A/N- Hello my beloved readers! It's friday! And it's the first day of summer here too! So let's celebrate with a new, extra long upload :D
I would like to thank everyone who has read, followed and favourited this - it's so exciting! I also want to thank my reviwers for the last chapter - the ever faithful SexyMama, AquitarStar and Titanic4Ever, who left the nicest review EVER! Also, I would like to thank TitanicFabri for the AUTHOR FOLLOW! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! :D So, without further ado, here is chapter 4! Tell me what you think :)
~Okaly~
Clouds were all around me as I walked up a misty path. Was I dead? People all around me were laughing and chattering and a waft of beautiful violin music reached my ears. Finally, the air cleared- I was at the Grand Staircase, the same place I had met Jack when we went for dinner!
People kept looking at me and smiling, and I did the same, although I had no clue who they were or why I was here. Stood at the bottom of the stairs was a young man facing away from me, quite tall, with long, sun-streaked hair and familiar clothing…
"Jack?" I whispered from behind him. He seemed to hear me, and spun round in shock.
"Oh my God, Rose?" seemingly confused, but excited nonetheless, he wrapped me in a massive hug, delicately kissing my cheek.
"You aren't here are you? You survived? Please tell me you survived!" The sense of urgency on his face was clear as he scanned me, looking for clues.
"I…I don't know why I'm here… I survived; I made it to the rescue ship – but Jack, if I am dead now, or even if I'm not – please let me stay here with you!"
"Absolutely no way; you're a survivor, Rose, and you didn't go through all that just to join me here."
"Well why am I here?" I asked. I was confused. People kept passing me in every direction, some familiar, others not.
"I'm not quite sure, but I know someone who can find out..."
"Hello, is Mr Andrews there please?" Jack asked an attendant.
"Of course; who wants to speak to him?"
"Jack and Rose." he said with a smile, squeezing my hand. It sent shivers down my spine, to be able to see him in the flesh again.
"Yes sir, one moment," was the response. After a few minutes, none other than Thomas Andrews himself entered the room.
"Why, young Rose! What on earth are you doing here? You are supposed to be on the rescue ship!"
"That's kinda the problem,"responded Jack
"I fell asleep on the Carpathia, and now I'm here. Did I die?" I questioned. I don't think I'd care too much if I had...
"I shouldn't think so-one second," he answered, hauling a huge book onto the table and flicking through it. "It's my first day, so bear with me." We both nodded in response.
Almost choking on the dust that escaped the book with each turning of a page, he seemed to finally locate the right one. "Here, let's see… Loved ones of the now deceased person may temporarily be brought to the afterlife in dreams, if the living/dead are thinking about said person in excess."
Jack looked astounded. "Are you sure?"
"It's right here in text. I wouldn't worry yourselves then, Rose is probably just dreaming."
"Thank you Mr Andrews," Rose replied, hugging him like he was her father.
We were walking round the promenade deck hand in hand, and it was everything I should want it to be – but it wasn't. I needed to get something off my chest.
He started to notice my unrest from my fidgeting hand, my fleeing eyesight.
"Rose, are you ok?" he asked.
"How am I going to survive Jack? Without you? How can I move on when I will always think of you?"
He stopped walking, turned to face me and grabbed my arms so we were both staring into each other's eyes:
"Look Rose," he looked around sheepishly as he planned his next sentence, "I love you."
I was taken aback. His words were more powerful than any other sentence I had heard before. I was loved for the first time in my life!
"But…" he started. Oh God, why did there have to be a 'but'? Why couldn't I just stay here with him? He knows that's what I want after all. "You are alive. I'm not. You need to find somebody else to love… at least until you are up here again; then I can claim you all to myself," he added with a cheeky grin.
"But Jack – I can't move on. Nobody else will ever compare to you… How did I think I could survive in New York? I was so naïve– I'll die out there!"
"No you won't. Fabrizio will look after you, trust me. As long as you try to move on Rose – trust me, there'll be a queue of men miles long!"
"But Jack…"
"Never worry," he started, wrapping me up in a loving embrace before whispering in my ear: "In body or spirit, I'll always be with you."
"Fabrizio?" Someone next to him whispered as his eyes squinted open in the brightness. Light was pouring in from each window, signalling a new day – a new opportunity. Looking round to search for the owner of the voice, he saw it was Harold Bride from last night.
"Good morning," Fabrizio croaked as he tried to wake himself up, to no effect.
"Mornin', are you doing anything special today then?" asked the man as he struggled to move his legs.
"Erm, I go to see Rose, and care for her. I think that is all."
"Would it be ok if I joined you? I need to keep myself busy…"
Arriving at the big wooden door to the ladies' room, Fabrizio knocked gently, and it was opened by a smiling woman in stewardess' clothes.
"The women are awake, yes?" he asked,
"Oh yes, very awake," was her response. With that, he walked into the warm room with Harold behind him. He spotted the glow of her familiar fiery red hair as she ran a brush through it.
"There she is!" he muttered, accompanied by a low whistle from Harold.
"She's a stunner, that's for sure."
"Rosa," he called, as her golden locks spun round and they were met with her milky white face. She managed half a smile as she gestured for him to sit next to her, not noticing the man stood next to him.
