Between Daylight And Darkness Chapter Four
Title: Between Daylight And Darkness
Chapter: 4/9 Happiness Hit Her Like A Bullet In The Back
Pairing: Naomi/Emily
Word Count: 8040
Disclaimer: I don't own, or claim to own, anything related to Skins. Borrowing the characters and throwing them into an entirely different universe altogether. I also don't own Twilight, and wouldn't ever want to. Chapter title from Florence And The Machine's 'Dog Days Are Over')
Summary: Naomi and Emily have a hard time being just friends, and Katie speaks her mind. Naomi finally gets an inkling about who, or what, she's befriended.
N.B. Sorry for the delay in updating! The real world stepped in, momentarily.
Previous Chapters: Chapter One: Cause Anywhere Is Better Than Here
Chapter Two: Like Stars Burning Holes Right Through The Dark
Chapter Three: The Youth Is Starting To Change
Happiness Hit Her Like A Bullet In The Back
She woke up feeling like utter death, again, and for a moment the previous night seemed like some kind of weird dream. Had Thomas actually suggested that Emily was a vampire? She smiled sleepily, snuggling deeper into her blankets, reaching for the hand that was resting on her hip and pulling it around her. Thomas was nuts, and obviously had the mentality of a twelve year old. She slipped her fingers through those of the hand she held, curled it into her chest, a body pressing fully along her back. She had images of Thomas and JJ whittling stakes, and building forts, and running around a back yard somewhere fighting over who got to save Princess Pandora from Count Cook the Blood Sucking Party Boy. Bloody ridiculous.
Hang on, she thought, and her eyes had flown open. Why was there someone in bed with her? She pushed the hand away, got up far too quickly and sat back down on the bed, turning in alarm to see Emily smiling sheepishly at her.
“Morning.” Emily rasped, and Naomi shut her eyes for a second.
“Uh, hi. Why are you in my bed?” Her voice scratched against her throat, and she wondered how many more of these hangovers she could go through.
“Sorry. Last night you,” Emily sat up, but didn’t get out of her bed. Just scooted backwards until her she was resting against the headboard. She folded her hands in her lap. “Asked me not to leave if you fell asleep.”
“Did I?” Naomi said, more to herself, turning her back to Emily and bringing her hands up to rub her face.
“Feel okay?” Emily asked softly, and Naomi felt a hand gently rub against her lower back. She would’ve moved away, but sudden movements would probably have made her sick and anyway, it felt nice.
“Christ no.” She sighed, felt her mind spinning and a strange kind of hollowness in her limbs.
“Here.” Emily said, and she felt the bed jostle as Emily moved away from her for a moment. Jesus, she thought, no more drugs. Ever. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and Emily handed her a large bottle of orange juice. “Drink this, it’ll make you feel better.”
Naomi frowned, but accepted the bottle. “Is this mine?” She asked, feeling entirely too confused and grumpy.
“Yeah, I swiped it from your fridge before we came upstairs last night. You don’t remember?” Emily rubbed her back again, and leaned her cheek against her shoulder, and Naomi couldn’t be bothered shaking her off. She tilted the juice bottle against her lips, and drank until it was almost empty. She burped, and felt Emily smile against her shoulder. “Charming.”
“Yeah well, I’m not feeling my best. I think I need to lie down again.” She felt Emily move back, away from her, and she put the juice bottle on the floor before lying backwards, curling into the foetal position and feeling absolutely woeful.
“I’m sorry.” She heard Emily whisper, and she turned to see the girl giving her an awfully guilty look.
She felt her own expression soften, and reached for Emily’s hand, tugging her until they were spooning again. “S’not your fault. It’s my bloody own. Fucking pills.” She was starting to feel better, which was something. Who would’ve figured that orange juice was such an effective hangover cure?
A kiss was pressed near her ear, and it made her shudder.
“So, you’re not gay?” She heard mumbled, as another kiss was pressed below the first.
She frowned, though after a moment it dissolved into a half smile. “No.” She turned onto her back, pushing Emily away from her, but kept hold of her hand, kept her close. “You’re not so bad, though.”
Emily gave her a bashful smile, and Naomi couldn’t help looking at her lips briefly.
“Yeah, you’re pretty alright.” Emily’s smile had grown wider as Naomi rolled her eyes. “Maybe just pretty.” She amended, and Naomi wasn’t sure what feeling was stronger at this point - the urge to roll her eyes again, or smile in return.
