Sparks

Time

Stressed was not an uncommon thing for Leigh Anne to be. This particular leg of the tour had been straining to say the least and as they began nearing the end homesickness began creeping up on her. Of course, she loved what she did, the opportunity she was given, and the fans and friends she'd made but the burden of traveling 24/7, always working and never resting, was becoming too big of a weight for the girl to carry.
She looked outside of her hotel room window at the scene in front of her. The shiny, blue water reflecting the suns light, the skyscrapers unique to the city that seemed like they swayed with the wind, the calmness of the usually busy streets at 5 in the morning. Melbourne wasn't home but she was beautiful.
She sighed just as someone scanned their key card to get into her room and she quickly turned to see who it was, knowing already. She smiled as Perrie struggled to push a cart with breakfast on it through the door. Leigh rushed to her side, taking the door and holding it open so that Perrie could get in. They both giggled as she maneuvered the thing to the end of the bed and left it there, exhaling and putting her hands out like she was presenting it "Breakfast is served!" she announced in an overtly masculine tone.
Leigh Anne shook her head and let the door close behind her, making her way over to the blonde girl still in her pajamas. "That took you forever." She said before taking Perrie's face in between her hands and bringing her closer until their lips were meeting in a kiss.
It was desperate for the both of them, like Perrie had been away for years and not 20 minutes.
She chuckled once they'd pulled away, sweeping her hand behind a curtain of brown curls and cupping Leigh Anne's face. She stroked her cheek gently with her thumb "It wasn't that long, love." She said softly before kissing her nose and going to sit in front of the cart of food "And they screwed up your eggs so I had them sent back. Couldn't have my baby eating an egg that wasn't hard cooked now could I." she teased and Leigh Anne rolled her eyes playfully.
She went to join Perrie on the bed and watched as she began to uncover trays and unwrap silverware. She prepared Leigh Anne's plate for her, knowing she was too tired to do it herself. She should've been more willing to at least lend a hand seeing as how Perrie had been the one to get out of bed and fetch the breakfast in the first place but at that point Perrie was so in the habit of caring for Leigh Anne that there was no real point in trying. She'd play her parts later, when she had more energy.
She pouted as Perrie placed two slices of wheat toast on her plate and then went to start on her own "You'd better start eating before your food gets cold, Leigh Leigh." She squeezed her bare thigh gently as she took a bite of her own toast.
Leigh Anne groaned and fell back onto the bed "How can anyone possibly eat at five in the fucking morning?" she complained and Perrie giggled but didn't react further.
Leigh Anne watched her back as she ate her food, taking her fingers and trailing them all along her body. After about 10 minutes of silent chewing and ghost-like caressing Perrie dusted her hands off and turned towards Leigh Anne, smiling the second she saw her curled up on the bed, half asleep, but still unconsciously running her hands down her back gently.
She opened her eyes when Perrie reached behind her and took her hand into her own. "How much time do we have?" She whispered prompting Perrie to push the cart forward and scoot back towards where Leigh Anne was sprawled out on the hotel bed. She looked to the clock on the nightstand behind them and then wrapped her arms around Leigh Anne, pulling her flush against her body.
Leigh Anne snuggled into her immediately, wrapping her own arms around Perrie's waist and resting her head against the girl's chest. The morning air was cold but she didn't need a blanket as long as she had Perrie there to keep her warm.
"About a half hour." She finally answered once they were situated in their position. A half hour of free time before Perrie would have to leave Leigh Anne's room to go to her own for their real 6:30 wake up call, a half an hour before they were back to pretending that they were nothing. 
"Not enough." Leigh Anne whispered sleepily as she relaxed further in Perrie's embrace, pressing a soft kiss to her collarbone.
Perrie brushed her hair with her hand "I know." She said solemnly "But this is the last show and then we'll be back home and we can spend all of our days and nights just like this."
Leigh Anne smiled at the thought of spending the coming vacation days wrapped up in Perrie's embrace, either in her bed or Perrie's or maybe another hotel bed if they decided to take a trip somewhere. They wouldn't have to time their moments or check for clear coasts before sneaking off to the other's room in the middle of the night. There would be no sneaking kisses or trying to get everything out of a hug while acting as if it meant nothing in the public eye.
They could just be Perrie and Leigh, a happy, somewhat normal, couple attempting to live a happy, somewhat normal life for a couple of weeks before it was back to the spotlight.
Leigh Anne loved what she did, she was grateful for the life she led, and some might say she was living a dream. The dreams she really wanted to live, the ones that she could only experience to a certain extent, didn't involve anything she'd previously thought they would, anything she had now.
They were all about eating breakfast in bed at reasonable hours, singing off key at the top of her lungs, laughing until her sides began to hurt at the dumbest things, and cuddling with the one person that understood the downfalls of this life they were living together. The only person that she could be ungrateful with, that she could complain to and not fear being viewed as some spoiled celebrity bitch who didn't appreciate what she had. The only person that got it.
They were a day away from that dream and Leigh Anne smiled as she inhaled deeply and cuddled even closer to Perrie, already grateful that for the next couple of weeks this would be all she'd have.
It was already more than enough.
....
They'd be the last flight out of Melbourne the next day coincidentally, as if something or someone out there knew that they needed this time with each other. As if the universe felt the aching that they felt whenever it was time to hide, as if the world was rooting for them.
