A.N. okay, since I haven't posted in like forever on this story here's a nice longish chapter with lot's of cute jommy moments, especially at the end. you also find out about Jude's past. please review and let me know you're still reading this!

Jude walked into her house, a wide smile on her face. She had not expected to run into Tim again, though it was an unexpected surprise. She sank down into her couch and closed her eyes, reliving the day.

"What's on your mind, little sis?" Jude popped an eye open to see Sadie standing above her.

"How did you get in?" She asked. Sadie held up a key.

"Underneath the flower pot, very sneaky!" Jude rolled her eyes, but followed her sister into the kitchen.

"Apparently not sneaky enough. What are you doing here?" Sadie gave her sister a small smile. She walked over to Jude's fridge and poured herself a glass of iced tea.

"I'm just wondering what has got you all smiled today." Jude smirked at her.

"Like it is any of your business." Sadie shrugged and sat down at the table.

"So you most definitely met someone. So, what's his name?" Jude rolled her eyes.

"There is no one. You are way off base." Jude smiled, her mind drifting off. Sadie raised one perfectly plucked eyebrow.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure there's no one." Jude's cell rang, cutting Sadie off. Jude prayed that it wasn't the school about something work related. She really enjoyed her Saturdays.

"Hello?" She said into the phone.

"Hey Jude, it's me, Tim." Jude smiled. Sadie smirked at her so Jude turned around, to try and make the call more private.

"What's going on?" She asked him.

"Listen, I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to go out for dinner or something next weekend." Jude smiled, holding her screams of happiness.

"Yeah that sounds great."

"So I guess I'll call you later this week to get directions to your house." Jude grinned, so happy that she was going out on a date with Tim, the guy she was quickly falling for.

"Yeah, I'll see you then." She hung up and squealed.

"Oh yeah, you're not seeing anybody." Jude turned to see Sadie still sitting at the table. Her smile faded away for a second.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that I met a guy?" Sadie just gave Jude the "duh" look.

"So what's his name, where does he live, how did you meet? I need details!" Jude laughed at Sadie's eagerness to see her "back in the saddle" so to speak.

"Okay, his name is Tim, he lives in New Jersey, and I met him at the bar last night." Sadie frowned.

"So you're going out with a guy whose last name you don't know, who lives in another State, and you only met last night at a bar?" Jude frowned. She didn't expect this from her sister.

"I mean, Jude, what do you know about this guy? What does he do for a living? If he's from NJ what is he doing here in New York? These are key questions you should know before you date a guy."

"I'll have you know that Tim owns his own music store in NJ. He's in New York for awhile visiting a friend. He happens to be a good guy. I know because he saved me from a creep at the bar last night. I never thought that you would be this hostile with me when I started dating again." Sadie looked down, clearly not wanting to start an argument.

"Jude, I just want you to be careful. Your last relationship didn't end so well…" Jude looked away from her sister.

"Get out of my house." Sadie stared at Jude, shocked.

"What?" Jude pointed towards the door, fire in her eyes.

"Go!" She shouted. Sadie grabbed her stuff and scurried out of the room. She gave Jude one quick sympathetic look.

Once the door closed, Jude sunk into her couch, the tears welling up in her eyes. She had finally started moving on when Sadie just had to bring up her past.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was close to 7:00 the next weekend, when Tommy walked up to Jude's front door and knocked. A moment later Jude answered the door.

She looked beautiful, dressed in a pair of black pants and a green shirt. Her red hair was down and fell around her shoulders in waves. Tommy was speechless. Jude smiled, glad that she was pleasing him, visually.

"You look great." He stated. He held out his hand, waiting for her to grab it, like earlier that week at the park. Jude closed her door and followed him to his Viper. Jude's mouth dropped open.

"Wow, you must do really well for yourself if you can drive this!" She shouted. Tommy looked at his car and cringed. Oops… his pride and joy car almost exposed him. He scrabbled for a legit reason to own his car.

