Niall stares out at the midnight sky exploding in colours as fireworks are set off. He listens to the noisy shouts and cheers from the streets and pubs below, and the flats surrounding him, including his own behind him, the thousands of residents of London noisily ringing in the new year with excitement. He lets out a quiet sigh.
He should be inside with his mother and her boyfriend, and Harry and his parents celebrating, but instead he is sitting outside in the first hour of the first of January, freezing his Irish ass off. The freezing iron of the fire escape is definitely not the most cozy of seating choices.
Why is he out here, moping like an angsty teenager? Well, the best reason Niall could figure, is that he is an angsty teenager. His mother and Harry's mother, best friends since Uni, celebrate New Year's together every year, and the Horan-Styles New Year's party is always a great time, but Niall just hasn't been feeling it all afternoon.
Why? Well, again, Niall isn't entirely sure of the answer to that himself. This is his 16th New Years, which isn't the thing, he's actually pretty embarrassed about what the thing is. The thing is, it's his 16th New Years without a kiss.
Now don't get him wrong, Niall isn't embarrassed that he hasn't had a New Years kiss yet, he is only 16 after all, not even 2 decades old yet, he has plenty of time. No, Niall is embarrassed because he has been thinking about that fact all night long. He just can't shake the thought, and no matter how many times he tells himself it doesn't really matter, he knows it really does. In his mind at least.
So now he finds himself sitting on the edge of the fire escape at 12:01am on January 1st of the New Year, angstily sighing into the cold winter breeze.
"Niall?" His heart flutters at the sound of Harry's voice, and judging by the butterflies that had just begun flying loop-the-loops in his stomach, it wasn't just because he had startled him. He glances back at Harry, acknowledging his best mate.
"Yeah..." Harry was peering out of the sliding glass doors leading into the warmth of Niall and his mother's flat, chocolate curls being tousled by the brisk breeze. Niall looks back out to the London city skyline and hears Harry step outside and shut the door behind him.
A moment later he is encircled by a warm wool blanket and he looks back to Harry as he sits down next to him, also wrapped in the blanket. They share the toasty warmth of the soft blanket, shoulders pressed together, listening to the ongoing celebrations all around them. After a moment, Harry speaks.
"What's on your mind?" Harry always could tell when something was bothering Niall (probably because Niall was really bad at hiding it). Niall just gives a one-shouldered shrug by way of response and hopes Harry won't find that the 'okay' to start prying. Unfortunately, he does (not that Niall really expected anything less).
"You can tell me, Ni. We swore that to each other, remember? Anything." Niall forces himself to look away from Harry's shining, sincere green eyes and gives an awkward little cough.
"It's stupid... Just forget about it..."
"C'mon, Ni," Harry prods. Niall heaves another sigh and begins picking the little cotton tufts off of the blanket the way his mother hates.
"Just... god, it's so stupid. I just can't stop thinking about the fact that I've never had a New Year's kiss..." Niall mumbles, feeling his face and neck flushing a brilliant shade of crimson at his admission. Harry says nothing for a moment, so Niall glances at him, hoping his friend isn't laughing. Instead, he is pleasantly surprised to find Harry staring out at London much like he had been, serious, pensive expression adorning his face.
"Who d'you want it to be?" He asks after a moment. Niall blinks, swallows the truthful answer dancing on the tip of his tongue, but continues to stare just a tad too hard at his best mate. Harry's curiously cloudy green eyes settle on Niall's face once the silence has stretched on a bit too long.
He doesn't seem to understand for a moment, and Niall sees his chance to turn this around, look away and shrug as if he didn't have an answer for the curly-haired lad, but then Niall is watching that moment pass, and still staring steadily at Harry as the lad clues up. The curious clouds in Harry's eyes seem to vanish and his lips part with a shocked little 'me?' Niall's cheeks warm once again as he waits to see what Harry will do with this new information.
Now it's Niall's turn, and he lets out a surprised little 'hm?' as Harry's soft, warm lips meet his a moment later. After about a half a second though, his arms are wrapping around Harry, and his eyelids are fluttering shut as he leans into his best friend, and Harry's hands find their way up to Niall's chest to grip at his shirt under his open hoodie as they kiss.
When they separate a moment later, Harry mumbles a quiet "Happy New Years, Nialler." Into his lips before pressing another soft kiss to them, and then gazing back out at London. Niall gives Harry's hip a light squeeze and then tugs the blanket tighter around them with a small smile as Harry's head drops down to rest on his shoulder.
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Happy New Years guys!
Hope you all had a wonderful 2015, and an even better 2016!!!
What are all of your plans for the night?
I'm going to a party with friends and my girlfriend, and I'll probably be too drunk to post this later, so here it is now!
Much love!!!
-Sam xx
