Disclaimer: I do not own 21 Jump Street or its characters. They belong to Stephen J. Cannell and Patrick Hasburgh. I'm just borrowing them.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read my story and special "shout outs" to all of my amazing reviewers! I love to know how I'm doing good or bad. Hoffs2: It's okay that you didn't like the fight scene. But, you have to admit you have to be a helluva woman to have two fine ass men fighting over you. Especially, when one looks like (is) Johnny Depp! lol I'm glad you liked everything else, and I hope you all like this one! Please keep R&R.

Chapter 10

"Booker?" Judy peeked around the door as he stood in the doorway. "Come in" Judy smiled brightly as she handed him a beer. "I figured you might need this after your 'talk' with Hanson."

He graciously took it from her, took off his jacket and closed the door. "Thanks…our boy still has a mean right hook." He smiled and kissed her on the cheek and hung up his jacket. "Just don't tell him I said so." He softly added.

She lightly traced the faint bruises on his face. "Did he do most of the talking?"

He mockingly smirked as he found his way to the couch. "That's funny…you should do stand-up."

She poked her bottom lip out before answering in baby talk. "Awe, I'm sorry Booker." He cut his eyes at her as she sat next to him and chuckled. "I was just kidding." Judy made herself comfortable on the sofa by tucking her leg underneath her and clasping her hands together. "So, tell me about this 'talk' you had with Hanson. What's up with you two?"

He looked at her like she was crazy. "Star Wars versus Star Trek, he likes Star Wars and I'm more of a Trekkie. You know how nasty those arguments can get."

"That's funny Booker. You plan on using that your stand-up act?" She glared at him. "You know what I mean." She nudged him.

"No, Judy….I don't" He moved to get better situated on the couch, so he could make eye contact with her. "I don't know what you mean." He quickly tapped his finger to his temple. "You know…I haven't known what you've meant since last weekend when we agreed that I would come spend this weekend with you." He stressed. "I call you on Thursday to confirm our plans and you tell me that you might be working on a case and you'd call me back when you knew for sure….You never did, so I call you on Friday and you don't return any of my calls," His tone was low, but the frustration in his voice was unmistakable. "I drove out here last night after work to see you, and you don't answer the door." She grabbed a pillow to funnel her nervous energy into as she fidgeted with the fringes sown on the edges of it. An unsettling feeling came over her while he continued. "I come over this morning and you won't even let me in the freakin' door." He exhaled as he threw his hands up eventually slapping them down on his thighs in confusion while he pushed his back into the sofa. "I'm thinking it was something I said, maybe you felt like I was rushing you to get serious before you're ready to." He swung his head her direction and frowned. "All I wanted to do was spend some time with my girl this weekend. But, you keep blowing me off and for what?" Judy solemnly raised her head. Dennis read the expression on her face and knew what she was thinking even if she couldn't admit it. "Hanson?" He shook his head and sunk down into his seat resting his head against the oversized pillows on the back of the couch as he stared at the ceiling. "He comes back and all of a sudden things are changing between us overnight…"

"Dennis I..." Judy started to apologize for complicating things, but he cut her off.

"Why didn't you tell me he came back?"

Judy hugged the pillow as she played the fringes between her fingers. "I don't know….It all happened so fast…..He sent roses to the Chapel the other day and asked me to meet him there."

"He what!" Booker snapped as he sat up to face her.

"Relax, Dennis…He just wanted to apologize and explain why he left the way that he did."

"Okay….So, why didn't you just tell me that?" Booker's eyes narrowed. "Why did you keep it from me if it was all so innocent?"

"I didn't tell you, because I wanted to know where he's been all this time and why he left the way he did….Booker, you know how mad I was after he left. He was one of my best friends." She brushed the wild strands of hair from his face. "Besides if I told you, you would've had a cow."

"See, that's where you're wrong Judy," He went back to his sunken position and stared at the ceiling. "I would've understood and gave you guys some space." He shrugged.

