She turned to him, unbelieving. "What?"
"Wait outside." He repeated eyes still hard on Chris.
She gave him an incredulous look. "No, no way. I'm not leaving here with you two by yourselves. Besides, it's my-"
Tommy finally gazed at Jude. "Please." He asked her his time, his voice softer.
When he said that, it cut off any rebuttal she may have had. Jude could sense something in his voice that she didn't feel like challenging. She couldn't be in this room anyway. She so much wanted to just let somebody else handle it, even if just for a minute. She slowly nodded her head, conceding. She put her hand on the knob when Chris's voice stopped her.
"Oh Jude." He began as an evil smirk danced upon his face. "Don't think we're finished here. Revenge is sweet, and by the time this is over, I'll own you both. I swear to it." He vowed. "You won't be able to breathe without asking me if it's okay." He maliciously threw at her, but never took his gaze off of Tommy.
Jude felt sick to her stomach as she opened the door. His words were like poison.
When Tommy heard the soft sound of the door close, he took Chris by the shirt front and threw him against the nearby wall. "Don't ever let me hear you call her names again. Ever." He said his voice low and deadly.
Chris just stared back at him, unfazed. "Truth hurts, man. Glad I realized it before it was too late" Tommy shoved him once more against the wall.
"You better stop while you're ahead, Line." He threatened. He had to keep telling himself that beating his smarmy face in would only hurt matters.
Chris enjoyed seeing Tommy Quincy unnerved. "Whatever." He shrugged as he shook himself clear of Tommy and he walked over to the spot where several pieces of shiny plastic on the floor. He slowly bent down and picked up a piece of the small jagged material that once made up Jude's cell and inspected it. This what he would do to Jude's life, he thought bitterly. He'd break it into such tiny pieces she'd never be able to get it back together again. He wouldn't tolerate betrayal and being made out to be a fool. Still holding the plastic, he stood up and faced Tommy. "Just so you know whatever happens from here on in, you helped put it into motion, you're guilty of it too." He cryptically revealed as he walked out, slamming the door. Tommy stood there confused, before he followed him out.
Jude paced the front of the building. Why the did she let Tommy talk her into waiting out here? She heard no glass breaking so she took it as a good sign. She ran her hands through her red mane as the tears came down again. Everything was such a mess. She hated herself right now for what just happened with Chris. 'I hurt him so bad.' She thought, full of remorse and regret. She looked up at she heard the entrance door open.
"Chris." She began as she made her way towards him. He ignored her, stepping by her as he went to his car. He jammed the key in the lock, flinging it open. He abruptly turned around and met Jude in the eye. "Don't forget what I said in there." And without another word he climbed into his car and sped away.
"Jude." Tommy said as he came behind her. She twirled around to face him.
"I should go after him." Jude chewed on her lip as she considered the idea.
"No, Jude. Don't" Tommy reasoned, trying to keep the rage out of his voice. "Why would you want to see that jerk after all he said? Let him go." It didn't make sense to him.
"I deserved everything he said to me and more!" She unexpectedly yelled at him. Tommy took a step back, shocked at the severity in her voice. "Don't you understand? I did the exact thing I swore I'd never do. I cheated on my boyfriend." She stressed, anguishly. "I did what my dad did to my mom, what Shay did to me. I hated them for it, I hate liars and cheats, but that's exactly what I am! I'm a hypocrite." She proclaimed the last sentence softly as the tears flew rapidly.
"Oh, Jude." He murmured as he brought her to his chest. She cried on his shoulder as he soothingly rubbed his hand up and down her back. After a moment of silence, he said, "I'm sorry."
When she heard that she quickly pulled away and her agony was replaced by anger. "You should be! This is all your fault! You knew I'd never be able to resist you in the end and you exploited that. Why couldn't you just have left me alone, why?" She desperately asked him.
Tommy just stood there not being able to offer any arguments against what she said. It was true. He knew it was his fault. He'd let it get this far. Remorseful, he reached out a hand to her.
She shied away from his touch. "No, no. I can't do this. I'm sorry I didn't mean to flip out on you. I'm just, angry at myself, okay? It's my fault too. I, ah, um I need to get out of here. I need to go I can't stay here." She rambled hastily, not making much sense. She dug into her jean pocket, fishing out her keys. Her bag was in the conference room, but she didn't need it. She'd get it later.
"No." Tommy said firmly, preventing her from going to her car. "I'm not letting you drive like this."
"Like what?" She questioned. "I'm fine, okay? I'm fine. I'll be fine. I just need to get home. I wanna go home." She urgently said.
"Okay, but I'll drive you." Tommy countered as he ushered her towards his Viper.
"What? No. I wanna drive, I can't leave my car here over night." She tried to appeal to him, but it was useless.
"It'll be fine. We'll get it tomorrow." He said as he pushed her into the passenger seat, and then made his way to the driver's door.
