Typically, I'm not a personal horn-tooter but I must in this case. I updated this story less than a week ago and I'm already updating again. I've been watching seasons one and two of Instant Star, remembering just how much I LOVE Jude and Tommy's relationship and how much I LOVE Spiederman in general. It's getting easier for me to write this again. That makes me happy. Reviewers, you also make me happy. I'm glad you still like this story so much. I think you'll really enjoy the very end of this chapter and what is to come in the next.
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.
"Hey," Jude greeted Spiederman outside of 620 Sunday morning before the lunch at Pazzo. "Feeling hungover?"
Spiederman laughed. "No, but I should probably put my game face on."
"I'm gonna show mine off," Jude told him. "I've been to Pazzo for stuff before and it's always super hot, so when we get there, I'll remove my cardigan and everyone will see my bandage, wondering what's under it."
"Do you think that's a good idea?" he wondered, hailing them a cab. "Also, I came prepared. I put Flintstones vitamins in a Tylenol bottle to help with the 'headaches' we should be suffering."
"Genius," she grinned. "I have bottled waters in my bag."
He helped her into the taxi. "Teamwork."
When they arrived at Pazzo a little after eleven, everyone was already seated. They put on their hangover faces and sat down.
"You look awful," Leila told Jude. "Hangover?"
"Of the worst kind," Jude muttered, taking off her white wool coat. "It was a long night."
"How you feeling, Vin?" Tommy asked, knowing they'd been together.
"Death is welcomed," Spiederman answered tiredly.
Brunch started pleasantly with Jude avoiding Tommy as much as she could. Finally, as their food was served, Jude took a deep breath and took off her sweater, revealing a light blue spaghetti-strapped dress.
"Jude!" Sadie cried. "Did you get a tattoo?"
Jude flinches at her sister's outburst. "Stop yelling. I don't seem to remember it but yet, I got a tattoo last night." She eyed Spiederman. "Do you have one?"
"Apparently," he nodded. "I crawled into Nic's bed last night and she was helping me out of my t-shirt and she accidentally scrapped her nails over it. Lyrics to 'Just Like a Woman' by Bob Dylan. It hurts like hell but looks damn good."
"Let's see yours," Leila prompted Jude.
Sadie carefully untapped the bandage. "Oh, my God."
Kwest leaned around his fiancée to see. "Wow. Jude, do you know what it is?"
"Unfortunately," Jude nodded.
"'He's frozen, he shields my eyes from the sun, the great believer doesn't believe anyone, his ice age is melting away,'" Leila read. "What's that?"
"My song," Tommy spoke up. "They're lyrics to my song."
Kwest's brother, Sean, let out a low whistle. "Well, doesn't that bring back memories? I remember sitting in our basement, listening to you sing that song."
"Lauren who?" Leila whispered to Morgan.
"If you'll excuse me," Tommy murmured, standing up from the table.
Once he was gone, Jude dropped her head in her hands. "I didn't do this on purpose."
Spiederman bit his cheek to keep from laughing. "I wouldn't stopped her if I'd have known what was going on."
"It's not your fault," Jude assured him. "I should know better than to drink like that."
"You should eat," Sadie advised. "It'll help you feel better. You, too, Spied."
Jude was quiet through the rest of lunch, especially when Tommy returned. They made eye contact a few times but said nothing.
"Poker time!" Leila cried when lunch ended. "I was in rehab with a guy from the pro circuit."
"I'm not too worried," Kwest laughed. "You're a girl."
Jude scoffed. "How sexist of you, Taylor."
"Just saying," Kwest grinned. "Everyone got rides to Morgan's?"
"We came in a cab," Spiederman reported.
"You can ride with me," Tommy offered. "I came alone."
Jude followed everyone outside and sighed. "Do I have to go?"
"Yes," Sadie confirmed.
The younger Harrison sister stared at Tommy's back. "I'm not sure it's a good idea."
"You know, I think I'll ride with Sean," Spiederman decided. "I think the old Range Rover will be a little crowded."
Jude cursed under her breath as she climbed into the passenger seat. "I could've gone with Sean, too."
"No, I'm glad you came with me," Tommy admitted. "Because now I can ask you what the hell was going through your brain when you permanently tattooed my lyrics to your back."
"I don't know!" she cried. "I wasn't thinking, obviously. Can you honestly say you think this is something I'd do sober? You know what I'm like drunk."
