Jack winced as he woke up, stretched out on the bench that he had fallen asleep on. He frowned at the stars in the night sky and the now empty deck. How long had been out here asleep? Where was everyone? Where was Rose? He stood up and looked around, trying to determine what time it was. He had to talk to her. That dream...or whatever it was, because it hadn't felt like a dream, had made everything clear and had made him realize the mistake he was making and why he was making it. He had to tell her before she did move on with that Calvert fella. There was no time to waste!

He got up off the bench and went in search of Rose, wanting to tell her that he was no longer confused. That he now remembered everything about Titanic, from his own sacrifice to hers and now he was no longer afraid to start something just to have it end. That he now knew the depths of her feelings for him and he was no longer reluctant to see where this thing they had went.

After an hour of searching, he only came upon Fabrizio and Trudy, who were exiting the dining area. Both of them glared at him angrily. He couldn't blame them for being pissed at him. They both liked Rose and did not like what was going on between the two of them. In fact, Fabrizio thought he was a bastard for his confusion. To be honest, Fabrizio was right. He was a bastardo, and stupid to boot.

"Jack," was Fabrizio's cold greeting.

"Have the two of you seen Rose?" He asked.

"Why? You want to break her heart even more than you already have?" Trudy crossed her arms, wanting to shield her friend from anymore heartache. She was so angry with Jack, she could barely see straight.

"No, I don't want to break her heart. I never wanted to do that."

"Well you have and I am not going to..."

Fabrizio stepped in, placing a hand on Trudy's shoulder. "Bella, it's alright. Tell where Rose is. Perhaps his motives aren't so bad this time. Maybe he's stopped being a bastardo."

Trudy wasn't convinced. "I don't know..."

"Come on, Trudy. I promise, I'm not going to hurt her again. I promise," Jack promised, wishing that he had never messed up like this.

"If you hurt her amico..."

"I won't Fabri. Trust me, I won't."

Fabrizio and Trudy looked at each other and then back at Jack. Neither one of them really wanted to reveal Rose's whereabouts, but they knew that the couple were going to have to talk eventually if any of this was going to be resolved.

"She's in the library with that Calvert man. Make it right, or let her go," Fabrizio took Trudy's hand and walked away, not waiting for an answer from Jack.

Standing there, watching his best friend walk away with his own girl, Jack admitted that Fabrizio was right. It was time to make this right with Rose or...let her go with the man she would have moved on with if not for the wish she had made on that star. Maybe that would be for the best. After all, Calvert had never hurt her. He had been everything to Rose that Jack himself had once been in the old time line. Plus, he wasn't homeless. He could take care of her. Give her a good life…

If Rose wanted all of that from the start, she would have stayed with Hockley and her mother. Stop being stupid and go tell the girl that she's the one you want! Now!

That was the other Jack, the one from his dream kicking sense back into his head. He was again over thinking something so simple. It was time to just...don't think and do. It was time to tell Rose his real feelings and stop second guessing everything about their relationship!

…..

Jack walked into the second class library and didn't have to look far to see Rose sitting beside Christian Calvert, a book in her hand. She closed the book and wiped away tears as she handed it back to him.

"That is a very good book. And romantic...and sad. It definitely took my mind off of my own troubles," Rose sniffed, dabbing away the remains of her tears with a white handkerchief.

"I am glad it did the trick. Satine would have been happy too. Do you think it'll do well in the states?" Christian wondered.

"It'll do wonderfully. It has everything. Humor, danger, romance...it's a much better read than the bodice rippers that many women read these days. Love at the Moulin Rouge...and it's a true story as well...I am sorry that the ending isn't different."

"Believe me, so am I. If only I could have a little more time with her...that short year was nowhere near enough...and most of it was sneaking around, avoiding that awful man."

Jack decided to choose that moment to interrupt. He had no idea what the pair was talking about, nor did he care really. He just had to get his feelings out to Rose, before it was too late. Already, he could see something melting in her when she talked to this Calvert man.

Slowly he approached them, clearing his throat, feeling that he didn't have a right to be jealous or anything else for that matter. Not with how he's been making a mess of everything. "Rose?"

Rose looked away from Calvert and widened her eyes in surprise to see Jack there. She really hadn't been expecting him. "Jack," She got to her feet, her hands clasped, her shoulders tensed in a way they had never been around him before.

That was his fault. She expected him to reject her. Why would she expect anything else with his behavior?

"Can we talk? Alone?"

