**HELLO READERS, I WANT TO TAKE THE TIME AND APOLOGIZE FOR THE LONG DELAY, I HAVE HAD A VERY BUSY AND ARDUOUS LAST SEVERAL MONTHS. I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS CHAPTER AND I HOPE TO CRANK OUT MORE IN A MUCH TIMELY FASHION. REVIEW!**

CHAPTER TWELVE

KNOCK ON THE DOOR

Will could barely keep his hand steady as he tried to work the key into the lock; he took to locking his cabin door since Lightholler and Wilde decided to play pranks on the First Officer since the start of the maiden voyage. He managed to unlock the door and slowly shut it behind him. He closed his tired eyes and leaned against the door; his thoughts raced in his mind. He loosened his tie and sat on the edge of his bed. No doubt that the entire ship, including the rest of the officers would catch wind of the spat between Ada and Will by morning. The very thought of that made the First Officer close his eyes in defeat and cover his face with his hands. The officers and crew were strongly advised from the beginning to not engage in any lewd or unprofessional behavior with the passengers. The normally well-mannered and well professional William Murdoch had become divided. Divided in the sense that he knew better than to go against his commanding officer's wishes, but also, for the first time in his life, a bounty of open and new feelings imploded in the First Officer. The girl was always on his mind: her voice would always resonate in his ears, her smile was like a rainbow after a storm, and she seemed to always smell like vanilla whenever she was around him. Their first kiss had sent a brush fire throughout his veins, and the intensity of it, left him wanting more. Angela Stewart had captured his soul, in only a couple of short days. The more he thought of her, the more his heart started to race. Ada had seemed like a distant memory; it seemed such a mean thing to put into words, but it was the honest truth.

The ugly truth of it all however was another story; Murdoch knew that come morning, word of the spat between his fiancée and he would make it to the Captain. He would naturally be questioned, and possibly be reprimanded. The reprimanding could be a threat in his hunt to become a captain himself. He would of course be honest, which would be best in his interest. He didn't know Captain Smith all that well to know what kind of demeanor the older man would display in that situation. Also, he didn't know if the captain would "throw the book" at him. As he untied his shoes and slipped them off with his feet, he began to think about Ada. How her family and in turn, his family would react to the scandal. Ada would tell her friends and family almost immediately upon return to Scotland. Knowing her, she would not keep any detail a secret. He looked over at the small nightstand and looked at the small photo of her. She had given it to him when they became betrothed, so long ago it seemed like. She was not the same person that she was when he first met her. She had changed as soon as he announced to their families of his position on his previous voyage. The thoughts of being a Chief Officer's wife made her into a materialistic and pompous woman in a way. Gone was the simple schoolmistress, and instead replaced with a cold, egocentric wanton.

He turned back and focused more on getting into a piping hot bath. As he stripped away his clothing, he realized that he had a decision to make. A very hard decision. He realized that the maiden voyage was the catalyst in the decision to not marry Ada Banks, but a part of him still cared for her feelings. He could tell her his decision when they arrived in New York, after all she had plenty of money from her parents to get back to Scotland without him, and possibly start a new life. Or there was the possibility to grin and bear her for another few weeks and go back home and tell her then. The break up would be inevitable; he was too tired of being unhappy. As he turned the hot water on in the tub, he had another thought; if he hadn't had met Angela, would he have realized how unhappy he was with Ada? Would he have called everything off? Were his feelings for Angela just a mere infatuation? A distraction from his many years from seafaring? She was so young and too pure to be involved in a triangle like this. There was no telling if word of their encounter and them being caught by Ada had caught up to Angela's family. The last thing he wanted was any scandal or trouble for the young woman. He turned the faucet off and slipped into the steaming water, slowly. He laid back and his mind continued back to Angela. He had realized that she was engaged, well rather promised to another man. Her parents had laid out plans for the girl. He remembered seeing her parents' reactions as she spoke about her fiancé in such a callous manner, their eyes like tea saucers, faces red. Her brutal honesty about her feelings, and her leaving the table to go to the third class party probably earned her an equally brutal reprimand. He couldn't help but feel sorrow for her; her comparison of her engagement to being auctioned off earlier that evening had been the saddest thing he had ever heard.

The water had begun to soothe his tired body; he grabbed the soap and as he started to lather up, he began to take his thoughts to the kiss he and Angela had shared. The way her hands caressed his arms as he kissed her deeply, how he felt her gently shift as his tongue invaded her sweet mouth, her mouth tasting like sweet honey. The way her green eyes looked into his, her eyes had a look of innocence and sensuality. No woman had ever looked at him the way she had earlier that evening, not even Ada. As he closed his eyes, he dropped the soap into the water as he sank more into the intimate thoughts of their kiss. The smell of her dark hair was that of lilacs, the skin of her neck glowed in the moonlight. He loved the feeling of her head on his chest after they have seized kissing. A part of him at that moment wanted to take her back with him, to get her away from the troubles she had with her family and her impending marriage and create their own little world, if only for a couple of hours.

A gentle knock interrupted his personal reverie.

Will cursed under his breath as he slowly stood up, grabbing his bath robe and slipping it on him. If it was Charles Lightholler, then Ada most likely told Sylvia and Charles naturally wanted details of the fight from earlier. As he shut the door of his washroom, the person behind the door knocked again.

"Coming, coming." Will said as he was walking towards the door. Will's eyes rounded in surprise as he opened the door to his stateroom. It was not Officer Lightholler on the other side of the door, but rather a visibly upset Angela Stewart, her dark tresses down, face tear-stained. She was in relaxed dress, much relaxed than at the party. Will's eyes narrowed in concern and confusion.

