Chapter Text
“Don’t do it.” Rose, wobbly in her heels, was balanced on the railing of the largest ship in the world. She was on the wrong side of the rail, her sweaty hands gripping the bar behind her. She whipped her head around at the sound of the voice. Standing behind her on the correct side of the rail was a young man, smoking a cigarette.
Panicking, Rose shouted, “Stay away!” The young man took another drag of his cigarette and stepped closer.
“I can pull you back over, if you like.”
“No! I said stay away! If you come any closer, I’ll let go.”
“If you wanted to let go, you would’ve done it by now.” Rose scowled and turned back to the rough ocean in front of her, taken aback by this strange boy.
“You-you don’t know me! Go away!” He really didn’t know her. He had no idea how horrendous her life had become. She was to be married to an insufferable man for his money, and the rest of her life would be made up of parties and cotillions, narrow-minded people and endless chatter that made her ears feel as if they would explode. She always felt as if she was hanging off the back of a great ship, with nobody to pull her back up, nobody ever coming to save her. “Go away!” She yelled again. She had made up her mind.
“I can’t, not now,” The boy tossed his cigarette to the wooden floor and stamped it out with his boot. It was dark, and the air was brisk. He rubbed his hands together, and when he began to speak again, his words came out in a pale wisp. “If you let go, I’ll have to jump in after you.” He hesitated, but then began to take his clothing off. Rose looked back at him. First his jacket was cast to the wooden floor, then he bent down to untie his worn boots. He had a small frame for a man, and his hands, although tough and worn, were strangely delicate. Rose thought he must have been very young. She waited for him to laugh or say he was joking.
“You’re crazy. You’ll be killed.”
“Maybe. I’m a good swimmer.”
“The fall alone will kill you!” The boy stood up, now with only one boot on, and came a bit closer. His expression was more serious now, almost somber.
“Maybe. It would hurt, not saying it wouldn’t. But I’m a lot more concerned about how cold that water is,” Rose looked down at the dark, rumbling mass of water that roared beneath them. “It’s freezing, you know. A couple degrees over. You ever been to Wisconsin?” Rose shook her head. “When I was a kid, me and my father, we went ice fishing,” he hesitated, “ice fishing is, you know when-”
“I know what ice fishing is!” Rose spat, annoyed that this boy was distracting her from what she needed to do.
“Sorry, you just seem like, you know, kind of an indoor girl.” The boy said, raising his eyebrows before continuing. “Anyway, one time, I fell in. Water that cold hits you like a thousand knives stabbing into your entire body. You can’t breathe. You can’t think. At least not about anything but the pain.” The young man was close enough that he was leaning on the rail now, his elbows balanced on the top bar and his hands clasped together. To drive his point home, he crouched down, untied his other shoe, and tossed it onto the pile of clothes behind him. “Which is why I’m really not looking forward to jumping in there after you, so I’m hoping that maybe you’ll come back over the rail and neither one of us will have to go in there.” He stood back up and gestured toward the water with his head. Rose, her knuckles white and her muscles straining with tension, was silent for a moment. She shivered with cold.
“You’re crazy.” She finally said.
“A lot of people have called me that. But with all due respect, miss, I’m not the one hanging off the back of a ship, here.” The boy said, giving her a small smile. Rose smiled back, but only for a moment, until the gushing of the water and the frozen night air brought her back to reality. The boy moved closer still, and gently offered his hand to Rose. “Please, just take my hand. I don’t know what’s going on in your life right now, but you don’t want to do this.” Rose took one last look at the retreating water.
“Okay.” She carefully unfastened her hand from the bar and grabbed the cold, strong hand of the young man on the other side of the rail. She suddenly felt very safe, holding his hand. She had never felt that safe before. He smiled and said, “I’m Jack Dawson.”
“Rose DeWitt-Bukater.” Rose offered in return.
“You’re gonna have to write that one down.” Rose laughed and began climbing back over the rail. When she stepped on the first railing, she felt her foot slip, and before she could blink she found herself dangling from the back of the ship, held up only by Jack’s hand in hers. She screamed. How ironic that up until 30 seconds ago she had wanted nothing more than to die, and now, with the ocean roaring beneath her, eager to swallow her whole, she wanted nothing more than the sturdy wood of the ship’s deck beneath her feet. Jack tried to pull her up, and she could nearly reach the top of the rail, but then she dropped again. Jack’s slim build was not much help in this situation. She screamed louder, begging Jack for help, and he continued pulling with all of his strength. But it was no use.
