Jack was the first into the room once the door to the apartment was unlocked. He looked around and nodded, pleased with the small studio apartment. There was a double bed at the opposite corner, right beneath the windown. A small desk at the foot. A closet to the left of the bed. A door leading into the restroom and a small kitchen area with a table set for two. It was perfect for a single person or a couple looking for a place to live, just the two of them.

"It's awfully small," Rose looked around as she came in with Jack. She didn't know what she had been expecting, but it had been more than this. Maybe something resembling a wing of the house she lived in with her mother. This was just...one simple room basically.

"It's perfect for me. I'm only here for a week and I'll probably hardly be here and most likely you'll be my only visitor," Jack chuckled, not surprised by Rose's reaction. She was probably used to places a lot more lavish than this.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to complain," Rose blushed, embarrassed by her own navite.

Jack just laughed and waved away the apology. "Don't worry about it. I'm just glad to be here with you. A whole week ahead of us."

"Speaking of...what do you want to do? I mean...we can hang out here...go to the pier...catch a movie at a drive in..." Rose smiled, listing off everything that she could think of.

"Anything you want," Jack chuckled, taking a seat at the edge of the bed, feeling a little tired, from both the journey and the past few hours. But he wasn't sleepy, he was wide awake and he wanted every moment to be spent with this wonderful girl.

"Well...I always wanted to pose for you. Have you draw me from life."

"Okay, that's doable."

"Wearing nothing."

Jack's eyes widened as her words hit him. He licked his lips and looked at her, uncertainty in his eyes. He had not been expecting such an offer. "Excuse me?"

Rose blushed. She had just blurted the idea out without giving it any real thought. Maybe she should have. Maybe she should have waited a few days. But the idea was out now and Jack looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She nervously chuckled and shrugged.

"Am I being too forward?"

"I just hadn't been expecting you to offer to pose nude. I mean...not many girls want to take their clothes off," Jack chuckled, trying to cover his shock. "But if you want me to, I will. I have no problem with it."

"Well, as you know, I'm not like a lot of girls," Rose winked.

Jack chuckled and shook his head. "That you are not. You're the most amazing girl I've ever met."

"Well then you haven't met many girls, I'm afraid," Rose teased, not able to help herself.

"I've met plenty. But none like you," Jack chuckled. "So...when do you want to pose? We can do it anytime."

"Hmm...maybe not now. I can't let you see me naked when we haven't even kissed yet."

"Touche," Jack chuckled, getting back to his feet and approaching her. He had wanted their first kiss to be special, but their time together, it was short and...she was just too tempting. He took her hand in his and looked into her eyes, trying to read her. Trying to at least read what she was really after. A kiss, or maybe all of this was just flirting. "What do you want, Rose?"

Rose bit her bottom lip, a little taken aback by the question. She couldn't remember a man ever asking her what she wanted. They had all assumed that she wanted the same thing that they did, especially Cal. What did she want? God, what a question to be asked and by this man who just took her breath away.

"I...I think I want you to kiss me now. I know it's not somewhere terribly romantic...but then again, it is romantic and special wherever you are...and...our first kiss...it's special no matter what. Just as long as it's between us..."

"Well I can't see it being between anyone else, but the two of us," Jack smiled, gently cupping her face with gentle hands.

Rose stepped in closer, wondering what she should do. This wasn't just anyone that she was about to kiss. This was the man she has been dreaming about kissing from the moment that she had met him. What if she disappointed him? What if he disappointed her? Trembling, she licked her suddenly dry lips and closed her eyes, hoping that would squash her nervousness.

Taking his cues from her actions, Jack leaned in and gently kissed her now parted lips. He resisted the urge to moan in pleasure as the feel of her soft lips against his own. He closed his eyes and became lost himself as he felt her kiss him back.

Feeling the need to breathe, both Jack and Rose pulled apart panting breathlessly, both of their faces flushed and a nice warmth feeling spreading throughout both of their bodies. That first kiss, it was definitely something that neither one of them had ever felt before.

"Wow," Rose breathed, struggling to regain her bearings. "I...I never felt like that before."

"Me either...not that I go around kissing girls, but...that's the first time that it left me feeling...like this..."

Rose laughed. "Like what?"

"It's the feeling you get from drinking hot chocolate on a winter's day, you know. Warm and wanted..."

"Yes, I felt that too."

His thumb gently carressed her cheek as he smiled. "I can't walk away now, even if I wanted to..."

"You think that I can?" Rose asked, just relishing being so close to him. A part of her still couldn't believe that all of this wasn't a dream...that she wasn't going to wake up back in her bed with Jack still so far away from her.

"I think that you can do whatever you want to do," Jack smiled, his eyes shining with love and awe. "You're the most amazing girl I've ever known. I'm not an idiot. I know how the world works. I have ten bucks in my pocket, I have nothing to offer you, I can't even promise you forever with this war...but...you're here with me anyway. Regardless."

"I only need you to promise me that you love me, Jack. I don't need money...or even forever...even though that would be nice..."

"How about as long as I live? As long as I have air in my lung, I will always love you, Rose. That I can promise you."

She wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head against his shoulder, pushing away all thoughts of him not surviving the war, of believing that there will always be air in his lungs. "Well then that's good enough for me. I promise the same. I promise to always love you, as long as air is in my lungs. No matter what."

Looking into her eyes, Jack knew that Rose meant every word. They were really in love and there was nothing in the world that would keep them apart, not for long anyway.