a few weeks had passed since everyone had drinks at cal and harry's. ivy had seen simon a couple of times since then, but only with the others, they could not bring themselves to hang out alone because they knew what that would lead to.

esme and ethan continued talking, but it was nothing major or serious between the two. however, sage and harry were continuously talking to one another, spending time together now and then. and for ivy, she sat in the background watching all of her friends having fun, wishing she was receiving some sort of attention.

"where are you going?" sage stared up at ivy who was tying up her trainers.

"cal and harry's," she muttered, "with ethan."

"oh right." sage nodded her head slowly.

ivy looked up at sage and furrowed her eyebrows, "what's up?"

"nothing," she mumbled, "i just think harry's been ignoring me."

"how come?" ivy cocked her head, standing up from the sofa, "want me to talk to him for you?"

"nah, i ain't bothered." sage lied, shaking her head, "just a bit annoying, but i don't really care."

"ah, right." ivy raised her eyebrows, "where's es? is she filming?"

"yeah," sage nodded her head, throwing herself backwards into the cushions, "i'm streaming later," she sighed, "i'll see you later."

"yeah," ivy smiled softly, "see you soon stuffing."

sage giggled in response, shaking her head, "shut up!" she chucked a cushion in ivy's direction as she walked out of the front door.

ivy made her way through london, finally approaching harry and cal's, knowing that ethan was already there. "you alright?" she grinned up at harry as the door opened.

"yeah," he nodded, "you?"

"mhm, not bad." she hummed, walking through the flat, spotting gib also sat on the sofa, "oh shit!" she yelled, "gib!"

"you alright?" he laughed, standing up from his seat to bring her into a hug.

"yeah!" she pulled away, grinning at him, "are you?"

"yeah, i'm good." he nodded, smiling back at her. she walked to the sofa, perching herself beside ethan as a game of football played on the screen in front of them.

"right," cal slapped his thighs, standing up, "i need to set up for filming." he sighed.

"i'd ask what you're filming," ivy looked up at him, "but i really don't care." a smug expression swept across her face, causing cal to laugh sarcastically back at her.

she helped the guys set up for filming and threw her body back onto the sofa as they decided to film by the table instead. changing the channel on the tv, she flicked it over to some random movie, not caring about the football and the guys were no longer paying attention to it anyways.

they filmed for some time, making conversation with ivy now again or she sat giggling at some of the stupid shit they were doing. she did not necessarily mind being in the background of it, just did not want to fully feature in it herself. by hanging out with the guys again, she knew she would receive comments about simon repeatedly, but it was inevitable. she could not hide forever.

harry wandered around the flat, not really taking part in the video, only in bits that appeased him. and as the video was coming to an end, he slumped himself beside ivy, sprawling himself out on the sofa whilst she sat with her legs tucked into her chest, gazing at the tv. he glanced up at her, letting out an exasperated sigh, "what's up?" she questioned.

"you know what it's like," he shuffled to sit up beside her, "to come out of a long term relationship."

"mhm." she nodded slowly, turning to look at him.

"because i think i like sage, but i've not been single for very long and," he exhaled, "i don't really know what to do."

"is this why you've been ignoring her?"

"maybe."

"well if you like her, i don't see an issue." she furrowed her eyebrows, "sage is amazing, i can see why you like her, but can understand why this also feels difficult."

he ran his fingers through his hair and rested his head on ivy's shoulder, "well, what if i'm not fully over my ex? like how did you get over simon?"

"erm," ivy gulped, "well i think you're a step further than i am," she shrugged, "you've actually found someone you like."

"so you're not over simon?"

"i'm not saying that, i'm just saying i've had so many failed talking stages because i haven't found the right guy, but for you, you've just admitted to liking someone. is that not a way of moving on?"

he cleared his throat, taking a deep breath in, "yeah, you're right. i guess it is." he slowly lifted his head from ivy's shoulder to look at her, "but why's it so hard for you? you've been single longer than i have."

"i dunno." she muttered under her breath, looking down at her hands.

"well, how many guys have you been with since him?"

"a few," she nodded, "you know? met a few on tinder or whatever, nights out, some more serious than others, but nothing took my fancy i guess." she shrugged her shoulders, smiling awkwardly.

harry narrowed his eyes at ivy, "hmm," he murmured, "i'm just not very convinced you're over him."

"what makes you think that?" she cocked her head, inhaling deeply.

"well, it's been two years," he shrugged, "and you've not properly been with anyone else because they don't interest you or whatever, surely that means something."

"does it?" she furrowed her eyebrows, "because to me it's not that deep."

"maybe it's not," he raised his eyebrows, "but neither of you have been with anyone else since you broke up and you both have the same excuse that you've not found the right person."

"well yeah, because not finding the right person is a thing harry," she smirked, playfully nudging his arm, "but i am over him."

"honestly ivy, i never understood why you broke up, we all saw how you guys were together."

"because he was busy, i wasn't into all that stuff back then, we wanted different things." she sighed, turning away from him, "just because we didn't end on a bad note doesn't mean i can't be over him."

"you're just not very convincing." harry cocked his head, trying to get her attention.

"fuck off, bog. me and simon are friends now." she muttered, her eyes remaining on the tv whilst he tried getting in her face.

"i just don't think ex's can be friends, am i wrong?" he questioned, it wasn't the first time that ivy had heard that, "i'm just not convinced."

"i'm not fucking convinced either harry." she bit back, swiftly turning her head to look at him. he raised his eyebrows and leant back, surprised by her response, "now leave me alone." she folded her arms over her chest, leaning her head against the cushions.

"i - i'm sorry, i didn't mean to annoy you." he stuttered, placing a hand on her shoulder and stroked it softly.

"it's fine," ivy sighed, turning to face him, "just leave it, yeah? you're not the first to tell me ex's can't be friends." she shrugged, gazing up at ethan walk over to them and sit beside harry.

"what's going on here then?"

"nothing," she shook her head, "just giving bog some relationship advice." a small smile formed on her lips, turning her attention away from the two boys and back to the tv.

"oh right," ethan raised his eyebrows, slowly nodding his head, "about sage?" he questioned.

"mhm." ivy bit her bottom lip, trying to hold back her annoyance towards harry. she could not bring herself to admit that harry lewis, of all people, was right and she could not quite tell if she was completely over simon. the two year distance from him allowed her to not really think about him, but now she felt as though she had to think about him all the time - as though he was always on her mind, no matter what. and with her two friends having some involvement with the guys, it was as though she had no escape.