A/N Second to last chapter here! This shows things taking a shocking turn. Hope you enjoy

Be sure to drop us a review with any questions you have about anything story related or otherwise

-Talia&Alessia

(The2DawsonGirls)

Xxxx

"A friend to all is a friend to none."

-Aristotle

A Whole New Life

Chapter 17

Wednesday 17th May 1912.

It was 12am before Jack made it upstairs to bed. It seemed to Rose that it had taken him longer to 'clear his head' than she initially thought. Getting undressed from his clothes, leaving him only in his underwear, he crawled into bed next to Rose and hugged her tight against his body breathing in her scent. She didn't turn from where she was facing away from Jack, but his arms around her still felt pretty comforting, despite the events of that day. She tried so hard to be mad at him for keeping part of his life away from her, but couldn't find it within her to do so.

"Let's just forget it happened, Jack." Her husband got a shock purely because he didn't know she was awake, but then a wave of relief came over him when he heard what she had said.

"Do you mean that, Rosie?" he asked in a soft and comforting tone.

"With everything I have." Turning Rose around to face him he places a small kiss on her lips her lips

"You" he said placing another small kiss on her lips "are amazing, Rosie." Rose blushed slightly and looked down then the moment was broken by a yawn.

"I think some ones tired" Nodding slightly Rose looked back up into Jacks eyes. "Just a little". Stroking her hair Jack gave her one last kiss then turned her around so that he could spoon her.

"Sleep my love".

-AWNL-

The next morning both Jack and Rose got a well-deserved lie-in, waking up at ten o'clock which Rose had never done before in her life. A lie in was an unexpected pleasure on days which her mother had gone to speak with a business associate, her lawyer or even occasionally-Nathan Hockley, who Rose had only had the pleasure of meeting the once. Even though sleeping in so late was something that excited Rose; the fact that she woke up to find Jack not in bed next to her didn't. Knowing he hadn't gone far when she heard him curse from outside their room then seeing him emerge, hobbling from their bedroom door with a defeated grin on his face. Struggling not to laugh Rose spoke up

"You really need to stop stubbing your toe on the stairs. You'll give your toe a concussion if you're not careful". It was now Jack's turn to laugh.

"Err...Rose, I know you're not a doctor but surely- surely you must know that toes can't get a concussion… right?" Jack said with a hopefully look on his face. His wife sat up in bed, folding her arms over her chest in mock offence, but the smile on her face saying otherwise

"Jack, I know you've only been living here for a few weeks but surely, surely, you must know that there is a sticky-out bit of wood on the stairs that you keep hitting your foot on… or not…" Rose remarked glancing at his red toe, which looked like it was throbbing. It was moments like these that they loved and cherished; little moments of banter that they shared with each other every so often which made their partnership more fun. The two got dressed and made their way down stairs to make breakfast, their hands firmly gripping each other, and Rose very gently led her husband around the offending piece of wood, to which he chuckled and kissed her cheek, making her blush.

"I think that we deserve a nice relaxing day, just the two of us" Jack stated looking up from is oatmeal at his wife, who stood up to place her bowl into the sink and beginning to wash it up.

"Hmm, yes, I think you're right. That would be wonderful. Is there anything in particular that you'd like to do?" she asked curiously

Jack thought for a moment then came to a decision

"I think I want to start drawing again"

"What do you mean? You draw for a living." Rose remarked confusedly, turning round once she placed the bowl on the side of the sink, leaning over to the chair next to hers to grab her tea towel. Jack gave her a grin which momentarily made her heart skip a beat, and her stomach flip.

"What I mean is I want to start drawing you again. I miss it. I had this dream, you see, of every wall in this house covered in drawings of you. What do you think?" Jack finished with a huge grin on his face. Rose was now somewhat chuckling but very outwardly blushing at the thought of having thousands of mini 'hers' on the walls and ceilings-but she had to admit that she felt slightly flattered

"I don't know about every wall but I'm sure a few new drawings of some different things wouldn't hurt." Rose offered with a smile. With a confused look on his face Jack sounded slightly hurt as he asked

"You don't want me to draw you?" she could hear that her husband was slightly confused, so she quickly answered,

"No, of course I do! More than anything, just maybe… some other things as well would also brighten up the look of this house. Besides you would get bored drawing me all the time."

"Is that a challenge? Because you know I love a challenge" Jack retorted with a wink.

"Not that I don't appreciate your offer of spending the day together but didn't you have to go into work today?" Rose questioned. He shot her his winning smile and stated

"I may have sent a telegram to Terry to tell him that we missed the train will have to get the next one… which won't arrive until tonight." she leaned against the sink, smiling wryly at her husband and in faux shock exclaimed

"Jack Dawson! How very dishonest of you! I truly am shocked." He was desperately trying not to laugh got up from his chair and made his way over to Rose's

"How about we stop pretending like we care and go and put that present you got me into good use?" Jack and Rose both got up and put away the pots and plates they used for breakfast. They then made their way to the living room so that he could start his drawing. It was nice for them to have a taste of what their lives would be like with just the two of them in their own house, enjoying each other's company. Just the two of them.

