JUST WHEN I NEEDED YOU
Chapter One
May 10, 2001
Rose DeWitt-Bukater picked up her brush and
pulled her hair back into a ponytail. It was Saturday, and she was thankful for
that. At least she could go spend the whole day alone. Today was her
birthday--her eighteenth birthday, to be exact, and you 'd think she'd be
excited. Instead, she wanted to die. Every year, for the past three years, she
required five days alone. February nineteenth, which was Jack's birthday. March
twenty-second, what would be their anniversary had he not left. April
twenty-seventh, the day her father died, July eighteenth, the day Jack had
left, and today, May tenth. Although she didn't understand, Ruth DeWitt-Bukater
allowed her daughter to be alone with her thoughts on these days. Caledon
Hockley, on the other hand, tried to remove all thoughts of Jack from Rose's
mind. He was her fiance, not by her own choosing whatsoever, but the man she
was to marry nonetheless. Rose had been mourning the loss of the Dawsons, who
were much like a second family to her, when Jack had left three years earlier.
Then she thought she would absolutely die when he had left. A few months later,
when she started picking up the pieces of her heart, Rose had received the
final blow. Her father, the only person besides Jack who understood her, passed
away from cancer. Her life just stopped after that. Rose had spent months
locked in her room. She left only to go to school and use the bathroom. When
summer came, she never left the house. Finally, when the following April had
come and marked the one year anniversary of her father's death, her mother had
become fed up and took her to get some psychiatric help. By the time summer
came, Rose had started to live again. She went out with friends and even went
out on a few dates. Nothing serious; she vowed she would never love anyone but
Jack. She was willing to wait for forever and if he never came
back...well...then she would die alone. But her mother had intervened, setting
up date after date with Caledon. Rose went along with it, mainly to please her
mother. The shocker had come this past Christmas. Caledon, Ruth, Rose, and
Caledon's father, Nathan, had gone out for dinner when Caledon had proposed. In
a state of shock, Rose had told him she would think about it and went home.
Rose and Ruth had fought bitterly over it for days when Ruth had given her an
ultimatum. Either marry Caledon, or get out of her house. She made it very
clear that if she chose to leave, she was to never come back and her mother
wouldn't pay a dime for her college tuition. At seventeen years old, she had
been scared out of her wits at the thought of moving out on her own and very
possibly not being able to further her education. So she had given in. Her
mother was ecstatic and had called Caledon immediately. Now the wedding was
scheduled for August and Rose was contemplating suicide. Never in her life did
she think she would resort to these thoughts. But without her father or Jack to
hold her back, why not? She had nothing to gain and nothing to lose.
Rose sighed and glanced at her reflection in
the mirror. She didn't really care what she looked like. She just wanted to get
out of the house. Away from her mother, and more importantly, away from Cal. He
wanted to sleep with her but she refused, saying it wasn't proper for unmarried
couples to do so. That held him at bay for now, but what would she do when they
got married?
God, Jack, where are you? she said silently, the tears finding their way out.
She fumbled around in her purse, looking for
her keys, and once she found them she went downstairs to where her mother and
Cal were seated.
"I'm leaving," she called on her
way to the front door.
"Sweetpea, wait."
Rose cringed and turned to face Cal.
"Yes, Cal?"
"I don't really think spending the day alone
is any way to celebrate your eighteenth birthday. Why don't we go out for
dinner or something?" he asked.
Rose shook her head. "No, thank you,
Cal. I need to be alone."
Anger flooded his eyes. "Still thinking
about HIM, Rose? Forget it. He's gone and he's not coming back. You're my
fiancee now!"
Rose glared at him. "Just leave me
alone, Cal," and with that, she stormed out of the house.
Once she was safely down the block, she
stopped. Who did Cal think he was? Telling her to forget him. Never in a
million years could she forget him. Never. Taking a deep breath, she resumed
her walk to the lake. That's where she spent these days. Even in the harsh
winter days of February. That's where it all began, and so that's where she
went. A few minutes later, she was sitting on the edge of the lake, staring out
over the water. She could still hear their voices, even though it had been over
four years since that day.
The winter had been unusually warm, so
they started out, intending to spend the day playing football down by the lake.
Rose had tripped him, halfway through the game and he sat up with a mischievous
grin on his face. "I'm going to get you for that!"
Rose squealed. "You gotta catch me
first!" she yelled, taking off running through the field surrounding the
lake.
It had taken some time, but he caught up
to her and tackled her to the ground. "It's time for you pay!" he
said, in a mock evil voice as he began tickling her.
Rose twisted and turned, trying to get
away and the next thing she knew, they were caught up in a kiss. It was short,
but the sparks that flew in those few moments were too hot to ignore. Jack
climbed off of her quickly and she sat up next to him.
"Rose," he started, at the same
time she his name.
They looked at each other and grinned.
"I like you, Rose. More then a
friend." Rose was quick to agree. Then Jack had said something about being
more then friends. By the time they went home for dinner that night, they
belonged to each other.
A few weeks after their one-year
anniversary, a girl at school, who wanted the glory of stealing him from Rose,
had propositioned Jack. She had tried to get him to sleep with her that night,
but failed miserably. Afterwards, he had told Rose about it and they made a vow
that night. They promised each other that they would be each other's first,
when they were ready.
That's why Rose was so worried about Cal. She
was terrified that she would be forced to break her promise. Shaking the
thoughts from her head, she got up and sat on the pier. So many nights she and
Jack had sat there, sharing their thoughts and dreams. She often had shivered
and then, with a goofy grin on his face, he would wrap his arms around her and
kiss away the chills.
Rose buried her face in her hands and let the
tears run free. "Oh God, Jack, when are you coming home? I need you. I
need you so much right now," she wailed.
*****
Nearby, a young man was walking down a trail
through the woods. It had been his secret way of getting from his house to the
lake. When he heard someone cry out the name Jack, his heart broke, for that
was his name. Now, at the age of nineteen, he finally returned to his hometown
of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. As he drew nearer to the lake where he had shared
many stolen moments with the love of his life, he could make out the sounds of
someone crying. So maybe someone saying his name hadn't been a figment of his
imagination? He wasn't sure, so he continued his walk. When the trees started
to clear out, he knew he wasn't imagining things. No more then two hundred feet
away from him, sitting on the edge of the pier, crying, was a woman. A woman,
whose long red curls could only belong to one person.
"Rose," he choked out.
He wanted nothing more then to run to her,
take her into his arms and never let go. But for some reason, he felt glued to
the spot, to be tortured by the sight of the only person he would ever love and
not be able to reach her.
"Please God, bring him home to me. I
can't take it anymore!" she cried, throwing her hands in the air.
As she did that, his eye caught the
glimmering of something on the fourth finger of her left hand.
"Oh, God," was his only thought as
his world closed in around him.
*****
Rose wiped the tears from her eyes and stood
up. She got the distinct feeling she was being watched and was deathly afraid
Cal had followed her and heard her cries for Jack. If he had, she knew she'd be
paying for it later.
Rose's eyes darted around her,
"Hello?" she called timidly. No answer. "Hello? Is someone
there? You're scaring me."
Jack's mind screamed at him. Come on! Go!
She knows someone's there and you're scaring the shit out of her! But he
still couldn't get himself to move.
"Okay, I'm going home, then.
Good-bye," she called, the fear detectable in her voice.
Jack couldn't take it anymore, and forced his
feet to move.
Rose turned in the direction of her house
when she heard a voice she never thought she'd hear again.
"Rose."