You've Got it Bad

Forty Two

Perrie's POV

"No, that's unacceptable!"

My eyes fluttered open as I heard my favorite voice. My heart swelled for a moment at the sound. My favorite sound in the world. Until I noticed the frustration in it. This wasn't her usual soft morning tone. She sounded angry.

Yawning, I stretched and looked around. Jesy and Leigh were still passed out on the floor, cuddling like a couple of oversized teddy bears. I smiled briefly at the sight but froze when I heard Jade's voice rise again from the kitchen.

"I sent you the money last week!" she yelled, and my chest tightened. "You've had a week! How did you let this happen? I knew I shouldn't have trusted you! I don't have time for this!"

What the hell was going on?

I sat up, suddenly wide awake. My heart pounded in my chest as I tiptoed toward the kitchen to see what was wrong.

She was facing away from the door so I stood there for a moment, contemplating if I should keep listening or make my presence known.

"This is very important to me!" she snapped. "It's literally the only thing that matters to me right now. We have to do this right."

I froze in the doorway. My breath caught in my throat as I saw her standing by the counter, her back to me. Her curls were wild, one hand buried in them while the other gripped her phone like she was about to break it.

"No! Just send it back to me! I'll do it myself!" She continued, her whole body tense.

I could hear the person on the other end of the phone. It was a woman's voice. And she seemed to be yelling too. My stomach dropped and the knot in my chest twisted tighter.

"This is very important to me! Clearly it's not a priority for you!"

The air felt sucked out of the room. My chest ached as the worst possible scenarios started playing out in my mind. My head screamed at me to walk away, to stop listening, but my feet were glued to the floor.

"Listen, I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I didn't mean to get upset, it's just... this is really important to me. We have to get this right."

Her words felt like a punch in the stomach. She sounded so sincere, so invested. But in what? Or... in who?

I couldn't breathe. Was it really happening? There was someone else? But how? Why? I've given all of me to her. Was it not enough? I don't understand.

No. Stop it. Don't jump to conclusions.

But the lies. The sneaking around. The phone calls. The whispers. How am I supposed to ignore all of that?

I snapped out of my thoughts when I realized her yelling could wake the girls up.

I stepped forward, my voice shaky as I whispered, "Jade."

She jumped, her body stiffening for a moment before she relaxed under my touch.

Slowly, she turned to face me, pulling the phone away from her ear. Her eyes softened when they met mine, but the tension in her body remained.

"Is everything okay?" I asked quietly, fighting to keep my voice steady. I didn't want her to know how much her actions were hurting me, but I knew it showed anyway.

She smiled faintly, brushing a stray curl out of her face. "Everything's fine, love," she said softly. "Go back to sleep."

Her voice was sweet now, but it only made the knot in my chest tighten. She was lying. I could feel it. And the fact that she wouldn't even try to hide it anymore hurt more than anything else.