Chapter 14

Jude walked into the studio the next weekend with frustration etched into her features.

"Hey girl," Tommy greeted. He took in her expression. "What's going on?"

Jude sighed, ignoring the question and trying to calm herself.

Tommy tested the waters. "Why didn't you answer your phone last night?"

"Because my asshole of a father took it away."

Tommy grimaced, grabbed her hand, and squeezed it. They took a seat on the couch next to one another.

Jude continued, "The phone bill came in yesterday, and apparently he saw your number on it a few too many times. He was just searching for an excuse."

Tommy pulled Jude's head against his shoulder and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. He knew they shouldn't be showing PDA in the studio, but he reasoned it was something any friend would do when their counterpart was feeling down.

"He's an ass," Tommy remarked.

Jude mutely agreed with a short nod. "I wish I could understand," she whispered. "We used to be so close. It was always me and my dad. He was there when my mom wasn't…I don't know what happened! Is he so disgusted with me? So angry?" She sighed heavily. "I just don't understand it."

"I don't know, girl," Tommy wished there was something more he could say. "But you don't deserve it."

"Thanks," she murmured.

Time passed in silent minutes, quiet breaths, and the occasional soft caress.

After several minutes, Jude pulled away, determination in her eyes. It looked like the phone incident had been the final straw for her.

"I think I'm ready to write," she stated.

The way Jude said it made Tommy curious. As though it wasn't any old song. "Write?"

"The song," she replied. "The music I've had stuck in my head…I'm ready to put lyrics to it."

Tommy grinned enthusiastically.

The pair sat down at the keyboard, and Jude grabbed her song book. She played the beginning notes and beamed, nodding her head along with the beat.

They started writing down lyrics, scratching out and rewriting, deciding Tommy would sing the opening part. Jude added in background lyrics to his vocals.

"Oh darling, darling," Tommy sang.

"Don't look so sad," Jude added.

"Don't let the daytime," Tommy continued.

Jude added on once more, "Get you down…"

She smiled brightly, and the pair paused. Jude put the pen to the paper and wrote:

Because we will be wild like children (wild like children)
Once the black has veiled this sky
No pushing buttons (no telling lies)
No pointed fingers (trying to keep you quiet)
Just you and I misbehaving (misbehaving)
Oh, trying our best to feel alive
We won't ever let them win

Once they settled on the lyrics for Tommy's part – not including Jude's backup lyrics – they moved on to another section, deciding it was time for Jude to sing. She took the pen to the paper again, and the pair tested out sets of lyrics. They finally settled on something, and Jude began singing.

"When we are younger, oh our hearts are so much bolder
Oh, the pressure is not as great
We floated weightless through the tops of trees
But as we get older, oh, our vision becomes blurred
And then the fog it slips right in
Now you're wondering how
Oh yeah, you're wondering how you ended up here
Oh, how you end up here
"

She pushed her blonde locks behind her shoulders as she sang. The song was upbeat, but it has a deeper meaning. It was a song of rebellion. She was going to express her outrage at the situation with her father in the only way she knew how – music. It was a song about her and Tommy, forbidden relationships, and exciting romance. But it was real – the tune was upbeat, but the message was realistic. Nothing was perfect, and their situation was nowhere near ideal.

The pair worked on the song for many hours, lyric after lyric, verse after verse. They contemplated chord variations, piano notes, drum beats, and vocal pitch. The two played and sang, laying down rough cut after rough cut.

"Well, the idea is down," said Jude. "We just need everyone else to come in and play." The shit-eating grin on her face was hard to ignore.

Tommy smiled pleasantly. "I'll call some people up for the ending instrumental section. You go talk to SME." He kissed her hair and headed to his office, pulling out his Blackberry along the way.

Jude exited the studio, shutting the door quietly behind her and found Spiederman in the lobby.

She punched him lightly in the arm. "Gather the troops. You guys have a job to do."

"Do we now?"

"Mhm," Jude replied cheerfully. "Just finished writing a new song. You're going to like it."

"What's it about?" he asked.

Jude's secretive smile widened. She shrugged dramatically. "That's my business."

Spied nodded. "Tommy again?"

