A/N: There's not that much happening in this chapter, but I still like it. I hope you do, too. Feel free to drop me a line. It's always nice to hear from you. :)

Chapter Ten – Aftermath

For the first time in a few months, Tommy finds himself craving a drink badly. And the urge is made worse by the fact that it's manifesting itself before noon. Of course, several pain points in his body are responsible for the hankering. The relentless throb on his right side the painkillers manage to quiet down but never to stop completely. The headache in his temples brought on by a night almost devoid of any sleep. The pang in his chest caused by… Jude.

The tension; he still felt it between them, like she's never left, like she's never rejected him. It's not you she rejected, Sadie had said. Maybe not, but the end result had been the same: she had slipped out of his life. So how was it possible that in this booth, only moments ago, it had felt like no time had passed? How was it possible that he wanted her now just as much as ever?

When he finally looks up and comes back to the present moment, he realises Kiera is gone. They were supposed to be recording for most of the day. She had brought her cello to get started on a new song.

He takes his phone out of his pocket and starts to type. "I'm sorry."

"I understand," comes her reply.

"I'll make it up to you."

"I know you will."

He will make it up to her, but when? His schedule for the next month is a nightmare. It's so bad; he had refused to show it to his physician, which only convinced her it was probably completely inappropriate. Even with the constant discomfort always humming faintly below the surface or turning into point-blank pain minutes before the next dose (Is it still minutes? a voice asks. Shouldn't you say a good half hour at this point? Maybe.); even with the medication he has to take every day; even with all the changes he's noticed in his body; most of the time, he does a good job at ignoring the facts. Not for long still, the voice adds. He knows this to be true, and yet he's not ready to face it, even less so now that she's here.

Just then, as if on cue, another message comes in: "Your Jude: she's amazing."

She's not mine. "I know," he types. "I know," he says out loud in the booth.

His phone rings in his hand. Kwest. He presses Talk and answers with a faint "Hey."

"That bad, uh? Let's do lunch."

"Kwest, it's like eleven am."

"So what? Let's do early lunch."

"You have work. You can't keep leaving things off for me. Then you wind up having to play catch up like a madman."

"So what?" he repeats. "Lunch. BQM. I'm leaving right now."

Tom laughs quietly. "OK. Thanks, man."

"Anytime. See you soon."

"Well, I see Karma's been at work here," Jude says in a mocking tone as soon as they walk in the rehearsal space, though deep down, she feels a wave of relief. The space looks quite different from what it used to be—even the walls have been painted! In the car on the way over, she was gnawed by the fear that she was running from the memories G-Major held only to be greeted soon by the onslaught of even more intimate memories linked to the rehearsal space. But now that she's here, she can rest easy. The space doesn't feel like hers anymore; it feels a little bit like Spied's and a lot like Karma's.

"What did you expect? Karma… it goes around and around and around!" Kyle jokes while Spied looks slightly embarrassed.

"It's not that big of a deal. And, like, it makes her happy. So, whatever."

"Will I get to meet the illustrious wife?" Jake asks.

"Yeah, dude. At the meeting tomorrow. Jude didn't tell you that Karma is also a past Instant Star winner?"

"Remarkably enough, Jude hasn't elaborated much on the whole Instant Star part of her career," Jake says, winking at Jude.

Holding in her hand the guitar case retrieved from the trunk of the Mustang, Jude walks to the corner where a drum kit is set up. "You'll get to see all of it in the flesh tomorrow, and for the next few weeks after that. Trust me: that'll last you a lifetime." Then, turning to Spied and Kyle, she asks, "Do you know if Mason will be there?"

"I think so," Kyle says.

"That's great! And," she shudders, "what about Milo?"

"The big D. likes to pretend that dude never happened, so I doubt it," Spied chuckles.

"Well, that's a relief."

"Who's Milo?" Jake asks.

"You don't want to know," the answer comes in a trio of voices.

"Ooooh-K. Pretend I never asked."

"Other than that, it'll be all the winners from the semi-finals of the last months," Spied adds.

"Have you met any of them?" Jude asks.

