Author's Note: I debated on which one to post for the opening chapter of Twilight Tales. Two competed for my attention, but this one won out. Only because the second story was something I'd never tried before and I want it to be good before posting it. Some call it the writing process, I call it OCD. I wasn't sure the ending was that good, but I hope it'll do...it satisfied me enough.
Background Info: This is set after Season Two's finale, and mostly in Tommy's perspective. Reviews are more than appreciated.
Far Away
Rating: T
This time this place, Misused, Mistakes
Too long, too late. Who was I to make you wait?
The engine roared down the main street of Toronto, headed for the one place he'd dreaded coming to for the last months he was in Montana. Darius' precious package was in the backseat, snoozing lightly as he maneuvered his way through traffic without so much as a jerk of the car. Jude's latest song, "Tattoo", played on the radio and he furrowed his eyebrows trying to decipher what she meant by it. He was sure it was about him, though he could never be sure. The time he'd had in Montana he thought about them constantly; them as a couple, not the producer-artist relationship. He realized he'd made a lot of mistakes and all of the time that he could've used to make it up to her, he misused. Always off partying, trying to avoid the problem at hand. He realized that she pushed a lot under the rug for him, and he should've appreciated that someway. Not string her along, making her wait for an absolution that wouldn't come…until now.
Ten minutes later he stopped in front of the bright orange building that haunted his dreams like a plague. He slowly released his belt, and got out of the car walking around the front to get the sleeping toddler in the backseat. As he gently lifted her from the car seat she stirred but didn't wake up, and he nudged the door shut with his foot before walking into G-major. His first stop was Darius' office to drop his daughter off then to find Jude and make things right again. No doubt they'd be strained, argumentative, and tears would be present, but he didn't mind as long as he got her back it would be fine.
Just one chance, just one breath
Just in case there's just one left
Tentatively he walked down the corridor that led to Studio A, his hand trailing against the painted wall. Memories seeped from between the cracks, filling his memory like a glass. Tears prickled at the back of his eyes, but like every other time he just pushed them back down. He stopped short of the glass double doors, seeing Jude, now with short red hair; sit in the middle of the studio with her guitar in her lap writing a song. From behind the glass partition, in the sound booth Kwest and an unknown man sat behind the glass as if discussing something or someone, more namely Jude. As his hand reached out for the doorknob he knew that she might just blow up at him and never speak to him again, but that was a chance he was willing to take. He did have feelings for her after all. A deep breath was sucked between his pink lips as he pulled the door open and took a step inside.
Jude's eyes lifted from her notebook to the doorway, widening as she saw the figure that filled the doorway. "Tommy…" escaped her lips in a whisper, pencil dropping from her fingers. He let his eyes drift over her, taking in her appearance. The clothes she wore were slightly baggy on her body, her normal blue eyes that shone even in the dark were dull…lifeless, and the usual make up she wore was absent from her face. Not even a shimmer of lip gloss stained her lips. It pained him to see her like this, and it pained him even more to know that he was probably the cause of it all. He swallowed thickly, shutting the door behind him and approaching her slowly. He wasn't sure how she'd take him showing back up after fourteen months of being incognito, in the pit of his stomach he felt that his chances were up. That there was no going back to what they were before and it was something he so desperately wanted. "What are you doing here Tommy?" she said, her voice hoarse and eyebrows furrowed.
Her voice knocked him from his reverie, and he gazed at her a pained look in his eye. "I came back…for you." He said in an inaudible whisper, his instincts fighting to take over and embrace her in his arms, but his mentality won out his feet staying in place, feet from her. Her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion, and emotion showed behind her eyes. From inside the sound booth, Kwest switched off the mic that was connected to the recording booth. The replacement producer, Jake, looked at him confused and gestured towards the switch shaking his head.
"It's gonna get bad…it's better to just watch." He said leaning back in the chair he sat in.
"What? You thought you were just going to come back and I'd fall at your feet? Crying and telling you how much I missed you, how I cried for nights on end and nearly had my cell phone bill canceled from all the use?" she said, her voice rising as she did from the floor. "How it took my sister, your best friend, and a gay man to help me get myself onto my feet again because I worried myself sick when you didn't call??"
Tommy's head fell, it shaking side to side slightly. "No…not at all. I want to explain Jude, if you just let me I will."
'Cause you know,
You know, you know
"Give me one," she swallowed thickly, setting her guitar aside and crossing her arms over her chest. "Legitimate reason and I'll let you…explain."
