House on the Vistula (an Ed Sheeran story)

Chapter Five

Christmas passed, as had the second term. It was the beginning of May, when Ed would be in London. My exams were fast approaching, and I would be off to uni in September. Grace made more of a fuss of Ed's gigs than I did but that was to be expected, since I burrowed myself away with my books and cigarettes. There were days when I chain-smoked like a chimney and didn't even glance at my books but took a sudden interest in staring at trees blankly in the park, despite all the looming deadlines, but most of the time it was the other way around. I studied day and night, and only smoked in the morning before college.

Ed seemed like a distant memory most of the time. I cringed at how melodramatic I had been about the entire thing, and led myself to believe that it was just because he was a celebrity that I made such a fuss. I had been much bigger a dick in different situations, yet had never thought about it like I did over the entire Ed issue. My heart still skipped a beat and I had to close my eyes and hold my breath until my entire face went beet red and my eyes bulged when I remembered his smile, but other than that, he rarely came to mind.

I met him again on the day of his gig, that against Grace's advice, I hadn't invested in tickets for. I felt like I was in a Korean drama, using my hand as a shield for my face, as if I were the celebrity. I shuffled quickly, trying to get away when our eyes met for half a second- the awkward eye contact you have with a stranger when you're glancing around because of how crowded the tube is. His eyes widened and he started his string of "excuse me"s to the uncomfortably cramped sardines- erm, people. Before he could get to me and the first syllable of my name could reach his mouth, I rushed off that northbound 7:00am train on my way back home after an allnighter the second the doors slammed open at the next station; Waterloo. Without thinking much of what my plan was, I rushed down the platform and...

You guessed it. I tripped. I tripped over a f.ucking glass bottle on the platform, in my usually comfy and reliable platform boots. Apparently not so reliable whilst lightheaded and with unnoticed obstacles underfoot. I didn't know what to do then. My earphones fell out, I lay face-first on the dirty platform ground, my chin and arms and knees stinging. I had sobered up, but since I had not slept the alcohol off, I felt unbelievably sick and my head spun. I did what my instincts told me to do. I sat up and cried as footsteps approached me quickly from each side. On one side,  heard a woman's voice, and an elderly man's voice, from the other it was yet another woman's voice along with rapid heels and Ed's voice.

"Oh, shit," Ed's voice penetrated the gasps and "are you alright"s and "I'll fetch a member of staff, I'm sure they have a first aid kit" when I pushed my hair back. I sat on the platform with my legs stretched in front of me and my phone, unharmed, next to me, and cried freely. I felt sad and vulnerable and silly but I couldn't stop the sobs. I honestly had no idea why I was crying. I had a system full of alcohol, I was bleeding from my chin, my arms and my knees, and I was embarrassed.

"Natalia." Ed said, and a pair of worn blue jeans were the first thing I saw of him. He bent down next to me and grabbed my phone, putting it in his pocket before I could protest. He then gently took me under the arms and stood me up on wobbly legs before walking me over to the closest bench. As he sat down next to me, he reassured everyone I was alright, that we won't keep them any longer, and told the lady who had offered that yes, it's a good idea to fetch a member of staff with a first aid kit. Then he held my head to his chest as I sniffled and took deep breaths before bursting into fresh tears over and over again.

"Ed," I hiccuped when I managed to blink the tears and blur from my eyes, and noticed the massive splotch of blood on his white t-shirt. "I bled on you."

I pulled back to have a better look. Indeed, the splotch on his t-shirt was about the size of my chin, with smudge marks here and there. His side and arm were also bloody from where my arm had been held against him. "Also, why am I bleeding so much? I just tripped!"

"You tripped over a smashed bottle, landed in it with your knees and arms, and scraped your chin on the ground. I'm sure you'll be okay though, they're just superficial wounds- not too deep, and you don't seem to gave any of the glass embed in your skin." His voice was soft and calm, and it reminded of those summer nights. I met his eyes, and I'm sure I had imagined it in my state, but his eyes looked so sad. This was enough to make my eyes fill up and my lib wobble. As much as I tried, my voice cracked again when I spoke up.

"I'm sorry, Ed. You were so lovely and kind and I haven't enjoyed someone's company in a long time, yet I told you to fuck off, which you in no way, shape or form deserved. And I don't deserve to have you rush off a train after me and hold me whilst I'm such a mess. I'm so sorry for acting like you didn't mean anything when you were actually a dear friend after such a short-"

"Don't worry, Natalia. We can talk about it without the audience, once you calm down. Alright, sweetheart?" He cut me off, giving me a tight-lipped smile and continued stroking my hair as I calmed my breathing.

"So, I see you've had quite an adventure." Came a male, somewhat accented voice.

I looked up and saw a man in a TFL fleece holding a first aid kit. "Quite."

"It definitely looks like it! Good morning, I'm Raj and I'll be helping you today."

"Good morning. I'm Natalia, and this is Ed. I'm so sorry for the trouble. I shouldn't have been running."

"Don't worry at all, I've seen much worse. We'll make sure you don't have any glass in your cuts, disinfect them and bandage you up. How does that sound?"

"That would be marvelous. Thank you so much." I sniffed and wiped my nose with a stray tissue I had found in my pocket.

Once I was all better apart from the pain, we thanked Raj again before heading off slowly up the steps to the main area of the station.

"I know that you were running away from me, but we really do need to talk this out. Despite it being just a short friendship or whatever it was, I think that after the way we parted, we definitely need to talk it out." Ed told me as we stood against a wall.

"I know. And I'm sorry. I seem to do a good job of running away from my problems recently- not that I consider you some problem."

He chuckled humourlessly at that, and met my eyes. I had forgotten just how lovely his eyes were in person. "Coffee, Nat?"

"Just like-" I  bit my tongue and smiled uncomfortably. This was followed by a wince as my chin stretched. "Yeah. Let's get coffee."

We tapped out of the station at the barriers and walked through the large, bright railway and tube station slowly until we reached the Costa on the opposite side of the main building.

"Good morning, how can I help you today?" Asked a tired-looking 20-something barista cheerfully.

"I'll have a cappuccino, two sugars please." Ed said, then glanced at me as I ran my fingers through my messy hair, pushing it back.

"Oh. Err. I'll have the roasted almond cappuccino. With soya milk, please." I told the barista and shoved my debit card in the reader the moment she told us the price. "My treat."

Ed shook his head but smirked. "Alright, if you insist."

Due to my unstable state, I pulled my boots off and padded up the steps to the first floor of the coffee shop in my tights, with Ed following a few steps behind me, the coffee tray carefully balanced in his hands. He was clumsy when he was trying not to spill something. so the task consumed his entire concentration. I couldn't help but smile.
Once we reached a table with window seats, he placed the tray down on the table carefully, but wasn't quick to sit down. Because here we were, as we had been before; me 5"5 in a pair of tights, blonde and uncertain and with some sort of scrape or bruise, and him 5"8 in a pair of shoes, only 8 centimetres taller than me, his red hair tousled and his eyes soft. One thing was changed though.

This time, he was also uncertain, and his eyes also guarded, yet hopeful.

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Long time, no update. I was super sad earlier on and only just remembered that writing truly doe take my sadness and uncertainty away. I know hardly anyone reads this, but I don't mind anymore. :)