One Chance: a Ted Sweeran fanfic

Ch 18

Taylor's POV

"Taylor, love, are you all right?" a familiar voice asked.

Halfway through the flight I had gotten really sick all of a sudden and had started throwing up. I had contracted a fever and was now in bed in the small bedroom at the back of the plane. I couldn't believe that my perfect vacation was coming down to this, but Ed had comforted me in the fact that we still had quite a long way till we got to Nashville, and that I needed rest anyway.

I wondered where Ed was now, because standing before me with a very concerned look on his face was Harry, not Ed.

"Harry, how did you get on board, I thought you were in jail!" I exclaimed, my words a bit slurred from all the medication I was taking.

"Sadly love, I am, but I am also here, with you." He sat down next to me and placed his warm hand on top of mine, his soft green eyes staring down at me.

"How, how can that be, and why are you in jail in the first place, I mean who would frame you? I-"my voice caught as it had each time I had been so close to telling him how I felt about him. As much as I loved Ed, I couldn't help but feel this way about Harry, and it killed me.

"Shhh, Taylor it's okay, you don't have to say anything, and we don't have much time, these things can only last so long....but there is something you need to know." His bright eyes dimmed and grew darker-more somber as he continued on.

"Taylor, Ed's not planning to just stay for a week, he wants for you to stay in Nashville for awhile-as long as it takes before this whole mess is over, and I know that you don't owe me anything, but if you don't come back as a witness in my trial-I'll be condemned for attempting to murder Ed, and that's not all..." he turned away, biting his lip in worry (which actually made him even more attractive by the way).

I reached out, and caressed his face with my shaky, pale hand. "Harry, what is it?" I asked worriedly.

He looked down at me, and the guilt that had been eating us both alive was painted all over his face. "Taylor, you are going to have to explain what happened that one night, you know, the one-" I didn't let him finish.

"Yes, I know what you're talking about, but why do I need to talk about it? Ed will be devastated, I don't know if I can bear hurting him, not now when I have just gotten him back," I pleaded.

The doorknob to the bedroom twisted, and Harry took my hand and softly kissed it, "I have to go, love, but please, come back, I need you Taylor," and just like that he disappeared, like the mirage of an oasis in a dessert, and I was left alone to the hard, brutal difficulties of my situation.

Ed opened the door, and smiled, "How are you feeling honey?" he came over to the bed, about to kiss me, but I recoiled from him, still shocked at what had just transpired.

"Ed, can you promise to be completely honest with me for one second?" I looked into those dazzling blue eyes that stared back I complete love and admiration-eyes I feared would never look at me that way again after I had told him the truth of what had happened while he was unconscious.

"Sure, love, anything."

"How long are you really planning on us staying in Nashville?"

He stood up as if he had been ejected from where he sat. "How-how did you find out about that?"

"So it's true, this wasn't just a vacation! You wanted to take me away from everything-why? Do you think I'm that fragile that I can't handle being in London?" I don't know why, but suddenly I was gripped with terrible anger. I was furious, actually, did he not trust me to handle myself?

"Well, I mean you were having a mental break down, we both agreed we needed a break, Taylor," he was confused at my anger, and to be honest I was to, but I continued on.

"Yes! A break, a hiatus, a vacation, not some permanent move! Why didn't you run this past me? It's my life too! You can't just decide everything for me, Ed!"

"Taylor, I'm your husband and soon I will be a father, I have to do what is right for the family, and right now we need to get away from London, you never would have agreed, so I didn't tell you. It's not about trust, I trust you with my life, and right now you need to believe me when I tell you this is something we need to do. Think of the baby," I had just had it with him pinning his actions for the baby.

"You know what, just stop, okay? Every time you make some crazy decision that I don't agree with you always say it's for the baby, but it's not! It's all about you! You just want to get away from London to run away from your responsibilities, you are leaving your best friend, who was there for me when you weren't by the way, to rot in prison. Ed we are the only people who can get him out of prison, and you just want to give up on him? I thought you were more of a man than that, but I guess I was wrong!"

"Taylor," he sat back on the bed, and put his hand on my knee, not looking at me in anger but more in pity, as if he knew it was my out of wack hormones saying these things, which only served to make me more mad. "There are just some things you don't know about, things that make it necessary to leave." He was totally calm, damnit why couldn't he be angry? It was much easier to get mad at an angry person than a calm one.

"No, you know what, there are some things you don't know Ed, things that happened while you were in a comma that I had been feeling guilty about up to know. Gosh, I don't know why Harry and I were so nervous-"

"Harry? This is about what you and Harry did while I was busy dying?" I immediately felt guilty for what I had said.

"Ed, no it's not like that," I regretted being so stupid.

Ed got up from the bed, not calm, not angry, but worse-hurt. "You know what Taylor, I thought I could trust you, but obviously not. We're going to Nashville and staying there till I feel it's safe to return. End of conversation," he stood up. "Now get some rest, you need it," he blankly told me as he walked out of the cabin, shutting the door behind him.

Then I realized why I had been so angry in the first place-not because of Ed, but because of myself. I was mad at myself for being so fragile, so susceptible to doing stupid things and getting hurt-then hurting the best things of my life in return.

I reached over to the small nightstand and grabbed the first thing I felt-my phone. I chucked it across the room in desperation-as if breaking electronic devices could fix my problems. I then sank back into the covers and let the pillows muffle my sobs, feeling more alone then I had when Ed had been in a comma.