Instant Star 1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, basically all my other stories I've officially put on hiatus because I got a big hankering to write this lol. I hope everyone likes it, it's another idea I haven't seen done and I hope it turns out good! It's not going to be nearly as long as my other fics, mainly cuz it'd be really hard to make this kinda story that long. but otherwise, hope you all like it! **

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Please take a seat as I tell you the story of the ultimate love. This love transcended any obstacle, no matter how big or small, how weak or strong, their love conquered it. Ask anyone who knew them, nothing stood in the way of their love. See, the story doesn't start with where they first met or when they both realized their love for each other. No, it starts forty-seven months and 50 weeks after they had been together. The two had known each other for quite some time, just about 36 months and 25 in a half weeks amount of time.

And if my reader is asking why the story starts so late into their relationship, it is because there is no need for the details of the before hand. See, all that happened in the past, no longer matters. The mistakes the two had made, the times they caused each other pain, it all faded away one night. Now, the story begins on another lonely night for our heroine, Miss Jude Harrison.

Since about a month before, she had been diagnosed with insomnia. On this night she woke up and found herself with ice cold sweat beads on her forehead, and her breath coming in short shallow sets.

As a proper narrator, I should state some background information on our heroine and hero. Miss Jude Harrison was the first winner of the ever-famous music contest Instant Star. From there, she had met her hero, Tom Quincy, her producer, best friend, and all around soul mate. Miss Harrison was only fifteen at the time, much too young to be with the twenty-two year old, Mr. Quincy. Mr. Quincy was a very attractive man. A few years before, he had once been a part of the ultimate pop boy band Boyz Attack. When the group split apart, he had sworn never to turn back to his past.

Our heroine, Miss Harrison, is now twenty-two years old, no longer a singer, but a producer, and lives on her own. Once she was out of bed, she had walked over to her bathroom, opened her medicine cabinet and removed an orange medicine bottle from the shelf. Opening the lid, she extracted two pills and returned the lid and bottle back to its rightful place in the cabinet. Placing both pills in her mouth and swallowing, she took one look at herself in the mirror, and then looked away, thinking to herself "Everything's okay, Jude. Just go back to sleep,"

Miss Harrison walked back into her bedroom and wrapped herself tightly in her favorite blanket, allowing the effects of the prescription medicine to take over her body and drift her into a peaceful slumber.

Now our hero enters the story. Mr. Thomas Quincy stood on top of a roof, a mind of an unheard of identity standing beside him. The two stood together in silence, one waiting for the other to say something, and the other waiting for something to come to mind. Mr. Quincy looked up at the stars, and then back over to the fading city lights of Toronto, Canada.

"What do you remember, Thomas?" the unidentified man asked. Mr. Quincy removed his gaze from the city and turned to the man.

"Is that my name?" he asked with hope in his eyes for an affirmative answer.

"I believe so. You must have really been pushed outta there to not even remember your own name," the man remarked turning his eyes back to the city before him.

"Where did I come from?" Tommy was at a loss at everything. He couldn't remember a single fact about himself. He was absolutely desperate for any sort of information.

"You'll remember soon enough. Until then, get used to me being around. I'm sort of like your own 'Yoda'," the man said this all with a cheerful grin on his face. Tommy just looked at him as if he were insane.

"Isn't that a character from Star Wars?" He had lost knowledge of himself, not of the world.

"Wow, you catch on quick. Don't you, Thomas?" the man teased as he walked towards the edge of the roof and sat down.

"What am I doing here?"

"We'll get to that when you remember everything," the man replied.

"Well, then what am I going to do until then?" Tommy asked. The man stood up and so Tommy followed the man's actions.

"We watch and learn. Maybe someone from your old life will tell us something," the man was looking at a specific window and Tommy was trying to figure out which one exactly.

"Okay then, of all roofs to stand on, why are we on this one?" Tommy then gave up and decided to sit down on the roof.

"See that window?"

Tommy nodded. He shifted his body so that he was leaning in the direction that would give him a better view of what the man was trying to show him.

"What can you see in the window?"

Tommy continued to look into the window. He squinted his eyes a bit, but because of the glare from the street lamps, the task was too hard to complete. Tommy gave up and sat back on the balls of his hands.

"A room. But other than that, it's too hard to look through," Tommy then looked up at the man, "So what now Yoda?"

"Well since that plan failed miserably. We'll just have to wait until tomorrow morning,"

"And until then we-" The man cut off Tommy's sentence with the snap of his fingers as the two disappeared right off the roof.

The next morning, Miss Harrison was found eating a pop tart and drinking her usual cup of morning coffee. She was dressed in a pair of jeans, an old Beatles tee shirt, some converse, and a famous leather jacket. The entire apartment was quiet except for Jude's music filling the silent spaces. Jude looked at the clock and realized she only had about ten minutes until she had to leave. Jude walked into her bedroom, picking up her journal, and a tee shirt up from the floor. When she bent down to pick up the shirt, something had caught the corner of her eye.

It was the corner of a picture stuck behind her night stand. Jude put the shirt on top of her bed as she stretched behind to grab the picture. When Jude had the picture in her hand, she immediately recognized it.

_Me and Tommy..._

The photo brought back memories that Jude had left locked in her heart. As Miss Harrison continued to look at the picture, she began a trip down memory lane of the night when that photo had been taken.

_"C'mon Jude! The ride's about to start!" Tommy exclaimed. He tugged Jude's hand as a sign to make her walk faster. Jude just smiled at his child like behavior._

_"I thought I was the kid tonight," Jude remarked, the two had just finished wrapping up her fourth album._

_"But it's a Ferris wheel! It's cheesy fun! Besides, it'll give me an even bigger excuse to be closer to you," Tommy whispered the last sentence into her ear as he had pulled her closer. _

_Jude surrendered once she felt his breath tickle her ear. The two ran over to the Ferris wheel and took the last seat. Coincidentally, Sadie, Jude's sister, and Kwest, Tommy's best friend, were in the seat in front of them. That night was a night to celebrate the wrapping of Jude's fourth album. It had become a tradition at G Major to take the next night off after an album had finished._

_"So, on a scale of 1-10, what would you rate this album?" Jude asked, resting her head on Tommy's shoulder._

_"Mmm, I can't rate it," Tommy snaked his arm around Jude's waist, bringing her closer to him._

_"And why not?" Jude asked, her hands becoming entangled with Tommy's free hand._

_"Because all of you albums are great. And they keep getting better and better," Tommy replied._

_The two smiled at each other. Tommy grazed her nose with his, as she gave him a small peck on the lips. Their smile continued as they gazed into each other's eyes. Their moment of contentment was ruined when they felt the ride stop just as the two were at the top of the Ferris wheel._

_"Ladies and gentlemen, we are experiencing some technical difficulties, please just relax and be patient, we'll have you all down shortly," said the manager of the carnival._

_"We're stuck up here!" Jude yelled as a crowd of people started to develop around the broken ferris wheel._

_"It's going to be fine, I'm here," Tommy said, bringing Jude closer and tightening his arm around her waist, as if he was the only one around that could protect her. Tommy turned Jude's head to face his as the two leaned their foreheads together, he kissed her softly. Just as the two pulled away, Kwest had snapped a picture of the two, forever saving that moment. _

Jude returned from her reverie and opened up a random drawer, placing the picture carefully inside. She grabbed the things she had initially came into the room for and quickly left. Jude placed the items in her messenger bag as she locked her front door and got into her car. She drove with the radio playing softly in the background. Once Jude had made it to G Major, she walked over into hospitality and grabbed a cup of coffee.

"I'm betting that's your fourth cup this morning," said Jude's best and longest friend, Jamie Andrews. The two had known each other ever since they could remember.

"Second, and actually I got more sleep than usual last night," Jude replied with a shrug of her shoulders, "go figure,"

"How many hours this time?"

"Five. That's a lot ever since I was diagnosed. And plus I just started getting into the habit or remembering to take the medication," Jude finished the cup of coffee and reached inside the refrigerator and grabbed a water bottle.

"Ready to work, Jude?" said Vincent Spiederman. Vincent preferred to be called by his last name, he was the lead guitarist of Jude's back up band the Spiederman Mind Explosion, except now that Jude was a producer, she would be producing their first album.

"Ew, work should not be in your vocabulary!" Jude exclaimed as she led the boys into Studio A.

"Sorry, just not sure what to call it since we're finally cutting our own album, dude!" Spiederman remarked.

"It's still recording Speed, you guys got somethin' for me to work with?" Jude asked. Spiederman pulled out five three subject spiral notebooks and dropped them on the ground.

Jude's eyes had widened out of bewilderment and astonishment. She found herself unable to pull her eyes away from them. "What are those?"

"These, are the notebooks that Wally and I have filled with every song we've ever written," Spiederman said as the four them just continued to look down at the notebooks. Spiederman, Wally and Kyle were staring down at them with pride, and Jude just nodding with impress.

"Okay then. Let's start with the most recent-"

"Actually, I have a suggestion," Spiederman grabbed the third notebook and flipped a couple pages in and handed the notebook to Jude.

_Believe the news_

_I'm gone_

_For good_

_Call off _

_The search_

_No one will know_

_That I'm down here…_

"These are kind of…depressing Speed. It's about dying over a girl," Jude remarked as she continued to read the lyrics.

"Yeah, I know. But the music is what really changes everything," the young man motioned for everyone else to get to their instruments as he strapped his guitar over his shoulder.

"Just listen," Wally said as Jude sat down and Spiederman started to play the power chords that made up the intro. Jude listened intently, Speed's voice had then crept in, fitting in perfectly. But Jude wasn't sold yet, there was still more to consider before wanting to record the song.

_Believe_

_The note_

_I left_

_For you_

_You can't turn back the clocks…_

With the rising of Spiederman's voice, came the pounding drums and throbbing bass line. Jude smiled at the energy the boys were putting into the song as they continued to play.

_I'm in a car underwater_

_With time to kill_

_Thinkin' back_

_I forgot to tell you this_

_I don't care that you left_

_And abandoned me_

_What hurts more_

_Is I would still die for you_

Jude fell in love with the chorus. The song was sold once the chorus hit, it combined everything, it showed off most of the band's talents, and it was catchy. The boys finished and Jude said nothing at all still.

"Jude? How was it?" Kyle asked nearly breathless from all the energy he used to play the drums as best he could.

Jude walked over to the studio door, held it open and said "We've got a song to record,"

The boys yelled their celebrations and grabbed their instruments, each being very careful with the drums, and set everything up to record. Kwest watched from behind the glass door, the boys recording, and Jude being their producer. Darius stood next to Kwest, his arms folded across his chest with a smile on his face.

"Been a long time since we've seen energy like that in this studio," Kwest remarked, he wasn't smiling, but he was happy at the bottom of it all.

"Too long. Since the accident, I thought she would never get back into the studio for anything," Darius walked over to hospitality. Kwest followed him.

"Do you think her depression is almost over?" Kwest asked with concern in his eyes.

"She's not in depression-"

"But I heard her and Jamie-"

"You misunderstood. Jude is an employee here so I get all updates on her medical needs. She's not on medication for depression, it's for insomnia. Ever since the accident she hadn't been able to get even an hour's worth of sleep. She had only told Jamie and me, so we asked her how long this has been going on for, and she said ever since that night. So I told her to set up an appointment and he diagnosed her as an insomniac. She's starting to move on, granted, it is sooner than I had expected, but at least she's attempting to," Darius explained.

"Next week makes it a year since all of this," Kwest remarked, looking away and down at the ground.

"Hey, I have a meeting scheduled tomorrow to talk about this. We'll discuss this then," Darius said firmly.

"You're seriously going to make Jude sit through a meeting discussing this? That's a bit harsh don't you think?" Ever since Tommy had left, Kwest made it his right to watch over Jude.

"She wasn't the only one hurting over this. I know it hit you hard, just as it did a lot of people who were close to him. This is something that Jude, SME, Jamie, Portia, Liam, Sadie, you and me are going to discuss tomorrow. Just us, no one else," Darius said with finality as he walked away.

Kwest just watched him walk away. He couldn't understand what it must have been like for anyone else. They all had their own stories of how it affected them. Kwest just sighed and returned to the studio where his artist was waiting to record.

