< Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Christmas came and went, and no matter how hard they tried to stop it, time was passing far too quickly. Their break seemed to zoom by and before they knew it, New Year’s Eve was upon them. After lengthy discussions about what everyone wanted to do for the big night, it was decided that since Kyle’s parents were out of town for the week, and subsequently, New Year’s Eve and Day, they would have a party at his house. It wasn’t often that they were given free reign of a house, especially on a night that they were expected to have a party. All Kyle’s parents said upon leaving was that they wanted the house in he exact same condition they left it in. What happened between the time they left and the time they came back was not an issue. What they didn’t see, they didn’t know about and as long as the house was still standing upon their return, they didn’t care what happened.

Oh, and they were supposed to be responsible in regards to alcohol. If it were up to them, there would be none at the party, but if there was to be drinking, they would appreciate it if Kyle could at least make sure that everyone drinking wasn’t driving and everyone too far under the age wasn’t drinking at all.

Kyle assured his parents that wouldn’t be an issue. They weren’t really planning on drinking anyways, so there would be no problem.

"So, what do you think that they’re going to be doing at Brian’s party?" Justin asked Nick as they watched TV on Nick’s couch. Josh would be picking them up at five and it was still only three.

Nick snickered and rolled his eyes. "Oh, probably just doing the same thing they did at that other party we went to."

Justin bit his lip nervously. "I ..." He paused and Nick looked at him questioningly.

"What?"

"I kinda had a really good time that night. I know they weren’t drinking or playing loud, wild music, but it was fun."

Nick grinned and felt his stomach flip at the memory of that night. He had had a great time too, but since everyone had been saying how different they were expecting it to be, he didn’t say anything. "I kinda did too. It was cool to be all playing cards on the patio, and people kept coming outside to talk, or go to other rooms... Everyone together at one party, but you could go back and forth. Plus, just knowing we were there, you know?"

Justin nodded. "I kinda wish we were going tonight too."

Nick understood completely. Although he was excited for Kyle’s party, he had really wanted to go to Brian’s, if not just to see Kevin. And he knew that Justin was wanting to see Chris. They’d been at the mall earlier that week and Chris had been shopping at Hot Topic with Joey, and while they didn’t say anything to them, Nick knew that Justin had been giddy just to see Chris. They’d spent the next hour and a half talking about what they thought Chris had been shopping for, how his Christmas had been and whether or not he’d be interested if Justin approached him to talk to him.

Everyone had contemplated going to Brian’s party, but in the end, since Kyle’s parents would be out of town, they thought it would be more fun if they had a party of their own. Friends of Kyle’s and Billy’s from St. Peters were going to be there and they knew it wouldn’t be as awkward as if they had have crashed Brian’s party. It was made clear that if Justin and Nick wanted, they could go to Brian’s party, but the two boys agreed that they would rather be with their friends, than their crushes’ friends.

"Me too, but then I think about how fun it’s going to be at Kyle’s, and know that we’re so gonna have a better time there."

"Can you imagine," Justin started. There was a dreamy smile on his face and his eyes were focused on nothing in particular. "If we were at Brian’s and then at midnight I got to kiss Chris, and you got to kiss Kevin. How cool would that be."

Nick’s stomach did flips just at the thought of it. "God, I would so die." The two friends looked at each other and both started to giggle girlishly.

"We’re such nerds," Justin exclaimed with a laugh. There was no need for Nick to respond with anything other than a knowing nod.

Their bags were packed and ready at the front door, so when Josh rang the doorbell, Nick and Justin shouted their good byes to Jane Carter who was currently in the kitchen making cookies and squares for her own new year’s eve party. "Bye mom," Nick called. "See you next year."

Justin groaned and smacked Nick’s arm. "That is still lame."

The sound of Jane’s laughter coming from the kitchen caused for Nick’s face to split into a giant grin. Justin knew exactly why he said the same joke every year and couldn’t help but smile as well.

"Good bye sweetie. Have fun and be careful." Jane appeared in the doorway to the kitchen wiping her hands off on a tea towel. "If you need us, call. Okay?"

