Nine:

''You know I would come out here and think of you.'' Jack nuzzled his nose into Rose's neck. She turned, enjoying the feeling of him so close. The evening which they had spent together was nothing short of perfect and now, with him so close to her, all he wanted was to never leave her side again. The cool water lapped up against Rose's knees. She didn't care that her entire dress was drenched, nor did she want to wake and never feel the early morning ocean against her skin again. It was awakening her soul in a way she never thought possible. This was how she had imagined her life to be out here, with Jack by her side.

''Is that so?''

''Yes.''

Rose found her lips on his, once more. ''Well, I am here now.''

''Don't let me go.''

She pulled at the collar of his shirt, pulling her to him and into her body. His hands grasped at her body beneath the dress, just like it had the evening before.

The clear blue ocean lapped up against Louise's knees. Her eyes didn't dare leave them. If her heart was bleeding before, it was dying now. Is this was happiness was? A man and a woman dancing; splashing around in the surf. The way Rose looked at him. The way she held onto his hand and Jack held hers. There was such an unbreakable bond if she had never seen one before. Another slice cut into her heart, her stomach, her eyes. Everywhere. Slowly everything was bleeding once more and she was cut open for all to see. Her wounds were caused by him...

Her hands shook. Her wedding dress was now drenched up to her thighs. Her jaw clenched, her stomach lurching with each passing second of seeing them together. She hadn't felt the tears which had fallen leaving thick black smudged lines from her makeup.

How could two people be so enthralled and enamoured with the other? Just a day after leaving her at the altar. If Rose would not have found him just four days before, would he be with Louise still? Would they be spending their day together, like this? Would he chase her about the surf and pull her down into the water so that he could kiss her, touch her face and tell her just how much he loved her, his wife?

Tears wouldn't stop falling. They rolled down her cheeks, to her chin and then they dropped into the ocean. Filling it that bit more. She thought she had cried all of her tears, that there wouldn't be any left to cry and yet now it seemed to be an endless stream. She continued to observe through blurred vision. In that moment, she decided that Jack never loved her. He didn't laugh with her, play or touch her like he did Rose. He didn't do anything like she was witnessing right now.

Louise noticed that her hands had stopped shaking, even though the rest of her body was still alive from the adrenaline of running, the anger of seeing the lovers embrace and somewhere in her mind; she thought of Matthew. Had she been so stupidly naïve her entire life? A soft soul who fell in love with a man who loved another was enough to anger any woman, except she felt a strange calm interspersed with the urge to hurt him so much; to take away her own pain and bestow it on him. She had lost her father and perhaps such stress had taken him early. Jack's promise to look after her was broken after all. Broken, or never existed. Her father had taken such liberties to ensure that she would be looked after in the event of his death. Now she had nothing.

Her Mother had passed, her Father, too. All she had left was Jack. This would have been their honeymoon, out here in the water. They hadn't planned one. But this would have made her happy. They would have spent a few months, just rolling around the beach, then he would have taken her home, night after night and made love to her, the way she had wanted him to. A baby would have been inevitable and then, she could have created her own little family.

Her fingers began to tingle and coldness seeped into her fingertips and her wrists. Her heart started to hammer in her chest through no control of her ow. Her wrist began to raise ever so slightly and slow until it was a 90 degree angle. A straight perfect line. Aimed at the person she knew she would have to take away from this world to bestow to such as her own.

It was only then in that second that she was seen.

A scream followed. Louise realised that it was Rose. In hearing Rose, Jack followed her gaze to find Louise pointing a gun straight at her. He jumped in front of her and pushed her body entirely behind his. She wouldn't be hurt. He grasped both of her hands in his and squeezed them so tightly. The last time they had a gun pointed at them, they had been running deeper into a sinking ship, surrounded by ice water.

''We've been through this before, remember.'' He told Rose, quietly. ''Chased with a damned gun.''

Rose nodded, her eyes squeezed closed. She remembered when Cal had chased them on the Titanic. How terrified she had been but also most of all, she remembered how much she had trusted Jack. She had taken his word as the absolute truth and refused to waver, even now. She would trust him with her own life.

