A/N: Sorry people that it's been so long, but I was busy studying for finals. After these posts, there will be only one more chapter and then this story will be complete and onto the sequel:D I hope you all enjoy this post, and I have to say, I hope my work calls and says I don't hafta go in…it's snowing like a mother outside, already 4 inches and it's not letting up any time soon! Enjoy the chapters! More to come later this week.
Chapter 25
Later that day
Behind the Mic; back stage
Tommy and Jude were standing around, talking before they were about to go on.
"I can't believe you left me with her." Tommy said, shuddering at the memory of the morning. Jude grinned.
"What was I supposed to say? Hands off my producer?" She asked, smiling.
"Yeah! That would have been nice." Tommy said, shuddering again. Jude smiled at him and laughed.
"Ya know…we could…"
"Go find an empty closet?" Tommy offered, looking slightly hopeful.
"Not was what I was going to say, but that works." Jude said, smiling cheekily at Tommy. Tommy grinned but didn't make a motion to move.
"We need to rehearse."
"We'll rehearse…" Jude said, smiling coyly.
"I don't think there'll be much singing…"
"Oh, there will be." Jude said, grinning wider. Tommy glared mockingly at her and EJ jumped up behind them.
"OK you two, you about ready?" She asked. The pair nodded, and EJ studied them. "Good. You better not mess up." She said, walking away.
"She's so comforting." Tommy commented, watching her yell at a stage hand for getting in her way. Jude nodded in agreement. They both got up from the bench they were seated on and made their way to the stage entrance. Tommy leaned over and whispered in Jude's ear "you don't know how much I want to kiss you." Jude whispered back "about as much as I want to kiss you." They smiled secretly at each other and Kwest came between them and wrapped his arms around their shoulders.
"So?"
"So what?" Tommy asked, annoyed that Kwest chose this moment to come between him and Jude.
"Don't play dumb man!" Kwest said, looking back and forth between Tommy and Jude. Tommy looked around Kwest at Jude.
"You know what he's raving about?" He asked her, and winked at her so Kwest couldn't see.
"No clue. Ravings of a mad man?" She offered, patting Kwest lightly on the arm.
"Cold man, real cold. Least you can do is tell me…"
"Tell him what?" Georgia asked, crossing her arms while observing the trio.
"About the song." Tommy lied, mentally berating himself for lying again. He was determined to put an end to all the lies. Georgia looked like she believed him and didn't say much else.
"You guys ready to go on?" Georgia asked. Tommy and Jude both nodded. "Good. You're on in 5." She said, and wished them good luck before going off to do whatever it was that Georgia does. Kwest left the pair alone, knowing he needed to get the portable soundboard ready for later. Tommy and Jude glanced at one another, both having nothing but love in their eyes. Tommy took Jude's hand and gave it a squeeze.
"You nervous?" He asked her. Jude shook her head.
"Not with you here." She said, and smiled at him. Tommy smiled back at her and it took everything he had not to kiss her right there. They were gave their cue and both stepped out onto the stage, Tommy and Jude still holding hands. The crowd cheered the two stars on as they made their way back to the center stage and sat down in the two chairs pulled up to the desk.
"Welcome Back, Tom Quincy and Jude Harrison." John said, shaking Tommy's hand and nodding to Jude who nodded back. The trio waited impatiently for the cheers to die down. Once they quieted, some girl yelled out "Marry me Tommy Q!" Tommy just shook his head in amusement but didn't dignify the comment with a response. Jude glared at him but said nothing. Tommy just gave her a shrug with a look that said 'whatcha gonna do?'
"Alright, first I want to say, We got some emails last night in regards to the title of the duet." Tommy and Jude looked surprised. "Some of them were fans of Boyz Attack who could have sworn that title sounded vaguely familiar." Jude glanced over at Tommy who shifted rather uncomfortably in his seat. "So, we did some digging, and came up with the following video." Jude saw Tommy pale considerably and she took his hand and gave it a squeeze, knowing what was coming as well as Tommy did. Tommy stared in the general direction as the projection screen. He didn't have to see the clip to remember it. He felt Jude's had slip under his and she gave him a squeeze of re-assurance. Tommy glanced over at her and gave her a look of thanks and the clip started, and Jude was mildly surprised to see how young Tommy looked about six years prior.
On the clip, Tommy was being introduced for the original Two Worlds Collide song. The melodies were softer than what Tommy had suggested for their version. It was like listening to a lullaby and she could tell he put his heart into the song. She studied the younger Tom Quincy for a moment; his hair was a bit longer than it was now, pieces falling into his blue eyes, making him even sexier than he already was. Note to self, have Tommy grow his hair back out. She was mesmerized by the song and she knew it could have became an instant hit if he would have gotten over the pain associated with the song and recorded it. The B.t.M. staff only played a 10 second clip, but she knew it lasted longer than 10 seconds for Tommy. He seemed to have pulled himself together while the clip played and he sat straight in the seat, a stoic expression on his face, but Jude knew he wasn't alright. She had learned how to read Tommy Q and she could tell when he was freaking out, she should know. John turned to Tommy to get a statement. Tommy cleared his throat and shrugged.
