Sorry this took a little longer to get out, I had some trouble with it.

Credit for the skank goes to DM, because she's awesome lol

sooo leave feedback and such

Chapter 7

The shrill ringing of his cell phone brought him out of his restless slumber and he shifted from his uncomfortable position on his couch, groaning and rubbing at his tired, blood shot eyes. "What the fuck?" he muttered to himself as he grabbed his cell phone to see what kind of insensitive person was waking him from his long awaited sleep. With a heavy sigh he pressed the 'ignore' button and turned off his phone when he saw that it was Kwest, probably trying to get him to go out.

He brought the palm of his hand to his face and ran it up his stubble inhabited chin and then through his disheveled hair. It'd been two weeks since Jude had left him in his car to think and he still wasn't sure about what he wanted. Yes, he cared for Jude more than he'd cared for anyone in a long time, but maybe his friend Kwest was right. Maybe he wasn't ready to settle down and be a family man.

He stood up from where he was sitting on the black leather couch and stretched his arms out as he yawned. He looked around his empty apartment and suddenly found himself missing her in it. Shaking his head as if it would clear his thoughts he grabbed his keys from the key ring next to the front door and headed out to get in one of his many cars and go to the only place that could make him forget about her, even it if was only temporary.

-XxX-

He held the glass in his right hand, staring at the clear liquid for a moment before bringing it to his lips and quickly pouring it into his mouth. He winced slightly as the liquid burned its way down his throat and set the glass back down in front of him, signaling to the bartender that he wanted another one.

He saw a young, synthetic blonde woman sit down on the stool next to him out of the corner of his eye, but paid no attention to her. Suddenly all he could think about was waking up next to Jude, her hair against his face. It smelled like vanilla and he loved it.

"Hey Baby," she said, her eyes roaming over his body. "Someone's looking a bit," She paused, licking her lips. "Down."

He glanced briefly at her, not amused by her attempt at picking him up, before turning his attention back to his drink.

"Oooh," She whined, her hand squeezing his shoulder. "It can't be that bad," she continued, her well manicured hand running down his chest. "I'm sure we can fix it."

Tommy glanced down at her claw running down his chest and then turned his head and looked at her, running his tongue along the inside of his cheek as he sized her up. Bleach blonde hair, skanky clothes, more makeup than the cosmetics isle at Target. He let out a light laugh as he took the hand on his chest and placed it on the bar, patting it lightly a couple of times. "Find another guy sweetheart, I'm not in the mood."

The blonde pouted, sticking her full lips out as she stared at him with disappointed eyes. "I think we can get you in the mood." She said, leaning into him. "Make you forget." She whispered in his ear.

Tommy grinned and leaned in close to her, making sure she could feel his hot breath on her neck. "No" he whispered before whipping his head back and taking another drink from his glass.

The blonde huffed and put her hands on her hips, her eyes glancing at his hands and then back up at him, taking in his slightly disheveled appearance. "You got a girl or something?"

Tommy let out a bitter laugh. "Or something" he muttered as he drank the last of the contents of his glass and signaled for a refill.

"Oh." The blonde stated, looking disappointed. "You're one of them." She said with a sigh. "I understand. Wouldn't want the boytoy to get angry."

Tommy almost choked on his drink and looked over at her incredulously. "No, I'm not gay" he told her. "At all" he added for emphasis.

"No, it's ok." She stated, patting his shoulder. "It's cool if you are." She added and leaned down to whisper in his ear. "I won't tell." She leaned back and gave him a wink. "It's a shame though," She stated, eyes roaming his body. "Nice young man like you..." She licked her lips.

Tommy let out a laugh and threw his head back. "No really" he said, looking back up at her. "There is no gayness here. None at all" he assured her.

The blonde smirked at him, noticing his change in interest. "Oh? Does the little man want to come out and play?"

Tommy grinned and leaned in close to her. "He's not so little" he whispered, his hot breath hitting her neck once again, but this time, he lingered there for a moment before pulling back slightly.

"I'll be the judge of that." She said with a seductive smile.

"And who says you get that privilege?" he asked with a cocky grin on his face as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked her up and down.

The blonde raised her eyebrows slightly, just enough to get the point across but not enough to ruin the latest botox injection. "Someone's feeling cocky."

Tommy let out a light laugh. "I prefer the term overly confident, thanks."

The Blonde's eyes trailed down and then back up again. "All the men say that."

"Well I'm not like all the men" he said, wincing when he realized he'd said something like that to Jude.

The blonde's eyes lit up with interest. "Oh really?" She said, smiling and leaning into him, giving him a good view of her breasts. "Show me what you're made of, hot stuff."

Tommy glanced down at her breasts briefly before letting out a heavy sigh and turning away from her. "I can't."

"What you suddenly run out of Viagra or something?" The Blonde asked, suddenly very annoyed.

"No" he said annoyed. "I just…it's complicated."

"Nothing's ever this complicated." The blonde said with a sigh.

Tommy let out a laugh and took another swig from his glass. "Everything is this complicated"

"It's only complicated because you make it complicated." The blonde said, sitting down next to him and ordering a drink.

"Well hi, I'm Tom Quincy and I'm the king of making everything in my life complicated" he said half bitterly as he stuck his hand out to her and let out a laugh.

"Daniella, nice to meetcha." She stated, half heartedly and shook his hand in return.

Tommy rolled his eyes and turned back to his empty glass. "Keep em' coming" he said to the bartender as he waved his hand in the air.

The bartender rolled his eyes at the pathetic man in front of him and filled his glass back up.

"I fucked everything up" Tommy said more to himself than anyone else as he stared blankly in front of him.