“How is it you’re not nearly as hung over as me?” She opted to change the subject instead, watching as Emily’s smile grew wan.
“Magic.” She mumbled, pulling her hand out of Naomi’s and leaning back, looking away.
Oh, Naomi thought, okay. She frowned after a moment, leaning her head to look at the clock next to her bed. “Jesus, it’s only nine in the morning. No wonder I feel like bloody death warmed up.” She narrowed her eyes at Emily, as Emily turned back toward her.
“Yeah well, I thought your dad would be asking questions so woke you up.”
Naomi shut her eyes, remembered the feeling of someone running their hand over her arm, along her waist, and back again. She opened her eyes slowly, looked at Emily, and forgot what she was going to say.
Sometimes Emily had this way of just gazing at her, as if her eyes were locked to her own and she couldn’t look away. There was something too intriguing, too lovely, and altogether too much about her. She seemed so relaxed, lounging back against her headboard, her head cocked slightly to the side. But her eyes were staring intensely into her own, as if looking for something. As her lips quirked into a small smile, Naomi wondered if Emily thought she had found it.
She felt her stomach drop, felt something altogether alarming happening further down, and bit her lip as Emily’s eyes flickered between her own and her mouth.
“Fuck.” She said, barely audible, and reached for Emily as Emily fell toward her.
She felt her chin dip as Emily pressed her lips against her own, pushed back as her mouth opened and she had Emily’s tongue in her mouth, and it felt altogether too wonderful. She heard herself moan, very slightly, deep in her throat, as Emily cupped her face with one hand, pressing deeper into her mouth. Naomi kissed her back, opening her mouth wider, wondering for a moment if she could get it wide enough, feeling as if she couldn’t get enough of Emily inside her.
She lifted her head slightly off the bed, pushing herself into Emily. Emily shifted herself, not taking her lips off Naomi’s, moving until her body was lying half over Naomi.
This was new, Naomi would’ve thought, if she’d been capable of anything resembling coherency.
She ran one hand up Emily’s back, tangling it into her hair and crushing their mouths together harder. The other she kept on Emily’s shoulder, clamped tightly.
She moaned, loudly, when Emily dragged her hand down from her cheek and cupped her chest, squeezing her tit as she arched into it, and something sharp caught her lip and she realised, after a moment, there was blood in her mouth.
Emily froze above her.
“Ow, Jesus.” Naomi ran her tongue along her bottom lip, feeling the smallest of cuts. She looked at Emily’s face, frowning when she saw that Emily had squeezed her eyes and mouth shut as if she was in pain. “Ems?” She asked, softly, and Emily pushed away from her, moving so quickly to the end of her bed that Naomi wondered if she’d imagined it.
Emily sat with her back toward her, her head down, gripping the bed sheets in both hands.
Naomi raised herself onto her elbows, taking stock of what the Jesus fuck had just happened. Hot and heavy didn’t even begin to cover it, and as she sat up she noticed a decidedly uncomfortable slipperiness between her legs. She cleared her throat, unsure what to do with herself. After all, her lip had already stopped bleeding and it wasn’t that big a deal.
“Sorry.” Emily rasped after a while, her voice so low Naomi barely heard her. “Got a bit…” Emily trailed off, and Naomi watched as she brought one hand up as if to cover her mouth.
“So did I.” Naomi murmured, and took a deep breath.
“I should go. Let you recover.” Emily stood, refusing to look at her. Naomi felt stupidly confused for a moment because wasn’t she the one who was meant to have the sexuality crisis?
“Are you alright to drive?” Naomi asked, wincing because what she meant to say was ‘Stay.’
Emily turned to her after a minute, offering a smile that wouldn’t meet her eyes, nodding. She walked slowly back to the bed, leaning down and pressing a decidedly chaste kiss against Naomi’s lips.
“Bye.” Naomi said softly, reaching a hand up to her mouth. She enjoyed kissing Emily far too bloody much.
Emily gave her a small wave as she opened her bedroom door, and Naomi thought about manners and politeness, and seeing people out of houses, but she was far too bloody hung over to get up. And Jesus Christ she was turned on. She wondered if she could actually walk.
Emily closed her bedroom door with a soft click, and a little while after that Naomi thought she heard her front door shut and a car start outside. She lay on her back, eyes closed, and thought about Emily.
Twice.
