18 December

In the distance, Big Ben chimed three o'clock. People bustled about the city of London, going about their business in the frigid air of mid-December London. The air was crisp and freezing, with the temperature sitting just above freezing, yet there was no snow. The sky was cloudless and icy blue, and the sun hung just above the skyline of the city, having already begun its descent.

Ainsley Arkwright shoved her Oyster Card back in her wallet, barely managing to avoid smacking her face into a lamppost as she did so. She walked briskly away from the Tube station toward a small cluster of houses in the south of London. She pulled her black and white checked muffler higher onto her face to guard her cheeks from the biting wind. Even though it was dangerously cold, Ainsley couldn't help but note how beautiful the city was. The sunshine danced off the shop windows, and the streetlamps were just beginning to turn on. She had missed London, but hadn't realized just how much until she was back in its welcoming embrace. Welcoming being the imperative word, as Londoners were notorious for ignoring each other.

Ainsley jammed her thumb onto the intercom button. It buzzed obnoxiously every time she touched it, and she knew she was annoying the apartment's inhabitants. The door swung open violently, revealing a pale, black haired twenty-six year old.

"You do know you only have to press the intercom once, don't you?" he questioned, feigning annoyance.

"Well, yes, but I love annoying you." Ainsley smiled, laughing slightly as her American accent confused the man. She glanced at his wardrobe, and was pleased to see it hadn't changed in the two and a half months she had been gone. He still wore lion-themed shirts and his black skinny jeans. No, Ainsley didn't think Phil would ever change his wardrobe. "It's freezing tits out here, Phillip," she informed, pulling her red and black coat tighter around her.

"Oh, yes, I suppose it is." He stood aside, allowing her to enter.

"Where is he?" Ainsley questioned excitedly, kicking her galaxy-print high tops off just inside the door and beginning to run up the stairs, shedding her coat and tossing it back to Phil as she went. "Daniel! Where are you, Daniel?"

She heard the dark-haired twenty-two year old before she saw him. He squealed and she heard feet on the stairs above. He tore out of the lounge and nearly fell down the stairs in his haste. "Ainsley!" he yelled happily, stretching his arms out when she reached the landing of the stairs.

"Your neighbors probably hate when I'm here." She chuckled, hugging Dan. "So much shouting and running."

"They probably think we're having an orgy or something," Phil stated from the stairs.

"Well, I mean, Jesus Christ, it's been almost three months. Knowing you weirdos, it's been rather quiet 'round here lately." Phil and Dan laughed as Ainsley adjusted her black leather messenger bag on her shoulder.

Dan pointed to Ainsley's black and white Christmas jumper before motioning to his own black and grey one. They almost matched. "Nice jumper."

"Thanks. Yours is rather nice as well."

"Asos," he said haughtily.

"Oliver Bonas," countered Ainsley. Dan nodded in approval.

"Oh, God. He's worn off on you. What happened to buying your clothes at H&M or Primark?" Phil mumbled, exasperated.

Ainsley ignored him. "Well, come on, then. Into the lounge." She ushered the two into the room behind them, pushing them both onto the couch. Ainsley moved the table and sat on the floor in front of them, digging through her bag. "American presents time!" she sang happily, extracting four ornately wrapped packages from her bag. "Firstly, for Phil." She handed him the lumpiest of the four presents. "You know how my mum and dad moved near Washington DC?"

"Yeah. Like forty-five minutes away or something," he said as he began to remove the tape from the paper.

"Well, DC has this great little zoo, and one of the lions recently had babies." Phil grinned holding up a stuffed lion cub. "And they were adorable. But they were selling these plushies to raise money for the zoo and to help get like immunizations and stuff."

"It's awesome, thanks!"

Ainsley smiled and handed Dan a perfectly wrapped rectangle that contrasted greatly with Phil's lumpy stuffed lion. "It's heavy." Dan commented, tearing into the shiny golden paper. "What's th-" He cut himself off, inhaling sharply. "Dear Lord."

"What?" Phil questioned, craning his neck to see around the paper.

"You did not."

"What is it?"

"It's… I can't even articulate…. Aaah!" Dan fumbled for words, finally settling on leaning forward and pulling Ainsley into a bone crushing hug. "Where the hell did you find this?"

"We went to New York for a few days," she replied, shrugging. "There's this really nerdy place in Midtown Manhattan that had a shit-ton of this stuff. You like it?"

"Oh my God, I love it!"

"Seriously, what is it?"

"The Art of Guild Wars 2!" Dan announced, proudly holding up the hardcover art book.

