Fix Me || Jerrie

Chapter 15

The rain was still battering against us as we rounded the street corner and the shopping centre came into view. Unfortunately for us, this change in direction meant the rain was coming directly at us so I used my free hand to shield my eyes, not that it did much good: my hair was soaked and dripping constantly into my eyes which was making my vision slightly blurry. I tried my best to wipe them and clear the hair from my face but we were against the wind now so it was soon blown back - looks like I was just going to have to deal with it. At least we weren't too far from the shopping centre and shelter. I gripped Jade's hand slightly tighter and tried my best to shield her as much as possible from the elements. I pulled Jade in close to my side as we waited for the lights to go red and the green man to appear. I wasn't doing much in the way of protecting her from the rain but at least I was sheltering her from the worst of the wind. When the green man appeared we hurriedly crossed the road and I reached out to open the door for Jade. She smiled appreciatively at me.

The door to the shopping centre swung shut behind us and a blast of warm air hit me square in the face. It was a nice relief from the chill of the rain that was still lashing against the glass door. We took 2 steps inside and I suddenly froze.

What if Jade's friends really didn't like me? What if they told Jade to stop seeing me?

My hand slipped out of Jade's as she kept walking and she took a couple more steps before she realised I was no longer next to her. She stopped and turned to look for me, I remained rooted to the spot. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly and she walked slowly back towards me.

"You okay?" She asked as she took both my hands in hers. Jade's thumbs rubbed small, soothing circles across my knuckles but the cast covering her hand scratched my palm slightly and guilt flickered within me. I caused that; I can't believe she'd hurt her hand because of me, that I'd hurt her so much she'd punched a wall to find a release for her emotions. Jade had told me numerous times that it didn't matter, that she didn't care, but I still felt guilty. She got her cast off next week, the doctor said it was all healed and there was no lasting damage but still...

"I'm not good at meeting new people anymore." I replied shyly and Jade's face softened, she understood what I meant. That was something me and Jade were good at: understanding how the other was feeling without verbal explanations.

"You were fine when you met me." She stated with a smile and I blushed slightly.

"You have no idea how nervous I was." Truthfully, meeting and talking to Jade had terrified me but I'd been drawn to her, I felt like I had to know her and once I got to know her I'd felt so comfortable with her.

"That's not fair! How come you looked so calm and I just couldn't stop rambling; I wouldn't shut up, Jesy and Leigh would have had so much fun teasing me if they'd seen me. I'm surprised you even wanted anything to do with me after that first day - I made a complete fool of myself." Jade's comment made a wide smile creep across my face.

"Oh shut up! I thought it was cute and how could I not want anything to do with you: you intrigued me and I couldn't stop thinking about you, no matter how much it scared me. You were the first person in a long time to make me feel like I wasn't broken, to make me feel like myself again, it would of been impossible for me to forget about you and carry on with my life." Jade was silent for a moment as she processed my words and in that moment I thought I'd said too much. I mean, we'd only been together officially just over a week - it was still very early. I lowered my head in embarrassment and began to pull my hands from Jade's but her grip on mine instantly tightened and she refused to let me move away from her.

"That's so sweet. Do you really mean all that?" Jade asked quietly and I braved a glance at her face. Her eyes showed hope but beneath it all I could see a flicker off sadness.