A/N: Okay, hi! I didn't expect to post so soon but some of you were so curious and I just felt bad leaving it like that…
The box: You all get to find out what was in the box! Some of you were really close with your guesses, but no cigar. That's ok. I hope you think I did an okay judging Jude's reaction to said box contents – it was tough. I know some of you are probably going to think the box is completely ridiculous, but I think it's necessary in taking my story where it's going and to show just how completely serious this stalker situation is.
I tried to lighten up the story with some SME goofiness, but reading through it, I didn't realize it was so angsty. It really is more soap opera-ish than I thought it was. Well, in a few more chapters it lightens up for a brief bit with the wedding and stuff, but I guess it sort of is a drama-driven story.
Um, let's see… I loved all the reviews! They were really great & helpful, even. Ugh, you guys are all so nice. I hope this chapter meets your standards. I could go on forever about how much I loved the reviews, but I think you're all like 'eff this,' so go read (:
Tommy caught Jude as she slid down his body slowly, her eyes fluttering shut. He quickly picked her up and carried her to behind the Bronco, away from that gruesome image he didn't think he'd ever get out of his head.
"What happened?" Jude moaned eventually, trying to blink the grogginess away.
"You fainted," Tommy told her gently.
"Oh. Oh, the box. Oh…," Jude closed her eyes tightly, cursing to herself as a few stray tears leaked down her face. "I shouldn't have looked in the box. That was a really dumb idea."
Instead of saying the 'I told you so' remark that was on the tip of his tongue, Tommy just sighed into her hair, holding her close.
Jude didn't think she'd ever forget the image that was stuck in her head. Chelsea Rollock's mutilated body, her horror stricken face, the blood that was coating the inside of the box. It was all too much for Jude to handle, and she felt herself start to hyperventilate, a rising pressure in her chest.
"Breathe, babe, just breathe," Tommy coaxed her, pushing her head between her legs. "Push against my hand."
Jude didn't think about it, just pushed her head back into Tommy's palm, and slowly but surely the clanging in her head as well as the dull roar started to subside, and she could think again.
"She died because of me," Jude said once she could breathe again.
"No," Tommy shook his head vehemently, "she died because of one crazy whack job. This may have involved you, but you are not to blame."
"Sure feels like it," Jude said softly.
"Come on, let's get out of here," Tommy suggested.
"Where?"
"Where do you want to go?"
"I…I don't think I want to go back to the penthouse right now. Everything's just a little too real there right now, you know?"
"Let's go back to G Major. You can sit in with me, maybe rehearse a little, get lost in the music."
"Sounds like just what I need."
"Remember, I'm Tommy fucking Quincy," Tommy said with a weak grin, wrapping an arm tightly around Jude's shoulders as they stood, dragging a reluctant smile out of Jude. They climbed in the Bronco tiredly, and Jude let herself rest against Tommy, trying to block out the events of the day so far.
"This day has royally sucked," Jude mumbled into Tommy's chest as Darius drove the pair back to G Major. "I'm not entirely sure it could get worse than this."
"I know, girl."
"How does today suck? Let me count the ways..." Jude continued, talking over Tommy. "Well, I try to do the right thing, and Sadie hates me for it. I try to not get stalked, well, that doesn't work out too well either. I try to make it through one day not calling you to help me out of a stupid jam that I'm sure I probably got myself into, and yet, nope, can't do that either." Jude took a breath before turning to Tommy to look him in the eyes. "Does God hate me or am I really just that inept at living a normal life?!"
The Bronco came to a stop and Darius scrambled to get out of the car before Jude had a meltdown in front of him. He wasn't so good with seeing other people's emotions, and he had had enough of tense-angsty-Jude in the past few years to last him a lifetime.
"And where the hell did Darius get a Bronco from?!"
"Jude," Tommy said her name in a stern voice, drawing her attention back to him. He positioned himself in front of her and rubbed her arms up and down gently.
"I don't know if I can do this, Tommy," Jude said quietly as tears welled in her eyes.
"Well, I do. I know you can. You're the strongest person I know. You'll get through this and be even stronger because of it. You can do this; don't ever doubt that. As for Sadie…I'm sure Kwest will talk to her, but even so, she didn't mean what she said. You didn't do anything wrong, and you didn't wreck her wedding. Sadie's always let her temper get the better of her, and I'm sure being all crazy and pregnant and stressed out doesn't help. She'll come around, so don't worry about her."
