The Village is really nice- I've attached a photo above. The skiing is pretty good, too.

Their group- the Washingtons, Lafayette's grandmother, Peggy's chauffeur, and Peggy (hehehe)- settled on the stone platform to watch the fireworks show. The platform was octagonal, with the statue in the middle, so there were two people to a side. Alexander sat with Lafayette, Promise sat closest to Lafayette on the next side with Peggy, the Washingtons sat beside them, and Lafayette's grandmother, Marie, and Peggy's chauffeur, Charlie, a fairly young man with close-cut brown hair and blue eyes (I've found other eye colors, guys! It's a breakthrough!) sat together. They looked up at the sky, the world around them dark except for the moonlight that beamed down. All other lights had been cut off, leaving a comforting blanket of darkness that gave all a sense of security, that made Promise scoot over and put her hand on Laf's. 

The fireworks began.

The sky exploded with a burst of red, green and gold, creating a Venn diagram of sorts in the sky. There were gasps around them. The first round faded into smoke. 

The murmurs around them rose when two golden streaks went up, disappearing for a moment before exploding into two large circles made of dots of shimmering light, followed by a large crackling noise as they faded. Promise heard a mother near her explaining to her child that light travels faster than speed, and smiled slightly as she heard the child gasp in understanding. "Whoa..." he muttered. She giggled slightly before trying to focus on the show and not the heat of her hand on Lafayette's. 

The show continued, filling the sky with red, gold, green, blue and even purple light. Alex searched for Thomas in the crowd from his perch on the platform, seeing him and smiling when Thomas giddily poked his brother as the sky turned magenta.

The fireworks came to a conclusion with a final, grand burst of all the colors and the lights turned back on. Alex was already scanning the crowd for Thomas, while Lafayette watched Promise watch the sky with a delightful wonderment that made him want to come with her everywhere. "Every year..." Promise whispered. "Every year there's fireworks, and every year, it never fails to amaze me..." Lafayette smiled. They sat on the platform for a bit, just watching the crowd and the lights.

Alex had hopped off and was making his way to Thomas, who spotted him and immediately went to a terrace further from the crowd, gesturing for Alex to follow him. When they finally reached it, Thomas leaned on a pillar and Alex leaned against Thomas, wrapping his arms around the taller man. Thomas smiled, looking down at Alex. "Did ya like it?" he asked Alex. Alex smiled. "Yeah..." he said softly. "Did you?" Thomas scoffed. "The sky was covered in my favorite color! How could I not?" Alex giggled softly.

December 31, 2019 11:00 PST

Seeing as their children and their friends were getting bored, the Washingtons gave them 30 bucks each and told them to stay safe. He wouldn't have done it, but Martha said he had to let go, plus they were all adults and Promise had a flip phone. So he'd sighed, shelled out sixty dollars, and let them go. Alex immediately ditched Laf and went to go find Thomas, who'd texted him saying he was at the pizza place. So Lafayette was left with Peggy and Promise, but Peggy left to show Emmaline around, so it was just Promise and Lafayette. Contrary to stereotypes, she wasn't awkward around people she liked. But still, Lafayette was so close and it was just the two of them and they looked so pretty under the lights- it was hard not to stutter a bit.

 They just walked around for a while before they found a trinket store and Promise dashed in, Lafayette following. She found a couple fo things, magnets and bookmarks and such, and wandered around the store afterwards. She found Lafayette at a display of rainbow Mammoth Mountain stickers. "Hi," they said quietly. "Hi!" Promise responded, smiling uncontrollably. She had no idea why she was smiling, but she couldn't stop (this happens to me around my crushes, it's super annoying and I have this really derpy grin like C: ). She had to say something, anything, because she wanted Laf to be the one to talk to her. She couldn't explain it, it was impossible, but she wanted to impress Laf or something. It was weird (this also happens to me, especially on online forums, since my old classmates use Google Classroom to make chatrooms and whenever my crush/past crush posts something I'm always like I GOTTA RESPOND AA SAY SOMETHING FUNNY SHIT AA WHAT CAN I SAY). 

