Chris…

Chris watched Jude from the sidelines of the picnic thoughtfully—perusing her blonde hair and blue eyes with the same fascination he always did, but today he saw her the same way he had found her the day he had met her—confused. Chris had lived the music industry for years--knew the dangers and the emotional turmoil it caused--knew the fear it could give you as well as the joy. He had fought his own battles with drugs--with addiction and women. He wasn't as clean cut as she thought he was. He had a past too. Somehow he didn't blame her for her confusion—just despised the thought that he wasn't the reason for it. No, that dark haired devil Tom Quincy was and it irked him. Chris loved Jude mostly because of her brash character—her ability to face all odds with her head held high and her fists punching out at any obstacles, but with Quincy she was different—almost as if she reverted into herself—fighting some internal battle that caused her not to appear weak but tormented. He almost didn't blame her. She had never lied to him—had told him everything he had wanted to know when he had asked her about the two year relationship between Tom and her.

It's complicated, she had told him—pointing out that he was her producer and that while she depended on him for the musical instruction she needed, she also fought feelings for him that had been battered and bruised so many times by his actions towards her that she just wasn't sure about him anymore. But Chris could see the truth written on her face as she brushed a leaf from Quincy's hair. She still loved the man more than she was willing to admit. Chris saw the hurt in her eyes too—the hurt that made her act out like a wounded animal—that even caused her to act younger than her years at times doing things like getting drunk the night the man had left. But, on top of that, he saw the anger—the anger that had created the determined and successful woman that she was today. Chris kept his fingers crossed that Jude wouldn't let Tom get to her—that she would fight him. But something told him no matter how hard she fought, the battle couldn't be won. Chris just wondered how long it would take her to figure that out—how long it would take her to figure out that he had just been a re-bound, a long distance easy relationship that had become more of a deep friendship—a way to heal. Maybe even a way to forget.

Tommy…

Tommy watched Jude quietly—peering down into her face with the same hard expression he had been using on her for days. Why? Because he couldn't understand what was wrong with him. Why the moment that he had walked into the studio seeing another guy holding her made him so angry? And why that anger had caused him to lash out so brutally? Was he that big of a jackass or was he just using the conceit he knew how to use so well to protect himself? Jude wasn't a child anymore. Still too young in the eyes of the law, but definitely not a child. She had endured too much—went through too much pain. And he was the cause of a good deal of it. Otherwise, she wouldn't look at him as if he were a dangerous animal—afraid that if she took a wrong step, he'd strike. But isn't that what he had been doing since he got back—stalking her like a predator and all because there was so much damn stuff unresolved between them. Maybe that was their problem—that he had left at the beginning of something between them that neither one of them had evaluated yet. It was his fault for leaving the issue open—the chapter unfinished. It made Tom realize something suddenly and he took in a deep breath. That was where her conflict came from—it came from not knowing if she wanted to find out what would have happened if he hadn't left before Chris came into her life. His came from hoping she would decide that she wanted to figure out what was between them then so that they could explore it more. Jude rolled her eyes at something else that Darius said and Tommy grinned. It was time for him to back off—to quit being angry about the decisions she had made since he left—to quit wondering what she did in her apartment at night. Because the truth was he knew her better than that—knew that she hadn't taken that next step with Chris because he knew how she thought. And she wouldn't do that to the guy when there were issues that were unresolved in her life. That's what made her older beyond her years. Tom glanced behind him at Chris who stared right back at him. They weren't much different—the two of them. Both of them were older than her—both of them attracted to her liberating spirit and fiery passion. The only difference was that Chris had made the decision to let her into his life. Tom had just walked away. Well, that was about to change. It was time to go back to the Quincy he had been before—the one that teased and flirted without being overbearing (okay so maybe he had always been a little overbearing), but he wanted Jude to quit seeing him as the villain and start viewing him and Chris as the two separate men they were. Mentally, Tom backed off.