A/N: Okay, um, so…no more of me saying when the next part will be up, because apparently I am incapable of actually following through with ANYTHING. And I sort of feel bad about even posting this because it's a hell of a lot shorter than anything I've posted before, but trust me when I say that this was the only place to cut it off that would make sense. The next chapter is pretty much one really long scene and I didn't want to confuse that… so, yeah.

I hope you guys like it. Thanks for not giving up on the story – a special apology to cookietme7, who totally pointed out how unfair it was to say I was going to update and then I didn't. I'm sorry!

Enjoy this pitiful excuse for a chapter. But it's chock full of Jommy!

Disclaimer: Don't own it. Ever.

What just happened? Jude wondered helplessly as Tommy's back disappeared around the corner to the lobby of G Major.

Jude couldn't remember a time in her life that she had felt as confused and even a little heartbroken as she did at that precise moment. He had just left her standing in a room by herself after yelling at her that he loved her…or at least, that's what she thought he was trying to convey with the whole 'everything' concept.

She knew she couldn't just let him walk away like that – not when she was about to bare her heart on the line, and not after he had said some very thought provoking things earlier as well. She walked briskly out of the office and down the hall, and right before she was about to turn into the lobby, she heard her name being called from behind her.

"Jesus Christ," she muttered as she stopped and pivoted.

"Wait up a sec," Jamie called as he trotted towards her.

"Yes?"

"Hey," he said once he was a few feet away. "I heard about…everything that's been going on. Sorry I haven't been…"

"Been what? Around? At all? Yeah, you're right, that would've been nice." Jude wasn't in the mood for this.

"I just wasn't sure if you'd want me, I mean I did break your heart…" She practically snorted at this.

"C'mon, Jamie. It was months ago, and yeah, you cheated on me, and yeah, it sucked, but it still doesn't take away the fact that I haven't even seen you since this entire shitshow started. I'm not saying I needed you there to hold my hand and whisper sweet nothings in my ear, but it would've been nice to see a familiar face."

"Hold your hand and whisper sweet nothings? Oh, that's right, you've got Little Tommy Q to do that for you now," Jamie spat out before he could reconsider his words. Jude glowered and took a step towards him.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

She whirled around and stalked into the lobby, not completely surprised to see Kwest and Tommy talking by the reception area. She barely heard Jamie calling after her as she made her way to the front desk.

"Kwest is going to stay here with you," Tommy called as soon as she was within earshot. "I'm leaving. Call me when you need a ride home."

"Jude, I didn't mean that the way it came out," Jamie panted as he rushed up behind her.

"What are you doing here, Andrews?" Tommy's voice held venom, as he looked the teenager up and down.

"I work here, dumbass. No need to ask what you're doing here."

"Oh, well why don't you share with everyone what exactly I'm doing here."

"Hmm, let me guess…breaking Jude only to put her back together again?"

Tommy, who had been leaning casually against the desk stiffened up as he took a menacing step towards Jamie. "Excuse me?"

"What, truth hurts, does it? But it's true – one day you're just going to do something that you won't be able to fix." Jamie chose to ignore the look of disdain in Tommy's eye and continued. "All Tommy's horses and all Tommy's men, couldn't put Jude back together again," he taunted.

"That's rich, coming from you, Andrews. Tell me, how is your girlfriend these days? Or have you decided to cheat on her as well?"

"Are you really going to preach to me about monogamy, Little Tommy Q? Until you met Jude, that word wasn't even in your vocabulary."

"Exactly. Until. I Met. Jude."

"And now what? You're not even dating her, dude. You've just got some sick hero complex."

"Well, dude, I rescued her from you so I must not be doing that bad of a job, now am I?"

"Please. She didn't need rescuing from me, no more than she did from you anyway."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tommy stepped forward, inching closer.

"What do you think it's supposed to mean?" Jamie stepped so that he was just a few inches away as well.

"Stop it!" Jude shrieked as they stared each other down. The two men became momentarily distracted, realizing where they were and who was in their company, which now included almost all of the employees of G Major as well as Jude, Kwest and Sadie.

"What are you doing here Jamie? I mean, besides the free commentary on Tommy and I's relationship. Was there a purpose to you being here?"

