HEY GUYS! So, I got a new computer :D Which means if the spacings for this chapter *get weird* I'm so sorry xD I've been having troubles keeping up with writing and my schoolwork so please bear with me if my chapters are shorter or I take longer to update. But I PROMISE you that I have a FULL PLAN for this story and it will be really long! So if you like long stories that never ever end, please stick with me~ Hope you all enjoy this chapter and I'll see you guys at the bottom of the chapter!
Just a friendly reminder, it is 17 April 1912! ENJOY!
- Clara -
- 1.30 pm -
Clara and Harry had just finished their lunch and headed back to their room first, leaving the other officers in the mess hall. Lately, there wasn't much the pair talked about, but they enjoyed the silence. Well, Clara mostly did. It was in her nature not to talk unless spoken to and Harry just went along with it.
They sat on the couch together, cuddling up to one another. Clara snuggled up against him, but at the wrong place. Harry gulped and looked down at her. Her eyes were closed and her beautiful pink lips were curled up in a smile. His eyes roamed further to the rest of her body and his mind trailed... He knew it was wrong to think of her like that without her consent but he just couldn't help it.
"I love you." Clara said softly and moved yet again, leaning up to kiss him. Harry was at his wits' end. He hadn't gone so long without a woman's touch he was going insane. He hugged her to him, further deepening the kiss. Clara was a little shocked at the amount of force he was using but brushed her concerns aside.
They were lip-locked for quite some time until Harry's hands started to wander. First gently running his hands up and down her outer thighs as he pushed her further onto the couch until she was almost on her back. She found it strange and felt a little uncomfortable but didn't think much of it as she uneasily continued to kiss him.
To her surprise, his hands suddenly pushed up her skirts and she immediately pulled away, pushing lightly against his chest as she looked away, her cheeks red. "H...Harry...I don't feel comfortable doing this."
"It's alright..." He said in a daze as he leaned back down, capturing her lips once again, this time fiercer. Clara lifted her arms to push him away again but Harry only clamped one of his hands down on both her wrists, overpowering her and preventing her from moving under him. He pinned her wrists above her head as he continued to shove his hand up her skirt , taking some effort since she was struggling so badly.
Just before he managed to move further, Clara bit down as hard as she could on his lower lip. Shocked by the pain, Harry let go of her wrists and with one swift movement, she slid out from his side and ran to the other corner of the room and to the fireplace where there was a vase of flowers.
"OW!" He yelled out, caressing his mouth as she pulled the flowers out, splashing the water in the vase in his face. He immediately looked up at her, the lust in his eyes slowly changing into guilt. "Clary..." Harry stood up, about to walk towards her when she leaned into the wall, hugging herself tightly. "D...don't. Just don't." She frowned at him. Her heart ached when she saw his bleeding lip but she willed herself to remain hurt and angry at him.
"I'm so, so sorry..." He shook his head, slowly walking towards her. "STAY THERE!" She yelled at him, on the brink of tears, her frown dipping further still. "I...I didn't mean to, Clary." Harry bit his lip but winced and chose to frown instead. "I...I think you should leave." Clara looked away, closing her eyes and letting a few tears roll down her cheek.
Harry wanted nothing more than to just run up to her and kiss all her tears away since his heart wrenched at the sight but he knew that it would only make it worse. Physically and mentally hurt, he walked towards the door and frowned at her once more before leaving, closing the door behind him.
Clara cried harder. She didn't want to be weak like this, crying over something like that but for some reason, she couldn't stop the tears from flowing.
- Jim -
- 3.45 pm -
Elizabeth eventually fell asleep in Jim's embrace. He kissed her forehead and leaned back against the bed frame, letting her rest on him. He closed his eyes as well. Slowly, she started to stir, awaking him from the slumber he almost fell into.
"Good morning sleepyhead." He smiled down at her. She smiled back up at him sleepily, leaning up to kiss the tip of his nose before getting off him, and leaving the bed. "It's so hot in here..." All this while, Elizabeth never really realised how many layers she had on and even though it was cold outside, the feeling was suffocating. She took off her coat and placed it neatly on a desk nearby and went to the other side of the bed.
As she was getting in, Jim grabbed her left wrist a little too roughly and she let out a cry of pain. "Liz? What happened to you?" He asked, concerned as he scooted over closer to her as she sat on the edge of the bed, cradling her arm close to her chest. "It's...it's nothing." She tried to discreetly pull down her sleeves to hide it but it was no use.
