Forever and Always ღ j.t. {Sequel to Trapped}

Ch. 2 That Shit Hurts

{ P E R R I E }

"WE'RE HOOOOME! WHERE'S MY LOVE CHILD?!?!" Katherine boomed, followed by the sounds of Jesy and Leigh.

My mind was blank, trying to process Claud's words. I remembered he was still on the line. 

"Perrie?" he panted. "Is she there?"

I took a steadying breath. "Yup."

He let out what I can only describe as a moany gasp. "I'll call you later." 

Before I could even say goodbye, I heard the dial tone and he was gone. Head spinning, I slowly lowered the phone, dropping it into my purse. 

"Perrie?"

I whipped my head around to look at Katherine, my heart quickening as, for a brief moment, I thought she might have overheard his jaw dropping confession. 

"Yeah?" I answered feebly, watching her walk over to pick her child up off the carpet and bounce her around the room. James whined for his mother as she appeared, wearing a jacket. She bent over and scooped her son up as well. 

"Ready to go? You look like you've seen a ghost," Katherine commented as Leigh walked in, carrying a bag of Chinese takeout. I slowly took the bag from her when she offered it, my body on auto-pilot as I sat down at the island. 

"Pez? Are you okay?" Jesy asked, laying her free hand on my shoulder. I nodded dumbly, accepting a glass of water from Leigh and biting into my orange chicken. 

Claud was in love with Katherine? Or at least, close to it?

Yes.

Did Katherine feel the same?

God, I hope so.

They'd be perfect together.

"Yeah," I murmured. "I'm fine. I just . . . miss Jade. And . . . yeah." I popped some food into my mouth to prevent anymore questions. 

"Well, we're going shopping for baby clothes. Wanna come?" Katherine continued, unfazed by my weird attitude. 

I pushed away my jumbled thoughts to answer her question. I decided a distraction like shopping would be best. I smiled and nodded. "Sure. Sounds fun." 

She clapped happily. "Great, so hurry up and we'll go."

I sighed and quickly finished what was left of my food before running to the bathroom to adjust my make up. I gasped in pleasant surprise when I saw that someone had left a small note inside my makeup case. I instantly recognized Jade's handwriting across the top, my nickname scrawled in purple. I slowly began to unfold the note, careful to make sure I didn't tear the edges. 

"Come on, Pezza!" Jesy boomed, bursting through the door. I quickly hid the paper under my shirt. 

"I'm sorry, I'm coming now," I grumbled, forgetting about doing my makeup and simply following her to the garage. I kept the note tucked away in my back pocket, promising myself to read it later, when I was alone. 

"Finally," Katherine muttered as I climbed past her and into the very backseat. "Thought we'd have to send in a rescue team for you." 

I stuck my tongue out at her, leaning forward to make sure the kids were properly buckled. "This," I joked gesturing towards myself, "does not just happen." 

"Yeah. I know," she muttered, pulling out her cell phone. I sneakily peeked over the edge of the seat to see who she was going to text. 

Claud.