Soundtrack for this chapter
Times like These—Foo Fighters
Soul Meets Body—Death Cab for Cutie
Everybody's Watching Me—The Neighbourhood

7

Instead of travelling by the Tube, I followed Jude to a black SUV with tinted windows that was parked a few streets down from where we had eaten. I walked over to get into the car when Jude threw me a puzzled look.

"Er, do you have your license here?" he asked.

"What? No. I take the Tube to work."

"Well you're standing outside the driver's door."

"I doubt I'll ever outgrow that. Sorry." I walked around the front of the car to where Jude was standing, and he opened the door for me. "Thanks."

Jude shut my door and walked back over to the driver's side of the car. When he started it, music filled the silence. As he drove, we both stayed quiet, but occasionally, I heard him softly sing along to whatever lyrics were being played out, at least until he remembered that there was someone else in the car with him. 

"So...where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see."

Before I knew it, the car was rolling to a stop and Jude was telling me to close my eyes.

"I'll come open your door and let you out. Then I'll lead you to where we're going."

I looked around to see if I recognized where we were, but I had no clue where he had stopped us, and I was hesitant in answering. "Okay."

"Elle?"

I turned to Jude and saw a mask of confusion on his face.

"Do you trust me?" he asked.

"I hardly know you."

"That's not what I asked." Jude stared deeply into my eyes.

I sighed before responding. "I'm sorry, Jude. You've been nothing but kind, but...I'm cautious, and I've been questioning a lot of things over the past year that turned out to be not what they seemed. I guess I trust you, at least as much as I can trust someone I've just met."

"I get it. Listen, if I were in your place I would also probably question the guy I barely knew driving me around London while trying to disguise himself and telling me to close my eyes." Jude smiled at me and placed one of his hands on mine. "But I promise you, I'm not going to kidnap you or anything."

I smiled back at him and closed my eyes. "Ready when you are."

I felt a soft peck on my cheek and couldn't help the light sensation that was building in my stomach. I think I'd forgotten what it felt like to have a man cause butterflies to float around in there. I heard him get out of the car and open my door, and then I felt him pull my hands to direct me. Jude led me for a few minutes before he stopped and told me to open my eyes.

"Here, we have Westminster Abbey." He gestured his hands towards the impressive structure before us.

"Jude. Robert Browning is buried here. Did you know that? He's my favorite British poet. Oh, and e. e. cummings is my favorite American poet, but he's buried back home in Massachusetts." I realized I was rambling a bit. I tended to get very excited when on the subject of literature. "Sorry, that was a bit of a ramble."

He laughed. "No need to apologize. And for the record, I did not know your favorite poets, but you said you worked for a publishing company and that you studied literature and I know they have a large section dedicated to poets and playwrights, so I thought you'd enjoy it."   

"You're really something else, Jude, in like, the best way possible."

I'm not sure I'd ever met someone as thoughtful as him, and I was already feeling a twinge of remorse for questioning him even in the slightest.

Jude and I spent an hour in Westminster Abbey walking around, taking a self guided tour, and kind of acting like tourists. I felt like one, and I think Jude participated to make me feel better about it. I knew London was my new home, but it still didn't feel real.

It didn't feel like I was going to be there for the long run. And maybe I wouldn't. Maybe I would go back to the States one day and pick up where I left off. But even just momentarily thinking of leaving behind my new job, or even Jude, whether he was my friend or something more, made me feel a tiny pang of heartache.

When we exited Westminster Abbey, the sun was shining and I no longer needed my jacket. Jude made the right call in saving our nature tour for the afternoon. I turned to look for his car.

"Where did you park in relation to here? I had my eyes closed, remember?"

"Not to worry, we can walk to our next stop in about ten minutes," he said.

"Are you going to tell me where?"

"Not a chance."

Even though part of me was dying inside because I had no control over where we went or what we were doing, I was actually enjoying just letting go for a change and letting someone else lead the way. I popped my sunglasses on and followed Jude as he strolled down the street.

When the park Jude was leading me to was in sight, I immediately recognized my surroundings.

