As soon as she opened her eyes, she knew she was dreaming again. Everything around her was blue, dark, dark blue. A ribbon of some far off galaxy drifted above her in the night sky, standing out against millions of pin-prick stars. This should have been a good dream, but the frigidness of her body and soul reminded her that it wasn't.
Her breathing began to quicken as she realized what has happening. Her mind had taken her back to that night, the one night of her life she would give anything to forget. She could feel the salty, murderous ocean sway around her, a sick reminder that the rest of the world stayed calm whilst Titanic sank from underneath her.
"Come Josephine.. In my flying machine.." She knew it was the only thing that could calm her. The only way to wake up was to relax and let the coldness take her.
She felt her body go limp as the cold turned into a numbing sensation that spread over her entire body. She tried her best to slow the beating of her frantic heart and closed her eyes, imagining herself somewhere far away, warm in her bed.
When she reopened them, the vision above her was no longer that of the night sky, but of a murky nothingness. The only thing visible was a rectangle of black that was slowly shrinking from her version. She was sinking.
And that's when the screaming began.
"Rose!"
Rose gasped and sat up in frigid terror. Confusion swept over her when she saw the pale walls bathed in moonlight around her instead of the wood paneling that covered her room back in Philadelphia.
Looking for the source of the voice in the dark made Rose even more uneasy, she was worried that it was just a continuation of her dream.
"Jack?"
"Hold on, I'm trying to find the light. Ouch, damn it." With a flick of a switch, a lamp in the corner lit the room moderately, revealing yellow walls and oak floors. The room was totally and completely unfamiliar, but the figure approaching her was most definitely not.
Jack sat in front of Rose, a concerned expression on his face. He wiped away the tears silently trickling down her face with his thumb as Rose looked, embarrassed, into her lap.
"What happened?" He asked in the softest voice he could muster, observing the way her eye lashes bunched together when they were wet. "You can tell me."
"It was just a bad dream.." Rose stated, keeping her eyes locked pretty much anywhere except his. "I'm sorry, this hasn't happened to me in a long time."
"Don't worry about it." Jack whispered softly before lifting her face up so he could finally look her in the eyes. "We all get nightmares."
The pure, uncensored worry in his eyes made Rose's eyes tear up once again. Before she even realized what she was doing, she threw her arms around his neck and hung on for dear life, letting her suppressed sobs give way against his neck.
"It was awful," She wept, resenting the fact that crying like this made her feel like a child. "I was in the water again… and it was so cold… and I closed my eyes… and then I was sinking…"
"It's okay, shh. It's gonna be alright. It'll be alright." Jack rubbed her back as she trembled against him, trying to remember if this is what his own Mother did to him when he was younger and in need of comforting. He held her there for several minutes, letting her release all her anxiety into his shirt, and finding himself quite troubled that Rose was already experiencing anxiety this soon after thew sinking. He himself was on what could only be described as a drawn out adrenaline rush, his determination for survival still burned in his veins, though they had made it safely to New York hours ago.
Slowly but surely, Rose lifted her head and wiped her eyes, blinking in the seemingly bright light.
"All better?" He asked, keeping his arms encircled around her for fear that if he let go, she would fall apart all over again. She nodded quickly.
"I guess you don't need me to tell you that it was all just a dream?" Jack inquired, hoping to lighten the mood.
"No, I supposed not," She replied, using the corner of a sheet to dab at her puffy eyes. "It was just so realistic."
"I know, I'm sorry. I used to get nightmares all the time like this when my parents died. I guess I've become sort of immune to them."
"Really?" She asked, curiosity burning in her blood-shot eyes. "How did you handle it?"
"Well, to be honest, not that great at first. They really spooked me. But after a while, I just reminded myself that it wasn't real."
Rose snorted. "You make it sound so easy."
"Oh it wasn't." Jack assured her, staring intently at the wall opposite him, as if something undeniably interesting was bringing itself to his attention.
"What were they about?" Rose asked, though she immediately regretted it. She, of all people, should know how men hated sharing their feelings, let alone what made them scared. Cal had certainly taught her that lesson more than once.