Tommy sighed; finally a breakthrough, though that one reason wouldn't come off the tip of his tongue. "Because…" he whispered as he stepped closer, his hands tucked in his pockets. "I love you." He stated bluntly, staring into her eyes.
That I love you, I have loved you all along
And I miss you been far away for far too long
Her eyes widened at his confession, in shock and disbelief. Tommy Q…loves her? She couldn't begin to list the reasons because within seconds his lips were covering hers in a warm, passionate kiss. Her knees immediately went weak, and he sensing this wrapped an arm around her lower back to keep her standing. When they were both in need of air they pulled apart, faces inches from each other. "God, you don't how much I've missed you…" he whispered, stroking the side of her face with his free hand.
I keep dreaming you'll be with me and you'll never go
"I can say the same for you, Quincy." She said, leaning into his touch. It was the best thing she'd felt in months, but a voice inside her head was doing a warning call – telling her that letting him back in her life would cause nothing but more pain and heartache, and truthfully she couldn't deal with any more pain.
"I've dreamt about you, for nights on end. There was never a morning when I didn't wake up frowning because you weren't beside me." He murmured, twirling the end of her hair around the smell of her vanilla shampoo filling his senses.
She went still in his arms, once molded together – they were now two bodies seemingly pressed together. "Then why couldn't – or wouldn't – you answer my calls? This isn't the prehistoric age Tommy." She said, taking a step back from his embrace. Coldness wrapped itself around his body, making him feel as if he was standing in the pouring rain. "You could've at least picked up a phone…"
"I'm sorry." He said, staring at her helplessly. Emotions flooded his body as he stood there, his pulse thumping.
Stop breathing if I don't see you anymore
"That's not going to fix anything Tommy, sorry doesn't fix everything." She said, shaking her head. "And we seem to be one of them. We end up in a situation and I, like the fool that I am, always believe that this time things will be different when in reality – they won't be." She shook her head. "Just let us go."
His breath caught in his throat at that, like someone just pinned him against the wall and he shook his head from side to side slightly. "No…I won't. – I…I can't." he stumbled over his words, eyebrows knit together and his stomach flopping. "I need you."
On my knees, I'll ask
Last chance for one last dance
The realization of what he'd just said crossed him and he wasn't used to being the vulnerable one. He wasn't sure how to act, or what her reaction would be. She stood motionless, staring ahead. Minutes slowly and quietly ticked by, and Tommy's impatience got the better of him. He stood in front of her and took her hands in his.
"Jude…I know that I haven't been the…best person towards you, and I haven't always treated you right but being with you…it makes me feel like I can be the man that I'm supposed to be." He said, getting on his knees making himself as small as he felt at that moment. "That night that I left, I wanted to take you with me, but I couldn't and it hurt me just as much as it hurt you. There was nothing that I could do. Just…let me in again. I want to be with you."
She turned her head from him, but he stood up and put his finger under her chin making him look at her. "If I could take back anything and everything I've ever done to hurt you…even in the slightest way I would, in a New York minute." He murmured, searching her eyes for some sort of recognition.
Cause with you I'd withstand
All of hell to hold your hand.
She shook her head, her eyes glassy with tears. "What do you want me to do Jude? I'll do anything, even if it means enduring hell, for you to look at me like you used to." He said, stroking the apple of her cheek while she still shook her head. "I know you felt the same thing, why deny it now?"
"No…I won't let you in again. Things changed, I…changed." She said pushing his hand away, but making no move away from him. With a rigid body, she stood her ground hoping he'd take that for an answer. She didn't have the energy to fight, or push people away. She'd been doing that for too long. "Just give it up, Tommy."
I'd give it all, I'd give for us.
Give anything, but I won't give up.
He shook his head furtively, swallowing thickly. "No, that is the one thing I will not do." He said strongly. "I will not give up…not on you…not on us."
Jude choked out a sob; this was harder than she thought. "No…no. no. no." she said, pushing him away. "You do not get to say that. You don't get to say that you won't give up…because I have…a while ago. When I realized you weren't coming back, I shut every emotion off. Ask Sadie…Darius, hell even ask Kwest!" she gestured towards the sound booth. "You hurt me Tommy. Don't you get that?"
She stepped forward, getting close to his ear. "You don't get back what you threw away…" she said, quoting L.P.'s song she'd been listening to so frequently.
