Jade brushes Perrie's hand as the two get up from their chairs in front of the mirror with their make up now done, and pretend that the contact they made was on accident. They exchange quick smile as each one of them goes to get her outfit from a different garment rack in the room. Meanwhile, Jesy and Leigh-Anne take their places in the front of the mirror, and Adam and Aaron start working on them ahead of their appearance on Lorraine in twenty minutes.

"Jade? Perrie? Do you have a minute?" Sam, Little Mix's manager, asks. Up until now she was outside of the dressing room, made sure that everything is right for the performance, but she is currently standing at the door. Jade and Perrie send each other slightly concerned looks before walking over to her. Sam smiles, and Jade knows her well enough to know that it is more of a professional smile rather than the usually friendly one. This is the moment when Jade begins to feel nervous. Sam moves and leads them to a different room, an empty conference room. Jade and Perrie sit next to each other, and Sam sits in front of them.

"How are you girls?" Sam asks with another formal smile. "I feel like I never get to see you anymore," she continues. Sam is due in a few months, so she is taking it easy with work. She will not travel abroad with the band anytime soon, nor will be joining the tour. She is not around all the time like she used to be, and it is not something anyone is used to.

"We're alright," Perrie replies with a smile.

"So," Sam starts and heads straight to business. "Based on what you told me, I'm assuming that this whole 'jerrie' thing is a joke you share with the fans. And it has been great, you both had your fun, but I think that you're pushing it too far. I've already had a few people ask me about it, especially after this interview of yours," she takes out a piece of paper and hands it over to the two women. They read it in silence, and Perrie's cheeks go redder with every sentence.

Edwards told The Sun that she could be, er, 'turned' by the Suicide Squad star.

'You get some gorgeous lesbians, don't you? I tell you what, if Margot Robbie was here right now. Oh she's divine. I have a crush on her. I must be on the turn because every time I look at her.'

The currently single star admitted that she's been hit on by women in the past and has even flirted with a few during her single nights out with bandmate Jade.

She said: 'We love a flirt with a girl, don't we? I'll never find anyone because I just go to gay bars all the time.

'Lesbians do hit on me sometimes. But I find it a compliment when a girl finds you attractive...it means you must be doing something right!'

"Sam, what exactly are you worried about? The line where it says Jade and I go to gay bars together?" Perrie asks as she keeps her gaze on her hands on the table. "Everyone knows Jade goes to these bars, it's never been an issue. Sometimes I come with her, it's no big deal."

"No, it's not that." Sam answers and shakes her head. "It's how you said you 'must be on the turn' for a woman, and then you two go onstage and you tell everyone that you're dating. I understand that this is a joke, all of this, but you're taking it too far."

"In this interview - it was all said in a funny way, but you can't tell when it's written," Perrie replies while trying to hide her embarrassment. "No one takes that seriously anyway. We keep being asked about our love life so we say stuff like this all the time. I don't think that's a problem. It's not that unusual."

"And Perrie talked specifically about Margot Robbie, not about anyone else. Not about me," Jade quietly adds.

"That's right, but you have to understand that when someone looks at the bigger picture, it is very easy, even instinctive, to connect these two topics; Perrie saying that she's got a thing with girls, and then whatever game you two are playing with the fans. We can't let these rumors get out of hand, we can still control them somehow right now and that's how it needs to stay," Sam explains. "So I suggest that you take it down a notch when you're in public. That joke's funny right now, but it won't be if you keep repeating it. People are actually going to start believing it, they're going to search for proof, they will analyze your every move. Not to mention any names, but you girls personally know artists who go through this. It's not easy, not at all."

"The fans are going to be more worried about Jade and I not interacting with each other in public than about us supposedly dating," Perrie debates. She has come so far with Jade, there is no way that they are going to take so many steps backwards now. In addition, she knows that Jade will probably worry more about this, and she has already got enough things to stress about.

"I don't want you to stop interacting," Sam replies as she takes back the paper which is on the table and places it back inside her bag. "I want you to stop telling everyone that you're dating - and I don't care about how it's just a joke. You seriously need to stop doing that. Go back to being regular friends, the same way you were before this autumn. I am telling you, as the head of your management team, that you're only going to damage your brand if you keep doing this."

There is a knock on the door, and a man enters the room. He informs the three women that filming is about to start, so they all stand up and follow him. Sam walks with him, ahead of Jade and Perrie, and asks him about some technical issues. Jade and Perrie are a few steps behind. They are walking purposely slow and communicate via whispers.

"I don't think we should be sitting next to each other out there," Jade quietly says.

"I guess so," Perrie replies with a sigh. "I don't want to do this, though. I don't want to stay away from you, I shouldn't have to. It's so unfair."