"I have to go put this up anyway," Christian got to his feet, giving Jack a small nod. "I do hope to see the both of you again, before the voyage is over. Good evening."

"Good-bye Mr. Calvert, and thank you for letting me read your manuscript. It really was a wonderfully romantic story, even though it's tragic as well."

Rose watched him leave the library, before turning her attention back to Jack, expecting the worse. She had come to accept that things with Jack just weren't meant to be. He was never meant to be hers. Not in the old time line and not in the new one. He was here to let her down gently and she'll have no choice but to accept it and move on.

"Okay, you wanted to talk?"

Jack nodded, swallowing down his nervousness. "I had just woken up on a bench outside, from the strangest dream. I was on the Titanic...being greeted by...well the me that you knew on Titanic I suppose...except he's me too...according to him, we are one of the same...and he told me something that makes sense. Something that I wasn't even aware of until he said it. I was afraid of the future. I was afraid that once we got off this ship, that you'd see the error of your ways and would return to your first class life. On some level, I just didn't trust that you would leave it all behind for me."

Rose frowned, hurt in her eyes. How could he not trust her? After all they had been through together? "Jack..."

"Wait, let me continue. He said that it was okay, because I had forgotten what had happened on Titanic. That I didn't remember living through certain parts and didn't experience the sacrifices that you had already made...the obstacles that you too had faced...so...he showed me."

Rose didn't know what to think of this. Of course, she too had dreamed of the Jack from Titanic, who had told her not to give up, but she had not expected this. "What did he show you?"

"Your intentions of getting of the ship with him...us….me….jeez this is kind of confusing and crazy," He chuckled, but continued on. "Your spitting in Hockley's eye and rushing to rescue me on Titanic, after refusing the safety of the lifeboats. You going down into a sinking ship with an ax to free me from almost drowning. You again refusing rescue on a lifeboat, jumping back on Titanic just to be with me. You taking my name on the Carpathia...and you making that wish."

"Oh."

"Oh? Rose...you are...truly the most amazing...bravest...selfless girl I have ever known. I can't believe that I had forgotten, but I remember now and...that fear I had is gone and...what I'm saying is that...I want to be with you. Not Mary. Mary was just an excuse. A reason to stall because I was so afraid of losing you in the end, but after what I had witnessed, there's no reason to be afraid. You love me just as much as I love you, and it's time I start proving it."

"You already have. You died for me."

"I had hurt you. Because of my own stupid fears."

"No, Jack. The Jack in your dream was right. You are the same Jack as you were in the other reality. Things just had gotten jumbled and mixed up for you, but it's not all mixed up anymore. You know everything now, right?"

"Right. But still, I am so sorry for hurting you like that. For giving you hope that we'll be together and then allowing Mary to mess with our relationship, just because I was afraid to trust in you, which I should have trusted you completely."

"Okay. I admit...I was hurt. More hurt than I had ever been, because I love you more than I had ever loved anyone. But you came back to me. You know everything now and you came back and that's all that matters. Not past fears...not Mary. Just us."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. I forgive you," Rose sniffed, relief filling her. "So...what do we do now?"

Jack smiled, gripping her hands in her, feeling a little nervous because this was out of the blue and she could still say no, because of his stupid actions. But he had to ask anyway. "How about we find the captain of the ship and ask him to marry us?"

Rose blinked, taken by surprise. Things seemed to be happening pretty fast. Losing Jack, now getting him back, and now he was as good as proposing marriage to her! "Pardon me?"

"I know it's fast and last minute. Neither one of us was even considering marriage when we boarded this ship, but I can't think of anything I want to do more. I want us to be together forever, Rose. I want to make Rose Dawson your official name. I know that we don't have a dress, or rings but that can come later. We have our friends, the captain to marry us, and most of all, we have each other. So how about it? Will you marry me?"

Rose stared at him for a few seconds, her mind processing all that he was saying and all that she was feeling. He wanted to marry her! Right now! Was there any other answer that she could seriously give?

"Yes! Yes, I'll marry you!"

Jack laughed as she wrapped her arms around his neck in a passionate embrace. He was relieved, happy, and nervous all at the same time! This was as crazy as her getting off the Titanic with him back in the old time line, but like Rose, he trusted it.

She kissed him passionately before pulling away and looking into his eyes. "So, what do we do now?"

''I guess we had better find Trudy and Fabrizio and go in search of that captain," Jack smiled, before pulling her into another passion filled kiss. For the first time, he had no doubts in what he was doing. He and Rose were obviously meant to be. Nothing that anyone else said would ever convince him otherwise.

