Disclaimer: I don't own Instant Star. The song used in the flashback is called "Fade To Black" by Metallica, and I don't own that.

PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR NOTES. IMPORTANT INFORMATION.

Author's Note 1: Okay, so I'm back again. It took me a while to create this chapter. I'm sure we all want to know Tommy's reaction to what's been happening to Jude, so I will be writing in Tommy's point of view. The sentences that are in "quotation marks" is what Tommy is saying to Jude. The rest is his thoughts, because it is in his point of view. The words in italic are flashbacks.

Author's Note 2: Ch.13, 14, and 15 all happened in two days. The 1st day is when David assaulted Jude, she went to the cemetery and Tommy saw her. She spent the night with him to be safe. The 2nd day is when Shay and the G-Major crew are headed to Miami. And Tommy and Jude go back to the cemetery, and he tells her about Angie. Then in this chapter (Ch.16), still Day 2, Jude tells Tommy what happened to her. So, please don't be confused in this chapter when I say things like "last night", I am referring to Day 1. So, let's see what's going to happen.

Author's Note 3: I put the instructions on how to view the picture of Tommy, Jude, and David at the end of the chapter.

*I know, so many author notes, but here is Ch.16.*

Chapter 16

Tommy's POV

Jude looked down at the ground and took another deep breath. Whatever she wanted to tell me had to be really hard, because she couldn't look me in the eye. She opened her mouth and was about to say something, but she didn't. She stared at the ground again.

"Jude, what is it that you want to tell me?"

She finally looked up at me with tears in her eyes. On instinct, I touched her face to wipe the tears away, but she moved away from me. It was kind of weird. It was kind of like she needed the tears to fall to tell me her story.

"Tommy," she began. "Promise me you won't hate me."

I was confused as hell. I could never hate her, especially when it seems like she's in a lot of pain. I was drawn back to what she said after another tear fell.

"Jude, I promise I won't hate you. I could never hate you." I had to reassure her.

She traced the name "Tyler" on the gravestone with her fingers. I thought I heard her say, "Mommy is so sorry." I looked at her still confused, and unsure of what I just heard. She began to talk.

"Tommy, I haven't been honest with you. There are a lot of things that I haven't told you." I waited for her to continue.

"Tyler was," She cleared her throat. "Tyler is my son; me and David's son."

Okay, I swear to god somebody just punched me in the stomach, because I can't breathe. I'm not naïve, so I knew they probably had sex. Hey, I was gone for three years! But I was hoping they didn't have a lot of sex. They had a kid together? Wait a minute; I glanced at the gravestone again, then at Jude. I hope I wasn't being rude but I had to ask.

"How did he die?" More tears began to flow rapidly, but she covered her face with her hands. I don't know why she was ashamed for me to see her cry. She began to hyperventilate as she cried

"I had a miscarriage." she said, barely above a whisper.

I didn't know what to say. She was devastated. I was devastated for her. I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tightly. She was shaking uncontrollably as she cried. God, I wish that never happened to her. I should have been there for her. I tightened my embrace and gently rubbed the back of her head. My shirt was soaked but I didn't care. "I'm sorry, Jude. I'm so sorry that happened to you." I wiped at the stray tears that were falling from my face.

After a while, she calmed down a little. Her eyes were red and puffy, but she was still breath-taking and beautiful. She looked at me and she was about to say something else, but I stopped her.

"You don't have to explain anything else. We can leave if you want to." She looked sad and exhausted. I mentally kicked myself for insisting that she tell me everything. This was a lifetime of hurt and pain, and I didn't need to know anything else. There was no way I could put her through that.

"No, Tommy. I have to tell you everything right now because I know I won't have the strength to tell you later."

"Jude, you don't have to."

"I need to." She insisted.

I stayed silent.

"After we lost Tyler-" She began to speak, and I couldn't help but feel a little jealous when she referred to her and David as "we". I don't know what it is; I just don't like that guy. He almost got punched when he ran into me by the elevators in the hospital! (If you don't remember, see Ch.10)

"a lot of things began to change. I became depressed and I couldn't write a song if my life depended on it. I wasn't in a singing mood."

I nodded at her. That's completely understandable. Something tragic happened to her, there was nothing to sing about.

"David started to change too. He began to drink a lot more. We began to argue a lot more."

Wow, nice way to step up and take care of your girlfriend, David. I'm being sarcastic.

"Then…" Jude took a deep breath. "He started to hit me." she mumbled.

"What did you say?" I asked her. I was so focused on the way she was nervously biting her lip, that I didn't hear her. I heard her say something, but I'm sure I heard that wrong. I really need to get my ears checked.

"David hits me!" she yelled out in anguish.

"NO! NO WAY IN HELL!" I thought out loud. Jude gave me a strange look after my outburst. My mind was in overdrive, trying to process what she just told me. How the fuck did I miss this?

She has been acting weird. Last night when I saw her here at this same exact spot, she had been crying. I knew something wasn't right. Think Tommy think! She was crying, I asked her if she was okay. I know it was a stupid question, obviously she wasn't okay, but while I waited for her response, I noticed…she had a red mark on her face! (See Ch.14) Everything started flashing in my head.

