Chapter 28 - The End (the song)

Chapter 28 - The End (the song)

Jade pov

Perrie and I are at home, we're waiting for Agent Jareau to arrive, Pez is visibly anxious and I'm trying to look calm so as not to get her more agitated, but in reality I'm out of my mind.

Every time it seems like things are getting better, something bad happens.

It's been months now since we found Pez, she's made so much improvement but how long can she last before breaking down if every time she takes a step forward someone drags her three steps back?

Soon the trial will also begin, Alex will do everything he can to turn the tables and find a way to say he is innocent and that she wanted all of this.

JJ had said that there was no reason for Perrie to go and testify in court unless specifically requested. If Alex, as he says, really has evidence for his case they will probably call her.

It would be the first time she would be facing him again and I am afraid her mental state will not allow her to handle it.

However,

For now it's just paranoia. When the trial starts we'll see, for now let's take care of the urgent things.

James

I have to hope that Agent Jareau won't let me down and really believe Perrie, or it will be like another punch in the gut for her, if JJ shows any doubts, Pez will change her mind and won't want to testify.

Have faith

The sound of the doorbell interrupts my thoughts, Perrie fidgets on the couch and I squeeze her hand reassuringly before going to open the door.

"Good morning Miss Thirlwall" the blonde smiles at me, behind her I see a taller raven-haired woman giving me a warm smile. I frown wondering who she is when she offers me her hand and introduces herself.

"Good morning, I am Agent Prentiss and together with Agent Jareau I am handling your case, Miss Thirlwall" I shake her hand and invite the two women in.

"So how is Perrie? Last night when I got your call you seemed very agitated, did something happen?" Jareau asks me kindly.

"Let's have a seat and Perrie will tell you all about it" I reply.

Please, make it okay

The agents follow me into the living room and sit on the armchairs in front of the sofa, I sit next to my baby and I can already see her chest rise and fall faster than it should.

"Hi Perrie, my name is Emily, I'm a colleague of Agent Jareau's and I'm on your case" the brunette smiles sweetly at Pez who nods still flustered.

"Would you like to tell us what happened?" JJ asks.

"A police officer came in here yesterday saying he needed to ask Perrie some questions about her case and needed to talk to her alone" I reply seeing that Pez is concentrating on her breathing trying to calm herself down.

JJ and Emily frown in amazement, "We are in charge of the case, we should know if anyone came, but we didn't send anyone" Emily speaks slowly.

"He said his name was James Drew and showed his badge, that's why I let him in, but..." I pause thinking about the fact that the man managed to get to us and now Perrie doesn't feel safe anymore.

"But? Miss Thirlwall are you all right?" Prentiss asks me with concern.

"H-he was the f-first" Perrie stammers.

JJ's eyes go wide being fully aware of the story. Jareau and Prentiss then look at each other and I imagine they are communicating telepathically about what they should do next.

"Okay, Perrie. Are you sure the badge was authentic?" the brunette asks and both Perrie and I shake our heads.

How can you tell a genuine badge from a fake one?

"Did you see the serial number?" now it's JJ, but again we shake our heads.

"Alright, I'll call Garcia to do a search on James Drew" Emily gets up and walks away as she calls out to one Garcia.

"Perrie, did that man hurt you?" JJ asks her softly with a hint of sadness.

"He just put his hands around my neck" she says pulling down the collar of her jumper and showing the marks that creep left on her, "He said things" Pez replies and I can see she is starting to shake again.

"Could you tell me what he said to you?"

"He- he said that I should withdraw the complaint towards Alex and everyone else. That no one would believe me because some of those people are pillars of the community and it was my word against theirs and that I had no proof that they forced me, then..."

"Then?"

"He said if I didn't do what he asked something would happen to Jade" Perrie bursts into tears and I hug her letting her take refuge in the hollow of my neck.

I look at JJ who smiles at me with compassion and empathy as Perrie relaxes slightly.

"Did he say anything else?" she asks when she sees that she has calmed down.

"Y-yes" Perrie stutters and I wonder if I missed something yesterday because I don't remember Pez telling me anything else.

"H-he said now that he knows where we live he'll be back because he misses hearing me scream"

What?

If that son of a bitch tries to touch my baby again I swear I'll kill him

"Okay, Perrie, try to stay calm. Those are empty threats, he only said that to scare you, but he won't hurt you or Jade" the blonde says in a reassuring tone.

Perrie wipes away her tears and nods but I know she's still scared.

