"The four of you were invited to a party in New York that celebrates the LGBTQ+ community," Clark told them as they sat in the sofa in Leigh-Anne's room after getting ready for the day. Jade could feel the tips of her hair were still a little wet. "And you two," he explained further while pointing his finger at Jade and Perrie, "were asked to dance in front of the cameras."
Taken aback the two females looked at one another. "What are we supposed to dance?" Perrie asked the man.
"Waltz," he told them nonchalantly and waved his hand. "It's a very easy dance so you'll get the hang of it real quick. We've already chosen some dresses you could wear but I leave the final decision to you because I know you can dress well. Now," he went on and told them that they would have to perform three songs, two of which would be Black Magic and The End and the third was their own decision again.
Jade looked at Perrie nervously, though, considering that she didn't know if she could dance with Perrie in front of all these people. It wasn't like she was a bad dancer, she was aware of that – they put a lot of effort into their choreographies, after all. It was just... this was a whole different story.
Their choreographies for all their songs were fierce and powerful, filled with fast and energetic moves and the waltz was nothing like this. And in none of their songs did they have to dance, like, together really. They did have parts where they involved their male counterparts heavily but it was nothing like 'you hold his arm and shoulder and he holds you by your waist' kind of stuff.
Perrie squeezed her hand comfortingly and smiled, leaning into her. "We can do this," she told her reassuringly and Jade didn't doubt it for one second. "Um, Clark," she interrupted the man who hadn't stopped talking ever since. Neither Perrie nor Jade had listened to him, if they were being honest so they had no idea what the topic was right now but it was his own fault for talking faster than they could think, wasn't it? "When exactly do we start dancing lessons for the party?"
"What?" He asked confused and blinked his eyes quickly. "Oh, right, the party! I'd been too far with my thoughts, m'sorry. But, uh, what do you mean?"
"Well... how are we supposed to learn the waltz if we don't have, like, some sort of classes?" She asked with a frown and Jade nodded in support.
The man considered for a few seconds before he laughed, "See, there's always something we miss, don't we? I'll arrange something in a few minutes." He then drew the attention back to what they were supposed to do the next couple of days and when he left the room finally after what felt like hours, Jade got up to check herself in the mirror.
"Jade, are you ready?" Leigh-Anne called. "We're about to leave for the livestream."
"Give me a second!" Jade shouted back and dabbed under her eyes so that her eyes looked nice enough for the show. Then she turned off the light and made sure to grab her small makeup bag as she followed Leigh-Anne out of the hotel room.
They drove to the venue in a van again this time so they wouldn't draw too much attention to themselves but they didn't mind – the van was big enough to be comfortable and this time Perrie was sitting next to her and playing with her fingers. It was really strange to Jade how much more touchy the two of them had become since their marriage but she thought it was another of those things that were caused by the shifted dynamics in their relationship probably and neither of them complained about it so it was probably feeling alright.
They looked at some letters Clark had given them earlier – some fan mail they had so far received while visiting different cities within America – and Jade couldn't help but smile at a drawing of herself a four year old boy had drawn for her. It was a stick human with brown hair that fell down to the floor and a bow was placed on top of her head; little music notes were around her head and the name JADE was spelled with big, spidery letters in the top right corner.
She noticed that a few letters addressed the marriage and most of them thanked her for being so open and proud about her sexuality and helping them come to terms with themselves. Every time she read another of those she felt happy tears tingle in her eyes and Perrie squeeze her hand lightly under the seats where Jesy and Leigh-Anne couldn't see.
It was weird but for some reason Jade felt like she had to keep their current deal a secret from the two of them – what if stuff happened that those two would consider awkward? She didn't consider it likely but just in case Jade and Perrie ever ended up sleeping together how would they explain this to the two of them? Or what if they just started kissing sometimes? What would they think about this?
***
The livestream didn't really go as easily as Jade had hoped. They all had shed a lot of tears and they were overly emotional about this whole day – after all, they had been together for four freaking years now and it felt like a life time.
Like Perrie had said in the morning; it was simply impossible for Jade to imagine her life without one of these girls now and she wouldn't change it for a thing in the world. Their friendship was so important and the reason why this band worked. They needed each other, they comforted each other, they made each other laugh, they built each other up.
