Here we go! I apologise for the wait but I am STILL ill (fuck working with kids, I swear-) and I also started playing Hogwarts Legacy because it finally came out on PS4 and I had a gift card for a store selling it :p
Before we dive in (pardon the pun), let me make it clear right now that this story's rating has an M rating, and it's specifically because of a certain moment in this chapter that happens in a steamy car. In the film it cuts away just as they lie down in the car, and then after a couple of other scenes it switches back to them post-coitus - in my fic, I decided that fuck it, let's do the love scene. I must admit that I took a LOT of inspirations for the love scene from countless Titanic fics I've read about Jack/Rose's time in that car - obviously it's not directly copying anything but I have to give credit to the incredible authors of the Titanic (1997) fandom for their work because they all manage to capture the film and the couple so beautifully that it made me want to do the same for Newtina here!
So, to sum it up, this is my official warning that there is a sex scene in this chapter; I think it's relatively tame in all honestly, the focus is more on the connection between two people as they express their love in an adult way, the focus is very much on their emotions. Having said that, it's still a sex scene and it's obvious what they're doing! I suppose I also have to give a small warning that like Rose in the original film, Tina is seventeen and Newt is twenty like Jack was; by today's standards, I can understand why this may make people uncomfortable, but this part of the fic is set in 1912...and let's be real, in the film Rose (and by extension Tina in this fic) was betrothed to a much older man who's closer to his forties, so a three year age gap between the main couple is really NOT a big deal all things considered.
Anyway, with that in mind... enjoy!
The sea beneath the gliding Titanic was almost unnatural, as calm and black as a pool of oil; the ship's lights were mirrored almost perfectly in the water, and the sky was littered with small stars. On the bridge of the ship, Captain Smith peered out ahead at the darkness ahead of the ship just as Quartermaster Hichens brought him a hot cup of tea with lemon, the steam rising in the bitter cold of the outside of the open bridge. As the Quartermaster departed with a nod, Second Officer Lightoller came to stand beside the captain and also stared out at the sheet of black glass that the Atlantic had become.
"You know, I don't think I've ever seen such a flat calm in all my twenty-four years at sea," Lightoller remarked conversationally.
Smith stirred his tea with a smile. "Like a mill pond - not a breath of wind!"
"Yes." The other man hesitated. "It will make the bergs harder to see though, what with no breaking water at the base."
"Hmmm." The captain considered this, his smile slowly disappearing as he looked down at his tea, turning the slice of lemon over with his spoon. He didn't speak for a long moment, thinking carefully on what his officer had told him before straightening up and looking at the other man. "Well, I'm off. Maintain speed and heading, Mr Lightoller - and wake me, of course, if anything becomes in the slightest degree doubtful."
Lightoller nodded seriously as he watched the older man go inside. "Yes, sir."
Newt looked out of the open window of the promenade deck at the ocean, enjoying the cool breeze that blew through his hair - after the excitement of the entire evening, it felt nice to cool his body somewhat and have some time to himself with his thoughts. Of course, all he could think about was the woman he had just sketched and who was now getting dressed - the thought of her and how she had looked, stretched out before him as naked as the day she'd been born, just made him grow even warmer inside. Eventually, however, it got far too cold to lean out of the window, and he shuddered to himself as he retreated back inside and into the sitting room of the suite; he was wearing the coat he had borrowed earlier when sneaking onto the first-class deck, and yet he still found himself shivering.
As he entered the room, Tina did too from her bedroom; she looked radiant in a simple light blue satin dress that was trimmed with pink and white chiffon, her dark hair loose around her shoulders. "It's getting cold." He muttered, rubbing his hands together as he looked at her and grinned. "Oh, you look lovely."
Before she could reply, there was a sudden knocking on the door. "Miss Tina?"
A key began to turn in the lock; Tina quickly grabbed Newt's hand and silently led him through to the bedroom. "My drawings!" He whispered, but he knew it was pointless - they couldn't waste any time. They were just entering the bedchambers when the door from the corridor to the sitting room opened; she gestured for him to open the door on the other side of the room, trying not to wince as the door they had just come through clanked shut behind her. They both hurriedly exited the stateroom into the B-deck corridor, making sure to close the door behind them before walking with some speed in the direction of the B-deck foyer.
They were only halfway down the hallway when they heard the door open behind them once more; they both glanced behind their shoulders to see Abernathy coming out. He looked around briefly before spotting them; without missing a beat, the valet straightened his jacket and began to hustle after them.
"Come on!" Tina took his hand and they suddenly broke into a run, surprising some of the few ladies and gentlemen around them - they didn't need to look back to know that Abernathy was racing after them as fast as he could. They almost skidded across the floor as they passed the stairs and turned to reach the bank of elevators; some passengers were just exiting and the operator looked as if he were about to take the lift down again. "No, wait, wait! Wait, wait!"
"Wait a moment, sir, hold on!"
