Aaaaaah! I can't believe it has been so long since I updated this story. Seems unreal. So much has happened in these past few years, and I think (or like to think) that I've really grown up. I can't promise when the next time I'll update will be, but I have every intention of it being soon. The next chapter is the wedding, which has been the scene in my head since I came up with this wacky story idea. I have a hard time writing scenes before they occur chronologically in a story, so I have been WAITING to pen this. I can't wait for you to read the next chapter. This is mostly set up for it but I hope you like this, as well.
All the thanks goes to Leenababy, who reviewed this story as recently as last week. This one goes out to you ;)
And for everyone who has this on their alerts and is seeing this and wondering what the hell it is, because you haven't read the story in years, well, I hope you go back, refresh your memory, and enjoy it all over again, like I did. And I wrote the damn thing. Thank you for reading - you have no idea how much I love being able to share stuff with people who like it.
Disclaimer: Doesn't belong to me, unfortunately. Still.
Jude and Tommy stayed up late into the night with Katherine. She had apparently been to quite a few weddings in her time, and she somehow knew exactly what to put into a short but sweet maid of honor speech. She even helped Tommy with his best man speech, which he had surprised everyone by whipping out a pad of paper with notes already made on it.
Jude decided the next day that she had absolutely no desire to leave the penthouse until it was necessary. She was just so emotionally drained from the past few days, she didn't think she'd be able to keep it together if she was forced to plaster on a happy face for the public. This way, she could stay inside and be herself, with the occasional breakdown as needed.
Tommy had to run to the studio earlier in the morning (okay, early to Jude, which was around 9 a.m.), but Katherine had actually offered to spend the day with Jude, who had readily agreed. She didn't think it'd be a good idea to spend too much time alone with her thoughts, and the prospect of learning more about baby Tommy was really intriguing.
"Knock, knock," came the familiar voice from the kitchen as Jude tugged the comforter into place. She wasn't sure if his mother knew that they were sharing a bed but she sure as hell wasn't going to broadcast that to her face.
She hurried to greet Mrs. Du Tois in the kitchen, where she was pulling out some small plates. There was a big box of donuts sitting on the table as well as two cups of coffee.
"You didn't have to go out and get breakfast, Katherine!" Jude talked over her growling stomach.
"Call me Kate, dear, now that Tommy's not around – he isn't too fond of that name, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him," she said with a wink. "And who said I went out and got these myself?"
"Tim Horton's delivers?" Jude asked disbelievingly as she peered under the lid of the donut box. Refined sugar – her one true weakness. Well, that and Tom Quincy.
"It seems that when your son is a top-selling produced who happens to be dating a top-selling singer, things just have a way of getting done for you!"
Another disbelieving look from Jude, until understanding dawned on her face.
"Bear."
"Yes, well, I might have asked Alexander to make sure one of his comrades brought us something to eat. We can't have you going hungry, can we?"
"No," Jude replied as she piled her plate with donuts. "We can't have that!"
As the pair sat across from each other at the kitchen table, Jude found herself learning a lot about Tommy – and not even stuff that she had to pry out of his mom, either. Learning a lot about Kate led to a better understanding of Tommy.
She learned Kate's reaction to Tommy telling her he was marrying Portia ("stunned disbelief does not even begin to cover it, dear") as well as her reaction to the news of his divorce ("they say it isn't a mother's place to say 'I told you so,' but sometimes it really, really is!"). She learned that Tommy's seemingly irrational fear of hot air balloons is due to crawling in one during a misguided attempt at hide-and-go-seek at a county fair when he was 7 and having the balloon actually make it into the air with him on it. Kate said that the operator swears it was an accident, she still knows for a fact that the first thing Tommy did with his position of power was to make sure that man never operated a hot air balloon again.
They eventually abandoned the kitchen table in favor of the living room's couch, making themselves more comfortable. Jude had truly missed having a mother figure in her life, and Kate was the perfect blend of maternal instincts and friendly perspective. Jude couldn't believe it when Tommy called her and it was already 3 p.m.
