#ab.newyears

The night was going from bad to worse. Not only had his conversation with Ceila been awkward and borderline hostile, at least on his end - he'd since spoken and argued with Mariana as well. He wasn't sure which was worse, but he knew that none of it was good. Julian had every intention of waiting until the countdown but considering the damage he'd done, the night was a write-off.

"Come on," Julian pleaded with his phone as he waited for an Uber driver to accept his ride home. Trying to find a ride half an hour before midnight on New Years Eve was a borderline miracle but he was willing to try.

"Ready to kiss the fuck-ass year goodbye?" Cherry asks rhetorically. Because surely she wasn't the only person who 2025 decided to universally shit on. "I need to forget this year ever happened. Do you think this place has enough tequila to do that or am I going to have to hunt down something stronger?"

The picture that Peyton had been holding in his pocket had been so well hidden in fact, that he didn't remember he had it until he stumbled across if after cleaning out some things the other night. All he could think about it since he found it was: Vegas had been a hell of a time.

And some it needed to start burning. This was a good step. It was as if it was written in the stars. How corny.

"Well, what are you burning?" He hadn't asked Robin until now.

"So, what's this?" Julian's words were a little slurred as he approached the now alone Mariana. He hadn't had the courage to interrupt while Carlos was there. There was no reason for it to hurt as badly as it did. Maybe it was the mixture of this, reconnected with Mariana and whatever the fuck happened with Ceila, it seemed like some kind of anti-Julian conspiracy. "You and him a thing now?"

"Don't you look dapper," Aylin greeted Joseph with a side smile as she walked up beside him. She'd spent the first part of the evening mingling, but her social battery was getting more and more depeleted the closer it got to midnight. "Okay, as part of the fun pact, we need to find you some to kiss at midnight." Her tone was playful but determined to the cause. "I need to live vicariously through you."

The drinks were going down all too smoothly but Will was still finding out the sweet spot for indulging at these town events. Finishing his whiskey at the bar with Cricket, he put the empty glass down and turned towards her. "Okay, 2025 ins and outs—" Will clicked his fingers and pointed at her. "Go." He'd seen the trend online and assumed that Cricket would have prepared a well-thought answer.