The operator was shocked as they pushed past the other people waiting and into the elevator with him; as soon as they were both in, Newt hurriedly closed the steel gate behind them and Tina gestured to the man urgently. "Take us down! Quickly, quickly!"
Abernathy appeared at the gates just as the elevator started to descend; he slammed his hands against the bars of the gate as he watched them go down, a frustrated and murderous look on his face. Tina looked up at him coolly for a moment - and then she raised her hand to show her middle finger in a rather rude and unladylike gesture. Newt gaped at her before beginning to chuckle, unable to stop himself; the shorter man's nostrils flared before he disappeared, no doubt to use the stairs to try and meet them at whichever floor they stopped at.
As soon as the elevator reached E-deck, the two lurched out of the elevator in a fit of giggles; Newt nearly collided with a passing crew member and had to take a step back even as he huffed with chuckles. "Sorry, sir, I'm so sorry!"
But he didn't have long to apologise because Tina was taking his hand once more and leading him towards the stairs that led down even further to F-deck. He clumsily slipped down the last few steps, this time hitting a steward wheeling a cart of silverware; Newt hurriedly tried to help him pick up the fallen cutlery, even as the man assured him it was alright, before following Tina through a door and into another plain white corridor. By now they were both laughing hysterically, finding the whole experience far more fun than they perhaps should have, and they had to take a moment to lean against the wall and catch their breath.
"He's rather tough for a valet, this man," Newt managed in amusement, giving a nod to a chef who passed them by. "He seems more like a… a… I believe you Americans would call them 'cops'?"
Tina snorted at this, her eyes sparkling with mirth as they met his. "I think he was, you know. Achilles' father hired him to keep his little boy out of trouble…to make sure he got back to the hotel with his wallet and watch after some crawl through the less reputable parts of town…"
Newt considered this for a moment before stepping towards her with a small grin. "So…sort of like what we're doing now, I suppose?" He mused as he took her hands and pulled her towards him; she beamed as their faces moved closer, clearly having no issues at all with this. Their lips were mere inches away when his eyes drifted over her shoulder and through the porthole of the door they had just come through; Abernathy was glancing around, clearly searching for them. "Oh shit."
Tina followed his gaze, surprised by his sudden cursing, and saw the valet just as he noticed them; enraged, Abernathy began to charge forwards. "Jesus Christ, go!"
They quickly ran up the corridor and around the corner, only to find themselves at a seemingly dead end; Newt quickly turned back and looked at the blind alley they were in. The only door was on their right, easy to miss if you were in a hurry or didn't know where to look, and marked as "Crew Only" - he flung it open without thinking twice. "Quick, in here!"
As soon as they were both inside, he quickly slammed the door shut and locked it with the bolt so that they couldn't be followed; there was a thud against it a moment later as Abernathy tried to follow them, but it thankfully remained steadily in place. It was only once Newt was certain the door would hold that he realised they had entered a roaring fan room; his head began to hurt over the sound of the boilers below blasting, and he noticed that Tina was covering her ears. He quickly did the same, looking to her for any ideas on what to do next.
"Now what?!" She yelled, but he could barely hear her. "Newt?!"
He looked around the room hastily and noticed that there were no other doors besides the one they had just entered through - and on the other side of that was a very angry valet who was undoubtedly not going to leave anytime soon. For a moment it appeared that they were trapped - but then he grinned and gestured to show her a ladder that was going down to an even lower deck.
They soon discovered that this escape ladder led them down to Boiler Room Five; Newt went first and then immediately helped Tina down so that she wouldn't trip over the skirt of her dress. As soon as they both had their feet on the floor, they looked around in amazement at what was around them: it was like they had entered some kind of vision of hell itself, filled with roaring furnaces and black figures that moved in the smoky glow that clouded the room.
"Hold up!" They spun around to see one of the stokers, covered head to toe in black dust from his work and glaring at them. "What're you two doing down here? You shouldn't be down here, it could be dangerous- OI!"
He shouted after the couple as they turned and ran the length of the boiler room but to no avail; they were already dodging several other amazed stokers and trimmers, people with large pokers for stoking fires and others with wheelbarrows of coal. "Carry on, please!" Newt found himself shouting to them over the din. "Don't mind us!"
They had just reached the open watertight door of Boiler Room Six when he suddenly pulled her through the fiercely hot alley between two of the boilers; here they were in the dark, just out of sight of the working crew in the hellish glow of the furnaces. Tina gazed up at him in question, the roar of all of the nearby fires making her feel somewhat dizzy; he was staring at her with unadulterated admiration as one of his hands cupped her cheek, admiring the glistening of sweat on her brow and the way she glowed red and hot in the low light.
"Like a salamander," He mumbled to himself in awe, looking straight into her eyes.
She raised a brow, wondering if this was supposed to be a compliment. "I'm like a salamander?"