…..

They found Trudy and Fabrizio at the stern of the ship, again watching the dolphins. Both were too preoccupied in each other to notice their approach until Rose cleared her throat. She stood with Jack, her hand clasped in his. They both knew that their friends may not be as excited about this impromptu marriage as they were, but they were certain that the pair would stand by their decision, no matter what.

The couple turned to face the happily, recently engaged couple. They couldn't help but feel shocked by how happy the pair looked. They hadn't seen genuine happiness from them since the appearance of Mary.

"Jack, Rose?" Fabrizio stared at the couple, not sure on what to expect from them this time.

"Why do you look so scared Fabrizio?" Rose questioned, her eyes twinkling with laughter. Poor Trudy and Fabrizio. They were probably thinking that her and Jack were both out of their minds at this point.

"Well...you both look...happy," Trudy answered, also feeling wary.

"That's because we are. Jack made his decision. He chose Mary," Rose couldn't help herself. She had to tease them.

"What the hell, you bastardo!" Fabrizio cursed, Trudy's hold on his arm restraining him. He frowned as Jack just laughed at his anger. "This is funny to you?"

"Rose is kidding! I didn't choose Mary. There was only one choice to make and Mary definitely was not it. I chose Rose, il mio ragazzo."

"What?"

"He chose me," Rose giggled. She let go of Jack's hand and went to Trudy, grasping her hand in hers. "Not only did he choose me, but we're getting married. As soon as possible! And dear Trudy, you were only my maid during my engagement to Cal, but now it's Jack I'm marrying and you're so much more than my maid. You're my best friend. I'd love it if you'd be my maid of honor!"

"What?" Trudy blinked in surprise. She had definitely not been expecting this!

"What?" Fabrizio too was in a state of shock.

"And you, my amico! You are to be my best man!" Jack pulled Fabrizio into a happy hug. "There's no one else I'd rather have standing at my side as I marry my soul mate."

"Wait! Hold on! Forgive me, but I am confused. You were so confused about your feelings for her, but now you're not and you want to marry her? Today?" Trudy stared at Jack as if he had said something vulgar and unforgivable. "I am sorry, but I don't understand this change."

"Neither do I," Fabrizio frowned.

Jack and Rose looked at each other and then at their confused friends. They had to admit, they didn't blame the confusion. In fact, this whole relationship was a mess of confusion. But one thing was clear to Jack and Rose. They belonged together. They needed to make everything official as soon as possible.

Rose sighed and stepped away from Trudy. "I know that this is sudden, especially after the recent drama. But this whole thing with Jack and I had been sudden. Even in the old reality. He had only known me for three days when he had died for me. We would have married soon after our meeting if he had lived anyway. To me...to us...this marriage is not sudden. It's something that's been a long time coming."

"But what of Mr. Hockley and your mother? What of that Mary?" Trudy frowned.

"What about them? I have no intention of ever laying eyes on either of them again...and Mary, well she's in the past," Rose looked at Jack, the hope in her gaze apparent. "Right?"

"Of course. I don't love Mary. I never did. She was just an excuse to slow things down between Rose and I because...well...I didn't trust our relationship. On some level, I had expected Rose to want to return to high society. I guess it was a last ditch effort to protect myself from a broken heart. But I remember some things about the old time line and I know for a fact that there's no going back for Rose. She really loves me and I love her and I want to officially make her a Dawson as soon as possible."

Fabrizio frowned, still not sold on the idea of a wedding. "I don't understand. This is so fast."

"Look, I know you're confused right now. I don't blame you. I don't blame either of you, especially after my behavior...but trust me, Fabri. This is right. I love her. I do. She is the one that I want to spend the rest of my life with. You don't have to understand it right now. I just need you to stand by my side and be my best man. You're my very best friend in the world."

"And you trust him completely?" Trudy frowned at Rose. She didn't know how the girl could still have so much love and faith in Jack after what he had put her through. But she obviously did.

"You know I do. Please, Trudy. Come witness me marry a man that I truly love and want to be with."

Fabrizio and Trudy looked at one another. Neither of them really trusted whatever this was between their friends, but they couldn't turn their backs either. They'll be there...but there were going to be some rules.

"No changing your mind, Amico. I don't care what you may feel about Mary or anyone else. You have to be certain that you want Rose and only Rose," Fabrizio folded his arms.

