Kinda short, but I like this part a lot.

After that night, Jude did all she did to avoid Speed. He'd try to visit her at work, but Portia always told him she wasn't there, and at her house whoever answered never knew where she was. Jude couldn't concentrate on anything anymore. She slacked off in work and her relationship with Tommy was suffering. It's as if her mind just went blank.

"Tom, I just don't understand why you can't just ca-"

"Jude, I just want to see how he's doing. It'll only take a minute. Let's not fight about something as dumb as this." It seemed as if arguing was all they had been doing recently, at least it was all that Jude could remember. She was always too zoned out during anything else.

She sighed. "Fine. But this had better not take too long." They entered Speed's house/ where he built all his furniture. It was much smaller than the giant house Speed's family used to have, but it seemed much cozier.

"We were in the area, so we just thought we'd drop by to see how your work is going." Tom and Speed talked furniture and business, but Jude couldn't concentrate. She was too busy looking at her boyfriend and ex boyfriend, lost in thought. At least until Speed's little sister came in the room.

"Jude? Is that you?" Jude turned around. "Red, it is you!" She ran up to Jude and into her arms. "I haven't seen you in so long. I've missed you so much!"

"I missed you too hun." In truth, she had missed the little girl. She really looked up Jude when she was dating Speed. Jude was almost a sister to the girl since she didn't have one. Everyone around the room looked at them, knowing the controversy that this little encounter was going to cause.

Speed's dad rolled into the room, asking what all the commotion was.

"Daddy, look! Red's here! But her hair's not red anymore!" The little girl giggled, but Brandon Spiederman did not. He didn't have a happy look on his face when he saw her.

"Hey Brandon," Jude said quietly.

He didn't say anything back. He just rolled away.

"I'm guessing you were close to Vin's family then?" asked Tom on the way home. "Red. Nice nickname." Jude wasn't paying attention and Tom was growing impatient.

"Jude!" he yelled. This startled Jude. "What the hell's wrong with you?"

"What? Sorry Tommy. I'm just really out of it."

"You've been out of it for days. It's impossible to talk to you anymore!"

"I'm sorry Tom. I'm just-"

"You're not being yourself. I've been talking to myself the entire ride home and you haven't even realized it."

"Sorry. I'm fine, just a little distracted. What were you saying?"

"Nothing. It doesn't even matter anymore." Tommy was pissed, but Jude didn't even care.

The next morning, Tommy and Speed had a meeting. Speed was about to leave when he remembered something.

"Oh hey Tom, do you have those revisions for the formal dining? Jude was supposed to send them yesterday, but I nev-"

"You know what? I bet you she hasn't even finished them yet." Tommy shook his head. "I really don't know what's going on with her lately. Have you noticed anything strange?"

"About Jude? No dude, not really."

"It's just that she doesn't seem to be herself lately. I'm starting to lose my patience with her." Speed just looked down. "But anyways, I'll talk to her about it tonight. You should have it in a few days."

"Alright then. I'll see you then Tom." As Speed was leaving his office, Tom couldn't seem to get this suspicious vibe away from him. He had a feeling that Speed had something to do with Jude's weird behavior, but he didn't know exactly what it was.

"Jude!" Speed saw Jude in the parking lot, but when she saw him she just rolled her eyes and walked past him. "Jude, what's wrong? Is this about the hotel?" Jude just continued walking. "Jude, if you're mad at me, just tell me, please. I'm not the only one being affected here. I even think Tom's starting to get suspicious." When Jude reached out for her car door but Speed slammed it shut. "Jude, tell me if I hurt you." She reached out again but he slammed it shut yet again. "Dude, please. I just wanna know what's wrong!"

"My name is Jude!" she yelled at him. Speed looked taken aback. "What's wrong? You wanna know what's wrong!? This is wrong. We're wrong! Speed, I was fine. I was getting my life back together, until you came back!" She paused. "You know, when you left, I was miserable. But you never knew about that, did you? You don't know what it's like to be lost in a country you've never been to. I was wondering all around the state, because I didn't wanna come back home. I didn't want to have to see you!" She was visibly crying by this point, and it hurt him to see her cry because of him.

"But you know what hurts me the most, Speed? During those cold nights after you left, all I could do was wonder. Wonder where I had went wrong. How could it be that the one person I had ever really loved- couldn't even fight for me? I told myself that the next time we met, I was going to show you that leaving me was a big mistake." She paused again.

"But then you suddenly came back. And after all this time, this stupid heart of mine still yearns for you. And you know what else? Even now, I'm still the one who's hurt. I'm always the sucker."

Speed tried to get close to her, to hug her.

"Jude, I am so-" She moved away.

"Just let me go." This time, when she reached for her car, he let her.

Read and review pleeaasse.