A/N: Happy Friday! (Although I'm posting this just after midnight because I will be very busy all day, it is technically Friday!) Here is the last flashback chapter.

It's still dark out when Tommy wakes to the sound of his doorbell ringing repeatedly, and someone banging on the front door. "What the hell?" he murmurs groggily. When the noise doesn't stop, he gets up, saying "Holy shit! Okay, I'm coming, calm down!" even though he knows that whoever it is can't hear him. When he opens the door, his heart skips a beat.

"Took you long enough." Jude says, her words slurring slightly. Her cheeks are flushed bright red, and her clothes and hair are soaking wet.

"Jude, what the hell?" he asks. "What time is it?"

"It is…" She pulls her phone from the pocket of her jeans. "2:48" she says, turning the screen towards him briefly before snapping the phone shut and putting it away. She grins. "It's my birthday."

"What are you doing here? How did you even get here?"

"I drove my car."

"Jesus!" he cries, eyes widening. "You drove this drunk?!"

"No, no." She shakes her head. "Sorry. I drove my car from my house," she illustrates with her hands, as if she were pointing out locations on a map. "to downtown, and I went to a bar and then I came here. I walked." she frowns. "It's raining."

"Yeah, I can see that." He notices that she's shivering a little and says "God, you must be freezing. Come in. Let me get you a towel or something." She walks in and he closes the door behind her. "You know what? I'll get you something dry to wear."

"Okay." she says calmly, pulling her wet shirt over her head. She isn't wearing a bra. He's shocked, struck dumb staring at her, mouth hanging open. She raises her eyebrows. "Is this what you wanted, Tommy? Is this what no strings means? Me naked in your apartment in the middle of the night?" She reaches out to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing herself against him. Her skin is cold, even through his shirt, and he can smell the alcohol on her breath. "Isn't this what you want?" she whispers in his ear, making him shiver.

"Jude, you're drunk." he chokes out, removing her arms from around his neck and pulling away. He looks down at the floor. "Let me, uh… I'm going to get you something to wear." He hurries out of the room, returning with a towel, his smallest sweatshirt, and a pair of pajama pants.

She says "thank you" softly as she accepts them from his hands.

"Yeah." he says, not letting himself look at her. "I'm going to make some tea, okay?" He doesn't wait for her to answer, just heads to the kitchen. While the water is heating up, he leans on the counter and tries to breathe deeply, trying to pull himself together and wrap his head around the situation.

When he comes back with a mug of tea and a glass of water, she's sitting on his couch in his clothes, legs pulled up to her chest, teeth chattering. He sets the cups down on the coffee table and grabs a blanket, wrapping it around her shoulders. He kneels in front of her and hands her the glass of water. "Drink this." he commands her gently. "It'll help the hangover later." She does as he says, and when the water is gone he takes the glass and hands her the mug. "And this should help with the shivering. Careful, it's hot."

She takes it from his hands, her star ring clinking against the side of the mug. "Thank you." She says again, and he nods, giving her upper arms a quick squeeze, smiling at her before moving to sit next to her on the couch. They sit there quietly for a long time as she drinks her tea, not looking at each other. Eventually she says "I'm sorry."

He's not sure whether she's apologizing for waking him up in the middle of the night, or for taking off her clothes in his living room. Either way, he turns to her and smiles. "It was… a little unexpected, to say the least."

"I did some shots." she mumbles, by way of explanation. "Tequila."

He snorts a laugh. "Well that explains a lot." He watches her play with the string on the tea bag, not looking at him. "It's okay." he says tenderly. "You know I've done a lot worse drunk. No judgement here." She just gives a "hmm", still not meeting his eyes. After another moment he asks "What happened?"

She looks up at him, finally. "It's my birthday." She gives a crooked grin. "19."

He frowns. "So you went out by yourself? That's really not the safest idea, you know."

"It wasn't the plan." She shrugs. "But Sadie and Kwest got tickets to a concert, Wally doesn't drink, Kyle's still 18, and Spied and Karma have stuff for their stupid TV show in the morning, so she told him he wasn't allowed to go out." Tommy raises his eyebrows. Eventually Jude mumbles, "And Jamie and I got into a huge fight."

A little jolt goes through him at that, wondering how big "huge" is, if they're even still together. But he knows he's getting ahead of himself, so he gently asks "what happened?"

"Kwest happened." she says with a huff. "He sold us out to Darius."

"Wait, what?" He frowns. "Sold who out?"

"Paegan was still contracted to G Major, so he was playing double agent." Jude explains bitterly. "Kwest found out and told Darius. D offered Paegan a giant comeback tour to pull out of NBR, and he took the deal. Blu left when his money left. She was our only artist."

"Oh God, Jude. I'm so sorry. When was this?"

"Last week." she sighs, rubbing her eyes with one hand and setting the empty mug on the coffee table.

"Well that really sucks, but I still don't get how you go from that to doing shots of tequila by yourself."