"No, we didn't eat lunch, we were talking," Jude told him whilst smiling at Kate, who just rolled her eyes at her son.
"Talking about what, exactly?" Tommy pressed.
"Nice try. So when are you going to be home?"
"Shouldn't be too much longer. I've been sitting in with an AP for most of the morning, making sure he doesn't cross the tapes like he did last time."
Jude smiled at this. Tommy tries to pretend like he doesn't enjoy spending time with the Assistant Producers, but she knew that he loved teaching people things they didn't know. It was a man thing, she assumed. Always having to seem more intelligent than the next.
"Alright, well dinner is at 6, downtown at Roulette, so I was thinking we'd leave here around 5:30."
"I'll be there at like, quarter past."
"Tommy, I can assure you right now that whatever you wore to work is not appropriate attire to Roulette."
"Oh. Um…quarter past four?"
"Good call."
"See you then, Jude." She could hear the smile in his voice and it brought one to her own lips.
"Bye, Tommy," she said softly, before ending the call.
She let a small sigh out as she closed her eyes and savored the feelings rushing through her. They had decided last night not to tell Sadie and Kwest about them, for a multitude of reasons, the least of which being Jude's comfort level with the interrogation that she knew would inevitably happen. So that meant that they had to keep their budding relationship within the four walls of his apartment – as ironic as that was, after all, who had to keep a relationship secret while living with someone?
Regardless, she let herself have the moment of being a silly girl in love with her boyfriend (she still mentally squealed every time she said it in her head) and she indulged herself. When she finally opened her eyes and moved to put down her phone, she realized she had an audience. Kate was looking at her with soft eyes and a smile playing at her lips.
Jude felt herself blush and looked away, feeling oddly embarrassed.
"I know, I'm being ridiculous," she said lightly, unsure of why she felt the need to be defensive.
"You're not ridiculous, you're in love."
"Um." Jude bit her lip and her eyes actually darted to the door, contemplating a quick escape. Was this extremely weird to be discussing her blossoming relationship with Tommy with his mother?
"Oh, don't worry dear, he told me that the two of you discussed your feelings," Kate said casually.
"He told you we said 'I love you?'" Jude was stunned. Tommy barely discussed his feelings with her without her having to pry them out. She couldn't see him onfiding in his mother.
"Well, no, but you just did."
Jude's jaw dropped as she stared at Kate, but she felt her lips begin to tug upwards in a smile.
"You are so sneaky!"
"Do you like it?" Jude asked Tommy as she stepped out of the bedroom, ready for the dinner with Sadie and Kwest. Somewhat.
She had chosen a silver dress with a sheer gray overlay that had silver threaded throughout. The sheer gray covered the tiny spaghetti strap dress with three quarter length sleeves and also covered her entire back, to her delight. It didn't dip too far in the front, but stopped mid-thigh. It was somehow sexy and demure, all at once, with a cinched waist to accent Jude's figure. She had paired it with gray ankle boots and a prayer that Roulette had valet parking. She wasn't wearing anything on her legs.
"Jude." She reveled in the way her name fell from Tommy's lips. He breathed it out, like a prayer, or a sigh. "Wow."
She didn't often have times to get dolled up, but this was definitely one of them. She figured she better acclimate her feet to heels now, or they'd be furious with her this weekend. While she definitely preferred her jeans and t-shirts, this wasn't bad for every now and then. And besides, she'd wear anything just to hear Tommy say her name like that, and to look at her like he was currently.
"You look stunning, Jude!" Kate came gliding across the room, taking her by surprise. She hadn't even noticed she was still there – she thought she had gone back to her own temporary apartment. And her eyes hadn't drifted from Tommy's since she had exited the bedroom.
Tommy himself looked pretty edible, with a tailor fit black tux and a silver skinny tie. When Jude finally got over to him, she took the tie between her fingers and smirked up at him.
