The lights went down and Cal felt Gillian suddenly pull him closer against her, hands fisted around the lapels of his sports coat. She giggled a little as he stumbled, her breath warm against his cheek and he knew she was close even though he was temporarily blind. "Nearly time," she murmured against his ear, pressing her body along the front of his, shifting her hands so they smoothed around his ribs, making him shiver a little. She hooked them in the small of his back, a warm embrace. As Cal's eyes adjusted to the dark he could make out other figures in the gloom.

The place wasn't crowded but there were a fair amount of friends here. Not Cal's friends, they were friends of the hosts. Karl and Ria were holding a house warming/New Years Eve party and to be fair, most of the guests were work colleagues of Karl's. Cal supposed in some universes people made friends with the people they worked with. He never had. Nor had he even been interested either, until he met Gillian. Although, technically, they had become friends before they were really colleagues. And now they were lovers and living together and so Cal figured they really had come full circle. This New Year could symbolise a lot. They had been together a year now as well. Christmas/New Year was their anniversary season...

The music was still blaring but a few minutes out from the countdown the room was now dimmer and Gillian was slowly tugging Cal into... a corner by the look of it. Cal bumped against the wall and Gillian stepped in close. This was almost sordid. In a good way. He wasn't complaining. Gillian had a wicked flirty side to her that Cal had suspected was there but now knew for sure existed. She was flirty and made lewd comments and half the time caught him off guard with something...

"New Year's resolutions Cal?"

Cal tried to speak and found his voice constricted. He had to clear it to start again and he was aware of the musical laughter coming from his girlfriend. "Not particulaly," he finally responded. Although a good one might be to hold on to her, whatever it took. "You?"

"Hm," Gillian mused and Cal felt her shift her weight so she brushed against him. "I'll probably stick with the one I've had the last few years."

"Oh yeah?" Cal's interest went up and he found himself pulling Gillian closer while pushing off from the wall. He wrapped his arms around her back, hugging her against his body.

"Yeah."

"What is it?" Cal prompted. He felt the shift of her face, the muscles around her jaw and figured she was smirking over his shoulder. He started to turn them in a slow shuffle, finding a soothing rhythm in the music. This was nice, being able to do this, now that everyone knew about them... it wasn't as bad as Cal thought it was going to be. Once the teasing had died down anyway...

"Don't let the Lightman Group go under."

Cal chuckled a little and gave her a squeeze. "That's a good one."

"And so far, so good. I've not broken it."

"No," Cal agreed. She hadn't. He hummed a little and pressed his cheek against hers.

"This is nice," Gillian murmured delicately in his ear.

"Hm," Cal agreed. As they turned back to face the room he could see they weren't the only ones in a slow dance embrace.

"I've really enjoyed being with you Cal."

Cal felt his stomach clench. "Sounds like you're sayin' goodbye."

"Such a pessimist," Gillian muttered. She pressed a kiss against his neck. "I was merely reflecting on the year that's gone by."

"Oh."

"Thank you for agreeing to come next weekend to Arianna's birthday."

"Hm," Cal agreed. To meet her family; her niece's birthday. Not looking forward to it.

"Means a lot to me," Gillian went on.

'Uh huh,' Cal thought. He knew. And he knew he had to step up to obligations now that they were serious. They had bought a house together for crying out loud...

"You know, good boys get rewarded," she added in a low tone that sent another shiver through Cal. Oh he was so being 'handled' and he hadn't worked out how to get back at her yet. As far as he could figure, she had no limitations on what she wouldn't do for him. Not that he particularly wanted to test where those boundaries were; nor had he suggested anything completely lewd. He'd done investigations of boundaries when they'd first met, testing her friendship and it was pretty impressive even back then. Now he had so much more to lose. The loss wasn't on quite the same level now as it was when they'd first started to get to know each other.

"Ten! Nine! Eight!"
Cal pulled back so he could see Gillian's face in the soft glow of a candle on the mantle. The stereo was also emitting a faint light and the kitchen had an orange rectangle spilling into the living room where they still swayed together slightly. Gillian's eyes glittered as she turned into the shadow again. Cal had an overwhelming urge to tell her she was everything to him.

"One!"

"Happy New Year!"

"Happy New Year," Gillian repeated softly and locked her lips over his before he had a chance to echo it. Her lips were warm and gentle and Cal felt emotion pouring out of her sweet kiss and in the tight grip of her fingers in his shirt, where her hands had found a home against his heart.

"I love you," Cal whispered.

"I love you too," Gillian echoed.

In less than a month they would be breaking up.