Perrie would miss everyone. The crew, stagehands, backup dancers, and of course Jade and Jesy but she was grateful for this new freedom. To be able to sit across from Leigh Anne and chat over dinner, to hold her hand openly, and see the future of their next few weeks off. It was like a test for them, a "standard couple" simulation so they could get a feel if this is what they really wanted. Perrie wanted this, she loved the look of Leigh Anne underneath the low lights in the restaurant, the fact that she was there for her. Glowing for her.
She was happy and Perrie had noticed her decline in mood and drive as the tour began coming to an end so it felt good to see a genuine smile on her face. She watched and listened as Leigh Anne went on about something she'd seen on Instagram.
"I love this." She said once Leigh Anne had stopped speaking, running her thumb along the shell of her hand gently across the table.
Leigh Anne giggled "You love what?" she asked as she took a sip of the white wine they'd ordered.
"Sitting here, eating dinner, listening to your thoughts. It feels so..." she struggled with the word to describe this euphoria and Leigh Anne was quick to finish her thought for her.
"Normal?" she suggested, a grin playing on the corners of her lips.
"Exactly."
Perrie and Leigh Anne were the epitome of privileged, traveling around the globe, making enough money to sustain them forever, doing what they both loved to do on stage in front of thousands. There wasn't one thing about the life they led that wouldn't be considered desirable to someone that didn't have it.
But what most would call a dream could sometimes be a nightmare and she'd felt it most the last couple of months. Since her and Leigh had decided that they needed to be together and that any other alternative wasn't going to be enough to quench the desire they felt for the other. On the night they'd made it official, after Leigh Anne had confessed that she wanted to lie in bed with Perrie and just be still more than she wanted anything else, Perrie had had the urge to scream it from the rooftops. She wanted everyone to know that she'd finally met her dreams in real life. Wanted everyone to feel the way it felt to be wanted by the one person that could make everything that troubled her go away in a world where she was already sought after by millions.
She couldn't, she knew that but still Leigh Anne had to be the one to remind her. They would have to keep this love under wraps, at least for the time being. Perrie thought she'd be okay with that as long as she had her Leigh but they both quickly came to realize that leaving everything behind closed doors meant just that. Nothing could ever leave the confines of whatever hotel room they were staying at or the curtains attached to the bunks on the tour bus. No one knew all the ways Leigh Anne could make her weak and she had to pretend that she didn't in front of other people. Even Jesy and Jade were left out of the loop because both Perrie and Leigh Anne knew that they needed time to grow together, to get used to sharing their heart with another person again so that they'd have a strong foundation before they risked the chances of anyone else ruining them.
So, when they were in the middle of an interview Perrie had to stand next to Leigh Anne and physically restrain herself from touching her, on red carpet nights she'd have to stop herself from showing the transfixion Leigh Anne left her in on her face, and there would be no long lingering hugs or absent-minded staring amidst thoughts of "Jesus, I wanna kiss you right now" anywhere or else they'd be found out.
It often felt like she was leading a double life and she was only herself in the night or on days off and always behind closed doors.
The fact that she couldn't have someone that was literally 2 feet away from her at all times drove her crazy. She was on edge at all times, often frustrated that she'd found true happiness after heartbreak again and couldn't tell anyone but the person she shared it with, and just like Leigh Anne she began finding it difficult to genuinely smile. Her smiles were only real when she was herself, during the witching hour, or in the halls of the bus when everyone else was off in a different section and she could sneak a kiss to her lover's lips. She could only ever truly be at her best when Leigh Anne held the title of her girlfriend and not bandmate, best friend, or the ever cringe worthy "sister".
But the tour had finally come to an end and they would have 4 weeks of complete, uninterrupted liberty. The universe's bonus gift was a night of fancy dinner and wine in a restaurant where nobody knew them and didn't care what they were doing. They'd held hands walking into the restaurant, Leigh Anne had been able to feed Perrie some of her food off of her fork, and there wasn't a moment throughout the night that they weren't looking at one another. It was simple things that would've gone unnoticed had they not been who they were and that night they weren't. They'd had to pretend that there was nothing going on because they were famous and that night they found joy in pretending that they weren't famous at all.
It was everything.
Leigh Anne, after much playful arguing and insisting, had picked up the tab and they left the restaurant with full bellies and full hearts. The bottle of white wine they'd consumed was evident in their journey back to the hotel but they walked with purpose. They had an uber drive them back and made their way to the elevator that would take them up to Perrie's room. Once inside, the drive that they had been holding back, the one that even normal people hid from the public eye, came to life.
Leigh Anne made her way across the floor and then turned to look at Perrie. Her toffee colored skin shimmered as if the white wine had turned her to gold and she stared at Perrie with ferocity. Her eyes burned impatient but she waited as Perrie finished a phone call with their manager confirming flight details and checkout times. She hadn't even gotten the chance to hang up before Leigh Anne was practically running towards her and throwing her arms around her neck. She kissed her urgently, as she always did, as if the moment could've been taken from her at any second.
Perrie stumbled back slightly but didn't hesitate to grab hold of Leigh Anne's face, pulling her closer so that their lips were smashed together and then pulling away "Slowly, love." She said as she surveyed her eyes. She watched as the fire turned from hot red to a solemn blue and stroked her cheek gently, expecting her hand to be covered in gold luster once she pulled away "We have all the time in the world now."
Four weeks and one day was nowhere near all of the time in the world but for two people that had spent months dedicating an hour or two to everything they wanted to be and the rest to everything they didn't it felt like more than enough.
Leigh Anne must've agreed because she smiled in response and pulled Perrie back to her lips, kissing her gently over and over again for what felt like a century as if the time they had really was unlimited.