Hello!

This chapter is the heart of the dinner scene. I put a lot of time into this chapter; it actually came out to be about 20 pages in Word. A lot is happening during this chapter, so I hope you all enjoy it. It's a nice, drama-filled chapter. Please comment!

Chapter 9

"So I see you and Quincy are getting along tonight," Johnny mused.

Jude sighed and nodded. "I told you I would behave and I'm going to."

"Thanks. And really, you just might come to find that he's not a bad guy," he whispered.

"I seem to be getting a lot of requests to ease up on Tommy," Jude mumbled, trying to keep Tommy from overhearing their conversation.

"And did you ever think that maybe you should? The guy's going to be your producer. You're going to be in close quarters with him all the time. Really, it's something you should think about."

She sighed and stole a glance at Tommy, who was now leaning across the table, deep in conversation with Kwest. Looking away quickly and re-focusing her attention on Johnny, she reflected on how often she had considered just letting herself go and giving Tommy a break.

But something about that idea always seemed a little dangerous to her. She let herself go around him once—was she willing to do it again? She honestly didn't know if she could. She was trying, though.

"You think I haven't thought about it?" she whispered. "He—"

Her comment was cut short with the waiter returning with their drinks. She heard Tommy say, "Thank you" and gave him a reproachful look as he began to practically chug the beverage.

"Uh, Tommy?"

"What? I'm thirsty," he said dismissively.

"You're not supposed to chug alcohol, Tommy," she said through clenched teeth.

"Thanks, Mom. But I know how to handle my liquor. Besides, it's my first one—I'm not going to get plastered from drinking one beer. Simmer down." She didn't have a chance to say much on the matter because the waiter started taking their orders. After Tommy placed his, he then got the waiter's attention again. "Oh, and I'll probably need another beer by the time you come back with dinner." The waiter nodded. "Thank you."

Jude narrowed her eyes and looked away. She heard Tommy sigh and the next thing she knew, her head was being turned his way. She could feel his guitar calluses and she shivered at the unexpected texture. His hands felt so much different than what she had expected. They were rough, yet gentle at the same time.

He tilted his head to the side and smiled. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be a jackass about it. I appreciate your concern, though. Thank you."

Despite herself, Jude felt herself smiling and she simply rolled her eyes and playfully pushed his hands away. Before she turned back around to talk to Johnny, though, she briefly caught a glimpse of Tommy's smile widening as he slouched back in his chair.

When she turned to face Johnny, he had a smirk on his face that Jude couldn't quite depict the meaning of. "What?"

He shook his head, smirk still in place. "Nothing," he said as he took a drink of wine.

"You have a look," she accused as she finally placed the possible meaning of his smirk.

"What look?"

"The 'I'm thinking something but don't want to tell you' look. Out with it."

"You know me too well," he complained.

"After three years of working with you, I should hope so," she remarked with a wide grin.

He sighed and leaned forward, "So I saw you and Quincy were flirting a little bit right there. What's up with that?"

Her eyes widened and for a moment, she could only stare in shock. When Johnny started chuckling, the shock wore off a bit and she snapped out of it, trying desperately to feign dumb. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh please. The whole 'head-turn' thing, you two making smiley faces at each other… what's going on in your head, Jude Harrison?"

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing!" she said quickly.

He laughed. "Methinks she protests too much."

"Oh stop it. That was nothing. We're just finally not at each other's throats! I thought that's what you wanted!" she demanded in a low, agitated voice.

"It is. But—"

"But nothing. I have a boyfriend, remember?"

Inwardly, she cringed. She hadn't thought about Jamie once since she stepped into the restaurant. That was a not a good sign…

Johnny smirked and nodded. "Oh I remember. I was just beginning to wonder if you remembered. And judging by the look on your face, I'll wager to guess that you didn't."

"I'm not talking about this," she said firmly.

"And that honestly doesn't surprise me, Jude."

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "Johnny—this is your last night here. Let's make it fun, please?"

He rolled his eyes and nodded while rubbing his thumb lightly against her cheek. She smiled as he started speaking. "You got it, babe," he said as he leaned in to kiss her cheek.

