One Day At A Time - Revised Edition

December draws to a close as today is New Year's Eve.
Every year, Lilly spends it with Ava, while her parents go out and celebrate.

Rose's phrase of, "Don't stress about it." is easier said than done, because stressing is all Ava can do.
She fixates and obsesses on the thoughts in her mind.

Lilly being with her doesn't make things easier and the fact that it's New Year's Eve really doesn't make things easier.

Knowing that she could kiss her once the ball drops is driving her crazy.

She hasn't kissed her since a week or so ago, when Lilly poured her heart out to her. That in it of itself has been driving her insane. (The why not kissing Lilly has been driving her crazy, has also been driving her crazy...)

By the persuasion of her brother, Ava has recently downloaded Minecraft so she could play with him.

It turns out that it's really fun to play with Lilly, too, especially now since they have an hour before the ball drops, an hour where Ava needs to distract herself.

Though, distracting herself is easier said than done, too. As dumb as it is, Lilly looks so pretty when she smiles after their virtual house is built. Have Lilly's eyes always had that sparkle in them? Ava sees it wonderfully, glaringly now.

But she focuses on the game until the alarm clock on her nightstand reads, 11:55PM.

Five minutes until the new year and five minutes until possibly getting to kiss Lilly.

Both of them get up off the floor and go out into the living room, where Donna, Anne, and Andy are sat on the couch, watching the New Year's segment on TV.

They sit together on the loveseat near the couch (Ava's stomach flips when she remembers that it's called a loveseat) and soon enough, the countdown to the new year begins.

Ten!

Nine!

Eight!

Seven!

Six!

At "Five!", Ava looks at Lilly, who is looking at the TV screen with an excited glint in her eye.

Four!

Three!

Two!

One!

"Happy New Year!" Everyone shouts, all jumping up.

Ava looks at Lilly and an anxious lump forms in her throat.

She doesn't kiss her.
She doesn't want to do it in front of her mom and her siblings.

But she doesn't stay disappointed for long, because Lilly smiles at her and pulls her in for a hug.

The two of them go to bed soon after the ball drops.

They're huddled together under the blankets and tiredness thankfully overcomes Ava before anything else can settle in her stomach.