Hi - so this is it! The grand finale - the epilogue. I hope you all enjoy how this story is going to end. I've tried pretty hard to get it right, so I really hope I don't let you down! Definitely let me know what you think.

BTW, I don't own any part of Instant Star, the TV show, but I do own all of the previous 35 chapters (35! This story is long!). Also, check out the next post for info on the sequel...hope you all ENJOY :-)

Jude closed the white door, smiling at her dad through the glass, and walked down the hallway.

"Well?" Sadie asked, putting down her magazine and standing as Jude approached.

Jude nodded, tears in her eyes. "It went well."

"Good," Sadie said. "Did you talk to him?"

"A little," Jude said, sitting down with Sadie. "He was kind of tired, so we didn't talk too much, but I told him about the blizzard and how we were all stuck together, and then he asked about my album and how things are going. It was good overall."

"Is Yvette still in there?" Sadie asked, looking down the hallway towards his room.

"Yeah, she is. And Mom came in too, which was awkward. That was when I decided to leave."

Sadie nodded, suddenly hesitant to visit him herself. "Is he…did he look…"

"He looked fine, Sadie," Jude said assuredly. "Like himself, just with some casts. If you want to see him, you should go now. I think he'll probably be asleep in under 10 minutes."

Sadie stood up and sighed. "Ok, I'll be back," she said, as she slowly walked down the corridor towards her dad's room and gently pushed open the door, escaping from view.

Jude relaxed in the green chair, staring out the window. It actually had gone well. She wasn't angry with him, more thankful that he was okay. He genuinely seemed happy to see her, as his eyes lit up when she first opened the door. And the best part—they had discussed doing a weekly dinner, just the two of them, once he was allowed to go home. She smiled at the thought, knowing he was really making an effort to improve their relationship.

Trailing off in her thoughts, she felt her phone vibrate in her bag on her lap. She searched through the bag to find her phone and saw Tommy's picture on the front. Smiling, she opened the phone.

"Hey," she said quietly.

"Hey you," he replied on the other end.

Standing up, her eyes met one of the nurse's dismissive stare. She immediately spun around, searching for the exit sign. "I'm not really supposed to be talking on my cell phone in here, so hold on one sec."

"Okay," he said.

She quickly made her way towards the exit and pushed open a set of double doors to step out into the cold.

"Okay, sorry. One of the nurses was about to go all Russell Crowe on me," she said, as he laughed.

"No problem. I just wanted to see how things were going."

"Everything's good. I saw my dad, he looks okay, just tired."

"And did you talk to him?"

"Yeah. We talked for awhile actually. It was nice."

"No yelling or arguing?"

"Nope. It was relatively calm. Yvette was there too, and I was even civil to her. You would've been proud."

"I am proud," he replied. "I think it's great you had the courage to go see him in the first place. I don't know if I would've done the same thing."

"Well, I wouldn't have ever thought I'd be here either, but it's funny what happens when things take a turn for the worst."

"That's probably true," he commented reflectively.

"So enough about me, how's the Viper?" she asked with a smile.

"It's fine. It was completely covered in snow, I seriously couldn't even see it. And I had a little trouble starting it, but once it got going, everything was fine."

"That's good. I was worried about it, you know."

He let out a small laugh. "I'll pass your concern along to the car, I'm sure it'll appreciate your thought."

She laughed too. "Thanks. And Kwest got off okay too?"

"Yeah, his car was totally fine. We had to help Ryan though, his door was frozen shut."

"You should've just left him there," Jude replied, half-joking.

"Right. I'm already on his hit list, that probably would've moved me up to his number one target."

She laughed, peering through the hospital window at the lobby where she had just been sitting.

"Well, I should probably get going. Sadie's visiting him now, I want to be there when she gets out."

"Okay," he replied.

"But I'll definitely call you later, okay?"

"Sure," he said. "Tell your dad I hope he feels better."

"Thanks, I will," she said, kicking her foot against the curb. "Tommy?"

"Yeah?"

"I miss you."

He paused - she knew he was smiling on the other end. "I miss you too, girl."

Jude smiled, and then watched through the window as her mom and Sadie entered the lobby.

"Oh, I have to go, I see my mom and Sadie," she said hastily.

"Okay," he agreed.

She paused, in thought, before saying, "Thanks…for everything."

"No problem. We're a team, right?" he asked.

"Right," she agreed firmly. "Okay, I'm going to go. I'll talk to you later."
"Okay, talk to you then."

She hung up the phone, looking at his picture on the front. She smiled, thinking about how different things would be now that she actually had someone she could count on. For the first time in her life, she truly felt supported and cared for. She had become so used to depending only on herself, it was a relief to know that someone else was going to be there for her, regardless of the mistakes she made or wrong paths she took. They were a team. And she was determined to make sure that this team made it to the finish line.

Grinning to herself, she walked back into the hospital to reunite with Sadie and her mom, ready and eager to hear about their visits with her father.

The End