Feeling more relaxed, she turned away from Johnny and started chatting with Sadie, failing to notice Tommy's lingering gaze…

Tommy forced his eyes away from Jude. This was getting so out of hand and so ridiculous. He needed to exert better control over himself.

The atmosphere was beginning to feel slightly suffocating to him and he knew he needed to get away from it all just for a little bit. "Excuse me," he mumbled.

He made a mad dash for the bathroom and once he got there, he placed both hands on the sink in front of him and leaned forward, letting out a deep breath. "Get it together, Quincy." He turned on the cold water and splashed his face, reveling in the feeling of the cool water against his skin. It really was refreshing and just what he needed.

He was getting ready to walk back out when he saw Kwest entering the bathroom shaking his head. "What's with you, man?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said stubbornly, even though he knew very well what his best friend was talking about.

"Bullshit. You know damn well what I'm talking about. And you need to be careful," he chided. "I won't watch you hurt that girl back there."

"Again, I don't know what you're talking about."

"You think I'm blind? We all saw that little bit of flirting between you and Jude. You're showing all the classics signs of wanting to jump that girl's bones. And don't think I didn't notice you smack Spied upside the head when he called Jude 'hot'."

Tommy groaned and glared at Kwest. "I'm not even hearing this."

"Yes, you're going to hear it. I'll say it again—you need to be careful. You never know when it will all come back to bite you," he said sympathetically.

Tommy watched Kwest walk out of the bathroom and cursed under his breath. This was not going well.

He glared at the wall and swiftly punched it, wincing in pain. He shook his hand out, watching the red, angry marks beginning to form on his knuckles.

Well, at least he could agree with Kwest on one thing—he really did need to be more careful.

And as he was walking out of the bathroom and resigning himself to no more accidental flirting incidents, he saw her laughing. She was engaged in a conversation with Sadie and Johnny and she looked completely happy. A small smile began forming on his lips as he allowed himself to just watch her for a moment longer.

For the first time since he'd been back, he let himself really look at her. She looked nothing like the teenager he remembered. She looked like an adult now, which was something he was having a hard time coming to grips with. And while he would admit that he missed the fiery red hair, blonde also suited her.

He snapped himself out of it and began making his way back towards the table.

He watched as she stiffened slightly as he sat back down and sighed. He also didn't fail to notice her scoot a little further away before he sat down. She didn't make a big deal out of it—in fact, any normal passerby would assume she was simply making room for him to get into his seat. But he knew better.

When he looked away, he saw Kwest giving him a reprimanding glare, reminding him of the conversation they had had in the bathroom.

Tommy merely rolled his eyes, ignoring his best friend, and took a drink of his beer.

Georgia was sitting next to Kwest and noticed the exchange between the two of them. She leaned over towards him. "What's up with you two?"

Tommy ignored her and continued drinking his beer. As far as he was concerned, Georgia was still on his shit list. That was one of the reasons he hadn't stopped by her office since he'd been back. Even though he technically should have since he had already started working again. "Uh, guys. Either of you want to answer me?"

Kwest was getting ready to tell her when Tommy stopped him. "Not really, no."

Some of the conversation at the table died down and he felt various pairs of eyes zeroing in on the three of them. Nobody said anything as Georgia looked away, leaning back in her seat.

Sadie cleared her throat and tried starting some mindless chit-chat again. "So, Johnny. What are your plans when you get to L.A.?"

Johnny glanced warily between Tommy and Kwest but then turned his full attention to Sadie. "Uh, just unpacking. And sleeping. I won't have much time to do that once I start working at Riptide. They've got me on a full schedule already."

"Well, you should check out the club scene when you get settled in, man. It's amazing," Tommy interjected.

Johnny smiled and nodded. "I think I'll do that. Any recommendations?"

"Not off the top of my head, nah."

"Well you'll have to get in contact with me and give me a head's up when you do remember. I love the club scene," he said, smiling.

Jude started laughing. "That's an understatement! Last month, Johnny went to clubs every single night for almost two weeks straight. The dumb-ass came into work with hangovers nearly every morning."

Kwest joined in on the trip down memory lane and also started chuckling. "Oh man, that was a crazy two weeks. You should have seen the guy, Tommy. He can give you a run for your money when it comes to putting down shots."

