Levi had to go out of town for most of the week, something about a treaty. He kept insisting on not wanting to overwhelm me, that I would learn everything in good time, but I felt kind of redundant not knowing what he was doing. Needless to say, I missed him. We'd just started... dating? It occurred to me that I wasn't actually sure what we were. But we'd only just began whatever this was, and he had to go away for a week. He did call every night, which was definitely the highlight of my day.

When Saturday came around, I had definitely worked myself up into a ball of stress. I went for a run in the morning, to try calm down a bit, which helped a little. I headed over to Levi and Estelle's at about eleven. Levi wasn't there yet, but Estelle was running around like a headless chicken.

"Georgia, grab the spare cutlery and plates from the garage," she yelled, not even stopping to say hi to me. "Oh good, Danni! Help me carry these tables!"

There was a huge stack of foldable tables in the middle of the living room. I guess we'd be needing a lot of everything to facilitate 400 people.

Georgia waved at me, then rolled her eyes good naturedly at Estelle before disappearing to lug out the 400 plates and cutlery.

It took us about 40 minutes to set out the tables, filling their massive courtyard with 10 rows of super long tables. I thought Estelle was going to have a full on panic attack with the way she was racing and stressing.

"You do know that no one is arriving till seven, right?" I teased, as we moved a table for the fifth time.

"Oh honey, you are a pack-party virgin. Just you wait. Mom used to run these things seamlessly, something always goes wrong when I'm in charge," she huffed, stepping away from the tables and throwing her hands up. "Okay, to the kitchen."

"Uh, are we cooking for 400 people? I mean, I know you have a big kitchen, but that's a lot of food..." I watched as she began unloading food onto the counters.

"Everyone brings a plate, but we like to make sure we provide the basics," she huffed, lugging a massive sack of potatoes. She pulled out a peeler and handed it to me. "Better get started."

Two and a half hours later, I was about three quarters of the way through peeling the potatoes. I had no idea what we were going to do with them, but I didn't dare ask. Estelle had Georgia chopping vegetables for twenty massive bowls of salad, which she alternated between yelling and seasoning meats. I'd never seen her so frazzled, it was kind of reassuring that even the people who look the most together can lose it.

"Oh, do not tell me that you have got our brand new, human luna prepping vegetables!" A loud voice boomed across the kitchen, signalling the arrival of about ten older women.

"She's human, not incompetent. She knows how to peel a few potatoes, aunty," Estelle rolled her eyes, but grinned and ran over to hug the woman. The ladies all greeted her warmly, and did the same with Georgia.

"Ladies, I would like you to meet Danielle!" Estelle announced, gesturing to me dramatically.

I smiled nervously, well aware that I was elbow deep in potato peelings.

"Oh honey, aren't you just lovely. C'mere!" The ladies all yelled excitedly. I exchanged a look with Estelle, quickly dried my hands and walked over to the ladies. They cooed and exclaimed, before wrapping me in hugs so tight that I almost forgot how to breathe.

"It's so nice to meet you all," I laughed, when I finally got a chance to catch my breath and get a word in.

"Now I'm sure you must be feeling very overwhelmed, so I want you to take your pretty little toosh and go upstairs and get changed. We can handle the cooking," a lady who introduced herself as Maxine demanded. She didn't seem like the kind of woman you could win an argument against, but I tried anyway.

"Seriously, I'm fine! I'd like to help out," I insisted.

"Sorry honey, kitchen's full," Maxine shrugged innocently, blocking my path back to the potatos. The other ladies had filed in and picked up a job like it was routine.

"But-"

"No buts! This is your day, you don't get to do the hard work!"

Estelle nodded at me. "Honestly, go. Thanks for your help."

I frowned, feeling guilty, but left the kitchen to make my way upstairs. I guess it would be good to have some time alone, to brace myself and get mentally prepared. I wished Levi would hurry up and arrive, I knew I'd feel better with him here.

Once upstairs, I took a shower in the bathroom attached to the guest room I'd stayed in the other night, and took my time getting ready. It was a nice afternoon, so I decided to go with a plain sundress. I foughts with my hair for a while, and couldn't tame it to behave, so resorted to having to torture it with heat, aka use curlers. I usually didn't bother with trying to make myself look nice - I had reasonably okay skin, and my hair was too much of a nightmare to even bother. But I was feeling like I would be judged quite a lot today, so probably should make some effort.

