Taylor finished taping the wrapping paper onto the box and began wrapping a piece of ribbon around it. He flipped the box around and pondered how he was going to tie it. He glanced around the living room to see if there was anybody to help, and then he sighed. He lifted his leg up and placed it onto the ribbon while he tried to tie a knot. When he finished he grinned. "There." He paused. "And now my foot is tied to the box." He grumbled as he pulled his foot out of knot of ribbon and watched his wrapping job go to crap.
"Hey Tay." Carter grinned as she plopped down on the couch. "Whatcha doin?"
"I m wrapping a present. And don t you ever knock before coming into the room?"
"It s the living room."
"Ok, don t you ever knock when you come into our house?"
"No. Do you ever knock when you come into ours?"
Taylor sighed.
"Nice wrapping job Tay. Did you know you have marshmallow fluff on the back of your head?"
Taylor slapped his hand onto the back of his hair and wiped the goo off. "Well you should start knocking around Christmas time. I could have been wrapping your present."
"No you couldn t have."
"How do you know?"
"Because you never get me anything."
"I got you something this year."
"Oooh... empty toilet paper tube?"
Taylor blushed and went back to straightening the present. When he was about five years old and though having a dime meant he was rich, he drew a picture on a piece of paper for each of his family members and friends. Then, he rolled it up, and shoved it into an empty tube of toilet paper. He d then wrap them and place them under the tree just so there were presents on there from him.
"Good to see your wrapping skills haven t really improved all that much."
"Get out of my house." Taylor mumbled as he tried to tie the ribbon again, using his foot as a guide again.
"What... the hell are you doing?"
"Tieing."
"Yes, I see that. But you could be a human and ask me to put my finger down."
"I don t want you to touch my stuff."
Carter raised an eyebrow.
"Shut up." He muttered without even looking at her.
"Why are you such a Mr. Grumpy Pants today?"
"Bite me."
Carter giggled and crawled onto the floor next to Taylor. "Awww. Did I hurt Taylor s feelings?" She put her arms around his neck and nuzzled her forehead against his cheek.
"Dude get off!" He yelled as he grabbed her by the sides and pulled her down, causing her to do a full sommersault and land on the ground in front of him.
"Ouch." Carter put her hand on top of her head and rubbed it.
"Oops. Sorry."
"You so don t know how to play with girls." She grabbed the end of the ribbon on the present and pulled it off. "Oops. Haha." She grinned and stuck her tongue out at him as she went upstairs.
"Hey Tay." Melissa came into the living room next and plopped down on the couch just as Carter had.
"Dammit not another one."
"What?"
He turned around and blushed. "Nothing. Carter was just in here molesting me and messing up my present."
"Hey nice job." She smiled as she came over and sat down on the floor next to him. "You could use some help with the ribbon though. Here..." She tied it into a knot perfectly within seconds. "There you go."
"Yes. That makes me feel a whole lot more like a man."
"Don t worry, I won t tell anybody that you can t tie a bow." She smiled and Taylor noticed how much she had grown up over the past year. Her hair was a little shorter, an inch past her shoulders. She was wearing a pair of black pants and a dark green, fuzzy sweater.
"You look nice."
"Yeah. I m going out with Jesse today. We re going to have lunch and then go see a movie. He has to work later."
"That s cool." He smiled. He didn t like the way he was feeling. He shouldn t be jealous of Jesse. But it bothered him for some reason how different Jesse and Meli were. He was so dark, and she was so bright and shiny. She needed somebody just as bright and shiny as she was... somebody like... him. "Dammit no." He cursed himself for thinking that. Meli deserved to be happy, and when the hell did he start thinking about himself as bright and shiny.
"Dammit no what?" Melissa asked, pushing her hair behind her shoulders.
"Nothing. I m just uhm. Yeah."
"Yeah, what?"
"What?"
Melissa laughed. "Tay, you re a dork." She put her hand on his shoulder while she stood up and then went out the front door.
Taylor sighed and looked down at his messy wrapping job with the perfect ribbon. "How the hell did I get marshmallow fluff in my hair?"
Carter knocked on Zac's bedroom door and pushed it open. "Hey sweetie." She smiled when she saw that he was still asleep, wrapped up in his blanket. "Zaccy." She tiptoed across the room. "ZACCY!" She yelled as she jumped into bed with him.
Zac jumped and hit his head on his headboard. "Ow. Hi... Good morning."
"Hiya. Ok. You have to get out of bed now. Your mom wants you on a schedule because it will make you feel better." Carter poked him on his side.
"Why? Why are you touching me?" He wimpered.
Carter laughed. "Because you have to get out of bed. If you get on a schedule it'll make your fibromyalgia get better. You know you've been in a ton of pain lately. You're just hiding it behind that cute ass smile of yours."
Zac smiled.
"Yeah yeah. I know. I said 'ass smile'." She poked him again. "Now get out of bed!"
"No."
"Come on. If you get out of bed. I'll give you some lovin."
Zac pulled Carter down and wrapped his blanket around her. Then he wrapped his arms around her waist. "How about if you go to sleep with me and then we can have some lovin here. In bed. Sleepy sleepy."
Carter kissed Zac's nose. "Nice try. Now get out of bed." She pulled the covers off of herself and stood next to him. "I'll make you some breakfast... lunch... stuff."
Zac raised an eyebrow. "I'll pass."
"Dude when did you learn to raise your eyebrow?"
He raised it again.
"Ok you're too proud of that. You know you stood in the bathroom staring at yourself in the mirror until you figured out how to do that."
"Yeah so?"
Carter giggled and got back into the bed with him. "Ok you're so cute, I'll snuggle with you for 15 minutes. Then you have to get out of bed. Ok?"
Zac nodded and wrapped his arms around her again. "Ok but you gotta promise you won't torture me by making me food."
"Ok I promise." She smiled and laid her head down on his chest.