I let go of Perrie's head, who was busy working on the lower part of my body, to grip the bars of the bed. My entire body felt like electric shocks were going off all over me. "Aaah... god."
I felt Perrie pull back suddenly and I opened my eyes to see her leant back on her knees. Her eyes looked almost sad. "Are you not enjoying it babe?" She whispered.
"Come here." I gasped, holding my hand out. I gently pulled her on top of me and held her face in my hands. "Do I really look like I'm not enjoying myself?"
"I just... want to make you feel as good as you just made me feel."
"You are babe." I insisted. "I promise."
Perrie smiled, seemingly reassured, and lowered her body slowly until I very nearly entered her. "Tell me what feels good."
"You do." I breathed, now gripping onto her hips tightly. "You feel good, please don't stop."
Perrie lowered herself even more, tortuously slow as I finally entered her. I slightly turned my head and bit down on my lip.
**
"Pez." I gasped. I cleared my throat and tried again. "Pez... babe, we're gonna have to get up."
Perrie was lying with her head on my chest, both of us breathing heavily, and shaking. I had no idea of the time, but the sun was much higher in the sky, judging by the way it was streaming through the curtain and I could hear Hatchi outside the bedroom door going crazy. The poor thing was probably starving.
"Pez, can you hear me?"
"No." Perrie said weakly. "No, I can't hear or see or speak or move or do anything ever again."
"You're doing a good job of the speaking." I chuckled. "Babe, we've left Hatchi practically all morning... can I just go and open the back door for him and feed him?"
Perrie nodded and sighed at the same time. "I genuinely cannot move yet though... can you do it?"
"That's what I said." I laughed. I rolled her off me, kissing her head. "I'll be right back, okay?"
"You better be!"
I made my way downstairs with just a towel wrapped around my waist, taking my phone with me, switching it on to see if I had any messages. I didn't, but while I was filling Hatchi's bowl, enjoying the breeze coming in from the open back door, my phone started vibrating.
'Lauren calling'
I frowned and rejected the call, shaking my head. She knew where I was this weekend. She could wait for her gossip!
I made my way back upstairs to find Perrie hadn't moved an inch.
I was gonna come looking for you then."
"Oh yeah, think you could've made it down do you?" I teased.
"Probably not. Babe, you've killed me. Like literally killed me."
"Literally? Well, I didn't do a very good job did I?" I fell down on top on her, grinning. "So... did I live up to your expectations or was I better in your dream?"
Perrie's eyes snapped wide open. "Right, that's it. What the hell did I do last night?!"
"Like I said, you kept moaning my name."
Perrie went bright red and covered her face.
"Awh, don't go all shy!" I cooed, tugging at her hands. "I know you said we were dancing but I've never heard anyone react like that to a dance... dream or otherwise!"
"Aaagh, alright! It was... right, I just didn't wanna say anything to you before we... did anything cos I didn't wanna put any pressure on you! I didn't know I talked in my sleep though! Okay, we... weren't dancing."
"I knew it! What were we doing?"
"I think you know."
"I do but this is more fun, I want details."
"Beaaarrr, stop it!" Perrie huffed like a child. "Anyway, since when did we switch? Since when was I all shy and you got all confident and cheeky?"
"I dunno. Why? Don't you like me this way?" I said, pretending to look sad. Perrie launched herself upwards, using her weight to throw me down so she was above me.
"Of course I do, I love you any way, all the time."
"Ditto." I whispered, leaning up to kiss her. "You not gonna tell me what we were doing then?"
Perrie shook her head and pushed me back down.
"Nope. I was thinking I should show you instead. You up for round two baby?"
"In what universe do you imagine me saying no?"
**
"My mam just text me." Perrie announced, coming from the kitchen, and bringing with her the gorgeous smell off the roast potatoes she had just put in. "Her and Ellie will be here in about half an hour."
"Okay, do you need any help with anything?"
"No, I'm all good in there. You stick with your movie babe."
"I will, thanks! Wizard of Oz is a classic Sunday afternoon viewing." I smiled. "Pez, when they come, can I let them in?"
"Yeah, if you wanna. Why though?"
"No reason, just something I'd like to do."
