Jude stood in 620, breathing in the air slowly. She had always loved this space, from the moment she had stepped foot in the loft so many years ago, she had instantly fallen in love. The vibe of the room, the random things stapled, glued, and nailed to the walls, it all made her feel at home. She smiled softly at the picture of Pasty, she was the reason she had gotten this space, it was her connection to so much. She could feel her absent in the room as she looked over at the boys waiting for her.
SME had been become more than just her band over the years, they were her brothers. The chemistry between all of them was something more amazing than Jude had left with any band in London. They were her band, or she was their singer, either way, she knew one thing to always stat true; they belonged together. She could almost mentally hear the boys telling her, the peanut to the butter, the cream to the coffee, the sand to the beach. But like all things in her life, they were another thing she had left behind. It had been easier to leave them, Kyle had asked if it was a trial separation and Wally made some comment about Spied's marriage. That was when Jude knew it would be okay to do this without them. She knew that her music would miss them, that she would miss them. But it was also time. Speid wanted to do a solo album, and Jude couldn't allow herself to stand in the way of that. She knew that in some point in their lives they would all take the stage, together again.
"So dude, what do you think?" Speid asked, looking nervous as Jude inspected the room.
She wasn't sure what he was referring to. What she thought? She had been doing way too much thinking if anyone asked her. "I try not to." She commented.
"The room!" Wally said throwing his arms out. All three boys were standing by the door, waiting for Jude's approval.
"It looks just like it did when I left." She was confused. What could have possible happened in this room, the room that held so many memories. She sat her guitar down on the futon, the one that she shared with Tommy only months ago. She was glad it was still there, that it still held that memory for her, because she knew those were feeling she would never want to forget.
"She has no idea." Kyle sighed, out of relief and disappointment.
"What?" Jude asked looking back at them.
"Dude, we spent days cleaning, trying to make sure it was back together for you." Speiderman explained.
"Yeah, but only because we trashed it while you've been gone." Wally added, which made Spied turn and give him a look. "Sorry." He shrugged.
She laughed lightly, going to the boys, and sharing a group hug with them. With all their heads touching, eyes looking down at their feet, she whispered "You guys know you pay the rent now, so this place is yours, not mine." Laughing, she broke away from them. She had missed them more than she realized.
"Yeah, trust me, we know about paying rent." Kyle told her.
"Yeah, you think it's easy to watch four hundred a month just disappear?" Speiderman asked. "Cause, it's not!"
"What I meant was, you didn't have to clean it for me. It's not mine anymore." It was hard to say that, it was like admitting that Tommy wasn't hers anymore either. And it made knots form in her stomach.
"Dude, you're the rock goddess of 620, it's always gonna be yours." Speid rolled his eyes at her comment. "Jamie said you had a friend, where is your friend?"
"Oh." Jude looked around the room. She wasn't sure where Gwen had gone. Before they had made it to the sixth floor in the building her phone had gone off. "She must still be outside on the phone." She shrugged.
Kyle opened the door quickly, and they all stared at Gwen's back. Jude laughed at the looks the boys were giving each other, unsure of what the girl was saying.
"Blimey, what's that numpty bleeder done now? The bloke is bobbins. Was she a choong? Wait at the chip shop? He's a pleb." Gwen was too involved in her conversation to even notice they had opened the door to watch her.
"What?" Speid said turning towards Jude.
The one things Jude had trouble understanding was the daily speech of close friends in London. There were times when she felt like they were speaking a totally different language, it was the same feeling she got when she would get her nails done in the mail by the Korean woman. They would shout back and forth to each other, paying no attention to the fact that no one else could understand them. But as she listened to Gwen now, she knew who she was talking too, and she could almost understand what she was saying.
"What's a pleb?" Kyle whispered to Wally, who shrugged his shoulders.
"What's a choong?" Wally asked, looking a Speid, who then turned back to Jude again, waiting for some sort of explanation.
"I think she's talking to her sister." She guessed.
"And you understand that?" Speid asked, as the boys left the door halfway open, walking closer to Jude, and to their instruments.
"Not at all." She laughed. "It's almost like a different world over there sometimes." She picked up the small plastic triangular pick and held it between her fingers for them all to see. "This is a pleck. And don't even ask me to explain music notes."
"I thought they spoke English." Wally sighed shaking his head.
"We do." Gwen said closing the door as she came into the space. "Sorry about that, drama at home."
"It's all good." Jude nodded at her. "Gwen this is my band of brothers, Speiderman Mind Explosion. This is Speiderman, Wally, and Kyle. Dudes, this is Gwen." She used the word dude and cringed. It was their word not hers, but it seemed fitting. She couldn't call them boys anymore, but they weren't men yet.
"It's nice to finally meet all of you." Gwen said nodding at each of them. "And I'm glad to finally know what 620 is, Jude speaks of it often."
"Yeah, well the Dude misses it." Speid laughed.
"It's true." Jude nodded. She could think there, she could feel everything, even the things she had been blocking out and putting off. Moving to London changed everything, and clouded her head with so many things, Megan, G Major, Sadie, a new label, a new producer, Kwest, SME, Jamie, and Tommy. She had written a few songs since she had been in London, those first few weeks were great, because she felt like it was a vacation, but as reality sunk in, and culture shock hit, she was blocked. She could still write, her thoughts and feelings would never disappear, but her music seemed to stop. She couldn't come up with anything, until now. Standing in 620, holding the next of her guitar, it made everything flow again, and she could feel her fingers itching to play notes.
"Let's hear what you got me lady, rock goddess." Speiderman laughed, plugging in his guitar to the amp.
She knew she could count on this to always be the same. There was no doubt in her mind that their time apart would change them or how they played together. All it took was a simple string of chords, notes that floated around in Jude's head, and the boys picked up the rhythm, helping her form the song.