Author's Note:Hi everyone! I'm back! I've been working on my incomplete story Unready, Willing, & Able because one of my New Years resolutions is to stop sucking and actually finish the stuff I start. (Actually, the resolution is 'get my shit together,' but it sounds better when I mention finishing stuff.) Anyways, I realized recently that I had never posted this short story here (I posted it over on DLS a few years ago) so I edited it and thought that it would be a nice prelude to me making an actual update to UW&A. It's real short - only 3 parts, and I'll post them all this week. Anyways, it is short, fluffy, and Jommy. You're welcome ;)
Happy New Years!
The song is Saving Ferris - I Know. Made popular by the 10 Things I Hate About You soundtrack :)
I Know
They walked into the darkened lobby of G Major still laughing, broad smiles gracing their faces. Jude twirled around and Tommy couldn't help but to feel his smile grow – her sense of fun was contagious. They had used Tommy's personal key to enter G Major, as it was approaching 4 a.m. and Jude had left some books at the recording studio earlier.
"Why didn't you take me there before? That was amazing! It had so much energy!" Words tumbled out of Jude's mouth in between bouts of humming and scatting.
"Didn't think you were ready," Tommy smirked, teasing her.
"Oh yeah?" She asked as she approached him.
"Yeah." He said as he leaned down and planted a brief kiss on her lips. She pulled back and grinned happily at him.
"I'm so wired now! What was that called again?"
"Ska music. It's a mixture of jazz and calypso and R&B. I'm glad you liked it." He watched amusedly as Jude sat down on the floor in front of him, pulling out her journal and a pen, starting to scribble.
"Let me guess…"
"Yup!" Jude said happily, not looking up from her notes. "I just wish I could write trumpet music…this is going to be so fun!" She murmured softly, smiling to herself.
"You know, there are other places here to sit. Like the reception area, hospitality, even, oh, I don't know…a recording studio?" He couldn't take his eyes off the girl in front of him, but he himself was not about to plant his butt down on the floor of G Major, no matter how good the cleaning crew claimed to be.
"Ooookay," Jude drew out as she hastily finished a line, and lifted a hand up for Tommy to help her stand. Tommy took her hand and pulled roughly, causing Jude to fly up and into his arms.
"Mmm, nice." Jude mumbled as she rested her head against his shoulder.
"You know, we could do this all the time in G Major and not just when the lights are off…"
"Tommy, you know how I feel about that." He sighed and nodded, pressing a chaste kiss against her temple. He was well aware of Jude's feelings on the subject of them becoming a public couple. It's funny, Tommy had always told himself that if he and Jude ever got together, he would have to tape her mouth shut to keep it from getting out. Now that it's happened, he wanted to shout it from the rooftops, yet Jude was the one worried about the backlash. It was sweet, and Tommy knew that. She wasn't too concerned about herself or her own reputation, but rather she was worried about Tommy and his career. He had just been assigned to produce two new up and coming stars, and Jude didn't want people to not take him seriously if they knew he was dating one of his artists. She knew that he really wanted to produce the albums, and she wanted people to focus on that, not his personal life. So, she decided to keep everything quiet and very private. Only Sadie and Kwest were aware of their relationship, and as hard as it was, Jude and Tommy were able to maintain their semi-professional relationship in front of others.
They never really went out in public, so Jude was incredibly grateful for their night out at a concert. She was hesitant at first, but Tommy assured them that they could act as professional as Jude was comfortable with, even though he didn't think it'd be necessary. And it wasn't. The concert was at an underground venue, very low key, and for the first time in a long time – no one recognized Jude. No one cared. Jude never thought she'd be so happy to be ignored. So she and Tommy spent the entire night dancing and kissing, laughing and joking, and being a typical couple.
But the concert had to come to an end, and at the end of the night they were back to being Jude and Tommy, the secret couple, stealing kisses and moments and a darkened record label building. He rested his head against hers and inhaled her scent, cherishing the moment as usual.
"Come on," Jude said suddenly, pulling back and grinning once more, the energy returning to her body. "I have a great idea!" And with that, she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards a recording studio, neither one of them noticing the darkened man in the corner with a gleam in his eye.
Once in the studio, Jude finished writing her song, played most of it on the keyboard, and stretched out along the couch, her thighs resting atop Tommy's as she sat up next to him and corrected the last line with a flourish.
