First of all, I wanna thank you all soo much for the reviews :) Chapter 7 seemed to be a hit. Your reviews were awesome; they made my day(s).

Second, I'm sorry this one took so long. I've just been a little busy, buttt no more excuses.

Love it, hate it, as long as you read it...

Chapter 8 - Sorrys All Around

They sat in comfortable silence together by the fire, enjoying their newfound closeness. Closing her eyes, Jude contemplated all the things she had to figure out, everything she should be doing right now, but at the same time, she couldn't move; she loved the intimacy of their almost innocent moment.

" Tommy, I think I have an idea," she mumbled, her eyes still closed, not wanting the moment to end.

" You mean we can't stay here forever," he smiled into the crook of her neck, where he placed light kisses. Forever. The word had such a different meaning now. Will we be here forever? She wondered, What if we are? But then again..

" What if we're not here forever?" She asked quietly, causing him to look her straight in the eye. The wonder, confusion and most importantly the hint of fear and sadness in her tone obviously didn't go unnoticed by him.

" Then we'll just have to recreate the moment some where else, won't we?" he answered simply, but deep down, he wasn't sure. What they had here wouldn't be right somewhere else, would it?

" I guess we have no other choice," she grinned, and he kissed her quickly. " Great, now what was your other plan?"

" I'm afraid its not as tempting as yours but..."

" I don't like it already," he teased.

She rolled her eyes playfully and thought before continuing, " Obviously, we need clothes, ones that aren't wet," she thought carefully before she continued, "... When the plane um.. When we..ugh! What I'm trying to say is, I think if we can get on the plane again, and I think we could... There's a good chance we could find some suitcases, maybe supplies.. even food."

She saw the skeptical look on his face and realized she had to elaborate. "Cause we can't prance around here in wet clothes, collecting berries, staying warm by a small fire. I mean, sure we're okay now, but it's only been like a week. I'm already delusional! Look at me! No, not literally look at me !" she said, laughing lightly as her cheeks turned pink, watching his eyes happily scan her body. " I mean, look at the situation I'm in...we're in ! I'm sitting here in the middle of God-knows-where, with Little Tommy Q, who I met less than a week ago, and neither of us have clothes to last us the rest of the night!"

He chuckled at her frustration and asked, " Aww, what's wrong with that?"

" I'm supposed to be home, recording an album, getting my big break.. Now that damn management company probably has forgotten about me completely. Do you know how long I've been trying to get discovered? How long I've been trying to make a career out of what I love? Since I was a kid, Tommy, and it may be gone now. You know how that feels... It can't be gone.." she said emotionally, her last sentence barely audible.

"You're gonna be a singer? That'syour management?" he asked, realization hitting hard. She couldn't be... could she?

She froze, completely caught off guard, as an adorable confused expression took over her delicate features.

" Yeah, but that doesn't make a difference... are you up for searching the plane or what?"

" Yeah, if you think that will help, yes, but I wanna talk about this management thing later. It makes all the difference."

" Okay, okay, we'll talk about it later," she agreed, standing up.

He sulkily followed, not at all excited for their little adventure.

" Okay, let's get a move on!"

He followed her closely as she walked toward the lake where the plane was. Her t-shirt was soaked and pretty much completely see through, but he was ignoring that..

" Are you okay?" she asked, taking his hand in hers and intertwining their fingers. He smiled at the simple gesture; even the way her hand fit his so perfectly amazed him.

" Yep, great..." he replied. " Ready?"

" As I'll ever be," she answered, pulling him along. As they approached the plane Tommy began to feel nauseous, but again shrugged it off as Jude began to climb into the plane and quickly disappeared. Flashbacks of the crash and his friends bodies entered his mind and he stepped back, getting sick before he even attempted to climb in. He heard Jude calling his name, and he entered the plane before he had a chance to turn back.

Everything was completely dark, and the warm musty smell of death and rust nearly caused him to pass out. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the light before taking more steps in, finding Jude almost immediately.

" Tommy, are you sure you're okay?" She asked, genuinely concerned.

He quickly started to reassure her that he was, but a glance in the wrong direction made his head feel light, and he stumbled over, causing Jude to scream in surprise.

" Tommy!" She struggled to hold him up, lightly tapping his face and leaning his body against an overturned chair. His eyes slowly fluttered open, meeting her tearful ones.

" Wha- what happened?" he asked groggily, and Jude sighed in relief.

" God, Quincy, you scared the hell out of me! Are you okay?" she helped him to his feet, keeping his body as close to hers as possible.

