Another chapter! Things are slowly starting to come together, but I won't say too much ;) I hope you will enjoy xoxo

Chippewa Falls 1912,

He was leaning his head in his hand, staring at the bowl of warm oatmeal in front of him. He picked up the spoon from the table, twirled in the food a few times before putting it back down. The smell alone of it made him sick. When Jack woke up from his dream the other night, he rushed out of his bed and swung the door open trying to let the cool air of the night calm his mind. It confirmed his doubts, no one had been lying to him. THe Titanic was in fact a part of his past he had forgotten. She was a part of his past he had forgotten. Rose, his Rose. All he could feel was both guilt and fear. The guilt of not believing her, telling her to go away and now the fear of having lost her forever. Jack wanted to know more, he simply had to to put the puzzle together. Crawling back into his bed, the screams of the people was all he heard, making it impossible for him to fall back asleep. So he kept staring the ceiling until the sunlight burst through his window and it was time to start the day.

Florence, sitting in front of him, didn't eat much either. She only kept staring, feeling worried about her fiance. When she drove him back home last night, he kept trembling, tapping his feet onto the wooden board of the carriage. It was not only because of the cold he kept moving so much. Cigarette after cigarette they finally arrived home. Jack jumped out of the vehicle and took the horses back to the stable without saying a word.

"Jack, talk to me please. Why are you so upset now that Michael is fine?" Jack sighed deeply and sat down onto a sack of hay.

"It's not only that. It's just that when I hit the water all I could hear was people screaming."

"Well most of us were screaming, Jack."

"No," He shook his head heavily, "Not you. Like hundreds of people. As if they were literally screaming for their lives."

"I think it is best for you take a warm bath and go to bed. Everything will be better in the morning."

Yet nothing was better. Jack practically was feeling worse than the evening before. He felt lifeless, as if he had no control over his own body. Pushing his chair away he took his leftover food off the table and put it onto the kitchen counter. He took one last sip of his tea and spilled the remaining bit into the sink. It was a Saturday. No school meant no distraction from the children, something he could pretty much use at the moment. He turned around and saw Florence looking at him concerned. He smiled at here, hoping it would ease her worry and placed a kiss on her forehead before leaving the kitchen. Florence called him back inside. She wanted him to wait until she had finished her breakfast. Jack obeyed and sat back down, lighting a cigarette which was not quite appreciated inside the house. She decided to ignore it, commenting on his behaviour wouldn't lighten the mood.

"I was thinking about going into town today. I want to talk to the vicar about the wedding and see if I can find a good printer for the invitations." She said. Jack only nodded which made her only more frustrated. "Jack, why won't you tell me what is on your mind? Is it the screaming? If so we can go to the doctor."

"No. It is not the screaming."

"So it has stopped?"

Again. "No."

"Then what's wrong with you? If we are getting married we at least should feel free to tell each other everything that is on our minds. Isn't that what husbands and wives do?"

"Florence, please," He begged her, "I just didn't sleep well that is all. My new job has been exciting, yet very tiring and the events of last night didn't do much good for my sleep either. I just need to get some rest today." Before he could say anything else, there was a knock on the front door. As the door opened, Wendy together with her brother and parents came walking in.

"We hope we are not disturbing." Mrs. Anderson, Wendy's mother said softly whilst observing the situation. Both Jack and Florence shook their heads as they were delighted to see Michael looking alright. Florence put on the kettle and took some biscuits out of the cabinet. The little boy took one gladly, followed by another one without asking. As he was about to go for the third cookie, Wendy grabbed it from out of his hands and cleared her throat.

"Didn't you want to say something to Jack, Michael?"

The boy nodded his head. "Thank you for saving me, Jack."

He could only smile at the boy in front of him. Despite the paleness of his complexion it looked as if nothing happened. Jack handed him a third treat.

"You're very welcome, Michael."

Mrs. Anderson took hold of Jack's hand and he could see the tears burning in her eyes. She didn't cry at last. "We are forever grateful for you heroic action Mr. Dawson. We don't know how to thank you."