"I don't know what I'd do without you girls," Perrie muttered and wiped below her eye with a smile on her face. Happy tears were falling from her face when she hugged all her friends at once. "Thank you so much for supporting me these past few weeks so much. I'm the luckiest girl in the world to be with you." For a few seconds her eyes were locked with Jade's and the brunette's heart started racing.
"Don't be silly," Jesy laughed and tried to hide the fact that she had tears in her eyes as well, "you did the same for me."
"And for me," Jade murmured and rubbed Perrie's shoulder.
"And you'd do it for me," Leigh added cheerfully although her eyes were glistening as well. None of them had managed to keep their eyes dry today but it was okay. It was a long and eventful day and after all, they had been together for four years (Jade just couldn't believe it so she had to remind herself of this fact every other minute).
Perrie smiled through her tears and squeezed the three other girls tightly once more. "Thank you so much again, you know I love you."
"Of course, and we love you too," they replied together and giggled.
"I think it's time for me to go to sleep," she laughed, "or else I'm going to be a crying mess again and we've already cried enough for another year." Her hands fell but Jade felt the tips of her fingers on the skin of her wrist before they slipped into her own hand. With a lurch of her stomach she tightened the grip on Perrie's hand and wished the other two girls a good night as well.
"Love you lots," Perrie hummed and threw her arms around Jade once more. This time she closed her eyes and just took in a deep breath. Jade could feel her wife's muscles relax against her skin and with a content smile she returned the hug. They were leaning against the door they had just closed and it was cool against Jade's back, the handle pressing into her waist, but she didn't mind when Perrie seemed so comfortable against her.
"Let's go to bed, okay?" The blonde suggested and Jade nodded.
They let themselves fall into the mattress tiredly as they had gotten so little sleep last night and it was almost midnight already. They didn't even really bother taking off their makeup and slipped out of their clothes carelessly on the mattress – the sounds of the bed squeaking as they shifted around made Jade blush furiously and she was glad it was too dark for Perrie to notice – until they were left in their panties.
"D'you want a shirt?" Perrie murmured sleepily.
"Too tired," Jade yawned and simply pulled up the blanket to cover her chest. "You get one."
"Nah, too tired to care," the blonde agreed and cuddled closer. She placed her arm around Jade just like the night before and put her head on her shoulder so that her breathing hit the crook of the brunette's neck every single time. For a moment Jade was hyper aware that their bodies were only separated by one more thin layer of satin and then took a deep breath and decided not to care – they had seen each other naked already, all four of them, so it shouldn't be that big of a deal.
"Pez?" Jade murmured and Perrie hummed in reply. "Can you look at me for a second?" She didn't really know where she was going with this but it was late and she was probably too tired to control her words anymore but she really did want to see the blonde's face for another second.
"Wha-?" She asked tiredly and blinked heavily in order to be able to focus on Jade's face.
"Thank you, too, for always supporting me."
The blonde's grin was lopsided and her eyes fell closed for longer than they usually would if she blinked. "Course, Poopey." She then leant forward and Jade felt their lips connect once more, just like two days ago.
Desperate for more she leant into the kiss, tightening her grip around Perrie's torso. The content sigh that fell from her mouth was muffled by Perrie's still pressed against hers. She shifted on top of Jade to be able to kiss her better without having to strain her neck too much and way too soon for the brunette she pulled back and put her head on her shoulder again. "Love you, sleep well."
"Love you too," Jade replied more breathlessly than she had hoped but the blonde either didn't notice or she simply didn't care.
She wanted more, another good night kiss maybe, another 'I love you,' maybe with a deeper meaning. But for tonight she would be satisfied with what she had gotten.
***
When Jade gained consciousness the next morning the first thing she noticed by the way Perrie was breathing that she was the first to wake up again, even before she opened her eyes.
The second thing she noticed was the fact that the sheets had slipped off their bodies down to their hips and from this angle Jade could have pretended Perrie was naked if she didn't feel the fabric of her underwear.
The blonde was lying on her stomach half on top of Jade, half on the mattress. Her left arm was still placed over Jade's stomach, lazily hanging off on the other side.
If anyone were to come in right now and saw them like this she knew what it looked like – like Perrie and her had celebrated the anniversary on their own. She felt herself giggling at the thought and Perrie's face scrunched up at the vibration of Jade's chest.