"Elizabeth, honey, please, tell me what's wrong..." Jim gently turned her around to face him. He looked at her with such concern and anxiety she couldn't help but tell him. "W...when you...when I first read your note, I assumed you didn't survive. So...I thought the worst in life and cut myself." Elizabeth bit her lip and turned away.
"Give me your hand." He said with a gentle tone as she timidly put her wrist in his open hand. Jim carefully opened up the bandage and she winced a couple of times. When he opened it, his heart sank. The stitches, although well done, pained him to look at, thinking of how much pain it was to have done this much harm to herself.
"All right, that's enough." She pulled her arm back to her chest protectively, looking down. "Why would you do something like that to yourself, Liz?" He asked her, hurt evident in his shaky voice. He used a finger to lift up her chin, forcing her to look at him. "I...I thought I would lose you forever. And that I had no more reason to live..." Elizabeth bit her lower lip and bit back tears, at the reminder of that dark day.
"I just wish you wouldn't have done what you did." Jim said blankly, frowning. "Well you didn't exactly give me a choice, did you?" She almost laughed sarcastically. "Harming yourself wasn't going to bring me back, even if I was gone." He looked at her with wide eyes. "So now it's my fault! Isn't it?" Elizabeth said exasperatedly, throwing up her hands lightly.
"I never said that!" He raised his voice just a little. "Yeah, God knows you're thinking it!" She scoffed, folding her arms over her chest. "Did you even care what I might've felt when you decided you wanted to be 'Mr Noble' and go down with the ship?" She asked.
"I had a job to do, Liz." Jim was so desperate to explain himself, but knew that he didn't do wrong, at least not in his point of view. "You're right. You did have a job to do. And apparently, it's SO much more important than me." Elizabeth said spitefully, giving him a face as she slowly inched closer to the door. "Liz, don't be like that." He sighed.
"Don't you dare tell me what to do!" She yelled at him.
"Liz, please."
"SHUT UP!"
"Take it as I'm begging you..."
"I'M NOT HAVING IT ANYMORE!"
"Calm down Liz..."
"Calm down? CALM DOWN?! FUCK YOU!" She screamed at him and left the room, slamming the door behind her. She hardly ever got so mad and ever cussed with that word but she just had so much pent-up feelings she had to vent them somewhere. It wasn't that she was picking on Jim or anything. She did feel hurt that he didn't spare a thought for her feelings. With these heavy emotions, she sobbed furiously on the way back to the stateroom, ignoring anyone who tried to comfort her.
- Charles -
- 1.50 pm -
The second officer retired to his cabin straight after his lunch. It hadn't even been five minutes since he entered the room when there was a string of frantic knocks on his door. Charles sighed and walked over to the door and opened it, revealing a very nervous Harry fiddling with his fingers. The first thing he noticed was the blood dripping from his lips. "Bloody hell Harry! What happened?" He stepped aside to allow the younger man to enter his room.
"Jesus, I fucked up big time, Lights." Harry came in, holding his head in his hands, letting the blood drip down his chin. "What did you do?" Charles asked, closing the door behind him. "I...I almost..." He stammered, taking in quick breaths.
"Just calm down and tell me what happened." He sat next to Harry on the bed, holding out a cloth for him to wipe the blood off, which he graciously accepted. "I almost forced Clary into...it." He regretfully said. Charles was silent for a while, until Harry felt a whack on his head. "OW!" He yelled out in surprise, almost dropping the cloth onto the ground.
"Harold. There are many things you can do to a woman. But doing something like that just isn't right! Women are made to be loved and respected! Jesus Christ. And you just trampled over the poor thing." He reprimanded, scoffing as he looked away.
"I...I didn't mean to! I just...it's just that I've been abstaining so long...Okay, maybe that isn't the right word, but still! I just couldn't control myself." Harry said, completely flustered.
"So what are you planning to do now?" Charles asked quietly. "I...I honestly don't know." Charles had never seen Harry so distressed before so it threw him off a little, but he had been so used to comforting people that he just dealt with it.
"You have to apologise to her. Swear to never do anything like that ever again. And even if she doesn't take back your sorry arse, I won't blame the girl." He said honestly, now looking at Harry. Harry sighed for a while before going off to the doctor's office to get his lip checked out, but did not forget to thank his friend for the advice.