Now our hero returns with the snap of the man from the night before's fingers. The two appeared in the middle of lobby of G Major. Tommy looked around the lobby, confused of where he was. He felt nothing towards the room. Not a sense of emotion or feeling towards his surroundings.

"Why are we here?" Tommy asked, his eyes darting in every direction of the room.

"You don't recognize this place either?" the man asked with disappoint in his voice.

"Not this place, not the last place, or the five places before that," Tommy remarked with sarcasm in his voice.

"Well, you used to work here, Thomas," the man answered taking a seat on one of the couches.

"I used to work here? What is this place?" Tommy asked, curiosity sparking inside of him.

"G Major, home to many musical artists. You used to be one of the greatest music producers in the country," the man then got up from his seat and inspected the place as well.

"But, I don't remember any of it. I'm looking at everything around me and I don't see any meaning behind it. There's nothing here that I feel. Why can't you just tell me who I am and what I'm doing here?" Tommy exclaimed starting to grow frustrated.

"What will you gain if I tell you everything, Thomas?" the man asked looking him with pure serious tones spread throughout his eyes, "You'll have the knowledge you're looking for in due time. If I tell you everything, you'll know it, but you won't feel the meaning in it. So just try and enjoy this while you can,"

"Enjoy this? There's nothing to-" Our hero stopped his rant as he saw our blonde heroine walk out of the studio. He felt what should have been a breath in his lungs stop and what should have been a heart beat freeze as she walked into hospitality and grabbed a bagel. He was absolutely captivated with every move she made.

"I...who...what's going on..." Tommy watched her walk back into the studio with the bagel and a cup of coffee in her hands.

"Does she look familiar to you, Thomas?" the man asked with a knowing grin on his face.

"I must have known her. I had to. This feeling, it's...it's so huge. It's a lot. Who is she?" Tommy asked, eager to know if she was or wasn't in his life.

"I can't tell you that. You'll figure it out on your own," Tommy sighed as he heard these words.

"C'mon, maybe if we continue to look around, you'll remember something," the man led Tommy through the hallways of the studio while everyone worked unknowingly.

Our heroine walked back into the studio finishing her bagel. Spiederman walked out of the studio, Kyle and Wally following right behind.

"How was that dude?" Kyle asked, collapsing on to the couch.

"Hang on, let me listen to the play back," Jude grabbed a notebook and then pressed play. They all listened closely to the first take, Jude taking a couple notes here and there.

_Make time_

_Slower_

_Give me_

_Longer_

_It's too late_

_For me_

_No one will know_

_That I'm down here_

_And believe your dreams_

_Of me_

_Sinkin'_

_So far_

_Below_

_You can't pull me up form here_

_So don't try_

Jude wrote a few more notes on to the paper, her hand flowing with the music as she added some more notes to the paper. She loved the chorus; she didn't want anything about it to change. It was the second verse that had the most changes, the vocals were perfect, it was just the music that she wanted to change up a little. Jude wrote next to the last two lines before the chorus ended to let the guitar ring and just the drums and bass to continue playing with the vocals. And then once the lines were done, the guitar jumps back in.

"Okay, let's try it again with these changes," Jude said as the boys looked the notebook over.

"Yes, Miss Blondie Producer!" Wally exclaimed as he followed Kyle and Spiederman into the booth.

Jude smiled at their innocence when it came to music. She took the headphones into her hand and placed them over her ears. She held her hand in the air as she counted down for the boys to start playing. When they started she moved a twisted a few knobs and slid a few notches here and there.

As she slid the treble, she stopped. A few hairs on the back her neck stood up and this warm yet chilling feeling spread through out her body. It was a sense of the old, yet completely new, completely different. The emotion was enveloping her, she felt almost as if she were drowning in it. Jude looked behind her shoulder, but saw nothing. All that was there was the door she could have sworn was closed, but open.

Jude shrugged the bizarre occurrence off and turned her attention back to SME. But the feeling was still there. The ubiquitous emotion was filling ever empty space of the room, and even though all signs told her to get out, she couldn't help but stay and welcome it.

Our hero was sitting on the couch behind Jude, watching her, enthralled with every move she made. Her eyes had connected with where he was, but she did nothing. She couldn't see him. He saw her, but there was nothing he could do.

The man stood leaning against the door frame of the studio, "Thomas?"

"I remember her. I'm in love with her. She is the only person who knew me, the me no one could see, whoever that is. And I can't have her. She looked in my direction and saw nothing. Why are you showing me someone I can never have?" Tommy asked as he stood up to face the man.

"Because once you remember everything I can tell you what you're doing here," he answered.

"Who are you anyways? The only thing I can remember is being in love with her and then standing on top of a roof with you," Tommy remarked.

"Well, whatever, I'm you're guardian angel," he replied, not really caring anymore.

"Guardian angel? What-wait, so des that mean, I'm….oh gosh, I'm dead!" Tommy started to wave his hands in and out of himself, noticing there was no connection or feeling happening.

"Oh relax. Stop freaking out and listen to me! Yes, you are dead. But you died at the wrong time." Tommy stared at the angel in confusion "You weren't supposed to die the way you did,"

"Wasn't supposed to die? I thought God had control over these things!"

"Even God has his limits, Thomas. Something didn't go the way God had set it up and yeah, you know the end result," The angel said sympathetically.

"And that's supposed to make it all better? I AM DEAD! And the reason being that something didn't go as planned is supposed to make it okay?"

"No, it's not. What you're doing right now isn't living, but it's the best we can do for you. Actually it's the only thing we can do for you," the angel added.

"Just, tell me how I died," Tommy said as he continued to watch Jude.

The emotion was all encompassing. Jude felt like she couldn't breathe anymore, she struggled to keep her heart under control as the beating continued to progress harder and she constantly drank from her water bottle to try and calm down all the emotions she was feeling. It was a mix of anger, frustration, yet undying love. Jude hadn't felt anything like it before. And it was the most abnormal combination of emotions she had ever felt.

"I can't tell you that. You have to remember it," the angel remarked.

"Then what can you tell me?" Tommy yelled.

"Nothing until you have remembered everything!"

"So, hang on. I wanna make sure I've got everything. I have no memories at the moment, I'm dead, you're my guardian angel, I'm in love with Jude Harrison, and that my death was a mistake," Tommy summarized with a hint of cynicism.

"Correct," the angel nodded, his arms folded over his chest.

"Would it be safe to say that I'm going to heaven since you're here," Tommy asked.

"Depends, sort of have to see how this all plays out. I guess it's sort of like a second chance," the angel responded, looking at his shoes.

"Second chance? Second chance at what? I'm Dead!" Tommy exclaimed.

"Do you mind keeping your emotions in check? She can feel you," the angel remarked gesturing towards Jude.

"Feel me? She can walk right through me!"

"You two are in love with each other, idiot," the angel stated blatantly. "That kind of emotion transcends all. Haven't you ever seen Bruce Almighty? Bruce couldn't make Grace love him. It's part of free will. Because you two are in love, she can feel your presence. She can feel you whenever you're around. So stay calm,"

Tommy just threw him a whatever look "Let's just go," and the two walked out of the studio.

Jude turned around once more; there was something uncanny going on. Spiederman noticed the change in Jude's demeanor. His eyes filled with alarm as he saw the weak gaze in Jude's eyes. She pushed herself away from the soundboard and almost fell forward before Spiederman was already in front of her, holding her in the chair.

"Jude, are you ok?" Spiederman asked his eyes still full of panic.

"Dude you just- Jude? What's going on?" Kyle asked once he noticed why Spiederman ran out of the booth the way he had.

"I…I'm not….sure…it was like…" Jude could barely form words, "My heart felt so….it was overwhelming…I can't describe it…" Jude tried to stand up, but as soon as she did, her legs gave out on her and Spiederman caught her. Kyle helped him lay Jude on the couch.

"Jude, try to think here. What happened?" Wally asked handing her, her bottle of wattle.

"I honestly don't know. I just kept getting these weird…hunches? I don't know, it just felt like someone was behind me, but every time I looked no one was there." Jude added. "And then there was this just, overwhelming feeling, I really just can't describe it,"

Darius walked into the room. "What's going on in here?"

"Um, nothing it was just-"

"Just what? What's going on?" Darius asked firmly.

"Nothing, I just, I got kinda overwhelmed and freaked. The guys just helped me get to the couch and were making sure I was okay," Jude explained sitting up on the couch now.

Darius looked at the boys and sighed. "Boys, give me and Jude a minute here,"

The boys nodded and left the studio. Darius closed the door and grabbed one of the swivel chairs and sat down in front of Jude. He took in a breath before starting, trying to think of the right way to say this.

"Jude, I don't want you to be here if you're forcing yourself to be here. If you're not ready to come back then-"

"D, that's not what this is about. I was working just fine for a few hours, it was really weird. I got this strange feeling, like someone was behind me," Jude folded her hands over her knees.

"You got overwhelmed over a suspicion?"

"It wasn't a suspicion, D. The feeling wasn't unfamiliar-"

"Look Jude. I don't know what you believe in, but Tom," Jude's eyes were pleading Darius not to go on with this sentence, "he's gone. Wherever he is, it's not here. You need to-"

"I know, D! I know I have to move on and continue living, okay! I wasn't going to say this was about him. So just because me and him were together for three years doesn't mean that every little odd occurrence that happens to me is about him," Jude let out just a peak into the emotions she was suppressing. There were days where she wanted to explode, but she just kept calm and made herself live her life with contentment.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed anything," Darius apologized.

"Damn right," Jude said with detest towards Darius earlier comment.

"We are all just worried about Jude. You're a little sister to everyone here. We just want you to be okay," Darius added.

"I'm getting there, D. If I mention him, then it's cool to talk to me about it, otherwise, let me just live my life recording and what ever way that keeps me out of trouble," Jude added.

"You sure? You can take the-"

"I'm not taking the day off, D. I want to be here. I want to finish this song. It's the first track for the SME album, I'm staying,"

"Alright, get back to work then," and Darius walked out of the studio and the boys walked inside, their faces almost showing signs of fear to ask what they talked about.

"What was that about?" Wally asked cautiously.

"Nothing, just Darius being worried about me. As usual," Jude stood up. "Let's try that take again,"

"Whoa, dude. Don't you like, want something to eat or something?" Spiederman suggested blocking her from taking another step.

"I'm fine guys. Really I am. I'll eat after this take is done, okay?" Jude assured them she was okay; she had to be if she wanted to start living her life again.

And so the boys entered the studio and started the take, and Jude took her rightful spot behind the soundboard and started to produce.


	2. Chapter 2

"Where are we going now?" our hero asked. The angel had taken him to the pier, a place that brought Tommy back to square one. Tommy looked around; scents filled his memory as he saw the ocean and the sunset. He could remember her delicate aroma as it encircled the few memories he was able to remember.

"We were here together. Me and Jude. I can remember the scent," As the last word trailed off, images, figments, stories flashed through his mind as the memories came swarming back to him. He started to hear the conversation he and Jude shared at the docks, he could see his viper. He could remember loving that viper, and then everything came just as quickly as the memories of Jude.

Tommy's knees gave out on him and he sat on the ground, watching the sunset as all these scenes took their rightful places in the recesses of his mind. He was watching the timeline of his life the way it was supposed to be played out.

"What do you remember, Thomas?" the angel asked, a tone of knowing for certain what Tommy was seeing.

