Hi - sorry this took a few days to post, but I wanted to make sure it was perfect (or as close to perfect as it can get). The beginning part is rated T for teen and I apologize for anything overly mushy or cute, but as you know, I'm all about the cuteness :-) Thanks again for all of your wonderful reviews and feedback. You guys totally keep me going. Thanks for everything! So here it is...ENJOY!

Tommy cradled Jude against him and continued kissing her, stumbling away from the counter and walking towards the hallway to his bedroom.

He stumbled into his bedroom, still holding Jude and kissing her eagerly. He brought her to the edge of his bed and eased her down to let her weight fall onto the mattress. She kept her arms around his neck, pulling him down with her, as he climbed on the bed too.

Sitting on the bed beside her, he slowly started to remove her jacket. She kept her mouth steadily positioned on his, feeling his tongue sweep inside her mouth, and allowed him to pull the jacket off. She started to unbutton his shirt, feeling the buttons pull apart in her fingers and hearing him breathing intently. She worked her way down the shirt to undo the remaining buttons, swiftly pulling it off of him and leaving his white t-shirt on, as his hands glided up the back of her shirt against her bare skin. Without thinking, she moved her hands underneath his t-shirt. She dragged her hands up and down his back and sides, hearing him groan. As she crept her hands over his stomach, she felt him tug at the edge of her shirt. She quickly pulled away from his kiss to lift her arms up in the air, allowing him to remove the shirt. He took the edges of her shirt and pulled it up and over her head, revealing her cream-colored bra. She returned his gesture and brought his t-shirt up and over his head, revealing his well-built and muscular chest. Not bothering to examine each other, he immediately resumed to seize her mouth, lightly pressing her back to lie down on the bed.

He balanced himself on top of her, keeping his lips locked to hers and running his fingers through her hair. She held on to his back, feeling his shoulders move under her hands. He brought his hands down the sides of her body to the edge of her jeans. As he started to undo the button on her jeans, he felt her body suddenly stiffen.

He pulled his lips away from hers for a moment and opened his eyes. They were both breathing heavily, trying to regain control, as she too opened her eyes and stared up at him timidly. He instantly saw the hesitation in her eyes.

"Jude," he said, moving his hands away from her jeans to smooth out her hair, "we don't have to do this."

"I want to," she said quietly, looking into his eyes. Her words were genuine but there was still slight uncertainty in her voice.

"That wasn't very convincing," he replied, shifting to rebalance his weight on one side.

She exhaled deeply and closed her eyes. "I do want to," she started, opening her eyes again to look at him, "I'm just a little scared. It's stupid, I know, but I can't help it."

"It's okay," he said soothingly. "It's your first time—you're allowed to be scared, you know."

She gave a faint nod and looked up at him. "I do want to do this. I guess…would it be okay…if we just took it slowly?"

He gave her a small smile and realized that they had been rushing the process along. "Of course."

She smiled back at him, feeling immediately more comfortable. He saw her relax and felt more relaxed himself. "Jude, this is sort of a first for me too…"

"What do you mean?" she asked curiously.

He sighed. "It's just…it's not my first time, but…well, I've never really done this with somebody I…love."

She looked at him questioningly. "Really? But…Portia? And all of those other girls?"

"I loved Portia, but in a weird way—I guess, well, I loved her as much as I could being 18, self-absorbed, and intoxicated 24 hours a day," he attempted to explain. "And those other girls, I didn't love any of them. This is different, Jude. You're different. I want this to be special, for both of us."

She gazed at him appreciatively, reaching for his hand. "It's you and me. It will be special."

He smiled and leaned down to softly bring his lips to hers. After a brief kiss, he pulled back to look into her eyes. "I love you," he said quietly.

She smiled, tears threatening to fall. "I love you, too."

His eyes lit up at her words and his lips turned upwards into a small smile. After a few moments of staring into each other's eyes, he lightly touched her cheek and leaned in to kiss her again. Except this time, it was softer, slower, and special enough to be both of their firsts.

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An hour later, they lay together under the navy sheets half-asleep. Her head was comfortably resting next to his neck, with her arm draped over him, while he had one arm tightly wound around her. They were silently breathing as one, still recovering from the past hour.

Glancing down at her still form, he softly asked, "Are you…alive?"

She let out a light laugh at his question and shifted to look up at him. "I'm alive."

"Good. Because, you know, if you weren't, then I would really feel bad."

"You should," she replied with a snicker.

"And then, of course, we wouldn't be able to do this again," he added with a grin. "Which would be really disappointing."

Her face went from a smile to a deeper look of concern. "Was it…bad?" she asked quietly.

"What?" he asked disbelievingly, propping himself up to look at her closer.

"Well, it's just, if you meant that I need some practice—" she started, looking away from his gaze nervously.

"No, Jude, that's not even close to what I meant," he said, playing with her hair. "It was amazing."

"Really?" she asked, the smile reappearing. He nodded and she immediately relaxed a little against him, enjoying how he was brushing his fingers through her hair.

She perked up a little and looked at him again. "I don't mind the practice though, just so you know."

He laughed at her, seeing her smile light up. "Okay, good. So you're…feeling alright?"

"Yeah," she answered. "A little…weird, honestly…and slightly sore…but overall, I feel good."

"Good," he said. "You know, technically, we're no longer law-abiding citizens."

"True," she agreed, with a grin. "Although I'm more scared of Georgia than I am of Canada right now."

"Don't think about it, Jude," he replied quickly, causing her to glance up at him uneasily. "Everything's going to work out."

"Do you promise?" she asked hopefully.

"I promise," he said with a smile, placing a kiss on her head. "Let's not focus on stuff like that now. Let's just think happy thoughts."

"Happy thoughts…okay…how about my birthday present?"

He laughed, "Is that your only happy thought?"

"Well…I could think about all of the practicing I'm going to be doing," she said with a mischievous grin.

"Ahh, yes, that practice," he replied with a grin, sliding down so they were eye to eye. "Exactly when did you want to start all of that practicing? You know, just so I'm prepared."

"Prepared? What kind of preparation would that be?" Jude asked with a smirk.

"Oh, well," he said, leaning over to nibble on the edge of her ear, "just a little rest. I have to make sure I have enough energy to keep up with you."

She closed her eyes as his lips traveled downwards onto the side of her neck. "How much rest do you need exactly?" she managed to get out, losing her concentration.

He kissed her neck for a few more moments and then worked upwards towards her mouth. He gently kissed her lips, replying softly, "Depends on how you're feeling."

She smiled, in between kisses, and said, "I feel like I'm ready for my next practice session."

"Okay, good," he responded. "Then let's get cracking." He passionately recaptured her lips and pulled the sheet up and over them.