A/N: This one-shot is an alternative ending to "Lose Yourself". It occurs when Jude is walking home in the rain after seeing Tommy arrive home with the little girl and thinking (mistakenly) that he has a daughter.

A New Beginning

It felt like the rain was pelting her body, beating her into a kind of submission. A submission to the truth. The rain was pouring, the downpour so intense that it actually hurt her body when the rain collided with her.

Tommy has a kid.

Her clothes were soaked and she could feel her body shivering from the dampness. She didn't care. She wanted to feel nothing. She wanted to keep walking forever, walk away from the truth about Tommy, from the drama that was G-Major. Everything. She wanted to keep walking and never come back.

She had pulled it together to sing tonight but it had taken all her strength to hold in the tears in as she sang. She could feel his gaze on her as he stood backstage watching her. She didn't dare look in his direction even once, but she could feel his eyes burning into her back.

While he was gone those few months all she'd done was wish that he'd come back. And now that he was back, she wished he'd never returned. Not if he was going to bring more pain. She couldn't stand more heartache at the hands of Tommy Quincy.

She looked around her at the people rushing through the rain, the happy couples helping each other towards shelter. She kept her slow pace, sauntering slowly, enjoying the numbness she was starting to feel from the constant rain and the accompanying bitter cold. Why couldn't she and Tommy be like one of those happy couples? There were always so many complications and roadblocks. First, her age. She was seventeen years old and he was twenty-four. Not that the age difference bothered her, especially when Tommy acted seventeen most of the time. But a kid? Could she really deal with being with someone who'd had a kid and never told her about it?

She brushed a piece of wet hair out of her eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling the invigorating scent of rain. She watched as the rain washed away all the dirt off the cars parked on the road and off the buildings. Everything was being washed clean, being given a fresh start. How come it never seemed that easy for her and Tommy to just start again, to start anew?

She heard a car pull up beside the sidewalk she was walking on. "Jude!"

She continued walking, not wanting to be rude but not wanting to deal with anyone right now, fan or not.

Then she heard someone calling her name again. "JUDE!!" Except it wasn't just anyone. She recognized Tommy's voice immediately this time.

She kept walking. He was the last person she wanted to deal with right now.

She heard him turn the engine off and his door slam. She quickened her pace into a jog even though she knew it was pointless. When Tommy was determined he didn't let things go. Her wet clothes felt heavy, slowing her down as she tried to run away from him. She could hear his shoes slapping on the wet concrete and knew he was easily catching up. She ran faster but she could still hear his footsteps just behind her.

Finally she felt him grip her upper arm to stop her from running and once they both halted, he spun her around to face him, retaining his grip on her arm. She shrugged it off, resisting the touch she so badly wanted to feel again.

"Jude, what the hell are you doing?" he yelled, his breathing a little heavy from running after her.

Jude tried to catch her breath as she looked at him, both from the running and the fact that after all these months he still had the power to leave her breathless and speechless just by looking at him, being with him.

"Look, I don't want to fight—I just want to go home." She turned around before she felt him pulling her back. She tried to resist but his grip was just too strong.

"Tommy, what do you want from me??" she cried, glad that he wouldn't be able to discern her tears with all this rain.

"Well, first I want to talk to you. Can we go somewhere else? This is ridiculous! We're both going to get pneumonia!" he said motioning to the rain falling around them. She looked at his clothes, noticing that he was soaked too, even after being in the rain for only a minute.

"I'm not going anywhere with you. I'm going home. Alone."

She moved to turn but he anticipated her and placed his hands on her hips, forcing her to stand in one spot. The heat of his hands burned through her wet clothing.

Jude looked down at the ground. He could force her to stand there but he couldn't force her to look at him.

"Look, if you really want to do this here, in the middle of the rain, we will!! First of all, I don't know what you're thinking right now but that little girl is not mine!" he shouted, determined to get through to her.

Regardless of her intention not to look at him, Jude's head shot up at his statement.

Tommy's voice lowered, now that he knew had her attention. "She's Darius's daughter."

She was relieved, but nothing was really different. "You know what Tommy? I wished that changed things. But you still left without contacting me for months. I'm over the drama and secrecy that seems to surround you."

He tightened his grip on her hips. "Look, believe me, I'm tired of it too!! Do you think I wanted to leave?? Everyday I picked up my phone to call you, to hear your voice, to apologize for leaving like that. But I knew if I did it would be worse, I'd want to rush back and be with you. And it was a fragile situation that Darius needed me to deal with. I had no choice but to leave and not contact you until it was resolved." He could see Jude's resolve slipping a bit as she tried to strengthen it again.

"I missed you everyday. We were just going to start something good. And it killed me having to leave you like that," he lifted one of his hands and brushed away what he knew were tears mixed with the rain.

"Tommy, I'm tired of us being ripped away from each other. It's so complicated. When is enough drama enough? When is it just time to let it go?"

Tommy smiled, placing his hands back on her hips, pulling her slightly closer. "When it's really worth it? Never. Because some things are worth fighting for."

"And are we worth fighting for?" Jude asked, the pain and fear and questions in her eyes.

"You tell me," Tommy whispered, and then pulled her fiercely towards him, attacking her lips ravenously with his own, kissing her senseless. He licked the outline of her lips, and the probed her lips with his tongue, deepening the kiss.

They stood on the middle of the sidewalk kissing passionately, oblivious to the rain or the people passing by them. Only they existed in this sweet moment.

As Tommy kissed her, she knew that just like the rain gave a new beginning to the landscape around them, she and Tommy were getting their new beginning too. And it was too good not to take advantage of it.

They broke apart finally, both of them breathing deeply. Tommy laid his forehead on hers. "Well, Harrison, how about that dinner, a few months delayed?"

Jude smiled, "I'd love to, Quincy."

He took her hand, leading her to the Viper.

As Tommy began to drive away, Jude looked out the window smiling. Their time had finally arrived.