A/N: I work retail now. Enough said. I hate how physically tired I am now. Working with kids is a very different kind of stress than working with craft supplies and angry, disrespectful customers (many who are adults). It makes me sad. And also makes me appreciate those that work behind the counters or on the floors so much more. And with all that…this story was left on the backburner. I really wanted to get it out yesterday, but when I looked over it again…I didn't like it, so I change a lot of it. It didn't come out completely like I wanted, but that's okay. I think it basically says what I want. I guess it's the Starbucks. :D

Your reviews made me laugh! To answer a few general questions that may be on people's minds: 1.) Angie is here for a reason (I wouldn't put her in here just for kicks, there is a specific reason), 2.) Jude's birthday is coming up (as you saw with the quotes and my incessant ranting about how much I LOVE the chapter, although at this point I only have a third of it written), 3.) Angie is NOT The Mistress (they are two DIFFERENT characters), and 4.) Jude and Tommy WILL get together…eventually (and for how long? Well, I can't tell you that. :D).

And for those of you waiting for a Jommy moment…you'll just have to keep waiting. It'll be here before you know it although the next time they speak (which is in this chapter), it doesn't look like it. :D

So yeah, I hope you like it!

THANKS:

Carlz02: Yes, I am serious. I'll send it sometime this week, when I have more of that chapter written. LOL. Yay for smiles! I love when they bicker! Here is more. Thanks for loving it! You got the majority of them right versus the other person who gave me theirs. ;D

JommyIS4ever: AHAHAHA! I do that too! I mean with other people's stories. :D Thanks! I appreciate that sooo much! Well, I'm glad you got what I was trying to do. GENIOUS?! YAY! I love dramatic walk offs too, but I think that's partly cause I love being coy and playing hard to get. It's fun. :D Thanks for the long review! Here is the next chapter!

scrubslover: I thought bringing Angie would be better than having Sadie come into play. I'd have fun with that too, but with Angie I can make her my own since we aren't given that much about her from the show. Angie being a concern? Aren't all girls concerns to Jude?! I'm updating now!

101ISFAN: Thank you for loving this! I'm posting more now!

bbybty9: Yes, you did. I would agree, but Angie won't be a problem in this chapter. Jude and Tommy do enough of that on their own. :D

love2burn4tim: I'm sorry! But it will happen. In due time. :D Angie?! There are a lot of things going on in my head. You don't want to know. Believe me, I had worse ideas than just Angie. I can neither confirm nor deny Angie getting in the way. She may not even get a chance to. You never know. Yes, they do. But you have to know that just because someone says he/she loves someone that doesn't mean that everything is solved and their relationship is going to be perfect. Love sometimes isn't enough. They are both new at this thing and that means lots of baby steps and mistakes. Lots of mistakes. :D I'm posting now!

chocolateelephantz: I like interesting. Yes, it was. AHAHA! I didn't think bringing Angie into this would cause such a ruckus, but I forgot I'm dealing with serious Jommy fans here. :D Yes. Yes. And yes, it is. But there is more. I hinted at it, but I don't think anyone caught it. If they did, no one has said anything…so I don't know. :D She should, but she, like the Tommy we know and love, believe that time should have been able to heal some of those painful wounds. I think that they would like to think that the people they hurt would be more likely to forgive and forget. But I doubt that. As you saw with Tommy. Tommy isn't whole, but he's almost there. He just needs a push. ;D Yeah, they'll get it together soon. Yes, she does. But she's partially to blame for there to even be any icing out. She'll find out and it'll be soon. Yes, it is and yes, she is. YAY! To all of it! Now you don't have to wait, I hope you like this!

zanessafangrl: I'm posting now!

up14: Thank you for loving this! I'm posting more!

McDreamylvr: Thank you for loving this! I'm posting more now! They will get together…soon. :D I promise.

Charmed Chick4: Thank you so much! No, they are separate characters. Angie teaches juniors at the same school that Jude attends, where Jude is a senior and only has Tom as a teacher. And The Mistress is Jude's vocal coach. Thank you for loving both chapters! I'm updating now. :D

raylo94: Thank you! I think you may be the only one who loves the idea of Angie in the story! LOL. That's okay. Thanks!

love4jommy: THANK YOU! You are not the only one. Jommyness is coming. Kissing?! Maybe…maybe not. :D A jealous Tommy?! Maybe…maybe not. :D Thank you! I'm posting now!

