Chapter 24

Perrie's POV

We were getting ready to meet Simon for our new album and upcoming schedule. I was feeling a little bit nervous though, like whether or not our songs could be put into the album...well who am I kidding to? This was definitely not the main reason...it's his reaction after telling him about me and Jade. I have imagined some of the possible responses from Simon in my head so as to mentally prepared myself, and most of them were not good. The last thing I want was him asking me to break up with Jade to keep our career. There is no brainer I would rather give up my career to be with Jade, cause to me, there is nothing more important than her in this world and I would give up anything to be with her. But of course I don't want to do this if I don't have to, I don't want to be the one ruining our career we all fought so hard for in these five years.

I felt a small hand slipped into my hand and squeezed it, I smiled as I immediately knew who she was. I turned my head and Jade was giving me a comforting smile. She knew I was nervous. It is so weird how we could read each other's mind without saying anything...it could be a glance at the slightest change on the facial expression or even just an intuition on the shift of mood. I felt the nerve started to go away because of her warm gesture. She always knows how to calm me down.

"Are you ready girls?" Jesy asked. We all nodded and left the house. We got in our car and headed to HQ.

"You okay baby?" Jade lifted her head off my shoulder, staring at me with her beautiful brown eyes.

"Yeah. As long as you are with me." I pecked her forehead and stroked her hair, which earned a cute smile from my brunette.

"Don't worry girls. We would do anything to stop him splitting you two up if we have to." Leigh said in the front, turning her head and looking at us with determination in her eyes.

"Yeah! Screw him if he does that! I will beat him up if I have to!" Jesy scolded and we laughed.

"Thank you girls." I smiled at Lesy. I turned to Jade and saw a bright smile on her face. I leaned in and captured her heavenly sweet lips, which instantly eliminating all my fear and worry with a feathery feeling that only she could give me. I felt her smiling into the kiss and slowly kissed me back. I would do anything to protect her and her smile.

We got out of our car when we arrived at HQ. We headed to Simon's office and he was already there. We walked into his office and sat down at the meeting table. Jade sat next to me and Lesy were at the opposite side. Jade moved her chair closer to me and held my hand under the table, knowing well it could help to get rid of any nerve that was still in my body, which I gave her a squeeze on the hand as a thank you. My thumb was tracing small circle at the back of her hand to comfort her, cause deep down I knew she was just as anxious as I was. We exchanged a smile, ready to face any possible consequences ahead of us.

"Have you girls written any new songs?" Simon asked

"Yeah. We each have written one." Jesy replied. We then all started playing our songs to Simon one by one. We silently waited for his response after all four songs had been played.

"You all are brilliant writers I have to say. These songs are great and could definitely put into your new album" He smiled with a satisfied look on his face. We grinned at one another for the good news.

"I do have one suggestion though." He added and we turned our head back to Simon.

"I think with the lyrics like that, "Touch" could be produced as a upbeat song too. Just have to change the melody, and I guarantee it would be a hit. And the original one could still put as an acoustic version in the album. What do you think?" We glanced at each other and by the look, we knew we all agreed on it.

"Sure." We replied in sync and Simon nodded.

"I do have a question for you Perrie. You wrote "Touch" right?" He looked at me and I nodded. He then scanned at the lyrics sheet I gave him.

"I notice there is a line in the song 'Girl, is the way you got me under your spell, Don't you keep it all to yourself' I wanna know why you used 'Girl' instead of 'Boy' in it?"

My heart started racing when I heard the question. I knew it's the time to tell him about me and Jade. I looked across the table and saw Leigh and Jesy nodding at me. I turned my head to Jade, she smiled and squeezed my hand. I spent seconds to mentally prepared myself, and then turned my head back to Simon.

"It's because..." I paused and placed our interlocked hands on the table.

"I wrote this song for Jade. We are together Simon" He didn't say anything after my confession. I couldn't read his face either as he was keeping a straight face, staring at me and Jade with emotionless eyes. After minutes of silence, his body began to shift in his chair and I knew he was ready to speak.

"If I want you to pick only your career or your relationship, what would you pick?" Simon asked in a sternly tone. I felt anger started building up in my body. I knew it! I knew he won't accept me and Jade!

"I won't break up with Jade." Instead of giving him a direct answer, I let him know what I won't compromise on. There is no way I would break up with Jade. I looked at Jade and she gave me a sad smile. I guessed we both expected the worst to come.

"I love Perrie. I will never leave her." She squeezed my hand and answered Simon firmly. My heart fluttered at her words as she had no fear to admit her love for me in front of Simon.

"I love you too Jade." I kissed the back of her hand, letting her know I was not afraid either.

"You can't do that Simon! They love each other. You can't just ask them to split up!" Leigh stood up agitatedly

"I won't let you to do that Simon! If you have to make them leave the group, me and Leigh will leave too! We begin as four, we will end as four! There is no Little Mix if us four aren't together!" Jesy gritted her teeth, and Leigh nodded frantically.

"You know what? I really love how strong your bond is, that's what makes Little Mix successful" Simon said and clapping his hands. We all looked at one another bewilderingly, not understanding why he suddenly reacted like that. I studied his face carefully and saw a smile on his face. Why? I thought he would be mad after hearing what we said?

"You two do love each other, don't you?" Simon raised his eyebrows. His tone was a lot calmer, and happier? I don't know. It's like he had turned into a totally different person, compared to the harsh man minutes ago.