_"Me and Sadie…We weren't right…"_

_"Why?"_

_"You know exactly why,"_

_"You're French, Quincy?"_

_"You actually thought my name's Quincy?"_

_"I wanna scream,"_

_"Booth's sound proof,"_

_"I took a chance! Sue me,"_

_"Taking chances seems to be all the rage these days,"_

_It was the night before their three year anniversary. They had gotten together officially on Jude's 18th birthday. Jude was soundly asleep at the home she had shared with Tommy while he was finishing up a song at G Major. Tommy had decided since it was so late, he'd mind as well stop by the jeweler's and pick up Jude's gift. The radio played softly as he parked his beloved viper in the parking lot and walked into the store. Usually it would have already been closed, but this shop was small and very private, treating their most loyal customers like royalty. Tommy handed the clerk a slip of paper and the man smiled and reached into the vault and picked out a small black velvet box._

_"You picked out a one of a kind pure beauty Mr. Quincy. Whoever the young lady who receives this ring is truly someone special," the clerk said, handing the box to Tommy who took it with a satisfied yet anxious grin on his face. He said his thank you and good night as he walked out of the store with the ring in his coat pocket. _

_It had been raining a storm that night and Tommy was sure to drive slowly and carefully. Tommy had the radio set to an oldies station, and he couldn't help but relate every late night love song to Jude. It was an instinct for him now. He smiled at the thought of Jude seeing the ring and loving it. He smiled just at the thought of the corners of her mouth lifting because he was the one who made her smile. _

_Tommy patiently waited for the light to turn green. And just as Tommy started slowly to press on the gas when the light had turned green, Tommy immediately pressed on the breaks and was flung first back and then through the windshield of his car. It was a slick black Ferrari that had sped right through the intersection and collided with Tommy head on. Tommy felt his back make contact with the hood of the Ferrari, and then slide down the side of it._

_Every part of his body ached from his toes up to his hairline at the top of his head. Tommy tried to move his head, but then realized his neck was broken, and his spinal chord was ruined. He tried to keep calm as he saw the reflection of ambulance lights in the shiny paint of the car. A paramedic made it to Tommy, the look in the young medic's eyes told Tommy that he wasn't going to make it. Tommy's eyes filled with fear and tears of sorrow, knowing he won't be able to see Jude._

_"Shit. Somebody get a stretcher over here ASAP!!!" The medic shouted as another paramedic brought one over._

_"Tell…"_

_"Mr. Quincy, please don't say anything,"_

_"Tell Jude…."_

_"Sir, talking is only going to make everything worse!"_

_More tears flooded Tommy's eyes as they started to spill down his face. He choked on his words, feeling his last breath coming. "I love her…"_

_And our hero passed away that night. The medic looked down at the celebrity that had died in his arms and couldn't help but feel something that he was trained not to feel._

_"Hey, Jim. Aw shit. Look at this," and the other paramedic handed Jim the small black velvet box that happened to have made it out of the accident okay._

_"Jude Harrison, will you marry me…" The paramedic placed the ring back into the box and just held onto it tightly. He closed Tommy's eyes and then stood up. Looking at his watch he called the time of death. "1:34 AM, December 16th, 2011,"_

"Thomas? What do you remember?" the angel asked, worry immediately shown in his eyes as he realized that Tommy had remembered everything.

"Everything…" Tommy replied standing up and wiping his eyes.

"Thomas…"

"Why am I here?" Tommy demanded in a low calm yet daunting voice.

"There's something-"

"Why am I here!? Why couldn't you guys just let me rest in peace!?! Do you understand what happened!?! I died on her BIRTHDAY! THE DAY OF OUR THREE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!! The day I was supposed to propose to her!!!" Tommy was letting it all out. He couldn't hold it in. It was overbearing. "AND MY DEATH WAS A MISTAKE RIGHT!? WHO MADE THE DANG MISTAKE THEN!?! HUH!? YOU'RE MY GUARDIAN ANGEL RIGHT!?!"

"Tommy, don't-"

"YOU LET ME DIE!!! WHERE ON EARTH WERE YOU WHEN I WAS DYING!!!" Tommy yelled. Who was to blame for the mistake?

"Don't blame me for this Thomas! It wasn't my fault," the angel said in an equally forbidding voice.

"And why not? You're my guardian angel, you were supposed to protect and guide me through my life, well look what happened. I'm dead,"

"The boy who crashed into you, he was going to commit suicide that night. There was an entire group of guardian angels who weren't doing their jobs and allowed that one life to get completely thrown off course." Tommy was listening, still obviously distressed, "You and the boy both lost your lives that night, and as punishment toward the other angels, they were sent to live on earth for one week and then promised to be sent to an eternity of life in hell,"

"This is so screwed up. I get my life taken away for someone else's screw ups. That's just terrific, now isn't it?" Tommy said pessimistically.

"We're doing all we can Thomas. In fact we've already done all we can," the angel answered. Tommy looked at him with great incredulity.

"All you can? So what happens to me now!? I'm stuck here until I've lived the next thirty years of my life as a ghost!?" Tommy exclaimed.

"No, that's not what we're doing. Because of this, a lot of things have been thrown off. There's something that you were supposed to do, but because of your premature death, you didn't get to achieve it,"

"And what was that?"

"Marrying Jude,"

"Oh well, that makes sense. Because as a ghost I'm perfectly able to marry Jude," Tommy remarked.

"Don't use sarcasm on me. This isn't my fault,"

Tommy was silent for a bit before replying, "Sorry, this is just hard to accept,"

"I know, the same thing happened to me. Under different circumstances, but my death as premature as well,"

"So how do I accomplish marrying Jude, without actually marrying Jude?"

"It's not something you have to do, exactly, it's more or less something you have to help happen," the angel said.

"What?"

"You'll figure it out. Basically, think of these next couple weeks or months or how ever long it takes as training to be a guardian angel,"

"Guardian angel? So I do get to go to heaven?" Tommy asked, curiosity sparking his emotions.

"Well, you just like to spoil everything don't you, Dominick?" a voice from about 30 feet away.

"Oh, great," the angel said.

"Dominick?" Tommy repeated confused.

"You manage to tell him certain important things but couldn't let him in on your name?" the woman added.

"I didn't know you would be coming down so soon," Dominick said to the woman.

"Well, Michael said it was time for me to step in and help, so now I'm here," the woman explained.

"Mhmm, well, Thomas, this is Natalie, Jude's guardian angel," Dominick introduced the two of them.

"Hmm, you are a lot cuter up close," Natalie said looking at Tommy closely.

"Don't hit on Jude's love! Besides-"

"Don't lecture me on who I think is attractive! And don't tell me the story, I've heard it three times and all in different languages," Natalie rebutted.

"Story? There's a story?" Tommy asked confusion evident in his voice.

"You didn't tell him the story?"

"I was about to but then you interrupted me," Dominick remarked.

"Well, I guess now's the best time to tell him, now isn't it?" Natalie said pushing Tommy towards a crate to sit on.

"Whoa! How are you able to touch me!?" Tommy was even more confused than ever.

"Oh jeez Dominick, what HAVE you done?" Natalie exclaimed.

"Everything that seemed important,"

"Okay, Thomas, you aren't able to touch living things or beings, but you can touch inanimate objects and well, other spirits or ghosts and such," Natalie explained.

"Oh, I see. So, Jude can feel me because we're in love and I can touch non living things, okay then,"

"To explain that, Jude being able to feel you thing, it doesn't only work because you two love each other. Other wise it wouldn't be able to affect her as deeply as it does. It's because you two share equal souls," Natalie was trying to put this into the most simple terms.

"Equal souls?"

"Her soul balances out yours, and yours balances out her soul. When you two are together nothing can be wrong. God created you two that way," Natalie added.

"Okay, so God made us perfect for each other, but doesn't everyone have soul mates like that?" Tommy asked, not seeing the big deal in the situation.

"Not necessarily, true love does exist, but certain things can happen. Like a premature death can happen, or paths can be taken in the wrong direction and away from their soul mates. Making people believe that there is no such thing as true love," Dominick added.

"Very well put Dominick, I must applaud you," Natalie said with a smirk.

"Believe it or not, I can be good at some things too,"

"Okay, anyways, so Jude and I were set on the right paths, I still don't see the connection as to how all this is happening,"

"God had purposely made you guys to show humans that true love is still alive. You two are the prime example. But because those idiot angels decided to screw with the lives they were supposed to be watching, they ruined God's plans," Natalie explained.

"So, me and Jude were literally created to love each other. Wait, what happens to Jude then?" Tommy asked, panic in his voice.

"That's what we're here to fix. It's impossible to have her live a long and healthy life the way we all wish she was able to."

"Are you saying I'm going to be stuck here waiting for her to die?"

"Sort of. You basically did complete your part by choosing to propose to her. What she needs to do is tell your story," Dominick added.

"Tell our story? As in, share with everyone our life together?" Tommy asked.

"Basically, whether it is a song that she sings or whatever some how she needs to let the world know of your love," Natalie said.

"And I come into play with this by helping her in some way go into this direction," Tommy said to himself, he was deep in thought.

"Exactly," Dominick added.

"I've got my work cut out for me," Tommy said looking up at the angels who both just shrugged and sat down beside him.

"We're going to do everything we can to get this done as soon as possible," Natalie stated.

"I just don't see why God can't just let her live a long, healthy, and happy life," Tommy remarked, looking out at the water.

"I'm sorry Thomas. But even God himself has his limits," Dominick replied as the three sat at the pier and watched the sunset for a bit longer.

It was now nine that evening and Jude and SME had turned the lobby of G Major into a dining area. They had the coffee table littered with empty Chinese food boxes.

"Nothing better than eating Chinese right after recording two songs," Jude said taking a sip from her iced tea.

"Don't I know it," Kyle let out a huge belch.

"Ew! That's disgusting!" Jude exclaimed running to the other couch and jumping on it.

"Ay! You all had better clean this mess up when you're done!" Darius exclaimed, his briefcase in hand and black over coat on. "Jude?"

"Yes D?" Jude said her hand peaking up from the couch. Darius tossed her the keys.

"You are closing up, everyone's already left," and Darius walked out of the studio.

Jude nodded as she turned the keys over in her hand. When she looked up she noticed that the boys had already picked up the empty Chinese food boxes and thrown them away.

"Well dude, we're gonna go, you comin?" Speed asked.

"Mmm, I'm gonna stay here for a bit longer. I'll see you guys tomorrow," Jude said. The boys nodded and left. When Jude saw that the boys were out of sight, Jude walked into Studio A. It was odd being inside of G Major with everyone gone. She looked around the studio, in every spot a memory had been made of her and Tommy.

_It was another late night at the studio. This time it was the early morning of Jude's 19th birthday, and their one year anniversary. The two had just finished recording a song and were still wired from the excitement. The two turned to each other and smiled._

_"Song number five recorded for album number four," Tommy said as he kissed Jude on the lips._

_"Mmm, still another nine to go. Can you handle it?" Jude asked seductively. They were closing the studio that night._

_Tommy kissed Jude passionately on the lips and then whispered in her ear, "I think I should be asking you that question," _

_Jude took his lips into her and the two continued to kiss passionately. Their feverish kissed led them to places they had never been. Skin to skin, there was nothing but pure raw love that filled every breath, noise, touch and taste that they had experienced that night. Jude bit down on her lip as the two finished their night together in one moment of pure adoration for one another. _

_Jude rested her head on the pillow that Tommy placed there for her, as she looked back up at him, her fingers passing through his sweaty hair._

_"You okay?" Tommy asked positioning himself beside her so he could lie down. He kissed her shoulder blissfully._

_"For that being our first time, a little sore, but other than that, perfectly happy," Jude replied kissing Tommy softly. _

_"You know, I really really don't mean to ruin our 'after glorious love making' moment, but Darius isn't going to be happy when he sees to naked employees on the floor," Jude laughed at Tommy's response._

_"I know, I know," Jude looked up at the clock, it was three in the morning._

_"How about this, you get up first, make yourself 'look' presentable, and then I'll go do the same, and we just say we fell asleep mixing the song," Jude said._

_"How do we explain the smell of sex?" _

_"Oh! You know the code of Darius's office! He's got air fresheners in his private bathroom," Jude exclaimed._

_"And how do you know this?" _

_"His bathroom was the only one free one day. I convinced Sadie to open his office for me one day when he was out of town," Jude remarked._

_"Fine, I'll be right back," Tommy gave her a kiss and then grabbed one of the blankets to wrap himself in, despite the studio being empty._

Tears were falling down Jude's face as the memory came to an end. She couldn't believe that it was completely over. It's almost been a year since Tommy's been gone, and yet she still couldn't accept it. It was too late for her to even let him know what she would have said if he had the chance to ask her the question she'd been dying to hear. She always wore the ring wherever she had gone.

