31st December 1993

Films every Friday with Damon where very successful. We'd started talking more and we became really close again. We even became that close we decided for us all to get together for New Year's Eve. The rest of Blur are coming and so is my sister and nephew. Unfortunately, Avery is coming too. My mum and dad unfortunately won't be coming up, they where invited but they want nothing to do with my sister.

Emily is cooking dinner and setting the table in our small kitchen while me and James fill bowls with crisps and sweets for Jake. We're also filling him a plastic champagne glass with orange juice so he doesn't feel left out.

I hear a knock at the door and quickly go over to open it. As I unlock the door I can hear the voice of a young boy. I smile when I realise it must be Jake and Annie. I turn the door handle and open up the door, smiling widely at my sister and her son.

"Auntie Jessie!" Jake giggles, throwing his arms around my legs.

"Hello you!" I laugh, picking up my four year old nephew and hugging him tightly.

My sister smiles and walks through the door, "need any help with anything?"

"I think we're all okay," I say, placing Jake down and locking the door. I frown when I notice that Annie has come alone, "Is Emma not coming?"

Annie shakes her head, "she's staying with her mum, we've just stopped off at the hospital to see her."

"How's her mum doing?" I ask.

"Better, actually," Annie sighs, "looks like she'll recover."

"That's good," I nod, glad that Jake may still have one grandma, "how's everything with you and Emma?"

Annie smiles, "Great," she pauses and holds up one of her hands, a silver band is wrapped around her ring finger.

My eyes widen and a grin spreads across my face. Annie smiles and I jump onto her out of excitement and hug her tightly.

"Congratulations!" I scream, "oh it's beautiful!"

Emily runs into the living room, "what's going on?"

"Annie is engaged!" I scream, admiring my sisters beautiful ring.

Emily runs over and stares down at the sisters ring in awe. She smiles and screams and hugs her, repeatedly saying congratulations to Annie and Jake. Jake just giggles and jumps around excitedly.

"Congratulations, Annie," James says, appearing beside me.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I ask, still looking at her ring.

"I wanted to see your face," she laughs.

"Are you going to inform your parents?" James asks.

Annie frowns at the mention of our parents. I shoot James a look as if to say 'you idiot! what are you doing?'. James then realises his mistake and opens his mouth to apologise, but is interrupted by Annie.

"No, probably not," she sighs.

There are few moments of awkward silence, until Jake notices the sweets and crisps.

"Mummy can I have sweeties?" Jake asks, tugging at his mother's shirt sleeve.

"Yes, you can, just don't make a big mess," Annie warns him.

"Yay!" Jake grins and runs over the table, shoving his hand into a bowl and shovelling sweets and crisps into his mouth.

-

"Hello!" Jake giggles as I open the door to let in the remainder of the guests.

"'Ello little fella," Damon laughs and ruffles Jake's hair.

Jake giggles then returns to eating sweets. Damon and Avery enter the apartment hand in hand. They both say hello and ask how I am. I return their smiles and politeness, trying to mask the fact I'd love to punch Avery as she's being so fake.

"Woo lets party!" Alex yells as he enters the flat, holding up two bottles of wine, "hey Jessica! I brought some good shi-"

"Shh!" Graham interrupts him, "children are present."

"Oh, uh sorry," Alex laughs, "here, I got some wine."

"Thank you, Alex," I laugh, "and it's not a party, just a small get together thing, so go steady."

"I'm not promising anything," Alex grins and walks in, setting the wine on the table.

-

"Ugh I hate this band!" Avery groans as I place 'The Dark Side Of The Moon' by Pink Floyd onto my vinyl player.

I roll my eyes and set the needle down carefully onto the first track. I grin as cheers erupt around the flat as the music plays.

"What would you rather listen to then, Avery?" Damon asks her.

"Blur," she grins at Damon, "since it's my beautiful boyfriend's band."

Damon's face is emotionless, he doesn't smile or frown at her, his face is just neutral. She glances at me, grins and begins to plant kisses on Damon's face. He stays still and unmoving, his eyes fixed on the spinning record. Avery then begins to kiss his lips, Damon kisses back lazily, but his eyes remain open and his face emotionless.

My heart sinks as I see Damon so... numb. I don't ask what's wrong because he's in the middle of snogging Avery. I sigh and walk out of the living room, giving Damon and Avery some space. Everyone is in the kitchen anyway, sitting around the dinning table with their drinks, eagerly waiting for the food.

"Anyone need a top up?" Emily asks as she picks up an already open bottle of wine.

"I'd love one, dear," Graham smiles and holds out his glass.

Emily blushes and mouths to me 'he called me dear'. I smile and nod as she shyly fills his empty glass, giving him a kiss on the cheek once  she's finished. Graham grins and a blush creeps onto his cheeks.

