a/n: I love you guys! Your reviews are awesome :) I'm not sure how long I want to wait before something else really happens so this chapter is another transition/lead-up chapter.
And don't worry, Kwude is not permanent, I was never planning on it to be! I guess it's just a ploy. And if you are really smart, you'll figure out what I'm using it for before the end of this chapter.
Oh yeah. A magazine named Tune In is used in this chapter. It's fake :P
Woah, I just noticed my emoticon obsession in my author's notes. Jeez :P
Jude's eyes slowly opened and surveyed the room she was in. On a coffee table next to the blue couch she was lying on, she saw was a clock that read nine thirty-two.
"Where am I?" She asked herself out loud.
Soon she recognized people in pictures around the cozy little room: One of Kwest and Tommy that must have been taken before Jude had even won Instant Star, one of an older couple that looked slightly familiar, and one of a little boy that looked suspiciously like Kwest.
"You're in the fabulous bachelor pad of Kevin West, master mixer and partier extraordinaire!" Jude scooted over and Kwest sat down next to Jude with a plate full of pancakes and a smile on his face.
A loud honking of a car alarm outside rang through the room. Jude groaned and fell onto the armrest of the couch. Hundreds of hammers were pounding at her head. "What happened?" She asked gingerly.
Kwest took a bite of his pancakes and continued to grin. "Well, let's just say that the tabloids will be going crazy with stories of Jude Harrison."
She glared at him and Kwest sighed. "Ok, so you got completely wasted and hit on just about every guy at the bar. Not to mention you got on stage and started singing Boyz Attack renditions. I think you even gave a few guys your number. And a few other things."
Jude smacked her head and quickly felt sorry for the action. "How could I be so stupid?" She moaned.
"Well, you were drunk. What do you expect?"
"Couldn't you have limited me!"
Kwest only shook his head. "You had fun and it's what you needed, so don't go blaming me for all this."
"But I don't remember anything, so it's not like it mattered whether I had fun or not." Jude growled and crossed her arms.
Kwest stood up and handed Jude the plate. "You eat, I'll go get you some Tylenol and glass of something to drink…" In five minutes he was back carrying a glass of what looked like red wine and a couple Tylenol.
Jude sniffed the wine after Kwest had sat down and handed the items to her. She nearly threw up and pushed it away.
"No way, I'm not drinking again."
Kwest shook his head again. "It'll help your hangover and won't get you drunk. It's only one glass."
Jude eyed Kwest before popping the pills into her mouth and gulping down the entire glass.
"After you eat we're gonna hit the news stands and see what the tabs have out before we go to G Major." The look in Kwest's eye was slightly amused, but slightly concerned at the same time. Jude wanted to hit him, but she knew Georgia and Darius would ambush her with questions about what happened. And Kwest, although being an ass, was just looking out for her.
Jude nodded and began to eat the fluffy pancakes very quickly. She wondered when the last time she ate was, and realized it had been the lunch break she took yesterday.
"Starving?"
"Just about." She finished up the breakfast and set the plate down on the coffee table.
"You wanna stop at your place and get some new clothes or something?" Kwest suggested.
Jude looked down and realized she was still wearing her little black dress from the party. It smelt something like smoke and tequila. She shrugged and stood up. "I don't mind."
With that the two headed out towards the nearest newsstand, about twenty minutes towards the studio.
"So your… er… house is nice." Jude hadn't really gotten a tour and wasn't paying attention to the outside of Kwest's living quarters when they left.
"It's a condo, and it's ok. I don't make much at G Major so I can't afford much more."
Jude nodded. "It's better than my place. And your neighborhood is nice."
Kwest smiled. "Yeah, same place I grew up in. Couldn't leave it for the world."
"Was that picture in your house of your parents?" Jude realized she didn't know a thing about Kwest.
"Yeah…" He looked very distant for a few minutes and Jude wondered what she had said wrong. "They both passed a while ago."
"Oh," She grimaced, "I'm so sorry."
Kwest merely shrugged, but he hadn't looked at Jude since the topic was brought up. "No big deal. My mom died almost ten years ago in a car accident on her way to work." He tensed up a bit. After all, they were in a car on their way to work. "My dad wasn't the same since, he died a few years later; but he really died in that car crash with my mom."
Jude felt horribly for bringing up all these past memories in Kwest's life. "I know my parents are still alive," They both winced, "But I can relate. I haven't had parents since my dad had an affair."
Kwest nodded and looked over at Jude for a brief second, just long enough to give her a look that said 'I really appreciate you, Jude.'
Ugh, why did I chose to be just friends with him again? Jude's mind reeled as blush tinted her cheeks.
"How much money do you have?" Kwest interrupted her thoughts. The car came to a stop in front of a newsstand.