Disclaimer: I could go into a whole spiel about some of the things in here…like Milano's. I own the fictional restaurant that is called Milano's in this chapter. If I told you where it came from and how I thought about it, I'd ruin a storyline…so you'll just have to wait. :D I also own Killer Moe's, the bar. It has some personal meaning to me. LOL. I didn't look it up online…so I don't know if an actual bar by that name exists, but I'm pretty sure there is an actual Milano's. I don't know. :D I don't own Venice and the Grand Canal. And The Who or Led Zeppelin. Or Chianti and Moretti La Rossa Birra (Chianti being an Italian wine and Moretti La Rossa Birra being an Italian beer…or so it says online…the beer that is. I know about Chianti. Not that I've had it…I just have a family of lushes. :D).

A/N: at the bottom (It's another preview!) :D

R&R or R&L please.

THANKS MUCHO!!

"Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder, Doesn't It?"

"Goodbye, Miss Harrison," Tom replied, wishing he could meet up with her so that they could discuss things, but he had a class to attend to. And so did she.

Jude turned around and walked towards the door, feeling Tom and Mr. Torres following her. Over her shoulder, she gazed at Tom and lowly said, "Call me Jude, Mr. Quincy."

Don't Stand So Close To Me

Chapter 9

"The Date"

It had been 30 minutes. 30 minutes since Tom had pulled up to the familiar house. He didn't want to get out of his car. As he sat in the driver's seat, his mind was plagued with thoughts. Thoughts of the house and the life that could have been. Thoughts of the woman inside the house and the dinner they were supposed to attend in 30 minutes. More importantly, there were thoughts of the woman that was probably sitting at home, hating him very much. As he sat in his car, his heart sank. He had the inclination that the dinner he was supposed to attend in 29 – 28 minutes was not with the right person. The right person was the blonde who was currently out with her friends, trying her damnedest not to think about him.

And it was working. Sort of.

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Jude had left school the previous day as quickly as she possibly could in hopes she could bypass Tom so she wouldn't have to discuss anything with him. She didn't want an explanation. She wanted him to tell her to forget it. That the kiss meant nothing and so did the brunette. And she would have. But she knew that wasn't going to happen.

At the current moment, surrounded by her two best friends and her three band mates, she didn't care. At least not wholeheartedly.

"Dude, another round?" her friend, Spiederman, slurred slightly. Apparently, mixing hard liquors was a recipe for disaster. Jude's head was beginning to pound slightly and as she sat at the small round table in the dead center of Killer Moe's, she didn't know if it was actually from the liquor or the heavy classic rock pounding through the retro speakers.

"Why not? I have nowhere else to be," Jude groaned melodramatically, her head leaning on one hand supported by her elbow. She was doing all she could to forget about the gorgeous brunette she had saw yesterday.

And no, she was not talking about Tom Quincy. For once.

Kat looked at her best friend and sighed heavily. She leaned to her right and looked Jude straight in the eyes. "Jude, do you really think you should be drinking on an empty stomach?" she whispered, her voice full of concern.

Kat had been worried about her friend. She had known Jude long enough to know something was wrong. And normally, under different circumstances, when Jude was sober, would she have an actual conversation with her. But now was not the time. Maybe tomorrow when she was harboring a hangover.

Spied, about to make another trip to the bar, stopped suddenly at the mention of food. He looked over at Jude, who seemed to be pondering Kat's offer. "She's right, Dude. Let's eat. I'm starving," Spied responded as Jude's other friends, Kyle and Wally, nodded simultaneously.

Jude glanced at the five people sitting around her. All with hungry, semi-drunken looks on their faces. She sighed loudly and pulled her car keys out of her leather jacket pocket.

"Fine, party-poopers. Let's go. Kat, you're driving," she said as she handed Kat her keys.

Kat jumped up instantly, sliding her oversized purse on her arm.

"Don't need to tell me twice."

Jude laughed slightly and got off her chair as well, her headache seeming to lessen. The rest of the group waited as Jamie paid the tab and joined them in the crowded foyer before heading out to the parking lot.

The group hastily made it from the always warm and musty Killer Moe's to the cold, leather seats of Jude's Mustang in record time.

Rubbing bodies and hands together for warm, the group wondered, "Where to?"

Simultaneously, six voices rang clear. "Milano's!"

"Milano's it is!" Kat yelled, as the group laughed. She put the Mustang into reverse and pulled out of the parking lot quickly. They were hungry.

