"I can't allow you to marry this crazy girl Jack" Lightoller tells me. I just need to get to the bow for like, 15 minutes and then I swear I'll be done! I've been trying to convince him for nearly half an hour but he just won't let me! And I don't have much more time to get a ring and get the girl. Charles lowers his voice "Jack, she isn't a good idea. Alright? Do you see the way she acts? She doesn't even act like a girl!" he tells me, I shake my head "That's why I like her, no, love her so much! Charles, I know what I'm doing. Just please, let me take her out to the bow for a just a few minutes!" I beg.
He finally sighs and waves me off "Fine, sundown. I'm giving you a half hour with her on the bow. Not a minute more!". I shake his hand, thanking him before running off. I've got to find a ring! Where do I find a ring? Is there a gift shop on this ship? As I'm lost in my thoughts I accidently run into a passanger "Bloody Hell" I curse under my breath before turning to the passanger, oh I hope it's not some snotty first class passanger. I don't have time to have my head torn off if I got a little dirt on them. "I'm sorry Madame!" I say, helping them up. She laughs "Think nothin of it sonny! But where's the fire at?" she asks, oh, I know who this is! This is Margret Brown, I think I had to send a message for her earlier today.
I shake my head at her "There's no fire Madame. But maybe you can help me, I want to propose to my girl tonight, but I need to get a ring, would you know where to get one?" I ask. She sighs "Sorry sonny, I think you're out of luck there. Think there's everything but a jewelry store on this ship. But, you come with me! I might have just the thing for you!" she says. Before I can protest she takes my arm and begins leading me through first class hallways. Please let this not be a waste of my time! I only have a little while!
She takes me into her stateroom, crossing into her bedroom, she comes out with a jewelry box "Now, what size finger would you say she has?" she asks. Gee, I don't know? She has small hands, maybe I should just take a guess "6?" I say, that sounds reasonable enough. Mrs. Brown goes digging through her jewlery box, and I can see her tossing out rings one by one.
Finally she closes her jewelry box and sits me down at a table in her sitting room, placing a couple of rings in front of me. She smiles "Alright now, you can have one of these rings. Just pick whatever one you like, I can just buy another one!" she tells me, I shake my head "Oh no Madame, I could never.." she holds up her hand "Please sonny, I insist!". I owe this woman everything now! But, which ring should I pick? They all would be perfect for her, suddenly Mrs. Brown picks up one of the plainer ones, a plain gold ring with a garnet stone and two small diamonds on either side "If I were in your position, I'd pick this one" she tells me, handing it to me. I look at it closely, people don't usually propose with garnet, no, they buy their loves diamonds, big giant diamonds!
But Gabby doesn't strike me as a girl who would care very much about that. I smile and shake Mrs. Brown's hand "I'll never be able to repay you Madame! Thank you!", I can't thank her enough really! She chuckles "Think nothing of it! Now what are you waiting for? Go out there and pop the question!" she says. I jump up "Yes! I will! Thank you!" I say, she once again laughs at me "Good Luck sonny!" she calls as I race out the door. I shove the ring into my vest pocket and begin my search for the girl. She has to be around here somewhere, where's the time? 7:30? Oh no! I have to report back for my shift in half an hour! I need to get her to the bow right now!
I come around the corner and I'm incredibly relieved to find her. She's walking alongside Mr. Andrews, chatting away with him about something called 'Ebay'. I approach them "And you can buy carousel horses on Ebay. Full size! I want to buy one of those!" she tells him. Mr. Andrews smiles when he sees me, he looks happy to see me "Hello Jack!" he says. Gabby smiles brightly "Hi Jack!" she says, I smile in return "Gabby, I uh, have something I wanna show you. Would you mind if I took her Mr. Andrews?" I ask, he shakes his head, practically shoving her towards me "Not at all! I'll see you at dinner Gabby?" he asks. She nods "Yep! Bye!" she replies. He leaves and she looks up at me "Ok! So where we goin?" she asks. Alright, I want it to be a surprise!
