Festive One Shots

So This Is Christmas - Part 1

You grinned as you saw Gemma enter the little coffee shop. "Hey!"

"Hey mate!" Gemma grinned back, sitting opposite you. "Thanks for getting me coffee in."

"No problem. Saves time and all that."

Gemma smiled warmly, wrapping her hands around the mug to heat her cold fingertips up. "Thanks for meeting me, I know you've been a bit busy with work and stuff."

You shook your head and scoffed. "Don't be silly, you know you're my favourite person to go for a coffee with. What's up?"

It wasn't very often anymore that you and Gemma got to meet up on a lunch break for coffee, especially when half of the time you worked away. And Gemma's message had seemed a little vague when you received it, so being the way you are, you were immediately intrigued. Especially when Gemma had never been the evasive type.

Gemma bit her lip awkwardly. "You can obviously say no, I won't mind. But I remember you saying the other day you'd be spending Christmas on your own at the lake house."

You narrowed your eyes, a little crease forming between your brows as you nodded. "Right..." You pushed for her to continue.

"Again you can say no, because I know you don't open it through winter apart from special exceptions. But I spoke to Mum and she thought it might be nice if we come up and spend it with you." Gemma finished quickly, chewing nervously on the inside of her cheek.

You opened your mouth to speak and then quickly shut it again. It was true, the lake house you ran in The Lake District was only officially open through the summer, but you'd spent last Christmas up there on your own, without staff - just your own company and endless amounts of Christmas films, shit food and exceptionally shit wine too. It was the best Christmas you'd had for a long time, which is why you'd decided to do it again. You had been about to protest but thought the company of Gemma and Anne would actually probably be the best company possible. "Who were you thinking?"

"Well, me and Mum obviously, I'd probably bring Michal, maybe ask Harry and his girlfriend... and I think Sarah and Mitch as well." Gemma explained, bringing her mug to her lips to drink.

Well, there were certainly plenty of bedrooms to accommodate all of them, so that wasn't the issue. You basically ran the house as a hotel when it was open, each of the eight rooms had its own en-suite and a double bed, two of the front rooms had balconies, and some were like suites with a separate living room. It was easy to sell, and most nights every room was full. It was the perfect couples retreat.

The idea of having Harry there, however, was a little... disconcerting. You were close friends when you were younger, and then after he joined One Direction that was kind of it. You still stayed in close contact with Gemma because you lived in London when you weren't running your business up north, and Anne always called to check up every so often because she hated the idea of you being lonely now your brother was gone.

Harry hadn't much liked your ex-boyfriend, Chris, and whilst he'd made that known to you on multiple occasions, you'd decided to stay with him until he all but beat you to death. The next time you'd seen each other you had been single again and not much yourself, and Harry had just been rude. Since then you'd never really got on, arguing every other moment and causing discomfort to everyone around you. Hopefully with his girlfriend there and a couple of other friends, he'd chill out a bit.

"I can't see why it would be an issue." You finally agreed.

"Yay!" Gemma beamed, squeezing your wrist. "I'll get Mum to call you and make all the arrangements. She'll be so excited!"

~

So, on the 22nd December, you travelled up the country from London to Cumbria a day earlier than everyone else to prepare the lake house. As always, you'd prepared personalised towels, door cards and gift bags for the rooms, and dressed the rooms appropriately for each guest. You'd put the fire in the main drawing room on, stocked the cupboards with extra blankets, linen and pillows (just in case since there were currently no housekeepers), and filled the empty bar with a variety of alcohols and mixers. You decided against using the main kitchen since it was too large and required far too much maintenance for the sake of seven days and eight guests, so instead opted for the much smaller service kitchen. It still had hobs and fridges so it wasn't a complete disaster, it was just like an ugly domestic kitchen.