Tommy smiled and shook his head. "I have a hard time believing that one."

Jude matched his smile as she turned to look at him. "I don't know. This guy over here is a lush when he wants to be."

"Love you too, Jude," he replied with a frown.

"Aw, JJ—don't be like that. You know I've got nothin' but loooove for you," she said, smiling.

As he watched the two of them interact, he couldn't help but feel jealous—like an outsider. They seemed to really get each other and connect in such a way that it seemed almost impossible to him that they'd ever reach that same level of comfort.

Suddenly, Johnny interrupted his thoughts with a wide smile. "Anyway, enough about me. I say it's time we change the conversation up a little bit. Tell me, how'd you manage to find your way back to Toronto after all this time away?" Johnny inquired.

Of course—the guy had to ask the one question he was hoping he could avoid. It's not exactly like he could tell them all the truth, which was pretty embarrassing. So, in true Quincy nature, he turned to Georgia, finding somebody else to pick up the heat. She was the one that thought it was such a grand idea for him to come back, so she could answer.

"Well, that's an interesting question. Why don't you ask Georgia? I'm sure she'd tell you."

"Tom—" she warned, but he cut her off.

"Because really… I'm quite interested in the answer to that myself. Because I sure as hell didn't volunteer for the job."

Silence engulfed the entire table and he realized just how big of a jackass he was. He shut his eyes, immediately overwhelmed with regret. The old saying "think before you speak" played in his mind. He should not have said that—especially not in front of Jude.

"Jude—"

"Excuse me," she replied as she set her napkin down on the table.

He watched helplessly as she walked briskly out of the room. He was so tempted to follow her, but he had a feeling she needed her space. At least for now.

He had no idea how he was going to make up for that one. Knowing his luck, he'd probably be doing a lifetime of penance for it. So much for getting along tonight.

The entire table remained silent as they watched Jude's retreating form. The tension seemed to have increased ten-fold. And he had only his stupid big mouth to blame for it all.

Sadie was casting him a menacing glare and Kwest was shaking his head as though he was expecting Tom to screw up the evening eventually. Just great. Freaking brilliant. He'd really out-done himself this time.

This was just another thing to add to the list of Quincy screw-ups.

He loosened his tie as he felt the tension getting to him.

Nobody seemed to be able to manage to say anything as the waiters arrived with their meals. He felt his stomach churning at the sight of it all. The very thought of food was more than a little off-putting to him at the moment.

As people began to shove food around on their plates, Wally made a poor attempt at breaking the ice. "So, did I ever tell you all about the time that Kyle shoved one of his drum sticks up his nose?" Everybody turned to look at him and the poor guy looked so uncomfortable that Tommy wanted to laugh, but thought it would be in bad taste to do so. Wally shrugged and looked down at his plate again. "What? I was just trying to lighten the mood."

Tommy sighed and looked over at Johnny. "I'm sorry. That was out of line and I shouldn't have said it," he admitted quietly.

"No, you shouldn't have. But what's done is done. No sense in dwelling on the past. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go check on Jude," he replied as he got up from his seat.

After Johnny left, Kwest motioned for Tommy to talk to him in private. He sighed, but followed nonetheless. He wasn't too keen on the idea of causing another scene tonight.

As soon as they were well out of earshot, Kwest laid into him. Not that he was expecting anything different. He could always count on Kwest to make him feel like an even bigger ass. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Tommy gritted his teeth and shook his head. "Look, I feel bad enough as it is. I don't need a lecture from you on top of everything else."

"Well you're gonna get one anyway. So deal with it." Kwest started pacing and then just as quickly as he started moving back and forth, he stopped and let out an exasperated sigh. "I told you to be careful—not be an ass!"

Maybe he should tell Kwest the truth behind that statement he made earlier. It was eating him up and he hated that Jude thought his words were directed at her. Because they weren't.

"I wasn't thinking about Jude when I said that," he offered quietly.

Kwest's head snapped up in surprise. "What?"

He sighed and nodded. "I was talking about producing in general. Kwest man, you know I would never volunteer to be a producer now." He paused and took a moment to see that at least his best friend understood where he was coming from. The look on Kwest's face was enough for Tommy to know that he understood. "I… That comment had nothing to do with Jude."

