Chapter Text
December 31st … 2026 / 13:37 PM
Jake had decided - Hey , why not host something for New years ? He hadn't met up with the others in ages … It felt like it had been too long . A few days prior , he had sent out a message to the group chat to see if everyone would want to come over for New year's — they all agreed ! Albert was the first to get there , of course . Then some of the others showed up after , at the moment , Jake and Albert were talking on the sofa as Temprist was talking with his brother , Unequip , who had also come over .
“ Dude . You cannot just unanchor an entire server and expect to just get away with it— You're actually gonna get in trouble for this at some point , you know ? “
Jake said , Albert waved a dismissive hand .
“ Calm down Jakey , I will not get banned ! When have I ever gotten banned for messing on roblox ? “
“ You just got a 1 day ban literally not even a week ago , man . “
“ Shut up – “
Albert said , Temprist chimed in , pausing his conversation with his brother for the moment .
“ How about you guys change the topic so that when the others arrive , you guys aren't at each other's necks … “
Unequip huffed a chuckle under his breath as Albert rolled his eyes and Jake just looked amused . Just then – The door opened , It was Kaden and Miles ! Albert immediately jumped out of his seat
“ KADEN !!! “
Albert had … lowkey tackled Kaden into a hug , Kaden backwards on the floor , letting out a slight ‘oof’ sound . Miles jumped slightly . Temprist muttered under his breath and ran a hand down his face … Why was he friends with these idiots again ?
Anywho , now kaden and Miles sat on the sofa , Albert , Kaden and Miles had gotten into some random conversation that Albert seemed to be really talkative in - Jake was scrolling social media on his phone , usually looking at Twitter or something … the others had messaged him their ETA , so they shouldn't be too much longer at least .
Elijah and Ethan were the next to arrive , then it was Dani , then Denis … Janzen really did have to take his time – didn't he ? Probably perfecting his stupid hair or something … Jake sighed .
December 31st … 2026 / 15:27 PM
Everyone had arrived but Janzen . He had messaged Jake to say he's gonna be running a little late but SHOULD be there in a few minutes .
In the mean time – Jake had gotten some snacks out of the cupboard to wait , though it felt like in a matter of seconds all the food just fucking disappeared , what the hell why is everyone such a FATASS … Jake just got himself some monster , he couldn't be bothered to deal with any of his friends' behaviour and how they literally just love to devour all his food when it's put in front of them .
Around 10-15 minutes go by , Jake was zoned out and didn't hear the door open , he jumped slightly when Janzen put his hand on his shoulder .
“ Jesus Christ !— “
Jake whisper-shouted , being taken off guard . Janzen had an amused expression on his face with his usual grin and took his hand off of his shoulder ,
“ You alright man ?- “
“ Yes just don't scare me like that –”
Janzen let out a huff of a laugh and sat down on the other side of him . Now he's between Janzen and Albert – great . This is gonna be a fun night …
December 31st … 2026 / 20:46 PM
It had been a pretty eventful evening . Currently , they were participating in some group Jenga game . Most of his friends had some alcohol , he stuck with his monster for now , he didn't exactly want to start the new year off with a killer hang over … Jake looked over to see who's turn it was this time , it currently was Ethan's turn , he carefully pushed out a jenga block and checked to see what was on it— ‘Kings Cup’ The room then shifted to Ethan complaining about it and Elijah laughing so hard over him knowing he's gonna see his brother drink the Kings Cup .
_
For those who don't know , Kings Cup is where it has different kinds of alcohol mixed into it and whoever gets the Kings Cup jenga block then everyone has to pour a bit of their drink into the cup for then the person whose turn it was , to drink it and swallow . It tasted disgusting by the way you do not wanna have the Kings Cup.
_
Ethan groaned as he got handed the Kings Cup by Unequip … God. He hated this already . Ethan felt uneasy as he brought it to his lips and took a sip , he choked it down and coughed right after , immediately getting some water to wash the taste away .