His cheeks were already flushed from the heat around them, but she was certain that they grew even redder from embarrassment. "It's silly, I just… I've always thought that your eyes, they have this effect that's… it's like fire in water, in dark water. And that's something I've only ever seen in… in…"
"In salamanders," She finished, and she found herself inordinately touched; she understood now what he was trying to say, and the fact that he was complimenting her in reference to some kind of creature - something she knew he had a passion for and loved deeply - made her heart thud even quicker in her chest. "Newt…"
They both leaned in at the same time, their mouths meeting eagerly; they kissed passionately in the steamy and pounding darkness, a heat and fire that had been building between them that had little to do with furnaces or coal. No one was around to notice as Newt's hand moved from her cheek to trace the curve of her long neck, nor the way that Tina moaned in his ear and clung desperately to him when his lips moved to worship her there.
The hold they found themselves in was filled with rows of stacked cargo; as they weaved their way between the baggage and freight that had been stored down here, Newt leading the way and never letting go of her hand, Tina hugged herself whilst trying not to shiver - it was terribly cold in here compared to the dripping heat of the boiler rooms they had just left. A part of her was glad that the dress she'd chosen to wear was short-sleeved, given how hot it had just been - the other was regretting it now that they were somewhere else that was decidedly cooler.
As they turned past a stack of crates, they came across a brand new Renault touring car; it was deep burgundy in colour with brass trim and headlamps, like some kind of royal coach from a fairytale. As Newt stared at it in awe, he heard Tina clear her throat behind him; when he looked at her, she was smiling with her back straight and gesturing to the cab door. He grinned and went to open it for her before offering his hand to help her step up. "Ma'am."
"Thank you," She said in a rather proper sort of voice, climbing into the plushly upholstered backseat. As he closed the door behind her, she noticed that the car had some small crystal bud vases on the walls, each of them containing a small rose - it was truly like a magical carriage indeed, she thought to herself. She watched as Newt hopped into the driver's seat upfront, clearly enjoying how the leather and wood felt, and moved forwards so that she could lower the sliding glass that separated them.
He cast a glance at her over his shoulder and gestured to the steering wheel in front of him. "I've never driven one of these - and I doubt I ever will - but…if we could go anywhere together right now, where would you go?"
She leaned into him slightly, her lips brushing the shell of his ear. "To the stars."
Before he could reply, her hands were pulling him into the back of the car through the window; he let out a breathless huff of laughter as he landed next to her, taking a moment to lift the sliding window at the front back up before shifting so that they were both comfortable against the plush seat. Their breathing seemed especially loud here, in the quiet darkness, and as he tentatively put an arm around her shoulders he saw that she was beaming at him; he suddenly became all too aware of her hand gripping the lapel of his coat, how close they suddenly were in this confined space - this was a moment of truth, he realised.
Newt swallowed the sudden lump in his throat as he looked at her, reaching for her hand with his own one that was not holding her close, intertwining their fingers. "Are… Are you nervous?"
The way Tina gazed back at him was fearless, every fibre of her body awake and thrumming as she pressed against him. "No."
He smiled softly at her even as his heart raced frantically in his chest in anticipation and nerves for what was to come - yet he was not timid, not afraid, like he'd imagined he would be in this moment, not fumbling or groping like a man who'd never had a woman before would. Uncertain of what exactly to do, he moved his hand to stroke her cheek, trying to commit her in this moment to memory. He wanted nothing more than to tell her how much he cherished her, that he had fallen so hard and fast in such a small amount of time that it was as frightening as it was exciting, that he adored everything about her: her expressive brown eyes, the defined lines of her cheekbones, the way her hair fell over her glowing face - but most of all her burning passion, her heart, her very soul.
She studied his face, understanding even without him saying a word: he had been telling the truth when he'd told her he hadn't had a love affair with the naked women in Paris that he had drawn - and somehow she knew, even without it being spoken, that this was to be his first time with a woman, with another person at all in this way. He watched with wide eyes as she reached for his hand and gently moved it towards her lips, just barely kissing the tips of his artist's fingers. They were slightly calloused from many hours of work and sketching, and yet so gentle, so soft, that it made a strong wave of yearning wash over her - and she knew immediately what she wanted, what she had been wanting deep in her soul since he had saved her from ending her own life.
Tina looked up at him, her slow exhale warm against his fingers. "Put your hands on me, Newt."
His breath hitched as he stared at her, unable to believe his own ears; his hand was shaking as she pressed it firmly against her clothed breast, fingers laced with his own, and it was only then that he found himself able to move. Overcome with desire for her, Newt leaned in and kissed her desperately, squeezing the curve of her soft bosom through the fabric of her dress; she moaned softly beneath him, pulling him over her as she slid down in the seat underneath his welcome weight, her legs opening to cradle the berth of his hips as he settled atop of her.
It admittedly would have been preferable to do this in a bed, to take their time together and explore one another's bodies - but they both knew all too well that time was against them, here in the cramped backseat of a car, and they had to make the most of what they did have instead of lamenting on what they didn't.