"Don't." he simply said, "Now if you will excuse me." He walked out of the kitchen into the backyard. Wendy looked at Florence all confused by his sudden action. Florence apologized and decided it was best to let it go for now. Wanting to be on his own, he escaped the gates of the house and walked around the town for a little while. But once people saw Jack they all walked over to and praised him once more for his brave actions. He just smiled, said it was nothing, bet them a good day and carried on. It was about an hour to get to the lake by foot, but once he got there he wasn't tired. Staring over the water he closed his eyes and focused his attention on his breath. He wanted to know more and thought this place was the best to go to as it had sparked the ending of his amnesia. After a while nothing happened, only the sound of wind brushing over the water and trees could be heard. Removing his shoes, as well as his blouse and pants he jumped into the water. Gasping for air when he reached the surface again he kept himself afloat whilst trying to concentrate on his mind. Going back to his dream he tried to remember more.

I am not going without you

That sentence repeated itself continuously, but there was nothing else. A shiver went down his spine and he opened his eyes. Jack slowly swam back to the shore and sat down for a while. Perhaps this was it. Only the sound of people screaming and the look of her eyes on him that would keep him haunted and wondering for the rest of his life.

Pittsburg, 1912

Meredith collected the dirty laundry off of Rose's bed and changed the sheets with fresh ones. Then she opened the curtains, something Rose never did herself and always remained in her room in total darkness. As she left the room, her hands filled with junk, blocking her view, a shadow suddenly moved from behind and stopped in front of her. Feeling the weight being lifted from her arms, she looked straight in the eyes of Tom. His smile made the blood rise to her cheeks in an instant.

"Is your mistress always this messy?" He chuckled.

"Usually not." Meredith admitted and they walked towards the servants quarters, "But I when her head is full of something she forgets everything around her. The wedding is only two weeks from now."

"Big happening huh?"

She nodded.

"And after that you'll be going with her to that new big house of them?"

Meredith nodded again. Rose had taken her the other day the show her the mansion. It looked more like a castle and she couldn't imagine herself working there. They would need to hire a lot more staff the keep the household running. Looking over at her mistress she saw that she was trying her hardest to be excited about it, forcing the smile on her face but behind her eyes there was fear. Meredith took hold of her hand and they both walked inside. The house was already empty, making their voices echo through every room. Rose could only talk about her concern of not knowing how to decorate all the rooms, but that was not only it. It took her a while and after they had expected every single corner of the so called palace, they finally went back outside.

"I'm only almost eighteen, Meredith." Rose sighed, "How am I supposed to run a whole household in this." She pointed at the building that was now luring behind them. HEr maid turned towards her.

"By being the person I have gotten to know of the months. You'll do a wonderful job, Rose. I just know it."

Tom had grown fond of the new girl ever since they arrived. Every free time he had he tried to talk to her. Having gathered all his courage, he stopped her and took a deep breath.

"Listen, Meredith. Since we are free tomorrow evening I was wondering if you'd like to go to the movies with me."

She smiled brightly at his question. She had never been asked out by another man and it was something she had always dreamed of. After she had agreed, sounding a bit too excited than she had anticipated the two walked down the stairs together. Entering the kitchen, Rose was there again. He had come down every single day since she had breakfast with the servants. It was the perfect way to distract herself from reality. Rose was standing next to the cook who was pouring batter into a baking tray and put it into the oven. Rose turned around and smiled at her maid. There was still some cake batter left on her fingers and she licked it off. She looked like a proud child, having baked her very first cake. But apparently not everyone was fond of her accomplishment.

Cal had come over for dinner. The three of them had already finished their two courses, talking about nothing else but business and the wedding or all the business surrounding the wedding. Rose suddenly stood up. "I have a little surprise for you." She told them and left the room. A moment later she entered the room again with Tom behind her, holding the tray. She carefully took it out of his hands and put it on top of the table. Removing the lid she revealed the somewhat wobbly cake and smiled.

"Tada."

"A cake, Sweet Pea." Cal laughed somewhat unimpressed.

"I know. I made it myself. I thought since you've been working so hard it would be nice to give you something."

Mrs. Hockley's eyes widened at her remark. Having made the cake herself meant she had gone down and spend time with the servants. Rose could see the disapproval look on both their faces and sat back down. She put the lid back on, assuming no one would want a piece anymore. She turned her face towards the corner of the room where Tom was still standing. He winked at her but was then ordered by Cal to leave them alone.

"I my mother's company thus bad you to find it among our servants? They are servants, Rose. They are meant to work for us and not spend time with us."

"No that wasn't my intention at all. I only wanted to surprise you. The both of you."

"I want you to apologise to my mother right now, Rose."

