𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐍.

“am i not already careful enough?”   the blond teases lightly,  feigning surprise and biting his lower lip to try and hide the amusement that’s brewing deep within his belly and threatening to overtake his features.   these little lectures are endearing rather than annoying,  insists a voice in the back of his head.   it’s not something that he’s used to,  having grown up without a mother,  and so it feels so very new…   so unfamiliar that it never fails to warm his heart,  knowing that someone cares so deeply about him.   “excuse me?   i’ve watched karate kid twice.”   which in turn clearly makes him an expert on all kinds of risky stunts.   “you’re doin’ a great job,  though.   helpin’ me defrost,”   he points out with a chuckle,  not even trying to defend himself against the lunatic accusations.   oh,  he is a lunatic,  alright?   and proud of it!   he’s so madly in love with her that it has him doing all kinds of insane things…   “but i didn’t.   i’m stealthy and smart.”   trying to chase her worries away,  he presses his mouth to hers once more.   warm,  so warm.   her lips are so soft and tender,  smooth and gentle as his glide over them in a sweet caress.   “mm,  if your mother finds me,  least i’ll die a happy man,”   he muses,  brushing off her concerns and kissing her until his chest’s burning from the lack of oxygen.

❝ stealthy until the vanity attacked you, mr. dawson.❞ rose corrects, trying to remain composed but she can't help but giggle. more anxious butterflies coiling in her belly as their lips meet again.. happiness, fear, maybe even brief guilt caused by the brainwashing she's not allowed to be doing this. she should be somewhere unhappy, miserable, being ruled around by cal– all according to her witch for a mother. manicured thumb smooths the spot beneath his eye, the place where the cold still clings, her voice gentler now. ❝ you’re thawing, ❞ she decides, satisfied, ❝ but don't think for a second that means you're invincible. if my mother catches you, she won't et you die happy. she'll lecture you into the afterlife. ❞ rose jests, trying to make it a light hearted conversation even if it wasn't.

your hands are freezing! let me warm them up. | maybe shes tugging him inside her room bc he just snuck over through the window like we talked so long ago about (in 90s verse ofc while shes kinda off and on with cal bc ooh thats fun >:) and they got to hide him away from ruth finding out too lol) but be my guest and totally change this around in their other verse if that one intrigues you more. :) up to u!! im open minded

heart beating fast, cocnern is all over the redhead's features... it was one thing he continues to endanger himself climbing up the walls of her home so recklessly, he could get really hurt and rose's concern has her heart panging... but it was another to be outside in this brutal midwest winter. ten degrees out was nothing to dabble with, she only wishes she hadn't messed with the groceries as long as she had, putting them in their correct places downstairs and got to her room faster. and when she had finally gotten there, he startled the daylight out of her then his limbs startled getting tangled up in her furniture.  ❝ jack, you have to be more careful! ❞ she quietly scolds like an angry mother,  ❝and you're freezing, you absolute lunatic. ❞ only a little humor lacing her voice as she reiterates it, seeing his purple lips– sadness seeping back into her blue gaze, ❝ you could have slipped. or fallen. or been caught by my mother, which might actually be worse. ❞ but whatever lecture she’d prepared dissolves the second he kisses her.   again and again.

“nothing can come between us! nothing can come between us!” i scream as ruth & co drag me to a padded cell.

I AM CACKLING. ruth and CO!

TWO SECONDS IN AND WE ARE ALREADY CAUSING HAVOC. that's so us.

jack graces rose with a crooked grin,  eyes dancing like they know a secret he’s dying to share as they take her in.   “hey,  middle names are fair game when you’re this charmin’.   can’t really tease you ‘bout nothin’ else.”   his voice is easy,  playful,  but there’s warmth underneath,  like he’s daring her to meet him in the joke rather than keep scowling.   he’s never really meant to hurt her feelings but there’s no sugarcoating this one truth —   the name dewitt is atrocious and belongs somewhere next to dwight and howard.   at least according to jack.   shoulders shrugging under white shirt,  eyes focused on the wooden boards beneath their feet rather than her face now.   “i ain’t got one.   my ma said they were useless.   i’m no prince of wales,  i don’t need more than one name.”   he briefly wonders if she’s got some royal blood in her,  judging solely by the way she carries herself with such confidence and effortless elegance but the name,  too.   it does sound very classy,  he has to admit that.    “one puts your life in jeopardy,  the other not so much so that’s alright,”   he playfully explains,  thinking she’ll be fine unless girls like her can die from hurt pride.   “cinnamon rolls are my favorite.”   when he was little,  his mom would take him to this one bakery downtown every saturday to get one.   it was their thing.   which is probably why he loves the smell of cinnamon now,  and feels nostalgic when he takes a bite out of the sweet bun.   “and banana bread.”   that’s everyone’s comfort food,  he assumes.   “what do you like best?”   he wonders,  laughing at her explanation as they walk down the long pier.   he’s in no rush and it seems that neither is she.   “no,  not terrible.   unique and kind of impressive.   you know,  some people dance,  others sing and you run from parties.   sounds fun.   what kind of party was it,  anyway?   please,  don’t tell me you ran from your own wedding?”   he’s always been too curious,  a little too straight-froward but hopefully she doesn’t mind him peering into it.

