Hey everybody! Here is the next chapter. I have been leaving you with a lot of cliffhangers and I am afraid this chapter is no different. Bear with me, everything is going to become clearer in the next few chapters. Thanks so much for reading and commenting! I love knowing what you guys think of the story and your theories about Tommy so keep them coming! Enjoy this chapter and a new one should be up really soon! B

Chapter 8

"Jude how much do you know about the witness protection program?" Tommy repeated. He understood that she was confused and most likely scared of what he was suggesting so he gave her a little time to answer him.

"Tommy are you….?" Her voice trailed off and they were both silent for a moment.

"Jude, how much?" He asked quietly waiting for her to answer.

"Not much." She replied. She could hear him take a deep breath. She figured he must be contemplating whether he really wanted to tell her what was going on or not. She slowly felt herself getting more and more upset. She wasn't sure if she was upset at Tommy, or the situation he was in, or maybe just herself for being so selfish about his departure. Whatever she was upset about, it was starting to build inside of her now and all of it was directed at Tommy.

"What is this Tommy? Are you going to tell me some crazy story about where you are? I bet you are going to tell me that you can never see me again. But you miss me and so you want to stay in touch with me. No! I don't understand why you had to leave. I don't understand why you didn't contact me and then all of the sudden here you are over a phone line. If I can't have you right here next to me than I don't want you. And it's more than just me. My music needs you too, but I can find someone new. I can move on so why don't you just let me do that? Okay Tommy? Just leave me alone!" She took a shaky breath fighting back the tears. She could hear Tommy cooing into the phone trying to calm her down.

"I need you too Jude" She could hear the hurt in his voice. But she also detected fear and that is what quieted her down.

"I'm sorry, thing are just so stressful right now and I miss you."

"I need you to hang up girl. I need you to hang up and then call me right back."

"Tommy!" She said, feeling like all of her emotions had been put through the spin cycle and now she was left with a giant heap of mixed up feelings.

"Please." He said hoping she would trust him enough to do what he asked. If they were going to get through all of this she was going to have to trust him, no matter what he asked of her. He heard the phone go dead in his hand. He clicked off his phone and waited. He knew that her hanging up didn't really mean anything. It was calling him back that was important. As his phone began to buzz in his hand a smile slowly spread across his face.

"Thank you." He said knowing she would want more but there were some things they were going to have to take care of first.

"Okay so what is going on" She said with more sympathy in her voice than even she had expected.

"Jude I have a lot of very important things to tell you, but before I can tell you any of that I need you to promise me a few things. I need you to promise that everything I tell you now is between just the two of us. If anyone knows that you have been talking to me I need you to tell them that I disappeared again. You are going to have to trust me enough to do everything I tell from now on, no questions asked. It's not going to be easy Jude. You are going to have to give up a lot of things. I know this is a lot to think about and you may need some time before you can give me an answer." He paused giving her a chance to take it all in. She wasn't sure what to say. She could tell by his voice that this was very serious, but she wasn't sure what to do. She really wanted to trust him but wasn't sure she was ready to do that again.

"Jude?"

"Give me a second to think" she snapped at him. In silence she contemplated everything there was between them and everything that was happening in her life. She knew things were going to be difficult once the blackmail pictures got out, but there was so much she didn't want to give up like her friendship with Jamie, her new relationship with Dean and her music. But Tommy was letting her in and she knew he would take care of her. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a baby crying through the phone. She heard footsteps and the crying getting closer. Then she heard Tommy cooing again, telling the babbling baby that everything was going to be okay. He began to hum, and she instantly recognized the tune as one of her own. The baby quieted down and the humming faded away.

"I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere." She could hear him tell the baby. The fear was back in his voice but this time it was mingled with compassion. Jude could feel her own fear begin to well up inside her.

'"Tommy, I want to know."

"Are you sure Jude? You have to be sure this is what you want."

"Tell me every thing. I will do whatever you want me to do."

"Oh Jude" He said feeling relief wash over him. "Are you with me for the rest of the night? This is going to take a while to explain."