fan behaviour

•London

ellie_ryan uploaded to their Instagram for the first time in a while!

I am not joking when I say Pierre had never liked a picture so fast. He was actually the first person to like it.
Pierre was relaxing on his phone in his hotel room in Abu Dhabi after a long week of race excitement and media duties when Ellie posted about dying her hair.
And damn did she look good.
I mean the blonde was a vibe and she was extremely pretty with blonde hair , but there was something in the maturity of her natural brown hair that gave Pierre butterflies.
Her fans were going wild too.

And then he put away his phone and sighed into his hands.
He fumbled the bag so hard.
Would she ever be able to forgive him?
Would she ever be able to forgive the fact that he couldn't face her when his ex came back because he got insecure about his relationship with Ellie?
Would she be able to forgive him for abandoning her just before her world fell apart?
Or would she even bother forgiving? Has she started anew? Maybe she's not reflecting anymore , maybe she's a changed woman.
Maybe she was ignoring him and his friends because she didn't want to reflect on the amazing summer she had when her sister was going through what she went through. 

Pierre soon came to learn through Lando , who had heard from Luisa , who had heard from Orla , that Ellie was back in Ireland and knuckling down to work. Pierre assumed that work meant releasing music and was excited to see what she came out with.

3 days after her Instagram post , Ellie posted a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" to her TikTok and Pierre thought she sounded just as immaculate as ever. He wondered if she knew it was him that liked all her TikToks all the time. I mean his username kind of gave it away.
user1019962017 - His car number , the year he was born and the year he debuted in Formula 1.
He thought it was kind of clever.
He was also very pleased by the song choice. "The Chain" is iconic in the Formula 1 works for being the former so-called 'theme song' to the sport and Pierre hoped that maybe it meant she was still interested in coming to the paddock from time to time.
He was also impressed by the whole production of the cover , even if it was for a minute long video. She was in the studio and used played the backing track in the background as almost a karaoke. What Pierre was impressed with however , was the fact that she had recorded the harmonies all by herself and played them along with the backing track for a real authentic cover.
Pierre was happy to see her in her happy place.

A week after that , another TikTok came out.
This time , it was clear that Ellie had been crying.
The caption read "therapy lol 😜 we put up the Christmas Tree today , you should have helped Jax put the star on top"
Ellie sang an acapella cover of "Fine Line" by Harry Styles and the sweetness of her voice mixed with the shakiness of it from her crying hit Pierre like a bucket of cold water. He commended her bravery , he really did , but he wished she had the guts to reach out to him and their holiday friend group and ask for help.

So did she.

Ellie felt a sense of normality in posting covers again , but nothing was ever going to go back to normal for her. She decided to bury herself into her work and take advantage of the fact that she was rebranding herself as a new woman. She was organising the producing of her own debut album and intended on not adding W.I.T.C.H to it. She was ready to mature , and she was starting with her music.

Ellie uploaded her last TikTok post of 2022 4 days before Christmas Eve , a rendition of 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas'. She was going to take a break from social media again , even though fans were excited about her inconsistent posting , and find herself coming into the New Year. She was going to pounce at every opportunity that came her way , starting with the release of her new song Before I Go.
That was going to be her tribute to Aishling.
She had more songs written and ready for recording and release , she just didn't have the time for to do all the recording she had hoped to do once she got back to Ireland.

Christmas for Ellie was miserable. She cried on Christmas Eve , then she cried playing with Jax and the new toys Santa got him on Christmas Day , and to pop the cherry on top she cried when Aishling's favourite song came on the radio on St.Stephen's day.
This was a Christmas for her to forget.

She and Jax rang in the New Year in Tralee with her parents before packing her's and his stuff and moving them both to London.

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It was really easy for Ellie to grab opportunities by the balls in London because there were so many to be grabbed. Not only was she living in her own apartment that she had fully paid for near the centre of London , but she had developed a routine for herself which meant she was as productive as possible and Jax was taken care of properly.
Ellie found an amazing studio for her budget on the outskirts of the city and a crèche for Jax that was a mere 10 minute walk away. She worked in the studio 3 days a week , from 8 until 4. Every morning she was recording music , she would drop Jax off at the daycare and collect him again when she was done. Any day she wasn't in the studio she was with Jax , either in their own apartment or out on the town.
Orla helped Ellie get settled into London and Ellie had never been more appreciative of a friend in her life.

Ellie released Before I Go on February 2nd 2023 , 4 months after Aishling's death. It was an instant hit. To take advantage of the media coverage , and her position at number 9 on UK and Irish charts , Ellie took on an extra day every week at the studio.
Which was fine for the first week , but then the owner of the crèche's mother died and they closed for a week as a mark of respect.
And that was okay , Ellie understood grief , but she was so close to finishing her new single with Tiësto and all she needed was that one day to wrap it up.

On the other side of London , Carmen was working in her office when her phone rang. For a minute she thought she was dreaming because her phone was trying to tell her that Ellie was calling her.

"Hello?"

"Carmen is that you? Oh I'm so glad you picked up"

Carmen took lunch early that afternoon.