"Funny Johnny!" Ty laughed.

'Hudson kissing Ally? He hadn't ever tried a joke this dramatic before,' she thought

"I'm serious," he said, but those words meant nothing coming from him.

"Sure," she said, entertaining him for a moment. "Are you trying to trick me into placing a bad bet? Cause you know I'm smarter than that."

"No. They really did kiss," Johnny said. His excitement turned to curiosity as he focused on her more. "They were dancing together and then they kissed. I saw it."

No amount of words coming from Johnny would have ever made Ty actually believe that Hudson had kissed one of the girls. But Johnny's serious manner was making her start to wonder if he was telling the truth. He was horrible at keeping a straight face when telling a joke. She quickly smiled knowing that Johnny was watching her. She didn't need him to be suspicious about her relationship with Hudson.

"Ty!" Nico called from behind them and she knew she had exactly one second to figure out how to play this off.

She knew in the moment it didn't matter whether Hudson did or did not kiss Ally. What mattered was how Nico and Johnny saw her handle it. If she played it off like she didn't care then it would keep Nico from worrying about her and give her time to figure out what really happened.

"This is fantastic!" she said, switching on her smile. She slapped Johnny excitedly on the arm. "Tell me I can still get in on the initial bets before they start pouring in. Everyone is going to be so stunned!"

"I know!" Johnny said, easily catching her enthusiasm and returning to his initial excitement. "No one saw this coming from Hudson! And don't worry, you can still get in on the first bets. I'm just making them now!"

"Ty!" Nico called again. He grabbed her shoulder and turned her around as Johnny returned to the bar.

"Nico! Johnny already told me," she laughed. "How could you try to keep me away from all the good bets? Are you still mad I won the bets by the pool the other day? That is low." She playfully shoved him.

"No...I..." Nico started, clearly thrown by her reaction to the news. He frowned as she beamed back at him.

"Sure. You weren't trying to keep all the good bets for yourself," she teased, brushing aside his worry. "Let's pretend I believe that." She winked at him before following after Johnny.

She had the ten steps to the bar to unpack what Johnny had said. She still didn't believe him. Johnny had a tendency to exaggerate the truth and Hudson had spent the whole morning letting her know how much he liked her.

Her gaze drifted out to the dancing crowd as she searched for Hudson. It took her a moment to find him and when she did a hint of doubt hit her. He was smack-dab in the middle of the crowd, dancing closely with a girl. Ty watched for a moment, remembering how tipsy he had been when they had interacted earlier and she began to question whether she should reconsider what Johnny had said.

But her time to question anything ran out once she reached the bar. Nico was only a few steps behind her and she could feel his curious gaze on her as they joined Johnny's group. He was trying to read how the news was affecting her and she gave him nothing but enthusiasm.

It only took a few minutes for her to catch Johnny's energy and it wasn't long until she was in the middle of the group with Johnny adding to his betting categories with almost as much excitement.

When Ty wanted to she was very good at keeping herself busy so her brain didn't go to unwanted thoughts and that is what she did for the remainder of the night. Between the betting ring and managing the party, she kept all thoughts of Hudson kissing Ally pushed to the far reaches of her brain. It was only when the party had officially died down and the exhausted and drunk happy Hamilton Group started to trickle out of the lounge that she even thought about Hudson.

She was standing behind the bar handing out jobs to her team and Johnny's group when she caught Hudson out of the corner of her eye. He was across the lounge picking up his discarded suit jacket while he looked around. She knew he was looking for her. Since the beginning of the party he had made excuses to 'run into her' and she would bet money that he was looking for her to say goodnight.

She still wasn't sure what she believed about him kissing another girl but she found herself ducking behind Johnny's tall stature when Hudson's gaze scanned the group behind the bar. What she did know was that Hudson was at least tipsy and it would be better for both of them if the next time they interacted they were both sober. Avoiding him now gave him time to sleep it off and gave her time to think the whole situation through.

But much to her frustration she found that time did not bring answers. She woke up the next morning feeling as uncertain as she had the night before. Her first instinct was that Johnny was lying, but she couldn't ignore the fact that Johnny was standing by his allegation.

