when we collided [e.s.]

Seven

Ed walks me inside, my phone has rung 4 more times. Cassie is thankfully at a frat party, there's a note on the door. I'm immediately embarassed, our flat is really messy. There's an open jar of nutella and poptarts on the floor in front of the tv, along with a spoon lodged inside the spread. Thankfully, Ed doesn't seem to care very much. I lay down on the couch with a pillow under my hed and Ed kneels beside me, holding my hand. Once I catch a breath, I manage to spill out "You don't have to stay." Ed looks sympathetic, I'm sure he had other plans for tonight. "I'll wait until you calm down," he encourages. "No, Ed-" I begin. He stops me. "I don't feel safe leaving you here alone. Just try to relax," he says. I pause before saying "You're a good friend."

Ed's POV

Friend. The word stung. But I overlooked it. She's clearly not alright, and it looks like her roommate won't be home for a while. She's still holding my hand as she closes her eyes and starts to fade. I don't try standing up until the grip on my hand falters and finally she lets go. The creases in her forehead seem to dissapear when she sleeps. It's very satisfying to watch the stress in someones face dissapear. I gently try to release my hand from her hold but she instictively grabs on and I decide to just wait a little longer. I look down at my watch. 9:45. It's almost 10. I was supposed to go meet that music producer at 10:15 and his office is in Brighton. That's over an hour away. I decide to just call him and cancel. It will look worse if I'm late, right?

As the minutes tick by, I guess I start to get sleepy too, because I have to keep lifting my head up and shaking out my entire face. And then the sleep pulls me under.

I feel a tap on my shoulder and my eyes shoot open. My head is on Audrey's stomach, but she's still asleep. I look up to see who tapped me. "Um, who the hell are you?" A girl, looking Audrey's age asks me. I'm still groggy, so I rub my eyes and lift my head. "You must be Cassie," I groan, getting to my feet. "Yeah, I'm Cassie, now can you tell me what the HELL you were doing asleep on my best friend?!" She asks with annoyance. "Sorry, I must have fallen asleep. What time is it?" I ask, looking for a clock. "It's 7:30 you idiot!" She says, grabbing my arm and leading me out the door. What? How long was I asleep? "I'll tell Audrey you said goodbye," she says, shutting the door roughly in my face. I still don't really know what's going on.

Audrey's POV

My hand is empty when I wake up, but I can still feel his. Cassie is charring toast when my eyes open. "Oh. She's up," Cassie says, really only talking to herself. "What the fuck happened to no boys in the girl's apartment rule?" She almost screams, using plastic tongs to take the toast out of the toaster and flip it onto a plate. "Cassie," I say, getting up. Ugh, my limbs are stiff. "You practically banned Andrew from ever being here again, but now you decide you can just bring whoever the hell you want over to sleep with you?" She's screaming now. "Cassie-" "AND TO THINK IVE WORKED SO HARD TO KEEP HIM OUT OF THE HOUSE FOR YOU!" she shouts. "Cassie! Let me talk!" I scream back, just not as loud. I take a deep breath. "Ed works with me at the shop. We're just friends, I swear, and he came over because I had a nervous breakdown last night and he didn't know what else to do. We were both tired, so he ACCIDENTALLY fell asleep. That's all that happened, I promise," I explain calmly. Her face lessens in red. "Oh. Are you okay?" She asks, suddenly worried. "I am because Ed was here. So stop bashing him okay? It gets old," I say, starting an orange. I know Cassie, and she hates being wrong. So I just let her do whatever she wants to do with this information and carry on taking a shower.

I decide to take a day and stay home, away from campus and away from Cassie. I did end up calling a doctor, and she told me it was best if I just stayed in bed and relaxed for the day. But i'm definitely going to work. I mean, it's not like work ever stresses me out or anything. I love hanging around with Ed for a few hours. It's actually really peaceful and calming to have a friend to play cards with.

The first half of the day I watch reruns of "Drake and Josh" and order some groceries to my door. That's one of the best things I've gotten out of the UK. They deliver me some Lucky Charms, juice boxes and blueberries, however the juice boxes and blueberries are for me and Ed to share. I shove around in the box of christmas decorations Cassie promised me we would use and find some wrapping paper and a bow. Those go on the table as I pour myself some cereal at 2 o clock in the afternoon. Ah, Lucky Charms. Comfort food. It reminds me of my mom, oh how I miss my mom. I don't miss my dad.

I carefully place the container of blueberries in a large tupperware next to two capri-suns. The top snaps on nicely and I carefully wrap the wrapping paper around the tupperware, doing a less than satisfactory job. I guess once the bow goes on it looks much more neat. Then I throw on new undies and a new bra, and on top of that black leggings and a baggy white sweater. It's nice and cozy for a day in at the shop. My hair kind of does its own thing after I brush it out meticulously. I through a headband through it to sort of tame the beast, and it looks slightly better. I grab the tupperware and my purse and lock the door behind me as I exit.

My rings jingle against my phone as I take it out of my back pocket. No missed calls. Maybe Ian got bored and gave up. Maybe I'm winning. I open the door and Ed looks up from his phone, sort of surprised that I'm here. "Hey, thanks for coming, I don't think I can handle this massive crowd," he says, looking towards the empty chairs and booths. I laugh and look down at my present. "I brought you something to say thanks for last night and I'm so sorry about Cassie," I say, handing him the gift. I put a hand to my mouth. "Its blueberries and juiceboxes to share," I whisper with a grin. "You didn't have to come in today you know," he says after thanking me. "Ed, it's the least I could do after everything you've done for me," I tell him. Ed smiles to himself and carefully untapes the wrapping paper instead of ripping it. I smirk and giggle a little because that's so cute. Thankfully I dont think Ed notices. He sticks his straw through the capri sun and takes a drink and I take out the blueberries. "Hey, Ed?" I say, fishing for the plumpest, bluest berries. "Hm?" He asks, taking out a bowl and dumping the blueberries in. "I'm really glad we met."