"Well this will definitely convince them that we're not together."
The telltale sound of a shutter closing drew them out of the staring contest they were unknowingly having (Jude would vehemently deny that she had gotten lost in his eyes, but…) and they looked at Kate, holding her iPhone guiltily.
"You two look wonderful," she told them with sincerity lacing her words. "And also you look like you're about to be late. Shoo!"
Kate rode the elevator with them to her floor, and then Jude and Tommy descended the rest of the way to the garage in silence. It was strange for Jude, who was so used to mindless chatter filling the space that she was in. She had thought that the silence would be uncomfortable, but instead it was peaceful. It was a nice time for her to find herself in her head. She found herself being a little quick to get overemotional these days, so it helped to have some time to center herself. She caught Tommy's eyes in the reflection of the elevator doors and he reached out to give her hand a brief squeeze. He felt it too.
"Aston Martin tonight?"
Jude raised her eyebrows as she stopped in her tracks in the middle of the garage.
"You're going to trust the valet with your Aston?"
She watched him mull it over in his head before he sighed and gestured to the Alfa Romeo.
"But we're taking it to the wedding, okay?"
"Do you miss it, Tommy?" She laughingly asked which spurred her to giggle as he didn't refute her question. He did!
Conversation was light on the drive over, trying to plan out their weekend.
"We don't have anything on the schedule tomorrow, so did you want to head up in the afternoon?"
Sadie and Kwest's wedding was happening on the beach, but, luckily for all attendants, indoors. The ceremony itself was in what Sadie assured her was a knockoff for a 'Newport mansion in Rhode Island,' and the reception was in a renovated barn right on the beach with two solid glass walls overlooking the ocean. Sadie and Kwest had reserved rooms in the beach house for the wedding party for Thursday until Sunday, although Jude was sure her and Tommy would have to leave before the end of the weekend to start the final preparations for the album launch party.
"That sounds good. I'm looking forward to seeing how Sadie's spending the wedding money," Jude snorted. When Sadie told her how much it cost to rent out the house, she almost choked on her coffee. Yikes.
"Are you going to sneak into my room, Babe?"
"Hmmm, maybe," she teased. "Maybe I'll run into Kwest in the hallway, trying to get to Sadie."
"Think she'll let him in?"
"No," she laughed. "Not a chance. She is so wrapped up in the most ridiculous aspects of a traditional wedding that I'm sure that's one she focuses on, too."
Jude looked down at her and Tommy's entwined hands that rested on the gear shift as they turned onto the busy downtown streets that led to Roulette. It was going to be hard to keep her hands off of him tonight and pretend she didn't have feelings for him.
She saw the restaurant approaching and she slid her hand out from beneath his, immediately missing the warmth.
"You ready for this, girl?" Tommy looked at her after pulling his car up to the valet and before opening the door.
"No, but let's do it anyways."
"That's my girl."
They had arrived first, which wasn't a surprise to them, although Jude could argue that they'd have been the late ones if it hadn't been for Kate.
Seated at a small, secluded table towards the back, Jude smiled at Tommy as he pulled out her chair for her.
"I can be a gentleman sometimes."
"Hey, I didn't say anything. You know I think you're perfect." She gave him a cheeky grin and he let out a low groan.
"Stop looking at me like that when I can't lean over and kiss you."
"Okay, okay," she held up her hands in a mock surrender. "I'll stop. For now." She took a look around the restaurant when she noticed him.
"Hey, is that…?"
"Ace? Yes."
Ace, of her security detail, was seated a few tables away by himself, looking almost as dapper as Tommy in a suit.
"How did he get a reservation? Is he on a date?" Tommy smirked at her and waited a beat before she realized. "Wait, he's on duty tonight?"
"You didn't think Bear would just let us go to an unsecured building without a security presence inside, did you?"
