Chapter 2 / Equalizer

Jude sat in Studio A trying, once again, to finish her song. Things were a bit easier after her meeting with Tommy but not by much. She'd replayed the entire scene over and over in her head because something just didn't make sense to her, didn't sit right. How did he find her? She rationalized that it wasn't the most secluded place in the world, but for the most part, business was minimal. Why did he apologize? She wanted to make it seem like some grand scheme to say he cared about her in more ways than she knew, but she knew he was just covering his ass. You couldn't have the protégé mad at the producer, now could you?

Tommy sauntered into the studio and plopped himself silently into one of the overstuffed chairs directly in front of Jude. She noticed him but made no attempt to talk with him. She absentmindedly played while softly singing what she'd written. This is maddening. First the song, now Tommy. God, why does this all seem so damned hard? Something took over her fingers and mind as she sang, words of honesty pouring out from every direction. She went on, realizing she's just finished the song when she wasn't trying.

"Amazing." She looked at him for the first time since he'd walked in ten minutes earlier. He gazed at her dreamily, wrapped up in the last echoes of her music. "And this is the song you said you couldn't write? Sounds damn good to me." A light pink blush crept up on the edges of her cheeks. She half smiled, mentally soaking up his praise.

"It just... came to me... when you walked in." She ran her fingers thru her hair. "I can't explain it." His face turned into a cocky grin that made his eyes twinkle.

"It's because of me." She laughed deeply, pointing a finger at him accusingly.

"You? Ha! I think it's because of the 3 long weeks I've put into it." He conceded, shrugging his shoulders and throwing his hands into the air.

"Whatever you say, girl, but you know it's because of me." She looked at him, arrogance on full display, all the charm in the world presented in the form of one man. For the moment to be so light, she felt wretched. Nothing more did she want than to join him in that chair right then and show him what she felt, what the song was about. Fear held her to her seat while insecurity killed all resistance against the fear. Vicious, vicious cycle.

He propped his cheek against his fist, catching her looking at him intently. The song played just moments earlier reverberated through his mind. He'd long ago given up the notion of figuring out whether or not the songs she wrote were about him or not, but this one stuck out. The words came through effortlessly, the emotion raw and dangerous. It has to be about us... He wanted to ask, needed to ask. His better judgment screamed at him to leave it alone. His heart would die if he didn't.

"Was that about me?" She looked at him incredulously.

"You are the most arrogant bastard I've ever met." She jumped up from her stool, knocking it backwards. She headed for the door, but his hand caught her wrist as she tried to side-swipe his chair. "Let go of me, Quincy." He looked up at her tenderly, every shade of confusion residing in the depths of her eyes.

"You don't know how much I want to know." She rolled her eyes, yanking her wrist out of his grip, the force sending her to the floor.

"Why does it matter who it's about?"

"It matters to me." He got up and stood above her, extending his hand. She looked at it, standing up on her own. She looked at him dead on, sending daggers through him as she tried to step past him. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. She gasped loudly, his chest brushing against hers. "Please, Jude... Please..." His hand went to her cheek instinctively, caressing its porcelain softness.

"Yes," she whispered. "It's about you." His stomach churned while his heart rate sped up exponentially. He looked deeply into her eyes knowing that everything, at that instant, was right. He bent and kissed her passionately, feeling her body relax against his. He soon pulled away as quickly as it started.

"J-Jude... I..." Reality was sinking in and he had to find a way to explain what had just happened. Dammit, Quincy! There you go again. She's 17! This can't -

"Tommy," her trembling voice pierced through every rational thought he could find. "Don't take it back... Please..." His soul shattered into a thousand shards of glass, slicing up his insides. His mind went back to her Sweet 16 and all that he wished he could undo. And so, she stood before him the exact same girl, a year later, in the exact same situation.

"I won't." He kissed her again, this time softly. "Never again."