Ludwig realized how late it was when he exited the supermarket. It had been sunset when he entered, but now it was completely dark. He had wasted nearly an hour randomly running around aisles! Sighing, he got into his car and drove to the apartment building which he currently called home.

After he had parked and gotten out of the car, Ludwig suddenly noticed a garishly colored Honda Civic parked not too far away. More than a little nervous, he quickly grabbed the boxes of pasta and made a dash for the door.

Inside, the building was warm and bright. Noisy, raucous laughter could be heard from most of the rooms. Ludwig thought about the quiet evening that awaited him and wondered if he should have gone to his troublesome brother's party…

Approaching room 161, the Vargas's apartment, Ludwig knocked on the door and waited. And waited. And waited. He even rang the doorbell a couple of times, but to no result.

After about five minutes, Ludwig turned the doorknob, expecting it to be locked. To his surprise, it wasn't and he nearly pitched head first into the darkened room. Awkwardly, he managed to right himself without spilling the boxes of pasta all over the floor. He squinted into the darkness, hoping he hadn't woken one of the Vargas brothers.

Suddenly a light flicked on, and Ludwig was temporarily blinded. "Surprise!" yelled an enormous bunch of people somehow crammed into the Vargas' tiny apartment.

"What?" Everybody from work, a few of his friends, and even a couple of people he didn't know came up to wish him a happy New Year. "Vee~ Happy New Year's Eve, Ludwig!" said Feliciano, coming out of the crowd of people.

"What is this…? How did you…?" Ludwig was still speechless. "Isn't this wonderful, Ludwig?" said Feliciano, basking in the warmth and cheer of the crowd. "You never have time to have any fun. So, I planned you a surprise New Year's Eve party, vee~. So come on, go out and enjoy yourself tonight!"

Somewhat knocked off balance by his friend's proclamation, Ludwig stopped for a moment. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't talked to any of his friends in a while. He had barely spoken to the other employees at work, and he hadn't gone out to dinner, or a movie, or much of anything in months.

He really did need a day to relax.

"So what do you say we get a slice of cake or something, vee~? It's a party, and at a party you have to have fun!" said Feliciano, bright and eager with happiness.

"Alright… I guess so. It's been a long time since I've had any time to have fun, so… lead the way," he said slowly.

As Ludwig followed Feliciano through the crowd of people, he smiled. It was only a tiny little smile, but… He smiled. It was time that he actually enjoyed himself for once.

Aftermath

After the ball dropped and "Auld Lang Syne" had been sung more than once, the party guests put on their coats and hats and began saying their goodbyes as they went out the door.

Just as the last few guests were filing out, an announcement came on. "Will the owner of the garish red 2012 Honda Civic move his or her car? It is blocking the fire escape. I repeat, will the owner of the red 2012 Honda Civic move his or her car…"

Alfred grinned sheepishly. "Whoops! Better go move it," he said, picking up his coat.

Ludwig suddenly realized that Alfred had been the one tailing him all along. Normally, it would've bothered him, but tonight he was just going to let it go.

After all, it was the new year, wasn't it?

There are a lot of things that I would have liked to put into this story that ended up not making the final cut. Originally, I had wanted to write more details about the guests and the party and how Kiku played a role in the party planning, but I realized that I had neither the time to write it orthe place to put it (If I had inserted it, this chapter would have been unnecesarily long).

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the story. Happy New Year, everybody.

- Long-Vuong