News got out pretty quickly that Ed and I were back together; it was wildly easy to spot the chemistry which now fizzled whenever we performed together again, and the light kisses onstage certainly helped get the news back out. Mum and Dad were happy for me, of course, and I was absolutely overjoyed to have Ed back.
The stars seemed to align whenever I was with him, and cross in unexpected ways. I could see no haters for our relationship other than the small bitter handful of Sheerios who still called me Taywhore. It was easy to cope with that- only the usual Taywhore haters bitched about us, which neither of us two cared about.
It's early June and Mum is snoozing as we talk quietly on the plane, taking advantage of our three-hour trip by watching the same movie together on our twin screens beside eachother. We both have our headphones in but I can still hear his soft breathing as my head rests on his chest, our eyes focused on the film- Pitch Perfect. Ed keeps chuckling every time Fat Amy says something but since it's one in the morning and I've just performed the concert plus gone to Club Red, I'm only half-awake.
My eyelids droop as Fat Amy sings her audition, and his hand strokes my hair softly as he slips his headphones off. Ed hooks them around his neck and presses his lips to the top of my head as I flutter my eyes shut. I swear he makes me feel like a queen as his soft voice flows into my ears.
"You are beautiful," he whispers into my hair as his fingers lace through mine. "Don't you ever forget it, Taylor."
"I'm not beautiful. The make-up does me up and when it's gone I'm hideous," I murmur, knowing it's sickeningly true.
"You're not wearing make-up now," Ed counters gently as I look through my lashes up at him, my body slumped against his. I take in his bright, practically fluroescent hair in the dim light of the airplane lamp. His twinkling blue eyes that shimmer with a constant layer of happiness. His rosy cheeks, his pale complexion, his perfect teeth. I know it's not exactly a word used to describe men, but he's the beautiful one. He's the flawless one. And having him makes me the lucky one.
"I'm not beautiful now I'm not wearing make-up," I mumble sadly, because I honestly believe it's the truth. Shock flashes in Ed's gorgeous eyes.
"Do you really believe you're not beautiful?" He gasps softly, and I nod, watching the sadness flicker across his face.
"You are the most beautiful, stunning, talented, incredible, perfect girl on this entire universe, Taylor Allison Swift. Don't you ever doubt it."
"I am not. You're lying."
"Would I lie to you?"
"Apparently, yes."
Ed sighs sadly and looks at me with a dead serious expression on his face.
"You are absolutely drop-dead gorgeous, with make-up, without make-up. It really doesn't matter. It shames me to know you don't believe me because I obviously don't tell you enough- so don't forget you are flawless, Taylor." Ed presses his lips to mine quickly and pulls away, his eyes locked on mine.
"Really?" I whisper, wondering if he truly belives this. He nods, smiling slightly.
"Cross my heart and hope to die."
"Thanks, Ed." I squeeze his hand tightly as the plane rushes through the sky, dipping and rocking through the puffs of cloud around us. I glance out the window at the stars, splattered across the navy blanket of night, and I wonder if the stars shine out for me.
Ed catches me gazing out the window too and he copies, as we both stare at the stars above us soaring through the clouds. They look so much closer than usual that I find my fingers outstretched, lunging for the sparks that shimmer through the blackness.
"The stars must shine out for you," Ed smiles quietly, his eyes sparkling just like them.
"Not for me," I mumble. "For us."
His lips are against mine, gentle and tender, and my arms wrap around his neck as we share this moment in the dimness, only us in the quiet. The oy noise I can hear is the muffled rumble of the engine, and otherwise it's only silence, which is perfect.
The emotion I feel isn't joy, or passion, or even love. The emotion is a total mixture of them all, stirred up into one.
The emotion is red.
*
"Have you ever considered having children, Taylor?" Ed lies down his guitar on the floor of our tour bus and looks at me curiously, probably taking in my surprised expression. I wasn't upset by his question, just taken off guard. One minute he'd been playing me a song off his upcoming album, the next he was asking me a question that was completely out of the ordinary. I considered my reply for a moment as he smiled cheekily at me, noticing my surprise.
"Er... Well, yeah, I guess," I answer slowly. "I've always wanted to start a family with someone. I want to have two or three kids. Soon."
"I feel the same way," Ed agrees gently, taking my hand in his. He looks at me seriously- a look he doesn't give me very often at all. I immediately feel a sense of tension in the air. "And... I want to start a family with someone special. Someone I really, truly love. I've known you since June last year. Exactly thirteen months ago today, in fact."
"You worked that all out in your head?" I remark, astonished. Ed hates maths and it's really cute for him to be working out our little anniversaries. He nods proudly, grinning.
"We started dating four months ago," he continues. "But I've pretty much loved you since the day we met. Pardon my corniness," he adds as a blush tints his cheeks and I giggle gently. "I really do believe in love at first sight. We got back together last month; exactly thirty-nine days ago, in fact," Ed goes on, blushing. "And those days have been the best thirty-nine days of my life."
I don't suspect anything until it happens, and then my lungs forget what they're even supposed to do.
I watch in complete amazement as he kneels down on one knee, his entire face bright red, and digs his hand into his pocket as I cover my mouth with my hand.