"Fair enough." Perrie was stood behind the sofa, and placed her finger under my chin, tilting my head back for a kiss.
We both jumped as my phone rang beside me and I picked it up to see 'Lauren Calling' for the fourth time that day. "Sorry, d'you mind?" I sighed.
"Course not, I better keep an eye on the food anyway. Last time I did this meal, the spuds were like rocks!"
I watched her skip out of the room, smiling to myself and accepted the call. "Hey Lauren, what's up?"
"Hello stranger! Where have you been all day? Can I pop round?"
"I'm at Perrie's this weekend, didn't I tell you?"
"Oh crap, I'm sorry hun. I totally forgot!"
"Course you did." I chuckled.
"No, seriously, I'm really sorry. I'll call you tomorrow."
"It's okay... is everything alright?"
"Course it is."
"You sure?"
"Why wouldn't it be? I didn't mean to disturb you. Have fun, yeah? I want deets tomorrow!"
"I bet you do."
"Indeed. By the way, are we still on for Friday?"
"Are we 'on'?! It's not a cheery family outing Lauren, it's a day in court. I assume it is still on yes, unless she's done a runner."
"Sorry chuck, I didn't mean it like that. Talk to you tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay, bye Lauren."
I hung up with a sigh and didn't even notice Perrie had come back in until she gave my leg a light slap. I smiled and moved them back for her to sit down.
"What's up? Did the wizard tell Dorothy to come back tomorrow?"
"No." I laughed. "Nothing."
"Don't give me that. You didn't even give me those doe eyes when I walked in, something's distracted you!" Perrie teased, making me go red.
"Lauren... just reminding me about Friday."
"Ah I see. Probably just wants to know you're okay."
"She said 'are we still on for Friday'. That makes it sound like I'm looking forward to it!"
"I'm sure she didn't mean it like that. She was probably just checking it's the right day... anyway, I've been thinking about that and I wanted to run something by you."
"Oh?"
"Aye. I know I put a bit pf pressure on you about meeting your dad and everyone before all this, but I don't have to. No, listen. I can still be there; I can be in the gallery thing. You'll know I'm there; I'll still be right there for you. Then you don't have any extra worry about what your dad thinks, or anything apart from why you're there. You need to focus babe. I can meet the family afterwards. Maybe even that night, it's totally up to you. I don't wanna put any pressure on you. I just wanna be there for you."
I tried to swallow past the huge lump in my throat and laughed nervously. "Why are you always so amazing?"
"I'm not." Perrie said.
"Yes you are. You always put me first."
"Cos I love you." She said cutely, rubbing her nose on mine and kissing me.
"I love you too. And I'm shitting myself but I'm gonna make sure your mum and cousin know that too. They must be protective of you and think things about me they probably haven't said to your face, but I'll make them see they're wrong."
And as I spoke, we heard a car door slam.
I sat up so quickly, I headbutted Perrie.
"Agh, bloody hell Jakob!"
"Sorry, sorry! Are you okay?" I sniggered.
"Fabulous, you doughnut. Go and answer the door while I go check the spuds. Jesus..."
I chased after Perrie, catching her at the kitchen door. I grabbed her waist and spun her around, making her squeal. I cut her off with a kiss, then kissed her forehead too. "I'm sorry."
"You're forgiven."
Three sharp knocks rang through the house and Perrie squeezed me around my middle. "Here goes!"
"Go in the kitchen."
"Eh?!"
"Go on, just come out in a minute." I smacked Perrie's bum as she turned her back on me and she swore.
Just as I grasped the door handle, I heard Perrie's mum say, "I hope they're not up to anything in there. I told her we were on the way!"
"For god's -" I heard Ellie's voice.
I quickly opened the door before they could go any further, fixing a smile in my face. I realised suddenly that I didn't feel as scared as I had done only minutes ago.
"Hey." I smiled, offering both of them my hand and shaking theirs. "You must be Perrie's mum and cousin."
I stepped back to let them both in and quickly grabbed Debbie's bag for her, earning a smile. "I'm Jakob Hunter... it's really nice to meet you both, Perrie's told me a lot about you."
