New Year's Eve

10

New Year's Eve 2012

Age: 22

"Anytime today would be great!" I quipped as I ran in front of Robert and into the function room.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming!" Robert moaned as he limped forward. I rolled my eyes at him and urged him to come forward. "I'm injured, you know."

Laughter escaped from my mouth. He really emphasised the fact that injury had struck him. In the mere hours since the injury befell him, he made me do everything. I was at his disposal. The words "I'm injured, you know," left his lips nigh on a thousand times.

How did Robert get this injury, I hear you ask...?

Well, I could say he sustained a sporting injury by playing a game of rugby. Or he'd saved a stray puppy, only to injure himself in the process. But they would be big fat lies. The real reason for Robert's injury wasn't because of any heroic antics. No, Robert sustained the injury because he fell off a ladder.

Yes, that's right. I'd tasked him with putting some wallpaper up in our new house and he lost his balance. He toppled off the ladder and onto the floor, twisting his ankle in the process.

I shouldn't laugh. I had to be a good girlfriend. But he was too busy singing along to a song on the radio (out of key, might I add) to realise where he placed his feet. So, I didn't have any sympathy for him. But he sure made a meal of it.

I made it through the door and held it open for Robert to walk through — at an annoyingly slow pace. He stood beside me and we scanned the room for our parents, who no doubt were in a conversation with each other.

It was an excellent job that Robert and I started dating; it gave our parents an excuse to see each other more.

When we spotted them, we made our way over to them. They consumed us in hugs as soon as we stepped a foot near them. I was more than happy to return my parent's hugs because I had missed them so much.

It was weird being back home in Manchester. I was still coming to terms with it and getting used to it. Although I had lived in Scotland for three years, it never felt like home. I had made friends, sure, but they weren't close friends, unlike the people I had back home. Home was where my parents were... where Robert was. Home truly was where that heart is.

It was also strange being home but not living with my parents. I would associate being home with my parents' house. But now I had to get used to going home to a small house that I shared with my boyfriend.

Although it was strange, it was certainly something I could get used to. I loved Robert, and the prospect of starting my life with him excited me.

We all conversed for a while, and I forced my dad to buy the next round of drinks. I used the fact that I no longer ate all the food in the house, so he had a few quid spare to buy drinks to my advantage. Robert and I took a taxi to the party to make sure a car didn't burden us. I had so much fun, although we talked to mine and Robert's parents all night. It felt very grown-up and mature and slightly ordinary.

This would be an uneventful night compared to previous years. It wasn't difficult to be uneventful, considering what we'd experienced over the years. Robert and I had got together, broken up, argued, become friends, and got back together again. It was bizarre but nice to sit next to each other, holding hands and laugh, because we didn't have a care in the world.

Of course, Robert and I danced the night away. We hadn't done that for a while, and I had missed it. New Year's Eve was the one time of year where I was able to let all my terrible dance moves loose. Although we were supposedly mature adults, we let our hair down and joined in with the party dances. We showed the younger children how it was done. We were the best at party dances, and no-one had the capacity to deny it. Robert did not let his dodgy ankle stop him from whipping out his best moves.