𝑭𝑨𝑳𝑳𝑰𝑵𝑮, djs ✓

We're In This Together

y/n's pov

New Years Eve.

Brooke, Hannah, and I spent the day picking outfits for our New Year's Eve party later. For the last 15 years, our families have celebrated the new year together. Even though we haven't been the closest lately, they're still my best friends. They're my girls, nothing could change that. Since barely any stores were open, we all facetimed what outfits we were planning to wear. Brooke's wearing black leather pants with a gold sequined top. A little much if you ask me, but she'd rock it with her life-of-the-party personality. Hannah on the other hand, decided to wear a red mini dress with black tights and her infamous silver heels. They're infamous 'cause every time she wears them, she trips and hurts herself. But she plans and hopes, like every time, that when she falls, a cute guy would help her up.

The party this year is at Hannah's house, the biggest between the 3 of us. Her dad took over her grandpa's law firm and got their grandparent's house after they passed. The house has been in their family for over 25 generations. It's the perfect place to host this year's party. We all bring food to the party, it's part of the tradition. In our house, it's tradition for me and my mom to make cheesecake for the party. I don't know why, but I feel like big things will happen tonight.

I head downstairs to find my mom preparing ingredients for the cake. Ethan and Bailey are in the living room, Ethan watching TV, Bailey reading a book. They already look like an elderly couple. I grab an apron off the hooks near the pantry and join my mom in the kitchen. We get to work right away while listening to our favorite songs full blast.

We're halfway done with the first cake when Daniel comes downstairs. He sits on one of the stools, watching us at work. 

"Do you wanna help?" I ask, letting out a light laugh.

"Only if you want me to." he says, shyly. I look at my mom as she raises an eyebrow. 

"Well, grab an apron." she says nodding towards the hooks. Daniel gets an apron and puts it on. I help him tie the strings in the back as he joins us. My mom immediately puts him at work, asking him to mix one of the bowls. I mix the second bowl as she checks the oven. "So, Daniel, I hear you have siblings?"

"Yes Mrs. y/l/n, two brothers and a sister." he says cautiously, careful with what he says. It's strange seeing him like this, tense.

"Oh please Daniel, call me Emma. So, two brothers and a sister? Tell me about them." I smile at him, trying to put him at ease. Fortunately, it works. At times like these, I'm thankful to have such a laid back mom.

"Well, Tyler is the oldest. He's really into producing and stuff like that. Christian, he's the one I'm closest to. You probably know him from Ethan." he says while keeping an eye on the bowl.

"Christian. He cooks right?" my mom asks as she looks for ingredients in the fridge. We both have stifled laughter, trying not to burst out laughing.

"Yeah, Christian cooks all the time." I hold in my laughter while I remember the amount of times we offered to cook with Christian just to annoy him. Despite that, Christian being him, he let us help him anyway.

"Well that's very cool. And your sister?" 

"Her name's Anna, she's the youngest in our family. She's great." I smile at the thought of my 'long lost' sister.

"That's nice, and I assume you're all close?" she asks as she puts a tray in the fridge.

"Yeah, we're a tight bunch." he says, putting the rest of the batter in the pans.

"Lovely. Well you guys go ahead, I'll take it from here." my mom says, allowing us to leave. We stay put, helping clean up. "Go! Go on, I got it. You two have fun before the party."

"Thanks Mom!" I say as we walk up the stairs.

"Thank you Mrs. y/l/n!" Daniel adds, following me behind.

"It's Emma!" I hear my mom call out from downstairs. We both laugh as we walk into my room, closing the door behind us. 

"Well, that was fun." Daniel says, hopping onto my bed. I walk into my closet, looking at the outfits I planned with Brooke and Hannah. I throw some clothes on my bed as Daniel goes on his phone. He sees the pieces of clothing I threw on the bed and drops his phone."These are nice, where'd you get them?"

"Anna. They're free, thanks to all the PR lists she's on." I say, examining what items would look good together.

"I thought they looked familiar." He says, laughing. I laugh along. 

"I don't know if I'll even wear this stuff. It's not really my style. Anna recommended half this stuff, saying it'll look good on me." I confess. He examines the clothes with me, lying on his side on the bed.

"First of all, anything can be your style. Two, you look good in anything. And three, my sister might be right, since she is related to me." He says confidently. I laugh at his explanation. I go back in the closet, trying on different outfits. None of them felt good enough on me for me to wear tonight. I finally decide on a white body-dress with a long white sweater on top and grey heeled ankle boots. I change out of the outfit and walk back into my room, getting on the bed next to Daniel.

"What happened to your outfit?" He asks, looking up from his phone.

"I picked one," his eyes light up, "you'll see it later." he frowns. I lightly laugh as I cuddle up next to him, resting my head in the crook of his neck. "So, any new years resolutions planned?"

"Not really. Maybe focus on my music more and find a career around it. What about you?" he puts his arm around my shoulders.

"I don't know, maybe find a set college before spring break. I don't know honestly." I say truthfully. I haven't given much thought to new year resolutions 'cause I know I'll never pull through. He kisses the top of my head and he says, "We'll figure it out."

And that's when I realized, he's right.

"We'll figure it out."

I'm not alone anymore.

It's us now.

It's 'we'.

We got this.

We're in this together.

This is going to be a pretty good year.