You’ve Got it Bad

Three

Perrie's POV 

The next morning I woke up feeling like I hadn't slept in years. I was exhausted from the tossing and turning all night, and I desperately needed either coffee or more sleep. And since the latter wasn't an option with Jimmy's loud music, I threw myself out of bed and slithered down the stairs to the kitchen. 

I passed by a mirror in the hallway and nearly yelped. The bedhead was in full effect and I looked like I had been dragged by the ankles for miles by an 18 wheeler on a dirt road. Maybe an exaggeration, but last night was rough man. 

After I put the coffee on, I realized that I was hungry too, so I bent over to dig under the sink for a frying pan to make eggs. 

"Jimmy didn't tell me that his house came with a view." A familiar voice echoed through the kitchen, causing me to jump and hit my head on the sink.

I spun around to see a very sleepy, but still very hot looking Jade leaning against the doorframe with her arm folded across her chest and a smirk on her face. I could've sworn I saw her drag her eyes up my body before they met mine.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack!" I said, putting my hand over my racing heart. I'm not sure if it's going a mile a minute because of the fright Jade just gave me or because f*****g Jade was standing in my kitchen right now. In pajamas. Looking at me. Especially after I spent all night thinking about her.

I quickly noticed how sexy her morning look was and I became all too aware of the different ends of the morning spectrum. On one side there was me, looking like fresh roadkill. Far far on the other side was Jade, who looked like s*x personified. 

"Relax, ocean eyes. It's just me." She smiled that smile that turned my knees to jelly. I could already tell, that smile would be my undoing. I leaned back on the counter for support and folded my arms.

"What on earth are you doing here? I thought you were home." I asked. 

"I was, but I don't really like sleeping alone so I came over in the middle of the night. At this current moment though, I am sleepy and hungry and looking for coffee and food." She replied as she glided over to the refrigerator. 

I watched her bend over to look inside. I tried my best to look away from her perfect ass that was now on display, but it was no use. I couldn't. She was wearing a cute, colorful pajama set that had donuts all over it. Her shorts were just short enough to give a preview of her gorgeous legs and thighs, and her tank top showed off her smooth sun-kissed skin.

When she stood up, I tried to quickly avert my eyes but I'm not sure I was successful. I could swear I saw a smirk spread across her lips.

Definitely a fail.

"You making coffee?" She asked.

"Yeah." I said, turning red in the face. "I was gonna make some breakfast too."

"Oh, yum! Can I help?" She asked, while clapping her hands and jumping excitedly. I couldn't understand how someone could so quickly go from ridiculously hot to the cutest human on earth. In a split second.

"Sure." I smiled.

We finished making coffee and breakfast and once again I was sitting across the table from her enjoying a meal, but more than that, I was enjoying watching her enjoy her meal. No matter what she did, she had my undivided attention.

As I was eating my eggs and trying not to get caught staring at her while she was sipping her coffee and laughing at something she saw on her phone, Jimmy walked in and instantly I was swarmed with anger and a little bit of guilt. But mostly annoyance.

Every time she comes around me, I get so excited to see her that I forget the reason she's actually here. I mean, she just walked out of his bedroom in her pajamas. Clearly they slept together. 

Suddenly, a wave of sadness mixed with jealousy washed over me and I no longer wanted to eat. Jimmy just walked to the fridge, made a bowl of cereal and left. Without saying one word. Neither of them even looked at each other and I couldn't help but wonder what was going on. And what kind of relationship they had.

Still, the loss of appetite at thinking about Jimmy being intimate with Jade, whom I had spent most of my nights dreaming about, did not go away. I pushed my plate away from me and stared out the window, having no idea why I was suddenly so jealous. Maybe it was because he got to do all of the things to her, with her, and for her, that I wanted to do. And he was taking that for granted.

Why should I even care? She doesn't even like me like that though, right? She's probably not even into girls.

I don't know what's going on in my head these days. 

"Hey, is everything okay?" Jade put her hand on mine and I turned my head from the window to her beautiful face. There was a look of concern on her face as her chocolate brown eyes bore into mine and my whole body tingled at her slight touch. And again, fireworks. I don't know if I'll ever get used to that feeling.

Suddenly, I found myself wanting to tell her everything. I hesitated for a moment but bit my tongue instead.

"I'm fine." I said with a smile. I think she could tell that it wasn't genuine because I saw her slightly raise one eyebrow. "I'm just too full to finish." I continued.

"Are you sure?" She asked. "It doesn't look like you ate much at all, love. I thought you were hungry." She pointed to my half eaten breakfast. 

