Brave || Zerrie AU

War

"You kissed him?" Harry asked Perrie, his voice filled with anger, "Perrie, how could you?" 

Perrie flinched at the anger in his voice, but it had been her decision to go to his apartment and tell him everything that happened. He was still her best friend and most trusted companion. 

"I know," She said in a low voice. She couldn't trust herself to say more. "I got lost in the moment." 

Harry turned to look at Perrie, his eyes wide open. "You got lost in the moment? Perrie, this isn't some romance book! This is real life and people will get hurt." 

"I know." The tears started to fall down her cheeks and Perrie made no effort to wipe them away. "I know." 

Harry saw the look of heartbreak in her eyes and his own gaze softened. "He has a girlfriend." 

"God, I know." She buried her face in her hand and rubbed her eyes, the tears blurred  her vision. "I feel absolutely terrible." 

"You should because GiGI has done nothing to deserve this." 

The guilt sank further down her heart and  Perrie realized the consequences of everything that had happened earlier that night. The memory of the kiss was still fresh in her mind and she hated herself for being so weak when she had worked so hard. 

"You think I don't know that?I have heard nothing, but good things about her from everyone and she seems like a great girl. I just... I had to kiss him. I had to know how much I missed him." 

Harry sighed and moved to sit closer to Perrie on the big white couch, the city laid out in front of them from Harry's apartment. 

"I love him, Harry." Perrie admitted, her heart beating faster with those words. 

"But are you in love with him, Perrie?" He asked. 

Perrie thought for a moment about the question and if she was being honest she didn't know. When she was having the conversation with Zayn earlier she had told him that she wasn't because she had feeling for Ciro. 

Ciro. 

Just the simple thought of him made the guilt weigh heavier in her chest. She cared very much for him because of everything he had done to help her and the way he was with everyone he met. He brought happiness and joy back into her laugh when she felt like she would never get out of that black hole she had fallen into. 

"I don't know if I'm in love with him." The words stayed in the air and Harry grabbed her hand, his big one engulfing hers. 

"I think you need to think very hard about what you want, Perrie Edwards, before someone gets hurt really badly." 

That night Perrie returned to her new  apartment with the same gut wrenching feeling she felt when she realized what tonight had meant. Zayn and her had cheated. Nothing felt worse than that because Perrie promised herself she would never in the middle of someone else's relationship. She laid in her bed and looked at her ceiling that was covered in stars from when she came back from Sevence. Abriella had packed them in a small bag for her and said that whenever she missed Sevence to hang them on the ceiling and it would look like the night sky in Italy. As if sensing that Perrie was thinking about her, Abriella called. Perrie picked up the phone as quickly as she could. 

"Hey, Perrie." Abriella's chipper voice sounded through the phone. 

"I hope I'm not waking you."Perrie said in a low voice. 

Abriella's laugh rang from the other side of the line, "Not at all! I was just about to head out and meet with Ciro. We're planning his mom's birthday." 

Something inside of her chest tightened at the mention of Ciro. "Oh, fun. How is he anyways?" She asked. 

Abriella was silent for a moment and just when Perrie thought Abriella wasn't going to answer she did, "He's doing fine. Actually no," She admitted, "It's just that it's almost around the time of the year when Ales died and Ciro gets really... distant around this time. I remind him that I'm here if he needs me, but he says he's fine."

"He really loved her didn't he?" Perrie asked. Memories of Ciro talking about Alessanda filled her head and she remember how hard Ciro had tried to be okay, not for his sake, but for everyone else. 

"They both loved each other and they were ripped apart by life. They deserved better."  

The conversion soon ended, but Perrie needed to get something off of her chest and so she told Abriella everything that had happened that night. She explained the song, the ice cream, the kiss, and the very awkward car ride back. When she finished she knew something was wrong. 

"What is it?" Perrie asked, panic filling her body. 

"It's just... he hurt you, Perrie. I saw how much you went through because of him and now you kissed him." Abriella sighed and Perrie imagined her running her hand through her hair like she always did when she was thinking of what to say. "I know you love him, but Perrie you have to think of yourself and if this is what's best for you. 

"I don't know what's best for me anymore. I'm confused." 

"Then take some time and figure out what it is you want, Perrie, but please stay true to who you are and think about who you want in your life. Don't let anyone else's opinions get in your way, but please think everything through. I only want what's best for you." 

Perrie loved Abriella like a sister because she understood her and her flaws, yet loved her for them. 

"But, just... think twice before you run back to the one person who broke you in the first place, even if they didn't do it on purpose." 

******************

Short chapter, I know. But I have so much work to catch up on so I thought I might write something as a way of saying thank you for 3.5k reads. That's insane! I Love you guys so much!

Also, remember what I said when I first started this book, I want it to be as realistic as possible, but I still love me some Zerrie so. 

xoxo 

L