As the night proceeded , everyone got a bit more drunk , though Jake wasn't too drunk . He stuck with his monster cans besides from the times he got ‘Take a shot !’ or ‘Kings Cup’ whenever it was his turn with Jenga . Jake had gotten up and gone to the bathroom , he felt so warm , though it might've been the alcohol because jeez that shit was strong . way stronger than he expected when he initially made it at least .
Jake splashed some cold water on his face and took his jumper off , his white shirt riding up a bit before he pulled it back down . Jake ran a hand through his hair , he felt the forming of a headache coming on … dammit , he hated headaches – especially when you don't want to get a headache at a certain time . Jake was cut off from his thoughts when he heard a knock . He turned around , about to say something before he , once again , got cut off .
“ Hey– Jake ? Just checking up on you , you alright ? You've been in here for a good few minutes . “
Jake checked his watch . It had been 10 minutes - oh , huh . he didn't realise it had been that long . Jake waited a moment before he responded
“ Yeah , I'm alright . Just feeling a bit warm , probably the alcohol though . “
Jake opened the door , meeting eyes with Albert , Albert gave him a soft nudge .
“ Alright , but just don't be sick on any of us - alright Jacob ? “
Albert joked as they walked back to jakes living room .
“ Right - “
Jake responded . Sitting back down . Janzen glanced over at him for a split second , maybe a bit longer than he should've . But quite quickly and subtly returned his gaze back to the others , a glass of alcohol in his hand .
Everyone had somewhat abandoned the whole Jenga game and just moved onto talking . Albert and Kaden were talking , making stupid jokes with each other . Elijah also joined in with them occasionally . A few moments later , Jake just needed to be somewhere cold . He had gotten up again and went into his kitchen and sat down , a small thud being made when the back of his head gently hit the cupboard .
Jake seemed to tune everything out and closed his eyes . He might be coming down with something maybe … though that thought was short lasting as he heard someone sit down next to him .
“ Dani ? “
Jake said , looking over at her .
“ You looked a bit out of it — and I have some paracetamol for you , if you want any of it . “
“ Do you just carry that around ?... “
“ Occasionally , only really when I'm going out with friends or something . “
Jake smiled slightly . Took the paracetamol and swallowed it down with some water . It took a good few minutes for the headache to go away , Dani just sat with him in peace . Even with all the jokes , they were good friends and they both valued their friendship and the group's friendships . Everyone was just so comfortable with each other , it was quite nice ! Made the atmosphere around them feel all warm and generally did make everyone feel more at home just being around and joking with each other .
December 31st … 2026 / 11:29 PM
31 more minutes until the new year . Jake had put one of those live New Years timers on the TV for everyone to watch . Everyone was still a bit drunk , they just just started doing shots for no reason … so that turned into something . Jake kept getting dragged into doing shots . Well , hopefully he doesn't get a hang over at least … though every shot he takes there's a slimmer chance of that happening .
Things for Jake did feel like they started to get more hazy , most likely the alcohol fully starting to kick in now . Great . That's just what he wanted .
Jake excused himself for a moment , leaving and just went in the bathroom and sat on the floor . He didn't turn on the lights , it would hurt his eyes - and he was just trying to stop feeling as drunk . Jake had drank some water , hoping that it would somewhat eventually flush the alcohol out of his system . Jake sighed . Stayed sitting down for a few more minutes before getting up and opening the door . Jumping slightly when Janzen was standing right outside. Jake muttered under his breath .
“ — Damnit Janzen … you scared the hell outta me again … “
“ Sorry . Just checkin’ up on you .. “
Janzen spoke . was his tone .. softer ? Jake couldn't tell . He just blamed it on the alcohol .
“ It's fine , I just don't wanna get too drunk and have to deal with a hangover tomorrow . “
“ That's fair … I can stay with you until you sober up a bit more if you want ? We don't have to talk . And we can go back before the countdown’s over . “
“ … Yeah … Yeah , okay , sure … I don't mind .”
