Lucy.

I wasn't sure what time it was when I woke up on November 1st, but I could hear the strumming of a guitar coming from downstairs. I looked beside me and saw Ed was already awake. I threw back the covers, grabbed one of Ed's hoodies and threw it on, walking downstairs. I hesitated at the bottom of the stairs when I heard him sing.

'I won't let these little things slip out of my mouth

But if I do, it's you

Oh it's you they add up to.'

'Morning.' I smiled, leaning against the doorframe. He stopped and put down his guitar.

'Good morning.'

'What time is it?'

'Erm... ten.' He replied. 'No idea how I'm awake yet, but it's a lovely day.'

'It is.' I smiled. There had been a lot of lovely Autumnal days, but I'd been shut away, working hard on perfecting my performance for Friday. I was glad I didn't have to do that today. 'What are our plans?' I asked, joining him on the sofa.

He grabbed my legs and pulled them across his lap, kissing my forehead. 'Now that's a surprise. How quick can you be ready?'

We boarded a train at Victoria station an hour later and he wouldn't tell me where we were going. Much to my annoyance, even the on-train announcements weren't working. 'I don't like surprises.' I told him an hour into our train journey. 'Is this going to take long?'

He was purposefully sat in front of the window so that I couldn't see out of it. 'Not that much longer.' He whispered, kissing the top of my head.

I was nearly an emotional wreck after a 1hr and 40min train journey. The train pulled away and I turned around on the platform to look at the castle in the distance; Arundel castle. I hadn't been brave enough to visit Arundel, not since my granddad had died. My eyes teared up and I sucked in a deep breath.

'I wanted to see your favourite place in the world.' Ed told me, squeezing my hand.

'I've not been here since...' I croaked out, unable to finish the sentence.

'I know.' He whispered. 'But it would be a shame to lose your favourite place.'

It was a cool November day, but the sun was shining down and it felt like my granddad was there smiling down on us as we walked over the bridge that led into the town. The breeze was cold and I was glad I'd worn leggings with my dress and boots and my faux fur jacket. Ed smiled beside me, wrapped up in his parka as we walked up to the castle.

'There's somewhere I want to go first.' I said, stopping him from going inside. 'Do you mind an extra walk?'

'Not at all.'

We walked along to the moat, past the ducks and the swans who were being fed by small children. A few parents looked at Ed and I with recognition, but thankfully said nothing. We reached Swanbourne Lake within ten minutes and entered through the grand red gates. As it was November, it wasn't busy at all and the boats had been locked up for the winter. In silence, I bought us each a foam cup of tea and some duck food. We sat down on a bench by the lake and I looked out at the swans, throwing some food in their direction. I passed the bag to Ed and he did the same.

'It's beautiful here.' He whispered, wrapping his arm around my waist. 'And very calm.'

'Not in the summer.' I laughed, throwing another handful of duck food. 'I've been coming here since I was a baby.' I pointed at a dipped bit of ground next to the lake. 'When I was two we came here once and there was a huge puddle. I sat down in it.'

He chuckled. 'Why?'

'Who knows.' I shrugged. 'There's a video of it somewhere at home. My granddad was so cross.'

'You miss him.

'Everyday.' She sighed. 'He was always so busy living life to the full. Singing, line dancing, going to country music concerts, flirting with the ladies. He was a ray of sunshine. When I told him I was into music he kept lending me all these country music CDs. He loved listening to Taylor's old stuff.' He looked down at the cowboy boots on my feet. 'Yeah, he always liked me wearing these. Thought I was going to be the next Dolly Parton, I'm sure.'

'Well.. not quite.' He laughed, kissing the top of my head.

'I still listen to the music, though. The stuff he used to give me. My dad gave it to me when he passed away.'

'That explains some of your song choices when you sung back in Brighton.'

'Exactly.'

'He'd be proud of you, you know? And I bet he's watching you everyday with a smile on his face.'

'I've been saving up to visit Nashville in his memory. He loved it there.'

'Then come with me when I fly out in a few weeks.' He said, pulling me closer. 'Come and stay with me there and we'll see all the places he loved.'

I looked up at the red-head next to me and wondered to myself when I had I got so lucky. Leanne and Willow had always criticized my taste of men and they were right; they'd been jerks. How had I ended up with someone so amazing, someone who was my soulfinder? 'Thank you for bringing me here.' I whispered, kissing him.

He smiled into the kiss and whispered. 'You're welcome.'

