The Grey- Noah Sebastian

twenty one

*Sutton's POV*

I have established a lot of traditions in my time of independence, but my favorite one is New Years Eve. I have my same group of close friends come over every year and we make resolutions, drink, and play board games together. We also go all out on our attire, wanting to be flashy and elegant-looking. Of course there's Olivia and Callie, but we also have two other friends from high school that we don't out with quite as much, but we love them all the same. I've known Ophelia and Vaden since junior year; we all ended up having art class together and then ended up becoming lunch buddies. Vaden began transitioning over the past year, so I love seeing their New Years outfits.

Noah was joining the tradition this year, but I don't know if he quite knows what he's in for. My friends are pretty chill, but they really let loose on New Years Eve every year. 

I threw a few decorations on the walls, just a few banners and streamers so that we have somewhere to take pictures. I finished putting them up when Noah knocks on the door; he has a distinct knock at this point. I swung open the door and he looked good, he took the dress code to heart, having an outfit similar to our first date. He kissed me before taking a look around and admire everything. "You really do go all out," he said as he let out a chuckle.

"Yeah, I like the routine of having new beginnings," I mused. "I still need to get ready, but--" 

"Oh perfect," he said before he picked me up and carried me to the bedroom, setting down on the bed.

"Babe, I have an hour before--"

"I don't need long," he said with a mischievous smirk before kissing me.

****

Everyone showed up a little past 8, not wanting to be too early. Everyone brought their own liquor for reasons I'll explain later and everyone brought one food item each. 

"Noah, this is Ophelia, but we just call her O," I introduced him to her, thinking about how comically small she was in comparison to him. 

"Good to meet you, O," he said sweetly. She quietly reciprocated and found herself a chair. O and Vaden go everywhere together, so they arrived together.

"And this is Vaden," I introduced them to each other, noting Vaden's incredible silver suit. They had began testosterone a few months ago, so hearing their voice go deeper has been really cool.

"Good to meet you, man," Noah fist bumped him. And yet again, their height difference was comical! Vaden is literally 4'10". We all grabbed plates and ate at the table, Noah sitting between me and Olivia and the others sitting across from us. The vibe is just a smidge awkward, but Callie, Vaden, and O are a little awkward; that's why I love them. 

"So, I finally listened to your band," Olivia poked at Noah.

"Oh yeah?" he asked with an amused smile. "How did that go?"

"I mean, it's good, but are you okay?" she asked, making us all laugh. He laughed longer and left an amused smile on his face. "No, but, I would have liked it even if I didn't know you, so that's the good news."

"Good, I'm glad that your mini golf grudge didn't affect that," he joked, making her dramatically turn to him, deadpanned.

"Watch yourself, giraffe," she warned, making us all laugh again. 

"On that note, I'm going to respectfully ask you to stay sitting, both for the sake of my gender envy and needing to have leverage on you tonight," Vaden said with a sly smile.

"Leverage? For what?" Noah laughed.

"For taking my wife," they joked, making us all laugh.

"Oh, please," Noah joked back, not having much to add. We all finished our food and got it out of the way while I went to go grab the resolution jar. When I came back over with it, everyone immediately grabbed their bottles of liquor, earning confused looks from Noah.