Let It All Out

I do not own Instant Star or Relient K's "Let It All Out."

As Jude stood in the alleyway of G Major, she could only think about Tommy. Yes, she had just had her heart smashed into a million pieces by Shay, but he wasn't the guy that she was really thinking about. The rain dripped down onto her hair that had been styled just perfectly for the night, and she didn't even care. She thought about what she had heard from Tommy's own lips when he had been talking to Kwest. All she could think was, "If only I were twenty-one."

Just then, the man of her thoughts entered the alleyway. Always the perfect gentleman, he took of his suit jacket and placed it over her now wet shoulders. "Go ahead. Tell me I told you so," she said to him. Figuring that he was going to remind her of what he had said about Shay from the beginning. Instead, he said something she hadn't really expected. "For what it's worth, Shay is a kid and an idiot, and he made the wrong choice." She felt slightly bitter at this comment. If Shay had made the wrong choice, why hadn't Tommy made the right one? "Yeah, that's not worth much coming from you." Slightly insulted, Tommy asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm so tired of falling for guys who don't fall back. It hurts. You all say the nicest things. You're so great, you're so nice, but none of you want to date me. So you wanna help me, Tommy? Tell me what I do wrong. Tell me why I'm so easy to give up and maybe I can fix it." She turned to look at him, and saw that there was something different in his eyes.

"You are asking the wrong guy," he said with passion before pulling her into an unexpected kiss. The kiss was passionate and wonderful and seemed to go on for an eternity. Then they broke apart and she could tell in his eyes that he regretted it. Someone came into the door and saw them, which snapped the two back into reality.

"You should go, Jude." "Tommy, don't!" He gave her a slight smile of reassurance and told her he'd see her inside, and she left. He stood there for a moment, unsure of what he had just done.

He then entered the studio, and went directly to his office, where he had his guitar sitting in a corner. He grabbed a piece of paper and began scribbling down his thoughts. Eventually he got down exactly what he wanted to say and added a melody to it that flowed easily to his fingers and through the guitar chords. He had a plan and went to find Jude.

He found her crying slighting in a corner, still wearing his jacket and soaking wet. "She always looks beautiful, no matter what. I don't know if I've ever seen her look as beautiful as she does right now though," he thought to himself, before making his presence known. "The party's pretty much dying down." She failed to acknowledge him, as she looked in the opposite direction. She knew what was coming, and preferred to ignore it rather to let it come. He knew this wasn't going to be easy, but they had to face reality, so he made his attempt to get her attention. He kneeled down in front of her.

"Fine, Tommy," she said. "Let's just get this over with. I know what you're going to say, that this was just a mistake. Ok, just say it. Lie to me."

"No, Jude. I didn't think it was a mistake. I love you, alright? I do, but right now, we can't do this. You're sixteen, and we're going to get into too much trouble if we start something now. I wrote a song, and I want you to hear it before you say anything more." He then grabbed the guitar and began strumming out the chords.

Let it all out
get it all out
rip it out remove it
don't be alarmed
when the wound begins to bleed

cause we're so scared to find out
what this life's all about
so scared we're going to lose it
not knowing all along
that's exactly what we need

and today I will trust you with confidence
of a man who's never known defeat
but tomorrow, upon hearing what I did
I will stare at you in disbelief
oh, inconsistent me
crying out for consistency

and you said I know that this will hurt
but if I don't break your heart then things will just get worse
If the burden seems too much to bear
Remember
the end will justify the pain it took to get us there

and I'll let it be known
at times I have shown
signs of all my weakness
but somewhere in me
there is strength

and you promise me
that you believe
in time I will defeat this
cause somewhere in me
there is strength

and today I will trust you with the confidence
of a man who's never known defeat
and I'll try my best to just forget
that that man isn't me

reach out to me
make my heart brand new
every beat will be for you
for you

and I know you know
you touched my life
when you touched my heavy heart and made it light

Jude just stared at him, not exactly sure what this was supposed to mean. Tommy just looked at her for a few moments. "So…do you get what I mean?" He asked. "Um…not really. Care to explain it to me?" she replied with an encouraging smile.

"Jude, I love you. I want to be with you, but we can't. Not right now. Once you turn eighteen, I have every intention of making you mine. But for right now, I'm going to have to break your heart and say that we can't be together. It will all be worth it in the end though, ok?"

"Alright," she said, her eyes tearing up a bit. "I think we can wait a few years, but you have to promise me something, Quincy." "Anything, girl." "We aren't going to hook up with other people, right? We are going to be together once I turn eighteen, and I don't think I could handle seeing you with someone else."

"Of course, girl. I don't think I could do that, even if I wanted to. I'll be right here for you waiting until then."

"Good," she said smiling. She quietly got up and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He smiled at her, "I'll give you a ride home."

"Alright, I'm going to go get my jacket. You probably want yours back," she said, handing it to him. "I'll meet you at the car."

He sighed slightly as he watched her walk out of the room. "God, girl, you have no idea what you do to me," he said quietly to himself. "This is gonna be the hardest two years of my life," he thought before he left to get his car.