Fascinated By The Floor
Fandom: Titanic
Rating: T
Genre: Friendship, Romance
Pairing: Implied Jack/Rose
Word Count: 910
Summary: [Based on a Tumblr prompt] In which Helga mistakes best friends Jack and Rose for a couple. Implied Jack/Rose AU ONESHOT.
AN: I felt like I needed a break from writing for WvA, so I had a binge-watch of DiCaprio movies over Christmas, and after watching Titanic, I launched into this...whatever this is. Hope you all enjoy. Rated T because Tommy Ryan has a foul mouth.
Apologies if some of the Norwegian/Italian stuff is wrong - I used Google translate, and that's not always reliable, but I hope I got it right.
DISCLAIMER. I do not own Titanic. I would have bought a yacht by now if I owned Titanic.
Prompt from Tumblr: Imagine your OTP in high school, as best friends. Except, they totally act like a couple 24/7 and everyone mistakes them as one. Now, imagine how they'd react when someone asks them how long they've been dating!
"And, this - this is the tavolo pranzo!"
Helga Dahl smiled gratefully as Fabrizio pulled up a chair for her. "Takk." She slid into the seat with a smile; it was never easy being the new girl in high school, never mind being the new girl who started in the middle of the year in an unfamiliar town - an unfamiliar country - miles and miles away from the Norwegian city she knew and loved. The relief when the friendly-faced Fabrizio had found her wandering around the hallways, hopelessly lost on her way to homeroom, and had let her tag along after him all morning had been immense - even more so when he had asked her to join him for lunch since she didn't know anyone else in Chippewa Falls. Two others were seated at the table already, talking amongst themselves about things and people Helga didn't understand - something about a teacher having an affair with a student, and the school violin being thrown out of the upstairs window?
"Helga, il mio amico?" Fabrizio pointed to each of the two in turn. "Tommy. Cal."
"Caledon." The boy corrected stiffly, briefly glancing up from the screen of his smartphone. "You know I hate nicknames."
"How about Gobshite?" The one called Tommy muttered in a thick Irish drawl, glaring distastefully at Cal - Caledon - before turning to Helga with a beaming smile on his face. "Hi there...Helga?"
"Ja. Yes." She nodded with a smile, as Fabrizio took a seat beside her.
"Say, where's Jack, the pazzo bastardo?"
"Jack? Don't know." Tommy gave a shrug, taking a mouthful of whatever food was on his plate. "Running late as usual. Probably pissed off Murdock one too many times. Remember the band aid incident?" He nudged Fabrizio from across the table, sending the two of them into chortling. Cal let out a huff at the mention of Jack, rolling his eyes from behind his phone; Helga looked curious, but, before she could ask about the bad blood between Cal and this other student she had yet to meet, a shout from the other side of the cafeteria caught her attention.
"I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD!" A tall, lanky blonde boy was racing in the direction of the salad bar in the centre of the room, cheering loudly at the top of his voice as he went. A girl with fiery red curls was perched on his back, arms looped around his neck, mouth stretched open in a wide grin, musical laughter falling from her lips.
Cal let out a sniff; the shouting had distracted him from whatever was so fascinating and crucially important on his phone, Helga noticed.
"I don't know what she sees in him."
"Who?"
"Rose. And Dawson." He said the last name through gritted teeth.
"You're just sore because she wouldn't go out with you," Tommy snorted. Cal merely fired a glare at him; if looks could kill, Helga thought to herself, glancing back across the cafeteria. The couple - Jack and Rose, she now knew - were still piling salad onto their plates, trying to discreetly throw pieces of lettuce at one another when they thought the other wasn't looking. She watched as Jack leaned forward to whisper something in her ear - sharing some inside joke that only they knew - and Rose's face lit up as a smile graced her features.
"It's enough to make anyone sick," Cal said suddenly, also observing the spectacle.
"Still haven't gotten over being rejected, have you?" Tommy replied, in a voice that sounded sympathetic, but really wasn't intended to be, before he rose from his seat. "Oi! Jack!" The couple had drifted over to the table, still grinning from their previous conversation. "Where yer fuckin' been?"
"Murdock," Jack replied with a shrug. "There was a problem with the stationary closet -"
"Meaning, Jack locked him in the stationary closet," Rose corrected, rolling her eyes and elbowing her best friend in the ribs as they seated themselves beside Cal, who didn't hide his disgust at this fact. Tommy mouthed something to Fabrizio - about rejection, probably, Helga guessed -, which set them both laughing.
"Something funny?" With raised eyebrows, Rose folded her arms and fixed her snickering friends with a serious glance.
"Nah, nah!" Tommy shook his head, still grinning. Jack and Rose shared an disbelieving look. "Don't worry 'bout it. Here, this is Helga." He clapped the girl on the shoulder. "This is Rose and Jack. You'll get used to them...eventually." This earned him a playful whack on the back of the head from Jack.
Helga looked between the two late-comers, trying not to look too interested as she breached the next subject of conversation. "How long...have you been...i kjærlighet?" She asked, stumbling with her English.
"Pardon?" Rose looked confused.
"She wants to know how long you and Dawson have been in love," Cal interrupted, in a tone that suggested the whole subject bored him immensely, eyes never straying from his screen, although there was a bitter scowl on his face.
"Oh!" Rose's eyes widened. "Well, we, uh..." She glanced briefly at Jack, who seemed to be looking anywhere except her - maybe trying to distract from the fact that his cheeks were tinged red. "We're just...friends...right, Jack?" She gave him a nudge.
"Mmhm," Came Jack's incoherent, mumbled reply, who was suddenly fascinated by the floor under the table.
Just friends. Helga nodded, trying to hide her smile. Right.
Poor Jack - he's got it bad, bless his cute little self. :) And Cal is just an ass...as usual.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this little fic. Good day to you all.