"Done!"
"And you're sure?" Tommy asked slightly skeptically. After all, she had just written what she claimed to be a 'hit' in 20 minutes. At 4 in the morning.
"Mmmhmm. Want to be my guinea pig?" She asked softly as she placed a kiss on his pulse point on his neck. His back arched slightly and he could barely contain the moan that threatened to escape.
"Sure," he gasped out as she continued her ministrations. "Sing it for me."
"Uh-uh. It's a duet. Sing it with me." She said against his neck.
"Jude," he tried to protest, but her lips were trailing up and down the column of his throat.
"I have the keyboard set to brass. I have the lyrics right here. Just please, follow my lead?"
"Mmm…" Tommy hesitated.
"I'm not asking you to sing it with me in public. Just right here, right now. Please? I…I wrote it about us." She tried as a last ditch attempt at getting him to sing with her. It was true, of course, but she knew how much it pleased Tommy to have verbal confirmation that she wrote songs about him.
"Okay," he said tiredly. He was exhausted, but wasn't going to let that tear him away from alone time with Jude, and if she really wanted him to sing a rougher than rough cut demo with her, who was he to deny her?
"Yay!" She said as she bounced up and moved towards the control. They weren't going to record it, so she didn't plan to move it into the soundproof recording studio, but she turned towards the open door.
"Should we…?" She motioned to the open door leading towards the lobby. Tommy shook his head.
"Nah. We're the only ones here, who cares if we're loud?" Jude just shrugged at his logic and started fiddling with knobs, her blonde hair flowing everywhere. Tommy was entranced.
"Here," Jude tossed him her journal without turning to look at him, still struggling with the knobs. "Read the lyrics and listen to the music, tell me what you think, and then we'll try it."
Tommy did as he was told as he listened to the upbeat trumpets coming out of the speakers. It wasn't a full band sound at all, but he had to admit that it was fun and happy, and if they got a six or seven piece brass ensemble in the studio… the possibilities were endless. So he listened and read, putting the lyrics to the music in his head, aided every now and then by Jude, humming along to the wordless song, making sure it fit.
As the song ended, Jude turned to Tommy, her smile threatening to split her face.
"What do you think?" She asked eagerly.
"I think…that we are both exhausted and that it's almost 5 a.m." Jude's face fell. "But, I also think that no matter what time it is, this song is really good. It's different for you, but I like it." Jude crawled into his lap and gave him a smoldering kiss.
"Thank you," she whispered against his lips before she pulled away. "So, you ready?"
"Are you?" He countered.
"I think so. I mean, I've never done a lot of this with my voice before, so I hope it sounds okay." Tommy raised his eyebrow skeptically. Since when did Jude ever sound anything less than amazing? The song was pretty trying, as far as the vocals were considered, but he was wholly confident she could pull it off. It was totally ska, and the lyrics were brilliantly fun and sexy, and not surprisingly, they related well to their situation.
They sang and recorded bits and pieces for the better part of two hours. They had indulged themselves in countless pots of coffee and had seriously depleted Tommy's secret stash of Twizzlers, and were now pleasantly sugar buzzed and exhaustion was only flirting with their bodies instead of forcing itself upon them.
Finally, Tommy looked up from the soundboard.
"I think we have a winner!" He said with a broad smile, finally satisfied with the way the song came out. It was still very rough, but it was an actual finished product, which was better than he had expected.
"Let's hear it!" She said as she offered a hand to Tommy to get him to stand up. He took it, yet got up without exerting any strain on her. He pressed a few buttons, and music filtered out of the speakers, and Jude started swaying her hips in time with the music, which quickly turned into full on dancing.
"My mama said to stay away from guys like you," she sang along with happily with her own voice, pointing playfully at Tommy. "She said they were nasty, made me do things I don't want to do. Stay away from bad boys they've got one thing on their mind," she moved her body down Tommy's sensually, causing him to grasp her hips and pull her tightly to him. She gyrated slowly and continued to sing. "Their hormones are raging and they want it all the time!"
She pulled away and danced onto the couch, clearly having a great time with Tommy just watching amusedly and a little uncomfortably, as he not-so-subtly adjusted himself.
"And I know, know, 'cause she said so, and I can't just let you go. And I know, know, 'cause you said so, and I can't just let you go!"
