When the curtains close

10.

"Perrie open the door please"

Jade had spent the last 15 minutes repeatedly knocking on the restroom door, in the hope that the blonde would finally walk out but nothing of that happened.

"Perrie" the brunette repeated, sighing as she was growing a little frustrated. She rested her head on the door and started mentally debating what was the best thing to do. Was it better to just give up? Maybe Leigh should have tried, or perhaps they just needed to leave her alone.

She started reflecting, how could she expect Perrie to just open the door and show that extremely vulnerable side of herself?

She sighed again realizing that this new version of herself didn't have access to that side of Perrie. She had lost that privilege, or more correctly, she had given it up without thinking twice, without looking back. And for the first time in years she felt regret, she started wondering what could have happened if she didn't leave that house if she had given Perrie the possibility to explain herself; if she'd tried to forgive her.

But again, that person who was having a panic attack inside that office's restroom was the same exact person that a few weeks back had rushed to the hospital as soon as she had been informed about her car accident.

And there it was again, after many years and events, stronger than ever. That need to make sure that Perrie was alright, the desire of taking away everything that was hurting and scaring her, the instinct of just hugging her tightly and telling her that everything would have been fine.

"Perrie I'm going back to Leigh. You know where to find me, okay?" Jade informed and started walking away but immediately stopped and quickly turned around after hearing the door being unlocked.

She observed the younger girl, she was still panicking a bit, it looked as if she had cried. She didn't dare to look Jade in the eyes, she seemed ashamed.

"I-I'm sorry, I panicked. It was-" she explained timidly but Jade interrupted her not wanting the girl to feel obligated to open up.

"Come here!" Jade said walking closer and without even realizing she just hugged her. Perrie just slightly smiled and melted in that hug, god how much she had missed it.

"Are you okay?" Jade asked after a while moving from the hug, as she realized what she had just done and Perrie nodded.

Leigh stood up as soon as she noticed the two girls walking back into the room. She looked at them worriedly, "Are you okay?" She asked not wanting to cross any boundary and looked at Jade confused when Perrie just nodded.

"Girls I really wanna go home" Perrie whispered timidly looking at the floor. "Is it okay if we take care of this another time?"

"Of course" Leigh smiled and then looked at her slightly more seriously. "But Perrie you can't drive like this", she said trying to sound as sweet as possible but the blonde immediately shook her head.

"I'm okay now, don't worry"

"No Perrie, you can't. You also have Izzy" Jade looked at her seriously but with a gentle tone.

"How did you come?" Leigh investigated

"With my car"

"Jade?" She asked looking at the brunette.

"We took a taxi"

"Okay, I came with my car", Leigh said starting to think about the best solution. "Umm, Jade maybe you can drive Perrie" she suggested.

"M-Me?" Jade replied not actually convinced looking at their daughters to avoid their gazes.

"Jade don't worry, I'll call my driver" Perrie offered not wanting to bother them.