The One Where The Lines Get Kinda Blurry

The One With The Sight For Sore Eyes

Jen looked around the poolside table at some of her best and closest friends, drinking in the laughter, the smiles, the remnants of the delicious food and the general party atmosphere. Her fingers wandered over the brand-new coffee bean necklace that trailed comfortably down towards her cleavage, stopping just short of disappearing down beneath the silky black fabric of the figure hugging dress she was wearing.

"Earth to Jen" David said, gently squeezing her thigh under the table. "You ok? You were a million miles away then."

"I was just thinking how much has changed since my last birthday" she said, placing her hand on top of his and interlocking their fingers. "I'm still having trouble believing this isn't all a dream and that soon I'll be brought crashing back to a reality which doesn't feel anything like as good because you're not there."

"Well, I can promise you that it's not a dream, it's very, very real and I'm going nowhere unless you tell me to." He leaned in and kissed her lips softly for just a second, noticing a few people watching and smiling at the gesture. "I'm not sure I'll ever get used to being able to do that when other people are around. Kissing you has always felt like the most natural thing in the world but after having to do it in secret for so long, this is still a bit of a novelty."

"Mmmm but it's a good novelty" she grinned, pulling him in closer to her and pressing her forehead against his. "Thank you for giving me, us another chance. I can't imagine my life without you in it again, or at least I don't want to."

"I don't want to either. I want to spend the rest of your birthdays with you, making you smile and making you laugh... and doing all those other things that we do away from prying eyes" he added with a grin, her tequila laced breath warm against his mouth.

"I'm loving this party, but I'll love it when it's over and I can have you all to myself again too" she murmured, letting go of his hand and running her fingers suggestively over his upper thigh as she pressed her lips fleetingly against his once again, "make sure you save some energy for bedtime." She suddenly stood up, pulling him to his feet too and almost simultaneously cranked up the volume of the music. "Let the dancing begin" she shouted and within moments, the terrace around the pool was scattered with people swaying and shimmying along to the playlist she and David had created earlier.

The dancing went on for almost two hours, several people having near misses with the pool edge as the number of empty wine, beer and tequila bottles grew significantly. Jen had spent at least half of the time making sure everyone had drinks and was having a good time, playing the hostess role she knew and loved until David pulled her into his arms for a couple of slower numbers, both of them completely lost in each other's eyes and not caring at all who was watching them.

By the time the large chocolate cake was brought out decked with flickering flames and sparklers, the sky was almost midnight black and the mood was entirely happy drunk. "Make a wish" someone shouted as Jen leaned over the candles. "They already all came true" she laughed as she blew them out and sunk herself into David's arms for everyone to see. "I've got everything I ever wished for right here" she said, loudly enough for everyone to hear, which drew a chorus of 'aaaaahhhs' as she looked deep into his eyes and kissed him tenderly on the lips.

It was almost 3am when the door closed on last of the guests, leaving Jen and David alone again at last. They were both pretty drunk and they both had the giggles as they swaggered their way back into the kitchen area which looked exactly as you'd expect it to look after a party of around thirty people had been through it. There were glasses and bottles everywhere. The food remnants and utensils had all been cleared by the caterers but there was still a significant amount of debris lying around. "This is the worst part of entertaining" Jen said with a slight slur, as she kicked off her heels and began gathering some of the empties and setting them down on the counter.