He held the lighter firmly in his hand, flicking its flint wheel a couple of times. Incapable of sparking a flame, he gently settled down the lighter and cupped the same hand next to his mouth.

"Jean! Can you get another lighter for me?"

The young man shivered for a moment, curling up and tucking his fingers between his thighs. His breath dissipated in front of him, and looked up from the light of the door opening behind him.

"S-Shit, its cold out here!" Jean came from the door, holding a plate of roasted walnuts fresh from the oven. He set the plate down on the table behind them, and darted back to avoid the warmth of their home to escape. He came back and stood next to his partner and handed him a new lighter, having one for himself as well.

"Thanks." He took it and flicked it once, and let the flame go for a moment. Jean looked at the face of his beloved, and the corner of his lips rose slightly at the sight of that freckled face bouncing off the light of the flame. Marco looked back, and slipped a returning smile to him as he looked back to the table and grabbed one of the many sky lanterns that they had collected over their last year together. He flicked the lighter again and lit the wick of the lantern.

"Ah, hey, let's set it off together." Marco kept his hands on it until Jean reached over and put his hands in the gaps Marco's hands weren't. "A little wish and we set this one off." He snickered, his breath easily visible from the light from the lantern now. Jean looked up to see Marco with closed eyes, and couldn't help but stare. As soon as Marco looked up, Jean looked away and scoffed at the idea of wishing. "Tsk, I don't really think that stuff works, Marco." Though he felt himself get warm with embarrassment as Marco stayed silent.

They boys leaned over the side of the balcony of their home, letting go of the lantern and watching it go off together. They both sat in silence for a moment, before the freckled boy spoke up again. The weight instantly slid off of Jean's chest, and replaced it with light relief.

"It's the thought that always counts, Jean." He released another one of those laughs that always caused Jean's heart to see-saw with his gut. He resisted apologizing, knowing Marco enough that he wouldn't see the reason behind his apology. Jean grabbed two of the last four lanterns, handing one to Marco.

"Now we get to party with these last four ones, right?" Jean said as the other took his.

"Yeah, let's hurry up though! I think it's about ten minutes from mid-night."

"Ahh, good, can't wait to get inside." Jean said before looking over to see Marco with what he thought was the light of his lighter. Instead he had taken out his iPhone and pulled up some sort of…app. He felt the sides of his lips pull back as he realized that it was some sort of stream, showing off the channel for the ball drop with a small timer next to it. Jean squinted slightly, seeing the current time of 11:54 PM overlapping the small blue square. He grumbled something in complaint to the cold, knowing that Marco wouldn't let them inside due to the fireworks that were supposed to be set off at Mid-night. He didn't know the big deal with the fireworks; Jean personally thought the Fourth of July was the only time fireworks deserved to be set off. Though if it was what Marco wanted, he wouldn't leave his freckled dork-friend to experience the sight alone.

One by one they lit off their lanterns, each time taking a moment to watch them follow the first they had set off together. Throughout the time they kept small talk, due to not staying up as late at night they didn't know much else what to talk about. However they were doing pretty well; Marco ended up having to explain to Jean that they wouldn't catch anything on fire, though, since it had just snowed a few days before so it was still damp outside. They let go of the last two together again, exchanging smiles again as the person from Marco's iPod spoke up again. Jenny McCarthy was down with the crowd and asking people their New Year's Resolutions. With three minutes left, they sat listening and watching the lanterns before the last 50 seconds came around.

"Well, here we go! Nearing to the countdown—"

"A-Ah, Jean! Look, it's finally starting!" Marco quickly cut off what was the voice of Donnie Wahlberg, and patted on Jean's shoulder to grab his attention. Jean looked over and saw the dorkiest grin was on his face. It seemed as if Marco had been anticipating this very moment all of his life. Jean hated the cheesiness of the situation, yet loved that for once he was spending his New Year's alone. Jean quickly decided that in that moment, something else never happened during New Year's for him. Something that was always special for couples of the year. And this made Jean actually want to change for once.

In those last twenty seconds of countdown, Jean scooted closer to Marco. His face flushed and stung against the cold air as their arms collided, but neither one of them moved from there on. Jean sent a look over to Marco, and saw him with the usual smile, with a tinge of soft happiness. That could only reflect back onto Jean. Ten seconds left. They looked up and at each other, soft smiles, and soft eyes. Gazing at each other in the most gay was fucking possible.

"Three…" Marco whispered.

"Two…" Jean ran his tongue over his bottom lip quickly.

The booming sounds of fireworks flashed into the sky from the horizon, and cheering could be heard from Marco's iPod. It had all been done in milliseconds, the both of them crashing their faces together and locking their lips. They stood without support for a moment, until Jean pulled Marco closer to him. It no longer felt cold with their lips in touch, and Jean had no need to complain. They would always be sloppy at this thing, but as long as that love was there it didn't matter to them both. Tongue ran over tongue, slowly, but it all seemed too fast. Before they knew it, they were pulling apart with gasping breaths. Their gasps steamed into the air, and they both beamed with childish smiles. They pecked each other with kisses again, and they could only feel happiness. With their lips locked again, Jean couldn't help but reconsider his beliefs.

If he were to wish for something after all, it'd to be able to spend another fantastic year with his dorky, adorable, freckled boyfriend.