Judy started to laugh. "That's funny!" She burst into laughter again when she saw Dennis' offended expression as he allowed his head to gravitate in her direction without lifting it from the couch. "Sorry…I'm sorry" She said trying to compose herself since, she could tell he really was offended.

"What's so funny Detective?" He asked authoritatively. "I don't have a problem controlling my emotions."

"No, but you do have a problem with controlling your mouth."

"You defending him now?" He asked suspiciously.

"I'm not defending anyone." She shrugged. "I'm just saying, when it comes to Tom you have a tendency to…"

He slowly rose to sit up straight stopping her mid-sentence. "You are defending him."

"No, I'm not!" She demanded. "I'm just saying…"

"Okay….yeah, I like to give him a jolt." He admitted. "But, he's the one who always flies off the handle."

"And you don't push his buttons until he finally blows?" She folded her arms waiting for his response.

He smirked "Maybe I say things that I know will piss him off...but, that's what we do." He shrugged. "That's what makes it fun….for me anyway." Booker said lightly.

Judy grinned, looked down at her arms and shook her head. "Dennis, you are a trip." She chuckled.

"I know..." He rotated his body to face hers, so he could focus on the task at hand. "Look…All I'm saying is I don't like my girl meeting up with her ex-boyfriend in secret…..What if the tables were turned?...How would you feel if I met up with one of my old girlfriends behind your back?" He started to say something else, but she rapidly held up her index finger.

"Wait a minute?" She grimaced in shock. "What did you just say?" She scanned Dennis' body language to try to read him.

"I'm saying…" Booker continued as he realized that he slipped up. "I wouldn't meet up with an ex-girlfriend without talking to you first, no matter what the circumstances are."

"So, you think Hanson and I were boyfriend and girlfriend?" Judy was still grimacing trying to figure out how much Booker knew about her and Hanson's past.

"Yeah," He put his hand on her thigh. "Judy, I know about you two and it's cool. It's over and…"

"You know what?" She cut him off hoping that he really didn't know about her and Tom and maybe he was just assuming. "Please….enlighten me on what you think you know."

He hesitated for a second before continuing. "I know that you two were together for about a year give or take a couple of months and then you broke up for awhile." He cleared his throat as he noticed Judy's confusion. "I know that you got back together when everyone thought that Jump Street was going to close down only to break up after a couple of months, since Fuller called you guys back." Dennis blurted it all out with ease as Judy gradually stood up listening in awe as he continued. "That was only a few weeks before we went out the first time." He added as he watched her walk to the kitchen. "Which was probably why…." He tried to finish, but she disappeared out of sight. "Where you going?"

"I need some water." She sauntered into the kitchen not knowing what to think. She never told Booker about her and Tom's relationship. There wasn't a reason to until now. She didn't think there was anyway that Tom would tell Booker about their past. The only other person who knew about them was Penhall and that was only because Hanson told him right before he left or right after. That part didn't matter. It was Penhall. 'Maybe he told Booker.' She thought. But why? The only reason she could think of was maybe he told Dennis that Hanson spent the night before she could tell him. But, since he wasn't acting like he knows Hanson stayed over she was lost. "How long have you known?"

She asked as he strolled into the kitchen. "Judy, I didn't' mean to upset you." He took her hand in his. "It's not a big deal that you two have a history. Because, it's just that….history" He looked into her eyes for confirmation. "It is history right?"

Her brows burrowed in confusion. "How long have you known?"

"It doesn't matter." He let go of her hand and stepped back from her as she picked up her glass of water. "All that matters is we're together."

"Yeah, Booker" She took a sip. "It matters." She replied calmly. The detective in her was starting to take over and she was starting to wonder if Booker knew about Tom meeting with her before today. Too many factors were at play here to add up to one big coincidence, like why he kept avoiding her question and why he kept stressing that she and Booker were a couple now, and why he wanted to get serious all of a sudden, why he showed up this weekend without making sure she wasn't working after she told him that she might be. She was beginning to question his intentions on wanting to commit. She wasn't sure if Dennis knew that Tom moved back or was just visiting. It all mattered to her. The answers would tell her if he was really ready for a serious relationship with her, or if he was just trying to keep her from Tom. "So, just tell me how long?"