Jude sniffled and nodded, silently pleading for Tommy to continue. She needed to hear his reassurances, despite how correct or not they were. They were keeping Jude together at this point.
"The stalker…Jude, this isn't your fault. None of this is. I know it's hard to see that right now, but this is just one crazy whackjob and his twisted schemes. And as for calling me when you need help…I wouldn't want that to change for the world, okay? Don't ever stop calling me because you let your pride get in the way. I will drop everything for you, you know that, right?"
"You shouldn't have to," Jude sniffed.
"I don't have to. I do it because I want to." Because I want you, he silently added.
"You're too good for me, Quincy."
"Not possible," he breathed. He briefly entertained the idea of leaning down and just kissing her right then and there, but he quickly dismissed it for a multitude of reasons. Not only were they in the back of Darius' Bronco, but Jude was under a lot of stress and wasn't thinking clearly. He didn't want to take advantage of her confused state just to satisfy his own needs. And besides, he had always told himself that he wanted the next kiss they shared to make them both forget her sixteenth birthday party debacle. He wanted it to be the right place, the right time, the right reasons behind it, everything.
Tommy always knew that no matter what he did, it would always come back to Jude in the end. Maybe that's why he didn't freak out when Kwest told him that he needed to snag Jude before some other man did. He was always confident that they were it for each other. So he let Jude run around with her boyfriends-of-the-week for the past few months, let her get that out of her system. Because once they got together…that was it. There wouldn't be anyone else for them, ever. And he never wanted Jude to question what else was out there, to wonder if she was making a mistake with them. That being said, he would never deny the inexplicable rage that coursed through his veins for days after finding out that she had slept with Jamie Andrews. He just constantly reminded himself that that, too, was something Jude could experience before him. And, he had to admit, after Jamie Andrews, Tommy would look like a sex god.
So as Tommy finally ridded himself of thoughts of kissing Jude with all the pent up passion he had over the past 4 and a half years, he reached over and entwined his fingers with hers, bringing their coupled hands to lips and pressed a soft kiss to her hand.
"Let's go get lost," he whispered in the too-silent truck. Jude flashed him a rare genuine smile, and followed him out of the Bronco.
G Major hadn't changed much in the few hours that Jude had been gone, except for the fact that everyone was now looking at her like she was about to break at any moment. Jude just sighed and walked with Tommy through the lobby, their fingers still clasped together, and into a studio.
"I have to work with SME today," Tommy told her, expecting pity.
"Poor baby," Jude laughed.
"Hey, Quincy, you know, if I didn't know better, I would've said you didn't sound excited to work with us!" Speid called from the doorway.
"Good thing you know better then, huh?" Tommy asked sarcastically.
"Hey dude," Speid said gently, ignoring Tommy. "Heard what happened. How you holdin' up?"
"As can be expected, I guess."
"Yeah, we heard," Wally said, walking in, looking like he was about to laugh at any time.
"Well, most of us did." Kyle flushed a fierce red as he followed Wally, and Wally couldn't control his laughter any longer. He busted out laughing, causing Speid to follow suit and Kyle to emit the occasional giggle, although he was still looking embarrassed.
Jude watched them all laugh together and felt anger start to ebb into her system.
"Guys, someone just died. Because she tried to help me. And you guys are standing here, laughing and having a good time like nothing happened. You guys met her too, remember the other day? This isn't some story you read online and then go onto the next webpage – this is real life!" Jude felt herself shake with anger, not understanding how the situations in her life change so rapidly.
"Girl," Tommy said carefully, while SME stood in the corner of the room, sobered up. "Nothing's going to bring her back. And yes, it's sad that some sick fuck didn't value her life enough to let her live, but there's nothing we can do about that now. Life goes on."
"Yeah," Speid piped up. "We didn't mean to disrespect her. Heck, we weren't even laughing about her."
Jude took a deep breath and closed her eyes. They're right, she told herself. Life goes on. And when this sick fuck is caught, he will pay ten times more for killing Chelsea like her life was worthless. I just have to trust that they will catch him.