He closed his eyes. "This doesn't make things easier for me."
"I'm not here to make things easy for you!" she yelled at him. "I don't want to sit around and wait for you to make some stupid decision, and yet, I am. All I want to hear is that you want to be with me, not the orthodontist. So just say it, Tom. Tell me that's what you want."
"I don't know," he shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry, Jude, but I can't tell you that if I don't know that I mean it."
"Well, when do you think you'll know?" she demanded. "I don't want to be forty-five and still waiting for you. I have a life in Europe to go back to."
"Do you plan on going back if I pick you?" he asked.
Hearing him say it like that, 'if I pick you,' hit her hard. She scoffed. "God, I'm an idiot."
"What are you babbling about?" he interrupted.
"It's like sixth grade volleyball all over again," she muttered. "I was always anxiously waiting to be picked and I was always chosen last. And I get the feeling that's going to be the case this time."
Tommy looked at her. "You can't rush me here, Jude. Would you want me to think it's Lauren, you go on to do other things, and in thirty years, I realize I made a mistake? Or vice-versa?"
"I want to not be so revolved around you," she admitted. "That's what I want. I want to wake up in the mornings and not have my first thought go straight to you. I want to do great things in my life and I want to do them with you. But I just can't wait forever."
"I'm not asking you to," he told her. "I just need time."
"Do you know the Kings of Leon?" she asked him.
He nodded. "Sure, popular rock band out of Nashville."
"They have a song called 'I Want You' and it says, 'I want you, just zactly like I used to, but baby, this is only bringing me down.' That's how I feel, Tommy. I want you just like I always have but this is unhealthy." Tears filled her eyes.
"Don't cry," he whispered.
"I can't help it," she muttered. "That's what you do to me, you make me cry."
They rode the rest of the way in silence and Jude immediately locked herself in Morgan's daughter's nursery. It was done in various shades of purple and was very serene. After the stressful car ride, Jude was all for the peacefulness.
"I take it you're not playing?" Spiederman asked, leaning against the doorframe.
"Not a chance," she replied, sitting down in the rocking chair. "Do you ever want kids, Spied?"
"Sure," he shrugged. "I guess there'll come a time when I need a break and want to settle down. Why?"
"I always wanted kids young," she murmured quietly, picking up a stuffed duck from the floor. "My parents weren't old when they had Sadie and me but they weren't young and able to chase us around the playground. I want that."
He walked into the room and shut the door behind him. "Does this have anything to do with why you and Squinty walked in looking like an old divorced couple?"
"You know the Kings of Leon?" she asked.
Spiederman grinned. "'I want you, just zactly like I used to, but baby, this is only bringing me down.' I know the exact song you're thinking, dude."
Jude groaned in exasperation. "Why can't he see it? Why doesn't he just know it's me? I mean, since I got back, all I've thought about is every time he and I ever spent together, every single moment we ever shared. My sixteenth birthday, my seventeenth birthday, the couple of days before my eighteenth. I remember buying the rights to 'Frozen' from Darius and him teaching me to drive and every second we were together in Asia." She laughed lightly. "There was a night in South Korea, and we were at this local fountain, and a group of giggly screaming girls just came running at him and he fell in. Of course, in true Tommy fashion, when I went to help him out, he pulled me in. It sounds ridiculous but it was totally romantic. I'm not sure I was ever more in love with him than I was that night."
"Oh, dude," he breathed. "What does he say when you tell him this?"
"Just that he's confused and doesn't know what, or who, he wants and I need to be patient," she shrugged. "I've been patient for three miserable years, Vin. My patience is wearing a little thin if you can imagine."
"I can," he nodded. "As much as I hate to say this, because I don't think he deserves to have you waiting around for him, but what will you do in the mean time? It's obvious you can't stand not being with him."
"I give him until Sunday morning," she explained. "If he decides he wants to marry Lauren and get stuck in the suburbs, I'll go back to Europe and stay in Europe. If you all want to see me, you'll have to come there. The next time I leave Toronto alone, it'll be for the last time."
"We don't want that," he told her. "Toronto without Jude Harrison is like…,"
"Like what you're probably going to have to get used to," she whispered. "I can't bear the thought of being here and seeing him with her, Spied. Just the thought of it makes me sick."
He nodded. "I get it. I've only been with her since Friday and I could never imagine her with someone else."
"Maybe only officially since Friday," she smirked, "but you've been in love with her since October, according to my very reliable sources, K and W."
