Dreaming Silently // Ed Sheeran

Chapter 19.

+Ed's POV+

"Ed, I would like you to meet James. James, I would like you to meet Ed." Meredith introduces me to her new friend. She's told me all about him, it's easy to tell she really likes him as a friend just by the way her eyes light up when she talks of him. Honestly, it makes me a little jealous.

"Nice to meet you, mate." I say shaking his hand, to which he happily returns.

"You too, Meredith talked about you so much." He says, returning my jealousy into confidence. I mean, he most likely knows about what I did, but still. She talked about me, partially in a good way from what I'm hearing. It's just nice to know after what I've done, she still cared.

"Shh, James. That was a secret." She utters trying to be quiet so only James could hear, but being right next to her, it was hard not to hear.

"Oops, sorry Meredith. The cat's out of the bag." He laughs making me laugh as well. "Anyways, where is your mum and other friend meeting us?"

"They said they could meet us before security check, at the entrance." Meredith speaks, pointing to the part of the airport down the large hall that shows big body metal detectors. I can't even describe how exceedingly happy I am that we're finally going home. Not just me; but us. I want to get into our apartment and cuddle with her, the smell of her sweet perfume on the bed sheets.

I like when she forgets to wash her makeup off before bed, I don't know why though. It's just, in the morning when her mascara it just barely around her eyes, it's beautiful. Almost weird to admit that, but I can't help but love the imperfections in the most perfect things.

"Okay, we should go meet them. We have to go through security check in, about, ten minuets." I speak taking a quick sip of the iced tea I got from a little coffee shop just down the hall.

"Okay," Meredith says with cheer in her tone. Nothing can hide how happy she is as well. I know how she feels right now though. She's happy that she's going somewhere far, but she feels guilty for not being sad about leaving her friends and family. I go through that every single time I leave for tour. Luckily, Meredith can come on tour with me now. No distractions; just her and I, and concerts.

After seeing Jack, Adam, and Mrs. Jane from a far, Meredith excitedly grabs both James and I's hands in hers and pulls us towards them. "Jackie!" I know Meredith doesn't like Jack the way he likes her, but when she wraps her arms around him, I have a slight urge to punch him in the face.

"Meredith, I'm sorry for being mean." He apologizes. Even though he's trying to make it up to her, I don't drop my deadly gaze from him. He needs to know that nothing will take her from me again, not even her best friend.

"It's okay," She pauses, letting go of him. "I'll miss you guys. You have to visit and see how adorable our house is." She says pointing to her mom who is quite clearly busy holding back tears.

"I love you, Meredith. You have to come visit home as well." She sobs finally letting the tears actually fall from her red, puffy eyes. "You should probably get going so you won't miss your flight." Her voice cracks as she pulls Meredith and I into a strong hug. I'm grateful that she didn't start hating me when she found out I cheated on Meredith. I'm sure she started hating the other two boys that have done this to her, what did she see in my that kept those thought away?

"I love you too. Bye Adam, it was nice meeting you." She says, to which he nods in response with a smile as his hand rests on Ms. Jane's back. "Bye Jackie, bye James." She says giving both the lanky boys a strong hug.

"Bye, Meredith. We'll miss you." James speaks. I feel as if Jack wants to talk or just say anything to her, but he knows he'll say something wrong, so he stays quiet. "And, Ed, it was fantastic meeting you. My best wishes to the two of you."

"Thanks, mate. You too." I smile shaking his hand once again. "Bye." And with one last glace at the bunch of them, Meredith heads off to security check with me close behind.

After getting through security, there was no way to see the people we're leaving behind, they're all behind solid walls now. I look down to Meredith who stands by my side. One of her arms is around mine right arm, the other is pulling her suitcase. The only difference before security and after, is that now she has lines of wet mascara running down her cheeks.

We quickly find our boarding sections and sit in the waiting seats. "It gets easier, you know." I speak breaking the low silence and grabbing her hand which sits on the arm rest in between us.

"What does?"

"Leaving." Silence. "The more you leave, the more special the moments with the people your leaving gets. Every second is one that you cherish much more than you normally would. I've left my family a million times, and although we fight, it makes us stronger." My words make Meredith's head turn to face me so fast, I'm surprised she didn't pull a neck muscle. I happily use the shirtsleeves of my flannel to wipe the tears and makeup off her face.

"Thank you, Teddy." She says quietly. "That's why I love you, you know?"

"Is that so?"

"Yeah," She says looking back to the nothing in front of her. I know this is hard, but I know she'll be happy once we get home, see Graham, cuddle, watch scary movies at one in the morning, everything will be back to normal, but even better. "The way you talk, the way you make me feel beautiful, the way you smell, the way you sing, the way to hold me, the way you breathe when we hug, the way your heart beat sounds, the way you say certain words."

With only a seconds pause, she continues, "Those are just some of the many reasons I love you. I used to always think in my head that you had this kind of superpower. The superpower was just in the way you talk, you would say something so softly, that I could fall asleep. You could say something so harsh, that I would cry. You could say something so sweet, that I would treasure myself. You could say something so loving, that I could fall in love with you all over again."

I've never, in my whole life, had an issue where I was speechless. This is the only time that that isn't true. All I can do, is stand up. In an instant, Meredith stands as well. I move so fast that even I don't know what I'm doing, all I know is that my lips are connected with hers. And there's no place I would rather be, not in a billion years.

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Dare: Start yelling lyrics to your favorite Ed song and sing the whole song.

Okay, Meredith's rant about her love for him is literally what I think of him.

Love you all.   -Hadleyxx