The sweet scent of strawberries continued to surround Jack and Rose as they sprinted through the field, their laughs rising high into the air like smoke. Rose's baby pink dress flounced up every time one of her bare feet met the dirt, and she giggled loudly, squeezing the handle of her basket tighter in her grip. Jack was still close behind her, almost within arm's reach, but she couldn't let him catch her—it'd all be over then.
"Rose, come back!"
"No, Jack! I can't let you win!" She pushed herself to run faster, her basket bumping against her thighs as she sped up.
"Rose!" The blond-haired boy threw his own basket to the ground; strawberries spilled out, scattering across their path and causing Rose to almost trip. Jack bent his knees ever so slightly and then pounced.
His arms wrapped themselves around the fiery-haired girl's waist, bringing her tumbling down into the dirt. She laughed even louder than before, her cheeks bright pink and her green eyes glittering. Her basket landed beside them, but her strawberries stayed inside, unlike Jack's. He forced his lips onto hers, silencing her, and one hand reached up to caress her left cheek.
"Jack, I love you," she mumbled against his kiss before deepening it and throwing her arms around his neck. The damp soil underneath her bare legs was sticking to her skin and the back of her dress, but she was too caught up in her lover's lips to notice.
"I love you, Rose," Jack whispered, pulling away to catch a breath. His eyes met hers, unspoken passion sparking in the air around them. With one last kiss, he gripped her hand and helped her back to her feet, then retrieved a fat strawberry from her basket and sank his teeth into it. Juice seeped into his mouth and trickled down his chin, and Rose giggled as she wiped it off with her fingers. The stickiness would've bothered her any other day, but she was already sweaty and covered in soil; one more little thing didn't bother her.
The blazing summer sun began to sink low into the pink sky, bathing the strawberry fields and the two lovebirds in a brilliant orange light. Jack chewed his mouthful of fruit and swallowed thickly, while Rose retrieved her basket out of the dirt and walked over to a large oak tree, setting it on the ground beside the trunk. Jack bounded towards her, his silly grin plastered on his face, and intertwined his fingers with hers, gently pushing her against the tree. His lips met hers hungrily, his teeth nipping slightly at her lower lip; she returned the gesture, her heart thumping in her chest like a rabbit. She had never felt a love like this before—especially not with her former fiancé, Cal Hockley. His kisses didn't get her blood boiling or her mind racing the way Jack's did. Rose hadn't believed that a love like this could even exist.
But it did, and she found that out the second Jack's hand gripped hers as he tried to help her off of the railing of the Titanic. It was love at first sight, one could say; Rose certainly would.
One of Rose's hands slipped out of Jack's and came to rest on his chest, feeling his heartbeat going wild underneath her palm. She broke their kiss and stared into his mesmerizing eyes, a smile pulling at the corners of her rouge lips.
"Your heart's beating a hundred miles an hour, Jack!"
He snickered, placing his hand over her own. "You do that to me, Rose."
"How?"
His smirk faded away as his expression became more serious. His other hand left the grip of hers and his fingers reached up to play with a stray red curl that had fallen around her cheek. "Every time you look at me… Every time we kiss… Every morning when I wake up next to you. I love having you in my life."
Rose blinked back tears of joy and laughed. They stared into each other's faces until long after the sun vanished and the silver moon replaced it in the dark sky, until Jack suddenly grabbed both of Rose's hands and dragged her back out into the fields.
"Jack, what are you doing?"
He smiled sheepishly, the moon's light gleaming down upon them. "I want to dance with you!"
"But there's not even any music!"
He twirled Rose around in a circle, then pulled her close to him. "Well, you can sing, darling."
"Sing what?" she queried as he spun her out again, this time spinning with her. He wasn't much of a dancer, but Rose loved it anyway.
"Anything! Make up a song!"
She thought a minute before laughing and bursting into song. "You set me free, you show me how good my life could be!" Her eyes locked onto Jack's, urging him to continue.
He opened his mouth and a pathetic singing voice swam out. "How could you happen to me?"
"Good enough!" she chuckled before waltzing close to him again and kissing his soft lips. "I love you, Jack, you know that?"
"I most certainly do, Mrs. Dawson."
"Mrs. Dawson?"
Jack rested his head on Rose's shoulder, dancing in place with her, his arm wrapped around her waist.
"Marry me, Rose."