"Gee, I wonder who they are," he grinned. "They're stupid."
"Spiederman!" Sadie yelled up the stairs. "Are you at least coming down?"
"I should go," he said. "You sure you're okay up here?"
Jude nodded. "Go ahead. I'm just going to hang out in here."
"I'm dead bored," Nic groaned as she sat around 620 with Kyle and Wally on Sunday afternoon. "What do you guys do around here when Spied's not here?"
"Sleep, eat, read," Wally shrugged. "He's kind of the life of the party."
"Clearly," she murmured. "Well, let's go do something, huh? We're young and famous and pretty."
Kyle smelled under his armpits. "Would you like us to be clean, as well?"
Her eyes lit up. "Ky, you wanna dye your hair?"
"Uhh, no," he answered. "Why don't you?"
She stood up from the couch and looked at her reflection in the mirror hanging across the south wall. She'd had her caramel-colored hair since it had darkened from blonde when she was a kid. It was hard to imagine anything different but everyone needed change sometimes. "Okay."
"You're going to dye your hair?" Wally asked. "That's fun for you?"
"Sure," she smiled. "Wanna come?"
Kyle made a face. "To a salon?"
"To a salon where mostly young girls work," she clarified. "My Toronto stylist is gorgeous and twenty-four. You'll love her."
"I'm in," he agreed.
"I think I'll call Lee," Wally decided. "Catch you fools later." He disappeared down the steps and out the apartment door.
Nic put on her leather Dior ankle booties and led Kyle outside to her car. She dialed Tia, her stylist, as she pulled out of the parking garage.
"Hey," Tia answered in her light British accent. "What's up?"
"You busy?" Nic asked her.
"Nope," Tia replied. "Just sitting around the salon, watching everyone else work."
Nic grinned. "Good. I'm coming. I wanna go dark."
Tia gasped. "You haven't let me dye your hair before."
"Change is good," Nic reasoned. "Dark is very in right now. What kind of fashion editor would I be if I didn't stay with the times?"
"That's true," Tia laughed. "Well, come on in."
Nic hung up and set her iPhone in a cup holder. "You know, I overheard Leila talking about you the other day."
"Yeah, Sadie's mentioned there might be a slight crush there," Kyle nodded. "What do you think about her?"
"I don't know her well," Nic shrugged, "but she seems okay. She was in rehab, so she has that edge you like. Sadie said she's doing really well. She's super cute."
He leaned his head against the passenger side window. "I don't know. I'm not looking for a relationship."
"I didn't say you should be," she replied. "It wouldn't kill you to ask her out though."
As they drove downtown past Sewer, Nic caught a glimpse of someone she never thought she'd see in Toronto again. "Oh, my God."
"Was that…Karma?" he muttered, looking over his shoulder as they kept driving. "Go back!"
"Hell, no!" she cried. "I don't want to see that whore. You gotta text Vin."
Kyle pulled out his enV. Bad news, he wrote. Your ex-wife is back.
A moment passed before Spiederman responded. What?
Nic and I just drove by Sewer and she was there, Kyle told him. She didn't see us but it was definitely her.
Nic saw her? Spiederman wrote. Does she seemed bothered?
Kyle eyed Nic out of the corner of his eyes. She was staring straight ahead, her eyes focused on the road. Yes.
Damn it, Spiederman responded quickly. I can't leave yet but I'll meet with you guys after this to deal with it.
Kyle shoved his phone back into his pocket and looked at Nic. "He can't leave the poker party now but he'll meet up with us after."
She nodded. "Okay."
"Don't be worried about her," Kyle told her. "She's just a parasite upon us all, hoping to latch back on because her career tanked when their marriage when up in flames."
"I'm fine," Nic lied. "I know she's out of the picture." She smirked. "Besides, I can easily take on Karma."
Kyle had never been in a real salon before, so the smell immediately hit him. He sat in an empty chair next to Tia's station and watched as Nic discussed color with her stylist.
"I'm thinking a rich, chocolate," Nic decided. "And bangs."
"Bangs?" Tia repeated. "Really? You do have the forehead for them."
"Do it," Nic confirmed. "But I don't want to see anything until you're completely done."
Tia looked to Kyle as she spun Nic's chair around, away from the mirror. "You're in that band, right?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "SME."
"Right," she said. "I like your music. Some of the girls around here listen to it quite a bit."
