After that day, something between Jasper and I changed. I don’t know if it’s for the better or not, but our bond was stronger than ever before.

As tradition calls, my family went on a long road trip to my grandparents’ house to celebrate the New Year’s. This is the first time I actually cared about being separated with him for a long time, and it was excruciating to hear his voice from the other line of the phone.

“You still there?” I could hear him yelling, trying to talk over the muffled music.

He told me himself that he was at a New Year’s Party that his teammate was throwing, but instead of counting down the minutes with the other guests, he locked himself inside the most isolated bathroom that he could find and called me.

“Yeah,” I whispered, leaned against the headboard of the bed, “I’m still here.”

Even though we couldn’t see each other, I can practically see him smiling, and that was the only comfort I needed.

My family was downstairs, having a feast of their own, while I excused myself to talk to Jasper, waiting for it to strike twelve in order to say goodbye to one of the most productive year we have ever experienced.

When it was only a few ticks away, I could hear yells from Jasper’s side, screaming out the number of seconds left, and the more it approached one, the louder it became, but at the same time, Jasper’s breathing became heavier.

I was hoping that he was wanting the same thing I was wishing for right now. The wonderful New Year’s Kiss.

“Happy New Year!” cheers sounded and I closed my eyes, hearing Jasper’s soft greeting to me which I returned with much gratefulness.

“I’ll see you when you get back,” he assured and I hummed in confirmation, feeling sleep marching up to my body.

We said our goodbyes before finally hanging up, just as when I placed my phone down on the bedside table, the door clicked open and came in Celeste, beaming up at me as she rubbed her growing belly.

“Mind if I stay the night with my favorite sister-in-law?” she laughed, sitting on the bed next to me.

“I’m your only sister-in-law,” I pointed out, shaking my head as I scooted so she could have enough space.

“Exactly,” she winked as I shifted around to put the lower half of my body under the blankets, “Was that Jasper on the phone?”

“Yeah,” I confirmed, “He’s at a New Year’s party.”

She blinked at me for a moment, before tilting her head to the side in question, a bit of concern shining in her eyes, “And you’re not worried?”

“About what?” I inquired, pulling my knees up to my chest.

After a short while, her lips twitched to a comforting smile as she stood up, “Nothing,” she shook her head, “You must trust him a lot.”

“Because he has given me no reason not to,” I explained, “There’s no need to think of it any other way.”

She clasped her hands together and let out a small laugh, “Young love, so innocent and sweet.”

“You were once young and in love too,” I muttered, laying down on the bed, “And news flash, I’m not in love with Jasper.”

“But it brought me so much confusion and hurt,” she said, it was as if she was warning me, “Though, after everything, I thought it was worth.”

Her gaze was looking down on me, but I saw right through her. Instead of threatening me about how this will end, she was sharing her experience. She was preparing me for what was to come, letting me brace myself for the hardship I may go through.

Some of which, she felt with her own heart. As she stood in front of me with a child growing inside her body, it was true when she said it was worth it for her. I have never seen a woman so happy and contented in all my life.

I then thought of Drew, he proud of his wife, it was no secret. I could remember the times he would go zombie-mode whenever he and Celeste have a fight, but here is, living the life he has always wanted. I wonder what he was thinking during his teenage years.

Did these two have the same doubts as Jasper and I were having?

“Have some rest,” she told me, walking to the door, “We have a long ride home tomorrow.”

When she went out, I stared at the ceiling, thinking of it as my company. The light that suddenly illuminated from my phone distracted me from my thoughts and I short message flashed on-screen was enough to put on a smile on my face as I closed my eyes to sleep.

Happy New Year, I miss you.

*

*

*

“Alright, we’re back,” my dad announced, pulling up in front of our house.

The minute I stepped outside the car, the house next door’s front door opened and immediately came out Jasper.

I haven’t seen him for about a week, and with the way he was looking at me, I felt like I had to stop my feet from running up to him.

“Hello there, Jasper,” my mom called to him, waving to his direction.

He managed to nod in acknowledgement to her, before he slowly walked up to us, gathering the attention of my other family members.

“It was starting to be boring without you guys,” he joked lightly, causing mom to laugh at this.

As they were started to become busy with unloading our belongings from the trunk of the car, Jasper turned to me with a soft smile gracing his face, “Hi.”

You know those stories where girls melt with just one word? Well, thankfully, I haven’t become one of those girls, maybe I’ve become immune or I’m used to Jasper’s charm, but as protocol, I grinned at him, “Hello.”

“You two are adorable, but help us here,” Celeste cut us off, Jasper snapped out of it just in time to catch the duffel bag Drew threw towards our direction.

“Can I borrow you from your family today?” he asked, walking with me as we brought a few luggage into the house.

I looked over my shoulder towards the group, before switching back to Jasper, “Sure.”

It was easy getting my confirmation, it was probably more difficult for Jasper to get pass through my brother and dad, and they fired a thousand questions before mom slapped both of them upside the head before we were able to walk away.

“So where are we going?” I asked when we walked by his house, instead of maneuvering me towards the direction of his car, he continued his descent.

He gulped audibly before I felt the ghost of his touch on my hand. I looked down and I could tell that he was shaking, as if hesitating to hold my hand.