He nodded. "I understand. But she doesn't. You need to explain that to her. Quickly."

"Yeah I know. And I will. If I can get her to listen to me."

Kwest let out a soft whistle. "Good luck with that. You'll have your work cut out for you. That's for sure."

"Tell me about it."

Silence passed and Tommy felt oddly at ease, considering the situation he had just gotten himself into. He was very grateful to have Kwest here—at least he had one friendly person on his side after the fiasco tonight.

"So this whole producing thing. You were serious when you said you never wanted to produce another artist again?"

Tommy let out a shaky breath and ran a hand through his hair. This was a conversation he knew he'd end up having with Kwest eventually. "Kind of. It's just too hard to get that invested with somebody. That's why I've been sticking to producing my own stuff."

"Hey I get it. It can be hard—especially when you have temperamental artists to work with. But T, you're good at producing. You always seem to have knack for connecting with your artists, which is rather ironic if you ask me."

"Ha, ha. That's funny."

Kwest smiled. "I'm serious, man. It's time you dealt with everything."

Tommy nodded his head and stuck his hands in his pockets. "I know. But it's kind of hard, considering the circumstances."

"Ah, still no word, huh?"

"Not a thing. And it's damn frustrating! I just want to put it all behind me and have it dealt with, but it's like the fates are against me or something."

"Well it's time to get the 'fates', as you like to call them, back on your side. Take matters into your own hands and stop wallowing in self-pity. Because whether you realize it or not, your inability to deal with shit affects more people than just yourself."

"Nice pep-talk."

"Please, that wasn't supposed to be a pep-talk. My pep-talks are damn moving and that was just mediocre."

Tommy laughed and nodded. "Well, I guess I'm going to have to start taking matters into my own hands. And the first thing I need to do is find Jude."

After Johnny had left, with her reassurance that she was fine, Jude decided to take a walk. She needed to get away from that building, even if it was just for a little bit.

As she walked down the sidewalk, she realized that she really shouldn't have let Tommy's statement cut her so deeply. She'd known from day one that he didn't want to be there—he'd told her himself. So why did she feel so bothered by his little outburst?

Johnny had mentioned that he'd looked like he felt really guilty, and advised that she go easy on him, but quite honestly, she didn't feel as though he deserved it. Even though, according to Johnny, Tommy had apologized for the remark and sounded sincere, he had broken their truce for the night in the worst possible way. He had completely embarrassed her in front of her friends and she felt so ridiculous for letting it show that he had gotten under her skin the way that he had.

She couldn't afford to be that careless around him again. What should it matter what he thought of her? She didn't care—well, not that much anyway.

A sudden gust of cold air caused her to shiver; she began to wish she'd had the foresight to bring a jacket. In her haste to get out of the restaurant, she completely neglected that little detail. She rubbed her arms and decided to suck it up and head back to Celestin. She was a big girl; she could deal with it.

As she looked around, she felt slightly wigged out. There wasn't a soul in sight. And she hadn't even realized that the lighting had become less and less. How far had she wandered off?

She looked at one of the street signs and felt her eyes widen. Shit. This is not good. "Okay, Jude. Don't panic. Just walk really fast," she mumbled to herself. She had walked to a really bad side of town without even realizing it. She had forgotten that the restaurant wasn't in an ideal location, despite its high prices. Ugh, she should have walked to the left instead of the right.

When she started to walk back to the restaurant, a tall, dark, medium-built guy sporting a leather jacket, came out of the shadows. He looked terrifying. To her anyway. When he started walking closer, she noticed a dangerous glint in his eyes that sent shivers down her spine. Only then did she realize how she was dressed.

She bit her lip and picked up her pace, trying to get by him without making it seem obvious that she was scared shitless. She heard guys like that could smell fear, though she'd never been sure of the truth in that statement. There was one thing for sure: she wasn't willing to test it out right now.

She felt relief pool in her stomach as the familiar building came into view and she began to see more streetlights up ahead. But her 'companion' was faster than her—he cut her off and stepped in front of her.

"You know something? A pretty girl like you shouldn't be out here all alone," he said as he started walking closer to her. "Let me walk you back to wherever you were headed."