_Jude heard the phone ringing on the night stand. She wanted to so badly unplug the chord just to make it stop ringing. She grabbed the phone and brought it to her ear. _

_"Eh….what?" Jude said drowsily._

_"I'm so sorry, Jude," Jude's ears became alert when she heard this._

_"Sorry about what? Who is this?" Jude said trying to wake herself up._

_"It's Sadie, Jude, I…I'm sorry," Sadie was crying on the other line now._

_"What's going on? Is everything okay?" Jude asked, it was 1:45 in the morning. _

_"I…I'm sorry, I can't do this. Kwest?" Jude was starting to panic when she heard Sadie break down even more._

_"Kwest! What is going on?! What's wrong?" and when she heard Kwest trying to suppress his sobs, it hit her. _

_"What happened to Tommy?" Jude asked, it hadn't hit her yet. The magnitude of the situation wasn't on her shoulders yet, but she could only understand that something was wrong, and that Tommy must have been involved._

_"Meet us at G Major Jude. I can't…I can't tell you like this," and Kwest hung up the phone. Jude put the phone down and quickly got up. She grabbed a sweater and a pair of jeans and slipped on some flip flops. Grabbing the car keys, she drove as fast but carefully as possible. When she reached G Major, she saw Sadie, Darius, Liam, Kwest, SME, and even Jamie and Patsy there, all sitting in the lobby. Most of them were crying, the others suppressing the urge to. And then Jude saw it on the table they were surrounding. A single black velvet box was sitting on the table along with Tommy's wallet beside it, and a bag with a silver chain, his traditional single silver band ring, and his zippo lighter. _

_"So, what's going on here?" Jude asked, afraid of their answers._

_"There was an accident," Patsy said, keeping her eyes down as she wiped at the corners, tears were actually falling from her eyes as well._

_"No…."_

_"Jude…We couldn't tell you on the phone…" Sadie said, starting to get up._

_"You're kidding me, he's not dead. That's not, no it's not!" Jude exclaimed, laughing in denial._

_"Jude, please just, just sit down," Liam said, he couldn't even say anything sarcastic._

_"No! This is a prank! It's a joke! It's a fucking sick joke!!" Jude yelled turning around._

_"Jude, please…" Spiederman pleaded with her. "Calm down,"_

_"Calm down!? You guys are trying to tell me my boyfriend of three years as of today is dead!! And you want me to calm down!!"_

_"As much as we all want it to be unreal, it is Jude. I'm sorry," said an officer._

_Jude ran to the door but was caught in Jamie's arms. "It can't be. No, no, no! No! no!" Jude yelled sobs threatening to release._

_"I'm sorry Jude….I'm so sorry," Jamie whispered into her hair as he held on to her._

_"No!! Please, no! God please don't tell me this is true!! Oh god…" Jude started to sob into Jamie's arms as Jamie's tears started to fall as well. _

_Sadie walked over, as did everyone else. "Why!? Why him!? No!! Please….please…"_

_"No! He's not…He's not gone!! Please!! Please tell me he's not gone!!" Jude continued to weep. Jamie only held on to her tighter, Sadie rubbing her back._

_"I'm sorry Jude, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that this is real," Jamie whispered his cries of apologies and sympathies into her ear. _

_"It's not true….oh god it's not…" Jude couldn't stop, her heart had passed away that early morning when Tommy had gone as well. _

Jude was curled up on the ground in a corner of the room, sobbing into her knees. Tommy entered the room and stood at one end, his heart broke even more watching his love cry over him. Jude then looked up and into his direction. Her eyes squinted a bit. Tommy walked over towards her, and squatted down so he was level with her.

Tommy reached for Jude's hand, and the tears from his eyes began to fall as he realized she couldn't feel his touch. Jude looked up and stopped crying when Tommy's hand was on top of hers. Jude immediately stood up and looked around. That couldn't have been…No it surely wasn't. Jude convinced herself that she didn't feel anything. Tommy couldn't read her eyes since his were so filled with tears. He kissed the palm of his hand and placed it on Jude's cheek. What was she feeling? It wasn't a touch; it was just an emotion that was overfilling the empty parts of Jude's heart.

"Jude…I love you…" Tommy whispered as he also got up and was about to walk out of the room.

Jude did a double take, had she heard that? She wasn't sure, maybe her hysterics were making her imagine things. But she could have sworn that she heard four words she had been dying to hear for almost a year. Just as Tommy reached the door, where Natalie and Dominick stood waiting, Jude said "I love you, too…"

Tommy looked behind him, wanting nothing more than to run to her, lift her up in his arms and kiss her and tell her all the things he wanted to so badly. A smile graced his lips as the tears continued to fall and he left the room.

Jude looked down at the carpet; she saw a trail of very small puddles. She followed them, and then noticed that they stopped as soon as they reached the door to the studio.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: OMG I AM SO TERRIBLY SORRY!!!!!!!!! I had thought that I had this story just as up to date as I do on DLS, but it turns out I am a horrible person and hadn't updated since I've started!!! So as a way to make it up, I will be uploading as much of the story as I have written (about 6 chapters) and I'll have chapter 7 up as soon as I have it completely finished.

* * *

The next day, Jude was sitting in the conference room of G Major with Darius, Jamie, Liam, Patsy, SME, Sadie and Kwest. She already knew what the meeting was about. Next Tuesday was her 22nd birthday, making what would have been four years with Tommy, and a year since he had passed away. Tommy was standing with Natalie and Dominick in a corner of the room watching the meeting. Darius walked over to the head of the table and took a seat in his leather chair.

"Now, I'm positive that everyone here knows what this meeting's about. And since it's going to be a year since it happened, I wanted to hold this meeting to get some ideas on what we're going to do about it," Darius said in a low and sincere voice.

"What do you mean 'what we should do'? There's nothing we can do," Jamie responded.

"I mean, the media is going to want us to do something in remembrance. Maybe put together a performance where all the money goes to the charity campaign that we started under Tom's name to donate to prevent reckless driving and such. Jude? Is there anything you want to do?" Darius asked.

Jude looked up at him, her face was blank, she honestly wasn't paying much attention. "I, I'm not sure. The performance thing is a good idea I guess,"

"It sounds to me like Miss Harrison is not taking this seriously," Liam remarked, insensitively.

"I am, I'm just don't know what you want me to say. Honestly I don't care what you guys do in remembrance of him. And if I were to speak on Tommy's behalf he wouldn't necessarily care either," Jude said, tears threatening to fall.

"I understand what you're saying Jude. But because of how big he was, we sort of have to even if it's not for us," Darius said sadly.

"You'd think that Miss Harrison would understand, being the almost fiancée' of the man," Jude stood up and slapped Liam across the face.

"Don't you DARE talk about us like that. You have NO RIGHT to even be talking about the relationship I had with Tommy," Liam was speechless. He couldn't even believe that he had just gotten slapped. Jude stormed out of the conference room. Jamie followed her. Tommy stood in the conference room, his eyes narrowed on Liam.

"Relax, Thomas," Dominick said.

"I am. If I wasn't, and if I wasn't dead, you'd need to call the police to get me off of Liam. That insensitive jerk," Tommy remarked.

Jude was standing in the alley, leaning against the railing restraining her cries. Jamie walked through the door and saw her. He walked over to her and leaned against the opposite railing so he was face to face with her.

"He has no idea…"

"He really doesn't. And I think that's a good thing since I'm sure Tommy and Liam really wouldn't have made a good couple," Jamie joked.

Jude chuckled as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"You know, it's okay to show that you miss him. Hell, he threatened me several times and I miss every single one of them," Jamie added.

"I can't show that it hurts though," Jude replied, her tears still falling.

"Because it would mean you're not okay?" Jamie assumed, brushing away her tears.

Tommy was sitting on the opposite roof top watching Jamie comfort her. He so badly wanted to go down there and brush away her tears. But he knew he couldn't. That even if he tried, it wouldn't work.

"I just don't want to be worried about anymore. I want to be better, I want to be happy again," Jude cried.

"We don't expect you to be totally fine. You were with him for three years. Hell, you could even say since you were fifteen since we all could see you two were in love. We aren't going to understand most of it, but we do know that you're gonna hurt. That you're going to want to be angry, that some days you're going to just want to crawl and hide. And it's okay to feel like that. Because it means that you really did love him, and that he really did love you," Jamie explained.

"I just can't believe Liam even questioned it,"

"It's because Liam's a jack ass who couldn't see it in the first place,"

"Thanks," Jude said hugging Jamie tightly.

"For what?" Jamie asked returning the hug.

"For being here. For not expecting anything from me," Jude replied.

"It's what I'm here for," Jamie replied.

The two walked back into G Major, and Tommy fell back against the roof of the building. He lied down on his back watching the cloud shapes go by, and Natalie and Dominick stood over him.

"Thomas? You ok?" Natalie asked.

"Hmm, that's a wonderful question to ask someone who's watching the love of his life live without him," Tommy remarked.

"Well aren't you a bit sensitive today," Dominick added.

"And you aren't making it better for him! Instead of you two playing Mr. and Mrs. Pessimistic, we should be brainstorming ways to get guide Jude to sharing your story!" Natalie exclaimed.

"Why? So she can just die sooner? I'm sorry, but I'm just still not getting the motivation that this is supposed to bring to me," Tommy said getting up from his position.

"I know this is hard-"

"No! You don't know how hard this is! I would rather stay like this for an eternity, than have Jude die early because my death was a stupid mistake!" Tommy was still angry beyond reason. "But no! I can't go anywhere without her because me and her have equal souls and so I'm stuck here waiting!!"

"Tom, calm down ok? Believe it or not, we do know how you feel," Natalie said trying to reason with Tommy.

"No you don't!"

"We feel every emotion that you do," Dominick remarked.

"What are you talking about?" Tommy said now adding confusion into the mix of emotions he was feeling.

"Have you ever thought about how a guardian angel is chosen? I was chosen to be your guardian angel because I have once been in your position, part of that is reliving life through you. Whatever emotion you feel, I reflect," Dominick replied.

"Than how come you aren't shouting and getting angry with everyone like I am?" Tommy asked.

"Because I know how to keep my emotions under control. Thomas, I've been an angel for 50 years, I died when I was around your age, I have nearly 80 years worth of wisdom. I know what you're going through, it's not easy. As much as you don't want to have to do this, you have to. It's either you cooperate and spend an eternity living in heaven with Jude, or you get stuck some where away from Jude," Dominick explained.

"Where would Jude end up?" Tommy asked.

"We don't know," Natalie added. "Which is why, you need to just get over all this, and help us. Jude is on the line here,"

Tommy just nodded. "So where to next?"

"Where was the best place you were able to write or think or do anything?" Dominick asked.

"Um, there was a personal studio in the apartment I shared with Jude," before Tommy could add anything, Dominick snapped his fingers and they all appeared to be in Jude's apartment in the studio.

"Just, don't let me finish. Just snap us there, yep, and of course I'm not being listened to," Tommy said to himself.

"This the right place?" Natalie asked.

"Yep, so, I have a question," Tommy said as the two started to look around the room that was the studio.

"Yeah?" Natalie said.

"Once, me and Jude are in heaven…what happens to us?" Tommy asked.

"You'll either be guardian angels, or God probably has something else set up for you two," Dominick answered. Tommy just nodded and sat down on one of the stools. He reached for the acoustic guitar, but his hand would go right through it when he tried to lift it.

"I thought you guys said I could touch inanimate objects!" Tommy said waving his hand in and out of the guitar.

"Keyword there being touch. That doesn't mean you can use them. It's just so we don't freak people out. Here," Natalie snapped her fingers and an acoustic guitar was in Tommy's lap.

"Uh, thanks. Will I be able to do that?" Tommy asked as he strummed the guitar.

"Maybe, all depends on how things," Natalie replied.

"So, I'm assuming you know what we're doing here, right?" Dominick asked as he sat down on the floor against one of the studio walls.

"Um, brainstorming for ways to help Jude, right?" Tommy assumed.

"Ding ding! We have a winner. Now, as you know we were all given gifts. Tommy, you and Jude happen to share the same gift. The gift of music," Natalie said walking around the room.

"Now, try to think of how to use your gift to help Jude," Dominick said.

"But she can't hear me. She can only feel my emotions," Tommy added.

"Well, try to use that to your advantage. I can't tell you exactly what you should do, but think here Tom. She can feel your emotions. How can you channel that into getting her to hear you?"