Without hesitation she did what was asked of her. Mrs. Hockley simply gave her a nod, yet remained silent for the rest of the evening. The old lady soon stood up and called it quits, leaving the two engaged together. Apologising once more, Cal waved her off. Rose pushed her chair backwards, took the napkin off her lap and somewhat smashed it onto the table. His last words echoed through her mind as she headed into the backyard: "I will find someone who will teach you everything about domestic life, as you mother has apparently not done it correctly."

Rose knew too well the demands of domestic life. After having been put on the ring on her finger, returning back from their honeymoon in Europe they would return to their new home and the door would close behind her forever. Tom had witnessed the whole scenario and felt nothing but bad for the girl. Running down into the kitchen, he rushed over to Meredith and said to fetch her mistress. It took a while before she finally found Rose outside, staring lifelessly at the pond in front of her. She looked up, threw her cigarette into the water and followed her maid back inside. She hesitated at first to go down again, but when she knew Cal had already left and Mrs. Hockley was in bed by now, she didn;t care anymore. As the girls walked into the room, all the servants had gathered around the table. The cake was in the middle and candles were lit to make the atmosphere more nicely. Trying her best not to, Rose eventually lost the fight with herself and burst out in tears.

Jack sat on a bench in the sun, the wind blowing gently in her hair. Titanic's wake spreaded out behind him to the horizon. He had his knees pulled up, supporting a leather bound sketching pad, his only valuable possession. With conte crayon he drew rapidly, using sure strokes. An emigrant from Manchester had his 6 year old daughter standing on the lower rung of the rail. She is leaned back against his beer barrel of a stomach, watching the seagulls.

The sketch captured them perfectly, with a great sense of the humanity of the moment. Jack was good, in fact his art was brilliantly done. Fabrizio looked over Jack's shoulder and nodded appreciatively.

Tommy Ryan a scowling young Irish emigrant, watched as a crewmember came by, walking three small dogs around the deck. One of them, a black French bulldog was among the ugliest creatures on the planet.

"That's typical. First class dogs come down here to take a shit." He scoffed and blew out the smoke of his cigarette.

Jack looked up from his sketch and laughed. "That's so we know where we rank in the scheme of things."

"Like we could forget." He put out his hand and introduced himself to the two strangers. Glancing across the well deck, something caught his eyes. A girl of about the same age was standing at the aft railing of B deck. Staring into the distance, she looked like a figure in a romantic novel, sad and isolated from everything around her.

Fabrizio tapped Tommy on his arm and they both look at Jack gazin at Rose. Fabrizio and Tommy grin at each other and his Italian friend waved his hand in front of his face, but Jack was unable to take his eyes off her. Rose turned suddenly and looked right at Jack. He was caught staring, but he didn't look away. She in fact did, but then looked back. Their eyes met across the space of the well deck, across the gulf between worlds.

"Oh forget it, boyo," said Tommy, "You'd as like have angels fly out o' yer arse as get next to the likes o' her."

Jack suddenly saw a man come up behind her and take her arm. She jerked her arm away and argued with him in pantomime. She stormed away and he went after her, disappearing along the A-deck promenade. Jack's gaze still on her until she was completely out of sight. He suddenly snapped back into reality and looked at the two men next to him, who were making dramatic actions of affection. He slapped Fabrizio onto his chest with his sketchbook, stood up and walked away himself.

Jack woke up once more from his dream, his head throbbing with pain. He put on the light, threw the blanket off his body and chucked down the glass of water that was on his nightstand.

"Fuck." He moaned in frustration. His breath was heavy and as he tried to control it, he grabbed a little notebook from underneath his pillow. He had put it there before he went to bed, hoping he would have another dream. He wrote down every single detail he could recall. From the way the sun was shining on his face to the colour of her dress. Tapping his pen aggressively onto the paper he was pacing around his room.

"How did I meet you, Rose?" He questioned out loud, "How did our two worlds come together." It was simply impossible for steerage to get in contact with first class passengers. All the gates were locked, holding them in the parts of the ship were they belonged so they wouldn't spread any diseases or steal those rich people's valuable possessions. Even the first class deck towered above the the third class where they could literally watch down on them. Yet faith had brought the two total opposites together in some sort of way and one day Jack would know why.

Opening the door of the shed, he stepped outside to smoke a cigarette and to read over the notes he had taken to see if he had left out on something. As he closed the book he could see a light out of the corner of his eye. He looked up and saw Florence behind her window staring at him.