It's another lame romance one. Fair warning. :P


December 31, 2007

"Break out the champagne!" Peter cheered.

Jennifer rolled her eyes. "Peter. It's only 11:30. It's not quite 2008 just yet."

"So? I wanna get drunk!"

Everyone cracked up, even Egon and Alice, the serious ones. All the Ghostbusters and their families had gathered at the park that night to celebrate. Everyone was high spirits tonight. It was one of their favorite holidays: New Years' Eve. And they had good reason to love this day-it brought back memories. Which, undoubtedly, they were all thinking about.

Ray looked from Peter to Winston to Jennifer to Egon to Dana. "Remember '89's New Years' Eve bash?"

"Who could forget?" said Winston. "We walked the Statue of Liberty down First Avenue and you got soaked in mood slime!" Everyone laughed.

"Hey, don't laugh," Ray defended. "I felt pretty groovy that night." Everyone laughed even harder, except for Jennifer, who was thinking of the other thing that had happened that night: her becoming Alex's girlfriend. That was the worst mistake of my life, she thought, repressing a shudder. But then again, I wouldn't have Alice if I hadn't.

"That was the night that you almost got possessed, youngblood," said Peter, patting his stepson on the shoulder. "And lucky for you that you didn't. That Vigo fella was one ugly dude! Yuck!"

"I'm not sure if you got the job completely done, Dad," Jeremy joked, punching his half brother on the arm. Oscar rolled his eyes at him.

"I think we've had enough reminiscing about that particular night," said Dana. For her, that infamous New Years' Eve only brought back memories of fear that her son would be taken from her.

"I agree," said Egon, nodding.

Jennifer studied Egon out of the corner of her eye and was reminded that that was also the night she broke his heart. She cursed that night even more.

"Of course, my lovely," joked Peter, dropping a kiss on Dana's lips. "Let's talk about something else."

"How about the New Years' after that?" Winston suggested.

Ray and Jennifer shared a look. "No thanks!" they exclaimed quickly.

Winston's eyes darted between the two of them. "What?"

"Nothing!" Ray and Jennifer exclaimed, their cheeks turning quite red.

Peter, however, was grinning like a Cheshire Cat. "No, no. I really think that we should tell that story."

Jennifer gave him a death glare. Egon look puzzled. "What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing," said Peter, a mischievous gleam in his eye. "It's just that there were certain events that happened that night that I think Ray and Jennifer want to keep under wraps."

Alice stared at her mother. "What happened?"

"Well," Peter began, "it was the stroke of midnight, and-

"Peter!" hissed Jennifer.

"Keep going," urged Winston. "This has gotta be good."

Peter sniggered. "Oh, it is. Very juicy."

"It was nothing," insisted Jennifer, speaking to all of them, but looking directly at Egon. "I swear."

"Well, I wouldn't say it was nothing," said Ray, slightly abashed.

"So, shall I weave my tale or what?" asked Peter, smug written all over his face.

Jennifer let out a huff. "Oh, fine, go ahead. You got the natives restless anyway."


"Fifteen! Fourteen!" chanted the party goers as the ball dropped, getting closer the ground every second. Peter, Dana, Ray, and Jennifer had gathered in Times Square to watch the momentous occasion.

"Come here, Dana!" exclaimed Peter as he pulled his wife toward him. "Gotta be ready for our big moment!"

"Eleven! Ten! Nine!"

Jennifer sighed, sad that she would be one of the only ones who wouldn't be participating in the New Years' tradition of kissing someone at the stroke of midnight. She had tried to get Alex to come along, but he had gotten the flu at the last second.

"Eight! Seven! Six!"

Oh well, thought Jennifer. At least I won't be completely alone. Ray doesn't have anyone to kiss either.

"Five!"

Jennifer slowly turned her head to Ray, who was staring, mesmerized, at the ball descending the Empire State Building. She thought about how close they were, how much they'd been through...how neither of them should be alone tonight...

"Four!"

Jennifer gulped and tapped Ray on the shoulder. "Ray!"

"Three!"

"What?" said Ray, turning to her.