"Yeah, my… uncle left it for me in his will. He was a fairly wealthy guy." He smiled; glad to think of something that good on the spot. Jude just smiled.

"Wow, the only thing I ever get from a will is a vase." She chuckled to herself. Tommy opened up the passenger side door and let her slide in, closing it behind her.

Once Tommy was settled in the driver's seat, Jude turned to ask him a question.

"So this was quite the surprise, you asking me out for dinner." Tommy nodded, thinking back on his conversation with Kwest earlier that week.

Flashback

Tommy stared at Kwest like he had a third head.

"What do you mean I've got it bad?" He asked. Kwest shook his head.

"I just meant that you clearly feel something for this girl. Why don't you ask her out?" Tommy frowned at Kwest.

"That would be acceptable?" Kwest laughed.

"Well, yeah it isn't like the 1700s where you had to ask the father first." Tommy frowned, making his reason clear. Kwest stopped laughing and grew serious.

"T, man… Claire met someone else, and I know that you are still hurting from that, but I think that it's okay to have dinner with someone whose company you enjoy. Don't freak out, it's not like you're getting engaged again or anything." Tommy smiled.

"Yeah, Kwest man, you're right. I'm going to go call her now."

End flashback

Tommy shook his head, clearing the memory out of his mind.

"I guess I just wanted to spend some more time getting to know you." Jude smiled, accepting his answer.

Twenty minutes later they pulled into a nice restaurant on a pier over looking the river. Jude gawked as she stepped out of the car.

"Wow! How did you ever find this place?" Tommy smiled at her reaction.

"I know a guy." He joked. Jude smiled and linked her arm in his. They walked inside the restaurant. Tommy released his arm from hers.

"Stand here and I'll be right back." He stated. He didn't want Jude with him when he went to tell the hostess his name for the reservation. Then she would find out the truth, and he didn't want that… yet. Not until he knew that this was serious. He stepped up to the young woman.

"Hi, reservation for Quincy?" He asked. The hostess looked through her list and nodded. Tommy looked over to Jude who was looking at the menu over on the wall. He caught her attention and waved her over to him.

The hostess grabbed two menus and led them outside to a table that overlooked the river. Tommy pulled her chair out for her and Jude sat down in awe. The hostess handed them their menus.

"Your waiter will be with you in a moment." She said before disappearing. Jude was looking out over the river. Tommy stared at her and smiled softly. She was beautiful.

"Look, you can see the city lights." She said softly. Tommy followed her gaze and sure enough you could the outline of New York City.

"I've never noticed how beautiful the skyline is." Jude said.

"Have you always lived in New York?" Tommy questioned. Jude turned to face him.

"Yeah. Well I didn't grow up in NYC but I've always lived in the state." Tommy nodded. Jude laughed to herself. The sound made Tom's smile grow wider.

"So what about you?" She asked. Tom looked into her blue eyes.

"What about me?"

"Where did you grow up?" Jude asked. Tom looked down, trying to think of the best way to answer that question. He decided to just try the truth and hope that she didn't ask too many more questions.

"I grew up in Boston." Jude widened her eyes.

"Wow. From Boston to New Jersey, huh? Do you speak with your family much?" Tom just smiled sadly to himself.

"We don't really see eye to eye on things. Namely my career." Jude nodded. A tall sandy blonde waiter interrupted them.

"Hi, my name is Vince, can I get your drink orders?" Jude looked to Tommy. Tom sat up.

"Yes, could you bring us a bottle of your finest wine?" Jude smiled. Vince nodded and walked away.

"How can you afford all this?" Jude asked. Tom just shrugged, hoping that she would move on to another question. Jude sensed that he really didn't want to discuss money, so she switched the topic.

"I have to ask you something, and you can tell me if I'm being getting to personal. Last week when we met at the bar, you seemed so sad. What was wrong?" Jude asked him. Tommy looked away, the subject of Claire striking a pang in him. Jude realized she had pushed to far.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." She looked down at her lap. Tom looked up and saw her nervously biting her lip. He smiled softly.