He smiled. "Thanks."
Hanging out with Nic in the salon made Kyle remember why he liked her so much. She made him laugh, didn't hang on his every word like a lot of girls, and kept him entertained with her semi-abrasive personality.
"Ready?" Tia asked when she finished.
Nic took a deep breath. "Yes." Tia spun the chair around and Nic opened her eyes. "Oh, wow."
Her long, wavy hair was now a dark brown and she had wispy bangs laying across her forehead perfectly.
"Tia, I love it," she breathed. "It's amazing."
When they got back to 620, Spiederman was sitting on the couch, staring off into space.
"I like your hair," he whispered, finally looking up at his girlfriend.
"Thanks," she accepted, sitting down with him. "You don't have to be so nervous, Vin. She's just an ex."
"I know," he sighed, "but she'll make things complicated. That's what she does."
Kyle shrugged at Nic. "There's nothing we can do when he's like this."
"She's bound to show up here," Spiederman ranted. "Then what?"
Nic stood up and went upstairs with Kyle. "Then you deal with it, Spied."
"You busy tonight?" Jude asked Jamie when she called him after Sadie and Kwest dropped her off at her dad and Yvette's to finally pick up her Mustang.
"Nope," he replied. "Zepp is having dinner with old friends so I could use a little Jude-Jamie time."
"Good," she breathed. "I could use your sage advice on everything going wrong with my life."
He laughed. "I'll meet you at Sadie's in an hour with Chinese and classic kung fu movies."
Across town, back at 620, Spiederman was anxiously waiting on Karma's entrance. Nic and Kyle stood at the balcony, watching him pace down below.
"You've met her, right?" Kyle asked.
"No," Nic shook her head. "I was just coming around when she left."
Kyle let out a low whistled. "Then I'm sure she'll be just thrilled to meet you. Karma is definitely something else."
There was a loud knock on the door. Spiederman took a deep breath and pulled it back to reveal his ex-wife. "Yes?"
"Oh, Spiedy!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him energetically. "It's so good to see you!"
He pushed her away. "What are you doing here?"
"I miss you," she told him. "Don't you miss me?"
"No!" he cried. "You cheated on me. We're divorced. "I want nothing to do with you."
Karma frowned. "We were married for three years, Spiedy. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
"It did," he confirmed, "until you proved it meant nothing to you."
"Can I at least come in?" she requested sadly.
He looked over his shoulder to Nic. She just shrugged indifferently.
"Fine," he grumbled, stepping aside to let her in. "What?"
"My life is falling apart," she whined. "I need you on my side to get my career back."
He scoffed. "Definitely not happening. You deserve everything you've got."
Karma looked around and saw Kyle and Nic staring down at her. "Who are you?" she demanded of Nic.
"My girlfriend," Spiederman answered confidently.
"Nic Quincy," Nic introduced herself.
"You're dating Tom's sister?" Karma asked. "Don't you work for Vogue?"
Nic nodded coolly. "I do. What is it you do again?"
"It's not really attractive to pick up my sloppy seconds," Karma told her.
"He dumped you," Nic reminded the former pop diva. "He didn't want you anymore."
Karma was now fuming. "This is a private conversation so why don't you go?"
"No problem," Nic agreed, putting on her houndstooth Chanel coat. "I'll see you guys later." She left without looking at Spiederman once.
Kyle backed away from the banister. "I'll be around if you need me."
Spiederman was still staring at the door. "Okay."
Jude was just settling onto the couch when Jamie showed up with two DVDs and food from their favorite Chinese restaurant.
"I come bearing gifts," he joked, setting everything onto the coffee table. "And I hope you're hungry."
"I am," Jude replied, grabbing a carton of fried rice. "It was hard to eat at lunch."
Jamie put the first film in and sat down next to her. "So, let's see it. Kwest told me about the tattoo."
She lifted her sweatshirt to reveal her bare shoulder beneath a white tank top. "Not my finest moment."
"Clearly," he murmured. "Does it hurt?"
"Very badly," she grimaced, covering herself again. "And suffice it to say, Tommy wasn't thrilled about it."
"I imagine," he nodded. "I assume you fought?"
She leaned her head on his shoulder. "We did. Do you know how much is sucks to be so in love with someone you want desperately to hate?"
"I recall feeling that way about a certain blonde in this room once upon a time," he teased. "But I got better. You don't seem to be, proving it's been Quincy for you all along."
