New Year’s Eve Party (2)

"...Why?" Derek narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He did in fact know how to dance the waltz but he didn't particularly enjoy dancing and he hadn't ever had a partner to even dance with in the first place.

" It's a yes or no question. Do you know how to waltz or not?" Aiden asked again. Derek was reluctant to answer but he knew he didn't have much of a choice so he sighed.

"Yes. I can waltz. So why…?!" As soon as Aiden heard the word 'yes', he sprang into action. He grabbed Derek's arm and immediately pulled him towards the dance floor. "...Aiden, what are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious? We're going to dance!" Derek already knew that was the case but he still didn't want it to be true.

"I know I said I can waltz but that doesn't mean I'm good at it."

"That's fine. I'll forgive you if you step on my toes."

"Do we really have to do this? It'll only draw more attention."

"Nice try but, in case you hadn't noticed, no matter where we've gone or what we've done tonight, everyone's been constantly watching us anyway. So, no more excuses."

"Aiden…" Derek was about to try and talk him out of it one more time when Aiden suddenly stopped walking. He slowly turned around to face Derek with a sad pout.

"You really don't want to?"

"Oh, come on. Not the pout!" Derek attempted to look away but Aiden constantly shifted to remain in his line of sight.

"Hm? You won't dance with me?" Aiden's expression made Derek think of an abandoned puppy in the rain. There was never any point in resisting in the first place.

"...Fine!" Derek gave up and Aiden's pout instantly changed to a grin. He spun back around and dragged Derek the rest of the way to the dance floor. The other people that were dancing gave them confused or disdainful looks but Aiden ignored them all.

"Well then, shall we dance?" Aiden raised his arms and waited. With a sigh of half resignation and half amusement, Derek stepped closer to Aiden, put one hand on his lower back and held his hand with the other. Then, the music started again.

Originally, there were quite a few pairs of people on the dancefloor but, as Derek and Aiden gracefully spun across the room, they all stopped and stared. It was truly mesmerizing. Aiden's pure white suit glittered from the light of the crystal chandelier overhead with every turn. Their movements were so in sync that it appeared as though they had practiced many times before.

As the song sped up, so too did Derek and Aiden's footsteps. However, far from looking rushed, they glided around the floor with ease. When the tune reached its peak, Derek effortlessly lifted Aiden into the air and twirled around. The music started to fade and they both slowed their steps before eventually coming to a stop in the middle of the room. Complete silence swept over everyone until a singular person strode forward with a smirk while clapping.

"Bravo! Truly a wonderful performance!" Derek scowled when he saw who it was and his grip on Aiden's hand tightened. Aiden squeezed his hand in return.

"It's Mr. Grant, right?" Aiden asked calmly. It wasn't a good idea to do anything that would reflect badly on Derek and, seeing Derek's mood continue to worsen with every step closer Kain got, Aiden thought it would be best to quickly move elsewhere.

"Oh, please! 'Mr. Grant' is much too stuffy. Call me Kain."

"...Mr. Grant, I don't want to sound rude but we shouldn't have a conversation here. We're holding up the other guests from dancing." He pointed out the many surrounding people as he spoke. Meanwhile, Derek was feeling pleased over the fact that Aiden had refused to call Kain by his first name.

"I suppose that's true. We wouldn't want to interrupt everyone's fun." Kain then led the way to a more secluded area, away from the dancefloor. The music started up again and people returned to dancing. Aiden was trying to find an opportunity to separate Derek and Kain when the perfect person for the job came into view.

"Derek! Isn't that your dad over there?" Aiden pointed to where Derek's father was indeed standing and then turned back to Kain. "I'm sorry Mr. Grant, but you'll have to excuse us. We haven't been able to greet him yet this evening and, if you know anything about Silas, you know he can vanish in an instant. We really should go and catch him before he wanders off." Before Kain could utter a single word in reply, Aiden pulled Derek away into the crowd. Kain's expression turned wicked as he watched the two of them go.

"...Next time then," Kain muttered eerily to himself and walked away.

By the time Aiden and Derek got to where Silas had been just moments before, he was nowhere in sight. Derek and Aiden exchanged glances and laughed. What was he, the reincarnation of Houdini?

Over the next couple of hours, Aiden and Derek kept each other company while strategically avoiding people who may cause problems. At one point, they finally met up with Silas and had a short conversation. They also spoke to Derek's brother for a while.

As it approached midnight, waiters started bringing out glasses of champagne or sparkling cider to all the guests. Everyone also started to congregate in one of the large halls where there were floor to ceiling glass windows that overlooked the manor's back gardens. At the far end of the hall was a large screen with a countdown clock. There were five minutes left. Unexpectedly, Derek took Aiden's hand and quietly led him out of the hall.

"Huh? Where are we going?" Aiden asked.

"You'll see. Just follow me for a minute." The two of them went up a set of hidden stairs used by the servants and waiters. Aiden was led down several hallways after that until they arrived in a small study room that also had floor to ceiling windows overlooking the garden. Derek smiled and explained, "I used to come here a lot when I was younger and wanted to get away from all the pressure whenever there was a gathering like this. You can probably tell from all the dust but no one comes in here at all. It's one of the many forgotten rooms in the Montgomery manor."

"This…" Aiden looked around the room and then back at Derek. "Did you bring me here so we could be alone at midnight?" His heart started to race at the thought. Aiden had actually been a bit disappointed that he wouldn't be able to kiss the person he liked at midnight like so many other's got to. It was kind of childish and he convinced himself that there would be another opportunity but he still felt dissatisfied. The idea that maybe Derek was feeling the same way filled Aiden with an unexplainable feeling.

"Yeah." Derek had set up a countdown on his phone and placed it on a dusty table nearby. "I thought it'd be better this way." Aiden was left speechless. All he could do to express how he felt was to immediately latch on to Derek in a tight embrace. He buried his face against Derek's chest and managed to mumble a response.

"...Thank you." Derek smiled lovingly at him and wrapped his arms around him as well, one around his waist and the other cradling Aiden's head. He leaned down and felt Aiden's soft hair against his skin.

The cell phone on the table beeped when it was thirty seconds to midnight. The sound caused Derek and Aiden to separate only a little and look at the clock. Then, they looked back at one another. Derek caressed Aiden's cheek and whispered,

"Happy new year, Aiden." Aiden nuzzled into Derek's hand.

"Yeah. Happy new year, Derek." They gazed into each other's eyes for only a moment before leaning into a kiss. At the perfect moment, like a scene from a movie, fireworks exploded in the night sky, showering them in an almost golden light. Neither of them took any notice though as they were far too distracted to care.

Their kiss deepened as Aiden wrapped both his arms around Derek's neck and in return Derek's arms pulled Aiden's body tightly against his own. It was only when the sound of fireworks faded and the light dimmed that they reluctantly pulled apart. Both of them were breathing heavily and Aiden's eyes seemed to glaze over, a faint pink flush on his face.

For a moment that they both thought was too short, they stood there in silence simply holding onto each other. Regrettably, time wouldn't stand still so, after one last embrace, they stepped away from each other. Derek picked up his phone and put it back in his pocket.

"We should head back before people notice we're not there." After taking a calming breath, Aiden nodded and they left the room to return to the party.