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The drive over had been unsurprisingly quiet. At least to Tom. He was too busy thinking again. About Angie, who was sitting next to him, staring out the passenger window and into the city. She had gotten into the car after saying hello and not another word was spoken, but she didn't push it. About Jude, who he believed to be at home, either pining over him or concocting plans to make him suffer in the near future. But importantly about the house he had just left. He was never the kind of person to hold material objects close to his heart. Except that one thing. His sanity. And The House. The House. Seeing it again almost brought tears to his eyes. Not that he would have admitted that of course.

The House reminded him of who he used to be. The happier, freer Tom Quincy. Not that he wasn't happy now. He was. It was just a different kind of happy. But in addition to that happiness, he was also guarded. He wasn't as quick to jump into things as he once was. As he had been with Angie. That is until Jude Harrison's name came up on his roster. He was willing to be that carefree and even happier with Jude, although his heart was not completely whole. And it had been six years.

If things didn't work with Jude, what would happen to him? How long would it take him to be okay? Eternity he was sure.

Subconsciously Tom pulled into the parking lot of the ivy-covered Italian restaurant Angie had picked. Having spent the entire drive thinking, it was almost a wonder that he was able to get Angie and himself to the restaurant safely. He pulled into a stall and killed the engine quickly before turning towards Angie, smiling.

Even as the dark enveloped the Viper, she was able to tell that the smile was forced because it didn't reach his eyes. But she wasn't worried. She had time. An entire night with Tommy Quincy.

He got out of the car and walked to the passenger side of the Viper, opening Angie's door for her like a gentleman. Something he had been happy to do when they were together. Now the movement felt wrong and out of place.

Angie exited the car and waited by the trunk as Tom shut the door and locked the Viper, the blue car beeping as Tom placed his hand on the small of Angie's back, pushing her towards the entrance.

She accepted his touch and almost felt warmed by it, but he did it out of necessity, not love or adoration. He wanted the date to end faster than it had begun.

Angie pulled the heavy oak door open as the pair walked through the threshold, a whoosh of warm air blowing past them. Instantly the smell of garlic infiltrated their nostrils and the loud robust laughter from the bar entered their ears. Tom's stomach began to turn as he saw the large room in front of him. It reminded him of Venice, as if he was sitting right beside the Grand Canal in the soft moonlight. Very impractical for this casual catch-up dinner he was about to have. He should have known though. Angie had made the reservations.

Angie walked up to the front desk and gave the Maître D' her name. The young man pulled two leather-bound menus out from underneath his desk and motioned the couple in front of him to follow his lead.

Tom walked behind Angie as they made their way to their booth. The restaurant was almost deserted, sans the very front where the bar was located. As their waiter approached their booth, Angie sat down and for a split second, Tom had the inclination to sit next to her.

But then he stopped. He couldn't. He wouldn't. It was like walking into the lion's den. And he had already made that mistake once. He walked to the other side of the booth as Angie slid over to the far side of her bench. She looked up at him, seeing him take his seat. She was almost confused as to why he hadn't sat next to her. But then his words played over in her head. "Friends. That's it."

And she realized he was trying very hard to abide by them.

"Can I start you off with a bottle of Chianti or an Italian soda?" the Maître D', Michael, asked.

Tom quickly opened his menu and stared at it for a few seconds, wondering what to order. However, Angie already knew. "I'll have a glass of Chianti, please."

Tom glanced over the top of his menu at Angie who looked very eager to have some alcohol in her system. He smirked slightly and decided to follow suit and order his favorite beer. If you can't beat them, join them?

"Can I have a bottle of Moretti La Rossa Birra?"

The waiter nodded slightly and walked away from their booth, heading straight for the bar. The pair awkwardly smiled at each other and tried to put their focus back on their menus, hoping to find something appetizing to eat.

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The Mustang's engine stopped and instantly four doors opened and shut loudly. Jude slightly bounced side to side, the cold air aiding her bladder's insistent pressure. "I can't wait to get inside. I've got to pee."

Wally covered his ears quickly as he turned and glared at his friend. "TMI!" he shouted louder than he should have since he couldn't hear himself clearly.

Jude smiled innocently. She knew how those taboo subjects sometimes affected Wally. Talk about phlegm and you'd have to drag him around with you because he would have passed out. "Sorry!" she squeaked as her group of friends walked up to the front door of the restaurant. The group smiled at the waiter in the foyer of the restaurant as Jude sprinted into the large room in front of her. They were practically regulars and hardly ever had to wait for a table.

Jude quickly made it down the fifth row of booths to the other side of the restaurant where the restrooms were located. She pushed open the door hastily and found a stall where she was able to let out all of her consumed alcohol.