"Nice to meet you too pet, although I can't say the same. I think Perrie prefers to let people speak for themselves like."
"Mam!" Perrie came running out of the kitchen and embraced her mother, then Ellie. "You are just in time. Dinner's nearly done."
She stood beside me and grasped my hand. "This is Jakob. My boyfriend."
"Aye love, he's told me his name."
"Perrie, we should watch those spuds..."
"Aye, I wanna keep all my teeth!" Debbie said. "Has she told you she can't cook to save her life?"
"Mam, yes I can!" Perrie huffed. "I'm just... not best friends with spuds, that's all."
"She mentioned it." I grinned. "Do either of you want a drink?" I looked at Ellie who was yet to speak. She was staring at me.
"I'll do that." Perrie said. "You three go and sit down and get acquainted. I won't be a minute."
I was very aware of Ellie watching me as we went to sit down. I quickly turned off the movie, smiling nervously at them until Ellie finally spoke.
"So, Jakob. Perrie never told me you're gorgeous."
There was no way they didn't see how red I was now. I couldn't get my words out. Luckily Perrie appeared with a bottle of wine and some glasses. "What did she just say?"
"I said, how come you never told me your boyfriend is gorgeous?"
"Ellie!" Perrie gasped but she was laughing. She sat next to me, placing her hand on my leg. "D'you have to embarrass people within two minutes of meeting them?"
"Perrie. The spuds?" Her mum spoke up and I chuckled.
"They're fine for ten minutes mam. What are you talking about?"
"Nothing yet, you didn't give us chance!" Debbie said.
"Do you have any brothers Jakob?" Ellie said.
Perrie groaned and banged her head on my shoulder. "Ellie, for crying out loud!"
I had gone from being quite scared of Perrie's cousin to finding her hilarious in a matter of seconds. "Yes, I have one younger brother."
"That's enough, god I brought you here to meet Bear, not to get a date!" Perrie shot at her cousin.
"Bear is it?" Ellie smiled.
"Only to me." Perrie said quietly. I turned to smile at her and for a moment, I couldn't look away from her eyes. I was only half-aware of Perrie's mum announcing she was going to check the food and leaving the room, and Ellie sprawling out on the sofa and grabbing the remote.
"Oi, I didn't ask you here to watch TV all the time." Perrie said.
"But look, The Wizard of Oz is on!"
I snorted with laughter and Perrie got up, shaking her head. "Still a child. Will you be okay babe?"
"Of course."
Ellie sat up a bit and turned to me. "So, are you a Londoner? You don't sound like you come from around here?"
"No, my parents moved here from Yorkshire when I was still really young. Accent kind of stuck."
"Aah, gotcha. So, do you just have the one brother or..."
I didn't know whether to laugh or not, but Ellie smiled and said, "I'm just asking out of interest. I'm not looking for dates, Pez was messing about."
"It's okay, I believe you. I have two younger sisters as well."
"Four kids, that's a lot. Your mum and Aunty Debs would enjoy complaining together about how much work loads of kids are."
I simply smiled. It was a throw away comment, not a reason for me to go into detail about my absent mother, so I didn't. There was no need to."
"So, what do you do?" Ellie asked and we kept chatting until Perrie came back in and announced dinner was ready.
"And before you two make any jokes, there's nothing wrong with the spuds. I've tried one." Perrie said as she sat down. She squeezed my leg under the table, taking me by surprise but I managed not to jump too much. She flashed me a smile and reached for her wine.
"Tell us about yourself then Jakob." Debbie said.
"What do you want to know?"
"Anything. D'you just have the one brother?"
"He's got two sisters as well." Ellie said after swallowing a mouthful of food. "Said you should get together with his mum and swap stories eh?"
Perrie gave me a look but I ignored it, just smiling. I quickly changed the subject. "I'm more curious about what Perrie was like when she was young..."
Both Debbie and Ellie were off, and I spent the rest of the meal laughing with them while Perrie sat beside me, pretending to sulk but then kept joining in to stick up for herself, which was even funnier.
**
I sat alone in Perrie's front room, flicking through the TV while she said goodnight to her mum and cousin, tired from their journey. They had been great, far less intimidating than I had expected and seemed satisfied with the little I had told them about myself through the afternoon.