"Hey, Rosie, do you mind passing me that pillow over there" Jack asked as he motioned to a cushion on the couch. Nodding her head Rose picked up the pillow and tossed it to Jack only to watch him put it back on the loveseat, just in a different position. Rose looked at him in disbelief, sitting on the edge of said loveseat. Her husband watched her, a grin on his face as he saw her confusion

"What?" he asked, crouching so he was at her level, and taking her hands in his.

"You couldn't have asked me to move it?" She asked with a smirk on her face. He gave a sigh, as if he were thinking about something-then pushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear, then kissing the cheek where it had been.

"All I want you to do is sit there and look beautiful," he whispered as he stood and began to rearrange various cushions they had around the sofa, throwing some of them on the floor because they were getting in the way.

-AWNL-

Rose was lying across the couch surrounded by a few carefully placed cushions, and like it was before-her heart was pounding at the eroticism of it all. She was wearing a deep blue dress which she found left from Molly in the closet, one that in her spare time one the days when Jack had been at work had managed to hem and make fit her more comfortably, but it still wasn't a great fit. Jack assured her he would draw around it and in the finished product it would look like the dress was made for her. What in reality was hours- felt like mere minutes to Jack and Rose. Not one word was spoken between the two lovers throughout the duration of the drawing. It wasn't, however, an awkward silence it was the kind of silence that was peaceful. They both knew the other was thinking about the same thing even though neither of them dared to say it. The only thought that plagued both of their minds was that night that what turned out to that fateful night on Titanic. The night that brought them so close then almost tore them apart indefinitely. The night they both tried so hard to forget though they knew that the memory of it would stay with them. They knew that the intimacy they shared that night was unlike something whey will ever be able to repeat or relive, but did they even want to? They had been so close to death that day-it was a miracle that they had both survived. It was like the Titanic tragedy had brought them together-but unfortunately ripped so many families apart.

When he had finished he handed the drawing to Rose, who after staring at it for a moment, found that she just didn't have enough words to describe it. It was stunning, and as lifelike as a photograph.

"Oh Jack, how do you do it? Take a somewhat boring scene such as this and turn it onto something with so much depth, so much life and character?" Rose interrogated. Jack laughed, putting his charcoal back into the box he had been given by Terry upon his employment.

"That's you Rose, not me. I only draw what I see. I can only see you, and you is beautiful." She blushed and looked away. Her husband turned her head so that she was looking into his eyes, and he leaned and kissed her softly Her breath was taken right out of her, and she struggled to say

"M..maybe you were right. Maybe I wouldn't have jumped, but now I see that I wasn't suppose to because look where we are now" and with that Rose took the picture out of Jack's hand and went to place it in a frame that had been emptied after they agreed to move in, and hung it on the wall. Their wonderful moment- however, was interrupted by a loud and persistent knock at the door. It was a very, very loud, forcful knock at that. Jack and Rose exchanged a look of fear, wondering of someone had found out that they were, indeed- back from their honeymoon and if that person would be Jack's boss, Molly's husband. Even if they were friends they knew that skipping work would be frowned upon. He could even lose his job. They were trying not to even breath too loudly, as it seemed like that would broadcast that they were indeed home

"Should I answer it?" Rose mouthed, and Jack gulped

"I'm not sur.." Before Jack could finish what he was whispering the familiar voice of Cassie Hangar, sounding extremely excited

"Jack, Rose I know you're home! I saw you arrive yesterday so why don't you stop pretending to be sick, Jack and come open the door!" Jack got up answer the door and when he did he was greeted by Cassie who pushed past him and rushed straight into the living room to Rose. Cassie was followed by Terry who calmly walked into the house and shook Jack's hand, a huge, smug grin on his face. Jack had forgotten that their cab would have gone straight past the Hangar's home, and it was a coincidence that Terry happened to be off work that day. It's not that they didn't like Cassie and Terry, but they much would have preferred spending the day alone, having their last day of the 'honeymoon period', to themselves and not having to share it with a pair who sometimes fought like an old married couple.