"You're right guys, I'm sorry," Jude said after opening her eyes again. "I'm just sort of on edge, I guess." They all looked at her with sympathetic eyes, which Jude just tried to ignore. "So, Kyle, any reason you missed the memo of my morning?"
Jude had to smirk with the others as Kyle turned a shade of red she hadn't thought possible to appear on human flesh. Speid and Wally were now in hysterics, and even Tommy looked like a smile was tugging on the corners of his lips.
"Okay, okay, okay," Speid said, trying to get his laughter under control. "See, it's like this. Have you seen the new temp receptionist? The one that's filling in for Sadie for a while?"
"The older woman? Sort of big?" Wally interjected, making sure Jude understood. She nodded, unsure of the direction the story was taking.
"Okay, so we're playing hide and seek," Speid continued, despite Tommy's snort at this. "And I guess Kyle thought it'd be a great idea to hide under the reception desk, especially since the temp wasn't there at that time. And so he's there, and man, I couldn't find him anywhere. But then, all of a sudden, I hear this scream coming from reception."
Jude stared at him unblinking, slightly confused. They've all lost their minds, she thought fleetingly.
"Oh my god," Speid said as he started to flush from trying not to laugh. "Okay, so both Wally and I get to reception, and Kyle's passed out on the floor, and the temp lady is beating him with her handbag. Turns out she sat down at the desk, and…and…" Speid started laughing too hard to talk again.
"She wasn't wearing underwear!" Kyle moaned as he threw himself down onto the couch. "It was terrible! It looked like something out of a horror film! Or a 1980's porn movie! Oh my god, it was the worst."
"The idiot fainted when he saw it," Wally laughed, and Jude couldn't help the giggles that spilled out of her mouth. Tommy was now wearing a full blown smile and Jude leaned back into him, resting her head on his chest, laughing whole heartedly.
"So the lady assumes he's trying to sexually assault him when he collapses onto her and she starts beating him silly, which is useless because Kyle's lying on the floor, out cold," Speid said. "He was out for the next 30 minutes, which explains why he missed the memo, to say the least."
"You're lucky D wasn't here," Tommy said to Kyle, even though he was now fighting his own laughter, shaking his head at SME's antics.
"The lady said she wouldn't press charges," Kyle said seriously. "But she did quit, so we're going to have to find a new temp."
"You guys are crazy," Jude laughed out, shaking her head. "Totally and completely crazy."
"I think we'll hold off on the hide and seek for a while," Kyle said somberly.
Tommy muttered something under his breath, and Jude elbowed him, even though she couldn't make it out. She had a good idea of the gist of it.
"Hey Tommy?" Jude asked.
"Mmm?"
"Anyway I could practice with SME today for a little bit? We're going to have to play a song at Sadie's wedding off the new album…if she lets me, that is."
"I'm sure she will," Tommy assured her. "And feel free to steal them whenever. They just have to lay down the instrumental track for the new Instant Star commercials."
"Oof, how'd you guys get sucked into that?" Jude asked SME.
"They didn't pay attention to you when you went through your rebellious G Major days, that's for sure," Tommy said in her ear.
"Hey, we pulled a Jude Harrison, and for the record, the crowd loved it!" Kyle exclaimed.
"You pulled a…a me?"
"The network cable premiere of the second season of Spied & Karma's little glimpse into hell, and we were supposed to sing an original, but we decided to stick with a nice cover song instead."
"I think that's the opposite of what I did, but what did you guys sing instead?" Jude paled. "Please tell me you didn't sing one of my songs."
"You wish," Spied piped in.
"Yeah, we decided to stick with a classic," Wally assured her.
"Like…?"
"Tina Turner's 'What's Love Got To Do With It.'"
Jude couldn't help but to burst out in laughter, and she felt Tommy's chest shake behind her with silent laughter as well. Jude turned to face Tommy, glaring at him.
"You silent laugh all the time, don't you? You make me think my jokes aren't funny!"
Tommy adopted an innocent look on his face, holding his hands up in defense.
"Hey, you make us think we're not funny either!" Speid cried out indignantly.
"There's a difference," Tommy said, turning to Speid. "You guys aren't funny. And you," he said, turning to Jude, "would have been incorrigible if you had thought you were actually amusing me versus annoying me when you first started."
"You loved it," Jude pouted.
"Maybeeee," he drawled, pulling Jude into his lap.