"No, thank you. That's okay," she said, her voice shaky. She tried to get by him again, but he cut her off once more.

"Are you sure?" As he questioned her, his fingers made a light trail down her arm and fear pulsed through her body as she swatted his arm away.

"I'm sure."

She tried walking away, but he grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her to him. As she turned her head away, he moved to brush a piece of hair away. She felt paralyzed; she couldn't move, she couldn't breath.

He smiled, but there was no warmth in his smile at all. "You really shouldn't have come out here all by yourself."

Finally snapping out of her fear somewhat, she tried yanking her arm out from his grasp, but he had an iron-clad grip on her. She tried looking at him with defiance, but at the hungry look in his eyes, she knew her threat was going to fall on deaf ears. "I'll scream if you don't get off of me."

The man let out a laugh that sent chills down her spin. "Look around you, Jude. There's no one around."

Her eyes widened. She could easily brush it off as her being famous, but there was something about the way this man said her name. He said it in such a familiar way that she was certain he knew who she was in more than just the fact that she was a celebrity.

"How did you—?"

"I'm hurt, Jude. You don't recognize me?"

She swallowed nervously. "Should I?" She wasn't sure if she wanted to recognize him.

"Think back. I'm sure you'd be able to remember if you tried hard enough."

She shook her head fervently. She wasn't going to try. She didn't want to know this man. "I'm sorry, I don't. Please, let me go," she whispered.

She felt a tear escape her eye and she hated herself for being so weak. She should be running away from this guy, not giving into her fear of him.

In that moment she made a decision. She wasn't going to let him have any control over her. She looked down at her feet and realized suddenly that she was wearing weapons. Without allowing him time to discover what she'd just realized, she lifted her foot and stomped down on his foot with her spiked heel.

He screamed out in pain and she used the opportunity to try and get away, but it was harder to run in heels than she had thought. The damn movies make it look so easy.

She tripped on one of the cracks in the sidewalk and felt the wind get knocked out of her. As she lay on the sidewalk, she felt a daze overcoming her. She let out a small cough and winced in pain. She could hear her attacker's footsteps gaining on her. Apparently his pain hadn't been bad enough to slow him down much. Damn it.

She forced herself up and looked backwards, seeing him walking briskly towards her. As she started to run away again, he grabbed her and pulled her to his chest. "Let me go," she yelled.

Relief filtered through every fiber of her being when she noticed Tommy walking towards them. She hadn't even seen him come out of the restaurant. There had been no signs of movement anywhere, but she was grateful, nonetheless.

"You heard the lady. She said to let go," he said in a dangerously low voice.

As Jude allowed herself to get a good look at him, she noted that he looked deathly serious; if she didn't know who he was, she would have been absolutely terrified of him. Hell, scratch that—she was terrified of him. He looked completely unfamiliar to her as he moved quickly towards them with his fists clenched, ready to start throwing punches if need-be. He was standing under one of the streetlights and she noticed that his eyes had turned dark, almost black.

She felt the man's grip loosening on her and she saw him leaning in to whisper in her ear. "It was nice seeing you again, Jude. We should do this again sometime," he replied as he shoved her forward, right into Tommy.

Without missing a beat, Tommy caught her by her waist. She grabbed onto his arms and pulled herself into an upright position. As she looked up at Tommy, she quickly noted by the cold expression on his face that he was still in dangerous mode. He started to move forward, obviously making a move to go after the guy, but she stopped him. He looked down at her, trying to calm himself. "Tommy, don't. It's not worth it. Let's just go."

"Man, I used to wipe the floor with punks like that," he mumbled under his breath. "Are you okay?" he asked softly.

As she continued staring at him, she was amazed at how quickly he transformed from the dangerous, scary guy, to the guy that was standing in front of her now. His eyes had softened, had almost returned back to their normal color, and the way he was looking at her caused her stomach to do odd, but not unpleasant, things.

She managed a brief nod, but that apparently didn't satisfy him. "Are you sure?"

"I'm fine, thanks to you. He would have—"

He shook his head, cutting her off. "Don't think about that, okay? Let's just get you back inside where it's safe."

"No arguments here," she mumbled.

He grinned, "Oh, there's a first." She playfully punched him in the side of his stomach and he feigned injury. "Ouch. That hurt," he said sarcastically.