"I wanted to make sure you were okay. I still care about you, Jude…"

"Well, you saw her, she's obviously okay; your work here is done." Tommy stepped protectively in front of Jude and tilted his head to the door, subtly showing Jamie the way out. Unfortunately, Jamie was not about to be told what to do by Tom Quincy of all people, and he wasn't done trying to force a conversation onto Jude.

"Come on, Jude," he said, looking at her over Tommy's shoulder. "What happened to us? We used to be best friends. Our relationship can withstand all of this…"

"We don't have a relationship," Jude spoke softly but with conviction.

"And you're about to have a relationship with me if you don't get out of here, Andrews," Tommy interjected; Jamie just rolled his eyes at him.

"Being in a relationship with Jude is like being in a relationship with you too, Tom! Can't have one without the other, can you Jude? Jude and Tommy – a package deal. Every guy's dream."

"What are you talking about, Jamie?" She questioned quietly.

"I'm talking about the reason why every single one of your relationships fail, Jude! I'm talking about the reason why we never would've worked out. It's you and him. Always. And you can try and deny it and say that but it is and it was and it will always be that way! That's why we broke up and that's why you're still alone."

Silence echoed in the crowded lobby of G Major. Tommy went to take a step forward, but Jude carefully grabbed his fist and shook her head at him. After a few moments, Jude stepped out from behind Tommy and took a good look at Jamie.

He still looked the same, that was the part that killed her. He still looked like the kid next door. Her best friend. Her old boyfriend. But with the way he had just spoken to her, it was like he was never any of those things. He was just a callous, jealous, petty little boy who was mad because he didn't get the girl. She didn't recognize him at all.

"Jamie," she said softly, looking into his eyes. "We broke up because you cheated on me. Because I found you in a closet with an intern. Not because of Tommy, not because of any unrequited feelings I had for him, but because of you. You keep telling yourself all these things with the hope that at the end of the day, you won't be the bad guy. But you know what? You were the bad guy! You were to blame for our breakup. Maybe we wouldn't have lasted forever anyway, but you can't blame me for your actions. And who knows? Maybe in a few years I won't blame you for your actions either. But…not now. Right now, I have to go. I'll…I'll see you around, maybe. I don't know."

Jude turned to Tommy and looked at him, not meeting his eyes.

"Can we go Tommy?"

"Yeah, girl. Let's go." He led her out of the building, hand in hand, following Bear and Ace out to the cars. Once out of the building, Jude didn't take her hand back, just let out a huge sigh and lifted her face to the cloudy sky.

"What, no words for me? Tommy joked. Jude pulled back her hand and shot him a fierce glare.

"Oh, I have plenty of words for you, but I wasn't about to give that nasty reporter that was still lurking in there any more ammunition than she already had. You I will deal with at home."

They got into the plain, nondescript car of the day and Tommy pulled out of the parking lot in a sort of convoy – Ace in front, Bear driving in the rear – and he tried to mull over what had just happened.

He knew he was going to get yelled at, that was for sure. He tried as hard as he could to remember that he was mad at her as well, but he was pretty sure that his actions in the past ten minutes were far more reprehensible than Jude's simple topic avoidance had been frustrating him so badly. He just kept replaying the entire scene in his head – Jude, running from Andrews, Andrews actually thinking he was hot shit, telling him he purposely 'broke' Jude just to fix her. And then Andrews actually telling Jude that her and Tommy being friends was the reason she never had any lasting relationships. He had to admit – he wouldn't have wanted any girlfriend of his to have the same type of relationship with a guy that he and Jude shared. But at the same time, it's what made them so special together. The two of them had a bond, and it only grew stronger everyday. Andrews clearly saw it…

And then there was Jude. As he drove on autopilot, Tommy let Jude's words flow through his mind once more. She had said – verbatim, if Tom remembered correctly – "not because of any unrequited feelings I had for him." Unrequited. Unrequited. As in unanswered. That was Jude admitting she had feelings for him, and admitting that she thought he didn't reciprocate them.

Finally, something I can work with.

Ace gave a nod to the two standing outside the door of the apartment, signaling that it was clear and there was no sign of a break in. With that, Jude stormed inside, flinging the door shut behind her, only to have it collide with Tommy's forehead.

"Girl, you are pushing your luck," he said as he rubbed his head gingerly, slamming the door.

Jude didn't respond, just stalked down the hall to the bedroom. She didn't say a word, just started digging in the closet, searching for something.