Jude threw her head back and let out a loud laugh. She smacked Spiederman hard on the shoulder. "Shut up! Not all of my songs are about him. In fact, it's probably a very small percentage."

Spied gave her a disbelieving look.

"Come on!" Jude protested. "Learn by example. There's 'Your Eyes' that was for Shay…and 'Temporary Insanity' was for Jamie…mostly," she added the last part under her breath. "And you, my dear Spiederman, have 'Anyone But You.'"

"Ooh," he replied with a heavily sarcastic tone. "Three out of…what, thirty? You're right. The percentage of songs about him must just be miniscule."

"Ooh, big word," Jude retorted. She continued, "Besides, not all my songs are romantic."

Speiderman scoffed loudly.

"Um…" she paused. "'Skin' certainly isn't about my love life. A lot of them just have overtones."

"Yeah," Spied agreed. "Heavy on the Quincy overtones."

Jude was about to rebuke the statement when said Mr. Quincy approached the pair of them.

"What are you two chatting about?" Tommy inquired.

Spiederman was glad to be the first to reply. "We were just discussing dear Judith's music. How nearly ever song of hers is about-"

Jude stepped hard on the guitarist's toes, and Spied cursed loudly.

Tommy turned to his girlfriend instead. "What are your songs about?" he asked with teasing eyes.

"Oh, you know…Shay, mostly. That's certainly what 'White Lines' is about." She nodded to emphasize her point. "A couple are about Chaz, actually. That one time I met him…he really left an impression."

The humor disappeared from Tommy's face at the quip. She wanted to play, he would play. He continued their conversation. "Ah. And who was 'Time to Be Your 21' for?"

"Oh," Jude spoke in a shocked voice. "Did you not know about my old crush on Darius?"

Tommy sighed. "'Liar Liar?'"

Jude bit her lip, enjoying the game. "Well…" she acted very tentative. "Did I ever tell you about that night I spent with Liam?"

Spiederman's eyes had never been so wide.

Tommy eyed her critically. "And what about your newer stuff?"

Jude hesitating, freezing up. She couldn't believe he was actually going there. "What new stuff?"

"Hmm," Tommy smirked. "I don't know…'Missing You,' maybe. 'Corner of Your Heart', perhaps?"

Jude gasped. It was a low blow, and she took the hit hard. "Fuck you, Quincy," Jude spat harshly.

The conversation had quickly gone from playful to painful.

A bitter, deviant smirk crossed Jude's featureds. Payback was the best revenge. "Now that you're writing music again, Tom, I'm actually quite interested in who it's all about. What about that lovely new song of yours? What was it called…ah, 'Accidental Babies.'"

Tommy stared at her coldly and grasped for straws. "Well…obviously it was Sadie."

"Hmm," Jude spoke carefully. "She was always so hung up on you. Who exactly were you so jealous of? The song is exploding with green envy."

At this point, Spiederman had absolutely no idea what the hell he was witnessing.

Tommy chanced a glance at the teenage guitarist, knowing the real topic of the song he and Jude were discussing. He looked back at Jude. Tommy choked on his response: "Kwest."

"Funny," Jude grabbed hold of Spied's hand. "Come on, let's find the boys. We have recording to do." She turned to Tommy with a hard look in her eyes. "We won't be needing you on this one."

"It's a duet, Harrison," Tommy retorted.

Jude faked confusion. "Is it?" she shrugged and left with a truly perplexed Spiederman.

Tommy sighed heavily after they departed. He ran a hand over his face, knowing that he just screwed up big time. Not only had he offended her as a musician, but he had struck home with songs like 'Missing You' and 'Corner of Your Heart.' He'd been the asshole he'd been trying to prove to Jude for so long that he no longer was.

Kwest approached Tommy a few minutes later, sensing a disturbance in his friend. "What's up, T? Something happen?"

"Just got in a fight with Jude," he replied shortly.

Kwest looked into the studio to find an expressive Jude speaking. He directed his eyes back to Tommy. "Looks like it was a bad one."

Tommy nodded mutely. "It started out innocent enough. It just…escalated." He sighed into his hands. "I'm an ass."

"She already knows that," Kwest informed him. "Go apologize."

