You’ve Got it Bad

Eight

Perrie's POV 

I opened my eyes and squinted at the sun peeking through the blinds in Jade's bedroom. 

Wow, I'm actually in Jade's bedroom.

I realized that while we had separated just a bit, her arm was still draped over my waist. I tried my best to turn over and face her, without waking her. I laid there, resting my head on my own arm while staring at this beauty.

The streak of sunlight creeping through the room stretched right across her beautiful face and it took my breath. Her tan brown skin was smooth and wrinkle free, and the sun only made it glow, and her curly brown hair was spread across the pillow that her head rested on. 

Again, I found myself watching her body rise and fall in tune with her breathing and it gave me a calm I could not explain. I looked at her full lips and all I wanted to do in the moment was kiss her awake. They were slightly parted and I could hear the little breaths escaping. 

I reached over and brushed a stray curl from her face and my hand lingered on her cheek a bit longer. I felt a warm sensation in my chest and I let out a breath that I didn't even know I was holding in. 

I don't know how she did it, what sorcery she performed, or what secret potion I took a sip of, but this woman had my heart. All of it. As I looked at her, I realized that I would give anything to take away her hurt and make her smile. I would do anything for her. For the rest of my life.

It didn't take much time and really no effort on her part, but somewhere down the line I fell for her. Falling for someone is not really a choice we get to make. That's why it's so scary. I've always been scared. It's something completely out of our control, but the heart wants what it wants. 

Something in me found something in her and latched on, and now I feel a pure and raw connection to her that I can't quite understand and don't ever want to be without.

I'm not sure how long I got to watch her sleep, but soon I noticed her pretty eyes flutter open and her long eyelashes batting at me.

"Good morning, ocean eyes." She smiled at me before stretching and yawning.

"Morning." I returned her smile. 

"How did you sl-" She started, but we were both startled when we heard loud banging at the door. 

"OPEN THE DOOR NOW, JADE!" We heard yelling from the outside and we both knew exactly who it was.

She rolled her eyes and got out of bed. "You can stay here, Pez. Let me see what he wants."

I thought about it for a brief second, but there was no way I could sit there. I didn't trust Jimmy one bit, and he sounded pretty upset. It didn't take long for me to be hot on her trail.

"What is it, Jimmy? Why are you yelling?" Jade swung the door open to reveal a very angry looking Jimmy.

"I've been calling you all f*****g night and morning! Why haven't you been answering my calls?" He yelled.

"My phone died." I watched her flinch every time he yelled. She answered his questions confidently but I quickly noticed how she appeared to be hiding behind the door. The way he was yelling at her made me feel sick and very angry.

"Bullshit!" He barged into the apartment, nearly knocking her down and slamming the door. She stood against the door still flinching as he continued to yell. "Don't you have a charger in-"

It didn't take him long to notice me standing in the hallway. 

Here we go.

"WHAT THE f**k IS SHE DOING HERE?!" He yelled, slamming his hand into the wall next to her face. "What did we talk about, Jade?"

"She just brought me home last night, Jimmy. You know, since I can't use my car!" She yelled back at him.

He looked taken aback, as if Jade had never spoken to him that way or something. I watched his eyes get about two shades darker as he stared right through her. He quickly reached out and wrapped his hands around her neck. 

She squirmed and clawed at him. I f*****g knew it! I knew he was putting his hands on her! As soon as I saw this I charged at him. "Let her go, Jimmy!"

"YOU NEED TO GET THE f**k OUT NOW! THIS IS BETWEEN ME AND JADE!" He tightened his grip on her throat and she started gasping for air.

"IM NOT GOING ANYWHERE NOW GET THE f**k OFF HER, JIMMY!" I yelled back at him as I started yanking and pulling at his arms.

He held Jade to the wall with one arm and used the other to reach out and slap me across the face. I stumbled back but quickly found my balance. I looked over and noticed tears streaming down Jade's face and something in me broke, but it also heated me up. I had never seen it before, and I never wanted to see it again. It burned like hell to see her cry. 

I charged at him again and again he knocked me back. This time with a fist. I felt blood spill from my lip. 

"I told you to stay away from her, Jade. Now you'll never see him. And you're going to get punished! Stand still!" He yelled.

Who was he talking about? 

I watched him remove his belt and then literally rip Jade out of her pajamas. She stood there, shivering in nothing but her underwear, clearly terrified. And clearly used to this. That hurt me to even think about.

"You better not f*****g touch her you asshole!" I screamed.

He pulled his arm back to take a swing at her with his leather belt. She flinched again, this time twisting her body to shield as much of herself as she could from the hit she anticipated, but not while I'm here. I don't know what this is or who the f**k he thought he was, but not ever again.

Rage bubbled up inside of me and before his belt could make contact with her body, I caught it and used it to wrap around his neck. I jumped on his back to tighten my grip and this time I watched him gasp for air, not letting up even a little. He released Jade's throat to claw at the belt around his own and she inhaled sharply, catching her breath.

The more I looked at her and how afraid she was, the more I thought back to our conversation in the kitchen, and then our fight, and him basically saying he owned her, and he hit her, and the tighter my grip got. I could have ended him right then and there and I think I was about to, but Jade's soft voice broke me out of my rage.

"Please stop, Perrie." She pleaded with me and for the life of me I couldn't understand why. "Perrie, please!"

I released my hold of the belt but began throwing punches at him. After catching his breath, he started to hit me back. We went blow for blow until Jade was a sobbing mess balled up on the floor with her knees to her chest. I looked down at her and my heart broke. 

She seemed so strong and confident, but all of that melted away with him and I didn't know why. Right now she was hurt and afraid and I realized that all of that promising to protect her meant nothing if it was me she was afraid of too. I quickly pulled away from Jimmy.

"You need to leave. NOW!" I yelled at him. "And if you ever touch her again, I'll break both of your arms, asshole!" We both had busted lips and bruises on our faces. 

He grabbed his belt from the floor and stormed out of the door, slamming it behind him. He slammed it so hard that a couple of paintings fell off the wall and Jade flinched once again. 

Once he was gone, I ran over to a still shaking Jade and dropped to my knees in front of her. 

"I'm so sorry, Jade." I reached out to touch her but she flinched again and I felt like a monster.

I tried again but this time she didn't move. Once I noticed this I quickly scooped her up in my arms, snatching a blanket from the couch and wrapping it around her trembling body. "I'm so sorry, baby. You're okay now."

I don't know where 'baby' came from, or where I got the courage to say it, but there it was. I felt like she was a baby who needed to be protected.

She wrapped her arms around me, buried her face in my neck, and sobbed uncontrollably. I wondered what it was that had bothered her so much and why she was so afraid... why she allowed him to treat her like that. I rubbed circles on her back while she cried into me. I wanted nothing more than to take all of her pain away. 

That's one of the hardest things about loving someone. No matter how much you want to, you can't take their hurt and pain from them. Trust me, I would bear it all for her if I could. Whatever it is. All you can do is be there and try to make the dark a little bit brighter.

"Shhh, it's okay." I kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back some more. Suddenly, all of my nervousness vanished and in that moment it was just about making her feel better. And safe.

Still, none of this made any sense to me. She's usually so confident. I know she knows she's worth more than this, but it didn't add up. It felt like there had to be more to their story, to her story, but if she wasn't ready to tell me, I would wait however long it took to hear it.