"Thank you," he smiles at her shyly.

-

"My mummies are getting married," Jake tells us all for the fifth time as we sit around the small, cramped dinner table.

"Jake, I told you, me and mummy can't get married until it's legalised," my sister laughs.

"You're still getting married," my nephew points out as he grins.

"Okay smartie pants," Annie giggles.

"I hope it gets legalised soon," I say.

"Me two, I can't wait for you and Emma to get married," Emily agrees.

"Can I come?" Alex asks cheekily.

My sister laughs, "Tell you what, you can all come, it'll be a party."

We all laugh. James suddenly wraps his arm around my shoulders and I tense up at the physical contact. Me and James hardly ever hug or kiss, we're a very frigid couple.

"Hopefully me and Jess will tie the knot soon," James says, smiling at me.

I look over at Damon to see hurt on his face. My heart sinks and I look at him sympathetically. He must've realised I was looking at him, because his hurt face suddenly turns into a smile.

"Bit early I think," I say to James, sipping my wine.

I look over at Damon to see he's looking at me with a small smile on his lips. Avery is leaning on him, her arms wrapped tightly around his torso and her head rests on his shoulder. Damon doesn't return her affectionate actions, instead he drinks from his beer bottle and picks at his nails as if he's trying to ignore her.

I'm confused yet glad that he's not paying attention to her, this is the first time I've seen them not completely infatuated with each other and to be honest, I'm not complaining.

-

"Who wants a cig?" Alex asks, "it'll be the last one of the year."

"Me mate," Dave says.

"I'll have one too," Graham says.

Damon shrugs, "yeah, why not."

Emily nods, "I'll join you."

"I will too," James says.

"None for me thanks, I'm gonna take Jake for a nap, I'll wake him up again when it's the countdown," Annie says, scooping a clearly tired Jake into her arms.

"But mummy, I'm not sleepy," Jake mumbles and rubs his tired eyes.

"Yes you are sweetie, it's time for a nap, but I'll wake you up for the countdown," Annie says, carrying him into my bedroom.

Once Annie is out of the room, Avery turns to me and asks, "how did they have the baby? I thought that being gay parents wasn't allowed."

"I don't think we should share her life story behind her back," Emily bitterly says to Avery, "it's tragic."

"Sorry," Avery says, putting on a fake apologetic voice, "I didn't mean to offend anyone."

"So about that cigarette," Alex says, clearly impatient.

"Oh, yeah, we'll go now," Dave says, walking towards the door.

"Can I join you guys?" I ask, joining Dave at the door.

"Absolutely not," Damon says sternly, "your lungs, remember?"

I frown, "Oh yeah."

"I'll stay and keep Jessica company," Avery pipes up.

Oh fuck, I think to myself but hide my discomfort with a smile, "Cheers, Avery."

Damon nods, "Alright, see you girls in a bit."

The band, Emily and James exit the flat and close the door behind them. I am then left alone with Avery. There is an awkward silence and the air is thick with tension.

"So, you don't smoke?" I ask, trying to make it less awkward.

"Oh, shut up!" She snaps.

I raise my eyebrows at her in confusion and her face is red with rage. She storms over to me, her stick thin legs look as if they'd snap from the impact of her stomps.

"What's your problem?" I ask, confused.

"You are! It's you! The perfect sweet princess! You!" She screams.

"What have I done?" I ask, raising my voice slightly, my blood beginning to boil.

"Have you been banging Damon every Friday night?" She asks, demandingly.

"No! Why on Earth would you think that?" I begin to yell.

"Why else would you meet him every Friday at your house?" She yells.

"Because he's my fucking friend!"

"Well he's my boyfriend! So keep your hands off of him you slag!" She screams.

Slag. She called me a slag. How fucking dare she. I get angrier and angrier by the second, my blood boiling, my jaw tightening and my hands clenching into fists. I try to calm myself down, I refuse to loose my head over a stupid word. But she carries on, she's pushing my buttons.

"You love him! I know you love him!" she screams.

"I'm with James!" I scream, "How dare you accuse me of this!"

"Because you're a slag! You think jut because you have hips and tits and an arse you can have any man you want!"

"I don't think that at all!"

"Yes you do!" She screams in frustration.

"How the fuck do you know?"

"Because he loves you!" She screams.

The flat falls silent. My heart starts to race and I feel rather light headed. Damon loves me? Why didn't he tell me?! But another part of me tells me not to trust her.

"What?" Is all I can say, my voice lowered to a calmer volume.

Avery bursts into tears and sinks down onto the couch, "I knew he loved you...ever since...that day at...work..." she sobs, "but he... I... boys usually...like me!"

"For fuck's sake," I whisper, "I need alcohol."