Jude sat sideways on his lap, arms wrapped around his neck, head resting on his shoulder, just enjoying the embrace.
"Trust me, everyone loves the Jude Harrison charm," she said to Tommy, grinning. "Right guys?" She turned to SME.
"Oh, sorry, were you talking to us? It's hard to tell, what with you and Lord Squinty Frown getting lost in each others eyes or whatever," Speid said as Wally made gagging sounds behind him.
"Who says I was looking at her eyes?" Tommy joked, causing Jude to slap his chest.
"You're such a male."
"And proud of it."
- - - -
The rest of the day was uneventful, which Jude had never been more grateful for. She wasn't sure if she could handle any more drama. Her and Tommy were packing up and getting ready to head out when Darius stopped them in the lobby.
"T!"
"D."
"…J."
The two men stared at her.
"What? I want an initial!"
Tommy just ruffled her hair and looked to Darius.
"What's up, D?"
"Got to talk to you and your girl," Darius gave them a knowing look, prompting Tommy to roll his eyes and Jude to look between the two, confused.
Darius turned to his office, obviously expecting Tommy and Jude to follow.
"What was that about?" Jude whispered to Tommy as they walked a few paces behind Darius.
"D has a very…creative imagination is all."
They got into the office and were surprised to find that they weren't alone in the room with Darius.
Three men stood against the wall, all of them standing over 6 feet tall, and all of them looking imposing.
"Jude, meet your security team."
"My what?"
"You couldn't have thought that you could handle this all by yourself, Superstar."
"I'm not all by myself!" Jude gripped Tommy's hand subconsciously.
"While I trust T to take care of your…body," Another eye roll and a muttered "Jesus" from Tommy, "I do think you need added protection to ensure that incidents like today don't happen again."
Jude was speechless. She knew it was stupid to fight against her own safety, but still…she felt like everyone was taking decisions out of her hands. She wished Darius had consulted with her before deciding to give her her own crew of beefy bodyguards.
"So Jude, meet Ram, Ace and Bear."
They looked nice enough, Jude decided. Ram was the shortest of all of them, but what he lacked in height he sure made up for in muscle mass. He was probably 6'1" with creamy white skin and bright green eyes, complimented by shaggy black hair. He had smiled politely upon his introduction and had an overall friendly demeanor.
Ace was next in height, with flaming red hair and freckles to boot. He didn't smile when introduced, rather he favored a nod, and looked sort of…uncomfortable with the situation.
Bear was instantly Jude's favorite. With a name like that, what wasn't to love? He stood at a solid 6'5" at least, had more muscles than Jude had thought possible for a person to possess, and while his overall mien was slightly intimidating, what with the shaved head and strict black ensemble, he still regarded Jude with a wink and a grin. He was probably the oldest out of the three, maybe in his mid to late 30s, and Jude was positive that he could take down everyone in that room with his pinky finger.
"Hi," Jude gave a little finger wave.
"Boys," Tommy said with a smile, confusing Jude.
"Why if it isn't Little Tommy Q, thinking he's all grown up 'cause he's got some facial hair," Bear said with a grin.
Jude waited for the verbal whiplash that was sure to come his way from using the dreaded "Little Tommy Q" name, but it never came. Instead, Tommy embraced the man in a friendly hug, clapping him on the shoulder.
"Looks like you're still bitter because they chose Big Black over you for the Rob & Big show."
"I'm big and black! I had what it takes!" Bear feigned resentment. Jude watched in fascination at the two men, large smiles on both their face.
"Good to see you, man. Nice to see D is still only getting the best for my girl."
"Hey, you know me – I jump at the chance to take care of prissy little white girls."
"I'm not prissy!" Jude spoke up.
"Darlin', I'm talking about Little Tommy Q over here," he said and Jude could tell instantly that she was going to get along great with Bear.
Tommy did the same manly-hug-back-clap with Ram, who he had also worked with before, and was introduced to Ace, who apparently was fairly new to their security company.
"So," Darius spoke up again once Tommy had finished, "Jude, I'm going through the same security company I went through for BoyzAttack, and I'm very confident in their abilities. They're capable and efficient, and have protected T here from ever being mauled by a fan, so I have every reason to believe that you'll be safe under their watch."
