Again, I have to thank you all for the reviews. You guys are freakin' awesome.
Second, I wanted to just add that the song I used for this chapterisn't really Jude's type of style, but the lyrics worked for me, and once I'm set on something, I just have a hard time being convinced otherwise. So yeah, I couldn't convince myself to choose a new one.. or even look for a better one, actually.
But yeah, I'll shut up now. Thanks again soo much :)
Chapter 9 - For All We Know
The sun was peeking only the slightest bit over the clouds, leaving a gorgeous glow over their campsite as they returned there. Jude felt Tommy's hold on her loosen a bit, and for the first time she realized he had gotten dressed into a pair of dry, loose fitting jeans. She threw her bags next to the cave, Tommy doing the same, and sat on a log near the fire.
" You okay?" she asked cautiously. Boy, had their rolls switched.
Love, look at the two of us
Strangers in many ways
" Yeah, how're you?"
We've got a lifetime to share
So much to say
" Holdin' up.." She said quietly, wanting more than anything to just be able to hug him. Anything to make him feel the least bit better. As if reading her mind, he opened his arms and she immediately fell into them, crushing her still soaked body against his toned and naked chest. She felt him press his lips softly against her forehead, then on both cheeks, her nose, and finally on her lips. She sighed as their lips crashed together, his tongue quickly seeking shelter in the confines of her mouth. And as quickly as it had started, he pulled away, his eyes sparkling and lustful, his lips just slightly reddened. He leaned closer to her ear, whispered " Thank you," and lightly kissed her again.
" I should, uh, probably get changed," Jude mumbled, unable to move away from him.
And as we go
From day to day
" Probably a good idea," he said quietly, watching intently as she moved away, grabbing her bag from the pile that had accumulated. She disappeared into the cave, re-emerging fully clothed in oversized black sweat pants and a long sleeved T-shirt.
He smiled faintly as she rejoined him by the fire and they sat in silence as they watched the sun move lower and lower in the sky, casting a pink and orange glow on the lake before them.
" Well, if we had to be stranded somewhere, at least its pretty," Jude commented, in awe of the simple beauty of an everyday sunset.
I'll feel you close to me
But time alone will tell
" Yeah, and if I had to be stranded with someone.. I'm glad she's absolutely gorgeous," Tommy said sincerely, engaging in a heated stare that only made Judes cheeks a deeper shade of red. She forced her eyes down, remembering their argument in the plane. Is he serious now? Or had he really meant it? Am I just some kid he's stuck with... one that complains to much?
" I didn't mean it Jude," he stated simply, reading her mind.
" How do you know what I'm thinking of?" she asked, amazed at how well he could read her.
" Your eyes."
" My eyes?" she questioned softly.
" Yeah, those eyes," he whispered, then continued louder," But I didn't mean it. I'm glad its you here with me. I really am. It's just so frustrating knowing they're in there, and I couldn't help. And I still can't. I'm just frustrated that I'm so scared of them that I couldn't help you. I couldn't help us."
Let's take a lifetime to say "I knew you well"
For only time will tell us so
" Well, I'm sorry you're frustrated, but I'm not sorry I'm here with you. I didn't mean to make you think otherwise. Come here." He moved closer to her, wrapping her into a tight hug, holding on as if she too would leave him. But he felt it in her touch. She wasn't leaving; he could see it in the eyes he could so quickly be captivated in. She wasn't going anywhere, simply because he needed her too much. Without knowing it, he had become dependant of her, and he wouldn't have it any other way.
" I did mean one thing though. You do make me feel alive."
And love may grow
For all we know.
Tommy rekindled the fire as darkness surrounded them. Neither had moved from the embrace; they had sat enveloped in each other, barely able to stay awake until now, when Tommy felt obliged to keep the fire lit. Now he made his way back to his previous position, leaning against a log facing the fire, with Jude's back laying against his chest. Her eyes were heavy and she had stopped talking long ago, but she was trying to stay awake.
" Jude, why don't we get some sleep? We can go through the bags in the morning."
" I wanna play you my song.."she whispered.
" You can barely sit up," he let out a low laugh.
