From childhood, Manny had always held New Year’s Eve near and dear to his heart. Fireworks had been the highlight of his childhood, and since he never got to see them much other than on Independence Day and the hours leading up to midnight on New Year’s Eve, he grew attached.

Even though fireworks had long since lost their luster in Manny’s eyes, New Year’s Eve had remained important to him, more so than Independence Day. It symbolized the end of a year, however good or bad, and represented a chance to start fresh and do better.

Despite the general chaos that surrounded the celebrations, Manny had always found a strange sort of serenity to New Year’s Eve. There was just something about the way that the world seemed to bate its breath waiting for the new year that he found compelling.

It had been a long time since Manny go to spend the day the way he did as a child, but the memories were fresh in his mind. He remembered those nights, spent on his grandfather’s back porch with a sparkler in one hand and a noisemaker in the other, with fondness.

It was in pursuit of that relative tranquility that Manny drove himself to the local park and onto a rocky outcrop overlooking the city in the middle of the night. The glittering sprawl was certainly far from the quaint town he’d grown up in, but it was beautiful in its own little way.

As he looked out over the city, Manny pondered the reasons that he looked forward to New Year’s Eve. When he had been young, it was because of the fireworks. In high school, he’d looked forward to it because it was the crown jewel of his winter breaks.

Even though the years had done nothing to diminish Manny’s appreciation of the day, it had certainly changed the reasons he enjoyed it. Today, for him, was a much-needed day off, a chance to unwind, and a break from all the stress and worry that adulthood had thrust upon him.

The previous year had been particularly wearisome, too. Manny ended up getting let go from the first job he ever had out of college in March and bounced around from brief job to brief job until late August when he finally got himself some gainful employment just in time to catch the tail end of his savings.

The year’s only redeeming grace was the one. At the very least, Manny was pretty sure he wanted to be with Neal for a long time. Manny made no secret that he found both sexes fairly attractive, but he’d always leaned toward the fairer sex—at least, until Neal.

Manny met Neal on a low night, at a bar, in the middle of August. He didn’t even know why Neal had approached him when he’d been so clearly trashed. In fact, he didn’t remember much at all of the evening, only that Neal had treated him like a true gentleman and had not taken advantage of his inebriated state.

A small smile graced Manny’s lips as he leaned in and pressed a kiss against Neal’s cheek. He wrapped an arm around his partner’s waist and pulled him close. "I’m happy you’re with me here tonight," he said.

Neal chuckled. "I wouldn’t want to miss this for the world," he said, returning the kiss as the two of them leaned back against the hood of Manny’s car. "I’ve never met someone who liked waiting for the new year as much as I did."

Beyond the kindness, and the sense of humor that never failed to make him smile, that was another reason that Manny thought Neal was the one. He’d never met anyone as enthusiastic about the new year as him. Not until Neal. Even though he only found out about it that morning, he fell just a little more in love as a result. "Why do you, if you don’t mind?"

The corner of Neal’s mouth twitched. He let out a light little laugh that made Manny’s heart skip a beat. "It’s silly," he said. "You’ll probably laugh at me."

"I promise I won’t be mean," said Manny. "But if you say something funny, I can’t promise I won’t laugh."

Neal rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Alright, fine, I’ll tell you," he said. He paused for a moment and looked up at the sky. Despite the light from the city, a few stars were still twinkling brightly against the canvas of the night.

"In my family, we all used to believe that my nan had a bit of a gift. She always seemed to know things that would happen before they happened," said Neal. Manny raised an eyebrow. He didn’t know if he believed that.

"See? I told you it’s silly," said Neal, shaking his head. "But I understand what it sounds like. Anyway, it’s not like I believe it, now. But I used to. And nan always told me that one day, I would make a very special man happy at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve."

At this point, Manny wasn’t sure if Neal was just messing with him, but judging by the expression on Neal’s face, he was perfectly serious. "She said he would love the day as much as I do, and that I would make him so happy he forgets about all the worries in his life," said Neal.

Neal’s expression was thoughtful, his lips pressed into a thin line as he turned to face Manny. "I was so excited that every year since then I’ve looked forward to New Year’s Eve just in case nan was right. It’s been a long string of disappointments so far, but…"

"Do you think it could be me?" said Manny, his voice low. He wasn’t sure he believed the whole thing either, but the new year was only a few minutes away, so it wouldn’t be long before they found out. "Because I think you make me perfectly happy."

"Maybe," said Neal, something inscrutable in his beautiful dark eyes. There were times Manny couldn’t help but get lost looking into them. They were so deep and full of life that they never failed to enthrall him. "Do you think you could be happy with me?"

"I already am," said Manny. He leaned in, lightly caressing the side of Neal’s face with his right hand. He pressed his lips against Neal’s and shivered, a pleasant tingle surging across his scalp and down his spine. "And I want to be, in the future," he whispered when they parted.