"I…I don't know?" Jude mulled it over before finally speaking her mind, something that had been rattling around for a few days. "What is all this extra security supposed to accomplish? I mean, he hasn't tried to kidnap me or anything. We don't even know what this guy wants."
"He doesn't have to kidnap you to pose a threat to your safety. As it is, this guy is mentally deranged. We don't know what he wants, and that's the problem. He is unpredictable." Tommy rubbed his hand over his face, looking tired. "I just need this to all be over. I need you to be safe."
"And I will be," Jude reassured him, taking his hand and wrapped hers around it. "I promise. I'm serious about my safety, Tommy."
"I know you are." Their eyes met and just as Jude was about to glance around the restaurant to see if she could place a surreptitious kiss on his lips, Sadie and Kwest appeared by their side.
"Jude!" Sadie squealed, wrapping her arms around her little sister as Tommy and Kwest traded handshakes.
Jude had to admit – pregnancy agreed with Sadie, despite the fact that she wasn't showing in her stomach. Her skin glowed, and more than her fake tan that she usually sported during the Toronto winters. She looked beautiful in a hot pink shift dress and with the happy smile on her face, Jude let out a little sigh. Tonight wasn't going to be as bad as she thought.
Dinner was progressing nicely, and Jude felt a little silly for ever feeling apprehensive about it in the first place. She had a brief flash of panic when couple came to ask her for her autograph, but she carefully watched Sadie's face, who smiled and rolled her eyes good naturedly, motioning for her to go ahead.
Sadie had taken a brief look at their wedding speeches, claiming she didn't want to read them, but just wanted to make sure they were done. If it hadn't been one thing Jude was postponing, she would've found it in her to be indignant.
"She's not going to get ambushed in the ladies room," Kwest commented as Sadie and Jude left to use the restrooms, with Tommy's eyes following worriedly.
"I hadn't actually been considering that, but thanks for putting it in my head." Tommy noted with relief that Ace had gotten up at the same time and followed the girls to the hallway that led to the restrooms.
"You two look pretty cozy."
"Kwest…" Tommy swirled his whiskey that he had been nursing all night and gave his friend a warning look.
"I'm just saying. Seems like something changed."
"Don't you think we'd say something if it did?"
"No."
"Smart man," Tommy laughed, trying to think of a way to get out of this without lying to his friend. "Listen, you are getting married in a few days. Don't worry about me and Jude. Be focused on your bride-to-be and how you are somehow going to make it through this weekend."
"Don't remind me, man. I need something else to think about so I don't go crazy," he joked. "I heard your mom is already in town."
Tommy looked upwards and prayed to whatever deity that could hear him for the patience to deal with Chaz.
"Can't wait til he's gone," he muttered under his breath.
"Whoa, your mom?"
"What? No. Chaz. Who is playing Gossip Girl with my life. But yeah, my mom is already in town. Chaz convinced her to stay at the Towers. Dream come true." He raised his drink in a mock salute.
"C'mon man, it won't be that bad. Besides, now that she's met Jude, maybe-" He paused when he noticed Tommy visibly relax. He glanced to the side and saw Sadie and Jude head towards the table. Man, he has it bad.
"Talking about us?" Jude teased as the two men stood and held out their chairs. She raised her eyebrows at Tommy's chivalry, but she'd be lying if she said she hadn't had to quell the urge to lean over and kiss him for the gesture.
"Always," Tommy murmured.
"So, are you going to tell me what songs you're performing at the reception or what, Jude?"
"No way. As it is, I had to practically beg Darius to let me perform any of my new stuff before the record dropped. Let there be some sense of mystery!"
A moment of companionable silence fell over the table, until Jude looked up and saw Sadie's eyes look a bit panicked and sad.
"What?" She asked quietly.
"You don't think anything bad is going to happen this weekend, do you?"
"Of course not, Sades," Jude rushed to reassure her, despite not having any idea of what was going to happen. "Everything is going to be perfect. The perfect wedding."
