"Sir, it's really not necessary," Cecilia tried to explain. "I saw what Mr…"
"Dawson."
"Mr. Dawson did." Cecilia nodded at Jack. "He was only helping. I know it may look suspicious…"
"Sorry, Miss. I really have no authority to release him unless I have permission from the Master-at-Arms."
"But couldn't Rose explain?" Cecilia demanded, frustrated.
Robbie stared down nervously at his shoes. He was currently standing beside Jack, who was being held back by an officer. Robbie shivered slightly, wincing at the harsh wind that was enhanced by the fact that the Titanic was quickly moving across the open sea.
While looking at Cecilia, you wouldn't have guessed that the temperature was freezing. She was standing straight with her arms dangling loosely at her sides, despite the fact that she was only wearing a thin dinner dress. It appeared that her attempts at proving Jack innocent to the quickly-judging crewman were failing.
Rose had been led to a bench by Robbie. Her hands felt ice cold when he helped her up. She was incredibly pale and shaking uncontrollably.
The officer turned to Rose for an explanation. She opened her mouth to form words, without luck. All that escaped were quiet, stuttering mumbles.
"In a state of shock, that one." The crewman nodded knowingly. "She is in no condition to explain."
"She has a name," Jack whispered to himself as he was being frisked by another crewman.
"Stop talking, you!"
"No need to be so rude!" Cecilia snapped. "Like I told you before, gentlemen, Mr. Dawson did no wrong. Now, you are to treat him properly until the Master-at-Arms comes. Understood?"
Robbie held back a smirk. He wondered what onlookers would think if they had seen their current situation. The crewman currently talking to Cecilia was a large man, yet his size didn't seem to occur to her. Cecilia kept on reciting orders.
Robbie looked back at Rose. Her shivering slowed down, but not by much. He started to walk over to her to offer his jacket, but the crewman who had been holding back Jack grabbed his arm.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Before he could reply, Cecilia spoke out again in a cold tone.
"You can't honestly be accusing Robbie of something, as well. If he decides to walk over to Rose, he should have the liberty to do so. Knowing him, he was probably going over to give her comfort, not assault her." She stared icily. "From the minute that you came over here, Rose has been shivering, and neither of you have even thought of offering her some warmth. Now, I demand you release my friends until higher authority appears."
Instantly, his arm was dropped. He turned around to look at Cee, and she smirked back at him before turning back to glare at the men.
"She's scary sometimes," Robbie whispered soothingly as he approached Rose. He took off his jacket and gave it to her. "Here. You look frozen."
Rose looked up at him gratefully and put it on, feeling herself quickly calm down as the comforting wool hit her cold skin. She stared down at her hands, which were bright pink–not white, which was a good sign.
"Better?"
"Y-yes…thank you." Rose smiled sadly at Jack. "I hope he doesn't get into trouble. I'll defend him if he does."
"What happened?"
Rose was about to explain when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cal storming towards her, followed by another passenger and Lovejoy.
"Sweetpea!"
Rose winced, and the rest jumped at the sudden volume of his voice.
Cal marched over and threw a blanket at Rose before turning to face Robbie.
"What made you think you could put your hands on my fiancée?"
Lovejoy made a discreet coughing sound and pointed at Jack.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Cal snapped at Robbie.
Robbie brushed off his arms before stating his name quietly.
"What are you doing here?" Cal demanded again.
"We're witnesses, Mr. Hockley," Cecilia spoke up, staring at him coolly. "I heard a scream and saw Rose dangling off the stern."
Cal marched around over to Jack, roughly grabbing his shoulders. "You filth!"
"Cal!" Rose protested.
A crewman put his arm gently on Robbie's shoulder, instructing him to leave.
"But, I've come to defend Jack…" Robbie insisted, but Cecilia grabbed his arm. She pointed at Rose, who had started marching over to Cal, with only a slight shiver in her step.
"She'll defend him well enough. We should go. Mother might be worried."
