London's Calling : Ed Sheeran Fanfiction [Wattys 2015]

Chapter 7: Get Well

Ed's POV :

I can't believe she was still here.

Of course, I hadn't really let her leave the couch out of worry that her health was still a bit unstable. She protested many times, but eventually she got too tired.

This time when she fell asleep, I knew that she wasn't doing it because she was going to pass out. This helped me, but I still sat by the couch for most of the time, getting up for food and a shower.

I knew that she was exhausted from the day before because she slept for almost 6 hours straight. She needed it and I could tell that when she woke up she would be better.

There she laid in my couch tossing and turning a bit every now and then. The way she breathed while she slept had a pattern. In and out, she held her breath for a bit, then continued. The most noticeable detail of her sleep was her breathing, but not the pattern, the depth. Each breath had a purpose and came down heavily into the next. I think I understood how odd and slightly scary it was that I was watching her sleeping, but I couldn't help it. I honestly haven't seen anyone seem so natural.

Earlier in the day, before she began to sleep again, she and I drank our tea together. Sitting and laughing at all of the random and scattered thoughts that came to our minds. Every so often, she would zone out of the window and become quiet.

"Looking at anything particular? "

" I guess not. "

" What are you thinking about then? "

With this, she got quiet."I guess home." She just snapped back into the conversations we were having without acknowledging what she had just said.

As I looked at her now, her face was sort of content like fragile porcelain. Most of it was covered by my comforter again, as she seemed to naturally snuggle when she slept. I knew from experience that falling asleep alone is better when you pretend that you have someone to hold.

All of the sudden she started to shake and kick a bit.

"Ley..."

"STOP STOP STOP!!!" she was screaming at the top of her lungs.

I got up quickly and shook her a bit.

"Leylah, it's a dream, it's only just a dream. "

This time, she woke without tears and just sat with her eyes slouching from exhaustion.

I sat on the side of the couch waiting for her to say something, gently rubbing her back to slow her heart rate.

"Ed."

"Leylah?"

"Why didn't you leave me? "

Are you serious?

"What do you mean?"

"You could have just dropped me at a hospital or let me go like I told you to. "

She was right, even though I don't know if I would ever leave anyone in that state.

" I don't know how to answer that. "

"I mean, you are so famous and you probably run into people all the time, and..."

"Leylah, it happened for a reason I suppose " she gave a slight laugh," I'm not kidding, I really believe that."

She looked up at me in disbelief. I rested my hand under her chin, using my thumb and rubbing it in circle on her jawline as she took in all of the events with closed eyes.

Just when I thought to moment was going well, she got up and gathered her things quickly and all in one motion.

She was leaving, why? What had I done? I was just trying to help again.

"Ley... " she pulled on her boots but I ran and stood in front of the door. "No." I said firmly so that she could understand that I was completely serious.

"Ed, please. I have caused so much disruption already and I didn't mean to stay for this long..."

"Leylah." she looked up at me with those stinging deep blue eyes, "You aren't bothering me, and you never were. You need to stay because I won't let you out to go and get hurt without help. I've worked too hard to help you today to have that happen." I just walked over to her as I spoke and she pulled her arms into her.

All at once, she was in my arms again, crying, just like when I found her last night. I sat down and slowly rocked her back and forth rolling peices of her hair between my fingers.

Her tears soaked my shirt, but I'd rather have her crying in my arms then in her bed alone, or worse, some unkind stranger's home...

"Ed." I heard her mumble.

"Yeah?"

"I kinda can't breathe anymore."

She was right, I had tightened my hold on her quite a bit without even knowing.

"Oh, I'm so sorry... "

She didn't say anything, but she quieted me by wrapping herself back up into my arms while still crying a bit.

"What happened love?"

She whimpered and bit and looked straight into my face with red eyes filled with pain and suffering and whispered, "I haven't been touched and held in so long by someone who actually cares. Ever since..." I cut her off by holding her tight and rocking her again as she continued to cry into my arm, grabbing onto my sleeve with every sharp breath.

I picked her up and carried her to my room to the proper bed. Her head lay against my chest. Her crying had calmed and she was now in a numb state,staring off past me.

As soon as she hit the bed, she curled into a tight ball and shivered.

I began to leave when I heard a small mumble from behind me, "Ed?"

"Yes love?"

"Please don't leave like they did. "

I didn't know who they were, but they had left her, cold and unloved. I already had lost respect for whoever they are.

I crawled into my bed and under the covers with her. I faced her towards me and pulled her into my chest rubbing my thumb on her back. She began to hum mindlessly.

So much beauty in such a hurt girl.

She was nodding off when I mumbled, "never" which she replied with a tight squeezed. She snuggled into my chest perfectly and we both fell into sleep.

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