AN: OMG! I can't believe you guys. Seriously, you guys are the best reviewers in the history of the fanfic universe! Thanks to you, I'm now on 11 people's favorite stories lists, and 19 people's story alert lists. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I've decided to do special ANs to everyone who reviews.

Special ANs:

Kristen, I'm so glad you like my fanfic, and I'm so glad you reviewed. Your comments really mean a lot, since you're an awesome writer. I just wish more people reviewed my stories as much as they do yours. But I guess that's because I don't have much time to write them as well as I could, since I have summer school, and now a job (which my parents made me get so that I wouldn't waste my time doing nothing). But don't mind my rambling. Just ignore it ('cuz I love to ramble. I could go on, and on, and on… :o). )

Arabelle, thanks for reviewing. You gave me a great idea.

Shannon and xtaintedxlovex16, your wish is my command. Enjoy!

Petra, thanks for always making me laugh. Your comments brought a smile to my face (after finding out that I wouldn't have that much time to write now that I'm forced to have a job, in addition to summer school. Can this summer get any worse?)

cecapo3610, thanks for your compliment. I'll try and keep it up.

Rachel, I have to admit, you're absolutely right. So here you go.

OK, that's it for now. On with the show, er, I mean, story.

Previously:

"Jude, that was amazing," Tommy said, awestruck. He grinned at me, and I felt my insides turning to mush and my knees go weak. I smiled, stunned that he had nothing to criticize me about.

"You really think so?" I asked, still stunned by Tommy's comment that I rocked.

Tommy gazed deeply into my eyes, and I could see he was being truthful. "Absolutely," he said, drawing me into his embrace.

"I couldn't have done it without you," I said, trying to be modest. "We're a team, right?"

"In and out of the studio," whispered Tommy, as I grabbed him and pushed him to the edge of the soundboard. He moaned in pleasure as I took his lips with mine. Just then, I heard someone knock on the door.

Chapter 18: The Longest Day (Part 2)

"What?" I barked out, hating to be interrupted when I was just about to get it on with Tommy.

"Oh, was I interrupting?" Sadie remarked, smirking. I glared at her briefly before I felt Tommy's hand slip in mine. He stood up, and I could feel the love and support flowing from his body into my own.

"No, actually, we're pretty much done. Georgia gave us the day off, and we're gonna meet up with the guys pretty soon." Tommy said, glancing at me to see if I agreed with him. I smiled and gave a slight nod, and Sadie looked worried.

"You're not thinking of coming back to hang out in my yard, are you?" Sadie said hesitantly.

"Why? What is it?" I asked, hoping we hadn't ruined her backyard as much as I remembered we did.

"I need to replace those flowers the guys ran all over, and clean up the mess you guys made. There's water everywhere, and it's not gonna clean itself. Plus, the guys went in the pool, and that'll take months to clean, since they take showers every century, right?" Sadie didn't wait for my response, and said, "Anyway, I have to go to pick Kwest up. Why don't you go down to the beach by the house? It's pretty deserted this time of day. Who knows? Maybe Kwest will feel well enough to go down there to see the sun set." Then she rushed off, leaving Tommy and I to ourselves.

"Mmm…sounds like a great idea," Tommy said. "All we need are a couple blankets, some food…"

"Some Pop-Tarts…" I added, before I could stop myself. Tommy burst out laughing, and I couldn't help but stare at him. "What's wrong with eating Pop-Tarts?"

"Nothing," Tommy said, putting his arms up in mock defense. "It's just that…is that all you eat?" He started laughing again, as I said, "Quincy, shut it."

Tommy smiled, and gazed at me with his piercing blue eyes. "Make me," he challenged, his eyes twinkling.

"Just do it, for me?" I asked, batting my eyelashes at him. He clutched his heart and moaned.

"OK," Tommy conceded. "Want to have a picnic on the beach?"

"That would be wonderful," I agreed, grabbing his hand and pulling him behind me. We went back to Sadie's place to change and grab a few things to eat. After we had finished changing, the guys got back.

"Hey guys, want to go to the beach with us?" I asked, as Tommy covered his head and groaned. "Shh, they'll hear you."

"What?" Speed yelled. The guys had turned up the stereo as loud as they could, and music was blasting from their room.

Tommy whined, "I don't want them to spoil our meal. They'll get sand all over our food, and disturb us every second of every minute we're there."

"Not if I can help it," I assured him. Then I yelled back to Speed, "I said, want to go to the beach?"

"OH. YEAH DUDE, GREAT IDEA!" Speed bellowed over the radio. He must have turned down the volume for a second, then I heard Kyle and Wally whoop and burst out of their room. They started bopping their heads in time to the music, while dancing around and crashing into one another.