Flashback

Life it seems will fade away

Drifting further every day

Getting lost within myself

Nothing matters, no one else

I have lost the will to live

Simply nothing more to give

There is nothing more for me

Need the end to set me free

Things not what they used to be

Missing one inside of me

Deathly lost, this can't be real

Cannot stand this hell I feel

Emptiness is filling me

To the point of agony

Growing darkness taking dawn

I was me but now he's gone

No one but me can save myself

But it's too late

Now I can't think

Think why I should even try

Yesterday seems as though

It never existed

Death greets me warm

Now I will just say goodbye

-Tommy watched her as she sang. He saw the despair written all over her face. Her music was different from its usual tune. It was dark and gloomy. Tommy saw Kwest walking by and he grabbed his arm. "Kwest, what the hell was that!" he yelled at him.

"That's the type of songs she sings now." Kwest said.

"What's wrong with her?" Tommy asked.

"Man, I don't know. Everybody tries to help her but she is always depressed." Kwest answered. (See Ch.8)

End of Flashback

"All of those awful sad ass songs you and Kwest produced while I was away?"

She gave me an offended look. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm just saying, that's not the type of songs you usually record." I had to clarify that. She nodded her head.

Flashback

There it goes again. She just jumped when I tried to get close to her. What the hell? Does she seriously think I would hurt her? Tommy thought in his head. He looked at Jude, who was now frightened.

"What's wrong girl? You know I won't hurt you." Tommy said in a soft voice.

Jude saw his soft expression, but looks can be deceiving. David taught her that. "You already did Quincy. You hurt me when you left me three years ago."

Tommy knew they were going to have this conversation at some point. "It wasn't my choice Jude. I didn't want to leave you."

"Then why did you leave? Because, if you actually cared about me, you wouldn't have left." Jude yelled at him…

…"Well at least that guy wanted me." Jude started crying. She wasn't sure if what she just said was true. Did David really want me? If he did, he wouldn't have hurt me like he did.

"I wanted you!" Tommy yelled.

"If you wanted me, you wouldn't have left and I wouldn't have met David. And he wouldn't have…" Jude stopped in mid-sentence and began to cry harder.

Tommy calmed down from yelling and he looked at Jude. "He wouldn't have what, Jude?"

Jude leaned against the door and started hyperventilating. Tommy was scared to get close to her because it would just make the situation worse.

"What did he do to you?" Tommy asked.

"I...I can't brrrr...eathe." Jude collapsed to the floor.

(See Ch.9)

End of Flashback

"That day, we argued in the studio, you said he did something to you, but you never told me what he did. You were trying to tell me that he hit you?" I asked her. She nodded her head 'yes'.

Flashback

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?"

(See Ch.12)

End of Flashback

I grabbed her wrist and I could still see a slight abrasion there.

"The day I kissed you and I said I love you, and you said you love me too, that asshole had just recently hit you!" I was getting angrier as I started to piece all of this together. She withdrew her wrist from my hold and she looked down and whispered "yes".

"Jude, what the hell! Why didn't you tell me?" I didn't mean to yell at her, but she should have told me.

"What was I supposed to do Tommy?" she had tears in her eyes.

"You were supposed to tell me! Jude, no one should ever put their hands on you! You should have told me that bitch of a boyfriend was hurting you!"

"I'm sorry, I was scared." She told me.

I pulled her into my arms again. "You don't ever have to be scared again. I promise." I kissed the top of her head and wiped away the stray tears on her face. "Is there anything else you need to tell me?" I asked her. I just wanted all of our secrets to be out in the open. God, I hope there's nothing else.

She stepped back from me and she started to tear up again. Damn, this guy really damaged her. "What is it?" I asked.

"You know when you found me here last night?" She asked. I nodded my head.

"I came here late last night because I ran away from David." I looked at her confused. It just occurred to me that I didn't ask her why she was even in Miami.

"When you left again, I thought you weren't coming back. So, I left. I couldn't stay and let you break my heart all over again. So, I left with David."

Damn, I did break her heart didn't I?

She began speaking again. "That was a big mistake because when we came back to Miami, we fell back into the same pattern. He started drinking again and I started to ignore him again. But, this time it was different." She choked out another tear.

"What happened?" I asked her. I desperately needed to know.

She took another deep breath, then she said…

"David tried to rape me."

I could feel my blood boil. And I felt the disgusting bile rise in the back of my throat. My heart was beating in my ears and my fists were clenched. And I was so catastrophically angry that I couldn't even see straight. Jude was a blur, but I could still hear her.

"I got away after he slapped me and I drove here to get a peace of mind." I heard her say.

I'm going to kill him! I'm going to kill him! I'm going to kill him!

Her cell phone started to ring, breaking me out of my homicidal thoughts. She looked at the caller id, she bent down and kissed the gravestone, and then she began to walk back to the car.

Please Review. Next Chapter Coming Soon.

Author's Note 4: I created a photo to give this story more meaning. I want to give you a visual of Set Me Free Leave Me Be.

So, if you want to see the photo:

Go to my profile page. Copy and paste the link in your web browser. (Posting a web address is not allowed on a story that is why I'm sending you to my profile page.) Let me know if you were or were not able to see the photo and tell me what you think. And don't forget to review the story. The next chapter is coming soon. Thank you!