Happy Place || A Jerrie Fanfiction

XXIX - I NEED THIS

From the way Leigh's glaring at me right now, I think it's safe to say that I am officially under her list of people she despises.

It reminds me of when I was sixteen years old and my very first scandal shrouded all social media after eight years of basking in the limelight without any controversies and drama within the industry.

It's like standing in front of Mom all over again; with the feeling of a little kid being chastised.

"Are you gonna tell her you're leaving?" She asks, her glacial stare rendering me motionless.

"I have to," I answer instantaneously, mentally shaking myself enough to focus.

"And then what happens next? You'll break up?"

I take a moment to answer. Perrie and I haven't established our relationship yet. We just kissed and called it a day. But I still say, "Yes, we'll break up."

"And then you're gonna leave?"

I nod mutely. I feel like my throat will close up if I try to answer that. I can already feel the lump forming already even before I even mustered the word 'break up'.

She shakes her head, fixing me with a gaze that I always get when I disappoint someone. She opens her mouth, then closes it, unsure of what to say. And then she turns around and starts walking ahead. I give her a few steps head start, then I tag along.

Perrie's house is just a few steps away when Leigh stopped, prompting me to stop as well and look at her expectantly.

"Can I ask you something?" She starts.

"Yeah, sure."

"Steve Harrington," she pauses as if to let it sink in, and I hold my breath, waiting for her to proceed. "Who is he? To you?"

"One of my best friends," I answer almost instantly.

They were at the tip of my tongue, ready to get out the moment someone asks me who Steve is to me. And I didn't want Leigh to doubt me and think that I was hesitating. I didn't want her to think that Steve meant more than that to me. Because he didn't. At least not more than a best friend.

Leigh still looks dubious. "That's it?"

"That's it," I confirm, nodding. I add, "Whatever picture you saw of us kissing is simply it, just us kissing. We didn't go further — I was the one that ended it before anything substantial happens."

Leigh doesn't respond. She simply nods and resumed walking ahead, with me traipsing behind as if abiding by an unwritten rule. But when we reached the front of Perrie's door, she leaned in.

"Pez is just," she hesitated, then continued, "She's beside herself right now. So if you're gonna tell her you're leaving, just let her down slowly."

"Leigh, what's really going on?" I ask, only to be interrupted immediately when suddenly, the door swings open, revealing Perrie — in a state I'm surprised she'd be in considering who she seemed to be.

Seeing her eye-bags, her disheveled hair and her wrinkled clothes, it's as clear as day that she's not herself at the moment. A protective part of me wants to hold her right then and there but I try to hold myself back. If I'm going to tell her I'm leaving, space will be important.

Suddenly realizing my purpose of being here, nerves settled in my stomach until I felt like taking a step back and running away from all of this because this is not what I had in mind when I first got here in Miami.

"What took you so long? I texted you awhile ago and you didn't —" Perrie's eyes land on me, and they widen instantly. "Jade? What are you . . . I mean, hi. I'm sorry — was it you that I texted . . . ?"