"Best Friends"

Summary: Tommy Quincy hates Jamie Andrews with a passion. But why? Takes place after "Date With the Night."

Disclaimer: All chapter titles are songs by Fall Out Boy. Also I don't own anything related to "Instant Star" except for a couple of Jude-centric fantasies.

Author's Note: I'm not really sure about the after-effects of an overdose so I just winged it. Whatever, it's not that important.

88

As the grogginess and headache slowly subsided, Jamie risked opening his eyes to see where he was. For the second time in four months he was in the hospital. For someone who hadn't been sick, much less shot, in the past ten years, it was a hell of an accomplishment. As he gingerly raised his hand to touch his right shoulder, where Darius had shot him, he noticed the agents standing outside his door. A brief sense of panic spread throughout him but it was quickly quashed when he recognized one the agents.

Slowly he sat up in bed and immediately he regretted the decision as his shoulder exploded in blinding pain. He stifled his scream, trying not to alert the agents. Gingerly, he pressed the nurse button with his right arm. As the woman swept in, the two agents glanced in and waved. Jamie struggled to wave back and eventually decided to forgot it. After the nurse completed her check-up, she gave him some painkillers and exited the room.

Jamie leaned back into the pillow and tried to fall asleep but for some reason he couldn't. Finally, he noticed one of the agents, Duhane, talking on his phone. Jamie felt a shiver run down his spine as the agent looked into the room. A moment later, Duhane entered the room.

"Mr. Andrews," he started. "I have some news. About Jude."

88

Liam sat in the hospital waiting room, trying to collect and comprehend the events that had transpired in the last twenty-four hours. Tommy was missing in action as was Jude's dad, Jude had overdosed on what appeared to be cocaine, and Jamie lay three floors below, recovering from surgery to remove a bullet from his shoulder. All in all, not a good day for him and the others. As he looked up at the waiting room door he realized the day wasn't over. Gibbs was walking over to him, a distraught look on his face. "What now?" was all Liam could say.

"G Major's been cleaned out," Gibbs reported.

"What?" Liam shouted, jumping to his feet.

"Every single document, paper or otherwise, is gone."

Liam suddenly felt lightheaded and sat back down. His entire case against Darius was spinning out of control.

88

Tommy opened the door to the abandoned apartment and motioned for Stuart to join him. "What is this place?" Jude's father asked.

"Just some old apartment Liam stashed me at," Tommy lied. He walked over to the nearby piano and as he reached underneath it, memories of the night he spent with Jude locked inside the room assaulted him.

"What's the matter?" Stuart's voice came.

Tommy pulled himself together and retrieved the disk he had taped on the bottom of the piano. "Nothing," he said. "Just took me a second to find this." He held up the disk.

"What is that?" Stuart asked.

"This," Tommy smiled, "is gonna put that bastard Darius away for a long time."

88

Sadie looked up from her feet as the doctor approached. She stood up, Kwest grabbing her hand for support as she did so. The doctor sighed and for a second Sadie feared the worst. "Your sister is fine," the doctor finally smiled. "And she's very lucky in that her baby appears to be fine as well." Sadie let out a sob. "She's still unconscious but when she wakes up you can see her." Sadie thanked him.

As he walked away Sadie threw herself into Kwest's arms. "Thank god," she whispered. As she hugged Kwest harder, he stiffened. "What?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Jamie."

Sadie turned and saw Jamie, wearing a hospital gown and being pushed in a wheelchair, coming down the hall. As he got closer, she could see his arm was in a sling and he had a large bruise on his neck. "Is she okay?" he asked, as the nurse wheeled him up.

Sadie nodded. "She's alright and so is the baby."

Jamie let out a sigh of relief and Sadie could see tears in his eyes. She reached out to him and took his hand. "Why don't you visit her first? When she wakes up."

"No, I couldn't," Jamie protested. "You're her sister-"

"Shut up Andrews, you're going," Sadie grinned.

Jamie smiled his thanks and asked the nurse to take him to Jude's room. Sadie sat back down with Kwest and tried reaching her Dad again. This time he finally answered.

88

Jude heard voices. Not the bad, going crazy kind, but the 'I'm half-asleep and there are people around me' kind. As soon as she opened her eyes she saw 'Star Wars' on the t.v. which in her mind could only mean one thing. "Jamie?" she spoke, her voice sounding unusually hoarse.

"Yeah, Jude." Turning to where his voice had come from, Jude smiled at the sight of Jamie.

"You're alive," she smiled, tears coming to her eyes.

Jamie nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I'm alive."

Sensing something was wrong, Jude tried to recall what had happened. She remembered going to Patsy, buying the coke-and then it hit her; she must have overdosed. "Oh God, Jamie," she cried, the gravity of the situation hitting her. "What did I do?" Jamie looked away and a fear unlike any Jude had known overcame her. "Did something happen to our baby?"

Jamie shook his head. "Not this time."

Jude felt little relief at Jamie's words, as he spoke them so coldly that she wondered if he was breaking up with her. "Are we okay?"

Jamie sighed and ran his left hand through his hair. "I don't know, Jude. I love you more than anything, you know that, and I don't want you and the baby to be alone either...but you have to stop this. You can't keep doing this to yourself."

Jude grabbed his hand, the tears now running down her cheeks. "Never again," she said. "I promise you."

Jamie sat unmoving for a minute and Jude feared she'd lost him. Finally, he gave her a small smile and kissed her gently. "I'll hold you to it."

Jude let out a soft chuckle and hugged him. Jamie let out a small yelp of pain, and for the first time Jude noticed the sling. "What happened?"

"Long story."

Jude took his hand again and looked him the eye. "We got nowhere to go."

88

A few hours later Jamie was moved back to his room and Liam came to visit him. He brought along a cellphone, some magazines, and a present (the very 'Earthquake Weather') as a small token that siad, 'Sorry for letting you get kidnaped and shot'. As the two men spoke Jamie told Liam that Darius had asked him to give Liam a message. "What is it?" the Irishman asked.

"Boom."

88

Jude was trying to go back to sleep but the pain she felt throughout her body was preventing her. She began squirming in bed and as she tossed and turned she felt a strong hand reach out and grab her. She opened her eyes and gasped. "You're-"

"Supposed to be dead?" Tommy finished.

88

Author's Note 2: Alright so...next couple chapters will be heavy on the Jommy without Jude ever really leaving or dissing Jamie because, quite frankly, I have no idea who I'm putting her with. If you couldn't have guessed from Darius' message, some heavy shit is about to go down. And just in case you're curious, the story is only about half-way through, so there's a lot more coming up.

And before I forget, MyPassionateMusician, I only call her "The Girlfriend" here, in the author's note. If I tried that in real life she'd rip off my favorite body part.