#ninemagicks

There’s soft noise coming through the doors as I stand on the balcony. 

Everyone inside is having a great time. 

It’s a good party.

(Truly, it is.)

Sometimes I just need to take a breath and separate myself from everything.

It’s also nice to be able to go outside without the fear of someone shrieking when they see me. 

(That happened once. Baz and I forgot about spelling my wings away the first night we moved in and the poor lady to our left saw us over her morning cup of tea.)

Thank Merlin costumes exist. 

(She still gives me weird glances in the hall though.)

“Doing alright?”

It’s Baz. He always knows I need some time at big gatherings.

(Frankly, he does too.)

 We love our friends, but we get drained after a while. It’s nice to be able to step away and get fresh air. 

Shepard is here anyway. He could always carry a party all by himself. 

Baz can tend to put up with more than me, people wise. (A side effect of his upbringing, I guess.)

“Yeah.” I look over the ledge at a group of people walking down the road. They’re slightly intoxicated, shouting about how this next year of their life is going to be the best thing ever. “‘M’alright.”

Baz’s arm comes behind my back and I feel his lips touch the top of my head.

“I’ll kick them out if you want me too,” he whispers. 

I snort. 

“Penny would kill you.” I lean into him.

He laughs softly.

Much softer than whoever is laughing back in the living room. 

(Penny, I think.)

“I’d bounce back, somehow. Short of her setting me on fire, I’d wager I could come back from the dead, so to speak.” 

I look up. 

He’s concentrating at a point on my forehead. Looking at me, but not at me. 

I start to wonder why, but he lifts a finger and brushes a curl from my face. 

“No amount of product you use will ever stop your hair being the way it is,” he says, finally looking down into my eyes. 

I smile finally. The first time since walking out here to escape the noise. 

Shepard shouts something about how he’s met Mothman.

Penny shouts back that Mothman isn’t real.

“I love you,” I tell him, putting my arms around his neck. “Any hopes for what this next year will bring?”

A group of people step out on the balcony above us, buzzing about how it’s almost time.

Must almost be midnight.

“Well let’s see,” he ponders. He purses his lips and looks up for a moment, pretending to be deep in thought. “I wouldn’t mind if my boyfriend learned to put his trousers away after finishing the laundry.”

He’s smirking, but it’s in jest.

(Doesn’t mean I don’t pinch his waist in response though.)

“I wouldn’t change much either,” I respond, leaning into his chest. “Maybe could do without the salt and vinegar crisp crumbs left on the table.”

He hums in response.

Not denying or accepting. 

“Okay, does everyone have one?” Someone asks above us. 

I hear people from inside start to count down. 

The people above start too (a bit off time, but close enough.)

“10…”

“Should we go in?” Baz asks.

I scrunch my nose.

“9…”

I look inside.

Penny and Shepard are shouting, both standing on the couch.

(I make sure Baz stays facing me. He’d be dreadful if he saw.)

“8…”

“I think they’ll make do without us,” I say, facing him again. 

He pulls me closer, our foreheads touching.

“7…”

We whisper the countdown now.

“6…”

It feels like it’s just us.

Me and Baz, against the world.

(Though we’re not fighting anything anymore.)

“5…”

Not really.

Unless you count the cable provider.

Baz got into it with them last Monday.

“4…”

He kisses my forehead.

“3…”

I kiss his chin.

“2…”

“I love you, Simon,” he whispers. His lips move against my own.

“I love you too, Baz.”

“1…”

We stay this in unison. The last number, the final moment of the previous year, and we press harder into each other.

I hear pops go off, maybe some fireworks in the distance. 

People on the street are shouting, praising the end of yet another horrible year.

Baz leans back for a moment. I open my eyes.

His hair has strips of something on it. 

He raises an eyebrow and pulls a similar one off mine. 

They’re floating all around us.

Confetti. 

I hear more pops from above.

“The neighbors seem to be having fun,” Baz jokes.

I hum, leaning up to keep kissing him while the confetti rains around us. 

Not every day of the year was great. Most were fairly painful if we are being honest.

But this, here.

Kissing Baz.

Feeling confetti hit our cheeks as we laugh.

Hearing Penny shout, asking where we are.

Only for Agatha to respond with: “Where do you think, Penelope? Making out on the balcony.”

She groans, but I don’t much care if I’m being honest.

It’s a new year, and I’ve started it by kissing Baz.