Christmas Eve.
It's been a week since the night at the club, and since Brad and I kissed. Neither of us has talked about it as we both pretend it never happened. And that's for the best; there's nothing to say about it anyways. We were both drunk, and it didn't mean anything. I'm in love with Jay and Brad's in love with Ashley. End of story.
"Earth to the moon", Brad says, waking me up from my daydreaming session. We're both sitting on my bed, talking about the disaster that tomorrow is going to be with both Jay and Ashley with us. I really ain't eager on spending Christmas day with her, especially at my parents' house and Brad can't stop swearing at the thought of having to even look at Jay's face. Christmas is going to be memorable this year. I look up at Brad, completely ignorant of what he just said. "Are you ready to get your present?" he repeats, looking at me with impatient eyes. I smile, excited to know what he got me this year.
"Hold on, let me get yours", I answer as I jump off my bed and walk towards my closet. Brad gets off the bed as well and grabs his backpack before sitting back down. I grab his present from my dresser, and join him on the bed.
"You first", I say as I hand him a little box wrapped in Tiffany blue paper with a white ribbon tied around it.
"Let me guess, it's the new BMW I have my eyes on", he says, a cheeky smile on his lips.
"How did you know?", I answer, playfully. "It was on sales and just fitted our £50 budget. Lucky, right?", I add, making Brad laugh as he starts to unwrap the present.
"You did not", he says as he opens the box, unveiling a silver ring. He stares at it for a few seconds before looking up at me. "Are you out of your mind? This was not within budget!"
"And how would you know that?", I say, innocently. A couple of years after his band started to have some success, Brad and I had decided to set a specific budget for our Christmas gifts, mainly because I was a broke high school and then uni student and I was uncomfortable with the amount he was spending on my gifts when all I could afford for him was a soap holder at the local Poundland. But lately, I've been able to save some money which allowed me to actually afford something I knew Brad was going to love: a silver ring engraved with a cross on the top from Tiffany's.
"Come on Em, this is crazy. That's like a £500 ring"
"I'll keep it if you don't like...", I start to say before being interrupted.
"No, I love it, that's not the problem", he answers as he looks at the ring. I roll my eyes at him. For once I'm able to afford something great, something I knew he'd love. Why can't he just accept the gift? It's not like he hasn't done the same thing to me in the past, offering me ridiculously expensive stuff pretending he got them "on sales".
"I know you can't afford it. We set a budget for a reason Em"
"Well, I'll have you know that I can afford it. I wouldn't have bought it if I couldn't", I say as I grab the box from his hands. I take one of Brad's hands and put the ring on his index finger. "Perfect fit", I add with a smile. Brad smiles too, looking straight at me and pulls me in closer to him, wrapping his arms around me and squeezing me tight, making me fall onto him on the bed.
"Thank you", he says as he releases his pressure on me. "You have no idea how much I love it", he adds, making me smile at the sound of it, knowing he means it.
"My turn", I say as I sit back on my knees next to him and place both my hands in front of me, palms up, ready to receive my present.
"Close your eyes", Brad says as he grabs his backpack that was laying next to him. I do as told, excited to see what he got me and I hear him look through his bag before he finally puts something in my hands. I open my eyes to see a rectangle-shaped present wrapped very poorly in white and red paper with Santas all over it.
"Your wrapping skills will never cease to amaze me", I say as I take hold of the present to feel it and try to guess what's under the paper.
"Only the best for you", Brad answers with a wink. "Any guess this year?", he adds as I put my attention on the present in my hands and I can immediately feel what it is.
"It's a book", I start as I lift my head up and look at him. "Now, what kind of book is the question... Doesn't seem to be a cookbook by the size of it. What can it be? Fiction? Self-improvement? Oh, you better not have bought me a freaking self-improvement book, Simpson", I continue, making Brad smile.
"I thought you could use some help with anger management", he says with a laugh and I give him an unimpressed look. I seriously hope he's joking. "Open it before you decide to kill me", he says, clearly eager for me to see what he got me. I bring my attention back to the present and start to unwrap it, unveiling the book cover: Bali, The Ultimate Guide.
"You got me a travel guide on Bali?", I ask, confused.
"Yeah", he answers as he grabs the book from my hands. He turns it around and adds: "And see, I respected our budget, it was below £50", he says pointing at the price tag.
"I can see that", I answer, still confused. Why did he get me that book?
"So that's your Christmas present, which was within budget as you saw", he says, taking an envelope out of his backpack. "And now this is just a random present that has nothing to do with Christmas", he adds as he hands me the envelope. I take it, raising an eyebrow.
"What do you mean a random present?", I ask as I open the envelope and pull a plane ticket out of it. I take a second to look at it, and suddenly realize what it is. "You bought me a ticket to Bali? Is this a joke?"
"I bought us tickets to Bali", he says, emphasizing the word 'us'. "I'll have some time off after the tour and I thought we could both use a vacation. And I know you've always dreamt of visiting Bali, so I figured it was the perfect time to go, now that you're done with uni", he adds and I stare at him in shock. I can't believe he offered me a ticket to the place I most want to go to on earth.
"This wasn't within budget you cheater!" I say after a few seconds of silence. "And you dare make comments about what I gifted you? This is crazy B, I know how expensive those tickets are, I just can't accept it. It's too much"
"Of course you can", he answers. "And I'm not giving you a choice anyways. Plus, it's really more of a gift for me. I'll definitely need a break after the tour, and I don't want to travel alone, so you'd be doing me a favour by coming with me"
"And you conveniently decided you needed a break in Bali out of all places?"
"The airline had a sale going on", he answers with an innocent smile. I can't stop myself from smiling. I know he's lying, but it doesn't matter. I'm truly thankful to have him in my life, him who knows me better than anyone. And once again, he proved it by offering me the one thing I have always wanted, even if it's completely out of budget.
"I don't know what to say", I say, looking into his eyes.
"Just say you'll come with me"
"Of course I'll come with you!" I answer before giving him a tight hug. "Thank you so much B. But seriously, you need to start respecting the budget we agree on!"
"So do you Jones!"
"What I got you didn't cost as much as what you got me!" I defend myself.
"Still out of budget, and technically your gift was the travel guide, which WAS within budget"
"That's called cheating", I say as I throw a pillow at his face, making him laugh.
We spend the rest of the evening together, talking about all the things we want to do in Bali. We're gonna have the time of our lives, and I can't wait to be there already.
YOU ARE READING
FRIENDS - BWS
Fanfiction"Don't even try to deny it", she spat at me. "I see the way you look at Brad, the way you talk to him as if you two are the only ones in the room. You're constantly around him, craving his attention. It's pathetic". "Wow, I'm pathetic? Yet I'm not t...