The four women go over to the filming area, where they are interviewed, and perform their latest single. Jade and Perrie make sure not to sit next to each other, and they try to not make it obvious how close they are, in contrast to their behavior for the past few weeks. When they are done, they head back to their dressing room and grab their belongings. Perrie and Jade exit the building together, whispering yet again.

"Remember when you said a while ago that you can't pretend to be the same person you were before we got together? So yeah, I think I know how you feel now," Perrie tells Jade.

"It sucks, doesn't it?" Jade asks in response.

"I say, fuck this. We still have the Get Weird live stream to do today, we can act however the fuck we want in it." Perrie says and steps into the car. Jade knows that this is not a good idea, but how can she be against it? Being with Perrie is all she wants, and if that is the way, so let it be it. She does, however, feel bad for Sam. Their manganer has been nothing nothing but supportive of them throughout the years, ever since they first started their career, and it is unfair to her. Jade eventually decides that her relationship with Perrie is more important than Sam's worries, and reminds herself to talk to Sam and tell her everything. Once she will know all about what is going on right now, there is a chance that she might change her opinion.

×××

That evening, Jade is laying on Perrie's bed in the hotel room Perrie currently lives at as she waits for Perrie to be out of the shower. Jade scrolls through social media, her preferred activity after a long day, because it takes no effort. She smiles as she remembers the moments that Perrie and her shared in front of the camera today. It was a good day, overall, but it was nothing compared to what they had in America, and Jade definitely missed it.

She has disabled the Instagram notifications long ago, but Jade can tell when something is unusual with the amount of notifications. She now sees that today, she has received hundreds more notifications than she usually does, both on Little Mix's account and on her personal one. Jade searches for the reason for all of it, and quickly the two things that seem to have sparked the conversation.

The first is another interaction between Perrie and this model, David Jack. Jade's heart races when she sees his name, and it beats even faster when she reads what is written.

This is no longer only random, meaningless emojis. Now Perrie is sending him kissing emojis, and heart eyes, and he implies that he will visit the UK soon. The undeniably worst, most hurtful part is Perrie saying that she likes this guy. Jade knows that Perrie was talking about his looks, and she probably does not even know him, but feels a sharp pain in her her chest and takes a long, shallow breath. She really did think, up until this moment, that Perrie was into it as much as she is. She truly believed that Perrie has feelings for her, too, but looking at these comments, she realizes that she was wrong.

If that is not enough, there is also this interview that the fans cannot stop writing about to Jade. Her latest post has countless comments saying 'nade', though Jade cannot figure out what it means. She taps one of the many links in the comment section which all lead to a YouTube video, called Little Mix - BBC Radio 1 interview (8/11/2015). Jade taps play, and listens while still trying to calm herself down. She has a bad feeling about this.

Thia audio was recorded yesterday, during the award show the girls have attended. At some point, Jesy had to get a part of her dress fixed so Jade went backstage with her to take care of it. Leigh-Anne and Perrie did the scheduled interview on their own, and this is the result. It begins just fine, with a light chat about fashion and performing, but it declines quickly. The interviewer talks about fellow performers, and mentions Five Seconds of Summer, then Nick Jonas. The person Jade has developed a deep aversion to.

"We never met Nick!" Perrie says. "Yeah, we've never actually proper met, have we?"

"No, but we do love Nick," Leigh-Anne answers.

"He follows, um," Perrie starts, and Jade can hear the playfulness in her voice. "He follows Jade on Instagram, and he likes a few of her pictures now and again, so I think he needs to man up and ask her on a date or something. Is he single?"

"I believe he is, as far as I'm aware," the interviewer replies.

"If he's single, she's ready to mingle. If not, then forget I said anything," Perrie says and makes the interviewer laugh.

"Do you think we can make that happen?" The interviewer asks.

"I think you could slide something in there, maybe," Perrie replies.

"Do you think we should ask him?" The interviewer asks.

"Yes!" Perrie enthusiastically says. "Ask him, one hundred percent!"

"She is going to be so embarrassed," Leigh-Anne adds.

"But don't make her look desperate, because she's not. We're desperate," Perrie continues.

"Jade desperate for Nick," the interviews jokingly pretends to write down. "Okay, great!"

"No!" Perrie says and Leigh-Anne and her laugh.

"I'll just say she's happy whenever he's free, she's never busy, the diary's free," the interviewer playfully says.

"Just say look, we've noticed that he keeps liking her pictures," Perrie explains. "Liking ain't going to get him anywhere."

"What kind of pictures?" The interviewer curiously asks.

"Oh, I don't know!" Perrie exclaims.

"I don't know, we need to find out," Leigh-Anne agrees.

"It's a bit random. The only reason she knows is because fans like, go mental when they see it," Perrie says. "And they're like 'oh my gosh, he commented!' 'Oh my gosh he liked!'"