"Uhhh…" Jude realized she had no pockets so she shrugged. "Just one second." Kwest was taken aback as Jude began to plunder her bra. Soon her hand shot out with money.
"Secret hiding place." Jude commented with a smile at his slack-jawed stare.
Kwest gathered his composure and unbuckled. "Right."
The two gathered up as many magazines they could find with a mention of Jude on the cover. Some even were headlining stories over her promiscuous night out.
Throughoutthe ride towork Jude leafed through about half of the stories and burst out laughing each time. "Did I really do this?" She asked Kwest at a stoplight, showing him a picture of herself that looked like she was using him for a stripper's pole.
"You really did that." He laughed and shook his head.
The ride to G Major continued this way. Upon arrival Jude gathered up the tabloids and scurried into the building, hoping to avoid the accusations all together. No such luck.
"Jude Harrison! What did you do last night!"
Jude skidded to a halt, almost through the door of Studio A, and turned around gloomily. But what she saw was not Darius or Georgia; it was EJ.
"I cannot believe you just went out and completely opened yourself up like this." EJ was not at all mad. In fact, she was almost giddy. "You got on the cover of Tune In!"
Jude smiled slightly and shrugged. "Honestly, EJ, I don't even remem-" Then the tornado hit.
"What were you thinking exactly? You put yourself in a lot of unwanted limelight, practically named yourself the next Anna Nicole Smith! And in all of it you involved Kwest! You're producer for part of your album! You practically scarred G Major, Jude!" Georgia was standing there with a look that meant business, hands on her hips and all.
Jude took a step back. She had never seen Georgia so angry. Well, maybe that one time when she had managed to break an entire soundboard with one cup of coffee. "G… I-I…" She could only manage to say one thing. "I'm of age."
She immediately regretted it.
"It doesn't matter if you are 18 or not. The fact is, Kwest is like twice your age and people are calling him a pedophile, you a whore, and G Major a trashy company!"
"No one thinks G Major is a trashy company, G!" Jude sighed and rolled her eyes. "They think I'm a trashy girl. And I can deal with it! As trashy as I may be, I'm a big girl now and people aren't going to blame G Major for my one night out."
Georgia narrowed her eyes. "You don't snap back at me, Jude Harrison!" Jude felt like Georgia was her mother scolding her for eating the entire tub of ice cream before Sadie could get any.
"Look, I'm sorry, ok? I wanted to have fun, and Kwest wanted me to have fun, so we went out. Nothing happened!" But Jude didn't know that for sure.
Kwest shot Jude a scorning look for bringing him into the conversation.
"And you!" Georgia turned to Kwest, who was standing next to Jude. "You taking her out for the paparazzi to feed on her all night. You didn't even stop her!"
Kwest shook his head. "G, one night out isn't going to kill me, Jude, or the company." Georgia was still uneasy and feverish. "I promise."
Georgia eyed them both carefully. She sighed and gave up eventually. "Get to work, then." She walked away and shouted back, "Make me a new hit!"
Jude and Kwest skittered into the studio and finally got to take a breath. They took their respective seats and sat in silence for a few minutes, soon interrupted by Jude's curiosity.
"What exactly happened last night?"
Kwest twiddled his thumbs a few minutes before gingerly answering. "Nothing between us, if that's what you're asking."
Jude raised an eyebrow at him. She had seen the pictures, and she was definitely all over him.
"Well, nothing much." He smiled rather slyly.
Jude punched him scornfully. "Hey! Taking advantage of me when I'm drunk?"
Kwest shook his head with a small laugh. "No, I couldn't keep you off me. Trust me, I tried." Before Jude could punch him again he continued to talk. "You know I didn't mean it like that, I would have been all for it if you weren't drinking. I didn't want to take advantage of you at all."
She smiled at him and nodded. "Thanks. You really helped me out."
"Well you were about to pass out and I didn't know where the keys to your apartment were," At this he eyedher chest in the most nonsexual way possible, "So I just let you crash on my couch."
Jude shrugged and folded her arms. "So I kissed you, then?"
"Pretty much as many times as you could sneak in." He grinned. "You just can't help fallin' for the Kwest man more than once." He stood up an backed away to make sure he wasn't in her reach.
"Hey! You know that time in my apartment was you, not me." Jude jumped up as well and followed him.
"Pshhft! As if, Harrison. You were on me like Barbie on Ken."
Jude made a lash out to try and get him for his innuendos but Kwest was too quick. He stumbled back trying to get away from Jude's swipe though and ran into something, or rather, someone.
"Oof!"
Kwest swiveled around and came face-to-face with a very sour looking somebody.
"How much did you hear?" He asked.
"Enough." The person answered.