"Uuuhhhh….um, I don't know." He sighed. "I guess around the time Hanson left." He figured if he came clean about what he knew, maybe she would come clean about how she was really feeling and thinking. "I was working on a case that ended up overlapping with the one Penhall was working on,"

"I remember…I bumped into you earlier that day and you asked if I was going out with you guys later on that night for pizza and drinks, and I told you that I couldn't, because of the case I was working on." She nodded as she held her glass of water close ready to take another sip.

"Right," He leaned against the counter and continued to explain with his hands. "So, we were all sitting around the table eating, drinking, talking….and Blowfish asked when you were coming and I told him you were working a case. But, I was going to swing by your place later on that night if it wasn't too late to hang out for a bit and to see if you wanted to have dinner one night that week since I was going to be in town for a few days."

"But, we didn't" She sat her drink down and hopped up to sit on top of the island.

"No, we didn't." He sighed. "I don't know…a little while after that we were shooting darts and Hanson asked if he could holler at me for a second. We took a walk around the block and that's when he told me."

She was lost. "That doesn't make sense. Why would Hanson tell you? He barely tells Penhall and Blowfish anything and they're his best friends. He didn't even tell them about us until around the time that he left." She glanced at the island's countertop in thought. "As a matter of fact, he only told Penhall. And that was because he got in his face about leaving without talking to me."

"I don't know…ask him." He abruptly added as he walked into the living room. He thought about telling her why, but he knew if he told her. He would lose her to Hanson for sure.

"I'm asking you." She scolded as she jumped off of the island and followed him back into the living room.

"Yeah, well I'm fresh out of answers." He replied as he picked up a magazine and sat back down on the couch.

She snatched it from him, threw it back on the table, and sat down beside him facing him. "Tell me Booker! I am not playing games with you!"

He scoffed. "Why does it matter? What difference does it make? You're with me now." She grabbed her pillow again as he positioned himself on the couch to face her. "Okay…I'll tell you," He started to feel his temperature rising. "If you tell me what the hell Hanson was doing in your shower this morning while I was at the door."

Her heart sunk and her head dropped. "You know about that?" She lifted her head.

"Yeah," He scowled at her. "Tell me what he was doing here, if you met him at the Chapel." Dennis could feel himself getting more worked up. The calm in his voice had long faded. "Why was he in your shower Judy, and while I was at the door? What the hell were you thinking?" Under normal circumstances, he'd assume that she slept with Hanson. But, he knew first hand that she wouldn't be able to. So, for him that was off the table.

She rubbed her head searching for the right way to tell him. She opted for blunt. It was Booker's style, so maybe he would appreciate it. "We did meet at the Chapel, and then we came back here to eat and finish our talk." She took a deep breath. Her heart was going 90 to nothing and her stomach was in knots. "You know I care about you a lot, and you've been amazing with me through everything." She nervously twisted the top of the pillow.

"Judy, what are you saying?" Booker felt what was coming. He was upset but, he wasn't ready to give her up without a fight. He could see the small puddles of water forming in her eyes.

"I don't know." She said softly, because she was quickly losing her nerve to tell him.

"We don't have to end what we have, just because Hanson stayed the night. He's in town visiting friends and he needs to stay somewhere….He just should've stayed at Penhall's." She didn't say anything as Booker gently stroked her face. "I just wish you would have let me in and explained the situation instead of keeping something like that from me. That's all. Yeah, I'm still upset about it. But, I never wanted to make you cry." With that said the tears started to flow down her cheeks. He held her in his arms. "Judy, it's cool. It's not like you slept with him." She raised her head and met her eyes with his. Her silence and expression said it all. Booker suddenly felt sick to his stomach. He slowly took his hands off of her, placed his elbows at his knees and rested his head in his hands. "I don't understand."

