A/N: Wow. That response to Chapter 1 was a lot better than I thought it'd be. :) Just to clear some things up, this is around 3 years after Jude gets back from London. EVERYTHING that happened on the show happened here, except Sadie and Kwest didn't break up, just because I choose to ignore that, and Portia getting arrested, only because I needed another name to throw in for Jude's bachelorette party. (XD) Also, someone asked why I used 'stag' and 'stagette' rather than bachelor and bachelorette. I used those because I noticed that on Degrassi (and I think once on Instant Star) they used stag/stagette instead, so I figured it was a Canadian thing, eh. :D
Anywho, this chapter was pretty fun to write. Please please please continue with the reviews. :)
-Natalie
Disclaimer: I own 0
Chapter 2: Bandmates, Unexpected Visitors & Text Messages
"So who exactly did you invite to this thing?" Tommy asked, sliding off his sunglasses and tucking them in the pocket of his jacket.
He and Kwest stepped out of the car and started heading towards the bar.
"Chaz, the rest of 'Boyz', and you know Darius wouldn't let me not invite him," Kwest said with a chuckle as he pulled open the door to the bar.
Tommy nodded. "Sounds good, man."
Kwest looked over at his friend uncomfortably. "Oh, and, uh, I didn't really invite them, but-"
"Lord Squinty Frown!"
Rolling his eyes, Tommy turned and forced a smirk at an already tipsy Spiederman, followed closely behind by Jamie, Wally, and Kyle, who were clearly sober and highly amused by their friend.
Luckily for Tommy, Chaz and the rest of his former bandmates entered the bar at that very moment, saving Tommy the trouble of having to speak to Spiederman.
"Little Tommy Q is getting married," Chaz said with a smile. "Who would've thought?"
The two smiled and Chaz reached over and pulled Tommy in for a friendly hug.
"It's not like he hasn't done it before," a distinct voice said behind them.
They all turned and saw Darius, grinning widely at them. He stuck out his hand and Tommy shook it.
"Yeah, well, I've got it right this time," Tommy announced definitively.
"Darius! The big D man!" Spiederman said rather loudly, stumbling towards the group of men. He draped an arm over Darius' shoulder.
"Y'know, I've always liked you. Even when everyone else was calling you a controlling, cheapskate of a man, I still liked you."
Darius stared at Spiederman, amusement and slight disgust both evident on his face. "I'm flattered," he said dryly.
"Alright, alright. Enough of this. Are we going to drink or what?" Chaz said as he walked over to the bartender.
He grinned at his friend and ordered a round of shots for everyone. "This is Tom Quincy's last night as a free man. We need to get this man drunk!"
Tommy smiled and accepted the shot glass being handed to him by Chaz.
"To Tommy!" Darius announced, raising his glass.
"To Tommy!" the rest of the men echoed.
Smiling, Tommy quickly downed the liquid, feeling his body loosen up slightly.
"Sadie, I can't believe you got Kat to come," Jude said excitedly. She plopped herself down on the couch and watched as Sadie hurriedly brought out food to the living room.
"You need any help?" she called out to her sister. Sadie simply ignored her and continued running in and out of the living room, producing more food each time.
Deciding that her sister was too stubborn to let her help her, Jude figured she would take the conversation back to its original direction.
"Who else did you invite?"
"Kat, Portia, and Georgia and EJ are going to stop by later," Sadie said in one breath. She placed a tray on the table and wiped her hands on her jeans.
"Oh, and, uh, we might be getting an unexpected visitor later."
Jude raised an eyebrow. "Who?"
"What's tan and short and manipulative all over?"
Jude groaned loudly. "Karma? You invited Karma?"
"Not exactly," Sadie said, taking a seat next to Jude. "She heard me invite Portia the other day and accepted the invite that wasn't hers to begin with."
Sighing, Jude ran a hand through her shoulder length, blonde hair. "Okay, whatever. Even if she ruins tonight, nothing can ruin tomorrow."
With a smile, Sadie stood to continue setting up. "That's the spirit."
"It's kind of weird seeing you about to marry a girl that was 10 years old when we were on tour," Chaz said with a grin.
Tommy nodded slightly and took a sip out of his glass. "She makes me better, you know? At producing, at making music...at being a man. She just makes me a better person."
"You've grown up a lot, man. I never thought you'd settle down."
Tommy leaned back in his chair and swished the liquor in his glass around. Fortunately for him, he was still relatively sober compared to a few of the other partygoers.
Kwest, who had appointed himself as designated driver was sitting between a very tipsy Darius and a clobbered Spiederman who were loudly singing something that sounded like one of Jude's songs. Kwest cringed as the two tried to hit a high note and Tommy chuckled to himself.
