video starts recording at 11:32:05, 29/08/2014
Distinct sounds of clanging are the first things recorded, and Ed tumbles into the view of the camera, looking excited and a little red. He adjusts himself on the seat that he had previously dragged from the dining room, and then looks into the camera.
"Uh, hi." He says, awkwardly playing with the hem of his t-shirt. "I've never really done anything like this before, so this will probably be really horrible and awkward... So I suppose I thought I'd do this for like, my future children. I told Stu and he told me that I was being 'a fucking sentimentalist'."
Ed face palmed. "Shit, I forgot that my children are watching this. Well, they're not watching this, half of them are down there-" Ed rambles, pointing down to his lap, before groaning. "God, what the hell am I going on about?"
There's a pause, and Ed smiles at camera, shaking his head. "Whoever will watch this, I firstly want to let you know that today is August twenty ninth, 2014, otherwise known as Liam Payne's birthday. He's throwing a party tonight, and apparently it's going to be 'small and intimate'."
Ed scoffs, smiling fondly. "I think there's going to be a hundred and fifty people there, from what I've heard from Harry. I feel like I should be wearing something more than a jumper and jeans, but for whoever is watching, you should know that the last thing I wanna wear is a tight shirt that shows off my beer gut."
He lifts up his t-shirt, exposing his pale, slightly rounded stomach, chuckling slightly. "See? This is what beer does to you; it ruins your liver, kills your brain and makes you fat."
Ed gets up, and disappears, before coming back holding two different coloured sweaters in his hands. "I was thinking of wearing the black one-" He holds up the black jumper against him, looking down at himself. "But Harry said I looked better in navy blue. I don't know how the hell Harry would know if I looked better in black or pink, but I think I'll just go with my beer gut."
Ed chuckles at himself, and tousles his hair, eyes shining. "I never realised talking to myself could be this much fun, to be honest. Oh, I should show you the present Harry and I got for Liam, it's pretty sweet."
He leans over in his chair, his top half partially leaving the screen. After a bit of struggle, he manages to sit up, holding a pale guitar, with a slightly faded Batman logo printed on the face of the guitar. "I got it custom made for him, Harry said he'd really love the Batman logo."
Ed admires the guitar, letting his fingers run over the strings. "I should probably put it back in it's case, get it wrapped up. I don't even know if I have any wrapping paper, Harry just dumped it at my place and said he'd write the card."
"If you ever meet Harry," Ed says, pointing his finger at the camera. "Be warned that he is the biggest cheese-ball in all of history and he cannot wrap presents if his life depended on it. And he also likes leaving things to the last minute, before dumping it on someone else. Namely, me."
The phone starts to ring in the background, and Ed sighs. "Probably Harry saying he doesn't have a pen."
Ed scrambles off, carefully propping the guitar on the chair. The guitar slides a little, but luckily for Ed it doesn't fall. Ed comes back into the room, phone tucked between his ear and neck, a smile on his face. He's got a large guitar box in both hands, and carefully puts the Batman guitar into the box.
"You don't have a pen, Harry? Man, get over here, you realise his party is in seven hours? Well-" He pauses, rolling eyes, listening to Harry talk for a moment. "Why'd you call me if you're going to buy a pen?"
Ed looks at the camera, shaking his head. He points to the phone and makes the talking gesture with his hand. He focuses his attention back on guitar box, closing it securely. He walks off and comes back holding sticky tape.
"Just get your stupid ass over here. I'm stupid? I swear I'm going to hit you over the head with a... I could so beat you in a fight. Just because your a giant doesn't mean I can't- oh please, you don't have any muscle to speak of."
Ed pauses. "Alright, see you in fifteen."
Ed hangs up, putting his mobile phone into his jean pocket. He removes the guitar from the chair and sits back down, a smirk on his face. "And that there was a conversation with the Harry Styles. I think I should probably finish up now, before the idiot comes over and ruins my video."
He laughs and waves awkwardly. "Until next time, I suppose."
Ed gets up and with one more wave at the camera, presses STOP.
video stops recording at 11:45:32, 29/08/2014
+++++
Wrapping the guitar had been a lot harder than Ed had expected, but as he looked at the blue-and-white patterned box sitting next to him in the passenger seat of the taxi, he thought it didn't look too shabby. Sure, a triangular piece of brown cardboard could be seen where Ed had finished the roll of wrapping paper, but it didn't look like a child had put it together either.
Liam's party was to be held at a club on the outskirts of London, unfortunately not a place that Ed could get to by walking. He was used to grabbing a taxi, especially since Harry was an extremely unreliable lift and usually rocked up half an hour late.
