struggling to pull her belt through the loops in her jeans, ivy's legs shook beneath her and her heart raced heavily. she was certain nothing could calm her nerves which had consumed her the minute simon gave her a day and time for their 'date'.

the nausea was overwhelming, everything that could potentially go wrong was all she could think about. too many 'what if's?', which esme and sage had to quickly nip in the bud, only for ivy's mind to be preoccupied with those thoughts rather than speaking out loud, which panicked her more.

"i just don't understand why he wants to take me out, what does he want to talk about? what if -"

"shut up, ivy!" sage yelled, causing ivy to turn around red faced and worried, "you're worrying about nothing, he's not going to take you out just to tell you something bad."

"he might." ivy mumbled, shrugging her shoulders, "all he said is that he's had his time to think, what does that mean?" she raised her voice.

"it probably means something good!" esme yelled back, attempting to drill into ivy's brain that everything about this date was going to be positive.

"it's just -" ivy let out an exasperated sigh, "it's just that i love him an - and what if it goes to shit?"

"ivy," sage offered ivy a sympathetic smile, "it's going to be fine, okay? you love him, he loves you, what could go wrong?"

ivy furrowed her eyebrows, "maybe him telling me he doesn't actually love me." she shrugged her shoulders.

"just be quiet," esme shook her head, laughing, "you're panicking over nothing, it's going to be fine."

taking a deep breath in, ivy turned back around and looked in the mirror, "i hope so."

ivy set off five minutes before she needed to, not wanting to risk being late. she stared out of the window of the uber, gazing at the buildings fly past her. her breathing felt extremely unsteady, fiddling with her hair or rings every so often. no matter how many times sage and esme tried to calm her nerves, nothing seemed to work which was much more evident now that she was on her own.

stepping out of the taxi, she gazed up at the restaurant. it was beautiful and definitely fancy, a lot more expensive than what her and the girls would typically opt for which only made her more anxious. spinning around, she stood by the entrance and to her surprise, simon had also arrived early.

"hey." he grinned.

"hi." she smiled softly, "you okay?"

"mhm." he nodded, "are you?"

"not bad." she sighed, gazing up at him.

simon embraced her into a tight hug, allowing her to breathe in his familiar scent like a drug which ultimately consumed her. he had always stuck to wearing the same cologne and it was intoxicating, but she did not mind. however, it brought her back to the many times she was nearly brought to tears if a random guy who brushed past her was wearing that same cologne, especially so soon after the break up.

the two made their way inside, seated by floor to ceiling windows which made the city look beautiful. a tea light flickered in the middle of them and the restaurant was dimly lit with a relaxed atmosphere, people scattered around enjoying their drinks and meals. ivy was instantly focused on every aspect of simon the minute they sat down, everything around her blurred apart from him.

waiting for their food, the two sat sipping on their drinks and conversation naturally flowed. ivy nervously fidgeted with the cloth napkin as her eyes remained fixated on simon's lips as he spoke. but simon was just as nervous, his hand felt clammy against his bouncing knee which refused to come to a halt, his heart pounding as he gazed at her in all her beauty. not once had simon ever looked at ivy's appearance in a negative light, even when she was sick, even with her head squished awkwardly into a pillow when she slept, even when she was covered in food from challenges - she was simply beautiful. ever since simon spotted ivy on that random day in that bar, he found himself 'fancying' her all over again like when he was 17.

they tucked into their food which was delightful to say the least, simon really had picked the most perfect spot for their date. making small talk whilst they ate, the two were grateful that nothing felt awkward or tense, which only made the date much better.

"that was so nice." ivy sighed, putting her knife and fork onto her empty plate and she rested a hand on her full stomach.

"i agree, it was." simon nodded in response, doing the exact same, "i picked a good spot." he smirked.

"you picked a good spot."

"i know." simon chuckled, watching as a waitress walked over to take their plates away and ask if they wanted more drinks, which they happily agreed to.

receiving their drinks, they fell into a comfortable silence and simon instantly tensed up. ivy decided to glance around at her surroundings, her eyes flickering around the decorated restaurant.

whilst ivy sat sipping on her cocktail, concentrating on the sky which was filled with stars, simon slid a box in her direction and cleared his throat, "sorry, the sky is just so cle -" she looked down at the table in front of her, "what is this?"

"open it." his leg nervously bounced beneath the table, nearly spilling their drinks as they wobbled.

ivy instantly furrowed her eyebrows at him, "it's not a -" she paused for a moment, "because we're not even together." she laughed.

"no." simon vigorously shook his head, "if i was proposing i wouldn't just shove the ring in your face." he chuckled.

"i wouldn't put it past you." she smirked as her fingers stroked against the material on the box before finally opening it. the most beautiful silver ring sparkled in front of her, her eyes widened at it's splendour, "wow."

"it's a promise ring." simon softly smiled as ivy concentrated on the ring in front of her, still amazed, "ivy?"

"mhm." finally bringing her head back up to look at him, she took a deep breath in.

"ivy -" he let out an elongated sigh and reached across the table to take her hand in his own, delicately stroking his thumb over it, "ivy this is a promise from me to you, i promise to be the best boyfriend i can be. someone who listens to you and your advice even if i am stubborn, someone who puts you first no matter what and someone who will always talk to you. if times get tough, we will endure it and compromise because i love you. you are the person who i've wanted by my side since i was a teenager, we will make this work. i promise."

ivy's hand scrambled around the table for a napkin, she wanted to hold simon's gaze, but his words made her eyes well up. as a tear tickled her cheek, simon leant over the table and gently wiped the tear away, "i could really do with a napkin." she sniffled.

simon instantly panicked, "why are you crying?"