"Well, it's a surprise, so you gotta close your eyes!" I tell her. She closes her eyes and I wave my hand in front of her "No peeking!" I say, she giggles "I'm not! I'm not!" she assures me. So far so good, but I can't waste time going slow with her. I sweep her up into my arms and begin carrying her, gee she's light, do they not eat in the future? She seems to be excited "Am I gonna like the surprise?" she asks me, I laugh "Of course! Why would I surprise you with something you don't like?" I ask her. She shrugs "I dunno, for your own personal amusement?" she asks. We're out on the deck, approaching the bow. Once we're in front of it I place her on the ground, guiding her hand towards the hand railing.
She laughs "What are we doing?" she asks, I lead her up "Just step up for me" I tell her. She steps up and I hold her as I tell her to step up onto the rail. It takes her a minute to get herself up there, she clings to the railing nervously, as though she's afraid to fall "I got you, now hold yours arms out like in that movie you were telling me about". I'm not sure if she has guessed her surprise yet, but she holds her arms while I hold her waist to steady her "Alright, you can open your eyes now" I tell her. She takes a moment before finally opening her eyes.
Her entire face lights up "Oh my god! I'm flying! Jack! Jack it's just like the movie! It's really like flying!" she says ecstatically. She loves it! Yes! This is perfect! She glances back at me "Hold your arms out and try it!" she tells me, I don't really want to let go of her waist, what if she falls? She laughs lightly at my hesitation before reaching down and taking my hands, holding them out with hers. It feels a little bit like flying I guess, nothing but the open waters as far as the eye can see. It's quite beautiful, I can see why she wanted to do this so badly, more than anything. The view alone is worth it!
We stand there together, 'flying' before I rest my head on her shoulder "Do you like it?" I ask her. She laughs "Like it? I love it! This is the greatest thing that has happened so far on this trip!" she tells me. I swallow and we both drop our arms, so that I'm simply holding her. She looks back at me, she's so close! And everything is so perfect! Without even thinking, I've leaned in, and suddenly I'm kissing her! Right there on the bow of the ship! I wonder if Lightoller and the others are watching? You know what though, I don't care! I love this girl! And I'm going to ask her to marry me!
Our kiss lasts a while, but when we finally break apart she smiles brightly up at me "I've never kissed anyone like that before" she breaths. I was her first kiss? That's rather hard to believe, boys in the future must have no brains to pass up a girl like this. Then again, most of them are probably like Lightoller, thinking she's insane. She steps down off the railing, but stays standing with her hand on it.
I turn her around "Gabby, I have a very important question to ask you" I tell her. She smiles softly "Yes?" she asks. Alright, this is it, the big question! I reach into my vest pocket "Now, I understand if you say no, but, if you said yes, you'd make me the happiest man in the world" I tell her. I kneel down in front of her and hold the ring out "Miss Gabby, will you marry me?". Her eyes widen and she gasps, looking at the ring in wonder. She grows silent, and I'm genuinely afraid of her rejection, I mean, I'm 9 years older than her after all. Now in 1912 that might not be a problem, but what are the rules in 2012? And besides, she said she was going back to the future? Would she marry me only to go back? Or would she stay?
Finally she speaks "You know, I had a crush on a boy in school once. I told him my feelings, but he couldn't return them to me. I remember how much it hurt me, but he wrote something in my yearbook that I always kept close to my heart. He said 'I hope you find someone special, because you're a special girl'. I thought it was the sweetest thing, and it gave me hope I'd find that special someone. And you know what? Now I have! So yes Jack, I'll marry you". Now it's my turn to be silent, she said yes?
I stand quickly, and take her left hand, slipping the ring on. It's a perfect fit, that makes me even happier! I'm a good guesser! I take her into my arms and kiss her again, she said yes! She said yes! I really do feel like the happiest man on earth! I spin her around and suddenly we heard voices coming from the bridge. We look up to see Mr. Lightoller, and all the officers assembled on the bridge, hooting and hollaring at us. Gabby rolls her eyes at them and laughs before yelling "HEY! THIS AIN'T A FREE SHOW! YOU GOTTA PAY!". One of the officers, I believe Boxhall, yells back "FINE! IT'LL BE WORTH THE MONEY!".
