Michael went outside to find Phil sitting out at the curb, looking dejected. "Phil?" he asked. Phil looked up at him. "Hey, Michael. What are you doing out here?" he asked. "I, uh, wanted to see if you were okay." Michael sat down next to him. "I'm alright. I've been better though." Phil admitted. "Hey listen man, I just wanted to thank you for being so kind and welcoming towards Emma and I. When she told me about you, Claire and the kids, she spoke very highly of you, and she wasn't wrong." Michael said. "You really think so?" Phil asked, starting to smile. "Absolutely. I know your marriage isn't any of my business, but you did nothing wrong and you didn't deserve to be treated that way by Claire. Hearing all of those awful stories she told and seeing her berate you like that just made something in me just snap! So I, uh, I yelled at her." Michael admitted.
"You did?" Phil asked. He was no longer smiling, and was shocked, though Michael couldn't tell if he was shocked in a good way or a bad way. "Yeah, I pretty much told her that the way she treated you and the kids was not okay, and that she was the root cause of her problems with people. I really let her have it, too. I'm sorry, I know it wasn't my place, and I know that I just made an even bigger scene by doing that and ensured that all 4 of us probably won't be able to show our faces here again. I just, couldn't stand to see her treat you that way." Michael said. "It's okay. Actually, I'm really touched. Michael, no one has ever stood up for me like that before. Thank you." Phil told him. He was smiling again.
"Of course. You're a good man, Phil. Claire, Haley, Alex and Luke are lucky to have you, and I mean that. I think we should be friends. I don't know that Claire and I will ever be friends, but maybe my talking to will give her a wake up call and she'll start treating you and the kids better. And if not, I'll put up with her for your sake. I'm sure my girls would love to see you and your kids again, and I'd still love for you and your kids to meet my boys." Michael told him. "I would love that. Thank you so much, Michael!" Phil told him. "No problem. Here's my number, and be sure to add me on Facebook." Michael said, pulling out a pen and sticky note from his jacket pocket then proceeding to write his number down and give it to Phil.
"Will do. I should get back in there and pay for my meal." Phil said. "No need. I already did that for you." Michael said. "Michael, you're the best! Thank you!" Phil said. "Anytime, man. I'm gonna take off here soon, but don't be a stranger!" Michael said. "I won't! Drive safe!" Phil said. Michael eventually walked up to Emma who was sitting in the passenger seat on the phone. "Yes, that's fine. Thank you for letting me know. See you in a couple hours. Love you, sweetie. Bye." Emma said, hanging up the phone. "Was that Jen?" Michael asked. "Yeah, Jude had a date the same night he did and both their dates were each other's exes and used Jen and Jude to make each other jealous." Emma explained. "Ouch!" Michael said. "Yeah, so their night turned out to be a dumpster fire, too. Jen told me they decided to see a movie together at the mall so she'd be a couple hours late, and I told her it was okay." Emma said.
"So, are you okay?" Michael asked. "I'm fine. I should probably go in there and pay for my meal, I was out here longer than I meant to be, so Claire and Phil are probably suspicious." Emma said. "Oh, I don't think they'll remember or care that you were out this long, because after you left she blew up at Phil and told him to leave and at that point, I lost it. I couldn't take it anymore." Michael said. "You screamed at Claire?" Emma asked. "Yes, I did. I know I shouldn't have, I made an even bigger scene and I should've bit my tongue since she's your friend, but I just saw red. Honey, I'm sorry, I-" Michael tried to explain, but was interrupted by Emma breaking out and laughing. Michael was visibly confused by her reaction.
"I-I'm sorry, it's just that, I've known you for 11 years and have been with you for over a year now, and I've seen you mad before, but I've never seen you scream at anybody, ever, not once. You've always been so patient and forgiving, but the fact that Claire brought that out of you is just awesome!" she said, calming down a bit. "So, you're not mad?" Michael asked. "No, not at all. I honestly don't blame you - she deserved it!" Emma said. "Okay, good. Because I really tried to keep it together because I know you two used to be close. The best part is, when I told Phil, he wasn't mad at me, either. He was touched that I stood up for him. In fact, he still wants to get our kids together one of these days." Michael said. "That's great! I'm glad he wasn't upset." Emma said. "Me too. And who knows?" Maybe I talked some sense into Claire." Michael said. "I don't know about that, but one can hope. Anyway, I'm gonna go pay the bill, but when I get back, you have got to tell me what you said to her! I can only imagine the look on her face!" Emma said, ready to laugh as she got out of the car.
A couple hours later, Jen and Jude were headed out of the Gigantoplex as the movie finished. The movie was Posideon. "That was a great movie!" Jude said. "It sure was. I'm surprised we were able to get front row seats on such short notice." Jen said. The two continued walking out of the mall. "Thanks for coming with me, Jude. I had a great time." Jen said after they exited the quadruple doors. "Sure thing, dudette. I had a great time, too. We should do this more often - I mean uh, just one on one time with each other. As friends. It's just that I, uh, I spend so much time hanging out with just Jonesy or Wyatt, or even Caitlyn or Nikki, and the two of us don't really, uh, do stuff, just the two of us. Ya know?" Jude stammered, trying his best to make it seem like he wasn't asking her out and in fact wanted to spend time with her platonically.
He hoped Jen would take it that way. A smile grew on her face. "I agree, Jude. I think we should do fun stuff together more often. Hopefully without either of us being used and humiliated next time." Jen said. Jude laughed. "Right. Well, uh, I'll see ya tomorrow." Jude told her. "See you tomorrow, Jude." Jen said. And with that, the two of them got in their cars and headed home. Jude felt happy. Despite starting his night off with a terrible date, he got to spend some time with Jen. Of course, his initial plan to get over her was thrown out the window.
He couldn't help but wonder: was Jonesy right? Did she only like him as a friend? Seeing a movie with him was her idea, and friends do see movies together. It could've been just a nice gesture, but it also could've been a romantic gesture. Then again, even if she did have feelings for him, he was doubtful that he'd end up with her. When she found out that Jonesy had feelings for Nikki, she and Caitlyn were pretty adamant about stopping them from getting together (to no avail), because she feared that if they were to break up, it would ruin the friendship between all of them.
They eventually dated and were currently broken up, and while they were still friends, Nikki ended things because she feared the relationship between them would ruin the friendship they had. Not to mention, just because Jonesy and Nikki were still friends doesn't mean Jen or Jude might be, and he couldn't bear the thought of losing her. "I just wish I could be with her without having to worry about anything going wrong." he said out loud to himself as he drove home.