"Because Jamie won't let it go!" she cries, and her next words come out in a slightly slurred rush. "He's been moping around for days, and I was like, okay Jamie, I fucking get it okay, it's a big deal, but it's my birthday, you know? Like what is wrong with wanting to just forget it and go out and have fun on my fucking birthday?! And then he accused me of not caring about NBR, so I accused him of not caring about me, and he called me selfish, so I stormed out, and then tequila and then here we are." She sighs, then tilts her head thoughtfully. "Tequila tastes awful. Pretty sure I still like it, though."

Tommy ignores the tangent. "Does he know where you are?" She shakes her head and he nods. "That's… probably for the best. But does he at least know you're safe?"

She nods "I texted him, told him I was fine but I wasn't coming home."

"Does Sadie know?"

Jude shrugs. "She knows I'm okay. I think she thinks Spied came with me. She's not expecting me back. But she doesn't know I'm here." She turns her face towards him, leaning her cheek against the back of the couch. "No one knows that part."

"Why are you here? I mean, it's okay that you are, but…" he trails off, at a loss for words.

"I don't know. I just started walking, and here was closest. But really I guess it's because…" She looks at him for a long moment, biting her lip. Eventually she says, "I haven't been able to stop thinking about you. About us, what you said last time."

"I'm sorry." he sighs. "It came out wrong. I shouldn't have suggested–"

She straightens up and cuts him off. "But it's what I want."

Her words send a jolt through his chest, but he shakes his head. "You don't know what you're saying."

"Yes I do." she insists. "I love Jamie, I do, but I can't stop thinking about you. I can't stay away from you, I'm not strong enough." She pushes the blanket off of her shoulders and moves, clumsily, climbing on top of him and kissing him. She tastes like tequila and lemon tea.

He pushes her away gently, holding her at arms length by the shoulders. "Jude, no."

"But this was your idea." Her eyes are wide. "I mean it, Tommy. I'm saying yes." She trails her fingers along his jaw, and breathes "Please."

"You're drunk."

"That doesn't mean I don't want this!" she protests. She kisses him again, and he lets her, giving in to the kiss for just a second before turning and standing up, dropping her on the couch.

"No, Jude." he says firmly. "Definitely not when you're this drunk."

She pouts, crossing her arms. "Fine. I'll just go then." She stands up from the couch, wobbling a little bit.

"Jude." Tommy sighs, frustrated. "It's still raining, and you're too drunk to drive."

"I'll call a cab." she says defiantly,

"It's 4 AM." he challenges, then sighs again and says, "Let me drive you home."

Jude shakes her head. "I don't want Jamie to see your car."

"Then you should stay here, okay?" She raises an eyebrow, and he shakes his head. "Guest room, Harrison." He reaches out to touch her shoulder. "You're exhausted anyway. So am I."

Finally she nods, so he walks with her to his guest room, bringing her another glass of water. "Do you need anything else?" he asks as she climbs under the covers.

She shakes her head, so he turns to leave. When he's at the door, he hears her softly say "I'm sorry."

He turns around and gives her a little smile. "It's okay, girl. We can talk in the morning. Just go to sleep."

.

Jude's phone alarm wakes her up the next morning at 9:30 AM, and she's disoriented for a moment, unsure of where she is. Slowly, everything comes back to her as she looks around. There's an awful taste in her mouth, and her head hurts, though not as badly as she might have expected. She groans, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep, but knowing she shouldn't. On her phone there's a text from Jamie, a response to the text she sent him last night which read "sleeping at rehearsal space. dont come to get me. see u tomorow"

[ From: Jamie ]
[ 8:32 ]
I understand. But I didn't mean what I said.
I promise I'll make it up to you. xoxo

She sighs. She can't help but still be mad at Jamie for what he said, even though knows she is selfish, and immensely so, as her presence in Tommy's apartment proves. There's a glass of water on the bedside table, and she wonders if Tommy refilled it for her while she slept. She feels a little rush of warmth at the thought.

She drinks the water, then forces herself to get up, heading to the bathroom. She finger-brushes her teeth and uses some of Tommy's mouthwash. There's makeup smudged around her eyes, and she washes it off. As she pushes the sleeves of Tommy's sweatshirt up, she flushes at the memory of last night. Did she really just walk into his apartment in the middle of the night and take her shirt off? God. Part of her is mortified, but the memory of Tommy's face as he looked at her, slack-jawed, almost makes it worth it.

He's in the kitchen brewing coffee when she walks in. She stands in the doorway and takes in the sight of him in his pajamas, his tousled hair, and her stomach flips. She says his name and he jumps, startled. He turns, looking surprised. "Hey! Morning, birthday girl. I kind of assumed you'd sleep for longer."

She shakes her head. "I set an alarm."

"How are you feeling?"

Jude shrugs and sits down at the counter. "Not too bad, all things considered. I could really use some of that coffee, though."

