Tristan was as excited as he was nervous about that night, though it wasn't because of what his sisters thought--the New Year's Eve kiss that they all expected to happen between him and Hannah. No, he was nervous because he had every intention of making things between them more official...and that scared him because that meant putting everything on the table for the first time since they started hanging out and...well, basically going out on dates. Though he wasn't certain if every instance could be considered a date, but there had to have been at least one. They v
Never mind the fact that there was still the possibility that she would turn him down, regardless of his sisters' claims of that being something he shouldn't worry about.
"When we get to the second to the last landing you'll have to close your eyes, and you can't open them 'til I say so, okay?" Tristan glanced over at Hannah, bright smile and all despite the nerves that were slowly building the closer they got to said landing.
She looked up at him with a skeptic look. One brow raised questioningly she seemed to be trying to figure out what he was up to without having to actually ask since she knew without a doubt he wouldn’t answer. “Okay…” she agreed almost hesitantly. “Promise you’ll make sure I won’t trip?” If she, for whatever reason, stumbled then all bets were off and those pretty blue eyes would open quicker than well... anything to be candid.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, if anything it was quite the opposite. But the amount of butterflies causing her nerves to go haywire every time he looked down at her lately made her question her own ability, or lack thereof, to walk in a straight line let alone with her eyes closed.
"I promise," was the answer he gave, and obviously meant. By the time they got to said landing and she'd closed her eyes, he stood beside her with an arm around her waist and a hand on her shoulder, ready in case she did happen to take a misstep.
The last set of stairs wasn't quite as long as the others, however, as they led to a door that opened up to the rooftop where he'd spent days cleaning and prepping just for that night. There was a blanket and assortment of pillows for them to use, a basket with their dinner, dimmed lights and small decorations spread around (courtesy of his sisters who insisted on helping with the ambience), a projector and a clean white sheet set up for a sort of rooftop movie night for the two of them. Private, and with a decent view to a few local fireworks displays that would go off later on, after the countdown. It was his usual spot to go to on New Year's, and one he just really wanted to share with her.
Tristan opened the door and led her along just a few steps so she could see the whole set-up, then cleared his throat nervously. "Okay, you can open 'em."
What she saw when she finally opened her eyes was enough to take her breath away. Despite still being within Destiny City, he had somehow managed to make it feel like they were worlds away.
“Tristan…” She spoke his name upon an exhaled whisper completely in awe by all he had done “this is amazing. When did you have time to do all of this?” They were both in the throws of school while working a part time job, and in her case there were Senshi obligations added to the mix; it made it hard to imagine him finding time to set everything up.
Absently, Hannah reached over and linked her fingers through his and smiled like someone who had been given a treasured gift.
"Arianne let me up here on your days off," Tristan replied with a gentle squeeze of her hand. He obviously couldn't take all the credit, though he was likely the one to reap the most benefits. "I'm just glad it didn't decide to snow since I started working on it."
With a laugh, more out of relief that she liked his little surprise than amusement, he playfully tugged her just a little bit closer before leading her toward the blankets and pillows.
"Here we go. Alright, I wasn't sure what you wanted to see so I'm kind of borrowing the cable box from downstairs so we have everything that's On-Demand," he started to explain, probably talking a little faster than normal, "and I'd take credit for the dinner but that was Arianne and Joy since I was busy here, so." He took a breath and gave her hand another squeeze.
"Why don't you get comfy and I'll go grab the remote?"
For a moment Hannah stood there in awe; her expression, unreadable. Never in her life had someone done something this extravagant for her. Days of planning went into this and in truth, it showed. It felt as if a weight had been lifted off her weary shoulders and for the for time in a long while, she felt special.
The lump that grew in her throat was unrelenting as was the sting of tears that blurred her vision causing the lights glow to expand into bright balls of radiant fluff. “Thank you,” Hannah squeezed his hand in return then wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and smiled up at him.
After clearing her throat she subconsciously started to chew on her lower lip like a nervous girl standing beside her crush. Which, of course, is exactly what she was in that moment.
Nonetheless Hannah allowed her hand to slide free from his and took a seat on one of the pillows that had been so carefully placed for two.