Tina sighed as she tilted her head back, allowing him to softly kiss a path from her mouth and over her jawline to her neck as the hand not on her breast roamed lower, his artist's fingers seeming to burn her even through the thin material of her dress. She had managed to remove her corset before he drew her, and she had not bothered to put it back on afterwards - now she was nearly bare beneath her gown, save for a thin pair of drawers, a fact she found herself grateful for now that they were doing this. Her entire body felt like it was on fire as he reached the hem of her dress and started to lift it slowly up her legs, every single one of her nerve endings on fire, and as the fabric drifted over her thighs he pulled back slightly; his cheeks were flushed much like her own as he caught her eyes, his entire face filled with desire - desire for her , she noted with a tingle.
"Can I…?" Newt checked quietly, wanting - needing - to be sure that she still wanted this as much as he did.
How different he was to Achilles, she thought; a young woman's virginity was supposed to remain intact until marriage, she had been taught, but he had taken her a few times during their time in Europe. Those nights had been spent without any passion, without feeling, as she tried to dissociate herself from the sting; as he satiated his lust and left her with nothing except pain and some light bleeding, she would close her eyes or merely watch the ceiling and try to think of anything but his body on top of her, of the smell of him, the horrible weight of what he was doing heavy in every single way. Her fiancé never asked, only ever took, and she would always sigh with relief when he was finished and left her alone afterwards.
But Newt was not like that in the slightest; here he was, on top of her and clearly wanting to do this, and yet he was still giving her the option to stop if she wished - he would understand and not think any less of her for it. The realisation warmed her heart, intensifying the pull that she already felt to him - it was instinctual, like an animal with its primal needs, and had torn at her since the evening they met on the stern of the ship.
"Newt," She whispered, breath ghosting along his face as she traced a finger over the scattered freckles on his cheek. "Please…"
His trembling fingers were suddenly searching for the back of her dress, pulling at the sash around her waist until it came loose; she moaned, seeking his mouth with her own as she pushed at the jacket around his shoulders. His hands disappeared from her back momentarily to help her remove the offending garment, throwing it to the floor of the car before covering her body once more with his own; as he went back to the hem of her dress to lift it up, she felt him briefly tracing the curves of her bottom through her underwear, his breath hitching as he pressed against her. They wasted little time in removing her dress, the fabric tossed aside rather carelessly, and he could only stare down at her in awe; he had already seen her nude, it was true, but there was something different about it this time - the fact that she was not merely there as a subject of one of his drawings but as someone he could touch, someone he could caress, someone he could worship with his hands and lips.
Before he could do just that, she was tugging his loose white shirt over his head, rumpling the reddish-brown curls of his hair even more than they already were, and lazily dragging a finger from the top of his chin, down his throat, over his chest and his sternum; he shivered at her touch, and she could only marvel at the sight of him. He was not overly muscular, not like some men she had seen were, but it was undeniable that he was incredibly toned - no doubt from hours spent doing manual jobs and travelling from place to place. Tina bit her lip at the sight of his bare torso, delighted that he was freckled here too and that he had a trail of hair that was a similar colour to the ones on his head that led down past the waistband of his trousers; even with his hair damp with sweat and starting to linger in his eyes, even with a bright flush that was starting to spread over his shoulders, he was the most beautiful man she'd ever seen.
"Here," She murmured, slowly reaching for the button of his trousers. "Let me."
Newt grew still as she undid the fastenings and tugged them down along with his underwear, suddenly incredibly anxious; as his erection sprang free, his face burned and he gnawed on his lower lip as he waited for her reaction. She let out a small exhale at the sight of it before looking him straight in the eye as she took him in her hand; he jerked slightly at the feeling, willing himself not to embarrass himself like a pubescent schoolboy as she slowly moved her hand up and down over him - it felt so good that it was almost agonising.
"Tina… Tina, please-"
"Please what?"
He clenched his eyes shut tightly, as if in pain, and let out a shuddering gasp. "I want to… I want…"
Thankfully she seemed to understand what he meant; Tina grinned slightly as she removed her hand from his cock, her fingers ghosting over his spine and making him shiver. Managing to compose himself, he opened his eyes once more and quickly reached for her undergarments, tugging them down her legs somewhat clumsily before settling over her again. As he braced himself above her, he felt both of her thighs coming to cradle his hips once more, holding him in place as he gazed down at her; he could feel the heat of her like this, and he nearly choked when he realised how wet she was pressed against him. He had dreamt of moments like this, never believing it would be something he'd ever have but musing on the idea anyway on rather cold lonely nights - a warm and willing woman to share his body, his bed, his life…
"Tina, I…"
He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat: everything he wished to tell her sounded ridiculous, foolish, inelegant even, the cliché ramblings of a lovestruck fool. Nothing he could possibly say would be enough to express the love he felt for her, how Tina was far more wonderful than he had ever allowed himself to imagine - but here she was, her heart open to him, offering it just as she offered her body and her very soul to him.
