SWEERAN

CHAPTER 32: TIME

I woke up the next day in the same position we were in last night. Ed was still sleep and I didn't want to wake him cuz then I'd have to leave. I really didn't want this moment to end so I just laid my head back down on his chest and tried to go back to sleep.

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I woke up to Ed tapping on my shoulder.

"Wake up...Ellie, wake up."

"Good morning."

"Morning." We just sat there for a while in silence.

"Well I'm going out today so you have to go"

"I can't come with you?"

"Ellie look-"

"I know, I'm sorry. It's just that you're really cool Ed. I like spending time with you."

"I like spending time with you too but I-"

"Please Ed?" He started thinking it over in his head.

"I'm sorry, Ellie. Maybe next time?"

"Yea. Bye." I sighed. He watched me grab my stuff and walk towards the door....

"Wait." He groaned. I turned around with a wide smile on my face.

"Let me shower and stuff then we'll go."

"Yay!" He ran upstairs and a few minutes later I heard the shower running. I can't wait to see where we're going....

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Ed finished taking a shower and we headed outside. He doesn't have a car so he walks, bikes, or takes a bus. You would think he were a little thinner but whatever. I asked him where we were going and he said we could go wherever I wanted to, so I picked the ice cream shoppe downtown.

~ED'S POINT OF VIEW~

Ellie wants to go to the ice cream shoppe but I'm not sure I want to. I always went out for ice cream with Taylor and every time I even look at an ice cream cone, I think of her. Almost everything reminds me of her now. I'm gonna call her tonight and see how she's doing.

"ED!"

"What, huh?"

"Ice cream?"

"Oh, I don't think so. Can you pick another place?"

"But I wanted ice cream. Please Ed?"

"Ellie, I really don't wanna go..."

"Why not?"

"Well....it reminds me of Taylor."

"Ed. Taylor is on a whole other continent right now-"

"Yes, I know. That's what makes it so hard."

"Look, if she's all you're gonna think about then I'm leaving."

"You must not realize how much I love her. You must not know how hard it is to be thousands of miles away from someone you love."

"I do, Ed, trust me. But sometimes you have to let go and let the past be the past."

"Well you can leave if you want to. I'm not stopping you this time."

She looked hurt and I felt sorry for a second but that quickly faded. She thinks that all she has to do is say, "pretty please" and everything goes her way. She can't possibly know how I feel. I put my earphones on and started listening to music. I begin walking back inside the house, so Ellie comes after me.

"Ed?" She said in a baby-ish voice.

I ignored her.

"Ed?" She said again, but louder.

I stood there in silence. She stood there quietly for a while longer. Then she spoke:

"Ed, I know how you feel. The same thing happened to me. I was in this really great relationship with this really great guy and unfortunately he had to leave for 6 months. But the thing is, he never came back. 6 months later I found out that....that..."

I looked over at her now, for her voice cracked. Tears were streaming down her face and she could not control them. What happened? I finally spoke:

"Ellie what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

She stopped crying long enough to tell me the rest of her story.

"He passed away....he died from cancer. I was actually considering marrying him. He was so amazing and kind and funny and always there for me...then all in an instant, he was gone."

She looked down at her hands. Her experience made me want to cry too. She had felt what I'm feeling, but a thousand times worse.

"Okay, we can go get ice cream. Look, I'm sorry I was being so stubborn and selfish. Obviously you had it worse here and I shouldn't have much to complain about."

"It's okay."

We started walking to the bus stop. The walk was quite quiet. Neither of us spoke until we got to the ice cream shoppe.

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