I know how this all must look,
While Tommy fell into a troubled sleep Jude was left alone with her thoughts and feelings. Part of Jude knew that it was unfair to Tommy to be mad at him and not tell him why, but the other part of her felt that he should know why she was upset at him. Jude wasn't sure why the marriage thing was getting to her, in the end it was just a piece of paper, but it was getting to her. She looked over to a sleeping Tommy and her frustration limit was reached so she grabbed her pillow and hit him in the face with it. A startled Tommy yelled "What-" only to be interrupted by Jude's pillow hitting him for the second time. On what was going to be the third time he caught the pillow before he was struck. However, Jude did not release her grip on the pillow and was pulled across Tommy's bare chest.
With an extra tug Tommy was able to seize control of the pillow. He tossed the pillow to the floor and the identity of his attacker was reveled. "Jude?" Jude just stared at him and as Tommy started to wake up he said, "What the hell! I was asleep!"
"I wasn't," came Jude's response. Looking over at the clock on his bedside table Tommy saw it was 4:30 in the morning and was still dark out. "Jude, it is 4:30 in the morning. I'm exhausted I want to go back to sleep," moaned Tommy.
"Well I don't!" Tommy licked his lips and Jude felt the his lower body start to 'wake up.' Realizing that she was still on top of Tommy she moved off of him and told him to "Get your mind out of the gutter."
Tommy sat up in bed and looked at Jude who was sitting in the middle of the bed with her legs hugged up to her chest looking lost and sad. Tommy reached his right hand out to touch her but saw her tense as she noticed what he was about to do so he decided not to touch her and instead looked at her waiting for her to tell him what is going on.
"I thought that you were going to propose" whispered Jude. Tommy looked at her confused so Jude continued on with, "Tonight, I thought that was the important question that you were meaning to ask me for a while now."
His face was flooded with understanding and as Tommy started to say "Girl, I –" he stopped because he didn't know what to say to that.
Jude continued talking "Tonight was not the first night that I thought you were going to propose. I thought so three years ago, at the night of my third album release party, when instead you asked me to move in with you."
Tommy was about to say something when Jude shook her head and pressed on. "I was okay with that at first because it was logical that before we would become engaged that we should live together first and it was not like I wasn't already spending every night at your place. And looking back know I realized that I was not ready to get married when I was 19. But I'm 22 now and your nearly 30."
After a slight wince at hearing how old he was Tommy sighed and explained "You don't just get married because you are a certain age."
"No, you get married when you love the other person you are with and you want to spend the rest of your life with them. Also when you can also afford too and not everyone abides by that" declared Jude and she added this "You told me four years ago that you wanted all of me with you forever and it is not like we can't afford to get married. So why not?" By the last sentence Jude was yelling at Tommy. Tommy yelled back at her "I don't want to get into this now!"
"Well, you know what Quincy, we are! We need to!" Cried Jude.
"No we don't."
"Do you know that not once, in the past years, have we talked about our long-term future together. Musically, yes, but never personally."
"You know that I want you with me" added Tommy in a soft voice.
"You say that but I . . . I am in the same place with you that I was in three years ago when I moved in. Am I ever going to be something more to you than your girlfriend?
What about children?"
"What about children?" questioned Tommy who was getting panicky now.
"I want kids . . . eventually."
"Jude I don't want to get into this with you when you are like this!" Yelled Tommy.
"Like what?" Demanded an annoyed Jude.
"Acting like a kid!" Jude was confused and angered by what Tommy was saying screamed at him "Now I am a kid. An yet a few minuets ago you were trying to have sex with me!"
"I said you were acting like a kid not you were one" clarified Tommy.
"Oh, cause that is so much better! Well, you know what Quincy, I think you're the one acting like a kid!"
"How am I acting like a kid, girl?" Tommy used girl in the non-affectionate way but in an age-wise way that always ticked-off Jude.
"Your scared! You like how everything is going right now and you don't want to have anything change!" Taking a breath Jude calmed herself down and voiced her worse fear "Do you not see a future for us because you don't love me anymore?"
"Jude, you can question a lot of things but never question our relationship or that I love you" stated Tommy.
"But I am Tommy. I need answers. I need them more than I thought I can't . . . please . . . I can't go on without them." Jude got out of the bed and started to put on clothes.
"Jude stop." Shaking her head Jude told Tommy "I need to get out of here for a while. We . . . we . . . both need to do some thinking."
With that she grabbed the keys on the dresser and ran out of the Penthouse before she could brake into tears and Tommy could stop her.
