as soon as we get home, i anxiously bolt up the stairs to grab george's present. it's in a blue gift bag with white paper in the bag. i spent a lot of time wrapping it, so i hope he focuses on that rather than the gifts.

i walk downstairs and see a few people carrying their gifts. niki's is in a purple box with an orange ribbon tied around it, making it clear that it's karl's gift. tommy's is very sloppily wrapped, as is alex's, but wilbur's is wrapped to perfection.

"head count!" clay shouts. "one, two, three, four... yeah we're all here."

we all sit in a circle with our gifts in front of us. we all play a game with our presents. we all try to guess which gift is ours before we get it. we get three tries, and if we can't guess which present is ours within the three tries, we lose.

karl starts, and guesses that niki has him first try. niki nods slowly and slides the gift over to him.

he punches the air and cheers.

"now niki try to guess," clay says.

"okay, uhhh..." she looks around at everyone's gifts. "alex?"

"no," alex laughs.

"shoot, okay. nick?"

"nope," nick says. "one guess left."

"toby?" she asks frantically. toby shakes his head.

"and we have our first loser!" wilbur shouts. "let's give niki a round of applause, shall we, fellas?" we all laugh and clap for niki. she rolls her eyes and gives a slight bow while sitting.

george passes a blue gift bag to her.

"i was going to wrap it pink but i'm colorblind," george says meekly. everyone snorts.

"that's okay, george," niki laughs. "it's your turn to guess."

"clay," george says instantly. clay wheezes and shakes his head. "definitely valerie, then. she's the only one that has their present wrapped in a color I can see." i roll my eyes.

"was it that obvious?" i ask while sliding the bag towards him. "okay, now for me... ummm..." I glance around at everyone's gifts. wilbur's present is wrapped in dark purple wrapping paper, which he knows is my favorite color. i guess him.

"i was hoping the wrapping would throw you off. it's not me," wilbur says with a chuckle. i sigh.

"tommy?" i ask. he shakes his head.

"of course you would guess tommy," karl says. i flash him an annoyed glance and mouth "shut up."

i look around at the gifts. i want to guess nick's, because his is neatly wrapped in pink and white striped paper, but i go off on a whim and guess toby, who's is wrapped tightly in mustard yellow wrapping paper.

"yeah!" toby shouts. "you got it!" he slides the box towards me. i grin and put it on my lap.

everyone guesses their presents and only a few people lose the game. karl has clay, clay has wilbur, wilbur has toby, tommy has nick, nick has alex, and alex has tommy.

"look at how shitty this wrapping job is," tommy whispers to me, showing me his box. i nod grimly.

"pretty shitty," i agree. the gift is wrapped in red paper, but it's torn in so many places that alex might as well not have wrapped it. the tape doesn't hold it down and white tissue paper is spilling out of the box.

"toby tried so hard on yours. you're lucky."

"look on the bright side, you'll get to your present quicker." tommy grins widely.

"true."

"are you guys ready to open your gifts?" wilbur asks.

"can we all watch george open his?" i ask.

"oh god," george says. everyone laughs.

"googie, you open your gift first," tommy says. wilbur, tubbo, and tommy break out in hysterical laughter while i sigh.

"what did you just call me?" george asks.

"nothing," i say quickly.

"val called you googie on love or host," toby says through fits of laughter. i facepalm and quickly bury my face into my hands.

"GOOGIE?" george asks with a smile, trying to keep himself from laughing.

"i meant gogy, okay? i didn't know any better," i say through my hands, trying to act serious and contain my laughter. "are you guys ever going to let the googie joke go? don't you think it's getting old?"

"i can hear you smiling, val, don't act like you don't think it's funny," wilbur says. i look up at him, and yeah, i'm smiling.

"whatever," i say. "just open your present, GEORGE."

george throws the tissue paper out of his bag and i immediately burst into laughter. he holds up his present and squints. a few people gasp.

"you're horrible," alex tells me. i laugh harder.

"what the hell?" george says in disbelief. he's holding up two bottles of nail polish. one green and one red. "i can't see these!"

"that's why I got them!" i laugh so hard that it's hard to breathe. everyone in the room starts bursting into laughing fits as well.

