Before midnight.

•17•

[Two weeks later.]
[Thursday.]

-Why don't you come over to mine tomorrow?
-What time?
-I don't know, half four?
-Deal, but I'll have to get back home for six. My dad agreed to let me go out for dinner with Christian.
-Making progress, I see.
-With my dad, yes. He's not been too bad lately. Thankfully. He let me see Christian every day this week.
-And what about Alex? You haven't talked about it in days.
-Because I haven't seen him since Sunday.
-What is he up to?! Is it over already?
-Not al all. He's just been on holiday with his friends.
-Oh, alright for some!
-Yeah...
-What's the matter?
-Nothing, why?
-I can hear it from your voice.
-It sounds ridiculous, but I miss him.
-Ah, to be young and in love! When is he back?
-Tomorrow.
-Where do you find the time to miss him if you're always with Christian?
-Being with Christian just makes me think of Alex even more.
-Are you not gonna see Alex tomorrow then?
-Probably not. Christian is at home all day tomorrow, too dangerous. It will probably be easier to wait for the weekend. Christian is going to the seaside with his parents and cousins.
-Handy. You're a lucky pair. Aren't you scared Christian is gonna suspect something sooner or later?
-I'm on edge all the time Jade, not gonna lie. But at the same time, I quite like the thrill. Last week has been amazing. Every moment we spend together... he makes me feel so good. Just seeing him makes me happy. And then the way he kisses me and touches me and cuddles me... it's all just perfect when we're together.
-So what's the deal with you two?
-There is no deal. We see each other when I go to his house to "help him study", which I'm still doing. We just can't keep our hands off each other. But before you say anything, it's not just physical. We talk a lot, about everything. He makes me feel like I've never felt before.
-And then there's Christian...

Perrie sighed and rolled her eyes at her best friend's words.

-Don't start again, Jade. You know how bad I feel about it already, there's no need for you to remind me what a horrible person I'm being every time we talk about it.
-That's not what I'm saying... it's just...
-Sorry babe, I've got to go.
-You just don't want to hear the truth. Speak to you later. Love you.
-Love you.

Perrie put the phone down and stared at herself in the mirror. Jade was right and Perrie knew her friend was speaking the truth.
She felt all these amazing feelings towards Alex, so why couldn't she just tell Christian that she wasn't in love with him?
Perrie told herself she was just being selfish.
A coward.
But for the first time in her life, she also felt like she was doing something that made her happy.

Christian 10.56pm
<<Can't wait to see you tomorrow night. I've got something to tell you ;) xxx>>

[Friday.]
Perrie 4.50pm
<<Are you back home yet? :D how was the flight xx>>

5.30pm
'Still nothing.'
'Stop obsessing. Maybe he's still driving, or he's sleeping.'
'Yeah, maybe, but don't you think it's a bit weird he didn't message me at all?'
'Don't stress. Don't you have a dinner to go to anyway?'
Perrie looked at the time. 'You're right. I better go.'
Perrie collected her belongings and run to catch the bus to get back home and get ready for her date with Christian. She put her headphones on and got lost in her music, looking outside the window. She tried not to think too much about Alex and the fact that she didn't hear from him all day, but she jus couldn't shake the thoughts that something had happen out of her head.
Perrie arrived home just in time to quickly get changed and brush her hair before Christian knocked at her door to pick her up.
Christian looked really smart and he always managed to make Perrie feel like a real life princess, despite him not being the kind of prince she had in mind.
He was Perrie's first proper boyfriend and although they had been together for a while, that was their first official date.
Christian has gone all the way out, bringing Perrie her favourite flowers and taking her to a proper restaurant, as he knew Perrie loved her food.
After dinner, the two took some time to sit and look at the stars before heading back home.
'Christian, this has been amazing.'
'What?'
'All this. The flowers, our dinner, looking at the stars with you. The sky is beautiful tonight.'
'Not as beautiful as you.' Christian put his arm around Perrie's shoulders and kissed her gently. 'Listen, yesterday I told you I needed to tell you something.'
Perrie had completely forgot about it, busy as she was worrying about Alex. 'Oh yeah, sure. Tell me.'
Christian's face lit as he started to talk. 'I didn't tell you yesterday because I wanted it to be official. I finally signed the deal with the team!'
'Oh my God, Christian! That's amazing! I'm so proud of you, well done!' Perrie hugged him excitedly.
'We've had the final meeting yesterday morning. The only thing is... things are gonna move up pretty quickly from now.'
'What do you mean?'
Christian sighed. Perrie could tell he was happy but worried at the same time. 'They said they want me to start training in about two weeks.'
Perrie looked at him without saying a thing. She tried to hide that fact that she was relieved but Christian's news.
'Oh, so that means...'
'It means I'll have to move there for my training, P.'
'You don't sound as happy as you should.'
'I am. That's what I've been working for since I was a little child. It's just... Things between us are gonna be hard. I don't know how often I'm gonna be able to come home, and you've got college, and...'
Perrie interrupted him. 'Let's not think about it. It's time to celebrate, we can worry about all these things later.'
'Talking about celebrations, there's something else I wanted to ask you. I managed to convince my parents to let me stay at home this weekend, so I was thinking... maybe if you can convince your dad you can stay at mine tomorrow night... Alex is gonna be out, so it would just be the two of us...'
Perrie felt her heart in her throat. She was visibly nervous, and Christian picked on it.
'You don't have to if you don't want to. I just thought... that maybe...'
'I'll... I'll try and make up something for my dad. I can't promise anything...'

Perrie 00.43
<<You could have at least reply to my texts.>>
Alex 1.34
<<I really didn't feel like talking to you today.>>
Perrie
<<And what's changed now?>>
Alex
<<Absolutely nothing. Just thought it was pointless to make you worry about me.>>
Perrie
<<Very thoughtful. Are you gonna tell me what's wrong? Or...>>
Alex
<<I'm sure you can come to the conclusion yourself. Night Perrie.>>

~I'm officially back :D if you're reading this, I cannot thank you enough for keeping on supporting me after all this time I've been absent! Really means a lot :)
About the story.. I obviously had to go back and ready my last few chapters and sort of try to get back into it haha I'm hoping this chapter turned out quite decent, but I'm definitely a bit rusty so have mercy please haha let me know what you think ;)
Love to everyone xxx~