She laughed a little and smiled up at him as they continued walking. She was thankful for his attempt to lighten things up and make her forget about what had just happened. It was something she'd rather not remember. All the possibilities as to what could have happened if he hadn't shown up would only drive her crazy. "Seriously. Thank you. You're like my knight in shining armor or something."

"I don't know about that," he said softly as he promptly avoided her gaze.

Confusion marred her features. "What are you talking about?"

He sighed. "Jude about before, I didn't mean—"

"Hey. It's forgotten," she said smiling sincerely at him. "Look, what do you say we call a real truce? I promise I'll try not to be so stubborn and listen to your feedback."

He grinned again and nodded. "Deal. Sounds good to me," he said as he started walking away. When he noticed that she wasn't following, he turned back around. "Aren't you coming?"

"Uh, Tommy?"

"What?"

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he lied, a smirk forming at the corner of his mouth.

"Tommy—I promised I wouldn't be so stubborn and that I'd listen to you more often, now what about you?"

He shrugged. "I don't have anything I need to work on," he said smugly.

"Oh please," she groaned. "How about how overbearing you are, or your perfectionist idiosyncrasies, or—"

"Okay, okay. I give. I'll ease up, more, too. Deal?"

She smiled and stuck out her hand for him to shake. "Deal."

As he shook her hand, a weight felt like it had been lifted from her shoulders. Maybe they could get past everything and move on from their past after all.

When they got inside of the restaurant, Jude looked up at Tommy. "Can you take me home?" she asked, nervous.

He looked at her in shock. "Uh, are you sure?"

Jude nodded quickly. "More than. I just don't want to go back in there and deal with everybody right now. Please?"

He hesitantly nodded. "Sure thing, Harrison. I'll get your coat and I'll pull my car up while you say goodbye. I'm sure I won't be missed," he said with small smile.

"Tommy—"

"Don't worry about it. I'll be doing tons of penance after tonight's fiasco. You just go say bye to everyone, okay?"

"Sure."

Jude watched as he turned to walk away, not understanding a thing about that man. It was amazing to her that in such a short amount of time, she let her opinion change about him. She had gone from being determined not to let herself open up to him again, to being so thankful he was around.

She didn't really want to think about what would have happened if he hadn't shown up when he did. But it was as if her mind was on autopilot and took her down that path against her will…

She couldn't stop her mind from focusing on the clear fact that her attacker knew her. But why didn't she know him? The way he said her name, she was almost certain that he knew her on a familiar level; why else would he tell her to think back to try and remember him? Clearly she was missing something.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped, feeling scared out of her wits. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw who it was. "Tommy. Probably not the best idea to sneak up on me like that."

"I called your name like five times and you didn't answer me."

"You did?"

"Yeah," he said as he nodded.

"Oh. I didn't hear you," she offered stupidly. She didn't realize how lost in thought she had been in.

"Obviously." He was frowning, his face basked in concern. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Mhm. I'm fine. What did you need?"

His eyes still skeptical, he reluctantly answered her. She could tell right away that he didn't believe her. "Well, I saw that you hadn't gone back to the table yet and I was just coming to tell you that I had your jacket and was leaving to go get my car. Jude—"

She decided to cut him off before he had another chance to ask if she was okay. She knew that's where that sentence was headed and she wanted to get a few things straight with him.

"I'm fine. Look, I already have enough people hovering over me and treating me like I'm about to break any second. I don't need it from you, too, okay? I can handle myself."

If she didn't know any better, she could have sworn she saw a glimmer of hurt grace his features at her harsh words. She felt bad about it, but she was so damn tired of everybody treating her like she should be handled with care.

He nodded and started to walk away, but she grabbed him by the shoulder and stopped him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I swear, everything I say around you comes out wrong." He turned around and she noted that a hint of amusement now graced his features and she could feel her face turning red. She hated feeling so flustered.

She took a deep breath and tried again. "You have no idea how relieved I was to see you out there. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."

"I just happened to be in the right place at the right time," he said, shrugging off her gratitude.

"Don't. You were there when I needed you to be and that means everything to me." She sighed when he didn't say anything. "Just let me go say goodbye and I'll meet you outside, okay?"

