enduring love | miniminter

5

haphazardly pulling items from their hangers in her wardrobe, ivy chucked her clothes to the floor, throwing her head in her hands out of stress. "fucking hell!" she yelled, kicking her clothes across the floor.

"what's up?" sage questioned, running into ivy's bedroom.

"i don't know what to wear." ivy huffed, stood still in a pile of her own clothes, "like what would be appropriate?"

sage peered out of the window, glancing at the weather, "it's a nice day, go for like a dress and converse or something. for a fashion influencer, you really shouldn't be struggling with this." she smirked.

"simon hates converse." ivy muttered under her breath, falling to the floor, "i don't fucking know."

"does it really matter what he likes?" sage chuckled, picking out a few options, "at least you've done your makeup and hair, i swear you're supposed to be meeting him in twenty minutes?"

"twenty minutes?" ivy yelled. scrambling to the floor, she walked over to the bed where her friend laid out a couple of outfits, "esme!" she raised her voice.

trudging into ivy's bedroom, esme stood in the doorway, "pick out an outfit from these." sage pointed to the bed.

"you stressed?" esme giggled, stumbling over the clothes scattered across the floor. her eyes scanned over each outfit for a few seconds, "hmm, this one. it's a nice day." she shrugged her shoulders, pointing to a summer dress and black converse.

"really?" ivy cocked her head, unsure.

"yes!" sage and esme shout in unison, swiftly leaving ivy's room. she sighed, pulling the dress onto her body and perched on her bed to tie up her shoes around her ankles, finally throwing a leather over shirt on top.

"are you sure i look okay?" she met the two girls back in the living room, throwing her bag onto her shoulder.

"yes! you need to go." esme attempted to shove ivy out of the front door.

"okay, okay." she threw her hands up in defence, "i'll let you guys know when to meet us at simon and jj's, i'll see you soon."

"have fun!" sage yelled as ivy closed the door behind her, walking through the block whilst booking herself an uber.

she gazed at simon stood outside of the bar waiting for her, taking a deep breath in she stepped out of the uber, tugging her dress down her thighs. "hey." she grinned up at him, her breath hitching in her throat as he pulled her in for a soft hug.

"hey, you alright?" he pulled away, gazing down at her.

"yeah, i'm not late am i?" she quickly pulled at her phone to glance at the time.

"no, no. i've been stood here for like a minute." a soft smile formed across his lips, the two of them walking into the bar, seated opposite one another.

after ordering their drinks and waiting patiently, they both waited for the other to say something. it took some time for conversation to naturally flow between the two, the atmosphere felt tense, neither of them wanting to do or say the wrong thing.

"so," ivy smiled, "how've things been?"

"good," simon nodded slowly, "obviously moved out from that big house so it's just me and jj now."

"yeah, i've noticed." she smirked.

he chuckled in response, "you know a lot more about me than i thought."

"well, you know?" she shrugged her shoulders, "i do like to be nosey."

"i agree, you do." he chuckled, both of them watching their drinks being carried over. ivy instantly took a sip of her cocktail, a shiver running down her spine. "so, what's been happening with you?"

"erm," she messed with the rings on her fingers, "i guess about a year or so ago i started the whole influencer thing, i already had followers because of you guys," she snickered, "so i just felt like giving it a go." she shrugged her shoulders, "i guess at the time with you guys, i wasn't ready for something as big as that, but now i enjoy it. and i've met sage and es so that's a bonus." she smiled, taking a gulp of her drink.

"yeah," he nodded, "good, i'm happy for you." simon took a deep breath in, swirling his drink around in his glass, "how did you meet them or what do they do?"

"well, sage is a streamer and she streams a lot of minecraft, honestly she is an absolute mad-head, but i love her to pieces," she chuckled, "and esme is like a beauty youtuber," ivy nodded her head slowly, "sage is from manchester and esme is from london anyways, she lived in wembley. honestly, from what i remember, sage was talking about me on stream to some guys, calling me hot or something and tweeted me and our friendship blossomed from there." she laughed, remembering how everything started, "and with es, i do not fully remember, but we found ourselves chatting over dm on instagram and then i introduced es and sage to one another. it took me by surprise by how well they got along, but i'm glad because a year on we now all live together."

"i love that," he giggled, "you excited to see everyone?"

ivy grinned from ear to ear, nodding eagerly, "yeah, definitely! i hope it's not awkward." she slowly brought her head down to look at the table.

"it won't be." simon shook his head, "this isn't awkward, is it?" he cocked his head.

"erm," she furrowed her eyebrows, giggling, "it doesn't seem to be." her cheeks began to burn, bringing her face back up to gaze into his eyes. she gets lost in them for a brief moment, her eyes flickering between his own like a lit candle. instantly snapping back into reality, ivy knew the consequences of staring into simon's eyes for too long, remembering her admiration for them.

"good," he nodded slowly, taking a sip of his drink, "how are you finding london?"

"not bad, obviously it's only been a few weeks, so i'm still getting used to things and still don't fully know my bearings." she giggled, taking a large gulp of her drink, "but other than that i like it."

"i mean," he slumped back into the seat, "if you need a friend to show you around, i'm always here?" he gestured to himself, laughing.

she giggled, nodding her head, "sure, i'll definitely let you know." a smirk formed across her lips, "might get another drink and a few shots." she narrowed her eyes.

"go for it." he shrugged.

the two ordered themselves another drink, alongside a few shots each. they had their moments where there was awkward silence, trying to think of something to say, but not wanting to overstep boundaries - such as the topic of the break up.

both thanking the bartender carrying over their drinks, they instantly reached for a shot. clinking the shot glasses together, they backed the shots and glanced at one another with screwed up faces as a result from the burning sensation, repeating the process with the next couple.

"fucking hell." simon murmured, shaking his head from the bitter taste.

"i know." ivy laughed, taking a gulp of her drink to try and wash away the taste of the sambuca.

they conversed for some time more, discussing any changes in their lives, simon updating her on the growth of the sidemen and his own channel, ivy informing him about her growing social media platform. but to both of them, nothing seemed to have changed no matter how many different things in their lives had occurred.

"do you wanna head back to mine?" simon pushed his empty glass into the middle of the table, "everyone will be getting there now."

"sure." she nodded slowly, the sensation butterflies fluttering around her stomach at the thought of seeing everyone else. even spending more time with simon made her nervous.

they both awkwardly stood from their seats, walking outside to stand side by side. she glanced down at his phone, watching him book an uber to his flat whilst she anxiously played with the ends of her hair.