Happy Place || A Jerrie Fanfiction

XII - YOU TOLD ME BEFORE

Perrie left the table as soon as she revealed that she is indeed the owner of this restaurant where I met her for the first time a week ago, without looking back to see the utter bewilderment splashed across my facial features. For a minute - or probably more than that - I remain frozen in my seat like a veritable statue.

A tsunami of questions suddenly washed over every recesses of my brain and I suddenly stood up and stomp my way towards her, whilst silently praying that nobody would try to steal my things as well.

Perrie was immersed in a conversation with one of the waiters whose brown, curly hair seemed to sway along with the wind - something I find terribly aggravating - when I finally reached her. He looked over her shoulder and noticed me. But before he was able to inform Perrie about me, I beat him to it.

"You!" I find myself shouting, jabbing my index finger at her shoulder, which prompted her to jump and quickly spin around.

"What the?" she furrowed her eyebrows. "Jade Thirlwall, what are you doing here?"

I didn't dignify her question with an answer. Instead, I gripped her arm and leaned forward to her ear, close enough to hiss, "How are you the owner!?"

My hand encasing her arm felt her muscles as she tensed and drew her head back. Dear God, has she been working out the whole week last week? Her biceps felt like it's about to rip off from her sleeve! How have I not noticed this?! I mentally slapped myself in order to reel myself back in the conversation. Focus, Jade!

Perrie's eyes widens a bit as she looks at me incredulously. "What? How did you know that?"

My clutch tightened, feeling her muscles even more and for a moment, I couldn't help but want to caress her sinewy arm. "You told me!"

Her eyebrows furrowed even more if that's even humanly possible. "No, I didn't!"

It was my turn to furrow my eyebrows this time. "You literally told me a few minutes ago!"

The waiter she was talking with awhile ago before my sudden aggressive interruption peered over Perrie's shoulder and took me in. A glint of mischief was seen in his eyes and he leaned near Perrie as if to whisper (even though I can clearly hear him), "Another one of your lady friends, Edwards?"

"Lady friends?" I reiterated, utterly confused. "And who the fuck is Edwa -" I try to ask, only to be interjected by Perrie's finger in front of my face.

One of her eyebrows rises. "Edwards is my last name, and," - she whips her head to face him with a look that seemed to convey a warning - "no, Harry, she's not one of those."

I scoffed and as I throw an icy glare at her, forcefully pushed her finger away from my face. "You know, if we're gonna be friends, might as well be truthful about yourself, yeah?"

"Oof, 'friends'," Harry made a noise that sounded like a terrible gasp — the kind of gasp one makes when someone uppercuts them on the stomach. Only when he finally talked in his normal tone did I notice his British accent. He laid a hand on Perrie's shoulder and squeezed it as if to comfort the blonde. "Perrie, you're screwed, mate."

Perre didn't reply to him. Instead, she maintained her gaze at me, lowering her finger. "Why are you mad at me again?"

"Did you honestly forget ab—" I cut myself off immediately, knowing very well the answer to that. I alternate my gaze between the two of them, then let my eyes settle on the blonde woman before me. I sighed, "It was your sister's birthday yesterday, so I bought her a gift."

"You know Cait's birthday?" she asks, tilting her head a bit to the side. "When have I —"

"You told me before," I interrupted, feeling a bit exasperated by her. "I forgot about it until awhile ago."

"Why are you mad?" Harry was the one who asked this time.

I sent him a death glare coupled with a raise of an eyebrow as if to tell him to get out of my sight, which obviously did not work otherwise he'd literally be out of my sight right now. But if anything, it seems like my glare startled him by the way he gulped.

"Anyway, why did you come, Jade Thirlwall?" Perrie laid her hand on my shoulder, her eyes boring into mine in a way that almost thawed something inside me. If I hadn't known any better, I'd think that this was her move to lure whatever 'lady friend' she has. And it almost was a success. Almost ...

If it wasn't for the fact that she literally forgot about what she did for me and what she just told me!

That fact alone made whatever feeling I had inside evaporate into thin air and was soon replaced by sudden annoyance towards the woman. My facial expression was probably the last straw for Harry because he cleared his throat afterwards.

"I think it's best if I go, mate." Harry gestured behind him, and slowly whirled around, slow enough for me to notice the slight frown on his face probably representing the confusion. But I didn't care, as long as he's away. I looked back at Perrie again.

"And why do you look upset?" Perrie questioned further, still looking lost and concerned.

If I didn't know about her short-term memory, I might have smacked her in the face by now. I peered into her ocean blue orbs for a second, visualizing a scenario where she'll go and bombard me with questions about how I found out about her position as the owner of the restaurant, before ultimately deciding on what to say.

"I just... wanted to thank you for awhile ago," I disclosed. And before she could say anything else, I stopped her, "Don't ask what you did. I know you have these so-called memory problems so I'm pretty sure you've forgetten about them by now. And I don't want to be reminded by it anymore so let's just leave it at that, alright?"

"But what did I —"

"I said don't ask!" I snapped all of a sudden. "I just wanted to thank you."

Perrie blinked, clearly caught off guard by my sudden aggressive tone, before covering it up with a small but unsure smile. "No problem, Jade Thirlwall." Silence reigned, then she asked, "How are you feeling? After awhile ago?"

Stunned, I questioned her, "You forgot about telling me your position in this restaurant... But you didn't forget that you consoled me awhile ago? Which, by the way, happened before you told me that you're the owner?"

"Didn't I tell you that I have mem —"

"Memory problems. I know."

A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "I'm difficult to handle, aren't I?"

My whole body stiffened when I hear something akin to sadness latched onto her words. I looked into her eyes and could finally distinguish the pain behind them. The smile that she was showing didn't appear to be a smile that is reserved for playful banter, but instead was a smile that was forced.

Suddenly all the anger within me dissipated. Suddenly everything that surrounds us drifted further away — the beach, the people accompanying us here in the restaurant, forcing me to solely focus on her. Suddenly, all I could think about was how melancholic her voice seemed to be, and wondered if she was told those words — that she was indeed difficult to handle.

Suddenly, my hand slid down her arm, interlacing it with hers, and words slipped from my mouth, telling her, "You're not difficult to handle, Perrie."

I saw a hint of astonishment in her countenance, followed by gratefulness, then boiled down into assertiveness as her eyes glint with something I couldn't quite pinpoint what exactly.

Then one of her lips' edges curled up to form a smirk as she snorted, "I know that. Do you wanna drop by my house?"

I blinked at the sudden change of attitude, but shook it off anyway. "Sure. I have to give Caitlyn her belated birthday present, anyway."

"What? How did you know ab —"

"You told me before!"

A/N: must be so annoying how they haven't kissed yet, huh? Don't worry though! They're getting there! ;)

I was busy with college so I wasn't able to write much but I hope you guys stay tuned for more updates!