When it was finally dark outside, we left the house. We didn't have a plan on where to go and what to do. Decided to leave it all on George.

And he finally took us to a place which looked less like a post apocalyptic region and was actually still decorated with christmas lights. The place he took us was also crowded, had street musicians on every other step, vending machines, claw cranes, cafes, people making cotton candy on the spot, and just people walking around and looking happy.

The only bad thing about this whole day was the weather. I could feel the skin of my hands tingling from how cold it was, and none of us brought gloves.

"I kinda wanna get something out of that claw machine." Nick had been looking at it for minutes now.

"It's rigged." I shook my head, trying to talk him out of the thought.

"Still wanna try." He shrugged and made his way to the machine.

The amount of time he spent yelling and cursing at that thing dared to fill up my phone memory. I recorded all of it.

And right when I wanted to stop recording, he got a good grip on the panda plushie he'd been aiming for since the beginning. We all held our breaths, and when the claws opened letting the toy drop in the small box, we couldn't help but cheer and celebrate.

"Let's fucking goooo!" George clapped, waiting for the toy to come out of the box.

"Hell yeah!" Nick looked so happy, and it made all of us happy.

He took the plushie out and handed it to George. At first we thought he gave it to him just to hold for a while, but turned out he was actually gifting it.

"So that you'll have something to look at and remember me when we leave." Nick explained, and I cursed myself in my mind for not getting that part in the video.

"Can you not leave tomorrow? Ugh.." George pouted.

We all stood there in silence for a few seconds, knowing that we couldn't stay but wishing we would.

"My goal for this year is to get both you and Nick to Orlando," Clay spoke, "and as soon as possible."

Smiling, they nodded. And I knew those weren't just words, those sounded like a promise.

"Should we go get some tea for us?" George looked at Nick, "At least the cups will warm up our hands."

They didn't even ask me and Clay to join. Just agreed and left, telling us to not walk away from the spot. And we didn't have any intentions to do so, cause let's be honest, we'd get lost easily.

When they left I noticed something. My neck didn't hurt as much as before while looking at Clay.

"Look how tall I am!" I grinned, standing infront of him and feeling confident with the extra few inches my boots gave me.

"Almost tall enough to kiss me." He smiled, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Not in public." I cringed, but still put my arms around his neck.

"No one's watching." He looked around then back at me.

"They will once we kiss."

I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to kiss him right then right there. And he was actually right, we were far enough from the people to feel separated and comfortable.

"Thank you for making the year less shitty for me," he pressed his lips together, "way less shitty."

I would say something, but I think kissing him was a better option. He looked so pretty under the city lights. And he was right, no one was looking anyway.

I cupped his cheek and watched him smile before leaning down. The kiss was so perfect, something I never thought I'd have in life. Straight out of my imaginations, the ones that seemed too surreal.

His lips were soft as cotton and sweeter than candy-

"Want some cotton candy?"

We pulled away in panic, looking at George who was standing there smirking with two cups of tea in his one hand and two sticks of cotton candy in the other.

"Uhm.."

I bit my lower lip anxiously, thinking that we got the worst possible outcome. Until I saw Nick looking at his phone screen while approaching us.

"I don't even care that I burnt my hand for this," Nick was holding 2 cups and 2 sticks of cotton candy with one hand, and his phone with the other, "I think I was born to do this."

Don't tell me he took a picture of us kissing..

He did.

And it turned out amazing.

"Delete it!" I took my tea and cotton candy from George with my words.

"Noo, send it to me!" Clay laughed, taking his belongings as well.

"C'mon, that is so creepy!" I complained.

"It'd be creepy if you were strangers. I'm just collecting memories," Nick hid his phone in his pocket so that I wouldn't try to delete the picture, "besides, it's just your silhouettes, no one can even see your faces."

The picture really looked like something out of pinterest.

"So it's okay if you take a picture of your parents fucking cause they're not strangers?" I knew it came out a bit harsh, but it's directed to Nick so it's okay.

"Well if it's just their silhouettes.."

And I knew I would regret my words, but in the worst way possible.

Me and Clay didn't even realize how comfortable we got around each other after that incident. We didn't expect George to take it so normally and not even tease us about it. It was like nothing happened, yet we felt so much more close and connected to each other. Not only me and Clay, but all of us too.

"One hour until midnight," George checked his phone, "where should we drink? In a bar or at home?"

And here he goes talking about drinking again.

"At home," Clay answered, "don't wanna drag you home while you cry. Not again."

"And the bars might be crowded. Higher chances of us getting recognized." Nick added.

"Then let's go buy drinks and head home."

I don't think I've ever heard George sound so excited.