"There she is," Jack whispered. His heart pounded in his chest. The urge to force the window open and climb through was overwhelming. She was so close. And it would be so easy. Two minutes and you're next to her again. He pushed the thought away. If he ever wanted to be near Rose again, diving through a window and crashing a party was not the path to take. "They'd have me dragged away before I could even say her name." For the next hour, he crouched beneath the window, raising his head occasionally in hopes of catching another glimpse of Rose. It was during one of these moments that he noticed she was nowhere in sight.
"Where would she go?" he wondered. "They wouldn't just let her leave the party." He didn't have to wait long for an answer. A moment later, a light came on in an upstairs window. He held his breath as a hand, a delicate white hand, pushed the window open. "Rose!" he gasped as she leaned out.
Rose closed her eyes and let the cool night air wash over her. She knew she only had a few minutes before her mother or Cal noticed she was gone, so she had to make the most of the time she had. Getting away hadn't been easy. She had to wait until Cal finally allowed himself to be distracted by some of the other men and let go of her. "I thought he'd never leave me alone." She sighed.
Jack gazed up at her. Gone was the fake smile she'd been wearing at the party. In its place was a peaceful expression, but beneath the peace was sadness. Her shoulders sagged and her arms hung limply out the window. "Oh, Rose," he said sadly. Her eyes flew open the instant the words left his lips. His heart began to beat faster as she began looking around, her eyebrows knit in confusion. She heard me.
Jack! But it couldn't be. Jack was dead. And even if he wasn't, he wouldn't be standing beneath her window in the middle of the night, calling her name. "Not after the way I treated him," she murmured.
What are you doing? he asked himself as he cupped his hands around his mouth. "Rose!" he called softly.
Her eyes widened. It isn't Jack! You're imagining things! But it sounded just like him. "Jack?" she called hesitantly. What will you do if someone hears you?
Jack fought the urge to let out a crow of joy. She knows it's me. Somehow, she knows it's me. "Rose!" he called again, stepping out of the shadows and into the moonlight.
Rose gasped. "J-Jack!" Her mind raced. "You're...you're dead," she stammered.
He shook his head. "No, I'm not. I'm alive, Rose."
She tried to keep her voice calm, but failed. "And you're here! You're really here!" Tears sprang into her eyes. She knew she didn't deserve him, but she didn't care.
Jack smiled. It was his first smile since she left him after the third class party. "I'm really here," he said.
"I wish I could come down," Rose blurted out. "But I'd never make it outside," she added quickly. "They've probably already noticed I'm up here."
He eyed the rose trellis that covered the space beneath her window. There was no way she would be able to climb down it, but maybe... "I could come up," he said. "If you wanted me to, that is."
Rose's eyes lit up. "Would you really?" She ignored the voice telling her it was a bad idea, a stupid idea, an idea bound to bring both of them nothing but suffering. At that moment, the sky could fall for all she cared. Jack was climbing up to her window.
The minute and a half it took him to scramble up the trellis was the longest minute and a half either of them had ever known, but finally he made it. Rose reached out and took hold of his arms. She stepped backwards and began to help him pull his body through the window. He crashed onto the floor with a quiet thud.
Rose dropped down onto her knees beside him. "I can't believe you're alive!" she whispered. She shook her head in disbelief. "I was so sure you'd died, but Molly was right. You did make it." Guilt seized her. She grabbed his hands. "Jack, I'm sorry about what I said. I'm sorry I told you to leave me alone. I was just so scared, and my mother—"
He gently pressed a finger against her lips. "Shh," he said. "It's okay. It doesn't matter."
Her chin wobbled. "How can you just forgive me?"
"How can I not?" I love you.
"For the past week, all I've done is wish I'd gone with you. You were all I thought about," she confessed. "But why would you come here? The last thing I said to you was for you to leave me alone."
He looked into her eyes. "I'm too involved. I had to know you'd be all right."
"I thought it was up to me to save myself?"
He nodded. "It is." He looked down at the hand she was still holding. "I just thought you deserved a second chance to try."
She released his hand and tilted his head back up. "You mean like this?" she whispered, pressing her lips against his.