A New Year's Kiss

It was 8pm on New Year’s Eve and Lia was sprawled out on her couch, clutching the remote in her hand as she aimlessly scrolled through some movie options. 

This is fine. This is fun too. 

Her hair had been curled, makeup had been applied, and in her closet was the gorgeous sparkly dress that she had bought a month earlier. She had been so excited to wear it, but now she didn’t have the energy to put it on. Instead she was still wearing the pajamas that she had woken up in that morning. Lia figured that she must have looked pretty ridiculous, all dolled up but dressed in an oversized t-shirt and sweatpants. It didn’t matter, it wasn’t like anyone was going to see her anyway. 

A new year was above her, and Lia couldn’t muster up an ounce of excitement. This wasn’t how today was supposed to be, it should have been one of the best days of her life, but instead it served as a painful reminder of just how alone she truly was. 

Someone started knocking at her door, and instead of getting up, Lia merely yelled at the top of her lungs, “Go away!”. The noise stopped, and she breathed a sigh of relief before turning her attention back towards her screen. All she wanted was to be alone and wallow in self pity for a few more hours. 

Unfortunately for her, the unmistakable sound of a key unlocking the door echoed through her house. Lia jumped to her feet and lunged towards the door, but before she could push it shut, it swung open to reveal the man at her doorstep. 

“Oliver!” She groaned, putting her hands on his chest and trying to shove her friend out the door. “I want to be alone right now! Get out of here!” 

“No can do.” Oliver gently moved her hands away from him, and shut the door behind him. Hanging from his arm was a grocery bag that was filled to the brim with snacks and drinks. “It’s New Year’s Eve after all. You can’t celebrate it alone.” 

“Yes I can.” Lia huffed, although she graciously accepted the bag when Oliver handed it to her. Taking a quick peek inside, she was thrilled to see that at least he had remembered to bring her favorite cookies. “Thanks for the food, you can leave now.” 

Oliver ignored her and walked towards the living room. Lia followed him, scowling as she thought about how she never should have told him where she hid her spare key outside. They had been childhood friends who had grown up next to each other, so normally she would have been fine with Oliver coming over unannounced but tonight was different.

“You look nice.” Oliver said. If he found her appearance weird at all, at least he had the decency to be polite about it. “Your hair looks pretty like that. It's been a while since I've seen you with curly hair.” 

“Thanks.” Lia touched one of the curls that framed her face. She remembered how Aidan, her ex, had always preferred it when she straightened her hair. Because of him, she had spent the last four years frying her hair every single week. 

“So what are we watching?” Oliver asked, sitting down on the couch. He turned to look at Lia and saw that she was staring at him. “What?”

“You look different.” Lia blinked in surprise, as she took in Oliver’s outfit. He was wearing a fitted collared shirt, with a blazer and dress pants. She couldn’t recall the last time she had seen him dressed up so formally, normally he always wore jeans and flannel shirts. “You look good though.” 

“Thanks. Kinda feel like I’m suffocating a little though.” Oliver laughed as he tugged at his collar. “I had to dig this out of the back of my closet. I wanted to match with you though, since I know you always love to dress really fancy.” 

“Is this what you call fancy?” Lia asked, as she gestured at her outfit. The shirt was so long that it nearly reached her knees. “I feel ridiculous. I don’t know why I did my hair or makeup. I guess it was just out of habit, I couldn’t stop myself. I had this dress that I was going to wear tonight, I spent half of my paycheck on it.” 

“Where’s the dress?” Oliver asked. “Did you burn it or something? Return it?” 

“It’s in my room. Why don't you pick something for us to watch?” Lia said, finally accepting that she was stuck with him for the rest of the night. She sighed and flopped down on the couch next to Oliver. “It’s stupid but I didn’t want to return it because it was a reminder of the last time that I felt genuinely happy. When I bought that dress all I could think about was how I was going to wear it to Aidan’s family New Year’s Eve gala.” 

“No offense but that’s kind of a dumb reason to keep a dress that costs hundreds of dollars.” 

“I know.” Lia laughed, although it made her heart hurt. “But I didn’t realize that until after the fourteen day return policy was up. So now I’m stuck with the dress.” 

“Why don’t you put it on?” Oliver suggested. “Make some new memories with it. Maybe you’re not gonna be surrounded by a bunch of rich people who eat caviar and drink expensive wine, but at least you have me and my post-college interview suit and Mamma Mia 1 & 2.” 

“I thought you hated musicals.” Lia couldn’t help but smile. It had been the first time in a long while since she had done that. 

“I do.” Oliver chuckled. “But for you, I will sit through as many hours of singing and dancing as humanly possible.” 

“Alright, I’ll be right back.” Lia said, as she slipped away to her bedroom. She marched up to the closet and pulled up the dress. It was stunning. A gorgeous rich blue color with delicate sparkles scattered throughout the fabric. 

She felt a pang in her chest, as she thought about what that night should have been like, but she shook those thoughts away and put on the dress. Oliver was right though, she couldn’t keep holding on to the past and thinking about what should have been. Plus, she had spent so much money on the dress, she needed to at least wear it once. 

Lia went back to the living room, and blushed slightly when Oliver started cheering and clapping as she walked in. She sat down next to him, and turned on the movie. 

They spent the next few hours on the couch, snacking on the food that Oliver had brought and watching the characters on screen sing about all their life problems. Lia snuck a few glances over at Oliver and was pleasantly surprised to see that he was fully engrossed in the story, despite claiming that he didn't like musicals. 

She had to admit that she was glad Oliver had come over to spend New Years Eve with her. Him being there, made Lia feel a lot better. 

“You wanna know something funny?” Lia asked him, as she grabbed another cookie from the bag. “I thought Aidan and I were gonna get engaged tonight.” 

A look of surprise crossed Oliver’s face, and he reached out and paused the movie. “Really? You were going to marry him?” 

“I really thought I was. I would have said yes if he asked.” Lia admitted. “You never liked him that much, did you?” 

“No, it's not that….he was an okay guy, I guess.” Oliver seemed hesitant to speak. “I knew you were happy with him, and I wanted you to be happy, I care about you a lot.” 

“But?” Lia asked, knowing that there was still much more he had to say. 

“But you never seemed like your true self when he was around.” 

Lia stayed silent. She didn’t want to admit it out loud, but deep down she secretly agreed with what Oliver had said. When she had been with Aidan, she had loved him very much. But she had also changed a lot about herself, so that she could be the perfect girlfriend for him. 

“Were you happy when you found out that Aidan and I had broken up?” Lia asked. 

“I wasn’t happy, because I knew that you’d be really upset.” Oliver responded. “But I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t a little bit relieved.” He looked at her, and his cheeks reddened slightly when he realized just how close the two of them were. "Do you miss him?"

"A little." Lia admitted. "He was a big part of my life for the last four years. But...I think it was for the best that we ended things. Aidan wasn't the type of guy who would lounge around on the couch with me and eat junk food. He didn't really know the real me, he just liked the idea of who I could be."

"It's almost midnight." Oliver said, as he showed her his watch.

Lia looked at the time, and saw that there were only a few seconds left before the new year arrived. She decided to do something crazy. Once the clock struck midnight, she leaned forward and kissed the guy that she had known all her life.

To her surprise, he kissed back.