Crown Me

11.

[Not edited]

*Perrie's Pov*

Jesy stayed with me until the next morning while I waited for Jade to return from the funeral. We fell into an easy rhythm, watching movies and eating junk food. It was the perfect distraction from all the things happening outside my control. For a little while I even believed it could last.

"Your phone is ringing," Jesy said as I came out of the bathroom. "It's your mum."

I sat on the edge of my bed and held out my hand.

"Are you sure?" Jesy asked. We both knew exactly why she was calling.

"Where were you Perrie!?" she demanded before I even had a chance to say hello.

"Good morning to you, too." I flopped back onto the bed clenching my eyes in preparation for the attack.

"Jade barely said a word yesterday evening," she continued.

"You saw her?" I asked, stunned.

"Of course, we went with the funeral party to Windsor. I assumed you would be there." She heaved a sigh that I could feel through the phone line. "Do you know what the tabloids are saying?" her voice lowered. "That you're pregnant Perrie. They have pictures of you nearly fainting at the start of the procession and Entertainment Today has started an entire blog devoted to the Royal baby bump watch."

I'd fallen silent as she prattled on, a sour taste flooding my mouth.

"Perrie," my mother said but I didn't respond. "Perrie?"

"I don't feel well," I said softly. "I should go."

"Oh my God, you are pregnant," she breathed.

Acid rose in my throat and I dropped the phone, rushing for the bathroom with Jesy on my heels.

When the heaving had calmed, I sat back and clutched my stomach. "I just left my mother on the phone."

"I have no doubt she'll call back." Jesy began riffling through the drawers until she found my toothbrush and toothpaste.

She pulled me to my feet and I took it half heartedly. "I can't do this Jes."

"Yes you can," she murmured, watching me over my shoulder in the mirror.

"How do you know that?"

She wrapped her arms around me, dropping her chin on my shoulder. "Because you have to."

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An angry voice wafted down the hallway and I paused momentarily torn. Jade had come home hours ago and shut herself in her private office. My stomach churned as I considered that she might be dealing with publicity fall out from my little spell yesterday.

"You can't keep avoiding each other," I said as though saying the words out loud might help me believe them.

I waited at the door for silence, trying hard not to eavesdrop. That proved simple since Jade only seemed interested in barking vague orders at the other party. When she hadn't spoken in several minutes, I knocked briskly on the door and sauntered in.

There was no way I was giving her a chance to shut me out. Not this time.

"I heard about the tabloids," I admitted. I knew she had no love for the gossip rags that had spewed lies about her family for years but I also suspected she might be more sensitive to their intrusion at the moment based on how tightly she'd clung to privacy for the last week.