As the next verse began, Tommy offered Jude a hand and spun her off the couch, dancing with her as he sang along with his own voice. "Well, I love you very much, you're nice to see and nice to touch," Jude laughed as he spun her around the recording studio and into the hallway, where the music was still just as loud. She snuck a kiss in before singing the next line with him.
"But I would never, ever, ever treat you wrong, been waiting for you all along," Tommy dipped her low and smiled lovingly down on her.
"And I know, know, 'cause she said so, but I can't just let you go. And I know, know, 'cause you said so, but I can't just let you go." They sang together as they moved around the room, until the music slowed and Jude pulled out of Tommy's arms and stood in front of him, swaying to the music as her voice deepened and got more soul.
"I said I want you to know, I said I want you to know right now. Whoa, I want you to know, I want you to know." Her incredible voice dipped and gathered strength as the song continued, and she really did look like she was having a great time. It was all Tommy could do to watch her in her element. The music quickened back to its original pace, and Tommy and Jude danced together to the sound of the mechanical brass instruments manipulated by the soundboard.
"And I know, know, 'cause you said so, but I can't just let you go. And I know, know, 'cause you said so, and I can't just let you go."
Tommy suddenly pulled Jude to him, tightly wrapping his arms around her and kissed her passionately. They angled their heads, deepening their kissing as their own voices floated around them. As the song came to an end, they pulled apart, breathing heavily and resting their foreheads against one another.
"I'll never let you go," Tommy whispered to her as Jude's melodic, powerful voice ended the song brilliantly. She leaned forward and met his lips once more, only to pull back after a few seconds.
"I'm so not doing anything today." He laughed and pulled her back into the recording studio, pulling her down onto the couch as he held her from behind, completely exhausted. Neither one spared a second thought about the fast approaching 8 o' clock in the morning as they drifted off.
As for the man lurking in the corners of G-Major, he slipped off into the early morning soon after Jude and Tommy's little performance had ended. If he was lucky, time would be on his side.
"What are you doing?" Kwest's harshly whispered words were the first things that filtered through to Jude and Tommy's conscious. "Get up, get up!" He said as he pulled a bleary Jude off the couch and sat her in the adjacent chair.
Not five seconds later, Darius stepped in the doorway. His coat was still on and briefcase in hand, and his typical stern look was plastered on his face as usual. Kwest stepped in front of Jude, who had rested her head on her elbow and was a few seconds away from drifting off again. His peripheral vision told him that Tommy had not moved at all.
"Problem, D?" Kwest asked with a nervous grin.
"No. Good to see you're all here and ready to work." He shot a look at Tommy's sleeping form. "You are ready to work, aren't you Kwest?"
Kwest bit back a sigh – after all, why was he about to get bitched at for Tommy sleeping on the job? – but instead just forced a smile on his face and nodded vehemently. "Yes. T just said he needed to…think. About lyrics. He's thinking right now."
Darius cocked his eyebrow but said nothing, observing the situation momentarily.
"Get back to work." He said as he turned on his heel and left, leaving Kwest to exhale in relief.
He gathered his wits and then turned to the two culprits, both dozing off.
"Wake up!" He said rather loudly as he punched Tommy in the arm, not kindly at all. He nudged Jude's elbow off the table, jarring her awake as well.
Tommy rubbed his face tiredly as he sat up.
"What time is it?" He moaned.
"Almost nine, that's what time!" Kwest said, exasperated. "Did you two want to get caught?"
"We spent the niii-iiiiiiiiight," Jude started to speak before getting cut off by her own yawn.
"Whoa, don't need the details." Kwest said hurriedly.
"We spent the night here," Tommy spoke up, gradually becoming more aware. "We recorded a song."
"Thought you two were going to a concert."
"This was after," Jude spoke up.
"What time did you end up going to bed?" Kwest asked incredulously.
"I'm not sure…sevenish? I guess?" Jude said as she stood up and stretched. Kwest rolled his eyes as Tommy became entranced with the expanse of smooth, pale stomach exposed as her shirt rode up.
"I'll go get you guys some coffee." He said tiredly. He could tell it'd be a long day.
