A/N: Hey sorry this took so long. But I think you will like this chapter. Read and review please.
Chapter 20
When Tommy arrived home, he looked around the living room. He wondered how exactly he got here. This house surrounded by all the material possessions he has collected through out the years. Was this what he really wanted? All these things suddenly had even less value than before.
"Tom. You're home early." Nicole smiled as she saw Tommy.
He looked right into her eyes. His stare was serous and intense. "Nicole we need to talk" Tommy said.
" OK." Nicole didn't like the tone he used. She crossed her arms across her chest and furrowed her eyebrows at him.
Tommy sighed and stepped further into the house. He walked over to his office and debated whether to sit down or not. He turned around to make sure Nicole followed him. He saw Nicole staring at him. He needed to tell her everything that had been plaguing his mind for so long. "I think we both know that for a while things between us have been… different."
Nicole glared at him. "I don't know what you mean."
Tommy ran his hands through his hair. "You know what I mean Nic. I don't think either one of us is happy."
" We are happy. We love each other we just adopted Eric. We're a real family. That's what you wanted." She smiled nervously.
"What about you Nicole? Is that what you wanted?" Tommy asked in a tone that she had never heard from him.
She studied his face. She was afraid of where this was going. "I want whatever you want." She said walking up to him. Nicole stood in front of Tommy and looked up at him. What was happening?
"You didn't answer my question." Tommy said not reacting to her closeness like she wanted.
Nicole stepped away from him suddenly. "What's going on? Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?"
" This shouldn't come as a surprise to you Nicole. We've been having problems for a while now." Tommy didn't look at her as he said this. It was almost as if he was telling himself .
"We have always had problems, but we've always found a way to solve them." She grinned at him.
Nicole placed her arms around his neck and Tommy pulled them away from him. "This is… different."
"Different? How so?" Nicole whispered.
"I don't know how to explain it."
"Well try!" Her voice was shaky and urgent.
"You didn't answer me when I asked you if you were happy. I know you're not."
"Of course I'm happy." She laughed. Her laughter coming out shaky.
"You didn't want children and I pushed the idea of them into you. That was selfish of me. And I'm sorry about that." She didn't say anything and he continued. " I know you've noticed how we've drifted apart. We're not the same people we were when we got married."
"But I am! I haven't changed!" She said throwing her hands in the air.
"But I have Nicole! I realized that all this material things we have surrounded ourselves with mean nothing to me." Tommy said gesturing to everything around them.
"There's nothing wrong with wanting nice things."
"You're right." He sighed.
Nicole looked at him. It was clear that he wanted to say something but couldn't do it. " Whatever you have to say just say it Tom!"
Tommy looked at her intently. " I don't want to lie to you anymore."
"Then don't." Nicole whispered.
"I don't know if… I feel the same way I used to about you."
Nicole struggled to understand the words coming out of his mouth. "What do you mean by that?"
"I'm confused. I still care about you very much. I just don't know if …I love you."
"How can I say this to me?!" Nicole cried. She shook her head at him.
"Would you rather me lie to you?! Keep hurting you by not telling you how I feel?!"
"This is not how you feel! It can't be. Tom?! We have the prefect life. You're a famous producer. I'm a famous model. W have the best house, the best cars. People envy us! Envy you! You can't do this to me. Do you know how many men would kill to have me as their wife?"
"Nicole you're not understanding." Tommy sighed.
"What am I not understanding?! That you're telling me that you don't love me anymore? That you don't want me! That you want to throw me away because I'm no use to you anymore?!"
"You're talking about being the envy of everyone around us. I don't care about any of that. I don't care about everyone else. We are talking about our relationship. You and me."
Nicole shook her head as he went on. "We both know what this marriage was based on. It was a publicity stunt. A game we played with the press. We got married because I was lil Tommy Q and you were Nicole Fenway. We are the perfect marriage in pictures, on covers of magazines and on TV. But Nic. We both know we are far from perfect."
