Polaroids {Philkas|Jamler Oneshots || Slow Updates}

• A Few Things || Jamler • {Contest Entry|Dec 11}

{a/n: and here's another contest entry for waIdenbeck s give away. I literally had no time doing this, so it's not the best I can do but the best I could do regarding the time; besides, I really like the basic idea I had (although it's nothing too special) and wanted to update :) it's shorter again, I hope that's okay; the next (normal) ones gonna be longer, promise! I got 3-4 oneshots for you in store ;3
the prompt was: Christmas shopping and they run into eachother, holding the presents they got for eachother - hope you like it, enjoy! ~Luca. PS: I'm taking requests, if anyone wants to suggest something? word count: 1283 words}

• • •
» Have you kept something from the Eyewitness set? –
A few things . . . «
• • •

The 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica was one of the largest shopping malls in entire LA with hundreds of shops and stores and restaurants and what not, almost fulfilling every wish and desire one could have and therefore was very well attended by people in search for anything there was – especially during pre-Christmas season, when the last presents had to be bought due to lack of time to buy them beforehand or just because people couldn't think of anything seasonable which resulted in hurried last-minute Christmas shopping and crowded streets that were barely passable.

Normally, Tyler wasn't one to procrastinate Christmas shopping and would rather do it sooner than later, just to save him the stress of it, also because he more often than not knew what to get for the ones close to him in advance, which is why he most of the times was done a few weeks before Christmas – most of the times; and this year wasn't one of them. He was still missing a last present to get for someone, who was none other than James, his co-star on Eyewitness and best friend, which was kind of upsetting since they practically knew everything about each other but he at first couldn't come up with something as a present for him.

But luckily, that had changed as soon as they – him and his girlfriend Iliana who had insisted to come along and help him find something (along with getting herself some new stuff as one could clearly see by the several bags hanging from her wrist) – had passed some music store and suddenly this particular song popped up in his head that triggered memories to come flooding in, making him smile softly to himself. So he entered and headed straight for a specific music section after he excused himself and left Iliana to wait for him until he would've found what he searched for.

• • •

He hated Christmas shopping, really. He couldn't stand the crowded streets, much less the hurry everyone was in, especially on the last days before Christmas. But today, he was one of them. Not necessarily in a hurry, but in need of one last present because he had had trouble to find something that Tyler would be happy about receiving. James usually tried to do something original, self-made even, but when it came to Tyler, his mind kind of went blank every time, although they've had so much in common and had so many great memories together. First, he had thought of buying him the I Need My Girl EP from The National, since he once had stated he loved that song for it was one of the songs on their playlist during one of their facebook lives, yet after seeing Iliana's reaction, he didn't want to cause Tyler any trouble because it originally had been "their" song. That's why he had to overthink it again, and it was more difficult than he had thought in the first place. They – or rather he – didn't have many photos of them together because he preferred to enjoy the moments they had together than trying to capture it, unlike Tyler.

That was when another idea struck his mind. Tyler loved taking pictures (as that wouldn't already be obvious by his Instagram account . . .). How could he possibly have missed that? He instantly turned on his heels, briefly informing Elise who was occupied to choose some accessories to wear with her Christmas outfit he would be in the shop across the street that offered electronics of any kind and style, in hopes he would find what he needed since it was quite special – just as much as Tyler was to him.

• • •

That couldn't be for real, right? This couldn't be for real. Out of all people he could accidentally bump into, it had to be Tyler?! James immediately stretched out a hand for him to take and tried to laugh it off but already felt the heat rising to his cheeks from embarrassment, absolutely ignoring both their bags that had been dropped in the process of running into each other; well, technically, Tyler had run into him, but that didn't make any difference. Above all, James was just glad that Iliana held his Starbucks cup to go that Tyler didn't spill anything of its content on the – James halted for a second and couldn't help but smile to himself as he looked him over and realized he was wearing his – Lukas' – lined jeans jacket James had kept from the Eyewitness set, among a few other things. . .

"H-hi," he said as he tried to start a conversation, not able to get rid of the likely dorky grin on his face, reluctantly letting go of Tyler's hand and arm he held in order to help him up. He laughed softly, fixing his glasses that had slightly slipped from his nose before he replied and grabbing his bag off the pavement by the cord.

"Hey! Well, if that's not a coincidence... didn't expect to meet you two here; Christmas shopping as well?" he assumed, raising the bag he was still holding for the others to see and got amused nodding in response. Tyler handed the bag to Iliana to add to her others, trying to seem casual, however bit his lip unwittingly to suppress a grin that definitely would give him away, which made him doubt his dramatic abilities; stupid unpredictable situations.

• • •

Tyler let out a relieved sigh once they got home and slumped down on the couch, running his hands through his face once and chuckled. Luckily, everything had gone well and James hadn't picked up on the fact that the present he had bought actually was for him and not Laurie, his mum. However, thinking about it, James Bay maybe would meet her music taste as well. Tyler looked at the pile of bags to his right and smirked. Now he would only have to wrap the vinyl up and he'd be all done. Eager to finish what he had started, he searched for the bag he got from the music store, which was the one nearest to him. Taking it, he felt his heart drop for a long second and gulped, since the content of the bag didn't feel anything near the James Bay vinyl of Let It Go but something squarish. Confused, he took the item out of the bag and inspected it, looking over all the over bags to check if he hadn't unintentionally picked the wrong one, but the bag was the same he got from the store, of that he was certain. Unless . . . Tyler furrowed, an uneasy feeling growing in his stomach as he turned the box he held around to somehow identify what it was he was holding, until on one side it said Polaroid.

"Iliana?" he called from the living room "Did you buy yourself a Polaroid camera?" he called askingly, for she may have bought it while he had been busy to get the vinyl but when she declined in a surprised tone, Tyler became aware of another detail he recalled from when he had bumped into James earlier but only now got his attention, despite the additional weight the camera had compared to a light vinyl Tyler hadn't noticed in the sudden hurry of covering up his purchase. He laughed, just like James as he unpacked the EP at his new possession when he had gotten home as well, and smiled mildly, as he realized what must've had happened.

That they had the same bags that they had mistaken for their own when it had been the others.

Well, Merry Early Christmas, they thought simultaneously.