Charms or Banjos?

Chapter 16

As the evening came around on New Year's Eve, Jessica's heart began to beat like crazy; Paige had been teasing her the whole time they'd been getting ready about the midnight New Year's kiss. Jessica wasn't exactly opposed to the idea of the kiss, but rather she was opposed to the idea of kissing Alex in front of their families and Paige's. She tried to not let it bother her as she finished curling her hair, but she couldn't help but grow increasingly nervous as the time their New Year's celebrations began drew nearer. Meanwhile, at Alex's house, he too was nervous about the whole situation. Jo had been telling him all about her first New Year's Eve with Mason but no matter how many times Jo tried to reassure her brother that it was nothing, that Jessica probably wasn't expecting it, Alex's anxiety about it continued to rise.

Although, as cringe as it may sound, as soon as he saw Jessica walk through the door, his anxiety dissipated and he felt immediately calmer. Like only the two of them existed at that moment. Jessica was wearing a navy dress that had lace sleeves and a pair of gold heels. Alex couldn't take his eyes off her, every step she took made his breath hitch. "You look gorgeous." Alex said, staring in awe at his gorgeous girlfriend. Jessica didn't say anything and just blushed at his words. She took his outstretched hand and pulled him into a hug, smiling at how perfectly everything had gone since the party. "Alright love-birds, time for shots!" Paige shouted from the kitchen, pouring three shots of tequila rose for them. "Come on." Jessica said, pulling Alex to the kitchen as she beamed with joy. "On three, one. Two. Three." Alex counted down, taking the shot on three in perfect sync with Paige and Jessica. The trio did more shots, making up random toasts and laughing like nobody's business. Finally, they moved upstairs to Alex's room so Alex and Paige could vape and all of them could do karaoke. "Alex, let me connect my spotify to your TV, I have premium." Paige reasoned, not wanting the ads from YouTube. "Fine. Here." Alex said, handing Paige the remote and pulling Jessica closer to him where they were lying on his bed.

"What do you guys want first?" Paige asked once she had got her spotify to link to the TV. "You belong with me." Jessica said excitedly, smiling. "Okay, the stage is yours Jess." Paige replied, making an exaggerated gesture to the empty space next to the bed. Jessica began singing the lyrics, smiling and looking back at Alex every now and then. All the while Alex gazed at Jessica like he could never get tired of seeing her. "I know I don't really need to say it, but if you ever hurt her, there'll be Hell to pay understand?" Paige told Alex as the chorus started. Alex nodded in acknowledgement, still staring at Jessica with love filled eyes.

The countdown had started, the three families were gathered in the living room, watching the live stream from London. When the presenter got to five, Alex pulled Jessica into the other room; he had wanted to kiss her all night and after karaoke, he was all too excited for the midnight kiss. "Alex what are you doing?" Jessica asked softly when they reached the middle of the room. "Well, it's nearly midnight and I want to kiss my girl without the threat of your dad beating me up." Alex answered. Before Jessica could say anything, the countdown had reached zero and Alex had pulled her into a kiss. She sagged against his body, smiling into the kiss as her hands ran over his arms and up into his hair. It was the perfect start to the new year. And though they thought it was a private moment, Paige was there again, capturing the moment on video for them. Paige didn't know why she felt so compelled to record their big moments, but she was glad she had because Jessica and Alex were endgame.