Idol (An Ed Sheeran Fanfic)

17

"This feels like falling in love, falling in love, falling in love," Ed and I sang in unison. It's right before I need to go onstage at our Perth show, and he wanted to make sure we could perform "Kiss Me" together considering last time we weren't really focused on the song. Murray, Stuart, and Mark were all standing around his dressing room watching us; we still haven't had any time alone.

"That sounds great," Stuart nodded at us.

"Sounds better than the last time," Murray added and we both blushed. We weren't focused last time.

"Yeah it's great, you need to perform it. Cassidy, you need to be onstage in ten minutes," Mark placed a hand on Stuart's shoulder.

Ed didn't respond, he just got up off the couch next to me and leaned his guitar against the wall. Why isn't he talking to me?

"Ca-can you guys give us a minute, please?" He asked in a small voice. All the guys looked at each other, shrugged, and then left the room without another word.

"Do they know about-" I asked.

"No, I haven't even told Murray-he doesn't even know I came to see you in Michigan," he replied.

I chuckled. "How did you manage that? You just disappeared from the country and he didn't even notice?" I teased him and he came and sat down next to me on the couch again.

"Yeah, something like that," he simply shrugged, slouching down.

He rubbed his eyes and let out a quiet sigh. The time change is hard-I know that-and Ed had absolutely no time to get over his jet-lag; as soon as he landed he had an interview. I could tell he was exhausted, but I also knew he was going to play this show no matter what.

"Are you okay?" I asked him as he continued pawing at his eyes.

In response I got a sigh. "It's part of the job, what can you do?" He yawned.

I slouched too, imitating him. "What do you have tomorrow?"

"We have to fly to another city, but I don't know where. The flight isn't until later, though," he replied and reached for my hand that was resting on my thigh, intertwining our fingers.

Then-before I realized what was happening-he gently turned my head so I was looking at him, and kissed me. His kiss was sweet and long; I knew he wasn't going to push me. When he broke the kiss, I stroked his cheek. Why is he suddenly so affectionate?

"Oh, yeah, by the way, umm... I asked a couple of the people at Warner to come to the show tonight," he mumbled and turned away from me, leaning forward and propping his head up on his palms.

"Why?" I asked and sat up.

"So they could see you and maybe offer you a record deal..." His voice got quiet at the end.

"What?" I exclaimed and shot up. "Why? I don't need to get signed; I'm perfectly fine the way I am."

"I know-trust me-but I thought it would be good if they saw you play and realized how good you are," he looked up at me with his piercing blue eyes.

"But still, I don't wanna play now, I'm too scared," I sighed and ran my hand through my hair.

"You don't need to be! They are just here to see the show; you don't have to accept anything they offer," he assured me and stood up. "But, these guys know what they're doing; if you want your music to get out there, they can do that. I wouldn't have asked them to come down here if I didn't trust them, remember that."

"I know-I can't help but be nervous, though," I mumbled and looked right at him. He still had the bags under his eyes, but his expression was soft. I know he knows what I'm going through.