Bright Lights, Little City

8

Pretty soon, everyone had finished eating, and had headed for the dance floor. Lia was the exception - the English girl had been taking photos of the sculptures of the sea animals, and the sun which was beginning to set over the water. Harmony joined her after a while, and Lia smiled at her friend.

"How beautiful is the sun," she smiled. "I love sunsets like these, when the sky is kinda hazy."

"Me too," Harmony nodded.

"Where's Trent?" Lia wondered, glancing back to see that none of the players were still at the tables.

"He's dancing," Harmony shrugged. "I just. I don't know, Lia. I'm not sure if he's taking this seriously, you know?"

"Aw, what makes you say that?"

"I guess we've just never got to have a serious conversation about what this is that's happening between us. Maybe he's just in it for fun, and I'm scared that maybe we aren't soulmates."

"But you really like him, right?"

"I do," Harmony nodded.

"And he likes you as well, I can promise you that," Lia smiled. "Trent is an open book, we all know that. I've never seen him spend so much time with a girl before, and he's said a couple of times that he fancies you. Have you heard of of the theory that your close friends can tell when you're close to finding out who your soulmate is?"

"Yeah, I've heard of it," She nodded.

"Well, I've got that feeling. I don't think you'll have to wait much longer. You should just kiss him and see what he does." Harmony giggled.

"I'm not gonna do that," She stated. "We haven't kissed yet, and if it's as close as you say it is, it would be more worth it to wait a little longer."

"Maybe you're right," Lia said. "Anyway, I hope it happens before New Year's. He probably wants to give you a New Year's Eve kiss. Romantic."

"Maybe," Harmony agreed. "Okay, thanks Lia, I was stressing a bit but I think I'm okay now."

"That's good," Lia said. "Go get him, girl!"

Harmony disappeared in the direction of the dance floor, and Lia smiled to herself. Those two were literally perfect together, and Lia couldn't wait until they were actually together. Lia took a few more photos, and then headed back towards the tables and put her camera down, before going in search of her own soulmate Leroy.

Meanwhile, John had pulled Natalie away from the group, and the two had wandered out behind the restaurant. There was a bridge that crossed from one side of the bay to the other, and they stood there together to watch the sunset.

"Did you pick this place to bring us for New Years?" John asked the Australian girl.

"It was a joint effort, really," Natalie smiled. "My brothers and I quite often invite a group of friends down here for New Years, and we watch the fireworks and party together, it's a bit of a tradition. So to have you guys here is pretty amazing."

"It's cool that you guys are City and Liverpool fans," John said. "How did that happen? I bet it gets exhausting being a long distance fan."

"Yeah, exhausting is an understatement," Natalie laughed. "Jonah and I have been City fans for a long time, and Dan and Philip have been Liverpool fans for even longer. To begin with Jonah and I honestly picked City just to annoy Dan and Philip, but we've become just as passionate."

"Does it get heated on derby day?"

"Yeah, a bit," she replied. "But at least we're siblings, siblings have fights and it's all over within a few hours anyway. At least, for us it's like that. I think if we were just friends it'd probably break our friendship down."

"That's true," John said. "It's a little weird for us all being here together. I mean, obviously I know the English Liverpool players well, and all the Brazilians know each other, you know how it is. But being all together as a club, it just feels like something's going to happen any minute. But it's been such a good trip, everyone's behaved themselves, so maybe you've proved a point to us."

"That wasn't our intention," Natalie laughed. "But I'll take it."

"I have to ask," said John, turning to look at her. "I really like you, Natalie. We haven't known each other for that long but we have a connection. And I don't just mean as soulmates, I love spending time with you. But I don't know how this is going to work, being so far away."

"I know, and I feel the same John," Natalie responded. "The distance sucks. I will be coming to England in two months though."

"Oh, really?" John asked, brightening.

"Yeah, I'll be there for six weeks to work with a bunch of YouTubers on our "Waters of Healing" project."

"I want to try this," John said, looking at her determinedly. "At the end of six weeks, I think we'll know wether it will be worth it or not."

"I can always stay longer if we decide it is worth it," Natalie winked at him. John laughed, and cupped her cheeks, pressing their lips together. Natalie kissed him back passionately, and felt his lips curve into a smile.

"Will you be my girlfriend then?"

"Yes," she smiled, and the two of them laughed at how cheesy they were being. "I think we have to live in the moment, you know? We're gonna have limited time together, we have to make the most of it."

"Here's to living in the moment then," John agreed.

When John and Natalie finally returned to the restaurant, the dancing was in full swing. Jordyn was dancing with Kun, but both of them had half an eye on Virgil, who had been standing at the glass half-wall, and talking to the girl who'd managed to completely captivate his attention.

"I can literally feel you getting over protective," Kun told her, with a smile. "Virg can stand on his own two feet, don't worry about him."

"I'm well aware of that," Jordyn said. "It's just, it's been a really long time since he's had a girlfriend. I hope she's as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside."

"Stop stressing, you don't even know her name yet," Kun said. "Can we enjoy our own moment?"

"Yeah, sorry," she turned towards him, smiling sheepishly. Kun chuckled, and kissed her lips quickly.

"Hey, it's okay," he said.

~.~.~.~