enduring love | miniminter

3

ivy slumped onto the sofa, letting out an exasperated sigh whilst also feeling somewhat tipsy from the few drinks consumed earlier on, "what's up?" sage cooed.

"don't know," ivy shrugged her shoulders, "i mean it's just a bit weird, seeing him and that." she sighed, curling her body up against the cushions.

"have you not seen him since you broke up?" esme furrowed her eyebrows, seating herself beside ivy who laid still in her jacket and shoes.

"nope," she groaned, pulling her body up to look at her two friends, "not once. whenever he came back home, i'd refuse to see him even if my mum encouraged me to, i literally just see him through a screen, but i guess it's different to seeing him in person." she shrugged her shoulders.

"but you're over him now, right?" esme cocked her head.

"mhm," ivy nodded quickly, "still strange though and seeing the other guys, they were like family." she chewed the inside of her cheek, playing with the rings on her fingers.

sage and esme both stared at ivy with a confused expression, knowing something was not right, "you know? if you're not over him, it is okay." sage tapped ivy's arm.

"i am over him!" ivy yelled, throwing her body up from the sofa to stand in front of the two girls, "but seeing someone you haven't seen for a while is strange."

"i get that, we're just saying you can talk to us." esme exhaled.

"i don't need to talk," ivy shook her head, "there's nothing to talk about. he's my ex boyfriend, that's it." she shrugged her shoulders.

"ex boyfriend you were in love with from when you were a teenager, ivy." sage raised an eyebrow, "and you've not been with anyone since."

"as i said, i've just not found the right person yet. but i am over simon, why wouldn't i be?" she inhaled deeply.

"well, seeing him for the first time since the break up is obviously not ideal, it's obviously caused something."

"it's just strange!" ivy raised her voice, "maybe si and i could be friends now."

"you didn't even tell him about moving to london, ivy!" sage scoffed.

"why would i need to? we've probably messaged a total of 10 times since the break up. anyways, i'm off to my room." ivy huffed, trudging her feet through the flat in the direction of her bedroom whilst sage and esme stared at one another with puzzled expressions.

kicking her shoes off her feet and chucking her jacket to the floor, ivy threw her body onto the bed, plummeting her head straight into the cushions. she was heavily convinced she was over him, at least that was what she told herself frequently. but speaking to other guys, she always compared them to him or would find herself aimlessly scrolling through his instagram, watching a clip of one of his video's or even a sidemen sunday. in a way, she missed that life and took it for granted, but she just wasn't ready for anything like that back then.

rolling onto her side, she stared at her phone in front of her face, her vision slightly blurred. ivy's breathing began to fall heavy, thinking about what had happened and wishing things had gone differently. maybe she should have gone elsewhere to drink, maybe she should not have gone out at that time, maybe she should not have moved to london.

she flicked through some of simon's instagram posts, sighing to herself and even gazing through the other guys socials, missing their friendship. although they all checked up on her at some point, only a few did more than others, specifically tobi and ethan and it was a shame they all drifted as a result of ivy wanting to be as distanced from simon as possible. but two years on, she regretted refusing to answer their calls and messages after a while, wishing she would have stayed close to them.

as her eyes began to fall heavy, ready to sleep off the confusing day, her phone pinged beneath her. exhaling, ivy slowly felt for her phone beneath the covers, finally lifting it up as the bright screen stared her straight in the face. squinting her eyes, she glared at the text message before her.

from simon
hey

taking in a shaky breath, she stared at it for a minute or so, not knowing whether to reply. biting her bottom lip, she rolled onto her back, lifting the phone above her face and proceeded to type a message back.

to simon
hi, you ok?

from simon
can i call you?

she was shocked at his quick reply and even more surprised by the fact he wanted to call her.

to simon
sure

sighing, she impatiently waited for her phone to start ringing and although she was expecting it, it still startled her as she gazed at his name written across the caller id. something she had not seen for a long time.

"hello?"

"hi," he exhaled, "you alright?"

"mhm," she shuffled beneath the covers trying to get comfy, "you?"

"yeah," he dragged out the reply, "just had a bit to drink."

"oh right," she softly laughed, "have you had fun?" she questioned.

"erm yeah, not bad." he slurred his words, "just really wasn't expecting to see you today."

"i wasn't expecting to see you either," she put him on speaker and placed both hands under the pillow beneath her head, "felt a bit strange."

"it did, but i had no idea you lived here."

"yeah," she cleared her throat, "i mean i thought you might've seen from instagram or one of the guys might've said something if they saw."

"i've not seen anything," he huffed, "and no one told me either."

"oh right, sorry." ivy instantly felt guilty, but also knew she owed him nothing, "i didn't need to tell you though."

"well, it would've been nice if you did," simon moved around in his bed, "so we could plan to have a catch up or something."

"well i did that today, didn't i?"

"yeah, but you probably wouldn't have messaged me to, would you?"

"well, i've only been here for a few weeks si - sorry, i mean simon," she knew she needed to avoid using that nickname, "still not fully settled in yet."

"alright." he sighed.

"we'll plan something soon though."

"yeah, sure, whatever."

ivy furrowed her eyebrows, sitting up against the headboard and pulled her phone up to her ear, "you can't possibly be annoyed at me?"

"i ain't mad," he cleared his throat, "i'm just surprised, it's all a bit weird."

"well, we haven't seen each other since, you know?"

"yeah, yeah i know, that's why it's strange," he agreed, "i'll talk to you another day or whatever." he murmured.

"erm, okay," she muttered, "we'll plan a day for a catch up or something."

"yeah," he suspired, she could sense his disappointment, "night."

"good ni-." she gulped audibly, cut off by the noise of the call ending abruptly, still holding her phone against her ear, not knowing how to feel.

simon was right, ivy would never have asked him for a catch up unless she saw him out in person and she felt guilty about it. but seeing her ex boyfriend again, having all the feelings arise from back when she was young brought uncertainty. neither of them necessarily wanted those feelings to spark again because they were both confident that they had moved on from it.