The apartment had somehow become warmer as the evening went on.
Maybe it was because the heater had been running for hours.
Maybe it was because the kitchen was still carrying the smell of freshly baked cookies that had come out slightly misshapen after Hinata insisted they "had personality."
Or maybe it was simply because every room seemed brighter when it was filled with laughter.
The living room looked lived in.
A blanket had been abandoned halfway off the sofa after the two of you had argued over who was stealing it first. Empty mugs of hot chocolate sat forgotten on the coffee table, rings of marshmallow fluff clinging stubbornly to the inside. Fairy lights draped lazily across the bookshelf cast a warm golden glow over everything, making the room feel softer around the edges.
Outside, snow drifted past the apartment windows in slow, lazy flakes.
Inside, the television played some over-the-top New Year's special neither of you had really been paying attention to.
You were too busy tryingโand failingโnot to laugh.
"No, no," you wheezed, holding your stomach. "You absolutely didย notย think reindeer were a type of deer with naturally glowing noses."
Hinata pointed dramatically from his spot on the floor.
"They're very important details."
He groaned loudly, flopping backwards until he lay spread out across the rug like he'd been defeated in battle.
"You rememberย everythingย embarrassing I've ever said."
He narrowed his eyes at you before reaching for one of the throw pillows.
You saw it coming half a second too late.
The pillow hit you square in the face.
The next few minutes dissolved into chaos.
Pillows flew across the room.
The blanket somehow became a weapon.
At one point Hinata attempted to dodge behind the sofa, only to trip over absolutely nothing and land face-first into the cushions while laughing so hard he couldn't even get back up.
You laughed until your ribs hurt.
Until tears gathered in the corners of your eyes.
Until you both eventually gave up and collapsed wherever you happened to fall.
Your breathing slowly settled.
The apartment grew quiet again, save for the distant television and the occasional crackle from the little candle burning on the coffee table.
Hinata lay on the floor, one arm thrown over his eyes dramatically.
He took an exaggerated breath.
"...you broke my spirit."
"You should stop being dramatic."
Somehow, even silence with him never felt empty.
The kind that didn't ask either of you to fill every second with conversation.
The snow continued falling outside.
Someone in another apartment laughed.
The clock on the wall ticked quietly.
Still time before midnight.
You tucked your legs beneath the oversized blanket, absentmindedly staring out at the city lights sparkling below.
"They're probably all having countdown parties," you murmured.
Hinata rolled onto his side to look at you.
"They're probably all dressed up."
"Kissing people at midnight."
The words left your mouth so casually that you almost didn't think about them.
A small smile tugged at your lips, though it carried something quieter underneath.
"I've actually never had a New Year's kiss before."
The sentence disappeared into the room almost as soon as you'd spoken it.
You weren't embarrassed exactly.
Every year you'd see videos online of couples counting down together. Fireworks exploding across the sky. Someone laughing into someone else's shoulder before the clock struck twelve.
Not because you desperately wanted the kiss itself.
More because it seemed like such a simple little tradition.
A tiny promise that maybe the new year wouldn't be so lonely.
You laughed softly to yourself.
"Kind of cheesy when you think about it."
Hinata didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he looked at you.
Your eyes were still fixed on the snowfall outside, completely unaware of the way his expression softened.
The corners of his smile became gentler.
His heart gave one ridiculously obvious thump.
He'd never tell you that.
"...I don't think it's cheesy," he said quietly.
Neither of you said anything else.
The conversation drifted away as naturally as the snow outside.
Soon you were laughing again over another ridiculous television segment, debating which snack to open next and arguing over whether pineapple belonged on pizza.
But every now and then...
Hinata found himself glancing toward the clock.
His fingers drummed absentmindedly against his mug.
He wasn't hearing half of what the television host was saying anymore.
Instead, one sentence echoed in his head.
"I've actually never had a New Year's kiss before."
It settled somewhere warm inside his chest.
Not because he thought heย hadย to.
If there was anyone he wanted to spend the very first second of a new year withโ
By 11:58, the apartment lights had been switched off except for the fairy lights and the television. The room glowed in soft gold and blue, reflecting in the window beside you until your own reflections looked like they were standing among the city lights.
Outside, distant fireworks had already begun to bloom on the horizon.
You wandered over to the balcony doors, pressing your palm lightly against the cool glass.
Hinata joined you a second later, standing close enough that your shoulders brushed.
Neither of you moved away.
The countdown on the television began.
The crowd on-screen erupted with excitement.
Somewhere below, strangers shouted into the night.
Your breath fogged the cold glass.
Hinata looked at you instead of the television.
Your eyes were fixed on the fireworks.
The colours danced across your face in tiny flashes of pink, gold, and blue.
Not in some dramatic, movie-like way.
In the quiet way he'd come to notice over months of knowing you.
The way your nose scrunched when you laughed.
The way your eyes sparkled whenever you got excited over the smallest things.
The way you always made room for him beside you without thinking.
The way being with you felt easy.
Would this ruin everything?
He took one careful step closer.
Close enough that your sleeves brushed.
You finally looked at him.
He smiledโthat bright, earnest smile that had always worn his heart on its sleeve.
"Happy New Year," he whispered, even though it wasn't quite time yet.
You blinked, laughing softly.
The fireworks exploded brighter than ever.
The world counted together.
In that exact heartbeatโ
Before you could even process itโ
Hinata reached up with surprising gentleness, cupping your cheek with a hand still slightly warm from the mug he'd been holding.
His thumb brushed lightly beneath your eye.
"So..." he murmured, his voice almost lost beneath the cheers outside, "...I thought maybe you shouldn't have to start another year without one."
A question rather than a certainty.
Warm despite the cold window at your back.
It lasted only a few seconds, but somehow it made the fireworks, the shouting crowds, the television countdownโeverything elseโfade into the background.
When he pulled away, the tips of his ears were bright red.
"So..." he said with a nervous little laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. "...guess that's not true anymore."
For one perfectly still moment, you simply stared at him.
Then the biggest smile he'd ever seen spread across your face.
You laughedโthat beautiful, unstoppable laugh he'd fallen in love with long before he'd admitted it to himselfโand before he could wonder if he'd made the wrong choice, you reached up, caught the front of his hoodie, and pulled him back into another kiss.
It was full of giggles against each other's lips, noses bumping, foreheads touching when you finally pulled apart.
Outside, fireworks painted the night sky.
Inside, wrapped in fairy lights and warmth and the smell of hot chocolate, it felt like the new year had arrived exactly the way it was supposed to.
And with the very first kiss that neither of you would ever forget.
