December 31, 2014

Nessa made her way over the threshold, tucking the keycard back into her tiny clutch purse before dropping it on the floor. The next to go were the Louboutins she wore on her feet, and she kicked them off with an audible sigh before turning to look at the man who stood in the doorway. "Well, I feel a little like I tricked you into that outing for nothing." She sniffled, actually looking like she was disappointed. "And I wasted this little black dress— I bought it special for tonight— for you, really."

He stood there in the doorway for a few seconds, gaze slightly lowered since the door was opened, but hearing her words, he snapped up to look at her. "Nonsense, Nessa. You didn't trick me; you held up your end of the bargain by being there, at least a bit." He said, a small smile on his face, trying to bring one out in her that hadn't been there most of the night.

"You're welcome to stay," she said softly, holding out a hand to him, "in fact, I'd really like it if you did. I'm gonna just get changed into something a little more comfortable… if you don't mind. Could you be a dear and find me some juice?"

He had a frown on his face hearing that, but more for dramatic effect than actual disappointment, of course she should change into something else. "Just give me a second more with this image, then I'll go get you that juice," he said admiring her taste in fashion.

"I'll find another occasion to wear it, I'm sure." She grinned, enjoying the way he looked at her as she turned around in a circle, showing off the lacy open back that revealed plenty of skin. "Eat your heart out," she said, glancing at him over her shoulder.

Stone took out and snapped a picture of her in her pose before she could move. "Oh, I will, for sure." He said, looking away from her to look at the picture he had just taken for some reason. "So juice then?" He asked, looking back up at the beauty before him.

"Apple or cranberry, if you can find it. Please?" Moving away from him across the room, she stopped at the box of tissues on the nightstand and pulled one out, dabbing at her nose.

He didn't reply at first, watching Nessa walk away towards the end table. Seeing her dab at her nose, he snapped back to where he was. "Right, yeah, Crapple or Anberry, gotcha." He said, heading to the door to begin his quest.

She watched him go, waiting for the door to close before she pulled her dress off over her head. Tossing it on the bed, she rummaged in her suitcase for a comfy pair of yoga pants and a pink tank top she usually wore for the gym. A few seconds later, she'd changed and her hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail. Grabbing a tissue, she crumpled it in her fist and took it with her to the couch in the suite, plopping down before flicking through the TV channels to find the live feed of Times Square.

It took him about fifteen minutes to find her some juice, partly because he was thinking about something he had recently seen and partly because he had no idea where one would get juice in a hotel. The bar? Unlikely. He ended up going to the convenience store down the block to get Nessa several bottles of both apple and cranberry, wanting to please her. Moving back to her hotel room, he resisted the urge of just barging in, having been given a second key earlier in the night so he could wait while she finished getting ready and knocked on the door.

She got up, coughing into her shoulder as she made her way to the door. Pulling it open, she grinned at the sight of him. "Well, I was about to organize a search party."

He smiled, relieved that she hadn't lost her snarkiness to her illness. "So long as you weren't planning on sending that bloodhound Mika after me. I swear she was by your side the second we got there…"

She shook her head, "I know. I'm sorry… she gets really clingy when she drinks. Between you and me, I think she's afraid that I'm going to just abandon her like I did when I was dating that cro-magnon juiced up asshole last year. And it's sad, because if I hadn't started to feel really awful, I probably would have dragged you off to a closet or somewhere… just to get a little alone time."

"Awww," he said, hearing her words, "that is a shame, especially because Mika wasn't nearly as clingy to you as that dress was." He said, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh you," she slapped playfully at him before taking the bag of juice from him. "Stop or I'll get some sort of horrible ego."

"We wouldn't want that, especially if it turned out to be contagious. I don't know if I could handle that with as much grace and dignity as you do." He said, realizing that he was still standing in the doorway like a bad game of Blind Date. "You should really be lying down or something, Ness."

"Are you going to lay with me?" She stepped back, gesturing towards the couch, "we should at least watch the ball drop."

"Phrasing."

Nessa blushed, shaking her head. "God, I really put my foot in my mouth there, didn't I?"

