Jude smirked while looking over her shoulder at Vic. She'd found herself in a race with him on the way back to G Major and won by mere seconds. She hurried through the door, trying to keep her triumph low key.

"Where you been?" Sadie's voice caught Jude's attention.

Jude turns with a smile, spotting Sadie and Jamie at the front desk, "At the rehearsal space, studying for a math test, followed by a quick meeting with Stephen Aturrio." Confusion started to settle in when she realized they were both giving her doubtful looks, "What?"

Vic came up from behind and stood next to Jude, keeping a respectable distance, "Sweets, I'm so sorry I'm late. Something came up and just screwed my whole day."

Jamie chuckled, his brow raised in surprise and tone sarcastic, "Really? Those are the words you're really gonna to use?"

Vic and Jude both look at Jamie in question, "Excuse me?" Vic's tone indicating that he didn't appreciate the snark.

Sadie crossed her arms and glared at Vic with pursed lips, "Are you screwing around with her behind my back?" She gives a slight nod in Jude's direction, but doesn't make eye contact.

Vic recoiled, blinking in surprise, "Are you serious?"

Jude slaps her hands on the desk, leaning forward and trying to keep her voice down, "Oh my God, Sadie! What the hell?! Why would you say something like that? How could you think that!?"

Sadie gives her an incredulous look, "Oh I don't know, Jude. Maybe because you guys went on a date last night. Jamie saw you two at the house. He forgets to pick me up and you changed your clothes." She looks at Vic, angry tears threatening, "You're missing buttons on your shirt. So you tell me, what the hell this looks like. You two weren't even supposed to be together today."

Jude covered her face in her hands and sighed, "I can't even believe this."

Vic looks down at his shirt and chuckles, "Well, shit. I forgot about that." He clears his throat and leans over the counter, smiling softly, "This looks real bad, Sweets, I know. I swear to you it's nothing like that. Jude got into a confrontation with a disgruntled ex-employee of mine. It was nothing too serious; just a little hot tea was thrown. I took Jude home to get a change of clothes. I had to restrain the woman until security came. Hence the missing buttons and my delay getting to you. It's been a real clusterfuck of a day. I'm sorry about missing lunch. I really am." He made his way around the counter and took Sadie's hands, smiling down at her while kissing her knuckles, "I'm sorry, Sweets. Think you can take a late lunch?"

Sadie smiled bashfully at his tickling lips on her fingers, "I-"

Jamie butts in, cutting her off, "Already taken care of." He was eyeing Vic with contempt.

Vic bristles at Jamie's words, but keeps his attention on Sadie. He spoke sweetly while caressing her cheek, "I swear, Baby, I'm all about you. I don't know what exaggerated bullshit this kid has been telling you-"

Jamie clenches his fists and yells, "Hey dick! I didn't tell her anything, just that I saw you. You did the rest."

Sadie gasps, finally coming out of her twitterpated daze and realizing that he was still standing behind her, "Jamie!"

Jude jumped in, seeing the fine line Jamie was crossing with Vic, "Jamie, lay off. What's your problem?" She knew exactly what his problem was, He was trying to show off in front of Sadie. He was never really good at that and it usually backfired on him. Being her best friend, she couldn't let him get his face pounded in.

Jamie snaps at her, "Why don't you lay off, Jude? Mind your own business." One moment, he was standing behind Sadie and the next, he was pinned against the filing cabinets, finding it hard to breathe.

Vic snarled in Jamie's face, one hand clenched tightly in his shirt and the other around his throat, "You and I are about to have a serious problem. Watch your fuckin' mouth."

Sadie grabbed them both and tried to pull Vic away from Jamie, "Ok guys, stop. Seriously, before someone sees."

"Hey! What the hell is going on here?!" Tommy's voice boomed from behind them.

Vic released his hold and took a step back, turning to glare at Tommy, who was approaching quickly.

Jamie tugs on his shirt to straighten it, "Vic's just pissed that he got caught playing house with the wrong Harrison sis-" his final words were halted by Vic's fist.

Sadie shrieked as Jamie collapsed against the filing cabinets and gripped them for support.

