Strumming my guitar silently in the corner, I knew without even looking up the moment he entered the room as if the temperature rose at least ten degrees in an instant. I glanced up at the doorway where he stood speaking quietly with Liam before looking down again at the end of my foot where I had it propped stoically in front of me.

"I don't get it. Why don't you two just hump and get it over with." Patsy said with a shrug from behind me. I gasped at her bluntness before snapping my head around to gaze at her.

"What?" I asked in shock as she just laughed and inclined her head in Tommy's direction.

"The tension between you two is as thick as a piece of lead. I'm just saying that it might ease it up a little." Patsy said as if I was missing a very important point. I lifted my brow in both amusement and unease.

"It's not like that, Patsy. Well, it is but there are just so many obstacles between us. I don't want to say 'age' because it means very little to me, but it means a lot when it comes to G Major Studios, publicity, family, and friends. I'm just saying that it's a big step to take." I said almost sullenly as Patsy hrruuumphed before jumping down off the stool she had been sitting on with a huff.

"Romeo and Juliet were too young too. What, do you guys plan on doing yourselves in with poison and a knife before anyone will admit there's something there?" Patsy said realistically as she shrugged again. I just looked up at her in surprise. She had a point there. Then I smiled as I strummed a chord on my guitar and looked up into her face.

"So tell me, between tattooing your breast, mating with Jamie like a rabbit, and stealing anything not nailed down, when have you had time to read Shakespeare?" I asked amused at the indolent expression that suddenly came over her face.

"Yo, Harrison. I like tortured souls, and that Shakespeare dude was one bad ass tortured soul." Patsy said as she grinned at me before walking over to where Liam and Tommy stood, winking at them before sashaying out the door. I chuckled silently to myself as I watched her leave—that is until I saw Tommy's gaze out of the corner of my eye. I looked at him square in the face then, realizing as I did that something had changed—something big. I saw Kwest enter behind him gazing at me as he did with an expression that both thrilled and chilled me at the same time. He brushed by Tommy and Liam and sidled up to me with a grin before taking a seat on the stool Patsy had just vacated. I quirked a brow at him as he leaned over.

"What's going on, Kwest?" I asked suspiciously as he fiddled with a rubber band he had picked up off the floor beside me.

"Darius just talked to Tommy and I about an opportunity 'Rolling Stones' magazine is offering you, and G Major has accepted on your behalf." Kwest said softly as he began describing the meeting they had just left with Darius. I couldn't help it, I almost squealed with excitement as I looked over at Tommy with a huge smile plastered across my face. I was still staring at him when Kwest stated,

"Darius has decided that I will accompany you on the tour with occasional intermittent visits from Tommy and some of the other staff." He finished warily. The chill that came over me as I listened to him suddenly made me shiver as the smile slipped slowly off my face to be replaced by a grimace. Tommy's eyes filled with a knowing gleam as he realized just by looking at me what Kwest had just relayed. His eyes never leaving my own, he excused himself from Liam and made his way across the room quickly.

"You'll do great, Jude. There is no way in Hades you can pass up this opportunity. Every musician in their right mind waits for an offer like this." Tommy said reassuringly as he stooped down in front of me, being careful not to bump my injured leg. I smiled at him before taking his hand in mine, knowing subconsciously that's what he needed right now, but I still couldn't shake the numb feeling that spread through my insides at the news that Tommy wouldn't go—not because he wasn't going but because we were still trying to figure out what we were to each other. I didn't want to leave not knowing, and I had the horrible suspicion that I was going to have to.

"When do we leave? What will I do about school?" I asked trying desperately to pay attention as I kept staring into Tommy's eyes while gripping his hand much tighter than I probably should have. He must have known that I was afraid. I mean, he had to have known because he laid his other hand on my leg lightly while gently pressing it into my skin as if saying "relax, Jude."

We'll be leaving about a week after we return to Toronto to start preparing for the tour. We'll be doing a lot of work from a studio in Britain. It'll give you and the guys some time to adjust to a tour schedule and get some European interviews in before the touring begins. You and SME will finish school through correspondence. We have yet to set that up but once we do, we'll get a tutor or teacher to travel with us." Kwest said quietly as he glanced from Tommy and then to me uncertainly.

"I think I'll go pass the news on to SME. You may want to talk to Victoria and Sadie, Jude. Okay?" He reiterated before standing to walk away. I nodded mutely as I watched him march out the door, afraid to look at Tommy. I was scared the tour would change things between us, and I didn't want that. I mean, you know what they say about tours right? It ruins relationships, and Tommy and I weren't even in a relationship yet. Tommy placed his finger under my chin and held my face up to his.

"It's a good thing, Jude. I won't walk away." He whispered softly.

"Remember what you said about knocking down doors if you ever found one locked?" I asked on a shaky breath.

"Yeah." He answered as I placed my hand on his shoulder.

"Well, Are you any good at draining oceans?" I asked with a slight grin. Tommy smiled back and laid his forehead against mine.

"I'm one hell of a swimmer, Jude." He answered with a laugh.