Ainsley smiled at Dan's enthusiasm, tossing Phil a small box. "This took forever to find, but when I did, I just had to get it for you."

"I'm excited now." He beamed, but immediately looked confused when he tore the paper open, revealing a ring box. "Oh, Ainsley. I know we've been friends for a while, but I don't know if I'm ready for that sort of commitment."

"Oh just shut up and open it!" Under her breath, she added, "Git."

Phil did as instructed, and his eyes went wide. "Where in the world did you get this?" He pulled out a brass ring.

"I know how to shop," she answered simply.

"But the Ring of the Order of Teraka is… how?"

"Some things are better left unknown, my dear Phillip." Ainsley couldn't help but revel in her friend's amazement. She knew how much he loved Buffy, so when she had seen the prop, she couldn't pass up the opportunity. "Authenticity is under the foam, so you know." He nodded, still staring at the ring. Ainsley doubted he had understood. "And now, last but not least, Dan!" Ainsley handed him a long cylinder.

Silently, he removed the paper and opened the tube. Confused, he pulled out a One Direction poster. "Uh, thanks?"

"I figured you could put it in the bathroom. You know, to match the one in the toilet."

"Makes sense." He nodded. "It's really… uh… nice. Thanks, Ainsley." He looked a bit disgruntled that his final gift wasn't as mind-blowing as Phil's.

"You don't like it, do you?"

"No, no!" He tried to cover his disappointment. "No, it's great! It'll match perfectly! The bathroom really needed something like this."

"Oh, well, in that case, I suppose I can send your real gift back to mum and have her return it." Dan paused, staring at her. "But, that would cost so much for international shipping. I guess I could sell it to a shop here." The more she spoke, the wider Dan's eyes got. "But I would still be losing money. Hmm…. eBay is always an option."

"Or I could open it and we can pretend the One Direction poster never happened?" Dan suggested hopefully.

"Yes, we could do that…" she trailed off, 'hmm'-ing to herself, mocking thought and watching as Dan practically fell off his chair in anticipation. "Oh, what the hell! Why not!" She dug through her bag and produced a square crudely wrapped in the Sunday edition of the New York Times.

Dan took it and looked at it quizzically. "Couldn't be bothered to wrap this one nicely, as well?"

She shrugged. "Its awesomeness needed to be dulled. Think what you will." He began to open it, but Ainsley placed her hand over his. "Before you finish, I have a few stipulations." He nodded. "You can't ask where I got this, and you can't ask how much it cost. Deal?" Again, he nodded, chocolate eyes dancing with anticipation and excitement. Ainsley removed her hand and he ripped open the newspaper eagerly. The second he saw the orange corner of the CD's cover art, he gasped. Phil, now paying full attention to what was happening, leaned in closer to watch. "Oh, it gets better." Ainsley smirked.

Dan pushed a strand of his brown hair out of his eyes before continuing, pulling the paper off the rest of the way. He held up the CD, Muse's The Origin of Symmetry, eyes wide with excitement. Ainsley mouthed 'open it', and he did as he was told. A look of confusion crossed his face for a brief second before the realization of what he was holding sunk in. He shut the CD case quickly. "Shut up."

"What-?" Phil began, only to be cut off by Dan.

"You did not." Ainsley grinned sheepishly. "Shut up! Oh my God. This is better than Guild Wars 2!" He screamed and hugged Ainsley again, this time, practically tackling her to the ground. "This is the best gift ever. Call my mum. Tell her I died happily!" His words were bouncy as he attempted to hold back a giddy laugh.

"Is Matt Bellamy's autograph better than One Direction?" Ainsley questioned, Dan's arms still wrapped around her in a bone-crushing tackle.

"So much better." He moved back to the couch, still holding back an excited giggle. "Nintendo Sixty-Four!" he playfully added, raising his hands above his head triumphantly and revealing his excitement in a way that only a YouTuber would know how.

"Are you crying, Dan?" Phil questioned, looking at his friend.

Dan felt his cheeks. "I am a bit, yeah." He picked up the CD case and opened it again, finally letting his giggles out. "Ah! It's not even Christmas yet!"

"Yeah, I'd hate to see what you got us for Christmas!" Phil joked. Ainsley knew the boys weren't expecting anything for Christmas. Especially not after what she had given them today. But, if only they knew what she had planned.

A/N: Hey, guys. So, I don't know if I'm even going to continue this story. It's just a random idea I had. If you really like it, though, I'll continue. Be sure to review/favorite/follow if you want to see it continued, or else I'll have no idea!