"You are so beautiful," Newt whispered before he could stop himself, and she smiled as she ran her hands up over his straining forearms, resting them on his shoulders. "I want to make this… I want… I've never…"
"It's a first of sorts for me too," Tina admitted softly, somewhat relieved that she could address his lack of experience with her own. "That is, there's been a few… a handful, really… of times with–" She couldn't even bring herself to say his name, to let even the mention of him taint this wonderful experience between them. "It wasn't… It was never… I'm rambling."
He shook his head, finding it rather endearing even though he was somewhat surprised by her words. "It's just that I don't wish to hurt you - if I do, then please just say, I couldn't bear it if-"
She shushed him with some fondness, cupping his cheek with one of her hands. "It's okay; I trust you."
"Alright." He adjusted his hips a little, trying to prepare himself even as his body quivered with excitement. "Are you ready?"
Tina took a deep and long breath, looking up into his eyes; they were glazed over not only with desire but also with such love that it made her feel like her heart might burst at any second. Her breath hitched at the sensation of the head of his cock nudging at her entrance, anticipating - but he merely continued to meet her gaze, blue-green connecting with brown, silently asking her his question again to make sure even as he struggled to resist the urge to just push his way into her body.
In response, she tightened her legs around his hips. "Make love to me," She murmured, so soft that it was almost a whisper.
With that, Newt reached down between them with one hand, carefully wrapping a fist around his erection; he glanced down so that he could make sure he was in the right position before his eyes raised once more to peer at her through his long lashes - and then he was shifting forwards, pushing inside of her almost tentatively. He groaned quietly at the feeling of her, so impossibly warm and tight around him that he briefly considered the possibility that he had died and was now in heaven. To his horror, however, he noticed her brow furrow slightly with pain and immediately halted, half-enveloped by her heat, waiting for her to say something; her nails were digging into his shoulders somewhat hard, and he wondered if he should pull out before apologising profusely for ruining this so far perfect moment. After a few moments, she opened her eyes once more, the pain beginning to subside, and shifted beneath him against the plush backseat of the car.
She's definitely in pain, Newt thought, disgusted with himself for putting her through this. I need to stop right away-
Before he could even begin to withdraw his hips, Tina was suddenly clutching at his bare behind and pulling him closer, lifting her knees to force him deeper until he was fully sheathed inside of her. The feeling of being joined completely with her, locked so intimately together, was nearly enough to finish him right there and then - even without moving, he felt he was fighting back what felt like the most intense orgasm of his life. He was certain that he was shaking as he kissed her face, not moving his hips just yet so that they could both adjust, cherishing her and willing her to know just how ardently he worshipped her, how she made him feel and how desperately he wished she felt the same in return. Despite having never done this before, he was more than aware of this being the most natural act in the world, something many creatures that inhabited the world - and yet this was different, so completely and wonderfully different; it felt like he was both getting to know her body for the first time, and yet as though he'd done this with her a thousand times before, that he knew her body as well as his own. He was not someone who believed in religion or anything of that sort, but for a moment he strongly considered the idea that if there were such a thing as other lifetimes, then he had known and loved her in all of them before then, that he would love her in all of the ones to come, but most especially in this one here and now.
He was gentle as he lifted his hips and sank back into her, and despite how tight she was around him there was extremely little friction; she whimpered softly at the feeling, clawing at his back and shoulders while he curled into her and began to kiss her neck. It was her heavy breathing in his ear as well as the feel of her warm, soft breasts pressed against his bare chest that made him begin to build a firm rhythm with his thrusts, and soon she was matching his thrusts with her own in a way that made a tight band coil in his stomach. She had never felt like this in her entire life, all of her senses tuned to him, him and the way he touched her, the way he made her entire body burn with a feverish passion, the way he loved her so ardently - he alone made her feel like she was being rocked apart and put back together again.
As he moaned against her skin, picking up speed and doing his best to caress her breasts, her stomach, her thighs, to bring her pleasure, she decided then and there that this was it - he was it: she was going to get off of the ship with him. This would not be their first and only time because she was his in body, in mind, in soul, just as he was hers; their souls were entwined just as their bodies were, had been from the moment he took her hand to pull her back over the railing.
"Newt," She gasped, her entire body thrumming - she could feel the waves of her pleasure building up rapidly, threatening to crash at any moment. "Newt, I'm-..."
He made a guttural sound from deep in his throat, all but pounding into her in a desperate bid for them both to find their highs together; her entire body tensed like a bowstring, and she knew she was seconds from tumbling over that blissful cliff for the first time, her soul colliding with his-
Tina gave a cry as her orgasm struck her, her hand flying up and hitting the back window of the car, smearing the condensation that had gathered there, whilst her other clutched him to her, needing to find something to anchor herself to as she saw stars explode.
This is what it's supposed to feel like, she thought in ecstasy, this is what love feels like, what making love is supposed to be…
Newt groaned as his body began to spasm, burying his face into the crook of her neck and shoulder as his own orgasm hit him like a steam locomotive - no amount of trying to hold himself back, of willpower or prayers to God Almighty himself, could hold it back. His hips jerked deep into her before stilling as the force of it overtook him, wringing his entire body out from head to toe so intensely that he was certain he might start sobbing. Instead, he seeked out her mouth with his own, kissing her hard and fiercely in a way that he hoped conveyed all of the things he felt but didn't have the energy or breath to say.