Cause you know, you know
I love you, I loved you all along.
As she pulled back he slid his hand to cup the back of her neck and pulled her into a bruising kiss. She was still at first, not budging as his lips moved against hers, but before too long she melted into his hold kissing him back with as much as passion as he was giving her. Her heart sped up and slowed down at the same time, not knowing how to act as his tongue slid across her bottom lip. She granted access, opening her mouth to massage his tongue against hers. Her arms latched themselves around his neck, making sure he wasn't going anywhere.
And I miss you, been far away for far too long
I keep dreaming you'll be with me and you'll never go
Stop breathin' if I don't see you anymore…
As they kissed, the two in the sound booth quietly slipped out into hospitality where there was a growing crowd watching the two bicker and make up then go around in the same circle. Every one of them knew how much she'd been missing him, how she lost a piece of herself when he left. They never said anything, hoping it was respectful that they didn't and in doing so, things seemed to fall into place.
Inside the recording booth, she ran her hands along his face reluctant to pull away from his lips – afraid that if she did he'd disappear. She wasn't sure if this was a dream or not, she dreamed of him so frequently and the things they'd do that if he was really here in front of her, with her, telling her his feelings so openly she knew she had finally fell upon luck. Not that Tommy Quincy was luck, he surely wasn't. She liked to think it was a gift God gave her, even if she wasn't religious; Sadie got blessed with the beauty and brains – Jude got blessed with her voice and Tommy Quincy of course.
So far away
Been far away for far too long
He closed his eyes as they pulled apart, reveling in the touch of her hands upon his face, tracing his features; from his eyebrows to his lips, across his eyes and down his nose before kissing him softly again. She pulled away softly, leaving inches between their faces. "You're really here?" she asked leaning her head to the side, feeling a bit childish in asking that question. Tommy's eyes opened up, his soft gaze settling on her. He brushed her red hair from her face, his heart going nuts in his chest. "Yes, I am here…" he placed both hands on her cheeks, resting his forehead against hers. "And I'm not going anywhere…"
So far away, been far away for far too long
But you know, you know, you know
I wanted, I wanted you to stay
'Cause I needed…I need to hear you say
She sighed softly, smiling as he spoke the words that made her heart soar. "Why'd you leave?" she said softly looking up into his eyes. He stroked her cheek with his thumb, kissing her again before answering her. "I was made to pick up Darius' daughter, Madelynn, from Montana. Her mother, his ex-wife, had fallen back into old habits. It wasn't safe for her…why he made me go I have no idea. Picking up the phone wasn't an option…Darius cut it off for protection reasons, but Jude don't doubt for one moment that any of this had to deal with you. If I had it my way I would've never left, I love you Jude…the last thing I ever want to do is hurt you."
That I love you…I have loved you all along
And I forgive you…for being away for far too long…
She turned her head slightly, kissing his palm and looked back into his eyes. What he told her seeped into her mind, processing and making do of it. The soft sound of their breathing was the only thing that could be heard, but Jude swore her heart could be heard probably miles away. "I love you too…" she said ever so quietly, so quietly that if he'd not been looking at her he would've never heard her. "And as far as leaving goes, I forgive you…but you have a lot of making up to do." She poked him in the chest, a smirk evading her serious expression.
So keep breathing 'cause I'm not leaving you anymore
Believe it, hold on to me, and never let me go
He pulled her in tightly, smiling widely and kissed her cheek. "I'll do whatever, Jude…" he said into her hair. He held onto her, his fingers tracing circles on her lower back, and inhaled the sweet scent of her shampoo and perfume mixing. She sighed pleasurably, finding it hard to believe that being in someone's arms could bring to much happiness and desire. She thought that that'd be left for the bedroom.
Keep breathing 'cause I'm not leaving you anymore
Believe it, hold on to me and, never let me go
Keep breathing hold on to me and never let me go
Keep breathing hold on to me and never let me go
She clung to him, her arms locked tightly around him as they stood embraced for what seemed like minutes on end. The only thing that could be heard was their soft breathing and the occasional sniffle from Jude. He pulled back, leaning his head to the side to look her in the face. He no longer seen the sadness and hopelessness he'd surely seen earlier, her face now reflected happiness and joy, something that he himself changed. He reached up, taking her hands from around his neck and held it between them. "C'mon girl," he murmured. "Let me take you out…"
-Finito!-