Here's the next chapter. I might have to slow down a bit so I can stay ahead of my writing. Also the rating will change come chapter 19. So be on the look out for that.

I own nothing.

Chapter 18

Jude went home to pack a picnic for the next day. Tommy had to work with Karma some more. She was packing the basket when Sadie cam in looking all dreamy. "What's up with you?" Jude asked laughing.

"Great afternoon with Kwest. What's all this?"

"Quincy and I are going to find new places to record."

"So Darius went for it?"

"Not exactly. We have to record samples and prove it to him."

"So are you going to be home for dinner?"

"Sadie, Tommy's been gone for a week. What do you think?"

"How's he doing today? Kwest told me what today was to him."

Jude had forgotten. This was a hard day on Tommy, and she hadn't even thought about it. She'd been so consumed with him being home. She remembered when he told her about it.

It was Jude's seventeenth birthday. For the past week she and Tommy had been fighting about everything. In the studio, he would tell her she needed to change her cord progression, and she would go off on him. Or she would catch him zoning off not paying attention when they were trying to finish a song. The day of her birthday was the worst. When everyone tried to celebrate, Tommy insisted they get to work, but then he barely paid attention to her.

"Hey, you want to focus and maybe listen to me?" Jude finally said after ending the song. She knew he hadn't heard a note she sang.

"Give me something worth listening to and I might. You sound tentative like, 'Hey guys is it okay that I'm singing?"

"Yeah, but the song's good. It could be the next party anthem." Kwest defends.

"For a preschool party. It's weak."

"I've recorded weak before, Mr. Quincy, and you said it was great."

"For a bootleg. Hey, all I am trying to do here is produce a great record."

"Please you haven't been here all week. All you've done is pick fights with me." She was tired of fighting with him. She knew something was wrong, but the only way to get it out of him was to piss him off.

"Why don't you focus on giving me one song I can work with?"

"Why don't you start by being a good producer?" By this time Kwest had left the room. "Oh and maybe a boyfriend sometimes."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, Spied says you're not coming tonight. Tommy it's my birthday, and we are fighting. What is going on with you? We haven't communicated in a week."

"Jude, Caveman Days? Come on, it's not my thing."

"So my birthday is not you thing? Tommy you know after my last birthday was a disaster; I just wanted a quite night with the people that mean the most to me. My dad is out of town, so that means Mom, Sadie, Kwest, Spied and you. Spied thought Caveman Days would be fun." She really couldn't understand why he seemed so put off by spending her birthday with her.

Darius interrupted their argument. "Can you get some work done here?" He asked in a frustrated tone. "I don't care what is going on outside G Major. When you're here, leave your personal issues at home."

"Sure." Jude said walking to the door. She looked back at Tommy. "I'm leaving the rehearsal space at six if you're coming." She really hated walking away, but if she didn't she'd do something she'd regret.

When she got to the rehearsal space she was running late hoping Tommy would already be there, but he wasn't. Before she could be upset, she heard banging on the pipes. She knocked back, and heard a voice yell out. She went to the apartment below hers, and found the door handle in the floor. She was half scared of who was on the other side of that door.

"Um, I've got the thing hang on. Okay so you know, I have a phone and a boyfriend upstairs. He's 200 pounds and a moving man. And he has scaving anger management issues." She pushes the door open. "Hello?"

She sees a light and Tommy. "A moving man?" He said as she screamed. "Don't let go of the door." But it was too late. They were locked in. It wouldn't have been that bad if they weren't fighting.

"But its my birthday." Jude exclaimed. "Why are you so intent on wrecking my whole entire birthday?"

"I'm not. I came early thought we should deal with some issues. I thought we should talk. You weren't here yet, so I started looking around and got locked in here."

"We're missing Caveman Days right now."

"No need to thank me." He said sarcastically.

"I just wanted a normal birthday after the one I had last year. Do you remember my birthday last year, Tommy?"

Tommy didn't respond, he just lit candles around the room. This aggravated Jude because it was like Tommy was shutting off from her.

"Remember Shay breaking up with me? Then you kissed me and told me to forget it?"

"What do you want me to do, Jude? Huh?"

"I don't know. I'd tell you but you'd probably ignore me like you have for the last week."

Tommy kicked the door, and Jude decided they both needed to cool down a bit. After a few minutes they could hear her cell phone ringing through the pipes.

"No cell phones. It's like the middle ages in here."

"Or the Fifties." Tommy said pulling a cloth off a piano. "I think we are at The Chrome Cat. It used to be in this area."

Jude watched him as he explained all about The Chrome Cat. It was like his anger just disappeared. It was amazing how much he loved music. She walked around looking at the place, while he tinkered on the piano. She didn't care that they weren't at Caveman Days. She'd really just wanted to spend time with Tommy. If they weren't fighting, this would be the perfect birthday. She sat on the floor and her stomach growled.

"Was that your stomach?"