A simple nod was her only response and she groaned in frustration before making her way back to the table. When she got there, she noted that everyone was engaged in quiet chatter, seemingly enjoying their meals.

Johnny saw her and smiled, but as she began to make her way over to him, it faltered. He leaned in and whispered in her ear. If she knew Johnny as well as she thought she did, that look meant he automatically suspected that something was wrong. "What's going on? Why were you gone so long?"

"I just went for a walk, that's all," she said with an insincere smile on her face. She hated lying to him, but she didn't want to tell him the truth, either.

He studied her and she felt herself fidgeting under his intense stare. "You're lying," he said with certainty.

Her head snapped up and she tried to look repulsed by the idea. "I am not," she said indignantly.

"Liar, liar, pants on fire. You're hiding something from me. What is it?"

She sighed. He would never be able to handle the truth if he knew what was really going on. Just the idea of lying to him made her stomach churn, but she didn't have much of a choice. "It's nothing. I promise. I just need to get home, okay?"

"Why? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's great. I'm just starting to feel really tired all of a sudden." She smiled and shook her head as she let out a low chuckle. "Getting up at 4:30 in the morning will do that to you, I guess."

"Okay," he said hesitantly. "Do you need a ride?"

She shook her head, still smiling. "Nope. I'm catching a ride home with Tommy."

Shock lit up his face and she felt like laughing at the sight. "Are we talking about the same Tommy that just made you walk out on dinner?"

"Yep. Same one. Look, he's waiting for me. I've gotta run. But I'll see you tomorrow. I promise," she said as she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

"Yeah. Sure," he said, obviously still a little wary. "Call me when you get home, okay?"

"Will do, babe. See you later." As she headed out of the room, she looked over her shoulder and yelled back to the table, "Bye guys," and was greeted with an echoed mumble of goodbyes.

She hurriedly made her way outside and saw the Viper waiting with Tommy leaning against the passenger door. He grinned. "So I see you made it out of there alive."

"Just barely. You gonna open that for me?" she asked with a smile on her face.

"Maybe," he said as he blocked the door.

"Maybe?"

"Maybe. What's in it for me?"

She rolled her eyes and chuckled. "The knowledge that you were almost the perfect gentlemen tonight?"

He started laughing and nodded. "Touché," he said as he moved aside, holding her door open.

She climbed inside and heard him ask, "Are you in?"

Smile still plastered on her face, she nodded. "Yup."

When he got into the driver's side of the car, he glanced over and she noticed a devilish smirk forming on his lips. She glanced warily at him. "What?"

"I've got a surprise for you."

"You're not taking me home then?"

He shook his head as he put the car in drive. "Nope. That alright with you?" When she didn't answer, she heard him let out an exasperated sigh. "Is it really gonna kill you to be alone with me?"

"No, I just—"

"Then what's the problem? Do you trust me?"

She glanced at him, shocked by the question. She really didn't know how to answer that. With her life, of course she trusted him. He proved tonight that he wouldn't let anything happen to her if he could help it. But as far as any other kind of trust goes, she wasn't so sure about. She sighed. "I guess."

He rolled his eyes and focused his attention on the road. "Well then, I guess I'll have to take what I can get."

"Where are we going?"

He shook his head stubbornly. "Nope. Not telling. You'll just have to wait and see," he said with a grin forming on his lips.

She really wished he wouldn't do that. There was that strange feeling in her stomach again. Why did it always seem to happen around him? She bit her lip as she looked out the window.

She hoped she wasn't making a mistake by agreeing to this night drive.

He watched as Jude looked around, obviously confused by his choice of location. "What are we doing here?"

Sighing, he turned off the car and looked at her. "This is your surprise."

"The lake?" She shook her head. "I don't understand. Why did you bring me here?"

He smiled and got out of the car, quickly walking over to her side to let her out. He held out his hand for her to take, but she just stared at him. "What are we doing here?" she asked again.

"Just get out of the car, Harrison."

She sighed and accepted his extended hand. He sat on the hood of his car and motioned for her to do the same. "Okay, I'm out of the car. Now will you tell me what's going on?"

"I take it you remember the lake?"

"Of course I do."

