"Fireworks?"
"Yeah dude. They set them off not far from the apartments. Every year I make the excuse that I'm not bothered about the new year but in reality I just wanna go onto the roof of the apartments and watch the fireworks on my own."
"So why are you telling me this?"
"Because I want to watch them with you this time." Larry said with a smile.
Sally couldn't help but grin happily at the fact that Larry was sharing something personal and almost secret about himself.
"Really?"
"Yeah, of course."
"Can we invite the rest of the gang?"
"If you want. I normally liked it on my own but it would be nice with some extra company."
"Then it's settled. I'll text Ashley to let her know and we can go to Todd's apartment now."
>•<
"Do you think he's in?"
"Todd hardly ever leaves his apartment. So yeah."
Sal was about to knock again when the door opened and there stood Todd who looked a bit worse than usual.
"Todd are you ok?" Sal asked.
"Yeah you're not even dressed yet." Larry said referring to Todd's blue pyjamas.
"I've got a cold." Todd croaked out. His voice was raspy and Sal could now notice how tired he looked.
"We were gonna ask if you wanted to watch the fireworks on the roof with us tonight but if you're not well you shouldn't go outside." Sal said with concern. "Do you want us to do anything for you."
"Well, I would hate to be a bother but my parents are out and I have no clue how to make tea."
Sally took the invitation and walked straight into Todd's kitchen to boil the kettle. Todd disappeared into his room then returned moments later wrapped in a blanket. Larry sat on one end of the couch and Todd sat next to him.
"Does Neil know you're ill?" Larry asked.
"I've sent him a message *cough* but there's been no reply." Todd answered.
Sal walked back over to the couch carrying 3 cups of tea, he gave one to Todd and the other to Larry before sitting down and taking a sip of his own cup.
"Thanks Sal." Todd croaked.
They had almost finished their tea when the door flung open and Neil burst in.
"TODD BABES ARE YOU OK?!" He yelled running over and wrapping his arms around his boyfriend.
Todd almost spilt the remainder of his tea as he awkwardly patted Neil's back.
"I'm fine it's just a cold." He said with a very red face.
"He's fine Neil don't worry." Sal said laughing.
Neil leant over and kissed Todd passionately on the lips. Todd looked as though he was enjoying it until he quickly remembered there were other people in the room. He gently pushed Neil off of him.
"Don't, you'll get sick too." He said, his face redder than before.
"We'll just leave you 2 lovebirds." Larry said while grabbing Sal's hand. "Have fun."
They closed the door behind them and stood in silence for a moment.
"Neil really loves Todd doesn't he?" Sal said.
"Yep." Larry replied.
>•<
11:50pm
Sal and Larry were on the roof of the apartments. It was a cold winters night so both were wrapped up.
"Nice view." Sal said.
"Right? You can see why I was reluctant to share it."
A moment passed without them saying anything, just taking in the view. Then they hear voices from behind them, they both turned to see Neil, Todd and Ashley walking over to them. Todd was still in his pyjamas but he had now 2 blankets wrapped around him along with Neil's arm.
"You alright Todd?" Sally asked.
"I'm fine I'm fine." He said impatiently. "I never really see the fireworks each year, so I'd like to see them tonight."
"Don't worry Sal. I've been taking real good care of him." Neil said with a cheeky grin.
Sal chuckled and turned back to Larry.
11:55pm
"Best part of the year?" Sal asked everyone.
"When you all got sick from eating too much candy on Halloween and I was fine." Ashley said smiling.
"Being with Todd." Neil said while Todd's face grew redder.
"Being with Neil." Todd said quietly which earned him a kiss on the cheek from his boyfriend.
"Receiving the gift Sally got me." Larry said with a grin.
"Meeting all of you." Sal spoke.
All his friends then smiled.
"Although meeting Larry was the best part of my life." He added.
Larry went red.
Ashley squealed.
Todd's expression didn't change but Neil looked overjoyed.
"Wait! Are you?...." Ashley started.
Larry answered her question by holding Sal's hand.
Ashley let out another squeal and hugged both of the boys.
"Fuckin finally." Todd said.
"Wait. You knew?!" Neil asked.
"Knew? It was obvious." Todd looked exasperated.
11:59pm
00:00
The first firework went off from behind them.
"Happy new year!" They all shouted.
Neil kissed Todd's lips again and this time it didn't look as though Todd was gonna push him away.
Sally turned around to see Larry watching the fireworks.
"So, are we really a thing now?" Sally asked.
"If that's what you want us to be." Larry replied.
Sal looked up at the boy next to him.
"How lucky am I?" He whispered.
"Wha-." Larry began but was cut off short.
Sal lifted up his mask and kissed Larry's lips with all the passion he could muster. When he pulled away he felt the happiest he'd been since Christmas.
Ashley stood on her own.
"I'll just wait till you're done. Where are all my kisses?" She said with a smirk.
With that sentence all 4 people ran over and hugged her Sal and Larry kissed her on the cheek while she laughed and hugged them back.
The fireworks were still going off but no one was paying them any attention. It wasn't the fireworks that were important. It was them, Sal thought.
His friends.
"Honestly." He started. "You guys are all I'll ever need."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE
AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 36K READS! ((Ik it's early but I wanted this chapter out asap))
I hope you have all had a good 2018 and will have an even better 2019.
I've gotta say, 2018 has been by far the worst year of my life but I'm not going into detail about that. I'm glad it's over but at the same time it was the year I started this book! And I'm so glad I did. I'm so glad I get to see people's hilarious and kind comments on the chapters coz that's what keeps me going.
Thank you all so much for reading my book. I love each and every one of you. ❤️