The lake was beautiful to walk around and because of the season, the ground was covered in orange, yellow and gold leaves. Ed and I walked around the lake, hand in hand, and it felt like weight was being lifted off my shoulders. I didn't say anything else about my granddad; there was no need to. Instead we told silly stories about growing up, spoke about our parents, our friends, our aspirations in life. We laughed and smiled, posing and taking photos in our beautiful surroundings. Every now and then, Ed would pull me in for a cheeky kiss and it would make my knees weak. It was still early days, but I was falling for him and fast. Leanne's comment about being careful filled my mind but I kept brushing it off. I just didn't care. After our walk around the lake, we headed back to explore the castle. We had lunch in the coffee shop, before exploring the history.

'Now this is somewhere I'd like to live.' He said as we explored the Castle Bedrooms and Library. 'Do you think I'd be a good King?'

'Well you've got the right name for it.' I replied with a laugh. I looked down and his trainers. 'I'm not sure kings wear Nike though. Or have as many tattoos are you.'

'It's the 21st century, you never know.' He winked.

We walked outside and towards the Keep. I pulled my coat more tightly around myself in the cold air and looked up at the steps. 'That's a lot of steps.'

'We'll make it.' He replied with a lopsided smile, holding out his hand. I froze, recognising a figure behind him and he looked at me, confused. 'What is it?'

'Hello, Luce.'

'Rich.' I replied, unenthusiastically, as my ex walked towards me.

He eyeballed Ed before turning back to face me. 'So it's true then. You really are using Ed Sheeran to get famous.'

Ed stiffened beside me. 'And who are you, exactly?'

'My ex.' I replied, bitterly. 'Rich, when will you get over yourself and stop being such a douche?'

The vile ex raised his eyebrows. 'Oh please, don't act all innocent yourself. You'll hurt anyone you can to get to the top and now going out with someone famous? That's low.'

'You think I'm with Ed just to get famous? Really? Are you completely insane? Oh wait, you are.'

Ed squeezed my waist. Come on, let's leave him, he isn't worth it.

Okay.

'Nice meeting you.' Ed said, politely to Rich and then we left.

I fell asleep on the train on the way home, but my mind was filled with nasty dreams and memories, ones where Rich was cornering me and threatening me, forcing me to...

I jolted awake and Ed looked down at me. 'Are you okay?' Then the floodgates opened. 'Hey, beautiful, don't cry.' He whispered and I felt irritated I'd let myself cry. I rarely did so and I hated doing it. 'Is this about your ex? Because it seemed like a dick to me.' I nodded and he pulled me close, kissing the top of my head. I was thankful in that moment that we were alone in the carriage. 'Tell me everything.'

'We met on a night out. I was with Leanne and the she ditched me, starting making out with some guy so I was left by myself. He came over and bought me a drink and he seemed really nice.' I sniffed and took a deep breath. 'Everything was fine for the first five months. He took me out on dates, would come to family events... he treated me really well... but then...' A tear rolled down my cheek and I bit my lip to stop it trembling.

Ed's eyes filled with concern. 'What did he do to you?'

I took a shaky breath. 'He started to get really possessive. If I didn't answer my phone, he'd demand to know why. He wouldn't let me see my friends or go out with them incase I left him for someone else and if I did see them behind his back, he'd shout at me. And then... and then... it got worse.' Another few tears escaped and Ed carefully brushed them away with his thumb, his eyes looking straight into mine. I looked down, unable to say the next part into his eyes. 'Everytime I went to see him, he'd expect me to take my clothes off. I didn't like it. I'd say no, that I didn't want to but then he'd force me and...' I couldn't say it. I'd never been able to say it.

'I'm going to kill him.' Ed growled, making my jump. 'Absolute bastard!' I looked up at him, feeling sad and worried I was going to scare him off. His eyes softened. 'You know this is not your fault, don't you?'

'But it is,' I replied, my voice small. 'If I'd just done what he'd said then-'

'No,' he cut me off. 'He hurt you and he broke the law. This is not your fault in anyway.' He wiped away another tear.

'I'd understand if you want to just... forget about me and find someone else.' I said, feeling low.

Ed reached forward and kissed both of my soggy eyes and then my lips. 'I am not going anywhere.'

xx-xx-xx

Sky.

I woke up to the feeling of fingers running along my naked spine and around my naked waist. I rolled over and turned to face my husband, pressing my naked body against his and kissing him on the lips. He moaned into my lips and I pulled him on top of me, starting the day how we'd ended the last one. Afterwards, we repeated ourselves in the shower, which was fun but not quite as romantic as it is in the movies.

'So happy concert eve.' Zed grinned as dried his body with a towel and pulled on his boxers.

I squeezed my wet hair with the towel, trying not to soak the clean underwear I had just put on. 'What do you want to do today?'