"i just wasn't expecting this," a smile formed on her lips, "but it's so beautiful. the date, the ring, i love you, simon."

"so, this means you'll be my girlfriend, again?" he narrowed his eyes, smirking at her.

"of course." biting her lip, she nodded her head and attempted to hold back the heavy flow of tears ready to fall, "you're so soppy," she teased, "but this is perfect."

"i was really nervous." he let out a long sigh of relief, his heart still racing.

ivy softly smiled, "i could tell." she delicately took the ring out of the box and slid it onto her left ring finger.

"does it fit okay?" he questioned with a hint of worry, glaring at the ring, "sage told me your ring size, so it's alright, isn't it?"

"mhm," she nodded and looked down at the ring, "looks like i'm engaged." she giggled.

"none of that!" he exclaimed chuckling, "but seriously, i've missed you, you moving back to london and chilling with us all again really made me realised that you're the one, as soppy as that sounds."

ivy nodded in agreement, "i'm exactly the same, si. i think the distance and then being brought back together made us both realise that. but i'm happy, i'll always be grateful for you."

"i might be a busy person or whatever," he exhaled, "but i'm older, more mature, we both are, but i'll always make time for you. you're like my little support network anyways." he softly smiled.

"so," ivy narrowed her eyes at him with a smirk, "if you asked sage for my ring size, she basically knew about this?"

simon softly chuckled, "yeah, i guess so."

"she hid that well." ivy laughed whilst shaking her head and brought her drink up to her lips. sighing softly, she took a large gulp of it and placed the cup down on the table before gazing into simon's eyes, "you know, when i was a little girl, i thought i'd be married by now with children, living this really clichè lifestyle. but if i'm honest, this is better."

"really?"

"mhm," she nodded her head slowly and looked down, "honestly, i thought i knew what love looked like and i thought it was this perfect thing, but then i met you." she brought her head back up to meet his, her eyes glazed, "and i'm not saying that as bad thing, you showed me a different side to love, you still do and that's what i love about you, about us. it's realistic."

"i get you," he smiled, "i just hope after these two years apart it can work out better."

"it will." ivy swallowed harshly, hope and positivity running through her veins, adamant that nothing negative could stand in their way.

"we've just got to think positively," he laughed, "i want it to, i can't see myself with anyone else, i never have done."

"not even jj?" ivy burst into fits of laughter, causing simon to shake his head at her with a smirk, "but seriously si, me neither."

hearing 'si' fall from anyone else's lips resulted in a normal reaction from simon. he did not care, it was just a shortened version of his name. but whenever ivy hummed that nickname, butterflies instantly fluttered around simon's stomach. maybe it meant something different coming from ivy? whatever it was, during all those years of hearing it, he never got sick and tired of it. in fact, when they broke up, he missed it, so it was heartwarming to hear it again.

he exhaled, "i wasn't sure if this would be a good idea, you know? taking you out, asking you to be my girlfriend again, the ring. like if it's too early or too much."

"no, no." ivy shook her head, "it was definitely unexpected, but it's perfect. i don't think we could rush anything, i mean we've been together before so we technically just had a two year break." she shrugged her shoulders, giggling.

"yeah, i guess you could say it like that." simon grinned before requesting for the bill, "and before you say anything, i'm paying."

ivy rolled her eyes at him and watched him pull his card out of his wallet, "i'm not even going to try argue with you about that, too stubborn." she muttered, glaring at his every movement.

"come on," he gulped down the last of his drink, "we can head back to mine if you want?"

nodding her head in response, ivy beamed at him, "sure, i don't mind."

the couple left the restaurant and patiently waited outside in the breeze for their uber. their fingertips naturally intertwined as ivy rested her head on simon's slender body, even just his presence kept her warm.

arriving at his flat, ivy instantly slumped her body straight into simon's bed and spread her body out in a starfish position. her nerves left her with a lack of sleep, her brain was riddled with too many negative thoughts, but she was finally back with simon like she wanted to be. her entire body relaxed, she no longer felt tense and she finally felt sleepy.

simon walked into his room, chuckling at ivy's body, "so, i'm guessing i don't get to sleep in my bed."

"you can share with jj." she smirked, hoisting herself up onto her elbows and giggled as simon shook his head at her.

"move over."

"nah." she simpered.

"don't make me move you ivy." he raised his eyebrows at her before walking towards his wardrobe, throwing some comfier clothes in her direction.

after changing into clothes that clearly drowned her, but found it adorable, ivy finally made space on the bed for him, huffing as she did so in a teasing manner. simon shuffled next to ivy, switching on his tv that sat at the foot of his bed and wrapped his arm around her.

"thank you, for today." she mumbled against his chest, focusing on the tv in front of her.

"hey, i'm just glad you're my girlfriend." he laughed.

"i'm glad too." she smiled and slowly lifted her head up to look at him, placing a delicate kiss on his lips, "i don't think anyone will be surprised." she laughed.

"i don't either, i feel like everyone's been encouraging us to get back together." he grinned, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear and gently caressed her cheek.

"oh yeah, definitely." she sighed contently, fluttering her eyes shut as she rested her head in hand.

simon cocked his head, "are you tired?"

"mhm." she nodded, slowly opening her eyes and reached an arm out to stroke the back of his head, "not too tired for this though." she whispered before smashing her lips against his.