"What?" When Jack's voice didn't sound angry or offended, Rose felt the confidence to go on.
"Your nightmares."
"Oh, well…" He began, still captivated by the imaginary objects on the wall. He cleared his throat. "Did I ever tell you how my folks died?"
Rose shook her head, undeniably intrigued.
"Well, it was around Christmas. My folks were in town, buying gifts for the holidays. Nothing fancy, probably just a deck of cards and a new fishing pole." He took a deep breath, as if to steady his voice. "It had just snowed that day. You know we lived in Wisconsin, so that was nothing new. I was home, by myself, listening to the radio shows, which is what I usually did when my parents weren't around. But that wasn't very often."
Rose felt a pang of jealousy, her own Father was never around, and when her Mother was, nothing but grief ensued.
"But anyway, to cut a long story short, they were robbed. And when my Pops refused to hand anything over and tried to reason with the guy, he shot them both."
"Oh my God…I'm so sorry." Rose began.
"Don't be. Everything happens for a reason." He said this in a way that made Rose believe he was trying to convince himself it was true, even though deep down she knew that he knew it was. "So, basically, what I'm getting at is, my nightmare was that I was there when it happened, but I was too scared to stop the guy."
"You know that's not true…" Rose interjected, but Jack continued.
"I don't know anything for sure. It's the past. You know the rest of the story."
"You had to grow up really fast, didn't you?"
"Yeah, but we do what we have to do. And look at me now. Just survived the greatest maritime disaster of all time and now I'm sitting here discussing things with you fine people."
Rose laughed at the memory of the last time she heard those words. She saw Jack smile before he finally broke eye contact with the wall and looked down at her.
"Well, I suppose it's quite late. We both need some shut-eye," Jack announced with a sigh. "I'll see you in the morning." He kissed her once on the forehead before crossing the room to turn off the light. After waiting several moments for him to join her in bed, she realized he had no intentions of doing so.
"What are you doing down there?" Rose asked, bewildered. She leaned over the side of the mattress to find him lying on his side, facing her.
"Well when we first got here you pretty much claimed the bed all to yourself."
Rose reached up to rub her forehead, which was dully pounding from all the crying she had just done. "I did? I'm sorry."
"I'm kidding, Rose. I just didn't want to do anything too straightforward and scare you when you woke up."
"Well, there's no need to worry about that anymore. My dream pretty much did that for you." Rose sighed and leaned against the headboard, weary of falling asleep and leaving her mind vulnerable to more horrific dreams.
"Are you planning on sleeping sitting up?" Jack asked from his position on the floor.
She shot him a look, "No." Without thinking she added, "I'm just not ready to fall asleep yet."
"Aren't you exhausted by now?" Jack's tone was thoroughly shocked.
"Well I am, but I'm afraid that if I fall asleep too soon that the nightmare will come back."
"That won't happen," Jack insisted. "There's nothing to be afraid of, I'm right here if you need me."
"Jack?"
"Yes, Rose?"
"Can you… come up here with me for a little bit? You don't have to stay all night, just until I go to sleep."
"Like you even have to ask."
Rose saw Jack's silhouette as he rose from his spot on the floor, gathering his pillow as he went. "Scoot on over."
Rose shifted to the opposite side of the bed and waited until Jack had settled before laying her head on his shoulder, sighing contentedly. "I love you," she whispered, barely loud enough for him to here.
He turned his head to look at her before replying, "I love you too. So much."
Leaning down to kiss her lips, Jack could taste the salt from her tears. Rose wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself closer. Their kiss progressed slowly, before Jack broke away, breathing heavily.
"Rose, we can't." He explained as the rise and fall of their chests synchronized.
"Can't what?" She questioned, taken aback.
"We-we gotta set up some kind of stopping point."
"What do you mean?" Rose couldn't help but be slightly taken aback by his decision.
"You can't just kiss me like that and expect me not to have a reaction." Rose could hear the smile in his voice as he said it.
"Oh, so that's what this is about…" Rose unwrapped one of her arms from around Jack's neck and traced patterns into his abdomen with her index finger, allowing the figured to drift lower and lower each time but with no intention of going all the way down. He let her reach about halfway before encircling her wrist with his fingers and putting her arm back around his neck.