“Listen to me, listen to me!” Jack’s voice broke through the veil of panic that shrouded Rose. He looked her firmly in the eyes. “I’ve got you. I won’t let go.” Rose, almost paralyzed with fear, suddenly felt brave. “Now pull yourself up,” Jack finished. Soon, Rose was over the railing, and with one last pull she and Jack tumbled to the deck of the ship. She felt him on top of her, and for a moment she could feel the small muscles beneath his shirt, and the padding on his chest. She was confused, but she had no time to think about it because suddenly he was kneeling above her, looking in a different direction. She looked too. There were three crew men staring at the scene, open-mouthed. One of them scanned the clothing scattered around and then looked back at Jack, who was in a very compromising position. Rose, shivering and scared, knew how this must look to them.
“Stand back, and don’t move an inch!” Jack stepped back, put his hands in his pockets, and waited.
⎯⎯⎯
Rose was wrapped up in a blanket and being fussed over by the Colonel, one of her husband Cal’s drinking buddies, and Lovejoy, Cal’s valet. It looked like they ran out here from their drinking and cavorting, as none of them had coats on. Rose was glad she’d interrupted them. She watched the Master at Arms interrogating Jack, and held her breath when he patted Jack down. The Master at Arms paused when he reached Jack’s chest and swiftly drew his hands back. He turned Jack around roughly and snapped the handcuffs around his wrists.
“You’re not the first invert I’ve seen trying to pass herself off as a man on one of these ships.” The man said in a low, harsh voice, but still loud enough for everyone to hear. Her husband, already fuming at the idea of another man trying to touch his property, stalked over.
“What?”
“This “boy” here isn’t a boy at all. It’s a girl.” Cal was visibly shaken. For a moment he was speechless. Then, he grabbed Jack by the shirt collar and pulled her close to his face.
“What made you think you could put your hands on my fiancée?” He was so angry he could barely speak, spitting the words through his teeth. “Look at me, you filth! You are disgusting! How could you lay your filthy hands on my wife-” Rose cut him off. She couldn’t listen to this anymore.
“Cal, stop. It was an accident. I-I was leaning over and I just…slipped! I was leaning over to see the, uh, the propellers! That was it, yes. I was leaning over and I slipped, and Mr- I mean, Miss Dawson here saved me. She almost went over herself.” Rose stood between Jack and Cal, and looked over at Jack once she had finished talking. She was looking at Rose like she was her knight in shining armour. Rose thought it really should be the other way around. She could hear the Colonel and Cal saying something about women and machinery, both of them clearly accepting the excuse, but the Master at Arms seemed unconvinced. He grabbed Jack by the shoulder and turned her around to face him.
“Was that the way of it?” His voice was ice cold. Jack gave Rose another look, and Rose silently pleaded for her to go along with the lie. Jack understood.
“Yeah. Yeah, that was pretty much it.”
“Well, the boy’s a hero, then.” The Colonel chimed in.
“The girl, Colonel.” Cal spat, still staring at Jack like she was a wild animal who might attack at any moment.
“Well, either way, all’s well and it’s back to our brandy then!” The Colonel said, clearly grateful for this to all be resolved. The Master at Arms reluctantly uncuffed Jack, and Cal and Rose began to wander back to the cabins, but the Colonel spoke again, “Uh, perhaps a little something for the boy, er, girl, Cal?” Cal looked over at Jack, who was awkwardly standing under all of these eyes.
“A little something? She’s lucky not to be spending the rest of this trip in the brig. I better not catch you,” he looked directly at Jack, “anywhere near my wife again.” With that, he walked briskly in the direction of the first class cabins, his arm tightly wrapped around Rose’s shoulders. The Master at Arms suddenly pushed Jack away and she stumbled.
“I better not see you again either, or you might really find yourself falling overboard, girl.” Jack could see the hatred in his eyes as he pushed past her. She wished that they hadn’t figured out that she was a girl so quickly, or at all, but this trip would be over soon. It didn’t really matter. She saw that the valet was still lingering nearby, and Jack whistled at him.
“Can I bum a smoke?” The valet gave her an untrusting look that Jack was used to. He slowly walked up and offered her his open cigarette case. Jack took two. One she placed between her lips, the other behind her ear.
“You’ll want to tie those.” The valet said, so calmly it unsettled Jack. She looked down at her scuffed boots. The laces were still untied. “It’s interesting, the young lady slipped so suddenly and you still had time to remove your jacket and your shoes.” The man stared at Jack for a moment, his eyes very cold, then walked away. Jack had tried to look unfazed, but her heart was pounding.