A pounding of a door woke Jamie up. Opening one eye he noted that it was still somewhat dark out and so he closed his eye again and hoped who ever was at his door would go away. Instead of going away who ever was at his door started banging harder. Jamie wondered 'who would be at his door at . . . what time was it anyway?' Opening both of his eyes, this time, he looked over at his clock but the numbers were blurry because he didn't have his glasses on. To do that that meant that he would have to free himself from a very attractive blond. Doing that gently so not to wake her up he grabbed his glasses and noted that it was 5:24 in the morning and figured that he might as well go see who was at the door.
Jamie was not in a good mood by the time he was at his front door because his toe was hurting like hell due to it making contact with a table leg. He was so irked that he did not bother to see who was at his door before he pulled it open. What he found upon opening his door his heart broke. There stood, at his front door, a devastated and soaked-to-the-bone Jude Harrison.
Only one person he knew could ever putt that look on Jude's face and that was little Tommy Q. Jude didn't say anything and so Jamie gathered her up into his arms and ushered her into his living room. He sat her down on his couch and grabbed an afghan from the back of it and put it around Jude. Jamie then kneeled down so the two of them were eye-level and her asked her "What did Tommy do now?"
He was surprised to hear his voice so even because he was so furious at Tommy. To be fair to Tommy he hadn't really broken her heart at all in the past four years. Sure Tommy and Jude had fights and one near breakup but none of those put this look on her face. Jamie was surprised that he hadn't seen this face during all those years. No matter how much he disliked (yes, he was down from hate) he knew that Tommy was the only one that could make Jude the happiest, but he also had the power to make her the saddest. Right at this moment with his best friend looking how she was looking he didn't feel like being fair to Tommy.
As much as Jamie wished that he could take away Jude's pain he knew that he could not but what he could do was be there for her. Repeating his question, "Jude, what happened, what did he do?"
"He doesn't want to marry me." Jamie was confused. No confused was an understatement, in all the years he had known Jude she was never into girly things. As far as Jamie was concerned marriage fell into those girly things. The more Jamie thought about it the more out of character it seemed 'unless she was . . . could she be?' Jamie voiced his concerned with "Are you pregnant?"
"No," came the simple response but it left Jamie with more questions. As he was about to ask her another question he was interrupted by a voice coming from his bedroom door "Jamie?" Jamie looked up to see Laura in the doorway to his room with a confused look on her face. Jude looked between the two seeing that Jamie did not know what to due as he looked back and forth between two women that he cared about so Jude made the decision for him. "I'm sorry guys, I shouldn't have come over. I'll go now."
"No" screamed a surprised Jamie but calmly added "Jude, stay here I need to talk to Laura." Jude continued sitting on the couch as Jamie took Laura further into his bedroom. Jude could hear whispering going on and a few minuets later Jamie came out of his room with some clothes in hand. Jude took the clothes from Jamie and found the clothes to be a pink tracksuit. Looking between the clothes and Jamie she said "I don't think that pink is your color."
"Ha ha," cam Jamie's dryly response but continued with "Uh, your clothes look pretty wet and Laura said that you should get some dry ones on."
"So Laura is keeping clothes here now. Getting serious?"
"I . . . eh . . . I guess so." Not wanting to continue down this line of questioning Jamie reminded Jude were the guest bathroom was and told her to change.
Jude exited the bathroom in dry clothes and returned to the living room. She expected to see Laura there but she was not there just Jamie. "Where's Laura?"
"She went home. She has to be at work in a few hours anyway." Jamie patted the seat next to him on the couch and Jude joined him.
For two hours Jamie listened as Jude explained the whole Tommy issue. He didn't say much just nodded his head and listened intensely. Jamie didn't even make snide comments about Tommy where Jude expected him to he just listened. Now he was looking at a sleeping Jude with her head resting in his lap as he processed all that she said. The phone rang and not wanting it to disturb the sleeping Jude he gently moved her head of his lap and on to the couch and reached for the phone. Jamie looked at the caller ID and it said Jude-Home. Since Jude was asleep on his couch the only other person that could be calling from that number was Tom Quincy.
Because Jamie did not immediately answer the phone it kept ringing and Jude woke up. Looking over at Jude Jamie told her "I've got to take this." Jamie left the living room for his bedroom and made sure to close his door. A few minuets later he returned to the living room to be asked by Jude "Who was it?" Jamie looked over at his best friend and told her "No one important. Let's get some food into."
Like everything I've ever loved is coming down