Happy Place || A Jerrie Fanfiction

XXVII - TEMPORARY

I would also have to ignore the heaviness in my chest every time I think about her, too.

I sighed heavily and trudged on toward Lily's with an unknown feeling. It was nine in the morning now, and the sun seemed to be committed to scald my skin which made me have ambivalent feelings about not bringing a cardigan with me and instead opted for sundresses to my staycation here.

I fished for my aviator sunglasses from my purse and wore them (albeit struggling to do so what with one hand holding my phone). My wide-brimmed straw hat seemed to be the only thing useful for it protects my face from the scorching sun, but it was immensely annoying how I couldn't really see what's in front of me.

Which is how I bumped into someone blindly. I think I felt their shoulder ram into mine for a second, knocking the air out of my lungs. Holy crap, their shoulder is stupidly strong and bony.

"Woah, there!"

"Oof!" I stumbled a bit, and I almost thought that I wouldn't be able to balance myself if it wasn't for the stranger who snaked an arm around my waist, their free hand clasped around my wrist in a firm yet somewhat gentle grip.

My straw hat flew out of my head from the impact, but the stranger's visage eclipsed the sun, which only made their face more difficult to see.

"Jade?" The stranger angled their head to the side, and Leigh's face came into view.

"Leigh!" I almost squealed. Leigh helped me stand up properly, then bent down to grab my straw hat from the ground, making sure to dust off the sand — which aren't that many thanks to the porous material it's made out to be — before giving it back to me. I mumbled a sheepish "Thanks."

"No problem, love," she said with a smile. She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. "Pez isn't there yet. I just ate breakfast."

"Still?"

Leigh offered a small, apologetic smile and meekly nodded.

Worry started to settle inside my stomach, and suddenly the excitement (and dread) of seeing her once again dissipated. Furrowing my eyebrows, I looked back at Leigh. "Do you know where she is?"

Her eyebrows rose. "Oh, she didn't tell you . . . ?"

From that question alone, I know that I'm missing out on a lot of things. And it doesn't help that Leigh wore the same expression Harry showed me when I asked the same question, which only made me feel aggravated above everything else.

If there's anything I abhor more than my privacy being invaded, that would be being kept out of the loop. I hate not being apprised of what's happening. And not knowing about what happened to Perrie already crossed that threshold.

What the fuck is going on?

Keeping my composure intact, I cleared my throat and replied, "N-no. No, she didn't."

"Oh."

I raised an eyebrow by an inch. Oh? What the hell was that supposed to mean?

"Would you, uh," I spoke up after a while, tightening my grip on my purse's strap. I didn't want to sound kind of invasive but if I want to find out what's going on, that would be needed. So I plucked up a little courage and plowed on, "Would you mind telling me where she is?"

I didn't know what expression I was conveying, but seeing Leigh's face melt into one of sympathy had me thinking it worked out perfectly well.

"Hey," she spoke up, softly this time, almost like she's scared I'd break. She sighed heavily and continued, "Look, Pez probably didn't tell you this because she's not ready. Maybe . . . maybe you should wait till she comes back home, hmm?"

"And when will she come back?" I inquired, albeit a bit forcefully, almost sounding impatient though I covered it up as I added with a small shake of my head, "Sorry. I just — I'm leaving . . . maybe tonight or tomorrow night and I just . . . I just need to see her before I go. Please."

Surprise was written all over Leigh's face. "I thought you have, like, a month left?"

"Plans changed," I muttered regretfully, looking down at the hem of my sundress whilst fiddling with my purse's strap.

"What do you mean 'plans changed'?"

The sudden transition of her tone made me look back up, and I almost flinched at the darkness that clouded almost every inch of Leigh's eyes. The instant irate threw me off-guard because this was the complete opposite of what I presumed Leigh would be in general — which was wrong of me because I can't really gauge someone's personality based on a few interactions. But then again, I've seen her on the verge of exploding that night when I was with Niall.

With her mouth contorted into a snarl, she demanded, "Jade, what the hell do you want from Perrie, huh?"

The impact of her words were too much that I staggered a bit, the heels of my sandals digging into the sand, subsequently having some of them inside, but I was too stunned to be bothered by mere sand making my feet feel uncomfortable. "I —"

"I don't remember giving you permission to hurt her," she spat, pointing a finger accusingly my way.

Suddenly feeling defensive, I retorted, "I don't remember asking for your permission in the first place."

As soon as those words slipped from my mouth, I knew it was the wrong thing to say; Leigh's stricken face confirmed it for me as well. Suddenly feeling conscious of myself, I scanned our surroundings, only to find a few people staring blatantly . . . at me. I could almost feel this kernel of panic grow inside my stomach at the thought of being recognized in the middle of a potential argument.

Forcing my gaze onto Leigh, I shook my head and practically begged, "Leigh, let's talk about this inside."

Leigh's cold, piercing gaze pinned my feet down on the sand despite myself, and I have this ambivalent feeling that I'm glad Perrie has someone like her sticking by her side, but dreaded the day I'd be number one on Leigh's blacklist.

In spite of her cold demeanor, she seemed to apprehend what I was trying to avoid, but that didn't stop her from trotting out a sarcasm remark, "Afraid people will find out who you are, Jade Thirlwall? Afraid Steve Harrington will find out you've been two-timing him?"

It felt like forever since my breathing stopped, though really it was just a few seconds. But once I got my breath back, I couldn't form a word to reply. Leigh, with one of her eyebrows raised in an almost condescending way, looked like the opposite of the Leigh I first met. She now looked like someone who's willing to tear my down — literally.

But the way she's looking at me right now does not compare to how I'm feeling the moment Leigh disclosed the fact that she knows me now.

"I —" I tried to say, but it almost felt like my vocabulary doesn't exist anymore. I gulped down whatever lump was in my throat in order to speak up, but I just couldn't. "Steve isn't my —"

A phone ringtone cut me off, catching us both off-guard. Thankfully, Leigh had stopped her staring daggers at me and instead fished for her phone in her back pocket. She scoffed at her screen and returned her glare towards me, once again making me feel uncomfortable.

"It's Perrie," she informed, not once batting an eye, "She's already at home."