Don't Forget You're Mine || Jerrie

23

December 5, 2015

It is the first day of Jingle Bell Ball, and Jade and Perrie are ready for their performance. Jade has been spending a fair amount of time recently regretting that night in Japan. She regrets drinking so much and revealing the secret of her relationship with Perrie to no less than eight people. However, her reckless behavior does have its advantages. When they are in dressing rooms backstage, Jade and Perrie do not have to hide anymore. The dancers now know about them, and Adam and Aaron have figured it out on their own. The two women only stop acting affectionate when Sam is around, which luckily does not happen often since she has lots of things to take care of and is always talking to all sorts of people in all parts of the venues.

Right now, Perrie is laying on the couch, and Jade's body is pressed to hers, with Jade's head laying on Perrie's chest. Perrie has hands wrapped around Jade's waist, and they talk quietly to each other through the chatter surrounding them.

"I'm having a birthday party on the twenty-sixth. I've just started planning it, but I think I'm going to do it in South Shields so everyone could come. And I wanted to invite you first," Jade says in a sweet voice.

"Of course I'm going to be there," Perrie replies and softly kisses Jade's head. She feels calm, unlike how she usually does before playing massive arenas. Her ringtone sounds and interrupts the peace. Perrie's phone is buried somewhere in the pillows of the couch, and Jade sits up in order to allow her to look for it. When Perrie finally gets a grip on her phone, she presses her lips together as she sees Katherine's name on the screen. She does not need to explain anything out loud to Jade, as she already understands, and Perrie stands up and walks out of the dressing room. She finds a quiet corner somewhere backstage, where maintenance personnel come and go but no one stops to listen or even take another glance. Perrie answers the call she has been waiting for ever since coming back from Japan.

After Jade's accidental reveal, Perrie and Katherine tried to schedule time to see each other, but it did not work out, as Perrie lives in London and Katherine in South Shields and they are both working. Each one of them tried calling the other a few times, but their schedules are far from coordinated, so they did not get a chance to talk yet.

"Hi," Perrie says into the phone. She has known Katherine for so long now, and never has she felt nervous talking to her like she does right now.

"Hey," Katherine replies, and Perrie can tell that she is feeling the same. "How are you?"

"Jet legged and exhausted, but I'm okay," Perrie tells her and adds a little laugh. Katherine does the same, and Perrie feels a bit more at ease. "How about you?"

"I'm alright. I'm working a lot too, but it's nice to be busy," Katherine replies. There is a short pause before she continues talking. "You're performing soon, right? So can I just ask? Do you, um... Do you really have a girlfriend? No that it bothers me or anything - I'm happy for you - it's just that I'm surprised. You didn't tell me anything."

"Yeah, I... I'm dating Jade now. And I'm sorry I didn't say anything, it's just that it's been complicated. We can't really tell anyone, and I sort of got used to not sharing this, I guess. My dad doesn't even know yet, and so do Jonnie and Caitlin," Perrie says and sighs. Just this morning she told her father she would come visit him for Christmas, and both of her siblings are going to be there as well. She does not know how she is going to tell them about Jade and her, nor how she would be able to hide it. Each option seems worse than the other.

"How long have you two been together?" Katherine asks. Perrie does not want to answer honestly because she thinks that the truth is going to hurt Katherine, but knows that she has to be candid. She has never lied to Katherine, and is not planning on starting now.