The air in Ted and Marshall's apartment smelled of the future—or so they wanted to believe. It was New Year's Eve 1998, just hours away from 1999. The smell of stale eggs, lukewarm beer, and the persistent notes of festive songs on the radio was the classic party atmosphere. Like most of their parties, it had started with ambition and ended in sticky, familiar chaos.
"I can't believe Lily threw up on my favorite ice-skating boot!" Marshall exclaimed, swaying slightly as he held the dirty boot as if it were a wounded animal. "It was a limited-edition basketball boot... and it has the signature of... of my cousin!"
Lily, though pale from her recent bodily expulsion of food (now recovered), sank into the sofa with a blanket. "In my defense, that cocktail of yours was so tasty... plus the food... so much that we ate, it was a really bad combination. And don't sign your sports stuff, Marshall, it's kind of sad."
"It's nostalgic," he corrected, carefully placing the boot on the floor. "Like our love," he finished dreamily.
"I threw up on your nostalgia," Lily murmured, but a small, guilty smile appeared on her lips.
In a corner, Alyx watched the scene while silently and efficiently collecting plastic cups. Her relationship with them at that point was just over a year old. She had come into their lives after meeting Lily at a strange art exhibition when Alyx had slipped away from her school trip to the National Museum.
Upon meeting Lily, she pretended to be older and not lost, and they became friends. Later, Alyx decided after graduating—shortly after meeting her—to go to the same university, which led her to share an apartment with the four of them and become the "sensible" one who organized their schedules and pointed out when they were being idiots.
But at some point, without anyone planning it, she had become something more—the glue, like a third leg on a table that never wobbles. This led to Marshall adoring her with the devotion of a large puppy, and Lily... Lily had adopted her as the little sister she never had, in the context of Lily trying to help her remove red wine stains, even though Alyx knew how to do it Lily's way, regardless of whether she had to use shirts with stains larger than small wine spots.
However, that night, Alyx felt an unease she couldn't shake. The year that was ending had been good, but with the weight of knowledge she shouldn't have, she knew stability was an illusion. She didn't remember exactly when, as it wasn't like in those fanfics where they remember everything in lavish detail and can even dominate the world and manipulate people at will. She only remembered fragments of a future where this apartment, this messy happiness, could fall apart. She didn't know how or exactly when, but the feeling was a knot in her stomach. Every laugh from Marshall, every affectionate gesture from Lily seemed like a fragile treasure that time would snatch away. And that night, on the eve of a new year, she felt a desperate need for a pause, to stay in that moment a little longer, or to create an anchor that would always bring her back here.
"Alyx? Everything okay?" Ted's voice pulled her from her thoughts.
"Yeah, just... cleaning the turkey's aura," Alyx said with a forced smile that Ted didn't question. No one questioned her when she made that face; since they'd met her, they knew it was when her thoughts wandered, likely not leading to possibilities she liked.
Her gaze settled on Lily, who was now resting her head on Marshall's lap as he clumsily but lovingly stroked her hair. She saw the picture of unity there, and against all odds or logic, she wanted to be inside that frame—not just as a visitor or extra in the shot, but as a fundamental part of the landscape.
"Hey," she said, and her voice sounded firmer than she expected as she approached them, speaking only to the two of them, not seeing what Ted was doing in the kitchen.
She pulled from her pocket a small blue velvet box she had bought weeks ago, saving it for a moment that never seemed to arrive. Though nervous, her hands remained steady.
"Lily," she said, moving closer to the sofa. "This is for you."
Lily sat up, confused. "For me? But... it's not my birthday."
"It's better," Alyx said, and this time her smile was genuine, though her eyes shone with an intensity only she understood. "It's a promise."
Lily straightened on the sofa and, taking the box in her hands, opened it. Inside, on a small silk cushion, rested a pair of silver earrings. They weren't large or flashy but elegant and simple, with a shape that resembled a teardrop or a leaf, depending on how the light touched them. They were perfect for her.
"Alyx, they're beautiful," Lily whispered, touching the cold silver with her fingertip.
"They're a promise," Alyx repeated, now looking at both Marshall and Lily. "A promise that... no matter what happens, no matter how disastrous, ridiculous, or terrifying things get... the three of us are a unit. A ridiculously cheesy and indestructible family." She paused, feeling the words coming from a deep and true place—one mixed with her current love and the future pain she intuited.
"These earrings are like an oath... If you ever doubt, ever get lost, or believe this is breaking... look at them. And seeing them, you'll remember you have us, that you have a home with us, always."
The silence that followed was the most eloquent the apartment had heard all night.
Marshall's eyes were wide and somewhat teary; he was visibly moved. "Alyx, that's... that's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard." He made a pause as his emotions settled before continuing, "Apart from the time Lily told me my calves were sculpted by the gods."
Lily didn't say anything. She just got up from the sofa, with the earrings still in the box, and wrapped Alyx in a hug so tight it took her breath away. "I'm never taking them off," she murmured against Alyx's shoulder, and Alyx could feel the moisture of tears she hoped weren't from sadness.
When Lily pulled away, she put the earrings on right there. The silver shone softly against her skin. "What time is it?" she asked, smiling through the tears.
"One minute to go!" Ted shouted, looking at the clock, still stunned by the most emotional display he had ever seen in his life—and more surprising was that it was Alyx who had generated it out of the blue.
So, with that, everyone gathered by the window facing the street, waiting for the fireworks to burst. Marshall put one arm around Lily and the other around Alyx, pulling them both against his warm side. Ted was excited, already on his phone calling his current crush, the love of his life at that moment.
And when the clock struck midnight and the sky exploded in light, the three—Marshall, Lily, and Alyx—stayed there, embraced. For Marshall, it was a perfect moment of friendship and expanded love. For Lily, it was confirmation that she had found something bigger than a couple.
As for Alyx, it was a spell—a desperate and beautiful attempt to use a small piece of silver to hold time, to weld her bond with the couple firmly and try to ensure that the painful future she remembered wouldn't happen with the reminder of this promise.
Marshall, happier with the new year and the alcohol of the night, didn't fully grasp the weight of those earrings. He only had a vague memory of Alyx's emotional words that day, not of the promise made. For him, it was a precious gift, a symbol of Alyx's big heart. But he couldn't see the fear, the premonition, and the plea that Alyx had fused into the silver. He only saw the love, which, though present, wasn't the main thing. And in that moment, with his arms around his two girls and the sky lit by many fireworks, it was enough.
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