Disclaimer: I do NOT own Instant Star. I also do NOT own "I Used To Love H.E.R" by Common.

Author's Note: Here I am, back with another chapter. And guess what? I just finished my fall semester of college! I'm on vacation, so I will be updating more.

Chapter 12

Jude closed her eyes, trying to process what was happening.

She had a rough night with David. Check

She just sang her heart out. Check

Tommy just kissed her, and told her that he loved her. Check?

She was starting to think that maybe this was a sick and twisted dream. Finally, she opened her eyes. There Tommy stood, waiting for her reply. This was no dream at all. This was definitely reality. So, Jude decided to face her reality.

"I love you too." she said, as she answered his kiss with one of her own.

Tommy was overjoyed. "I've waited too long to tell you how I feel Jude. Not anymore." he said, as he backed her up to the wall of the studio. He kissed Jude with great urgency. As if, she was falling and only he could catch her. He had heard her words in that booth. She was looking for someone with a feeling that is mutual to hers. Someone that could save her. Some of her song lyrics were metaphorical, but Tommy understood it.

As they continued to kiss like the world would end, Tommy grabbed her wrist as a sense of security, but he quickly let go when she winced in pain.

He broke the kiss to apologize.

"I'm sorry." he said, as he began to examine her wrist.

Jude quickly yanked it from his grasp. "It's nothing. I'm fine."

"That doesn't look fine." he said, as he gently held her wrist again. "What happened?"

Jude closed her eyes tight, hoping that this part was a dream.

"Jude, what happened to your wrist?" Tommy asked again.

She didn't want to lie to him anymore, but she wasn't sure if she could tell him what happened, without making this whole situation awkward.

"Yo shorty. How you been?" Shay suddenly appeared at the doorway of studio A.

I swear I love him so much right now. Jude thought to herself. Shay, once again, was a life saver. Tommy shot daggers at Shay with his eyes. He was ruining his moment.

"Shay, what are you doing here?" Jude asked surprised, but totally excited he was here.

"Yeah Shay, what are you doing here?" Tommy asked; the sarcasm in his voice apparent.

Shay ignored Tommy and talked to Jude. "I just finished my tour. I thought we could grab lunch."

Jude felt so wrong for what she was about to do. "Are we finished here Tommy?" she asked. She saw the hurt in his eyes, but she didn't want to hurt him, she just couldn't tell him about what happened between her and David.

"We're done." Tommy said. His heart felt like it had been ripped out of his chest. He just said he loves her, and here she was, leaving with another man. He simply let her go. He figured if he had made a scene, then Jude would put another one of her defensive walls up. He had just tore down one when she said that she loves him too. Tommy would have to be a fool to mess this up, so he didn't. He watched as Jude and Shay walk out of the building, and then he went back into the studio, and began to work on Jude's song she just recorded.

Shay noticed Jude's silence, so he spoke. "Did I interrupt anything?"

"Sort of. Tommy said he love me." she looked at Shay for a reaction. He kept his eyes on the road.

"I said I love him too." she whispered. Then Shay glanced at her.

"Do you?" he asked.

"Yes, but my life is so complicated. It's like the worst timing. He's back, David's back, I have to start on my next album…"

"Woah!" Shay exclaimed, as he stomped the brakes and pulled to the side of the road. "David is back?"

Jude nodded her head.

"Why didn't you tell me?

"I don't know. Honestly, I wasn't even thinking about it. But, he ambushed me last night."

"What do you mean?"

"I was at the lounge having a few drinks..." Shay glared at her. "I know, okay? I won't drink again." Jude said.

"Okay, so what happened?" he asked.

"I just had an argument with Tommy, so I wanted to be by myself. So, I'm sitting there and all of a sudden, he shows up. I mean, he literally came out of nowhere. He says we need to talk, but I didn't want to talk so I got up to leave, but he pulled me back down."

Shay's jaw clenched. "What else happened?" he asked, trying to control his anger.

"He starts telling me that he misses me and he's sorry about attacking me in the hospital."

"What the hell? When did that happen?" Shay asked.

"Ummm...I just said when I was in the hospital duh! Jude said. Now probably wasn't the time to be sarcastic, but she was nervous. She knew she should have told Shay.

"I was there to pick you up when they released you, and you didn't tell me anything about that! What, did it slip your mind?" Shay was past angry.

"For a minute, it did slip my mind." Jude said, going back to her regular tone of voice. "I was so happy to get out of there that I forgot to tell you." she reasoned with him.

"You know, I don't check up on you all of the time. I figured maybe you needed some space to breathe because I'm sure Sadie smothers you about your safety and your whereabouts. But, maybe I should check up on you more often because you don't tell me anything!"