"OK, WE'LL MEET YOU THERE!" Tommy shouted, and grabbed my hand, leading me to the kitchen.

I searched around for a basket to take with us, which wasn't that difficult to find, since Sadie loved arranging flower baskets. I took out some of the flowers out of one basket, then threw them in the sink, which I'd plugged up and let the water run until it was covering their roots.

Meanwhile, Tommy was busy fixing some food for us to bring, and I grabbed my secret stash of Pop-Tarts, since I'd eaten all of Sadie's already.

We left for the beach, and got there while the sun was still high in the sky.

Tommy took out the blanket and set up the area in which we were going to sit, as I attacked the picnic basket with the hunger of a starving woman.

I was just about to reach for the box of Pop-Tarts when I felt a pair of strong arms grab me from behind. "Hey," Tommy murmured into my ear, as I feigned pouting. "Isn't this perfect?" He started kissing my neck, and I forgot everything and everyone around me, except him. I turned around in his lap, and our kisses turned into a major make-out session. I forgot where I was, and who or what was around me. All I could feel was Tommy's lips on mine, his arms wrapped protectively around me, and the weight of his body pressing into mine. Our meal lay forgotten as we rolled around, although the more of Tommy I touched, the more I couldn't get enough him.

We were finally brought back to reality as a volleyball sailed through the air and bonked us on the cheek.

"Hey!" Tommy stood up immediately, looking in the direction from which the ball flew.

"Sorry dudes, Wally served it a little too far," Kyle said, as Wally looked murderous. Speed and Kyle cracked up as Wally's face turned red, and then purple. Wally ran back to the guys, and tackled them, and it ended as quickly as it had started.

"Hey, guys, I have an idea," I said, hoping to distract them for some time. "Why don't you go search for hidden treasure?"

"You mean, like pirate's gold?" Wally asked, looking interested.

"Yeah, you'll never know what you'll find. Money, gold, a hidden treasure map…Anything's possible," I suggested, so that Tommy and I could get back to where we left off.

The guys glanced at one another. "I'm in," Speed said first, as Wally and Kyle echoed a few moments later. "You?"

"Maybe later," Tommy said.

"Yeah, I'll catch up with you later," I said. Tommy and I waited until the guys had walked far enough off out of our sight, and the second we couldn't see them any more, our lips reconnected as if they had never been separated.

I moved so that Tommy would be on top, since I knew he liked to be the one in control, and he lay me down on my back carefully, then attacked my mouth with his own. I moaned as I felt him get hard really fast, and as we worked to remove our clothes, I felt something sharp under me.

"Ouch!" I cried, as Tommy stopped immediately.

"Jude, are you OK?" Tommy said, pulling me up.

"Yeah, I just felt something sharp in my back, that's all," I explained. I started tugging on Tommy's sleeve to get his attention back, but he was too busy shoving everything out of the way. He pulled up the blanket, plunged his hands deep down into the ground, and searched until he hit something.

"I've got it!" Tommy said excitedly.

"What is it? Pull it up already!" I said, wondering what it could be.

Tommy pulled hard on the object, and it came up to the surface. His eyes widened as he saw what it was, and was trying to stuff it back down again.

"It's nothing," Tommy said, although I could tell it meant something, since Tommy always looked directly at me when he told me something important.

"Come on, Tommy, just tell me, please?" I said, giving him my pouty face.

"Not this time, Jude, it's over. It doesn't matter anymore," Tommy dropped the subject, but I wasn't done with it yet.

"OK, if you say so. I feigned being thirsty, and said, "Can you reach over and pour me some juice?" I said, hoping I could get a good look at it before he finished pouring.

"Aww, anything for my Jude," Tommy said, doing exactly as I'd hoped. When he had the pitcher out and was starting to pour, I seized my chance and grabbed the paper.

"Jude, don't," Tommy said, quickly setting the juice down as he tried to grab it away from me.

"Come on, Tommy, what's wrong. You said it doesn't matter, so why can't I look at it?" My answer came as I read what was scrawled on the page.

Dear Mr. Quincy,

We regret to inform you that we cannot loan you the amount you requested. Our bank is in dire need of repairs, and with the rising costs of construction, we cannot loan such a great amount to any of our clients, even one as well-known in the community as yourself. If you have any further questions, or would like to contact us about this, please reach me via email. Thank you for your time, and I hope this does not reflect poorly on your decision to continue banking with us.

Sincerely,

Your local HSBC Canada branch

"Tommy, what happened?" I said, knowing I could help Tommy if he didn't push me away this time.

"I…I just ran into some problems, that's all," Tommy said, looking down at the ground instead of at me.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" I said, wishing with all my heart that Tommy wouldn't decline my offer.

