A/N: Sorry it's been a few days since the last post, but I've been busy with school and now I'm starting to come down with some kind of a bug. I'm hoping it'll go away soon, but I'm feeling like I was hit by a train and I figure before I get much worst, I'll post the next chapter just in case I'm totally overtaken within the next day or so. So, short a/n, medium length chapter. Hope you guys like.

Chapter 4

Jude arrived at the studio earlier than Tommy. She found this odd, but shrugged it off. She went into the studio and continued to work on the new song. Moments later, Tommy breezed in without so much as a hello. She stopped strumming and watched him a moment, wondering what was bothering him. His face betrayed no emotion, but his body language gave him away. His shoulders were tensed and his jaw slightly clenched. From the look in his eyes, he obviously hadn't slept well the night before. Jude frowned in concern.

"Tommy?" She called. He turned to face her and she was surprised to see a coldness in his eyes.

"Oh, hey Jude." He said, his voice nonchalant. Jude stared at him incredulously. It had been a long time since they had been in this position and she still disliked it.

"Are you ok?" She asked, studying him further. If anything, he was more guarded than before and he betrayed nothing of what was going on inside his head. He shrugged dismissively.

"Why do you think there's something wrong?" He asked, brushing off her concern. "What do you got?" He asked her, indicating the music she was writing.

"Nothing but chords…ok spill." She said, her eyes boring into his.
"There's nothing wrong." He said, and for a moment, she saw a sadness in his eyes. As soon as she saw it, it was gone and she wondered a moment if she really seen it.

"You can tell me what's wrong you know." She said, staring into his indifferent eyes. Tommy glanced away from her and towards the door to the studio. Jude frowned and turned her head, seeing no one there. She glanced back to Tommy, her gaze questioning. Tommy sighed heavily, as if in defeat.

"Jude…we need to talk."

"About…?" She asked, feeling nervous about what he was going to say. Jude noticed Tommy's eyes dart back to the hallway and back to her. Jude turned around and saw nothing there. "Tommy, there's no one there." She said, wondering what it was he was seeing, or nervous about. She was getting more and more worried by the moment. She'd never seen Tommy acting like this. "Just tell me what's wrong." She said, taking his hands. Tommy pulled away as if her touch burned him. Jude felt tears coming to her eyes, realization hitting her. The sudden coldness, the nervousness…He wants to break up with me. She realized, feeling devastation roll over her. Tears began to sting to her eyes.

"Jude, I can't do this anymore." He said, his voice conveying no emotion to her.

"Last night you said"

"I know what I said." Tommy snapped, and sighed. "Look, it's been fun while it lasted, but who are we kidding Jude? Even if we waited until you turned 18, do you really think your parents would approve?" Jude stared at the floor. A single tear trailed down her cheeks. She looked back up at him.

"Why do you care so much now?" She asked, her voice breaking.

"I'm trying to be realistic."

"Screw realistic! Tommy, love never makes sense."

"That's what you think this is? Love? Jude, come on. You're 17." He said, his voice harsh. Jude balked. She had never heard him act this way. She didn't know how much longer she could stand to be around him. Not when he was acting like this.

"Tommy-" She said, her voice breaking. She stared at him a moment and got out of her chair and ran from the room, sobs escaping her throat.

Jude ran out of the studio and Tommy collapsed in a chair. He closed his eyes to fight back his own emotion. He had to keep the façade up, even if it killed both of them. Tommy felt a presence in the doorway. He didn't need to look up to see who it was.

"You happy now?" Tommy asked, his voice raw with emotion.

"Never happier." Stuart Harrison responded. Tommy scoffed and he didn't look up to acknowledge his presence. Moments later, he heard the soft click of the door being closed. Tommy sat in his chair a moment, taking deep breathes to calm his frazzled nerves. His efforts were in vain and he stood up, grabbed the chair he was sitting in and threw it with all his strength at the bullet proof glass before him. The chair did nothing besides bang against the glass and bounce off it and onto the soundboard. Tommy's legs collapsed and he fell to the floor, feeling his world shatter around him.