I headed back downstairs, where amazing smells were drifting up. The massive 12-element stove was covered in huge pots, boiling away, and the six door oven looked stuffed to the brim. The women were just finishing the clean up. Estelle had changed into a long dress that she pulled off effortlessly, and looked like she'd just come from a hair salon.

"Oh my god she's wearing makeup," Estelle exclaimed, looking at me in shock.

I rolled my eyes. "I am a girl you know."

"You don't say...! Who would have thought... Wow, your eyes are really green," she peered at me, looking impressed. Did I look like a slob to these people on a daily basis? I felt bad for Levi, I'd never really made an effort around him. A smile rose to my lips as I realised he didn't seem to care what I looked like.

"Thanks," I muttered drily. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No!" Maxine called from the kitchen.

"C'mon, let's get a drink," Estelle laughed, pulling me outside to where a massive bath-tub sized bin was full of bottles. Some guy was setting up a bar as well. Wow, they really went all out for these. And they happened every month?!

"Do you know when Levi's getting back?" I asked, sipping on the soda Estelle had handed me.

She frowned. "No, but he better be here before 7. I'll murder him if he's late." I chuckled, checking my phone. It was already 6.

6:30 rolled around, and we were being entertained by Georgia's lively rendition of a fight she'd broken up at school, when the ladies inside dramatically increased in volume. Levi, Thomas and about four other guys I kind of recognised, piled into the kitchen. I was on my feet immediately, and had to restrain myself to not run at him. I wasn't going to be that girl... no matter how much I wanted to be.

I didn't have to go far - within half a second he was right in front of me and I was in his arms, being lifted off the ground. I laughed, burying my face in his shoulder. I hadn't seen the guy for a week, the distance was making me crazy. Like legitimately crazy.

"Never thought I'd see the day," the ladies in the kitchen cooed, which was when I realised we had an audience, and I slowly untangled myself from him, reaching the floor again. I went bright red, but Levi just grinned, keeping an arm around my waist.

"You should smile more often," Maxine commented, looking at her nephew fondly.

"Yeah Levi, show us those pearlers," Thomas teased, patting Levi's cheek and getting his hand whacked away.

That was when I noticed how dirty all the guys were. Levi was in a shirt that was probably once white, but now resembled a murky brown/grey. Their faces were streaked with mud, and hair disheveled.

"Is everything okay?" Estelle asked, looking at the guys cautiously.

"Peachy," Thomas smiled. Levi and Estelle exchanged a look that I would have missed if I didn't know them so well.

I frowned at Levi, and he shook his head at me, smiling. "Everything's great. We should probably get cleaned up before everyone arrives." The guys had already left to go shower I assume, and the ladies in the kitchen busied themselves with getting the food out of the oven.

I nodded distractedly, wondering why Estelle had gone quiet.

I didn't have long to ponder though, as Levi turned around and walked back to me. "Oh, and Danielle?"

I turned my attention to him, melting under his gaze.

"I missed you." Then, before I had a chance to even blink, he closed the distance between us, cupping my face gently, and kissed me.

I think I might have died. Or at least been taken to some alternate universe where only happiness was the only thing that existed. It wasn't fireworks, it wasn't explosions of electricity, it was all consuming. It was as if nothing else in the world had ever mattered, nothing else had ever had any importance. It was Levi, and I was kicking myself that I'd waited so long to let this happen. I'd been missing out on all this.... It was so right that I almost wanted to cry.

He pulled back, watching me with a smug but euphoric expression on his face. I blinked, unable to even form a single word. I think I may have been in shock. He chuckled, and turned around, leaving to go clean up.

I couldn't do anything for a few seconds, except blink and sway slightly on the spot. I turned to Estelle, who was smirking at me in an 'ew you just kissed my brother but oh my god you just kissed my brother' kind of way. I felt like my entire body was full of light.

"Well," I managed to say, shaking my head in disbelief. "That was definitely something."