"Um," Jude looked a little hesitant to talk, but finally decided to continue. "No offense to anyone's intelligence in this room, but, uh…they do know that this guy isn't just some fan? He's killed someone. I just…I don't want anyone else to get hurt on my account."
"Hey, darlin'," Bear came over in front of her and took in her forlorn expression, her nervous biting of her lip and he couldn't help but feel his heart strings get tugged by her. He could see how she had the entire male population of G Major wrapped around her finger. "Don't worry about us, okay? If it makes you feel any better, we all have military training – Ace is Navy, Ram is Army and I was a Ranger. To be honest, the BoyzAttack gig was pretty sub par for us. Bail jumpers and private investigations? Now they are more our Speid. So don't think about us getting hurt, darlin'."
"I didn't mean that you guys weren't good…"
"I know," he said in his deep, calm voice, and Jude impulsively wrapped her arms around the large man in front of her. Her arms didn't even reach all the way around him, and her face was somewhere in the vicinity of his chest, but he wrapped his arms around her as well, and shot a smile at the rest of the room.
Once Jude relinquished her hold on him, she pulled back and looked at the rest of the room, slightly embarrassed at her random display of affection, but noticeably happier about the situation.
"So this will work, Jude?" Darius asked in a softer voice.
"Yeah, I think so. Well, maybe. What are they going to do, exactly?"
"You will have a tail following you, you will have bodyguards beside you at all public events and they'll be responsible for ensuring your overall safety, be it in public, private, or at G Major."
"Sounds good, D," Tommy replied, wrapping an arm protectively around Jude's shoulders and kissing her forehead. He was immensely proud of how she was handling everything that had happened so far, and the fact that she hadn't fought anyone on having bodyguards was really telling of how much she had matured over the years. Two years ago and he could easily picture Jude fighting tooth and nail to not have protection and advocating for her independence, despite circumstances. He, himself, was grateful for the extra security as well. Less sleepless nights were definitely in the cards for him now that he had the knowledge that he wasn't the only one looking out for Jude.
"You two ready?" Bear asked. "I'm gonna follow you two home, do a walk through of the apartment, talk to the super, familiarize myself with the area, and go from there. I'm taking point on this case, so if you two have any questions, let me know."
Tommy and Jude just shrugged. Sounded all right to them.
Bear rubbed his hands together, a smile on his face.
"Let's do this!"
- - - -
Bear was done with the apartment in record time. He did a quick sweep, mentally categorizing entries, exits, and all who had access to it (which was very limited, given Tommy's penchant for privacy). He hadn't wanted to linger, either, as he noticed the careful looks Tommy was casting Jude.
After he said his goodbyes, Tommy's eyes continued to follow Jude around the room. He could tell she was only a few inches from a breakdown, not that he didn't understand. He was positive that if it were himself that was in that situation, he wouldn't have been handling it with such grace. He'd be punching and kicking, determined to find that bastard and rip him to shreds instead of let him get away with mutilating some poor bystander.
Unfortunately, he wasn't sure how to deal with Jude, and he was trying hard not to be overbearing on her, so he said his own goodnight to her and stayed out in the living room. He might not be able to fix all of her problems, but perhaps there was one that he could fix.
"Hello?" Kwest answered on the first ring.
"Hey, man. How's it going?"
"T! What the hell is going on? I saw your car on the 6 o clock news! What was up with that? I tried calling but your cell was off."
"Yeah, that was a bit of a mess," Tommy sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Did they say what was found in the car on the news?"
"What? No. They just said that Jude Harrison's mystery stalker claims the life of yet another car."
"Well, he claimed the life of another person, too. And left it in the car for Jude to find."
"What?!"
"Some poor girl that helped Jude out after the last note that Jude found at G Major. The girl had saw someone and wanted to help the investigation. She was found butchered and left in a box for Jude." Tommy could practically feel Kwest pale over the phone.
"Oh my God…"
"Yeah," Tommy agreed.
"How's she holding up?"
"Better than expected. But that's not to say it will last. I mean, I didn't want to look, and I definitely didn't want Jude to look, but you know her… wanted to prove that she wasn't scared."
"Shit's intense."
"And actually, not the reason I'm calling."
"Please don't tell me there's more," Kwest pled.
"Not directly related. But this morning, there was an…incident with Sadie."
"I can only imagine what happened…she's been on edge all day."