"Here we are, sir." The cabby said. "That'll be seven pounds."
Ed fished a ten pound note out of back pocket, handing it over to him with a smile. "Keep the change."
Carefully grabbing onto the present, Ed got out of the taxi, quickly checking for his phone. He closed the door of the taxi, and walked up to the only building that resembled a club. A bouncer stood at the door, lazily taking drags out of a cigarette.
"Name?" The bouncer grunted, grabbing a clipboard and a pen.
"Ed Sheeran." He said, then grabbed his library card out of his pocket, the only form of I.D. that he had on him. "See?"
The bouncer looked at him with a raised eyebrow, before waving him in, quickly returning to his cigarette. Ed shivered at the smell, feeling some old remnants of the nicotine cravings he had managed to fight off a couple of months ago.
The music was the first thing that hit him, then the bright flashing lights. He stood there, stunned, before he could actually move. There were already around fifty people in the room, some of them already dancing to the beat created by the DJ in the corner. Ed looked around, hoping to see Liam, or at least Harry.
He finally saw Liam, standing by the bar with a girl on his arm, one that Ed hadn't seen before. She was a littler shorter than him, with straightened brown hair (it could have been another colour but it was hard to see with the flashing lights) and a striking dark purple dress. Ed started to smile when he saw the looks that Liam and the girl shared, and he headed over, wrapped guitar box in hand.
Liam saw him, and started waving happily, a grin on his face. The girl's eyes widened a little and flickered over to something or someone at the opposite end of the room. Ed smiled too, already feeling hot under the pulsating lights.
"Ed!" Liam yelled, letting go of the girl and giving Ed a clap on the back. "Glad you made it!"
"Harry's got the card." Ed replied, handing him the present. "It's from the both of us, but I did all the hard work."
Liam laughed, his brown eyes crinkling at the sides, before looking down at the present with interest. "To be expected, of course. Oh, Ed, this is my girlfriend, Rosie. Rosie, Ed."
Rosie stepped forward, a polite, reserved smile on her face, but her dark brown eyes betrayed her as they shone in the light. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too." Ed said, holding out his hand to shake, realising how formal and awkward he could be.
Rosie laughed and shook it, Ed only noticing how Liam's eyes were solely on her, a slightly lopsided smile on his face. He could already see how in love Liam was, even if Liam didn't totally realise it himself.
"Do you want me to grab you a beer?" Liam asked. "Might wanna grab one before they all disappear."
"Nah, I'm good." He waved it off, knowing that if he started drinking now he would just keep on going until the night ended.
"We should probably go be good hosts and say hi to the other guests, I'll see you around." Liam said, taking Rosie's hand almost without a second thought.
"Lovely meeting you." Rosie said, flashing him a large smile before Liam dragged her away into the crowd.
Ed looked at the people dancing, wondering where Harry was. He took his phone, seeing that the time was six thirty. Ed rolled his eyes, thinking how typical it was of Harry to arrive late. He sent him a text, before looking around to find the nearest chair or couch that he could hide in until Harry came.
He sat down on a plush red couch in the corner, away from the bar. There were no flashing lights in this corner of the club, and he was hidden in semi-darkness. He started playing Candy Crush on his phone, before he lost all five lives in the space of two minutes and was left to just stare at people again.
It seemed that everybody was now here, and the dance floor was packed. He could already see two random people making out right in the middle, ignoring the fact that they were nearly getting punched in the face as party goers fist-pumped to the beat.
Most of them danced well, knowing how to sway their hips and looked like they knew what they were doing. There were only one or two people that looked a little awkward, laughing at themselves dancing and making up dance moves.
A vibration in his pocket distracted him from his human-watching, and after checking his phone, he stood up, looking for the curly haired lad. He saw Harry talking to Liam, handing him an envelope. Liam pointed over to where Ed was standing, and Harry waved excitedly. Ed rolled his eyes and waved back.
Idiot, he thought fondly, waiting as Harry walked over, hands stuffed into the pockets of his black jeans. Harry had taken to black lately, perhaps influenced by one Matthew Healy from The 1975. His mass of hair was tied back by a blue and white polka dot bandana, a silver cross necklace shining brightly in the pulsating lights.
"Eddy boy." Harry said, giving him a brief hug.
"Eddy boy? You have never called me that in my life." Ed said, eyebrows raised, a smirk on his face.
"Well, you'll just have to deal with it." Harry drawled, turning to look at the group of people dancing in the middle. "I was surprised to find you hiding in the corner, usually you're the life of the party."
