Chapter 35

Old Lovers

Jude and Tommy sat at the soundboard mixing his song I Don't Care. At first he had not wanted to use it on his album, because none of it had been true and he had been afraid it would bother Jude. She however would not let him lose it because it was a great song and once they had the orchestra come in it would be amazing. She had her feet on his lap as they listened to it one more time, when a woman's voice interrupted from the doorway.

"Little Tommy Q?!" They both looked up and Jude recognized her right away. She was dressed in a form fitting low cut navy dress, revealing a great deal of cleavage and had sunglasses carelessly perched on top of her head, looking glamorous and giving off a 'you're lucky to know me' attitude. Jude tensed and dropped her legs back onto the floor.

"Cassandra Hayward." Tommy stood up and hugged the other woman briefly. "What are you doing in Toronto?"

"Oh...I'm releasing my own CD. You're not anyone in the acting business without one these days. And I could ask you the same thing stranger."

"I moved here a few months ago and this is my new label."

"Hey I'm Jude Harrison." Jude finally spoke up.

"Hi..." The other woman just gave her a faintly bored quizzical look.

"This is my girlfriend and co-producer." Tommy said moving back and putting his arm around Jude, feeling the tightness in her shoulders. He looked down to see a closed off expression on her face. She had never been jealous of the women who threw himself at him, so it couldn't be that, but something about Cassandra obviously bothered her.

"Wow! I can't believe you're trying that whole monogamy thing again. I mean after that whole Portia disaster...I have to call Charlotte. She was hoping to hook up with you again. So was Eliza..." Cassandra reached for her cell phone and started the call. "I'm sure I'll see you later..." She said to Tommy before waving absentmindedly as she put the phone to her ear and walked off.

Tommy turned back to stare at Jude who had not moved from her seat.

"Charlotte C. Preston and Eliza Wolf I take it?" He nodded, a little thrown by her tone.

"Girl what's wrong?"

"You know there was a tabloid speculating you left Portia for Cassandra." Tommy looked at her in surprise. This had come out of left field.

"You know why I left Portia Jude. And since when do you believe anything the tabloids say?"

"You did sleep with her though." She said not asking a question.

"A longtime ago...Jude you know I had a past before I met you." He said getting a little exasperated at her interrogation.

"Yeah well it's not so easy to come face to face with it over and over." Some of his old groupies had even found their way onto her tour. She held her arms against her chest, feeling cold all of a sudden. He reached out to touch her, but she shook her head. He wasn't quite sure where her strange mood was coming from.

"I have no problem with you and Spied or even Jamie."

"I never slept with them..." She said softly, looking at him finally. "Can you honestly say you would be okay with how close Spied and I are if we had? Cuz you'd be lying. I know how possessive you can be."

"Only with you."

"I know...Logically I know it's not your fault. I just..." She looked down not sure how to explain what she was feeling. "I know I'm being irrational. But I can't help how I feel..."

"Jude how can I fix this? You know none of them meant anything to me." He looked a little afraid of her mood. She finally reached up and touched his arm.

"I just...I need some time to get over this. My Dad wants me to be home for dinner. I think I'll just stay home tonight." She had stayed with him every night since they had come back. She stood up and got her stuff together while he watched helplessly. He pulled her back before she could leave and kissed her forehead, before leaning his against hers.

"I love you Jude."

"I know. I do..." She gave him a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, before heading for the doorway. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Daddy's Little Girl

Sadie, Jude and Stuart sat down to dinner for the first time since Jude had come back from tour. Sadie could tell he had something on his mind as he kept stealing glances at Jude. Jude picked halfheartedly at her chicken as she tried to make the self doubt and insecurities disappear. Tommy had always had a certain type he liked when it came to women and Jude would never fit the mold. And to have his old lovers show up like they still had a claim on him, made it hard for Jude to not feel vulnerable.

"Dad spit it out." Sadie finally said, hating the strange mood permeating the table.

"Jude my receptionist at work reads a lot of entertainment magazines." When Stuart had bragged to his colleagues about who his younger daughter was dating, their receptionist Eileen had informed him of the rumors. She looked up from her plate at him. She had not done anything to get landed in the tabloids since her tour. The press still hadn't even found out Tommy and she were dating, they had thrown themselves into working on both of their albums together. "This boy your seeing Jude...He's had a lot of press..." Stuart was trying to be diplomatic, but Jude could see through his attempts.

"You know his name Dad." She said simply before her eyes slid back to her meal.

"Fine Tommy has had a lot of press and none of it has been good. Is he still married?!"

"No...Divorced..."

"See what I mean? Married and divorced at 21. He's a heartbreaker Jude! And there are rumors of drugs and heavy partying." Jude wasn't about to say he was still only 20, at least for a couple more months. That would not exactly help his case.

"Dad!" Sadie warned, knowing how protective of Tommy Jude could get.

"I know you're an adult, but I don't want you to get hurt. You're still so young. Don't let sex cloud your mind. I think you should stop seeing him." Stuart said in a rush as if he had been holding it in all day.

"I'm not going to stop seeing him Dad. I know you're worried, but don't be. He would never hurt me." As she said it she knew it was true. Tommy would never knowingly hurt her again.

"How do you know that Jude? He's gone through so many women...How do you know you'll be any different?" As she thought about how to answer that, her earlier worries disappeared. That wasn't her Tommy, not anymore.

"Because he loves me and I love him." She wished now she hadn't left G-Major the way she had. He had looked a little lost when she had walked away.

