The snow was getting ridiculously cold in the last few months of winter. With Christmas coming up, everyone was out caroling in the heart of town and going on dates and buying gifts for their loved ones. It was a beautiful sense of normalcy in the shitty ass world they lived in. It was the season of family and warm meals, and Joel liked warm meals. The menu tonight was Beth's favorite southern meal: Chili. Good chili was hard to come by but we were lucky that some passing travelers had some good beans with them. Normally I would just use my cooktop to simmer the food for a few hours, but it was cold enough to want to build a fire. So that's exactly what she did. She gathered some wood from the woods behind her house, and set them ablaze in the backyard. The warmth was like a much-needed hug, and she sat next to the flames to heat up for a second before setting up the grill grate over the fire. The crackling of the wood was like music to her ears, and she couldn't help but feel nostalgic for the old world. She was just a young teenager on Outbreak Day, so she had gone to her fair share of bonfires, haunted houses, and house parties. It was bittersweet thinking about the naïveté everyone used to have. Everyone had no idea what they were in for. Not a care in the world but to get so drunk that you don't know where you were, off in a field somewhere with your friends.

Man, those were the days.

Beth set up a makeshift cooktop over the fire and set the pot on there to start simmering. It was almost mouthwatering thinking about the food. It's been so long since she had a comfort meal. Eating cold food from a can could NOT compare. What a treat! Tommy gave her the beans on the promise that she would share the food with him, so she fully expected him to be by later for his cut. Which Beth didn't mind, it was a big pot and there was plenty to go around. She pulled up the old patio furniture on the back porch to set up next to the warmth, and just sat back to relax. Even though it was freezing, it truly was beautiful outside this time of year. The glimmering snow covered everything like a thick hypothermic blanket, threatening frostbite at every turn. It was almost blinding in the sun, and made her eyes water. Thankfully it was almost evening and the sun was beginning to paint the sky with the brilliant sunset colors. It washed Jackson in an angelic glow that you just couldn't find anywhere else.

"Awake before your patrols? That's unusual"

Came a familiar voice behind her.

She wheeled around to see Joel standing there, with his guitar safely strapped to his torso. "Playing music during the day? I reckon that's unusual too."

"You got me there. It's going to be a long one tonight so I wanted to play while I could. Whatcha cookin'?"

"Chili. Making some for our trip tonight so we don't starve and freeze to death"

She smiled as he pulled up a chair.

He hummed as he sat down, and placed his guitar on the ground gently. "That sounds good, I haven't had that in so many years."

"I know. Tommy traded with some travelers and some had grown some vegetables and stuff so we got a lot of fresh food. Aint that amazing? Just in time for the holidays"

Beth sighed happily, basking in the warmth of the fire.

A timid look washed over his face. She could understand why he was dreading the holidays; Ellie still wasn't talking to him much. And having to spend the holidays without the ones you love the most is heartbreaking. Since her own children have died in this apocalypse, she could understand his trepidation. She reached over and placed her hand on his arm, which snapped him out of his self-pity and looked at her. He masked his emotions as always before she had a chance to read his face and he gave her a small smile. He was telling her he was fine, but she knew better.

"You want to come to my house for Christmas?"

He looked up at the sky in slight exasperation. He hated pity. He hated attention. All these years in all this violence has hardened him. "That's real...sweet, Beth. But really, I'm fine."

She wanted to argue, to insist, but he gave her a look that made her stop. He wasn't trying to hear any of it. It broke her heart to know he would probably be alone on Christmas, but surely he wouldn't turn down a meal if she cooked it, right? He would be crazy if he turned down a hot meal.

"Is this what old people do on their down time? Just sit around the fire and tell stories from when you were kids?"

A woman's voice said behind them.

Joel and Beth jumped and wheeled around in their chairs to see who was there. Beth kicked herself for being caught by surprise. Maybe living in this settlement for so many years has caused her to become soft. She saw a smiling Ellie standing behind them, leaning up against the big wooden fence. Joel shot up from his chair to greet her, but was mindful of her space. Beth could see that he wanted to wrap her up in a much-needed embrace, but he wasn't about to do anything to scare her off.

"Hey Ms. Tabetha, what you got over here?"

Ellie asked playfully, walking up to the fire to peer into the pot.

"I got some chili going for tonight. You gonna join me and Joel for dinner before we head out tonight?"

She offered, desperately hoping that she would, for Joel's sake.

"What's chili? It smells good"

Ellie said, sniffing the pot.

Beth giggled at the teen. Of course, she wouldn't know what it was. She has only ever known what food she could grab, never something to throw together for a different kind of meal. "It's soup with beans and tomato and whatever else you want to put in there. It's good, and I would love to have you here to eat with us."

"For sure!" She said weakly, glancing at Joel, "I would love to."

Her heart sank a bit. She knew that tone of voice meant that Ellie had no intention of doing that. She felt bad because she knew how much Joel would love to have dinner with her. She gave him a helpless look, but he wasn't paying attention to her. His eyes were watching Ellie, searching for any sign of something finally changing and that things were okay.

"So, what's up?"

Joel asked.

Ellie walked over to him, blocking Beth from Joel's view. She assumed that Ellie wanted privacy, and tuned out Ellie's hushed whispers. Joel nodded, glanced at her and nodded to say goodbye, and they both retreated into his house. She watched them go, hoping that for the first time in a while, things will be okay with them. Ellie loved him, that was obvious, and of course Joel loved her. It was heartbreaking to see two wonderful people in such a rocky place with one another. Whatever happened all those years ago, it was bad. She's wanted to ask for years, but that was just something Joel didn't talk about. He would tell her about Sarah, his daughter back on outbreak day, but not this. One could only imagine how bad it was if he would talk about his dead daughter but not the living one that couldn't look him in the eye. It was a mystery that she would seemingly never solve, and she was just going to have to learn to be okay with that. She sighed at the thoughts running in her head, the crisp cold air burning her lungs. The sun was finally setting so the snow wasn't so blinding anymore. The rays of sunset light peered through the wooden fence, painting her backyard like a stained-glass window. It was breathtaking. Jackson was beautiful, in every sense of the word, and she was happy to finally call it home.