Before midnight.

•18•

[Sunday.]
'Good morning darling.'
'Morning.' Perrie grunted whilst turning the kettle on. Her head felt like it was about to explode and Jane's high pitched voice was not helping.
'You look rough. Are you still not feeling well?'
'Ehm?'
'Last night you said you came home early because you weren't feeling well. Are you feeling better today?'
'Oh.' For a moment Perrie forgot about the lie she told her dad and Jane the night before. 'Yeah I still got this awful headache.'
That wasn't a lie. In fact, she spent the whole night worrying and crying: an headache was inevitable.
Perrie made herself a cup of coffee and opened the cupboard looking for biscuits.
'Perrie sweetheart, if you're not feeling well maybe you should opt for a healthier breakfast.'
'Trust me, that's just what I need.'
Jane looked at the door, making sure that Alexander or Caitlin weren't about to walk in. 'Darling, I heard you crying last night. Is everything alright?'
Perrie immediately felt her eyes filling up with tears again. 'I'm fine.'
'You weren't at Jade's house, were you?'
'It doesn't make a difference at this point.' Perrie shut the cupboard ready to walk upstairs.
'You know, you can talk to me about anything. If something happened last night, I can...'
The girl put her cup back down on the table causing her coffee to spill all over it. 'I said I'm fine. Nothing happened last night. You're not my mother, it's none of your business anyway.' She walked upstairs forgetting all about her drink and biscuits, slamming the door and immediately regretting it.
Perrie sat on her bed for a few minutes, not knowing if she was actually mad at Jane or still upset about what had happened the night before. She nervously sent a couple of texts, not really expecting a reply.
Whit much surprise though, that reply didn't take long to arrive and Perrie tried to leave the house as quietly as possible.

'Are you gonna say something? Or did you just ask me to meet you here for you to stare at me?'
Alex was sitting in a bench in the middle of the deserted park. Even though it was still summer, the sky was quite grey, which reflected both Perrie and Alex's mood.
'I'd like you to start talking first. I want to know what's wrong, Alex. Since you came back from your holiday you've been completely different towards me.'
Alex kept looking down at his phone. 'You clearly made up your mind whilst I was away. I don't get why you're so upset.'
'Is it about last night?' Perrie looked at him confused and annoyed at the fact that he wouldn't look back at her.
'What do you think?' Alex sighed and put his phone in his pocket. 'Of course it is.'
'Why are you so annoyed with me?'
'Are you seriously asking?! Why wouldn't I be annoyed?! I don't like to be the second choice, Perrie. And yeah, from the beginning I knew Christian was your boyfriend, but you kept telling me not to play games whilst you were the one playing all along.'
'Are you listening to yourself? Have you ever thought of double checking with me what was going to happen?'
'I didn't need to, though. Christian called me saying he wasn't going on holiday with mum and dad anymore and asked me if he could have the house for himself. Pretty straight forward, don't you think?'
'Well, guess what... you're wrong! Nothing happened between me and Christian and once again, if you just would've asked instead of making assumptions, you would've known that we broke up last night.'

*Flashback*

'Dinner was so good. When did you learn how to cook so well?' Christian took away Perrie's plate and started to load the dishwasher.
'My mum was often too tired from working night shifts to cook when me and Jonnie were younger, so we had to fend for ourselves. I can help you with that...' Perrie went to join Christian.
'No, don't worry babe. It's the least I can do since you cooked. I'm done anyway.'
The boy dried his hands on the navy blue tea towel hanging under the sink. He then grabbed Perrie's hand leading the way upstairs, to his bedroom.
Christian laid down on his bed, with Perrie nervously sitting next to him.
'What should we watch?'
'You choose, I'm not fussed.'
'Me either. As long as I'm with you...' Christian pulled Perrie closer to kiss her on the lips first, then started to leave a trail of wet kisses on the girl's neck.
'Pez, what's wrong? Are you okay?' It didn't take long for Christian to understand how nervous Perrie was.
The girl took a deep breath, still unsure on what to say. 'Christian... I'm sorry. I don't think I'm ready.'
Christian smiled at her. 'You don't have to be sorry. We're in no rush.'
'No, Chris. I don't mean... sex... I mean, us.'
'What do you mean you're not ready? What...' Christian scrunched his nose in a puzzled expression.
'I'm not ready for this, for us. For a serious relationship. And before you start, it's not because you're going away. The truth is, I'm not in love with you, and it's not fair making you believe that I am. You're an amazing person, with the biggest heart, but...'
'Oh, here it comes.' Christian nervously stood up rolling his eyes whilst starting to pace up and down the room. 'The good old "it's not you, it's me".'
'It's not like that. I just... I don't want to lie to you anymore.'
Christian suddenly stopped. 'Is there someone else?'
Perrie didn't even think about it before answering. 'Yes.'
The girl immediately regretted it. 'I... I didn't mean it like that. There's someone else I've been talking to and... nothing ever happened between us but...'
'But he's better than me. I got it.'
Perrie opened her mouth but no words came out.
'I think you should go now.' Christian opened his bedroom door inviting Perrie to leave.

*Flashback ends*

'What do you mean you broke up? I thought you would've...'
Perrie immediately snapped back. 'Again, you were wrong, clearly.'
'I... I'm sorry... maybe I...'
'You know what hurts the most, Alex? That you don't trust me... at all.'
'Oh c'mon, it's not like that.' Alex started to become nervous.
'What is this all about then, eh?' She didn't wait for an answer. 'This is about you thinking I would sleep with your brother when you know I don't feel for him half the things I feel for you. Contrary of what you do, I respect and value myself and my feelings.'
One single tear went down the girl's cheek. 'Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I made all the wrong choices.'
'Wait, where are you going?' Alex shoot up off the bench when he saw Perrie beginning to walk away.
'It's over, Alex.' The girl didn't turn around.

~Good morning everyone and happy new year :) xxx hope this will be a better year for everyone ;) how did you al celebrate? Hope everyone's still keeping safe xxx
Perrie's stories on Instagram last night definitely put a smile on my face!
About the chapter... Things are looking tough for the Chamberlain brothers haha but good on Perrie for taking a stance!
Let me know what you think and thank you for still reading my story after all this time lol
Peace and love to everyone xxx~