''Louise, put the damn gun down. If you want revenge then come to me, let Rose go.''

She was silent for a moment as her hand stopped shaking. Through her blurred eyes, Louise could see so perfectly. Her chest rose and fell. Everything fell into slow motion.

''I do not want revenge.''

Jack pressed his lips together. Then what did she want?

''I am fed up, Jack. I thought that we had something together, that you loved me.'' Her lip trembled, the lump in her throat burnt all the way down to her stomach.

Jack bowed his head. ''I did. But I loved Rose, too. Louise, I do care about you.'' He tried to reason with her. What else could he do?

''My father is dead!'' She screamed at him. Rose held her breath. She, too had lost a parent young but in that moment all that ran through her ears was Louise's screams. The echo shattered inside her head.

Jack held onto Rose tighter.

''I'm sorry.''

''Yes.''

She stepped closer to them both, the gun in her hand so unwavering. The ocean made it difficult to move but it made her even more determined. She wouldn't be pushed around any longer. She was a woman, not a child.

''I wanted to believe that you were my family. That when the time came for God to take my father, that you would be there for me.''

Jack said nothing as he felt his breathing become ragged in his chest. He clutched onto Rose as though his life depended on it and he knew at this moment in time that it did. He wanted to remember losing his own parents and how it felt to be alone in the world but at that moment in time the only thing what mattered was Rose.

''He has done nothing wrong.'' Rose shouted out. She tried to step out from Jack's shadow but he wouldn't let her. He kept her forcefully within his own grip. Letting her step away from him would be a risk, he wasn't willing to take it.

''What do you know?'' She shifted her attention to the redhead.

''I know, everything.'' Rose told her. She narrowed her eyes as the early morning sun beat down.

''Rose, get back.'' Jack urged.

Rose stepped away from Jack but she didn't let go of his hand. She entwined their fingers ever so tightly and she wouldn't let go. She never would.

''But, it is because of you. You're the reason for everything which has happened. Not Jack.'' Louise cried. ''You took him from me and then you took my father!''

Rose felt her heart sink. She didn't know what she could do. Grief affected people in many ways but was holding a gun up to somebody and accusing them of such things one of them? She wanted to reason with her. As a woman and as someone who had lost everybody close to her. Perhaps, if she sat and listened to their story, to the things which they had endured to be with each other. But would she listen?

''Let's talk, rationally. Sit down and-''

Rose didn't have a chance to finish her sentence. A loud bang caused her entire body to shake and she fell backwards from the impact of something. She splashed into the ocean, her knees buckled. She expected to die, to see herself wilt but she didn't but the wind was still knocked from her lungs. Blood gushed about her but she couldn't understand why. She couldn't breathe for several seconds until Jack's hand in hers fell limp and then his body followed. It caused a splash and he fell backwards into the ocean, a cloud of blood surrounding him. Her mouth fell open. She couldn't comprehend anything. She glanced down at herself, her dress was red. Jack's blood. Louise had killed Jack. She turned to see his body floating in the ocean. In the Pacific Ocean. Where they had been frolicking just minutes before. Her body ran cold and in a state of shock, she felt her body hurl forward as she vomited. She couldn't stop her entire body emptying its contents in a mode which she had never been in. She couldn't breathe or see straight.

Louise had fell to her knees. The gun still held firmly out in front of her. There was a numbness which followed.

''Yesterday was supposed to be my wedding day.'' She muttered, quietly to herself.

Rose managed to get to her knees with a newfound strength from somewhere. She narrowed her eyes at Louise.

''You-'' She couldn't even speak before she retched one more time but this time it didn't hold her back. She stormed through the water as its attempts to hold her back failed. When Louise was a few yards away she wanted to lunge for her. To hurt her. She'd taken Jack away from her. She had killed him. Killed him! Right before her.

Louise screamed as she shook. Another click of the trigger ensured Rose was stopped in her tracks. She was sent backwards near her Jack.

Everything was red. She could taste blood. She looked around her. She had taken two lives. The story of Romeo and Juliet came to her head and she felt a strange calm for a moment. just for one moment.

In the distance, a third gunshot sounded.