So, wow. It's been for-ev-er since I last posted anything and I feel awful. So, here's a short chapter hopefully to let you know that I haven't given up; it's just taking me a while to find the inspiration. I've been listening to Alexz a lot lately, hoping to find it, so we'll see. I'm sorry it's short, but the end is a major turn-around, so I hope you like it. If you're still reading and reviewing, I absolutely adore you for sticking it out. You're aces. And I'm not quitting.

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.

"I need to ask you a question," Nic said to her brother later that night as they sat watching the news in her hotel room. "How come you're able to settle down with Lauren and you couldn't with Jude? I mean, you were over-the-moon with her and yet, you ran when she even brought up moving in together."

It was a question Tommy had hoped to avoid but knew he couldn't. "Because she was too young and I was too stubborn," he finally answered. "Because it seems right with Lauren."

"And it wasn't right with Jude?" Nic assumed.

"It was different," he explained hesitantly. "With Jude, everything was new and spur-of-the-moment and exciting. With Lauren, it's secure and safe. It's a future."

Nic mimicked a snore. "Oh, sorry, I fell asleep. Tommy, your life is boring. Good lord, you make spending a day in prison sound fun." She paused. "Aren't you supposed to go to Ottawa in the morning to spend time with her fam?"

"Yeah, we decided that wasn't the best idea right now," he sighed. "Seeing as how we're not speaking and all."

"Ahh, about that," she began, plastering a smirk to her nearly perfect face. "Why'd you lie about Jude's phone call? And before you wonder how I knew, we were right outside your office when you emerged today and we'd been there a few minutes."

"I lied because there's no reason to upset Lauren any more than she already is," he replied. "Things aren't so great for she and I right now."

"No shit," Nic laughed. "Why fight what we all know is bound to happen? Dump Lauren and go back to Jude."

"You'll never give that up, will you?" he complained. "That's not going to happen, Nicola. Couples fight, okay? We'll get past it."

She shook her head. "It shouldn't be so hard, Tom."

"It's not," he stated. "At least, it hasn't been up until yesterday."

"Yesterday," she repeated. "I think that you and Jude at least need to hash things out, Tommy. I mean, I know you swear nothing is going to happen, but you two have a serious past and it's not going to get better with La Lauren before you and Jude can make her comfortable."

He let his head drop into his hands. "I know, but how do I tell Lauren I'm meeting with Jude? 'Oh, hey, we're just having dinner to discuss our tumultuous, four year relationship?' I'm sure she'll just love that."

"I'm just saying," Nic shrugged, walking back to her bedroom. "She'll have to suck it up if she wants that precious future with you!"

Tommy knew she was right. But he also knew he and Lauren weren't speaking at the moment, which he hated, so he had to act fast. He pulled out his BlackBerry and dialed Jude.

"Hello?" she answered, squealing lightly. "Wally, give me my foot back!" She sighed. "Sorry."

"Umm, are you busy?" Tommy asked her. "I know it's late, but if you're not, I'd really like to meet up."

She was momentarily silent. "Umm, all right? Where?"

"What about the diner on Waverly and Sixth?" he suggested. "It should be pretty quiet at this time of night."

"I'll meet you there in ten," she offered, hanging up. "Boys, I'm out."

"What?" Spiederman complained. "Where are you going?"

"I'm meeting Tommy at the Waverly and Sixth diner," she shrugged. "Don't ask me why because I can't answer that."

Kyle handed her one of her shoes. "It's your funeral. Walking into his trap, only to have him shoot you down It's not healthy for you, dude."

"I can't not go," she stated, pulling on her coat. "And it's just Tommy. He's broken my heart before, multiple times, and I can deal with it." With one last fist bump to each guy, she left and quickly hailed a taxi.

"You're meeting with her tonight?" Nic asked in shock when Tommy told his sister where he was going. "I meant like, sometime this week, for lunch. Not at midnight at some diner."

"I figure we should just get it over with," he shrugged.

Jude sat in a corner booth at the diner, sipping coffee, waiting for Tommy to show up. The diner, which she and the Spiederman boys had frequented often during the G-Major days, hadn't changed at all. Everything was still retro and vinyl. It was owned by an older couple and was completely family-run. That's what she liked most about it- the comfortable atmosphere.

"Hey," Tommy interrupted her thoughts, sliding in across from her. "I'm sorry I called you so late, but I figure there's a lot of air to clear and I'd prefer to do it without Lauren breathing down my neck about it."

"Sure," she breathed. "Look, I didn't come here to wreck your relationship. Yes, I considered it, and I told your sister I'd try to help her, but that was childish of me. If you're happy, Tommy, then I'll be happy for you."

"But can we be friends?" he wanted to know. "That's what I want for us."

Jude was quiet. "I can't promise that. I'm sorry and I know that sucks, but it's true. Regardless of how well I can behave for a couple weeks, you did break my heart once upon a time and I can't let it go."

"Oh," he nodded. "Well, that was rough time for me."

"Rough time?" she repeated. "Tommy, that all came to me out of left field. One day, we're traipsing through Shanghai, completely happy, and the next, you're packing up and bailing on me. If it was rough, you deserve an Oscar for your performance."

Tommy sighed. "Jude, I never meant to hurt you. Knowing I did still eats at me, but it happened. We can't go back there now, so I'd like for us to move forward."

"Yeah, well, you weren't the one who had your heart broken," she mumbled. "So excuse me if it's not so easy for me to just move forward."

"I know this isn't going to be easy," he told her. "And I'm sorry for that and I'll always be sorry for that, but we're not kids anymore. Adults are able to talk about stuff like this and move on."

"Maybe I'm not an adult," she snapped. "Maybe I enjoyed being a teenager so much I stayed in the mind frame."

"Jude," he said. "Don't do this. Come on, we used to be great together."

"You're right," she nodded. "We were great together. Never so much separately because there was always that tension, no matter what was going on. You think that's just going away?"

"Can't we try?" he shrugged. "It's not like we ever really tried to be strictly friends. There was always something in the way."

"Yes, our chemistry," she nodded. "I don't know if you're aware, but there's another thing in our way this time: your fiancée. In case you've been under a rock for the last couple of days, she hates me."

He closed his eyes. "This isn't exactly going the way I planned for it to."

"I'm sorry," she apologized sarcastically. "Maybe we're just not meant to be friends. Maybe this is it for us."

"I don't like that idea," he admitted.

"Me either," she agreed, "but I'm not sure I can be your friend, Tommy. I am really sorry for that."

"I just don't understand that," he told her. "Why not?"

Jude smiled half-heartedly. "Because I don't know how to be your friend."

"Why, though?" he demanded.

She groaned in exasperation. "Because I'm still in love with you, damn it!"