Jude huffed a little, defeated, as she reluctantly buckled her seat belt. She sighed and squeezed her eyes shut when she felt the onslaught of fresh tears make its way to the front. She couldn't stop thinking about what just happened. She'd hurt him so bad. She closed her eyes, replaying every single word he said to her, realizing how bad it must have been for Chris to see that.
"Gee, don't stop on my account."
"You swore to me you were over him. That he didn't matter anymore, that you didn't care about him. Do you always kiss guys that don't matter to you, that you don't care for?
"What? You don't want to hear that the girl you're in love with is a tramp? Don't worry you'll come to terms with it, I'm starting to."
Her eyes flew up as she recalled that last line. He said that to Tommy. 'Oh my god. Is Tommy in love with me? Love?' She couldn't believe it, it wasn't possible. Chris was just saying that, how would he know anyway? 'But he wants me'. Her inner voice said. She was certain of that much. 'Maybe it is love.' She shook her head free of those thoughts. She couldn't deal with those on top of everything else. She buried the notion and her mind went back to Chris and what had just happened.
Tommy slowly pulled into Jude's unoccupied driveway. He switched the engine off as he got out of the car and opened the door for her. 'She looks pale.' He thought, worried. He walked her towards the door. He watched her fumble with the keys, so he gently took them from her, quickly figured out which one to use, and shoved it into the lock, turning it. He pushed the door opened; as Jude walked pass him, turning on lights.
"Where's your mother?" Tommy asked curiously, looking around.
"She's um, she went to some spa place for the weekend. She's been pretty upset since she found out about Dad and Yvette." She remarked as she looked at the answering machine. It blinked 3. She absently speculated who called.
"So you're here all by yourself?" He asked, somewhat stunned. Sure she was 18, but still…
"Yeah." She mumbled as she hit the play button on the machine. Her mother's voice flowed through the air first.
"Hey honey, It's mom. I just wanted to see how you're doing. I left baked ziti in the fridge, there's plenty. Just pop it in the microwave." She paused for a second. "It's beautiful here, I don't think I ever want to leave. Opps, I forgot I have a facial in 5 minutes. I'll catch you later. Love you. Call me if you need me." Jude heard the click of the phone as she smiled a little. Her mother seemed relaxed. She deleted that message as the next one played.
"Hey Jude, it's Sadie. I, uh, I'm just checking to see how you're doing. Obviously you're not around. I'll talk to you later, I guess. Try my cell when you get this, I need to tell you something, okay? All right, Bye."
Jude curiously wondered what that was about. Probably about some boy she met. She shrugged her shoulders, deleted it, and then the next message came on.
"Uh, It's Sadie again. I tried your cell, but I got nothing. I don't know what's up with it." Jude turned to Tommy who was just standing in the hallway. He gave her a sheepish look. She shook her head in slight humor as she went back to listening. "I really need to talk to you. It's extremely important, okay? Call me when you get this, no matter what time it is." All she heard then was the dial tone. What was curiosity became full blown concern. What was so important? She signaled to Tommy that she be just a minute. He nodded understandingly as he made himself comfortable on the couch in the living room. She was about to pick up the phone when it rang.
"Hello?"
"Jude?" Her sister's voice came frantic through the line. "Are you all right? I tried calling your cell a million times, what happened?"
"It's broken." She said calmly.
"Oh. Well, are you okay?"
She thought about all that had happened to her in the last hour or so. She was anything but okay. "I'm fine." She lied. "How's America is it as nice as Europe was?" She asked trying to make conversation.
"Yeah, it's great here." Sadie replied. She could tell though that something was wrong with Jude. But was it what she thought it was? It couldn't be. Besides if she knew, would Jude be this civilized? Definitely not. "What's wrong? Don't tell me nothing. I know something's up and I'm not letting you go til you tell me." Sadie insisted. She had to know for sure.
Jude sighed. She quickly relayed what had happened between her and Tommy, then her and Chris, leaving nothing out. When she finished Sadie's voice filled with concern.
"You sure you're okay? Nothing else happened? You told me everything?" Sadie fired question after question. Was it too good to be true? Maybe he didn't tell her, but why not? He sounded so harsh when Jude recapped the events. She didn't trust him, and she had to fight the urge to run home and make sure Jude stayed away from him.
"Yes I told you everything." She said, exasperated. "Listen Tommy's here so I gotta go-"
"Tommy's there?" Sadie interrupted her.
"Uh, yeah. He drove me-"
"Put him on the phone." Sadie demanded.
Jude was mildly surprised when Sadie said that. Sadie and Tommy had never really been friends, not that they hated each other, they just never were around one another a lot. Jude came into the living room where Tommy was sitting. "It's ah, Sadie. She wants to talk to you." Jude said holding out the phone.