"Maybe."

"I'll order us a pizza." He said sarcastically. She couldn't help but smile. He held up a packet of crackers. "From lunch."

"Did you pocket the free butter too?" She asked then walked over to the piano.

"Back in my day, we were grateful for crackers." He said handing her one.

"Okay. This is a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger with no pickle. And yours is red licorice."

"Mine's tourtiere."

"It's what?"

"Ma Mere, she used to make it. It's a meat pie. Pork, spice, and the best pastry, but see we only got it at Reveillon."

"I always forget your French, Quincy. Since you won't tell me your real name." She knew he only opened up to her a little at a time. She knew Quincy was a stage name, but he hadn't let her know what his birth name was yet.

"All in due time, babe."

"Look I'm sorry about yelling at you all day." She apologized.

"Well, even directed at me, it's better than no emotion at all."

"Okay. Good, so I have about fifty things I'd like to say, scream, and punch you for." She wanted to get every emotion that she'd felt for the last week out of her system.

"So grab a pencil." He responded and she had no clue what he was taking about. "I mean we are stuck here." He explained then said something in French.

Writing the song was liberating, but also fun. All the tension that had been there for the last week was gone. It was just them writing a song together again. In the back of Jude's mind she was still wondering what made him so distant.

"I guess I have my share of apologizing to do." Tommy said later as they were sitting on the couch. "I haven't been available this past week. You know I spent most of my life shutting people out. Sometimes I slip back into that, but I don't mean to shut you out."

"What are you shutting me out about?"

"Remember last week when I called out sick, and didn't answer my phone all night?"

"Yeah, and it seems like we have been fighting ever since."

"That was the anniversary of Angie's death. I woke up that day, and didn't know how to function. It's not that I'm not over her. I learned to let go a long time ago. This year was different. I have you, and I got scared that I was going to do something stupid and loose you too."

"I wish you would have come to me. Tommy, I would have been there for you, or given you space." She said moving closer to him. "I would have given you what ever you wanted." It broke her heart that he felt like he still had to face these things alone.

"I'm so sorry. Then when Spied came to me and said he was planning your birthday at Caveman Days, I don't know what I was thinking. Maybe I was jealous because he can do things like that for you and I can't."

"Spied thought it would be fun. He wasn't trying to step on your toes." She couldn't help but find his jealousy cute. "Spied and I are like brother and sister. He knows that. Plus there are things you can do for me, that he could never do." She said straddling his lap. "Do you know how much I've missed you this week?" She asked leaning her forehead against his.

"I think so. I don't want to fight. I love you too much for that."

Jude's heartbeat sped up. It always did when he'd say those words. "I love you, too." She whispered before their lips met.

The kiss was light at first. She loved the feeling of his lips against hers. It was like she wanted to savor the feeling. She could feel his hand rubbing her legs and craved his skin against hers. There were still things she wasn't ready for in the relationship, but she trusted that things wouldn't go to far.

His lips moved to her neck and she unzipped his jacket. She moved it down his shoulders, and he tossed it in the floor as he moved them to where he was over her. "Happy Birthday." He said into her ear send shockwaves through her before meeting her lips again.

She smiled softly and moaned against his lips, when she felt his body crushing her into the couch cushions. "I love the way you feel." She said before he attacked her lips once more. He smelt absolutely amazing she thought as his musky scent took over her senses. He hands roamed his broad back enjoying the way his muscles moved beneath her hands. She slipped her hands beneath his shirt and felt the heat radiating from his skin as his hands explored him.

"You're hands are cold." Tommy said teasingly.

"Sorry." She said as his lips traveled down her neck. "Want me to stop?"

"Don't you dare." He growled.

She laughed at that, but her laughter turned into a groan when his mouth captured her ear. "Please god, let us be lost all night." She groaned and Tommy just laughed before he kissed her again.

His hands slipped under her shirt and her senses went wild. She stopped her exploration of his skin long enough to raise up and get rid of her shirt. Tommy seemed to be taking her lead, and tore his shirt off before nuzzling her neck letting his fingers roam her skin. Jude was going crazy.

"Your skin is so soft." He said barely above a whisper smothering her chest in kisses.

She cupped his face and brought him up so she could look into his eyes. "I love you."

"I love you, too, birthday girl."

They stayed on the couch forever enjoying being together. Jude never once cared about how they were going to get out of there. When Spied and Jamie finally found them, she was a bit sad they had to go back to the real world.

"Thank you." She told him when he dropped her off at her house.

"For what?"

"Giving me the best birthday ever."

"No problem. I'd do anything for you."

"Like tell me you last name?"

"Good night, Jude."

"Good night, Quincy."

Jude felt horrible. "He seems to be doing fine. At least he hasn't shut down like last year. I was so distracted by him being home that I forgot."

"Well maybe he's been distracted enough by you that he hasn't thought about it either." Sadie offered with a reassuring hug.

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