"What can I say, Jude found the lyrics to an old original and liked it; she came up with the idea to re-vamp it and I let her." Tommy said, sounding indifferent
"I thought the lyrics worked for us…I didn't know Tommy had sang it originally." Jude said, playing dumb, she wasn't supposed to know the history involved with the song. John nodded, and paused for a moment. Jude noticed Tommy got slightly fidgety during the pause.
"We'll all be looking forward to hearing it." John said, glancing back to his notes. Jude let out a humorless laugh.
"Yeah, funny story with that…we had some technical difficulties yesterday at the studio and were unable to record. Unfortunately, we cannot perform Two Worlds until the sound equipment gets repaired. Tommy and I worked on another song to perform instead." Jude explained, looking sheepishly at Tommy who said nothing in response.
"The suspense on this song is gonna kill us all! It's worst than wondering if Mulder and Scully were ever going to get together!" John exclaimed jokingly, and different members of the audience laughed and Jude smiled. The interview continued with no further incident. Jude could tell Tommy wasn't completely focused on it; his mind was too busy repressing old memories brought to the surface; memories he probably never wanted to relive again. Jude could understand that, she would feel the same way if her parent's divorce were ever brought up in an interview, thankfully, it only appeared once and she quickly avoided the question. All in all, it was a great interview and they ended it with a remixed version of It Could Be You; Tommy and Jude had played rock-paper-scissors for an hour to decide who would choose the song to perform and Jude had one by a landslide. After they left the stage, Jude pulled Tommy aside.
"You ok?" She asked him, knowing full well he wasn't.
"I'll live." Tommy said with a sigh. "I just wasn't expecting that of all things to be brought up." Tommy sighed once again. "I guess you probably want the full story?" Jude shook her head.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." She said, not really worried since she already knew, courtesy of Kwest. Tommy nodded.
"Not here. I'll tell you later." Tommy said and Jude smiled in understanding. Tommy added in a hushed voice "Let's get out of here, I haven't been able to kiss you in hours and I think I'm going through withdrawals…" Jude giggled and grabbed his hand and pulled him into a supply closet.
"Hu, a closet…haven't been in one of these since…" Tommy stopped short when Jude jabbed him in the side. She pulled him closer to her by the lapels of his jacket.
"Are you gonna keep talking? Or are you going to shut up and kiss me?" Jude asked, a coy smile on her face. Tommy kissed her long and hard. They broke apart a few moments later. "You drive a hard bargain." Tommy said, kissing her again. Jude smiled against his lips and granted his tongue access into her mouth and wrapped her arms around his neck. Their session was getting rather heated when the door to the closet opened. Neither of them noticed until they heard a throat being cleared. Jude and Tommy turned their heads towards the door and saw the janitor looking at them disapprovingly.
"You folks get lost?" The Janitor asked, looking annoyed.
"Sorry…" Jude said, jumping out of the closet her face red in embarrassment, and Tommy come out behind her, looking highly amused. The couple left the janitor to his businesses and once they turned the corner, Tommy started laughing. Jude smacked him on the arm. "That was not funny!"
"Yes it was…" Tommy said, still laughing good-heartedly.
"It was embarrassing!"
"Like you've never been caught making out in a closet before." Upon Jude's look, Tommy knew that was her first time getting caught making out in a closet. Before Jude could retort, Kwest came running up to them.
"Tommy, Jude!"
They stopped walking and let Kwest catch up.
"Georgia has called a celebratory party at Kavann's tonight." Kwest said, looking back and forth between Tommy and Jude.
"The club?" Jude asked, surprised the G Major staff would be partying there of all places.
"Yeah." Kwest said, looking excited. "Georgia has asked me to spread the word, so, see you guys later?"
"We'll be there." Tommy said, and glanced over at Jude. "As long as it's not karaoke night."
"Oh come on! We so hafta go!" Jude said, grinning at Tommy. Tommy just made a face but shrugged in response. Kwest smiled at his friends.
"See ya later!" He called, dashing away down the hall to find the rest of the G Major staff. Tommy and Jude walked out into the empty parking lot and stopped when they got to their cars, which were parked next to each other.
"Want me to pick you up tonight?" Tommy asked her, pulling his keys out of his pocket. Jude nodded and gave Tommy a peck on the lips.
"See ya later!" She called, jumping into her car. Tommy glared mockingly back at her and got into the Viper. Both singers went their separate ways, waiting for that evening to come.