Tommy continued to strum the guitar, using the music as a sort of guide to help him figure out how to talk to Jude. He then realized that if it was possible, he could get to her through music. They both had an incomparable connection in music that no one could compete with. Tommy started to strum the guitar, humming a tune to it.

"You think he got it?" Natalie asked with a smile on her face.

"I would say so Nat," Dominick replied as the two watched him re-sing the words to himself.

"Might help if he had a notepad or something," Natalie added.

"Yeah, I think you're right," Dominick snapped his fingers and a pen and notepad appeared on the ground in front of Tommy.

Jude was sitting in Studio A mixing another SME song when Kwest walked in. He sat down beside her, as much as Jude tried to ignore him, she knew he wanted to talk. Jude paused the song and let the head phones rest around her neck.

"Hey," Kwest said.

"Hey," she replied.

There was a silence before Kwest continued. "So, that was some meeting in there,"

Jude just sarcastically grinned as she thread her fingers through her hair. "Yeah, it was…"

"What Liam said was, uncalled for-"

"I got the speech from Jamie. I'm okay Kwest," Jude said with a small content smile.

"They decided to hold a small concert in his memory. The proceeds go to charity and blah blah blah," Kwest summarized.

"That's fine," Jude replied, she knew they would do something that Tommy would find uncalled for.

"They're expecting you to speak, perform, or do both," Kwest added. Jude stopped fiddling with the sound board and looked at Kwest.

"Please tell me you're joking," Jude was desperate for any other answer.

"I'm not. The fans and media are going to want to hear something from you, so Darius is already working on a performance line up, you being the last to perform," Kwest added.

"Well, tell him I won't do it. I can't do that Kwest. He's asking me to go up on stage in front of thousands of people and millions of TV's and sing my heart out about the man I lost,"

"The way you put it, it sounds like what you used to do a few years ago,"

"But it's completely different. This isn't about an ex boyfriend Kwest. This is about Tommy," Jude added.

"If it makes you feel any better, Darius is making me perform, too," Kwest remarked.

"Can you even sing or anything?" Jude asked.

"Believe it or not, I was head choir boy before I met Tommy. So yes, I can sing. I just don't do it as a profession," Kwest answered.

"I still can't believe I have to perform," Jude said looking down at her shoes.

"So does this mean you're actually going to cooperate with Darius?" Kwest asked, hoping for a yes.

"I'm not doing it for him, I'll do it for Tommy. Maybe he's out there some where listening to me," Jude said half not believing her own words.

"He probably is. I can see him now, laughing at us because we're actually slightly agreeing with Darius's ideas," Kwest added.

"Yeah, he'll probably be laughing at what Patsy's gonna sing,"

"I heard her say something about doing a punk rock cover of 'Pieces'." Kwest remarked.

"You're kidding me right? Oh man, Tommy would be so proud," Jude remarked with a laugh.

"You know, this is the first time I was able to laugh about Tommy," Kwest said, looking down at his hands. A sadness filled silence filled the air between them.

"Kwest, you can always talk to me. He wasn't just my boyfriend and guy I was in love with, he was my best friend, too," Jude remarked with a weak smile.

"Thanks Jude," Kwest still had his eyes to the ground.

"C'mere," Jude pulled Kwest into a hug and rubbed his back a little bit in comforting circles. Kwest reciprocated the gesture. "Don't worry, I'm not asking for man tears,"

Kwest laughed as he pulled away from the embrace. "You're a good friend. Glad to see that hasn't changed,"

"I hope it never does," Jude added. "Hey, why not sometime later this week we go out to lunch and talk about this Tommy concert thing,"

"Yeah, okay. Just another heads up, we have to write original songs," Kwest mentioned.

"Grrreat," Jude remarked with sarcasm. Kwest laughed at her response and walked out the door.

"Done!" Tommy exclaimed placing the pen beside the note pad and stretched.

Natalie walked over and looked at the lyrics, Dominick reading them over her shoulder. "My golly gee whiz I think he's got it," Natalie remarked sarcastically.

"So it's good? This may work?" Tommy asked, just out of curiosity.

"It could, we'll have to try it tonight," Dominick replied handing the lyrics back to Tommy.

"Tonight? What's tonight?" Tommy asked, almost afraid of what they were both concocting in their plans.

"Oh, you'll see," Natalie replied with almost a sinister tone. Tommy gulped and tucked the page of lyrics in his back pocket and followed the two out of the studio. Before Tommy knew it, they were in Studio A of G Major where Jude was sitting on the floor tapping her pen against her journal. Tommy stood with Dominick and Natalie at one end of the room, all three of them just watching.

There was a knock on the door. It was Alyssa, the fifth Instant Star winner. She was holding a tray with two cups of coffee from the café down the street and she sat on the floor next to Jude. She was only about 18 years old, but Jude was her idol, she looked up to her like she was the big sister she never had.

"So, how are things?" Alyssa asked handing Jude her coffee.

"Could be better," Jude said quietly graciously taking the coffee and sipping it slowly.

"Got anything written for next week?" Alyssa asked, setting her coffee down beside her. Jude was slightly getting sick of everyone referring to the Tommy remembrance/charity concert in vague terms.

"You can call it by what it is, Alyssa," Jude replied with a weak smile. Alyssa just nodded and looked down at the carpet. "So, how's your song coming for this thing anyways?"

"Don't really have much honestly. I'm not sure what we're supposed to write about. I mean, I know it's for Tommy, and it should be something relating to Tommy. But all I really knew about him was how much he loved-loves…loves you," Alyssa corrected herself. Jude almost winced at the mention of their relationship, only because she was just getting used to mentioning him at all. Alyssa saw Jude's reaction. "I'm sorry, I should really just stop talking,"

"No, don't. It's okay. I'm going to have to deal with it wherever I go. So, um. Don't feel bad about not having something written yet….I don't really have anything either," Jude replied trying to hide how bad it was hurting her.

"For the record, I think it's really unfair on how they're putting this pressure on you," Alyssa remarked, placing her hand on Jude's knee in a comforting way.

"Thanks. But hey, it's for Tommy. I'll do it for him, for us," Jude said with a sad smile as a tear slid down her cheek. Alyssa saw it and immediately embraced Jude. Jude started to cry in her friend's arms at the gesture.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say, I don't know how to help," Alyssa said as she just held on to Jude. Jude pulled away and wiped her eyes.

"It's okay, you've done enough. Today's just been so, ah, it's really just been a tough day."

Tommy sighed, the whole 'not being able to help' thing was really getting to him. Dominick could see this and decided that it was enough. He tapped Natalie on the shoulder and nodded towards Tommy.

"Hey Tom, let's go. I think that's enough for today," Natalie said placing her hand on his shoulder. Tommy just nodded and Dominick snapped his fingers and they left.

The day passed by with Darius telling everyone that their projects were on hold until the Tom Quincy Remembrance concert was done. Throughout the day Spiederman, Patsy, Alyssa, Mason, and the other Instant Star winners entered Jude's studio to check up on her, mainly because she never left the room since she came back from the alley.

Jude was sent home around seven that evening; everyone could see that she couldn't work and was too fogged up to do anything. She walked into the studio that she hadn't been inside for almost six months. She entered the room once when she had decided that she was ready to clean out some of Tommy's things, but once she had entered she froze and closed the door again.

She sat in the leather chair behind the soundboard and noticed that there was a tape inside the cassette recorder. She remembered that ever since the two had recorded White Lines that they officially loved recording on old play back devices. She hit play, and at first it was all static. But as her ears naturally tuned out the static, she heard something barely coherent. Just before the tape stopped, she heard one thing some what clearly.

"…_notepad or something…"_ Jude's eyebrows furrowed as she pressed rewind and then played it back again. "_…can't hear……only feel…."_ Jude's eyes widened at the sound of the voice. No matter how clogged the audio was with static, she could recognize Tommy's voice anywhere. Jude rewound the tape even more to see if there was anything else she could find out. "…._brainstorming ways….help Jude…."_

Jude covered her mouth. She got up from the chair and bumped up against the wall. She could feel every hair on her body stand up when she heard those words. She knew that the tape had to have been recorded recently; Kwest had gone through and taken all of the audio tracks that were left since Jude couldn't walk in there on her own. But then she remembered she hadn't pressed stop. But when she get up and was about to stop the tape, she heard the faint strumming of a guitar.

But before the song could actually get started, the tape stopped. Jude quickly ejected the tape and flipped it to the other side and played it. But there was nothing. The corners of Jude's mouth lowered and became a frown as she sat back down in the chair and held on to the tape tightly. A few tears slipped down her face. She quickly wiped them away and walked out of the room with the tape in her hand.

For some odd reason, she couldn't find the abnormality in this. She knew Tommy was gone, she knew he would never come back. But she knew he was always with her wherever she went. The way she saw it, he will always be with her, but now, she just couldn't tell where he was. Jude was never a spiritual or superstitious person, but if the evidence was right in front of her, she could do nothing but believe it.

By the time Jude was done fiddling with the cassette, it was already nine and Jude wanted to try and get at least two hours of sleep. She changed into her cami top with her pajama pants and tied her hair up. She then walked into her bathroom and washed her face, brushed her teeth, and then took the two capsules to help her sleep. She then went and lied down tucked in the covers of her bed and watched the digital clock on her night stand change each minute until her eyelids grew heavy and she fell asleep.

Dominick, Tommy and Natalie walked into the bedroom. When Natalie and Dominick noticed that Jude was already asleep, and saw the look of pure sincerity in Tommy's eyes, they took this as their cue to leave.

"Tom, we'll be outside waiting," Dominick remarked.

"Wait, what do I do?" Tommy asked in desperation.

Natalie snapped her fingers. "I think the rest is self-explanatory,"

Tommy looked at the acoustic guitar in his hands. When he looked up, Natalie and Dominick were already gone. He sat down in the chair next to the window and watched Jude sleep peacefully. Jude wrapped herself tightly in the blanket. Tommy always believed that Jude looked the most angelic when she was asleep.

Tommy started to strum the guitar, making sure the chords sounded right before he let his voice join the soft strings. Jude started to stir a little bit, but Tommy knew it would take more than a soft guitar piece to wake her.

_The dawn is breaking_

_A light shining through_

_You're barely wakin_

_And I'm tangled up in you..._

_Jude was sitting at a single dinner table at the front of the stage of a small cafe. It was an open mic night and Tommy was standing at the stage, singing his song to her. Jude's eyes filled with tears. _Even though she had known it was a dream, she reveled in the moment of Tommy being there one last time.

Tommy finished the song and noticed the change in Jude's face. A tear was rolling down her face. Tommy walked over toward her. As he leaned down, he could smell her shampoo. _Heh, thermasilk...she never was a fancy shampoo bottle fragrance girl._ Tommy thought to himself. He whispered into her ear.

"Tell them our story, Jude. Share with them the story of our love..." Jude's eyes opened, but Tommy was already gone.

Jude sat up in her bed, holding in the great emotion that was built up inside her. She had to have heard his voice that time. It was for sure that time. The other time could have been because she was upset, but this time, it was real. Pulling the covers around herself tightly, she told herself it would be impossible to explain this to anyone. _They'd all think I was crazy_.

"I'll tell them. I'll tell them..." Jude said aloud. She wasn't sure if she was saying the words to herself, or to Tommy.


	4. Chapter 4

_"Good Morning Toronto! It's a beautiful Tuesday morning, a high of 68 with a low of 47 later in the evening. To get this morning started, just to wake some people up and get them ready to dance all the way to work, here's 'My Love' from Justin Timberlake," _Jude very lazily had gotten out of bed.

"This has got to be the worst morning song choice I've ever heard in my life," Jude thought to herself as she grabbed a towel from the closet and walked into the bathroom. Once the chorus had hit, she couldn't help but remember the evening that she had first really held anything towards the song.