"Sure thing." He pours a two cups, setting one in front of her and sitting down next to her with the other. After a minute he asks "how much do you remember?"

"All of it. I wasn't that drunk." she insists. She takes another swallow of the coffee, and says what she's sure they're both thinking. "Just drunk enough to walk here in the rain and take my clothes off."

He gives a short laugh. "Not that drunk, eh?"

"I'm really sorry." she sighs, looking down at the counter.

"It's fine. Like I said last night, I've done worse, trust me. No judgement. We can forget it ever happened."

"No, we can't." she snaps, looking up at him. He looks surprised. "Tommy, I know you think I came here because I was drunk and not thinking straight, but that's not what happened."

He frowns, confused, and shakes his head. "I don't know what you mean."

"It was the opposite. I think I got drunk because I wanted to come here and I didn't have the courage."

"Wait, what?" Tommy still looks confused.

She turns towards him on the bar stool. "I meant what I said last night. I haven't been able to get you out of my head."

He shakes his head again. This time it's a warning. "Jude…"

"You said you wanted sex, no strings. I'm saying yes."

"You don't know–"

Anger surges in her, and she cuts him off. "Dammit, Quincy! I know exactly what I'm saying! I am not a child!" She's caught him off guard, and he snaps his mouth shut, staring at her. "Okay," she continues, more quietly. "I know I stormed out of here last time, and I know I've been ignoring your texts, but it's because I was scared. I've never done anything like this, and Jamie… But you don't understand, I think about you all the time. I can't stop myself." She stands, wrapping her arms around his neck. He closes his eyes, but doesn't pull away. "I'm not strong enough to stay away from you, Tommy."

He opens his eyes, and she can see them darken, his pupils dilating. He's breathing hard. "Jude…"

"So this is me, stone cold sober, telling you I want this, okay?" With her hand on the back of his neck, her lips inches away from his, she whispers "Kiss me."

He closes the short distance between them. His kiss is gentle at first, but she curls her fingers through the hair at the back of his head, pulling on it, and he makes a low noise in the back of his throat and deepens the kiss. He slips his hands into the sweatshirt she's wearing, and she pulls back to pull it over her head. He presses his lips to her bare collarbone, but she pulls back, pulling him up off the barstool and kissing him again. They shuffle to his bedroom, tangled together, various articles of clothing scattered through his apartment on the way.

When he grabs a condom from his nightstand drawer, the foil square between his fingers jogs his memory, and he pauses.

"What?" Jude asks impatiently.

"Before we do this you should know that Lorena and I are back together."

"Wait, what?" She frowns. "Like, together together?"

"Yes."

"Like, exclusive?"

He winces a little. "Yes."

Jude's eyebrows shoot up and she pushes herself up on her elbows. "So are you saying you don't want to do this?"

He shakes his head and kisses her, pushing her back down onto the bed. "Of course I want to." he whispers, close to her ear, and groans softly, "God, I want to." He pulls up again, looking her in the eyes. "But you should know what you're agreeing to. Lorena is involved too."

Jude nods and pulls his mouth back to hers, arching her back and hooking a leg over him, pressing him closer to her. In his ear she says, "maybe it's actually better this way." The comment makes him pull up again. He raises an eyebrow. Jude, impatient, takes the condom from his hand and tears it open. She whispers "mutual assured destruction" and rolls the condom down over his erection before he has time to react to what she said.

A/N: I struggled somewhat with the characterization of Jude in these flashback scenes, because all three times she's the one who initiates the sex. This is on the surface a reversal of what one might expect, and is also seemingly in conflict with Tommy's perception as seen in the first chapter that this is "all his fault," that "his decisions were the ones that led them here." After a lot of thinking and a lot of different versions of these three scenes (this chapter, chapter 9, and chapter 5) I decided that this is, a, in character, and b, not a contradiction.

Throughout the show there's a push and pull between Jude and Tommy that, for the most part, has Jude being the impulsive one, and Tommy, for all of his devil-may-care bad boy façade, being the one who hesitates and pulls away. Tommy still comes away from nearly every instance (Unsweet Sixteen kiss, the first half of Long and Winding, 18, My Hometown) with the idea that he's dragging her down with him, even when she's demonstrated repeatedly that being with him is what she wants. Because of the age difference (and rightly so!) Tommy puts the responsibility on himself to put a stop to things, and deals with a lot of guilt when he views himself as having failed to do so. Never is it so extreme as it is in this story, obviously, but Jude's impulsiveness and recklessness is an established character trait that I think makes the forwardness with which she behaves in this story reasonable. Something else that's still in character in my opinion is Jude's fear of hurting Jamie, and her unwillingness to let him go even if he's not the one she truly wants. It paralyzes her here, and makes her do a pretty horrible thing, but I see that as a reasonable extension of her in-canon behavior with Jamie (him dangling off of a roof, anyone?)

As always, let me know if you have any thoughts/comments/questions/suggestions!