Okay, so I totally drew inspiration from every awkward date I've ever had...oy. It was truly fun reliving those, let me tell you. There's still more fun to come, but for now...enjoy!
As far as afternoons go, everything was perfect: the sky was clear, the sun was shining merrily, and a gentle breeze whistled through the leaves on the trees. The streets of Toronto seemed to be full of pedestrians enjoying the last few days of summer before the fall chill, and the air was light and cheerful...that is, except for the air around Tom and Jude.

They both sat at a patio table, Tom wearing his trademark shades to hide the emotions swirling in his eyes and Jude fiddling with the silverware in an attempt to distract herself from her taut nerves. The first few minutes were endured in an awkward silence, both of them struggling to find a relatively neutral topic to start with.

"Can I get you a beverage to start with?" crooned the waiter. Jude looked up and opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off before she could start when Tom did it for her.

"Can we have one decaf latte and one half-sprite half-lemonade with no ice?"

"Sure thing, I'll be right back with your drinks."

Jude looked at Tom disbelievingly, until he started to shift uncomfortably. "What's the problem, Harrison?"

"I can't believe you remembered my order, is all. It's been a while since we've done this," she said. Her own sister never remembered her favorite drink; the fact that Tommy of all people did was slightly surprising.

"Yeah," he agreed, peering at her through his glasses. Thank God for whoever invented shades..."It's been a little too long, if you ask me."

Jude sighed, mentally tearing out her hair. She was never going to survive this lunch if she kept interpreting his words the wrong way; he'd already said that they couldn't be together, so why couldn't she stop rose-tinting his words?

Tom waited for a reaction from her, but he couldn't tell whether or not she'd heard him right. Maybe I should try something a little more obvious?

"So...how's your new artist?" Jude blurted, starting to tear her napkin at the corners. She needed something, anything to distract her from her feelings; this lunch had barely started and it was already turning out to be harder than she'd thought.

"She's alright; a little rough around the edges, but she'll get better. We're not as close as you and I were," he replied, watching her shred her napkin to pieces. Is she that anxious to get out of here? "How's Marcus?" he asked as casually as he could, barely succeeding at masking the venom he felt towards the man.

"Marcus is great!" she perked up, seizing on the opportunity to show Tom that she was alright without him. If he can move on, I can too..."He's got a lot of different ideas, and it's kind of fun changing my old sound."

Tom winced a little. Her "old" sound? Our sound? "That's...great. How's the album coming along?"

"Pretty good so far...at the rate we're going it'll be done before the end of October."

The conversation came to a halt, the silence hanging heavy in the air. Laughter rang out somewhere else in the restaurant, and the pair was made quite aware of the awkward dance they were in.Both were secretly relieved when the waiter returned with their drinks, ordering their lunches and attempting to squash the voices in their heads until the waiter rushed off again and left them to themselves.

They both fiddled with their drinks, Jude poking her ice chips with a straw while Tommy stirred his coffee. She could swear that he was brushing his foot against hers, but she passed it off as her imagination overreacting again. This is going to be the longest lunch in history...

.o.o.o.o.o.

They ate in relative silence, every now and then making an attempt at small talk.

Jude glanced at Tommy over her pasta, taking a few seconds to study his face as he bent over his plate. How was it possible that she still felt so strongly about him, even after the disaster that had occurred earlier that year? It seemed like she was back where she started; every time she took a step in what she thought was the right direction, she looked around and it turned out that she'd actually taken three steps back. She turned her eyes back to her own plate, keeping her emotionless mask firmly in place. At least she could pretend that she had moved on, right?

Tom looked over at Jude, watching her twirl her spaghetti with a fork and stare into her dish. She'd been distant throughout the whole meal, and he hadn't made any progress in finding out how she felt about...this. Them. All he needed was a sign, some sort of signal that she still cared, and then the courage he was slowly building might push him into action. So far, all he could see was the wall she'd put up between them. Was she over him? He hated to think that it was true, but every time he saw her with Marcus...no, damnit. I'm not giving up, he thought firmly.

.o.o.o.o.o.

Jude almost kissed the ground as she walked into G-Major. She'd made it through the entire lunch without a single "I miss you" or declaration of love, albeit just barely.

"Thanks for the lunch, Tom. I would have still been starving to death if it weren't for you," she joked, lightening the mood. Now that they were back in familiar territory, things were feeling a little easier to handle.

Tom smiled, pocketing his sunglasses. "It was my pleasure; I had a lot of fun. I...I missed you, Jude." He threw it out there as a last-ditch effort to gauge her emotions, to see how she reacted. Either she'd been practicing poker or she was just plain over him, because after an hour or so of being no more than three feet away from her he didn't have a single clue.

"I miss you too, Tom," Jude replied softly, looking into his eyes for the first time since they'd left the studio. She'd missed those icy blue depths, and before she could get too lost in them she gave herself a firm mental shake. God, I'm pathetic. "I mean...my music hasn't been the same without your 'magic' ears," she joked. So freaking pathetic.

They smiled awkwardly and parted, each stealing a look at each other's back while the other was turned around.

Marc watched the scene unnoticed, hidden behind one of the studio doors and peering through the tiny glass window with curious eyes. This is going to be good...he thought with a grin.


Can Jude convince Tommy that she's over him? Can Tommy convince Jude that he's ready to admit to his feelings? Mixed signals, anyone? And what the hell is Marcus up to? Find out in the next chapter...'til then, review! ;)