"Don't even think about it."
[ 3 ]
Hours had passed, and Rose had not slept at all. She listened intently as Jack's breathing slowed, eventually turning into a soft snore. Though Rose found herself relatively relaxed in the arms of the man she loved, it wasn't enough to allow her to drift off. She tried to adjust her position as gently as possible so as to not wake up Jack, but the arm that he had draped over her in his sleep was dead weight. And to top it all off, she was starting to get very hot.
"Jack," she whispered, using her free hand to brush the hair out of his eyes. "Jack."
Rose tried in vain to turn on her other side to see if she could get a better hold on his arm when suddenly Jack rolled over even closer to her, so close that his breath was tickling behind her ear.
"Jack! Jack!" She squiggled and squirmed in a desperate attempt to wake him up.
"Mmm.. What? What?" He groaned groggily.
"You're crushing me."
"Huh? Oh, yeah, okay." Jack sat up and flung the majority of the blankets off the two of them, revealing him in nothing but his underwear. His skin looked pale in the moonlight.
"What are you doing?" Rose asked, slightly embarrassed that Jack was pretty much naked next to her.
"Cooling off." He stated simply before sliding back into his position, his bare skin rubbing against her arm. She could see the outline of his broad shoulder, his strong arm, his thin yet muscular frame.
"Can't sleep?" If she wasn't so tired, she probably would have jumped at the sound of Jack's husky voice.
"How could you tell?"
"Ever get the feeling someone's staring at you?"
Rose couldn't help but smirk.
"Excuse me if I offended you, Mr. Dawson."
"Oh, not at all. Are you still hot?"
"Mmm.. Just a little."
"Maybe you should take your clothes off, too."
Even in the dark, Jack could feel Rose shoot him a look.
"What if I get cold?" She asked innocently.
"I'll warm you right up." He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer, if that was even possible.
Rose sighed deeply before saying, "Though the offer sounds wonderful, I think I'll keep my clothes on, thank you."
"Your loss." Jack's hand, still lingering on her waist, drifted down to where Rose's dress had been pulled up, mid-thigh. He traced tiny circles with his rough thumb, hoping the gesture would allow Rose to drift off to sleep. "I'm telling you, taking off a couple layers will do you some good…"
"No, Jack. There are no other layers."
"What, you don't have some kinda underwear under there or something?"
"Of course I do. I'm just not comfortable with sleeping in only my underwear."
"What are you afraid of? I've already seen everything."
"Jack!" She scolded, nervously laughing as she felt a blush creep upon her cheeks.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Jack said in a reassuring tone. "I won't mention your nakedness anymore. She pushed his shoulder lightly and he let out a breathy laugh.
"You know what? Fine. I'll take it off." She reached behind her and attempted to unclasp the hooks in the back, before she realized that she couldn't. Her maids had usually done that for her. She struggled for a few seconds before Jack's sure fingers replaced hers and undid the restraints with ease. Rose slid it down off her shoulders and then down the rest of her body before tossing it on the floor beside her. All that remained was a lacey slip. Rose tried to keep herself from blushing but knew that wasn't a possibility.
"What, no corset?"
"You and I both know there was no time for me to get myself into one of those." Jack smiled and resumed his task of rubbing circles into her thigh, which was a much easier task now.
"Good, cuz there is no way I could've gotten you out of one of those. You're lucky I've had practice with that dress.
"You're terrible."
"That's what everyone says."
He kissed the tip of her nose gently and before long, her breathing slowed and he knew she was asleep.
Jack, pleased with his work, smiled to himself, and drifted into a peaceful sleep himself.
[ 3 ]
Hey everyone! I'm trying REALLY hard to keep this stuff updated as soon as possible. I would have been quicker on this chapter but I rewrote it about 3 times, because it just wasn't quite right. I'm happy with how it turned out though. From now on, I'm gonna try and add a chapter at least once a week. I'm being completely honest here when I say that I have NO idea as to where this story is going. I'm trying so hard for it not to be one of those stereotypical Jack-lives stories. But anyway, enough of that. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!