I think the sweeter she was to me, the sicker I got because I knew she would never be mine. Again, I've never looked twice at a woman, but this one was in a class of her own. All I knew was that I wanted her. Needed even. 

"Hey, Jade. I'm heading out. You're cool seeing yourself out right?" Jimmy poked his head in the kitchen door.

Is he serious? He's so damn stupid! 

Just as my blood started to boil, I looked at Jade who hadn't taken her eyes away from mine.

"Yeah, Jimmy. I'll be fine." She waved him off, picking up her phone from the table and giggling at something else on it.

I think he realized how stupid he was being and walked over to the table to kiss her. Or maybe he was trying to remind me that she was with him. Either way, watching it made me feel sick to my stomach, and by the looks of it her too. 

She looked a little uncomfortable. Tense even. I felt the little bit of eggs I ate swim back up to the back of my throat and I had to turn away to keep it all down.

"That's enough, you're making Perrie uncomfortable." Jade said as she pulled away from him. He smirked and walked out of the kitchen and out the front door.

If she's not bothered by how much he sucks then I probably have no right to be, but once again that is not how someone as special as Jade should be treated. That's not what she deserves. Why would she settle for that when she could have anyone she wanted? I waited until I heard the front door shut before finally finding the courage to speak up. 

"Hey, Jade?" My heart was beating erratically because of the question I wanted to ask her. I wanted to know the answer, but at the same time I didn't.

"Yes, love?" She put her phone on the table and looked right into me again with those brown eyes. Those eyes were dangerous. I swear that's an image that will haunt me in the best way for the rest of my life. With her attention fully on me like that, I began to crumble just a little bit. 

"I uh... um... I j-just wanted to ask you something." I could barely spit the words out, but I just had to know.

She gave me a smile that said everything I needed to hear in the moment. "You can ask me anything. What's up?"

"How are you and Jimmy doing? Is everything alright with you two?" I asked.

She furrowed her brows and brought her cup to her lips. She looked as if she didn't understand my question. "We're fine, why do you ask?"

Because you should be with me.

I started to push my food around on my plate. "I don't know, I just know how he can be sometimes and it takes a special kind of person to deal with him."

She took a sip of her coffee and laughed. "Yeah he's a real piece of work, but I try and make the best of it."

I wanted to blurt out that she shouldn't have to settle for that. That she deserves better. That she deserves me. I bit my tongue instead. Again.

Now it was my turn to furrow my brows at her. "But doesn't he get on your nerves?"

She smiled into her mug. "Absolutely, but I love him." Something in her eyes made me feel like she wasn't being 100 percent honest about that. I consider myself to be a really good eye reader, and there was much more to that behind those pretty amber eyes.

But I think I love you.

"Oh, okay." Was all I could say. I suddenly felt a weight heavier than I could bear at the moment come down on my chest as the crushing reality that she is in a relationship and happily in love hit me all too fast. I felt nauseated. 

"But, I definitely think you are a lot more fun and interesting than he is." She smiled and I didn't know what to make of that. 

I felt her brush her leg against the inside of mine under the table. And she left it there. Right in between mine, with our skin still touching.

It made me feel a little better, but it also seriously flustered me. She was driving me crazy and I think she knew it. She had to know it. I felt my whole body heat up. 

Why is she so flirty with me? Is she really happy in love? Do I have a chance? Is this even flirting? 

Again I'm left confused and a little bit hurt.

"I-I'll just clear these off the table." I shuddered and reached for the dishes on the table. 

I got up and walked them over to the sink to put some distance between us. I seriously wondered if she could tell what she was doing to me. Once I realized that I wanted her, I couldn't control the way my body reacted to her touch.

I moved away from the table because I needed to spare myself some embarrassment. I realized I was unsuccessful in this attempt as I soon felt her presence behind me. For someone so small, it was heavy.

"You wash and I dry?" She asked from behind me. She was close enough that I could feel her breath on my neck and it gave me chills.

"Umm s-sure." I stammered.

I wondered again if she could see the goosebumps all over me. She went for the towel on the rack in front of me, and as she reached around me, I felt her body press up against my back. Again, I shuddered and my cheeks instantly heated up because I know she felt it against her. 

I couldn't tell if it was in my head or not but it seemed like she was reaching slower than necessary and her body was flush against mine for what seemed like an eternity. 

She felt so good against me, even in that brief moment it was like a missing puzzle piece that had finally found it's way where it belonged. It just felt right. I enjoyed it so much that I had to bite down on my bottom lip to ensure that no embarrassing noises slipped out. 

