(Regarding the song: I had to XD)

I told myself like two seconds ago that I'd get to sleep, but an hour before that I'd told myself to write a cheesy-ass fireworks one shot. My mental debate (with interjections from insomnia), was obviously won by the latter.

Later edit: I did get it out on the right day! Success!

Right. Not everyone lives in the USA. This is a proven fact. I am perfectly aware that not everyone celebrates the fourth of July, but I do, so you're dealing with a (previously stated) cheesy-ass fireworks one shot.

That's right, I've become a standard Wattpad author. Next thing you know I'll be writing about angsty teen characters with not-quite-canon gay ships and drama with deep moral applications that only half the fandom pays attention to anyway-

...

Dammit.

♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤

~ Helena's PoV (I gave you Lysander x Demetrius, it's only fair that I give you the other half of that headcanon) ~

"Baaabe! All the big, fun, explodey ones will be gone if we don't get there before everyone else!" Hermia whined for the fifth time this page.

I huffed and closed my book halfway, earning a smug grin from her.

"Hermia. You know I love you, but you're trying to drag me away from Christopher Marlowe under the pretense that we need to buy light-up boxes from the shady parking lot tent with a cashier of questionable background, all so we can celebrate a holiday originating in a country neither of us are from."

Hermia nodded along with each point I made.

"Mhm, that's exactly what I'm doing. Now come on!"

I grumpily closed my book and gently set it on the coffee table. I'll be back soon, I tried to tell it via telepathy, which was interrupted by my ever-talkative girlfriend.

"Besides, why would you sit and read things written by authors from the fourteenth century when you could be outside, spending time with your loved ones?" She half-joked. I rolled my eyes.

Just as I remembered, the shady parking lot tent was crammed with colorful boxes with names spanning the line between unimaginitive and downright cringy. To my concern (and slight awe), Hermia knew what each of them did and had quickly honed in on the ones that would "Make the boys regret letting me choose this year," as she had said with a rather sadistic grin.

"Artillery Shells, Canned Snakes, Angry Trolls, Rocketman, Gold Dust, classic smoke bombs, the little snap pellets that make Lysander yelp, and a shit ton of sparklers," she summed up after roving around the tent for no more than ten minutes.

I was done questioning her immense knowledge of fireworks at this point; it's all I had been doing as she hunted down the contents of our three plastic bags.

"So where are we setting these off this year?" I asked as we loaded the bags into her car.

"Well, Lysander suggested the big field on the corner of Oleander and Madison, but I figure half the town will be over there come nine o'clock because the city is setting off the big ones a few blocks down," she explained in her I'll-pretend-to-know-but-I'm-actually-just-figuring-this-out-right-now voice.

"'Tania said downtown, Oberon mentioned that that was probably illegal, Puck enthusiastically explained how that was the best part, so we're NOT doing downtown..."

A good portion of the car ride was spent in silence after that, but then I snapped my fingers.

"I've got it!" Hermia looked at my curiously. "You know the really tall building on campus, the one they finished last year for the psych program?"

She nodded. "The one Demi heads off to even when he doesn't have a class there?"

"Yes! He's mentioned to me multiple times that the space up there should be used for a garden or something, which he says we need to get on top of over in the biochem classes, so that must mean it's wide, open, and most likely only having been discovered by introverts and people who have too much exploring time on their hands."

Hermia gave me a look that would have been purely suggestive if there wasn't the familiar rebellious glint in her eye.

"Helena, are you proposing we set off fireworks on the roof of a college building?"

"Yes. That is exactly what I'm doing."

~ Time skip. FOR THE RECORD: I'm actually unsure as to what the rules are for doing this from college to college, but I've been watching fireworks from the top of a psych building for several years in a row. ~

Hermia stealthily made her way up the concrete steps, with me in tow not even making an attempt to muffle the crinkle of the plastic bags.

As soon as she burst through the door, she tossed a handful of snap pellets at the ground. As she had predicted, Lysander jumped like a surprised puppy into his boyfriend's arms.

"HERMIA WHAT THE FUCK-" he screeched, still clinging to Demetrius' tall frame. Said Hermia was cackling evilly, showing off a small pouch which was presumably full of the little devil peas.

"Babe, chill. We don't want to give him a heart attack," I said, placing my hand on her shoulder.

"No promises." She shared a wink with Demetrius.

