Ok, I'm back. Firstly, I appreciate the lack of death threats after the cliffhanger in the last post-I seriously was nervous that you'd all hunt me down! As promised, this post and the next few will make up for it, but please be warned, this chapter also has a cliffhanger. It's smaller than the last one, but it's still there.

Quick note: I borrowed a line in this chapter from the movie "Kissing Jessica Stein." I know it's random but I was really touched by this part in the movie and it works here too. So I don't own anything associated with that movie.

Also, I'm writing another fanfic that I think will be a one-shot. So keep your eyes open for it--the tentative title is "WhereYou Lead." Just figured I'd let you all know.

I'll shut up now since I'm thinking you're all probably eager to read...thanks for your feedback and I hope you enjoy! Lots of T/J cuteness...I'm trying not to disappoint...:-)

She brought her hands to his, causing him to look up, as she said quietly, "Wait."

Tommy immediately stopped and moved off of her, looking flustered.

"Sorry, I just got carried away," he explained, sitting up.

"No, it's not that," Jude said, carefully sitting up too. "I just...I need a little more than this."

"What do you mean?" he asked, not sure what she was referring to.

She took a deep breath trying to compose her thoughts. "I sat here a couple of nights ago and told you everything. How hard this past year has been for me and how I feel about you now." He looked down, knowing what she was about to say. "I appreciate everything you've said up until now, but I can't do this again without you letting me in a little more. There's got to be more going through that head of yours."

"I don't know what else to say…" he started.

"Yes, you do," she said, grabbing his hands. "I need to know how you feel about me."

Silence set in as he fumbled with her hands.

"Jude…you know how I feel about you," he uttered, recognizing the weakness in his response.

"Do I? Sometimes I think I do but just when I think I have you figured out, you hurt me again or run me around in circles. I honestly don't know what I mean to you anymore."

He saw the distress in her eyes and knew he needed to open up once and for all. He shifted on the bed, running his fingers through his hair and breathing heavily.

"I…I don't know…I just…" he started awkwardly.

She sat there silently, patiently. Her request was reasonable but not easy for him—as talented as he was as a songwriter, he was still a guy and talking about his feelings was like a foreign language. She saw him struggle and grabbed his hands, causing him to stop trying to speak and look at her.

"Hey," she said, staring into his eyes. "It's just you and me here. No one else. Talk to me."

He looked into her eyes and felt his focus return. He took a deep breath and leaned his head in, resting his forehead on hers. He released her hands to start stroking her hair.

"I just…," he started again, feeling like his heart was going to jump out of his chest. He took a deep breath and then said softly, "I'm crazy about you."

She smiled, still leaning against him and hearing his rapid breathing. "Really?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah," he said, pulling back to look at her. He held her hands again and added, "I'm totally crazy about you."

She beamed at his confession. He continued, feeling the weight lifted from his chest.

"I care about you. A lot. Probably more than I should. Definitely more than I've ever cared about anyone." Jude swallowed, feeling a lump form in her throat, as he went on. "Last year, when I chose Sadie, I hated myself for hurting you. I had managed to push away the one person that I wanted to be close to. And seeing you with Jamie, it killed me. I hated it and not because he's a bad guy, he's not, but because I was actually jealous of him."

Jude looked at him with confusion. "I know, shocking, right?" he asked, seeing her reaction.

"Anyway," he continued, "it made me realize something. I loved seeing you happy but I didn't want to sit on the sidelines watching you smile over some other guy. I wanted to be happy with you, I wanted to be the reason why you were happy. Jude, I want to be the one to make you happy."

She sat in awe, trying to comprehend everything he was saying, as the tears started to roll down her cheeks.

"Wow," was all she could say, clearly blown away. After a few moments, she asked, "So everything Sadie said, it was all…true?"

"Yep, all of it," he admitted. "And I told her that yesterday. Along with an apology. I chose Sadie because it made more sense, on paper at least, but I learned pretty quickly that she wasn't the one I wanted to be with. She wasn't you," he said, gently wiping away one of her tears. "I didn't want to hurt her either, but I managed to hurt you both."

She nodded, still in shock. She couldn't believe what he had told her.

He interrupted her thoughts, curiosity getting the better of him. "So, how was that? Still feeling like you don't know how I feel?"

"No, that was pretty good," she said with a smile, wiping her eyes. "Very convincing, Quincy. Did you already use that speech or something? It came out pretty easily after a little pushing."

"Oh yeah, that was one of the many in my book," he joked. "You know, my book on how to win over your dream girl."

She smiled, not questioning whether she fell in to this category. He looked at her smile and edged in closer to her. He lightly touched her cheek and asked, "Do you want to hear more?"

She looked into his blue eyes and softly responded, "No, I think you said enough."

At this, he smiled and leaned in, pressing his lips against hers once more. She immediately embraced him, bringing him in closer to her and feeling a rush of emotion. He held on to her tightly, eagerly taking hold of her mouth. She slid back to lie down, holding on to him, feeling his weight against her. He broke the kiss momentarily and looked into her eyes, seeing the tears still there.

"I want to do this, I want to give us a shot," he said, kissing her tenderly.

"Really?" she asked in disbelief, to which he nodded. "But how?"

"I don't know…the reality is that people aren't going to understand. And even though I don't care what anybody thinks, we do have to live and work with them. So I guess it's up to you. As much as I want this to happen now, I don't want to force you to lie to the people around you. We can either put this on hold for a few months and give it a real shot then, or we can start now and just keep it as a secret between us," he said, watching her look away in consideration of both options. "Hey, there's no pressure. I'm going to be happy with either one."

She thought for a few moments and looked up at him. Here was the guy she wanted to be with more than anything and it was actually going to happen. Could she wait? But could she lie to her family, her friends? To Kat and Jamie, who she had just been upset with for lying to her? But looking into his eyes, knowing that he was going to be there for her regardless, she knew what choice she had to make. She knew she couldn't do it any other way.

A/N: Please don't kill me again! Come on, what would you do if you were her?