"Okay mom," Nick rushed over and have her a quick kiss on the cheek. Justin smiled and waved.

"See you later, happy new year."

The boys scrambled out of the house and towards Josh’s car which already had Christina and Britney sitting inside.

"Aje and Lance?" Nick asked after they’d all said their hellos.

"Lance’s mom is dropping them off." Josh answered distractedly. He pulled out of the driveway and they headed off towards the other end of town where Kyle and Billy lived.

"So, what’s the plan?" Britney asked from the back seat. She was resting comfortably against Justin who wrapped his arm around her protectively. In the beginning, when he’d asked her and Nick to switch seats in Science, he thought he’d made a huge mistake and was going to end up pulling his hair out, but the more he got to know her, the more he realized that she was a very friendly and outgoing person. She loved interacting with people, was one of the kindest and sweetest people he’d ever known and in effect, had become very close with her. Thinking back to the people he thought she and Christina were at the beginning of the year, and seeing them for who they really were continually surprised Justin.

They’d done a lot of talking while he and Nick had been fighting and Justin realized that if anything, the one good thing that came out of his and Nick’s fight had been their friendship with the girls. He never would have asked for them to switch seats, and they’d still probably be ignoring them and running every time the girls came in their direction.

"Well, Billy, Kyle and I have been cooking all day. So we’ve got dinner for us, and then I think people are coming around eight."

"What are we having for dinner?" Nick asked. He’d brought some of his Christmas money thinking that they were going to be ordering Chinese food or pizza. It was a surprise to find out that they had been cooking all day.

"We made lasagna, salad and garlic bread. We were going to order in, but then we were thinking it would be cool to have a big dinner for everyone and have us cook. It didn’t take too much time and Billy’s mom is a chef so she’s always showing him how to do it. Then we have veggies and dip, chips and pretzels and other snacks for later too.

"That’s so cool," Justin said with a grin. "It’s like we’re so mature or something. Having a dinner party. With no parents."

Josh laughed and nodded his head. "That’s what we thought too."

They pulled into a driveway of a large house and Nick figured that this was Kyle’s house. "Wow, it’s huge."

Josh shrugged. "They’re pretty rich. Old money."


"Then why did he need to borrow his dad’s car?" Britney asked, eyes wide as she looked at the mansion in front of them. "Shouldn’t he have his own?"

"Yeah, well his parents aren’t the type of parents who spoil them. He wants them to know the value of a dollar and if they give them everything, they won’t appreciate it as much. So all of Kyle’s money is held up in a trust until he’s finished college. So if he wants a car, he has to buy it himself. They said they’d help pay for it, but right now he doesn’t mind borrowing theirs."

"I’m hoping that they’ll get so pissed with me asking for it all the time that they’ll just break down and buy me my own," Kyle added as he answered the door. "AJ and Lance just got here and I was about to go back to the kitchen when I heard your car pull in." Kyle smiled warmly at everyone as they piled into the house. "Welcome to my humble abode."

"Humble my ass," Britney snickered. "This is a beautiful house."

"Thanks, I made it myself."

Britney giggled and Kyle beamed at the sound. Justin, Nick, Josh and Christina all exchanged knowing glances. When Britney headed into the other room to see everyone else, Kyle shook his head.

"I know what you’re thinking and no, I’m still very happy with Emily. She’s in the other room thank you very much."

Josh cocked an eyebrow and Kyle continued.

"Now, Billy..." His lips curled to a wicked grin. "I wouldn’t be surprised to see HIM stealing her New Year’s kiss at midnight."

Christina’s eyes widened to comic proportions. "Really?" She was excited for her best friend at the knowledge that Billy was interested in her. They’d spent hours the night after Chris’ band played discussing how Billy had been talking to her all night and whether that meant he liked her or was just being friendly. Christina had asked Josh if he knew anything, but her boyfriend claimed that he hadn’t said anything to him.

"Yeah, but don’t let him know I told you. He’ll get really nervous and pissed and ..yeah, you don’t want to deal with that."

