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Ed’s fucking nervous.
This is his first time playing in god knows how long, and Izzy’s food got food poisoning, because of course Izzy got food poisoning mere hours before their first show in months, so Ed’s out with Ivan and Fang only and they’re piss drunk at the moment, and the keyboard is gonna be fucked because the sub-in guy for Izzy has no clue what he’s doing, and—
“Hey.” Ed hears from behind him. It’s Stede. Of course.
He’s wearing a pair of bedazzled fucking overalls, with the Revenge Tour logo stuck to the back of it. Black eyeshadow adorns his eyelids, and his hair is gelled back completely, adding to the strange, badass gay farmer look he’s got going on. He looks like a fanboy. It’s fucking amazing.
Ed’s only in his dressing gown. He feels his stomach twist a bit, near embarrassment. He swallows it down. This is his boyfriend . Stede won’t judge him.
“Hey, love, what’s wrong?” Stede asks, and the worries circulating Ed’s brain seem to pipe down, just a little.
“Mm, nothing, fine.” Ed says. He is fine, technically, he knows everything is going to turn out okay. Always does. But god, his brain just doesn’t understand that, apparently.
“You’re not fine.” Stede says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Don’t even try that with me, Edward. You’re nervous?”
“Pshh, not really.” Ed responds. Super cool , Ed.
“Darling.”
“Yeah, maybe, a little, I dunno.”
Stede pouts at that, actually pouts, before he’s opening his arms up just slightly, an invitation, a beckoning. Ed slides himself in and takes a deep inhale. Vanilla and Oak and something else just so distinctly Stede . Smells like home.
“I wish I could make it all go to plan.” Stede whispers.
“Ha, yeah, me too.” Ed answers, though the intended humour of the statement does not shine through as bright as the bitter, self loathing sadness does.
“My love…” Stede trails off, just tightening his hold. “You're to be on stage in twenty. Are you going to be okay? I can buy you some more time if you need it.”
Ed laughs a bit at that, flattered by the offer, because Stede would, too. He knows Stede would move mountains for him, trying to push back a concert because Ed was feeling a little anxious wouldn’t phase Stede in the slightest. It was a devastating realisation, when it first came to.
“Babe, there are fifty thousand people out there waiting for me. What would you do to make em’ wait, eh?
“Oh, well…” Stede stops to give himself time to think as he drags his finger up to rest on his chin. Silly man , Ed thinks. Lovely man .
“I’d just tell them straight. I’d tell them that you need more time to get ready as the universe seems to be against you today. And I’d tell them I don’t want to hear their impatience about it, or they can be seeing me personally after the show.” Stede says it with a scrunched up face as to say I’m being intimidating , but really, it only comes off as cute.
Ed’s taken aback by how endearing Stede can be sometimes. How thoughtful and selfless his actions are, his words alike. Ed’s taken aback by all of it.
“I bet you would.” Is all Ed says before he’s pulling back to place a peck on Stede’s nose. It scrunches up the way it does when Stede smiles. It makes Ed smile.
“Don’t worry about it though. I’ll be good by then, promise.” Ed sticks out his pinkie in a swear, and Stede follows suit, hooks his through.
“Alright, I’m glad. If you need anything though—”
“I’ll let you know.”
“You better.”
Stede stays with him until Ed has to make his entrance, and man , is it a glorious one. Ed is fantastic, truly, hitting all the notes he was worried about cracking on, razzing up the crowd until everyone is singing and jumping along to their favourite songs, Ed’s songs.
Stede stands at the front row, watching, trying to telepathically send Ed well wishes and reassurances. The presence of him, just being there, may help more than the actual telepathy.
“This last one is a cover, but a favourite of mine.” Ed says near the end of his set, though people are still going berserk, like it hasn't been two hours of vigorous activity.
“Alright, alright, chill out.” Ed says in response to the screams of I love you Blackbeard! and Blackbeard, fuck me!
“This is for a certain someone.” Ed says. “You know who you are.”
Ed picks up his guitar, and Stede can’t seem to place the song before it rushes to him, undisputable.
It's a little bit funny
This feeling inside
I'm not one of those who can easily hide
I don't have much money, but boy if I did
I'd buy a big house where we both could live
And you can tell everybody
This is your song
It may be quite simple, but now that it's done
I hope you don't mind
I hope you don't mind
That I put down in the words
How wonderful life is
While you're in the world
Stede smiles at Ed. Ed smiles at Stede. The message gets across.
After the show, Stede finds Ed again. He is as he usually is after a real success like that, pumped up on adrenaline and giddy as a goat.
“Babe!” Ed shouts out as soon as he sees Stede, and he's rushing forward to give him a big, smacking kiss on the cheek. “Your pep talk helped.” He says through a smile.
Stede gives a little laugh. “I don’t know if it was the pep talk, love. You did marvellously. Couldn't even tell you were nervous. I loved today's song choice, by the way, thank you. Very romantic.”
“Always is.” Ed winks.
“Next time some Beatles, maybe?”
“Stede, the point of having a surprise random song for your boyfriend is that it’s a surprise. And random. That's like picking your own birthday gifts, love. Unfair.”
“Alight, well, I trust you then.”
Ed kisses his cheek again, and he’s already planning out the next surprise song in his head by the time they’re leaving the stadium.
It's a beautiful night, we're looking for something dumb to do
Hey baby, I think I wanna marry you