'You.' He replied with a flirtacious smile, pulling my body against his and kissing me on the lips again.

'As much as I'd love to, this is our last day to explore London and it's not raining. We should get out and make the most of it.'

'Oh no, you're taking me shopping aren't you.' He groaned.

'Don't be ridiculous. How do you feel about meeting some famous people?'

'You know, this wasn't what I had in mind when you said meeting famous people.' Zed sighed as we walked into Madam Tussauds two hours later. He grabbed my hand and I pulled him in for a quick kiss.

'What did you think was going to happen? I've not recieved an invite to the Oscars.' I laughed 'Oooh look Johnny Depp!'

'Did we come here so you could go all creepy and perve over waxworks?' He asked, suspiciously as I handed him my camera.

'No, but they are pretty realistic, don't you think?' I watched as he walked over to Kate Winslet, inspecting her carefully.

'Some of them more than others.'

'Oh my god, it's One Direction!' Two teenage girls squealed, running over to the waxworks to take photographs.

'Would you like a photo with One Direction?' Zed asked, looking serious, as we passed them.

'Hey you're Sky Bright!' One of the girls snapped her head my way before I could answer Zed's question.

'Sky Benedict.' Zed corrected her.

'And who are you?'

'Her husband.' He replied, drily.

'Sky, can we have a selfie with you?' One of the teenagers asked me, checking her hair in her iPhone camera.

'Sure.' I replied. What else was I supposed to do? I posed for the picture and they squealed before getting back to their One Direction 'boyfriends', as that's what they were being referred to.

We walked through the music area, looking at all of the stars and Zed turned to me with a smile. 'This could be you in here one day.'

I looked around at Rihanna, Madonna, Michael Jackson... 'Maybe, but if that's the case then I hope I look better than Lady Gaga.'

He laughed, inspecting her closely. 'I wonder why it was this outfit they chose. She's worn a few crazy ones over the year, hasn't she?'

'I think the meat outfit was a personal favourite. Maybe I'll wear that to the Teen Choice Awards next year.'

'Please don't.' Zed laughed, pulling me in for a kiss. 'I know I said for better or for worse but the day you wear meat is a dark, dark day.'

'But you love steak.' I grinned, running a finger down his chest. 'And you love my naked body.'

'Shhh.' He whispered, kissing me again. 'You can't make comments like that in public now you're in the limelight. You'll get yourself in trouble.'

'Spoilsport.'

We spent the rest of the day exploring London and being tourists, visiting Big Ben, going up in the London Eye, seeing St Paul's and even going up the top of the Shard to watch the sunset.

'So we've got yet get to the next part of our adventure.' Zed said as we stood in a bar, overlooking the beautiful city of London below.

'What do you mean?'

'The dog. Our new family member. It's next on the list if we don't end up going away again soon.'

'So let's not?'

He looked at me confused. 'Not get the dog?'

'No, let's stay put for a while. In Vancouver. Let's stay there and if I'm offered anything for a while it'll have to wait. This time here has made me realise just how little time we have had to be husband and wife. I want to celebrate that we're newlyweds.'

He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in closer. 'I like the sound of that.'

'Me too. You'll always be number one in my life, whatever happens. Just remember that.'

'And you'll always be my soulfinder.' He pulled me in for a kiss, the best kiss we'd ever had.

xx-xx-xx

Lucy.

It was the day of the concert and I had woken up stupidly early, although Ed had joined me with that. We sat on the sofa together, eating cereal and watching Daybreak, whilst I looked at my itinerary for the day on my notepad.

'Are you still okay to have lunch with me and my parents?' I asked Ed, feeling nervous. They were coming to the show later to support me and they'd decided to come up earlier so they could meet Ed. The whole thought made my stomach church.

'Of course.' He replied after he'd swallowed his mouthful. Graham hopped onto the sofa beside him and he tickled his cat's ears, affectionately. 'You need to relax.'

'I'm relaxed.'

'No you're not.' He frowned, shaking his head. He moved over to sit right by me, causing Graham to meow in protest. He placed his finished bowl on the floor and the cat moved over to it, slurping up the leftover milk. Ed rubbed my shoulders. 'Lunch will be fine, soundcheck will be fine and then tonight you will rock and everyone will love you.'

'Have you still got my parent's tickets?' I panicked, suddenly realising that they weren't in my handbag.

'Argh.' He sighed in frustration, tackling me so that I was lying down on the sofa. He leant over me, tickling me.

I squealed and wiggled about. 'What... are... you... doing?'

'Getting you to relax.'

'Stop!' I squealed as he started tickling my stomach and waist under my t-shirt. 'Ed!'

