-|f l a s h b a c k - 1996|-
Heavy, lightning-brimmed showers began falling over the set of Titanic. Not fifteen minutes had gone by before director James Cameron sent everyone back to their trailers.
The rain poured down on the two leads, drenching their clothes and muddying their shoes as they ran through the warm, humid air.
The set was a mess- they wouldn't be called back for some time.
As Kate and Leo sought refuge from the thundering storm that fell on their heads, Leo's trailer was the nearest option.
Laughing and screaming, anyone who saw them would think they were escaped maniacs.
"Get in, get in!" Leo ushered her, opening the door to his trailer.
Inside, they caught their breaths, riding out the aftermath of their laughter and sighing in relief.
"Fuck, it's so cold. How did you even get an AC in here?!" Kate questioned Leo, wrapping her arms around herself for warmth.
Leo turned to look at her after switching on a little lamp that tinted the room with dim orange light.
"Easy. I called Tho-"His smile fell as he drank her in.
Drenched fabric sticking to her skin, hugging her figure and going see-through in the most inconvenient places.
He noticed, then, that she was wearing no bra.
He didn't even realise that the same applied to him until he noticed Kate biting her lip.
He followed her gaze, which, to his dismay, landed firmly on the growing bulge in his wet pants.
The blood in his body drained to his feet from embarrassment as he fled the room to fetch them both some towels and blankets.
He offered her a dry t-shirt, but she refused.
"No, it's alright. James will probably want us back when the set is ready, I better stay in this dress and try to dry it off." He could've sworn her voice was lined with something new to them.
"Sure, no problem." He begged the heavens that she chose to cover her chest with the towel- the sight of her rosy nipples threatened to make him say things he shouldn't.
Desperate for something to drown the sound of their heavy breathing, Leo lunged over the cushions of the couch and turned the knob on the little radio he'd brought with him from home.
Sighing in relief, he let himself relax into the moment, laughing lightly as he saw Kate do the same.
"Dance with me," he suddenly said, earning Kate a chuckle.
"What?"
"Come on, we'll dry faster that way."
With a cheeky smile and confidence he didn't really possess, he offered her his hand.
To his surprise, she took it, dropping her towel and standing, allowing him to lead her to the centre of the small room.
They swayed to the sound of romantic tunes.
There was only one station that reached the secluded set in Rosarito- everyone had gotten used to the old Mexican love songs they couldn't understand.
Spinning Kate around the table and chairs, Leo was all too aware of the way his hands draped over the damp fabric that clung to her waist, leaving little to the imagination.
He prayed that she wouldn't catch him staring at the sweet line her panties made over the curve of her bottom, the one that had him drooling over her and thinking of the softness of her skin.
How warm she'd feel on him, skin on skin, breathing the same air, reaching the same end.
She was too busy to notice his eyes, anyway, as she clung to his arms, feeling the lean muscles that moved beneath his shirt.
She was transfixed, running her open palms along his arms and disguising her intentions as dancing. Kate could sense the cold fading away as his hands on her body made her go hot all over.
It was intoxicating for both of them- the first hit of the drug they didn't yet know they'd be addicted to for the better part of their lives.
But it didn't last nearly as long as they wanted to, because as Leo tripped with a cable behind him, he tilted the wrong way, falling on the couch on his back and pulling Kate down with him.
She yelped, closing her eyes and bracing for impact when she didn't really need to, landing safely in his chest, then settled between his legs in an attempt to pull away.
Something, a mere instinct, told her to stay where she was, to notice how her hipbones fit his, how his chest felt solid beneath hers, how her heart seemed to beat a little bit better now.
Leo laughed, then, and found himself reaching up to tuck a strand of red hair that had fallen in her face behind her ear.
Slowly, easily, his laughter died down and the smile that played on her lips faded when she pushed her hips down between his thighs and untucked a hand from between their chests, catching his fingers that ran across her cheek and kissing his open palm as she locked their eyes together.
His legs went weak- he knew he wouldn't be able to stand up now even if he wanted to.
Sighing softly, allowing the breath he was holding to escape, he felt a spark of bravery help him lift his hand and put it behind her, dragging it lower to caress her waist and press his fingers into the warm, covered skin of her lower back.
He felt her breath halt as he went lower, needing to feel the place where the fabric of her underwear ended and her skin began, the place where one less layer of clothing stood between him and her.
Her eyes widened, then closed softly as she felt his hand caressing its way up her body, teasing the side of her thigh, her waist, her arm, her shoulder.
Her lips parted when Leo's fingers twined around her neck, drawing circles from her nape to her collarbone, making her weak.
She sighed his name and felt her cheeks flush pink when his erection pressed against her navel through his pants.
It was his turn to gasp when he felt her red lips pressed to the pulse on his neck, when she licked and kissed her way up his skin, stopping to nibble at the sharpness of his jaw.
Taking her face in his seemingly huge hands and unable to control himself any longer, Leo pulled Kate's lips down on his, tasting rainwater and smudging her perfect lipstick.
He kissed her like her lips were air and he couldn't breathe.
She moaned into his mouth, causing his hips to buck into hers as they both writhed in pleasure.
Hungrily, he slipped his tongue against hers, letting his intentions guide him and holding the back of her neck to keep her in place as he gave in to the passion he felt.
Returning, Kate busied herself with undoing the buttons on his costume, desperate to feel his muscles with no barriers.
Leo unzipped the back of her dress, pulling it down one of her shoulders as she shivered beneath his fingers.
She invaded his shirt, practically tearing it apart as her desperation to feel his skin against hers became too much for her.
Just short of reaching her panties beneath her dress, a loud knock at the door almost gave them a heart attack.
"Leo, we're switching scenes, the set is ready! Tell Kate if you see her, we start in five!"
Danny Nucci's retreating footsteps left them panting.
Returning to set, Kate and Leo slipped into Jack and Rose and pretended that day had never happened.
They both knew they had gingerly stepped over the line between friendship and love, but neither of them was willing to pick a side.
I thought it would be nice to give them a little bit of a risky past, something that would make the moment they finally gave in to each other more memorable, more of an this-is-long-overdue feeling. Hopefully this did the trick.
-KateWinsletor265