"So, tell me!" Cassie said pulling Rose down to sit next to her on the couch

"How was it? Was it amazing? Didn't you just have the best time? Oh, gosh I'm so jealous" her husband did try his best to hide his embarrassment at his wife's enthusiasm, but didn't say anything because these type of moods were few and far between, and ruining it would mean that he would pay for it with a week sleeping on the couch and the cold shoulder. Rose chuckled before she answered calmly

"Oh yes, it was all of those things and much, much more. Right Jack?" she turned expectantly to face her husband, who quickly nodded enthusiastically in agreement. Rose thought of an excuse to get off the couch very quickly, and stood up crying

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I never offered you a drink or anything" Terry waved his hand in refusal, but Cassie beamed, standing up herself and looking to the two men. Terry looked worried at what his wife was about to say

"Wait, why don't we go out somewhere? We have a car so Jack won't be seen" Cassie suggested, raising her eyebrow at the artist, who went red, then looked at his wife, and they exchanged a thoughtful look. Jack smiled at the woman, saying cooly

"Sure, why not?"

The Hangars drove them to a place called Charlie's, forgetting to warn their fiends that this was a place they took their children; Michael and Paul when they were younger and Ruby apparently only a few days ago. The walls were painted a glaring yellow, and the music was pounding, despite it being kids music was ringing in their ears. Laughing children ran past them, and Jack winced at the noise then turned back to the table, where Terry was sipping at his coffee, and Rose and Cassie were making small talk. The atmosphere was light, but as Jack caught Terry staring nostalgically at the children in the play pen, asked jokingly

"You look broody." Terry sighed and took another drink, before shaking his head sadly

"Nah. After Rubes we found out that we..er..Couldn't have more kids." Jack looked away awkwardly at Cassie, who seemed to have not have heard them. He and Rose had never spoken about children yet, but he was fairly confident that it was possible for them-so it was strange thinking that one of their friends had become barren. He rubbed the back of his neck and said apologetically

"I..I'm sorry." Terry shook his head and dismissed the apology with a wave of his hand. He put a few notes on the table for his coffee and said calmly

"Hey, I'm just grateful for the three we've got, you know?" he poked his wife in the arm, and smiled as she looked up

"Cassie, baby-why don't you and Rose go shopping for a little while, I'm gonna take Jack over to Walton's." Rose looked up confusedly

"Walton's?" Cassie had already stood up and was maneuvering herself around the table, and Terry followed her. He kissed his wife's temple, but stopped to answer Rose's question thankfully

"Walton's is the art store round here. Thought Jack might appreciate it more than I ever could." Jack squeezed his wife's hand, and whispered

"I'll meet you back here in a couple of hours, okay?" she nodded, and allowed herself to be pulled away by Cassie-who led her toward the boutiques.

-AWNL-

Cassie and Rose exchanged a giggle as they left the store, their bags fresh in their hands. The young clerk, Darren had just attempted what could only be described as 'wooing' them, only to lose his temper and throw their news dresses into the paper bags with a frown as they told him that they were flattered, but married. Obviously he had taken this in the sense that they had been patronizing him-but the young man had even tried to overcharge them in revenge-so Cassie lost her temper and long story short, they were allowed to leave after paying only a buck. Cassie's 'tantrums' as Terry called them were renowned in their area; known to be fierce and unforgiving. This time, Rose had been lucky enough to see a fake one-but even that had been unnerving. There was something strange about Cassidy Hangar that she could not, for the life of her put her finger on. Either way, she did not want to get on her bad side. She wouldn't have wanted to anyway, as Cassie had been a very good friend to her, her first real friend in fact in many years. She wished that Ciara lived closer-as she would have loved to have gotten to known the Irish woman better. She felt like she needed the support of someone who was not related to Tommy-friends who instead of helping her remember Tommy (which was a good thing), help her to move on with her life. She and Cassie would be there for her if she needed them-especially for help with the new baby. She had been shocked to hear about Ciara's pregnancy-especially as she had never even known that Tommy was married. It was saddening to realise that she knew nothing about most of the passengers aboard Titanic, how most of them had families to go home to-people who were mourning just as Ciara was. It made her feel selfish to know that she never condescended long enough to break away from speaking to just Jack, to speak to the other members of third class.

Maybe she was more like her mother than she realised.

A feeling of nausea overtook her, and she felt her cheeks drain of their colour and she stopped. Cassie had been speaking about the days when she had just met terry and how their first date went, when she realised that her companion had stopped, and turned around-rushing back to her when she realised that something was terribly wrong. She put her arm around Rose and asked quietly

"Are you okay, Rose?" the younger woman felt tears leak from her eyes and roll down her cheeks, and Cassie immediately brushed them away, and pulled her toward a park bench-forcing her to sit down

"Rose? Are you alright?" she shook her head, and Cassie whispered

"Tell me. It'll be alright." Rose sniffed

"Am...Am I a horrible person, Cass?" her friend looked shocked, and her demeanour changed from calm and concerned to angry, and rose gulped. Was she angry at her?