V^^^^^V
She hadn’t been looking forward to Monday, and she was starting to wonder if she’d spend every Monday morning nervously shifting her weight from foot to foot and smoking outside the college, worrying what would happen inside. Fuck it, though. She was allowed to be friends with who she liked. And besides, why was she nervous? She should be the angry one, angry that Thomas, JJ and Pandora thought she was that stupid, or gullible, to believe in their childish bloody fantasies.
She sighed. Emily hadn’t texted her or anything since she’d left her room on Saturday morning. Emily was the gay one, though, wasn’t she? And yet here she was worrying she’d pushed Emily too far.
She had half a mind to skip college altogether. But that was admitting like admitting defeat, and fuck it.
She’d actually managed to complete her coursework for the first time the day before, and that was something. When she walked into philosophy she felt her face fall when she saw the empty seat beside Cook, though he gave her a smile.
She made her way to Pandora, but before she sat down Cook leaned over and tugged at the back of her skirt.
“Have a seat next to me, yeah?” He raised his eyebrows at her, and when she glanced at Pandora, Pandora was staring resolutely toward the front of the classroom and not looking at her.
She sat next to Cook, flinching slightly as he gave her a rough kiss on the cheek and a grin.
“How’s it going?” She asked, getting things out of her bag, the desire to ask after Emily making her tap her foot impatiently.
“Not bad, yeah. You?” Cook leant back against his chair, legs splaying out in front of him, and she frowned when she realised he didn’t have any books on his desk. Had never had any books, or pens, and neither had the rest of them.
“Alright.” She said softly as Miss Clark addressed the class, barking at them in a particularly worse mood than usual. “Where’s Emily?” She asked out of the corner of her mouth, keeping her eyes on their teacher.
“Unwell.” Cook said, looking past her to stare out of the window for a moment.
Naomi looked at him. “What’s wrong with her?” She bit her lip slightly, felt the mostly healed cut on her lip.
Cook just shrugged, looking at her after a pause with a grin. “Sitting with us today, then?” And he raised his eyebrows at the back of Pandora’s head. She rolled her eyes, smiling despite herself.
“Yeah, of course.”
“I don’t mind you changing seats but the least you could do is pay attention, Naomi.” Miss Clark had her hands on her hips, and Naomi felt her face flush.
“My fault, distracting her with something interesting instead of the crap you’re teaching.” Cook crossed his arms, his face expressionless. Miss Clark narrowed her eyes at him.
“I’m not in the mood for you today, James. One more word and you’re out.” They seemed to have a staring contest, until Cook eventually threw his hands up in mock defeat. Miss Clark pursed her lips before continuing, and Cook reached over to Naomi’s notebook and tore out a sheet of paper, grabbing one of her pens.
He wrote ‘She’s just a bit under the weather, nothing to worry about’ on it and passed it back to her, and she smiled to herself because it seemed uncharacteristically sweet of him to reassure her.
‘Think she'll be back tomorrow?’ Naomi passed the piece of paper back, nodding her head with her classmates as Miss Clark talked about something she hadn’t heard.
‘Might.’ Cook just wrote, and Naomi stopped herself from sighing too audibly. Well. Obviously she’d just have to wait and see.
When class was finished, she texted Emily for the seventh time since Saturday, and again got absolutely no response.
She ignored Pandora, Thomas and JJ when she walked past the table they were sharing. She saw JJ try to wave at her, and Pandora shaking her head at him, and held her head slightly higher because not that she cared, really.
Freddie gave her a smile when she sat down next to him, noticed him holding a cigarette that he didn’t really smoke, just let sit between his fingers and smoulder.
“How are you?” He asked her, and she realised it was the first time he’d ever spoken to her. He smiled at her easily, and Effy sat down across from them, Katie and Cook arguing about something a little ways off that Naomi couldn’t overhear.
“Pretty good, recovered from Friday at least.” She returned his smile, feeling slightly awkward. After all, she usually spent all her time with them with Emily.
“Emily mentioned you were pretty hung over.” He said, taking a drag on his cigarette as if remembering it was there. He blew out a cloud of smoke, and pulled a face. “Want one?” He asked, pushing a newly opened packet toward her. She knocked a cigarette out, and blinked as Effy leant across the table and flicked a lighter in her face, lighting her cigarette and moving swiftly backwards with barely a raise of her eyebrows.