"Okay, it’s just ...lets just say that he won’t have to steal anything, she’ll be more than happy to kiss him at midnight."

"Excellent. I’ll go put the bug in his ear not to worry about midnight, that I think I heard she was as interested in him as he is in her and it’s all good!"

Kyle took the teens through the house, showing them the rooms they could pick to sleep in that night. Their other friends would be driving back home that night after the party, so it was just them staying over. There was one room with two twin beds and Nick dropped his bag in there. "J, lets stay in here."

Justin entered the room after Nick. "Wow. Yeah, this is awesome." They each picked a bed, and tested it out. Britney’s sigh came from the next room and they all started to laugh.

"This is my room!"

Nick and Justin exchanged looks before getting off of their beds and following the sound to the next room where they found Britney laying in the centre of a four post bed, equipped with a satin canopy. The room was decorated in white and pink and she looked like she was in heaven.

"Yeah, my sister decorated this room," Kyle said with a roll of his eyes. "She’s such a princess."

"Is it her room?" Britney asked, worried. She didn’t want to sleep in someone’s room and violate their privacy. Kyle shook his head.

"No, her room is down by mine. Hers is ...surprisingly identical to this room except with purple instead of pink. This room suits you Britney."

She grinned and nodded her head. "Someone take a picture of me in this bed." Nick leaned down to fish her camera out of the front pocket of her backpack.

"J, can you go and get my camera from my bag too."

"We need to all make like, six copies of the pictures," Britney suggested. "So we all can have copies."

"Give them to me when the film is done," Lance said as he joined the party in ‘Britney’s room’. "We do a lot of our own developing at the school for the paper. I’ll just have Kendra, one of our photographers, develop it for us. She’s pretty cool and won’t say anything. That way we don’t have to pay a billion dollars to make so many copies."

"Good idea," Justin said as he returend from his and Nick’s room. They all started taking silly pictures of each other until a voice called down from the kitchen.

"Appetizers are ready," Billy called. "Get down here!"

"So, which room are you staying in?" Nick asked Lance quietly. Lance and AJ had been going out for over a month now and he was certain that they had kissed, probably even making out and fooling around, and with no parents around, he wondered if they would be sleeping in the same bed. The blush on Lance’s face made Nick snicker.

"The one on the other side of Brit," Lance looked down at his feet. He desperately wanted to talk to Nick about the multitude of thoughts and fears that were floating around in his head.

"With.." Nick didn’t even need to say his name. Lance gave a jerky nod and his eyes nearly bugged out. "Really?"

"Can we talk?"

Nick could see that this was important, and so he pushed away the surprise and niggling of jealousy and concentrated. Lance had changed so much in the two and a half months since they’d become friends and Nick loved seeing Lance so happy and confident with himself. "Lets grab some snacks and we’ll find somewhere we can talk."

Lance nodded and followed Nick downstairs to the kitchen. When they had loaded up their plates with snacks he noticed that everyone was heading into Kyle’s spacious den. There was a 56 inch TV and tons of other accessories for it.

"Lets go into the breakfast nook I saw off to the side of the kitchen," Nick suggested. He turned to the rest of the group and gave his most innocent smile. "We’re just gonna eat in here for a bit."

"Why? Everything okay?" Kyle asked, concern in his voice.

"Yeah, but I haven’t seen Lance in forever and we just wanted to chat. I’ve got some stuff I need to talk to him about. We’ll be in in a bit."

Lance saw the look in AJ’s face and put a vague smile on his face and shook his head. He wanted AJ to know that everything was okay, that he shouldn’t be concerned. AJ smiled back and nodded his head. At the last minute, Lance turned to Justin who was pretending to watch what was on the TV. "J?"

Justin looked up. He forced the jealousy out of his expression and smiled. "Yeah?"

"You coming?"

Justin was up and across the room in the time it took them all to blink. "Okay."

"We’ll be back in a bit," Nick assured the gang who was still all watching them curiously. They settled themselves around the small round table and all began picking at the food on their plates. It was Nick who started the conversation. "So, are you both sleeping in there?"

