Chapter 1:
Bring Me Home
6 Months. Six. Long. Months. He'd left without her, and it'd been the stupidest mistake she'd ever made. But it was his choice right? It was his choice to make? He had the right to go. He could have begged her to go with. Yeah. He could have begged. He could have told her he wanted her. He could have told her he needed her.
She was being stupid. He said all of those things. And he still ended up leaving with out her...Hell, he'd waited in the airport...But she never showed. Something in her wouldn't let her leave. Something just wasn't...right. She could pretend to be the girl he wanted, she could put on this facade and tell him she loved him, that she wanted to go with him and spend the rest of her life with him, that she wanted to travel Aisa. Hell, she WANTED to travel Aisa! She wanted to go! But...Not then. Not now. Not soon...
Because well, his career was over. He wasn't looking forward to a six month tour in The USA and Canada. He wasn't planning on going to Paris to promote a European tour. He didn't even want to go with her. She'd asked him before and he'd said no. But...
She hadn't asked him this year. This year was about her. It was all about her. From writing the first words of I Should Stay, all the way up until she'd finally finished recording her album and shipped it out on her own, complete with a polished version of Where Does It Hurt. She'd taken the time to settle her album in stores. She'd done everything that an indie artist had to do. It wasn't fair that she'd had to do this, no; The cards weren't dealt for her to be the one who got wronged, but it happened to fall that way whe Darius screwed everyone over. The cards fell where they fell, and everyone was left to pick up their own pieces.
She supposed that maybe she was the one who had screwed up somewhere along the line. After all, Angie's death must have marred Tommy emotionally, more than she could even imagine. Losing someone you wanted to marry...It could destroy you in a way, she supposed. Especially when you were told for years that that same person had commit suicide, only to find out that it was a lie, and the car crash had been accidental. Jeez. The things that jealous people did in this world to those who were already broken. Tsk, tsk tsk. Some people would just never change.
"Jude!"
Her head whipped around as her name was called and she exhaled heavily, grabbing her guitar and walking towards the stage. She had one song to play tonight, and she didn't intend on sticking around much longer after she'd played it.
Upon approaching the stage, she set her guitar aside, making a quick change in plans as she saw the keyboard on the stage. She shook her head, waving her hair out a bit before walking out onto the stage. She could hear the crowd screaming so loudly she wasn't sure they'd even hear her playing. She shook her head and bit her bottom lip, walking up to the keyboard. She pulled the stool up behind her and sat down, rubbing her palms against her jeans as she looked out at the crowd for a moment before slowly pushing down on the keys.
Gradually, her pace and the sound got louder, as the audience became mute. She took in a deep breath, looking around her before begining to sing softly, but with conviction.
"Like a photo
Like a second thought
Always silent
I just think a lot
I still wonder
Am I still stuck in your head
In your head
Like I'm waiting
Like I'm strained to feel
I can't understand
I wanted you still
I still wonder
Am I still stuck in your head
In your head
Are you really gone
Are you moving on
Tell me tell me
Where did we go wrong
Are you really gone
I sing you this song
Will you tell me
Where did we go wrong
I can't let go
I can't let go
Now I'm left here chasing echoes
Standing frozen in the memories
What you're taking is still lingering
Every promise
Every whisperings
In my head
In my head
In the shadow of my reverie
A distraction to forget the need
Is there truth
To what I perceive
In my head
In my head
Are you really gone
Are you moving on
Tell me tell me
Where did we go wrong
Are you really gone
I sing you this song
Will you tell me
Where did we go wrong
I can't let go
I can't let go
Now I'm left here chasing echoes
Chasing echoes
Chasing echoes
I can't let go
I can't let go
Like a photo
Like a second thought
Always silent
I just think a lot
I still wonder
Am I still stuck in your head
In your head
Are you really gone
Are you moving on
Tell me tell me
Where did we go wrong
Are you really gone
I sing you this song
Will you tell me
Where did we go wrong
Are you really gone
Are you moving on
Tell me tell me
Where did we go wrong
Are you really gone
I sing you this song
Will you tell me
Where did we go wrong
I can't let go
I can't let go
Now I'm left here chasing echoes..."
She looked up and around her as the crowd screamed. Those lyrics were her. They spoke of how she felt about him. What had they done to deserve being broken apart so unfairly? She loved him. She wanted him. She needed him.
She walked off the stage, walking back to her dressing room. Music and writing was supposed to be her forte, so why didn't she feel any better after playing her new single to a sold out stadium of 50,000 people? Why couldn't she even plaster a facade and make it look good for all those kids who'd begged their parents to buy seats. It was like when he left, she lost a part of herself.
And that was true, she supposed. He did leave with a part of her. Her heart, to be exact. This wasn't the Jude everyone knew. Mason, Speid, Karma...Everyone knew it. Everyone knew she still loved him and that no matter how long he was gone, she'd always miss him. She'd always love him. She'd always pray that he would come back home to her.