He stared out at the water, thinking back to the first time he ever worked with her. This place had been what brought them together then. Maybe it could do the same thing now.

"I was hoping we could work past everything tonight. Start over," he said quietly.

"What?"

"Jude, when I said that I wouldn't have volunteered for the job, I wasn't talking about working with you. I swear."

"I don't understand."

"My life—it's been crazy since I've been away from Toronto. I've become something I can't honestly say that I'm proud to be." He paused, unsure of what exactly to tell her. Silence passed as he realized that it was harder than he thought.

As he stared out into the lake, he realized she wasn't pushing him to tell her anything, and that made it so much easier.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to explain himself the best that he could. "Two years ago, I got involved with one of my artists. The rumors that were flying weren't exactly rumors. But the paparazzi didn't know the whole story and they still don't. After the mess with my artist happened, I made a promise to myself. I swore that I wouldn't produce another artist if I had any say at all." He looked over at her and gave her a small smile. "I didn't mean anything against you. I'm sorry it came across that way."

She remained silent for a minute before nodding. "It's okay. I get it. Thanks for explaining it to me," she said quietly.

Tommy scooted further back on the hood of his car and laughed at her as she tried to do the same. "First things, first. Shoes off, girl."

"What?"

"I'm not letting you scuff up my car with your heels."

She let out an exasperated sigh as she rolled her eyes and began taking off her shoes. "Some things never change," she said as she tossed them on the ground.

Taking her by surprise, he grabbed her by the waist, pulled her backwards and laughed as she tried to keep her dress down. "That is a pretty tiny dress. What were you thinking?"

"Blame my sister," she said grouchily.

"Ah. Say no more," he chuckled.

After she got settled, she sat with her legs out in front of her, with her right leg, swung over the left and leaned back on her hands. She let out a sigh that ended up sounding dreamy and he looked at her and tried to hold back laughter. She grinned sheepishly and avoided his gaze. "I have a confession to make."

"Is it juicy gossip material? I've got to tell you, the gossip has been pretty dead around here lately," he smirked.

She smiled and shook her head. "No, it's not that 'juicy'. It's pretty simple, actually."

"Well I'm dying in suspense here, Harrison."

"I've always loved it here," she admitted quietly.

As she avoided his gaze, he knew that more meaning behind that statement existed. More that she wasn't willing to say.

He cleared his throat and turned to face the water again, unsure of what to say. This place was important to him too, and he loved it here. Probably just as much as she did.

He could tell she felt a little uncomfortable so he tried to lighten things up a little. "That's your big secret? Wow, that's… dull."

She laughed a little and for some unknown reason, she seemed so much more relaxed than she had been the entire night. It was nice, knowing they could maybe get back to their old habits.

They sat in silence and just listened to the water, taking everything in.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but he glanced over in her direction and noticed that she looked deep in thought. He gave her a small nudge and she looked up at him in surprise. "What's on your mind?"

"Nothing."

"Jude."

She sighed and looked away. "I'm sorry."

To say he was perplexed was an understatement. He had no idea what she could possibly be apologizing for. "Uh, what for?"

"For flipping out on you during our session the other day. I didn't mean what I said."

"It's fine—"

"No, it's not. I just… when you left, I didn't really deal with it. I just kept telling myself that I didn't care that you had gone without even saying goodbye and after a while, I believed it."

"Jude—"

"Let me finish. You have no idea how hard it was for me to change '24 Hours'. I was so against it."

"Oh I remember. It was like pulling teeth," he said smiling.

"I didn't want to change it. But I did… because I trusted you," she said quietly.

And suddenly, it all made sense to him. He looked away, feeling guilty. He shouldn't have just left like that. At the time, he had thought it was what was best for both of him, but really, he was just being selfish. He hadn't wanted to deal with her possibly trying to persuade him to say, and he had just wanted out of there as quickly as he could get away.

"When you asked me earlier if I trusted you, I wasn't completely honest with you. But I'm trying," she stated.

He forced himself to look at her and he sighed. "Thanks."

He slid off the hood of the car and walked around to help her down. He grabbed her shoes, held his hand out, and was surprised when she didn't argue with him. He gave her a small smile as he opened the door. "Let's get you home."