"I agree. I will not support this if you are still not sure about her. I will not have you break her heart again," Trudy sided with Fabrizio.

Jack was a little taken aback that Trudy and Fabrizio seemed to have a united front against him, but he deserved it. They had witnessed the hurt that he had put Rose through and they were trying to protect her. In fact, he was kind of glad for it. "I promise you both and Rose too. I will not be changing my mind. I love Rose. I'm more sure of that than anything else in my life. I will not ever hurt her again. Especially not over any residual feelings for any other woman. Because there is no other woman that I want. There is only Rose."

Rose smiled at those words, believing them. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Fabrizio was the first to give in. "Alright. Fine. I will be your best man."

"And I'd be honored to be your maid of honor, Miss," Trudy nodded as well.

"Woohoo!" Jack cheered, hugging Fabrizio tight as Trudy and Rose shared a hug.

"So what do we do now? Getting in contact with the captain is bound to be more difficult for second class passengers than first," Rose chewed on her bottom lip as she released Trudy. She looked at Jack, who just shrugged his shoulders, not having an answer.

"I'm afraid that I didn't get that far in wedding planning," He gave a sheepish smile.

"Oh lord, how will we find the captain and convince him to marry you?" Trudy frowned.

"We'll just have to look for him and see what happens. That's about all we can do," Jack grinned, still feeling rather optimistic. Somehow, everything will turn out the way it's supposed to. It has so far. Why not now?

…..

They had gone everywhere they had been allowed to look, but they had not come across the captain of the Olympic anywhere. It was obvious that he was in first class, but since none of them held a first class ticket, they couldn't look for him there.

"This sucks," Jack crossed his arms, now annoyed, his earlier optimism gone. "There are more passengers on this ship other than first class passengers. Shouldn't he be checking on everyone's concerns?"

"The more money you have, the more important and deserving of attention your concerns are," Rose sighed, also feeling dejected. "It's the way the world works."

"Rose? Whatever are you doing out here?" Christian Calvert came upon them, shocked to see the small group again, especially after he had left Rose with her young man.

"Oh, Mr. Calvert. Hello. I hadn't been expecting to see you anymore today," She greeted, trying to keep her disappointment out of her voice, but failing.

"What's wrong? You sound rather put out."

Rose blushed at the reason behind her down mood, then shrugged. "We were trying to find the captain of the ship, but he's in first class. I doubt he'll even speak to us, even if we did manage to find him."

"Why do you want to find the captain?"

Rose looked at Jack and Jack looked at her, then shrugged. There was no point in keeping it a secret, especially when it looked like their impromptu wedding wasn't going to happen after all.

"Jack and I were hoping that he'd marry us. We talked and realized that there's no one else for us, but each other. We're in love and we want to get married as soon as possible. We were hoping that the ship's captain would do it, but we can't find him, which means he's in first class and probably wouldn't even talk to us anyway," Rose sighed.

The slightly older man frowned, then nodded his head, as if his mind was made up. "You two...you really do love each other?"

"You know how I feel about Jack," Rose blushed, remembering how she had talked the writer's ear off about how much she loved and wanted Jack.

"And despite my mistakes, I do love Rose. I want to be with her forever. There's no other girl for me," Jack also replied, feeling that he should be doing the declaration of love, since he had been so confused earlier. "Getting married is what we both want."

"Well, then. In that case, I don't mind sharing my little secret. My family is a very wealthy, English family. I come from the London Calverts..."

"Oooh, I heard of them or rather my mother had. She's always up to date on who is who in high society," Rose chuckled, a bit surprised that Christian came from such a prestigious background.

"Forgive me, sir. But if that is so, why are you traveling second class and not first?" Trudy questioned, not sure if they should trust this man.

"I had left home to experience the bohemian lifestyle in Paris. My father was angry at me for leaving and he especially hated my belief that love is the most important thing in the world. So I put aside my fortune and traveled to Paris. There I did find love. I experienced it in it's purest form, and now I want to help you two. I'll use my family name to get you an audience with the captain."

Rose squealed in excitement, throwing her arms around Christian in a thankful hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! You've been so good to me, to all of us on this voyage! This means so much to me!"

Jack forced a smile of his own, feeling a tinge of jealousy, but he fought it back down. There was nothing to be jealous of. Rose was in love with him and wanted to become his wife. She was showing her gratefulness, a gratefulness that he too felt. Hopefully soon, Rose Dewitt Bukater will be Rose Dawson and their lives will be joined forever.