"I don't care about the wedding, I care about you," she confessed in a rare show of sisterly emotion. Twice in one month? Jude wondered if the pregnancy hormones were already affecting her.
"Sadie, there will be extra security everywhere. Between the stalker and Darius letting her play some unreleased songs, it'll be like Fort Knox," Tommy joked. "You really have nothing to worry about."
"I know, I'm sorry. I'm being silly."
She leaned back and Kwest reached an arm around to rub her back reassuringly. Jude mimicked Sadie's posture and gazed at the couple in front of her. She never would have thought Sadie and Kwest would ever have dated, let alone be getting married with a baby on the way. It was surreal, yet watching them now, she felt the familiar rush of rightness flow over her. They were perfect for each other.
Tommy signaled for the check and she had to resist the urge to lean against him, as Sadie was now doing with Kwest. The look in his eyes told her he felt the same, and she licked her lips involuntarily, drawing in a startled breath as his eyes darkened. They needed to leave, fast.
"What are you writing over there?"
"Noooothing," Jude drawled as she scribbled in her journal.
"Noooothing?"
"I wish I had my guitar. But noooo, we had to take the Aston Martin," she teased.
They were heading down to the beach house the next afternoon after lounging around Tommy's apartment all morning. She had been hard to rouse after what she deemed a great night, despite all of her clothes staying on. Nope, she and Tommy had yet to take that step in their relationship, as it was all so new still. She was frustrated as all get out and was a little more than surprised when it was Tommy who had put that rule into place. She felt as if the last 4 years had been foreplay to her, and she was more than ready to take that next step. But no, Tommy had drawn the line in the sand, and their night had ended with nothing more than a heated makeout session on the bed. It was fantastic and frustrating, all at once.
"You'll have your guitar when we get there," he reminded her once again, drawing her out of her memories of the last night. "Sing me what you have so far."
"I don't know…" she hedged. It was a song about him, and the difference between all of her other songs about him, was that now there was no doubt who it was about. He would know. And the fact that it referenced what she wanted to do with him was only compounding her embarrassment.
"Please? One verse?" He tilted his head towards her and pouted and fluttered his eyelashes at her.
That was convenient as she only had two verses actually written. She rolled her eyes at him and gave his arm a playful shove.
"Eyes on the road, Quincy. Don't want us to crash."
"Right. Safety first." He put his hands at 10 and 2 and pretended to focus on the road, all the while shifting his eyes to her continuously.
She took a deep breath and had to silently berate herself. She always shared her songs with Tommy, and she'd be damned if she stopped now.
"It was like my life began that day, I still remember what the jukebox started to play. We knew we had to take it on the road…start me up like a rolling stone." She plunged ahead with what she thought would be the chorus. "Making loud music, we're making loud music. You and I, so loud."
"That the chorus?" Tommy asked after a moment. Jude nodded, knowing he could see her. He was silent for another minute, making her fidget with unease. "It needs one more reverb. Maybe add another repeat under it?"
"Making loud music," she began, pleasantly surprised when Tommy's deep voice joined in to give her more strength. "We're making loud music. We're making loud music, you and I. So loud. So loud."
She looked at him with eagerness in her eyes and his face broke out in a grin.
"I like it so far."
She beamed with the strength of a million suns and then surprised him by closing her journal and capping her pen. Turning up the oldies rock radio station, she grabbed his hand, threading her fingers through his, and rested her head on his shoulder.
He couldn't remember being happier.
She couldn't sneak off to his room that night, and by midday Friday, they had barely gotten any alone time, save for a brief kiss in the kitchen when he wished her happy birthday. He promised her he had a gift for her, but she had to come to his room that night to get it. She grinned to herself remembering the memory. Now that was a promise she could definitely keep.
She was wrapped up in a flurry of wedding activity, helping Sadie with various tasks that only a sister could accomplish, yet would seem insurmountable by others. Namely, she was responsible for keeping Sadie sane.