"On another note: we aren't going to get arrested for this or anything, right?" I glanced between the three.

"We're good," Demetrius smiled. "I talked to the prof that works on the top floor. She said all's well that ends well, basically meaning Don't Blow Anything Up."

"Was it the one with the awesome platinum blonde hair with the purple and blue?" Lysander asked. Demi nodded. "She's so cool, I'm not surprised she let us do this."

(A/N: Meredith, if you're reading, you know exactly who I'm talking about.)

After a good twenty minutes, Hermia -the resident firework expert- deemed it dark enough to start the sparklers.

She and Lysander were running around like little kids with a sparkler in each hand, while Demetrius and I happily waved one around each. He'd draw something, and I would try to figure out what it was by drawing something that went with it. (Side note: Demi is shit at drawing with sparklers.)

Then we moved on to the bigger ones. I particularly enjoyed the Gold Dust, because spark showers are fascinating to watch. Lysander was completely rapt by the Canned Snakes, which we had to set a flashlight on in order to get the full effect. Demetrius set off three smoke bombs of different colors at once, leaving a stain that would probably be on the roof forever.

But the best part was Hermia. I found myself only slightly paying attention to the Angry Trolls she lit to watch her bounce and giggle. It was frankly adorable, and I wasn't even concerned about the volume of the popping noises at this point.

Once we had burned out all of our fireworks and most of our energy, Demetrius surprised us with picnic blankets to sit on. At precisely ten o'clock, the first enormous explosion bloomed in the sky.

Hermia's eyes lit up with every new burst of color. Her grin stayed wide and she happily curled into my side, tucking herself under my chin. I pressed kisses into her hair from time to time, each one earning a hum of contentment.

"Was this worth leaving your Christopher Marlowe for?" She murmured, sending a sly look up at me.

I rolled my eyes, smiling in spite of myself and leaning my forehead on hers.

"Is this the traditional cheesy firework kiss? Is that what you're doing?" She hummed.

"That's exactly what I'm doing," I whispered against her lips.

And then came the sparks, the feeling of flying, yadda yadda yadda. It was pleasant. I mentally checked off Firework Kiss in my head. Next on the list was Rain Kiss, then maybe Tree Kiss if the lot of us went camping later in the summer.

(A/N: is that a future one shot that I smell?)

Our cliché moment, however, was broken by a low moan from our left.

Lysander was straddling his boyfriend's hips, Demi's hand in his hair, making out.

"Hermia! Fetch the holy water!" I screeched. She jumped up and reached into her pocket, pulling out a large handful of snap pellets and aggressively throwing them right next to the boy's blanket.

Demetrius clutched his sides in laughter as Lysander hissed. He actually hissed. Like a cat.

"My God, you guys are hormonal!" Hermia scolded, whapping the taller boy on the back of the head.

"Ow! It's not my fault!" Demetrius defended.

"Demi, your tongue was down MY throat, not the other way around," Lysander interjected.

Both were blushing violently now. I began collecting blankets and trash as the last of the fireworks went off in the distance.

"Save that for later tonight, boys," I said. Demetrius opened his mouth to speak, but I held up a hand. "And no, before you ask, we're never letting you live this down."

That shut him up. The two walked behind us silently, holding hands. Hermia gave them an affectionate smile to show that I wasn't mad or anything.

"I love those two to death, but they sure can ruin a moment," she sighed as they drove off, most likely to do things that would make it difficult for Lysander to walk come tomorrow.

"The moment wasn't ruined, just paused," I said, pulling her closer by the waist.

"Honey, in case you hadn't noticed, there are no longer fireworks going off."

Her tone was condescending, but her face held a smile and an eyebrow raised in challenge.

I made small "pchew pchew" noises, holding my phone above our heads and rapidly turning it on and off to create the desired lighting effect.

Hermia made a 'not bad' face and dove in for a kiss. I sighed happily as her hands made their way to my shoulders.

"Mahal kita," I murmured when we separated to breathe.

"Yo también te quiero," she whispered back.

♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤

Oooh, hints as to my ethnicity headcanons, answers just one Google search away. Have fun.

So, even if you don't live in the USA, even if you don't celebrate this holiday, I hope you still enjoyed the one shot. I tried not to reference the actual holiday too much.

Happy fourth, faeries. May your professors always be as chill as my mom.