A moment later, her hand slid down from the window, leaving a handprint, and rested on the back of his neck - it felt blissfully cool against his sweaty body and in contrast to the stifling heat inside of the car. As he pulled away, both of them panting, both of their faces were flushed from their activities, and they looked at each other wonderingly; slowly, Tina reached up to cup his cheek with the hand not on the back of his neck, as if trying to make sure he was real. To her surprise, Newt was shaking in an almost violent way in her arms, his breathing shuddering out of him heavily as he struggled to come back down from the high they had reached together.
"You're trembling," Tina murmured softly, somewhat concerned.
Newt gave a small grin, peering down at her through the sweat-soaked fringe that fell into his eyes. "Don't worry… I'll be alright," He assured her breathlessly, throat bobbing as he swallowed. When he leaned in to kiss her it was short but sweet, and as he pulled away she couldn't help but run her fingers through his mop of hair; he let out another shaky breath as she brushed the hair from his eyes before pressing a kiss to his damp forehead before turning his head and resting it against the soft curve of her breast. "I can feel your heart beating…"
"I can feel yours too," She whispered, holding onto him tightly and closing her eyes. All of her was still pulsing from what they had done, and she could feel him softening where he was still inside of her - but she didn't want him to remove himself, not yet, for she was more than content like this. It didn't matter that both of them were sweating profusely, or that her thighs were sticky from where he had spilled his seed inside of her, their fluids mixing before leaking out of her and onto the seat - she didn't even care about the valet looking for them, the possibility he had gotten crew to help find them, or what her fiancé or guardians would think or do if they were found. Tina was simply too exhausted to care about that right now, to care about anything but how right it felt to have Newt's weight on her, to have him inside of her, to have shared this experience as one.
As they rested in the backseat of the car, listening to the sound of one another's breathing, Newt couldn't help but think that this was something he could get used to - hearing her breath in his ear, her long fingers combing through his hair, the steady pounding of her heart against his own, day in and day out; he knew it was something he wanted to wake up listening to every morning and fall asleep to every night, just so long as it was her with him. He thought about his parents' wedding rings, sewn into his brother's coat pockets so that no one would notice them and they wouldn't be lost; he had no idea if his brother intended to give them to Lally at some point, but he was sure Theseus would understand if he wanted to use them instead - his brother was wonderful like that.
He didn't want to leave her when the ship docked - how could he possibly do such a thing when she has his entire heart and soul? He didn't have much, he'd never pretended he did, but if Tina was willing then he wanted to share everything with her: now was not the right time, it was far too soon and they were too young, but it didn't change the fact that he knew with every fibre of his being that it was the right decision. It didn't matter that he was only twenty and she was seventeen, didn't matter that they'd only known each other for a mere few days - he just knew that she was it, the first and only for him.
This was not something casual, something just to find pleasure: he wanted her for the rest of his life, however long or short it may be - and he knew, somehow, that she felt the same way.
"Well, I wasn't the first teenage girl to get seduced in the backseat of a car, and certainly not the last, by several million. He had such fine hands, artists' hands, but strong too... roughened by work. I remember their touch even now."
In the wireless room of the Titanic, Senior Wireless Operator Jack Phillips was rapidly tapping out a message on the huge Marconi instrument that sent out telegrams; behind him, Junior Operator Harold Bride was looking through a huge stack of outgoing messages - as he read one of them, he let out a frustrated sigh.
"Look at this one," He muttered, shaking his head to himself. "He wants his private train to meet him - la dee da. We'll be up all bloody night on this lot."
"You'll be up all bloody night on that lot," Phillips muttered good-naturedly as the other man threw the papers down.
Bride huffed just as someone else entered. "Oh yeah?" The crew member handed him more sheets of paper somewhat apologetically, and he gave a small groan. "You're joking!"
Suddenly Phillips pulled the headset from over his ears, wincing in pain at the deafening beeps that were coming from a nearby freighter and had jammed his outgoing signal. "Bloody hell!" He paused to listen to the message, shaking his head to himself. "Christ… It's that idiot on the Californian!"
"Tell him to sod off," Bride huffed, also shaking his head as he started to sort through the outgoing messages.
"Oh, I'll do more than that." Grinning to himself in amusement, he started to furiously tap out his message, the machine sparking as he did so. "Keep out. Shut up. I am working Cape Race."
Less than twenty miles away on the S.S. Californian, the ship's wireless operator, Cyril Evans, pulled his earphone off his ear at the deafening spark sent from the Titanic and looked up at Third Officer Grove in disgust. "The arrogant bastard! I try and warn him about the ice, and he tells me to shut up!" He held out the headset to the other man. "I mean, listen to that spark, he must be right on top of us!"
