Stay Here By My Side

"So what are you and Ryan doing tomorrow for New Years eve?" Emily asked, sitting down next to Spencer in the orphanage's library.

Spencer looked up from the Calculus homework she'd been putting off doing all winter break and frowned at her best friend.

"What makes you think we're doing anything?" She asked.

"Oh, please, Spencer. Ever since Christmas you two have spent almost every single day together. So come on, what are you two doing?"

Spencer looked at her for a second before rolling her eyes and pushing her books away from herself. "Fine. Well, we're just going to hang out for a while and then go watch the ball drop in Times Square."

Emily looked at her smirking. "You do realize that Times Square on New Years Eve is like, one of the most romantic days in New York right?"

"Oh, shut up, Em," Spencer replied with a small smile on her face. "I'm sure nothing is going to happen anyway."

Emily just rolled her eyes at how oblivious and stubborn her best friend can be.

- - - - - - - - - -

"So, where are we going?" Spencer asked, noticing Ryan wasn't driving the usual way to his apartment.

"Just a little surprise I have," he replied smirking at her confused expression.

"Care to give me a hint?"

"Hmm...nope." He teased. "Besides, we'll be there in just a few minutes."

Spencer looked out the window, hoping to see some kind of clue as to where they were going, but coming up with nothing. They were just driving through the city, so really the possibilities were endless.

Ryan held back a laugh at her slight frown and put in one of his Blink - 182 CDs, quietly singing along to Adam's Song, one of his favorites.

"You have a really good voice," Spencer said, looking away from the window at Ryan.

"Thanks," he muttered, his cheeks slightly reddening. "I don't really like to sing in front of people."

"Why? Your voice is amazing.."

He bit his lip, unsure. "I don't really know. I guess I just get really nervous. You and Jamie are the only ones who've really heard me sing me before."

"Well, you should sing more often, I like it." She said matter-of-factly before looking back out the window, completely oblivious to the blush that spread across his cheeks.

For the next few minutes, they rode in a comfortable silence, each absorbed in their own thoughts and listening to the music coming through the speakers until Ryan came to a stop and put his car in park.

Spencer looked around noticing they were in Rockefeller Center. She saw the ice rink and that's when she realized - they were going ice skating.

"I remember you saying how you miss going ice skating with your family on New Years Eve, so I thought we could go." Spencer was quiet, recalling all of the years they came here. "That is, if you want to..." He added hesitantly.

"Yes, yes I do!" She said grinning and unbuckling her seatbelt. He let out a breath, relieved, and did the same.

By the time they rented their ice skates and got them on, Spencer was practically bouncing with excitement.

"Just a warning, I'm not a very good skater." She said with a smile that couldn't seem to leave her face.

"Really? I would've thought you would be with all of the years you've come here."

"No," she replied laughing. "I sucked. I have the worst balance, so don't be surprised if I fall a lot."

"If it makes you feel better, I'll probably be a lot worse."

The first few minutes were pretty disastrous - both of them were struggling to regain their balance and get used to the skates. Spencer was clinging to Ryan's arm, using him to help steady herself as they made their way around the rink. And as cheesy and cliché as it sounded, Ryan felt a warmth spread from where Spencer's hand was resting on his arm despite the freezing weather.

But soon enough they both got the hang of it and were skating around at a pretty good speed. Each time their hands would lightly brush, Spencer would feel her cheeks grow warm. So maybe she was hoping something would happen between them tonight, but she wasn't expecting anything to.

Soon a light snow began to fall and a light wind picked up that stung any exposed skin, so Ryan and Spencer decided to take a break and get a hot chocolate from a coffee nearby.

Ryan ordered the drinks while Spencer grabbed a small table by the fireplace, embracing its warmth. Shortly after, he joined her and set a mug of hot chocolate in front of her.

"Thank you, by the way, for taking me ice skating. That really meant a lot to me." She said, wrapping her cold hands around the hot mug.

"It's no problem, it was fun," he replied, shaking it off.

They stayed like that for awhile, finishing their drinks and talking about really nothing. Ryan checked his phone and saw it was a little after 8 already.

"We should probably get going, Times Square is going to be packed." Ryan said standing up, and zipping his jacket back up. Spencer did the same and followed him to his car, surprised at how fast the ice rink cleared out; which was probably because everyone went to go get good spots to watch the ball drop.

Due to the heavy amount of traffic, they didn't get to Times Square until shortly after 9. Ryan parked in a small parking lot a few blocks away from the Square and led Spencer down the crowded streets. He bit his lip, debating if it was a good idea to grab her hand or not. He finally decided to stop being such an idiot and to just go for it; intertwining their fingers together. She smiled up at him and squeezed his hand in return.

After a few more minutes of walking, they managed to get a pretty decent spot. Which was, of course a large distance away from the glimmering ball - but hey they could still see it just fine so it didn't really matter.

The remaining hours went by surprisingly fast. Thanks to all of the body heat, they weren't that cold, and it gave them more time to talk about really anything - which mostly consisted of music and the Blink-182 concert coming up.

Finally, it was down to the last few minutes of 2012, and you could feel the excitement in the air. Spencer looked up at the countdown which was now down to the final sixty seconds. The two of them joined everyone else in shouting out the numbers as they appeared on the large screen.

"10, 9, 8.." The ball was lighting up different colors, getting ready to be lowered. "5, 4, 3.." The crowd somehow managed to get even louder. "2, 1...Happy New Year!" The ball dropped, confetti erupted into the air, and music started playing.

But Spencer, however, didn't notice any of that. She was more focused on the fact that Ryan's lips were on hers.