"Doesn't this look much better?"

Carlos looked around the finished decorated apartment. He shrugged. "Yeah, yeah...but who cares when there's no one here but us? Not even Katie and Mrs. Knight are here because they spend the holidays in Minnesota."

"Is there really nothing that could cheer you up?"

"Well, you're here...that's something."

Lex smiled and pulled him into a hug when there was a sudden knock on the door.

"Should I go?" she asked. Carlos shook his head. "No, I'm going." So he went to the door and opened it.

"Hey, I heard there's a party going on here?" Camille asked beaming, with Logan right behind her.

"What – what are you guys doing here?"

Logan looked at him in surprise. "Hey, I told you we'd stop by. Why are you doubting my words?"

Carlos just stared at them.

"Can we come in now or what?" Camille asked, pretending to be impatient.

"Oh, yeah, sure."

They entered, Camille gave Carlos a hug, Logan did the same to Alexa. Carlos's girlfriend beamed. " Can I offer you a drink?" she asked, pointing to the kitchen counter where there was an array of drinks and snacks.

"Absolutely," Camille replied.

While Carlos - still a little surprised by the last few seconds - watched as Alexa gave them two drinks and they toasted each other, there was a second knock. Carlos opened again.

"I hope we're not too late, are we?" Jo asked smiling, Kendall standing next to her.

"You guys are back already?"

"Sure," Kendall said, shrugging. "Who needs fancy restaurants when you can just hang out with your friends?"

Carlos grinned, and Jo and Kendall entered, greeted Alexa, and looked questioningly at Camille and Logan.

"You guys are here too?" Kendall asked.

"It's New Year's Eve, where else should we be?" Logan replied with a grin. Kendall looked around the apartment. "Looks great, but...do we have some music here?"

"For sure," Carlos said with a laugh and turned on the stereo. As soon as this happened, there was a third knock. And again Carlos opened the door, and again one of his best friends was standing at the door, along with Lucy, who said, "You're not really having a New Year's party without me, are you?"

"Never," Carlos replied, grinning.

Sometime later the girlfriends met at the kitchen counter.

"I'm so glad that everything turned out so positively for Carlos," Alexa said, relieved. The other three exchanged looks.

"Yeah, well, sometimes...unexpected incidents happen," Lucy said. Jo and Camille nodded in agreement. There was silence for a moment, then Jo was the first to confess, "We had to leave the restaurant early because our table had apparently been booked twice."

Lucy frowned. "Seriously? That's why you had to leave?"

"No, we had to leave because Kendall was making a total fuss about it. So we were literally escorted out of the restaurant."

"Our date didn't go according to plan either. We wanted to test my new motorcycle, but it was a total disaster. James screamed almost the entire time, and when we got to the destination he threw up in his helmet." Lucy noticed their forced, blank faces. "Yeah, it's okay, you can laugh...just don't tell the guys."

Alexa turned to Camille. "If I may ask, Camille, was there a reason why you and Logan...changed your plans?"

Camille shrugged. "Ah, well, it turns out Logan wasn't really in the mood, so we needed an alternative anyway."

"Sounds familiar," Lucy murmured.

"Instead he told me this somewhat sad but at the same time sweet story about him and the boys on New Year's Eve."

"Kendall told me a story too."

"Were they fourteen and at a party?"

"No, twelve. And Kendall had a fight with Logan and James. But Carlos could sort things out."

Lucy frowned. "That's weird, James also told me a story in which Carlos saved the day."

They looked at each other in surprise, then at their boyfriends, who were standing together, laughing.

"So...are we all here because the boys realized that they belong together for New Year's or because our dates just didn't go according to plan?" Jo commented thoughtfully. There was silence for a moment, then Lex said, "Let's go with option one."

"Yes, definitely," Camille confirmed.

"Agreed," Lucy and Jo said at the same time.

On the other side of the apartment, Carlos grinned at his friends. "So I bet your dates didn't go as planned, did they?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," James said, shrugging. "Best date I've ever had."

"I couldn't agree more," Logan nodded.

"Yeah, everything was just awesome," Kendall confirmed.

They looked at each other for a full second, then they all started laughing at the same time.

"Well, the important thing is that we're here, together," Kendall said.

"Agreed," Logan and James said at the same time. Carlos beamed. "And not just us," he said, walking over to the girls and putting his arms around Alexa. "Our girlfriends too."

The other three boys looked at each other and grinned, then followed Carlos's example. Logan looked at the clock on the wall. "Hey, guys, only ten seconds 'til midnight."

They counted down, and when the new year began, Carlos looked around and said, "Happy New Year, everyone."

And Alexa and his friends replied: "Happy New Year, Carlos."