Jude looked at Shay as he pulled back onto the road. He was deeply concerned about her. "Well, maybe it's a bad time to tell you that he attacked me again at the lounge." she said quickly.

Shay turned to look at Jude. It was official. He was going to kill David.

"Watch out for that squirrel!" Jude shouted.

Shay quickly swerved, missing the squirrel by an inch. He pulled over to the side of the road again, this time he turned the car off. He stared at her. "Tell me everything."

"Judging by the size of that vein throbbing in your neck, I'm going to make the long story short. He kept yanking my arm when I tried to get up to leave. He tried to make me feel guilty for leaving him. He said I belong in Miami with him and our dead son."

Shay looked confused.

"He was referring to the cemetery where Tyler is buried." Jude clarified.

"Oh, okay. Continue." Shay said.

"I signed a drunk lady's breast."

"Nice!" Shay grinned.

Jude rolled her eyes. "Anyways, he caught me in the alley. He roughed me up, see my wrist. Then I ran away from him and walked home. I wrote a song. I sang it in the studio. I love Tommy. And now, you are taking me to lunch. The end." Jude said exhaustedly.

"Girl you got some drama." was all Shay could say.

"Yeah, tell me about it." she said in another tone of sarcasm.

"I'm going to kill David." he said as he started the car.

"Are we going to get something to eat now? I'm starving." Jude changed the subject.

"Yes, what do you have a taste for?" he asked.

"Anything! You know, if you speed up we might be able to catch that squirrel. He would make a delicious appetizer."

"Ha! You're on your own shorty. I have a taste for pasta."

"Okay, that works for me." Jude said. She was only joking about the squirrel. She was terrified of squirrels, so there was no way she would want to eat one.

"Cool I know this nice little restaurant." he said.

"How's the food?" she asked.

"I don't know, but the waitress is hot!"

Jude rolled her eyes. "You're a great friend. One of the greatest friends I could ask for. But, sometimes you are such a guy."

"Thanks!" Shay said sarcastically.

"Believe me that was nowhere near a compliment."

"Whatever. Hey, listen to my new material and tell me what you think of it." Shay said, as he slipped the cd into the player.

After five minutes of Shay's new direction of hip hop, Jude pushed pause.

"Okay, so I don't hate it." she said, trying not to hurt his feelings.

"What's wrong with it?" Shay inquired.

"It's not you, plain and simple." she said.

"Here we go again. You know we had this same conversation when we met."

"I know you said my music sounded like Avril meets more Avril. You were so wrong."

"You dissed me too. You basically called me a spoiled sellout who doesn't write my own lyrics.

"Well, you were. So, anyways you need to freestyle more. That's when you're at your greatest." she told him.

"Turn to the next track." he said.

Jude pressed the next button. When the beat came on, she started bobbing her head. "This one is nice!"

Shay just laughed and continued his route to the restaurant.

At the Restaurant

After chicken and broccoli linguini and cheesy breadsticks, Jude and Shay began to discuss Shay's tour over dessert.

"So, how did the crowd react when you performed the new freestyle?" Jude asked.

"They went wild! One girl took her top off and threw it onstage!" Shay was talking animatedly as he discussed his tour.

"So, if that's how the crowd reacted, why don't you make a mixtape?"

"Because Uncle D said it's a waste of money. I can't just give away a free mixtape."

"It's not always about the money." Jude said. "And remember when we were dating and we used to hang out on the bleachers at that basketball court?"

Shay thought of the basketball court he used to play at by his childhood home. Before he became the platinum seller 'Big Shay', he was just another young boy trying to make it by freestyling against the older guys at the basketball court. That was a special place for him.

"You used to freestyle for hours. I didn't understand hip hop until you taught me that freestyle was a way of saying whatever you need to say, without being censored or apologizing for it. You said hip hop was the art of bravery and-

"Lyrical integrity." Shay finished her sentence. "Yeah, I remember." He was immensely proud that Jude actually recognized his passion for hip hop.

"You remember when we heard that song?" Jude asked him, knowing that he knew. Jude began rapping.

"Yes yes y'all and you don't stop

1, 2 y'all and you don't stop

Yes yes y'all and you don't stop

1, 2 Com-Sense is gonna drop"

Then Shay began to rap.

"I met this girl, when I was 10 years old

And what I loved most, she had so much soul

She was old school, when I was just a shorty

Never knew throughout my life she would be there for me."

"That used to be the song! That beat was crazy!" Shay was excited.

"See how happy you are? I would love to see you be happy about music like that." Jude told him.

"You too." he said.

Jude looked at him. She wondered if he had heard her song she sang in the studio today. It wasn't a happy song at all. She was surprised when she began writing that song because she hadn't written a song for a while now. And even then, the song that she wrote was driven by anger, pain, and exhaustion.