Jude moved to stand in front of the couch and Tommy. He opened his legs to allow her to step between them and look down on him. She ran her hands through his hair, mussing with the untidy strands. She was officially the only person in the world that was allowed to do that. Tommy just let his head rest in her hands and enjoyed the feel of her fingers on his scalp as he wrapped his hands around her thighs.
"It's going to be a long day," Jude said softly.
"Maybe once D hears the new song he'll let us go early." Tommy said hopefully.
"Maybe…"
"WHAT IS GOING ON? QUINCY, HARRISON – GET YOUR ASSES OUT HERE RIGHT NOW." Darius's booming voice interrupted them. They exchanged shocked looks and scrambled to get to the lobby.
They got to the lobby in record breaking time, only to see a furious Darius standing in front of them. Out of second nature, Jude grasped Tommy's forearm in fright. She followed D's eyes towards her hand and released him quickly.
"Hunh." Darius rolled his eyes but did not acknowledge the act any more so.
"What's up, D?" Tommy asked confidently yet cautiously. The lobby was silent, with interns and professionals alike lining the sides, completely stationary, waiting for the next move to be made.
"I suppose you'll be just as curious as I am as to why my homepage, when I logged on this morning, declared 'Tom Quincy & Jude Harrison' as the most searched item today on all search engines, right?"
Tommy and Jude's draws dropped open as they both tried desperately to think of something to say.
"Dari-" Tommy began, but was cut off.
"IT'S ONLY 9 A.M., T. SO, here I am, trying to figure out, how did my star's producer and my star herself get to be number one in 9 hours, when they weren't even in the top 5 yesterday."
Later on, Jude would sit and ponder just how absurd it was that Darius kept track of the most searched items on the internet. But, at the moment, she was too busy trying to cover for Tommy and herself.
"We went to a concert, Darius! Just one concert! In fact, I made Tommy go. Forced him. I told him I'd go by myself if he wouldn't go with me and you know how he is, it'd be totally dangerous of me to go by myself, so-"
Tommy cut her off with a hand over the mouth. He was quite positive she wasn't going to stop anytime soon, and yet the look on D's face hadn't changed since she began: he had no idea what she was talking about.
"Concert? T, what is she talking about?" Tommy opened his mouth to speak. "No! You know what, I don't even want to know. What I want to know is why the video with the most hits on the web is of you two, making out IN. MY. STUDIO."
Tommy's hand fell away from Jude's mouth as the two of them stood shell-shocked in front of Darius.
"What?" Jude whispered. Suddenly, the once-quiet building was now lively with whispers and shuffling feet, people trying to get a better view of the sure-to-happen blowout in the lobby.
"Christ," Darius muttered, running a hand over his head. "It was this morning. You were in those clothes."
"D, I…" Tommy fell short of any words to say that could possibly appease his boss. He closed his mouth, and allowed his hand to find Jude's, lying limply by her side.
"What song was that?" Darius asked quietly, in a controlled voice.
"I'm sorry?" Tommy asked, confused.
"The song. You two were singing a song. What was it?"
"I wrote it last night." Jude said quietly, not looking down, her eyes fixated on her and Tommy's clasped fingers.
"I'm going to get a six piece brass ensemble in here by midday. You guys should get some sleep before we start recording." Darius turned to walk away, leaving a dumbstruck Jude and Tommy.
"You're not going to fire us?" Jude spoke up hesitantly. Darius stopped walking, took a deep breath and turned around.
"Don't get me wrong, Superstar." His voice was a little louder than normal, but not unkind. "I am pissed. You two have been lying to me for how long? T deliberately disobeyed me when I told him you were out of bounds, and yet here you two are. Together. This is just another thing to add to the T fucking up list."
Jude bit her lip and looked at Tommy, terrified that she was getting him in trouble.
"D, this isn't Tommy's fault. It was me, I-"
"Jude," Tommy tried to interrupt, but she shook him off.
"Seriously, D. Don't blame him for this. Blame me."
"Jude!" Tommy tried again, awed that she was putting herself at risk for him.
"You realize what you just said, Jude?" Darius asked, his eyes boring into hers. She just nodded mutely. Darius was silent for a few moments then sighed, cupping Jude's face in his hand.