How could she not be?

"Do you believe me?" Perrie asks her in a small voice looking at the floor.

JJ gets up and walks over, kneels down and lifts Pez's chin, "I believe you, and so will the others. Don't believe what Alex or that man told you. Their arguments don't stand up and the jury will see that"

"B-but if he is a cop-"

"It doesn't matter, what he did is inexcusable and the evidence is incontrovertible, Perrie. No one will be able to question what happened" JJ smiles warmly at her and Perrie smiles back.

"Thank you" she whispers.

"Don't thank me. What happened to you should never happen to anyone, we will catch them and make sure they can never hurt anyone again" the blonde squeezes her hand before getting up and returning to her seat.

She writes something in her notebook and a few seconds later her colleague comes back into the room, "Garcia checked among the London cops but there's no James Drew, now she's trying the Liverpool ones. We'll find him, whether he's a cop or not" the woman assures.

"Perrie, could you look at these pictures and tell me which one of these men is him?" the blonde asks, but Perrie shakes her head rubbing her temples.

"I can do that" I say decisively, "I got a good look at him yesterday and I recognised him in the pictures of..." I look at Perrie and decide not to continue, JJ looks at me and I know she gets my point. She shows me pictures and I recognise James' face, not having identified him yet it's always the enlargements of the pictures that were on the phone. I see him smiling and I know he was enjoying making my bab suffer.

How I want to wipe that smile off his face with my hands

"Not having identified him yet we can't be sure James is his real name-"

"It is" Perrie interrupts, Emily and JJ looking at her with interest and motioning for her to continue, "They used to call him James while he-"

"Understood. We'll start there then. Thank you Perrie, you were very brave" Emily tells her kindly.

The two get up and say goodbye to Perrie and I walk them to the door, "We don't believe you are in any danger, if anything happened to Perrie now it would be obvious that someone wants to help Alex and consequently that he is guilty, however we advise that Perrie never goes out on her own. Just so we are all more relaxed" Emily explains to me, "And that goes for you too, Miss Thirlwall" I nod and thank them as they say goodbye and leave.

Three weeks have passed and fortunately there have been no more visits or threats, unfortunately James Drew has still not been caught. In fact the officers have discovered that he's not a cop but only posed as one to get into the house and threaten Perrie, and that Drew is probably not the last name.

For now we only know his name is James, at least, Perrie is sure of that and I believe her.

She's recovered, she's still a bit scared but she's started acting normal again and even the nightmares have lessened compared to the first week.

Perrie and I also went shopping this week and then stopped by the park again after our appointment with Cheryl.

Jesy, Leigh and I have made sure to take turns being home with Perrie at all times, however, a problem arises today. The three of us will have to be in the studio to record and there is no one to be with her. And even though JJ and Emily told me they didn't believe the threats, there's no way I'm leaving her alone.

"Pez, I know we haven't talked about it, but I thought it would be better if you came with me to the studio. I'd rather you be with me than know you're home alone. Besides, you can preview all the new songs!" I feign an enthusiasm I don't have.

Without Perrie, singing is no longer as fun or challenging. I wish with all my heart that she would return to the band, but I don't know if it's something she still wants to do.

She looks at me a little astonished but slowly a smile makes its way onto her face.

"All right" she says softly.

I squeal in excitement and run to hug her. I am so happy that she lets me hug her every time and is no longer afraid of me.

Great achievements

I am so proud of her, she has no idea how strong she is

We leave the house hand in hand and get into the car where our driver is waiting for us, this will be her first time back in the studio. I wonder what it will be like for her. As she watches the road looking out of the window I hurry to text Lesy to warn everyone that Pez is coming and not to smother her. They write back almost immediately telling me how glad they are that she is coming and that they will warn everyone at the label, they will also ask for more security outside so we won't be attacked by paps.

Arriving at the label I already see a few flashes, without being told Paul goes to the back where Lesy is waiting for us to walk inside without too many people seeing us.

Pez and I get out of the car and I see her sighing deeply. Then I remember the last time she was here, when I told her not to show her face again.

My mood drops instantly but she squeezes my hand and gives me a reassuring smile. I know she has forgiven me, I, however, have not yet done so.

We get to our floor and all along the way I see a lot of familiar faces smiling at Perrie with excitement and tenderness. We did everything we could to keep the word out about what happened and Lesy confirms to me that in fact no one knows, apart from Simon and the lawyers.