"Jude, we need to talk." He got no response. "About today, I didn't mean to…" Jude paused in her digging, and stiffened, but didn't turn around.

"Didn't mean to what, Tommy?"

"That entire thing with Andrews, I-" He was cut off by a scoff from Jude and a shirt thrown at him from over her shoulder.

"That thing with Jamie was stupid and immature and the human equivalent of a pissing contest, but I'm not going to get all typical girl on you and be pissed about that."

"It wasn't stupid, did you hear what he said? And why aren't you getting all pissed?" A box of his hidden cigars came flying at him and he caught them just in time.

"The question is, did you hear what he said? He was making shit up, I don't even know why you let him get to you." Tommy opened his mouth to retort, but Jude continued. "And you know he did get to you, that's why you went off on him." He rolled his eyes at her back at her obtuseness.

"It was the principle, Jude! And if you're not pissed at that, what are you mad at? I'm not a mind reader, you know! And would you stop going through all my shit?"

"You kissed me, Tommy!" Jude yelled as she whirled around. "You kissed me! Today! Only hours ago! And yeah, I fucking freaked out, but then you go and say…well, what you did to me, earlier, and I go to tell you how I feel and you practically yell at me! So yeah, Tommy, I'm pissed, but not because of you fucking defending me to Jamie, who, by the way, was saying all that shit just to get a rise out of you, but I'm pissed because I have no idea what the fuck you want from me, and you're not making it easy for me, okay?" She was breathing heavily at the end of her rant, emotions and adrenaline coursing through her veins. She couldn't remember a time in the recent past where she had sworn so much. She usually didn't have the need to – if someone was making her that angry, she would just put that anger into a song and not have to come to verbal blows with someone. And that's exactly what she was planning on doing, but since Tommy insisted on interrupting the quest for her song notebook, he had to deal with her wrath.

The silence stretched between them. They were both lost in their own thoughts, mulling them over, trying to make some sense of the freak show that had become their lives. Finally, Tommy broke the silence.

"It was just hours ago, wasn't it? It seems like it was so long ago," he said quietly.

"I can't tell if my life is in slow motion or fast forward these days."

"Jude, you don't have to deal with…this," he motioned between the two of them, "right now. I know you've got a lot on your plate right now and you don't need the stress that I'd bring and-"

"I need you."

"I…I'm sorry?"

"I need you, Tommy. I need you so bad it hurts sometimes. The idea of losing you to some stalker of mine is just about the scariest thing I can imagine. I need you in my life in any way I can get you. And I know I have tons of baggage and I know that this is a lot to deal with, but with all the craziness and drama of the past few days, or hell, even hours, the one thing that scares me more than this entire mess of a life I'm living is the fact that if something were to happen to either one of us in the near future, I wouldn't get the chance to tell you or show you how much I love you."

"I love you, too, Jude." Tommy felt like a thousand pound weight had just been lifted off his shoulders with that admission. Those three words had been a source of both torment and pleasure for the past four years with the incredible woman standing in front of him.

"But…?"

"But what?" Tommy furrowed his brow in confusion.

"What? No qualifications?" Jude was genuinely confused. "No, 'I love you like a sister,' or 'I love you but we can't be together,' or…" A look of horror crossed Jude's face. "Oh God, I'm not going to have to forget this conversation, am I? You're not going to make me promise that this never happened, are you??"

That statement actually elicited a laugh from Tommy as he closed the gap between them and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Girl, I love you. All of you. Not like a little sister, either. More like a really hot cousin." This earned him a smack from Jude. "I'm kidding, Babe. I love you in every way possible. And yeah, the idea of losing you scares the hell out of me, too. I'm sorry I…freaked earlier. I'm just not ready to deal with the thought of you not being in my life, but I could've handled it better."

"And…the forgetting about it part?"

"While I wish I could've confessed my love for you under different circumstances, I don't want you to ever forget this moment."

"The moment where you're standing two feet away from me with your hands on my shoulders?"

"Touché."

And then he was gathering her in his arms and pressing his lips tightly against hers. Jude wrapped her arms eagerly around his neck as his hands splayed on her back. She traced the outline of his lips with her tongue lightly until he opened his mouth and deepened the kiss. She educed a small moan from him before pulling back enough to rest her head against his chest, breathing heavily.

"Now that is what I want to remember."