Chapter Twenty Four: Let's Make a Resolution
Chapter Twenty Four: Let's Make a Resolution
"Where are we going, Roger?"
"I told you. A New Year's party!" Roger grinned in a way that made Mark distinctly uncomfortable. It was Roger's 'I have a plan' smile, the one that generally led to Mark being made a complete fool of. Mark looked dubious as Roger pulled him onto the crowded subway.
"I thought you weren't a big fan of New Year's." Mark pointed out, crossing his arms. Roger just kept grinning - though the grin widened when the train started moving and Mark lost his balance, bumping into a young Hispanic drag queen. "Sorry." He mumbled, blushing.
"No problem, honey." She replied with a smile, twirling a drumstick. Roger snickered when Mark glared at him and smacked him in the arm.
"Stop laughing!" Mark sulked slightly. Roger shook his head and ruffled Mark's hair.
"No. You're going to love me in a few minutes."
"Why?" Mark asked, suspicious. "Where are we going?"
"I keep telling you-"
"Okay, why are we going to this New Year's party?" Mark changed his tactic. "Will I know anybody there?"
"You... might." Roger said evasively. "Just trust me, baby boy, you're going to like it. Think of it as a... a late birthday present."
"A late birthday present?" Mark frowned, thinking. "How could a New Year's party possibly be considered a late birthday present?"
"Just be patient." Roger advised as the train screeched to a halt. He looked out the window. "Oh, this is our stop, c'mon." Roger grabbed Mark's hand and dragged him off the train - Mark had just enough time to see the drag queen smile and wave.
"Happy New Year!" she called after them.
"Where are we..." Mark frowned at the signs. "Roger, this is the Times Square stop."
"Yeah, so?" Roger asked, a little breathless as he dragged Mark up the stairs in record time.
"So the moment we get up there, it's going to be unbearably..." Mark trailed off as they emerged from the subway station into the largest and most tightly packed crowd he'd ever seen. "Crowded." He finished. "Oh wow."
Roger looked up to where the ball was suspended, waiting for the countdown to begin, then turned back to Mark, a wide and extremely excited grin on his face. "Welcome to your party!" he shouted over the noise of the crowd. Mark gaped around him.
"I thought you didn't want to come to Times Square to see the ball drop!" Mark said, confused more than he had been in weeks - and with Roger, that was saying something.
"I didn't." Roger kept grinning like a little kid who had gotten a parent a gift that they were extremely proud of. "But you did. So I brought you. Happy belated birthday. Um... or happy Chanukah. Merry Christmas? Whatever you want it to be."
"Happy New Year is the term, I believe." Mark said, bemused. "I don't remember ever saying I wanted to come to Times Square, though, where are you getting this?"
"You did." Roger assured him. "Last New Year's, remember? When Cindy and Josh and everyone was over?"
Mark gaped. "I can't... How the hell do you even remember that?" Roger just grinned and shrugged.
"Who cares?" He bounced a little. "C'mon, just have some fun!"
The next few hours passed in a sort of confused blur. Mark wished at many points that he had brought his camera, though logically he knew it would've been broken within minutes of arriving - there were just too many people for it to be safe for any sort of breakable object. As it neared midnight, however, Mark found himself, like the atmosphere of the entire area, practically humming with anticipation.
"It's starting!" Mark bounced. Roger laughed, but didn't say anything. The ball lit up brightly, and slowly started to drop. Mark stared up at it, enthralled, like a kid on their first trip to an amusement park or something equally enjoyable. Roger watched Mark with a satisfied smile. As the seconds ticked down, people started chanting the countdown. Mark joined in at about 17 seconds left, and Roger joined in for the last 10.
"3, 2, 1, Happy New Year!" The entire crowd in Times Square shouted in unison, and poppers, streamers, balloons flew, people employed their noisemakers, and many people pulled other people into a New Year's kiss. Mark didn't expect a kiss - but he got one. A strong arm wrapped around his shoulders and a surprisingly chaste kiss (considering the kisser) was pressed to the corner of his mouth.
"Happy New Year, baby boy!" Roger practically shouted in his ear, though Mark could still hardly hear him.
"Happy N-new Year to you, too!" Mark stammered slightly, trying to ignore the tiny bit of a blush that was creeping up his neck.
"Was it everything you expected it to be and more?" Roger asked. He had that self satisfied grin on his face, like he knew the answer and was just asking to prove that he had been right in the first place. His arm was still wrapped snugly around Mark's shoulders, and any thought Mark had previously had of being cold was knocked out, duct taped, and tossed in a closet.
"Yeah. It r-really was!" Mark grinned back. Sometimes, having a thing for Roger just meant knowing that if Roger asked, he'd say yes to a date. There were other times, however, when it was an effort not to just grab his shirt and pull him into a kiss. This time was one of the latter. Thankfully, Mark was an expert at covering up how he felt, when it came to Roger. At least - to Roger's face he was an expert. He thought. At any rate, Roger didn't know yet, so he must have been doing something right.
"Hey, let's get out of here before the partiers start dispersing." Roger suggested, tugging Mark towards the subway station they'd come out of. "Less traffic."
"Right." Mark let Roger keep a tight grip on his hand as they weaved and squeezed and 'excused me'd their way through the crowd. It wasn't until they got on the subway train - empty enough that they could both sit down - that Roger let go.
"So you had fun?" Roger asked hopefully as the train pulled out of the station. It had been the loudest, most crowded event Mark had ever been to - his feet had been stepped on, he'd gotten elbows in almost every part of his upper body, and his legs ached from standing so long - and he never wanted to go to it again. But he was glad he'd gone this once, gotten to see the ball drop in person. It wasn't the most impressive of sights, but something about it - something about how magical it had always seemed when he was growing up, maybe - was special and wonderful and amazing. Add to that the amazement that Roger had not only remembered that he'd wanted to see the ball drop, but that he'd make a point to take him, willingly.
"Yeah." Mark said, smiling slightly. It was good to have a best friend who really cared - so many people didn't have anyone who cared for them half as much as his friends did, and Mark felt extremely lucky and extremely blessed. "I had fun."
"You got a resolution?"
"Um..." Mark flushed. He had sort of been hoping to escape this little tradition. "To, um... g-get a girlfriend..." he muttered. "Or at least go on a few dates."
"Good plan, Marky, good plan." Roger nodded. "Mine's simple - get in a band." He grinned, and Mark rolled his eyes.
"You probably will." He muttered, and yawned. Roger hopped up as they reached their stop and pulled Mark to his feet.
"C'mon, baby boy - we'll go watch those old horror movies Jack leant us at Halloween and drink the cheap champagne I snitched from his place yesterday."
Roger's grin was infectious, and Mark couldn't help but laugh a little at his enthusiasm. "Lead the way."