AN: Just a short little thing. This is my take on the Tommy/Jude promo from December 22. Oh, this was meant to be read with the promo playing in the background.
I Don't Know if I Should Stay
A familiar voice
She sat in the empty recording studio, the same one she ran off to the night of her sixteenth. He had officially come back a week ago, and she still had yet to face him since the night of the competition.
Her head hung low as images of that night came rushing back to her, the look on his face when he first saw her, the initial feeling of butterflies in her stomach, the disappointment when the child ran out from behind him, it all came flooding back to her. Her breathing became shallow and short and she tried her hardest to hold back the tears that should have fallen a week ago. But she stayed strong, didn't let anyone know that he had this much of an affect on her still, and held those tears in.
Déjà vu washed over her as heard footsteps coming toward her. From her spot in the corner behind the amp, she couldn't see who was coming, but she knew it could only be one person. With eyes still downcast, she opened her mouth to speak but her words failed her and the only thing that made it out was a heavy sigh.
Makes it so hard
He stood in front of her, his gaze burning straight into her. Finally mustering up the courage, she looked up and saw his hand outstretched. Placing her hand in his, he pulled her up to her feet. She dropped her hand from his and played with the hem of her black and white shirt.
Using the tips of his fingers, he traced along her jaw line down to her chin, where he tilted her face up to look at him. He offered her a small smile, his eyes a mix of emotions it was hard for her to read them.
"I was ready," she whispered, her gaze never faltering.
He let out a small sigh, his head tilting to the side. "What do you know?" he asked, his shoulders rising in question.
To make a choice
The corners of her lips turned up in a small smile and she averted her eyes to the side for a second, in thought. Shaking her head slightly, she finally looked back at him. "I know that for the past two years you were everything to me. Tommy, you were my producer, my co-writer, you were my best friend," she said as her voice trailed off.
"Jude…" he started in a quiet voice.
Raising a hand to him, she quieted him and continued. "I know that you were always that familiar voice guiding me through my headphones. You never let me down; you never let me fall. I know that I love you and even though you can never admit to anyone, including yourself, how you truly feel, everyone can see it – everyone knows it." She chuckled softly and inhaled a shaky breath. "We make quite the pair."
His eyes narrowed slightly and his soft gaze hardened slightly. "You're just a kid," he said, his voice tinged with just the slightest bit of regret.
She took a few steps back and said, "Not for long." Not waiting for a reply or waiting to see his reaction, she turned away from him and left him standing there.
I don't know if I should stay
The rain fell hard around her, soaking her completely, but she no longer cared. She was grateful for it because the rain masked the tears that she now let fall. She did not cry the night of her release party when he left and she did not cry the night of the competition when he came back. But tonight, with him telling her she was just a kid, it was too much for her. She couldn't be strong anymore; she couldn't hold it in anymore.
She passed the arena where Karma was having her celebratory concert, the one she couldn't bring herself to attend. She watched as the people ran from the entrance to their cars or across the street, a total opposite to her slow pace.
Turning her head away from the building, she refocused on the sidewalk in front of her and her walk home. Slowly slightly, she turned to look behind her when she thought she heard someone call out to her. Her vision was blurred from the combination of tears and rain and she couldn't make out who it was.
The figure in front of her increased his pace to a jog and when he finally reached her, he grabbed her face with his hands and crashed his lips onto hers. Resisting only slightly at first, she soon relaxed when she realized whose lips were on hers. Hands tangled in hair, fingers tugging at clothing, they finally pulled away and rested their foreheads against each other's.
"No one can know," he breathed against her face.
"I know," she said as she shook her head slightly.
His thumbs traced over the smooth skin of her cheeks and he lightly brushed his lips over hers once more.
And I'll stand up on the ocean