"Whatcha looking at?" Dammit Promise, they're obviously looking at stickers, she reprimanded herself, mentally smacking her forehead. "Stickers," they responded. Told ya. "What's your sexuality?" they asked out of the blue, continuing hurriedly, "of course, if you do not feel comfortable, that is fine, I am just wondering-" Promise's tinkling-bells laugh cut through their nervous rambling. The question had made her think "Lafayette-sexual," a play on her dad's joke that he was "Martha-sexual". But of course, she couldn't say that. So she responded, "Pan," truthfully. She was pansexual. At first she'd thought she was straight, but then she'd had a crush on Peggy for a short while (it was more of an infatuation, honestly), so she'd thought she was bi, and then Lafayette just existed, and she'd settled on pan. She still wasn't sure, honestly, but pan seemed most likely. They seemed satisfied. "Oh," they said, turning back to the display. "You?" "Pan," Laf responded. She giggled nervously, feeling weird. At least she had a chance. And that hopeful moment was the moment that Alex chose to barrel into the store.

Alex had been delighted when George sent them off, knowing that it was the perfect time to hang with Thomas. He went off towards the pizza place, phone in hand.

When he arrived, Thomas was leaning sexily against the wall, catching a few glances from young passers-by. Alex glared at each and every one of them, leaning into Thomas and wrapping his arms around him. Thomas chuckled. "Awwww, protective, aren't you?" Alex hmphed. "You love me." Thomas chuckled again, voice rich and deep. Alex loved that voice. "I love you." Alex smiled. "I love you too." Thomas pat his head, and they were silent for a bit. 

Thomas was thinking about how they got together. It was an interesting story. He'd been randomly assigned to a science project with Lafayette, who was his cousin, and they were talking when Alex burst into the room and screamed, "HELP LAF I LOVE THOMAS!!!" and then stopped short when he saw Thomas. "Asshole," he spat, contradicting his words so thoroughly that Thomas almost laughed. He stood up threateningly, backing Alex into a corner. He leaned down to Alex's height. "Love you too, bastard." And then Alex kissed him. It was exactly how a kiss felt in the books- magical, as if it would never end, as if it was just the two of them. And then from that day on they were together.

Alex abruptly pulled away. "Baby-" "Let's get somewhere more private," Alex interrupted, glancing around. Thomas sighed. Right. They were hiding. "Of course." He let Alex lead him by his wrists to a quieter area, looking around warily. Suddenly his phone chimed. He pulled it out of his pocket, frowning. "Sorry, Thomas, I gotta go meet my parents at the square," he said, looking up at his boyfriend. He paused, seeing the hurt on his face. "Oh, Tommy." Thomas sighed. "No, it's okay, I'll be fine," he said, unconvincingly. Alex paused. He knew he could just text Lafayette and he could sneak away with Thomas, but- Promise! They'd always let the new year in together. He thought about it. He'd also always hated Jeffersons, but here he was. Promise had Lafayette. And Peggy. He made his decision, shooting off a text to George and Lafayette separately, tucking his phone into his pocket, and smiling up at Thomas. "I'm staying with you."

Ten Minutes To Midnight 

Everyone else gathered at the statue with ten minutes to spare. Promise was getting tired and absentmindedly rested her head on Lafayette's shoulder, and for their part they tried their hardest not to move. The crowd grew more and more excited as midnight drew nearer, their talking white noise against Peggy and Lafayette talking. "What're your resolutions?" Peggy asked. Lafayette frowned for a second, thinking. "I wish to be more truthful to myself," they said, thinking of Promise.

Nine Minutes To Midnight

Promise raised her head blearily, blushing. "Ummmm... I think... get more sleep," she offered. Lafayette and Peggy laughed. "But in all seriousness, I need to be a bit more serious about things, a bit less carefree," she continued, slightly more awake. "I think that makes you cute, Lafayette said, hearing the words after they'd said them. Promise and Lafayette both blushed hard, and Peggy resisted the urge to call Emmaline so she wouldn't feel like such a third wheel. 