"Sorry," the brunette whispered and tried to keep her eyes on her wife's face. She didn't think it appropriate to look at Perrie when she was like this, so vulnerable and open next to her. She was pretty sure she wouldn't approve of Jade checking her out, especially if she knew what kind of feelings she felt towards her.
There was a knock on the door and unlike the previous day the door swung open right – Jade only just had enough time to grab the sheets and place them over their bodies in time so that whoever was bursting in wouldn't see them naked. "Morning," Jesy told her friend, seemingly unaware or unbothered by the fact that Jade was naked underneath the blanket.
"How come you two are always up earlier than Perrie and I?" Jade asked quietly, afraid of waking the blonde.
"Because unlike you," the older female explained with a grin, "we remember to set our alarm clocks. Although I'm not sure they'd do the trick for Perrie considering she sleeps like a baby most of the time. And by that I mean she'd sleep twenty-three hours a day if she could and eat the other hour."
Jade felt herself giggling and Perrie moaned in annoyance but still seemed to be asleep.
"Well, I came to tell you to get up and... maybe dress?" She laughed and Jade felt herself blushing. "We're up for interviews again today as you know. And maybe it wouldn't harm if you could set an alarm from now on because Leigh and I don't like bursting in all the time."
The blush on the younger female's cheek intensified, "It doesn't bother us really. It's not like we're doing anything secret or forbidden."
"I can tell," Jesy replied with raised eyebrows.
Jade knew she was addressing the fact that she wasn't wearing a shirt below the blanket and neither was Perrie. "We were too lazy to change so we simply undressed," Jade explained in a hurry but her friend just shrugged.
"Alright, it's none of my business." She looked at Perrie who was still fast asleep. "I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to release some stress after being single for so long and Perrie surely could do with it as well at the moment."
"It's not like that, Jess," Jade replied furiously.
"I know, I'm just teasing," Jesy laughed and blew her a kiss. "I'll leave you to wake her up and get ready, then. See you at breakfast in the lobby?"
"God, yes, I'm starving," Jade replied and felt herself relaxing. She had no idea why she had gotten so worked up about Jesy thinking the two of them were having sex (or well, had had sex considering they wouldn't have sex with a. Perrie asleep and b. Jesy in the room) but it was a relief that Jesy was only teasing and that Perrie didn't hear it.
The older singer then left the room and Jade let her head drop on the pillow again. When she dropped the hand, which had held the blanket, the fabric slipped down her body again and revealed their naked torsos.
Jade thought they looked nice together, complementing each other. Her skin seemed even darker than it actually was in contrast to Perrie's pale skin but that was one of the things she liked about it. They also fit against each other nicely. She liked feeling Perrie's breasts pressing into her skin just below her own. She probably just liked feeling Perrie's skin against hers, if she was being honest with herself.
With a sigh she forced herself to shake Perrie's shoulder and softly whisper her name but there was no response from her except for her breathing. She tried for a few more moments before dropping her hand and pouting. "Come on Pez," she muttered, "wake up already."
Then – an idea shot through her head. It was probably weird and she had no idea how Perrie would react but... yeah, it could work, couldn't it?
Before she could change her mind about it she strained her neck forward, placing soft mouthed kisses on Perrie's forehead. Her lips trailed down, touching her skin every second as they wandered down the side of her head until she placed a kiss on the corner of Perrie's mouth.
Finally the blonde stirred and taking Jade by surprise she turned her head and lifted it to meet her half way and returning the kiss tiredly. It was just like the two times before – merely their lips touching – but it still made Jade's heart race and she wished there would be some more layers between them so Perrie wouldn't notice.
This time it was Jade who pulled away from their kiss, feeling her neck slowly starting to ache due to how long she had leant forward in order to wake Perrie. When she opened her eyes, a pair of blue ones was staring into them and when her eyes flickered to Perrie's mouth she was relieved to see a smile brightening her features.
"What a nice way to wake up," the blonde giggled before pressing her face into the pillow. "I'm still a little tired, though."
"We need to get ready for an interview," Jade told her and had to clear her throat when she noticed how breathless she was once again. It seemed as if she had forgotten how to breathe every time she and Perrie kissed. "Jesy already came in to wake us."
Perrie giggled and shook her head.
"What?" Jade asked with a smile.
"I bet you ten bucks she made a joke about us having had sex."