"What was it you needed to tell me?" Jack asked, taking a bite out of the sandwich that had been placed in front of him as Rose picked at her salad. "Well… It was more of a conversation I'd like to have than something I needed to tell you…" she explained, and Jack nodded, chewing thoughtfully. Rose was silent. "So," he prodded, raising his eyebrows suspiciously.

"Oh!" Rose had momentarily spaced out and took a sip from her water glass before leaning in. "Given the lifestyle we lead," she whispered, glancing around nervously to see that no one was listening to her besides Jack. "I'm… Well, I'm bound to get pregnant sooner or later." Jack smiled, putting his sandwich down and swallowing before taking her hands in his own.

"Rosie, you don't have to be so nervous. No one else is listening. What is it about our… lifestyle that you'd like to discuss?" Rose couldn't help but giggle slightly at his tone of voice. "It's just that… We're both young and we have so much of the world to see," she began, releasing his hands and leaning back. "I know how much we love our lifestyle, but do you want to have a baby now?"

Jack sipped at his soda pop, leaning back in his chair and furrowing his eyebrows. "I understand…" he began, nodding, and Rose let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "And I would love to have a hundred children with you…" He stopped to smile. "As long as you're willing to go through that."

Rose grinned, leaning forward again as he continued. "But we are young and there's so much I want to show you… So much I need to show you. It's not that we couldn't do that after, children, but…" he frowned, putting his hands together so that his fingertips touched. "… But it's complicated. If you get pregnant, that's eight months or so that I won't allow you to do anything but sit at home and knit."

They both laughed at that before he leaned in and took her hands again. He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed them gently. "I want you to myself before I have to share you with a baby." Rose felt tears in her eyes as she stood up and leaned over the table, moving to kiss Jack but instead, knocking over her water glass. She laughed, kissing Jack anyway, before moving away from the table. "I'm such a fool," she laughed, wiping the water on her dress with a napkin. "I'll be right back," she told him, putting the napkin down and touching his shoulder as she moved past him towards the diner's single bathroom.

Jack laughed to himself, picking up the water glass that had spilled everywhere. He set it upright before stretching his arms back, glancing around the small café room. He leaned back in the chair, tilting it on its back legs and watched an eerily familiar man enter the café. It took Jack only seconds to realize who it was, and he almost upset the chair with the sudden realization as he made a move to stand.

He pulled a five dollar bill out of his pocket and slammed it on the table, surely much more than double what the entire meal would have cost, and make a beeline for the bathroom. The door was closed and Jack knocked ferociously on it. "Occupied," Rose's voice sang through the door and Jack almost smiled in spite of himself. "Rosie, sweetheart? We've got to go." Rose opened the door, a confused look plastered on her face.

"Wha… Jack?" He grabbed her hand and pulled her behind a potted plant, glancing through the leaves at the door, where Cal stood, surveying the small café. "I already paid for our meal and everything… So we need to leave. Now," he whispered, standing up straight and turning around, facing the back of the building, his eyes desperately searching for a back door. He started to walk towards a window, but Rose tugged on his hand, forcing him to stop.

"Jack, stop. Tell me what's going on." Jack swallowed hard, glancing at Cal who was seating himself next to a sidewalk view window. For a moment, Jack saw a gleam of silver in Cal's pocket. He had a gun. "Cal's here and we need to leave before he sees us," he confessed, knowing that lying and acting vague would get him nowhere with Rose. She blanched, quickly grabbing as much of her red hair as she could and nervously tying it into a knot over her left shoulder.

"Shit, Jack!" she whispered, looking back to try and see him. It was obvious that Cal was looking for someone… Perhaps them? Could he have found them or was it just a coincidence that he happened to be in Santa Monica at a diner just blocks away from their home? "C'mon," Jack whispered back, tugging her hand and walking towards the front door. It was risky—walking right past Cal—but it was their only option that didn't involve a confrontation or Jack trying to fit himself through a window.

Jack led Rose past the table they had sat at and grabbed the hat he'd left behind, putting it atop Rose's head in one swift motion as they kept walking, right past Cal who was staring out the window. They managed to exit the café without having to face a waitress or draw any attention to themselves. Hand clasped tightly with Rose's, Jack practically jogged past the window Cal was staring out, but he seemed too caught up in his refection to notice any passersby.

J&R

"You stay here… I'll be back within the hour."

Jack had left Rose with no further explanation of his whereabouts and Rose feared he had gone back to confront Cal on his own. He's not that hotheaded. He is when it comes to you… He'd never put himself in danger… He knows what Cal's capable of. No he doesn't. All he knows is that Cal's a shitty lefty gunman who's terrible at shooting moving targets. He knows nothing of Cal's precision when it comes to hunting unsuspecting deer.

Rose shuddered at the memory of entering Cal's home for the first time. It had been after a party… Her family had been invited into the Hockley Mansion, courtesy of Nathan Hockley, who led an elaborate tour of the house. It was complete with his son's "Trophy Room," where several dozen animal's heads hung on the pristine white walls, all shot and slaughtered by Cal. Rose had been horrified and almost had to excuse herself to the bathroom.

Rose had a brief vision of Jack's head hanging on Cal's wall amongst all the dead animals. She curled up into a ball on the couch her and Jack had sat on that morning and tried to occupy her mind. It was no use—the only way to distract herself would be to look at a clock, but then she'd grow anxious.

It was just several minutes past the hour when Jack was finally home, carrying a strange case in his left hand and removing his hat and dropping it on the floor next to the front door. "Sorry I was gone so long, baby… It took a little more time than I expected it to." Rose sat up as Jack came into the room, sitting next to her on the couch.

"Okay, so I told Ted I was taking off the rest of the afternoon and tomorrow, too, but I have to go back to school by Monday." Rose nodded, comprehending but still hopelessly confused. Jack placed the strange case on the coffee table in front of them and leaned back, sighing heavily. "So here's the deal… Please don't hate me, honey. I only did what I thought was right and… just don't hate me, okay?"

Rose smiled at Jack's uneasiness. "Jack, how could I ever hate you?" Jack smiled back weakly. "I'm sorry… I knew I should have talked to you before I went out making these rash crazy decisions…" Rose frowned and found it hard to swallow. "Wh… What did you do… Jack?" He leaned forward and unlocked the case, opening it slowly.

Cocking her head and knitting her eyebrows together, Rose leaned forward as well. "Why did you…? Why do we need a gun? And why would I hate you for it? I do think it's a stupid idea, to carry around a gun, but I don't hate you for it." Jack scoffed, sitting back and running both hands through his hair and down his face. "Cal has a gun. I saw it in his pocket. If he comes after either of us, we need to be able to protect ourselves." Rose's eyes widened as she stared at Jack.

"I don't think I could ever shoot someone, Jack," she whispered. "Even Cal…" "Rose," he whispered back, all seriousness shining in his eyes. "If anyone threatens you with your life, you threaten them with theirs. Is this clear?" She nodded, fear obvious in her eyes and he saw the tears behind them, threatening to spill. He took her in his arms almost instantly and she clutched at his shirt. "I'm sorry I scared you like that, sweetheart. I didn't mean to, I just…" he finished the sentence with a sigh, and there were no more words needed between the two.

Just a warning: The next chapter leaves off at a terrible cliffhanger… Heads up—Sorry. Reviews on this chapter will make me smile like this: :)