I just found this mini series on Hulu, and I'm in love with it :) And I also refuse to believe Paolo died. He jsut didn't wake up while they filmed that's all #indenial c: . But anyways here's the first chapter of the story. Hope you like :)

.xoxo

Disclaimer- I do not own Titanic, if I did Paolo would never had died in the first place.

Annie Desmond refused to believe it. Paolo could not be dead.. He just couldn't. It wasn't fair. She continued to brush her fingers through his hair, keeping his still, cold frame against her own. The tears were flowing freely now, and her raven dark hair -having long since sprung out of order- now lay limp against her shoulders. Her fingers trembled as they grazed his hairline, and she could feel the other ladies' pity boring into her, but she could hardly care less. All she knew was that she needed to be there when Paolo woke up…Which he would do. He had to.

"Miss please-" the officer in the boat spoke to her, and she whipped her head around quickly, giving him a tearful scolding with her eyes.

"I loved him" she managed to whisper, and then with a quick movement, put her hand on her mouth to silence her already soft sobs.

The officer nodded at her, the kind of nod that is between one of resignation and understanding, and returned his attention to the dark horizon. Please come quickly, he thought. Annie looked in the direction opposite of his as she held her fiancé, and squinted her eyes. Are those lights? No, they cannot be. They would have been able to aid us in within the hour after the Titanic struck the iceberg… My mind must be playing tricks on me.

She shook her head lightly, and cradled Paolo to her chest tighter that she had meant to, eliciting a barely, detectable groan from someone who wasn't her. She froze.

Did I really hear that?

The hope rose in her chest and threatened to bubble over as she frantically whipped around and faced the officer and Lord Manton's family.

"The whiskey! Is there any left?"

Lady Manton gave her a disapproving look, the survival of her husband having returned her to her usual sense of thinking.

"He's still alive! Please!" Miss Georgiana looked at her mother, whose lips were already pressed in a line, to the young stewardess whose wild look could pass for insanity. Then she looked at her eyes, a pair who in no doubt mirrored her own grief-stricken ones, as she knew in her heart Harry had not survived. He couldn't swim…

"Do have any propriety left in you? How dare you try to waste something that might save a life of someone else? How selfish are you?" Lady Manton's voice seemed to ring through the naked silence that had befallen the rest of the lifeboats as they watched the ordeal.

Annie closed her eyes tightly, and took a shuddering breath.

"Please…" She begged, holding Paolo's head in her lap.

Miss Georgiana had witnessed enough to make up her mind.

"Give it to her"

Her demand startled her mother who faced her with a look of pure astonishment.

"Georgiana-" she began.

"For goodness sake that could be Harry, mother…" Georgiana pressed her lips together, holding in her grief, trying to be strong because she knew that right then was not the moment to think about him. She snatched the bottle of whiskey from her mother's grasp, who voiced a loud gasp at the audacity in her action, and leant over to Annie.

"Here.. Try" Annie quickly grabbed it, the contents swishing around as she settled herself in a position in which she could make Paolo drink it.

She tipped the bottle to his purple-tinted lips, and forced the liquid down.

Nothing happened.

"See, she just wasted almost half of the liquor on a dead man. A dead Italian man at that. Your father needs it more than him" Lady Manton huffed.

"Let's…wait…and see…wife" Lord Manton's ragged voice pierced through, and Lady Manton fell quiet.

Annie pumped her fist into Paolo's chest, and for a second it seemed as if his eyes fluttered.

C'mon… Paolo please… We haven't even seen New York, yet…

She pumped her fist into him again, this time a little harder, and water seeped outside his lips.

The officer took notice of this and abruptly stood up.

"By Gods, he's still alive" he said incredulously, and moved from the till over to where Annie was kneeling by him.

"Stand aside ma'm" he swiftly began to pump Paolo's stomach, which caused more of the frigid ocean water to leave his body. He did this again, and again, until Paolo finally responded concretely.

He opened his eyes.

"Oh thank God!" Annie threw her arms around him, forgetting his fragile state.

"Annie" he rasped, and she quickly let go, positioning him instead so that his head lay on her lap once more. She tipped his head to make him drink more whiskey. He drank greedily, the brown liquid bringing warmth into parts of his body that he thought he would never again feel. His mind was able to piece things together now.

Annie handed the bottle of whiskey back to Georgiana, who gave her a warm smile which Annie, who was so grateful towards the young first class passenger, eagerly returned.

Paolo lazily watched Annie, and though his mind was still clouded, he was still sure of one thing.

This is the woman I'm going to love for the rest of my life…

He felt her lips on his forehead, and he closed his eyes tiredly as she raked her fingers through his hair. He opened them back up however, when she tapped his face and reminded him to stay awake.

"Not if… you…keep doing that" he whispered, a hint of laughter in voice.

Annie laughed softly, and leaned him up against the lifeboat's border, and settled in besides him to do the same.

She nuzzled her face against his neck, and whispered in his ear:

"Back on the ship, you asked me about my dreams… I didn't know then that you were it"

Paolo looked at her, her face inches from his, and it took all his weak strength not to close the distance.

"Ti amo, mia principessa" (I love you, my princess)

"Ti amo troppo, Paolo. Tu non capisci quanto ti amo" (I love you too, Paolo. You don't understand how much I love you)Annie whispered back.

"That's…more than… a little… Italian" Paolo smiled.

She smiled back, and settled back against him, checking periodically back up at him to make sure he was still awake.

He stayed awake all night.

At last, after nearly two hours of waiting for the Carpathia, the titanic survivors set their eyes on the lights of the ship. They rowed towards it, and slowly but effectively, all got lifted inside to find out who of their loved ones survived and who didn't.

"Do you think Mario survived? Paolo whispered to Annie as they were being lifted into the Carpathia.

"Shhh" Annie put her fingers to his lips, which he swiftly kissed, and ran a hand through his hair.

"All in due time" she murmured.

As soon as they were on deck, Paolo was sent into the infirmary, with Annie walking besides him slowly, lending him much needed support. He was a little hesitant about entering the infirmary, not sure of what they would tell him, but with Annie by his side, he went in.

The infirmary was full of men, but out of all the sea of faces, Paolo zoned in on just one.

"Mario!" he spoke as loud as possible, and Annie looked towards the direction of his gaze trying to pick out his brother in the throng of men. She needn't had bothered, since just a second later a towering Italian man bumped into her, sending her a little sideways.

"Paolo, mio fratellino, stai bene, grazie a Dio!" (My little brother, you're okay, thank God!)

Paolo pulled Annie back towards him with a smile, his weakness barely visible beneath the joyous glint in his eyes.

"Si, Mario, stiamo molto bene, solo abbiamo un po' di freddo" (Yes, we're very good, we just are a little cold) he said jokingly, his arm wrapped around Annie's shoulder for standing support. Mario noticed and with this called the nurse, and she cleared a bed for him to lay down.

"You're going to need rest" the nurse told him, and Annie sat down at the end of the cot while Mario stood.

"Go to sleep, Paolo" she said rubbing his hand lovingly.

Paolo nodded, and with that, drifted into a warm, comfortable sleep.

"Benvenuta a nostra piccola famiglia, cognata" (Welcome to our little family, sister-in-law) Mario said, smiling down at her.

Okay so what did you think? Please drop a review on your way out lol and as for the italian, I'm pretty sure its right (I'm actually taking an Italian class at school) but if you find a mistake please let me know :)

Until the next chapter,

.xoxo