A/N: I'm so glad you guys are liking this! I'm really invested in this fic right now, so updates should be pretty regular. I'm not ignoring my other fics! I am working on them, it's just a lot less fun to work on stories when you realize they're coming to an end.
Rose pulled away from Jack's embrace. "Alright, we can't make it count like this," she said, wiping the last remaining tears from her face.
"You're right. We should go skinny sipping," Jack replied with a coy smile. Rose laughed and shoved him playfully.
"Actually, can I borrow your truck? I have a couple of things I need to take care of." Judging by the expression Jack gave, Rose knew she didn't have to explain what needed to be taken care of.
"Do you want me to go with," he offered. Rose shook her head. "You sure? I'm not too fond with the idea of you being alone with him."
"I'll be fine. I promise. And I won't be alone with Cal. I'm actually going to deal with my mother first." Jack still looked skeptical. "Sweetheart, I'll be okay."
"I know you will be," he said with a sigh. He dug his keys from his pocket and handed them to her. "Come on, I'll walk with you to the truck." Jack noticed her bare feet. "Are you planning to drive like that?"
Rose shrugged. "Why not?" Jack laughed and opened the door, following her out of the room and downstairs. "The sooner I get this over with the better," Rose commented as they reached the front door.
"Are you really going to cut your mother out of your life?" Jack gave her a concerned look. "I just don't want you to do something you'll regret."
She smiled at him. "Jack you know her as well as I do. Money and status were always number one in her mind. There's also all of her stupid ladies clubs or whatever they're called. I don't know where I am on her list of importance. Hell, I don't even know if I'm on the list." Rose paused to breathe. "I don't want to cut her from my life, but if she cannot accept that I love you, than there's very little I want from her. Actually, there's nothing I want from her."
Jack looked at Rose for a moment. She had gone from completely calm one second, to fired up the next. Then he pulled her close to him and kissed her sweetly. "What about Cal?"
"What about him? I'm going to give him this stupid engagement ring back and tell him I never want to see him again." Neither one of them said it, but they both had a feeling that getting Cal out of their lives wouldn't be a simple task. Rose leaned forward and kissed Jack again. "I love you."
Rose opened the front door, only to come face to face with Ruth. Jack almost laughed at the suddenly tense atmosphere, but managed not to. Rose tossed Jack's keys back to him, and he caught them casually and shoved them into his pocket.
"I should have figured I'd find you here," Ruth snapped at Rose. "With him. Dressed like that." Ruth gave Rose a look of disgust. "What were you thinking Rose?" Ruth remembered Jack was in the room. "Do you mind? I'd like to speak to my daughter alone," she said through clenched teeth.
Rose scoffed at Ruth. "Boy oh boy. Where do you get off mother? This is Jack's home. You can't just barge in here and demand privacy. Jack doesn't have to go anywhere. Anything you say to me can be said in front of him."
"You're being unreasonable Rose," Ruth snapped back at her.
"Actually she's being very reasonable," Jack said in Rose's defense. His calm and cool tone of voice shocked Ruth into silence. "I'll be upstairs in you need me," he told Rose.
"Jack you don't-"
"I know. But I need to change clothes and take care of a couple things." He kissed her on the forehead. "I won't be far," he said, giving her a wink before disappearing up the stairs. Rose watched him go, all but forgetting that her mother was still standing in the doorway.
"You're disgusting," Ruth said, her voice laced with venom. Rose rolled her eyes and walked in the den. Ruth followed, slamming the door behind her. "Do you have any idea what you have done?"
"Other than decide to live my life as I wish, no. Please, enlighten me." Rose faced her mother with her arms crossed and her jaw set.
"Your marriage to Caledon would have saved us! We'd no longer have to worry about paying off the debt your father left us. It would have all been taken care of, and we could have continued our lifestyle."
Rose felt a laugh creeping up, and she managed to keep it down, letting out only a small chuckle. "No mother. You could have continued with your lifestyle. While you were at some society hoopla, I would have been playing housewife to man who loved me about as much as I loved him," she said, her voice thick with sarcasm. Rose heard the ceiling creak and smiled to herself. She could tell from the noise, that Jack was right at the top of the stairs.
"Your relationship would have been fine if you would have stopped hanging out with your silly friends." Rose glared at her mother.
"Look I'm not going to stand here and discuss my relationship with Cal. There's no relationship to discuss anymore. I should have broken things off with him along time ago. But it doesn't matter, because Cal and I are done. Jack and I are together, and neither you nor Cal can do anything to change that."
Ruth let out a deep sigh, trying to prevent herself from screaming. "But Rose."
"But nothing mother! The only reason you want me with Cal is so you can stay rich and keep your place in society." Rose paused for a moment, thinking. "You know Jack and Molly are very well off, but you wanted me with Cal. Why is that?"
"Caledon is from a respectable family. His family has been an important part of the community for generations. Jack's an orphan, adopted by his aunt." The words 'orphan' and 'aunt' sounded as if they burned Ruth's tongue as they left her mouth. "He's completely wrong for you."
Rose bit her tongue to stop herself from screaming at Ruth. She looked at her mother, who had a spiteful look in her eyes. "You know what mother? Maybe Jack is wrong for me. But he's wrong for me in all the right ways. Now if you cannot accept that, then leave. We're done here." Rose punctuated her statement by walking towards the door and opening it up for Ruth.
"Rose," Ruth said as she walked toward the door. "Your father would be very disappointed in you."
Rose felt a stab in her heart. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Please leave," she commanded through clenched teeth. Rose opened her eyes and looked at Ruth. "Using daddy to guilt me into something isn't going to work anymore."
"You're being absurd Rose. But I guess you'll have to make your own mistakes." Ruth cast a final glance at Rose before turning and walking out the door. Rose closed the door quietly, and turned to see Jack coming down the stairs.
"You okay Rosebud?" He wrapped her in a hug, resting his face on the top of her head. He couldn't help but notice the strawberry scent coming from her hair.
"I'm fine." She let out a heavy sigh. "I actually feel much...lighter." Rose buried her face in his shirt, enjoying the scent of cigarettes that lingered on his clothes. As much as Rose would have loved to remain there, she still had to see Cal.
"Are you sure you don't want me to come with," Jack asked when Rose mentioned it again.
"If you're with me, all Cal will see you as is a non-verbal fuck you," Rose told Jack honestly. Jack snorted at Rose's blunt wording, but agreed with her. A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts and he went to answer it.
Rose beat him to the door though. Cal stood on the other side.