"Why are you so nervous?" He asked her. Jude looked up at him, wearily, glad that he wasn't pissed at her. Jude sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"I'm sorry. This is the first date I've been on in five years." Tom looked at her in surprise. What?

Vince reappeared with a bottle of wine and two wine glasses.

"So what would you like to eat? Any appetizers?" Tom looked away from Jude and looked up at Vince.

"Yeah, could you maybe bring us some bread? What would you like Jude?" Jude looked at the menu.

"I would like the lemon chicken with a side Caesar salad." She closed her menu and handed it to Vince.

"And for you sir?" He asked looking at Tommy.

"I would like the salmon with a side garden salad. Ranch dressing, please." He said, handing Vince his menu as well.

"You're food will be ready shortly, but I'll get your bread out for you." He said grabbing the menus. Tom nodded and turned back to Jude.

"You mind me asking why it's been so long?" Jude shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes. She took in a deep breath before answering.

"I was married five years ago. My ex husband was… abusive." Tom drew in a sharp breath. Jude was on the verge of tears so Tom placed a hand on hers. She looked into his eyes and smiled weakly.

"The end of our marriage came about after I miscarried." Jude sucked in a breath. This next part was still hard for her to talk about. A tear made its way down her cheek. Tommy longed to brush it away, but he just sat there, holding her hand, waiting for her to finish.

"I was happy when I found out I was pregnant, but my husband wasn't. One night we got into a heated argument and he pushed me down the stairs." Tommy was starting to tear up, just thinking of the horrors Jude must have gone through. Jude angrily wiped away her tears.

"I have never forgiven myself for what happened that night." Tommy looked at her in pain.

"Jude, what happened was not your fault. I'm so glad that you finally divorced him." Jude laughed bitterly.

"So am I. But that doesn't stop me from thinking every night what my life would be like now if I hadn't lost that baby." Tommy silently watched Jude pull herself together. He took a deep breath and decided to tell her his story.

"That night you met me, I was attempting to get drunk." Jude looked up at Tommy, surprised that he was telling her his story.

"Earlier that day, my fiancé proceeded to tell me that while she had been on a business trip she had fallen in love with another man." Jude gasped. She placed her hand on Tommy's.

"Tim I'm so sorry that happened." Tommy glared into the night.

"If anyone should be sorry, I should be for all that you went through." Jude was silent. Vince came by and dropped off the bread.

"You're food will be ready shortly." He stated before walking off. Jude stifled a laugh. Tommy looked at her, wondering how she could laugh after all that they had shared.

"I'm sorry." She said, still trying to stop. Her laugh, however, was contagious and soon Tommy was laughing as well. He smiled.

"I haven't had this much fun in awhile." Jude smiled and squeezed his hand.

"Me either."

Later that night Tommy pulled up outside Jude's house. He turned off the engine and turned to face Jude.

"I had a great time tonight." Jude smiled.

"Yeah me too." She chuckled softly. Tommy grabbed her hand.

"What?" He whispered. Jude smiled.

"Nothing, I guess I was just thinking this night would be weird or awkward or something, but it wasn't. It was great." Tom smiled, genuinely happy that she had a great time.

"I'm glad that you had fun." Jude smiled. Tom loved seeing that smile. It made his heart beat faster after time he saw her smile. She suddenly leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, taking Tommy back by surprise. He responded quickly, raising one hand to cup her cheek. Jude moaned into his mouth. She pulled away and leaned over to whisper in his ear.

"See you soon, Tim?" She asked. Tommy rested his forehead against hers.

"Real soon." He whispered back. They shared one last lingering kiss before Jude disappeared into her house.

Tommy sat in his car a few minutes just thinking about the kiss. Kwest had been right. He was really falling for this girl.

Inside her house Jude smiled and pressed her hand against her lips that had only a moment ago been touching Tim's. Was she falling in love with him?