A/N: No, I'm not dead. ;) I decided to rewrite. I really hope this one's better, because the original wasn't getting that great of a response.

Disclaimer: Last I checked, I didn't own Instant Star. But it has been quite a while...

Belated
Welcome Home

- -

Jude Harrison woke up to the smell of a disgusting, stained pillow on her face.

"Were you trying to suffocate me?" she asked, bolting into the living room area, "Because I could always just stick my head into the oven a la Sylvia Plath!" Speed snickered. "No oven, dude. Gonna have to settle for the toaster." Jude rolled her eyes.

"Whoa. Where are the chocolate fudge pop tarts?" Wally asked. Kyle looked down at his shoes like a guilty pre-schooler, and Wally eyed him pointedly. "DID YOU TAKE MY CHOCOLATE FUDGE POP TARTS!" he yelled. Kyle waited a couple seconds before he started running.

Jude groaned and flashed Speed a tired smile. "Thank God we only have two more days here," she mumbled. Speed rolled his eyes and smirked. "Dude, as much as you hate smelly boys and gross takeout, I know you loved it this summer," he replied. Jude smiled brightly and poured herself some coffee.

"Psychic now, Vincent?" she teased. Spiederman smirked. "Or maybe I just know you a little too well."

- -

Sadie sighed as she stepped out of the cab. She looked at her watch: 3 am.

She was exhausted.

Of course, the door was locked. She pounded on it with her fist several times before her mother answered the door with an umbrella in her hand, looking ready to strike.

Victoria put a hand over her heart. "Oh, Sadie. Thank God." She moved to the side so that her daughter and her excessive amounts of luggage could fit through the doorway. "What are you doing here so early?" Mrs. Harrison asked. Sadie looked away. "I was just...ready to come home."

Victoria smiled. "Well, I'm glad you're back." She looked down at Sadie's bags. "Need some help with those?" Sadie nodded. Mrs. Harrison took one from her, relieving Sadie's aching shoulder.

Victoria started up the stairs, but then stopped. She walked down and put Sadie's luggage by the front door. "Why don't we just deal with those tomorrow?" she asked. Sadie nodded gratefully and trudged up the stairs behind her mother.

Welcome home.

- -

When Nana was done with the phone, Jamie picked it up and dialed a familiar number.

"Hello?" Jude spoke into the receiver. He smiled at the sound of her voice. "Hey."

He could hear her smiling back. "Hey, you," she returned. "How's it at home?" Jamie shrugged. "Boring, without you," he confessed. "How's life on tour?" Jude smirked. "Pretty good," she said. "The bus smells like silly string and sour milk." Jamie cringed. "Could you maybe shield me from that one?" he asked half-seriously. She laughed. "Not really sure how it happened myself." A pause. "We're close."

Jamie nodded. "I know," he replied. Jude sighed. "Are things gonna be weird once I'm back?" she asked.

"I hope not," Jamie replied. "I like us." Jude nodded. "Me too," she agreed. "So let's make it a point that things don't get weird once I'm back, okay?" Jamie laughed. "Sounds good."

- -

"So when's Jude getting back?" Sadie asked, pouring orange juice into her cup. "Tomorrow morning," Victoria replied. She glanced at Sadie. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Sadie looked over at her mom. "Me?" she said. "I'm great. Why?" Mrs. Harrison shrugged. "I don't know. You just seem upset about something." Sadie smiled a little. "I think that's the jetlag," she joked. Victoria smiled.

"So...how's Tommy?" she asked, picking at her pancakes. Sadie shrugged. "I wouldn't know."

"You haven't been talking?" Mrs. Harrison asked. She shook her head. "Nope, not really," Sadie replied. Then she looked back down at her pancakes.

Victoria sighed.

- -

Speed knocked lightly on Jude's door before entering. "Hey," he said, sitting down on her stiff mattress. "What are you doing?"

She folded another shirt and stuck it in her suitcase before sitting down next to him. "Just some packing," she replied. "I know I'm not gonna feel like doing it tomorrow."

At the sound of the word "tomorrow," Spiederman's hands went to his ears. He started making that 'lalalalala I can't hear you' noise that so many other mature young men have made in the past. When she raised an eyebrow at him, he stopped making the noise and removed his hands from his ears. "No talking about tomorrow," he ordered. "Tomorrow is the end of the tour. The very end, dude! That means that school starts in like two weeks. Which means that I'm gonna have to deal with the pressures of school along with the stress of being a rockstar."

Jude smiled, trying to hide her disappointment. "And here I thought you were gonna miss spending time with me," she teased. Speed smiled. "Dude, why do you think I'm here?" he asked, gesturing toward the space between him and Jude. "These heart-to-heart things are like, what I live for." Jude giggled.

- -

Well, that was chapter one. Would you like to press the purplish-gray button of wonder on the bottom left-hand corner of this screen? Umm, yes. Yes, you would. ;)