"Just a bit, but I'll chalk it up to your current state. After you, my dear," he said, perhaps being too obvious with his intentions, but she might be too out of it to deduce properly.

She walked over to the table and pulled one of the bottles from the bag before holding it out to him. "Can you open it? I usually do that with my left hand and… well... " she was back to wearing the brace on her wrist again.

Following her over to the table, he almost walked into her not realizing they were stopping. He looked down to the bottle being thrust into his chest. "Yeah, of course." He twisted the top off and handed the beverage back to her. "Perhaps later I could dazzle you with a pickle jar?"

"Hah, very funny." She turned away from him and bent down, rummaging in her bag that was beside the table until she came up with a package of cold pills. "Did you at least have fun for the few hours we were there?"

"I pride myself on my…" He trailed off as Nessa bent down to rummage further through her bag, whether deliberately or not, she was certainly succeeding at distracting him tonight. It took him a few moments to realize that she was looking up to him for an answer, but he had completely missed the question. "Sorry, what?"

Popping two cold pills out into her hand, she straightened up and let out a sigh before repeating herself, totally oblivious as to why he'd missed the question the first time around, "I said, did you have fun for the few hours we were there?"

"Oh," he felt a little embarrassed that he hadn't been listening in the first place. "Yeah, I guess so. I did find it rather amusing when that server guy with a plate full of hors d'oeuvres turned the corner just as you sneezed. The look on his face was priceless." He chuckled just thinking about it.

Nessa looked mortified, "thankfully Harmony had no idea. I'm sure he threw them all out, figuring I was spreading Ebola or something." She tossed back the pills, chasing them with a few swallows of the sweet apple juice.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "You're not, are you? That'd just be awful." He inquired, half jokingly.

"I'm not bleeding from my eyes or anything… and I haven't been to South Africa in my entire life. So I think I'm safe." She held out her hand to him, "so options… we can do the couch or the bed. Which do you prefer, handsome?"

He looked in her eyes for a moment, as if he was checking for blood. "More like I'm safe, you mean. You should probably be lying down or something after you take those pills, Ness, so the bed is probably best for you. I can just relax on the couch I suppose."

"Nonsense," she replied, looking a little drowsy as she stifled a yawn. "We could do the couch… I could lay down. Wow, those pills are really knocking me for a loop already. Must've been the wine I had at the party."

"Yeah, you did have a few glasses, not to mention feeding a bit to the carpet during your coughing. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were just clumsy." He said with a smile, heading over to the couch but making sure she wasn't having any troubles.

"Clumsy?" She bristled at the implication, mock outrage on her face that was ruined by a sneeze, "I'll have you know I was a gymnast once upon a time." She followed him over to the couch, waiting for him to settle in before flopping down on it herself. She kicked her feet up on the armrest, resting her head against his lap.

"Hmm, Nessa Wall in leotard, yeah, I can picture that." He said with a smile, brushing her hair out of her face as she rested her head on his lap. "Comfortable there?" He asked, checking his phone to see what time it was.

"Mmmhmm," she replied, looking up at him with a sleepy smile. "You're really attractive from this angle… did you know that?"

"Well yeah, but then again I'm attractive from every angle, dear." He looked down at her smiling face. "You're quite attractive yourself from this angle."

She smirked, "but of course I'm— ACHOO!" The sneeze came out of nowhere and she barely had time to turn her head to avoid catching him right in the face.

Matt's eyes widened as he watched Nessa scramble to the side as to not blow right in his face, not really having a response to that occurrence as quickly as he would have liked. "Like I said...quite attractive." This time there was a bit of sarcasm on his tongue.

"Sorry," she whispered sheepishly, looking horrified. "That was a little unexpected. And I swear I'm not always sick… only been twice this year. It just happened to be when you were around." She realized how bad that sounded, quickly backtracking, "not that I'm saying you make me sick, Matthew. Not even close."

"Well it goes without saying, but bless you. I must say, I should thank you for waiting for me to come by before cashing in your sick cards for the year." He had a slight grin on his face, brushing some more of her hair back that had been jostled by her sudden movement.

