Our Turn

Chapter 9

- PERRIE -

As I hug Jade, all kinds of emotions flood over me. The most prominent is happiness about how good it feels to have her in my arms. Too bad it cannot go further than this. How the heck will I survive this?

"How are you holding up?" I ask her as we still hug.

"I'm fine. How are you, babe?" She gives me a quick kiss by my ear and my heart skips a beat. It felt so good, so familiar and safe.

As we part, we exchange a smile before I hug both Jesy and Leigh-Anne as well. Lucas is standing a few feet behind us. His hands are in the pockets of his denim jacket, his blonde hair messy from the wind and his ripped jeans give the vibe of a cool dude who goes with the flow. In many ways, everything is just the way it was a few years ago.

"Sooo, are y'all ready for some posing?" Jesy asks with a faked American accent.

"Hell yeah!" Leigh shouts and runs across the room to Maria, our stylist. The rest of us follow, laughing. Until I see Lucas sitting down in an armchair to wait for us to get ready, I actually forgot about him. Being with the girls and just having regular fun will be what saves me from going under during the next couple of... weeks? Months? Years?

-

When it's time for our single shots Jade is up first. Jesy, Leigh and I sit down on the couch I found them by when I entered. Lucas still sits in the armchair scrolling on his phone. I open my one as well and go onto Twitter. One of the very first tweets I read has four pictures attached to it. Someone has captured a couple in love, standing close together on the street. It almost looks like they are kissing. The girl has blonde hair and holds a pair of sunglasses in her hand. The boy wears ripped jeans and has messy hair from the wind.

If only people knew what was really going on.

As I sigh, Jesy looks at me and I show her my screen. She gets it. With a look of care she tells me that it will get easier with time. I truly hope she is right.

After Jade, it is my turn to have my picture taken. I pose, and pose, and pose. Smile, no smile, they want it all. I try my best to give it to them, because I have to. Simple as that. All because I signed that stupid piece of paper a few years ago.

-

Luckily, Lucas and I were allowed to take a cab back to the hotel. He told me Mr. Jones' text mentioned the paparazzi got enough pictures to get the word out there. Yay. We're official.

"So, I guess we're truly official." Lucas says as I think it.

"Yep. That's great." I sigh.

"Hey, I know you don't like our... situation, but why are you give me such a hard time? I've done nothing wrong. Right?"

"Well, you're here. That's enough to annoy me."

"Did I do something? I've been very careful today, I've chosen my words with care."

"You certainly didn't choose your actions with care."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean? I mean that you're in on this project!" I can't help but raise my voice.

"I'm here for you Perrie."

"For me? Are you kidding me? If you want the best for me you shou-"

"No, Perrie, listen to me. I-"

"No, you listen. If you wanted the best for me you should've never accepted Mr. Jones' proposal. You should've told him he was wrong because he is." I interrupt Lucas' interruption.

"He would've chosen someone else, Perrie. There's probably a thousand guys out there who would've volunteered to be your boyfriend. Hell, I can promise you there are at least 50 thousand who would do it for superficial reasons like getting famous or getting a big paycheck."

"And you're not one of those guys?" I can't help but have that judgemental tone in my voice. What he is saying does not make any sense to me. He wants to help me? Pfft.

"What? No, I'm not. You should know me good enough to know that. When Mr. Jones asked me to do it I said no. Then I changed my mind, because I figured that any other guy wouldn't treat you well. I felt some kind of responsibility."

"I'm starting to follow..." I say and he actually gives me a little smile. "I'm sorry, Lucas. For giving you a hard time. And for not giving you a chance."

"It's okay." he answers. Our eyes meet, and for a moment I remember what I liked so much about him back in the day. He is caring, smart and understanding. In another life, his kind eyes could have been my favorite pair to look into.