"Rose, who on earth told you that you were a horrible person? Was it Jack, because I to God that if he's told you that-" Rose shook her head quickly and interjected

"No, no! It wasn't Jack...it's just that I realised that I never bothered to speak to anyone in third class on Titanic expect for Jack…and that makes me just as bad as my mother...and believe me, my mother was pretty bad." Cassie shook her head and patted Rose's knee encouragingly

"Well, you know. You aren't your mom. Jack didn't marry your mom he married you. I'm not friends with your mom I'm friends with you. Now, we would hate you if you were anything like your mom, so you can't be-right?" it was actually that simple. She wondered momentarily why she had overthought it. Even though Cassie had made it so easy for her to understand, as they stood up, linked arms and walked toward another shop, there was a niggling feeling in the back of her mind that she was being watched.

Terry and Jack had been walking around the same art store for around an hour and a half when Terry finally gave a sigh and looked at his watch, saying

"Well, Jackie boy. Looks like we better get goin'." The younger man sighed and followed his friend over to the counter, where he dropped a packet full of pencils that they had been admiring earlier, and got out his wallet. The cashier told him that it cost $40, and without even blinking, Terry dropped it on the counter and picked up the baggie. Without thinking, he handed it to Jack, who stared at him in shock. He was going to protest, when Terry once again gestured for him to stop, and said firmly

"Call it a wedding gift." Jack handed the bag back

"You and Cass gave us Rose's dress-" Terry gave the bag back as they left the store and pointed out

"No, Cass gave Rose a wedding dress. Just accept 'em with a smile, Dawson." Jack deliberated, but finally relented and smiled at his friend

"Thanks, Terry. You're a pal." The older man laughed heartily and gestured with a tilt of his head that they should get going. Jack's mind was reeling at the thought of all the drawings he could create-he could really fill their home with pictures that he had created. Not necessarily all of Rose, no. Perhaps more of landscapes, such as the ones that she had had in her cabin aboard the ship. Monet. He wanted to be as famous as Monet. Have his drawings appreciated by people around the world; he wanted to inspire people like himself-those who thought that they would amount to nothing. He wanted to prove to them that they were no different to the privileged when it came to talent. There was no line drawn in the sand between the rich and the poor when it came to talent-that was how the whole world should be. Free.

The two couples said goodbye amicably, and Terry and Cassie dropped the Dawsonses off once they had gone once again to get some dinner. They had felt so tired that they decided to go straight to sleep. Rose had no time to tell Jack that she had felt insecure, that she had lost her nerve..that she thought that she was being watched.

How she regretted it.

At about midnight, she heard something outside-an engine dying, and a crunch of footsteps against the gravel path. She had already not slept well in the first place, her mind occupied. Jck was sleeping peacefully, occasionally snuffling in his sleep and she felt it cruel to wake him. She decided she would go and see what was going on herself. As she got out of bed, she looked out of her bedroom window, and saw nothing. It was pitch black, even the street lights were dim. She couldn't make out any vehicle, even those that were meant to be there; the ones that belonged to Mary and her family for example. She decided that she would go downstairs and get something to drink to calm her nerves, but found as she went downstairs that her legs were shaking. It was freezing-as if it had suddenly snowed downstairs, and the lights that she could have sworn had been on when they went to bed were off. She shuddered and pulled her robe round her tighter, pulling her hair out of the back of it to drape round her shoulders as a shroud to keep the warmth in. She could feel the goose pimples creeping up and down her leg; as if someone were running a single freezing finger up and down them as she walked, as if the chill of death had made itself comfortable in her kitchen. She opened the cupboard to retrieve a glass, and opened the tap, pouring some cold water into the glass, and with shaking hand, drank it slowly. Outside it began to rain, and a storm quickly appeared, the crash of lightning lighting up her kitchen. If she had turned around, she would have seen an eerie face etched into the shadows. She put down the glass, and looked out the window, trying to see how heavy the rain was coming down, when she felt something blunt hit her over the head, and all went black.

If one of Rose's neighbours had looked out of their windows at that point, they would have seen a man dragging her lifeless body across the curb, both their bodies becoming drenched in the cold rain water. She was dragged over to a spot not lit by the lamps, under some trees at the side of the road. It had been carefully planned out so that no one would see the vehicle if they looked, and no one ever would-as it was late at night on a weekday. Tomorrow they would all wake up to find one of their residents missing, and no clues to be found. As Rose's captor picked her up so easily that it made her seem like an infant and put her in the back of the car, he looked round to see if he had been noticed, but of course-he had not.

Dan Martin was good at his job,

but Dan Hockley was even better.

As he drove away in the dead of night, the door to the kitchen closed with the force of the wind, and the whole street fell into a perfect, dark silence.

A/N Rose has been kidnapped :O What will happen? Next chapter is last of this instalment, then on to the next! See you there

-Talia&Alessia

(The2DawsonGirls)

xxx