"Not yet. I think most of them flew in the day before you arrived, but Darius didn't bring them at G-Major yet."

"Wow," Jude muses. "This Finale, it's going to be huge."

"No, Jude: it's going to be grand," Jake says with a wink, and they all chuckle.

They begin setting up, plugging the instruments and mics in. Spied steps closer to Jude and, while pretending to be deeply focussed on tuning up his guitar, he asks, "So… how did it go with Quincy?"

"I don't really want to talk about it."

"That bad?"

"No, no, it wasn't bad. It was… familiar. Too familiar. I'm sure you can read between the lines."

"But—"

"Spied, I don't want to talk about it! Can we just play some music?" she cries out in frustration.

"Whoa. Sorry."

Jude sighs, shaking her head. "No, no. I'm the one who's sorry. It's just that… It's been an intense morning. Right now, I just want to clear my mind and jam. Think we could swing that?"

"Sure, dude," he says, giving her a quick hug. Jude finishes setting up while Jake grabs a folder of music sheets from the front pocket of his bass bag. "Dude? Music sheets? Really?" Spied asks.

"Well, I'm afraid I don't know Jude's entire back catalogue yet. I got started on it when I was informed about the gig, but that was only two short weeks ago, and—"

"He's pulling your leg, Jake. You'll learn soon enough not to pay attention to half of what Vin says."

"I resent that, Kyle: it should be a third of what I say. Come on! Play fair," Spied says with a grin.

"When you two are done harassing my poor bassist, can we get started?" Jude smirks.

"Whenever you're ready," Spied says.

Jude's head bobs in surprise. "Whenever I'm ready?" She looks at Spied but he's averting his gaze. She turns to Kyle who squirms a little on his drummer stool, but he finally gives her an answer, "Well, Jude… We're not sure which songs you're OK to play today given… well, the T situation."

Jude looks down at her boots. "Oh." Great. I'm making everyone walk on eggshells around me. She lifts her eyes to Jake who smiles encouragingly. She smiles in return. "How about My Sweet Time?"

"Perfect choice!" Jake replies enthusiastically. The rest of the group eyes him curiously. "What? I actually know that one. Let's do it, lads!"

"Lads?" Spied mocks with a laugh.

"You're right, you're right. Pardon me for my poor vocabulary. It will be all dudes and likes and whatevers from now on," Jake says, barely holding back a grin.

Kyle bursts out laughing. "Hey! I like this guy!"

Jude throws a look at Jake that plainly says, See: I told you. Then, looking at Kyle with a smile, she says, "Come on, Kyle. Count us down."

Though it's barely twenty past eleven when they sit down in a booth in the diner, Kwest, armed with his usual appetite, orders a massive burger topped with onion rings and bacon and a side order of fries. To keep him company, Tommy orders a classic burger even if he suspects he won't eat much of it.

Kwest wastes no time in preambles and goes straight for the kill. "How was it?"

"It was… harder than I thought it would be," Tommy says, still shaken up.

Kwests raises an eyebrow. "Really? How so?"

"I panicked. I darted to the men's room like an idiot."

"Did she see you?"

"No, but Vin did."

"Yeah, he texted me to call you."

"I figured as much," Tommy says before taking a big swig of water.

"And then what happened? You didn't stay in the men's room the whole time, did you?"

"No, man. I went up to her, and she… she hugged me. Feeling her against me, Kwest, it was…" Tommy lapses with a sigh.

Kwest nods. "I can imagine. How did she look?"

"Beautiful."

Kwest smiles. "Well, that was obvious, coming from you. But I mean, did she look nervous? Happy to see you? What?"

Tommy chuckles. "Tell me: when did we become guys who talk about their feelings? Cause that's a new development in our friendship, and I'm not sure I like it," he jokes, trying to untie the many knots in his nerves.

Kwest chortles in response. "I don't know. But here we are. So? How was she? Other than beautiful, I mean?" he smiles.

"She seemed nervous. I think she's happy; at least she was until I explained to her the fine print of her stay here."

"What do you mean?"

