a/n: Haha, I love you guys. I think I'm gonna just mix everything that ya'll said together and hope everyone is happy :) But I have to say, this chapter had to be my favorite to write so far.
And I wrote up like three chapters yesterday, including this one, so now I can update whenever you guys are ready for another chapter. :)
For the next three days Jude managed to completely avoid both Tommy and Joanne. She had written up a song and Spiederman Mind Explosion came in to record with her. It wasn't even close to finished because she needed multiple backup voices and she didn't know whom to get. Damien had volunteered and she used him for the most significant male part. Spiederman also sang some backup for her, but she still needed three more singers. Of course she could do it herself, but there was another male vocal. Kwest, who had agreed to produce the song, offered his voice. Though she appreciated it, his version of the Batman theme song was more than appalling.
"Today is the Christmas party." Jude declared when she woke up Saturday morning. She had dropped off all her presents in Georgia's office the previous morning; EJ simply got a gift card to Starbucks, Kwest got a new set of headphones, Georgia got a picture frame and picture of her, Jude, Tommy, Kwest, and EJ at the party for Jude's first album going platinum, Damien received a Subway gift card, and Tommy… Well, she had something special for him.
Jude showered and took her time getting ready. She dried her hair and slipped into some sweats and a T-shirt. The party wasn't for another couple of hours, and everyone was going out to dinner afterward.
She had chance to go over some of her lyrics to the new song she wrote for the video. Jude could just imagine it, she even managed to draw a little series of frames the laid the video out.
After eating a small snack around three-o-clock, Jude slipped into her dress, brushed her teeth, and fixed her aesthetics. She was ready to go by three thirty and arrived at G Major at four. Everyone was there except for Liam, Georgia, Joanne, and Tommy. Jude looked around the lobby, which had a Christmas tree smack-dab in the middle, and found Kwest and Damien lounging on a couch and chatting.
"Hey, guys." Jude sat in between them and smiled pleasantly.
"Misses Claus or lady in red?" Kwest asked playfully.
She smacked him. "Jude Harrison, actually."
Kwest's eyes went wide and he gasped. "No way." He put a hand over his mouth in a silent scream. "Oh my god! Can I, like, have your autograph?"
Damien laughed and Jude punched them both in the arm with a roll of her eyes.
Somebody approached the trio and cast a shadow over Jude's good mood. Tommy stood in front of them with a pleading look on his face.
"Hey." He said with a small smile.
Kwest nodded and Jude completely ignored him. Damien was the only to return a 'hey' back.
Everybody fell in awkward silence and Tommy didn't budge an inch.
Doesn't he get the hint, he's unwanted! "Where's your fiancé?" Jude asked innocently.
"Talking to EJ." Tommy replied calmly, but Jude saw him flinch when she called Joanne his 'fiancé.'
"Better go find her." Jude said with a wave of her hand.
"Or I could talk to my friends." Tommy furrowed his brow in frustration.
"What friends?" Getting riled up, Jude stood. "Last time I checked you decided that you cared more about yourself than other people."
"Jude, don't-" Tommy started but she interrupted.
"Don't what? Tell the truth? Sorry, but I don't lie to people, even if I don't care about them." Jude pushed past him and knocked into his side to make him stumble.
Tommy sighed and plopped onto the couch where Jude had previously been.
"I'm sorry, man." He said to Kwest.
"For what?"
"For exploding at you, expecting you guys to forgive me, involving you in this fiasco." He sighed exasperatedly. "Pick one."
"How about 'I'm sorry for being a major ass to my friends and being a hypocrite and breaking Jude's heart over and over again'?" Kwest looked angry for a moment.
"Yeah," Tommy smiled in a defeated way, "that too."
Kwest suddenly broke into a grin and held out his hand. Tommy chuckled and they preformed a complicated little handshake, pounding it at the end.
Damien just watched with some confusion. All he knew was what Tommy and Jude were fighting about, not what Tommy and Kwest were fighting about.
"So check this out." Tommy pulled out a little box from his pocket and handed it to Kwest.
Damien looked over and raised his brows.
"And this is for?" Kwest asked holding up the gift.
"Not my fiancé." Tommy said with a sad smirk.
Kwest smirked in return. "What are you going to say to her, then?"
"I don't know." Tommy sighed.
"Figure it out, man, before it blows up in your face or you lose your nerve."
But Tommy was already losing it. Joanne never did anything wrong, she just wasn't the one. "Yeah and then I'll have to hope she won't go 'you think you can just come back after two years and I'll jump into your arms, but you're wrong' on me."
"Oh she will." Kwest said with a laugh, but he quickly stifled it when Tommy shot him a serious glare.
Damien eventually grew tired of being completely lost. He got up and looked around for a familiar face. Soon he saw her looking crestfallen and walking into Studio B. This was the studio he was working in currently, and he knew it had a lock on the inside. He just hoped that the person he was looking for hadn't locked herself in.
Slowly he walked over to the studio door and knocked on it; it was always more courteous than just walking in, whether there was a lock or not.
"I don't want to talk to you, Tommy." Someone called from inside.
"Ah, not Tommy." Damien said with a smile. "I wouldn't be caught dead in a white jumpsuit."
After a few minutes a sheepish-looking blonde opened up the studio door and let Damien in. He waited for her to shut the door and settle on the floor with him.
"He's just such a jackass!" Jude screamed before Damien could even say a word. "He comes back and acts like he never even left. Then when he tells me he has this girlfriend I get aggravated, but I forgive and forget. So we get friendly again and I try and help him, and he says, point-blank, that he does not want to marry her! And what does he do? He proposes to her that same night! I am so sick of him giving me hope and ripping it away. Over and over and over again and I can't take it!" Jude collapsed into her own lap and shook violently.
