word count: 643
Raining on New Years. Piers wonders if that's some sort of sign for the year ahead. He laughs and shakes his head, wondering if maybe London and the city life is starting to get to him. Must be. After all, he's never put much thought into signs and omens and warnings before. He blames his roommate, Greg, at uni, for all his weird New Age ramblings.
His phone vibrates, and he pulls it out. Dudley, surprise, surprise.
Where are you? I thought you'd be here by now?
Piers chuckles softly and types back a quick reply: Running late. Have you seen the weather?
He pulls out his umbrella and steps onto the busy city sidewalk. Why people are still out tonight is a mystery. He reckons the pubs must be doing well tonight.
His phone vibrates again. I just want you here tonight.
Piers grins and shakes his head. It's still so strange the way his dynamics with Dudley shifted since they started dating. Things have become softer between them, like they aren't stuck in an endless pattern of trying to impress one another. Maybe that also has something to do with growing up and becoming more mature.
He steps out into the rain, opening his indigo umbrella. Another vibration in his pocket tells him that Dudley is still texting him. He laughs. Only Dudley would make it seem like this is something so urgent. "Yeah, yeah," he mutters under his breath, eyes rolling. "I'm coming."
Of course, he's running late. Maybe Dudley has every reason to worry. As overwhelming as it may be, it's really sort of sweet that someone cares so much about him. Sometimes it's still impossible to believe that someone in this world loves him the way Dudley does, and it makes him melt a little inside. Piers picks up his pace. He had hoped to be there already, and he has no intention of leaving Dudley waiting any longer.
…
"You're late," Dudley says, lifting his brows when Piers arrives at last.
Piers offers him an apologetic smile, adjusting his black cardigan. The room is so warm, and he feels the lingering touch of December's chill slowly fade from his skin. "I know," he says, pressing a kiss to his boyfriend's cheek. "But I'm here now." He grins. "There's no place I'd rather be."
"Flattery will get you nowhere," Dudley says, but his bright smile says otherwise.
"Oi! You two!" Malcolm approaches them, holding his camera up and snapping a picture. "Smile!"
"You're supposed to say smile before you take the picture, you prawn!" Dennis calls.
Piers laughs. It's funny how some things never change. Their friends are still just as weird as they had been before. Sure, they've all grown up, and their days of being a bunch of wannabe thugs are long behind them. But it's more to it than that. These are still the same friends as before, only more mature, more understanding, but still just as ridiculous.
"Nearly midnight!" Gordon says, grabbing a bottle of champagne. "Ready, gents? Ten! Nine!"
Piers moves a little closer to Dudley, grinning.
"...five…"
Another year together, the promise of so much hope and joy.
"...two…"
Dudley returns the grin, and it makes Piers shiver with joy.
"One! Happy New Year!" the others call.
Piers wraps his arms around his boyfriend, kissing Dudley fiercely. "I love you," he whispers against Dudley's lips.
And he knows he never wants to let him go. Piers would happily stay like this forever if he could. But he pulls away, still grinning, breathless and brimming with so much joy and excitement that he might explode.
"I love you too," Dudley says.
And that's all it takes. Piers knows, without a shadow of a doubt, that this year will be a good one. With Dudley by his side, how could it be anything less?