Christmas was cheerful, and for once, Cynthia was so dazzled by her own presents she left Katie alone most of the time, which was most refreshing. She'd had two nights of endless chatter about how her room should be reorganised, redecorated and she should read this instead of that, wear this, not that, use such and such make up brand and not her current one... even Hazel was growing tired of it, but Katie had said it was better to just tune it out. On the second night, she'd actually done something she would never have condoned: she used a sleeping spell on Cynthia. She knew her mother would have scolded her, but she hadn't seen any other way out, since asking her to be quiet and go to sleep didn't work. It had just become intolerable after the fifth hour in a row.

"Wow, Katie, this is exactly the one I had my eye on!" Gideon beamed.

He held up a gold pocket watch with an elegant design of a lion surrounded by laurel leaves.

"I know, that's exactly why I got it," she grinned as he hugged her. "And thanks for the picture, I love it!"

He'd had a picture of her, Lucy and Gideon framed. It had been taken a few years before, one day when they were playing in the back garden. She'd always wanted it framed, but couldn't pick a frame. He had. It was an elegant wooden frame, painted a deep blue with a starry pattern along it. Hazel had given her a luck charm she'd made with Isadora's help, and was thrilled with her book of Arthurian legends Katie and Gideon had given her, as well as the other gifts her parents had given her. But after a while, the house grew a little too full to be comfortable. So everyone was secretly grateful when the Williams family left.

"Shame they had plans for New Year's Eve," Helaena commented. "We could have taken them to see the fireworks."

"No offence, dear," Kendall said, "but I think that we've all had enough of Cynthia's advice to last us a lifetime."

"I certainly have," Katie said, rolling her eyes.

"So, about this new boyfriend of yours..." Helaena began.

"Oh, that was Gideon, not me, so you ask him," Katie said. "I'm going to my room, I've got some sleep to catch up on..."

She went upstairs and kicked off her shoes. But instead of lying on her bed to sleep, she pulled out her phone and dialled a number. This time, however, she pushed the call button.

"Hey..." Luke sounded surprised.

"Merry Christmas," she said.

"Same to you. I wasn't expecting to hear from you," Luke's voice commented.

"I have to admit I wasn't expecting to call you either... But... I think we need to talk." Katie said.

And I wanted to hear your voice, she added mentally, but couldn't bring herself to say it out loud.

"I guess we do..."

There was a pause.

"Listen... I'm sorry, I know I overreacted a little at the park... I just..." Katie began.

"No, you reacted correctly. I'm the one who overreacted. I know you didn't want to let the Red Cloak get away. I just... it just kills me to think they were right there and we didn't do anything."

"We weren't ready, Luke," Katie said gently.

"I know that, now..."

"So... you don't hate me?"

"How could I hate you? You were trying to save my life," he said, a smile in his voice.

Katie sighed, relieved.

"I've missed you," Luke said.

Katie heaved another sigh, one of unhappiness this time.

"... Me too..." she admitted. "Any new ideas on the Red Cloak?"

"... No, it was too fast. All I could make out was that they were fairly small."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Shame we didn't get a look at their face..." Luke said bitterly.

"We'll get them, Luke." Katie promised. "But we have to do it right."

"Yeah, you're right. Oh, my dad's getting impatient. I had to sneak out to talk to you."

Katie wasn't sure how to feel about the flush of pleasure that Luke had sneaked out to talk to her.

"Okay. I'll see you around, right?"

"Yeah, of course."

There was a pause.

"We're okay, aren't we?" Luke asked.

Katie looked out the window.

"Yeah," she said. "We're good."

Soon enough, it was New Year's Eve. Every year, the Thomas family – and most of London so long as they could get tickets, for that matter, not counting the neighbouring areas – went out into the streets to watch the New Year Fireworks on top of the Thames. It was always spectacular.

"So, are you meeting Luke there tonight?"

Katie had invited Lucy over so they could go together. Her parents had plans out of town, so she was alone.

"Well, we hadn't planned on it. I don't know if he's going or not."

"Why not? It's the perfect setting!"

"Yeah, loads of firecrackers going off, loud conversation, crowd. Very romantic," Katie teased.

"No, dumbbell, the fireworks!" Lucy said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, yeah, but don't forget my parents will be there, and if he is, his family will most likely follow."

"So you sneak away and meet up in a quiet place where you can still see the fireworks!"

"... I don't know..."

Lucy got up from the chair and touched her shoulder.

"I know I've said this, but you're overthinking it. I get that you're nervous of being caught, plus you don't really know where it's going with Luke, since you don't know him that well. But you wouldn't have been through all this if there wasn't something that bonded you together somehow."

"... I suppose not..."

"I'm guessing your parents don't know about the study night?" Lucy asked.

"Of course not, are you joking? They'd kill me!" Katie said. "I mean, not literally, of course... but it would put Luke in an awful position with his dad..."

"From what I gather he's willing to risk it," Lucy pointed out.

"But I'm not..."

Or wasn't she? It was getting so hard staying away... she didn't think she could do it much longer.

"Girls! Are you ready, it's almost time!"

"Coming, Mum," Katie called.

They went down and set out with the other Thomases. The crowd was already gathering when they arrived, though it wasn't yet bad enough that there weren't still some good spots. All the while, Katie kept glancing around in the hopes of spotting Luke, but so far, no good. Although, she told herself, he could well have been keeping out of sight on purpose, because her parents were there. After an hour or so, more and more people came round. Soon, it was pitch black. Katie glanced at her watch. It was past eleven thirty. The Fireworks wouldn't be for a while yet. Just then, her phone jingled in her pocket.

Can you escape? I'm by the bridge on the side of the Houses of Parliament. Perfect vantage point.

Katie couldn't help smiling.

"Go," Lucy whispered. "I'll say you went to get a drink."

Katie kissed her cheek and slipped away. She made her way through the crowd, which seemed to take forever, and eventually across the bridge. Luke was their, waiting for her. She felt a flush of pleasure, and for the first time, didn't try to hide or ignore it.

"You found me."

"It wasn't difficult, your smug aura led me right to you," Katie teased.

Luke laughed.

"Oh, really?"

Katie chuckled.

"Are we safe here?" she asked.

"Yeah, my family's on the other side."

"Uh oh," Katie giggled. "So's mine."

"Then we're definitely safer on this end," Luke grinned.

Katie almost agreed with him.

"Listen..." Luke said, humour fading. "I don't think I can do this any more."

"Do... do what?" Katie frowned.

"... Pretend I can look at you and not want to kiss you."

"Luke..."

"I've tried, Katie," he said. "I really have. But it's... it's like trying not to breathe. Being around you is like breathing, and I feel I'm going to choke when I'm not."

Katie looked down.

"I feel that way, too." she said. "But we've talked about this... what it could do to our families..."

"Maybe that's exactly why we should be together," Luke said, taking her hands. "Because if we don't try and patch things up, who will?"

Katie didn't have an answer. She supposed that was a valid point. The count down announcing the new year began just then. As the clock stroke midnight, the first fireworks shot into the sky, illuminating the crowd with pinks, blues and oranges.

"... I don't think I can do it any more, either..." Katie admitted. "Fight what I feel."

Luke tilted her chin up and inched his face towards her.

"Then don't," he said.

He pressed his lips lightly to hers. When he pulled back, she looked up at him.

"It'll be hard," she warned.

"And worth every penny of it," he countered.

And when he kissed her again, the London sky wasn't the only place with fireworks.