how sly or either how genuinely that sweet.. diamond blues soften and so does the frustrated crease he's previously caused her forehead to pinch with. "is that true or is this your backup plan after bad talking someone's middle name?" remaining skeptical, she doesn't know him after all, he could be a good savior but also a good con artist. "at least my first name isn't terrible." still sounding miffed... at least she's named after her favorite flower, somehow she came out lucky with that one regarding her old fashioned mother ruth and picking out a name for a child.

jack smiles,  the kind of smile that reaches his bright blue eyes and makes them sparkle,  the kind of smile that rarely resides upon his lips these days.   “not many people get my humor,  good to know you do,”   he admits,  basking in the sound of her laugh,  so sweet and genuine,  unlike anything he’s ever heard before.   “well,  i wasn’t gonna say dewitt’s awful,  but if you’re gonna go and say it for me…”   he trails off,  stifling a grin and shrugging.   if he’s being entirely honest,  he’s heard worse names than dewitt but it’s not the prettiest either.   “nah,”   he sighs,  nodding to the jacket,   “that’s not to make up for anything.   i wouldn’t let you freeze even if i hadn’t been poking fun at your name.”   he shakes her hand and grins at the firmness of her grip,  like she’s still trying to prove she’s not shaken by the unfortunate event of near drowning.   she’s got the kind of confidence to her that you don’t see every day,  the kind of confidence that’s very intriguing.   “almost fallin’ into a lake in a dress and heels?”   almost committing suicide?   “that’s not somethin’ most people come back from smilin’ so i get it,”   he says,  a little softer now,  less teasingly.   when she says she’d love to go for hot chocolate,  something flutters inside his chest.   he rummages in the pocket of his jeans,  squinting as he searches for what is surely hiding deep in the denim crevasses.   charcoal-stained fingertips close around a bunch of coins,  and he brings them out with an almost triumphant grin.   “see?   we can even grab a cinnamon roll!”   he collects his pencils and tucks his sketchbook under his arm,  offering the other to the redhead to hold onto in case her legs are still a bit rubbery after that near death experience.   “mind if i walk with you?”   ran from the party?   now that captures his attention and with almost childlike innocence he inquires,   “is that another hobby of yours?   runnin’ from parties?   and jumpin’ from piers,  hm?   one hell of an adrenaline junkie you are.”   

strawberry brows gently scrunch, slowly realizing what he's implying. "i beg your pardon?" voice laced incredulously, a laugh of disbelief sounding from her. "is that what you do? insult people's middle names after saving them?" that's an odd way to be. he just saves her from killing herself, but nonchalantly calls her middle name ugly? it's her middle name to call ugly, not his, rose thinks with a scowl. "well let's see your middle name, mr cool guy." rose scoffs, gently crossing her arms with the heavy sleeves of his jacket. "against me freezing, but not against insulting me." she points out, how annoying and somehow amusing in a peculiar way at the same time.

❝   i’m  gonna  have  to  get  you  to  write  that  one  down,   ❞   jack  teases,  his  tone  genuinely  light  and  playful  for  the  first  time  today.  he  even  allows  a  soft  laugh  to  slip  past  his  lips  now  that  he  can  finally  relax,  his  muscles  unwinding  as  the  realization  that  they’re  both  safe  sinks  in.  it  feels  like  a  miracle.   ❝   rose  dewitt  bukater.  it  suits  you.  i  mean  it.  well,  rose  suits  you.  dewitt  is…  yeah,  definitely  unique,   ❞   he  pauses  just  to  watch  her  reaction,  see  if  his  sense  of  humor’s  crossed  any  unsaid  boundaries,  before  adding,   ❝   with  all  seriousness,  though,  it  flows  nicely  together.  don’t  know  about  your  mother’s  other  ideas,  but  this  one  was  brilliant.  no  sarcasm  intended.   ❞   when  she  lets  go  of  him,  he  shrugs  off  his  jacket  and  drapes  it  over  her  shoulders  with  a  smile,  figuring  she  must  be  at  least  a  little  cold  now  that  the  sun’s  already  set  and  adrenaline’s  evaporated.   ❝   you,  too,   ❞   he  says  softly,  ocean  hues  glancing  down  at  her  extended  hand  as  if  it  belonged  to  an  alien  before  snapping  out  of  this  trance-like  state  and  taking  it  into  his  own.  shaking.  he  didn’t  expect  this,  not  from  a  girl  like  her,  but  it’s  a  nice  gesture.   ❝   i  was  actually  on  my  way  to  grab  a  cup  of  hot  chocolate,  would  you  care  to  join  me?   ❞   he  inquires,  her  palm  still  in  his,  reluctant  to  part  ways  but  forcing  himself  to  let  go  after  a  few  more  seconds.   ❝   no  need  to  apologize  for  that,  rose.  i  did  what  anyone  would  have  done.  the  real  question  is…  how  are  you?  you  okay?   ❞   he  can’t  help  but  worry  about  this  stranger.  cares  for  her  even.  it’s  silly  but  since  he’s  saved  her  life,  it  feels  like  he’s  somewhat  responsible  for  her  now.