"Yes" Me and Jade replied together, there was no hesitation in our answer.

"I am not breaking you two up. You don't need to leave the group either."

"W-What?" My eyes widened in shock, not sure if I heard it right. I looked at the other girls, they all looked as shocked as I am, so I guessed he did say that.

"I just want to see how serious this relationship is. It would easily tear the group apart if you two ends up splitting. But I could see how much you two love each other, and those two are clearly supporting your relationship, so don't see any problem here." He clarified and our face lit up in excitement

"So...you are okay with me and Perrie dating?" Jade asked tentatively, wanted to make sure what she heard what real. Simon nodded his head to confirm his words, and we all smiling at one another.

"But..." The smile soon disappeared when we heard the word. Of course there would be a "but"

"I don't think you should come out to the public just yet." Simon looked at us with a poker face again. It's like he turned back into the harsh man again. What is wrong with him!

"Don't get me wrong. It's not because I think it would ruin your image and sales..." He quickly added after taking a glance at me, I guessed I looked quite intimidating

"It would be the totally opposite if I must say, cause I could see how much support you girls get when 'Secret Love Song Pt II' came out and every time you perform it on stage. However, our main goal for the next few months is to promote your new album, and I feel like you have the best chance to achieve a new peak of your career with this album."

"Just think about it. If you two come out to the public now, it would definitely be all over the media. I am not saying it is bad itself but it is bad if you want to gain publicity on your new album. Which one would you think they would choose for their headline...your album or your relationship? I think you all know the answer and that's why I don't want you to come out now, cause it would hugely affect the promo on your new album. This is your best album so far, do you really want to let your relationship overshadows all the effort you have put into this album?" He finished and looked at us expectantly. We looked at one another and we knew we had the same thought. I hate to say that...but he is right.

"You are right." I sighed and the other girls nodded. I looked at Jade and gave her a sad smile. I knew how much we want to come out, cause we were so tired of hiding our love any longer. But we can't let it ruin our career, especially it's not only the two of us, but also Leigh and Jesy. They have been so supportive to our relationship and it would be really selfish to not consider them and come out regardlessly.

"It's just not the right time. I am not saying you cannot come out to the public though..." I snapped out of my thought when I heard Simon's words. I knew Jade was eager to know what Simon meant by that as she was squeezing my hand really hard.

"S-So...when?" Jade asked tensely. My heart was about to jump out of my chest when I was waiting for his answer.

"When people start to give you the credits you all deserve for so long. I can't really say when as we just need to wait and see. But with this album, I have high hope that you don't have to wait for long." He smiled at me and Jade. I felt kinda frustrated he didn't give us an actual date. But at the same time, I understood why he said that and I too have faith in this album so I believed we didn't have to wait for long. I looked at Jade and she gave me a knowingly smile. I returned the gesture and did the same to the other girls.

"Okay. I would try to not show my affection towards this one...even though it would be really hard" I pointed at Jade, which made her blushed slightly.

"Same for me" She nodded shyly

"Actually...I don't mind you two showing a little bit affection towards each other..." Simon smirked

"Huh?" Me and Jade exchanged a confusing glance, and then turned back to Simon for answer

"Small gestures like holding hands, hugging or a kiss on the cheek couldn't directly define you two as a couple, but they were enough to get the fans talking. Eventually you two would make it public so it would be a good thing to see how the public, especially fans, react to you two being so close, and it would be less a shock to them when the time comes. Just be careful not to do things that would disclose the secret." We nodded happily at his idea. It was smart and at the same time me and Jade didn't have to distance ourselves on purpose.

"You don't have to hide when you are with the crews as I trust them won't expose you girls, but you have to be careful not to show too much affection when you are dealing with the public, understand?" Even though Simon tried to sound as sternly as he could, I knew he didn't really being harsh. He was being generous by allowing us being ourselves at backstage, which I was really grateful for.

"Yes sir!" Me and Jade exclaimed and gave Simon a thankful smile. Wow this meeting went way better than I could have ever imagined!

"I am glad we are on the same page girls! Now we should start discussing your work schedule. This week you are going to record your new songs and finalize the tracklist on your new album. I hope we could finish your album in two weeks. Then you are going to rehearse for 'Shoutout to my Ex' as you are going to perform it on the X Factor and the single would be released on the same date. Then..." Simon continued explaining our upcoming schedule and I am not gonna lie, the workload is huge. But I don't really mind, cause I knew with all the hard work we have done and would be done, the next year could be our year.

I gazed at Jesy and Leigh, and then to my beautiful girlfriend, who were all concentrated on listening to every words Simon said. My lips curved up when I looked at the serious look on Jade's face, the small frown on her face made her look even more adorable than usual. I had an urge to raise my hand to smooth her furrowed eyebrows but I contained myself, not wanting to disturb her, but she must have sensed me staring at her anyway as she gave a firm squeeze on my hand. I put my free hand on our interlocked hands, slowly tracing her knuckles. Even though her gaze was still on Simon, I could see the corner of her lips curved up at my gesture. It won't be long...it won't be long for us to be able to come out, to show the world we belongs together and how much we love each other. I just have this feeling...our Glory Days are waiting for us.

A/N: I am too kind to put any villain in this book....even Simon is nice lol

Don't.blame.me.for.my.kindness.