"I don't know what happened." She tried to explain as she got up and searched for a tissue, since the tears continued to flow. "We were talking and then he kissed me…"

"I don't want to know." He mumbled and shook his head as it still rested in between his hands. "I just don't understand. You panic….and it's not a subtle panic. You freak out!" He yelled as he lifted his head and turned to her. "I don't understand!" He paused and sized her up in disbelief. "Did you?…No, I don't wanna know." He sat back and looked in the opposite direction of where she was.

"Dennis, I'm so sorry." She sat down and tried to place her hand on his shoulder when he bolted off of the couch.

"What is this Judy?" He scowled in anger as she dried her face. "Is this payback?"

She directed her eyes back to him insulted by the accusation. "No, I wouldn't do something like that to get back at you." She stood up. "I never meant to hurt you. This wasn't planned and it hasn't been easy for me."

"For you?... It hasn't been easy for you?" He was becoming unhinged. "You cheated on me! And it hasn't been easy for you?" His normal calm and cool demeanor was slowly fading as thoughts of her and Tom in the throws of passion flashed before him. "It seems to me that he took care of the hard part and well, as for the easy part…"

"Don't even!" She warned. "We aren't exclusive, Dennis. We can see whoever we want. Isn't that what you said?"

He frowned. "No, that's what you said. I told you that I slept with that girl and I didn't have to. I was trying to build trust. " He smoothed his hand over his mouth. "God, Judy that was months ago."

"It was three months ago, and I don't think what you did qualifies as 'sleeping'." She responded with an attitude.

"Cute, Judy…. real cute" He squinted with irritation and sarcasm. "It was four months ago, and you think what you did qualifies as what…. rehab?"

"That's real mature." She scowled. "And it was three months!" She yelled as she threw the box of tissues at him in aggravation.

"Four!" He yelled back as he ducked. "Whatever…. Look, we're not even talking about that." He angrily pointed toward the floor. "We're talking about today." He scowled. "I'm sorry….last night or was it this morning? The details are still a little fuzzy." He sarcastically added. "Five months….We're together for five months…and you can't. He's here five minutes and you're open like 7-11!"

Judy went from feeling guilty to pissed, in less than 60 seconds. "Hold on….your out of line Dennis!" She put her hands on her hips, raised her eyebrows, and coldly warned him as she walked up to him. "If you're not careful" Her tone was amazingly even as she teetered between empathy and outrage. "You'll say something your regret and can't take back. So, I'd advise you to stop now."

"You're right." He nodded as he walked toward the door. "At this point, I'm pretty much a pro at stopping." He added as he opened the door. "So, I'll do just that."

"Urgh!" She wanted to choke him, but in the back of her mind she knew that she cut him deeply. "What do you want from me?" She demanded.

He stood there for a couple of minutes and it seemed like hours. "I just want you." He glanced at her before looking outside of the door still angry. "But, you keep pushing me away….you want him, and he doesn't deserve you." He shifted his weight as he watched the kids playing across the street. He didn't want to look at her, but he felt like he needed to be honest and lay his cards on the table. "I know you still love him, and I know that you have strong feelings for me." His head dropped briefly before looking at her. "I wouldn't leave you, Judy. I know that you messed up…so did I…But, I also know what I have in you, and I don't plan to just hand it over that selfish jerk."

"Since we're being honest," She was touched by his honesty and she suddenly realized that he cares for her more than she thought he did. "I don't know what I want right now."

"Figure it out." He frowned. "He's only going to be here, what another day or two and maybe then we can get back to us."

"Actually he moved back a few weeks ago." She stopped him before he could say anything. "But, I didn't know until last night."

"He what?" Worry took over Booker's face. "Why?" Judy looked down at the floor in hesitation. "Judy, why did he move back?" He already knew, Hanson told him a year ago that he planned to. He just wanted to hear her say it.

"He moved back to be closer to Clavo," She nervously glanced at the ceiling.

"And you" He scoffed. "I'm going to talk to Fuller." He added as he walked out of the door closing it behind him.