Daniella sighed and rolled her eyes at Tom, disappointed that she obviously wasn't going to get a good fuck out of him. "I'm sure it's not that bad"

"It's not that bad" he said, laughing hysterically. "Oh yeah, I only got this chick I hooked up with pregnant, started dating her, and then just sat there like some dumbass when she was asking me if I really wanted to be with her or not"

"That is pretty fucked up" she stated, taking a drink from her glass.

Tommy turned his head and looked at her for a moment before staring straight in front of him. "And now she probably won't even take me back because she's the most amazing and beautiful girl in the world and I'm just a stupid asshole who keeps disappointing her and doing stupid, stupid things when all she does is care about me and look at me with those blue eyes like I'm the most amazing guy in the world even though all I do is screw everything up" he rambled.

"Sounds like you love her" Daniella stated dryly, starting to get bored with his rambling.

Tommy furrowed his brow and scratched the back of his neck. "No, I don't think I love her. I mean, I care about her a lot yes, but love? It's only been a month. I can't love her yet."

"Uh huh. Well it's been…well it's actually been boring as hell, so I'm gonna go before it gets too late to find someone interesting to talk to or whatever" said Daniella, standing up and exiting the bar.

Unaffected by her leaving, Tommy continued to stare straight in front of him as realization slapped him in the face. He really cared about Jude. He cared about her even more than he thought he did and he needed to do everything he could to get her back. Quickly, he stood up from the bar stool, slapped some cash down on the counter, and walked out to his car.

-XxX-

He stood outside her door, his knuckles hovering over the hard wood. He was suddenly unsure of what he was going to do or say. 'Come on Tom. You can do this' he said to himself as he took a deep breath and knocked lightly on the door.

Moments later, a very sleepy looking Jude opened the door and squinted her eyes to make sure she was actually seeing what she thought she was. "Tommy? It's after midnight" she said sleepily.

"I know and I'm sorry. I just…I needed to see you, talk to you" he said desperately.

Jude sighed and moved to the side to let him in. "Come in" she said, and he smiled thankfully at her before he walked into her apartment.

He sat down on the couch and patted the spot next to him for her to sit down, and she did. She looked at him, really looked at him and noticed how terrible he looked. There were bags under his blood shot eyes, liked he probably hadn't slept in days. His usually perfectly sculpted hair was sticking up in every direction. His face was unshaven. His t shirt and shorts were wrinkled and mismatched. He was truly a mess. Her expression softened and she gave him a small, sad smile.

"I'm sorry I haven't called or anything" he said softly as he looked into her blue eyes and had to really fight the urge to get lost in them.

"I was beginning to think you wouldn't" she said honestly.

Tommy nodded his head slightly as he continued to just look at her and realize how much he missed just sitting next to her. "I'm a mess" he said, referring to his appearance. "You know, Shakespeare said it best" he scooted closer to her on the couch and took her hand in his. "Where thou art, there is the world itself, and where thou art not, desolation" he quoted.

Jude smiled at him and intertwined their fingers as she stayed silent so he could finish talking.

"I have never felt so alone in my whole life than I have in the past two weeks without you. I missed just being able to be near you, to hold you" he paused. "I just missed you"

Jude brought her other hand to his scruffy cheek and caressed his face as she smiled lovingly at him. "I missed you too."

"I am so sorry that I was ashamed to take you out. I was stupid and scared and I was more worried about what my friends were going to think about me having a girlfriend then how you felt and for that, I really am so, so sorry" he said sincerely as he took her hand that he was already holding and placed it in his lap.

Jude gave him a small smile and scooted closer to him so that their legs were touching. "Tommy, I know this isn't easy for you, okay. I get it" she told him.

"No, that's not an excuse for me to treat you like that Jude. You're the nicest, most beautiful girl I've ever met and you don't deserve a huge jerk like me treating you like shit okay?" he rambled.

"Tommy, have you been drinking?" she asked.

"Yeah, a little" he confessed.

Jude sighed. "Maybe you should lie down" she said, trying to stand up from the couch only to be pulled back down.

"No, I'm fine" he insisted. "You're my whole world Jude. When I think about my life, you know, the future and stuff, I can't see you not in it" he told her.

Jude smiled sadly at him, knowing he was drunk and was probably saying more than he wanted to, but for some reason, she couldn't help but feel that deep down somewhere, he meant it.

"Jude, you're my girl and I don't care who knows it because" he paused and took a deep breath. "Well, because I..I" he sighed. 'Come on Tom you can do it' he told himself in his mind. "Jude, I l…I lo…" he closed his eyes, unable to say the words. "I like you a lot."

Jude smiled at his almost confession, but couldn't help but be a little disappointed that he couldn't say the words. "Come on Tommy. Let's go to bed baby" she told him.

Tommy nodded his head and stood up with Jude, putting his arm around her shoulders for support as she led him to her bedroom.

"I mean it Jude. You're my world" he mumbled as he fell back onto her bed.

"I know Tommy. Now come on, take off your shoes" she told him and he clumsily kicked them off, almost hitting Jude with one in the process. "Sorry" he mumbled.

"It's okay Tommy, now take off your shorts" she told him, causing a grin to spread across his face. "So you can sleep more comfortably" she added, not amused by him.

Tommy laughed and took off his shorts, his t shirt following, leaving him in nothing but his black boxer briefs. He crawled under the blankets on her bed and snuggled up to a pillow until she got in next to him, then he put his strong arms around her and held her close to him.

Jude smiled and put her arms around him, resting her head against his bare chest. "I missed this" she whispered as she closed her eyes and got comfortable. She sighed lightly when she looked up at him to see that he was already sleeping and had begun to snore lightly. Not long after, she fell back to sleep in the arms of the man she loved.