A/N Again the disclaimer. I do not know personally anyone mentioned. This is purely a fiction exercise. Also because English is not my native language you may have to excuse some mistakes I may write. That being said I hope you enjoy it. :)

You're about to leave the party with Grant when you suddenly start sobbing. The words with Sophie were still in your head.

"Oh shit. What happened?" Grant reaches for your hand.

You try to wipe off your tears without saying anything. You just feel like crying without even knowing why. After a deep sigh, you finally say, "This has all been too much for me to take. Us hiding from everyone, my feelings for you which are something new that I've never felt before, your ex-girlfriend practically stalking you, my job being at risk, my family pressuring me, then you went away for Christmas and we had that misunderstanding... Now this party and all the little things, your mother disapproving us, Joan and Sophie finding out, friends hitting on me and you... I should have seen this coming. Major breakdown."

Grant pulls you to his arms. "Come here, baby. It's ok." He rubs softly your back. "I reckon this is a lot for you. I reckon you are under a lot more pressure than I am with this relationship because of your job... I just want you to know that I'm here for you."

You hug him tight and then you look at him. "I'm sorry for this."

"You don't have to be sorry. And please, don't worry about my ex or my mom. My ex is harmless and she'll give up eventually and my mom doesn't disapprove of us, she's just worried for us like we are too."

"I'll try not to worry... And another thing... I think I rushed myself when I said I wanted to leave. They are my friends, they threw me a birthday party, I can't just leave like this. But I won't stay away from you. I wanna get back in there, have fun with you and with everyone else and by midnight I want to be in your arms, kissing you, no matter what."

Grant's eyes open in awe.

You nod reassuring. "Yeah, you heard me right. No more hiding. At least not here with our friends. We'll think about public things later."

"Are you really sure?"

"Yes. Besides, we're getting the whole clause, contract and work thing fixed this week, right? After we see the lawyers after tomorrow..."

"Yeah, sure, I just don't want to cause you any harm involuntarily."

"Don't worry, I assume full responsibility on this. I just want be with you."

"That's all I want too. To be with you. I love you, never forget that." He smiles fondly at you kissing the back of your hand.

"Love you too." After kissing his lips you take a deep breath. "Ok, shall we get back?"

"If that's what you really want."

You nod. "Yes, let's go."

You and Grant return to the party. Almost everyone stares at you two as you walk in the living room. You arrive together but you're not holding hands or anything that would suggest you're more than friends.

You giggle. "What? We're just getting some fresh air. Carry on whatever you guys are doing."

Joan is looking at you intrigued and Sophie is smiling, clearly happy that you decided not to leave.

Nate walks towards you. "Hey, guys. I was worried when Sophie told me you were leaving..."

"Never mind that. Something stupid passed through my mind." You smirk.

Nate looks sympathetically at you both. "Not easy, uh?"

"Right, but hey, we've decided that tonight we're not hiding anything. I'm just saying so that you won't be shocked if you see us dancing together, hugging, holding hands or kissing. We'll behave like any other normal couple."

Nate stares at you and then at Grant. "Wh... Really?"

You nod. "Yeah, my decision. I'm the one who has something to lose here and I'm the one deciding I want it to be that way."

Nate looks inquiring at Grant. "Are you letting her do this?"

You speak before Grant does. "Oh, stop. Don't make him feel guilty. It's my responsibility."

Nate doesn't seem convinced. He's still looking at you in disbelief. "What if...?"

"Come on, what's the worst that can happen?"

"I can think of a handful of things. Seriously, I'm not even saying that anyone on here would do it on purpose, but even an innocent comment, a glimpse of you two on a photograph that's posted online... You, as a publicist, know better than anyone how gossip spreads. And most of the times it isn't even true, now imagine when it is... And Grant isn't exactly a nobody. He's a public figure..."

"I know and I understand that. But don't worry, I don't exactly intend to shout out loud that we're together nor I intend to spend the entire night with PDAs. We'll keep a low profile."

"I hope you know what you are doing." Nate seems worried.

Grant has a thoughtful expression. "He has a point, babe."

"We're not going through all this again, are we?"

Grant sighs. "Promise me we'll be discreet. For your own sake."

"Of course we'll be discreet. I may have exaggerated when I said we're going to kiss like there was no tomorrow... It was just manner of speaking. You still don't know me that well in that department of course, but when we finally assume our relationship you'll see that I'm very discreet in public. I hate showing off. I tend to keep all of my... passion inside the bedroom." You giggle.

Grant laughs. "Oh, really? I'm glad that's the version of you that I've been enjoying. The bedroom one."

Nate opens his eyes in shock and chuckles. "Ok, enough. I don't need to hear this. I'm glad you still have some sense in that mind of yours. Now I'm so out of here, lovebirds. And remember, discretion is the key word!" He walks away with a grin.

"Oh, I didn't get to ask him how the thing with your friend Richard is going." You say to Grant.

"I'd say just fine..." Grant smiles as he follows Nate with his eyes.

You do the same and you see Nate joining Richard on the balcony all smiles to each other.

For the rest of the night you and Grant keep being discreet but sometimes you don't refrain yourself from pulling him aside to a hidden corner or outside and kiss him. After blowing the candles of your birthday cake and between all the happy birthday wishes you and Grant kiss in front of everyone. Some people laugh, some look surprised but amused. But no one makes a big deal out of it. Because, of course, except for Joan, Sophie, Nate and Doug, no one knows that you two weren't supposed to be dating because of your work contract.

So when midnight comes pretty much everyone in the party already knows you two are hooking up.

"Happy New Year, babe." Grant kisses you softly. "May this be the year that we do everything we are entitled to together."

"Happy New Year, sweet Grant. I hope so. I'm usually lucky with the thirteen." You kiss him back.

After some time socializing with everyone you two finally decide to leave. Most of the people are still staying, some because they are a bit too drunk, others because they are too tired, others because they just want to stay talking.

You and Grant decide to go to your house because Joan and Doug are going the boys' place.

"Ha! Finally!" Both you and Grant exclaim when you enter the house and then close the door.

After a passionate kiss, and some clothes already thrown on the floor, Grant carries you in his arms to your bedroom. What better way to welcome the New Year...?