She takes my hands and looks up at me "Can we go flying one more time? Pretty please?" she asks. Of course! I lift her up onto the railing and she holds her arms out, suddenly bursting out into song, I've grown used to it, actually quite fond of it! "I believe I can flyyyy! I believe I can touch da skyyyy! I think about it ev'ry night en day! Spread my wings and fly awaaaaayyyy! I believe I can sooooaaaaar! I see me runnin through that open doooooooooor! I believe I can flyyyyy! I believe I can flyyyyy! I believe I can flyyyyyyy!". I laugh at her silly little flying song and she turns to me "You'd be surprised, I know other flying songs too!" she tells me.
"Think of a wonderful thooouuught! Any merry little thoooouuught! Think of Christmas, think of snow! Think of sleigh bells off you go! Like reindeer in da skyyyy! You can fly! You can fly! You can flyyyy!" she sings cheerfully. She's so silly "Do you have a song for everything?" I ask her, she smiles "Anything I don't have a song for, I improvise! So, sure, I'd say I have a song for everything!" she tells me. That just adds to the fun! A song for everything? I'll have to come up with some good things for her to sing about later!
Gabby looks out to sea "Hey, I have a question. Is Jack your real name?" she asks me. That's a strange question "No, my christian name is John. But everybody calls me Jack. Why do you ask?" I ask her. She smiles at me "Oh, well in the movie, the love interest's name is Jack. I just thought it was crazy that I came on this ship, and fell in love with a guy who was also named Jack" she tells me. That is kinda crazy, he must have been the one who did the flying scene in the movie too, the one I just recreated with her! Oh well, I'm sure I'm a lot better looking than that other Jack!
Suddenly I hear Lightoller yelling at us that our half hour is up. Has it really been a half hour already? I help her down off the railing and she gives the open waters a final look "Don't tell Mr. Andrews, but this is my new favorite place on the ship" she tells me. I smile and take her hand, walking with her off the bow and to the wireless room to relieve Harold "Don't worry darling, I won't tell him" I say. She squeezes my hand "My best friend in the future calls me Darlin, or hun. But we usually address each other as Darling" she tells me. Oh, I hope I didn't just make her homesick! I don't want her to think about the future!
Think fast "Well sweetheart, I won't call you that if you don't want me to" I tell her. She nudges me "Oh don't worry about it! I'm sure she's enjoying the break from my craziness!" she admits. When we make it to the wireless room Harold is standing there waiting for me "Um, Jack, there's a problem" he tells me. A problem? What problem? He swallows "The uh, equipment isn't working. I can't send anything or recieve anything. I've tried to find the problem, but I can't!" he tells me. Great, I was having such a good day and now the wireless equipment is broken! Gabby gives me a peck on the cheek "I gotta go get ready for dinner anyway. I'll see you tomorrow Jack" she tells me before leaving.
I suppose it's for the best she leave, I can't have any distractions if I'm going to get this wireless equipment up and running again! I hope we find the problem quickly though, I'm tired! "Hope we don't run into any trouble tonight eh Jack?" he asks. I laugh lightly, yes, let's hope we don't get into any trouble!
"So what did Jack want to show you?" I ask the delinquent as we make our way down the grand staircase to dinner. She smiles brightly and holds out her left hand "He wanted to show me this!" she tells me. On her ring finger is a ring, an engagement ring? He asked her to marry him "He asked you to marry him?" I ask her, she nods "Yep! And I said yes!" she tells me. I lower my voice "But what about going down with the ship? The future?" I ask. She huffs "I don't want to go back to the future! I like it here!" she tells me, rather firmly.
She has to go back though! We can't change history! When I tell her this she shakes her head "I won't change history! What difference will one survivor make? My name isn't even on the passanger list! It'll be as though I was never here!" she tells me. We arrive at the dining room, and we have to cut our conversation short, in case someone were to overhear us. But this isn't over! She has to go down with this ship! She has to go back to where she belongs!
We sit down to dinner and the delinquent picks at her food miserably. I know she's upset, but once she's back with her friends in the future, everything will be fine! She'll probably forget all this ever happened! Then again, how can she, she's engaged now! To the senor wireless operator no less! As dinner progresses some of the people at the table request for her to sing like she did last night. She shakes her head and politely declines, even though I'm sure she'd love nothing more than go get up there and sing. We're going to have to have a serious talk when dinner is over!
