She looks at him, and hesitates at first. But then sees he's not relenting. So she ushers Josie out of her lap, and climbs into his lap. After she gets comfortable in his lap. He says, "Kerry, listen to me. Regardless of us being free to date publicly or not. This type of news would be a huge issue for Shonda anyway. Because she isn't a fan of cast members dating publicly or otherwise."
She has to admit, he's right. She remembers the recent meetings they all had with Shonda about professionalism. With the recurring incidents involving Colby, she made it a point to reiterate her feelings concerning the cast making headlines about their personal lives or struggles.
He sees that his words are giving her comfort, her tears stop, and she's dabbing her eyes. He holds her closer, and kisses her forehead, as he says, "You know I'm right about this Ker. Don't take the blame for Bellamy. This is on her. Not you." She sniffles, as she rests her head on his chest, and he holds her, letting her calm down.
A few seconds pass by, before he asks, "Are you okay?" She responds, "Because of you. I'm more than okay." Her response makes him smile, and she smiles too. She looks up at him, and they share a sweet kiss. She touches his face, after the kiss, as she looks up at him, and he asks, "What are you thinking?" She clears her throat, as she says, "You want the truth?" He nods as he says, "I'd prefer it. Yes." She takes a breath. Her tone changes abruptly, and he sees a shift in her eyes, as she replies, "I'm thinking of how I am going to see Bellamy, and not wring that bitches neck."
The honesty in her response completely catches Tony off guard, a bit. She looks at him still with a straight face, and sees the look of surprise on his face. But she unapologetically says, "You asked me to be honest." He responds, "I did, and it's clear you definitely took advantage of that invitation." She inquisitively replies, "Are you sorry you asked? Or shocked at my response."
He smiles as he replies, "No, I'm not. I get it. It's just been a while since that Bronx accent came shining through." She smiles at him, as she says, "Well, you can take the girl out of the Bronx. But you can't take the Bronx out of the girl." He kisses her lips as he says, "That seems evident, and I wouldn't want to change you anyway. You're perfect, just the way you are." She sits with him hugging her tight, and her hugging him in return, enjoying their moment.
As the mood settles, they both sit in silence, until she asks, "So what's your plan?" He's stroking her arm, which is a calming measure he uses, whenever she's upset. But she notices his strokes stop, once she asks her question.
She readjusts in his lap, to look him in the eye, and says, "Tony." He looks at her, and he says, "I need you to promise to stay calm." She immediately feels her anxiety begin to climb, as she asks, "Why? What did you do?" He takes a breath, and says, "I knew we needed help with this Kerry. I knew it was well outside of either of our expertise, especially when I found out Bellamy was involved."
Kerry acknowledges his comment with a nod, and says, "Okay. So what did you do?" He replies, "I called Judy." His words hang in the air, for a while. She's processes his words, and then excitedly says, "You called Judy Smith!" He sees the nervousness in her eyes, and sees her anger too, as he pleadingly says, "Kerry, please calm down."
She shakes her head, and gets up, as she says, "Tony! How could you call her, without talking to me first?" He responds, "Because we needed to make a move Kerry. I didn't know what else to do, and I didn't want to make the wrong decision, making things worse. Besides, it's what she does for a living, right? She can handle this for us. Don't you see that?" Logically speaking, she knows he's right. But there's one thing he didn't consider. So, she clarifies her real reason for being angry.
She says, "That may all be true Tony. But involving her means we have to involve Shonda. Did you think about that part? You know she's going to lose her mind when she finds out about this, and she won't let either of us forget it, either. You remember how pissed she was at all of the tweets about our onscreen characters relationship, and what about the photo shoots that ABC set up that have us promoting the show, and none of the other cast?"
He understands her concern, and sees the fear in her eyes. But he wants her to understand that all of this is still fixable. So he walks over to her, as she stands in the middle of the living room, with her hands on her head, and very upset. He stands in front of her, and she says, "Don't touch me." He puts his hands in his pocket, and steps back, as he says, "Kerry, I understand you're angry. But I assure you Judy is aware of what we need to do, and while talking with Shonda is something we can do. We don't have to." Kerry says, "Tony, what do you mean? We have to meet with her, and let her know what's going on." He firmly responds, "No, we don't. This is our situation, and we'd be Judy's clients. Just like Colby."
His response are like a magical phrase, it all clicks now. She remembers how great Judy has been with helping Colby stay out of trouble publicly. Despite the things he's been involved in. She's worked miracles for him, and Shonda only knows about half, of what he's done, and that's only because Colby told her directly. Now even he knows, that may have been a mistake.
He sees her thinking, and he hopes she's seeing his act of calling for help as a solution to their issue, and not a further inconvenience. Suddenly, she looks at him, and he sees her anger subsiding, and her body language is relaxing, as she says, "Do you really think it will work?" He replies, "Yes. I do. She's the expert, and we are relying on her guidance. You can ask more questions tomorrow, when we meet with her."
She responds, "Oh, I didn't realize you set up a meeting." He replies, "Yes. I did. Because as I said. I knew that we had to get moving on this. We are in luck, that Harvey has hired the snitching reporter that Bellamy has used to leak the pictures. So with that relationship being secure. If she does anything else, she'll likely call him, and he won't publish them anyway." Kerry says, "Wow, you've thought of everything huh?"
He responds, "I told you. I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe, and happy Ker, and I mean it." She sees the sincerity in his eyes, and she steps to him, and hugs him tightly. He wraps his arms around her, as he jokingly says, "So I guess I can touch you now huh?" She giggles, as her face is planted into his chest, and he feels the vibration of her laughter, which makes him laugh too, as he kisses the top of her head.
The moment is calming, and they both needed it. As her emotions level out, she looks up at him, and says, "Thank you." He replies, "You're welcome. I love you." She responds, "I love you too." As they share a sweet kiss, and hold each other. Despite the calmness of the moment. They are interrupted by yelping, and the pitter patter of little feet on the hardwood floor. They look over and Josie has her leash in her mouth, and now sitting on her hind legs, wagging her tail.