Jude stood there, slack jawed and heartbroken, staring at Jamie. She didn't even turn around to see Tommy's reaction to what had just been said.

Tommy, seemingly unfazed by Jamie's injury, glared at Vic and growled through clenched teeth, "You need to leave. Now." He looks around at them, eyes blazing, "You are so fucking lucky that Darius isn't here right now. He'd kick all your asses to the curb."

Vic almost replied, but glanced at Jude, who was giving him a pleading look, and decided to turn to Sadie, "I'll call you later, Sweets." He briefly glanced at Jude with a curt nod before heading out the door.

Tommy snaps at Jamie, "You have a reason to be here? If not, get the hell out. Go clean yourself up."

Jamie snapped back at him while wiping the blood from his nose and lip, "I don't answer to you, Quincy. Go find someone else to bark orders at."

Tommy flashed a dark smirk and walked behind the desk, stopping less than a foot from Jamie. He breathes a chuckle when he notices Jamie's clenched fists and stiff stance, "Go ahead." He waits for a moment, seeing the nervousness in Jamie's eyes, "No? Then get the hell out of here. When D's gone, I'm in charge."

When Jamie storms past them and out the door, Jude finally releases the breath she was holding. She started to plead her innocence to Tommy, but he was too preoccupied to notice her attempt, "Sadie, I asked you for those papers fifteen minutes ago. Where the hell are they? I'm up to my neck in this Instant Star shit and I need a little reliable cooperation. Is that too much to ask? Seriously?"

Sadie was shook up from the excitement and nearly trembling, "I- I'm sorry, Tommy. Here." She hands over the forms, not able to meet his eyes, her cheeks blushing in shame.

Tommy takes the papers and shakes his head at her with a disappointed sigh, "Thanks."

Jude followed at his heels, nervously chewing her lip, "Tommy, what Jamie said, it's not true. At all."

Tommy doesn't slow his stride as he enters the Studio One sound booth and sits in his chair, "Jude." He finally glances up at her, impatience clear on his face, "I really don't have time for this right now. I don't have room for anything else on my plate."

He sees her face fall, eyes welling up with tears and his shoulders fall with a sigh, "I'm sorry. I'm not mad and I do want to talk to you about whatever that was out there – but I can't. Not right now. I gotta keep my head right here, or all this shit is going to bury me, Ok?"

Jude nodded, sniffing back her tears, "Ok"

Tommy reaches out and grasps her wrists bringing her fingers to his lips for a kiss, "It's going to be late, but I'll call you when I'm done." He notices her wince as his lips brush over her skin, "What happened?" He notices the red marks on her hands.

Jude pulls her hands back, shrugging, "It's nothing. I accidentally spilled some hot tea on my hands. Just a little tender is all."

Tommy stands and watches Jude for a moment before tugging her in against his chest, "Be careful, Beautiful." He looks around to ensure their privacy and dips his head for a brief, but sweet kiss, "I'll talk to you later, ok?" He flashes a sincere and tired smile, his eyes showing his stress. "I gotta get back to work." He presses his lips into her hair and whispers, "Love you." He steps back with a smirk, "Now get out. I'm busy."

Jude nods, whispering in agreement before leaving him to his work. While hurt that he'd shooed her away. She was really impressed at how much better he was acting, compared to last year's pre competition crunch. Last year, she'd gotten cussed and growled at. This year, she got a kiss and proclamation of love. It was a nice improvement.

Jude heard Sadie call her name as she passed the front desk. Without even looking in her sister's direction, she held up her middle finger and kept walking, "Fuck off, Sadie." Not caring who heard or saw. Being accused of being a slut by her own sister was too much. Having it happen in front of everyone was the icing on the cake. Jude had a feeling that Jamie may have helped that along and that hurt. A lot.

Pulling into her driveway, Jude saw Jamie getting the mail from his mailbox. She quickly got out of her car and stormed toward him. He tried to ignore her, but she grabbed the back of his shirt, "Hey! Where the hell do you think you're going?!" She jumps in front of him, "How could you?"

Jamie rolls his eyes, stopping, but looking anywhere besides down at Jude, "Look, I'm sorry. Can was just drop this? My face hurts and I'm tired."