Grove frowned as the earphone continued to bleep loudly. "What's he sending now?"
Evans listened carefully before translating. "Poker… Business… Good. Al." The third officer let out a snort at the message, tutting to himself before moving towards the door to leave; Evans threw the headset down, wearily reaching for the generator of the machine. "Well, that's it for me - I'm shutting down." With a heavy snap, he shut it off so that no more messages would come through.
Both men went out on deck, the operator heading for crew quarters to sleep and the third officer to look out at the sea around where the ship had stopped; as far as the eye could see were fields of pack ice and icebergs, stretching before them.
Wouldn't want to sail through that, Groves mused with a shiver, but then I suppose the Titanic is substantially bigger than our little boat - not even God could sink a ship like that.
As the Titanic steamed hellbent through the darkness, it hurled white water at the bow, ploughing through the ocean water with very little effort. Up in the crow's nest towards the front of the ship, lookouts Fleet and Lee were trying to keep warm; in the confined space, all they could do was stamp their feet and swing their arms, and it did very little to provide heat in the twenty-two knot freezing wind.
"God, it's bloody cold," Fleet shivered, his breath forming a cloud in front of him. "You know, I can smell ice - you know, when it's near."
Lee turned to stare at him in disbelief, clearly not believing this for one second. "Bollocks!"
"Well, I can, alright!"
Meanwhile, down on the bridge, First Officer Murdoch adjusted his coat against the harsh wind of the Atlantic; Second Officer Lightoller came out of the chartroom and stopped next to him.
"Say, did we ever find those binoculars for the lookouts?" Murdoch asked him curiously.
Lightoller shrugged. "Haven't seen them since Southampton, sir. I'll be on my rounds."
Murdoch gave him a nod before looking out at the night before him; all he could see was an inky blackness that stretched beyond the ship, with not a single star or sliver of light to show the way.
Down in the warmth of his first-class suite, Achilles opened the safe and swung it open with some force; immediately he noticed that there was a piece of paper sticking out that had not been there before, and he hesitated before picking it up.
As he read the note, confused somewhat by the words in a handwriting he knew well, he heard Abernathy enter the walk-in wardrobe behind him. "Anything missing?"
That was when he noticed the brown leather-bound book that he had definitely not left in his own safe; it slid out easily when he pulled it, and as he opened it he shared a slightly perplexed look with his valet. When he looked down at the object in his hands, however, his brows furrowed in anger at the realisation of what it was.
He recognised the girl in the drawing all too well: it was his own fiancée, completely bare save for a necklace in the shape of a heart that rested on her bosom - the necklace he gave her just a few days ago to prove his love, the Heart of the Ocean. He didn't need to see the initials in the corner of the page to know which depraved pervert had drawn this - there was only one person who would sketch this, who she would let do such a thing. He quickly glanced at the note again, the meaning of what had been written more clear now.
Darling, now you can keep us both locked in your safe. Tina.
Filled with fury, he took the sketch from the sketchbook and put it with the note; he was about to crumple and tear them both in half when he huffed - for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to do it. After taking a moment to think, he turned back to his valet, who had been secretly glancing at the drawing over his shoulder whilst pretending not to be interested. "You know, I've got a better idea."
At that moment, the two stewards who had been paid by Abernathy to search for Newt and Tina were being directed by the ship's stokers towards the hold; wielding electric torches, they looked around carefully for any sign of the missing couple. As they reached the Renault car that had been carefully stored there several days prior, one of them noticed that the glass of the windows were fogged up - coming around the back of the vehicle, his torch shined on the back window to light up what was obviously a handprint.
Not saying a word, he clicked his fingers to get his fellow steward's attention; the other man followed his gaze before giving a nod and moving around to the door of the car. The first steward reached for the handle on the door before whipping it open, both of them shining their lights inside. "GOTCHA!"
But to both of their dismay, the blue plush backseat was completely empty.
As Officer Murdoch rubbed his hands together to keep warm, the crew door onto the deck below suddenly opened and closed with a bang; Newt and Tina were both fully dressed, holding hands as they made their way out into the cold night air and laughing so hard that they could barely stand up even as they stopped in the middle of the deck to take a moment to breathe.
"Did you see their faces?" Newt chuckled, pulling her into his arms. "The looks on their faces - they were so…"
He trailed off as she pressed a hand to his mouth, her humour giving way to something more serious as she gazed at him; he stopped laughing, somewhat confused by her change as her eyes flitted from his eyes to his mouth to his freckles and back again. Their breath clouded around them in the now freezing air, and yet neither of them could feel the cold - all they could feel was the warmth between them, their shared body heat, as she cupped his face with her hand.
"When the ship docks," Tina said, soft but firm. "I'm getting off with you."
It was a promise that she intended to keep with every beat of her heart: she wouldn't go back to Achilles, wouldn't let Seraphina or anyone else guilt her into a loveless marriage - she would go with Newt wherever he needed to go, whether that meant learning to ride a horse on a beach properly or becoming the artist that he was, poor but free. She had never felt so happy, so liberated, before in her entire life.