He told Harold to come nonetheless as they crouched next to her.
"Good morning," she croaked, hardly even looking at them both.
"Good morning Rosa… I brought a new friend with me. He was on the boat all night too."
At this she spun round immediately, her eyes widening in shock and shaking her head.
"What if he-"
"-no worry," Fabrizio responded, "He can be trusted."
She raised an eyebrow, giving a cautious look at the young man, before her hazel eyes met with his green ones.
I still felt that glimmer of hope after meeting Jack, even though I knew it was a dream. If I could visit him just once more and find out what he meant by 'I will always be with you' then I could maybe relax.
"Nice to meet you, miss. I'm Harold Bride." He reached out to shake my hand, and I slowly offered my small and dainty one in partnership. His squeeze was firm and reassuring, and it was then that I decided I could trust Harold Bride.
"Rose Dawson. Nice to meet you," I replied, attempting a smile, which turned more into a grimace.
"I heard all about what Fabrizio is doing for you."
I nodded meekly and continued brushing my tangled hair. There was something therapeutic about untangling each knot while listening to Fabrizio's accented voice chatter about anything that had occurred in the few hours we had not seen each other. Harold sat by patiently, listening to Fabrizio's stories with interest.
A commotion started at the doorway of the room as all attention was drawn towards it.
"The survivors list!" someone shouted. Picking myself up, I straightened up and began to stroll over. Seeing the bad way Fabrizio and Harold were in, I asked if they wanted me to check for anyone they might know. Harold just enquired about the officers, and Fabrizio Helga and the two Swedish men he shared a cabin with.
Me? I was curious to find out just how many people I would have to avoid whilst I was trapped on this ghost ship…
I watched her as she walked away, keeping such a beautiful stance the entire time, even though she was covered in rags. She was stunning –I was enchanted. Her smooth skin and rouge lips were no contest for any other woman in the room…
What was I thinking? She had just lost the love of her life! But I just couldn't take my eyes off her…
It turns out there was an awful lot of people I had to avoid. It seemed that pretty much every first class passenger I had spoken with had survived, with the exception of Colonel Astor. Cosmo and Lucille Duff-Gordon, Colonel Gracie, Margaret Brown, the Countess of Rothes, Mother, Cal…
Helga wasn't on the list, and neither were many of the officers. It was a very short list indeed for the amount of people I had seen milling about the decks. I even checked for Jack's little friend; Cora, but she wasn't on the list either - and that stirred me most of all.
Returning back to the men, I told them the sad news and we all sat in silence, listening to the many desperate voices all in a big jumble. But one stood out…
"Get back! Back I say! You animals – don't you know who I am?" It was the same obnoxious tone, the same type of vocabulary…
"Shit!" I whispered, alarm bells sounding inside my head. I'm pretty sure Harold's eyes nearly shot out of his head! He had probably never heard an upper-class girl speak like that before…
"Rose, what's wrong?" exclaimed Fabrizio, his face panic-stricken as he urged me to speak.
"C… Cal." I mouthed.
Taking the hint, he sprung in front of me, urging Harold to do the same as I quickly wrapped myself up in a blanket. I stayed silent for the next few minutes as Harold and Fabri attempted small talk – attempting to blend in.
"God dammit," he screamed, "Ruth, she's not there!"
"Did you check the third class?" Was the calm and snooty response.
"Of course I checked third-class! Do you take me as some kind of idiot? At least he didn't survive either…"
Tears pricked at my eyes. I couldn't stand to hear them talking about Jack that way. They had no idea how amazing and brave he really was. More of a man than Cal could ever be.
"Oh Dawson; He should've known I always get what I want… Dawson… Dawson – Dawson!" I could hear him pushing again through the crowds to check the list once again, before screaming "Ruth! There's a Rose Dawson! Do you suppose that's her?"
"We don't have many other options, it's worth a try."
Oh God. This was it. I had been free for a total of 2 days, and already I knew I was heading back to captivity one way or another. How would I avoid them? The ship only had so many hiding places, and Fabrizio hardly understood English properly. Harold…? I had only known him for half an hour, but it seemed that the only option was to hide with him for the next few days. Would he mind? A clueless, bohemian Italian Cal would be suspicious of, but what a middle-class wireless assistant would want to do with a weeping pile of rags I don't know. I prayed he never made the link.
It was a few hours later when the room returned to normalcy, and Fabrizio and Harold turned around to face me.
"What are you do?" Asked Fabrizio as I checked no one was listening.
"I have a plan… and it involves Harold – if that's ok," I sent an apologetic glance at the man, and he gave an approving nod before I continued, "I can't go on walking round as Rose Dawson while I'm on this ship – it's too risky, and there are only so many places they could find me. If it is ok, I would need to hide with Harold, that way they will never suspect a middle class wireless operator! A penniless Italian is a bit too obvious – and he may have seen you with me and Jack."
Fabrizio nodded in agreement, "a very clever plan."
"I'm aware it's very improper, so it would probably be best that I am a relation of Harold's if anyone asks."
"My wife!" He blurted out, before composing himself and awkwardly smiling, "what's your middle name?"
"Jane," I answered. With a wink, he replied,
"Jane Bride. I would say it fits, don't you?"