Admitting that he loved her was easy. Listening to her admit that everything in her life would always lead her back to him made he see what he had to do. It was simple, and he didn't know why he hadn't seen it before. Maybe it was like Speid had said, maybe they really did make everything much more complicated than it needed to be. Things with them could be simple, if they would let it.

He laid in her bed, looking at the twist tie on her finger. Her fingers running over the lines on his stomach. They had intended on getting up, getting her ticket ready for London, and his for Seattle, but their need to be together, to feel each other was stronger than either of them.

"A year is a long time." She whispered.

"You're going to be on tour for half of it, it'll fly by." He whispered back.

"And if I don't want to wait a year?" Jude asked, looking up at him.

"You'll make it." He said kissing her forehead. He didn't want to admit that he wasn't sure if he could make it a year without her. He knew that this coming year was going to be one of the hardest for him to go through, but he knew he had to go through it without her, with only his family. "I'll catch you in concert when you're close."

"If we even go to Seattle." Jude sighed.

"You'll go to Seattle, and I promise to be there." He shifted in the bed, feeling his legs intertwine with his under the sheets.

"We really gonna do this Quincy?" she asked, he could feel her breath on his chest.

"I'm going to make you Mrs. Thomas Quincy." Tommy smiled. He loved the way it sounded, the way it floated out of his mouth and settled in the air.

"DuTois." Jude said shifting so she was now facing him. "I want you, not the person Darius marketed to the rest of the world."

"You're the only girl I would give that last name to." He smiled, bring her faces back to his to kiss her. The fact that she could say that, say that she wanted the real him, that was why he had always been so in love with her. She was the only girl he had ever felt close enough to allow to see that side of him, where he came from. And even though it had ended their relationship once, he wasn't going to allow it to end it this time.

Maybe that was why he couldn't tell her, because he didn't want it to affect them, to affect him. He knew that the days he had with his mother were numbered, and he knew if Jude knew, she wouldn't leave. Like before, he needed to do this on his own. He needed to face his childhood, and make sure that he could stand on his own feet before bringing her into the mess.

"Come on, it's almost noon, we're going to have to leave this bed sooner of later." Jude smiled, sitting up and in bed.

Tommy watched her, and she slowly picked up their clothes from the night before, her dress laying in the middle of the room.

"So much for getting the stain out." Jude laughed, holding it up. There was a dark oval down the front of the dress. "I'll see if the dry cleaners can save it." She sighed tossing it towards her desk, tossing his clothes on the bed.

He watched her, her curls from last night had fallen, and he was amazed by how calm she was about the dress. When he had heard her say it was by Kat, he knew that it was special to her, meaning more than he could understand. But the fight between Jude and May didn't even seem to matter anymore. She hadn't asked for an explanation, and he was glad because he wasn't sure what to tell her.

"Get dressed, we're going to have to tell Sadie." She said pulling him up from the bed. "I can keep a secret from the rest of the world, but not from my sister."

"Yeah, we're going to need her help getting everything planned." Tommy stood and wrapped his arms around her, holding her to his bare chest. "I love you Jude." He whispered.

"I love you too." It sounded so natural, it was almost hard to believe it was real.

It had been easy to tell Sadie, and Jamie had given Tommy a warning, one that was hard to take seriously, because to Tommy Jamie was always going to be that dorky penciled neck friend. But he knew that Jude needed to tell SME alone, because it was going to be harder to explain to them not only that she was getting married, but that she was leaving earlier than planned. After leaving Jude in the protection of Big Lou, he headed for the studio. He had two people he needed to talk to himself. His brother, and May.

He sat in the parking lot, watching the clouds out the window, waiting for his brother to pick up.

"Hey." He heard his tired voice.

"Everything alright?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah," he could hear him yawn, and he knew he's woken him up. "What about you, I didn't think I would hear from you until you got to Seattle."

"I know, I know." Tommy laughed. "But I've got some news, something I don't want to wait to share with you, or with mom."

"Everything is alright, right? You don't sound like yourself." His brother sounded worried.

"No, everything is fine, better than fine." Tommy sighed. "Look when mom is lucid, I want you to tell her I'm getting married."

"Married?" he asked after a long pause. He could hear the laugher in his voice. "Funny."

"I'm being serious." Tommy smiled, thinking about Jude. "Jude Harrison." He whispered her name, knowing that his brother would be able to put it all together.

"Tom." He heard him chuckle. "Mom will be glad to hear this, she's always talking about the blonde."