As she stood next to me with the drying towel in hand, I couldn't help but smile.

I don't know what game she's playing at, if at all, but I like it. I want her. Bad. And dammit she will be mine. Just as soon as I get the courage to even be in her presence without tripping all over myself. 

I don't care about Jimmy at this point. I know it's wrong but he's taking all of this woman for granted and though I've never been with a woman, I was 110 percent sure I could love her better than he could.

"What are you up to today, ocean eyes?" She asked, breaking the silence.

To be honest, I hadn't really thought about it. "I'm not entirely sure. Maybe just some reading."

"I love that about you. Always with your nose in a book. Would you mind if I stayed with you? I kind of don't want to be alone. I wouldn't bother you or anything, I'll just watch tv." She was beginning to sound as nervous as I did and I thought it was adorable.

"Of course, Jade." I tried to conceal my excitement. 

Jade actually wanted to spend time with me! Or does she just not want to spend time alone? Either way, I'll be there in any way she'll let me.

We finished washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen and to be honest, it's never been more fun to clean. It took us way longer to do the few dishes we messed up because Jade kept stopping to show off her crazy dance moves. I couldn't tell which beat she was dancing to in her head but I though it was hilarious and adorable. Her freestyles had me in stitches. 

I couldn't recall a time where I've had this much fun doing something as mundane as washing dishes. 

Jade went over to the table to play music from her phone. "After all those fresh dance moves, I wanna sing!" It was 11 in the morning and she was like 11pm after a couple of rounds of shots. If sober Jade was this much fun, I couldn't imagine intoxicated Jade.

She hit play on her phone and started dancing around wildly. She reached over and picked up the first thing she could find to use as a microphone. I doubled over in laughter as she picked up a hot sauce bottle and placed it to her lips. Shaking her curly hair all around as she started to sing at the top of her lungs. And she actually sounded really good.

"... we don't let nobody bring us down

no matter what they say it won't hurt me no matter if I fall from the sky

THESE WINGS ARE MADE TO FLYYYYYY. SING IT PEZ!"

She was now pointing the hot sauce bottle in my direction. 

Oh well, I thought. 

I grabbed the makeshift mic out of her hand and danced all around her while she clapped and cheered me on. 

"I'm firing up on that runway 

know we're gonna get there someday 

but we don't need no ready steady go no

Talk! Talk turns into air 

and I don't even care 

oh yeahhhh."

I motioned for her to join in for the next part and she came over to me. We shared the hot sauce bottle and sang our hearts out:

"Your words don't mean a thing 

I'm not listening 

all I know is 

MAMA TOLD ME NOT TO WASTE MY LIFE 

SHE SAID SPREAD YOUR WINGS 

MY LITTLE BUTTERFLY 

DON'T LET WHAT THEY SAY 

KEEP YOU UP AT NIGHT 

AND THEY CANT DETAIN YOU 

CAUSE WINGS ARE MADE TO FLYYYYYY"

By the time we had finished the song and finished dancing, I was completely out of breath and Jade was standing on top of one of the kitchen chairs shaking her hair around like she was a rockstar. 

"That was more fun than I've had in a while, Pez! Oh my god." She said in between breaths. 

"It really was fun!" I replied, still trying to catch my breath. "I didn't know you had moves like that! And a good set of chops to go along with it!"

We both burst into the kind of side splitting laughter that just wouldn't allow you to stand upright.

"I'm gonna go use the shower and do something about this wild mane on my head before we chill. Is that okay?" She asked as she tried smoothing her frizzy curls down to no avail.

"Oh s**t, that reminds me! I completely forgot I look like a train wreck! I'm sorry you had to see this all morning!" I started fidgeting with my hair as well.

"Stop it! You look great. You're totally rocking the bedhead look." She laughed and ruffled her hand through my hair. I tried not to melt at her contact. When it got stuck, I knew it was time to go get it together. It only made her laugh harder and I swear it was music to my ears. 

I swatted her hand away. "Let's meet on the couch in 20?"

"It's a date, ocean eyes!" And with that she walked out of the kitchen and disappeared into Jimmy's room.

I really wish it was.

I stood there for a moment, registering what had just happened and how much fun it was to just let go with her. I know she's in love with him and she sees me as just a friend, but I'm pretty sure I'm in love with her at this point. I think I fell. Fast. And hard.

A setup for a heartbreak, but I can't help it. I've always been shy, but Jade brings out a side of me that I had neatly tucked away. A wild and fun side that I was beginning to enjoy.