a friend." Rich laughed lightly.

  "C'mere Connor, c'mere!" Alana tried to pet him.

  "You're not actually going to pick him up are you-" Jared wasn't sure if that would be the most sanitizing approach, but he didn't get to finish his sentence before Connor ran right to Alana's hand. She held back a happy squeal.

  "Oh my gosh he actually came! Hey there little buddy..."

 "I wanna see!" Rich went over to her and stroked Connor's head. The rat seemed to be loving this attention. "Jared you gotta pet him."

  "No thanks... I don't quite feel like catching the Black Plague thanks." He shook his head.

  "Hey don't talk mean like that! You'll hurt his feelings. He can hear you y'know." Rich scolded. "Besides, if he was rabid or something he would have bitten us already."

  That was true. Jared weighed his options before deciding to humor his friends. The rodent seemed nice enough, giving him an almost judgemental look. "Ok fine. Bring the rat." He sighed. Alana moved over to him still grinning. Hesitantly Jared stroked Connor's head with his finger earning a squeak from the animal. "Ew! It made a noise!" He pulled his finger back.

  "Yeah, an adorable noise!" Alana ignored Jared. She set Connor back on the ground and watched as he scurried away.

  "I can't believe it. A rat of all things." Jared shook his head. All Rich and Alana did was laugh.

*    *     *     *

  Evan was still trying to process what has happened last night. Ever since he was taken back to his room he was just kind of in shock of it all. He hated to say it, but he was very thankful for Jared saving him. Now that Evan really thought about it, it had been a super irrational idea on his part and he was glad his mother and Zoe didn't know the truth. Speaking of Zoe, he could tell that something was up with her. She had stayed with him most of the night, and she was very standoffish when Jared had been there.

  It made him laugh to himself a bit. Was Zoe jealous? Of him and Jared? Now Evan would have said it was a silly idea, but the very thought of him and Jared possibly... why did that make him blush? It was so strange how he had encountered the other boy a total of three times now. They were bound to meet each other eventually. He couldn't get Jared's eyes out of his mind. But he couldn't really have feelings for Jared could he? He was supposed to marry Zoe and that was that. But then why did Jared make him feel more in that one moment than Zoe ever had since they got engaged?

  In fact, Evan was really looking forward to seeing Jared again tonight for dinner. He found it funny that Zoe invited the boy at all, maybe she was just genuinely thankful to him. Suddenly Heidi entered Evan's room causing him to jump slightly.

  "Hi honey, how are you feeling?" She asked him going over to his side.

  "I'm fine mom... just thinking." He mumbled in response.

  "May I ask about what?" Heidi rubbed Evan's arm lightly.

  "Just- last night."

  "Oh I can only imagine, that must have been so scary. I can't fathom what I would do if I lost you." She sighed.

  "You'd probably have to find someone else who could save our family's name." Evan said quietly, slightly bitter.

  "Hey- Ev, look at me." Heidi looked at him until he reluctantly met her gaze. "I love you, you know that right? I would be devastated if anything were to ever happen to you. You're all I have left. No amount of money could ever make me happy, nothing could without you here." She told him. Evan nodded slowly, feeling only slightly reassured. He should know that his mom loved him, it was just hard sometimes.

  "I know... I love you too mom. I-I'm glad that I didn't... fall all of the way." He bit his lip slightly. Evan knew he'd never have the courage to tell her what really happened. "Luckily Jared rescued me." Just saying the boy's name made him feel so much better.

  "Jared? You mean that boy? Yes... you're lucky that he was there although I can't imagine why he was. He's obviously a third class passenger so he had no business being up there. You're lucky we showed up in case he decided to rob you or something." Heidi shook her head.

  "Seriously mom? You're going to talk about the person who literally saved me last night? You don't even know him." Evan crossed his arms surprising himself with how he was actually getting upset about it. Heidi seemed equally surprised.

  "You don't know him any better Evan. All lower class people tend to be the same. They simply want what they can't have." She answered standing up. Evan tried his best to ignore her. Jared was different. He just knew it. "Honestly I don't know why you're defending him, you won't be seeing him again after tonight anyways." Heidi waved off the subject.

  "I'd like to be alone now please." Evan mumbled looking down. He heard an audible sigh from his mother before hearing her leave. So what if he would only be seeing Jared tonight? He'd like to see more of the boy, and who was his mom to stop him? He heard the door again and groaned. "Mom I thought you were going to leave me alone-" He turned around expecting his mom or even Zoe, but it was neither. Instead it was one of the staff, a lady that Evan liked.

  "Sorry to bother you Mr. Hansen, but you have a visitor..." She smiled. Beside her was none other than Jared himself. Evan quickly stood up scolding himself for not being more decent.

