Hey Stranger || Jerrie

Chapter 14

The party had lasted well in to the night and Perrie and her friends had stayed over at the penthouse. While Leigh-Anne did stay with Ally, Perrie woke to find herself in Jade’s bed, but the brunette snoring beside her wasn't her girlfriend, rather Jesy. Jade ended up sharing a bed with Cher. Neither Jade nor Perrie trusted their drunk selves in a bed together. And they wanted their first times together to be more than just drunk s*x the first night they met.

They all woke around noon and quickly ordered room service, padding their stomachs with pancakes and bacon. And before they knew it, it was time to head back to the venue. Not only did they have sound check before the early evening show, but also Meet and Greets to get through.

As they were headed back to the black Suburbans, Jake and Jonathan arrived to pick up Leigh-Anne and Jesy. They played on a kick-ball team every summer Saturday on the National Mall and when Perrie explained to them why she wouldn't be playing that day, both Jake and Jonathan had insisted on picking up Leigh-Anne and Jesy from the hotel, clearly wanting to catch a glimpse of Amelia and the other celebrities.

Perrie left Jade getting in the car and quickly ran over to Jake’s truck. "Hey," she smiled. "I know you already promised on the phone, but seriously keep this on the DL okay?" Both boys nodded, "You two, Leigh and J are the only ones I trust with this."

Jake gave Perrie the thumbs up, but Jonathan was distracted. Perrie turned her gaze to find that the source of his distraction was Ally. "Ha!" She laughed out loud, "You don't have a chance." She didn't explain any further though, figuring that would be up to Leigh-Anne. She tapped the hood as she ran back to the suburban.

When they arrived, the first thing they went through was sound check. Amelia went through her sound check first as she had a much more demanding and longer meet and greet than the others.

"She's usually so serious about her sound check," Cher whispered in to Perrie’s ear after Jade went of script for the second time, singing some silly song she was making up off the top of her head instead of the her opening number. "She's happier when you're around," Cher continued after Jade strut down the stage's runway and winked at Perrie.

The sound check people finally cleared Jade and the girl hopped down of the stage. Perrie held her breath as the girl fell the five plus feet, in heeled boots. Jade stuck the landing though and held up her arms in victory.

"That girl is literally going to give me a heart attack," Karl’s voice played over the speakers. He'd clearly forgotten he was now holding Jade’s mic. Jade blew a kiss in her cousin's direction, then walked up to Perrie and extended a hand to her.

"Come on, I have Meet and Greets starting in a few. I found a job for you so you can be in there with me."

The job Jade referred to ended up being pretty much just holding a clipboard and looking official. Wearing an AT Tour crew t-shirt, Perrie didn't look any different from the rest of the crew including the photographer, Gary, and those others holding clipboards to check passes and names for the Meet and Greet.

Perrie could tell right away that her former opinion of Amelia as an uptight b***h couldn't have been further from the truth. Amelia interacted with each fan on a personal level, making sure to repeat their name several times during their conversations and agreeing to different poses during the photo portion of the session.

Mostly the fans that came through were girls, varying in age to middle schoolers with their moms all the way to groups of mom's themselves. There were even a handful of Bachelorette parties. The boys that did come through though we're generally with their parents and sisters or girlfriends. They started out awkward, but Amelia was so down to earth that they each ended up shaking her hand when their time was up.

Perrie found herself watching Jade with new eyes. This was the first she'd really seen of the Amelia side of Jade, and she liked it. She liked her and the appreciation she had for her fans. It would have been so easy for her to have been uptight and to act as if she were better than her fans, especially after so many years of fame, but she didn't. She was humble and appreciative. On several times Perrie heard Jade refer to her fans as family. And then it clicked. Perrie didn't know the whole story with Jade’s parents, but she knew it wasn't a happy one. Even though Jade didn't have a relationship with them, she still had a family, one that had come from her music.

"I know you dated Danielle Peazer, but I heard that you have a girlfriend again, is that true?" Perrie perked up at the question. She discreetly looked up at Perrie who was pointedly avoiding her gaze. The singer was talking to a girl who couldn't have been more than fifteen or sixteen.

"That's right Charlotte, I am," Jade responded carefully.

"I remember when I first read somewhere that you were dating a girl and I got really excited," Charlotte continued to speak, not asking the 'who' question Perrie had been anticipating. "It made me realize that maybe I was normal, that liking girls is okay."

Perrie watched emotions flood Jade’s face. It made her wonder if anyone had ever said anything like that to her before.

"Anyway, that's really all I wanted to say," Charlotte shrugged. "Obviously I love your music, but that's not the only reason you're my role model. I always thought you seemed like a good person, even when the media portrays you as bitchy. I could tell you just want to be a normal person. So yeah, I just wanted to say thanks. Thanks for being you I guess."

Jade grinned in response, "Thank you for that Charlotte. It really means a lot to me that I'm able to use my position for not just music, but also to reach people like you on a personal level. Someday, there's going to be a girl who will be lucky to call you her wife."

Charlotte grinned and hugged Jade. Gary took a step forward, but Jade shooed him back, hugging Charlotte in return. The photographer snapped a picture of them hugging before Jade said goodbye to the teen who hurried back to her dad who was grinning at his daughter proudly. He mouthed 'thank you' to Amelia and left with his daughter.

Charlotte ended up being the last of the Meet and Greets and Jade was quickly hurried off to hair and makeup. Perrie sat in Jade’s dressing room, watching it all happen, turning around when the crew dressed her girlfriend. It was weird to think that Jade’s crew, people the singer barely knew, had seen more of Jade than her own girlfriend. Perrie wasn't jealous per se, but it was something odd to think about.

Jade was ready early enough so that Perrie was able to watch both Fifth Harmony and Cher’s sets from the wings. It was definitely a different experience from the side.

What was even more of a different experience though, was when Jade left Perrie’s side and Amelia was elevated on to the stage from below it and began her performance. Somehow the whole concert seemed more intimate viewing it from the sidelines, despite the thousands of people out in the crowd. Though maybe that was because of the sly waves and winks Amelia threw at Perrie when she was facing her direction.

She could do this, Perrie thought. She could be the girl hidden in the sidelines, the girl who had Jade. The world had Amelia on stage in front of them, but Perrie had Jade behind the scenes.