What About Now

Chapter 31 - Jokey Presents

"Hey guys," I grinned, happily taking Ben's hand, as Hannah took Bella's, "Where are the others?"

"I don't know," Hannah said thoughtfully for a moment, "Should we go wake them up?"

"Oh yes!" I laughed, exchanging smirks with Bella, "Right you guys go get Taylor, Kaya and the kids, and I'll go get Dylan! Last one downstairs is a loser!"

"Charge!" Ben shouted, running off down the
corridor with Bella and Hannah close on his heels. With a Cheshire Cat grin on my face, I ran for Dylan's bedroom.

"Wakey wakey! It's Christmas!" I declared, bursting through Dylan's door. My friend leapt from his bed and looked around the room in shock.

"What the-?" He gasped, until his eyes fell on me, "Thomas! Dude, seriously? What time is it?"

"Who cares? It's Christmas day!" I laughed, ripping back the curtains in Dylan's room.

"Wait, Christmas?" With that, Dylan literally jumped out of bed and ran for the door, screaming down the corridor 'WAKE UP IT'S CHRISTMAS!' as he went. Laughing, I shook my head and ran after him. Up ahead, I saw Kaya come running towards the staircase, with Bella and the kids behind her.

"Ooh, it looks like Taylor's the loser!" Dylan grinned, looking up at the landing as I joined the lot of them in the living room, "Where is she?"

"We knocked on her door, and she said they were coming," Teddy explained, sitting down by the tree.

"Wait, they? Don't you mean she?" Kaya asked Teddy, looking from him to me, to Dylan and then to Bella.

"No, she said 'Okay, we're coming'," Teddy said innocently. Wait a minute. That didn't make sense. No one else was in Taylor's room.

"Are you sure, little Ted?" Dylan asked, looking slightly bewildered, "No one else shares a room with her." Just then, footsteps could be heard from the landing. We all looked up to see Taylor come walking down the stairs with - wait, with Ben. A large grin grew on Taylor's face when she saw all our shocked expressions.

"Room for one more?" She beamed, "Somebody decided to surprise me last night!" So yeah, Ben decided to surprise Taylor last night. Once everybody had said Merry Christmas to the pair of them, and Ben had been introduced to the kids, we all gathered around the tree to exchange presents. The kids were all super excited to see what Santa had brought them, and I couldn't help but smile at how adorable it all was. I kept glancing over at Taylor and Ben every now and then. He was sat on the floor, with his back against the sofa, and Taylor was sat resting against his chest. There was something about this guy that I really didn't like. Although he kept laughing, and occasionally pecking Taylor on the cheek, he kept glancing around the room like something was agitating him. Kaya seemed to notice it also, because whenever I caught her looking over at the pair of them, there was something dark in her eyes. But she seemed to be pretty cosy with Dylan most of the time, so it wasn't evident that she didn't want Ben here either. After Ben had told like, the tenth joke of the morning that had made Taylor laugh and kiss him, I had to look away. Instead, I took Bella's hand in mine and got distracted as I watched the kids all opened their presents. Once they'd been through most of them, and there were only a few left for them to open, us lot started exchanging gifts as well. This year, we had all decided to get each other a meaningful present, and a jokey present. Dylan seemed pretty excited for me to open my 'jokey' present. Confused, and slightly worried, I cautiously took off the wrapping paper.

"Oh my God, Dyl!" I cried with laughter as I unwrapped a complete boxset of Sarah Milican's live shows.

"Well you enjoyed it so much when we watched one by accident, so I thought 'why not get you the lot?'" Dylan grinned.

"Wait, you guys watched Sarah Milican's show?" Kaya asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Um, no not at all!" Dylan lied, avoiding eye contact with her, "Why would you think that?"

"It was an accident!" I laughed, placing the boxset down beside me, "But I don't think I've ever laughed so much before in my life!"

"Oh, right," Kaya nodded, clearly not believing that we watched it by accident, "Right, Taylor it's your turn!" For our jokey presents, Taylor had bought a massive jar of coffee for Dyl, who literally picked her up off the floor and jumped around the room hugging her. For Kaya, she had bought pretty much, most of Ben and Jerry's range of ice creams, and for Bella, a sing-along Disney CD.

"Why am I really scared to open this present?" I smirked, as Taylor handed me my gift.

"Because you know me too well!" She laughed, returning to her spot in front of Ben.

"Thanks, I feel so much better!" I grinned, tearing off the wrapping paper. Inside was a wooden sign with a small piece of rope as a handle. I looked up at her with raised eyebrows, before turning it over and reading what was on it; and I can honestly say that I laughed for about five minutes straight.

"What? What is it?" Bella asked, craning her neck to read it. With tears in my eyes, I handed the sign to her and she read it out loud.

"It says 'Nice try, but this is the boiler cupboard. Now look for the bathroom!' Oh my God, Taylor! That's brilliant!" She laughed.

"I'm sorry, but what's the joke here?" Ben asked, completely ruining the mood. So it was Taylor's job to explain to him how I had once mistaken the boiler cupboard for the bathroom, hence why she had got me the sign.

"Ohhh, so that's meant to go on his boiler cupboard then?" Ben said, looking up at me.

"Well duh? It's hardly going on the kitchen door!" Kaya said sarcastically, which I'm sure Ben didn't appreciate.

"Okay, and now it's my turn!" Ben grinned, as Taylor handed him his present. Inside was a gold chain, that Ben instantly hung around his neck.

"It's amazing, babe!" He smiled, kissing her lightly on the lips, "Now, I haven't actually got your present with me yet. It's still being delivered, so I'll give it to you when it arrives."

"Oh, that's okay," Taylor smiled, "I've already got the best Christmas present!" She gave Ben another kiss, and my gut twisted. How could he not have her present here for her? It's Christmas day, and he's had all the time to get her present ordered. I didn't believe his excuse for one minute, and I could see something in Taylor's eyes that told me she felt the same. However, not wanting to ruin the mood, I put on a smile and started passing out my presents to everybody. First was Dyl.

"Thanks mate!" He grinned, as he opened up the alarm clock, "Now I won't be able to sleep in anymore!"

"No problem! Now you might actually get to work on time!" I laughed. As Bella started unwrapping her present, there was a sudden loud ringing. We all looked up as Ben fished in his pocket for something, and pulled out his phone.

"Oh, I'll just be a minute," He said quietly, getting up off the floor, "This won't take a second." As Ben left us, Bella tore off the last piece of wrapping paper from her present.

"Oh honey, I love it!" Bella smiled, holding up the jumper that she'd been looking at for the past three months. It was a fluffy red jumper, with small sparkles all over it.

"You're more than welcome," I smiled, kissing her on her lips.

"You know what I should have got you?" Dylan butted in, as we parted, "A key to a bloody room!"

"Oh shut up!" I chuckled, hitting him with a cushion, which accidentally caused Dylan to fall to the ground, which accidentally caused the kids to shout 'BUNDLE' and jump on top of him.

"Help me!" Dylan yelped, as the kids all screamed and shouted from above him.

"Nah, I think we'll leave you just there," Taylor grinned, winking at me and Bella as she did.

"Hey babe?" We heard Ben call from the kitchen door. Taylor craned her neck to look up, and Ben gestured for her to come to the kitchen. His face was serious, and there was something about it that really wanted me to punch the guy.

"I'll be back in a second," Taylor said quietly, a look of concern on her face. Something wasn't right here. As the others played about with Dylan and the kids, I watched silently as Taylor jogged to the kitchen after her fiancé. My jaw tightened as Ben shut the door behind her.