COLLIDE

Chapter Seven

Jack flew down the stairs and ran onto the street, searching frantically for Rose. He looked up and down the street, and to his relief, he recognized her figure. He immediately began chasing after her and called out her name.

"Rose!"

She froze for a split second, pushing away the glimmering hope within her as she realized that he had come after her. She dared to turn around and grimaced when she saw him light up at the sight of her face. She quickly turned back around and began walking more briskly toward her apartment.

"Rose, wait! I gotta talk to you!"

She shook her head at him even though he couldn't have seen it, and started running as fast as she could. He easily caught up to her and grabbed her elbow so she could face him, a little more roughly than he had intended. She tried struggling out of his grasp, but quickly realized that her attempts were in vain.

"Would you quit it, Rose? Come on, just look at me. Why won't you look at me?"

She furiously shook her head and still refused to look at him. She wasn't going to give in that easily. Besides, what good would it do? He would say whatever he wanted to say, probably that she could always turn to him, that he would always be there for her, but after that he would walk away and so would she. For reasons unknown to her, she allowed herself to take one glimpse of his face. One look into that face and all ability was gone. Her knees felt like they were going to give out and suddenly, the strain of the day's events came rushing in on her and she fell into Jack's waiting arms.

He caught her easily and desperately held back the urge to kiss away the tears that were now running down her cheeks. She didn't want that. She had made that perfectly clear to him. But he had to at least tell her…

"Let me at least walk you to your apartment. Can we talk then?"

She nodded slowly and he eased her back into a standing position. With his hand lightly steadying her, they began to walk in the moonlight. The air was thick and their silence was even thicker, neither one wanting to be the first to speak. Not being able to stand it any longer, Rose surprised Jack by breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"I'm sorry I ran out of there like that. I suppose I should've stayed so we could talk a little longer."

Jack nodded. "Don't worry. We're talking now."

She smiled faintly at the laughing glint in his eyes and suddenly became aware of the apparent distance between them. Wasn't it just moments ago that they had been in each other's arms, kissing, and laughing? Wasn't it just a moment ago that he had asked her to marry him? But no…Cal had won, just like he always did. There was no way they could be together. He didn't even remember who she was.

"Rose, what happened back there?"

She took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. This was it. "I don't expect you to still want to marry me, considering the fact that you didn't even know my name a day ago. I don't expect you to want to raise another man's child either. I can't place responsibility where it doesn't belong and you've…you've always been a drifter. I don't think you'd want to settle down anyways."

His eyes narrowed at her words and he coughed lightly to give himself some time to think. What did she think she was doing? She couldn't just push him away now that they had found each other.

"What makes you think…"

"There's no use arguing, Jack! What's done is done. It was done before we even met."

"Why do you want to throw this away?"

"You can't lose what you never had, Jack."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know what I mean."

"Explain it to me, Rose."

They were yelling at each other now, their anger slowly boiling over with each uttered word. But their anger wasn't necessarily directed at each other.

Rose closed her eyes in attempt to suppress her anger. After her plan had taken root, her eyes flew open. Now she knew how to get Jack out of her life forever.

"I'm sorry Jack. I've been lying to you. I'm not really who I say I am. My name's not Rose Dewitt Bukator. I was on the Titanic, in third class, and I did meet you. I danced with you at one of the steerage parties actually. But you only had eyes for Rose and I never had a chance with you. I heard your doctor telling you that you had lost your memory on the Carpathia and I saw my opportunity to get a father for my child."

Jack took a step back, completely taken by surprise by her revelation. His eyes narrowed once again at her words and he decided to investigate this further.

"Why tell me this now?"

Rose paused for a moment, desperately trying to come up with something, anything that would satisfy his curiosity. God, she hated herself for this…but it really was for the best for both of them.

"I realized what a fool I've been. I don't want someone who doesn't really love me. Your mind will always be on her."

"But I thought you were Rose." He prodded.

"Yes but…I know that I'm not really her. I don't think I could have lived with myself if I had let this go any further."

Jack's eyebrows rose slightly and he nodded. "I understand. Thank you for being so honest with me…Miss…what is your real name by the way?"

Rose swallowed, which did not go unnoticed by Jack, and she quickly spurted out the first name that came into her mind. "Molly Calvert."

"Ah, Miss Calvert. Pleasure to finally meet you."

Rose looked at him anxiously, and sighed softly when her apartment building came into view.

"Well, Jack, this is me. I'm truly sorry for everything that I've put you through the last few hours. I've been stupid and heartless."

"But you did it for the best interest of your baby, right?"

She nodded quickly and hurried up the stairs, grimacing when he continued to follow her.

"Goodbye, Miss Calvert."

"Goodbye, Jack."

He took her hand and ever so softly, placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. Rose turned hastily, and let herself into the apartment, trying desperately to hold her tears at bay.

Jack watched her leave with a look of slight amusement on his face. Oh she was good. He had to hand it to her, that was definitely one of the best lies he could remember hearing, especially if she had just thought of it on a whim. He saw right through her lies, of course, knowing that she was too scared to even think straight. He knew she thought she was doing the right thing, but he knew better. And he wasn't about to let her get away that easily. Now all he had to do was catch her in her lie. He would be back, now that she had blindly shown him where she lived, and he would keep coming back until she admitted that she loved him and that she wanted to be with him. He would have given anything to comfort her, to wrap his arms around her in a warm embrace. But Rose was stubborn and she wasn't going to surrender without a fight. But then again, neither would he.