His eyes were wide as he took this in, even as a small shy smile lit up his features. "This… This is just absolutely insane."
"I know!" She laughed briefly in agreement. "It doesn't make any sense… maybe that's why I trust it."
Newt blinked, waiting for her to announce that she was just having him on, that this was all an elaborate joke of some kind or that she didn't intend to stay with him in the slightest, that it was all a fling - but she didn't, her face earnest and open, and he knew that she was telling the truth. He was suddenly struck by her breathtaking beauty then - not that she hadn't always been beautiful, of course, but now for the first time he could see that she seemed truly free; she was so happy, so certain of what she wanted, and he knew he could stare at her like this forever. Overcome with love for her, he pulled her even closer and kissed her fiercely; she reciprocated with just as much passion, the two of them unable to get enough of each other and not caring who happened to see it.
On the bridge, Murdoch grinned to himself at the sight before turning away to give them privacy; up in the crow's nest, Fleet nudged Lee and gestured below. "Here, look at this!" He let out a low whistle. "Cor… look at that, would you?"
Lee followed his line of sight and smirked. "They're a bit warmer than we are."
"Well, if that's what it takes for us two to get warm, I'd rather not, if it's all the same!" They had a good laugh at this, turning away from the couple below to resume their duties. It was only as Fleet pulled his coat tighter around himself, glancing forwards, that he noticed something - and the colour drained from his face completely.
At first it didn't seem to be very large: a black object high above the water, even darker than the darkness, but most likely not a threat to a vessel as large and strong as theirs. As the ship steamed forwards, however, he realised that just five hundred yards out was the biggest iceberg he had ever seen in his entire life, looming before them menacingly - and the Titanic was headed straight for it.
Fleet quickly reached past Lee for the alarm bell and rang it hard, the sound clanging impossibly loud in the night's air and making the officers on duty below start with surprise. "BUGGER ME!" Without a moment to waste, he grabbed the telephone that was situated in the crow's nest and immediately called down to the bridge; it started to ring but no one on the other end answered. "Pick up, you bastards!"
Inside the wheelhouse, Quartermaster Hichens was at the steering wheel; he heard the phone ring but made no move to answer it. After a few seconds, Sixth Officer Moody walked unhurriedly to the telephone, rather annoyed that his time enjoying his cup of tea was being interrupted, and answered it.
Immediately he could hear one of the lookouts yelling down the earpiece to him. "Is there anyone there?"
"Yes," Moody informed him, frowning at the unusual urgency in Fleet's voice. "What do you see?"
"Iceberg! Right ahead!"
Had the sickening realisation writing this that I actually have to write the whole bloody sinking now, I'm-
Shoutout to Frederick Fleet for no reason other than his lines, "BUGGER ME!" and "PICK UP YOU BASTARDS!" never fail to give me a laugh right before things go completely tits up. I don't know why it gives me a giggle every time, but I'm going to assume that it's the fact I was about eight or nine when I watched this film for the first time, and because eight/nine year old me found it funny now the adult me does too.
I want to apologise for the love scene; the last smut I wrote was for the House of the Dragon fandom, which was...decidedly much less soft and romantic than this is to put it mildly (Targs gonna Targcest and all that). That moment in the car after Jack and Rose have sex is one of my favourites, and I really don't mean that in a perverted way: I really loved that Jack was the one depicted as trembling whilst Rose held him, that it kind of reversed the dynamic of "inexperienced girl has first time with experienced man". I don't know, just the way Jack is trembling, hair falling in his eyes, breathing heavily... imagining Newt like that was too good an opportunity to pass up quite frankly! But yes, I apologise because I struggle with smut sometimes, and there were a LOT of different ideas running through my head at a time - it's not edited very much, so again I'm sorry for any mistakes or OOC-ness or whatever!
The boiler room kiss is in fact a deleted scene and I'm 100% certain it was cut from the film because it is - quite literally - the steamiest kiss in cinema and would have had cinema-goers in 1997 going ballistic with arousal.
I've already started writing the next chapter (couldn't resist!) and I want to just give a heads up that the first section is in fact written somewhat differently as it's heavily inspired by Jonathan Mayo's book "Titanic: Minute by Minute", which is an absolutely incredible book that details the final day of the Titanic, the events leading up to the collision, the entire sinking and the aftermath, using survivor accounts and being as precise to the very minute as possible with details. It's hard to explain, but the first section of the next chapter jumps around a lot in order to show exactly what was happening just before, during and after the collision; Mayo's book just states the facts, keeping it concise so it feels like it's all happening very fast (which it was). I highly recommend the book for anyone interested in the Titanic, especially in the accounts given by those who survived that night.
Anyway, it's late, I have work in the morning and I'm rambling, so I just wanted to say thank you for any and all support! We're about halfway through the fic now (at least, according to the film on Disney+ we are), and we're moving from fluff into angst... I can't wait!