The ruffian must realize my intentions, because she takes her sweet time eating her dessert. Finally though, she finishes and I lead her back to the stateroom. Once we're in there she whips around, facing me with her arms crossed over her chest "I'm not going to the future! I'm staying here with Jack!" she tells me. I shake my head "You listen to me! You cannot just change the past! You don't belong in this time period! You have to go back! Don't you miss your family? Your friends?" I ask. She shakes her head "I don't care anymore! I want to marry Jack, and I want to see the world! All my life I've been curious about this time period! And now I'm finally getting to see it! I wanna go see what my hometown is like, I want to go to Atlantic City and see diving horses! And I want to see Harry Houdini and Coney Island!" she tells me.
No! Absolutely not! She can't just decide to stay here in the future! It doesn't work that way! What will happen in the future? Will it be as though she was never born? Will she simply vanish? Or is everything in the future frozen in time, waiting for her return? How does it even work? I say all these things to her and she shakes her head "I don't know Mr. Andrews, all I know is I don't want to leave here!". We continue arguing, and to my surprise, I end up winning. Although it's a hollow victory, because the poor girl is sobbing hystarically telling me she hates life.
"It isn't your choice, if it were up to me I'd let you stay and do whatever you wanted" I tell her gently. She sniffles "I want to marry him" she repeats for what must be the hundreth time tonight "I know" I tell her. She buries her face in my jacket, heaving another sob. All I can do is pet her hair and hush her, I am almost angry at Jack. If he hadn't proposed, we wouldn't be having this problem. But how could he have known? "Can I have pudding for breakfast again tomorrow?" she suddenly asks "I'm gonna need it". I have to stifle a laugh, sometimes her stomach talks as much as her heart does, maybe they're one in the same! "Yes you can have chocolate pudding for breakfast tomorrow" I tell her.
That seems to lift her spirits slightly and she looks up at me, her eyes red rimmed from crying "Tomorrow is the last day, isn't it?" she asks. I nod, today is April 13th, and tomorrow is the very last day. She wipes her eyes and I nudge her playfully "You make it count, alright? See everybody you wanna see, do whatever you wanna do. Just remember the ship hits the iceburg at 11:40 and we need to meet up". She nods "I will" she tells me, there's a moment of silence before I ask her if she's alright. She shakes her head "Coming back in time, I don't know if it was the best decision I ever made or the worst" she tells me before standing. She smiles lightly "I suppose I'll decide tomorrow" she says before giving me a hug and whispering "But I think it might be the best decision. Goodnight Mr. Andrews".
I ruffle her hair and say goodnight in return before watching as she calls the maid and disappears into her room. Tonight will be the last night she sleeps on Titanic, I hope she sleeps well. I really do! It's less difficult to admit it now, but I suppose I've grown to love the little delinquent. She has smashed her way right into my heart. And I really meant it when I told her that if it were up to me, I'd let her do whatever she wanted. I'd even walk her down the isle myself if she wanted! But it isn't our choice, we just can't change the past, it will affect the future too much! From this moment on, no matter what happens, I hope she keeps in mind that she will go down with the ship.
DUN DUN DUUUUUUN! Yea, this went from really heartwarming to really depressing. Aw well. Alright, so we're on the more serious side of the story now. The iceburg is practically in sight, you know, like how the ship was PRACTICALLY unsinkable? Two more chapters until disaster time! Next chapter I'm gonna have the officers lightening the mood with a little game of poker, which will have some interesting stakes.
For anyone curious, the story about the boy writing that in my yearbook is true. He was a really nice guy, even though he was my first heartbreak. He was a senior and I was a freshman, so it couldn't work. But he really did write that in my yearbook, even after rejecting me, so I forgive him. And even though I haven't found my 'special someone' just yet (Because life doesn't quite work like fanfiction), it still gives me hope that one day I will. So, that was a special little tidbit I threw in there.
Anyway, thanks for the reviews! Today on the review menu, is uh, uh, hold on a second... Magical, super, delicious, ultra, amazing porkchop of awesometastic quality! I don't know why I'm serving up pork chop on the review menu, but it's good! So, you should review and get some!
Thanks for reading! You guys rock! So um, strip poker anyone? Just kidding, I don't think we'd keep the T rating if we had strip poker. Then again, there IS something I'm tempted to add, you know, concerning a Renault Motercar ;P Don't get your hopes up! But it is possible!