A/N: With 2015 only a few days away, I thought it would be fun to do my take on a NYE celebration. Happy New Year everyone!
Boom…boom…boom…boom.
"Wow, they sure do know how to party, huh?" Alex asked hesitantly as he exited the car and offered Jo a hand. The beat of the music could be heard from the driveway.
"Come on, it'll be fun," Jo replied with a smile surfacing on her face. "There's other ways to have fun besides sitting at home on your couch drinking beer and catching up on late night infomercials," she added, playfully elbowing him in the side.
"Hey, no fair, I have good taste in shows. I'm just kind of a shy guy, that's all! Plus that's totally not the reason why we're late tonight, that has something to do with you." Alex countered, winking so Jo would catch the drift.
"Oh sure, 'shy.' Hmm, not exactly the word used to describe your reputation when I first arrived in Seattle. And you are just as responsible as I am for the two-hour delay we had before getting here," she responded lightheartedly, leaning in for a quick kiss on his lips.
"Alright, point taken, shall we go in?"
"Yeah, here we go," Jo answered, eager to see the festivities inside. The country club was beautiful, made in antique tan bricks with wrought iron details, perfectly shaped shrubs and twinkling lights adorning the outside. The two-story building had the tallest doorway Jo had ever seen – it towered over both of them in dark brown wood. She felt so fancy all dressed up, wearing her black cocktail dress and a gold bracelet Alex had given her for Christmas. Eyeing up Alex in his black suit and tie, Jo was sure they had to be the best-looking couple of the night before she even stepped inside. It was both her and Alex's first limo ride on the way there. Neither of them proposed the idea, but it was a company New Year's party for all the Grey Sloan doctors and Webber, the host, had insisted everyone arrive in style. She wasn't one to refuse a new experience, and while her and Alex had a ball making fun of the cloth napkins and wine glasses stacked on the inside of the limo, along with the mini TV and other lavish details, they both secretly enjoyed it.
Opening the door, they were greeted by the craziest party scene they had ever scene. Stephanie was chatting with Arizona over tequila shots by the bar, Jackson and April were standing with each other's arms wrapped around their waists at the edge of the dance floor, and…wait…speaking of dance floor, was that Shepherd, Hunt, AND Webber all trying to do robot-esque dance moves right beneath the dizzying lights of the mirror ball? The infectious optimism sure seemed to be everywhere tonight. Alex and Jo made their way past Callie and Meredith – overheard sighing to each other about relationship woes – to find a spot on two chairs. "Glad you guys made it for the countdown!" Stephanie said, walking over to join them.
Just then, Webber quickly emerged from a horizontal position on the dance floor – the worm, maybe? – to begin distributing champagne flutes along with his dancing companions as everyone gathered in the middle of the room.
"Well, it does look like it's approaching that hour already. It's 11:55, and I wanted to take a second to review our year at Grey Sloan. A group of interns finished their first year – and two of them started their second. Here's to Jo and Stephanie, future surgeons in the making!" Everyone raised their glasses to the interns who smiled brightly.
"The hospital implemented a new non-fraternization policy," Webber continued, met by a slew of boos. "I know, not the most popular, but Alex seems to be happier than ever, right?" At that, Alex smiled and turned to Jo. "We can't forget who else is in love, how about that surprise wedding for Jackson and April? And a baby? How about a cheer for love?" To love, everyone echoed.
"Let's see, we welcomed some new faces this year. Doctors Shepherd, Pierce, and Herman, everyone. And we cannot forget that a huge piece of the Grey Sloan family left this year, onto greater adventures and further heights as was her way. So, we dedicate this toast to 2014, to medicine, to the Grey Sloan family, and to Cristina." To Cristina! They all cheered, toasting their glasses.
"Alright, well it seems my time is up, I'm going to hand this over to Derek here for the countdown," Richard said, passing the mic over.
"Okay, so it is 11:59, is everyone ready? And…10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…HAPPY NEW YEAR!" the whole crowd erupted in cheers as confetti fell from the ceiling.
The music started again, and the crowds found their way to their desired corners of the room – some at the bar, some to the dance floor, some to sit and relax, some to…was that a bowling alley down there? "Quite the country club you're a member of!" Alex joked to Webber as he passed by. "Didn't know you were a golfer, sir."
"Oh, you'd be surprised, Karev. During the summer months, I'm here whenever I'm off a shift. Keeps the old man in shape!" Webber replied, winding his way through the crowd. Alex snorted at that comment – golf to keep in shape, really?
"Hey, what do you say we sneak out for a second?" he asked Jo. "Get some fresh air?"
"Yeah, that sounds good," she replied.
They walked outside, hand in hand, onto the balcony at the back of the room. The terrace overlooked a beautiful landscape of rolling hills, barely noticeable under the faint moonlight. The stars shone brightly above.
"This is so gorgeous," Jo said in awe.
"So are you," Alex noted."
"Well thank you, although you're not going to get me to leave that soon. It's been what, 15 minutes?"
"At least I gave it a shot."
"So what do you think?"
"About what?"
"About this year. Has it been all you imagined?"
"Definitely not."
Jo was taken aback by that – she expected Alex to be a little more enthusiastic about this year. Of course, there was the love contract and the commune situation and everything, but she thought 2014 had been pretty great. Maybe even the best year yet. Her thoughts were broken by the sound of Alex's voice.
"Because it's been way better than I could have ever imagined," he smiled, gazing out at the landscape and then turning to Jo.
She smiled in return, her eyes sparkling in the light. Life was really all she could hope for in this moment. There were ups and downs, celebrations and doubts, times of happiness and times of despair, but with Alex by her side and her friends surrounding her, it felt like everything would be alright. What Webber had said about Grey Sloan being a family really was true. For the first time in her life, she was at peace with her past. She only looked toward the future now.
"Here's to 2015," Jo said with excitement.
"Here's to 2015," Alex affirmed, sealing the New Year with a kiss.