Jude exited the bathroom after washing her hands and fixing her make-up. Her stomach growled loudly as she opened the bathroom door and made her way back down another row of booths to her friends who were seated in their usual corner.

As she made her way down the row, a loud laugh and bang pounded on a booth table. Jude froze in mid-step. It was him.

Laughing. At her restaurant.

The previous laugh was followed by a higher one. A girl's laugh.

Jude slowly turned around, her eyes wide. In a far booth in the same row as where she was sitting, Tom Quincy and the same brunette from the Teacher's Lounge were having dinner. Together.

Jude swallowed loudly, her eyes burning. It took all of her strength to restrain herself from walking up to his booth and smacking him across the face.

She wanted to, but knew that she'd have some explaining to do afterwards.

Kat looked at her watch, wondering what was taking Jude so long. She looked up and noticed her best friend standing in the middle of a semi-barren row.

"Jude!" she called. Jude turned abruptly and ran towards her friends. She didn't want to be noticed. By him especially. But it was too late.

He noticed. He noticed her alright.

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Tom leaned over the side of the booth he currently inhabited and squinted as he looked down the long row to a booth at the end of it. He saw Jude practically jump over the table and almost straddle a young man about her age. He heard an uncomfortable laugh resound from the booth as Jude found her appropriate seat in the middle of the group. Tom's cheeks burned as did his eyes.

She was there.

While he was with Angie.

Couldn't he ever get a break? Hadn't his Karma been good?

Or did the Fates just naturally hate him?

Abruptly Tom turned towards Angie who was looking down at her menu. He cleared his throat impatiently and she looked up at him. "I have to go to the car to get something," he announced. He got up hesitantly as if he didn't trust his legs.

Angie eyed Tom strangely as she noticed his demeanor had changed. One minute they were laughing and talking about their students and the next he was dead silent, his eyes being the only part of body with any emotion. "What if the waiter comes back?"

"Order me the twice baked lasagna," he said, already walking off, never missing a beat.

Angie rolled her eyes as she watched him go. "Sure thing," she responded to the leather bench that Tom had been previously sitting on.

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She sat with her napkin on her lap and out of the corner of her eye she swore she saw the familiar leather jacket. She instinctively jumped up, hitting Spied in the shin.

"Ow!" he cried, rubbing his leg over his jeans.

"Sorry," she said. "I forget my chapstick in the car. I got to get it."

Kat eyed Jude as she began to bounce hurriedly on the booth seat. She thought it was odd, but also knew how much Jude obsessed over her chapstick. "Here," Kat said, as she handed Jude her keys.

Jude grabbed the keys hastily from her friend and scrambled across the three boys sitting next to her, all of whom had their hands over a certain part of their anatomy.

Jude ran around the corner, just in time to see the wooden door close loudly. She pulled open the door and the cold wind from outside nearly knocked her out. She saw him hunched over as he walked to his car slowly.

In the dead silence of the night, she called out to him. "So who is she?"

He abruptly turned around as he heard her voice, his hands scrunched in his pockets, his heavy breathing creating clouds in the frigid air. He must have lost his mind to decide going outside was the only way to get her to meet him, seeing how cold it had gotten, but it worked. She was there. Standing in front of him. Not very happy.

"A friend."

She scoffed and he could see her breath exit her mouth as puffs of white air flowed out as she rolled her eyes.

"You wanna try that again?" she asked as she thrust her frozen hands into her luke-warm pockets.

His eyes glinted as he walked towards her. Her face was rosy, her lips full, her eyes sparkled with anger as she stared at him, waiting for an answer.

"You're cute when you're jealous," he said as he found his way to her.

She cocked her head to one side and glared at him. "Trying to be suave is not going to get you anywhere. I am not in the mood."

"And if I am?" he muttered lowly as he stood mere inches from her. She stared back him, looking up slightly.

"Tom, I'm being serious," she responded, her face stern.

"So am I," he retorted, his eyes shining back at her. If she hadn't been pissed off, if she hadn't had to deal with this other woman, if she hadn't been slightly inebriated, she would have given into those eyes. But she was and she did.

"You're not funny."

Tom sighed slightly, looking away, noticing that Jude was not about to give in so easily. "Fine. What do you want to talk about?" he asked.

Jude slightly smiled. "Who is she?" she asked again.

He turned towards her, looking her in the eyes. "A friend," he responded once more.

"Like I'm your friend?" she asked. Tom turned away and that was all Jude needed to see. He looked out into the deserted street as she sighed heavily; looking down at the cracked concrete she stood on. "I'm tired of this," she stated.