"You do realize she's going to fully bite our heads off right about now," Leigh-Anne says.

"Yeah, she will. But she's not here, so it's fine," Perrie agrees.

Jade cannot listen anymore. She stops the video and exits the app. This audio feels like torture. She can picture in her mind the smile on Perrie's face as she says these words in a funny way, as if there is anything amusing about them. Tears are threatening to burst from her eyes as she takes her phone and bag and leaves. Jade closes the door behind her, and in the corridor, sends Perrie a vague text saying that she had to go home. She takes the lift and catches a cab, then arrives home twenty minutes later. Unlike the usual, the lights inside the flat are on, and when Jade opens the door, she sees her roommate and one of her closest friends, Danielle, sitting on the living room couch and watching TV.

"Jade!" Danielle exclaims as she stands up, then excitedly walks over to Jade and pulls her into a hug. Jade wants to pretend that she is hugging her girlfriend girlfriend right now, because there is nothing that she wishes for more than for this drama to be over, but Danielle's embrace is nothing like Perrie's. Danielle has the posture of the dancer she is, with strong shoulders and back, and she is taller than Perrie. Her hair does not smell the same way, and its touch on Jade's face is different. Jade is so desperate she just lets the tears fall and takes shallow breaths. "Babe, what's wrong?" Danielle worriedly asks as they let go.

"Nothing," Jade is quick to reply. She sniffs and brings a hand up to her eyes, then wipes the tears using her index finger. "I'm okay, it's just been a long day." Jade hates lying like that to her roommate. They barely get to see each other nowadays, and every night they are both home early, like today, has become very rare lately. So now, when they finally do have the time to catch up, Jade pushes her away.

"You know that you can talk to me about anything, right?" Danielle tells Jade. She turns off the TV using the remote on the coffee table, then lays her hands on Jade's shoulders. Danielle can see the pain in her brown eyes as they are wet of tears. "I know that we never get to see each other lately, but we're still here for each other. Just tell me what's going on and I'll listen, I'll do what I can to help you. But you have to tell me, okay? I hate seeing you like this."

"I don't even know how to explain it," Jade begins. She sighs deeply before shaking her head. There is so much that Danielle does not know; she has no idea about what has been going on with Perrie for months now, since Jade did not tell her anything about it. She wanted to do it in person and never got the chance. Jade wonders whether she should do it right now, let it all out. Finally, she could have someone to vent to, someone who knows and likes Perrie but is not best friends with her.

"Just say something," Danielle guides her. She smiles encouragely at Jade, and Jade takes a deep breath before letting the words out.

"Perrie and I, we're... we have this thing going on," Jade starts to explain, careful not to say anything too revealing.

"What kind of thing?" Danielle asks with a puzzled expression on her face.

"We're together," Jade replies. Once these words are hanging in air, the tension she has been feeling eases and she is able to think and talk more clearly. She sees Danielle's lips curve into a smile, and takes that as a an approval to keep talking. Moments like this remind her of how lucky she is to have Danielle in her life. It has always felt like they simply understand each other.

"Why are you crying, then? That sounds good," Danielle asks with a comforting smile.

"Because, Dani, I.... I think falling for her, but her mind is... somewhere else." It is the best way Jade can word what she is currently feeling. These words hurt, an exaggerated version of the pain she felt when Perrie and her just started dating. "We're completely not on the same page. I think that she's talking to other people. She wants to set me up with someone else," Jade continues. By wording her feelings, she is able to connect all of the dots, and what Perrie is doing suddenly occurs to her. "She's going to break up with me," Jade states in a panicked voice.

"Wait. Slow down. I'm going to make the two of us some tea and biscuits right now, and you're going to tell me everything from the beginning." Danielle nods at Jade as she goes off to the kitchen. Jade understands that she dropped so much information on Danielle in such a hurry and little time, but in what other way could she break the news to her? Jade needed someone to bring her back to reality instead of getting caught up in suspections and theories.

Jade goes into her bedroom for the purpose of changing into her pajamas. She steps inside, but does not have the energy to do anything. She is so emotionally drained, so all she does is sit on the edge of the bed and let the tears fall. She cannot stop thinking about how unfair this is. She talked to Perrie about both of these guys in the past, the last time being just a few days ago. After everything, how could she do that to Jade?

Through the closed door of her bedroom, Jade can hear the front door unlock in a somewhat distant sound. She does not remember inviting anyone over, perhaps Danielle did? Jade listens to the voices in the living room. Danielle sounds hesitated and unsure of herself as she invites the person in. There is a moment of silence before a familar voice with a thick accent replies a quiet thank you. Jade does not know what to do now that Perrie is here. She is not sure if she wants to see her girlfriend right now. The things she saw and heard right before coming here are haunting her. There is a knock on Jade's bedroom door, then it is opened by Danielle.