“Yeah, those pills you get are amazing.” She nodded her head toward Effy, who tilted her head slightly and stared at her. “But the come down is bloody awful.”
Effy smiled at her slowly, then. “What goes up.” She shrugged her shoulders, laughed softly at her own joke. Naomi glanced at Freddie, who looked back at her sideways and shook his head.
“Is Emily alright?” She asked, wanting to slap herself when she noticed Effy give Freddie a knowing look. “Just, I wouldn’t want to catch anything.” Fuck. That was as good as saying they’d been bloody close enough to share an infection. “I’m easily susceptible to illness.” She mumbled, tossing her cigarette and reaching into her bag for her lunch to give her something else to focus on.
“She’s fine.” Freddie laughed, reaching over to pat her on the back. “Just didn’t feel like college today. Needed some Emily time, or something. She’ll be right as rain soon enough.” She felt herself blushing when he took his hand off her back, and hastily opened her sandwich and began eating it.
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Effy leaned on her elbows toward her across the table, and Naomi couldn’t look away.
“Not sure, really. Journalism, maybe. Politics, perhaps.” She shrugged, taking another bite of her sandwich. Effy was nodding at her.
“You want to save the world.” Effy smiled, and Naomi finished half of her sandwich, unsure how to answer.
“I wanted to be a trumpet player.” Freddie said suddenly, fiddling with the packet of cigarettes, turning them over and over in his hands. Naomi raised her eyebrows.
“Oh.” She just said, because what else was there to say to that, really?
Cook sauntered over to them, then, sliding along the seat next to Effy and giving Naomi a big grin.
“Welcome to the dark side!” He laughed.
“She alright?” Effy asked him, as Naomi snorted and reached for the second half of her sandwich. She watched Cook look back at Katie for a moment, who seemed to be on the phone, and then squint at the clouds overhead.
“Will be.” He said simply, and then grinned indulgently at Naomi. “Coming out again Friday?” He crossed his arms on the table, leaning on them and looking at her eagerly.
She swallowed the bite of her sandwich, and nodded. “Course I am.” She wanted to add ‘If Emily’s feeling better’, but didn’t.
“Christ in fucking hell I swear I’m going to punch her right in the face.” Katie threw her phone violently onto the table and sat down next to Cook. “Move the fuck over would you?” And Effy moved down, continuing to gaze at Naomi, while Cook continued to grin at her. Christ, when would she stop being made to feel like she was under a fucking microscope?
“What’s her problem?” Freddie asked, gesturing at the phone, and Naomi felt herself start to blush.
“Fuck knows, or cares at this point. Hi.” Katie turned to face her, tersely, and Naomi swallowed her bite quickly.
“How’s it going?” She tried to be friendly, but knew it was the wrong question when Katie gave her a small glare.
“Fucking ridiculously, actually. No bloody thanks to you.” Katie frowned as Cook put an arm around her.
“Relax, darlin’. It’ll sort itself.” Naomi watched as Cook squeezed, and Katie shook herself out of the half embrace.
“Or you, arsehole. You always fucking encourage her, and it always goes fucking badly.” Katie leant an arm on the table, and looked at Naomi. “Just what are your intentions towards my sister, anyway?”
Naomi blinked, dropping the rest of her sandwich between her knees and onto the ground. “What?” She asked, blushing ridiculously.
“Leave it, Katie.” Effy said mildly, and Naomi looked at Freddie, who rolled his eyes and gave her an impish grin, and Cook winked at her.
“Whatever.” Katie said. “Christ, give me a fucking cigarette. I don’t care if it doesn’t work.” Freddie passed her the packet, and Effy leant across Cook to light one for her.
Naomi had no clue what they were talking about, and realised with alarm that she was starting to grow used to secrecy.
“Is anyone going to tell me what’s going on?” She asked, beginning to feel annoyed. She had thought she’d left all this mysterious crap behind her when she’d chosen not to sit with Thomas, JJ and Pandora.
“Actually, babes, it’s none of your fucking business.” Katie blew out a breath of smoke angrily, before directing her anger toward her half smoked cigarette and crushing it onto the table. “Fucking useless.” She muttered at it.
“Yeah.” Freddie laughed, and Cook looked at him. “It’s a twin thing.” They said in unison, and Cook fell about slapping the table laughing, as Freddie chuckled beside her.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to us.” Effy gave her a small, calm smile, reaching over to briefly squeeze her arm. She noticed Katie watching Effy’s action like a hawk, and frowned. Katie looked at her, crossing her arms.
