Jax's POV
So it turns out, I can't wrap anything very well.
I had been trying to figure out how I was going to wrap Ryder's present all day but after my first three attempts I decided to just throw it in a gift bag and call it good enough.
Carter was still worried about whether or not Liam would like his present but at least he managed to wrap his up decently. He had offered to wrap mine as well but it was too late now, it was already in that stupid bag and that's where it was going to stay for a few more hours until Ryder decided to open it.
It was already Christmas Eve and while I remember opening presents on Christmas Eve, apparently that's not how you're supposed to do it so Ryder made a comprise with me. He said we could do it at midnight that way we still get to open them soon but it will technically be Christmas day.
"Are you excited," Ryder asked as he curled up against my side.
"About the fact that we are cuddling or that we get to open presents in a few hours?"
"Both."
"Then yes," I said as I placed a kiss on his forehead.
"You two are so cute," Callum said from the bathroom doorway. "You got room for one more in that bed," he asked even though he was already walking closer to the bed.
"I don't know the bed is pretty crowded." Callum only rolled his eyes as he laid down on Liam's side, who was currently at therapy.
Apparently his new prescription for anxiety isn't working like it used to and he needed to get it fixed soon before he had an anxiety attack. We had asked if he wanted us to come with him but he said no. He thinks the only reason it's this bad is because he misses his old boss.
"Do you think Liam will be back soon? It's starting to get late," I note as I looked over at the clock. It was already 11:30. I'm surprised Andrew actually stayed that late.
"I don't know," Callum says after a few minutes.
"Why is Andrew even still here? Doesn't he have places to be too?"
"Most therapists stay late on big holidays in case something triggers anyone too bad. Some of them might just sleep in their offices in case someone needs them."
That was a little weird to me but I only hummed as the door swung open. Liam's face was red and puffy but my eyes went to wrists, which looked like they were about to start bleeding with how hard he had scratching them.
"Hey what happened," Callum asked as he inched off the bed and over to Liam.
"Just a small panic attack. I'm okay," he said but didn't push Callum away when he wrapped his arms around Liam's waist.
"What can we do to make it better," I asked from the bed. I didn't want to move in case I freaked him out.
"I just want to open presents," he said with a frown as he pulled away from Callum before wiping his eyes one more time.
"Well on the bright side, we have plenty of presents to open," Ryder said as he jumped off the bed and over to his bed, where we had been storing everything.
Once presents were handed out to everyone we all found a spot on the big bed, looking between everyone to see who wanted to go first.
"Go ahead Liam," I say as I let Carter front so he could see Liam's reaction a bit better.
I watched from the couch as Liam tore open the paper with a small grin. When he saw what Carter had given him the grin grew to an all out smile.
It took Carter several hours and a favor from Patrick but after a while he managed to find a signed, collectors edition copy of The Fault in Our Stars, after Liam admitted it was one of his guilty pleasures.
"Who do you think your secret Santa," Carter asked as he masked himself to seem like me so it wouldn't blow his cover.
"Ryder?" Ryder only shook his head before looking over to Carter. "Carter?" His mask slipped off as he let a smile form as he began nodding.
"I was so worried you weren't going to like it," he admitted, his hands playing with each other.
"I love it. How did you even afford this though? It had to have been expensive."
"I got a little help from Patrick but I also used some of the money he had been giving us for the past six months."
"Well you shouldn't have but I'm glad you did."
"Do you want to go next since you're already up front," Ryder asked as he gestured to the second present beside us.
Carter only nods as he picked up the small gift bag with his name written all across the front of it.
I could feel his excitement as he tore into carefully before bringing the small necklace out of the bad.
It was cute to be honest. It just had a thin leather strap with nothing but a quarter-sized pendent on it. The pendent was silver and had Carter's name imprinted in black on both sides.
Tears welled up as he looked towards Callum.
"It was you wasn't it." Callum barely had enough time to nod before Carter launched himself at him, his arms immediately going around his neck for a hug. Callum was about to wrap his arms around him but Carter pulled back before he had the chance to.
"Sorry," he muttered as he settled back into his seat. His hands fiddled with the pendant before throwing it over his head. "I'm going to let Jax come back."
"So who is going next," I asked when I got settled in again.
"Callum can go," Ryder said looking overly content. I couldn't tell if it was because he got the present or if he was just happy to be doing this.
A smile had broken out on Callum's face before he even tore into the wrapping but when he did his smile left as he stared up at Liam with wide eyes. He picked up his present for the rest of us to see.
"I told you not to get this," he said to Liam with an overly serious expression.
"No, you told me to not get it for your birthday, which I didn't," he defended with a smirk.
"What is it," I asked since it just looked like a regular shirt to me.
"It's a band tee-shirt sighed by Twenty One Pilots. It was a limited edition shirt that they only handed out at one concert and I actually went to and got a shirt but when I was arrested I didn't get the chance to take it with me." Callum said as he glared at Liam some more but got over it quickly as he looked down at the shirt.
"Well do you like it or not," Liam asked teasingly, to which Callum grabbed him by the back of the neck, pulling him closer until their lips were pressed against each other.
"I love it. Thank you babe," Callum said after he pulled away.
"You're turn," I said to Ryder with a smirk. There was no point in pretending like we didn't know who we had left since it was just the two if us left.
"Well maybe I want you to go first." I gave him a soft glare until he gave up with a small scoff. "Fine."
His eyes lit up when he unrolled the movie poster I had spend the past several weeks drawing. I had went to the library so many times to use the computer just to look up Love, Simon posters just so I could make sure his looked different than everyone else's.
"And you say you hate this movie," Ryder said with a weak smirk, tears balancing in his eyes.
"Well it's definitely not my favorite," I say in all honesty as I pick the last present of the night.
The box was actually decently big, I had a pretty good idea what was inside but I was willing to act surprised for Ryder's sake.
My suspicions were confirmed when I pulled back the wrapper to see to see a small radio printed on the box.
"I know you said that you used to listen to music a lot at home and since we cant have phones here I thought this would be the next best thing. I know it's not anything big but I hope you still like it."
"I love it," I said as I leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. A blush covered his face as he looked back down at his movie poster.
"I still can't believe you drew this whole thing."
"I think we just had a pretty good Christmas," Liam said as he moved himself to sit on the headboard with me, followed closely Ryder and Callum.
This was an amazing first Christmas. Carter sighed as he thought about his necklace.
"And just think," I say with a smile as I placed the radio on the floor beside the bed before lying down in the bed. "We get to wake up in the morning and eat pancakes."
Liam chuckled as he followed my lead.
"God I love Christmas," Callum said as he forced himself to put his shirt down.
"Will you help me hang this up tomorrow," Ryder asked as placed his poster on my bedside table.
"Of course. Just tell me where you want to put it."
"Thanks."
I have to say, this was definitely the best Christmas I've had in a long time.
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Last updated May 19, 2021