"Is this really real?" I squeal, my breathing racing, my heart smashing against my ribcage so hard I could burst. Ed chuckles heartily and tugs a tiny velvet-coated purple box out of his pocket, grinning at me. Just the box is so silky and perfect that I could die.
My breath catches in my throat and my lungs take a break, leaving me motionlessly staring.
Ed slowly clicks the lid of the box open, revealing the most beautiful ring in all of history. The band of silver twinkles in the moonlight shining through the window; it's encrusted with tiny sparkling diamonds, their glimmer reflected off the glass, and on top of the band is a perfectly sized 13, dotted with bright scarlet rubies.
"Taylor Allison Swift," begins Ed, his eyes glistening with hope. "Will you marry me?"
That's it. I burst into tears, bending down and throwing my arms around his neck. Ed drops the ring and its box to the floor and stands up, laughing as he heaves me up off the ground. He swings me around and around until we are the only people on the planet, simply twirling through space and time. I am the queen when I'm with him.
He slows down and drops me back to the floor. As my feet touch the ground my lips crash into his, and fire burns in my heart as I kiss him. It's a kiss I've never felt before. It's more passionate, more wild, more reckless... more red.
I realize exactly how much I love him with a surprise that almost knocks me breathless.
I pull away at least a minute later, my breathing wildly out of time, and Ed grins at me, the queen, because of how he makes me feel.
"Is that a yes then?" He asks, laughter bubbling up in his voice.
"Yes! Oh my God, Ed, yes yes yes! A billion times yes!" I exclaim before slamming my lips against his again. He reacts to me like a bomb, exploding at my touch, fizzling and flaming with a passion that poisons our blood and screams in our heads and rings in our ears and makes us utterly reckless. He falls backwards onto the bed without removing his lips from mine, and I collapse beside him, pulling away with my hand tilting his chin to me.
"Now?" I mumble. He looks at me seriously and then a smile creeps onto his lips. He nods with a certainty that erases any remaining slither of doubt from my mind.
"Now," he whispers.
*
Ed and I harmonised for the final lyric as the crowd screamed for us both, their voices deafening in our ears. My lips crashed into his quickly and we shared a brief kiss before turning back to the thunderous crowd, our fingers entwined as we beamed at all the amazing fans. It was almost frightening to think we only had another six weeks before the tour was over.
"The love of my life, Ed Sheeran, everybody!" I shout into the microphone with an enormous grin. I glance at Ed and he gives me an encouraging smile that passes over the courage to make my announcement. I lean into the mic, joyful tears shimmering in my eyes at the thought of what I'm about to do.
"Now, I'd like to tell you all something!" I yell, and the fans all shriek with excitement. I hear Ed laugh quietly to himself as a hundred million camera phones whip out, knowing how important this announcement could be.
"Loads of cameras," grins Ed. "Awesome."
They are all screaming in excitement, and Ed laughs out loud.
"They don't know the half of it," he yells in my ear away from the mic, an he squeezes my hand tightly. It's time.
"Ed and I, we've decided to take the next step in our relationship. You're the first to know... We're engaged!"
The reaction is positively breathtaking. If I had thought the fam's shouts were loud before, this was the level of volume that could easily make anyone go deaf, and I was grateful for the earpiece I wore that lowered the noise slightly, because I could easily imagine the volume without it.
I grinned as one single tear of joy trickled down my cheek, and I tossed my arms around Ed, pulling him into a fond lover's embrace. He kissed me and the electricity was just like our first time, zapping through my veins, putting an imaginary spotlight on us as if we were the only people left on earth.
It was fantastic, knowing that the fans approved and that we didn't have to hide it anymore. We'd been hiding the engagement for an entire fortnight; it was unbelivably relieving having the secret out in the open, setting it free.
Mom and Dad were so proud of Ed and I, especially since I'd finally found someone to truly love and settle down with.
"I suppose I was wrong about you and Ed," Mom had remarked when we told her, and we'd both laughed.
"You certainly were," Dad agreed, and we were all wildly happy in that moment. Because soon enough we'd all be a family.
"But wait," Ed starts now, grabbing his microphone and gesturing for the crowd to silence. "There's more! Oh God, I sound like an informercial," he sighs heavily, and all the members of the audience laugh for what seems like an age. When their giggling finally dies off he speaks into the mic again.
"Well, anyway, we've got another announcement too. Taylor took a pregnancy test yesterday-" the entire audience gasps and I can practically hear the breath being knocked out of them as they realize what Ed is saying. He chuckles into the mic at the breathless crowd as I rest my head on his chest, grinning at them all. I flutter my gaze up to him and his beautiful smiling face as he talks.
"It was positive. She's two weeks pregnant, and she can finish the tour by a long shot," yells Ed cheerfully. "Bass, right?!"
The crowd screams with joy and applaudes until I could go deaf, and then I press my lips against Ed's again, giving him a quick farewell kiss before he waves goodbye to the screeching audience and stumbles offstage with his guitar swinging.
"Well then!" I turn back to the crowd, beaming. "How about I sing... 'I Knew You Were Trouble'?"
Their answering shrieks prove I really am a queen.
*