"She doesn't want to hear it right now. She's too pissed. I'll get nowhere with her."

Kwest nodded. "Good luck, man." He patted his friend on the shoulder and took his leave.

* * *

Jude pushed her hair behind her ears, trying to shake away her upset feeling.

Spiederman spoke up. "Um, dude, what's going on?"

"It's nothing," she replied curtly. "You know Tommy and I fight like cats and dogs."

"This seemed pretty personal," Spied tested.

"It is. But its fine," she sighed. "We'll work it out eventually, I guess."

"You always do," he supplied.

"Yeah," Jude's voice cracked. She cleared her throat and changed the topic. "How long until Kyle and Wally get here?"

She didn't wait for a reply – the boys entered the studio doors mere seconds later.

They got to work. Jude taught the boys their parts – guitar, bass, drums. Anything and everything. After a while, they had it down and were ready to record.

"A little bit cleaner right now, Spied," Jude spoke over the comm. "We can rough it up later in the song."

Spiederman replied, "Got it."

The quartet remained at work for several hours, Jude nearly pushing them to a breaking point.

"Faster, Kyle!" Jude shouted.

Kyle let out an uncharacteristic snarling sound and threw his drumsticks at the wall.

"Whoa," Wally commented with wide eyes.

Jude exhaled loudly.

"Why are you being such a bitch, Jude?" Kyle exclaimed. "What the hell is your problem today? Did the power of producing get to your head?" He was hopping mad – literally. An angry Kyle looked reminiscent of a very angry bunny.

"I just want it to be good," she explained tersely.

Wally inserted, "It's a good song, Jude. It's fine the way we are playing it."

"It is," Spied agreed quietly.

Jude ran a hand through her hair, looking distraught. "I'm sorry."

"What's going on, dude?" Spiederman questioned gravely. "Seriously. Don't play it off like nothing. What exactly was going with you and Quincy earlier?" He had reason to believe that there was something going on between them – more than their usual flirtation – and he was concerned.

Jude just shook her head.

"I don't know what's going on," said Spied, "but you should talk to him. This is worse than usual."

"Are they together?" Wally whispered to Kyle.

"No, we're not," Jude denied.

Spied looked skeptical, but the trio accepted her response.

"Talk to him, dude," Spiederman restated.

Jude nodded. "You guys can go," she waved them away. "We'll finish tomorrow."

SME exited the studio, Spied giving Jude a quick hug as he left.

* * *

Later at home, Jude sat around, brooding and taking it out on her box of Pop Tarts. She still wasn't ready to talk to Tommy. Her father was out, staying late at work, and now would be the opportune time to call him, but she just didn't have the heart at the moment. She didn't want to make her already bad day worse by getting into another argument.

She sat on the couch strumming her guitar aimlessly, trying to create a decent tune. Nothing. She plucked at the strings and tested out chord variations. Just when she was settling on something, the doorbell rang.

Jude opened the door, twisting the knob curiously. She wasn't expecting any visitors. It was Tommy. He looked haggard. His brown hair had lost its luster and his eyes were remorseful. Jude bit her lip, her posture defensive. She crossed her arms in front of her.

"Hey," Tommy spoke quietly.

"Hi," she replied softly.

"Can I come in?" his voice was gruff.

She opened the door wider for him to enter, not caring to speak just yet.

"I'm sorry," Tommy said earnestly.

Jude looked at the ground and closed the door behind him.

"I am," he reiterated, his blue orbs piercing hers with his gaze.

She broke his gaze and looked down again, unwilling to get caught up in his honest eyes.

Tommy took her chin in his hand and tilted it upward, forcing her to meet his eyes once more. "I'm sorry," he said with fervent truth, and Jude knew he really meant it.

She leaned forward and whispered against his lips, "I'm sorry, too."

Their lips fused in an instant. Jude gripped the back of Tommy's head in their frenzy of quick, bruising kisses. She pulled him closer, wanting no distance between them.

Tommy kissed Jude's lips, her cheek, her nose. "I'm sorry." Her eyes lids, her forehead, her jaw line. "I love you."

