Jerrie Oneshot Book

Too in Love to Let Go

Summary: Jade and Perrie used to date, but they broke up nearly six months ago. Jade is in an accident and Perrie is still listed as her emergency contact.

Some mornings, before Perrie was fully awake, she still reached across the bed to pull Jade closer, like maybe she had just rolled over in her sleep and a gentle tug could draw her back. She would reach back with her eyes still closed... and jerk awake when her questing fingers found only emptiness beside her. Her heart would slam against her breastbone as she tried and failed to process the absence as anything other than a sure sign that something was very wrong.

And then she would remember.

And then she would cry.

Every. Damn. Time.

Jade was gone. She was gone, and she was never coming back. And it was her fault.

----

"You could have called," Jade snapped. "You could have at least texted to say you weren't coming, instead of just-"

"You could have called, too!" Perrie snapped back. "This isn't a one-way street!" She went to the kitchen and realized that it was where she kept the painkiller in her own place, and stomped to the bathroom instead, jerking open the medicine cabinet so hard that several bottles toppled out, rattling into the sink. She grabbed the one she was looking for and popped open the cap, dumping some into her palm and then shoving them into her mouth without even bothering to count. She swallowed them with a few gulps of water and then leaned on the edge of the sink, eyes closed, waiting for them to kick in even though she knew it would be at least 15 minutes, and maybe more.

"You promised you would be there," Jade said, having appeared in the doorway seemingly out of nowhere, but maybe she'd been there all along.

"I didn't promise," Perrie argued. "I said I would try."

"No, you didn't. You promised. You said this time you would be there. Absolutely. There was no way you would miss it."

Had she? She couldn't even remember, and god, her fucking head hurt. "Look, Jade." And Jade looked, looked straight into her eyes... through the reflection in the mirror. Which felt like some kind of metaphor. "I got caught up, okay? Deadlines are deadlines and they don't go away just because-"

"Just because your girlfriend has something important that she wants you to be present for? Just because for once she wants you to be the one to compromise, to give? Just because you fucking promised her you would be there?"

"It's not even that big of a deal!" Perrie snapped, finally turning around to look Jade full in the face. "It's just one painting!"

Jade looked like she'd been slapped, and then slowly her face went still and blank. "You need to go," she said. "You need to go home."

"Yeah," Perrie sighed. "I guess I do." She hadn't even taken off her coat.

"And you need to not come back."

Perrie blinked. "You're... breaking up with me?"

"I guess I am," Jade shrugged. Dismissive. Nonchalant. "It's not even that big of a deal," she added, although Perrie swore she could hear the pain in her voice. "It's just one year."

----

Her phone buzzed on the coffee table, and Perrie swatted at it, trying to make it stop. It was too early. It couldn't be morning yet, couldn't be time to wake up and face another day working a job that she was supposed to love.