"Angela?" He asked gently. She looked up at him, her green eyes looking more vibrant from crying. "I am so sorry for showing up like this, may I come in?" She asked. He opened the door more to make room for her to enter. As he shut the door, he turned the light on. She noted him in his clad bathrobe, her eyes staring at what he thought was the little wisps of hair that were on his chest, not covered by the robe. She looked up at him, while nervously leaning up against his desk. She seemed to have trouble forming words or knowing what to say as she shifted her weight to one side. Will decided to break the ice.

"Are you alright?" He asked gently, cocking his head to one side. She shook her head no and looked away from his gaze, trying to find the words to say. Eventually, she looked back into his eyes. "My parents know about earlier Will." She wiped her nose. "Your fiancée must have told any First Class passenger she saw just to have someone tell my parents. I came here to apologize to you, for any trouble and anguish I caused you. He watched as fresh tears pooled her eyes. She nevertheless continued on. "I couldn't sleep, I set about the ship to try and get my mind off tonight and I came across your cabin." She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "I saw the label on the door and wondered if you were in, I wanted to get something off my chest. I don't know if I will ever see you again after we dock in New York, but I hope that everything works out between you and your fiancée." The tears finally fell as the word "fiancée" slipped off her tongue. He could look at her and tell that that last sentence caused her pain. He watched as she wiped her eyes and looked down at her feet.

As he continued to look at her, he saw it was the first time he had ever seen her with her hair down, her long dark locks were quite beautiful, and made the girl look like a heavenly sight. She then looked back up at him. "I am sorry if I disturbed you, I will leave now." She whispered then proceeded to walk out of his stateroom. "Wait Angela." He walked over to her and took her hand. "You didn't do anything wrong." He led her over to a chair and he got down on a knee. "Darling, I have been unhappy for a long time and my meeting you was something of divine intervention. He licked his dry lips and tried to find the right words. "Tonight was more of divine intervention; it was bound to happen, and I am glad that it did. I don't want to marry Ada; it wouldn't be fair to her. I met you, and I was immediately drawn." He watched as she started to show a slight smile, her eyes threatening to tear up again. "But, you are betrothed love, you are going to be married at the end of the month." He squeezed her hand once more. "I don't want to complicate things anymore for you than they have been." She leaned forward and took his head into her hands and kissed him soundly. He closed his eyes and took her into his arms, causing them both to fall onto the floor. The fall caused both of them to laugh as she struggled to get her hair free from under William.

He managed to sit them up; she moved her hair to one side, a simple task, but to Will, it was really arousing. "You are so beautiful Angela, you don't deserve to be in the situation that you are in now." He leaned and cupped her cheek. "I would be honored for you to be mine, and I, yours." She sat there, glued to his gaze. His blue eyes were the color of the ocean they were sailing on, as he stared into hers, he noted that hers had hint of brown in them. He kissed her, not as frivolously as she only a moment prior, but she could still feel the passion and heat behind it. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck and moved closer to him. His hands started to weave into her thick, dark brown tresses. She whimpered and felt herself for the first time feeling aroused. An invigorating heat started to build in her loins, causing her to move even more closer to Will, now sitting in his lap. He seized kissing her lips and moved down to the side of her neck, causing her to gasp softly at the unexpected, yet welcomed gesture. She tilted her head back slowly, relishing in his mouth on her soft skin.

"Will, I…" She hesitated. "I..I have never done this before." She said softly; she could feel fresh heat filling her cheeks. Her admission was a new cause of embarrassment for her. He stopped kissing her neck and looked into her half-closed eyes. He noted the slight pink of her cheeks and grinned warmly. "Would you like to stop?" He once again found himself caressing her cheek, his thumb brushing against her bottom lip. At that moment, Angela was divided. She was always told growing up that laying with a man before being married was wrong and shameful, not only a shame on her but on the entire family if word of the indiscretion were to spread. However, at that very moment, as she stared into the First Officer's cool blue eyes, a man she had known a mere couple of days, a feeling in her gut told her he was the one for her. She ran her hand into his damp chestnut hair, the feeling of it causing him to softly growl. She wanted more, she needed more. Still not knowing what to do, she hesitantly took her hand out of Will's hair and slipped it into the open part of his robe, feeling the heat of his chest. She looked into his eyes as she felt the wisps of hairs in the middle of his chest. He was warm, smelled of almond soap and devastatingly handsome….

He seized her hand and maneuvered himself so that he could pick Angela and himself off the floor of his stateroom and back onto their feet. She once again wrapped her arms around his neck and dazed once more into his eyes. "You didn't answer my question." He whispered while softly caressing her back. She swallowed hard and nodded. "Yes Will, I want this, I want you, I want us…"

A hard, loud knock startled the First Officer, waking the man from his quick, unexpected nap. He groaned as he felt the water start to turn cold, he looked down at his fingers, as they were starting to prune up from being in the tub for so long. After a moment of waking up, he had realized that the dream he had of the younger woman he had pined for since that first lunch after Titanic set sail was the most intense of the several he had since meeting her. He was alone in his stateroom, his angel nowhere to be found. He sighed and grabbed his robe from the stool beside his tub. As he stood from the tub, he noticed that the knocking had seized. He looked over at his door as he tied the robe securely and made his way over to the door. Hoping that his dream would come true, he opened the door just slightly and narrowed his eyes in confusion.

No one was around. He looked down; only an envelope lay by the door. He picked it up and flipped it over…

To William…