Eight Minutes To Midnight

"What about you?" Promise asked, and Peggy was grateful. She should've known. Promise always managed to make everyone feel welcome- it was one of the reasons they'd become friends. "Eh, Laf's was a good one, I guess," she said evasively. Promise giggled. "You're always true to yourself, Peggy, almost too much," she teased. "Fine, fine, uh, I want to get more serious about studying," she said. "That's a good one," Promise replied, thinking about how many times Peggy had stumbled into their dorm drunk, and how much she'd like to reduce the number of times that happened.

Seven Minutes To Midnight

Peggy looked around at all the people in the square. A surprising number of them were shouting, probably drunk. The group stood there for a while, just watching the people.

Six Minutes To Midnight

George shouted, "SIX!", to which Peggy and Promise responded, "WHOA-OH, WHOA-OH WE'RE SIX!" before dissolving into giggles. Lafayette watched them, bemused. "Emmaline made us watch all her musicals," Promise explained quickly. There was that wanting-to-impress feeling again. But her efforts were rewarded when Lafayette seemed satisfied. "Ah. I see."

Five Minutes To Midnight

By now, Promise had sailed past lethargy and was now in the overly tired, brazen, giggly stage of tiredness. She caught sight of a plastic reindeer left over from Christmas and giggled. She saw Peggy and giggled. She saw a child in ski clothes and giggled. She saw Lafayette and- well, she gasped. "Have you always been that pretty?" she muttered loudly. She thought she was being quiet, but she was super tired. Peggy rolled her eyes, knowing Promise would never forgive her for standing by but too interested to see how it would play out.

Four Minutes To Midnight

Lafayette looked down at her, blushing profusely. "Er..." Promise giggled again. "I said that out loud? Oops!" Lafayette chose to ignore it, saying instead, "Minou, it is almost midnight, can you stay awake for a couple more minutes?" "Stay awake? I feel ALIVE right now!" Promise shouted gleefully.

Three Minutes To Midnight

"Are you sure? You don't want to miss the midnight fireworks," they said. Promise giggled -again- and said, "I'm fiiiiiiine," slurring her words and showing that she was not, in fact, fine. Lafayette looked at Peggy. "Is she always like this? Are you sure she is not drunk?" Peggy laughed. "No, she's just super overly tired. She gets like that sometimes. It's one of the reasons we enjoy sleepovers with her."

Two Minutes To Midnight

"Ah, I see. Er, minou, can you stand, at least?" they asked Promise, who was leaning against them, eyes closed. "Mmmm' don't want to," she muttered. "Minou, you are going to miss the fireworks," they said. She grumbled and lifted her head, which had been buried in Laf's chest. "Fiiiiiiine," she whined. "Fine." She crossed her arms like a petulant child, and Laf just had to laugh.

One Minute To Midnight

Peggy had taken out her phone and was tapping it. "Kitty. Nice," she muttered. Lafayette turned red, realizing that she'd translated their "minou" nickname. Peggy opened her recording app, having sufficient evidence to embarrass Promise the next day, and clicked record right as the countdown began. Promise, noticing the time, had perked up as well.

"TEN!" The countdown began, everyone around them chanting in time with the screens around the village. 

"NINE!" The energy of the crowd began to spread, everyone looking at each other excitedly. Promise looped her arm around her dad's, who grinned and pulled her into a hug.

"EIGHT!" Everyone began to pull out party blowers and hats and confetti. Promise and her friends, having nothing else, pulled out their helicopter-thingies.

"SEVEN!" Getting closer! Promise's group, including the parents, gathered closer together.

"SIX!" Peggy and Promise burst into giggles again, thinking of Emmaline. 

"FIVE!" Promise stumbled a bit, but Lafayette caught her. "Careful, minou." Peggy grinned. More video evidence.

"FOUR!" The energy and tension was thick. Four more seconds until a year passed.

"THREE!!!" Everyone was now screaming.

"TWO!" So close...

"ONE!!!" 