_"There is nothing going on between me and Speed! He's Spiederman for god's sake!!" Jude exclaimed to Tommy outside of the club._

_"How can I be so sure? You're with him 24/7 and there's a lot of chemistry between you two! Not to mention that he still isn't over you!" Tommy remarked._

_"You're kidding me. That was TWO years ago! We're just friends! I'm sorry that you aren't the only guy in my life!!" Jude yelled._

_"Oh don't throw that in my face! That's not what this is about!" Tommy's eyes were starting to fill with not only anger but the inability to believe what he was hearing._

_"Then tell me what this is about, Quincy! I don't get why you're getting all territorial and distrusting towards me!!" Jude was staring right into his eyes, reading every emotion._

_"It's not that I don't trust you, Jude. I don't trust him," Tommy commented._

_"Where is all this coming from? When have I ever given you reason to suspect that something's going on between me and Speed?" Jude asked. Tommy just stared at Jude, not sure what to say. "Exactly,""_

_"Jude-"_

_"Talk to me when you're done being an ass," Jude walked through the door and returned to the party. _

_Inside she was dancing with Sadie and Karma to all of the fast songs. Two songs later, Jude saw Tommy walk back inside and go and talk to Kwest. Jude danced a bit longer, trying to ignore Tommy's presence. _

_And then the beat started to pierce through the speakers. The club felt like it was shaking in its entirety and the white, pink and blue strobe lights only made everything look slower and themed. Jude closed her eyes for a bit. For only a moment, she felt as if she were the only one on the dance floor, dancing out her frustrations. But then she felt a pair of familiar hands meet with hers, and she opened her eyes. _

_Tommy's eyes were filled with regret, the knowledge of how wrong he was, and one question. Can she forgive him? Jude continued to dance, but twirled in his arms so that her back was to his front and they danced. There was no provocative grinding or anything even remotely wrong. To everyone in the room, the heat of just the two being together in a room was every where. _

_I can see us holdin' hands_

_Walkin' on the beach_

_Our toes in the sand_

_I can see us on the countryside_

_sittin on the grass_

_side by side_

_you could be my baby_

_let me make you my lady_

_girl you amaze me_

_aint gotta do nothing crazy_

_see all I want you to do_

_is be my love_

_Jude looked up and her eyes met with his. He saw forgiveness, purity, and just love in his eyes. Her lips met with his for a moment, sending chills down both their spines, and Tommy was reminded of what kind of girl Jude was. An honest, loyal, faithful, loving person._

The song ended and Jude took in a deep breath. She twisted the ring that was dangling from what used to be Tommy's silver chain. She always wore it, along with his silver ring on the chain.

By around 9:45AM, Jude was eating a pop tart and reading Rolling Stone Magazine sipping her cup of coffee. As soon as she had finished she went ahead and left to G Major. There was another meeting for all G Major artists and producers that morning. Just as Jude entered the lobby, she walked straight to the conference room where several people already were. Darius was sitting at the head of the table. Jude took a seat next to him, putting her messenger bag down beside her.

"Alright, now that everyone is here, let's begin. I've scheduled to have SME, Mason, Patsy, Alyssa, Karma, Shay, Kwest and Jude to perform. I was thinking you all perform original songs that have been produced by Tom-"

"Um, D. I have a suggestion," Jude said raising her pen slightly above her head.

"Ok, Jude, you have the floor,"

Jude breathed in deeply before she started, "I was thinking that maybe we should perform songs that Tommy had written, or myself. I'm not using this is a way to boost my credibility as a producer, but, I think it's safe to admit that if anyone here knew Tommy the best it was either me or Kwest." Darius nodded, liking where Jude was going with this. "And so, since Tommy was most famous when he was producing me or any other artist, I think it'd be best that since this is a remembrance concert for him, that the best way to remember him is through his music,"

"I like it, anyone object?" Darius asked. No one said a word or motioned a gesture that said otherwise. "Alright, this meeting's over, everyone get to work. And please, no Boyz Attack covers,"

Everyone left the room and went to their respective studios as Jude walked into Studio A. Jude tossed her messenger bag on the couch and then fell on the couch just as Kwest entered. His head turned to the side in that way a puppy's head would if something odd were happening. Kwest just laughed as he threw a pen at her.

"Up. We've got six acts out there confused as to which songs they are performing. We get three hours of air time and an hour and a half of it being reserved for music. So, c'mon, what's 180 minutes divided by 8?" Kwest said.

"It's 10:30 in the AM, everyone knows I was not put on this earth for math ever since the six percent in grade ten so why do you constantly ask me mathematical questions?" Jude groaned into the pillow.

"Okay, well then. If we add in commercial breaks, which would be about...oh, ten for the whole three hours, divide it by two-"

"I swear if you keep going blood will trickle down not only my ears but yours two from the screaming I will commence," Jude said into the pillow.

"Basically, it's gonna be about three or four songs per person," Kwest said. Jude immediately shot up from the couch.

"And this is all planned for next Sunday? Darius is insane if he thinks we can pull this off," Jude remarked.

"I know, which is why we all need to decide what songs we're doing Asap, and then use what time we have left to originate the songs and prepare for the actual concert," Kwest added.

"Alright, call everyone in and we'll go over songs," Jude said as everyone piled in with writing utensils and instruments. "Well, that was quick,"

Tommy, Natalie and Dominick were watching them all work from the outside.

"So, what happens now that I've done my part?" Tommy asked.

"We're basically done, we just gotta see how it turns out," Natalie replied.

"Yep, so, I think it's safe to say this is our down time," Dominick added.

"Down time?"

"Thumb war!!" Natalie exclaimed. Dominick and Natalie both squatted down on the floor and started to thumb wrestle.

Tommy stared down at the two with a shocked face. The two angels who could rarely agree on anything and who were usually more or less, more work less play were actually sitting on the floor thumb wrestling.

"Oh! I win!" Dominick raised his fist in the air victoriously.

"You cheated! You diverted me from the match! I'm calling an interference!" Natalie announced.

"You can't call an interference! That only works in football!"

"I don't care! You won the cheater way!"

"I wonder what kind of couple you two would make..." Tommy said thoughtlessly as he sat down next to the both of them.

"What are you talking about? We're married," they both said lifting their left hands which both had a small gold band ring on their ring fingers.

"WHAT!?" Tommy exclaimed looking between both hands.

"We've been married since Natalie got here," Dominick remarked.

"Wait...you two knew each other when you were alive as well?" Tommy asked.

"That's right! We never told him the story of how we met!" Natalie said looking at Dominick.

"Well, we're five years apart-" Dominick started.

"And were childhood friends-"

"We absolutely despised each other once Natalie was old enough to talk-"

"It started with when he threw sand in my eyes when we were playing explorers in the park. He got mad that I claimed the part of the park that had the most shade,"

"And then she pinched me and threw a rock at my head, which is how I got this scar," Dominick pointed under his chin where there was a small scar.

"From about then till I was 14 and he was 19 we basically couldn't get along," Natalie added.

"And then when I came home to visit my family from college, I saw this young woman sitting on her porch strumming an acoustic guitar," Dominick remarked.

"Don't think I was a musician, far from it. I just always strummed random chords," Natalie added.

"I thought she was about 17, but then my parents corrected me and said that no one had moved, that was Natalie from when I was a little kid," Dominick said.

"And the rest is much like your story. Stolen kisses, jealousy over significant others, causing each other pain here and there, but once we were both old enough, we got together," Natalie summarized.

"Everyone was more relieved than happy. Our friends always said that we had so much tension that it was love. Except for our parents, they were a bit relunctant," Dominick mentioned.

"True, my dad wasn't too keen on the idea of me dating someone five years older," Natalie said, reminiscing.

"So...how did the relationship end...when you two were alive I mean," Tommy said, almost engrossed in the story.

"Well, I was just a few years younger than you, about 23 or 24, and I got drafted to go to war. While in battle, I was shot and never found," Dominick said straightforwardly.

Natalie held on to his hand and she began to tell her part, "I didn't receive the news until I got a telegram in the mail about three months later. I ended up passing away about five years later,"

"How?"

"Car accident, a friend of mine was driving back drunk from a wedding. We were both pretty intoxicated and yeah, the rest is history," she said. Tommy nodded in understanding. The story was somewhat upsetting, but in a contradicting way uplifting, it ended in happiness because the two ended up together. But to the rest of the world, it was more of the loss of two precious lives.

Back to our young heroine who was sitting in a circle with the rest of the artists, contributing to a fruitless discussion of what they should all do. Jude rested her chin in her hand as she watched them all bicker about what they should sing.

"I say forget Darius and we should all do hardcore punk or rock renditions of Boyz Attack songs!" Patsy exclaimed mimicking an air guitar.

"No. Boyz. Attack. Covers. End of discussion." Jude said simply blowing a piece of hair out of her face.

"Then what should we do? You haven't said a thing this whole time," Karma remarked as she used her hands as support to hold herself up.

"Maybe because I'm just as lost as you all are when it comes to this. We're supposed to be co-writing songs together or singing covers of Tommy's,"

"Every song he ever wrote was about you," Spiederman said bluntly from behind his guitar.

"What?" Jude was surprised.

"I think it'd be a lot easier if we just did cover songs of either yours or Tommy's," Spiederman added.

"Well, he's got a point Jude." Alyssa said supporting Spiederman. "If we're going to remember Tommy, then he's going to want us to remember the times of his life when he was at his best and happiest. And that's when he was with you," Jude felt tears stinging her eyes.

"I agree, he was all work and bad boy dude before you stepped into his life. Since then he changed. He became the person he had finally wanted to be," Kwest mentioned.

"So, it's decided then? We're going to do Jude and Tommy covers?" Karma asked; hoping to establish the plan.

"Looks like it. You alright with that, Jude?" Mason asked, everyone looked over in Jude's direction. She paused for a moment, removing the bottom of her pen from her mouth before she answered.

"Yeah, let's get started," Jude said with a shy smile as they started to get to work.

Tommy stood in front of the door, a small smile across his face as he watched them all start to work. Dominick and Natalie watched with a satisfied grin on their faces as they all walked off together.

With only four days left, the third day was used to hold private meetings with the artist and Jude as she tried her hardest to help the performers understand what emotions could be running through their heads. At the moment, Jude was sitting at the piano with Karma leaning on the piano, tapping her pen against the journal.

"Alright, since both Tommy and I have co-written songs with you, I think it's safe to say that we can just have you perform a few that are more, close to home," Jude said looking through her last couple albums.

"I think two of the biggies would be 'Have You Ever' and 'Hurt'," Karma remarked pointing the two out. Jude looked at the two songs and then remembered what they were about.

_Jude was sitting on the floor of the rehearsal space, it was a few weeks before her eighteenth birthday and she had just gotten into a fight with Tommy. She remembered that Darius wanted her to try and help Karma write a love song, and so Jude quickly started to jot down lyrics._

_Her phone sat on the couch, vibrating with Tommy's picture flashing on the screen. Jude just pressed ignore as she continued to write the song, humming the music to herself. _

_"You'd give anything…to make them feel the same..yeah," Jude sang as she continued to write down the lyrics._

"I agree, hmm, we're going to need two other songs that will keep the audience at least some what positive. We don't want people to come and get their hearts broken all over again. We still want them to be happy about Tom," Jude said as she started to flip through the cd's again.

Karma watched her intently, she saw past her façade that she called 'being professional'. Hell, the two worked in music, the majority of the work was emotions. Karma let her hand rest on Jude's back in a comforting way.

"I know this must be insanely hard for you to do. I just, you deserve like the world's biggest pile of 'props' for organizing this," Karma said. Jude looked up at her with gratitude and then back down at the cd's. "You know, if there's anything I could do-"

"It's okay Karm. I mean I'm not perfectly happy or anything, far from it, but I can talk about him now without breaking down into gut wrenching sobs," Jude said with a strong smile as she pointed out a song "How about this one? It's catchy and will have people cheering,"

"You sure it's appropriate?" Karma asked noticing she picked 'More than a Woman'.

"Yep, it's good,"

"I kind of have a question about one of the songs though," Karma mentioned timidly.

"Which one?"

"Hurt…I've never really sung it before. I mean, I've sung it before, but this is different, it's for something completely different," Karma said, "I think I may have forgotten how to sing it,"

"Hmm, have you tried going back to where you were when you helped write it?" Jude asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, what was going through your head when you first sang it? What was happening to you that made you want to write that song?"

"A good friend of mine had passed away, I must've been only like..16 when I wrote it," Karma remarked.

"Okay, I want you to try and remember what it was like to find out about that. How bad it felt, just to the point where you can really get yourself to sing it the way you want," Jude suggested.

"Alright, I think I can do that. What's the last song?" Karma asked. Jude handed her some lyrics. "Not pre-recorded?"