"She remembered how Jude's birthday is this Friday and got a little…Christ, it was bad, man. She screamed at Jude in front of everyone at G Major. Accused her of ruining her wedding on purpose."
"Oh man," Kwest sighed. "I'll talk to her. Try to reason with her. These pregnancy hormones aren't doing anything to help it, I'm sure."
"I just…I'm not telling you what to do with Sadie. I know she's just as stubborn as Jude. But Jude's really stressed out right now, and she just wants to do the right thing."
"I hear you, man. I'll talk to her."
"I owe you, Kwest."
"I just hope we make it through this week alive," Kwest paused. "Really bad phrase, I'm sorry. I'm gonna go now."
"Later."
"Bye."
Tommy crept into his bedroom and looked at Jude's prone form. He wasn't sure what he'd do if he lost her. And today…man, today had been like something out of a CSI episode. He was content with watching her for a minute; she hadn't seemed that at peace in a very long time. Then, as he studied her, he noticed the slight tremble of the blanket. She was crying.
Without saying a word, Tommy got into the bed with her, wrapping his arms around her tightly.
"What's going through your mind?" Tommy asked quietly after a few minutes.
Jude sniffled, wiping her eyes furiously. Tommy sat up against the headboard and pulled her into his arms, her back to his front. He was almost convinced that she wasn't going to respond when she spoke again.
"I'm sad Chelsea got killed because of me. She had a…a family. A fiancé. She had everything. And I'm so mad that this guy is fucking with me. I've never been this…angry, or worried, or upset, or scared in my entire life. I'm overwhelmed," she confessed.
"Those are all okay things to feel, Jude," he told her quietly. "In fact, I'd be worried if you didn't feel those things. You're going through what no one should ever go through."
"I'm so over being scared though, you don't understand. I'm so angry that this guy thinks he can just plant his ass in my life! I'm pissed! I want to find him. I want to kick his ass."
"That's my girl," Tommy chuckled. "How's the back, girl?"
"Oh you know, it burns, but I don't think I'd rather be any other place right now."
Tommy slackened his grip on her a little, letting her subtly readjust herself, but he had to admit that he was pretty satisfied with their position at that moment, too.
"Is this week almost over?" Jude sighed as she felt her eyes grow heavy.
"Girl, this is the week from hell and it's only Monday. Did you forget what else we have to do this week?"
"Mm, remind me," Jude said sleepily.
"Well, you have a press conference tomorrow as well as an exclusive interview with Spin magazine, then Wednesday you and I are going out with Sadie and Kwest, then Friday's your birthday and the rehearsal dinner. And then Saturday is…well, Saturday."
Jude's eyes had shot open halfway through Tommy's explanation.
"I forgot that we were going out with Sadie and Kwest! We can't! She hates me!"
"Girl, she could never hate you. She's pregnant, remember? She just got a little crazy today. I'm sure you two will work it out."
"If she doesn't hate me now, she sure as hell is going to if she finds out I'm paying for the wedding," Jude moaned.
"How do you know she won't be eternally grateful?"
"Tommy…trust me on this. She will be a lot of things, but grateful is not one of them."
"Women," he said, shaking his head.
"Are you going to come with me tomorrow?" Jude asked hesitantly.
"To the press conference?" Jude nodded. "If you want me there, I'll be there."
"And the interview?"
"Same deal."
"Good. I hate doing that by myself." She paused. "Wanna write out all my answers, too?"
"Jude!"
"What? Darius always gets on my ass about my answers after an interview. Seems like every time I tell the truth, it comes out bad."
"Well I'll be there if you dig yourself in a hole, I promise. And besides, you have a new arsenal now."
"Oh yeah? What's that?"
"Bear can just take the interviewer out if things get too bad."
This spurred Jude into giggles, which was what Tommy had been hoping for. It had been too long since he had just been able to hold Jude, to hear her laughter, with him being the sole cause. Recently, their silences had been filled with tension or nerves (admittedly on his part) and he desperately missed their lighthearted banter and the constant flirtation with pushing their relationship to the next level.
As Tommy held her as they drifted off to sleep, all he could think of was how badly he wanted to take that next step with Jude, yet the timing just never seemed right. But the more he thought about it, the more he thought the lessons being thrown at him from every corner was that life was short. Maybe there really was no time like the present.