A/N: Here you go...this is 'Tommy Talks.' And it will hopefully help explain some of the background behind his relationship with Jessica and his interactions with Jude. Enjoy!

"You might want to sit down."

Silently, Jude nodded her head and slowly walked over to the couch, taking a seat in the middle. Tommy stood on the other side of the coffee table, his mind clearly working hard to get his thoughts in order.

"I know I have a lot of explaining to do. And I will. But please, don't say anything, don't interrupt—or else I'm never going to be able to get through this," he urged as Jude quietly nodded, her expression still one of confusion and anxiety.

He took a deep breath and began slowly pacing. "Okay. Remember when we ran into each other in the coffee shop a couple of months ago? And then how we saw each other again on the street corner later that night?"

Jude nodded once more, remembering their reunion.

He watched her, then continued, "Well, to me, seeing you twice in one day after not seeing you for five years wasn't just some crazy coincidence. It wasn't even fate—to me, it was my chance to make up for the biggest mistake I had ever made. It was another shot—for me, for you, for both of us, together."

She remained quiet, swallowing hard to not burst out into tears in the middle of his speech, as he continued.

"See, I've sort of always had this theory about the two of us. Even when we hadn't spoken for years, I always thought that the real problem between the two of us was that the timing was never right. You were too young, we worked together, you were dating someone else, I was dating someone else…it just always seemed like it wasn't in the cards for us. But that day I left you standing on the street in Toronto, I felt like I officially forfeited any chance I'd ever have of us being anything again, friends or more. I had ruined everything…and I guess as time went on, I began to accept that it just wasn't meant to be. I gave up all hope of ever seeing you again, let alone being friends with you.

"Right after I had this whole realization, I met Jessica. I was feeling pretty lost and she's the one who found me. And the best part was that I wasn't Little Tommy Q or that guy from the tabloids...I was just some guy. She was the polar opposite of you but she intrigued me in the same way. She had her own thing going on, she was confident, and I liked that. I liked not having to make all of the decisions or worry about what people would say…it was like a fresh start. And it was really good, for awhile."

Jude couldn't help but look down at this point, knowing that she had played some role in the downfall of their relationship.

"A couple of months before I ran into you, Jessica got this call from her job. They wanted to transfer her to a position in Germany. It was a great opportunity but I didn't want her to leave," Tommy continued, his voice growing slightly strained as he recalled a part of his relationship that Jude had been unaware of. "She had basically become the strong one in our relationship and I didn't exactly trust myself without her around…but without any real ties here, she could've easily gotten up and left."

Jude nodded in understanding, the pieces of the story starting to come together.

He sighed and said, "So I asked her to marry me. We had talked about getting married before but the truth is that I probably wasn't ready yet…if at all. But I knew if I didn't do it, she would leave and I'd be left here by myself."

He looked to Jude for a reaction, but she remained cool and unemotional, willing him to go on.

He hesitantly continued, "So she stayed. And we were engaged. And things were okay for a little while. But I think I started to freak out. I pulled back and threw myself into work, anything to avoid the wedding topic," he said, taking a deep breath and remembering everything, taking a seat on the edge of the chair across from her.

"But that's when I ran into you. That day, in the coffee shop. It was like this sign, this symbol of hope when I was starting to feel like my life was destined for failure. I could actually get the chance to fix something I regretted more than anything and you were actually willing to give me that chance.

"Jude, being friends with you again—it changed my life," he asserted, looking into her eyes sincerely. "I started remembering all of the reasons why I loved Toronto, why I missed my friends and family. I realized how much I've changed since I've come here and how much I need to accept my past rather than run from it."

She faintly grinned, knowing that he had had the same effect on her. He was a reminder of where she came from, bringing her a sense of reality that no one else had in a long time.

"But you were more than just a friendly face—you made me stop and think about where I was in my life. You flat out told me that you didn't think I was happy and that I deserved more…no one else could ever have seen that or been gutsy enough to say it."

Jude blushed a little, looking down at the carpet, remembering that night in Central Park.

"I'm glad you said it," he continued, seeing her reaction, as she lifted her eyes again to meet his. "You forced me to take a good look at myself. I needed that. And what I saw—it wasn't pretty. I saw a guy who had proposed to his girlfriend because he was scared of being alone. A guy who had been denying the mistakes and choices he had made. A guy who was settling for less than what he wanted.

"But you were the one thing in my life that I felt like I needed to be right. The one person I wouldn't let down. You meant more to me than any friend, any girlfriend, or even any fiancée. I cared more about what you thought than anyone.

"And when we went to that concert, I just kept thinking about my whole timing theory with us…maybe the problem wasn't that the timing was off, maybe the problem was that I was letting the timing be off."

She couldn't break her gaze away from his, the intensity of his eyes piercing into her own. Her expression was blank, letting everything sink in, as he went on.

"That night…," he started softly, slowly enough to draw out every word, "that night wasn't about making mistakes. It was about making things right."

Hearing his words, her breath was caught in her throat as she turned away, breaking their stare. She closed her eyes, feeling the tears burning, wanting them to disappear. She heard him quietly move from the chair to the couch, feeling him sit on the cushion beside her.

"You were right, Jude. You and me—we can't just be friends. We never could," he said faintly, lightly touching the side of her face to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. She shivered at his contact, his hand lingering just a few extra seconds against her cool skin.

She opened her eyes slowly, hesitantly, letting the tears come to the surface. She turned towards him, seeing his earnest but slightly uneasy expression.

He remained seated beside her, not moving any closer, as he resumed his explanation. "I understand why you wanted to end everything after that night. Part of me didn't blame you for making that choice—but I meant what I said. I couldn't accept your decision. I couldn't just let go. So I called and emailed and texted you…enough to drive you crazy, right?"

She grinned weakly at his question, sniffing back her tears.

"But after you hung up on me at your sister's wedding, I decided to give you what you wanted. Even though I wasn't giving up, I decided to stop pushing so hard and just things rest awhile."

She looked down, lightly biting her lip, still feeling guilty for forcing him out of her life as she had.

"Jude," he started once more, shifting in a little closer, causing her to pick up her head and look at him, "even though we haven't talked for the last week, I don't think I stopped thinking about you for more than two seconds. You were engrained in my mind and I realized that the only way I could make things okay between us was to make a decision once and for all."

He took a deep breath and said gently, "I love Jessica—I do—but she's not the one I want to be with. I didn't want to hurt her…but in the end, I made the decision that I should've done a long time ago. The one decision that I had left. The only one that was important…"

She stared into his eyes, as he concluded,

"I decided to make the timing right."