I imagine that, like me, they are all very happy to see her here again.

As requested no one gets too close, but everyone greets her with affection and I see Perrie's sincere smile on her face.

We go into the recording room and start recording a few songs. The songs are nice, yes, but without Pez's voice they seem incomplete.

She watches us carefully and I see her lips move when we sing I Won't. I sing her verse, but it doesn't come out as well as it did that day when we sang it together.

I see Pez keep smiling and shortly after we start singing Lightning, her gaze drops slightly but when she looks at me again I see a new sparkle in her eyes. Determination.

Pez takes out her notebook and starts writing while we continue recording.

I wonder what her voice would sound like on this track, I imagine it powerful and deep.

I miss her

Soon after we take a break and as Stephanie goes to get us a coffee, I approach my baby and kiss her temple, she smiles at me and I try to peek at her notebook.

"Have you written anything new?" I ask her as Jes and Lee-Lee also sit down in front of us.

Pez nods, "Would you let me hear?" I ask her curiously and excitedly, she hesitates a little but then looks at me and nods.

"You messed with my heart, babyNow it's black and blue

Love isn't fair so I swearThat this time this is the end

And I can't keep lying, lying to myselfOh, thinking you'll love me rightBut you never will

Now I know I don't really need you,had your fun, now the party's done"

When she finishes Lesy and I have tears in our eyes from the words she just said. I can't believe it. I am so stunned that I don't realise Perrie's gaze on me, seeking approval.

This is the end, Perrie is done with Alex

She has moved on

I embrace her with all my strength and rest my forehead on hers, "Kiss me" she whispers.

I feel butterflies in my stomach like every time she asks me. So far we have only kissed twice, and both times were wonderful. If it were up to me I would kiss her every second but I promised her I wouldn't do anything without her asking and I intend to keep that promise.

Every time our lips meet, though, I want more. She is my drug and the things she makes me feel no one else ever can.

I savour her lips as we move in sync like two puzzle pieces that fit together perfectly. Her lips taste like cherry and are so soft they melt my heart.

I feel a little problem arise when I hear 'my friend' waking up there. I don't want Pez to freak out or think I just want her for sex, but being so close to her and so connected to her does things to me.

Get a grip, Thirlwall!

For a moment I wonder if I'll ever get her back that way. I'd be fine even if I couldn't, but I can't help thinking about how good it felt to make love to her. To be inside her and make her feel all my love.

Enough

These thoughts don't help my situation. Not at all.

Control yourself, Thirlwall!

I remember what brought us to this moment and I remember the magnificent song Pez wrote.

"Would you like to record it?" I ask her with emotion in my voice, she looks at me in amazement but slowly a smile appears on her face.

"Without music?" she asks me laughing, I nod because I can't wait for her to sing it again, I can't wait to hear her voice again.

"Oh, okay then" she tells me a little dumbfounded but can't hide her smile.

I turn around and see Lesy's smiles, I had forgotten about their presence here actually... and realise that they have just witnessed our soft make-out session live. Then I remember that this is the first time they've seen us kissing since Pez and I got together.

Now I understand their smiles....

It's just the four of us in the studio so Perrie puts the sheet between us and we quickly mark who's going to sing what, start the recording and enter the booth.

Jesy starts singing and shortly after we harmonise behind her and set the beat, then it's my turn and I squeeze Pez's hand as I hold back tears for joy that she's here with me and because she's finally said enough.

After me it is Lee-Lee's turn and she puts all the passion she has into it, also on the verge of tears as she smiles tirelessly.

Finally, like an angel Perrie begins to sing.

"And I won't be missing, missing youAnd no one can love you the way I used to doBut love isn't fair and I swearThat this time this is the end, oh"

Her voice breaks for a second, but then she comes back stronger than before, exactly as she is, the determination is evident and I know she is giving everything she's got.

I can see it in her eyes, this song is for Alex, to tell him that he can go fuck himself, that he can't hurt her anymore, that she's not afraid of him anymore and that she's not coming back.

"Oh, whoa, yeah, yeahThis is the end" she ends the song and in this moment I know.

She has won 

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A/N - Hello guys! Of course this is not the end of the book, it will take long for Pez to recover but let's enjoy her achievements! ❤️

Please, go read the new Jerrie's book of sdedwards25 "Connection"! I love you, babe 🥹🧡

Hope you enjoyed the chapter and see you at the next update! ❤️

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Thank you for reading and take care 🌈🍪

- C