"Ah, I know where we're going. St. James Park."

"I see that my tour guiding skills are so advanced that you are learning where everything in London is located." A cocky little grin shaped its way on his mouth.

"Oh please. I love parks. I live for them really. This was the first place I came to after moving in."

Jude and I walked through the park at a leisurely pace, and I soaked in the surroundings. I loved listening to all that nature had to say, from the rustling of leaves whenever a breeze picked up to the chirps and tweets of all different kinds of birds. Being outside always made me feel one with my surroundings, and even though there were a vast number of sights and sounds all around me, it somehow brought me peace.

I'm not sure when it happened, but at some point Jude laced his fingers with mine and led me to all of his favorite spots in the park. He showed me some of his favorite monuments and statues that resided there, and we spent a little time sitting on the park deck chairs and talking. When we got to the lake, Jude and I walked right along the edge of it. There were clusters of daffodils sprinkled around the lake, and I was reminded of my favorite Wordsworth poem.

Our walk turned into a serene little getaway from the crowds as there were very few people walking as close to the lake as Jude and I were. Every now and then during our time in the park, I would see Jude sneak a photo of me. At one point, I made him stop and get both of us in it so that I could remember the way he looked that day too. We were walking along in silence, simply enjoying the surroundings for close to twenty minutes, when, suddenly, I could hear someone shouting Jude's name.

"Jude, did you hear that?" I asked.

His usually smiling face took a sour turn, and when he spoke his tone was like nothing I'd heard from him before. "Shit. I can't have one day, just one day where they leave me be." He seemed almost distressed, and I understood that he was upset, but if he said he was used to this I didn't quite understand why this time was upsetting him so much.

Then, I heard the cameras. A myriad of clicks filled the peaceful stillness of the lake, and Jude turned around quickly to start our journey back to his car. The look on his face was making me feel awful.

"Jude, really, it's okay."

"It's not. They have no sense of decency. They interrupt people all the time. And they don't care. They just want to get a picture they can sell." His voice was steadily rising along with the pace of his steps, so much so that I had to nearly jog to keep up with him.

When we reached the street, Jude hailed a cab and had the driver take us to his car.

Once we were seated inside of it, he pulled his hat off and ran his hand over the top of his head. He turned to me with a look of remorse on his face.

"Elle," he sighed, "I'm sorry. I just wanted today to be perfect, and I thought the way I was dressed was enough to camouflage who I was and not attract any attention. You have to understand, those pictures are going to start popping up online tonight, and probably in tabloids tomorrow, especially since the show I'm in is starting a new season soon."

I didn't know what to say. On the inside, my heart was racing, my mind was moving in all directions, and I was feeling like a scream trapped in someone's throat. I didn't want my picture thrown about like it was nothing. I didn't want my family to see me in a tabloid. I especially did not want my ex to see that, and I didn't even know why he was someone who popped into my head. But Jude had been so incredible and had done so many wonderful things for me. I couldn't possibly show him what was happening within my mind.

"It's okay," I said, but Jude's face said it all; he wasn't buying a single word. "Really. I mean, I knew what I was getting into by hanging out with you in public, right? It's not your fault, and you don't need to apologize. Besides, now we'll have more pictures of the two of us from today."

Jude placed his hand on top of mine on the center console. "I know this isn't actually okay, and I'm pretty sure I know exactly what's going on in your head because I'd bet they are the same thoughts that went through mine the first time I was bombarded in public. But I want you to understand that I will do anything you need me to do to make it easier on you, even," he paused and diverted his eyes from mine, "even if you'd like me to just take you home and not see you again."

As soon as the words left his lips, I knew that wasn't a possibility. The anxiety I had been feeling about the photographers was high, but the anxiety I immediately felt when Jude mentioned cutting off ties was infinitely worse.

"I don't want that, Jude."

His defeated demeanor slightly shifted. "You're sure?"

"Positive."

"Good, because I don't want that either."

I had no idea how this little slip up was going to affect the rest of our day, but I wasn't ready to say goodbye to Jude just yet.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading :) is there anyone in particular that imagine as our two lovebirds?

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