Thank you for the reviews. I have written all of this. Twenty five chapters took me literally a month! It just came out of me! I am so proud of it tbh! I hope you enjoy it, too.

Chapter two:

It was silent for a while, with Jack stealing the odd glance or two as he tried to concentrate on the wheel, the road and everything which he should do whilst driving. He could feel his breathing, his heart beat and how they seemed to be quicker than they normally would be. What was this affect which her presence alone seemed to have on him?

''So, whats the deal with this ex?'' He asked, his voice low. She turned to face him, her hands clutched together in her lap, he noticed her natural manicure and had to stop himself from wanting to hold her hand. He laughed internally at himself; he was like a schoolboy! She still wore her headscarf and sunglasses so he couldn't read her face very well. He wanted to see that face. He wanted to read her facial expressions, how she reacted to things. To him.

''He and I broke up.'' She said quietly.

Jack nodded. Obviously. She was very guarded. Part of him didn't blame her but then again, perhaps it was because he was such an open book that he found her to be too private. ''Did you love him?'' He needed to know more information, oblivious of his own way of intruding on her private life.

Rose gasped, laughing at the pure rudeness of this man. She had never been asked such a direct question in her life. ''Pardon me? What business is that of yours?'' She faced the windscreen once more, ''in fact please allow me to get out of the car.''

Jack frowned, they were in the middle of a main road which led into the main town of Santa Monica. ''No.'' He told her. ''I won't.''

''Let me out of the damned car.'' She shouted, this time louder. Frustration tears came to her eyes but she blinked them back not allowing him to see. Jack slowed right down, coming to a clearing on the road, where he turned right and parked inside a closed gas station. This should be secluded enough but at that moment he didn't care.

He ran his fingers through his hair. This was a touchy subject but there was something about this guy which made her uneasy. That was what he cared about.

''Look, I can let you get out here knowing full well that guy could find you so easily or I can take you someplace where he won't even think of looking for you.'' He tried to reason with her, just to make her see things from his side. Just as she was about to respond, her ex's car passed the gas station where Jack had parked, Rose saw out of the side mirror, as the music blasted from the makeshift speakers they had made in that damned car. She found she didn't even have time to duck down out of the way.

''See what I mean.''

He heard her exhale and she removed her glasses as she nodded. She studied her hands and didn't speak for several minutes. He needed to be in her head and know what she was thinking. She was such a closed book. A tendril fell from the side of the scarf and she tucked it back behind her ear before pulling it around her neck, her hair flowing freely out. She took his breath away.

''I apologise.'' She offered, weakly.

He smiled. ''Don't.''

For the first time her eyes met his, and he sensed that she wasn't as hard as she made out to be and that beneath this icy exterior, something deeper rooted within was hurting her. He wanted to know so much more but she was so hesitant to share any information with him. He held his breathe for a moment and thought about anything which he could offer her.

''I didn't grow up here, I grew up in Wisconsin.'' Jack tried to change the subject. He could talk about himself all day long if it meant getting even one piece of information about her. Perhaps this method would work.

Rose lifted her head and her mood seemed to shift immediately. She was engaged, interested.

''Really?''

''Yes. My Mother died two years ago and I thought I am not staying in this damned cold climate for the rest of my life and so I moved to the West Coast. I worked on a squid boat, I caught barely anything and so they fired me, I bar tended for a while but I smashed more glasses than I didn't, I drank more beer than I poured...'' She laughed for the first time and it was the most beautiful sound. So much so that he didn't stop. He longed to hear that again. ''Then I found this damned Grill and started burning the cheeseburgers down there but luckily, they didn't fire me yet.''

''Well, Jack, it sounds as though you've had quite a life.''

He wrinkled his nose. ''Not really but I make the most of it. You have to. You never know what life throws at you, right? You have to go with it. Live each day like it's your last.''

''Hmm,'' she smiled, ''I like that.'' She lit up the entire car with that smile. He cocked his head to one side to watch her, just move and be, so natural. It felt as though she had started to allow him in a little more, her guard was coming down, although not too much but for now it was enough.

Her eyes fell over his face. He was around her age she would guess. His eyes were the palest blue and she couldn't help but feel as though she was staring straight into the ocean. She lingered on his eyes, before finding his nose, his lips and the dimples which were revealed as he smiled.

''You'd like to live each day as though it was your last?'' He asked, surprised.