He didn't miss the fact that tears had started forming, and for a moment it worried him until she spoke and smiled up at him in a way that really made him feel like he'd done something perfectly right. Tristan only smiled back and nodded slightly. "You're welcome," he replied before he let her pull away. Even in the brief moment that she wasn't beside him he found himself rushing to be near her again, so he quickly nabbed the remote before flopping down in the space just next to her.
"Lady's choice," he said, offering her the remote before making a grab for the nearby blanket. He scooted a bit closer and draped it over the both of them, though he was careful about where he put his hands. There was still an air of nerves about him; things could either go extremely well or extremely awkward and he didn't want to go and push things too far or too fast that would lead to the latter.
So he opted instead to kind of lean in her direction so they were shoulder to shoulder.
"Can I suggest something action-y to start things off, though?" he started to say before glancing in her direction and realizing how close their faces would actually be if he stayed like that. Not that he pulled away, though it did give him pause. "Like...Bourne or that new Die Hard?"
“The new Die Hard sounds good.” She had seen the older ones before a few times with her father but they hadn’t a chance to make it to the movies to see the last one when it came out.
Though her movements were somewhat tentative, Hannah slipped her arm through his then settled in more comfortably beside him with her head resting against his shoulder. Because it’s cold she tried to convince herself. It didn’t work.
The glow from the TV was rather bright casting harsh shadows across the blanket as she searched OnDemand for the desired movie. “Ah, there it is.” Hannah commented with a sound of triumph in her voice. “I’m actually kind of surprised that it is actually available free to watch.” Considering it hadn’t been out that long it seemed a bit unusual to not have to pay for a recent release. Then again it is kind of a holiday movie so maybe it is only here for a limited time?
He held his breath when she settled beside him, but soon enough he found himself getting comfortable as well, resting his cheek against her hair while he took her hand in his and twined their fingers together. As they sat there, it dawned on him that for the first time his brain didn't formulate some sort of excuse to be so close to her. He wanted to be, plain and simple, and without thinking he turned his face ever so slightly and planted a soft kiss against her hair as she scrolled through the list to find the movie they were looking for.
"Free, Arianne's good like that," he joked. "Even if it wasn't we can still watch it, though. She gave me the thumb's up to watch whatever we want."
Beside him Hannah’s heart skipped a beat, ok several beats but she wasn’t counting, when she felt the press of his lips against the top of her head. It was gentle and sweet and the reason her face was as pink as the open sign hanging on the storefront window. Was that? Did he? I think he just…oh my goodness! Brows raised nearly into her hairline, a knowing smile spread across her lips and in response she gave his arm a bit of a hug rather than pull away.
“I umm.” With how unsteady her voice sounded Hannah cleared her throat then tried again. “Should I hit play?”
"Uh, yeah," he said, smiling softly as his brows scrunched together at the sound of her voice. It was a bit off, but not really in an unpleasant way. Just...not the usual and he wasn't entirely sure why, so he used his free hand to pull the blanket a bit higher. Maybe she was cold still? Winter nights weren't the best for this kind of thing, after all, but there were plenty of blankets lying around for that very reason.
"You okay?" he started to ask just as the movie's opening credits started rolling, his voice carrying a worried tone. "Cold? Hungry? Thirsty? I can make popcorn, if you want." Everything was just out of reach so if she said yes to anything he would regrettably have to pull away, but it was a small sacrifice to make sure she was comfortable. Still, he sort of wished he thought of the popcorn and drinks before settling down just moments earlier.
“Mmhmm,” Hannah nodded her head, “I’m ok. Just a bit cold.” Food was probably the furthest from her mind when he suggested it however the sound of popcorn did make her stomach almost growl.
She looked up at him shyly then rested her head against his shoulder once more. Till she met Tristan, Hannah had never really given much thought of her feelings towards anyone really. It somehow felt taboo and the last thing she ever wanted to do was hurt them or make them worry knowing that relapse was still a plausible future despite being in remission; it’s happened twice already. But maybe… maybe it was ok to allow herself to fall for someone.
