LUCIFER » SIMON MINTER

Chapter 34

Today was the 31st of December, 2016. Usually families would get together on this day, and prepare for celebrating the new year together. I, however, was currently sitting in my room at home, brainstorming an outfit for tonight. Will and Gee were throwing a 'party' at their flat, which I happily said I'd go to. It wasn't really a party considering it was only going to be the three of us, but I figured I'd enjoy myself anyway.

I finally settled on a short dress that'd been collecting dust in my wardrobe for a while. I'd worn it before, but neither Will or Gee had seen it yet so why not?

'Ooh, look at you!' Sarah smirked when I walked down the hallway, completely ready. I couldn't help but smile and feel my cheeks heat up. 'It's been a minute since you've looked like this,'

'I know,' I giggled.

'What's happening?' Freya shouted from the kitchen. It seemed she was making some sort of late dinner, so I guessed Josh and probably Callux were coming over tonight. Just as long as my bed isn't occupied tonight...

I walked with Sarah into the kitchen to show Freya my outfit. She wolf-whistled as I spun around. 'You look fucking hot mate.' She smiled up at me.

'Okay, well, I'm off to Will and Gee's tonight.' I said, slowly inching towards the door. I got a notification from my phone saying that my Uber arrived.

'Have fun! Don't get too wasted!' Sarah waved.

–

I told myself having a couple of drinks tonight was the norm. The three of us enjoyed some champagne together on the balcony, listening to some overly chilled music and watching early fireworks go off. But it all went downhill when Tobi, Harry and Ethan came down to say hello.

'Lu! You're here!' Harry said happily and engulfed me in a hug as he walked into the apartment. It was definitely a surprise to see all of them here; I hadn't seen them in so long. I then went up to Ethan and Tobi to give them both hugs.

'You look fantastic,' Tobi said with a genuine smile, delicately wrapping his arms around my waist as he leaned in to hug me. It felt so good to meet up with old friends, it was almost nostalgic.

Fast forward a couple of minutes and we were all standing in the kitchen, shot glasses filled to the rim with vodka in our hands. '3, 2, 1...!' Harry shouted and before we knew it, the alcohol was burning our throats.

And we didn't do that just once.

When it finally neared midnight and thousands of fireworks were going off outside, we all headed out to the balcony. The TV was still on inside, and some news reporter was rambling on about how other cities in the world were celebrating (or had already celebrated) their New Years.

Finally, when several fireworks went off one after the other, we could hear the TV counting down from 10.

'9, 8, 7... 3, 2 1!' We all shouted together. It was freezing on the balcony and I was just in my dress – which I felt like I hadn't really needed to wear, – and I could feel the goosebumps on my arms.

'Happy New Year!' We all suddenly shouted, clinking more shot glasses together and drinking it straight after. I watched as Harry and Gee giggled together, definitely drunk out of their minds. I was drunk too, but not to the point where I couldn't stand up normally for more than 10 seconds.

'Happy New Year, Lu!' Ethan came and hugged me again.

'Move, out my way!' Will pushed him away. He leant in, cupped my cheek and kissed the other. 'Happy New Year!' He smiled, shouting over the loud booming noises of the fireworks going off around us.

'Happy New Year,' I giggled back at him, feeling my cheeks heat up. I knew I was drunk and that everything was kind of blurry, but was I hallucinating just then? Did I imagine that, or did that really happen?

Then I watched as Will pushed his way back through the little crowd, and crashed his lips upon Gee's, who didn't seem surprised at all by the act. He held both his hands on her cheeks, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing them closer together. It was almost as if it happened in slow-motion. It made my stomach churn, so I quickly ran back inside and locked myself in the guest bathroom.

I don't know if what came out of me just then was because of the alcohol, or because of the sick feeling Will and Gee gave me. Or because of the sudden flashback I had.

Everyone was at The Shard that night, holding drinks in our hands and dancing to the music and chatting away with everybody. Even Chris and his girlfriend had come over all the way from Jersey to celebrate New Years with us.

'Have I told you that you look beautiful yet tonight?' Simon asked with a cheeky smile on his face as he came up to me from behind, resting his hand on my waist.

'Yes you have. Three times, actually.' I smiled up at him. He'd just laugh and peck me on the cheek, and then make his way over to other friends.

The room was filled with chants as we counted down from 10, seeing fireworks go off from all around us because of the glass wall that provided us with a 360 view of London. I was standing in front of the windows, Simon standing behind me with his chest pressed against my back and his arms wrapped around my waist. His chin was gently bumping against the top of my head every time he gasped at the beautiful fireworks.

Then, when everyone started shouting 'Happy New Year!' Simon spun me around in his arms to lean down and smile into a kiss. I heard a camera shutter go off, evidently coming from someone's phone, and next thing we know we're on Josh's and Freya's snapchat story.

Finally heading out of the bathroom, I decided it was time to go. I pushed my phone in my purse after ordering a Uber, who would be here any minute, and quickly walked back outside to where everyone was still standing on the balcony.

'Bye guys, I'm heading out.' Tobi was the first to spin around when I said I was leaving.

'Oh, okay. It's was nice seeing you again though, bye Lu!' He smiled and waved. I quickly waved goodbye to Ethan and Harry too, not knowing where Gee and Will went. I didn't know if I wanted to know.

On the Uber drive back home, I couldn't help but go through my Instagram feed. And to make me feel that little bit worse, I went through Simon's pictures and scrolled all the way back to the picture from Snapchat at New Years that he posted at the end of the night.

He was wearing a gorgeous navy blue suit with a white button-down underneath, where the top two buttons were undone. His suit almost matched the colour of his eyes. His hair looked as soft as ever, and his ring shone under the dark lighting.

Happy New Year love 💙

a year ago

---

A storm is coming...

Mel xx