" I'm just a little freaked out I think... can we just get this stuff and get outta here?"

" Yeah, you stay here, I'll find what I can..." she said, quickly turning to go.

" NO!" his voice was louder than he expected, and very much on the pleading side. " I'll come with you..."

" Are you sure?"

" Yeah..." he said, grabbing onto her arm tightly and following her through the dark plane. They trudged through cold water and debris, checking every overhead compartment, finding a few bags. Jude handed them to Tommy, poking around some more before turning back to the first class section.

" Jude.." Tommy paused before walking through the archway.

" What's wrong?"

" I can't go back in there.." he said quietly, almost ashamed.

" Tommy, we have to go back to get out. Plus, all my luggage is in there... come on, we'll be fine."

" I can't see them! I can't.. I won't do it."

"See who, Tom? Your friends?"

She was startled at how cracked and low his reply came, " Yes.."

" Oh God, Tommy.. I'm so sorry.." she went to hug him, but was surprised when he turned away. She sighed, but recovered quickly.

" Pushing me away isn't going to help anything. We have to go. We can't stay in here, and you can't dwell on this-"

" I can't dwell on this? I can't DWELL on it? You can cry about it everyday, about how your life is ruined, no one will remember you, your family is going on without you, but I can't be upset over the death of my friends? When it was MY fault? Don't tell me I can't dwell, because I'm not dwelling, and if I wanted to, I think I have that right!"

" Tommy, calm down! If you didn't want to hear me crying, then you should have said it! I'll leave you alone from now on okay? Will that make you happy! Ya know what, screw it.. You do your thing, and I'll do mine. Have a nice time here... I'm goin' back to camp," she turned away from him, walking through the plane, only stopping to grab her bag from her overhead. She exited the plane, landing on her bad ankle, but ignored it and made her way back to camp.

She threw all the bags at the entrance of the cave, and crawled in, grabbing her copybook. She laid with her head out the entrance, watching the plane, and continued to write as she felt tears stinging her eyes. How does everything always manage to go so wrong?

The sun was nearly set by the time Jude finished writing, and she was really starting to worry about Tommy. She had kept her eye on the entrance of the plane since she got out, and never once saw a glimpse of him. What is something happened to him? Maybe he fainted again.. No, who cares. He's a big boy, he doesn't need your help. He said almost flat out that you were annoying. Kinda anyway. But maybe.. She quickly stood up, walking over to the plane. As much as she wanted to avoid him, she couldn't help but be worried.

"Tommy! Tom, are you okay?" she screamed into the entrance. No answer.

Okay, I'll just go in and check if he's alright, and when I know he is, I'll leave him alone, like I said. Yeah, that's what I'll do... She decided, once again entering the plane.

It was darker now, and the smell hit her like a ton of bricks, making her head light. As soon as her eyes adjusted and she was balanced, she walked further in, keeping an eye out for Tommy. She felt knots form in her stomach as she heard quiet sobs. She ventured further, gasping when she saw Tommy's figure, hunched in a ball in the corner. He was leaning against the entrance of the first class section, but facing the opposite direction.

" Tommy?"

He froze. His sobs quieted, his shoulders stopped shaking, and he sat up straight. " I thought you were done with me?" his voice came out low, strained and a hell of a lot sexier than he knew.

" I.. I'm just.. Well I am, I was just gonna get some more stuff.." she lied.

" And shove it in my face that you can come in here whenever you please?" he was angry this time. Plain out bitter, and it was even sexier than before. Or would have been had he not made her so mad.

" No! It's nothing like that, Tommy and you know it. I was just seeing if you were ever planning on leaving okay? I'm sorry I bothered.."

" Well I'm sorry too Jude. I'm sorry you feel like you have to check up on me. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. And you need to know, cause they never will. They don't know. I tried to tell them, but do they listen? No, cause they're dead, that's why. But you.. You're alive, and you make me feel alive. So you need to know. You need to know I'm sorry. So sorry.." he continued mumbling his apologies while Jude watched on, teary eyed and even scared. Was he going insane?

" Tommy, come on. They know. I know. Now let's go."

" Yeah... yeah, let's go. We should go..." he rambled, not moving. Jude reached for him, hoisting him up and grabbing the bags he had collected, which seemed to have duplicated. He clung to her, not letting blood circulate to her arm, and they slowly made their way to the front of the plane. As they passed his seats, she could have swore she heard him mumbling, " Watch out forme guys, don't let me do anything stupid.." but it was so quiet, she couldn't be sure. All she was sure of was the emotional "goodbye.." he had mumbled as they left the plane with out looking back.