"Ah," he started, then glanced around to sight the closest possible blanket and reached for it as soon as he found it. "Guess it's a good thing I brought up a ton of these, then. We could probably make fort or something if we tried hard enough." A suggestion that brought a smile to Hannah’s face and caused her to laugh. As childish as it may seem, the idea actually sounded kind of fun to her.
Tristan draped the second blanket over their backs, so from a distance they looked like a small mound of blankets with two faces on one side...but that was neither here nor there. He'd never been the most forward when it came to girls, so this was the most he'd ever done for a crush. For the longest time he'd always been more passive about his feelings, but with Hannah it was just...different. Even at the start of their friendship to get a smile or a laugh out of her was more than worth the effort, and as the days and weeks past and that friendship, at least for him, gradually became something more he found himself always wanting to make her feel special.
They were only fifteen minutes into the movie when he gently gave her a nudge. "So you're sure you don't want popcorn? We're not at the super action-y parts yet so now's probably the best time to grab some."
Though her normal response would be to re-confirm that she was okay, Hannah soon found herself shifting beside him. Her head lifted off his shoulder leaving an imprint of the folds in his shirt on the side of her face; a sight to see no doubt but she paid her appearance little mind. Instead she looped her arm from his “You can go get some popcorn.” she sighed playfully, her voice all but teasing.
He saw the imprints on her face and chuckled, lifting his free hand to her cheek as if he could magically make the marks go away. And then she spoke and sounded like she was teasing him so he scrunched his brows and playfully pinched her cheek in retaliation before hurriedly getting up to get away and make that popcorn. "It's for both of us, you," he said, sounding maybe just a little bit pouty despite his smile.
Tristan disappeared downstairs for a few minutes, but soon reappeared with a giant bowl of kettle corn and settled beside her once more. He handed her the bowl and huddled underneath the blankets, this time wrapping an arm around her waist and using that hand to steady the bowl in her lap.
"So what'd I miss?" he asked, then popped a popped kernel into his mouth.
“A lot,” she responded vaguely once more settling in comfortably beside him with a smile that suggested that was all the information he was going to get. “Have you not seen this before?” She had to wonder since he was the one to offer it up as an option to watch.
Oh, he caught the smile and popped another piece into his mouth before frowning. It was more a pout, really, and he gently shook her to try and get her to cave. "I have," he said, "but it's been a while." Tristan paused and gave it some thought before smiling wide.
"Please? I'll trade you something for the info. Whatever you want."
Hannah seemed to contemplate what she wanted to ask for but in reality she hadn’t a clue what to say. In all honesty she hadn’t been paying much attention to the movie once he had stepped away. “I’ll have to take a rain check” she settled on with a secretive smile that suggested she had something good to ask of him but now was not the time. “Bruce Willis’ character just arrived at the courthouse to help his son when the explosion went off.”
“If you’d like, we can rewind the movie and watch it again?” she suggested while reaching into the bowl to take a handful of buttery popcorn to which she ate one by one in a bit of a dainty fashion.
He watched her with a relatively keen eye, though he was slightly distracted by the popcorn (and partly by the movie as well), and the smile she eventually pulled on just made him a little bit more curious. But again she didn't seem to want to say anything more about that, which made him all the more curious...but he wasn't about to press it. He'll figure it out later, he thought, and at her suggestion he shook his head.
"Nah," he said before popping another piece of popcorn and getting comfy again, leaning slightly against her each time he reached for the bowl of popcorn. "I'll just assume I missed some kind of action sequence and maybe an explosion or two. There's plenty more--it's Die Hard."
Tristan chuckled and finally set his eyes primarily on the screen, though he did glance at Hannah every so often if for no other reason than because he could without being super obvious. The nerves that he felt at the start of their evening began to slowly ebb away the longer they sat there, simply enjoying each other's company with the added bonus of popcorn and a decent movie. Or at least that was how he saw it--Hannah first, and then whatever they were doing was always secondary.
At some point during the movie the bowl that had been full of popcorn had been set aside and during one of the more intense action scenes, when the bad guy got thrown off the roof and landed on the still spinning helicopter blades, Hannah’s hand found Tristan’s, following an unexpected gasp, and held on tight.