"Y...yeah." Lance answered. He saw Justin’s jaw drop.

"You and AJ are sleeping together tonight?"

Lance’s face blushed and he covered it with his hands. "We’re not SLEEPING together. As in going to have sex." Lance’s voice dropped lower as he said the word ‘sex’. "But we’re going to sleep in there. Together."

"Wow." Nick breathed. "Have you...?"

"Had ..." Lance started before his blush depend. They were all blushing. "You mean, done IT?"

Nick only nodded to which Lance shook his head.

"No."

"How far have you gone?" Justin asked as he popped a cheese puff in his mouth. When Lance didn’t answer he continued. "I mean, you don’t have to tell us. But we’re not going to tell anyone. We’re your best friends Lance, and if you need to talk about it.... Not that I’d really know what to tell you since I’ve never even kissed anyone, but at least we can listen."

Lance took a deep breath and realized his hands were shaking. He so desperately wanted to talk to them, but now that he had the opportunity, he was afraid. "I..."

"It’s okay Lance," Nick assured his friend. "We’re here for you."

"We haven’t done it. I don’t know when we will, I’m so not ready for that."

Nick gave a nod. He definitely understood about not being ready for it. He knew he was ready to kiss Kevin and touch him, but to be naked and .... just the thought of it made his stomach churn nervously. "Yeah."

"But ...well we’ve touched each other." Lance watched both Nick and Justin’s eyes open comically.

"Under the clothes?"

There was a silence before Lance finally answered. "No. Over the clothes. Mostly we just kiss."

Nick grinned. "Is he a good kisser?"

Lance felt goose bumps cover his skin and he swooned as he nodded his head and a dreamy expression covered his face. "The best. Not that I have a lot to compare with, but he’s the best kisser ever."

"I’m so jealous," Justin pouted. He stuck out his lip and crossed his arms over his chest. Both Nick and Lance burst into laughter.

"You want to kiss AJ?" Nick couldn’t help but laugh, covering his mouth with his hand.

"No," Justin rolled his eyes. "I want to kiss Chris. I want to kiss him and have that goofy expression on my face and be able to say that he’s the best kisser ever."

"How do you know he isn’t a horrible kisser?" Lance asked with a shrug.

Justin simply looked at his friend like he was crazy. "Are you kidding?" Lance shrugged again. "Have you seen that snarl? The way his lip does that sexy curl thing? God, he’s gonna kiss me and my whole body is going to turn into mush."

Nick nodded in agreement. "That’s what is going to happen when Kevin kisses me.

"I’m sorry you won’t be at Brian’s party with them tonight," Lance apologized. "I know how much you both wanted to be there. Maybe kiss them at midnight."

Nick rolled his eyes, "yeah right. Kevin’s gonna be there with Gretchen, probably having sex with her as it turns midnight." The worst part of Nick’s statement, was that he genuinely believed it to be true. That was one of the main reasons he was glad that they had an excuse not to go to Brian’s party that night. The last thing he wanted to witness the first thing in the new year was Kevin and Gretchen, celebrating together and all over each other. He could wait until school started to see that!

"Are you nervous?" Justin asked, bringing the conversation back to the original topic at hand. "Sleeping with him?"

Lance gave a half shrug. He was a little nervous, but at the same time was excited for it. "I trust him. And we’ve done a lot of making out, so I’m comfortable with that. And he doesn't pressure me for ...sex. So..." Lance swallowed as he took a big gulp of his drink. "I’m more excited than anything."

"So, do you think that Christina will be sleeping in Josh’s room?" Justin asked. If Lance and AJ were going to be sleeping together, he assumed that Josh and Christina would be too.

"Probably, I mean, why not? There are no parents around to stop them."

"I wonder if they’ve done it yet," Lance asked softly. He would hate for any of their friends to overhear them talking about them. Nick shook his head, answering his question.

"They haven’t. She’s not ready and he’s cool with waiting. They want it to be perfect and special, at least that’s what she’s told me."

Lance smiled. "That’s really great." They continued talking softly amongst each other when finally AJ appeared at the door. He knocked softly to announce his presence.

