Nothing comes between us

2.

February 2022, a few days before the Brits

"Girls we nailed it" Perrie exclaimed all cheerful going into the dressing room. They were in London, in the X Factor studios to be precise. They just performed three new tracks from the Between Us album. The girls managed to get through Love Sweet Love, No, and Cut You Off without a single tear.

"We absolutely smashed it!" a super excited and proud Leigh replied entering the Room. Jade was close behind but didn't seem as cheerful or happy, she just kept quiet. She had been acting like this for days.

It was Perrie and Leigh's second performance after becoming mothers. The previous time they were super emotional as they had just announced their incoming hiatus. But now, there weren't sad tears, actually there weren't tears at all. They just missed being on the stage and the two were so happy to be finally able to do a full performance with choreo.

It was crazy thinking how a decade before the three were on that same exact stage. They had so many dreams, they wanted to prove so many people wrong. They wanted to be able to say we made it. And it was exactly the thought that was crossing their minds.

"Girls" Leigh said, distracting Perrie from her stream of thoughts. "My mum is currently watching the twins. What do you think about a girls night with good food and wine? I need to put the twins to bed first, I missed them so much!"

Perrie always found it curious how the older bandmate was raising two children, hence double the work she was doing with Axel, and she could always be so energetic and ready to party. She knew Leigh and Jade were the party animals of the group but she was shocked this didn't change after motherhood and especially after having not one but two babies.

"You know what?" Perrie then said. "Count me in for doing something together and have some quality time, but I'm also tired, so what about room service and movie in one of our hotel rooms?. I also need to put Axel to bed first".

Both Alex and Andre were out of town and they had been super busy with their schedules. Also the girls themselves were swamped in work. They had the X Factor performance they just did, many interviews and promo in the next few days and then the Brits. They decided to stay for a couple of weeks together in a Hotel in London.

They explained that they wanted to avoid going back and forth between home and radio stations during crazy hours of the day. They said that this would have allowed them to spend more time with the babies.

The reality is that those two reasons were true, but there was another one that they didn't want to share with the management. They wanted to test how life would have been during the tour. They wanted to see how and if they were able to manage days full of work, living in a hotel and still spending some time with their babies.

Jade, to be honest, didn't have all these concerns and worries. She agreed on this test just for the sake of spending time with her friends.

"I'm okay with whatever you decide", Jade replied.

She hadn't spoken much during those days, she seemed lost in her thoughts or at least that's what the other two were starting to think. "Movie night is fine as long as I have some nachos", Leigh said smiling.

The two Geordies laughed while starting to get changed. They gathered their things and went outside where the driver was waiting for them.

"So what time are we meeting? Jade asked when they were in the car going back to the hotel. "I don't know, I just need to take a shower and put Axel to bed. What about 8.30?". "Yes, because I can't finish before then" Leigh replied.

"It's okay." Jade said, smiling. "I actually wanted to call Jordan to see how his meetings are going".

After months of planning and thinking Jordan had made the decision to stop working in the music industry. He said he grew sick of it and that He wasn't enjoying it anymore. Jade had always loved how they were connected through music, through the same passion and job. But she also knew that this kind of job cannot be done when there isn't any love left for it. So, she just supported and encouraged him in this new life change.