Golden

21 - Boundaries

"The breakup was absolutely heartbreaking for me. I can't just have meaningless relationships with women. I have to find miss right in order to have a relationship. There's got to be that big moment when she comes along." - Justin Timberlake about his relationship with Britney Spears.

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"Look at you, Jade! Look at how you cute you were. You were so excited that day, it was your first ever concert," Norma says as she points at a picture on the photo album as James, Jade and Perrie are sitting beside her. This picture was taken years ago, at Perrie's first headlining tour, when she was eighteen years old and with one record breaking debut album out. Hours before the crowd was even allowed into the venue, fourteen year old Jade was already waiting in line with her mother. She was dressed in a shirt that had Perrie's face on it, sunglasses and a hat that the album name was embroidered on. A four-year age gap might not seem like much on paper, but as Jade looks at the photo, she can't help but feel embarrassed. Perrie looked like a goddess that night, and Jade was an awkward teen who loved her way too much and wasn't afraid to show it.

"Mom! I look terrible here, don't show Perrie that," Jade tells Norma and tries to turn the page, which is being held by Perrie. Perrie takes out her phone, and despite Jade's objections, takes a photo of the printed picture.

"You looked adorable, you have nothing to worry about," Perrie argues and puts her phone back down. To Jade's relief, Norma moves on to show Jade's baby photos, and it is a much safer territory. It is evident that Perrie is genuinely interested. Her full attention is given to those photos, and she points at the ones she likes the most and asks for the stories behind them. Jade is feeling proud and joyous, because it is clear that Perrie changed so much since the day they met. Perrie knows how to show her true colors now, and, it turns out that she actually cares. More than anyone else ever did.

When darkness settles and Jade's parents ask her to show Perrie where she will be sleeping, Perrie follows Jade up the stairs. They get to a room with a single size bed, a desk and a bookshelf, in which Perrie's luggage has already been brought into by her security earlier.

"Is this the guest room?" Perrie asks in a slightly confused voice, because it is not what she expected. She turns to Jade, and with pleading eyes that she knows Jade can't resist, speaks. "I don't want to be here all by myself. Can I please stay in your room with you? I don't think you understand how much I've missed you." Like always, Jade just can't refuse to any of Perrie's requests, and soon enough, she is helping her bring her suitcases into Jade's bedroom.

"I'm going to take a shower now, I won't be long. You can look around, even though there's nothing really interesting in here. Do whatever you want and I'll be back before you know it," she assures Perrie and exits the room. Perrie thinks about how she should probably be using this time to call Alex, but doesn't really want to do that, so she texts him goodnight instead and then looks for a socket so she can charge her phone. There is one right above the desk, and as Perrie plugs her charger in, something catches her eye. There is a folded paper on the desk, and since Jade told Perrie she can look around, she doesn't feel guilty when she opens it. There, she sees Jade's handwriting, and a letter that starts with the words My Perriwinkle, signed by Jade at the bottom. Unable to stop herself, Perrie reads the whole thing, beginning to end, twice, and then puts it back down and sits on Jade's twin size bed. She assumes that she was never meant to read that, but is glad she did, because this letter holds Jade's completely honest and raw thoughts. Her heart breaks knowing that all Jade wanted her to do was wait. If she never got together with Alex, Jade and her could have been something by now. Perrie could explain to Jade that a part of the reason why she is dating Alex is in order to distract the public from its anger towards Jade, but that is just an excuse to a decision Perrie made when she was broken and confused. Jade is more important to her than Alex will ever be, and she needs to make that clear.