Falling Slowly {{ sweeran }}

Chapter 7

"But it was never just fun/ And I thought you were different" - 'Don't', Ed Sheeran
HatfulOfHallows
           

           Ed didn't hear from Taylor for a couple of days, after she left their lunch abruptly. He wasn't worried about their song, it was nearly finished anyway, he was just worried that something was seriously amiss with her. However, he had made minimal efforts to contact her - a couple of texts maybe - as he sensed that she needed some serious headspace for whatever had happened. Despite knowing that he hadn't actually done anything to hurt his new friend, he still felt a knot of irrational fear in the pit of his stomach that it was somehow his fault.

            Taylor messaging him an invite to her place that day didn't do much to quell the fear, especially when Nigel opened her front door and escorted him to the patio in the expansive back garden. Usually Taylor greeted him herself and brought him to the kitchen for a snack before they headed down to the studio, so to say the chatter with Nigel about the weather and the traffic was alien to Ed was an understatement. He sat down on the shiny garden furniture as Nigel produced a bottle of Vitamin Water for him. Just for something to do (and to avoid talking to Nigel any more) he slowly downed the drink and then pretended to read the label on the bottle for about five minutes. Thankfully, Nigel's phone rang then and after a snippet of very interesting conversation - "What do you mean, you lost the intern? No, I obviously don't want you to just find a new one" - he disappeared inside, leaving Ed alone. That was, until someone flopped into the chair next to him. He looked over and grinned when he saw who it was.

            "Looks like somebody enjoyed their Vitamin Water. Careful, Sheeran, your body might not know what to do with all those nutrients." Taylor teased, smirking broadly. Ed grinned in return.

            "Well, Ms Swift, if I'm not gravely mistaken it's all part of your evil plot to get me to be healthy. Today it's sneaking zinc into me under the guise of a soft drink, tomorrow it's smuggling spinach into my brownies." Ed threw his hands up in mock disgust and Taylor laughed softly.

            "Wouldn't be the first greens you have in your brownies, would it Edward?" She rebutted, putting great emphasis on the word 'green'. She laughed again when Ed shrugged and made a zipping motion across his lips. "So, erm, I guess you're probably wondering why I left the other day..."

            "Yeah, a bit, but we definitely don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, I mean-" Taylor shifted in her seat, placing a hand on his forearm to stop his rambling.

            "It's ok. I want to. Catharsis and all that." Ed nodded as though he understood. " So. Erm. It's hard to know where to start." Ed smiled awkwardly as Taylor fumbled for words. "Well, by now I guess you know that I was dating John Mayer." Ed nodded curtly. "So obviously, we broke up and I wrote a song about it."

            "As you do." Ed added helpfully as Taylor agreed.

            "So I wrote 'Dear John' about it, which seems like it's a harsh song, but it's just honest emotions, you know? I tried not to hold anything back and to be honest, he kind of deserved hearing everything I felt. God knows he never listened when we were together. Anyway, Nigel called me up while we were having lunch together that day to tell me that John had written a song about me as, like, revenge. I listened to it, and I needed some time to process. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you at the time, but I had to get some space to try and... Piece myself back together." There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment.

            "Do you want to talk about him?" Ed asked, not totally sure why he was slowly getting angry at Taylor's ex.

            "I... This is so embarrassing, but he was my first." Ed blushed, looking down at his feet. "I know I was kind of old for that to happen, but there we go. I was waiting for the right person and all that crap and then John was so charming that I was just totally infatuated. He just showered me with attention and compliments and romantic gifts until I was totally convinced that I was in love. For a few weeks everything felt totally perfect, you know? Like nothing could get in my way. I thought it could last forever, but it didn't. Once he'd, y'know, gotten what he wanted, he told me things were too serious and that he had to get away. This, after telling me hundreds of times that he wasn't like other guys, that he was different. I was just so dumb to fall for him, for his act." Tears were escaping the corners of Taylor's eyes and Ed felt total empathy for the girl (as well as a strange amount of contempt for John Mayer).

            "Hey, you're talking to the guy who basically wrote a whole album about one girlfriend. So of course I don't think it's dumb, it's just human. I get where you're coming from - except for the whole song reply thing, I've never gone out with another singer before so that's never happened to me." Taylor sniffled and wiped her tears from her eyes, giving a watery sigh. Ed thought for a minute before standing up and pulling on Taylor's hand until she copied him, clearly confused. "Come on, Taylor. We're gonna go get an unhealthy snack from your kitchen, 'cause I'm convinced you're just hoarding them, and then we're going to the studio and we'll finish our kick-ass song. You know what one of my dad's favourite phrases was when I was a kid? 'Success is the best revenge'. He used to say it whenever the kids at school would take the piss out of me singing. So I'm repeating it to you now - but with the context of your arsehole ex. Show him who the loser is. Show him who the better artist, no, the better person is."

            And with that, Taylor finally drew herself up to her full height and smiled her usual bright smile, leading Ed to the kitchen, full of her usual chatter. As he listened to her talk, Ed was almost overcome with pride at her resilience and determination. He was also slightly surprised with how he had handled the situation; normally, when a woman was that upset, he either (a) left the room because he didn't really know the woman and it wasn't his business and he didn't need that stress, or (b) it was his girlfriend and the most he could do was apologise profusely and hug it out. So it looked like Taylor Swift was inflicting personal growth on him, as well as healthy eating. Well damn.