Carefully, I reached out, but I didn’t make a move yet. With a deep breath, he wrapped his around mine, providing it warmth from the cold air.

Great, we held hands, was that the main goal of this?

“Where are we going?” I repeated my question from earlier, but once again, he didn’t reply. He stared forward and kept on going, it was as if he was blocking my question from his hearing.

So when I realized he wouldn’t be answering me any time soon, I kept my mouth shut as I allowed him to pull me with him to wherever our destination is.

It was a little early in the morning, but it was late enough to have the sun shining down on us. The silence was oddly comforting, and when I closed my eyes, I felt like I was floating with peace this time was emitting.

Jasper was my guide, instead of thinking where we’re going, I trusted him and allowed me to drag me along, following his steps through every twist and turn we go through.

Our surroundings was lovely as it was coated with a thin layer of snow, showing us a white blanket that has been proven to be a sweet sight. When Jasper stopped in front of the entrance of the park, I barely noticed that he halted in his steps and I came crashing onto his back.

“Ouch,” I groaned, holding my forehead that took the harshest blow.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, before he gestured to the scene in front of me, “We’re here!”

“At the park?” I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion.

“At the park,” he nodded, pulling me along with him to the inside.

“And what are we doing here?” I inquired, carefully stepping around the puddles, “Especially in the cold?”

“Because it’s January first,” he explained, finding a tree and he leaned against the tree, possibly dampening his thick coat, “And since we didn’t see each other when it stroke midnight, I thought we could have fun right now.”

Alright, I’m slightly curious where this is going.

“So as you know, New Year is a time for celebration,” he said, pushing himself off the trunk and taking a step towards me, “And what do you do when you celebrate?”

Now I’m really curious where this is going.

Another thing, does he need to remind me how miserable I felt to be away from him for five days. It was drastic, especially with the expectation the both of us were having. We never admitted straight up what we were feeling, but in an indirect way, we had this mutual understanding.

I wanted to kiss when it hit twelve in the morning, I wanted to spend time with him. When Celeste asked me if I was worried, I told her no, but the more she showed me her emotions, I became a bit troubled. You couldn’t blame me, he was at a party filled with jocks and cheerleaders, he could have anybody, and I wasn’t even there to even observe him.

I was miles away, praying all day that my phone rings with him calling me. If only you knew how quick I was when he finally did, I practically sprinted to the room given to me, just to make sure it was like Jasper and I were the only people that was present at the moment.

Fuck the party from both sides, we were sharing something special.

“Make some noise, jump around,” I tried to list off, before ultimately going for the end route, “I don’t know.”

“Well, when I want to celebrate, I usually like to put off some fireworks,” he chuckled, trying to give me a hint.

But we all know I’m an idiot when it comes to Jasper.

“We’re not putting off fireworks at the middle of the park this early in the morning!” I screeched, chastising him for even thinking of the idea.

He bit his lip, stopping himself from saying something, and as he took a deep breath, he reached out and took my hand in his once again, “I should have known that you’ll react like that.”

“Then how would you want me to react?” I questioned, trying to step away, my voice starting to show signs of annoyance.

“I didn’t mean those kind of fireworks,” he told me, licking his lips, making my eyes zone right at them.

Don’t tell me…

He pulled me right to him, wrapping an arm right around my waist and that’s when I finally got it.

He’s going to kiss me, somebody tell me what to do!

He lifted a hand to slowly caress my cheek, and before I could even react to this, I felt his lips slowly press against mine, testing the waters to see if I would run away any minute.

But I completely surrendered, though I did not create those romantic scenes in movies where I’ll slowly wrap my arms around his body and slowly feel him – I just stood there frozen.

My eyes closed and it felt magical, complete with the fireworks he was talking about. It made my brain into a jumbled mess.

He likes me, we got passed that, but to what point? Are we together? What about our friendship? Everything’s suddenly on the line, and at the same time, it was like pieces were falling apart and new ones are replacing them.

It was happening all too fast.

So when he pulled back and stared into my eyes, I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but it closed shut.

I could see sadness starting to show in his eyes, I knew he was feeling rejected, but my throat suddenly became dry, rendering me speechless.

Before he could even ask me a single inquiry, I gave him an apologizing look, before I turned around and sprinted as fast as I can without slipping or tripping.

I should have listened to Celeste, she was right when she told me this is going to be full of confusion and hurt. Confusion on my part, and I think I just hurt Jasper when I came running out. This is literally one of the best and worst way to start the year.

----------------------

Alright, most of you are probably annoyed right now, so I'm going to start this off with an apology. I know, I've been a real jerk for dissapearing on everybody for a month, I'm so sorry, I was aware that I was slowly losing you guys, but I really am sorry, I have never been this neglectful of my wattpad, I just had a huge trouble with prioritizing everything.

You know how horrible I am? I completely forgot how to become inspired to write this, you'll find the reason why on the last chapter, but I'm really beating myself up right now.

If you're still here, thank you so much, I really am sorry.

Another thing, if you were the one who sent the cover on the side, please tell me because I can't trace it who made it, I would like to thank you with a dedication.

Question: So should we make these two a couple?

I hope you'll still comment, vote, and follow. I love you guys, even if you're about to give up on me, I'm praying that I'll still see you next chapter, and I wish it wouldn't take me too long.