Begin Again

[ Wooooow]

"I've always been a much better person than you though." He teased, nudging her softly with his elbow. Sure, Ellie had a bad temper sometimes. But it always seemed to be for the right reasons. She stood up for what she believed in, and she even stood up for other people when she had to. Ellie was the first real super hero Sebastian had ever met... She had always been there to stick up for him before he could really stand up for himself. The first inclination he got to people bullying him was Ellie protecting him from it. She cushioned him, and taught him what to laugh at and how. "Oh, I'll give you his number so you can call... You could probably do with it anyway." He jibed back at her, following her into the apartment once she opened it. "Well... It's a lot better than your old bedroom used to be."

Ellie scoffed. "Yeah, keep telling yourself that." She said sarcastically, elbowing him back lightly. All jokes aside, Sebastian was definitely much more level-headed than she was. That was kind of just a known fact though. He had a lot more patience than she did too. She was really impatient and quick to run her mouth. It used to get her into a lot of trouble when they were younger. "I welcome you into my home and you insult me? You know it's rude to insult the host." She said, closing the door. "Hey! My room wasn't that bad."

More level-headed, definitely, but it didn't necessarily make him a better person than Ellie. Even if she went about it in the wrong way, more times than not, she was right in her response to things. Maybe her temper gave people the wrong impression about her, but she was one of the most kind-hearted people that Sebastian had ever had the pleasure of knowing... And luckily for him, he'd never gotten on her bad side. Sebastian couldn't even remember a single serious argument that they'd had. They may have disagreed from time to time, but they'd never fallen out. "Ellie, I'm pretty certain NASA were getting ready to send people into your room to look for extraterrestrial life forms, okay?" He teased, a grin on his face now he was stood in the apartment.

"You're such a jerk!" Ellie exclaimed, letting out a quiet laugh soon after. "I really don't know why I'm friends with you." She shook her head, though a small smile graced her lips. She knew exactly why she was friends with him though. Sebastian was one of the nicest people she'd ever met. He always had the best of intentions, and always seemed to put others before himself. He was also someone who she could always seem to have a good laugh with. They shared the same sense of humor, and she just felt like she could always be herself when she was around him.

"I'm telling you, it's my exotic charm. I'm just irresistible." He joked, happy to see that Ellie was smiling. More than anything he was glad that nothing had seemed to change between them, they were still the same people deep down. Just the best friends they always had been, and hopefully, now that they'd seen each other again, keeping in contact would be much easier. Sebastian never really realised how much he'd missed her. It wasn't that he had forgotten about her, it was just that he was usually so busy that he didn't have time to think about things like that. He seemed to be hit with just how much he had missed having her around. "I know I'm being a sap, but... I really missed you, you know?" He spoke after a moment, his tone more sincere than it had been before.

"Exotic charm, my ass." Ellie muttered, the smile still remaining on her face. She was glad that things didn't seem to have changed between them. That they were still able to joke around and tease each other like they used to. It was something that, up until recently, she hadn't realized she missed. Not as much as she was realizing she was now anyway. "I missed you too." She said quietly. "I'm glad we ran into each other today." She was still sort of surprised that it had happened, that, out of all the people in New York and all the coffee shops within it, they happened to be at the same one at the same exact time.

It seemed a miracle that they had managed to run into each other, and he was really glad that they had. The chances of it happening were very slim, but he wasn't going to question it. Joking aside, Sebastian was truly happy to see Ellie again. She meant a lot to him, and he was disappointed in himself for not maintaining better contact with her. She was someone who Sebastian wanted to keep in his life, and she was the best friend he had ever had. Now was a reminder of the fact he wanted to stay in contact with her more than he had before. "I should give you my new number," He murmured, pulling his phone out of his jacket pocket. "So we can actually talk more this time."

Ellie was thanking whatever celestial being was up there for what had happened today. It really did seem like some sort of miracle that they managed to run into each other the way that they did. It was like someone, or something, was bringing them back together after all those years of being apart. "Just so you know, I'll bombard you with text messages if you don't answer the first time. I'll spam you until you do, emojis and all." She grinned as she pulled out her own phone, opening up her contacts before holding it out to him.

Opening a new contact for Ellie, Sebastian swapped phones with her, giving a small laugh at her comments. "I promise I will always reply whenever I can," He smiled as he entered his number into her phone. "But if I'm on set, it might take me a while... But you'll be my priority for contact from now on... After my mom, of course." It was a genuine promise he was making. He'd make sure that he was in contact with Ellie whenever he possibly could be. He would text her whenever he could, he'd send her stupid pictures of himself on set so that she could make fun of him whilst he was working. It wasn't just for her benefit, but for his own. He was sure that after a long day, she would always be able to make him laugh. "I'll even invite you to events from now on."

Ellie smiled. "I'm going to hold you to that, Stan." She teased lightly, entering her number into his phone. She added a few cute little emojis at the end of her name, because why the hell not, before handing him back his phone. "Of course. I'd never expect to be at the top of your priority list. Your mom comes first." It was only then that she realized that she hadn't called her own mother back. "Speaking of, my mom's probably about ready to rip me a new one. I keep forgetting to call her back...she wants to know when I'll be going home for Thanksgiving and all that."

After entering his own name as 'The Supreme Overlord Sebastian Stan', he handed the phone back to her, a smile still plastered across his face. It came as no surprise to him that she had put emojis next to her name, and he doubted it wouldn't surprise her that he had put something as stupid as 'The Supreme Overlord Sebastian Stan' in her phone. If he needed anything to prove that neither of them had really changed, that was it. "Call her," He reminded her softly, moving away so that he could make himself at home on her couch. "Tell her you're bringing a date." He teased, smiling cheekily at her as he threw himself down into the seat.