"Never thought T would get a girl like you." He said softly. "I'm mad, Superstar, but I'm also a businessman. And I can think of worse things to happen to my label than having two of its employees being Googled. The G Major website has been temporarily shut down due to the influx of web traffic due to this video. So yeah, while I'm pretty mad at the situation, and mostly the fact that I was left out of the loop, I'm going to milk this for what it's worth." He rubbed his hands together, and Jude was sure that he was going to laugh maniacally.
"Publicity!" He said gleefully, as he turned on his heel and walked away.
He left Jude and Tommy standing in the middle of G Major, looking like they had just seen flying pigs. Before they had a chance to say anything to each other, someone had turned on the TV in the lobby and all attention was drawn to it.
"And in recent Entertainment News," the reporter began, "It looks like those rumors about Instant Star winner Jude Harrison and her producer, and ex-Boyz Attack! Member Thomas Quincy are true! A video has been leaked of the two recording a song together while sharing many intimate moments. An insider says that the two were acting very much in love, and that 'Little Tommy Q' looked to be loosening up and having a good time."
"I can have a good time!" Tommy shot back at the TV, taken aback. Jude shot him an amused look and turned her attention back towards the TV.
"Well, we have some of the footage for you right now, and you can see for yourself if the moody Tommy Quincy and the lovely Jude Harrison are the real deal, or if they're just 'Wasting Their Time?'"
Then, the video appeared. It was shot surprisingly well for being very dark, and what was most disconcerting to Jude was the fact that the angles were close. Very close.
"How did he get that close, Tommy? I can't believe someone else was here!" Jude exclaimed, a little frightened.
"Just a paparazzo, Girl." He said soothingly as he slipped an arm around her and pulled her close, continuing to watch themselves on screen.
The video footage was short, starting towards the end, but it did manage to capture all the most intimate moments – the kissing, the dancing, and the whispered promise at the end.
The spectators around the lobby of G Major clapped as it ended, causing Jude to turn a fiery red and to start to pull Tommy out of the room, just as the reporter came back to the screen.
"I'll leave it to the viewers to decide what to make of it. Is notorious bad boy Tommy Quincy off the market? It sure looks like it. Can't say I didn't see that coming, Jack."
"I think all of Canada saw that coming, Annette." The other reporter answered, a smirk on his face. "And in other Entertainment news, the Juno Awards are set to occur…"
The rest of the report was drowned out by the rushing of blood in Jude's ears as she pulled Tommy back into Studio A. She pushed him down to the couch and began to pace in front of him.
"I am so sorry, Tommy." She said finally, after practically wearing a hole in the rug. Tommy was prepared for a lot of things, but an apology was not what he was expecting.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." He got up and put his hands on her shoulders to stop the pacing. "Slow down, Girl. Take a deep breath." He waited for her to do so. "And sit down." He pulled her to the couch, sitting down next to him, and turned slightly towards her.
"Now what on Earth are you apologizing for?"
"Tommy! I didn't want this – us – to be public for a reason! I want people to focus on your amazing producing abilities, not your relationship with me. My album is doing fine right now, Darius is more than pleased with it, I'm working on stuff for a new album, I can afford to just be in the background! I can afford people not taking me seriously now, but what if you can't?" She panted slightly afterwards, strained from trying to say all she wanted in two breaths.
"Girl." He said softly, a smile in his voice. "It's okay."
"How can you say it's-" He pressed a finger to her lips to silence her.
"It'll be okay. As much as it pains me to say it, apparently my love life is always going to be influencing my career. It's just how it goes for me."
"But-"
"I'm not saying I'm still going to be in the tabloids all the time, but I am saying that this is me. And you're you. We're public figures, Jude. We have the limelight whether we want it or not. And yes, sometimes it's uncomfortable. But if I have learned anything – anything – from spending the last 3 years with you, it is that I want to be where you are. Limelight, candlelight, shadows, pure darkness – it doesn't matter where I am. Wherever you are, I'll be."
Jude just sat in silence. She knew Tommy cared for her, that much was obvious. But despite everything, Tommy was still Tommy, and he was never much for large declarations or vocalizing his feelings. They had been dating for almost 6 months, and she was waiting, somewhat patiently, to hear the three magic words. (And no, singing them in a song did not count. At all.)
So maybe they weren't the three big words. But at that moment, it didn't matter at all to Jude, because what he said was so much more.
"Thank you," she whispered as she rested her forehead against his. "Thank you."