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Luckily, the car ride was only about 15 minutes long. Technically, Kizumi and I could have walked to the party, but my Mom said it was a little too far for her to feel comfortable with us walking on foot. Especially on New Years Eve. She said there would probably be drunk drivers and people with fireworks and such running around on the roads, so she would rather drive us there and back. I didn't mind though. It saved me some energy for the actual party.

As my Mom pulled up on the street in front of Isaac's house, I noticed that it seemed a little dull on the outside. No decoration could be seen tired to the railing next to the steps or anything. Through the windows I could see that the lights were on, but the curtains were shut so I wasn't really sure how it looked inside. I unbuckled myself and popped open the car door. Before I got out, I looked at Kizumi. He was staring at the house with a bored expression on his face. He probably didn't want to be here.

"Kizumi?" I called to get his attention. With a tiny sigh, he unbuckled himself and started getting out. As we shut our doors and walked over to the sidewalk, my Mom rolled down the window to talk to us.

"Remember what I told you boys, okay?" She gave us a smile as we agreed. "Good. Call me when you're done." With that, she drove away. We turned to face the house, and I eyed it before taking a breath.

"Well, let's go." I said and stepped forward. He followed me, but not directly by my side. As I got closer to the house, I could suddenly hear the music. When I had reached the door, I knocked and waited. Seconds later, it opened and the tunes escaped the house loudly. Isaac's father was standing in the doorway and smiled when he realized it was me. He stepped sideways to let us in, and I thanked him as I entered.

"Help yourselves to anything you want." He told us over the noise and walked through the crowd of people. There was actually a lot more people here than I thought there would be. The decor was also surprising. It was the complete opposite of the outside. In here it was bright and colorful. Streamers hung from the ceiling, balloons were tied to everything and little pieces of confetti sprinkled the ground and tablecloths. Food was everywhere, stacked nicely on little plates and platters. I wasn't really hungry, so I just looked around for the drinks.

I found them on a random table. There were plastic containers filled with different types of drinks like lemonade, water, or soda. Below the containers were a few coolers that had canned soda, and I grabbed myself one of those. When I turned to ask Kizumi if he wanted one, he was looking around at all the stuff in the house. Maybe he hadn't ever been to such a big party before...

"Here." I tossed him a can of the soda he liked. It was lucky they had it. I watched as he turned the can to see what it was, and then crack it open after realizing it was his favorite. He gave me a nod to thank me and drank some of it. As I opened my own can, I heard my name called form somewhere and looked around. Isaac suddenly appeared from nowhere, followed by Karin and his younger brother. They greeted me kindly, and gave Kizumi a timid hello. He didn't respond much, but he at least acknowledged them. Karin was the most scared to say hi...she had been a victim of his at the beginning of the year once. I remembered that very well.

"So, what do you think? Pretty great, huh?" Isaac gestured around and I nodded.

"Yeah. Thanks for the invite." I was speaking a little louder than normal as I tried to make it possible for him to hear me over the music. He nodded and then someone called him. He gave me a quick 'see ya later' and then disappeared back into the crowd again with others following him closely. I glanced over at Kizumi to see him crushing his soda can in his fist.

"You're already finished?" I asked mentally weighing my own soda in my hand. I still had almost a full can.

"Yeah." He tossed it into a garbage bag and then put his hands in his pockets, looking at me expectantly. So, I just started doing what I usually did at gatherings and walked around saying hello to people and talking with them once and a while. A few times we just sat on the couch or in some chairs and exchanged a  few words with each other...this went on for a couple hours before even I started to get bored. It was nothing compared to Kizumi, though. Every time I looked at him he was either scowling or sighing to himself. I had to admit that I was surprised he hadn't asked if we could leave yet.

I glanced at the clock to see that it was 11:56. There was only a few minutes left before midnight. I was sure he could stick it out until then. He and I were standing over by the television when I was suddenly pulled by my sleeve out the sliding glass doors onto the back porch. It had surprised me, so for a second I wasn't sure who had done it. My surprise went away as I realized it was Kizumi. He walked away from me and sat on the edge of the deck with his back to the house, and I followed. Oddly, there wasn't anybody out here.

"They're all inside waiting for the countdown." He must have noticed that I was looking around.

"I see..." I sat down next to him and looked out over the night-blackened yard. It was cold outside, and I shivered a little, clasping my hands together. For a few moments, we were quiet and then I spoke to break the silence.

"Any resolutions for this year?" I asked him.

"Nope." He replied.

"Me either." I laughed. "Nobody follows them anyways...but if you had to pick one, what would it be?" I asked him. He thought for a moment and then looked at his phone before replying.

"...I don't know. I've never had to think about it before."

"That's alright. You don't need one." I smiled at him. He stared at me with a strange expression, and then leaned forward. At first, I panicked a little, but then I remembered that there was nobody outside anyways. I let him come closer and right as he pressed his lips to mine, sound exploded from the house in cheers and cries. Everyone was hugging or kissing and saying 'Happy New Year!'. He pulled away from me, and brought his lips closer to my ear.

"Happy New Year." Kizumi murmured.

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