Jude swallows the lump in her throat and shoves him in the chest with a growl, "Fuck that! How could you throw me under the bus like that?! You're supposed to be my best friend, Jamie! How could you say something like that and make it sound like I'm some kind of whore? In front of Tommy, no less. How could you do that to me? I'd never-" Her voice started to break, preventing her from finishing the sentence.

Jamie clenched his jaw, eyes full of guilt, "I agree, that was an asshole thing for me to do and I really am sorry, but-" his gaze locked on her now, "Damn it, Jude – I am so TIRED of the fucking asshole swooping in and taking what I want. You think I wanted to be just your friend? I wanted you so bad for so long, Jude. After getting stomped on over and over again, I let you go. I really like Sadie and I'm not going to let the same thing happen with her. I am not going to let another piece of shit take what I want."

Jude wipes away a stray tear and breathes a sarcastic laugh, "So, you're throwing me away for this? That's really messed up, Jamie."

Jamie flashes a sad smirk, "Yeah, it is. I'll bet you don't even realize how many times you did it to me, while chasing after Tommy."

Jude didn't have a response to that. All she could do was shake her head, eyes wide with shock and pain. She turned and left him to retreat to the safety of her house. Once inside, Jude collapsed on the couch and burst into tears. All the stresses from the day were erupting from her in never ending, racking sobs.

"Jude? Hey, what's wrong?" Jude gasped and shot up from the pillow she was bawling into. She found Otto looking at her from the foyer, "What are you doing in here?" Her voice horse and nose stuffy.

Otto lifted the bag he was holding, "I came to drop off your bag. You left it in my car. Your door wasn't latched and I heard crying."

Jude chokes out a small laugh and grabs a tissue from the coffee table, "White knight, as always."

Otto walks into the living room and sits next to her, his face etched in concern, "Yeah yeah. Seriously, what's wrong?"

Jude tried her best to clean up her face. She knew it had to be a mess by now. Shrugging, she sighs, "I just have had a really shitty day is all. My sister is a fucking bitch. The guy who was supposed to be my best friend is a fucking asshole. He tried to make it sound like I was sleeping around with Vic – just to impress Sadie. I never thought he'd do something like that. Ever."

Otto leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees, "Wow. I'm sorry that happened. I don't get why Jamie is your best friend. I know you know he's a passive-aggressive, pretentious asshole. I know you've seen it."

Jude sighs, nodding in agreement, "Yeah, I have. He just never treated me that way. I guess we stuck together because we've always been next door neighbors. That, and the fact that I've never really had many, if any friends. I've never been able to stay friends with girls. They always flake out on me and can't stand me after awhile. It stings, you know?"

Otto chuckles, brow raised in surprise at her words, "Yeah."

Jude blushes and fidgets nervously, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be talking to you like you're my therapist. I can tell you don't want your ear talked off by some crying chick."

Otto shakes his head, grinning in amusement, "No. I'm the one who started this conversation. I don't mind. I just don't get why you'd say that you don't have any friends. I get that you don't have girlfriends. Girls are intimidated by you. You're too fucking awesome for them anyway, but what the hell am I? Chopped liver?"

Jude laughs, blushing again, "No, you're great. You're definitely on the friend list. I'm just acting like a baby. Sorry. I'm feeling insecure and Tommy's got his head all wrapped up in work. I just feel alone, guess."

Otto stands up with a sigh and reaches out his hand, "Alright. Come on, get up. You're coming with me."

Jude takes his hand, watching his face with a puzzled look on hers, "Where?"

Otto leads her into the foyer, "Gonna meet up with the guys at the bar and let them know about my new side job as a male model."

Jude gasps and grabs the front of his shirt in excitement, "Really?! You took the job? That's so cool! Now I'll have someone on my side. Being around all those models is intimidating as hell. Most of them aren't even nice. Yay!" She hops up and down a couple of times before running upstairs, "I'll be down in a sec! I just have to fix my make up! Give me two minutes!"

Otto smiles brightly while shaking his head, "Yeah, that's what they all say!"