Phillip had always said cities were overrated.

Too loud, too crowded, too many eyes. He preferred controlled environments, places where he knew the exits and the people carrying weapons were on his payroll. But New York, a day before New Year’s Eve, felt different when he was walking through it with you.

It wasn’t about the skyline or the lights, though those were impressive in their own way. It was the way you kept glancing up at the buildings like they might swallow the sky whole, the way you tugged your scarf tighter when the wind cut between the streets, the way your hand always found his without thinking. Phillip had spent years moving from place to place, bases and hotels blurring together, but this felt intentional. Chosen.

You’d been together a long time. Long enough that silence between you wasn’t awkward, long enough that he didn’t have to explain himself anymore. Long enough that loving you wasn’t something he questioned or analyzed. It was just there, solid and familiar, like the weight of a watch on his wrist or a sidearm at his hip.

The night of the countdown was colder than the others. The city pressed in tight around the square, people shoulder to shoulder, breath fogging the air, laughter and shouting rising in waves. Music blared from somewhere unseen. Phillip stood close behind you, a hand settled at your waist, eyes scanning out of habit even though this wasn’t a battlefield.

The ball loomed overhead, glowing, waiting.

You adjusted your scarf, the fabric soft and wrapped snug around your neck. Phillip watched the way it framed your face, the way the ends hung loose against your coat. A slow, almost amused curve touched his mouth.

Five, the crowd roared.

He leaned in closer, his voice low, meant only for you. “Been wantin’ to do this all night.”

Four.

Phillip’s hands came up, fingers catching both ends of your scarf. He loosened it just enough, careful, deliberate, holding it like a tether instead of something to keep the cold out.

Three.

He turned you toward him, the noise fading into the background as his focus narrowed. The city blurred, faces and lights melting into nothing.

Two.

His grip tightened, just a bit, not rough, just possessive enough to make his intent clear.

One.

The ball dropped. The crowd exploded, cheers and fireworks and a thousand voices colliding at once.

Phillip pulled you in by the scarf, closing the distance in a single smooth motion, and kissed you hard and certain, like the new year belonged to the two of you alone. The cold didn’t matter. The noise didn’t matter. For that moment, in the middle of New York, with the world counting down around you, there was only you and him, and the promise of another year together.