MUSIC
The music is too loud, the lights are flickering, and it's way, way too hot and crowded in this bar on New Year's Eve, but she had batted her eyelashes as she extended the invitation and that's why he finds himself here - in the middle of the dance floor with all of his colleagues from the D.A.'s office surrounding them.
It's one impossible-to-hear conversation after the next as he nurses his drinks, his eyes never stop scanning his surroundings - looking for the only reason he's even here.
Her.
He spots her then, or rather her red hair, from the corner of his eye and mentally, he'd already checked out of the conversation, but he physically does so now too. Mumbling an excuse, he makes his way over to her, his hand briefly finding her elbow as he steps up behind her.
It's the first time they really touch, and to her credit, she doesn't even flinch at something she's thought about for weeks now - in truth, every single day since she started working for him.
"Hey," she greets him with a big smile, turning around to face him. She switches the drink she's holding from one hand to the other as she does so. "I almost thought you wouldn't come."
"What?" he mumbles.
She sees rather than hears his question over the music, and she moves closer then. Her free hand resting on his bicep as she pushes herself onto her toes, leaning in to bring her lips next to his ears. "I'm glad you came."
He swallows thickly when her words come with a squeeze of his arm, and he feels his skin tingle at the way her hot breath caresses his cheek. He thinks he's glad too, especially now that she's practically in his arms, but he doesn't tell her that.
"I'm not one to break a promise," he answers instead. It's the truth, and they'll both grow to learn the full meaning of it.
She feels her heartbeat quicken now that his hand settles at her waist, his head right next to hers and it reminds her of the very first conversation they've had - and if she has to be honest, she's thought about it every day since.
She feels his thumb move over her skin, probably subconsciously, but it does nothing to squish the desire she feels building up inside of her, something that has happened in his presence more often than she likes to admit. It's a scary thing to realise, and it's at this exact moment that she comes up with her rule.
When she hears the crowd around them yell and start the countdown to midnight, she doesn't utter the exact words. That happens only two months later. Instead, she says, "promise you won't try to kiss me at midnight."
Her words take him by surprise, not because he hadn't thought about doing so. Oh, he had, every single day since he laid eyes on her, but he didn't expect her to bring it up - let alone bring it up like this.
He swallows thickly, nods once and pulls back a little. "I promise," he says, his gaze meeting hers again.
It's then that the clock strikes twelve. As the fireworks go off outside and their colleagues share random kisses around them, they simply stare into one another's eyes, sharing something even more special - the knowledge that they'll always be able to trust one another.