"Nope, Jude Harrison original. It's in an acoustic R&B sound so you should be able to fit it just right," Jude said handing her the recording of the song. "It's pretty easy to follow, make it your own,"

Karma nodded and gathered her things, "I'll see you tomorrow to rehearse and stuff," Jude waved after her as she left the room.

Tommy was sitting with Dominick and Natalie in what appeared to be a restaurant of the sorts. Tommy's eyes quickly glanced about the room, searching for something peculiar to give away what the restaurant's true purpose was. He found nothing.

"So, why are we at a restaurant?" Tommy asked. Natalie looked over at Tommy, puzzled by his question; that is, until she looked over at Dominick and saw his eyes fill with nervousness.

"Oh my goodness, Dominick! You didn't feed him this whole entire time!?" Natalie exclaimed back handing his arm.

"Okay, one, OUCH-"

"I can't believe you didn't feed him," Natalie remarked folding her arms across her chest.

"Feed? I thought I didn't have to eat," Tommy had confusion written all over his face.

"Thank you! My point exactly!" Dominick shouted throwing his hands in the air.

"You're such a moron. Just because he doesn't have to eat doesn't mean he won't want to!" Natalie added and Tommy's attention peaked at the mention of eating.

"I can eat? How? I am dead, right?" Tommy asked poking himself and seeing his finger go into his arm. "Yep, still dead. So how is it I can eat?"

"Like this," Natalie began to butter the French bread and started to eat it.

"He's asking for an explanation, Nat," Dominick remarked obviously annoyed as he continued to rub his arm.

"Oh shut up. You're a big baby and he wouldn't be asking me to explain everything to him if you hadn't explained it to him in the first place," Natalie rebutted with attitude. "You see Tom, we're not in a mortal's restaurant. It's one of the few restaurants around here for spirits. So anything in here that you see, we can touch,"

"Hmm, I see. Okay, I think I'm good to order," Tommy said with a nod.

The waitress walked over with a smile on her face and her notepad and pen ready for their orders. Natalie and Dominick ordered first and then Tommy began.

"Okay, I'll have one cheeseburger, hold the onions, a plate of the bbq spare ribs, a bowl of mashed potatoes, the chicken pot pie, a bowl of clam chowder, the southwestern steak, and three slices of Hawaiian pizza," Tommy said. The waitress got it all down and then remarked. "First time eating since the passing?"

"Yes ma'am it is," Tommy added with a grin as the waitress just nodded and walked off.

Tommy leaned back in his chair, a satisfied grin graced his lips. Natalie looked over to Dominick who had a humorous fear stricken expression painted about his face.

"You starved him!!" Natalie remarked backhanding his arm again, harder.

"I can't starve him if he can't be starved in the first place!!" Dominick replied rubbing his arm again. The two continued to argue and Tommy just watched them go at it in amusement. His eyes bounced between the two as if it was the most important rally between two tennis players at a championship.

Jude was sitting in the room writing a song when Spiederman walked in quietly. He took a seat in the swivel chair next to Jude in front of the lap top. Spiederman started to look through the many playlists in iTunes.

"Anything I can help with Speed?" Jude asked finishing up the lyrics. She closed the notebook and placed the pen down and gave him a childish grin.

"Well, I was wondering if we could change one song. I know we don't have much time already as it is, but I think since everyone else is playing basically a love song of all love songs, that we should too," Spiederman explained.

"You do have a point. If you can find a good song then go with it," Jude's elbow accidentally bumped into Speed's arm, causing him to press play on the laptop.

Tommy's voice coursed through the speakers. "Tommy was going to do a solo album?" Jude said when she heard the unfamiliarity that filled the room.

"Jude's proposal song…He really was going to propose," Spiederman said as he read what the song was labeled. He looked up at Jude who had a look of remorse written across her face. "Here, let me just-"

"Wait." Jude stated, her previous emotion now being replaced with contemplation. She turned her dominant ear to the sound and listened a bit closely. "This is your guys' new song,"

"What? No Jude. We can't play this. It's a song directly from him to you. It's wait too personal," Spiederman replied.

"Speed. All of the songs are personal. Trust me on this. You guys can totally pull this off," Jude said wiping away the tears that had yet to fall. Spiederman pulled her into a hug and held her close to him. He gently kissed the top of her head. She cried a little in his arms as he held her tighter.

"It's gonna be okay, Jude. You'll get through this," Spiederman said.

"We were supposed to be married right now, working on my seventh album. But instead, I'm here. Just wasting away," Jude said wiping her tears.

"He's watching you Jude. He's always with you. And you're not wasting away. You're doing the amazing thing on your part that not everyone in your situation could do. You're living, Jude. It's gonna be hard, dude. You just may fall on your ass and eat it hard, but that's when the rest of us dudes come in," Jude laughed at his example. "We'll catch you when you fall,"

Jude smiled and wrapped her arms around him tighter. She gave him a gift from a friend; a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks jackass. That was all very well said," Jude remarked.

"No problem big chicken," Spiederman added.


	5. Chapter 5

While Tommy was happily enjoying his meal inside the restaurant, Natalie tapped Dominick on the shoulder and motioned to the cell phone in her pocket. Dominick looked her in the eye and saw the signal saying they were needed outside.

"Tom, we'll be right back," Dominick said. The two walked outside and to the corner of the street out of the window's view. There stood a tall man with black suit pants, dark blue shirt, a leather coat and a fedora on.

"Michael," Dominick acknowledged the angel.

"Dominick. Good afternoon Natalie," Michael tipped his hat to her.

"What's with the clothes?" Dominick added, taking note on his attire.

"Is something wrong with them?" Michael asked

"No, nothing's wrong with them," Dominick said, muttering the next part under his breath, "if you're part of the Chicago mafia,"

Natalie smacked Dominick's arm again. "Shh!"

"Okay that is the 3rd time today, my arm is beginning to bruise," Dominick remarked.

"Well maybe if you would stop doing stupid things your arm wouldn't be bruised!"

"What!? I'm not-"

"Ahem! If we could get down to business then I can get back to my job," Michael replied firmly.

"Oh, right. What's going on?" Natalie asked, her attention turning back to Michael's presence.

"Before we really get started, where's Thomas?" Michael asked, his eyes scanning around them every where.

"Inside eating. Why?" Dominick's eyes started to fill with vigilance.

"We've found something out, about the Harrison-Quincy case."

"Is there something we should-" Natalie was interrupted.

"There's nothing to worry about. But this is a first of things ever since the resurrection," Michael stated.

"No way. How is that possible? You mean-"

"Yes. We don't understand how or why, but it just is. Or, will," Michael added.

"Is there anything you want us both to do? Is there anything we can do?" Dominick asked.

"There's nothing. Just, don't tell him just yet. We aren't positive it will happen, but there is a possibility." Michael stated.

"Okay, you have our word," Natalie said.

"I'll see you when things are tied up. Good day," and Michael was gone. Dominick and Natalie walked over to the nearby bench and sat down, both in dumbstruck states. Dominick's hand found Natalie's, and their entwinement tightened.

"What do we tell him if it does happen?" Dominick asked Natalie, looking into her eyes. For once, he was letting her be the strong one.

"I'm not exactly sure, if it does happen, there really is nothing we can do. We'll just have to watch, like we've always done," Natalie replied, planting a small kiss on his cheek.

"You're right. Let's go back inside. Tom must be curious as to where we were," Dominick remarked. He smiled down to Natalie, she smiled back at him once she was standing. The two then walked back to the restaurant hand in hand.

Jude was carefully just strumming away on her guitar. She made a few notes every now and then but always continued to strum. Her attention disappeared when she heard a knock at the door. Jude slipped off the headphones and walked over to the door to open it. Spiederman stood there, in his huge sweaters and a beanie, hoping to come in.

"Hey, mind if I come in? You know how Decembers are in Toronto, freezing," Jude laughed at his comment and let him come in.

"So, what's up? What brings you over here?" Jude asked going over to the kitchen and grabbing some ingredients to make the two hot cocoa.

"Well, I just wanted to see how you are. I mean, in two days is the show, and yeah-"

"I'm okay, Speed. I mean, of course I could be better, but it's nearly impossible for me to be," Jude said stirring the hot beverage and then handing it to Speed, taking a seat next to him on the couch.

"Jude, you don't always have to-"

"Put up a front? But I do. You don't get it Speed. Why am I going to allow myself to wallow around here, gushing about how badly this hurts? It's obvious enough as it is! I don't need to go into great detail about it! I can't, because then I just may lose what little sanity and hope I've built up in the last 363 days," Jude said, a tear falling down her face.

Speed couldn't take it anymore, he knew Jude wasn't anywhere near over Tommy, and he knew there was a chance she would never be. But he had to give it a shot, he had been waiting for a shot to be with her again since they had broken up almost 5 years ago. And so he leaned in, and kissed Jude.

Jude's eyes widened and she quickly pulled away. She jumped up and away from the couch, her hand on her forehead and she started to pace back and forth. Speed looked down, and then stood up.

"What the HELL was that!?" Jude exclaimed covering her mouth.

"You know, you don't have to act so disgusted, I'm sorry for not being as good as Tommy," and before Speed knew it, he felt a searing burning slap take up half his face. He gawked and then stared at Jude in shock.

"I can't believe how one moment you're the sweetest and most understanding guy I know, and then the next a royal prick," Jude said her jaw clenched and fists balled up.

"Me? You've been practically leading me on!" Speed said.

"Leading you on!? Are you being serious?! Oh please enlighten me Vincent," Jude said sitting down on her couch, and crossing her legs.

"You're always allowing your vulnerability to show when it's just us two! What about with Jamie? With Kwest? Are you just a frozen shell of who you used to be with them too!?" Spiederman yelled.

"You will NOT come into my home and start yelling at me about who I can be open with! Yes, I do open up to both Kwest and Jamie, you three are my best friends! I've been doing nothing but accepting the comfort you offer me when I happen to get upset! If that means flirting or leading you on, then I'm sorry! I'm sorry that YOU have to deal with a best friend who just lost the man she would have married in a heartbeat!" Jude yelled right back.

"Jude I-"

"JUST GET OUT!!!" Jude said pushing him towards the door. Spiederman looked behind one last time, he had royally screwed up, and before he knew it Jude had pushed him firmly out of her apartment into the hallway.

Jude slid down the door as soon as it was closed and cried. She couldn't think of anything to do besides that.

Tommy spent Friday with Dominick and Natalie just wandering everywhere and doing as they pleased. As much as he loved Jude, he couldn't bare just watching her live a life less lively than the way they both used to. Jude and Spiederman hadn't talked to each other since the day before. Jude was still upset with him, and Spiederman was upset with himself. He couldn't understand what had caused him to act the way he had.

Spiederman was sitting in the rehearsal space, playing his guitar when Alyssa stopped by. Spiederman looked up and nodded in acknowledgement of her presence, and then focused back to his chord progression.

"So, what happened between you and Jude?" Alyssa asked lying down on the couch.

"Nothing happened."

"Bull shit. I'm not blind Speed. You two were best friends and now you guys aren't even talking," Alyssa remarked.

"We haven't talked for one day, that could just mean we're both busy,"

"She spent an hour re-arranging the bagels. You two fought about something and aren't talking. The question that you have yet to answer is why,"

"You're a nosy eighteen year old you know that," Spiederman rested his guitar in his lap.

"I think it's what makes me interesting. Anyways c'mon, tell me," Alyssa goaded.

"It's really none of your business," Spiederman said, disconnecting the guitar from the amp.

"You kissed her didn't you?" Spiederman's eyes widened and he turned around to face her.

"How'd you-"

"It's obvious you have feelings for her, okay? I mean it's kind of expected, you're the closest person to her next to Tommy and Sadie. Working with her that closely, it was bound to happen," Alyssa explained.

"But we dated in high school. We were over along time ago,"

"She was over it a long time ago, you? Obviously not. And yet, I'm still curious as to why you two aren't talking,"

"I said some things that were pretty harsh," Spiederman muttered. Alyssa's face said to continue. "Things that made me deserved to get slapped across the face,"

"She slapped you?" Alyssa said.

"Yep, she's got a good left hand. Still kind of sore,"

"And so, why are you just sitting here sulking in an emo state with your guitar and not apologizing to Jude when you know you were the wrong one?" Alyssa was a smart one.