Jake spoke . moving out of the way so Janzen could come in . Jake sat back down , Janzen sat down beside him . It was silent — but not in the uncomfortable silence , it was peaceful , and you could hear the faint sounds of the others from the living room . Jake let out a small sigh . He felt eyes on him but he didn't open his eyes . he just wanted to relax .
The silence around them was quite nice , besides from the humming that some of the electronics made and the amount of noise the others are making in the living room . After a few beats of silence , Jake spoke up .
“ … maybe we should- go back in there just to make sure they're not completely destroying everything …”
Janzen's hand had lightly brushed against his . He looked over at Janzen.
“ They should be smart enough not to , if not then I'll be one to give them hell for it- “
“ You say that when you don't even live here … “
Janzen shrugged . He'd still give them hell for it despite if it was his house or not .
Though maybe it was just because it was Jake .
“ –Well it's what a good friend can do for you , right ? “
“ .. Wouldn't you rather be the one in the living room making a bunch of fun instead of just sitting on the floor with me in silence and in the dark ? “
“ I actually don't mind it that much . “
“ Do you not ? “
“ I mean , I get to spend more time with you , don't I ? and it's nice to be around you . “
“ … I guess— but still , I'd rather you have fun than be sitting in silence .”
Janzen just flicked Jake's head ,
“ Shut up – If I want to stay here I'm going to , it's like you're trying to kick me out ! “
Jake slightly huffed out a laugh . Looking back over at Janzen … He really did enjoy spending time with him . hm.
He felt Janzen place his hand on Jake's knee , it was nice of him , staying with Jake instead of having fun with the others and whatnot .
Jake's gaze wandered over Janzen … everything about him was- well , nice . beautiful , even . God—He shouldn't be thinking about his friend like this . He wasn't gay . No. He wasn't. Jake did not like the fact that it felt like he was gonna have a heart attack right then and there just for Janzen being next to him – It wasn't like this before … not that he remembers. But then again , he hasn't fully been alone with Janzen like this ever , or at least not for a long while .
Jake had zoned out , however , Janzen thought he'd be a bit of an idiot and test how much he can do , like to test how long he can… tease? I guess.
Janzen had ended up getting Jakes hand in his grasp and interlocked their fingers together , a smile playing on his lips . It's as if he could feel the heat radiating off of Jake –.
“ You're a bit warm , Jake . You alright ? “
He had a sort of amusement in his tone , watching - almost studying jake , carefully .
“ Ah- It's just my headache probably … “
Jake mumbled , Janzen huffed a laugh .
“ Oh yeah , a headache is definitely gonna make you feel like you're the same temperature as an oven . Right. “
“ Fuck off— “
Janzen raised his hand and cupped Jakes face and kissed him , slightly tilting his head to the side . Jake felt himself just freeze up entirely , he was very caught off guard and very much was quite caught in between his thoughts of ‘ I really love this ‘ and ‘ I'm not gay I'm straight I shouldn't be feeling this way . ‘ Jake wanted to lean in but pull away at the same time he felt so conflicted.
“ Jan— “
“ shh … “
Janzen pulled Jake a bit closer , Jakes hands instinctively went to Janzens hair - GOD he was too conflicted and too nervous and it felt both right and bad at the same time and he wasn't even sure if he wanted this but he knew deep down he wanted it but he felt so in denial from it , it hurt .
Jake hesitatedly pulled back , breaking the kiss .
“ … I think I'm gonna go back to the living room now … “
Jake stood up , Janzen standing up as well with a silent nod . They both went back out to the living room where everyone else still was , the whole room still felt lively— as if nothing changed since they were in there .
A few minutes go by , everyone was waiting for the new year's count down . As it got down to 10 seconds , everyone started counting down.
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
…
1 !
Everyone in the room cheered and some of them entirely downed their drinks . Usual stuff . Kaden , Albert , Elijah , and Denis were all laughing together , they had modt likely made a joke or something before then … Dani was very much amused , watching all the commotion around her . Jake stayed silent , watching as the others around him were happy and having a good time , whilst he just felt like he was having an internal crisis .