The show must go on Part II.

Chapter 2 - It's not the same as it was

Narrator POV

As discussed, Perrie wakes up promptly at five in the morning, quickly leans over Jesy to turn off her alarm, trying not to wake her in the process, and sneaks out of the room. Her path leads her to her own room. She just wants to scurry in, quickly change, put her hair in a bun, pack up the last of her things and then head for the airport. It takes her a while to realise that something essential is missing. She blames it on tiredness and the darkness of the room that she walks unperturbed to the bathroom, thinking nothing at all. It is only when she returns to the room with her teeth brushed and fully dressed that she opens her eyes in amazement. The bed is made, unused. Jade is not here, no one is here.

"She's got to be kidding me," she mutters angrily, looking at her phone in the faint hope she has a message explaining this. But nothing, no one has texted her. Furious, she dials Jade's number, calls her, five times in a row, without any response. So she tries Leigh, but she too is unavailable. Any further attempt to one of her companions is hopeless. No one seems to hear their phones or cares enough to actually answer. Her last hope is that Jade was so wasted and didn't want to sleep alone that she's in the room with Leigh. So Perrie doesn't hesitate for long and makes her way next door.

She knocks for several minutes, almost convinced that Leigh and all the rest are still in the club, until the door quietly opens. Leigh is standing in front of her, looking exactly as you would imagine after a wild night out, looking like she's only been asleep for ten minutes. She barely gets her eyes open when she sees Perrie standing in front of her.

"What do you want?" she moans, still half asleep.

"Is Jade with you?", Perrie gets to the point quickly, simply cannot waste any more time.

"What? No," Leigh shakes her head sleepily. "That little bitch refused to come back with me," she explains and Perrie can hardly believe her ears.

"Are you kidding me?" she says, aghast. "You left her there all alone? In some club in Rio?!"

"I didn't," Leigh clarifies. "The dancers were still there too, but I was tired and wanted to go and she didn't feel like coming, so I went ahead," she shrugs.

"And her appointment? Did you remember that?" asks Perrie reproachfully.

"Believe it or not, I did and I told her about it, several times," Leigh replies, genuinely surprising Perrie. "But she was too drunk to care," she says gruffly.

"Fucking perfect, Leigh, thanks for your help," Perrie shakes her head indignantly.

"Hey it's not my fault!" she justifies herself though.

"Actually it is," Perrie retorts. "You don't have to go with her every fucking night."

"I want her to be happy and that's what makes her happy right now...so it's hard to say no," Leigh mutters.

"I can do it too, can't I?" Perrie says petulantly, to which Leigh stops short, knowing full well that Perrie says no often enough, knowing how often she has to talk about it with Jade.