"No," Tommy said, a little more harshly than I knew he meant. Without another word, I patted his shoulder gently, and it was a few more moments before he spoke again. "It's just, my family moved into our house, and I was trying to fix all the damages to their house, while trying to find us a separate place to live, and…"

"How bad is it?" I said, not daring to look at him.

"Jude, I'm damn near broke," Tommy said, tears starting to spill from his eyes. "I mean, we have enough to live from day to day, but I can't keep up with rent or anything."

"Tommy, we don't have to pay Sadie rent, she's my sister, and Kwest's your best friend," I tried to assure him, although I wasn't as confident as I tried to sound.

"Yeah, plus I feel partly responsible for Kwest being in the hospital, I mean, he's there, and I couldn't do anything to stop it," Tommy started crying softly. I knew Tommy never cried, so I figured it was because he was really tense from his situation.

"Tommy, look at me," I said, grabbing his face in my hands and pulling him up to eye level with me. "We're a team, remember? So whatever you're feeling, don't. I'm right here with you. We'll manage, OK? I can work part-time whenever I'm not recording, and whatever I make I'll put toward getting your family and us back on our feet in no time.

"I don't know, Jude, I just feel like I should be the one taking care of you, not the other way around," Tommy said, finally regaining control of his emotions.

"Look who's the adult now," I said, hoping to make him smile. It worked.

"Yeah, look at you, all grown up and taking care of her former boyband member of a boyfriend, who's falling to pieces over a problem and who can't keep himself together." Tommy looked at me proudly, as I remarked, "Yeah, I'm here to pick up the pieces and put you back together again." Tommy groaned as I sang back the lyrics of one of his old Boyz Attack songs, and hugged him. "You know something, Tommy?" I asked, leaning back on his chest.

"What?" Tommy said, wrapping his arms around me.

"No matter what happens, we'll get through it just fine. As long as we're together, we'll be able to face anything," I said, letting the rays of the sun seep into my pores as it gently lulled me to sleep.

"Yeah, I couldn't agree more," Tommy said, as we lay there by the shore.

We were awoken by cold water splashing down on us. I opened my eyes, and squinted as the sun was too bright for me to look at.

"Hey!" I mumbled, as I wiped the sleep out of my eyes.

"Dudes, guess what I found!" Kyle said, not noticing the glares coming from both me and Tommy. "I found this abandoned crate, and it's filled with money! Lots and lots! Come on!" He yanked us both up, and dragged us, moaning the whole way, to where he found it.

"See what I mean?" Kyle said, pulling the crate out from where he had hidden it. He pried open a corner of the box, and as I peered into its contents, I saw something sparkling inside.

Tommy whipped out his Swiss Army knife, which he had also added other tools like a mini screwdriver set, among other things. "Let me see that," Tommy commanded, as the guys stepped aside. Tommy used his set to unscrew the crate. It wasn't long before we'd gotten the cover off. Inside were shiny gems and jewels, and a whole lot of money like I'd never seen before.

"Damn," Tommy said, shaking his head at the sight.

"Yeah, you're right," I said, agreeing with him. "Shouldn't we give this to the police for someone to claim?"

"No way, I found it, and it's mine," Kyle insisted.

"Uh, Kyle, I think this money should go back to whoever lost it." I said, urging him to do the right thing.

"Yeah, and you'll probably get a good part of it as a reward if you do," Speed said.

"Will we get some too?" Wally asked, as Kyle laughed at him. "Hey, I just thought I'd ask. Guess you haven't gotten it on with anyone, have you?"

"For your information, I did meet this girl. We were about to get it on, before her boyfriend came along," Kyle said, purposely avoiding my eyes. Was he referring to Sadie, or someone else? I shook my head as if to clear my thoughts, and I saw Speed and Wally laughing hysterically at him. "Dude, no way!" they said, and cracked up again.

"Whatever, dudes," Kyle mumbled. He paused, then said, "Wait a sec."

"What? What happened?" Wally asked, wondering what was up with Kyle.

"Remember how we went to Madame Esmeralda? And she told us each of our fortunes? She said that Jude managed to stay strong, even when she was heartbroken, and that

Speed loves to play jokes on people, and that he pretends to be something he's not. And she told me that I shouldn't go through with whatever I was planning to do, and that I'd hit the jackpot. And I did!"

"Yeah, you're right," I realized. I thought back to when she told Tommy he had secrets that he hadn't told anyone, not even me, and she also said he would lose a lot of money. Maybe she really could tell people's fortunes. There was only one way to find out. We had to go back and see her. Tonight.

AN: So, what'd you think? Good? Bad? Love it? Hate it? Let me know by reviewing. Should I make this a 3-parter (Chapter 17-19 (Parts 1, 2, and 3)? Give me suggestions, and I will do as you wish.