Happy New Year
The room was literally alive.
Bass pumped from the speakers, the frequency so low the vibrations buzzed through everything, people, tables, the champagne in the thin glasses everybody held. Everything was moving in synchronisation.
Bzzz, bzzz, bzzz.
As I held onto a nearby chair, gazing out to the bustling New York streets below, I wondered why I did this every year. It was the same music, the same place, the same people. By the time you'd drunken enough champagne of course things became more fun – everything always did. But the lives of the rich and sometimes moderately famous were monotonous at the very best.
"Hey! Blaine!" On hearing the sound of my name I turned back round to the party, seeing the familiar figures of Wes and David advancing towards me. David had his arm around a pretty redhead who was definitely not his girlfriend, but both were wearing smiles on their faces.
"Dude, come and join the party!" Wes held up his glass of champagne and span drunkenly around, almost falling over. I laughed, grabbing onto his shoulder and he slapped me on the back in a brotherly fashion.
"Seriously Blaine, this place, is rocking." Another voice turned my attention to David and the redhead. She didn't look that drunk, but was still clinging to him for dear life.
"Who's this?" I asked. He grinned.
"Her names Belinda. Her Dad's a Wildenstein." Jeez. He hadn't just bagged himself a girl, he'd bagged one of the host's three daughters.
"What happened to Tracey?" I was shot a look of distain.
"Dude. Tracey and I split up weeks ago!"
"Oh, sorry." I guessed that detail must have slipped my mind.
"You know he does have a son too…" Wes piped up, moving his head from where it had been slumped on my shoulder. Immediately I stepped away, before having to catch him yet again.
"Shut up Wes. If you're not careful you'll be the one coming onto him." Linking my arm with his so I could hold him up I nodded at David.
"Let's go and find him some water."
"Pass us the water Kurt." I averted my gaze from the man singing reggae on the TV to hand over a glass of water that had been placed amongst a host of other drinks and snacks on the coffee table. Carole smiled in thanks before passing it to an elderly woman. It was weird having all these new family members – New Years Eve had become a rather busier affair now compared to the one beer Dad and I had shared in front of a football rerun the year before.
"So Kurt, do you sing anything like this at your Glee club?" The woman asked. I think her name was Ethel, or Edith – something like that. I smiled, trying to hide the smirk threatening to reveal itself.
"Um, no, not really. Mr Shue tends to have us mainly do classic songs, like Journey."
"Mr Shue is their music teacher." Ethel/Edith nodded in agreement at Carole's clarification and smiled at me.
"And did you get Finn into singing?" My eyes glanced briefly over to my stepbrother, who had been sitting next to his grandma answering her interested questions for the last half an hour.
"I think we all did that. And Finn just has a natural talent anyway so we just got him to believe it." Ethel/Edith smiled proudly, placing her hand over Finn's and I sighed. Gazing around the room I saw Dad embroiled in a detailed conversation about cars with my new Uncle Eric – Aunty Sandra and Ethel/Edith's husband were sipping bubbly, glancing at our newly bought clock. It was ten minutes to midnight. Ten minutes to a new year. Hoping nobody would notice I placed down my glass of lemonade and discreetly picked up some champagne. I was going to go out of this one with a bang.
"Blaine! Blaine come on!" I pushed through the crowd towards the waving arms. The atmosphere in the room had reached fever pitch – shouts and screams almost drowning out the dramatic countdown music completely. When I reached them David pulled me into his side and I was quickly engulfed by arms round my shoulders and my waist. Everyone's eyes were trained on the huge projected digital clock on the main wall. Thirty seconds, twenty seconds, ten seconds…
"Get ready guys!" Wes shouted, his voice only slightly less slurred than before. The last seconds of this year, with my friends, savouring the moment before we started all over again, anew. I closed my eyes, waiting for the chaos.
"THREE! TWO! ONE!"
"Happy New Year!" Everyone cheered and hugged each other, dainty little hugs that meant nobody split their drinks or creased their shirts. I immediately headed for Dad and threw my arms around him, catching him slightly off guard.
"Happy New Year son." He said, patting me on the shoulder but rocking me backwards and forwards.
"I may or may not have had three glasses of champagne in quick succession." I muttered with a grin, making him chuckle.
"I hope you achieve everything you deserve this year." As we broke apart he held me in front of him, his eyes sincere. I fought to stop the tears that welled up inside of me, hugging him again instead. Suddenly my pocket vibrated and Dad jumped away, obviously confused by the feeling.
"Don't worry, it's just me." I said to calm his expression, whipping out my mobile. I clicked open on the text and immediately felt a smile blossom on my face.
Happy New Year Kurt. I miss you. B xxx
"Is that Blaine?" I looked up to see that Finn had appeared and smiled at the fact he knew me way too well. Handing the phone to him I watched him read the text and smile himself.
"Awesome. You gonna text him back?"
"Of course."
My phone finally flashed with a new message in front of my eagerly awaiting face and I pushed Wes off me to click open.
I miss you too. Hopefully this year will be a good one for both of us. K xxx
"Happy now?" I glanced across at him, watching the strobe lights dance across his face and streamers drift downwards behind. For the first time the whole night, a genuine laugh escaped from my lips.
"Yep. I'm happy."