Hey Stranger || Jerrie

Chapter 13

By the time Perrie and Jade made it to the black suburbans lined up behind the back exit to the venue, everyone else was already out there.

" Perrie!" Jesy exclaimed, "And Amelia!"

The couple laughed at the exuberant girl and dropped each other's hand as they reached them. "Nice to finally meet you," Jade spoke, "And please just call me Jade." Perrie saw Jade extend her arm to shake the other girl's hand, but she also knew that Jesy wasn't a shaker, she was a hugger. And sure enough, Jesy ignored the hand and pulled Jade in to a hug. Sometimes, it was easy for Perrie to forget that Jesy had spent the first sixteen years of her life with no contact with anyone other than her brother and mother, she was so well adjusted, but Jesy’s little habits reminded Perrie. One of those habits being her need to experience the physical aspects of interactions.

"You're shorter in real life," Leigh-Anne interrupted, her hands folded across her chest. Circumstances and Perrie were pretty much the only reason Leigh-Anne and Perrie were friends. They might have both been independent and unapologetic about their faults, but in every other way, they were near opposites. Leigh-Anne would punch you before hugging you. Perrie could literally count the amount of times Leigh had hugged her, and none of the times had been for happy reasons.

Jade pulled away from Jesy and gave Leigh-Anne a once-over. To Jade’s credit, her eyes barely lingered on the other girl's brace, despite the glow in the dark tape illuminating it as a safety hazard. Leigh-Anne’s hardened gaze practically dared Jade to ask about the brace, but the singer did not. "And you're voice is just as annoying in person," Jade retorted, earning a sly grin from Leigh-Anne.

"Fair enough," Leigh shrugged, high-fiving Jade.

"We should probably get going," Gary came up behind Jade and tapped her shoulder. None of the others had bodyguards, none had need for them, but Gary liked to keep an eye on all of Jade’s friends regardless. The bodyguard then gestured to where the driver has opened the doors to the cars, Cher and Camila already hoping in to the first.

Jade nodded and took Perrie’s hand back in hers, leading her to the second car, Ally followed behind them before turning over her shoulder and yelling to Jesy and Leigh-Anne, "Yo, Pep and Gimp, you're riding with us?"

Perrie waited for Leigh-Anne to spit back some remark at Ally, but when none came, she turned around to see Fifth Harmony winking at Leigh-Anne whose open mouth was closing with a roll of her eyes. Perrie made a mental note to ask Leigh-Anne about the interaction later.

When they arrived at the hotel, several paparazzi were waiting outside, not allowed inside. Perrie was amazed by how easily Jade was able to ignore them.

"Hang back with Ally so they don't jump to conclusions," Jade suggested, Perrie was glad that Jade had thought ahead. She wondered if the paparazzi had even heard about the way Jade called out a girl at her concert less than two hours previously, but regardless she was happy to stay out of the spotlight and observe the way the paparazzi were particularly interested in photographing Amelia, obviously, but also to a lesser extent, Cher.

After actually entering the hotel, they were safer, as it being as late as it was, the lobby was virtually empty. Gary lead them to the elevator and barely a minute later they were in the penthouse suite.

Complimentary champagne had been sent to the suite, and after Jade popped the first one, everyone else popped one of their own. Perrie was amused to learn that celebrities liked to party with each other in a hotel room over high-end clubs. Or maybe that was just Jade.

Perrie wasn't glued to Jade’s side the entire night, instead she found herself talking to each of girl's tour mates individually. It was only after the first three that she realized they were vetting her, making sure she wasn't just scamming their friend.

Even though she'd been on the opposite side of the room of Jade nearly the entire night, Perrie still found her eyes meeting Jade’s mid-conversation, as if they were opposite ends of a magnet, constantly drawn together. Their gazes had met again a little over an hour after arriving when Perrie was talking to Ally about the fact that Ally was the only college graduate on the tour. A minute later, Jade was at her side, having dragged Leigh-Anne along with her.

"Do you mind if I steal my girlfriend?" Jade asked.

"Not at all," Ally smirked. Perrie saw the way Fifth Harmony’s eyes met Leigh-Anne’s and not Jade’s as she spoke.

Jade nodded and pulled Perrie over to a chair in the corner of the room. The brunette sat down, then pulled Perrie down on to her lap. "I think it's my turn," she spoke, "I've shared you enough for the night."

Perrie laughed at the statement. When Jade placed her champagne bottle on the table beside them and Perrie saw that it was half-empty, she realized that Jade was probably at least a little bit drunk. She liked drunk Jade, she was affectionate and possessive, but not the same way Zayn was, rather in a teasing way. Jade took Perrie’s bottle out of the blonde's hand and placed it on the table beside hers.

"They seem to like you," Jade gestured to the room around them and its inhabitants.

"I'm glad," Perrie returned, settling comfortably in to Jade’s lap, with one hand behind the girl's neck, playing softly with the baby hairs she found there. "So you have another show tomorrow night then?"

Jade nodded, trying to hold back the shiver that came from Perrie’s hands playing with the back of her neck. "Will you come? And maybe this time just hang out backstage with me before I go on, then you can watch from the wings?"

Perrie could tell that Jade felt braver with alcohol in her system, but she was still unsure of Perrie’s response. Perrie read right in to that, reassuring the girl, "Of course." She pressed a chaste kiss on her lips that quickly turned a lot less chaste as Jade wrapped her arms around her, refusing to let go quite yet. Perrie was happy to relent.

When they did finally pull away, they rested their foreheads together. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Ally leading Leigh-Anne up the en suite staircase and sniggered.

"What?" Jade asked.

"Ally and Leigh-Anne," Perrie explained, nodding her head towards the stairs.

"Wow," the brunette returned. "Ally literally has no game whatsoever, I'm impressed."

"And you have game" Perrie arched a taunting eyebrow.

"Well I do have you on my lap don't I?" She gestured to their current position.

Perrie simply rolled her eyes before kissing her girlfriend again. Just because she could.