"Unfortunately," she sighed. "I told Spied that it Tommy decides he wants to be with Lauren at the end of the week, I'm going back to Europe and I won't come back anymore. I can't watch them be together, Jamie."
"Trust me, I understand," he said quietly. "It'll still suck for the rest of us though."
"Then pray he picks me," she laughed softly.
The front door burst open then and Nic stormed inside. "She's fucking back."
"Lauren?" Jude asked, sitting up. "She went back to their penthouse?"
"No," Nic snapped. "Karma is back in Toronto and she's at 620 right now."
"Uh-oh," Jamie mumbled. "What does she want?"
"She said she wants him to forgive her so she can get her career back on track!" Nic yelled, pacing frantically. "He never wanted to get divorced. How am I going to be able to compete with that? This is why I don't do relationships; shit gets in the way and I back out."
"Don't do that," Jude advised. "He loves you, Nic. He told me last night."
"Speaking of last night," Nic interrupted quickly, "let's see the tat."
Jude repeated the motions she'd gone through in showing Jamie. "Spied told me last night he thinks you're the one; he never felt that with Karma."
Nic sat down and pulled a pack of rumpled cigarettes from her clutch. "Can I smoke in here?"
"Uhh, open a window," Jude answered, unsure of the true answer.
Nic did so and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it as she tried to calm down. "Fuck her for making me smoke. I've been doing so well about quitting."
Jamie chuckled. "I really don't think you've got anything to worry about. He's not going to forgive her and people would still hate her regardless. She broke Canada's golden boy's heart. No record label wants her with them, especially Sewer."
Tears filled Nic's eyes. "I love him but I can't deal with ex-wives."
"She won't stick around," Jude assured her. "And I'm sure he'll come looking for you tonight."
"What if he doesn't?" Nic wondered softly.
Jamie had never seen the great Nic Quincy this vulnerable in the time he'd known her. "He will. We've known the guy since kindergarten and his character hasn't changed that much." He nudged the bag of food. "You hungry?"
Nic reached in and pulled out a box of teriyaki chicken. "Thanks."
Halfway through the second movie, the doorbell rang. Since both girls had fallen asleep, Jamie eased Jude's head from his shoulder to a pillow and walked to the door. He opened it and found Spiederman waiting.
"Took you long enough," Jamie muttered, letting him inside. "I hear Karma's back?"
"Yep," Spiederman confirmed, looking down at Nic in the recliner. "She been asleep long?"
"Forty-five minutes," Jamie replied quietly. "What happened?"
"Karma showed up at 620 and started going on and on about how I have to forgive her and all this bullshit that's never going to happen," Spiederman explained. "She asked Nic to leave, so Nic did, and then Karma continued on her little rant for another twenty-five minutes. I finally pushed her out the door and started looking for Nic. I knew she was upset but I didn't know what to do. It's uncomfortable, being stuck between your girlfriend and your ex-wife. I never would've come here if I hadn't called Sadie who said you two were hanging out. I figured she'd look for Jude if she couldn't get to Tommy or Lee."
Jamie patted Spiederman on the back.
"Ouch!" Spiederman winced. "Tattoo, man."
"Right," Jamie remembered. "The Dylan lyrics."
Spiederman nodded. "Yeah. You want in on a secret?"
"You guys weren't drunk," Jamie said knowingly. "I figured. It's something she would've done sober." He glanced down at their best friend. "What do you think will happen?"
"I think someone is going to be unhappy regardless of what happens," Spiederman responded diplomatically. "Whether it's Jude or Lauren, someone is going home alone at the end of this." He grinned. "But I hope its Lauren. There's a better chance of Red sticking around if she's with Squinty."
Nic stirred and flipped over in the chair. Spiederman carefully leaned down and scooped her up into his arms.
"Spied?" she murmured.
"Shh," he whispered, kissing her forehead. "I'm gonna take you back to your hotel, okay?"
"Uh-huh," she breathed, laying her head against his chest. "See ya, Jammers."
"Bye," Jamie chuckled, holding the door open for them.
Jude woke up at nearly midnight to the sound of someone knocking softly on the door. Jamie was sleeping in the recliner and Nic was nowhere in sight, so she cautiously walked to the foyer. She gasped lightly when she looked through the curtain at who was waiting.
"I think it's time you and I talk," Lauren stated when Jude pulled back the door.
Jude nodded mutely and led Lauren inside.