"Because what do I say to the girl that I've loved since I was seventeen when I know she'll never love me back?"

"You don't have to have a huge planned out speech to get her to forgive you. I'm going to be blunt Speed. You and Jude, happened, ended, and are over. Will always be, but you two aren't just friends, you two are something more. But you will never be able to get her to love you the way you want her to. It's a harsh reality, but it's the truth," Alyssa laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I know you're right. It just hurts to know that I can't make up for what she's lost. I want to so badly," Spiederman stood up and looked out the window.

"Nobody can make up for what Tommy left. Jude and Tommy, they were everybody's fantasy. They basically gave the rest of us hope for love. Them ending not only affected Jude, but everyone else as well-"

'"I got it!" Spiederman exclaimed grabbing a notebook and his acoustic guitar.

"What?" Alyssa's eyebrows furrowed

"They're the ultimate love right? Then it's only fair to write an upbeat, catchy, punk rock love song for them," Spiederman said hurriedly jotting down lyrics.

"And how are you going to pull this off? You're not exactly Tommy,"

"No, I'm not. But Tommy had an idea of what song he thought could pass as our first single, and he wrote down the first couple lines right here. It was obviously about Jude,"

Jude was still sitting in Studio A later that day when Spiederman knocked on the door. Jude looked up, and then looked back to the soundboard. Spiederman took a seat next to her, and a silence fell between the two.

"A horrendous jerk couldn't even begin to be an understatement for how I acted yesterday," Spiederman blatantly stated.

"I'm listening," Jude said running her fingers over random buttons.

"First, I was really out of line in everything I did yesterday. Worry and concern aren't reason enough to justify my actions. And, I'm sure it's creepy enough having me here acting mature and all-"

"I get it Speed. You don't need to apologize. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did to, the… Yeah," Jude said with a small laugh.

"Jude, I know you could never-"

"Let's just skip this okay? We're cool. We both already know what's coming. And you're right, I can't. We both know we're more than friends, but can never be what you want,"

"Dude, do you like, share minds with Alyssa or something because-"

"Woman's intuition Speed, something you'll never understand," Jude said with a laugh. Spiederman smiled and nodded.

"So I wrote another song for the show, I think it'd be a good opening song. Me and the boys recorded it over at the space. Before the accident, Tommy had started helping me write our first single, I thought it'd only be respectful to finish it, and maybe hope it'd be our first single," Spiederman explained.

"Got the mix?" Spiederman handed Jude the CD and she put it into the laptop.

**When I watch you**

**Wanna do you**

**Right where you're standing**

Jude smirked at the first three lines. She knew they were about her and Tommy. Whenever the two were just messing with instruments he'd always sing her those three lines. They both had agreed that it'd be something they could imagine SME performing.

_It was a rainy day and Jude and Tommy were sitting on the front porch of her childhood home. Stuart was on a business trip and the two agreed to watch the house while he was out. Tommy was strumming a catchy tune on the acoustic guitar and started to hum a harmony to it. Jude listened carefully, smiling at the tune._

_**Right on the foyer**_

_**On this dark day**_

_**Right in plain view…**_

_"Quincy you better thank God my dad isn't here to listen to your lyrics," Jude laughed as he just nodded and continued to sing._

_**The whole ghetto**_

_**The blue star meadow**_

_**But we ignore that**_

Jude could remember that day perfectly. It was raining all day, and the two just spent most of it goofing off_. During around eleven in the morning, Jude had decided she wanted to bake a cake, so she grabbed all the ingredients and started to read the box._

_"Girl, what are you doing?" Tommy asked, watching her read directions from the box._

_"I'm gonna bake a cake, Quincy. What's it look like?" She teased. Tommy gave her a silly face, which made her break out into a grin. He walked over and grabbed the box out of her hands. "Hey! I need that to bake!" _

_"No you don't," Tommy said putting the box away and grabbing some extra ingredients._

_"You can bake from scratch, Quincy?" Jude asked as he grabbed an extra apron and put it on._

_"Yep, and I'm going to teach you," he added kissing her on her temple._

_**You lovely baby**_

_**This war is crazy**_

_**I won't let you down**_

_**Oh no no No**_

_**I won't let them take you**_

_**Won't let them take you**_

_**Hell no no Oh no**_

Jude remembered her 18th birthday_. For the last two weeks, the two had been teasing each other, relentlessly flirting. But on her 18th birthday, Tommy was no where to be found. Jude tried not to be worried, she tried not to act hurt. But everyone could see she was. As the night approached, and Jude was walking down the stairs of the grand hall, she saw Tommy in a 40's themed tux, reminiscent of Humphrey Bogart, as she was supposed to be Lauren Bacall. He took her hand in his, and kissed the top._

_Jude's grin turned into a broad smile. But what had taken everyone by surprise was when he placed a hand around her back and the other on her hip, carefully twirling her around, dipping her, and giving her a passionate kiss in front of everyone. Tommy pulled her back up, Jude was still reveling in the feeling. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled when she saw that it wasn't a dream, that he really had done that._

_"What about the press?" Jude asked breathlessly. Tommy leaned forward and whispered._

_"I won't let them take you,"_

_**I won't let them take you**_

_**Won't let them take you**_

_**Hell no no**_

_As soon as the party was over and everyone had left, Jude and Tommy were rushed into Darius's office, followed by Liam, Darius, Portia and Jude's parents. _

_"You better have a damn good explanation T," Darius said pacing the office. Yvette was holding Stuart's arm, trying to keep him calm._

_"And he better start explaining fast before I lose my nerve," Stuart growled._

_"If you're looking for my reason being a publicity stunt then it looks like you lose," Tommy remarked, taking hold of Jude's hand._

_"Get your hands off my-"_

_"Dad! Let him explain," Jude squeezed Tommy's hand, giving him a smile of reassurance._

_**And when our city**_

_**Vast and shitty**_

_**Falls to the axis, yeah…**_

_"Then what is your explanation. And if its because you so called love this girl, then your job is done here," Liam added._

_"Then I better start packing my things from the office," Tommy said standing up to walk out of the meeting._

_Everyone looked at Tommy in surprise. He stood firmly, his eyes on Darius, he could just simply quit and still have a relationship with Jude. Their career together would be over publicly, but they could always work together on music on their own time._

_"If Tommy leaves, then I will too," Jude stood up and took Tommy's hand in her own. Tommy looked down at their hands in confusion._

_"What are you doing, you're putting your entire dream on the line here, girl," Tommy whispered to her._

_"I just remembered, that my dream means nothing if you're not there making it with me," Jude said with a small smile on her face. Tommy bit his lip and looked back to everyone who was now standing before them._

_"You two are sure about this?" Darius asked._

_The two didn't move, just simply nodded in confirmation of his question. _

_"Alright, biggest mistake of your lives," Darius added taking out their contracts._

_"No! Jude you can not do this!!" Stuart yelled, breaking free of Yvette's hold._

_"Stuart, stop before-" Victoria was cut off._

_"You! What the hell did you do to my daughter!" Stuart yelled punching Tommy in the face._

_"Dad! Stop!" Jude pushed Stuart back, making him hit the desk._

_"Mr. Harrison take a seat!" Darius pushed Stuart down into a chair. "By law, this is no longer your concern. Jude is now 18 and can make these decisions on her own,"_

_Stuart glared at everyone in the room. "As long as you're under my roof," Stuart began to stand up. "You will NOT see him. EVER!"_

_And Stuart walked out of the room. The two signed the papers and walked out of the studio hand in hand. _

_**They'll search the buildings**_

_**Collect gold fillings, wallets**_

_**And rings (oh yeah)**_

_Jude had taken her father's words to heart and didn't go home after her 18th birthday. She returned to Tommy's and was staying there for a week. But later, when the two started to get angry visits from Stuart, they knew that the only way to really be together, was to get away. So the two packed a few necessities and rode off together. _

_To Jude, it felt like a grand romance, running from her family who just could not understand. And for Tommy, it felt like the best thing he had ever done in his entire life. They had managed to get away to one of Tommy's homes he had bought under a false name and were given daily updates as to where Stuart was looking for them from Sadie. _

_**But Ms. Black Eyeliner **_

_**You'd look finer**_

_**With each day in hiding**_

_While they both seemed to have always wanted to connect on the deepest level of physical attraction, the two both knew it wasn't right to. Not yet at least. To them, making love wasn't just about sex._

_**Beneath the wormwood**_

_**Oooh, love me so good**_

_**They won't hear us **_

_**Screw away the day**_

_**I'll make you say:**_

_And so every night, their lips would dance with each other, holding each other in their arms and just enjoying the fact that they could be so close, without anyone finding them and breaking them apart. _

Jude came out of her reverie as the song ended. An elegiac smile spread across her lips as she ejected the CD and handed it back to Spiederman. He nodded at her as she leaned back in the chair.

"Good?" he asked.

"Yep, go for it. It's catchy and upbeat, I'm thinking maybe the closer," Jude replied.

"You sure?"

"Yes sir. C'mon, we gotta work on the set list," Jude said as she pulled out a notebook and the sat down on the floor of the studio and started to get to work. There was something about being on the floor that brought everything together. Some how, being closer to the earth made Jude more comfortable, she felt more connected to everything. To life, to herself, to Tommy.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6:**_

Later that evening, Jude found herself staring at the stage where the concert was to take place. She fidgeted with her necklace as she stared from the arena seats at the finished stage. There was a giant screen in the back that would have pictures of Tommy and everyone from various times in the past. Between song breaks there would be interviews played of each of them talking about Tommy and how he's affected them all. 

Tommy stood in the back talking with Dominick about the concert. The two took in their surroundings and were surprised by how fast it had sold out and how big the concert would actually be.

"And here I thought corny ex boy banders weren't loved," Tommy remarked.

"Looks like you guys are. Tom, there's something I need to talk to you about-" Before Dominick could finish Tommy was already gone and walking towards Jude.

Instead of stopping him like Dominick should have, he kept watch on him. Tommy took a seat next to Jude, watching her, admiring her for he wasn't sure when he would get another chance like it.

Jude kept still, it was there again. That odd feeling of intimacy and yet foreign emotions. Tommy leaned in close to her ear.

"I miss you girl. With all that I have, I hope you hear me and take these words to heart. You're my everything,"

Jude shivered. As unsettling this all was, she stayed.

"I miss the way I used to be able to hold you in my arms. I miss being able to wake up in our warm bed together, your angelic coziness beside me, reminding me just how lucky I was to have you,"

Jude felt tears stinging her eyes. It was him, she could feel him. And as unreal as it was, she could hear every word he was saying.

"Never a day went by where I didn't remind myself that I was one lucky bastard for having you in my life." Jude couldn't understand exactly what was going on. There was so much in her heart that was being concocted that she just wasn't sure of anything.

"I'm getting damn corny here, I love you Jude,"

"I love you Tommy," Before either of them knew what was happening, Jude felt a hot gasp on her neck and she turned her head.

Tommy looked at Jude with astonishment in his eyes, he saw her eyes pouring into his. She placed her hand on his cheek, gently stroking his cheek bone with her thumb. Tears poured down both of their eyes."What? What is this-"

"Are you real? Is it really you, Tommy?" Jude asked leaning her forehead against his "Oh, God. Please be. Please be real,"

"Jude, I think I am," Tommy replied kissing her softly on the lips.

The two deepened their kiss and wrapped their arms around each other. It didn't matter anymore, by some miracle, Tommy was back.


	7. hiatus

**OFFICIAL HIATUS!**

Unfortunately I have the bad news that this story is on a hiatus. I do have ideas for this story, but I am unsure on how to get out right now. Due to the challenge this story has given me, I'm putting it on hiatus until I can actually write something decent to add and further the plot.

On a happier note though, thanks to the way season three has turned out, I've started another fanfic (I know, shame on me for starting another project before finishing my other two) but it had been in the back of my mind for a while and a certain band has been inspiring me for this particular plot.

I sincerely apologize for having to put this story on hiatus. In all honesty, I am unsure whether it will be soon for me to finish this story. Until then, I am truly sorry to have to put this story on an indefinite hiatus. 


End file.

Instant Star, Romance, Spiritual