"Two!"

The two shared a look and in a split second, they both realized what the other was thinking. Jennifer took a deep breath and took a step toward Ray.

"One!"

Suddenly, their bodies were pushed together by the rowdy spectators around them. Their faces were within mere inches of each other. Nervously, they leaned in toward each other...

"ZERO! HAPPY NEW YEAR!" The crowd went berserk as the ball settled on the ground and the year switched from 1990 to 1991. Jennifer and Ray's lips connected, both of them blushing like mad as they kissed.

Peter and Dana concluded a major liplock and looked up just in time to see Jennifer pull away from Ray. Peter and Dana's jaws dropped.

Jennifer looked down at the ground, thoroughly embarrassed with herself. She loved Ray, of course, but not like that. Ray too must have felt that way, because his cheeks were cherry red.

"Um," said Jennifer, looking up. "Happy New Year."

"Yeah," said Ray awkwardly. "You too."

There was an awkward silence between the two for a second. Then Jennifer started to giggle and a grin broke out across Ray's face. The two started laughing and didn't stop until both of them were out of breath. "Happy New Year, Ray," Jennifer said again, smiling.

"You too," Ray replied, pulling her into a bear hug.


As Peter finished his story, there were varied reactions from the listeners. Dana, Laura, Alice, Jeremy, Graham, and Oscar were grinning (which was rare for Peter's stepson; he didn't much smile). Little Kendra was giggling. Winston was chuckling quietly. Eddie grinned at his dad and gave him a high five. "Way to go, Dad!"

Ray's face was slightly flushed as he chuckled along with the crowd. Jennifer's face was covered, but everyone could tell she was laughing behind her hands. She looked up at them, stifling giggles. She tried to say something, but then she looked at Ray and the two of them went to pieces, the rest following suit. Then the laughter quieted down as Jennifer slowly looked up at Egon to gage his reaction.

Egon looked back at her solemnly, slowly got to his feet, and walked down the hill, away from the group.

"Oh no," whispered Jennifer as she watched his retreating back. She jumped to her feet and took off after him.

"Egon!" Jennifer called as she reached him at the bottom of the hill. Egon was standing with his back to her, his hands in his pockets. Jennifer ran up to him and stood beside him, and the both of them were still for a second as Jennifer tried to think of something to say. "Egon?" she asked cautiously. "Are you...mad?"

Egon silently shook his head, not looking her in the eye.

"You're upset, aren't you?" Jennifer guessed.

"A little," Egon admitted quietly.

Jennifer looked at the ground ashamedly. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "Peter shouldn't have told that story...I didn't know it would hurt you."

"It just...caught me off guard," Egon said.

Jennifer's gaze switched from the ground to Egon's chocolate brown eyes. "Egon...you know I don't feel that way about Ray. It's never been that way." She cupped his face in her hands. "You know that you're the one I love. I love you," she repeated, in case he hadn't gotten it the first time.

"I love you too," he murmured.

Jennifer closed her eyes as she hugged him tightly, her lips pursed. The two of them stood there for a few minutes, holding each other, completely silently, until they heard the distant shouts of their friends. "Ten! Nine! Eight!..."

A small, cautious smile crossed Jennifer's face as she looked up at Egon. "It's midnight," she whispered. "Got someone to kiss?"

"Oh, I believe I'm covered," said Egon, returning her smile with a smirk of his own.

"Well if she's not available, I think I might know someone who'd be happy to fill in," Jennifer joked. Egon chuckled.

As the hour turned to midnight and the gang yelled "HAPPY NEW YEAR!", the two at the bottom of the hill embraced and shared a magical kiss, which carried on a bit longer than tradition called for. Jennifer sighed happily and stared into Egon's eyes. "Happy new year, Spengler," she whispered. Egon smiled and hugged her tightly.

Suddenly, there was a resonant boom, and a splash of color exploded across the sky. The fireworks (the flammable kind this time) had started. Jennifer gasped, and she and Egon looked up into at the luminescent night. The two of them gazed at the pyrotechnics for a long long time, still holding each other the whole time.