Long Time Coming (Taylor Swift- Ed Sheeran One Shot)

“Did you have fun tonight?” her voice spoke. Ed looked up to see Taylor in the doorway, with her hands around a warm coffee mug and wearing just an oversized sweatshirt that touched down to her mid-thigh. All her makeup had been washed from her face and her curly hair was thrown in a ponytail. She looked beautiful.

It was about 1 AM- just hours after the Grammy awards. Her eyes were tired, longing for sleep after the long night. Award shows were always so chaotic- walking the red carpet, doing interviews, trying not to make a mistake as billions of cameras were watching.

“I did.” he replied, his voice a little scratchy. “You should’ve won Album of the Year though or-“

She stopped him, quietly saying, “It’s just an award.”

The corners of his mouth formed a faint smile at her, and her eyes brightened when she spoke again, “I did have fun though. To see all those amazing performances, to be with you and Brittany…”

Once her voice faded off, there stood a quiet moment between them- not awkward, but a calm and still silence. It was the kind of silence that only best friends could have. Everything in the house was that way, with no one else but them in it. Taylor walked to the queen-sized bed and sat down on it, with her red-painted toes dangling off the side. Ed sat just across from her. He spoke, “Thank you for letting me stay here, for tonight.”

His blue eyes looked around the guest room of her Los Angeles home. He'd stay overnight and catch his early flight back to London in the morning.

“Anytime.” she said, raising her coffee mug to her face. Then, her eyes searched every corner of the room, adding, “You know, I wanna buy a house-”

“Another one?” he chuckled, slightly.

She laughed too. “No I mean like, a house in the middle of nowhere. Like, a cabin that no one knows about- not even the paparazzi. I could stay there whenever I wanted to get away or if I have time off. No one would know about it and it would just be mine.”

“That sounds nice.”

“You could stay with me, too.” 

“I’d like that.”

She spotted his guitar case that was rested beside the bed. Nodding towards it, she said, “Are you writing?” 

“No, not really. I just wanted to practice the songs off the new record.” Ed replied. “Have you been writing, lately?”

“I have. I’ve been working on the new album; it’s coming along great. I really just want to release it already- ready to start my new sound, you know?”

With that, Ed unzipped the black case and took out his guitar. He rested it on his lap, beginning to strum a few random chords over and over until he started to form a pattern and rhythm. Taylor smiled at the sound; she watched him as he played.

“That sounds beautiful.” she whispered, softly. Her blue eyes were adoring him. In that moment, she wished she could have kissed him, or at least told him how she felt about him. It felt so childish to hide her feelings for him for so long, but she couldn’t afford losing him. He meant too much to her to do that.

But it was so hard not to scream out, ‘Ed, I’m in love with you’ in that moment. Every day her feelings only grew stronger, and she fell deeper with every word he said and every thing he did. She was too caught up in this mess of a love affair that she was hiding from him.

“Really?”

“Really. I love it.” She stood, and Ed rested the guitar back into its case. “I should let you go to sleep though. It’s getting kind of late…”

He nodded, standing with his hands buried deep in his pockets.

She spoke, “Goodnight.” 

Ed’s voice trembled back, “Goodnight, Taylor.” She loved the way he said his name- and always had. 'Tayla', she thought to herself trying to refrain from a fit of laughter. He took a step towards her, wrapping his arm loosely around her waist then let his lips press her cheek. 

They stood, eye-to-eye. How could they control the way they felt? How could they resist staying away from each other for one more second? 

She stood there for a moment, trying to memorize the way his skin felt against hers, then flashed a quick smile at him before leaving his room. Thoughts were racing inside her mind, as she was walking down the dark, unlit hallway to her bedroom.

There were footsteps behind her. She turned, speaking, “Ed?” Her voice was smaller than she expected.

He didn’t speak a word; he approached her then stopped. “Taylor, I- um- I just-” 

His fingers wrapped around her neck, to pull her closer towards him, and she obeyed as they were only centimeters away from each other. She lowered her eyes, then felt his lips crashing onto hers. And it was passionate, like no other kiss she’s had before.

She had wanted, needed and longed for this moment: to finally show him that she was fully and madly in love with him. It was an undeniable feeling and this love would not combust- not like all the others. It was different this time.

They pulled away, staring at each other. His arms were around her waist and her hands were running through his hair. She let out a little laugh, saying, “This was a long time coming.”

He laughed, and she lead him down the hallway.

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Thank you so much for reading! Feel free to comment and vote. :)

love,

Erin.