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Ted burped as he sat down the shot of tequila, looking back at Paul. The man was giggling at something on his phone on the couch, tears in his eyes at the video. Ted felt a bit bad that he made Paul drink as much as him, considering he had a way higher alcohol tolerance, but he couldn't resist. Paul was cute drunk, and he loved being able to loosen the man up.
Ted walked back to the couch, sitting directly next to Paul, probably way closer than the two would normally be. Paul didn't seem to mind though, turning his phone to show Ted the video.
It was a sea lion compilation that Paul was damn near losing his mind over. His face was red and eyes a similar shade, glistening with tears as he watched the video play again. Ted looked over to the man, a smile on his face. "You're cute, you know that? It's nice to see you not so stressed about grades."
Ted earned a deep flush from that comment, making Paul look away. "Shut up."
Ted just shrugged, pulling out his own phone. The two hadn't gone home to their families for the holidays, so they'd been hanging out for the whole break. Paul said the house was too crowded for him anyways, and Ted- well. His house definitely wasn't crowded...
But he wasn't thinking about that. A glance at the time, and Ted had a thought. "Hey, Paul?"
"Hm?"
"You know how you're supposed to kiss someone at midnight on New Years?"
Paul paused, and the two turned their heads to look at each other at the same time. "Yeah?"
"Well, it's eleven fifty-nine, and I want good luck this year. Do you wanna?"
A pause, then a glance at his own phone. Paul clicked on the time on his lock screen revealing they had about 15 seconds. "Yeah, yeah. That's cool.:"
"Alright."
"Okay."
"Cool."
"Yeah."
"You're sure?"
"Yeah, why not."
Finally, the channel they had on the TV as background noise started counting down. The two pushed their phones away, adjusting to face each other on the couch. It was awkward, but they finally leaned in and connected lips.
Ted had expected Paul to pull away after a quick peck, but as their lips connected, he felt hands cup his face and pull him closer. He let Paul lead as he held Paul's neck, their llips moving together slowly.
Finally, the two parted for breath and opened their eyes. Tense silenced passed, followed by giggles from Paul and a worried smile from Ted.
"That was fun."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." Paul smiled, turning around and falling to lay on Ted's lap. "Bedtime!" He exclaimed, closing his eyes while Ted glanced around at his surroundings. Eventually, he shrugged to himself, pulling a blanket onto the duo and laying his head on the back of the couch.
Would they have to talk about it in the morning? Sure. But Ted was happy for now, as he let himself fall safely to sleep with his roommate/best friend/low-key crush laying on his lap.
Maybe the new year wouldn't be so bad.