the only one that stayed.

three

After the gig, the girls sat inside of their car to get taken to their hotel room to go and sleep. Jade sat beside Perrie and gave her a pat on her shoulder. "You doing alright, petal?" she asked her, her eyebrows raised in concern.

Perrie gave her a small smile which seemed very forced, which it was. Her brain felt numb, as if she was there but not fully. She could hear, taste, and feel, but not be able to fully comprehend everything right away. She barely even knew where she was for a few moments. "I'm alright, Ja'dore," she said, in that little accent she does whenever saying Jade's nickname she made.

Jade gave her a little smile and rested her head on the blonde's shoulder. She knew the girl wasn't alright, it was obvious. She listened to her cry herself to sleep every night in their flat and watched her play with her food only to place it back in the fridge when she thought Jade wasn't looking. Her thighs were getting thinner and she was already thin when she was with Zayn. Jade didn't think much of why she was so skinny then because maybe it was just how her body was, but now she's suspicious. Was she always this way? Was Zayn always the cause?

She brushed all of her thoughts away from her mind as she felt the blonde rest her head on top of hers. She placed a hand on her thigh and squeezed it gently, feeling the girl wince at the feeling.

"You two lovebirds good back there?" Leigh-Anne teased from the front of the car. Jesy sat beside Perrie and looked at the two of them before laughing along with Leigh.

"Oh, they're fine." Jesy replied.

Jade slapped Jesy's hand and glared at her, which only made them laugh once more. The laughing died down as they all realized Perrie had fallen asleep, a few small snores escaping her lips. Jesy looked at her, concern filled in her eyes. "She's not okay," she said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. She knew she wasn't okay, Jade knew, and so did Leigh.

"I know," Jade mumbled. "We just need to be here for her. Help her get herself back up. Eat more." She looked at the girl's wrist and grabbed onto it, noticing how skinny it is now. She glanced at her face and analyzed it, noticing the way her cheekbones are more prominent and the way her skin is paler than it normally is. She seems like she could break at any moment, even while peacefully sleeping.

"Definitely needs to eat more," Jesy replied as she looked at the blonde's wrist as well. "Has she really not been eating?"

Jade attempted to nod her head with Perrie's on top of it. "Yeah. She just plays with the food with her fork and when I leave the room, she puts it into the fridge. I ask her about it later when I find it in there and she says it was too much and she couldn't finish it. But it looks exactly how it did when I gave it to her so I know she didn't even take one bite."

While speaking, she realizes this is the first time she's seen Perrie sleep well in a while. At night she would hear her cry and then silence, which made Jade think she was asleep but then the crying would begin again.

"I really hope she gets better," Jesy said as she looked at Perrie's sleeping body.