enduring love | miniminter

4

"guess who i saw yesterday?" simon dragged his feet along the floor, sinking his weight into the sofa opposite jj.

"who?" jj's focus remained on the tv in front of him, expecting simon to mutter some unnecessary name or someone he would barely remember.

"ivy."

jj swiftly turned his head in response and stared at simon with a shocked expression, his lips parted, "wait, what?" he paused the tv in front of him, the room falling silent.

"yeah," simon slowly nodded his head, his eyebrows raised, "did you know she had moved to london?"

"no idea." jj shook his head, still startled.

"well everyone else seems to know, yet no one told me." simon huffed, throwing both arms over his chest and fell back into the cushions.

"is she okay?" jj questioned.

"i mean, yeah i think so. asked if we could have a catch up some time."

"this is mad," jj shook his head, "will you?"

"erm," simon scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, "well yeah i guess."

"i mean, you're over her, right?"

"yeah." simon nodded his head quickly.

"so do it then," jj cocked his head, "you might as well have a catch up, not like anything bad would happen. you guys could just be friends again, i'd love to see ivy."

"yeah i guess," simon mumbled, "i just know that she wouldn't have asked me to see her unless i saw her out, like i don't even think she would've told me she moved to london after telling me multiple times it would never happen."

jj sat up, staring at his best friend, "well she must've changed then, i don't really know much about her anymore, but surely she has." he pulled out his phone, deciding to type in her name. although he still followed her, he felt bad for rarely checking up on her or seeing what she was up to.

"nah," simon shook his head, "not at all really. i just don't think she was ready for any of that kind of stuff back then, she doesn't seem to have changed though."

"yeah to be fair," jj glared at his phone, "it doesn't seem like it. so you should just see her, see how things go."

"yeah," simon nodded slowly, "but you should see her at some point too, we were all best friends at one point. she supported us like mad." guilt instantly overwhelmed the two boys, knowing how much ivy was there for them all those years ago and it got to a stage where they stopped giving her attention - her boyfriend and her best friend.

"yeah, man," jj nodded his head slowly, "i will, it's just crazy, i've not seen her in forever."

"since the day we broke up?"

"yeah," jj looked to his knees in disappointment, "since then."

simon awkwardly ran his fingers through his untouched hair, "no one's seen her since then, she kinda just fell off the face of the earth."

"i think she just wanted the distance, you guys were together for a while and she probably just wanted to get over it as easily as possible," jj shrugged his shoulders, "but i don't know."

"hmm. maybe."

"if you're both over each other, there should be no issues. would be nice if we all hung out at some point, you know? like the good old days." a soft smile formed on jj's lips.

simon leaned forwards, perching himself on the edge of the sofa and looked down to the floor. he was certain he was completely over ivy, why wouldn't he be? even though ivy was his first love, someone he fell for from a young age, he had to be over it at some point. and he was certain that time was now, at least that's what he thought.

"yeah," simon sighed, "i guess." he rested his elbows on his knees, pondering.

"like invite ivy and her friends around for a drink, bring around all the guys, i'm sure they'd love to see her."

everyone loved ivy. she was warm-hearted, bubbly, helpful and generous enough to offer her time to the guys when they needed help. they enjoyed her company, she always knew the right things to say at the right time to cheer everyone up if they were stressed and under pressure. it was one of the traits that simon adored about ivy, which is what made him fall for her so quickly, she was so easy to get along with. but it also made the breakup much harder.

"oh, i don't know," simon murmured, bringing his hands to his face, "would i be making the right decision? seeing her again." he mumbled against his palms.

jj cocked his head, "what do you mean? if you're over her then it's just seeing each other as friends."

"i am over her, just don't want those feelings to come back."

"i'm sure you wouldn't catch feelings again man, if you're over her then it's just a catch up between two friends."

simon slowly brought his face from his hands and turned to look at jj with a red face, "yeah, alright." he huffed.

"if it doesn't go well, you don't have to see her again." jj suggested and simon instantly raised his eyebrows. the amount of time that simon and ivy spent apart killed him inside, going from someone he saw frequently since he was a teenager to then suddenly seeing her never again. seeing her the previous day took him by surprise because it was a familiar face he never expected to see again, never mind spend time with.

"i - i want to be friends with her though," simon struggled to string a sentence together, unsure of what he actually wanted, "at least i think so anyways."

"it was jokes when we were friends, man," jj chuckled, "so many memories."

"yeah." simon slowly nodded in response, "alright, well i'll try organise something i guess." he cleared his throat, standing from the sofa.

"are you sure you're okay?" jj furrowed his eyebrows.

"yeah, why wouldn't i be?" simon shrugged and walked towards his office, not even waiting for a response from his friend, he just wanted to escape the conversation.

he flopped into his gaming chair, the wheels rolling backwards as he let out a long sigh. it took him some time and thought to try and come up with something, unsure as to whether he wanted to try plan anything at all, but he knew that the guys would love to see her and she would love to see them. leaning backwards in the chair, he glared at his phone, going onto his text messages with ivy.

to ivy
are you free on friday?

he nervously awaited her response whilst his leg bounced beneath the desk. his fingers tapped against the wood, yet his body was so tense he couldn't even create a rhythm.

from ivy
yeah i am, why?

the notification took him by surprise as he glared at her reply, typing out a few answers before finally making a somewhat perfect one.

to ivy
i just thought we could go out for a drink and then go back to mine and have a drink with everyone else as i'm sure you would all want to see each other, you can bring your friends too if you would like?

after he pressed send, his heart raced at the thought of her turning down his invitation.

from ivy
yeah, i'd love to :) good idea

simon let out a sigh of relief, bringing both hands to his head. he almost felt excited to see her, being able to have a catch up on the two years they had been apart from one another. he was curious and had many questions for her, especially with her new lifestyle.