A/N: So – this chapter is short, but I wanted to put something out before the end of the day, but I promise to update in the next couple of hours, too. I just feel oddly guilty when I post a chapter and I haven't written anything that day. So, to compensate, you get two posts, the size of a slightly longer-than-average chapter, and I get a clear writing-conscience since I'm planning on writing a bit after I post this. And yeah, after typing that out, I realize just how lame it sounds.

As for the mystery person – everyone had really good guesses! Nothing quite so adventurous as those guesses though, hahaha. Also, just for a future reference, I will address the Kwest—should-know-Jude's-birthday issue, as well as Sadie's perspective on it and all that stuff. Anyway, enjoy, and there'll be a new post in a bit, I promise!

Disclaimer: Don't own it ):

"Coming to see me?" Chaz flashed her an obnoxious smile as he stepped into the elevator, his eyes questioning.

"Not…exactly." Jude fumbled with her words, unsure of how to get herself out of this predicament.

"Well, what can I help you with in the Grande Towers?"

"Nothing," Jude answered quickly.

"Nothing," Chaz repeated. "Jude Harrison, what in the world are you doing here?"

"Um, well, you see," Jude stuttered helplessly, watching the numbers tick by as the elevator ascended.

"Tommy doesn't live on the 28th floor," Chaz said in a confused voice.

"I know that," Jude spat out.

"Tommy's not even home right now," Chaz was starting to catch on, and Jude could have punched him for the smug grin that was spreading over his face.

"I know that, too."

"In fact, I'm willing to bet that Tommy has no idea that you're on your way up to make a visit to his apartment."

"His apartment doesn't even have a button, so how would I even get to it if I wanted to?" Jude tried to fish for answers, knowing full well that Chaz knew that she was trying to get there without Tommy's permission anyway.

"It doesn't have a button in the elevator, you're right. But it does have a button in your hand," Chaz said with a smirk, nodding down to the keys in her hand.

Jude looked down, realization dawning in her eyes. The key fob. It was not only the only thing in her hands that had a button, but it was issued by the Grande Towers. It must open more than the garage gate, Jude thought excitedly.

Not wanting to miss her chance, Jude hit the button, waiting for the 'P' to light up. Nothing.

"And again," Chaz said as if her were talking to a three year old. Jude shot him a glare but did as he said, and sure enough, the 'P' illuminated to a bright red, and the elevator, which was currently stopped at 28 continued to go up as Jude hit the 'door close' button.

Jude smiled at Chaz.

"Neat."

The elevator stopped on the penthouse floor and Chaz followed Jude off the elevator. Jude knew that having Chaz leave it alone was too good to be true.

She used the extra key on Tommy's keychain to unlock the door, and walked in, not bothering to even try to close Chaz out. She tried to take everything in, but it was hard to. The place was huge, and looked, somehow, exactly how she had pictured it. Studio layout, the floor plan was open, with no partitions except for a hallway which she assumed led to the bedroom and the bathroom. It wasn't luridly decorated, but rather the accents were masculine. It practically screamed 'Tom Quincy.'

"So Jude," Chaz broke through her reverie, "are you planning on telling me what you're doing here or do I have to guess? Not that I don't have some interesting theories, because trust me, I do, but I'd rather hear your side."

Jude whipped around, smiling embarrassedly.

"Do I have to?"

Chaz just shot her a patronizing look.

"Ok, but…just listen until I'm done, okay? It's going to seem stupid and childish, but I would also like to take this time to point out that on many occasions people have commented that I am more mature than you, okay?"

"Whatever," Chaz said as he made his way to Tommy's refrigerator – all stainless steel appliances, of course – and grabbed a beer before making his way to Tommy's plush suede couch, in black. Of course.

Jude followed and sat across from him.

"Okay, so…"

- - - -

Jude finally managed to tell the entire stupid story, including the ominous person in the bushes at her house and the crazy intruder in the Hummer. She knew she could've probably boiled it down to her being scared of being left alone, but once she started talking she couldn't stop. Soon enough the events from the entire day were spilling out of her mouth, and she had to catch herself several times almost laughing at Chaz's fish-out-of-water expression.

"Jude, that's…"

"Ridiculous?" Jude supplied half heartedly. "Absurd? Totally and completely un-fucking-believable?"

Chaz just nodded.

"Yeah, I know, right?"

They sat in silence for a few more minutes, Chaz getting up for his fifth beer, until finally he broke the silence.

"So, you're just going to stay here tonight and hope that Tommy doesn't notice that you've been here?"

"Well…yes." Jude realized that when she said it aloud it didn't really sound to believable. "I was also sort of hoping that you wouldn't be telling him about our chat."

"Chat?" He looked puzzled.

"Yeah, chat. You know, the one we just had?"

"Oh! That chat! The one where you told me about how you're being stalked by a paparazzo and hiding out in fear of your own safety by invading your producer's personal and very, very private space." Chaz looked borderline insulted that she would suggest that.

"Yeah, that'd be the one," she said sheepishly.

"Oh, yeah, no problem," he shot back sarcastically. "Why on Earth would I see the need to tell Tommy that?!"

"Ooookay," Jude drawled, trying to think of a way to calm a slightly inebriated ex-boybander, all the while still making a point that wasn't even making sense to herself anymore. "Listen. I don't want you to lie to Tommy. I just don't want you to call him and tell him. I will tell him everything when he gets back."

