A/N: Have I told you all that I love you guys (the reviewers)? I mean, honestly. You are all way too kind to me. I love seeing the reviews and though it may take some time before I post again or respond to your emails, I am always deeply touched by all the wonderful compliments I am receiving. Because I was already asked by one reviewer, I figured I'd supply for everyone, the link to the message board this story is also posted in. Currently, after this update anyway, you will be completely caught up with those readers and the updates will go hand-in-hand. :D Seriously though, I love seeing your reviews, they are the light of my day and motivate me to write more. Thanks so much, I don't think I can ever thank you guys enough, for the wonderful compliments!

Chapter 22

She had to get out of there. She had no choice but to run. She didn't want to hear about the news of Tommy finding another girl. She didn't need that heartbreak. If he didn't voice it to her, then she could still hope he would wake up and realize the prefect girl has been staring him in the face for three long years. She loved him from day one, she knew it; she thought it was hate at first sight, but she knew now it was never like that with him. She felt tears sting her eyes. Why did he have to do this again? First Sadie, then some other no name chick he met when he was out on guys night, and now, Megan! The newest producer at the studio? The girl had no taste in music and could hardly tell you the difference between modern and oldies rock. She was nothing Tommy needed and he was too blinded by his hormones to see it.

Jude pushed her way out of the auditorium and ran out to her car. She didn't want to see him; not until she got herself in control. She got in her car and drove away, not consciously knowing where she was going. She knew she shouldn't be running away, but she couldn't help it. She could never help her emotions when it came to him.

She pulled up to a stop and got out of her car and sat down on the hood, staring out to the water. It was where Tommy had brought her to fix 24 Hours all those years ago. The same moment she fell in love with her 22 year old producer. She smiled faintly at the memory and then scolded herself. She had to stop thinking about him like that. He wrote that song for someone else. It wasn't for her. She wished it was for her.

She had never heard Tommy sing like that; it was how she always sang, with her heart and never with her mind. His voice was raw with emotion and she wanted to be the one he wrote that song for; but she knew it wasn't possible. Why would Tommy ever get with her? He'd made it clear before they were nothing but a mistake. Nothing but temporary insanity and twisted that knife by going out with her own sister. Jude shuddered at the thought. Her mind trailed back to the week before, where they kissed so passionately in the studio. Her jaw clenched and her hands curled into fists. She let out a scream of a woman scorned and slammed her fist down on the hood of her car. It was never about her. She was delusional to think she had saw love in his eyes that day. She took a deep breathe to calm her frazzled nerves. Her cell phone rang and Tommy's picture greeted her on the screen. She glanced at it and stared at it for a long moment before putting the phone in her pocket. A minute or so later, she had a chime that signaled a text message. She sighed and read it, despite her better judgment.

Hey

G wants us at the studio.

Where r u?

TQ

Jude sighed and deleted the message. She glanced once more out at the water and got back inside her car. She mentally prepared herself to face Tommy as she started her car and drove back to the studio; Her song, That Girl, playing on the radio the whole way.

Jude entered the studio and glanced around. It was party day, just like it was yesterday after her interview. A couple of the staff members stopped her and asked if she knew anything about Tommy's song and why she didn't say anything about it. Jude denied her knowledge and made her way to Georgia's office. She knocked on the door and Georgia's voice called her in.

"Tommy said you wanted us here?" Jude said, acting like nothing was wrong. Georgia motioned for her to take a seat and close the door. Jude did so and sat stiffly before her boss and friend.

"Are you ok Jude?" Georgia asked, looking at her in concern.

"Fine. Why wouldn't I be?" She asked, giving her a false smile. Georgia sighed.

"If you need to talk about anything…anyone, you know you can talk to me, right?" Georgia asked, hoping Jude would say what was bothering for her.

"Yeah, I know." Jude said, knowing she could never tell Georgia her feelings about Tommy to her. How embarrassing would it be to discuss the romantic feelings you have for your producer, to your boss who paired you with said producer and said producer had no similar romantic feelings for his protégé since she is seven years younger than said producer is?

"Good. Now, you two need to rehearse the duet together. EJ decided she wanted you two to sing it tomorrow after the interview." Georgia informed her, and Jude stared at her incrediously.

"But we never…"

"I know."

"But"

"You've both come up with songs and perfected them before a performance, you can do it again." She said, smirking at Jude.

"OK…" Jude said, still not sure that it could be done.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Georgia asked, studying the younger woman before her.

"I'm fine." Jude said, slightly harsher than intended. "Is that it? Because if you want that song tomorrow, we need to rehearse a lot." Jude said, dreading being in the studio all night with Tommy, singing a duet together when he's probably going to be swooning over Megan, who Jude was sure he was going to ask to monitor how things were going. Why can't he have Kwest help out! She wondered as Georgia nodded to her the end of their meeting and Jude left the office, heading towards the studio, where Tommy was not presently at. Jude walked aimlessly around the studio, trying to find her partner. She found him in the kitchen, on the receiving end of a hug from Megan, who he hugged back. Jude looked away when she saw Megan kiss him on the cheek. Jude turned to leave when Megan said, happily "Oh, Hey Jude!"

Jude clenched her jaw. She didn't like want that girl calling her 'hey Jude.' She's always been 'hey Jude' after the Beatles song. She wanted to yell at her dad for naming her that, but she turned around and faced Megan and Tommy who were now about 10 feet away from each other.

"Hi Megan." Jude said, her voice conveying her annoyance.

"Where did you run off to?" Tommy asked her, looking concerned.

