Beautiful People

five years later

Snow began falling from the clouds, littering the ground in a white blanket as the town crept closer to the Christmas holiday. Snowflakes of all different shapes and sizes landed against the windows, freezing on the outside of the house whereas the inside was being kept warm by the blazing fire. The smell of turkey wafted through the house as it slowly cooked from the inside of the cooker, the other elements of the dinner also cooking as they waited to be served for the guests that hadn't arrived yet.

"Zach, could you check the vegetables for me please?" Lily called from the bedroom as she frantically got herself dressed for the occasion.

It had been months since the friends had all seen each other, they were all busy with their own lives but now that it was Christmas, they were keeping the tradition of having a meal with everyone. When Lily had first agreed to host the meal at their house, she hadn't realised just how much preparation she would need to do but then it had finally dawned on her that day, when she realised just how many guests they were going to have. She had never cooked for this many people before but she didn't want to disappoint them. All day she had been locked away in the kitchen, making sure everything was perfect, and now with just under an hour to go, she was trying to get herself ready for the event.

Zach had been relaxing all day, knowing that the better option was to just stay out of her way as she preferred to be in charge of everything; now that it was almost time for the guests to arrive, she was losing her cool and he knew that he needed to help. He had already changed into a smart shirt because the idea was that this meal would be a sophisticated meal with friends, and they had all been told to dress formally but he knew that they wouldn't end the night looking as smart as they did now. He knew his friends and they could never do anything professionally; this was a night of letting loose and having fun.

He went into the kitchen and checked the food, surprised that everything was going exactly as it should and glad that he didn't have to deal with an angry Lily if he had messed something up. He was stirring the pot when he heard familiar footsteps behind him, glancing over his shoulder his jaw dropped when he saw his beautiful partner stood behind him. Even now, after five long years of being together, she still managed to surprise him with how beautiful she looked; he still couldn't believe how lucky he was to have her in his life.

"You look beautiful." He complimented her, as she nudged him out of the way and began stirring the pot that he had been watching.

"Thanks. Can you check that the table is ready, I'm worried that we haven't got enough seats?"

Zach sighed. "We've checked the table five times; we have enough seats."

"But what if someone brings a date that we didn't know about? We need to have something ready for every situation and I've put the name cards down so that we can avoid any awkwardness."

"Name cards?" He frowned at her, but she didn't look away from the pot as she replied.

"Yes, that way we can make sure that there aren't any awkward conversations. I've made sure that Alex is at one side of the table with Charlie and Winston is at the other. I put Tyler next to Winston because they're friends and Estela should be coming so she can keep him company and-"