“What?” She spat out, and Naomi held her hands up in defence.
“Jesus, nothing. Don’t get your bloody knickers in a twist.” She couldn’t help it, Katie was acting like a right twat.
“Shouldn’t have said that.” Freddie muttered to her, and Naomi didn’t think Cook could look happier if he tried.
“Here we go!” He rubbed his hands together, and she watched as Katie’s eyes got narrower and narrower.
“Listen you fucking rug munching fashion reject, if it wasn’t for you none of this shit would even be happening so don’t you fucking dare give me lip about my knickers in a twist.” Katie smiled at her, cruelly. “Unless my sister’s knickers aren’t the only ones you’ve been fantasising about?” Katie raised her eyebrows at Naomi quickly, as Naomi’s jaw dropped.
She felt her mouth go dry, watched Cook look between them, his gleefulness thankfully gone at the look on her face, and Effy tilted her head up to stare at the clouds.
Naomi stood up. “Sorry, Katie, I best be off before I get too excited and finger you under the table. Oh wait, I don’t go for slags. I forgot.” She shook her head, and stalked away from them, ignoring Cook’s shouts, trying desperately not to look as shaken as she felt, particularly when she walked past Thomas, JJ and Pandora. They were the last people she wanted thinking that any of them had hurt her.
V^^^^^V
She’d skipped her afternoon classes, complained of period pain and had her dad pick her up, even if it was slightly embarrassing. She sat in her room and cried, and hated herself for it. But Emily was avoiding her, for some reason, and she missed her mum though was loathe to admit it, least of all actually call the woman and admit it to her.
Everything had turned to shit.
The worst part, the bit that made her feel the angriest, was she didn’t know what exactly she’d done to warrant Katie’s outburst, or Emily skipping college. After all, Emily had kissed her, had reached for her, had fucking felt her up even. It didn’t make sense.
She refused dinner, didn’t feel like eating and was able to blame her cramps for making her feel ill. At nine she heard her phone buzz, and reached for it quickly, disappointed when she saw it was a message from Thomas.
‘I am still here when you need me.’
V^^^^^V
She’d thought of skipping college, complaining again of cramps she didn’t actually feel, and then thought the better of it. Katie wasn’t scaring her off, fuck her.
She got out of her dad’s car, started walking toward the college doors and stopped abruptly when she saw Emily and Katie standing outside. Katie had her arms crossed over her chest, was whispering furiously at Emily, who was looking around as if searching for someone. Naomi took a deep breath, and wondered if she should walk over to them or pretend she hadn’t seen them.
“Naomi!” Emily called out, walking toward her.
Naomi stopped, feeling guarded. Which was normal, fine, but so far Emily had been the only person she hadn’t felt like this with.
“Hey.” Naomi said, grasping the shoulder strap of her bag to give her hands something to do.
“How are you?” Emily asked, reaching forward to touch her arm, pulling her hand back at the last minute.
“Alright. Feeling better?” Naomi peered at Emily, watched as her expression tightened for a moment, before she nodded and smiled.
“Yeah. Just a bug, probably.” Emily looked as awkward as she felt, and turned to her sister after a moment.
“Well?” She called out, and Katie stalked over to them, rolling her eyes.
“Fuck’s sake. Naomi, hello.” Katie wouldn’t look at her though, casting her gaze everywhere else. She watched as Emily elbowed Katie in the side. “Right. Sorry about yesterday.” Katie glanced at her then, eyes narrowing as if expecting Naomi to laugh at her or something.
Naomi shrugged. “For calling me a rug muncher, or blaming me for something I have no idea about?” She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows.
“I don’t know, all of it. Look, I’m apologising so just fucking accept it already.” Katie put her hands on her hips, looking back toward the college for a moment. “I was cranky and I snapped, alright?” She looked at Naomi, and Naomi was pretty sure she didn’t mean the apology at all.
Naomi nodded anyway. “Thanks.” She said, added “Sorry for calling you a slag.” for good measure because she wasn’t letting Katie have any kind of higher moral ground for a second.
Katie surprised her by snorting as she started walking backwards toward the college. “See you round then, yeah?” She turned on her heel, striding toward the front doors, and Naomi turned to Emily, almost forgetting she was there.
“So I skip one day and look what I miss.” Emily gave her a half smile, her voice soft, starting to walk toward the college.
