Chapter 17

Jude finished singing and let out a sigh of defeat. She heard a noise and glanced up to see Kwest standing there, a smile on his face.

"I like it. New song?"

"Arg!" Jude answered and added "end of the duet."

"I like it. So, how come you're in the dumps?" Kwest asked, taking Tommy's vacated seat.

"It's just…it's like he doesn't want to do this. He's not as involved as usual. I don't know! It's been like pulling teeth to get him to write this with me."

"Are you still re-working Two Worlds Collide?" Jude nodded and Kwest winced slightly. "You don't know?" Kwest asked, and Jude threw her arms up in exasperation.

"Do I ever when it comes to the mystery that is Tom Quincy?"

"I probably shouldn't tell you…"

"Oh! Come on Kwest! You don't say something like that and not tell me!" Jude pleaded. "You told me about Frozen."

"And look where that got both of us." Jude sighed in defeat. "Jude…"

"No, it's fine. I'll just be kept in the dark…not knowing why"

"Jude, Honey…"

"I just don't understand him! First he's all willing and able, and then he runs at the slightest excuse. He's hot and then he's cold. Arg! Kwest! You have to help me!" Kwest looked at Jude, eyes widened in fear.

"Only to help you understand him better and no word of this gets to Tommy. Got it?" Jude nodded in agreement. "Good." Kwest sighed and looked thoughtful. "Look, Jude, I understand the guy, and I'm not going to make excuses for him. Just keep that in mind." Kwest took a deep breath. "I met Tommy for the first time about a month or two before he left Boyz Attack. I was a new intern under Darius, and Tom's always been a musical genius. I asked him for help a couple of times in the tech room and we became friends. Tom left the band and he dove into writing Frozen. I guess that's where things went from bad to worst for him. You know the rumors from the B.A. break up, so I don't have to fill you in on how the press went crazy with it. Chaz had asked Tommy to come back a few times, but he pretty much told his best friend to go to hell. Strike one, lost his closest friends. He dealt with it any way a musician deals with things. He wrote songs to help with the pain. At the same time, he was too busy to spend time with his wife. They began fighting all the time and Tommy began to spend more and more time at the studio. I swear, there were some weeks when the man didn't leave for days at a time. I suspect that's probably when the drinking started. Strike two."

"I didn't know he was an alcoholic." Jude said, looking incredously.

"Not an alcoholic per-say. He just drank a lot more than he should have, but his life didn't revolve around the bottle. He was sober when he wrote and sang, but it seemed when he wasn't working, he was drinking, which was only probably about 10 of a month." Jude shook her head incrediously. She never would have thought.

"A couple months later, Tommy was asked to do a talk show and he wrote a new song and dedicated it to, who he thought was, the love of his life. During the interview, he sang, for the first and only time, Two Worlds Collide. After the performance, Tommy was backstage and he was served the divorce papers." Jude winced. "Yeah, it wasn't pretty."

"I didn't know…"

"Yeah, that was just the beginning. At least he still had Frozen to keep him busy."

"Then Darius…"

"And that was the icing on the cake."

"Wow."

"Yeah, it wasn't good times. Tommy pretty much turned to the bottle. A few months later, he got his own wake up call and went cold turkey on the alcohol just a couple of months before the Instant Star competition, which he wanted absolutely nothing to do with; but he owed Georgia a favor who had helped him clean up his act and gave him a job doing something he at least liked. You know the story from there." Kwest added.

"Wow." Jude said, her mind processing everything Kwest told her.

"Look, Jude. I know it's not my place to say, but" Kwest broke off when the door opened and Tommy stepped back into the studio. Tommy looked back and forth between Jude and Kwest, suspicion in his eyes, not failing they had clammed up the moment he walked into the room.

"Did I interrupt something?"

"Nope, Just shootin the breeze." Kwest said, with an innocent smile. Tommy's eyes narrowed further in suspicion.

"Right…well, I'll let you two get back to work…" Kwest said, leaving the room. Once Kwest was gone, Tommy turned to Jude.

"What was that all about?"

"Nothing. Kwest heard me working on our song, and was commenting." Jude said, kind of telling him the truth. Tommy still didn't look satisfied, but he let the matter drop.

"So, what do you got?" Tommy asked, sitting down in the seat he was in earlier. Jude showed him the end of the song she wrote earlier and they continued working on the duet, arguing about the melody and some lyric adjustments.

"I think we got it." Jude said a couple of hours later.

"I still think we need to…" Tommy trailed off at Jude's glare. "Fine! We'll do it you're way!" Jude smirked triumphantly. "For now." He added, smirking back. Jude just glared at him. "You know, there's only one way we're going to resolve this." Jude looked at him.

"How?"

"We'll record the lyrics to no music." Jude looked at him like he was crazy. "We'll record the melodies separate, three ways. One your way, my way, and a mix between the two and then we'll decide which one is better." Tommy suggested.

"Fine. But mine'll win."

"You wish."

They stood toe-to-tow for a moment, staring into each other's eyes. I will not kiss her… Tommy thought repeatedly. Simultaneously, Jude thought I will not kiss him.

They didn't know who started it, but their mouth's connected in passion. Jude wrapped her arms around Tommy's neck and Tommy's hands slid around her waist. Minutes later, they broke apart and stepped hurridly from each other, both short of breath. Tommy ran a hand through his hair and turned to face Jude.

"I think, we need to talk…"

"Yeah" Jude breathed out in agreement, looking as shocked as he felt. "OK…"

They moved back towards each other and kissed again, more passionately this time. They quickly broke apart, quicker than the first, and stood on opposite sides of the room, facing each other.

"So, talking right?" Jude asked, leaning against a file cabnet.

"Jude.."

"Let me guess? It never happened right? We'll damn you Quincy, because it did, and it has and"

"Don't you think I know Jude!" Tommy demanded, interrupting her rant and added "I wasn't going to say that…again…"

"So why did you say it before?"

"Because Jude! You were 16! I was 23! Do you know how that would have looked! How it still looks!"

"I don't care how it looks Tommy." Tommy sighed and ran a hand through his hair once more in irritation.

"This is exactly why I left. Jude, I know how I feel about you, but you"

"You think I just have a school girl crush like every other girl." Jude finished, looking offended.

"No, you're not like every other girl." Jude stared back at Tommy, momentarily confused. "I-" Before Tommy could finish what he was going to say, the door to the studio opened once more and EJ stepped in. "I need to get a lock for that door…" Tommy muttered as EJ looked up from her clipboard. Tommy and Jude stared at her in annoyance.

"Alright you two, we need to review potential interview questions for" EJ looked up at the two and stopped when she saw them. "Did I interrupt something?" She asked.

"NO!" Tommy and Jude said, simultaneously.

"Oh, good." EJ said, and reviewed possibly interview questions with them, but neither were paying any attention; they were both lost in their own thoughts about what was going on between them.