When Saturn Returns | Jerrie

Chapter 10

JADE

Jade's heart stops. No. Not Perrie. They can't eliminate Perrie. There must've been some kind of mistake.

But there hasn't and Perrie nods in acceptance before she gets up and starts saying goodbye to Mary and Adam.

"Jadey," she says and grabs Jade's hands to pull her to a standing position and into a hug. Jade wraps her arms tightly around Perrie and inhales her scent for what feels like the last time.

"It's alright, bub. I'll see you tomorrow," Perrie mutters and Jade nods into her shoulder, trying to hold back tears. She's unsuccessful though and Perrie coos at her when they pull back and she sees a tear escape from Jade's eye. She wipes it away with her thumb, letting her hand linger against her cheek for a second.

"I'll miss you," Jade tells her when she finally finds her voice.

"Don't worry," Perrie says with a smirk. "You won't get the chance to miss me, you'll be too busy winning." She then winks at Jade before she grabs her rucksack and follows the ranger who's going to lead her out of the jungle.

Camp immediately feels emptier to Jade, even more so than when anyone else left.

"You alright, Jade?" Mary asks her a couple of minutes after Perrie left when Jade's still staring at the spot she disappeared in. The question makes Jade realise what she's doing and she shakes herself out of it.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She tells herself to keep her feelings in check. Tomorrow, when she's back in her hotel room, she can let them all out. But right now, she needs to be professional and finish this stupid TV show.

She gets up and, to clear her head, starts cleaning up the camp a bit. You'd think they'd make less of a mess because there are fewer people in camp, but the opposite seems to be true and Jade feels like dealing with the mess around her will help her deal with the mess in her head.

She can't believe how attached she got to Perrie again this quickly. Subconsciously, she kind of just assumed that she and Perrie would make it to the final together or that she would get voted out first. She never even thought the current situation was a possibility. She never thought that she'd be here without her.

Perrie was wrong about Jade not having any time to miss her. The last day is one of the most boring days she's had in the jungle. One by one, they get called for their bushtucker trials, since they all have to do one by themselves. Jade just hopes that she won't have to do the bushtucker bonanza. She's already done an eating challenge and wouldn't mind skipping it this time.

She spends most of the day trying to finish the song she and Perrie started writing the other day. It's a duet and the verses are like a conversation between two lovers. Without Perrie there, she doesn't get much done. She doesn't want to change too much, because she knows that Perrie will want to help her finish it. Jade knows that finishing the song will be easier in private, when they can discuss the possibilities freely, without the feeling of microphones around their neck and the fear of revealing too much to the public in the back of their minds.

Jade's the last one to get called for her bushtucker trial and the nerves have been building all day. Adam got the eating challenge, so she's glad that she doesn't have to worry about that. She's not sure what's in store for her though and that makes her nervous.

Turns out, she's going to be shut in some kind of casket for five minutes while she's joined by snakes. She tries not to scream. She really does, but when one of the snakes starts creeping over her neck, she can't help it. She doesn't give up though, she squeezes her eyes shut and tries to think of happier places. Going to the beach in South Shields. With Perrie. The wind sweeping her hair all over the place, which makes her look all windswept and hot.