Jamie, who was sitting across from Kwest, simply shook his head, completely amused by the situation Kwest was in.
Tommy looked over to his right and noticed Kyle and Wally, both completely sober as a promise to Jude to keep an eye out for girls throwing themselves at Tommy- "girls" meaning strippers- playing pool with JP and Bruno. He was slightly shocked to see the four of them getting along so well. He shrugged it off and pulled out his phone to check the time.
10:17 PM
Clicking a key to illuminate the screen, he saw a picture of him and Jude that she had taken one day. He had his arms wrapped around her upper body, his lips pressing against her temple. Jude's eyes were closed, a huge smile on her face since she had been in the process of laughing when she took the picture.
Tommy smiled and suddenly began to miss her incredibly.
Opening a new text, he punched a few keys and read the text before sending it to her.
"No, no, no! None of that!" Chaz walked up behind Tommy and snatched the Blackberry out of his hands.
"Oh, come on, I was just checking the time," Tommy said with a grin.
Chaz handed him a beer and laughed. "Yeah, sure. There's a clock on the wall for that anyway."
"I knew it was going to happen," Georgia said with a smile. "I could tell you two clicked. More than just musically, too."
Jude looked down, shyly, and grinned. "Thank you, Georgia."
Shooting her a baffled look, Jude quickly added, "For everything you did for me back then. Including partnering me with 'Little Tommy Q from Boyz Attack.'"
"Yeah, that wasn't the best of introductions, eh?" Georgia said with a chuckle.
"Hey Jude!" Karma tipsily called, stumbling towards Jude. "Did you know there's a song called that?"
Chuckling, Jude raised an eyebrow at Karma. "So I hear."
A loud clinking of a glass could be heard and everyone turned to direct their attention to Sadie who stood at the front of the room, a half-full wine glass in her hand.
"I'd like to make a toast," Sadie smiled and motioned to her sister. "To my beautiful sister, Jude, for finally getting the man she's wanted since she was 16."
"15," Jude mumbled through a cough.
Sadie rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Cheers to Jude!" she said as she lifted her glass in the air.
"Cheers!"
The women returned to their conversations and Jude excused herself from Georgia and went into the kitchen to open another wine bottle.
As she walked into the kitchen, she spotted a laundry basket in the corner of the room. Taking a step closer to it, she smiled when she noticed the shirt that lay on the very top of the pile belonged to Tommy.
Picking it up, she placed it by her nose and inhaled the scent that was purely Tommy. It was a distinct combination of cologne, soap, fabric softener, and something that she couldn't place as anything but 'just Tommy.'
Placing the shirt back down on the pile, she pulled out her phone to check the time.
10:22 PM
She saw the blinking light, indicating that she had a new text message. Flipping open her phone, she smiled widely when she read the text.
I miss you so much, babe. -T
Jude's smile grew as she pressed the few keys needed to send her message.
Likewise, sweetie. -J
She sighed happily and sent the message before pocketing the phone.
"You'd better get out there with more wine. Karma's threatening to sing one of your songs. Keep in mind, she's probably consumed an entire bottle of wine by herself," Sadie said as she entered the kitchen.
"Oh, dear God..."
The night went on without a hitch.
Spiederman and Darius continued bellowing Jude Harrison songs, Kyle and Wally lost all of their money and their shirts in a game of pool, and Chaz succeeded in getting Tommy rather drunk by the end of the night, while Kwest and Jamie looked on in all of their sober glory.
"Y'know," Tommy slurred. "I'm marrying her tomorrow," he pointed out to the bartender who had a television above his head displaying an interview Jude had done with MTV about a week earlier.
"Good for you, man," the bartender replied with a curt smile.
It was already 3 AM and Tommy was still asking for more shots. The only people left in the bar were Tommy, Kwest, Chaz, and the bartender.
"Gimme another one!" Tommy said, much louder than necessary.
"You're kidding right?" the bartender told him with a smile. He looked over at Kwest. "You in charge of this one?" Kwest nodded.
"Well, I'm closing up so you got to get him out of here."
"Will do," Kwest looked over at Chaz, who was knocked out on top of the pool table. "Can you, uh, call him a cab?"
The bartender nodded. "Goodnight guys. Have a good wedding."
Kwest wrapped Tommy's arm around his shoulder and carried most of his weight to the car.
"Hey Kwest, you're getting married? So am I!"
The more sober of the two merely chuckled and opened the passenger door, placing his drunk friend inside.
"You're way too drunk for your own good, T."
Kwest slid into the driver's seat and drove the two of them back to the Harrison home, where he was hoping the "stagette of the year", as Sadie had so eloquently put it, was over.