Nicole let his words sink in. She let out a long heavy breath. "You are not getting rid of me that easy! I've done everything in my power to make you happy. I agreed to have a stranger be inseminated with your sperm so you can have your child. I encourage you to adopt Eric when your possibilities of having your own children were gone. Do you know how difficult that was for me? I don't even like children! I could have lived the rest of my life with you without them. Just you and me."
"I want you to be happy Nicole. I don't want you to do things just to make me happy."
"What exactly are we taking about here? Are you asking me for a… divorce?"
"I don't know Nicole. I didn't exactly come home planning on telling you all this. I guess I need time to sort out my feelings."
Nicole shook her head. "How can you throw away everything we have? All I've done for you?"
"I do care about you Nicole."
"But you don't love me! You are not getting rid of me Tom Quincy! I'm Nicloe Fenway Quincy! No one throws me away!" She threatened.
"So you are going to make me stay with you against my will? Is that it?!" Tommy yelled.
"Yes! You need me Tommy. We are the same. Deep down you still love the fame, the attention the glamorous life we lead. Love? Love is for suckers! Love is for losers. We have something better than love." Nicole walked over and tried to kiss Tommy but he pulled away.
"You see?! That is all we ever had. Lust! You are really happy living like that?!" Tommy asked her.
"I don't recall ever hearing you complain about it." She smirked. She leaned in again and Tommy pushed her away again and went to sit behind his desk.
"I'm not like that anymore Nic. The Tommy that was blinded by fame, money and sex. He stopped existing when I got sick. Life is so much more than the things I used to worship."
Nicole rolled her eyes. She was tired of hearing Tommy's " I love life so much more now that I know I can die one day" speech he always gave her. " Tom. You were sick. But you're not anymore. Get over it. Life is to live it the best way possible. Not to fantasize about the white picket fence and all that other nonsense. You know I am not the type."
Tommy sat back in his desk, putting his head in his hands. "Nicole?"
"I'm going to forget we had this conversation. You're tired, confused. You don't know what you're saying. Tomorrow, you'll feel differently."
"Nicole. Don't make this harder than it already is."
Nicole didn't say anything. She went upstairs and tried to concentrate on what she would do now. She couldn't let go of Tommy. He was confused. And she had a pretty good idea of who was confusing him.
That night Jude fell right to sleep. Sadie's words and the kiss with Tommy swimming in her brain.
Jude was walking along a dark forest, her long dress catching on a few twigs on the way. She was dressed in 19th century clothing. The dress was becoming incredibly heavy to walk in. She was about to give up her journey when suddenly she saw a break in the trees. She looked ahead and saw a small wooden cabin. It was beautiful. Jude walked to the house. Stopping a few feet away from the door to admire it.
She felt someone grab her from behind. She gasped but then smiled, she knew who it was. The person turned her around and kissed her gently on the lips. It was Tommy. He was dressed in old fashioned clothes as well " What took you so long?" He grinned.
"My parents were watching me. I had to sneak out." She whispered.
He turned her around to face the house, her back to him. "What do you think my love?" He asked, whispering in her ear.
"It's a lovely." Jude said looking at the house.
"It's ours." He told her.
Jude turned around to face him. "What?" She smiled.
"My father left it to me. This is where we will live once we're married."
Jude grinned at him again and he lowered his head to kiss her softly on the lips.
She pulled away, a sad look in her eyes. "No one wants us to be together." She said lowering her head. "Everyone objects to our union."
Tommy cupped her chin with his index finger, making her look at him. There were tears in her eyes. " I love you. No one will be able to keep us apart." He whispered and grabbed her by the waist. He pulled her up to meet his awaiting lips. It seemed they stayed like this for an eternity. They pulled away slowly. " I love you." She whispered.
"One day we will be married and this will be the house our children will grow up in." Tommy said.
"We are living in a dream." She whispered.