Robbie stared at her calm expression and nodded, realizing that she might be right.
He watched as Cecilia walked over to Rose and whispered something in her ear. Rose nodded and placed her hand on Cee's arm briefly before continuing over towards Jack.
Robbie raised his eyebrows in question, but Cecilia made no reply. She simply kept walking toward the gate which closed off the stern. Robbie smirked and followed her.
*****
Meanwhile, Briony was currently occupying herself in her room. In front of her lay the typewriter she insisted be brought along with her, despite her mother's multiple objections. Briony, and everyone around her, knew that her interests lay with stories and not with fancy dresses.
Briony thought about the tight corsets that Cecilia had to wear and was instantly thankful for her loose dinner gown, simple and white, which pooled down when she sat, crossed-legged, on the floor.
She placed a new sheet of paper in the typewriter and stared blankly. She thought longingly about her play, The Trials of Arabella, which she had written to perform with her cousins. Unfortunately, it was incomplete and was back on her desk in England. There had been some nasty drama with her aunt and uncle, therefore preventing the little gingers from boarding along with them in Southampton, which, coincidentally, also prevented the play from being performed.
She scowled and pushed her precious typewriter away from her. She lay down beside it and closed her eyes, trying to capture any form of inspiration. Her thoughts were interrupted by the swinging of the door, followed quickly by its crash against the back wall.
"Briony!" a voice scolded. "Get up off the floor!"
"No, Leon." Briony spoke without opening her eyes, instantly recognizing her brother's voice. "I'm trying to think up another story."
"Sorry about Arabella, sis." Leon smirked as he crouched down to be closer to her. "But you really shouldn't be thinking at all about writing. We're on the Titanic, for Christ's sake. Enjoy yourself."
"I can't. All I can think about is my unfinished play." Briony opened her eyes. "Why couldn't the cousins come?"
Leon ruffled her short blonde hair. "We already told you, Briony. There are some problems going on with their family at the moment. It's really not best for them to come right away."
Briony closed her eyes again. "I still think it would have been best for the children to get away to forget the mess. Who can think unpleasant thoughts on the Titanic?"
Leon laughed and scooped her up in his arms, spinning in a circle. "You, obviously." He spoke above her giggles.
He set her down gently on a nearby chair. "Go on. Have fun. There are some children playing down the hall. Why don't you go join them?"
Briony brushed the hair that had fallen in front of her eyes. "You know I'd much rather be alone."
"I insist." Leon grinned. "You shouldn't lock yourself in here. It's not healthy."
Briony sighed as she pushed her typewriter off to the side. "Fine. I'll walk around, but only for a little while."
Leon grinned and watched her leave. Once the door was closed, he sat himself down and lit a cigar, smiling satisfyingly.
Briony started walking down the first class corridor. As she was walking towards the last of the first class staterooms towards the grand staircase, she saw Rose walking behind a group of men.
"Hello, Miss DeWitt Bukater." Briony smiled politely as she passed, hoping she remembered her name right.
Rose stopped and watched happily as the group of crewmen and Cal distanced themselves. "Please, call me Rose." She lifted her blanket off her shoulders and draped it over her arm. "You're Cecilia Tallis' sister. Briony?"
"Yes. I crashed into you while the passengers boarded. I want to apologize again." Briony smoothed out her dress awkwardly. She looked around and noticed that the men she was with had left her. "I should also apologize for taking you away from your group."
Rose laughed. "Oh, it's quite all right. Why are you all alone?" Rose inquired curiously.
Briony rocked back and forth on her heels. "I'm looking for my sister. You don't, by any chance, know where she is, do you?"
Rose looked back towards the first class exit to the deck of the ship. "Yes. She left with a gentleman not too long ago. I'm afraid I don't know where they were headed off to."
Briony frowned, thanking Rose, and left towards the exterior of the ship.
The Titanic's lights brightened the dark sky. Briony started to walk along the deck towards the stern, for if Cecilia wasn't there, she could return to the suites through another entrance.