Jude moaned as his lips found hers again. He nibbled on her bottom lip, and she quickly jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist, pushing herself against him shamelessly. Jude could feel how she effected him through his constricting denim jeans, and she bit her lip. Then she bit his lip, and he tightened his hold on her.

Tommy moved his mouth lips to Jude's neck, sucking and nibbling and licking and teasing, changing his method with every one of Jude's moans of approval.

"Tommy," she gasped out, "please."

He gladly obliged, pulled the shirt off of her, and unclasped her silky bra. The straps fell off her shoulders, and soon the offending item was on the ground, kicked away and forgotten. Jude pressed her chest against him and kissed her way up his neck. She nibbled on his earlobe and whispered, "This needs to come off," as she tugged at the hem of his t-shirt.

She leaned back from him and deftly pulled the shirt over his head with a broad grin. Her hands traveled across the planes of his chiseled chest, drinking him in, pressing kisses in her exploration.

"Let's go upstairs," Jude suggested in a hushed whisper.

Tommy complied eagerly. He brought them up to her room and laid Jude on the bed. He kissed her hard on the lips and gripped one of her breasts, flicking her nipple teasingly. Jude grabbed the sheets below her, her hands forming tense fists around the fabric. Tommy brought his mouth down to her other breast, kneading it with his free hand. His tongue drew a path between the valley of her breasts and continued downward. Jude shivered as Tommy pressed small kisses to her exposed stomach.

Tommy unbuttoned her distressed jeans and slid them down to her ankles. Heat pooled between Jude's thighs, and she kicked the pants off immediately. Tommy placed a soft kiss on her inner thigh, and Jude's hips bucked upward wildly with a gasp. He smiled against her skin, kissed his way down her leg and back up the other, only stopping to press another kiss the inner thigh. This earned a small whimper from Jude. Tommy kissed her mound through the thin material of her panties, and her breathing nearly stopped.

"Tommy…Tommy, please…" she was not ashamed of begging.

He rubbed his hand between her legs, much to her distinct pleasure. "Jude…I'm not going to sleep with you tonight."

Jude let out a loud moan as his thumb applied pressure to her most sensitive of regions through the fabric. "You're not?" her voice was breathy and barely there.

"No," Tommy replied, sticking to the decision they had previously made. "But that doesn't mean we can't do anything…"

Jude emitted a sound she herself had never heard before when Tommy pushed her undergarment aside and slipped a finger inside her. He had to hold back a chuckle when he hips bucked against him impatiently. Testing out the waters, Tommy added a second finger, pumping them in and out, hitting places Jude didn't know she even possessed. His thumb found the bundle of nerves that was so desperate for his attention. He drew gentle circles, and she started writhing beneath him, calling out his name, and wanting more.

"Tommy…" his name flew from her lips every few seconds, desperate for a release.

Her walls suddenly clenched down around his fingers and she hit a high note unheard before. Euphoria coursed through her – the feeling was everywhere. It went through her in shuddering waves, and Jude cried out. Eventually the spasms and contractions faded away, and with it, the ecstasy.

Jude's breathing slowed and Tommy pulled his fingers out of her. She wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead. Tommy kissed his way up to her mouth and moved his lips against hers sweetly, tongues mingling together. He pulled his lips from hers after one final chaste kiss. "You okay?" His voice was raspy.

Tommy turned onto his back to lie next to her. Jude smiled radiantly and rolled onto her side to face him.

She replied, "Definitely." So much for taking things slow, she thought with a small laugh. But she was hardly complaining.

Jude could plainly see how much Tommy still wanted her – a glance down south made it blaringly apparent – but he made no move to pressure her. In fact, he did quite the opposite. He held her against him, simply taking pleasure in the feel of her in his arms – his skin on hers.

Tommy brushed his fingertips on the flesh of Jude's bare arm, rubbing up and down. "About earlier…I really am sorry," he informed her. "I just got…stupid."

Jude grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "I know. I'm sorry, too."

"When will you dad be home?" As much as he hated to ask the question, Tommy knew he needed to.

Jude glanced at the clock wistfully. "About an hour. Maybe just over."

Tommy nodded. "An hour it is."

With a heavy sigh, slightly upset that her father had to have such a detrimental effect, she echoed the man next to her: "An hour it is."