"LET ME GO!"
"No"
"JACK!" She squealed, both her arms and legs were held by her friends and her boyfriend respectively.
"We are not going to let you go, we know you, you're going to do something stupid"
"I'm not going to do anything stupid!"
"We'll release you when you calm down"
Rose took their words to heart and stopped kicking; the boys let out a sigh of relief. Liam planned to free one of her arms only because he didn't know any better.
"Liam" Jack warned "she's gonna punch you"
He took another look at Rose. Her look was sharp as a knife, that single stare could break a stone if she wanted to... and it was not for less. Rose had always had the personality of a tiger, and now, she had been forced to be a beast.
"Who would do such thing?"
"The original video was deleted. It was a fake account"
"They knew what they were doing, didn't they?"
"What time is it in New York?"
"9:30"
Jack grabbed her phone and unlocked it. The comments on the video were the first thing that he saw on the screen; he couldn't believe the things people were saying about his girlfriend... none of those people even knew her. It is so easy to hide behind a screen, nobody sees the impact of their words. You know? words trigger emotions, emotions trigger feelings, and feelings turn into actions.
"And we didn't even do anything! It was from yesterday" Rose continued
"Molly is calling" Jack announced. With his girl's permission, he answered the phone. "Molly, it's Jack"
"Is Rose with you?"
"Yeah, she's here... she's fine, well- yeah sort of..."
"Tell her to come to my room immediately"
"Okay, we're on our way"
"No, just Rose"
"I ain't leaving her alone"
"Jack, we need to talk about certain things, it doesn't concern you"
"I'm in that video too, I think it concerns me"
"Fine, do whatever you want. Just get her here, now"
Jack hung up the phone and informed Rose that Molly was waiting for them at her cabin. With one arm around her, he sought to give her the support she needed to move forward. They headed to first class not before thanking Liam, despite not knowing them, he had given them all his help.
That lost stare.
"Babe, do you have your card? We're gonna need it. Where is it?" Jack knew her perfectly; he could guess what was going on in her head so he tried to distract her from her thoughts "What color is it? Tell me"
"Blue"
"Just blue?"
"And white"
Her words where calm and paused. She wasn't here.
"How big is it, darling?"
"Small"
"In inches"
"I don't know"
They entered the elevator. They were alone. The boy guided Rose to lean against the wall and held her waist with one hand and her hands with the other one.
"And how many can you handle?" He whispered
It wasn't the time, no. But his distraction had worked anyway.
Rose's mind battled in between the weight of feeling guilty and responding to Jack's affection. The kisses in her neck were effective for her body, it needed them, it longed for them. It longed to feel loved. His lips melted the guilt, they showed Rose someone was willing to risk it all for her, that she was worthy, she was loved. At the end of the day, it all comes down to this, love. Sure, we make mistakes, but that doesn't define our worth.
"Stop" Rose demanded, not even convincing herself "Get away from me, don't touch me" The boy frowned and looked for an answer in her tearful green eyes "what if someone is watching us? Everything here is made of glass"
As much as he wanted to touch his girlfriend, or caress her to calm her down, he couldn't. Soon he couldn't even keep her company. Jack was terribly afraid that she would regret her decision. It was exhausting not knowing if the next day you will continue dating the same person, fate seemed to bring them together but separate them at the same time. What game was it playing?
They arrived to first class and it wasn't busy at all, almost everyone was having dinner or visiting one of the bars. Jack loathed the dressing code of the upper decks, you couldn't wear jeans or sandals after 6pm; it wasn't the first cruise to have etiquette rules and it certainly wouldn't be the last one, but he still hated it. It made no sense to him.
A hard punch to the face greeted him as the door was opened. It was so quick he didn't have time to react, his body was stopped by the wall behind him, as well as his head.
"Compliments of Caledon Hockley"
Rose kneeled beside him as Molly confronted Cal, Jack couldn't be in the floor any longer, he had to fight back.
"No doubt she left you!"
"She had to settle with you"
"AT LEAST I DON'T HIT WOMEN"
"WELL, YOU HIT LIKE ONE"
The younger threw himself on Cal and tried to choke him, he responded with an elbow to the jaw.
