Autumn Leaves (Ed Sheeran)

Chapter Two.

He walked back in to the same café, surrounded by the same sweet scent of fresh scones as the day before. The same couch he sat in was empty with no trace of him or Autumn; the same cup of tea he drank then left was gone without a trace; the same cashier was standing at the cash register,staring down at her nails as if to decide whether or not to get a manicure after work. The only things that were different were the people and the cashier's hair style. The bobby pins holding her bun together were very visible in her platinum blonde hair, sticking out slightly from the top of her head. Ed sighed, about to walk out the door when he found she was nowhere in sight, when the cashier stopped him. "Wait," she called. He stopped dead in his tracks. "Are you looking for the girl you sat with yesterday?"

He turned around and nodded. "Where can I find her?"

"She comes around every Saturday, unless her Dad's on her ass. Tells us how ignorant he is when she's our only customer."

"More ignorant than you know," he sighed as he came up to the register. "Is there anywhere else you know?"

"Well she did say she lives right around the corner, but I don't even know her name. I sure as hell can't tell you where she lives." She took off her apron, leaning against the counter. "I do know she said her uncle lives in Brighton. The place is huge; you can't miss it. Try asking him about her or somethin' if all else fails."

"Thank you," he replied as he walked out the door. Finally, he had a lead on Autumn's location. He would have ran right to her uncle's if he didn't have a show that night, and so he walked in the opposite direction to his sound check.

---

When he returned from his show, it was late in the night; he was rather exhausted. His eyes drooped a bit, but he grabbed the journal off of his dresser where he decided he would keep it from now on and read the next entry.

Dear Diary,

I would have finished yesterday's entry, but I passed out. He came in and smacked me awake. I keep saying that I'm done, but am I? This has been going on for almost four years now. Maybe this is what I deserve. Maybe this is what I get for being such a terrible daughter, sister, and even friend. All that matters is leaving anymore, regardless if this is what my punishment is for even the simplest and littlest failures. Mum always told me to not let the little things get to my head and focus on the big ones. If only she knew what he had become after she passed.

According to Jack, I need friends. Of course, out of us two, I'm the antisocial one. I once had two friends who were very close to me, but one passed away from cancer and I lost touch with the other after we moved when Mum passed. My whole world changed when I was just twelve years old.

I've begun taking trips to a café just around the corner every Tuesday and Saturday. It really is peaceful there, and the ladies that work there and the old man are very generous. Nobody stares at me for once; then again, the place almost never has other people there despite me on Tuesdays. Maybe I can make new friends there, and jack can stop giving me a hard time about my shyness.

Yours Truly, Autumn Rae

At last, questions were answered without leading to more. The entry gave Ed a light feeling on his heart for the first time since before him and Taylor broke up. He finally found just what he was looking for, and maybe that was all he needed. Regardless, the phone call he'd been waiting for before now had arrived. "Stu," he smiled. "Did you get my voicemail?"

"Yeah," he replied. "What's this about?"

"It's about a girl I met. I need you to help me find her."

"A private investigator though? Who the hell did you pick up off the streets?"

He chuckled. "Please, just hear me out. If I don't find her soon, it'll be too late. I'm on a time limit."

"How much time ya got?"

It was the one question Ed couldn't answer. "It wouldn't make it easier if I knew. I don't think it's a lot."

"I'll hire someone, but I need a name."

There was a silence. "Autumn. I don't know her last name, but I'm working on it."

"I can't help you yet," Stu sighed. "Get a full name and an age, then call back. All you really need is the name though."

Hanging up, he put the phone on top of the book and put them in the drawer of his end table beside his bed. "I have got to get her name," he breathed before turning over and attempting to fall asleep with his mind in a whirl.