promptly, the fiery-haired girl reacted to his touch, her head tilting in the direction of his hand. STILL completely enticed by the warmth radiating from him. long since THAT disastrous night, she’d been left with an awful ache in her heart. a void in her chest that only HE could fill. truly, she NEVER held such feelings for cal. their engagement was MERELY to save her mother from a life of seamstress work . . and yet, rose was often called the selfish one. while cal’s love was POSSESSIVE, jack’s was real and true. cal desired to keep her hidden from the world, while jack did nothing BUT encourage her to seek out and follow her dreams. he was everything she’d ever needed. “oh, jack. i can’t even begin to tell you how often i’ve LONGED for this moment. the many, many times i’ve dreamed of it.” though, she still wasn’t FULLY convinced that this wasn’t one of her dreams and even if it were, she NEVER wanted to wake. her lips, too, curved into a wider smile, much like his. “yes, really. for a while, actually– even made quite the name for myself, too. starred in a few silent films– though, i never got the role of a BIG lead.” while speaking, she couldn’t help but feel the slightest pang of guilt. even though, she knew he’d be HAPPY to hear that she’d lived on, accomplished things, and stayed true to his promise– she still wasn’t able to EXPERIENCE it all with him. “mrs. rose dawson. i do like that. a lot. say we’ll get married, sometime soon, but it doesn’t have to be anything too extravagant. just something simple, yet rather beautiful.” the amount of people set to attend her and cal’s wedding had been quite OVERWHELMING, and it was definitely planned against her liking. her sudden SORROW had not been only held for cora but for TRUDY, mr. andrews, fabrizio, helga, and all of the others who’d perished that night, despite having such a FULL life ahead of them . . but of course, she held the DEEPEST sorrow after she’d lost HIM, which she’d faced every day since. “you ought to never underestimate the talent of a first class girl, mr. dawson.” she simply reminded him, a low chuckle escaping her lips. when she felt his lips pressed to hers again, she easily kissed him back– knowing she’d NEVER get enough of the feeling. upon him pulling away, rose kept her face just inches from his. “i don’t believe i would’ve, either. i was just searching for a way out. a way to get from my mother, from cal, from my whole crowd . . and then, you came along. you looked at me DIFFERENTLY than anyone ever had. you see people and you SAW something in me. you didn’t look at me as if i were this delicate little flower, you knew i was capable of so many things. to which, i finally realized it, too.” now, her arms were thrown around him, as she buried her face into the crook of his neck. “i love you, jack.”
he had remembered so fondly the first time he had laid eyes on ROSE, he had been left so speechless though meeting her had been even worse. to find a woman so STRONG-WILLED yet angelically beautiful was beyond anything jack could imagine. however-- it was never an ‘ i need to have this woman ‘ as rose was NOT a possession. you could now OWN rose and nothing attracted jack more to her than the simple fact of that, she was FIERCE in a way he had never seen more and it was breath-taking. “clearly you were TOO good for the industry since they didn’t cast you as the big lead. they knew you’d outshine truly every other cast member and probably did not want them to be envious.” hearing her say it only brought a feeling of REALNESS to jack. that she wanted to and had taken his name. “any wedding-- anything you wish, i will make it happen. as long as after that day, you will grow old with me as rose DAWSON. small wedding, large wedding-- it is by your choice. i will be married to the love of my life and allowed to love her forever and that is more than enough for me.” chuckling at her statement, jack rolled his eyes, giving rose a crooked smile. “oh-- of course. FORGIVE me, ma’am, no-- YOUR HIGHNESS.” still unable to get enough of her, jack leaned into the kiss, his hands twisted in the curls of her red hair. remaining just within a few inches of her face as they pulled away, jack’s eyes stayed on her, taking in the beauty of this moment. “a delicate flower ?? please. you are the most magnificent woman i have ever met, your beauty, which is ENCHANTING, but it is just the surface. you hold more power in yourself than any other man or woman i have ever met. you are incredible.” feeling her arms wrap around him, jack held onto her tightly as she spoke. the words that stumbled out of him were effortless yet fill of the true meaning he wasted to capture. “i love you too, rose. i always will.”