Still looking away, Tom answered. "Well, that makes two of us." Jude abruptly looked up as Tom turned towards her. "You freak out over every little thing, Jude," he explained.

"So this is all my fault?" she asked defensively.

"No," he responded truthfully. It wasn't all her fault. It was their fault. A combination of two forces that hadn't found the proper way to work together yet. And it was becoming increasingly frustrating.

She clenched her jaw before responding. "I freak out because I don't know you."

"What?" he asked, confused.

"You don't let me in. I know nothing about you," she explained and his eyes began to soften because he knew it was true. She didn't really know him, not the way a girlfriend should. Not the way Angie did. "You're single, in your twenties, and you live in Toronto," she recited like he had told her class months before. She rolled her eyes harshly. "BFD! Big. Fucking. Deal! " she cried loudly, a slight fire brewing in her eyes.

He cringed and shushed her as he pulled her farther into the parking lot so they would remain as hidden as possible. She reluctantly followed, his hand wrapped around her leather-clad arm. Her emotional outbursts were making him hot. Under different circumstances, he would have ravished her right then and there. But there was one problem. She probably wouldn't let that happen.
"I've already told you how I feel," he responded, letting go of her arm once they were behind a large SUV.

She rolled her eyes again. "You tell me what I want to hear."

"Jude-" he started.

"I wanna be your friend," she said, cutting him off. "The friend you take out to dinner." He looked at her, wondering why he hadn't just taken her out like she was asking. What was stopping him? "Why can't that be me?" She looked up at him, her eyes pleading with him.

He reached out and pulled her close, enveloping her in a leather-on-leather hug. She eased into him, thinking he understood. "I love you, Jude," he responded, smiling as he stared at her.

But she didn't smile.

Her eyes darkened as she began to pull away. "I love you, Jude," she mocked. He glared at her and finished the job she had started by fully pushing her away. Almost into the SUV behind her.

"Would you stop being such a fucking kid?!" he yelled, fire in his eyes.

She stumbled slightly before righting herself. She looked up at him, her breathing quickening. Not because she was scared, but because she felt the same fire he had in his eyes. She stayed quiet as she turned her face towards to tarmac in the parking lot, her eyes tracing the cracks.

He looked at her apprehensively. He had scared himself. He had never reacted that way; not in a long, long time. He watched her as her breathing slowed, becoming a steady rhythm once more. He wondered if she wasn't looking at him because he had scared her. But as he caught a small glimpse of her eyes, he knew she wasn't afraid. She was contemplating, her eyes swimming with the thoughts that were in her head.

It felt as if the world had stopped turning as he stood there staring at her as she stood there staring at the parking lot floor. Then slowly she looked up and gazed into his eyes. She wasn't crying or even on the verge of doing so. Her eyes were clear and bright. Like the morning sky. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth. "You're right. I am a kid," she started, her voice calm and clear. She pulled her jacket closer to her body and continued. "I should be out, having fun with my friends on a Saturday night, not worrying about my teacher, who's on a date." Tom's face fell as she spoke, his heart already telling him what the end of her speech meant. "I think I had momentarily lost my mind these past few months, but you have brought a sense of clarity to me. And I'm very thankful for that," she said, a weak smile forming on her face. "If you'll excuse me, I have some friends and lasagna to get back to."

Jude turned and began to walk between the SUV and another car, trying to get back to her friends and favorite dish. She wanted to eat her dinner in peace and then go home and write. Or cry. Both sounding very good at the moment. A hand flew to her arm and tugged her back. She looked over her shoulder and saw Tom's broken face. Her heart dropped, but her resolve stayed intact.

"Jude, please. I love you," he said, his eyes and voice pleading, his grasp on her arm tightening.

She smiled another weak smile, her eyes still shining bright. "Mr. Quincy, I think you should let go. Just let it go, Tom." She pulled away from him, his hand slightly falling. "Let me go."

And with her last words, Tom knew she wasn't talking about her arm anymore.

He stood in the middle of the Milano's parking lot, as he watched his girl walk away from him, his heart dropping into his stomach, tearing a bit more.

A/N: Preview:

Chapter 10

"Teach Me"

And she needed to know exactly what she was getting herself into.

Since apparently she wasn't doing so well in that department.

Case #1: Tom Quincy.

She groaned loudly. Even his name was giving her a headache now.

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"Oh. My. God. You found it!" she screamed excitedly. "I hate-" she continued as she looked up at the customer before her face fell. "–you."

Tom Quincy stared back at her, smiling widely.