She had watched Johnny try to tell tall tales enough to know that he wasn't very good at keeping up a charade. Sooner than later, he would break and admit the real story. But twelve hours later he was in the cafeteria telling the story to a table full of people.

Ty managed to get two steps into the cafeteria before she heard Johnny say Hudson's name and she caught Nico looking at her. She took that as her queue to turn around and leave. She was heading towards the spa for her morning activity and she could snack on the cucumbers.

When she had first seen this morning's spa day on her schedule she had dreaded it. Supervising a spa day meant she stood around most of the day and tried to act like she wasn't extremely bored. But this morning she found herself grateful for the spa day. One, it meant she wouldn't be seeing Hudson. Two, she had the morning to figure out what she was going to do when she did eventually have to see Hudson.

She arrived at the spa with enough time to check in with the beauticians and grab a handful of cucumbers before Kate and her squad of girls arrived. At this point in their relationship, Ty expected the Hamilton Group to be extreme in everything and she wasn't disappointed when all the girls arrived in hot pink sweatsuits which were then traded in for hot pink bath robs as they prepared for a day full of pampering.

The first hour of the day was busy for Ty as she moved around making sure everyone had what they needed and they had all chosen their spa treatments. Once everyone was settled, she moved to a back corner and tried her best to disappear into the background until someone called for her.

She had settled against the wall behind the manicure desk and had let her thoughts go back to her dilemma with Hudson when she heard someone say his name out loud. Her eyes darted up to a group of girls talking in the lounge area. She quickly trained her ear on their conversation.

"No!" one of them said. "You did not."

"Yes!" Ally said a smug smile spread across her face. "I kissed Hudson."

Ty felt something in her stomach sink as she watched the group of girls around Ally take in the news with various feelings.

"When?" one of the girls finally asked.

"Last night. On the dance floor." Ty hated the triumphant way Ally talked like Hudson was a prize they had been fighting to win.

"Really?" one of the girls asked but Ty didn't need to hear Ally's answer. It was true. There was no possible way Johnny and Ally would come up with the same lie. Hudson had kissed another girl after he had spent the whole morning sneaking kisses in the back of the bus, and telling her how hard it would be to keep himself from staring at her.

His words had filled Ty's stomach with butterflies. Now her stomach felt like it was filled with rocks as she thought about what he had said. She was an idiot. All it had taken was one guy who could match her wits and she had lost her mind.

She had actually let herself feel something for him. She had prided herself on her sensible mind and had been the one watching all her co-workers lose their minds over someone they liked. But here she was doing the same thing.

Frustration and anger at herself started to boil up inside her as she looked back with scorn on all that Hudson had said. She needed to move, to put this negative energy somewhere outside of herself but she wasn't going anywhere until the spa day was over. She was stuck in the same spot with her mind replaying all the stupid things she had done the last few days.

Someone said Hudson's name again and it brought Ty back to the room. She looked over at the group of girls and saw that it had grown. It seemed that Ally's confession had caught the attention of most of the group, including Bianca's.

"And then he kissed you?" Bianca questioned, her words dripping with doubt.

"Yeah," Ally said, clearly annoyed with how much everyone doubted her.

"Interesting," Bianca said like it was the least interesting thing she had ever heard. She shrugged carelessly. "I guess it was bound to happen. I mean, we are on a cruise. This type of thing happens all the time."

Bianca was making it clear that she didn't think it was that big of a deal that Hudson had kissed Ally, but Ty could hear the annoyed undertone in her voice. Bianca was pissed she wasn't the one Hudson had kissed.

"Besides," Bianca continued casually, "he has a girlfriend." It was clear Bianca was going for the shock factor when she dropped this little piece of information and it worked. But no one was as shocked as Ty. Hudson had a girlfriend!

The rocks in Ty's stomach turned to acid as her body filled with anger. Everything she had been feeling towards herself, all the frustration and anger, was instantly redirected at Hudson. He had flirted with her! He had kissed her! He had told her all his stupid silly stories all while he had a girlfriend!

Ty's impulse to move took over again and this time she couldn't stop herself. She pushed off the wall but it only took four steps for her to remember who she was around. She was still on the clock. As much as she wanted to find Hudson and let her fists tell him exactly how mad she was, the last thing she wanted to do was let him impact her job.