" I'm awake, get the guitar," she mumbled, but she could barely sit up.
"You can play it in the morning," he promised.
" I don't wanna. Can't we just stay here for a while?"
" We could, but I'm gonna go in that fine cave of ours.. You comin' or stayin'?"
" Comin... eventually.. At least read the lyrics," she mumbled, snuggling deeper into his chest. He grabbed the notebook she was pointing at and nodded, quickly scanning the words. ( Bolded print throughout the chapter!)
" They're perfect," he whispered, then realized she was practically dead asleep. "Alright, looks like I'm carrying your butt to bed..." and before she could object, she was in his arms.
He carried her the short distance, her arms quickly wrapping around his neck while her head found a comfortable position on his chest. He sighed heavily, not wanting to put her down, but did gently. He laid down next to her, whispering goodnight, and quickly entered dreamland.
Love, look at the two of us
Jude shivered slightly as a light breeze blew into their the cave, the sound of rain pattering against the rocks and lake entering her ears. She allowed her eyes to open a bit, immediately shutting them to relieve her eyes from the bright sunshine. With her eyes still shut, she nudged Tommy, who was still sleeping soundly next to her.
" Quincy, wake up!" she whined, poking him harder.
" Ughh, what is it?" not even bothering to face her.
" Wake up.." she continued her whining, not opening her eyes.
" For what?" he mumbled sleepily.
" I'm cold."
" Then come 'ere.." he turned towards her, pulling her closer so she was practically underneath him.
" Can you get me a sweatshirt?" she asked in a child like manner, and as he opened one eye he could see she was pulling the puppy dog face.
" Aw, Jude.. Don't.. I'm tired.."
" Please, Tommy?"
" You owe me.." he said simply, crawling out of the cave ; he returned less than a minute later with damp hair and her sweatshirt.
" Thank you," she grinned, pulling it over her head, and starting to resume to her previous position. Just as she was about to fall back asleep, though, his voice rang close to her ear.
" Jude, we should probably get up.."
" Why? I'm tired."
" So am I, but its raining, and if it gets worse we won't have enough dry wood to keep a fire. Ours is already out. And we should go through those bags too.."
" Five minutes, then we can get up.." she whispered, placing his arm around her to get as close to him as possible.
" That sounds good to me.." he mumbled, falling back asleep.
Before long, Jude felt Tommy shaking her. " I said five more minutes, Tom.. Come on, it won't kill us.." she grumbled, eliciting a laugh from him.
" Jude, we slept for longer than five minutes, come on... That had to be at least an hour.. Fine, you can sleep, but I'm lookin through this stuff.." he backed away from her and exited the cave, but not before adding, " Hmm, I wonder if you packed anything interesting..."
Strangers in many ways
He disappeared as she shot up, scrambling to beat him to her bag. " You don't go through a girls luggage, Tommy! Didn't your mom teach you any manners?" She shouted, running out of the cave, only to see him standing at the side of the entrance, grinning widely.
" Ah, looks like Jude Harrison has some incriminating things in her bag..." he said laughing, as she rolled her eyes. " I knew that would work.."
" Fine, you won that one, but you better watch your back boy, Jude Harrison has quite a few tricks up her sleeve, believe it or not."
" Oh, I'm so scared girl... just remember, I've already been through your bag.." Her mouth dropped open in shock.
" Don't give me that look, missy, you're the one who needed that sweatshirt."
" Hah, you better not have been through my things, Quincy. Now let's get our stuff, I'm gettin' wet," she said, looking towards the sky. It was only raining lightly, barely spitting, and the sun was shining brightly.
" It's just a sun shower Jude, a little water never killed anyone," he laughed, taking his time with the bags he was collecting.
" Uh, hello, yes it did. Didn't you ever see 'The Wizard Of Oz?'" She asked jokingly, and it took a minute for him to decide whether she was serious or not.
" Um, actually.. No, I haven't.." She stopped what she was doing to face him, an appalled look on her face.
" Please, tell me you are joking," she said, her eyes wide.
" Uhh, nope," came his simple answer as he grabbed another bag while she continued to stare.