- Clara -
- 4.00 pm -
For the past few hours, Harry had not returned. Clara had taken a nap earlier that day but she now laid on the bed, staring at the wall with dried streaks of tears on her pale cheeks. What affected her the most was the way he handled her. So rough. So unloving. Whenever 'it' happened, or was going to happen, she expected the process to be slow, and special but definitely not a hundred percent lust and haste. It was all wrong.
Her wrists were sore and turning blue-black. Her lips were bruised and a little swollen from Harry's incessant kissing. It seemed as if the frown on her face was permanently glued on. She tried to fall asleep but even that did not work out so she settled for staring at the ceiling and hoping that the pain would go away, although it truthfully did not.
Clara suddenly heard a loud knock on the door. She contemplated on whether she should answer it or not but eventually got out after a few more raps. She opened the door and saw Elizabeth standing there, hugging herself tightly as she cried.
"Liz, what happened?" She asked in her most concerned voice. Clara was so hurt herself it was hard to care for another person but she tried her best. "Jim and I fought." She folded her arms over her chest, still letting the tears freely flow down her cheeks.
"Come on in and we'll talk about it." Clara and Elizabeth took a seat near the fireplace.
"I just can't believe him! That night of the sinking HE was the one who didn't give me a choice and drove me up the wall and just because it hurts him to see my arms like this, he blames me for it! I mean, can't he CLEARLY see it was all his fault?! Like if he-" Elizabeth paused her ranting when she saw Clara's injuries. "Heavens! What in the world happened to you Clary?!" She asked, jaw open as she took her wrists gently, almost examining her wounds.
"It's nothing." The maid pulled her arms away. "And your lips!" Elizabeth's hands moved up to touch her swollen pink lips, to which Clara swatted her hand away. "Just tell me what happened!" She was losing patience. First Jim, now Clara.
"Just leave me alone Liz!" Clara pleaded. "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST TELL ME?!" Elizabeth yelled. "I...I just can't." Clara started to cry. "Oh, so now you're CRYING? Would that make a difference? Huh? Well I'm sorry but crying doesn't solve shit!" She spat. Clara then ran from her seat on the couch into the bedroom and locked the door behind her, curling up in a ball on the bed.
"You can't hide forever, little girl! Sooner or later you're gonna have to deal with it!" Elizabeth banged hard on the door before going back to the couch. She sat angry for a while, before pulling up her legs to her chest as she started to sob quietly.
- Charles -
- 3.00 pm -
Charles had gone out for a walk a little after Harry left the room. When he came back, he hung up his visor cap and went over to sit down on the bed. Charles took off his coat and reached into one of the pockets and took out a pocket sized black and white picture. His wife and children were all there with him as the happy family took a family portrait.
He smiled lovingly at them before he slowly felt his lips fall into a frown. Soon, he was shaking and trembling, crying. He had been so strong for others, Harry, Elizabeth, and even all the other officers at one point or another. But there was no one who was strong for him. Just looking at his wife, who was always there for him, he started to sob, dearly missing her more than ever.
The strong man finally broke down, missing his pillar of support. He would never ever show this vulnerable side of him to anyone else but his beloved wife, Sylvia.
He laid down on his bed, hugging the picture close to his chest, as he cried softly.
I felt that there really wasn't much interaction with other officers in other stories so I felt the strong need to make the officers of the Titanic actually have a role in my story. Also, that last part on Charles I felt was really sad. I felt that there was a need to bring sort of a 'message' across using this xD (Bear with me) Sometimes, in life, we never truly understand what it's like for the person who is always there for everyone. We hardly ever see how under appreciated they are and sometimes, even they get tired and they need someone to be strong for them. So go up to anyone who has been there for you and give them a hug and thank them ^^
Now to thank those who left reviews! Thank you to VGFANFOREVER and Chloe for your reviews!
VGFANFOREVER : Thank you for commenting on Thomas! :D I too really wish I could've met the officers in person. Charles and Harold in particular. Although I read somewhere Harold was racist :/ I hope it's not true because I'm Asian xD I also hope I don't lose half of my readers now that y'all know/knew xD
Chloe : Thank you so much for your compliment. It really warmed my heart when you said that this was a well written story and that I was a good writer! If you need any help at all with your story, please feel free to PM me! I will be glad to help in anyway I can! (and I'm not lying) :D
To everyone else, I hope you all are enjoying the story as well! Have a nice day and review if you liked the chapter! :D