"I can't believe we've actually got everyone all together for once."
"It's a Christmas miracle!"
"Simon, stop fucking screaming you sket."
"Oi, JJ, that's not the Christmas spirit, love," you told him, stacking the last of the gifts on the coffee table in the center of the living room.
"And you're the last person allowed to complain about screaming as often as you do it," Ethan chided humorously. A chorus of soft chuckles arose from those in the near vicinity.
"Don't you start talking about screaming, Ethan," JJ began, enthused. "I heard you and Emily last night in the guest room. Didn't know 'daddy' meant more to you than it does to Josh–"
"Oh JJ, you are such a pervert!" Em called from across the room in annoyance. "Actually fuck off."
Tobi added, "We're supposed to be pleasant tonight, JJ."
"What do you mean? It's the season of giving, and I am giving the gift of my honesty."
Harry chimed in, "Right, well, whoever's got JJ as their secret Santa is fucked, their gift ain't worth shit." More laughter rang out amongst your friends.
You cut Jide off in the midst of his protests, saying, "Okay! Everyone's gifts are here. I'm gonna hand them out, don't open them until everyone's got theirs, alright? And no one accidently signed theirs?"
When no one spoke out in objection, you turned to pick up three wrapped gifts from the table and glanced at the tags. You had one for Vik, Emily, and Simon, so you started over toward the loveseat that Vik was sharing with his girlfriend.
A hand fell gently upon your shoulder, and you knew just by the softness his touch (and, maybe, by the adrenalizing sparks it set off beneath your skin) whose it was.
Josh leaned in to you so he could be heard over the drone of everyone's chatter. "I'm gonna grab some and help you out." His breath warm on your ear, you'd never thought that such an innocent offer could make you so nervous.
"Oh, yeah. Sure," you sputtered, stepping half of a foot away from him. "Thanks." He overlooked your jumpiness, maybe attributed it to the fact that you'd put yourself in charge of orchestrating the first ever Sidemen secret Santa, and drifted toward the coffee table.
Once everyone's gifts had been distributed, you announced that the unwrapping could commence. You hesitated in opening yours, casting your gaze around the room as wrapping paper and decorative bows fell to the floor, looking to see what everyone else had received. And you especially kept an eye on Ethan, gauging his reaction to the gift you'd anonymously given him; a pillow with Payet's face printed across the front.
As everyone reveled in what they'd received – "Did I really just open the box set of Peppa Pig?"; "Hah! I've got a pillow with Payet's mug on it!"; "JJ, I swear to God if you're the one who got me this Beast merch I'm poisoning your dinner." – you looked down at your present, the last one left on the coffee table. It was wrapped in tri-toned paper, red, white, and green, and was decently sized. And upon finally lifting it up, you were shocked by its weight.
"Holy shit, this is heavier than I'd expected," you noted aloud, chuckling after you'd nearly dropped the thing.
"Open it up, then," Simon coaxed, the nearest person to you. He clutched a blow-up sex doll in one hand; a gag gift, surely.
You begin to tear at the wrapping paper, and once it had all been discarded, you realized you were staring at a box for a Nikon Digital SLR Camera. The exact one you'd been wanting, in fact.