"Everything?"

"Okay, I might leave out the part where I stayed at his penthouse loft uninvited, but that still leaves plenty of other stuff to talk about."

Chaz chugged the beer in his hand and got up for a sixth.

"Little girl," he began when Jude cleared her throat. "Okay, fine. Little…woman. Little woman, Tommy's going to know you were here. And it won't be because I tell him, but let's be honest. That man can tell when you're within a hundred feet radius of him. He can smell your perfume in rooms hours after you leave. He knows you, inside and out, and you honestly think he will walk into this apartment and not know you've been here for 2 minutes, let alone an entire night?"

"Tommy can tell when I'm around?" Jude asked curiously. She was shocked, honest to goodness shocked. She thought that it was just her. She couldn't explain it, but she could…feel whenever Tommy was around. A pleasant shiver would creep up her spine and it was like she could just feel his presence, let alone his eyes on her back. She chalked it up to spending a lot of time with him, but now, in the haze of Chaz's intoxication, she thought that maybe there was more to it than that.

"No way," Chaz shook his head. "I am not getting dragged into the mess of a relationship you two have. In fact, your own life is crazier than I ever thought possible, but after tonight's conversation, I'm all set with you and your little escapade."

"It's not an escapa-"

Chaz held up his hand and Jude fell silent, pouting.

"Hey, I don't care anymore. I'm not getting involved. You can hide here and play Goldilocks all you want, don't mean nothing to me. In fact, this works out for me. Tommy told me to look out for you, and it'll be a lot easier if you're in the same building."

"He told you to lo-"

Another hand.

"I am going to leave now," he gestured vaguely to the area in which he thought the door was, "and you are going to stay here. Stalker free, okay? Okayyyyy?"

Jude nodded silently.

"Okay, good. Now you…you go to bed. I got to go…do something."

Jude looked at Chaz skeptically, but remained silent as a drunken Chaz stood up and swayed.

"Can you-"

Hand.

"'Night Goldilocks," Chaz said with a sloppy grin that Jude couldn't help but to mirror.

"G'night Chaz."

- - - -

Jude tried to take in as much of the loft as possible without feeling too sneaky and snoopy. She had to admit that she was honestly looking for signs of other females. None seemed to exist, and she could only imagine what another female would've thought had they been in the loft – there were a lot of pictures of Jude and Tommy together.

She perused them leisurely. It was late now, almost past midnight, yet Jude, despite her tiredness, couldn't stop looking around. As soon as she found one thing she thought to be the most surprising item for Tommy to own, she'd find another to top that.

She was surprised at his huge book collection, for one. Bookcases lined a wall, and they were filled to the brim – with classics, no less. She could envision it in her head clearly: Tommy, sitting in an overstuffed suede armchair, reading a book contentedly with music softly playing in the background. If there was one thing that hadn't surprised Jude at all, it was Tommy's extensive music collection. CDs and records and tapes and 8 tracks were all part of his assortment, and she was instantly jealous.

She looked at family photos lining the walls and even some Boyz Attack! memorabilia to top it off. She finally made it into the bedroom and it was then that she realized just how tired she was. His bedroom was typical male style – large, four poster bed in the center, dark blue walls with slate grey accents. It was nice and homey and very Tommy-esque. She felt comfortable immediately, and that was a bad thing for Jude.

Once she came to the realization that she could easily spend all of her time in this one room, with Tommy, of course, she decided to stop her snooping and just go to bed. She slipped off her clothes and put on a pair of sweats and a big t-shirt she found in his closet (it was the last bit of snooping, she swore). She crawled into the bed and snuggled into the down comforter.

Her last thought before dozing off was: Screw getting girls into bed…how does Tommy ever get a girl to leave this bed?

- - - -

Jude liked to tell herself she had an 'internal alarm clock,' and the truth was, she probably did, but it was permanently set on 'snooze.' She woke to the sun beating on her face and she glanced at a digital clock on his nightstand – 1 p.m.

Thanking her lucky stars that she had nothing she was supposed to be working on at the studio, she decided to lounge around a bit. After all, it wasn't like Tommy would be home any time soon; it was only Friday. He was due back midday Sunday, and even that was a stretch. Jude knew how long mastering a final album could take, even if Tommy was the best.

She padded to the kitchen softly, as if she was trying not to wake someone. Jude admonished herself for acting like an intruder, but then had to laugh when she realized that she was, in fact, an intruder.

Thinking about intruders made her shudder at the thought of the reporter in her car. To say he was 'creepy' was about the biggest understatement of her life. She had already resolved to tell Tommy everything, after all, he had thought that a broken window was an invasion of privacy. A broken into car? She'd be lucky if he didn't blow a gasket.

So, for the rest of the day, Jude tried not to think about the chaos that was her life. She grew very comfortable very fast with Tommy's loft, and found herself eating his cereal, watching his TV and making the most out of his music collection. It was nearing 8 p.m. when her phone rang, just as Jude was about to pop in the second movie in the Bourne trilogy. That was her motto: when there's a lot of time to be wasted, nothing does it better than sequential movies.

She answered her phone as she watched the previews start to go, not even bothering to check the caller I.D.

"Yo," she answered nonchalantly.

"Where are you?"

Jude's heart stopped.