"Do you wanna go to a real party?"

A smile came upon Rose's lips and she nervously played with the beading of her dress.

"I can't leave," she said sadly.

"And why not?" Jack asked as he casually leaned against the doorframe, looking down at her with his icy blue eyes. Rose opened her mouth to give an explanation, but she didn't have one. She had never taken any risks in her life or really had that much fun. It was never too late to start.

"Well, alright," she said in a whisper, nervously looking back into the apartment to make sure that her mother or Cal wasn't lurking by somewhere. "But only for a little while."

Jack chuckled and gently took her hand in his. "Come on. Don't even think about it, just come with us."

She nodded and slipped out of the door and into the hallway, closing it as carefully as she could. She giggled as they started jogging down the hallway to the elevator where Fabrizio was waiting. He raised his eyes brows questioningly when he saw the two of them.

"She's coming with us," Jack said.

"Alright Rose!" Fabrizio said as he high fived her. "We'll show you what a real good time is!"

They stepped into the elevator and pushed the button that would descend them twenty stories. "Does anybody have a knife or something?" Rose asked.

"I have a pocket knife," Fabri said as he took it out and skeptically handed it over to her.

"Don't worry," she said as she took it. She bent over and measured the length she wanted to make her dress. It was a long dress, and was way too fancy to go out with. She took the knife and carefully cut into the fabric in one swift motion. The dress length now sat mid thigh, revealing her milky white legs. She then took the sleeves off so that it just covered her shoulder. Jack cleared his throat nervously and tried to look away from her newly exposed body parts.

"There, much better," she said as she stood up and threw the unwanted fabric in the corner of the elevator. Jack and Fabrizio smiled at her and took their jackets off and rolling their sleeves up.

Once they made it onto the street, Jack expertly hailed a taxi. "Oh how exciting!" Rose said as it pulled up in front of them. "I've never been in a taxi before."

"What?" Fabrizio and Jack said in unison, unable to hide their shock. "You've lived in New York your whole life, but have never been in a taxi?"

"Well, no," she said shyly.

"Get in," Jack said as he opened the door for her. "There's a lot of things we gotta show you about New York life."

….

Jack and Fabri had taken Rose to their neighborhood, to a party held by one of their friends in a neighboring complex. Rose was amazed at how happy and full of life everyone was. There were people dancing, people playing cards, and a group of guys playing Beer Pong. Rose was happily sitting in a group of people who were eagerly asking her about her posh, Manhattan life style.

"I bet your family buys the best liquor in the world," a red head guy said.

"Who cares about liquor, look at her earrings," a girl said as she reached out to admiringly touch Rose's ear lobes. Rose laughed and smiled at the group.

"I'd readily trade any of you lives. Its really not all its cracked up to be."

"I'll trade you!" The girl said, causing the group to laugh.

Rose felt a warm hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Jack smiling down at her. His hair had fallen into his eyes throughout the evening and the top buttons of his shirt were undone. She unconsciously licked her lips while admiring his beauty.

"You want a drink or something?" He asked.

"Yeah!" She said as she stood up. He took her hand and lead her through the crowded room over to the kitchen area.

"What do you want?"

"Um, I don't know," she said as she looked over the dozens of different kinds of bottles that adorned the counter top. She never knew she could feel so intimidated by a liquid. Jack knew that Rose had probably never drank anything but a little bit of champagne or wine her whole life, so he opted out of giving her anything hard. He cracked open a bottle of beer and handed it to her. She smiled at him gratefully and started chugging it down, not realizing how thirsty she was until now. Jack stared at her in amazement as she almost finished the whole bottle in one drink.

"What?" She asked with sparkling eyes. "You think an upper east side girl can't drink?" They shared a laugh as a drunken guy came stumbling over to Rose and put his arm around her shoulders.

"Hey baby, what's your name?" He said into her ear. Jack put his beer down and grabbed the guy roughly by the arm and pulled him away from her.

"Get the fuck out of here," he said angrily as he pushed the guy away, watching him stumble. "Are you alright?" He turned back to Rose to discover that she was laughing hysterically.

"I'm fine," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

A loud noise came from behind them and they turned to see the group of card players, that included Tommy, to be fighting about the game. She laughed at their macho-ness and walked over to the group. She took the cigarette from Tommy's lips and took a puff.

"So," she said over the loud music, "You think you're big tough men? Let's see you do this," she said as she removed her red designer pumps and handed them to Jack. "Hold these for me, Jack," she said. The guys all looked at her curiously as she took a step back and took a ballet position. They watched in awe as she slowly rose onto the balls of her feet before finally resting all her weight on her delicate toes. Their mouths hung open in amazement as she held the pose for several seconds before letting out a grunt and falling into Jack's arms.

"God damn!" Tommy said as the other guys clapped in amazement.

"You okay?" Jack asked as he laughed.

"I haven't done that in years!" She said as she continued to laugh and enjoyed being in Jack's arms.

….

Rose had stayed at the party way longer than she had originally anticipated. It was now close to three in the morning as she and Jack walked down the streets of New York, slowly making their way towards her side of town. They walked side by side, she with Jack's coat around her shoulders. They were laughing and making jokes, completely oblivious to the world around them. Well, until they finally made it to Rose's apartment. She stopped in her tracks and her heart sank when she saw that they were right in front of her building. She turned towards Jack and smiled at him sadly before giving his jacket back.

"Well, here we are," she said sadly.

"Alright," he said in an even voice. He was trying to keep the look of disappointment off his face, but it wasn't working so well. He watched as Rose's gaze turned towards the night sky.

"I don't wanna go back," she said honestly. "Look," she said in a whisper. "There's so many stars out tonight."

"Oh wow," he said. "You hardly ever see the stars in the city."

"Its so vast and endless," she said in wonder as she sat on the street curb. He followed her and sat down next to her. "My crowd thinks they're giants. They're not even dust in God's eye." He watched her closely as her eyes continued to scan the stars.

"You know, there's been a mistake," he said, causing her to look at him curiously. "You're not one of them. You got mailed the wrong address!"

"I did, didn't I?" She said with a genuine smile. "Oh look! A shooting star!" She said as she pointed to the sky.

"That was a long one! You know, my dad used to tell me that whenever you saw one, it was a soul going to heaven."

"Aw, I like that," she said. "Aren't we supposed to wish on it?"

He turned his gaze back to her, and when she felt his eyes on her, she looked down at him. His blue eyes were so intense she thought that they would burn a hole through her at any second.

"Why? What would you wish for?" He asked in a deep, soft, voice that made her heart skip. She scanned his face and realized that what she would wish for was actually right in front of her. But that was a silly, unrealistic dream.

"Something I can't have," she finally replied in a sad whisper. She noticed the look in his eyes change, and noticed that he was looking at her lips. She realized that if she didn't leave now, she could get in a sticky situation. "Good night, Jack," she said abruptly as she stood up and ran towards the entrance of her complex.

"Wait!" He said as he stood up, but it was too late. She was already in the warm, safe environment that he would never be able to provide her. He put his arms in his jacket and walked the rest of the way home with his head down and his heart wanting more.

Review please! :) xo