"She realised she's not free to record whatever she wants, whenever she wants. I still can't believe that provision in her contract. I feel like it's my fault."

"How is it your fault?" Kwest asks with a frown.

"She signed it so fast to get away from me; she didn't take the time to read it in full. Or, better yet, to have a lawyer read it in full."

Ignoring the self-depreciating remark, Kwest asks, "How did she find out about the limits of her contract?"

"Oh, she wanted to record some back vocals for Kiera."

"She—" Kwest is interrupted by the waiter bringing their plates. While he pours a generous serving of ketchup on his burger and fries, he continues: "She was in your studio? Today?"

"She would've turned up there eventually. Next week, in fact," Tommy says, eyeing his burger warily. I don't think I can eat, he thinks.

"True, but now I understand why today was harder than you expected," Kwest says before taking a big bite. He chews and swallows while Tommy attempts a bite of his own. "Did you meet her new bassist?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"And?" he asks, his mouth already full of a second bite.

"Not much to say. He seems like a nice guy. Tall. Funny." And maybe he knows Jude intimately, he muses. Not that it's any of my business. And yet, his heart claims otherwise.

"You think you'll work well together?" Kwest asks in an effort to give Tommy a reprieve from the heart of the matter.

"I think so. He seemed easy-going; he was already joking with Vin and Kyle."

"That's good," Kwest says chewing on a mouthful of fries while Tommy takes a tentative second bite of his burger, regretting it almost instantly. He empties his glass of water and motions to the waiter for more. "No appetite, uh?" Kwest says while trying to hide how worried he is.

Tommy smirks. "It's early, Kwest. I'm OK."

And suddenly, Kwest feels like he's got no easy subject to fall back on; between the disease and Jude, there's no safe path, so he just gets back to the main reason why they're having an early lunch. "How was it to have Jude in your studio again?"

"It was… intense. All the mechanisms, the reflexes: they came back. Kwest, I almost pulled her onto my lap when she walked in the booth, looking so uncomfortable. Instinctively, I just wanted to chase that discomfort away and to hold her against me." Tommy stops and looks away with a glazed expression. Kwest stays silent, letting his friend sort out his thoughts. "She's only been back in my life for a few hours and already, I…" He shakes his head, refusing to finish that thought.

Kwest swallows another bite before asking the double-whammy of a question; hitting both sore spots at once. "T, if you weren't sick, would you be trying to get her back right now?"

Tommy sighs, pushing his barely-touched plate away. He lifts his head to meet Kwest's eyes. "If I wasn't sick, I think I would've tried a long time ago."

After a lunch of greasy, cheesy pizza, followed by another intense jam session with the boys—as well as Spied and Jude playing some of their new material for one another—Jude receives a text message from Sadie.

"Looks like Sadie is ready to go home. Wow! I can't believe it's almost six already."

Jude and Jake pack up their instruments before they say their goodbyes and head for the car. When they get to G-Major, Jude texts her sister to avoid going back in for the time being. The car ride home is silent and a tad heavy. When they walk back into the house, Jude goes right for the stairs, but Sadie grabs her arm gently.

"Jude—"

"I can't talk about it, Sadie," she interrupts. "Not today. I… I just really need some time alone, OK?"

Sadie nods without saying a word while Jude rushes upstairs to barricade herself in her bedroom. Sadie and Jake walk in the living room and let themselves sink on the couch.

"So," Jake begins, "what's the plan? How do we get those two on their way back to each other?"

Sadie shakes her head. "We don't. I tried to get involved in the past; I vowed to never do that again. We have to let them find their own way to one another."

"Sadie: you were not there when we went to meet him at Studio A. You were not in that booth today. I mean—"

"Let me guess," she interrupts. "It was intense?"

"Yeah."

"Tension so thick you could actually see it, hanging in the air?"

"Yeah."

"The way he looked at her actually gave you goose bumps?"

"Well, yeah. That was bloody freaky!"

"They stared at each other when they thought the other one wasn't looking?"

"Yeah."

"Did they touch each other?"

"Briefly. Well, he almost pulled her to him, but stopped himself at the last second. But their fingers touched when he handed her a pair of headphones."