“S-sorry,” She said after a few moments once Hannah’s grip relaxed enough for her to realize she had kind of squeezed his when one of the bad guys got shot. “Heh- I even knew that part was coming.” embarrassed more than anything she turned her head and hid her pink stained face in his shoulder.
He was a little surprised when she suddenly took his hand, he even worried for a second before he realized why she'd done it, but he certainly didn't mind it. So when she apologized he shook his head and simply twined their fingers to keep a loose hold on her hand. And when she hid her face he couldn't help but laugh lightly as he leaned his head against hers.
"So I'm guessing horror and suspense movies are not gonna be a thing for us, huh?" he said before he kissed the top of her head again, only this time he was actually conscious of it so he paused right after, then nervously cleared his throat. "No biggie, and definitely no need to apologize."
Hidden as she was, Hannah couldn’t help but thank God that he couldn’t see the way her eyebrows pulled a Houdini and disappeared into her hairline in surprise.
Not entirely sure what to make of the kiss she found herself slowly pulling back to look up at him imploringly for some sort of unspoken explanation to a question she couldn’t find the words to ask. Her heartbeat was racing against her ribs almost painfully in a nervous fashion as she worried her lower lip between her teeth.
He smiled softly when he caught that questioning expression that she wore, blinking for a moment before he sighed and shrugged. He was hoping to bring it up later on, just before the countdown and the fireworks (because his sisters were all in agreement that it would be the best time, and he had no idea so he just went with it), but since he was there now...
"I just..." Tristan started to say, then paused as if he had to give what he wanted to tell her even more thought. He'd been thinking on it for weeks, and he'd had feelings for her for months now, so he should know exactly what to say and yet his nerves were still getting to him.
"I mean we've been hanging out for a while now, right?" he finally managed to get out, his smile turning a bit shier than he would have liked to admit. Still, he kept his eyes on hers and continued. "And I really," and he paused to sigh out of relief now that he was finally getting to say it out loud, "really like you, Hannah, and I've honestly been wanting to ask you for the longest time but I wanted to make it kinda special so I waited and did all this...but. I'll just ask...so, um."
He paused again and took a break to make sure his voice didn't come out shaky or high-pitched or awkward at all. "Can we make this...us, I mean...official?" It sounded a bit lame now that he'd asked but it was finally out there, and he swallowed the lump that had suddenly form in his throat as he waited for an answer--any kind of answer--from her.
By the surprised look on her face any onlooker watching the scene unfold would have assumed the poor young man just proposed to the girl beside him. “I-I…” She seemed to struggle with a response of her own and so she settled on nodding her head.
While his admission shouldn’t have been a complete surprise since he often enough allowed her to loop her arm through his or the number of times Tristan draped his arm across her shoulders almost protectively when he walked her home. Still, assuming and hoping is one thing, actually hearing him say it was something else entirely.
“Yes please, I’d like that a lot.” Hannah’s heartbeat fluttered against her chest in the way Thumper’s did in Bambi; twitterpated as they called it. “I-I’ve never had a boyfriend before” she admitted; one of the things she missed out on back in highschool.
The surprise on her face made him a little more nervous, but he visibly relaxed when she nodded. And when she said yes he couldn't help but sigh once more out of relief, as though he'd been holding his breath since right after he asked (and it really felt like he did), and smile practically from ear to ear. "Geez," he muttered almost under his breath. He gave her hand a light squeeze--had they been in the proper position he would have hugged her something fierce--and gave himself a second to calm down.
"For a second I thought you were gonna say 'no' y'know," he said finally before meeting her eye, expression a mixture of nervous and shy and relieved all at the same time. "And me neither. Had a girlfriend before, I mean. 'Cause I'm not into gu--nevermind." Tristan paused to clear his throat and his head to keep himself from rambling, then gave her hand another squeeze.
"Um...but we'll figure things out together, okay?"
“Kay,” came a somewhat nervous reply. The butterflies in her stomach were having a bit of a field day it seemed. No matter, even with her eyes cast downward with how shy she’d suddenly become, there was no hiding the genuine smile that lit her features. How long had it been since someone was able to bring her this much joy or feel as special as he did now? “Thank you, for putting all of this together. This has been the best night I’ve had in a very long time.”