" Tommy, never? Not once? You never popped in the movie while you were on the road, not to watch with some groupie girls? Not even to see the part where the munchkin hangs himself in the back round of one scene?"
" What! No munchkins hang themselves.. That's like a PG movie.. And I sure as hell wasn't playing the Wizard of Oz when girls came on the tour bus," He argued, stopping his work.
" Uh, duh, I know that! But the munchkin hangs himself in the back round.. You never heard that story? Wait, don't answer that.. You've never seen the Wizard of Oz.." she teased.
" Is there a point to this?" he asked smiling, still not moving.
" Uhh, there was, but I forgot it.." she said quietly, moving closer to him and grabbing the bag he had previously abandoned.
" Yeah, I kinda noticed when you started rambling about munchkins."
" I wasn't rambling.. That munchkin really did hang himself! Cause he didn't get the part of the tin man! I swear! When we get outta here, we're watching it, and you'll see.." she said, standing in front of him, clutching the bag as he stood there watching her.
Let's take a lifetime to say "I knew you well"
" Really?" he asked, slightly amused, and very pleased that she saw them hanging out even after this experience. He took another step closer, so their bodies were almost touching, and couldn't help suppress the grin when she realized what she had said.
" Well, I meant.. Wait, I did NOT mean it like that. You'll just have to see it and stuff.. But since you've never, uh watched.. You'd need someone to point out, the um.. Hanging munchkin... and stuff.. Actually, I didn't even mean me.. I just meant, that like you have to watch it... it's a classic," she rambled again, as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, continuing to smile at her contradicting herself.
For only time will tell us so
" WHY are you looking at me like that! Stop smiling.." Jude laughed as Tommy pulled her closer to him, not letting the silly grin fall off of his face as she started to squirm.
Pulling her closer, Tommy ever so slowly moved his face close to hers, as if to kiss her. Jude lightly closed her eyes, waiting to feel him kiss her. He didn't.
She opened her eyes again to see that Tommy was grinning insanely, "QUINCY!"
"You know that was what you meant!" he said for the first time in this part of Jude's conversation with herself.
"It was NOT!" Jude giggled as Tommy went in for another 'kiss' but pulled away as soon as he could feel her rushed breath on his face. She whimpered lightly, reallywanting to kiss him.
"You want me!" Tommy said teasingly, lightly rubbing his nose on hers as she giggled.
"You're so full of yourself, Quincy."
He continued to tease her, blowing on her cheeks and letting his lips hover over hers but never touching them.
"Okay okay I do, happy? Little Tommy Q has once again won the heart of a teenage girl," she giggled as Tommy kept the one thing she wanted so close, but yet so far away.
And love may grow
He let out a throaty laugh as he finally pressed his lips to hers. Feeling her respond immediately, he brought his hands up higher on her back and pulled her closer to him. She had been aching to kiss him, and this was exactly what she needed.
Once she was satisfied, Jude broke their kiss, reminding him about the bags.
She stepped away to grab the bags she had forgotten about. As they turned to enter their cave, Jude gasped. Tommy looked up, following her gaze, and was faced with a perfect rainbow stretching across the sky and ending near the far end of the lake.
" It's so pretty here," Jude whispered, her smile growing even wider. " Think it's a sign?"
" A sign for what?" Tommy asked, focusing his attention on the one thing more perfect then the rainbow.
" Ya know.. Rainbows always come after a storm, like something good always comes after something bad... do you think it's a sign, that something good will happen after this?"
" Cute, Harrison.. But one, that wasn't a storm-"
" You know what I meant!" she said, sticking her tongue at him.
" Okay, I did.. But two, I don't think this is bad at all.." he continued quietly and she raised an eyebrow at his statement.
" What's so bad about being alone with a gorgeous woman?"
She blushed, but rolled her eyes, and giggled, " I think it's a sign.."
For all we know.
Okay, so I need your opinions for the next chapter : It's already done, but seeing as this whole story was written for a different couple, the song I used isn't one of Jude's. I've narrowed it down to : Temporary Insanity, Time to be your 21, and It Could Be You - so if you want a say in the next chapter's song, here's your chance. Let me know which one you like best :) Thanks soo much!