"Well, I needed a reason… someone special." Her blue eyes locked on his, a smile on her lips as she stared up at him, sniffling softly. "I don't sneeze all over just anyone, after all."

"Aww, that might be the sweetest thing you've said to me." He looked down at her captivating eyes. "But wait a minute, does that mean there's something going on with you and that server? I think I have a right to know."

She laughed. "Absolutely not. That was the worst sort of interception imaginable." This time she felt the prickle before the sneeze and managed to get her elbow up in time to catch it in the crook of her arm. "Pass me the tissues, please?" She asked, completely forgetting that she'd left them over by the bed.

"Of course, dear," he said, glancing over at where the tissues were on the bedside table. "I'll be right back" He noted, carefully lifting her head off his lap so as not to upset her as he slipped out, heading over to the table. He passed the bed, glancing down at his suit jacket he had left there and remembering that he had gotten something for her. He grabbed it out of the pocket and grabbed the box of tissues for her. "I trust you'll be more careful with those in the future then, eh? Need to save those treasures for me." He remarked as he made his way back over to her.

"I'll save all the best bodily fluids for you," she sat up, reaching for the tissues before blowing her nose, her terrible double entendre deliberate this time. Crumpling it in her hand, she looked up at him apologetically. "I'm sorry I'm terrible company tonight."

"Nonsense, Nessa, you're lovely company. I'm glad I came, even if you're not feeling the best right now. Is there anything else I can do for you?" He asked, getting back on the couch, wanting to wait for the right moment to give her the present he bought.

"Well, now that you mention it, those shoes did a number on my feet. Since I fired Kasey from my entourage… I've really been lacking in a foot rubber." She grinned, lifting one foot and wiggling her toes as she sniffled again.

Matt glanced over at her for a moment, but gave in and started to give her a foot rub as she had requested. "You know I'm only doing this because you're adorable when you sniff, right?"

"And you can't resist my cute little toes. I painted them the same color as your eyes." She glanced over at the television, startled to see that the countdown was underway. "It's almost midnight."

"Oh, well in that case, I was going to give this to you during the party, but that plan kind of changed. Still, I think you should wear this at midnight, start the New Year off right." He took the box out of his pocket, handing it over to Nessa to admire and, hopefully, wear.

She lifted the lid, looking down at the beautiful necklace with the dangling uncut sapphire stones— pink sapphires. "Oh, Matthew. It's gorgeous." She lifted the chain from the box, undoing the clasp before turning to him. "Help me put it on?"

With Nessa pulling her blonde hair up, he was able to clasp the chain around her neck. "'Tis but a fraction of the beauty you radiate on a daily basis, dear Nessa." He said, trying to think of quite possibly the cheesiest line possible.

She blushed, shaking her head as her hand lifted to toy with the precious stones. "You know, Matthew, flattery will get you everywhere." She looked like she was about to say more, but then glanced back at the television. "One more minute… looks like I'll make it to midnight after all."

"Looks like you will, but I wouldn't wager much more past that. In fact…" he started, getting up off the couch, but whisking Nessa up in his arms as he did so, holding her up. "I think it's time this princess made it to her bed." He stated as he started carrying her over, stopping for a moment to grab the box of tissues for her on the way.

She rested her head against his chest, feeling unbelievably happy for the first time in months. Behind them, the crowd on television started counting down the last ten seconds as Matt settled her down amid the blankets. Their eyes locked as her arms stayed around his neck, pulling him in closer. "Thank you for being here tonight," she whispered, her lips inches from his and then just as they were about to meet for that perfect new year's kiss, she turned her head to the side and sneezed. His lips met her cheek instead and the moment was ruined completely.

Rather than be deterred by what some might call an act of Caleb Strauss, or God, Matt tilted Nessa back towards himself and made contact with her lips for the first time with his own as fireworks literally went off in the background and on the television set. The kiss itself lasted for a good five seconds before Matt finally pulled back, slowly, opening his eyes to see the baby blues of Nessa looking right back at him. He moved his index finger over her now pursed lips to ask her not to say anything as he freed himself from her clasped arms slowly. "Goodnight, Nessa. Happy New Year," he said as he got up from the bed to allow her to rest.