Perrie came back in, followed by Hatchi who started happily running around the room and closed the door behind her before sitting beside me, curling herself up under my arm.
"So you survived." She teased.
"It seems so."
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"Just for meeting my mam and Ellie, she's so embarrassing! Seriously though, it means a lot to me."
"I'm glad I did, they're lovely. I can see where you get your cuteness from too. Your mum's adorable. Ellie's funny, she's actually quite like my Ellie too, they'd get on."
"Aah good. I can't wait to meet her."
"You will, I promise. In fact..." I sat up a little to look at Perrie properly. "Are you gonna be free next Sunday? If I make sure everybody will be in, you can come for dinner. You would've already met my dad, so..."
"Really? Are you sure?" Perrie looked excited, her eyes lighting up.
"Why not? The sooner, the better right?"
She nodded eagerly. "I'd love to. Count me in."
She kissed me softly and snatched the remote off me.
"Oi, thief."
"Bear...?"
"Hmm."
"I don't want you to go home tomorrow." Perrie said, her lips forming a little pout. "It's gonna be lonely."
"Lonely? Ellie and your mum are here... and you've got rehearsals most of the time, haven't you?"
"I know but... I'm gonna miss you, that's all."
"I'll miss you too." I whispered. "D'you think I could see you, like, before the court thing on Friday?"
"Erm, yes please! When are you not working? If you're free during the day, you could come to the studio again or just come here for a couple of hours one night?"
"Yeah, okay. Anything."
"Are you worried about Friday?"
I sighed. "Of course I am."
"I knew it. I can tell by your face. Tell me what's worrying you?"
I shrugged. "I'm just not looking forward to being grilled and some stranger making out I'm a liar. Cos that's what he's gonna do."
"You don't know that-"
"I do. That's what he's getting paid for."
"I thought she admitted it?"
"She did but it's more complicated than that. If she just says she's guilty, she'll go down. If she says she's not guilty on the grounds of being mentally unstable, she might get a suspended sentence if they can prove it, that's why I've got to be there in the first place."
"So much for her feeling remorseful then?" Perrie sighed.
"That's the thing though, I genuinely do think she's got a screw loose." I said with a bitter laugh. "Otherwise, I dunno how to explain what she was doing."
"Hey. Look at me." Perrie grabbed my chin before I could look up on my own accord. "I'm gonna be there for you."
"I know."
"Just tell them the truth, don't get angry, don't get upset cos they'll feed off that. They'll use it against you."
I nodded. "I'll worry about that. You worry about something else."
"What?"
"Meeting my dad."
Perrie grinned. "I can't wait babe, I really can't. Anyway, where did you put your CD thingy? I wanna hear our song again."
"Our song?" I smiled, standing up to grab the Walkman.
"Yes, our song! Nobody's ever written me a song before."
"Seriously?" I said disbelievingly. "How's that possible?"
"Oh shush..."
"I'm serious. I dunno how anyone can look at you and... not think amazing things and be inspired by you."
Perrie smiled bashfully and wrapped her arms around me as I sat back down. "When did you get so cute, eh?"
"I'm not cute."
"Yes you are."
"I'm not."
"You are!"
"Perrie..." I said warningly. "Don't make me tickle you."
Perrie pressed her lips together, fluttering her eyelashes. "Yes sir. Can't wake my mam up anyway can we?"
"And Ellie."
"You're joking. Ellie's probably got her ear pressed to the carpet trying to hear if we're up to anything."
We laughed and Perrie stretched her legs out, lying against my shoulder. Just as she raised the earphones over her head, I stopped her.
"Pez."
"What?"
"Can I tell you something?"
"Course... what's up?"
"Nothing... I just... I can't believe how much I love you already."
Perrie's eyes shone with tears but she held them back, just smiling. If all I had to do was tell her I loved her to see that smile, I would never, ever stop.
"I love you too." She whispered. She dropped the earphones and wrapped her arms around my neck, planting a soft but passionate kiss on my lips. When she pulled back, I didn't let go, fusing our lips together again and lying back with her in my arms.