"Then it's up to us to make it a reality." He whispered back.
They both stiffened when they heard the loud sound of horse's approaching Alexzandra !" Someone shouted.
"They found us." Jude whispered.
"Meet me again here tonight after the ball." Tommy said kissing her.
Jude nodded and ran back through the trees she had come in, picking up her skirts to not trip over them.
Jude sat up abruptly in her bed. What a strange dream. Who was Alexzandra? Why was she dressed in 19th century clothing? And who were Jude and Tommy hiding from?
Morning at the Harrison Home
Jude was nervous about what would happen now that she had told Tommy she was in love with him. He had told her he felt the same way. Was he serious? Did he really feel the same way she did? She sat down on the end of her bed. Her face covered by her hands. She saw her cell phone sitting on her dresser. She didn't know why she felt so bold, but she picked it up and dialed a number. She felt her heart race as she waited fore him to answer. Jude closed her eyes and sighed when she heard his voice.
Quincy home
Tommy was sitting in on the bed of the guest room. He didn't sleep in his room with Nicole last night. Tommy felt it would be wrong to do so. He needed to think about what was going to happen now.
Nicole didn't sleep a wink all night. She waited for Tommy to come into their room but she grew tired of waiting. He was really serious about last night. She got up and walked over to the door of the guest room. She decided she needed to show Tommy exactly what he was giving up. She was about to open the door when she heard his cell phone ring.
Tommy looked down at his phone and saw it was Jude. " Hello."
"Hi. Tommy. It's me." Jude said suddenly feeling ridiculous for calling him.
"Is everything all right? Do you need something?" Tommy asked slightly panicked.
"No. Everything is fine." She assured him.
"Are you sure? Because I can go over to your house right now if you need me."
Nicole who was listening on the other end of the door. Covered her mouth in surprise. Who was Tommy talking to?
"No really. Everyone is fine…Tommy about yesterday. I want you to know that if you want to take it back it's fine. We we're both caught up in the moment and…"
"Did you mean what you said?" Tommy interrupted her.
Jude swallowed hard. " About loving you?" She whispered.
"Yes." He whispered back.
"Yes. Tommy I did."
"So did I Jude."
"Jude?!" Nicole screamed in her mind. She pressed her ear closer to the door.
"I don't regret anything that happened between us yesterday." Tommy said. " I'm glad it happened. I needed it to happen."
Nicole was enraged. She needed to know what it was that happened with Jude and Tommy. What ever it was she knew it was the cause of their talk last night.
"I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have called." Jude said biting her bottom lip.
"No. I'm glad you called. I really wanted to hear your voice." He said sincerely.
Jude felt her face turn red. Had he really just said that to her?
"Yeah. I like hearing your voice too. I'll see you later in the studio right?" Jude asked.
"Yes. I'll be at G-Major later. And Jude?"
"Yes Tommy."
" I'm really glad you called. You know you can call me whenever you like. For whatever you need. I'm here for you."
Jude smiled. " Ok. I'll see you later. Bye."
"Bye Jude." Tommy said before he hung up.
Nicole went back to her room. She ran her hands through her hair. " That little brat is not going to take Tommy from me!" She couldn't believe it! Tommy was cheating on her with Jude. Jude! She was so insignificant. " No! Tommy won't leave me for her. He's confused. It's all the excitement about having his bastard with Jude that has him thinking like that." Nicole paced the room slowly. She thought about the conversation she overheard. What happened yesterday between Jude and Tommy? How long has it been going on? And what can Nicole do to stop it? She knew Jude's first ultrasound was yesterday. Was that it? " Tommy is going to the studio today. I'm going to go and catch him with his little mistress. No one is taking Tom from me! I am the only one that deserves to be Mrs. Quincy." Nicole had done many things to have Tommy with her and she was willing to do a lot more to keep it that way.
A/N: So what did you think? What will Nicole do? Review please.