and the stars will all come out

chapter thirty-eight! ☆

WHEN DECEMBER 31ST ROLLED AROUND, TAYLOR WAS THE ONE TO PICK LANDRY UP FROM HER APARTMENT, BIZARRELY.

"Hey!" Landry greeted him, sliding into shotgun. She'd never seen him drive Dave's car before, she'd half-expected that he didn't have his license. "Where's Dave?"

"Getting everything set up," Taylor responded proudly, shoving the gearshift forward as soon as her seatbelt had clicked into place. "Out by the boulder. As for the rest of us, we've decided we're gonna celebrate NYE quietly, for once. Also, you have a really nice apartment building, holy shit."

They pulled out of the Milton Square parking lot, and Landry smiled. "I suppose it's alright."

"Where'd you get that?" he asked as they sped into the road, gesturing to the handheld lantern in her lap.

"Home Depot," she answered. "I thought it would be smart to have some source of light for when I go out there, since it gets dark out so fast."

"Ah, cool, cool. Hey, Lani?"

She looked at him. "Yeah?"

Taylor looked at her like he knew something she didn't. "Have fun tonight."

☆

THEY GOT BACK TO THE CABIN A FEW MINUTES BEFORE SUNSET, AND WITHOUT WASTING MUCH TIME, LANDRY MADE THE TREK INTO THE WOODS BY HERSELF.

Her boots were quickly wet with snow, and she held the lantern out in front of her uncertainly, only half-remembering where she was supposed to go. The path to the boulder clearing wasn't awfully twisty, she would've found her way there eventually one way or another, but the anxiety was still there--

Until the trees suddenly parted, and there Dave was on a blanket, a picnic basket beside him, sitting by a flickering bonfire. How was the blanket not soaked?

"Dave!" she called, rushing over to him.

He looked up at her. "Hey. Come sit down!"

She did, found the blanket was somehow soft and dry - must've been one of the waterproof ones, she figured - and looked at the basket. "Wow, what's in there?"

He shrugged. "I brought sandwiches and grapes and cigs and Chardonnay and stuff. Help yourself. Figured we could hang out here for a bit tonight. Maybe not until midnight, 'cause I know that T bought a whole bunch of those weird confetti poppers for the new year, but for a bit, at least."

"Oh, that's fine to me. Sounds like a great plan, actually."

There was an awkward pause as she tried to figure out how to word her question.

"So - I guess the main thing is, why did you decide to bring me here?" Landry asked, looking at him.

Might as well cut to the chase, Dave thought.

He took a deep breath and said, "Well, I wanted to ask you to be my girlfriend."

There was a terrifying beat.

Finally, Landry's face split into a smile. "Took you long enough."

Dave rolled his eyes, but he was grinning. "Well then, how long were you waiting for it, smart ass?"

"Uh, since you decided to finish my song for me, obviously. And everything. I thought you knew that."

He stared at the bonfire, watching the bright orange flames dance. "Oh, that was a good moment, for sure. But for me, I knew it was inevitable a little before that."

She smirked. "Oh, do tell."

"Nashville," he said, looking back at her. "You drank a shit ton of Fireball. I don't know if you remember that, though."