Chapter Text
"Hurry up or we’re going to be late!" Ben shouts, snatching up his keys and waiting impatiently by the door.
Alby carefully ties up his shoelaces, "Yeah, yeah, gimme a minute."
Ben groans and shifts from foot to foot, "C’mon! The fireworks are starting in five minutes! I don’t want to miss them."
"I know! Right, I’m done, and the walk is less than a minute, we’ll be fine." Alby sighs, snatching a scarf from the coat stand nearby. Before Ben can dart out of the door, Alby hooks him around the neck with his muffler, "You don’t wanna catch a cold, mind."
Ben pouts but doesn't fight as Alby ties the scarf around his neck, "Can we go now?"
"Mhm." Alby holds his hand out expectantly.
Ben reluctantly drops the keys it, then shoves Alby out of the house. This has always been the way it works with them. Alby is stoic, calm and orderly, meanwhile Ben is a bundle of anxious energy at all times.
And what doesn’t help is the fact that the blonde is also a professional sprinter.
"I’m not missing a single firework this year." Ben grins, then stumbles as Alby yanks him out of the road.
"Careful!" Alby hisses, grabbing Ben's hand
Ben smiles sheepishly, "Sorry." and continues bouncing along, eager to sprint to the park.
"You’re gonna pull my arm right out of its socket." Alby huffs, struggling to keep in pace with Ben.
The boys make it to the park across the road — after a speech about road safety from Alby — and Ben is immediately blown away by the park’s new look.
Food stalls stand in neat rows, large neon lights sparkling in the trees, and hundreds of people bustle about in every direction.
Ben leads them to where the highest concentration of onlookers stand, and they shuffle to the front. There, a patch of open field is left untouched and some safety workers are beginning to light the fuses on the fireworks.
"We could’ve just watched this on television, y’know." Alby mutters.
Ben rolls his eyes, "Stop being grumpy, this is much better than seeing it recorded— they’re starting the countdown now!"
As if on cue, the entire crowd bursts to life.
Ten
Nine
Eight
Seven
Six
Five
Four
Three
Two
One—
"Look!" Ben excitedly points to the sky where the first rocket has been launched.
It explodes loudly, sending bright colours outwards in a star pattern. Ben glances between the light and Alby’s face, grinning.
"Okay, I guess this is kinda cool." Alby hums.
"That’s the spirit!" Ben claps him on the back and stares back at the sky as an array of multicoloured flashes illuminate the dark sky.
But Alby? He isn’t looking at the display. His eyes are fixed elsewhere.
The way Ben smiles, it touches his heart tenderly. That gleam in his eyes, the deep smile lines around his mouth, the way he looks like a bomb about to go off, it is all so perfect.
Ben contrasts Alby in so many ways, and Alby secretly loves it.
"Happy New Year." Alby says quietly, putting a hand on Ben’s shoulder.
Ben turns to him, beaming, "Ha—" he is cut off suddenly as Alby kisses him, slow, deliberate, fond.
The runner is stunned for a moment, but he smiles against Alby’s lips, "So you do have feelings, huh?"
"Shut up." Alby shoves him gently as he breaks the kiss. The rest of the world has been lost to them now, all they can feel is each other.
"I guess sitting under the table and stuffing my mouth full of grapes last year was a good call."
Then, without warning, Alby grabs onto Ben and hauls him up as if he weighs nothing, planting him on his shoulders.
Ben shrieks and flails his arms before grabbing onto Alby’s head, "Jeez— don’t scare me like that, man!" He laughs.
"Just making sure you get a good view of the fireworks." Alby chuckles, holding onto Ben’s ankles.