"I was just saving my energy." Ed said, bright blue eyes scanning over the people again, now and then finding someone that he knew. Though Ed knew a lot of people, there were only a select few with whom he was comfortable with. One of them was in America, another being Harry.
"I think Niall just walked in, I'm going to go say hi." Harry paused before leaving, looking at Ed with a small smile. "Try and have some fun, ok?"
Ed waved a dismissive hand. "I will, I will."
Despite the fact that he had tried to convince himself that he wouldn't have a drink until later on in the night, the fact that he was alone meant that beer would be the only thing that might possibly get him onto the dance floor, and perhaps provide a little bit of fun.
Alcohol was served free, and the bartender slid a beer over the counter, giving Ed a knowing smile. Ed ignored him, not wanting to be chastised for his drinking and consequently his irresponsible actions.
It most definitely was going to be a long night.
He snuck back to the couch which was hidden in the darkness, occasionally sipping on his drink. His eyes looked over people without really looking, not really registering anything. He drummed his fingers against his thigh, wishing that he had something to do.
"Ed!" Harry yelled, stumbling towards him, some alcoholic beverage in his hand. "Mate, come dance."
"You know that I don't dance." Ed sighed, slapping Harry's hand away from his arm. "And are you drunk already?"
"Of course I am." Harry slurred, giggling slightly. "But if you're not going to dance, you need to find yourself a girl."
"I don't need to find myself a girl." Ed rolled his eyes.
"You don't have to do anything," Harry said, slapping him lightly on the shoulder. "Just talk to one of them."
Ed looked around, not really finding any girl that particularly caught his fancy. They all looked like they were drunk out of their minds, which was not really what he was looking for.
"What about that girl in the corner?" Harry pointed over to the other side of the room, holding tightly onto Ed's shoulder. "She looks like your type."
"I don't have a type, Harry." Ed said, but he looked to where Harry was pointing anyway.
She stood there, not drawing any attention to herself. She swayed slightly from side to side, one hand clenched around a glass with clear liquid. He couldn't really see her properly, but she was wearing a dark red maxi skirt, which had slits down the side of the legs, exposing only a small amount of skin. A black, loose top was tucked into the skirt.
Ed smiled slightly, noting how she basically melted into the wall, obviously content with being a wallflower. She had long hair that reached her lower back, and she kept on tucking a piece behind her ear, looking at the dancers with a small smile on her face.
"Alright, you like her, now go talk to her." Harry said happily, feebly attempting to push Ed towards her with little success. "Now I wanna go dance."
Ed rolled his eyes again, watching as Harry nearly ran down to where the people were. But he couldn't help but glance over at the mystery girl, wondering if she would go over and talk to anyone, or just stand alone there for the rest of the night.
He bit on his bottom lip, undecided. He shuffled from side to side, and just as he was going to walk over he saw Rosie walking towards her, grabbing her hand and attempting to tug on her hand. The girl shook her head vigorously, gesturing to her glass. Ed begun to smile, watching as the girl was forced to put her glass down, and was pulled onto the dance floor.
She danced as awkwardly as she looked, and Ed felt some empathy for her, knowing exactly how she felt. She swayed her hips, fingers drumming against her thighs, tilting her head back a little. Rosie danced with her a little, before slyly sneaking off. The girl didn't notice, instead getting swallowed by the music, which had changed to some poppy song he couldn't quite remember the name of.
Oh fuck it, he thought, downing the last of his beer before walking towards her, tucking his phone into his back pocket.
The heat intensified as he neared the mass of people, and he could barely see the girl anymore, especially amongst all the tall people that surrounded him. He skirted around most of them, and finally saw her, now looking around in confusion, probably looking for Rosie.
He walked up to her, tapping her on the shoulder, making her spin around, her brown eyes wide with apprehension, before turning into apparent shock.
"I think your friend Rosie may have ditched you." Ed said smoothly, the corners of his lips turned up.
Her red painted lips had formed a perfect 'o', and she looked at him for a long moment, before it turned into a heart stopping grin. She started to laugh, and she hugged him tightly, Ed standing there shocked for a moment, before hugging her back. He could smell rose-scent perfume, and marveled at how comforted he was by her hug.
"Sorry, I just really had to do that." She said, and Ed could see that she had turned bright red, stepping away hastily.
"No worries, I get it all the time." Ed replied, brushing it off with a wave of his hand.
She stuck out her hand, smiling nervously. "I'm Winnie."
Winnie, Ed thought, feeling a shiver run up and down his spine, a large smile appearing on his face. As Ed shook her hand, he suddenly felt like maybe this night wasn't going to be so boring after all.