"Mm, you know showing you off is my favorite activity," Alec says with a grin, kissing the side of Honor's head lightly as he watches the food cook, his arms wrapped around her from behind. "Almost done? I'm starving." He was already thinking of what outfit to wear to the party. He had to look good in front of all of Honor's friends. He felt like he had competition now.

Alec beams when Honor tells him that she loves him. Usually he had to be the first one to say it. He starts to wonder if maybe the reason why he's become so paranoid is not actually because anything is wrong, but because things are going so well, he's just waiting for the other shoe to fall. "I love you, too, Honor," he says back, kissing her. "Let's eat."

Alec sits down across from her after watching her put the food on each plates. He loved this side of Honor, so caring and... well, girlfriend-y. They really didn't get many moments like this, each of them with their own separate lives and baggage. When they started living together, Alec had naively thought that they could easily mix both of their lives together, but he had recently learned that it was going to be much more difficult than that. But nights like this gave him hope. He raises his glass when Honor suggests a toast. "Alright. To us. And to our future."

Alec grins and nods. "You certainly can. Maybe you should be the one cooking pasta more often. I like this whole 'you cook while I set the table' arrangement." He chuckles and takes another sip of wine before taking a bite of pasta. He wasn't much a shrimp fan, but the way Honor made it was absolutely delectable. "Where'd you learn how to cook?"

Alec takes another bite and nods as Honor explains. "That's good. Nobody really taught me how to cook. I made shitty meals for my family, and then I made shitty meals for myself when I was an undergrad. And now I make shitty meals for me and you." He laughs, shaking his head. He always kind of wished that he had taken the time to actually learn how to cook more than what he knew, but he was a busy man, no matter how much of his life he seemed to to devote to reading and wine tastings. There just wasn't enough time in the day to be Alec Holter. "Oh, you know you're my favorite dessert, Honor. No need to apologize." He grins and takes a sip of wine.

Alec laughs a little, shrugging. "The college I went to wasn't exactly the type of school that offered courses in the culinary arts, or I would have. And now, in graduate school... it's a little late to be signing up for things like that." He takes another bite, watching his girlfriend from across the table. It was times like these that he thought she was the most beautiful. He had seen her modeling pictures, of course, and he couldn't deny that she looked spectacular in them, but he preferred to see her like this. Normal and beautiful in every way. "Yeah... It's odd: I've always lived close to the ocean, and seafood was always a-plenty, but I never was a huge fan."

Alec immediately looks down when Honor asks him why he's staring at her, embarrassed. "Apologies. I wasn't meaning to stare. I guess I was just thinking." He takes a sip of wine and then looks back up at Honor, giving her a small, soft smile. "I love you. You know that right? More than anything."

Alec laughs at Honor's response. "Yeah. We've been sleeping together for several months now. I suppose catching me staring at you every once in a while isn't the weirdest thing that could be happening right now." He grins and shakes his head, still chuckling a little. He smiles brightly when Honor tells him that she returns his love. "I know, Honor. And I'll always love you, too."

Even though Alec knows that Honor didn't mean anything by it, hearing her describe something his family did as 'shitty' sits with him the wrong way. He tries not to show that it upset him, but he knows that the wrinkle in the middle of his forehead gave everything away. "They have their own families back home. They can't just drop everything and fly out here. It's my fault, really. I should have gone out there, but I chose to stay here with you. Not that I'm regretting that, I'm just saying that if I wanted to spend time with my family, I should have been the one travelling. Not the other way around."

Alec shakes his head to tell Honor that it was okay and she didn't need to apologize. "Both of my sisters' families live paycheck-to-paycheck pretty much. It's fine. I didn't expect them to come out here. Hell, I don't even expect gifts from them anymore. We're close, but that's just not how we are." He shrugs, giving her a small smile.