He stopped tickling me but kept his hands on my bare waist as he kissed me gently on the lips. He ran his tongue gently across my lips before slipping it inside. Then my alarm started ringing and I groaned.

He smiled, climbing off of me and turning off the alarm. 'You'd better go and pick up your parents.'

I met my parents at Victoria Train Station as that was the easiest one for them to get too. It meant a few changes on the Underground, but I had always been confident using it so I wasn't fussed. I noticed a few girls look my way and whisper and I couldn't help but smile at them. I saved my biggest smile for my parents, who practically ran towards me at the station, embracing me in a hug so tight that I nearly fell over.

'We've missed you, poppet.' My dad said showing the smile he had given me.

'You must contact us more.' My mum scolded, before smiling again. 'But we are so very proud of you and your granddad would be too.'

I smiled and held back the tears that were filling my eyes. 'Shall we grab a cup of tea somewhere? Our reservation at the restaurant isn't until one.'

I took my parents to a little vintage tea rooms not far from St Paul's Cathedral. I'd been there a few times with Leanne when we'd come up to London and it was lovely and quaint with its mismatched floral crockery and the tea was delicious. We were seated in the window, which gave us an unfortunate view of a rainy day.

'You look happy.' My dad commented as I sipped my cup of tea.

'I am.' I replied with a smile.

'We saw you in the paper last week.' My dad added. 'You looked lovely, by the way. Although I'm not quite sure of all those tattoos.' I made a mental note to make sure my tattoo was covered for my performance later.

'Now, Dean, if he treats her like a princess then I don't mind about all those tattoos. As long as he takes good care of her and makes her happy then it's fine.' My mum smiled and squeezed my hand.

'He treats me very well.' I replied with a small smile.

'Good, that's all I care about. What have you been up to this week, anything nice?'

'We went out on Halloween.'

'We know, love, I did nearly have a heartattack when I looked at Facebook.' My dad said with a frown. 'You're growing up far too quickly.'

'I'm almost twenty three.' I laughed.

'Which makes us feel very old.' My mum said, shaking her head. 'Were you in Arundel yesterday?'

I nodded. 'Ed took me there as a surprise.'

'That's nice.' She smiled. 'I'm glad you were able to go back, it's very important to you and I hope it stays that way.'

'Me too.'

When we arrived at Wahaca for lunch at one o'clock, Ed was already inside.

Thank you for being here on time.

Hey, my time keeping is pretty good thank you. He smiled at me and then stood up to greet my parents, shaking both of their hands. 'Mr and Mrs May, it's a pleasure to meet you.'

'Please call us Dean and Judith.' My mum tutted. 'No need for formalities, Edward.'

'Ed.' I corrected her as Ed tried not to cringe at the sound of his full name.

'Sorry, Ed.' My dad apologised on my mum's behalf. 'She knows you're Ed, she listens to your music a lot at home.'

Oh god, could my family be any less cool? I cringed and Ed gave me a smile from across the table.

'So you're a fan then, Judith?' He said, trying to be charming and actually succeeding.

'You're very talented.' My mum told him with a smile. 'And some of your lyrics are very beautiful. Thinking out Loud is my favourite, definitely.'

'Well thank you, I'm glad you like my songs.' He smiled, before adding in his head for my benefit: Is your mum going to be wearing an Ed Sheeran t-shirt later? Happy to give her one as a gift.

Don't you dare. I tried my best not to glare at him across the table.

'Well that went well, just like I said it would.' Ed said as we walked into Koko later that afternoon.

'Because you spent the whole time sweet-talking my mother!' I groaned, shuddering at the memory of it.

'Er.. ew?' Nina said, appearing in the corridor with a raised eyebrow. 'Please tell me you've not just chatted up your girlfriend's mother?'

'Of course not.' He shook his head.

'But he put the charm on... big time.' I told her. 'My mum is probably a bigger fan than she already was.' I turned and pointed my finger at Ed. 'And don't you dare leave a t-shirt in their box for her. I will destroy you.'

'You're late!' Leon scolded us with a frown, joining us in the audience area.

'Sorry, I had to meet Lucy's parents.' Ed apologised for both of us.

'And you're still alive? Nice.' Leon commented. 'Right, Lucy, I'll get your band, you get onstage. We have a soundcheck to run.'

Soundchecks were weird, I had decided after playing my set. You had to use it like a dress rehearsal, rocking out on the stage and performing correctly whilst the lighting guys played with the lighting, including a projection showing a photo of me and my Facebook page link, which was being displayed behind me. It was weird rocking out when you had no audience in front of you other than Leon and occassionally Ed, until he was whisked away to do something. I squinted at the two figures at the back of the room but the night was too bright. I ended my set and Leon and Ed applauded.