"Family emergency." Jude lied.

"Everything ok?" He asked her, not looking totally convinced, but Jude assumed he was trying to be nice and not get personal before his new girlfriend. How considerate? Jude thought bitterly.

"Fine." She said, biting her tongue from saying anything more. "Georgia said we have to rehearse the duet."

"Yeah, EJ got this grand idea for us to perform it for the first time tomorrow, even though I've tried to convince her it's not ready, but then she got all…EJ-ish and told me I will have that song ready for tomorrow." Tommy said, deadpanning slightly. Jude smiled.

"I guess we better get to work." Jude said, and turned to Megan, "See ya around." She said, leaving the room and heading back to Studio A. A moment later, Tommy caught up to her.

Jude entered the studio, and Tommy entered behind her ad closed the door behind him.

"What was all that about?" Tommy asked. Jude turned to him, a glare on her face.

"As if you don't know." She spat at him. Tommy, deciding it was better to not press her for anymore info, took a seat by the soundboard and flipped a couple switches and adjusted a couple of settings. Jude sat down next to him, her arms crossed over her chest. She watched him in annoyance. Tommy noticed her expression out of the corner of his eyes and stopped what he was doing.

"What's wrong?" He asked her, turning his full attention to her.

"Nothing." Jude snapped, wishing he'd just leave her alone to wallow in self pity.

"There's obviously something bothering you, and quite frankly? If it's bothering you, then it's going to effect your singing and what effects your singing effects our song, and I'm not going to waste my efforts to record if we're going to have to record 10 times to get it right." Tommy said, getting annoyed with her attitude.

"I'm fine Tommy." Jude insisted, feeling more annoyed.

"Fine. I'll play it your way." Tommy said, turning his attention back to the soundboard and making more adjustments. After a moment of silence, Jude spoke up.

"When were you going to tell me about Megan?" She asked softly, sounding pained. Tommy looked up at her in confussion, and lifted his coffee mug up to take a drink of it as Jude spoke.

"Well, she is your girlfriend, isn't she?" Tommy, who had been taking a drink of his coffee, promply spit it out, succeeding in choking himself and showering the soundboard with brown liquid. Tommy began coughing from nearly choking on his drink and Jude watched the soundboard as black smoke began to rise from it and no sooner did the smoke begin rising, sparks began flying from it. Jude grabbed Tommy's arm and pulled him away from the soundboard. They stood near the door, staring at the soundboard in stunned silence, except for Tommy's coughing. Jude smacked him lightly on the back.

"You ok?" She asked.

"Peachy," He choked out, and cleared his throat. Before either could say anything else, Georgia and Kwest stormed into the room, well, Kwest more walked and Georgia more stormed, but who was really paying attention?

"What happened in here!" Georgia demanded, as Kwest stepped cautiously over to the soundboard and tried to inspect it.

"It was my fault, Georgia." Jude said, glancing over at Tommy who had seemed to have gained composure, except for the fact his eyes were slightly bloodshot and watering a smidge from his recovery. Georgia glanced at Tommy.

"You ok Tom?" she asked. Tommy coughed slightly and answered "Yeah, fine, just the smoke." He said and went over to see if he could help Kwest salvage the remains of the soundboard.

"Jude?"

"I accidentally knocked over Tommy's coffee mug, I wasn't paying attention…" Jude said, feeling bad over the damage of the soundboard.

"This thing is fried…" Kwest said, his voice conveying a sense of awe, "Why did you have to destroy the main soundboard guys?" Jude looked confussed and Georgia groaned and looked even more pissed.

"All the other boards in the studio run off this one…so since this one is fried…" Tommy stopped trying to explain when he noticed the death look on Georgia's face. "Don't worry Georgia, I'll cover the cost of the damages." Tommy added, knowing what kind of financial strain the studio was in already, despite Jude's great record sales and sold out concerts.

"No Tom, it's fine."

"Don't worry about it…besides, I should have known better." Tommy said, glancing slightly at Jude.

"So this means…?" Jude inquired, still not grasping the gravity of the situation.

"No recording. Period, until we get this fixed." Kwest answered, looking slightly amused.

"Oh." Jude said, realizing how bad this was.

"You two," Georgia said, pointing at Tommy and Jude "Need to come up with something else to perform tomorrow, or perform the duet acoustic. You know EJ will accept no excuses, and neither will I." She added, leaving the room. Kwest glanced nervously at the pair.

"Good luck…" He said, scurrying out of the studio. Tommy sighed.

"Wimp." Tommy muttered, grabbing his guitar which was leaned up against the wall opposite of him. Jude grabbed hers and they left the familiar studio and relocated to the all too familiar Studio C; aka, the closet.

"So, you and Megan…" Jude said, as they closed the door to the small 'studio'.

"Where the hell did you get that idea!" Tommy demanded.

"It was…well…you're not dating?" Jude said, feeling her heart skip a beat at the thought of Tommy still being single.

"Hell no! Don't get me wrong, she's a nice girl and all, but she's too much like Sadie." Tommy shuddered at the thought.

"Oh." Jude said, her mind quickly doing the math. So, if Tommy wasn't dating her, than who was that song for! She wanted to ask him, but Tommy got his business face on and pulled out his guitar.

"Any suggestions?"

"We should do Could Be You." Jude said, pulling her guitar out of the case. Tommy made a face. "What?"

"Not a favorite."

"You helped write it!"

"I know…" Jude looked exasperated.

"What do you think then?" She asked. Tommy shrugged. Jude sighed. This was going to be a long night.