She redirected her steps to the front of the spa and gave herself the small distance between the front of the spa and the lounge where all the girls were to collect themselves. She was a professional and she had worked too hard to let a boy's stupid lies interfere with how she did her job.

By the time she was approaching the group around the couches, her emotions were reined in enough that she could speak without the worry of letting out a long stream of curses against Hudson.

Although, her resolve to contain her feelings was tested when she caught Bianca saying, "She lives in New York. They've been together for almost two years."

Ty let out a sardonic laugh under her breath. The only thing left for Bianca to reveal was that Hudson also has secret kids.

"Hello, ladies!" Ty stepped in. She didn't know if she could handle hearing anything more about Hudson and this other life he had. "I wanted to check in and see how everyone was doing. Does anyone need anything to drink? Anything to eat? I can have some snacks sent up."

It seemed like the group was as eager for the topic change as Ty was and they all started making requests. Ten minutes later Ty was thankfully leaving the spa with a long list of food and drink requests. Not only was she grateful for the chance to move but she was also grateful for the excuse to leave the spa and all the girls' who knew a lot more about who Hudson really was than she did.

She took the stairs at a quick pace and the movement brought clarity to her mind. She could feel all the energy that had been coursing through her find a purpose as it propelled her forward. By the time she reached the main lobby, she had pushed Hudson and all his lies aside to be dealt with once she was done with work for the day.

"Hey, Ty," Kenny greeted her as she walked behind the customer service desk.

"Hey," she said, joining him at the back computers.

"I thought you were in the spa today?" he asked as she started imputing the food and drinks order into the computer.

"I am. I'm just putting in an order for food and drinks," she said, finding comfort as she slipped into the routine work talk. "What about you?"

The moment the question was out of her mouth she wanted to take it back. She knew exactly what Kenny was doing that morning. He was in charge of a round of games for the male half of the Hamilton Party. The half that included Hudson.

"We just finished up at the putting green," Kenny said. "I'm just ordering lunch while the guys play some ping-pong up on deck."

"Right," Ty said, trying her hardest to concentrate on the computer in front of her and not on who Kenny had been with. She completed her order as quickly as she could while tuning out Kenny's story from that morning about the Hamilton guys.

"Fun!" she said, cutting Kenny off as she turned to leave.

But she froze when she saw Hudson walking towards the customer service desk. Seeing him broke all the control she had managed to gain in the last ten minutes and her mouth filled with an acidic taste as she watched him cross the lobby. He looked up and a bright, surprised smile overtook his face when he saw her and she hated it. She turned around and almost ran into Kenny.

"Whoa!" Kenny laughed, catching her as she stumbled.

"Ty!" Hudson called out.

"Thanks," she mumbled as she tried to move around Kenny and get to the door behind the customer service desk that lead to the offices.

"Ty!" Hudson called again.

She didn't turn around but caught Kenny's arm. "Hey, can you deal with this customer for me?" she asked him.

Kenny's eyes jumped to behind her where Hudson was then back to her. "Deal with Hudson?" he questioned with a confused frown.

"Yes," Ty said.

He looked at her for a moment then nodded. "Sure."

Her chest swelled with gratitude and Kenny's willingness to do what she asked. He had seen her interacting with Hudson the last few days and there was no doubt in her mind that he knew something was going on between them but here he was not questioning her change of mind.

"Thank you," she said, squeezing all her thankfulness into his hand.

She moved around him and rushed to get to the door behind the desk before Hudson got any closer. She heard Hudson calling her name one more time as she opened the door and slipped inside.

**********************************************************************

*sits on the floor*

Are you going to join me here. I have lost all fight and am in a wibbly-wobbly state of emotions.

If your emotions are a little more concrete and you want to pour them out here to cement them, the go ahead.

Okay, let's take a poll because when in doubt make a poll that will make us all feel better.

Well... not really but it will give us all something to do as we wait in this agony.

Do you believe:

Hudson has been lying to Ty.

Ty is an idiot for running away.

They will work it out and possibly have a musical number to prove it.

There is hope in the world.

Nico and I belong together.

If everyone ate ice cream the problem would be solved.

As I let you ponder what is going to happen and bit your nails and stress I'm going to pretend I'm also worrying about the future as well so you don't feel alone.

Vote, comment, follow but only if you must.