Jude sighed. She would love to be happy about music again, it was just going to take some time.

Jude picked at her cheesecake to pass the time. Even though five minutes had passed, and neither she nor Shay said anything, it was still a nice moment.

"You know you can't rap." Shay joked.

"I know and you can't sing." Jude replied.

"So, we should stick to what we know." Shay laughed.

"Agreed." Jude said.

After they finished dessert, Jude and Shay hung out for the rest of the day.

2 Days Later

Tommy sat at the sound board playing with the dials and tuners, trying to create an instrumental. It had been two days since Tommy had spoken to Jude. He didn't know where their relationship was going, or if it was even a relationship at all. He still didn't want to feel like he was pressuring her to make a decision, but he did want to know if he had a chance of being with her and gaining her trust back. He looked at his watch.

"Jude should be here in about a half hour." he thought to himself.

Today was kind of a chill day. There wasn't much to do around G-Major. Jude had the day off, but she asked Tommy to help her with a song she's writing.

Jude was on her way to the studio when her phone began to ring. She looked at the caller id and saw an unknown number, so she answered.

"Hello"

"Hey babe. How are you?" the voice said.

Jude wanted to scream right then and there. She was tired of him. His voice was calm and he acted like everything was cool.

"What do you want David?" she asked as she rolled her eyes.

"I was wondering if you thought about my offer." he asked, still using a calm tone.

"What offer would that be?" Jude was annoyed with herself because she still hadn't hung up on him yet.

"Coming back to Miami with me."

Jude gave a deathly laugh. "Are you serious? Do you honestly think I would go back there with you?" she asked him.

"Jude, I love you. I'm sorry for what I did to you. It was hard dealing with the fact that I would never be able to hold my son. Or see him take his first step, or hear his first word."

Jude had tears streaming down her face now. "You don't think it was hard for me? David, I lost my baby. Our baby! And I blame myself for that because I know there was something that I could've done to prevent that from happening! We didn't have to go to that stupid basketball game! And when I think the pain from losing Tyler couldn't get any more unbearable, you began to verbally and physically abuse me. You promised me you would never hurt me. And I was a fool because I believed you!" Jude was hyperventilating now.

"I'm sorry. Okay? I'm so sorry! I wish I could take it back!" David sounded genuinely sorry, and in that moment, Jude felt like David was the guy she fell in love with.

"I have to go." Jude hung up. She wasn't going to allow herself to get sucked in to his charming, but manipulative ways.

At the studio

Tommy sat at the sound board, still trying out instrumentals, when his phone rang.

"Hello." he answered. He didn't recognize the number.

Jude parked her car and headed for G-Major's entrance. She looked around the lobby. It was mostly empty. She headed towards studio A. She stopped at the door when she saw Tommy pacing around like a mad man. Apparently, he was yelling at someone on the phone. She peeked her head in to figure out why Tommy was so angry. He didn't notice her, but she almost wished she didn't eavesdrop.

"I'm not leaving! You can't expect me to drop everything and leave!" He paused for a moment to let the person on the phone talk. "What do you mean I don't have a choice!" he yelled again. After another minute, he spoke again, "When and what time does the flight leave?" he asked in defeat.

Jude burst through the door. "You're leaving, again?" Jude's voice was weak and tears began to surface.

His eyes went wide. "Jude I can explain." he started, but Jude quickly stormed out of the studio.

Jude rushed to her car. "Same old Tommy." she cried. She was expecting to go into the studio and tell Tommy that she wanted to be with him, but now she wasn't so sure. She was just about to give him her heart, but he was leaving again. She started the car and sped out of G-Major's parking lot. She pulled out her phone and re-dialed a number.

"Hey." the person answered.

"We leave today, or I don't leave at all." Jude said, and then she hung up.

Review/Comment. Next chapter coming soon.

Author's Note: I know the part where Jude is rapping isn't realistic, but it's a fanfic. Plus, I got that idea from the movie "Brown Sugar" starring Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan. It's one of my all-time favorite movies, and I highly recommend it. The song that Jude and Shay raps is called I Used To Love H.E.R. by Common. The song is about hip hop and the way it changed from underground to mainstream. Common metaphorically refers hip hop to a woman. Hence the title I Used To Love H.E.R. stands for I Used To Love Hearing Every Rhyme. She (hip hop) used to be personal and just for him (underground) until she began getting noticed by other guys and they want to make her theirs (mainstream). The song was also on Brown Sugar, and I thought it was appropriate for Shay's relationship with his music and with Jude. If you read this long author's note, thank you. So, go ahead and review and make my day wonderful! And look out for Chapter 13 and for Chapter 2 of Regrets and Mistakes.