That smile, her smile, helped to calm him down even more and he found himself relaxing once again as she spoke. Tristan bobbed his head at her thanks, his lips soon turning up into a smile all his own. "No problem," he replied before gently tugging her back to close the small gap between them. "You're worth it, believe me." He'd always thought so, and now that they were official he didn't have to make up excuses to do something special for her..
Tristan gave her hand another little squeeze, perhaps to snap her out of whatever headspace she was currently in, then nodded toward the TV. "I think we missed something," he said with a little chuckle. "Didya wanna rewind?"
“No,” she shook her head “It’s ok. The fireworks should be starting soon.” Hannah pointed out.
Several people were already outside setting off fireworks in the street but the big show had yet to begin. The pops and fizzles were a little startling at first when a huge green one went off over head but she paid them little mind.
Their conversation pulled his attention from their surroundings so Tristan hadn't noticed the distant fireworks going off until she pointed them out, to which he turned his head to catch a few more go off before checking his watch. It wasn't time yet, but people were excited and a little impatient. His family was probably passing out the hats and the noise makers and whatnot, staring at the TV screen and just waiting for the ball to drop. The thought made him a little more anxious than he was at the start of their evening, though he tried not to be too obvious about that.
"Oh," he said as he craned his head to watch another large red one go off not too far away. "Then c'mon, the view's better from over there."
With that he pulled himself up onto his feet, tugging Hannah along in the process, and led the way to a small area away from their set-up. The street lights were dimmed and darkness primarily replaced what would have been a great view of the cityscape, no doubt in anticipation of a New Year's Eve fireworks display, with pops of light every now and again from those who couldn't wait just a bit longer for the proper show. Tristan took a deep breath, eyes pointed skyward.
"I always come up here for New Year's," he said, "for the show. My family likes the ball-dropping thing, but me? This feels more real." His eyes fell to her next and he smirked. "I don't really set this up for myself, of course. It's usually just a chair, a cooler of soda and water and some snacks. But for you...with you..." and he shrugged, smile turned shy before he looked away again, leaving the thought still unfinished. By now he hoped she could complete it on her own.
While it was true, Tristan was in fact her first boyfriend, Hannah was not so naive as to not know where the conversation was going.
Which is why what she did next felt more like a leap of faith. A soft smile spread across her face as she canted her head to the side when he turned his head and looked away. Usually so confident it felt a bit odd to see acting a bit sheepish but in an almost endearing way and so she did something that even surprised herself.
Her hand around his tightened in a gentle squeeze to get his attention as she rose up onto her toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek when he started to turn to look her way. “Thank you.” It was clumsy as most first kisses often were but she wouldn’t take it back for the world.
Tristan tensed for all of a second when she kissed him, more out of shock than anything else and it made him smile all the brighter when he turned to fully look at her. It was more forward of her than he was used to, which was a pleasant surprise that he certainly wasn't expecting. Especially not at that point in time since so far he'd been the one to deliver all the surprises for the night.
"You're welcome," was all that came out as their eyes met, and it dawned on him a second time that she'd just kissed him. The thought pulled his smile a little wider as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
Time felt relative at that point, when he heard the first crack of fireworks not too far away. It went high and bright, it was one of the bigger ones, like always. A true start to what he already knew would be a spectacular show. It illuminated the city beneath for all of a second and was likely breathtaking, as were the ones that followed, but he couldn't be bothered to take his eyes off of Hannah in that moment. He was all nerves again as he gave her hand another squeeze, as if to solidify the fact that she was there and he wasn't imagining things, but he pulled her just a little bit closer. Just a little bit so the gap between them was practically nonexistent.
His confidence was out the window by then but he still leaned toward her, hesitant but gradually closing that gap even further. For as long as he could manage he kept his eyes open, first locked with hers before they slowly lowered to her lips as he got closer, until it finally felt right to close them.
When finally Hannah broke away, her eyes cast downward nervously as she began to worry her lip. There really was no hiding the smile that spread across her face or the shine in her sapphire blue eyes. The moment couldn’t have been any more perfect than it was the moment they shared their first kiss.
_ p a o cx
Backdated to January (new years)