As she neared the end of the ship, she could spot two gray figures standing in an otherwise deserted area. Briony squinted and recognized Cecilia's dress flowing behind her. Two steps closer and she could clearly make out that it was Robbie standing across from her.
She was about to walk over to them, but saw that Robbie was barely moving, standing almost statue-like, and Cecilia had turned around and seemed to be yelling at him.
Briony pressed herself against one of the walls and hoped she was hidden enough in the darkness. When she looked back at them, she watched curiously for a couple of moments, when suddenly, to Briony's astonishment, Cecilia reached down to grab her dress and, with one swift pull, tore it completely across the front.
Briony gaped as Cecilia continued to shred at the fabric until it was completely removed from her now extremely short dress. Cecilia paused in front of Robbie, only for a moment, before she turned on her heels and stormed through the closest indoor entrance.
Briony stared at Robbie, all alone at the stern of the ship. Robbie touched the bars slowly, running his fingers along them. Before he could turn his head, Briony rushed inside the ship, her heart pounding the entire time.
Earlier
"Do you have a cigarette?" Cecilia asked Robbie as they walked along the deck.
Wordlessly, Robbie reached into his pocket and grabbed two, keeping one for himself. He lit his and Cecilia leaned forward towards his match, cupping her hand to block the strong wind.
They both started walking again. They didn't speak until they reached the railing at the end of the ship. Cecilia leaned over and watched the waves crashing below.
"Careful!" Robbie exclaimed protectively.
Cecilia looked at him with narrow eyes before leaning back over. "I'm fine."
"Here." Robbie stepped forward. "I can hold you back so you don't fall."
"I'm not a child!" Cecilia protested. She leant forward once more.
Robbie reached for her arms. "Rose almost went over."
Cecilia spun around quickly, which prevented him from touching her. As she did so, her dress got caught on her heel.
She huffed, but didn't say a word. She put one hand on the railing for support and impatiently attempted to untangle her dress with the other.
"Here. Let me help you with that."
"No! I'm quite all right!" Cecilia snapped, annoyed with his persistence.
"Let me help you," Robbie insisted, grabbing the tangled bit of her dress.
He didn't grab the dress hard, but Cecilia put up a struggle anyway. Both of them were equally stubborn and didn't let go until finally, the point of the heel punctured the dress. Through the pulling, they managed to extend the tear.
The pair froze at the sound of the rip of the fabric. When their eyes met, his eyes weren't filled with guilt, but a look of challenge. Triumph, even.
"You idiot!" Cecilia exclaimed with a glare before looking down to examine her dress. It was torn beyond repair, the delicate strips of fabric lying on the Titanic's deck.
Robbie pursed his lips together in attempt to hide his smirk and managed to say, "Oh, God. I'm so sorry."
Cecilia looked once more at the slit in her dress before turning to look at the first class entrance. The slit was clearly noticeable to anyone she passed while going to her stateroom. She looked up to glare at Robbie once more and was annoyed to see that satisfied look on his face.
Robbie looked down at the pieces of fabric and started to lean down to reach for them.
This annoyed Cecilia even more. She thought about things he would think of to do in an attempt to repair this situation, but none of them included a suitable punishment for him. Without another thought, Cecilia reached down before him and grabbed the rip in her dress, continuing to shred the fabric until the tear rested above her knee.
Rendering him helpless would be his punishment. Denying him the ability to make amends would be his punishment.
She didn't look at him when she started to rip sideways. She continued until the fabric was torn completely off and fell to the deck.
Now, standing in her dress, which could almost pass off as a blouse, she stared at him. They were frozen, not sure what should come next.
Robbie felt a surge of relief when she suddenly turned away from him. He knew better than to say anything as she quickly grabbed the fragments of fabric lying on the deck. He looked down, not wanting to stare at her. Without another word, Cecilia left towards the entrance to the ship.
Slowly, Robbie faced the railing where she once stood and ran his fingers along the painted white metal. Moments later, he, too, went back to his room.