*Perrie's Pov*
The street was quiet as the car pulled up in front of our gate. Jade exited the car with express directions for me to remain inside. I waited, longing to be inside and behind the wrought iron fence that separated our private world from the public one forcefully encroaching upon us. When she finally opened my door and offered her hand, I was all too eager to take it.
"Lauren will get the bags," Jade said quietly, "and I'll be right behind you."
She'd been silent for much of the ride home and I didn't know if she was stewing over her furious exchange with her mother or trying to fit recent events together. All I knew was that we were home. Unlatching the gate, I stepped onto the paving stones that formed a welcoming path to my front door. Movement caught my eye and I startled, falling back against the latch. My fingers closed over it, instinct telling me to run, until a familiar face appeared in the darkness.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, still breathless from the scare.
"I came to speak to Jade. I imagine she's expecting me."
At that moment, Jade came through the gateway and froze. Her gaze grew icy as it locked on his face.
"Jonathan," She said coldly.
Slowly, a piece of the puzzle I'd been trying to fit together clicked into place, but the larger image was still obscured. I looked to Jade and back to Jonathan, trying to read the unspoken thoughts that played across both their faces.
"You shouldn't have come," Jade continued.
"I had to," Jonathan interrupted.
"I need to explain what happened—"
"Your presence here is all the explanation I require. Leave," Jade commanded. Jonathan shook his head and a growl rumbled through Jade.
I stepped back, cloaking myself in the shadows of the garden. I wanted to fade into the night so neither of them would recall my being here. Luckily they only saw each other. The air surrounding us thickened into a palpable tension. I could draw my hands through it, slice it open, and still not damage the heaviness of the atmosphere. It warned of violence and blood as much as the brutal hatred emanating from Jade's body. I took solace in the fact that Lauren was nearby. I would be no match for these two if, or rather when, this came to blows.
"It wasn't what you assume." Jonathan stepped closer, shoving his hands nervously in the pockets of his coat. "It was innocent."
"Nothing that happened that night was innocent," Jade yelled. Her words shattered through the night and echoed in the silence. A few houses down, a porch light flickered on.
But I didn't move to quiet them. What was passing between them was unstoppable. They were somewhere else entirely, caught in a web of the past that only confrontation would free them from. I could only watch the fallout.
"Leigh anne wanted it. It wasn't much. Just enough to loosen her up." Jonathan's voice rose, desperate to be heard. He shook his head. "I should have said no."
"And Karl?" Jade snarled. "Did he want it, too?"
"I swear to god I didn't give any to Karl. If he took some, it wasn't mine." Jonathan rambled on, only making himself sound guiltier. He was single handedly signing his own death certificate.
The picture grew clearer until I could see all the pieces the dozens of mistakes fitting together to form a tragic story. There had been drugs that night, but it hadn't been Jade providing them. I'd known that, but I hadn't understood how Karl had taken them. Now I knew. Jonathan had made a mistake, and it had cost an innocent guy his life.
