I am due to meet ex friend x for a quick coffee tomorrow while in her area for a family commitment. She knows that I will be spending most of the day with said family member and they get on well.
I have had some history with x. We used to be very very close but they became bitter and nasty to be with a few months back, when things all came to a head. I politely stopped contact but now things have slowly started back up (x is being very sweet and appears to be regretful?). Anyway I don't want to be drawn into any long talks on how either of us could/should have behaved; afaiac, that boat has sailed and things just are what they are. I also don't think you can really take back what someone has said to you (x said some hurtful stuff to me, and I don't want to feel forced in a position to say it's all ok when it's not tbh).
I just want us to see each other on neutral ground, see how it goes, say hi in a friendly way but without any fights or big talks.
For this reason would IBU to bring said family member along with me therefore making it into a bit of a group meetup? X and I get on great in groups normally, and that's the kind of dynamic I'd ideally like to achieve going forward with her - not really any 1 on 1 contact (we crashed and burned when we did this before!) but just chilled group meetups