"Love?" Stuart scoffed. "You've been together for less then 4 months...How could you possibly know you love him?!" Sadie caught Jude's gaze.

"Maybe you should just tell him Jude." Jude shook her head, not knowing how to tell her father she had been having an affair with Tommy last year.

"Dad you know Jude and Tommy were on the Boyz Attack tour last year." Sadie said for Jude, knowing her sister was having a hard time beginning.

"What does that have to do with anything? He was still married last year wasn't he?" Jude kept her eyes on him as she told him the hard truth, trying to gauge his reaction. He was her father and his opinion mattered to her.

"That's when we got together Dad." Stuart froze as the implications set in. "I'm not proud of it, but it happened. We fell in love. He moved here to be with me, even though we hadn't talked in over a year. He turned his life upside down just for a chance to be with me again." Stuart only focused on the first part of what she said.

"Jude...That just proves he can't be trusted! Seducing you when he was still married!"

"It wasn't like that." Her blue eyes, so like his own, burned into him and he knew he had to back off or he would risk losing her. "Dad you both mean so much to me. Please give him a chance. For me." Stuart took a long moment, but he finally nodded.

"Be careful Jude." Jude shook her head. She had been careful for too long. He deserved more than that.

The Place To Belong

Jude slipped into the dark apartment silently and softly closed the door behind her. She had thought it would be better if she stayed home tonight, but found she couldn't leave things the way they were. She walked into the bedroom and stripped down to her panties as she watched him sleeping in the bed. She thought about putting on one of his shirts, but decided against it, knowing she wanted the feel of his skin against hers. She slid under the covers and pressed herself close to him, waking him from his light sleep.

"Jude..." He said softly and put his arm around her pulling her into his chest.

"I'm sorry." She said against his neck.

"For what? You were right. It would have bothered me a lot if you had old lovers popping into your life." He leaned down and kissed her temple gently. "Jude I can't change what I did in the past. But all those girls I slept with...It was just sex." She looked up and the city lights from the window reflected off her big eyes. "It never meant anything, until you....And I fell for you before we even slept together."

"Really?"

"Just ask Kwest." She leaned up and kissed him, shoving all the emotion she had into the kiss. He responded with equal intensity, trying to show her she was the only one he had ever wanted like this.

Later they lay facing each other, the adrenaline of sex, having not faded enough to let them sleep.

"You know that video for Dido's song White Flag?"

"I think so...That guy from Buffy was in it right?"

"You watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer?"

"What can I say? I have a thing for kick ass blondes." He said and leaned over to nuzzle her neck causing her to laugh. "So what about, this video?" He said as he drew back to look at her again.

"Could that have been us?" He shook his head. "How do you know?"

"I would never have given you up twice." She smiled and pressed closer to him, as he lay back, putting her head on his chest.

Where You Belong

Sadie watched her sister in the doorway with amusement, as she put more clothes in her bag. This was the first time she had seen her in what seemed like forever and of course it was only because Jude needed more clothes. Sadie spoke up as Jude seemed to be lost in her own little world.

"When are you getting the rest of your stuff? I could use the closet space." Jude looked up distractedly and then back at the drawer. She could have sworn her favorite tank set was here somewhere.

"What are you talking about Sadie? Why would I move my stuff? I live here."

"When are you going to move in with him officially?"

"I'm only 19. I'm not ready to live with a guy."

"What do you think you're doing now? You spend every night together. You carpool to work." Jude just gave her a look like she was crazy. "You have closet space and a key. What do you call it?"

"Sleepovers?" Jude said trying to sound cute.

"If you officially move out I might actually see you one in a while." Jude frowned at Sadie. They were both busy with their own lives...Sadie with school and Jude with her and Tommy's albums. Wasn't that why they hadn't seen each other lately? "Oh and Dad wants to talk to you. He asked why you didn't bother to inform him that you were shacking up with Tommy."

"Why didn't he ask me himself?"

"Uh when was the last time you were home long enough to see Dad? Since you live with Tommy you should try to make time to see the rest of us you know?"

"For the last time I am not living with Tommy!" Was she? Sure he had given her a key, but that was just so it would be easier for her if he wasn't home when she came by. He had never asked...

"Jude your precious guitars are all at his place."

"That's because it's easier..."

"Because you're there all the time when you're not at work."

The Talk

Jude let out a small snort as she thought of the conversation she had had with her sister, as she and Tommy sat at the dining room table eating Chinese takeout.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, just something Sadie said." He waited for her to elaborate. "She seems to think we're unofficially shacking up." He gave her a funny look.

"I know." She gave a nervous laugh. "She can be so blond sometimes."

"Babe...You have tampons in the medicine cabinet. I don't know how unofficial that is."

"Oh..." She said a little stunned. "Are you really saying you're okay with us living together?"

"Jude I gave you a key as soon as we came back...What did you think I meant?"

"You didn't exactly ask..." She mumbled. He took her hands and made her look up at him.

"Fine I'm asking. Do you want to live with me?"

"No."

"Okay." Her mouth opened in shock.

"Okay?!" He gave her a small kiss and smirked at her.

"You can keep pretending we're not living together if it makes you happy." She gave him a petulant look that had him smiling at her. "Give it up Harrison. You know you can't sleep without me." She would not give him the satisfaction of answering, knowing he was right. Jude Harrison was living with Tommy Quincy. How the hell had that happened?