Damien was taken aback by her outburst. He was just going to come in and ask if she was all right, ask about a few things with Kwest and Tommy, and then just talk if she wanted. If not, he was all set to leave. He gently rubbed her back and let her vent. After almost a half an hour the shaking subsided and then stopped. He gently pulled Jude back up to face him.
She looked at him wearily with tear-stained cheeks and great glossy eyes. It hurt Damien to see someone who had been so kind to him, that never deserved this, to be in such pain.
"If he can't see that having you is better than having anything else, then he shouldn't have any part of you at all." He softly told her. "Not even your hope."
Jude smiled and tried to wipe her tears away. On her hand she noticed that her makeup was running.
"I look like a mess, don't I?" Jude questioned him with a sniffle.
Damien wiped a few loose tears away. "The most beautiful mess I've ever seen." He tried to conceal a tugging blush at his cheeks; he was usually so shy.
Jude laughed and looked straight into his eyes. He's always been here for me lately and I never really thought of giving him a chance, but he's so sweet and shy and it's cute, in a very odd sort of way. "Thank you." She murmured.
Damien nodded without looking away from Jude's sapphire eyes for a single second. He wondered why she felt so strongly for Tommy, who obviously did nothing but hurt her.
Jude's smile faded and she realized just how close they were. Her hand was in his and her other had been resting on his leg. Damien's free hand traveled to the side of her face. She felt a tingle zip through her skin like lightning on a stormy night. His face was so close to hers that she couldn't even fight the impulse if she wanted to.
Their lips met only for a few seconds, but it was a kiss so tender that Jude leaned in for a bit more
Damien broke away and saw a stray droplet fall down Jude's cheek.
"That one was for the bit of hope I just gave to you." She whispered. They were about to fall back into another caress, but the door opened. Damien didn't jump away like Tommy would have. He sat there and carefully placed an arm around Jude's waist. He didn't want her to feel like she shouldn't be there with him.
Jude felt a rush of relief come over her. She thought that one of the worst people would be standing in the doorway: Tommy, Darius, or Georgia. Any of those people would have had a cow. Darius and Georgia would have freaked because of the problems the relationship would cause it recording. Jude and Damien obviously wouldn't be able to work alone. Tommy, on the other hand, would have turned into the incredible hulk and pounced on Damien like he tried to pounce on Kwest. But Damien didn't matter to Tommy, and Jude was sure that Tommy would have knocked him out in a split second.
"Er, Georgia wants to start the gift exchange." A very uncomfortable Kwest was standing in front of the two, who were still in their close embrace.
Jude nodded and Damien stood up. He held out a hand to help her up. She took it with a smile and pecked his cheek. "Thanks."
Jude stopped in front of the mirror and took the time to wipe her makeup clean. Now the only way you could tell she had been crying was the red tint to her eyes that made her blue iris pop.
"I left my presents in Georgia's office." She whispered to Damien. He smiled and headed off with Kwest, who predictably started asking questions about what was going on in there.
Kwest could tell something had happened, but all Damien said was 'I was comforting her.' He had to warn Tommy before he made a huge mistake.
Jude walked up to Georgia's office, next to Darius's and across from Tommy's. She picked up the garbage bag that had all the gifts inside. Jude started to head back to the lobby, but a noisy raucous coming from Tommy's office distracted her.
"So you're telling me you made a mistake? That this was a MISTAKE!" A high-pitched female voice was screaming.
"I made a mistake leaving! I made an even bigger mistake by coming back! But I did and now I can't do anything else about it!"
Jude peered around the cracked door and saw frazzled Joanne and a Tommy whose face looked like a tomato. She had never heard Tommy yelling before and it scared her.
"I can't believe you even gave me this piece of junk!" There was a pause and Jude saw Joanne taking off her ring and chucking it at Tommy. He moaned and it the floor with a soft 'tink!'
"I didn't even give it to you because I wanted to! You knew you were pressuring me into it; if I didn't you were just going to break up with me anyways." Tommy sounded so harsh. He seemed to calm slightly, but he was still yelling
"I didn't know you were in love with that little girl!"
Jude gasped. Little girl?
"She's 18, Jo, almost 19! For gods sake, I can't help who I fall in love with!"
Then it hit Jude; Tommy broke off the marraige with Joanne and admitted that he loved Jude, even though he never admitted it to Jude herself. Jude was stuck in place and couldn't move if she tried. It was too shocking.
"You said you were in love with me, how could you just go on pretending? How could you propose to me?" Joanne's voice was growing sorough that Jude barely recognized it.
"Because I was scared that I would never have a chance with Jude again- She didn't even want me to come back!" Tommy slumped against the wall.
"So now I'm just a cover up!" Joanne's hands flew wildly in the air.
"No, you're my producer too." Which was obviously not the answer Joanne was looking for.
"No, I'm not your producer anymore!" She spat.
Tommy was shaking his head with narrowed eyes. "I thought you were professional. You can't let this get in the way of my album!"
"All along I thought I was your inspiration. But it was her the whole time!"
"You inspired me some." He sadly admitted. "That's not the point! You can't just quit on me."
"Oh yeah?" Her voice went from shrillto menacingly husky in a matter of second. "Watch me." She tried to leave but Tommy grabbed her arm. "God dammit, Tommy, just leave me the fuck alone!"
Joanne stormed towards the door, free if Tommy's grasp, but Jude was too paralyzed to move.
When the door swung open it hit Jude straight in the face. She heard a crunching sound and a warm fluid flowed down her face, over her chest, and into her dress. Curling onto the floor, Jude's sight of the ceiling faded to black.