I sigh and walk out of the living room, leaving Avery sobbing on the couch. I go to the kitchen and grab a huge wine glass from the cupboard, filling it to the brim. I bring the glass to my lips and take a long swig, then wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. I sigh and walk back into the living room.

"How are you so sure?" I ask Avery.

She chuckles, "How do you not see it?"

"Well, he's still with you," I shrug.

"That's because you're with James you fucking idiot."

"Oh, yeah."

There is a long pause. Avery stares at me, hatred, anger and sadness are displayed on her face and for the first time in forever I feel... sorry for her. My stern face softens and I slowly sit down next to her on the couch, placing my wine glass onto the coffee table.

"Hey... I'm sorry," I say sympathetically, "I didn't mean for any of this to-"

"Shut up! I don't want your fucking sympathy and comfort!" She yells, standing up and walking away from me.

"I was just tr-"

"We'll stop trying! Haven't you done enough?"

"I've not done a fucking thing!" I scream, standing up and walking over to her.

"Yes you have! Ugh! You're such a fucking cow!" She screams in frustration and slaps me across the face.

I clutch my stinging cheek, my head turning to the side from the impact of the slap. I turn to her and see no remorse on her face, just pure hatred.

That's when something inside me snaps, I wasn't going to be nice anymore.

I quickly stood upright, grabbed my glass of wine, and before she could say anything else, I send its content straight into her face. I slam the empty wine glass onto the table, I'm practically trembling with rage.

"Get the fuck out!" I scream at her.

Her mouth is wide open in shock and her eyes are the size of the moon. Her hair is dripping with the red liquid and she stares at me, clearly surprised I'd do such a thing to her.

"I said get the fuck out! Now! Before you ruin my fucking carpet!" I scream, my whole body trembling from the rage I feel.

She slowly walks towards the door, looking at the floor. Before she opens the door to walk out of it, she turns to me. Her face has softened, she looks at me slightly sadly.

"Have a good year," she says quietly.

"You too," I try to say as calmly as possible.

A small smile appears on her lips, then she turns and walks out the door, quietly closing it behind her. I sigh and collapse onto the couch, then the others walk back into the flat just a few moments after Avery left.

"The fuck happened to Avery?" Emily laughs as she walks back in.

"An incident with some wine," I say, raising my eyebrows at her.

"Ah, right," she nods, clearly understanding what happened.

I look at Damon, who is awkwardly glancing towards the door. He looks back into the room, then back at the door a few times, deciding whether to go or stay. I frown and make his decision for him.

"You should probably go after her, Damon," I say, slightly sadly.

"Oh, uh, okay," he frowns slightly, "it's been lovely, it's been nice to see you all."

We all say goodbye to him and he turns and walks out of the door, closing it quietly behind him. I frown and look at everyone. Graham, Emily, Alex and Dave all look as if they're about to explode. They all stand there, using their hands to try cover the goofy grins on their faces. But James just stands there, looking rather disappointed.

"What?" I ask them all.

They all burst out laughing.

"You poured wine over Avery!" Dave laughs, "Jessica, you fucking legend!"

"She had it coming to her! Jessica you've saved us a job!" Alex laughs.

"Wait, you guys don't like her?" I ask, confused.

"Do we fuck," Alex, Graham and Dave all say simultaneously.

"But she's Damon's gi-" I begin, but I am cut off.

"We know, but we don't want her to be," Graham giggles.

"J, what you did was great," Emily laughs.

"What I did was mean," I sigh.

"She deserved it," Emily says, "come on guys, it's the countdown soon."

-

"Okay, is everyone ready for the countdown?" Annie says as we all stand in the front room with our champagne and Jake with his orange juice.

We all nod and gather around the television, watching the numbers descend from ten to zero.

"Ten!" We all chant.

"Nine!"

"Eight!"

Another miserable year by the looks of things, I think to myself as memories of Damon walking out of the door to Avery spring to my mind.

"Seven!"

I look at Graham and Emily, shyly holding each others hand and smiling warmly at each other

"Six!"

I then turn my attention to my sister and her son. Jake is in Annie's arms, gleefully counting down to Emma who called to be with us, in a way, for the new year.

"Five!"

I look at Alex and Dave, grinning at each other and rolling cigarettes, ready for their first smoke of the year.

"Four!"

I glance at James who stands efficiently and frigid beside me and frown again. He looks down at me and smiles, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me close to him.

"Three!"

I frown to myself as I realise how wrong everything is and has been.

"Two!"

These past two years have been absolutely shite, I think to myself.

"One!"

I hope this one is better.

"Happy New Year!"

Everyone cheers and nocks champagne glasses and say happy new year to each other. We all drink our champagne, cheering and smiling.

This year, I will make everything right again.