Happy Place || A Jerrie Fanfiction

XXII - CAN I WALK YOU HOME?

Suddenly, it all made sense.

Leigh mentioned she has a boyfriend; when Perrie stormed off awhile ago because of our argument earlier, Leigh asked me if I still wanted to meet her 'boo'; for fuck's sake, she even called him 'babe' at one point!

Not to mention when Niall suddenly panicked and stepped away from me the moment Leigh joined us from the bar. And that look he gave her when he wanted to walk me, as if asking for permission from Leigh.

How did I not get the hint?

"Perrie." It was a struggle trying to say her name, simply because the fury in her eyes did nothing but make the lump in my throat more difficult to swallow and all I could do is try to not to let it grow bigger. "P-Perrie, I-I didn't know about them. I'm so sorry!"

Perrie whipped her head toward the other blonde and tightened her clutch on Niall's collar even more. "What the hell, Niall!?" She lifted him by the shirt, then shoved him back on the sand, and Niall coughed roughly at the impact. "Just because she didn't know, you'd jump at the chance to screw her!?"

"Pez, seriously, we were just hanging out," Niall reasoned out, still struggling under the furious blonde. "Let's talk about this, Pez —"

"You lost the right to call me that!" Perrie snapped. "I don't know — I don't fucking know what Leigh saw in you that made her give you a second chance. I don't know what I saw in you when I gave you a second chance!"

"Perrie, please stop. It's true — we were just hanging out!" I tried to interpose myself between the both of them, but once again my body halted when she throws another glare my way.

"What the hell is going on here!?"

All three of us whipped our heads simultaneously towards the interruption — Liam. I immediately stood up when he stormed towards us. With a frown, he planted a firm hand on both their shoulders and pushed them apart. Niall instantly staggered to his feet and dusted the sand off his clothes.

Perrie, on the other hand, tried to charge toward him once again, but Liam's muscular arm wrapped around her front to preclude her from doing so.

"Pez, what the hell?" He grunted as he tried to pull Perrie back.

"Niall, why don't you tell Liam what happened, huh!?" She snarled, still trying to shove Liam aside but to no avail.

Liam grunted, "Pez, stop moving!"

"We were just hanging out!" Niall pointed an accusing finger my way with a frown on his face. "Right, Jade?"

All eyes pointedly stare at me, and I wish the earth would just swallow me right now because I can't deal with this any longer. They were looking at me expectantly, like as if I'm the one who has the last say in this, and I honestly don't know what to do anymore.

Not having the guts to look Perrie in the eyes, I met Liam's gaze instead, and his eyes softened for a second before he steeled himself and looked back at Niall.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Liam jabbed his index finger at him as well while his other hand's still trying to detain Perrie as she struggled even more. "You, sir, are pointing at the Jade Thirlwall!"

"We were seriously just hanging out!"

Perrie let out a laugh that was obviously meant to be sarcastic and made another pathetic attempt at dislodging herself from Liam's clutch. "'Hanging out'?" Her frown deepened and she shouted, "Tell me that you weren't planning to take her out. Tell me that what I heard isn't true!"

"You asked Jade out?"

The words were uttered quietly, but it was loud enough that we all froze and slowly turn our heads only to find Leigh with glistening eyes. The look on her face was enough for a tsunami of guilt to wash over me.

"Leigh," I muttered softly, taking a tentative step towards her but she held up a hand to stop me. "Leigh, I'm —"

"Jade, I just want Niall to answer my question, okay?" She spoke up without so much as a brief glance my way.

I flinched at the somewhat harsh response. Her cold tone was enough to compete against the humid and hot ambience in this beach, I would bet. Niall's eyes widened in horror the moment they landed on a strangely calm Leigh who was just standing and taking in the scene in front of her. Liam and Perrie sprung apart in panic. All four of us couldn't move an inch because of the thick tension that surrounds us, suffocating us.

"Niall?" Leigh's tone had become even colder than possible. Even from far away, I could see her usual soft eyes hardening and full of betrayal and hurt. "Were you actually planning to take Jade — someone who isn't your girlfriend — on a date?"

Niall opened his mouth, then closed it, clearly unsure of what to say. From that alone, even an outsider would have to agree that he's clearly guilty of what he did.

Leigh looked over her shoulder and glanced at me, and I could feel the culpability grip my whole being because of how heartbroken she looked right now. A tear escaped her eye and she quickly swiped at it before looking away. I didn't realize I wasn't breathing until now when I finally had the chance to.

"Guys, I wanna talk to him alone, please," Leigh whispered underneath her breath, and though it was almost inaudible, we heard her crystal clear.

"Leigh, don't do this," Perrie pleaded. She shook her head firmly and glared at the other blondie. "You don't deserve to listen to whatever he —"

She was cut off when Leigh landed a hand on her shoulder gently. "Pez, please. Walk Jade home safely, okay?"

I looked at my feet, abashed. I was tugging at the hem of my shorts and trying to blink the tears away, all while feeling the intense stare of a certain blondie.

Thankfully, Liam cleared his throat and stepped forward. "It's fine, Pezza, I'll walk her. You can just go home."

It was quiet for a moment. And I was almost at the brink of giving up and accepting the fact that Perrie doesn't wanna be in close proximity to me right now, when she finally spoke.

"It's fine. I'll do it."

I peered up at her, and could feel my cheeks heat up when I discovered that she was already looking at me. Her facial expression hardened, before softening once more.

"Jade, is it alright with you?" She asked me, "Can I walk you home?"

I was surprised by how soft and gentle she spoke, before realizing that I needed to answer. Still quite shocked to even make out a reply, I opted to just say, "Yeah."

Her gaze lingered on me for a few moments, but before I could take the opportunity to decipher whatever emotions were hiding behind her eyes, she nodded and spun around to retrieve our things.