Chapter 25

"Was that the best thing to do?" Jack stared at her as they walked inside the large room.

"What?" Rose looked genuinely surprised.

"Telling Cal that we were going away?" Jack stopped in his tracks and took her hand. "I just don't want any trouble from him."

Rose blushed. She agreed it probably wasn't the best thing she could have done but Cal frustrated the life out of her. He annoyed her and she wanted to wipe that smug grin off his face. "I know. At least I didn't say where we were going." Rose tried to find the silver lining. "And he doesn't know where we're going tonight."

"True." Jack agreed. "Anyway, let's just enjoy our night." He leaned over and kissed her gently on the cheek. They both sat down at their table next to their friends. Jack smiled at how close Rose had become with his friends. He knew they hadn't really spoken before Jack had arrived in L.A. but he was glad that she had made such an effort to be part of his crowd. She had drifted away from her old friends apart from a couple of them. They had thought her crazy to constantly turn down Cal and couldn't believe it when they all found out she was dating Jack. He knew that she had to put up with a lot of complaints and bitching from the people she honestly thought were her friends. Rose knew she had never really fitted in with them and so had recently decided to quit the cheerleading squad as well. She was fed up parading herself in front of the school dressed in a ridiculous outfit singing songs for a team that she didn't really care about. Being with Jack had changed her whole outlook on life. She had stopped trying to please everyone, her friends, Cal, her mother. She was sick of it. She was finally doing something that she wanted to do, and she would be doing it with someone that she genuinely loved. Jack was proud of her for finally sticking up for herself. Rose was his whole world, she constantly surprised him. He thought back to their time together and smiled to himself. Not just over the past year but in their previous lives as well. Jack closed his eyes and thought back to the Titanic. He hadn't had flashbacks for since bumping into Cal at the mall but he found it easier now to see images if he closed his eyes and thought really hard. He was finding it easier to control the images now. He laughed slightly to himself, he could now see Rose whenever he wanted to. In front of his eyelids, he could now see Rose walking along the boat deck. She was dressed in a yellow and white deck dress with a large buckle across the stomach. Her hair was pinned up with a few small strands falling around the side of her face. They were walking along the boat deck and Jack could feel the warm breeze on his face. They suddenly stopped and Jack could feel himself reaching for some rope hanging alongside him.

"What is this stupid thing you're carrying around?" She grabbed the leather portfolio from his grasp and opened it up, flicking quickly through the pages."So what are you? An artist or something?"

He watched her moving across to a deck chair and sit down on the edge of it. "Well these are rather good. They're very good actually. Jack this is exquisite work."

Jack looked down at the pages and peered at the images in front of him. It was so similar to the type of pictures he drew now. People, drawn from life. Taking a part of life and putting it down on paper, capturing the moment so it could be remembered forever.

Jack threw open his eyes as he felt someone shaking his arm.

"Jack? You alright?" Tommy narrowed his eyes at him. Jack looked round at him and smiled.

"I'm fine thanks. Just thinking." Jack grinned, turning his head back to Rose. She was stunning. He couldn't ever remember seeing someone so beautiful.

Over the next couple of hours, they all sat down to eat an amazing three course meal. Jack was really enjoying himself but he couldn't help but notice that Rose's eyes were constantly looking up at the door.

"It'll be ok you know. They won't come here." Jack whispered to her.

"Huh?" Rose turned to face him.

"You're looking out for your mother aren't you?" Jack motioned to the door.

Rose nodded. "I've not seen Cal since we got here. I thought he had went running to my mom to tell her what happened."

"Well he obviously hasn't bothered. Let's just enjoy tonight. Then tomorrow, we'll be gone." Jack smiled. They had packed as much of Rose's things without drawing attention to themselves. Luckily Ruth hardly ever went into Rose's room so she wasn't aware that Rose had even emptied her closet and had everything stuffed in two large holdalls. Jack had everything of his packed into his car and his mom had gave him enough money to cover his first few months of rent, plus enough to cover the cost of them driving across the country to New York. Rose couldn't thank Jen enough. She had done everything for them to ensure that they had an easy start. Rose was due to live in the Halls of Residence at Juilliard in his first year but she planned on going back to Jack as much as she could. They had a few months because the semester was due to start at the beginning over September but Rose knew she would be busy nearer that time with registration and orientation to go to. But they had four months to find a permanent place to live and make their own.

Rose and Jack spent the whole night dancing with each other and their friends until the prom finally came to an end.

"Are we ready to go?" Tommy stood up and looked down at his friends sitting at their table.

Amy stood up and linked her arm through Tommy's and rested her head on his shoulder. "Let's go guys!" she smiled, holding her hand out to Rose who took it, standing to her feet. She smiled as she felt Jack standing behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. Helga and Fabrizio walked towards the door with everyone else following them. They made their way to the waiting limo that had arrived to take them all to Tommy's parent's beach house. Rose threw her head back laughing at a joke that Fabrizio had made when she suddenly stopped in her tracks. Jack looked at her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Jack followed her gaze as she stared straight ahead. He took a sharp intake of breath when he realised Cal and Ruth were standing in front of their limo.