want you back. [𝚍𝚓𝚜]

e͓̽l͓̽e͓̽v͓̽e͓̽n͓̽. d͓̽i͓̽n͓̽n͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ d͓̽a͓̽t͓̽e͓̽

"who exactly are you getting all pampered for?"

"you" she playfully flirted with him. his only response was a roll of his eyes. she sighed and put the cap back on her eyeliner, "im done, let's go"

"it's about time" he mumbled.

the two of them made their way into the restaurant. they hadn't bothered stopping to check in seeing as jack and daniel were already there. they stopped and scanned the room until their eyes fell on the three they were looking for.

zach turned to eleanor and placed his hand on her shoulder, preventing her from walking over, "promise me you'll try and have a good time tonight?"

she smiled at him and nodded, taking his hand off her shoulder and interlocking their fingers. she playfully saluted him with her free hand, "sir yes sir".

she pulled him over to the table, their hands still interlocked. jack grinned as he caught sight of them, "nice of the two of you to finally join us" he joked, catching the attention of daniel and his friend.

daniels eyes drifted towards the pairs hands, immediately taking notice of the way they were interlocked. he pushed his jealousy to the side and greeted the two with a smile, "hey! i didn't know you were bringing ellie"

"i didn't know he was bringing me either" eleanor told him. she took a seat next to jack as zach sat down on the other side of her, she sent daniels friend a welcoming smile in acknowledgement, but the girl did nothing except give her a once over.

"it was a last minute thing" zach informed him

daniel nodded in response and turned his attention back to ellie, "lennie, this is my friend renee.. renee, this is eleanor" he introduced the two.

"eleanor as in the ex?" renee questioned, a sly smirk appearing across her face.

"uh, yeah" ellie sent her a forced smile, "i guess that's me"

jack leaned over as everyone fell into conversation , "ignore her. nobody likes her" he whispered into ellie's ear, "we're really glad you came tonight.. although zach refused to take no for an answer" he teased, playfully nudging her.

the rest of the dinner was awkward to say the least, and it consisted of renee sending not so subtle glares in ellie's direction, to which she ignored - she was never one to get involved in petty drama, and besides, her and daniel were done. there was no reason for renee to be jealous.

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the group of five stood in the parking lot of the restaurant, saying their goodbyes to one another. ellie stood awkwardly to the side as jack and zach were engaged in conversation, although it didn't last long as daniel made his way over to her

"do you need a ride home?"

"no, that's okay" she dismissed him, "zachs going to drive me home"

"is there something going on between the two of you?"

"what?" she looked up at him, a shocked expression crossing her face, "of course not, why would you think that?"

"it's just that.. you walked in holding hands and i-"

"not that it's any of your business" she interrupted him, "but zach and i are best friends and that's it. shouldn't you be worried about your girlfriend?"

"my girlfriend?" he asked, confusion lacing his voice

"renee.. shes your girlfriend, right?"

"she's just a friend.. ellie, no one can replace you-"

"hey, ellie i'm heading out. i just wanted to say bye before i left" jack interrupted the two, pulling her into a hug

she accepted the hug gratefully, "it was great seeing you. i'll talk to you soon!"

"yeah, i think we're gonna head out too. you ready?" zach asked her as the two pulled away from one another

eleanor nodded, slightly thanking god for the timing of her two boys. she had a feeling the conversation between her and daniel was turning into something she didn't want it to.

"it was nice seeing you, daniel" she smiled at him politely before she entered the safety of zachs car, zach following suit behind her

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the two sat in silence during the first few minutes of the car ride, ellie breaking it when she let out a laugh

"what are you laughing at?"

"i can't believe i just had dinner with my ex and his new girlfriend" she laughed, finding the whole situation humerous

"renee isn't daniels girlfriend" zach told her

"maybe not, but she definitely wants to be"

"yeah, well, none of us like her... so that's too bad for her" he smirked. he couldn't help but join in on the laughter. ellie's laugh was extremely contagious, and secretly, it warmed his heart that she was laughing more often. he knew that times had been rough for her, and it made him happy to know that she was slowly easing back into the carefree girl that she was a year ago

"yeah, that is too bad" she agreed, "you boys are pretty great"

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not me not knowing how to end this chapter🙈 i wanted to show y'all the dynamic of the friendship between zach and ellie.. and i wanted to introduce y'all to renee 🤭
next chapter will be a lil filler!