A/N: This chapter is for my dear friend Adrianna on her birthday! Well, it's actually a day late, but I'm sure its still the 14th somewhere. Maybe? Whatever. Haha. I hope you enjoy. I know that last cliffhanger was pretty evil.

DISCLAIMER: There are many things that I don't own. The song Wild Horses for example is not by me, but by Natasha Bedingfield. Instant Star isn't mine either, unfortunately. But this plot definately is.


Chapter 7

Jude's night was long. Sleep did not come easily. All she could see as she closed her eyes, exhaustion overcoming her body, were the haunting images of Tommy's lost, pained expression as he stood helplessly on her doorstep. The raging fire in her father's eyes kept her up. The final words she spoke still resounded in her mind:

"I love him."

Her father slammed the door just after the words slipped off her tongue and past her lips. She got no reply and had not talked to him since. After Stuart harshly closed the door, Jude couldn't look at him. She ran upstairs, heaving sobs racking her body as she lay in her bed, clinging to her pillow in desperation.

Sleep wouldn't come. Wiping the remaining tears from her mascara-smudged face, Jude grabbed her song book and flipped it open to a blank page. She grabbed her favorite pen and poured emotion out through the ink.

Words flowed freely, and Jude looked out the window, feeling almost locked-up in her own room. In her own house. At that moment, all she wanted was to be with Tommy. But it was beyond her control. She wanted to face her father about the situation, but how? What would she say? What was there to say? Stuart Harrison was a stubborn man, and if he was set on keeping her and Tommy apart, he would do just that.

Jude sighed and continued her writing. There was nothing like an explosive situation to inspire a song in Jude Harrison.


Jude awoke the next morning with frazzled hair and circles under her eyes. She had slept very little the night before, both distracted by the song she wrote and the difficult situation she was now in. She quickly showered, ran a brush through her hair to let it air dry, and got in her Mustang. She drove to G-Major, speeding a bit, eager to see Tommy. She didn't know exactly what was going to happen with them, but the suspense wasn't helping her any.

She entered G-Major, grabbed her necessary coffee, what with the lack of sleep, and made her way into Studio A. Tommy was already there, and the corners of Jude's mouth tugged upwards ever so slightly. He looked up at her, a distinctive moment passed between them. The energy of the air was full of emotion - relief mixed with gratitude.

Jude knew they would be fine.

She closed the studio door behind her with a quiet click and approached Tommy. He embraced her silently, resting his head on top of hers, savoring the moment, contented.

"I'm so sorry, Tommy," she whispered. "I guess his trip was cancelled," she added as an afterthought.

Tommy stroked her hair with the palm of his hand as a comforting gesture. "It's okay, Jude. It's not your fault." He planted a kiss in her hair and continued, "Your dad may be able to keep us apart physically…" he paused, visibly hesitating, fighting some sort of internal battle with himself. He breathed a sigh and squeezed her hand, continuing, "He may be able to keep us apart physically…but he can't change the fact that I love you."

A soft smile crossed Jude's face in surprise. Their lips met in a quick, searing kiss, both of them knowing the dangers of being romantic in the studio. Jude pulled away and rested her forehead against his.

"I love you, too," she whispered delicately. She paused. "He can only keep me away from you - from what I want - until I turn eighteen, Tommy." She let out a sigh. "After that, he can't keep me away from you."

Tommy spoke in earnest, "Jude…I don't want you to ruin your relationship with your father because of me."

Jude smiled sadly. "Things have been on the rocks with my dad for a long time, Quincy. He was hardly pleased with my behavior while you were gone. But you're what makes me happy, Tommy. I'm not going to let him take that away from me."

Tommy nodded mutely and let go of Jude. They were already living dangerously, having such a moment in the studio. He ran a hand through his hair to compose himself and took a step back.

After a comfortable moment of silence, he asked, "You have anything good for me?"

They were back to recording.

Jude beamed and nodded her head.

"It's called Wild Horses," Jude stated. "I couldn't sleep much last night after everything that happened." She shrugged. "So I wrote."

Tommy looked at her expectantly. Jude stepped into the sound booth and tested out the keyboard for a moment, making sure she had the right sound.

She took a deep breath and began to sing.

"Ooooh

I feel these four walls closing in

Face up against the glassI'm looking out, hmmm

Is this my life? I'm wondering

It happened so fastHow do I turn this thing around?

Is this the bed I chose to make?

There's greener pastures I'm thinking about

Hmm, wide open spaces far away"

Jude smiled slightly and continued, emotion dripping through her voice.

"All I want is the wind in my hair

To face the fear, but not feel scared

Wild horses, I wanna be like you

Throwing caution to the wind, I'll run free, too

Wish I could recklessly love like I'm longing to

I wanna run with the wild horses

Run with the wild horses, oh

Whoa yeah, oh, oh, yeah"

Jude began the next verse, her fingertips pressing into the keys as she sang.

"I see the girl I wanna be

Riding bare-back, care-free

Along the shore

If only that someone was me

Jumping head-first, head-long

Without a thought

To act and damn the consequence

How I wish it could be that easy

But fear surrounds me like a fence

I wanna break free"

Jude sighed deeply, thinking about the night prior. So much had happened in a period of just a few minutes, and now everything was more complicated.

"All I want is the wind in my hair

To face the fear, but not feel scared

Oooh, wild horses I wanna be like you

Throwing caution to the wind, I'll run free too

Wish I could recklessly love like I'm longing to

I wanna run with the wild horses

Run with the wild horses, oh"

Jude glanced at Tommy as she approached the end of her song. Her gaze was a transfixing one, and she couldn't take her eyes off him as she sang the last part.

"I wanna run, too

Oh, ohhh

Recklessly abandoning me my self before youI wanna open up my heart tell him how I feel"

Jude flashed back to the night prior, when she had spoken the words, "I love him." The first time she had said it, and painful silence was her response. "Woah, woah

Wild horses I wanna be like you

Throwing caution to the wind

I'll run free tooWish I could recklessly love, like I'm longing to

I wanna run with the wild horses, Run with the wild horses, run with the wild horses

Oh woah oh woah

Yeah…

I wanna run with the wild horses

Ooh…"

Her hands stilled on the keys, and Jude took a deep breath. She bit her lip, looking at Tommy, raw emotion playing on her face - a question in her gaze.

Tommy smiled appreciatively. "It's great, Jude. Really. I love it."

Jude grinned sheepishly. "Album worthy?" she questioned.

"Most definitely," Tommy replied. "I have a feeling this album is going to be a lot different than your previous two, isn't it?"

Jude nodded, her features almost tentative. "Yeah," she spoke, her resolve getting stronger. "I really think so."

The couple got to work and laid down the track.


End of chapter seven! I hope to have chapter eight up sometime next week. Review!

Quick question for you all - what's your favorite IS song? I've been listening to my soundtracks a lot lately, and I'm still not positive. So many good ones.

-Laura