"If they report us, you'll be expelled!" Molly scolded
"That doesn't matter anymore, the company can no longer bear the costs of his card. If he stays on the boat he will be without food, starving, as he has always been"
"GUYS IT'S ENOUGH" Molly stood between both of the boys, preventing them from hitting each other again. "We're in the hallway for god's sake and you're making a complete fool of yourselves, can you please act like the men you presume you are and stop!" She scolded.
Their chests kept going up and down in anger, if a drop of water fell on any of them it would boil immediately. Both nodded and entered the cabin, Cal decided to make one last remark.
"Bet he didn't even make you come"
"ALRIGHT THAT'S IT"
The comment was enough for Jack to hit him again, Rose intervened before Cal could fight back.
"Cal! Stop! We didn't do it! It was an accident"
"An accident?!"
"An accident!" the three of them stared at Rose anxious for an answer, even Jack was confused. What was she up to? "It was... stupid really. I couldn't keep the pills down, so I had to take a shot. I would have gone to the infirmary but Jack here said he was willing to give it to me so we wouldn't have to walk, and I wouldn't be agitated... but I moved before he was finished and hurt myself and I had trouble walking afterwards... and he almost hurt himself too"
"Was that the way of it?" He questioned Jack
"Uh huh... that was pretty much it"
Cal didn't understand how the story made sense, but he had always underestimated Rose, so it seemed obvious to him that she alone had hurt herself with a needle. Without much questioning, he invited her to the opposite side of the cabin, where they could talk in private.
Molly let out a chuckle.
"What?"
"Interesting how you've never held a needle in your life and all of the sudden you're offering to do that your girlfriend"
She didn't bite it, oh well, it's Molly. The last thing Jack wanted was to involve Fabrizio or their little ego game.
"Does Ruth know?" Rose asked
"No, she was already asleep. My family already called the lawyer to withdraw the investment. Do you have any recent financial statements?"
"It leaves us without working capital, doesn't It?"
"I think so... I wouldn't know for sure. Look Rose, I don't want this to happen either, I don't want the world to see me like the one who got cheated on. They might have backed down but I'm not. We need your crisis management cabinet, Molly"
"They're ready when you are"
"Alright, let's go to the restaurant for a video call"
"We are no longer publicly traded or are we, Rose?"
"I know someone who might have our latest financial information"
Tommy
"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
"Jack, are you coming?"
Now he understood what Molly tried to say earlier, it wasn't his place to be there. "No thanks, i've got to be heading back"
"Probably best" Cal put his wallet and phone in his laptop portfolio and closed it, ready to go. "It'll all be business and politics, that sort of thing- wouldn't interest you"
That night Jack decided to sleep with Rose in her room, he knew she wouldn't be able to sleep properly, and he wished to be there for her, just as he had promised. Luckily the bed was big enough for both of them. Rose turned around and faced the window, Jack spooned her and gave her a kiss on her bare shoulder, enjoying the warmth of her body.
"My head hurts"
"It's the stress, honey"
"No but, like the whole bone... and my jaw"
"It's because you're clenching your teeth" he placed his fingers on her jaw to make her aware of what she was doing "It's the stress, lay on your back and take a deep breath"
"I'm gonna throw up"
"Wait no"
"Everything spins"
"Close your eyes baby, everything will be fine"
"Jack I have to go to the bathroom"
"Babe, I can't let you do that"
"I feel it coming"
"Just... take deep breaths. Want me to open the window?" Rose wouldn't respond so he let the ocean air into the bedroom. "Are you seasick? Do you want a patch?"
'It doesn't matter if you did it or not, the whole world thinks you did.'
'We could let the scandal burn out, you have more followers since the video came out anyway.'
'Just say that he's gay and everything will be fine.'
'Post something with Cal, quick.'
'Or just say it was part of a video homework and upload more things into YouTube to clear it out.'
'There's nothing you can do now.'
'There's nothing you can do.'
'Nothing you can do.'
You know what I can do?