Kat approached Jude with hesitation. She quietly said, "I'm sorry about earlier."
"I'm sorry," Jude insisted. "I shouldn't have lied to you. I was just confused and-and… I'm sorry."
Taking Jude into her arms, Kat hugged her tightly. When Jude squeezed back, Kat commented, "It wasn't your fault. I made you lie when I should've just dropped it."
They pulled back to look at each other and shared a laugh. Kat took an extra step back and gave both Tommy and Jude an approving smile. She turned to leave Jude noticed where she was heading. Sitting at a table across the room, Jamie gave Jude and Tommy a stern head nod, and quickly looked away.
Jude smiled as she realized he really was trying. Just from the subtle head nod, Jude knew things between herself and Jamie would work out in the end.
They made their way over to the bar after giving Kwest a thumbs up at his balcony. Kwest gave them a smile and a smug clap.
Tommy took a seat at the stool left of Sadie as Jude took the right. When she realized who surrounded her, she scoffed. "What now?"
"Are you drunk?" Jude questioned quietly, trying not to attract attention to them.
Sadie looked Jude dead in the eye and downed half a glass of beer. "I'm old enough to… be. So is Tommy. You still got, what? Three years?"
Clearing his throat to changed the subject, Tommy announced, "Maybe we should take her home."
"You wanna take me home?" Sadie questioned wildly. "It's a little too late for that… Dude! You're dating my sister! And by the way, she's sitting right there." Sadie spun around on her stool so her entire body faced Tommy. A little quieter, Sadie suggested, "But when you guys get this whole 'thing' out of your systems, then give me a call."
Sadie leaned in close to Tommy, but Jude pulled her back. "What do you mean, 'thing'?" Jude inquired.
Waving at the bartender to refill her drink, Sadie turned to Jude and patted her on the head. "Naïve little Jude… The 'thing' is the forbidden love you guys have. Once it's not so forbidden and you guys realize people don't really give a damn about you two--" She grabbed her fresh beer and took a dainty sip. "It'll all be over."
"It's not like that, Sadie," Tommy corrected.
"I know," she muttered quietly into her drink. "Can you guys just leave me alone?" she requested a little louder.
Not exactly wanting to, Jude and Tommy backed away from the bar. Tommy stuck with Jude, a hand on the small of her back as she led him over to her mother.
Victoria Harrison watched them approach her and cleared her throat. "Can you tell me something, Tom?" Victoria asked, trying to stand strong.
Taking a step forward, from behind Jude, Tommy nodded his head.
Victoria continued, "Can you promise you'll take care of my daughter and treat her as well as she deserves?"
"Of course," Tommy stated with ease in a soft tone.
Exhaling deeply, Victoria took a look at her young daughter growing into adulthood. She took another look at Tommy and could see how much he felt for Jude in his eyes. She confessed, "I don't approve of the age difference, and it doesn't help that the two of you work together… But I know how much the two of you care for one another…" As tears started to from in her eyes, Victoria stepped closer to Jude and grabbed her by the face. She whispered, "He's a keeper."
Jude had a light chuckle as she wiped a few of her mother's tears away. She knew that her mom was probably thinking about her dad and their love. But she wasn't going to say anything to make it worse." Thanks, Mom." She hugged her mother tightly and breathed out, "I love you."
"I love you, sweetie," Victoria hugged also. She pulled back and gave Tommy a friendly smile. "You two have fun. I'm just gonna head home now. Clubs aren't really my scene."
The three of them had a laugh before they headed in separate directions for the night. There was still one last stop for the new couple.