''Yes.''

Jack pressed his lips together. ''Stick with me, I can take you all sorts of places.'' He grinned and it was infectious.

''And what intentions do you have?''

Jack placed his hand on his chest, feigning offense. ''First you accuse me of dating those dolls in the Grill and now you believe I have ill intentions towards you. If I remember correctly, you are in my debt, for I saved you from that ex of yours.''

Rose raised her eyebrows. ''I told you to let me out of the car.''

''Yes, and those idiots would have found you.''

The sound of a car revving broke their slight flirting. The black car which had passed earlier was about to pull into the gas station. Quickly, Jack pushed Rose down in her seat and he lay almost on top of her but was careful not to crush her under his weight. She didn't even scream as she allowed him to lay there. Their faces were merely an inch away from the other. They heard voices, a door slam and the engine rev again. One of them had gotten out the car, footsteps came closer. Rose squeezed her eyes closed as though she was preparing herself to be found; with another man, no less. But she wasn't as fearful as she thought she would be. There was something hopeful about the whole situation, about this strange man.

''Hey,'' he whispered, as her eyes sprung open. ''It will be all right, trust me?''

She nodded, silently. She could feel his breath right there on her cheek and it wasn't frightening to her. None of this was.

The footsteps lingered nearby for just a moment and then trailed back to the car before the door slammed once more and the engine started before wheels screeched and the car left, speeding into the distance. Jack gave it a few seconds before he raised his head just a little and saw that it was empty and safe to get up. He scooched back over to his own seat and he pulled himself back into a sitting position.

''They're gone. It's okay.''

She slowly sat up, fixing her hair as it had fallen into her eyes. She bit her lip, running her tongue along the edge and Jack watched her. She placed her hand on her chest, her heart was racing. She didn't know if it was from the adrenaline of nearly been caught, the excitement or fear, of perhaps just been in close proximity to this stranger. She started to laugh. She felt alive all of a sudden. As alive as a seventeen-year-old girl should. Her hands were shaking and something was sparking through her veins causing something to switch. She hadn't felt like that before.

''My,'' she giggled, ''that was close.''

''It was,'' Jack started the engine, ''let's get out of here before he finds us again.''

Rose ran her fingers through her hair to attempt to neaten it. The ends of it curled up and she found herself pulling at it and curling it around the ends of her fingers.

They drove out of the gas station and back out onto the road. Ahead there was nothing apart from fields, it was as though the roads were never meant to be built there. She thought of what it would have looked like years before. When it was just the beach here. No pier, no fairground. Just the ocean. A part of her wanted to go back to then and just live by the nature, the ocean and the sand.

She turned to watch Jack drive. He was concentrating on the road, his eyes forward. She couldn't help but glance the odd once or twice just to gather new information about him. He dressed well, she decided. His hair was too long but he was lovely and tanned. She knew that he was used to working outdoors and then she wanted to ask why he had taken a job working inside when she realised that it was none of her business. She decided to not ask further questions.

''Thank you, Jack.'' She spoke out of nowhere. He turned to face her.

''For what?''

''For saving me.'' Her entire personality seemed to have changed. He felt as though she was now a different person.

''I was joking when-''

''Maybe so,'' she cut him off, ''but I am very appreciative.''

His face fell serious. ''Then you're welcome.''

She had done something which she had never done before. She was in the car with a strange man, a man she had known less than an hour and yet seemed to trust so much. She couldn't help but smile. Her Mother would go grey in an instant if she knew just what her daughter was up to, perhaps that was the factor which made her want to stay out with this boy later than she usually would stay out. Why couldn't a girl of her age do what the others were doing? Why couldn't she have a little excitement in her life, perhaps even a little danger. This time it was much needed.

She wondered about this man and she realised that her curiosity was stronger than it had ever been.

''So, why the job at the Grill?''

He smirked. ''So, you get to ask me questions and I know nothing about you?''

She sighed, defeated. ''The truth is, Jack. There isn't much to tell.'' Her eyes fell vacant as she gazed out of the window. Another attempt to distract herself.

''I don't believe that one bit.''

Rose nodded. ''It Is true.'' She insisted. She wasn't lying, she felt she had nothing to offer him.

''So, let me ask you something.''

''All right.''

Jack pressed his lips together. There was so much he needed to know but the first question came to his head. ''Why did you and that guy break up?''