Hey guys, thanks so much for following/reviewing/favouriting my story! So we're about at the halfway point and I've realised that I don't really want to give up Titanic. So spoiler alert: there may be a second story on the way. Not Jack as Rose, but another Titanic fanfic featuring the two of them. As always, keep reading and feel free to leave feedback! - K.

Present

Jack looked at the screen, where the bow of the ghost ship appeared in the abyss. "That's the last time Titanic ever saw daylight" reminisced Jack, sighing. Brock Lovett changed the cassette in his tape recorder, not wanting to miss a single word of this story.

"So we're up to the dusk on the night of the sinking. Six hours to go" noted Lovett once he was recording again.

"There's Smith, the Captain of the Titanic, standing there with the iceberg warning in his fucking hand-" Bodine paused, remembering the presence of the nurse and not wanting to offend, "excuse me, his hand and he's ordering more speed."

"You can blame Bruce Ismay for that" said Jack in a shaky voice. "He wanted Titanic to arrive earlier than scheduled, convinced Captain Smith that it would be his best accomplishment. They discussed it at lunch, I was a table over and thought nothing of it at the time. But when Smith died, and Bruce managed to get a place on a life boat, it's all I could remember about the two of them."
Lovett, Bodine and the nurse all turned to him like he was a fountain of knowledge. This was new information to all of them, and they were hungry for more.

Jack looked at his drawing again and closed his eyes, recalling the moment when he drew that portrait of Rose.

14th April, 1912

Rose and Jack had snuck into his stateroom. The rest of his crowd was at dinner, or in the smoking room. He didn't care. He still felt like he was flying from his kiss with Rose. She marvelled at the paintings that adorned his room. "Monet" she said aloud, recalling the artist. He nodded, and squeezed her hand. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his sketchpad as they both sat on the bed.
"What's this?" she asked, taking the sketchpad from him.
"Just something I do to escape" he replied, as she opened it.

She gasped; there were pictures of the Grand Staircase, of the dining saloon and of the ship itself. All in such fine and intricate detail, like looking at a photograph or the real thing. She kept turning and found his drawings of people too. There was one of an elderly couple at dinner, she recognised them instantly. Ida and Isidor Strauss, who were aboard the ship. Jack rubbed her back gently as she flicked through the pages.
"Jack this is exquisite work" she exclaimed, not withdrawing her eyes from the drawings.
"Catherine doesn't think too much of them" he frowned.
"Will we be expecting her anytime soon?"
"Nah, I don't think so. Dinner would have just started five minutes ago."

Rose suddenly stood and handed Jack his sketchpad.

"Jack I want you to draw me" she whispered.
He took her hand and kissed it tenderly, then pulled her gently towards the safe in Nathan's room. He put in the combination and Rose watched on with confusion. The door clicked open and Jack produced a black velvet box. He opened it and showed the contents to Rose. She stared at the glimmering necklace, taken in by its beauty.
"Is that a sapphire?"
"A diamond, a very rare diamond" frowned Jack, reminded that Nathan expected him to give it to Catherine. It was beautiful and he'd much rather give it to Rose.

"I want you to wear this" Jack said, putting it around her neck carefully.
"I'll wear this" she said indicating to the necklace, "only this."
He looked at her, startled. She nodded to confirm that it was what she wanted and pushed the sketchpad back into his hands.

She turned around, pulling her hair down and letting her red curls freely roll down her back.
"Untie me Jack" she demanded lovingly.
He put his sketchpad down and began to undo the strings of her dress, his hands shaking in sexual anticipation. It came loose and dropped just under her shoulders.

She allowed it to drop and stood out from it, entirely naked except for the necklace glistening on her neck. He stared at her body, his heart hammering against his chest.
"You're beautiful" he said, completely unguarded. She blushed at his honest words and stood waiting for instruction.
"Lay down on the bed, uh, couch" stuttered Jack nervously.
She laid down facing Jack on her side and aside from the beat of her heart, all was still.

"Eyes to me, that's it" he encouraged, his hands shaking and he dropped his pencil.
Rose remained straight-faced, stifling a giggle, as he picked it up and began his sketch. The charcoal glided across the paper as Jack brushed a sandy blonde strand behind his ear. His face was flushed as he studied every part of her body intently. "I believe you're blushing Mr. Big Artiste. I can't imagine Monsieur Monet blushing" she teased.
"He does landscapes" Jack replied with a laugh.
He continued capturing her beauty on paper, and she observed him doing what he loved most. "So serious" she teased again after seeing how focused he was. The time seemed to halt as Jack drew her, like the rest of the world had come to a standstill.

Finally the drawing was done, and Rose emerged from her statue position on the couch. Jack dated the corner of the page, signed it and handed it to Rose. She studied the drawing and looked up to Jack who was observing her with a smile. She redressed and got Jack to do the back strings up again when he heard a key in the door. He put a finger to his lips to indicate silence as he and Rose moved into the next bedroom. They hid around the corner and heard dialogue from Ruth's room, where they had just been a moment ago.
"Well he's not in here darling" said Nathan stiffly.
"This is ridiculous, where else could he be?" hissed Catherine.
"Perhaps he's on his way to the smoking room."

Nothing more could be heard from the other room, and Jack was sure that he and Rose were safe for now. He poked his head around the corner and saw both Nathan and Catherine leaving. The door slammed shut and Jack motioned for Rose to follow him out. The two of them exited through Jack's room and proceeded to head down to the steerage area to avoid running into the Hockley's again. Just as they were heading down the corridor towards the common room, Rose spotted the back of Catherine and Nathan. She pulled Jack towards a crew only door and they quickly entered right before Catherine was able to turn around and catch them.