Naomi walked next to her, far enough away not to touch or brush against her accidently. “That was the highlight, mainly. You make her apologise?” Naomi reached the doors first, holding them open as Emily walked through.
“Cook regaled me with the whole thing, including a re-enactment. Katie snaps, sometimes. She’s like,” Emily shrugged, looking shyly at Naomi sideways as they walked. “Got the worst temper, and loses it all the fucking time.”
Naomi snorted. “I’ll say.”
“Cook does the best impression of her though. And you. What did you threaten her with, fingering under the table?” Emily laughed then, loud and lovely, and Naomi found herself smiling genuinely for the first time since the weekend.
“So what did I do to you that made her so angry, anyway?” Naomi stopped outside their philosophy classroom, watching as the laughter left Emily. Emily adjusted her bag, tilting her head and gazing back at Naomi after a moment.
“You didn’t do anything.” Emily watched her, reaching out to grab her hand when Naomi felt her own expression close off and an eye roll imminent. “Really. I was just overwhelmed by, well, Saturday morning and,” Emily stepped closer to her, softly rubbing her thumb against the back of Naomi’s hand. “I’m sorry.”
Naomi blew out a breath, pulling her hand gently out of Emily’s grasp. “We did get a bit out of control. We should, you know, just be friends probably.” She heard herself say the words, and tried desperately to believe them. She gave Emily a soft smile, and Emily licked her lips, and nodded.
“I think so too.”
Later, Freddie gave her a big smile when she sat with them at lunch, and Effy raised her eyebrows appreciatively. Katie rolled her eyes.
“Don’t make such a fucking big deal of it, arseholes.” Katie tossed her hair, flipping off Cook when he laughed at her.
“She’s done well, facing a tiger like you again.” Cook winked at Naomi, laughing when Katie slapped his chest. Effy was seated next to Katie, and when she leaned her head to rest on Katie’s shoulder, Naomi started wondering about sex cults again and hated herself for it.
“Like you can talk, mate.” Freddie leaned forward, and Cook screwed his face up. “She ate your balls for breakfast first time you met. You almost pissed yourself.” Freddie waggled his eyebrows, and Emily laughed.
“Operative word being ‘almost’, Freds.” Cook put an arm around Katie, fondly. “Sides, managed to get on her good side didn’t I?” Katie smirked, and Naomi thought she’d clicked onto something, finally.
“So you two are…?” She asked, gesturing vaguely toward them, a half sandwich in one hand.
They all started laughing, and Emily shook her head at her, reaching out to gently touch her hand.
“We don’t play happy couples like Pandora, Thomas and JJ.” Emily gave her a smile, and Naomi remembered what it felt like to have those lips against her own. She felt a mild anxiety at the thought, wondered if it was so appealing because they’d decided not to let it happen again. She looked away from Emily when it became too much, when thoughts other than kissing drifted into her head, and she must have missed something because Katie slammed her hand onto the table and declared she needed the bathroom, right fucking now, and left.
In the back of her mind, she realised that for the second day in row none of them had eaten anything for lunch, and she felt slightly awkward being the only one to do so. And there were a lot of reasons why they didn’t, from weird diets to, fucked if she knew, some kind of religious reasoning. When she heard Thomas’s voice echoing in her head, she ignored it.
‘But they do not eat…’
V^^^^^V
Emily bumped her shoulder into Naomi’s as they walked out of college, smiling at her sideways. Naomi was surprised when Effy slipped an arm through hers, and smirked at her.
“Come on Campbell.” She said, leading Naomi toward the parking lot. Naomi looked to Effy’s other side, watched as Katie kept glancing at their intertwined arms.
“Fuck.” She heard Emily mutter as a boy leaning against a car smiled at them. He had bright yellow sunglasses on, and an open shirt, and Naomi had never seen him before in her life.
“Well, well, well.” He said as they approached, and Effy gave her arm a squeeze before pulling away, her and Katie walking off into the carpark. She watched the boy wink at them, and then turn to her. “You must be Naomi, then. Lovely, yeah.” He looked her up and down, and lifted his glasses to give her a surprisingly warm smile.
“What are you doing here?” Emily asked him, and he spread his arms out to either side of him.
“Giving you and your lady friend a ride, clearly.” He leant forward, extending his arm toward Naomi. “I’m Chris, friend of Ems.” She felt her entire arm shaking as he enthusiastically shook her hand.
