Despite the colorful atmosphere that surrounded the new year and the way anyone would assume it matched his frivolity, something about the surreal feeling made his stomach hurt. On the outside, he waved sparklers around like a child on your veranda, teasing you for the way you tried to “play it cool,” only holding yours like a weirdo. On the inside, he was just reminded of how much time it’s been since he was a kid. All the years that have passed since he was 18 and stupid and suddenly he’s 28, with students to teach and someone to love and someone who loves him. He missed his youth and he missed his best friend, and even after so many “new” years, he still wondered what he’d be like if he lived a regular old life.

That wasn’t a thought for now, though. He held up a sparkler for you to take, interlacing your fingers to watch as fireworks popped into the sky from the veranda. Watching the time closely, he waited until 11:58 before he turned to you, wiggling his eyebrows.

“It’s almost 12,” he purred. “Wonder what that means.”