"Happy New Year," murmured Neal as the fireworks reached a near-deafening crescendo over the city. Many closed his eyes as Neal pulled him in for another kiss. It was sizzling-hot and sent sparks crackling through his mind. It was almost as good as watching fireworks go off.

The two pulled apart before long. They looked toward the sky and watched the glittering, shimmering colors of the fireworks exploding all over the city. "I can help you be happy," murmured Neal, his voice low and yet surprisingly audible over the din of the fireworks. "I can help you forget all your worries…"

Manny sighed as Neal stroked slow, gentle circles on his cheek with his thumb. He leaned into the touch, Neal’s words echoing in his head. "Just watch the fireworks, baby. Let all the pretty sparkling colors fill your eyes. And breathe… Just like that. Breathe… Relax…"

"You want to be happy, don’t you, Manny?" said Neal. Something about the way he spoke was just so calming. Manny stared up at the fireworks, watching the pretty colors shimmer and fade against the backdrop of the night sky, his chest rising and falling in slow, even breaths as he relaxed into Neal’s touch.

"Just lie back and let the relaxation take over… Feeling warm and tingly and numb from the tips of your toes to the top of your head…" Neal smiled. He was so handsome. Manny still couldn’t quite believe his luck in finding someone so attractive.

"Feeling your thoughts slowing down…" murmured Neal. Manny yawned. He could spend all night just lying there watching the fireworks.

Neal continued, his voice barely louder than a whisper. "Doesn’t it feel so good to just… not think so much?"

Manny let out a little chuckle. He nodded. It did feel good. It felt better than he expected. He could feel his cock stirring in his pants, and scarcely a moment later, he felt Neal’s fingers gently rubbing along his length through the coarse denim. "Getting hornier and hornier the less you think… Feeling better and better the slower your thoughts get…"

A quiet moan escaped Manny. He felt so hot. Neal’s hand on his cock was so good. The soft fuzzy static he could feel in his skull made his head swim in pleasure. "This feeling makes you happy, doesn’t it?" said Neal. "And you want to be happy with me in the future, don’t you?"

Manny nodded. That made sense. It was exactly what he’d said to Neal. He didn’t even know why it was worth repeating, but he wasn’t about to ask. Not while he felt this way. He felt like he could cum with just a few more strokes of Neal’s delicate fingers.

"Then let me help you… Watch the fireworks. Listen to them pop… Whenever one of those fireworks goes off, another one of your thoughts goes pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Losing more and more of that silly little mind until there’s nothing left but fuzzy, horny, happy feelings…"

Manny giggled as he backed onto the thick pink dildo that had become one of his favorite toys in the past few days. He didn’t really know what had changed since he celebrated the new year with Neal, but the truth was he didn’t know much of anything at all these days.

A small part of Manny was convinced that he was supposed to be going somewhere to make money, but he just couldn’t quite remember where he was supposed to go and what he was supposed to do. In truth, he didn’t really quite understand why he had gotten this idea that he needed to make money, to begin with.

A quiet moan escaped Manny’s lips as he rocked his hips back and forth on the dildo. He looked into the camera, reaching up to tweak his nipples as his hard cock bounced up and down between his legs. What had he been thinking again?

"Fuck," Manny whispered, under his breath, as the head of the dildo pushed up against his prostate and made his hard cock leak. It felt good. So good. Every stroke, every pump of his thighs made the few thoughts in his head go pop just like the fireworks had done, and it made him so, so horny.

"Hey, Manny," Neal called out, from where he was standing behind the camera. "Your fans want to know if you have any new year’s resolutions."

Manny tilted his head. He understood what the new year was. He loved the new year! He didn’t understand what a resolution was supposed to be, though. He tried to wrack his mind for it but he just couldn’t figure it out. It was starting to hurt, trying to think so much. He wasn’t a very good thinker.

"Basically they’re asking what you want to make better about yourself this year," said Neal. "My new year’s resolution is to have a lot more sexy with my stupid, sexy, himbo of a boyfriend. What do you think of that?"

Manny’s eyes widened. Sex. He loved sex. He loved toys. He loved being fucked. He loved sucking cock. He absolutely loved sex. Especially with Neal. "Can I join?" he said, riding the cock harder at the thought of having two cocks stuffed in him at the same time.

Neal laughed. "I’m talking about you, dumbass," he said. "You’re my boyfriend."

"Oh," said Manny, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Then can that be my resolution, too?"

"No," said Neal. "You can’t just steal my resolution! You have to come up with your own. Just tell the viewers what you want to do better this year."

"Oh, okay!" said Manny, grinning toothily. He felt so dumb, and feeling so dumb was making him feel so horny. He let out a low moan and a dull chuckle. "I wanna get bigger! And I wanna have more toys and more cocks and more cum!"

Neal chuckled. "Don’t worry, baby. That slutty little ass of yours will have more cock than you know what to do with this year."