"Well make sure she knows. I'll be there in two days." Tommy said before hanging up. Telling his brother was the easy part, telling May was going to be harder.

He found her sitting in the recording booth, she was working on her third album.

"I didn't think I'd see you today." May said, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Don't give me attitude, I'm the one that should be mad at you." Tommy sighed, leaning on the door frame. "You ruined her dress."

"Like a dress really matters." May rolled her eyes.

"To her, that dress matters a lot." Tommy sighed, but he knew it wasn't about the dress. "I'm leaving for Seattle in two days."

"I thought you weren't going until the end of the week." May said, her eyes pooling up with tears.

"I'm leaving early, I need to be there." He told her. He watched her, as she played in the pick in her hand, turning it over and over. "Jude is going back to London."

He could see the spark of hope in her eyes, and it hurt to know he had to tell her, to put the spark out, like he would a candle.

"We're together." He said slowly. He wasn't going to tell her they were going to get married. "But right now I'm needed in Seattle, and she is going to do another album in London."

He watched as her head dropped, and he knew she was crying.

"May." He said, reaching out to touch her shoulder, to comfort her in some way.

"No." she said shaking her head, stepping away from him. "I need a second." She turned away from him, and he could hear her taking deep breaths.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

"I know." She whispered back, before turning around. Just like before he could see the sadness in her eyes, but she was smiling. "Maybe I knew this was going to happen, I just wish I had seen it before last night."

"Yeah, I wish I had too." He sighed. He knew that he should have left the room then, but he pulled her into a hug. She had been such a good friend to him, sticking by his side, waiting for him for so long, and he had done nothing but hurt and disappoint her. It wasn't fair to her, but it wouldn't have been fair to lie to her any longer either.

"Honestly, Tom, I'm fine." She laughed lightly as they pulled apart. "I mean boys are a dime a dozen around here."

"You're going to do great." Tommy said giving her one last smile before leaving the booth.

"Tell your girl to watch her back, I'm going to be the next rock star." May laughed, as Tommy left.

He knew that she was going to be fine. She was strong, being an artist made you strong.

His arm was warped around her tightly, holding her to him. He wasn't ready to go into the airport, to say goodbye, but he knew they needed to. It was time.

"Ready to see a rock star at work?" Jude asked, nodding her head to the crowd outside of the car.

"I'm always read to watch you work." Tommy laughed, giving her a light kiss before opening the door, and helping her out of the car. Big Lou was standing ready, Jude's bags in his hands, his eyes scanning the people.

Tommy watched from a distance as she signed autographs and took pictures with people, smiling the whole time. She was a different girl than the one he had meet at the airport weeks ago.

"Jude, you've got to check in." he reminded her, hurrying her inside the airport. "You're amazing." He whispered in her ear.

"I'm a rock star." She beamed back, taking his hand, and lacing their fingers together.

He looked down at their hands, then back at her quickly.

"They are going to find out sooner of later Quincy." She laughed, kissing him.

"Jude." He whispered. He had told her they were going to need to part quickly, that he wouldn't be able to let her go otherwise. "Call me when you land?"

"Absolutely." She kissed him again.

"Excuse me Miss Harrison." A security guard said, glancing at them then back at the crowd of reports.

"Yeah, sorry." Jude sighed. He could see that she didn't want to leave. She hugged him tightly, "I love you." She whispered.

He nodded, he could feel himself getting choked up already. "I love you too." He smiled as they pulled apart.

Jude gave him one last quick kiss before stepping back, handing over her passport and purse. "See you in 355 days."

Tommy nodded, and watched as she stepped through the security check point, stepping beyond his reach. He watched her, not able to move, not able to take his eyes off her. She could glance back and wave, blowing a kiss before she stepped out of sight.

"The worse part of your day is over." Big Lou said patting him on the back. "Now you get to find your own flight."

"The worse part is waiting." Tommy sighed looking up at the man with a small smile. He knew that the hard part had only started, waiting until he could be with her again, until he could have her next to him, that was going to be the hard part. But he knew this was going to make them stronger people, but part of him couldn't help but wonder if a year was too long, could they really make it that long? He had spent so much time waiting for her, waiting for her to be old enough, waiting for her to push him away, to leave him, waiting for her to let him back in, waiting for her to come back to him. The majority of their relationship together than been about waiting, and now he had to do it again. But he knew that he could wait until the end of time for her, for his girl.