Ellie let out a quiet laugh when she saw what he'd entered his name in as. "The Supreme Overlord Sebastian Stan? Seriously?" She shook her head, a smile on her face. This only seemed to prove even further that nothing had changed between them, that they could still have the same friendship that they always had, dorky jokes and all. "Alright, alright, I'm calling her." She let out another laugh, rolling her eyes slightly when he told her to tell her mom that she was bringing a date. She leaned against the entryway leading into the kitchen as the phone rang. As soon as her mom answered the phone, she automatically started receiving a lecture like she was twelve instead of thirty-two.

"What?" He laughed, shrugging the name off innocently. "It had a nice ring to it." Sebastian stayed quiet once Ellie called her mom, busying himself with his own phone as he waited for her to be done. Part of him was tempted to yell out inappropriate things in hopes that her mother would hear them, but he wasn't quite prepared to deal with an angry Ellie afterwards. Instead, he shuffled himself around on the couch, lifting his phone so that he could take a selfie with Ellie visible in the background. Social media had become much more important to him now, and to be honest, he wanted to brag a little bit about how happy he was to have met up with Ellie again.

Ellie sighed. "Yes, mom. I know how to work a telephone." She said, rolling her eyes slightly. It was like she was twelve or something. She wouldn't have been surprised if her mom told her she was grounded or something. "I know I need to make time for family. I do make time for you guys. I've just been...easily distracted lately." She stole a glance over to Sebastian, mustering up a small smile when she saw he was, very obviously, taking a selfie. "I'm bringing someone with me next week though." She started. "No, it's not like that, mom. It's Sebastian. He said he'd stop by for a little while." Her mother had always loved Sebastian, so she figured that she'd stop receiving a lecture if she told her that he was stopping by on Thanksgiving. "Yeah. I ran into him today actually." She smiled. She still couldn't believe that she had ran into him. "Mom says hello." She told him.

Sebastian only half listened to Ellie's conversation, smiling at his own phone as he chose the most flattering filter and posted it online. He turned in his seat when he heard Ellie speaking to him, a wider smile breaking out across his face. "Hi Mrs. Devereux!" He responded. Ellie's mom was practically an aunt to Sebastian, and had even become close friends with his own mother. She had always been so welcoming, and supportive, to the point that sharing holidays between the two families became quite common. Sebastian liked to be surrounded by both families. It had made New York feel so much more welcoming with the Devereux family around... Sebastian and his mother had even spent their first Thanksgiving with them. "Tell her I said I bet she looks wonderful."

"He says hi back." Ellie said with a smile. "Oh, and he bets you look wonderful right now." Her mother had always been fond of Sebastian, treating him like he was family on many occasions. He and his mother were always invited over for holidays and birthdays and everything else. It had always been nice. The holidays had been pretty strange the last couple of years. She could never figure out why that was, but she knew now. Sebastian wasn't there. "She wants to talk to you." She held the phone out to him.

Sebastian had once overheard a conversation between Ellie's mom and his own, discussing their children's friendship. Sebastian's mom thought Ellie was a godsend for her son, someone who welcomed him into their new life at exactly the right time. He knew she had always loved her... What he hadn't expected was for their mothers to be a little more suspicious of their friendship. It seemed like they were both waiting for the day that their child came forward and told them that the two of them were more than just friends now. He'd never told Ellie, deciding that it was better to save her the embarrassment of it all. Smiling when Ellie held the phone out, Sebastian pushed himself up from the couch and walked over to take it from her. "Mrs.Devereux!" He spoke cheerfully down the phone, a wide grin now on his face. "It's so lovely to speak to you again!"

Ellie had no idea of their mothers suspicions. She didn't realize that they'd both expected her and Sebastian to eventually become more than friends. The thought might have crossed her mind once or twice, though she'd never actually admit to that fact. Sebastian was her best friend, and it seemed like there wasn't very much that would keep them from remaining friends for a very long time. She was kind of glad that he was there to distract her mother for the time being. If he wasn't, Ellie was pretty sure she'd be receiving yet another lecture. This time one about settling down. She'd been receiving that same lecture since her 30th birthday. It didn't really help that her sister had gotten married last year, and her brother had been in a serious relationship with the same girl for three years now. Ellie was sort of the odd one out and her mother liked to remind her of that fact often.

There had been moments in which Sebastian had considered it. Ever since he overheard the conversation between their mothers, he looked at Ellie in a slightly different way. He thought about progressing their relationship further, and asking her what she thought about it all. But something always seemed to get in the way; Someone else would take Ellie on a date, or Sebastian would get too nervous to actually talk about it. Then the biggest road block came between them. Ellie moving to England. Time never seemed to be on his side, and he soon forgot about it. He got swept up in his own things, and she undoubtedly did as well. He'd had his fair share of relationships, but of course he was always going to have a soft spot for Ellie. Sebastian smiled over at his friend as he listened to her mother chatter on down the phone. "I know, I know. I'm so sorry for not keeping in contact with you both..."

Ellie might not have known of their mothers suspicions, but that didn't necessarily mean that she'd never thought of furthering their relationship past friendship. The fact of the matter was, she had. She had thought about it on a couple of different occasions. Usually it was after she went through a bad break up or the time she'd lost her grandmother. In both instances, Sebastian had been there for her. He was always there for her, and it was something that Ellie had noticed. It honestly got her thinking sometimes, though she was always too afraid to say anything or mention it in passing. Then she moved to England, and they lost contact, so she never really got to bring it up. She sent a small smile his way, watching for a few moments as he spoke with her mother on the phone. She really had missed having him around.