'Great Sky, well done.' Leon called out from the audience. 'Try to move around a bit more later though and interact with your audience.'

Easier said than done when I didn't have an audience. 'Okay.' I said, hopping off the stage and into the main auditorium. The house lights went up and I squealed. 'Oh my god!' Leanne and Willow ran towards me, pulling me into a tight embrace. 'What are you doing here?!'

'Do you think we'd miss your first proper concert? Really?' Willow said, kissing me on the cheek.

'But you're supposed to be working at that new restaurant.' I said to Leanne before turning to Willow. 'And you're supposed to be in America.'

'But you come first.' Leanne smiled

'I'm so glad you two are here!' I said, feeling all emotional.

'Good, we were hoping you'd say that.'

Ed came over and squeezed my waist. 'Hey ladies, alright?'

'Yes thanks.' Leanne and Willow chorused, their accents sounding a little odd together.

'We're going to order in some food, what would you like?'

Whilst the other soundchecks were taking place, we were banished to the dressing room I would be sharing with Sky. We sat on the sofa, eating the take-away Chinese that the venue had picked up from the market for us. It was delicious. Sky came in with Zed, having finished her set, and grabbed her chow mein, sitting beside me. 'I'll always find those weird.'

'Me too.' I commented. 'You're told to interact with the audience and show emotion but no one is there.'

'Exactly my thinking!' She laughed, looking up at my friends.

'Oh right, my cousin Willow you've met Sky and then this is my best friend Leanne from Brighton.'

'Nice to meet you.' She replied with a shy smile.

Nina came into the room and clapped her hands together. 'Oooh it's a proper girly party in here!' She looked over at Zed.'Girly party plus Zed!'

'Nina, this is Willow and Leanne.' I said, remembering to introduce them that time.

'Hey.' They greeted Nina. 'I love your shoes.' Willow added, admiring the Jimmy Choos on Nina's feet. Typical of my cousin.

'There are too many women in here.' Zed said, standing up. 'I'm out of here.'

'Poor Zed.' Sky laughed once he was gone.

Nina grabbed Sky's hand and studied her nails. 'Where are these from?'

'Halloween.' She shot a smile at me. 'Lucy did them for me.'

'Not bad.' Nina complimented, 'but we have three hours until showtime and I need to get these sorted.' She looked over at mine. 'Sheesh, I'm going to be busy.'

We were ready two and a half hours later and I couldn't help but feel bad for Nina as she had been busy; she'd left Ed an outfit out in his dressing room for him to wear, had sorted both of our nails so we had French Manicures, had done our hair and make-up and got us both dressed in the outfits she'd picked out for us, before then returning back to Ed's dressing room to sort his hair. She'd had at least two cups of coffee to drink so she was practically buzzing.

After changing, I left the bathroom to reveal my 'rockstar' look to my best friends. They both stared at me with large grins and I looked at myself in the full-length mirror behind them; my naturally caramel highlighted-hair was in loose curls as it had been for the record label party last year and my make-up was the same too. My outfit was incredible and I loved it; it was a black strapless skater dress covered in sequins and I was wearing black shoe boots and a black leather jacket with it.

'You look so awesome!' Willow grinned.

'Don't risk passing out in the jacket.' Nina warned me as she slipped some silver and black beaded bracelets onto my wrist. 'Take it off after the second song.'

There was a knock at the door and Leon stuck his head around just as Sky came out of the bathroom in her blue, girly, fit and flare dress decorated with white flowers and some silver strappy sandals. Her outfit suited her perfectly. 'Good, you're ready ladies. Doors are open and the audience have started coming in. Thirty minutes to showtime.'

Willow and Leanne left me shortly after that and Sky and I joined together for vocal warm-ups as my heart thudded against my chest. With ten minutes to go, we headed down to the wings and I felt sick. What if it went wrong? What if I fell over? What if people didn't like my music? An earpiece was attached to my right ear and I could see my band in the wing opposite, chatting and joking together.

'We'll come and give you your guitar after the second song.' The stage manager told me. 'And there's a bottle of water by your mic stand if you need it.'

I nodded, unsure of what to say. Two hands appeared on my waist and I turned into them so that Ed was holding me. He gave me an encouraging smile. 'You are going to be incredible.'

'I hope.'

'You will.' He kissed me on the forehead.

The lights went down on the stage and I took a deep breath as the crowd screamed and my band walked on to take their places. The lights went up and they started playing the intro of my song. I took a deep breath and let go of Ed. It was now or never.