  "O-oh! Um- sorry. Please, come in." He nodded. The lady let Jared in before waiting outside the door.

  "Mr. Hansen huh?" Jared asked with a little smile.

  "N-not yet, actually..." Evan scratched his neck awkwardly. "But soon."

  "I see. Your fiancé, she's um... friendly." The other boy laughed lightly.

  "I'm sorry about Zoe, she's normally really nice. Sometimes she just gets really uh, protective." Evan told him cringing a little.

  "Hey, I don't blame her. If I had someone as stunning as you on my arm then I wouldn't want to share either." Jared commented with a smirk earning a blush from Evan. "Besides, she shouldn't be jealous of someone like me."

  "Maybe it's because you look more like my type or something." Evan had no idea why he just said that. He wasn't intentionally meaning to flirt, was he? Jared raised an eyebrow looking at Evan with a smile.

  "Oh really? You always go after lower class guys like me? Doesn't that like, go against everything your parents stand for?" He asked him.

  "It doesn't matter to me what my mom thinks." Evan was quick to answer. He didn't want Jared to get the wrong idea about him. He wasn't like the others, he didn't find it fair or amusing to look down on the lower classes. "My um, my dad passed away so it's just us. T-that's why we're lucky Zoe and I are getting married. My mom will get to keep our family name in good light. The Murphy's have good money, it's what she wants for me."

  "You don't seem too happy about it." Jared looked at Evan seeing he was talking about it as if he had no part in such plans.

  "D-don't get me wrong, I love Zoe- I do!" The other boy tried to say. "Just- we're getting married and it's not like it matters anyway. I just want to make my mom happy..."

  "You deserve to be happy too." Jared's response caught Evan off guard. They made eye contact for a minute before he eventually looked down.

  "Enough about me, we um- we should get ready for dinner." Evan nodded. "I just have to get changed, and feel welcome to change in here if you'd like. I'll uh be right back." He smiled shyly before disappearing to the bathroom. Jared waited a little awkwardly realizing that he didn't exactly have anything nice or fancy to change into. He decided to just stand off to the side, attempting to fix his hair enough to look semi decent.

  He'd never really had a problem with himself until now. Now he was going to be hanging out with rich people, and he was definitely not rich. That was clear to see. Evan reappeared a little bit after and Jared wasn't ready. He looked the boy up and down, finding him even more attractive than before now that he was dressed up in his choice of evening wear.

  Evan noticed him staring and blushed. "Is it okay? I didn't really think it would look good on me-"

  "You look beautiful." Jared smiled reassuringly.

  "Oh... t-thanks." Evan felt his heart skip a beat. He then noticed that Jared hadn't really done much to change his attire. "What about you? Aren't-" Then he realized. "Oh- I'm terribly sorry, I just assumed- ugh I'm rude aren't I?" He fretted. Jared only laughed lightly.

  "Don't even worry about it Ev. I probably just shouldn't go. I don't want to embarrass you or Zoe by looking like this." He smiled a little. Evan thought about it a moment. It was weird how Zoe had shown a bit of hostility towards Jared yet still invited him for dinner. Then it clicked for him, she knew he would be out of place. It was probably just a scheme to make fun of him, or maybe just show he wouldn't come. He wouldn't stand for this at all.

  "No. You know what, you will be coming to dinner with me and we are going to find you something to wear." Evan told him matter of factly. Jared raised an eyebrow as he watched the boy start to search around in his closet. "We should be roughly the same size right? Here, try this on. I haven't worn it in forever, but it should still be in good condition." He handed Jared the clothes.

  "You can't expect me to wear this can you?" He looked at Evan doubtfully.

"Relax, it's fine. Now you go on, I'll be right here waiting." The other boy reassured him. Jared nodded before disappearing to try on the clothes. As Evan had predicted, they somehow managed to be slightly the same size. Jared hardly recognized himself in this new attire. It seemed so out of place for him, almost as if he were playing make believe. He awkwardly came out of the bathroom and walked out to Evan.

  "I feel kinda ridiculous in this... it doesn't feel right to be wearing something this nice." Jared frowned. Evan was almost speechless seeing the boy. The outfit looked really nice on him, almost made for him.

  "Nonsense. You look beautiful." He told him softly. Now it was Jared's turn to be slightly red. Evan had the same look of wanting that he had looked at him with only minutes ago.

  "Pfft, oh stop being nice to me." He broke the silence finally. "Don't we have a dinner to attend? Don't rich boys get in trouble for not being on time?" Jared teased winking at Evan.

  "Only if we get caught." Evan smirked before shyly holding his hand out to Jared. "Shall we?" Jared looked at his hand and grinned before accepting the subtle invitation.

  "We shall."