"And you could almost see a bolt of lightning zapping them both?"

"Yeah."

"Welcome to Jude and Tommy, Jake," Sadie says with a light smile.

"It's always been this way?"

"All four years of their on-again, off-again relationship. Of course, I was blind to it over the first year because I wanted to be, but yes."

"Then why on earth did she break up with him?" he asks, more confused than ever now that he's met Tommy and seen the connection they share.

"Well… Tommy was not exactly the most stable guy. There were a lot of skeletons in his closet, and he wasn't forthcoming with any of them. Plus, he tended to bail when things got rough or to push Jude away; to protect her, mostly, but the end result was still heartbreak."

"But then, he proposed."

"Yes, after a particularly chaotic few months. They had just gotten back together. I think Tommy mostly wanted to prove that this time, he was in for the long haul."

"And do you think he was?"

Sadie takes a moment to think about it. "Now, after seeing how focussed and serious Tommy has been for the last year, I want to say yes, but back then, I wasn't so convinced myself. I didn't want Jude to get hurt again. Evidently, neither did she."

Jake runs a hand through his hair, "But these two, they love each other; I mean, really, really love each other. You're sure there's nothing we can do to help them find their way to one another?"

"Well," Sadie says reaching for his hand and pressing it lightly, "we can be there for Jude; something I think you're already doing very well. Actually, I think I will go up and see her now, despite her warning that she wanted to be alone. Maybe she's ready to talk now. Otherwise, I guess I'll risk getting my head bitten off."

Jake nods. "I'll get dinner started."

"That's it!" Sadie says with a laugh. "I'm kidnapping you in a month!"

Jake laughs while she heads for the stairs.

"Jude," Sadie says, knocking on the door. "Jude," she calls again when her sister doesn't answer. "I'm coming in."

Sadie steps into the room and sees Jude curled up on her bed, her back to the door. She could've been fooled into thinking Jude was asleep but the trembling of her shoulders tells her otherwise. She walks around the bed and bends down in front of Jude. "Oh, sweetie: it's going to be OK," she says, brushing the hair away from her face and, in doing so, also wiping away some of her tears.

Jude shakes her head and the tears keep rolling. Sadie stands up and sits on the bed. She lifts up Jude gently, pulls her head onto her lap and starts stroking her hair soothingly. "What happened?" she asks, though she already learned pretty much all that she needed to know from her conversation with Jake.

"I-I should've called," comes Jude's shaky reply.

"That's in the past, Jude. Focus on what you can do now."

"You think I made a mistake."

"No, I think you needed to break away from him. But to be honest, I never thought you would stop loving him."

"Why… Why was I too scared to call?"

"Maybe you were afraid that talking to him would weaken your resolve?"

"Today… Today-was-so-hard," she hiccups.

"What was hard about it?" Sadie asks, still stroking Jude's hair.

"I felt it—everything."

"Yes, I know. Jake told me what happened in the booth. And, well, I caught some pretty heavy sparkage myself in the lobby. But at least, now you know there's no one else, Jude."

"He-He looked so sad."

"He's missed you."

"But I don't want him to be sad."

Sadie thinks on it a moment. "I think there's always been some sadness around Tommy. At least, since we've known him. It's probably because of the things that happened in his past."

Jude shakes her head again, trying to stop the tears. "There's something else; something's not right. I don't know what it is. I should know what it is, but I don't. And it's my fault."

"It's not your fault, Jude. You needed time to sort things out, to figure out what you want. But you're here now. And he's here."

"What if it's too late?" Jude asks, lifting herself up to a sitting position.

"What if it's not?" Sadie replies, brushing off the last of Jude's tears—for now. "Jude, this was your first day back; of course it was going to be hard. There's nothing surprising in that. But now it's done. And tomorrow, you can start again."

"What if he doesn't let me in?"

Sadie smiles reassuringly. "I think you of all people have the power to make him cave in. Just go easy. Approach cautiously. The crazy chemistry that's always been there between you two should take care of the rest."

"I hope you're right," Jude says, sniffling. Deep down, she's far from convinced.