"Can I interrupt?"

The three teens nodded and smiled warmly.

"Of course," Nick said.

"Dinner is going to be served in about ten minutes."

Justin stood up and stretched. He could feel his stomach still growling and patted it with a smile. "Good, I'm starved. We’re done in here anyways, right?"

"For now," Lance agreed. He stood up and first hugged Nick, followed by Justin. "Thanks so much," he said.

"You’re welcome," Nick said when he hugged Lance back. "Anytime."

Justin and Nick exited the nook first, leaving Lance and AJ there alone. AJ pressed Lance against the table and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s waist loosely. "Everything okay?"

"Just needed to talk, haven’t done it in a while so..." Lance leaned in and kissed AJ sweetly on the mouth. The kiss escalated at AJ parted his lips and Lance took the opportunity to taste his boyfriend’s mouth. Lance whimpered as AJ's tongue pressed against his and his hands slid down Lance’s back to rest on his ass.

"Can we..." AJ growled as he pulled away. He started biting at the side of Lance’s mouth while he kept talking. "...maybe fool around tonight? We won’t have to worry about anyone coming home and interrupting. And I just want to touch you and kiss you all night."

Lance could feel AJ’s erection against his hip and he pressed against him tightly. They both let out mirroring whimpers and Lance nodded enthusiastically. "Yes." He had brought boxer briefs and a tee shirt to sleep in and the thought of being in bed with AJ in only their underwear excited him. "Maybe you can even touch me..." Lance swallowed thickly, his heart in his throat. "...under..." AJ’s breath ghosted over his throat and Lance heard a soft cry of surprise.

"Are you sure? I don’t want.."

"I do want. I think..." Lance closed his eyes as he let AJ pull him close in a comforting hug. "I’ll see how I feel, but I think I want you to..."

"Shhh," AJ said as his heart was pounding in his chest. He felt dizzy and excited at the prospect, but at the same time nervous. "Lets see how the night goes."

Lance nodded. "Okay."

"Are you guys done making out in here," Christina teased with a wink. "We’re holding dinner because you two are too busy in here."

Lance blushed and AJ gave her the finger. "Like you and Josh aren’t worse."

"She and Josh are already at the table waiting for your asses to get in here," Josh’s voice called in from the kitchen where he was getting some more bread for the table. He poked his head into the breakfast nook and smiled at the sight of Lance and AJ wrapped around each other. "You’ll have all night to make out, we’re hungry."

The prospect of the night ahead, as well as the new year that they were embarking on sent a rush of excitement through the group. They all joined the large table, all ten teens looking expectantly at one another. It was Kyle who spoke first.

"I just wanted to thank you all for coming to my party tonight. I can honestly say that four months ago, I ..." He looked around the table and snickered. "Didn’t know half of you."

Josh, AJ, Britney, Justin, Christina, Nick and Lance all grinned. Before that year started, Kyle had only known his girlfriend Emily and Billy. He’d met Josh at their coop placement, meeting the others through him.

"But I am so glad that my other placement didn’t come through and I had taken the one at Holy Cross with Billy. I had no idea that in going to that school I’d meet some of the best friends I’ve ever known."

It was Billy’s turn, so he jumped in. "It’s been a great four months and I have a feeling that next year is going to be just as good, if not better. They say that who you spend New Years with, who you ring it in with is who you will spend most of the next year with, and if that’s true I’m glad we’re all together." He raised his glass, encouraging everyone else to follow. "Here is to new friendships, old friendships and friendships I know will last forever. It’s true, you really never know what’s going to happen around the next corner, and I think that we’ve been very fortunate to have found each other."

Britney blushed as Billy’s gaze was focused on her. She saw his lips curl and she gave him a smile of her own. She was more than ready to start the new year, especially with Billy.

They went around the table, giving everyone the opportunity to say something to the group, and once they’d finally gotten back to Kyle, everyone was ready to dig in.

"Happy New Year," everyone chorused as they clinked glasses together.

End Chapter 26


Chapter 27 >