Chapter three:

The sun was just setting and to say it was a summer night the narrow thin pier was completely empty so when she saw his lone figure sat at the very end of the pier she knew it was him. She walked past the Carousel. Her hair billowed in the slight wind as she made her way to him. The pier had never felt as long. Her heart beat so fast and her breathing was unsteady.

She had changed into another light pink and peach dress and ensured her teary eyes had dried. She promised she would cry no more. Not over the same thing. Tonight she would find closure.

As she approached and grew closer he must have heard her footsteps as he had stood and placed his hand in his pockets. She watched her feet and it seemed to take forever to reach him. When she got to him, it was then she had realised he was fishing at the edge of the pier. She smiled a little.

''Hello.'' He greeted her.

''Hello, Jack.''

She glanced down at the fishing rod and tin of maggots sat on the pier. ''Fishing?''

''Yeah, it's a good time once all the folk go home. Its quiet. I love it out here.''

The sky was a brilliant picture of watercolours and beneath it stood Jack and Rose. She pushed away any thoughts of the last sunset they had stood beneath. How he had kissed her. Her first kiss. Her only love.

Within seconds she had gone into that world where only she and Jack existed. The world which she never wanted to leave.

''The waters cool up here which you wouldn't imagine but-'' he watched as she had trailed off somewhere.

She retreated back to the present and found Jack smiling at her, amused.

''So where is Louise?''

Jack's smile faded a little.

''Come on, one of us had to mention her.''

Jack ignored the fact that he had been mid sentence. He pressed his lips together. ''She is at home, with her father.''

Rose raised her head slowly. ''All right.''

Jack sensed the same awkwardness hit them as earlier. Rose turned to walk around the side of the pier. She leant over the side. She felt she had to put some distance between them. They could both feel something there between them. Their eyes met but then they looked away, the power too much for both of them. But they didn't know what it was. Jack began to back away from her and then he removed his rod from the water and placed it on the decking of the pier. She realised he had more to say, this vibe between them felt much more different than it had done before. It was so much stronger and seemed to be drawing her closer and closer to him. She began to back towards the rail in order to get more distance. She felt so tight and breathless. He came towards her a little; he didn't know what to say.

''Oh God Rose.'' He whispered.

He hadn't thought of anything for a while other than her, she had been in his head since the first day he had met her and now it seemed to be coming to a head. His feelings were almost too big and too much for him to control. He stepped closed to her, running his fingers through his hair.

''Don't come closer.'' She held out her hand to him as a warning. ''We both know you need to stay away. We-we know.'' She was close to tears when she remembered her own promise to herself.

He knew that she was acknowledging something too. There was so much between them. It was like an electric buzz growing louder and louder and getting stronger and stronger until it was deafening to them. They didn't know if it would go away or if it would continue. The only way it grew weaker was when they stepped closer to each other. She came towards him just once, a small and hesitant step. She was so lost in his face, those eyes that she trusted so much. He couldn't stop looking at her, everything about her was real. She was here. In their place. His heartbeat grew stronger and quicker. He threw caution to the wind and placed his left hand on the flat of her face, she closed her eyes for just a second to take in the moment. He stroked it against her soft skin, she felt the flutters, the beautiful feeling which she knew she would only ever have with Jack.

''Do-do you love her?'' She whispered.

She hated herself for even asking such a question. She didn't know what the answer was but she needed to know. He was here, with Rose and not with the woman he was to marry in three days...

Jack was taken aback by her question. He hesitated as he took in her face, the pretty features which he had kept locked away in head. The face which had pulled him through the cold, cruel war. He shook his head.

''Not as much as I should.'' He glanced at his own boots. Anything to distract him from his own truth. ''I never loved her like I did you.''

Rose bit the inside of her lips. He removed his hand from her face. ''But you're right,'' he sighed, ''I shouldn't be so close to you.''

''Then why are you?'' She felt a warm tear trickle roll down her face. She was holding so much more back but she needed to know what he thought. She couldn't allow him to see just how broken she was inside and how much she needed him. She had to know what was inside his head.

''Because you are here, alive. I cannot walk away from that.''

She squeezed her eyes closed, leaning against him. She didn't want him to talk but she was glad he did.

''I was in love with you.''

''Jack, this is impossible.'' She tried to push him away but she couldn't. He made her weaker.

''I love you.'' He told her. The words she had wanted to hear for eight long, hard years. He was engaged to be married to another woman and yet that fact was irrelevant at this moment in time. He loved her. She wanted to push him so far away from her and tell him to go to his girl and to learn to love her but there was a force stronger pulling her to him.

Jack was so open and real and not like anyone she has ever known. That was what she had missed the most during their time apart. This was the moment she had played over and over in her head. The one which she pictured would be the most perfect moment in her life. It felt like something from a dime novel she had read, the ones that really ache your heart. This was the one thing which she had wanted for so long and yet now it was happening she felt as though it shouldn't be.

''You're making this very hard.''

He placed his palm on her cheek again and she prayed that he would not kiss her for she would not be able to stop. She was scared of what would happen of how strong her feelings would grow. She was terrified already. She touched his hand for a moment, keeping the warmth and trying to capture the moment in her head, to keep the memory and to remember just how perfect this moment felt. Was this what love felt like? The intensity of a single stare was magnificent.

''Do you not love me?''

She pressed her eyes closed and felt them sting. ''Of course I do. I always did.''

''I know.''

''I don't want you to go, Jack.''

Jack came to her side and took her left hand in his. She felt a few tears escape her eyes and he brushed them away. Their eyes met and he smiled to her almost melting her entire body. Jack closed his eyes feeling her so close to him, her hair tickling him ever so slightly and her breathe on his skin. He held her face with both of his trembling hands and stroked her cheek.

''You don't know how much you mean to me.'' He whispered to her and she smiled a small smile back to him, feeling herself tremble. He felt her hands move up his back and stroke the back of his hair softly. He leant forward slightly and closed his eyes for a second feeling their closeness, he opened them to look at Rose and saw her eyes closed and it was then he knew what he had to do. He leant towards her more and opened his mouth slightly and planted a small kiss on her lips, something which sent sparks through both of them. Rose opened her eyes and Jack felt her eyelashes flutter on his cheek and he glanced at her.

''You have just made this so much harder.'' She whispered.