"i tried to talk her out of it. kind of," niki says, trying her best not to laugh. tommy gives me a fist bump, he's laughing just as hard as me.

"that was brilliant," he tells me. i nod.

"i swear, that was just a gag gift," i say. "there's more at the bottom of the bag."

"there better be," george says while smiling, taking the joke well.

"now can we all open our presents?" nick asks impatiently. clay and wilbur nod. i try my best to tear open the tight wrapping paper, and eventually succeed. inside the neatly wrapped box is a book. midnight sun by stephenie meyer. my jaw drops and i look at toby. he catches me looking and smiles when he sees my face.

"you like it?" he asks. "i know you love twilight, and you mentioned you can't find that book anywhere, so-"

"i love it," i say, my jaw still on the floor. he beams proudly.

"i'm glad." without warning, i tackle toby into a hug.

"thank you thank you thank you," i say. he laughs, hugging me back.

"you're welcome."

everyone seems really pleased about their gifts. karl loves niki's gift and holds up the new sweater for everyone to see. he already opened one of the monsters and takes sips from it every once in a while. george likes the new shirt and crewneck sweatshirt i got him, and makes a joke that he's going to iron his logo onto it. clay got homemade white cake pops with smiley faces on them (that niki helped wilbur make), toby got a yellow and black striped hoodie, nick got a new pair of vans (i was impressed with tommy on that one), and alex got a pair of duck socks and a duck phone case.

"why haven't you opened yours?" i ask tommy.

"can you not see how much i'm struggling to open this bitch?" tommy asks in frustration. he tries to rip open the box, but it's not working. "i need a knife. that's what i need."

"no you don't. you need a valerie." i take the box from him and attempt to find where it's supposed to open. once i do, i make a small tear and hand it back over to tommy.

"maybe i do need a valerie," tommy mutters under his breath. i blush and think about what he said out of context.

"woah!" tommy holds up his gift. it's his signature white and red shirt, but in hoodie form. the sleeves and hood of the sweatshirt are a semi-bright red, and the rest is white. "this is so cool! thanks big q!"

"no problem, tomas," alex says. "i figured you needed some new clothes."

we all love our gifts and thank our person directly. i even got a thank you from george for the nail polish, and he said he'd try the red color once he had his colorblind glasses on. karl also tells me that he plans on stealing the nail polish and trying it out as soon as possible.

"so who wants to watch a movie?" karl asks. everyone cheers. "sick! let's watch high school musical!"

"absolutely not," wilbur says. "i say we watch a documentary."

"BORING! let's watch a horror movie," nick argues.

"or we could watch a rom com? niki says. "since tomorrow is valentine's day?" everyone lets out a quiet murmur and agrees.

"which movie?" toby asks.

"10 things i hate about you," i say immediately.

"isn't that one of your favorites?" tommy asks. i nod.

"and it's a rom com."

it's decided. we're watching 10 things i hate about you. niki, karl, and i cheer while clay and tommy groan.

but about halfway through, everyone starts to really enjoy the movie. i even get bold and lean my head on tommy's shoulder, and he lays his head on top of mine. i can feel something trailing my fingers, and soon realize it's tommy's hand. i open my hand and he laces his fingers through mine. a blush creeps across my face as i realize how romantic our position must look.

the movie ends at midnight, and i'm nearly asleep on the couch. i feel tommy rubbing my shoulder, trying to get me to wake up. i jolt up suddenly and rub my eyes.

"movie's over," he says gently. "time for bed." i nod slowly and stand up, wobbling while doing so.

"oh jesus christ," tommy says while picking me up and putting me on his back. "you're so dramatic."

"i can walk if you want," i say.

"no. this is fine."

tommy puts me in my bed and goes to leave, but i tug on his hand. he turns around.

"do you need something?" he asks. i nod.

"stay," i say in a hoarse whisper. even in the dark, i can see tommy's face turn crimson as he sits on the bed.

"lay down," i say just as quietly. he does and i rest my head next to his shoulder. he puts a hand in my hair and takes a deep breath.

"good night, valerie," he says, pulling me closer.

"good night, tommy."