George held out his phone.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!" The date changed from December 31, 2019 to January 1, 2020. Everyone screamed and cheered, throwing their lit helicopter-things into the air. The village seemed to be alive with people, everyone screaming and shouting. Promise cheered, adrenaline fueling her and pushing her on. The whole crowd was jumping around.

After a bit, the crowds began to disperse, and soon the drunk people would come out. George began to get worried. Alex had texted him saying something came up and he saw some of his friends, and Lafayette had confirmed it. But what if Alex got swept up in the mob of people? What if he- A tug on his sleeve interrupted his internal panic. "I'm sure he's fine, dear, he is an adult, after all," Martha said soothingly. "I know, I know, it's just hard," George said, sighing. He saw Promise giggling with Peggy, arms around each other's shoulders, making their way to the car. 

Alex appeared, scrambling into the middle seat of their eight-seater. Promise, who'd fallen asleep almost immediately after the adrenaline died down, was carried by Lafayette into the backseat. Peggy scrambled into the middle, followed by Marie, Lafayette's grandmother, trapping Lafayette in the backseat with Promise and leaving Charlie to the Schuyler car alone. "Sorry, Char!" Peggy called. "It's fine, Pegs, see you there," he called back, walking to the car.

In the back, Promise shifted, waking up just to put her seatbelt on and promptly falling back asleep, head on Laf's shoulder. They smiled, putting their arm around her and sitting in comfortable silence, the fading cheers a backdrop to their little loving bubble.

Alex stared out the window. It'd been wonderful, spending the new year with his boyfriend, kissing him at midnight like the movies, but- for the first time in years, he'd missed Promise getting high on a lack of sleep, and it was evident by the way Laf carried her and by how comfortable she was with them that he'd missed something big. He wondered if every year would be like this one, having to choose between Thomas and his family. He knew they couldn't hide forever, but he was scared that revealing their relationship would force him to choose between his family or Thomas permanently. And if that happened, what would he do? He couldn't abandon his family, the people who'd taken care of him for so long, for Thomas, but even imagining leaving Thomas for his family shattered his heart into a million sharp pieces, piercing him with guilt for even considering it. He sighed.

Peggy sent the video to Emmaline, who texted back, "oooOooO", before falling asleep, laughing silently to herself.

Martha, in the passenger's seat, checked the mirror and saw all the children asleep. No matter what she told George, they'd all always be her children. She smiled, seeing Lafayette and Promise asleep in the backseat and Peggy leaning back, eyes closed. She caught sight of Alex, staring sadly out the window, unfocused. "Alex, dear," she whispered. Alex jumped, afraid she'd read his mind or something.

Martha had no idea what was going on with him, so she couldn't offer comfort or reassurance or solutions. But there was one thing she could give.

"No matter what, George and I will always, always love you." 

Alex smiled. Turns out, that was the only thing he needed right now.

Kinda cliche, but I like how that turned out. I wanted to include Lafayette getting Promise out of the car, because it's very sweet, I've always thought it was a very sweet motion and stuff, but I wanted to end it there. I'll have plenty of other chances. Please note that I am a straight, cis girl and I in no way intend to offend any member of the LGBTQ+ community with my portrayal of Lafayette and others. Please correct me if I get anything wrong, including the use of pronouns. I am not part of the LGBTQ+ community, and I do not claim to understand what y'all go through. But I would like to do anything I can to help others understand and accept different people, and if that is through representation in my books, then so be it. What I can't seem to find the words to say is, I suppose, I will not be going into detail about Lafayette or Alexander or Promise or any LGBTQ+ characters'... how do I say this... discovery, I suppose? But if you it to be in there, or if you want to write it yourself, I'd be happy to put it in the book. This is very badly worded, so forgive me if I come off as offensive. My intent is not to harm anyone or diminish their hardships, and I am open to new ideas and critique. Oh dear, I feel like I've worded this horribly, so please forgive me if I sound... I can't quite find the words for it. Hopefully you get what I mean. I hope all of y'all have a nice day.

~ M

(This was quite the long chapter.)