"You look beautiful," she reassured her for the fifth time as Sadie stood in front of the mirror, checking herself out at every angle.
"You're sure I don't look…"
"No. You don't. It's also physically impossible to look like that, you know that, right?" Sadie was barely 10 weeks pregnant and aside from glowing a bit and throwing up occasionally (she swore up and down that she had gotten a handle on that and just needed to eat Saltines in bed before getting up and she was good, to Jude's delight), she was exhibiting no signs of being pregnant. Most importantly, her stomach was still quite flat.
Both the dress for the rehearsal dinner and the actual wedding dress were flowing and not at all constricting, so she probably could have been six months pregnant and have it not noticeable, but Jude knew that Sadie wanted to keep up the pretense.
The rehearsal dinner was a quick affair, so that everyone could be well rested for the upcoming nuptials. As short as it was, Jude still found herself counting down the seconds until she could sneak off to Tommy's room. She endured a few more hours of constantly reassuring Sadie and heated glances with Tommy before finally begging off. With a quick reminder that she had to be one of the first to get their makeup done the next morning (the cut on her cheek hadn't healed quite as nicely as either Harrison sister had wanted, so some maintenance was required), she slipped into her room.
As excited she was for this whole wedding and as excited as she knew Sadie was, Jude was ready for it to all be over. She just prayed that the weekend went off without a hitch. That meant a lot of things to Jude. It meant no stalker, for one. It meant that her new songs were a hit with both Sadie and the guests. It meant that she actually performed them relatively flaw-free. It definitely meant that her family could keep it together. It was just one weekend, but she knew that there was a lot more riding on it than on the surface.
She slipped into a Victoria's Secret sleep set – silk boxers and camisole – before covering up with a short but soft white terrycloth robe. It was approaching midnight and she knew that everyone would be in bed by now, sleeping or not. She was looking forward to Tommy's gift, regardless of what it was, and she was breathless with anticipation at the thought of being able to kiss him again. Whatever they were – boyfriend, girlfriend, what have you – it was still too new for her to feel completely confident and secure. She was still in awe that she could kiss him almost any time she wanted to. This weekend, of course, being the obvious exception.
Feeling that enough time had passed, she slipped out of her room, making sure the door was silent. She felt a bit like a spy at that current moment, as she had actually taped the door's closing mechanism so that it would never latch. She didn't want anyone to hear the noise, and she didn't have anything of value in her room anyways, so she wasn't worried about a potential theft. She looked up and down the hall, practically holding her breath.
Tommy's room was down the hall, and she could see the light shining from underneath the jamb. She briefly wondered if she should have worn socks, but decided to stick to the Persian rug runner that trailed up the hall, and avoid any creaky wooden panels that she had been trying to keep note of.
She heard a noise and whipped around, but saw nothing except darkness. There were only two rooms with bright lights on, and Sadie's had a much dimmer glow being given off. She had no idea who was the resident of the other bright room, but she had to tiptoe past it to get to Tommy and she prayed she was quiet.
Step by step she inched down the hall, simultaneously cursing and applauding her sneakiness. She didn't think this was entirely necessary, as there was nothing unusual about her and Tommy hanging out, but she didn't want to risk the confrontation with Sadie if she was caught.
She heard another noise behind her and her heart leapt in her throat and she stared into the blackness, not sure where anything was in the hall that she couldn't see. Was that an end table? Had it always been there? She spent so long staring into nothing that by the time she turned around and begun to creep, the door that didn't belong to Tommy, but definitely had someone awake in it, began to open.
She barely had enough time to react when the figure stepped into the hall, causing Jude's mouth to drop open. It was no one she had planned to see.
"Oh, there you are! I've been wondering where you've been, I've wanted to see you!"
Jude saw Tommy's door open and heard the noise of Sadie's door opening, but she couldn't bring herself to do anything except stare at the person in front of her. She finally got her mouth to work after swallowing several times and blinking almost as often.
"Mom?"