“Nice to meet you.” Naomi said, looking quickly to see a slightly alarmed look on Emily’s face.
Chris jumped forward, opening the passenger door and gesturing toward her. “My lady.” He said, and she found his smile ridiculously infectious. She gave Emily a somewhat helpless look as she got into the car, and Emily rolled her eyes and walked around to get in the seat behind the driver’s.
Chris got into the car, and Naomi glanced at him, had expected the other people Emily had mentioned living with to be much older than he seemed.
“Really, Chris. What the fuck?” Emily leant forward, her face appearing in the space between the front seats.
Chris turned to look at her. “What, I can’t drive your girlfriend home? I wanted to meet her.” He smiled openly at Naomi. “She talks about you all the time.” He started the car as Emily sat back in her seat with her arms crossed.
“Actually, we’re not. You know. That.” Naomi smiled thinly, not looking back at Emily, and Chris winked at her.
“Oh yeah.” He said, and turned in the complete opposite direction to where she lived.
“Actually, I’m…” She started, pointing behind them, but he cut her off.
“Thought we’d go for a drive, get to know each other. See what little Emily’s gotten herself into.” But he kept his smile light, and open, and after a moment Naomi snorted.
“Are you and Katie tag teaming or something?” She wound her window down, put her hand out of it and moved it over the gusts of wind as if riding a wave.
“Jesus, couldn’t this happen when I’m not, like, present.” Emily stared moodily out of the back window, and Naomi faintly heard her mutter. “Or not at all.”
“I heard about your little tiff with our Katie yesterday. She’s a vixen, she is, but a top girl. Quality.” He started fiddling with the cigarette lighter, pushing it in and pulling a cigarette out of his top pocket. He lit it when the lighter popped out, and offered her one. She took it, smiling. “Fiercely protective. Get her on side though, and she’d kill for you, man. Top girl.”
“So you live with Emily and Katie, right? In some big happy teenage family.” Naomi blew smoke out of the side of her mouth, turning to face Chris, ignoring Emily being grumpy in the back.
Chris smiled slyly at her. “Something like that. Us oldies, and the kidlings. Isn’t that right, Ems?” He looked at Emily in the rear view mirror, and Emily flipped him off.
“You don’t look old.” Naomi said, and he didn’t. He looked barely a day older than Cook or Freddie.
“Good genes, man.” He winked at her. “We graduated before these ones started. Same college. Good old Roundview.” Naomi had no idea where they were driving to, but she was having a surprisingly good time.
“And what, you’re like a collective of orphans?” Naomi exhaled, finally felt like some of her questions might be answered.
“Chris.” She heard Emily’s voice from the backseat, her voice low and serious, and Chris waved her off.
“Sort of. Tony got us together, Effy’s his little sister, yeah. Ten of us work well, most of the time.” He lit a new cigarette off the end of the one he’d been smoking, and flicked the butt out of the window. “You should come visit us.” He grinned at her, holding her eye until she nodded, which she did quickly, on account of not wanting to die in a motor vehicle accident. Or at all.
Emily leant forward again, at that. “It’s not that exciting, actually. And you can if you want. But not this afternoon.” Emily had a tinge of desperation in her voice, and Naomi nodded after a while, though she was burning to see where they all lived.
“Yeah, well, consider this an open invite Naomi.” Chris again lit a new cigarette off his old, tossing the butt onto the road, smoking furiously. “Cass is gagging herself to meet you.”
“Well, maybe sometime soon?” She shrugged her shoulders, glancing at Emily, who was looking out her window with a mildly panicked expression.
“Nice one.” Chris happily tapped his hands against the steering wheel, and Naomi realised they were turning onto her street. “I’ve never seen Ems this animated ever, not since she met you, so you know.”
“For fuck’s sake!” Emily threw her hands up, and Naomi smirked, feeling stupidly smug. She decided she really liked Chris.
“Yeah well, she’s been the nicest to me since I got here.” She looked at Chris as he pulled up outside her house, and thought, fuck it. “I’m thankful I met her.” She glanced quickly at Emily, blushing, and Chris turned around and raised his eyebrows.
“I like this one.” He said to Emily, and Naomi felt like that was something important.
She got a rambling series of texts from Emily later that night, apologising for Katie again, for Chris, and insisting that Naomi’s idea of friendship was the right one. Naomi grinned when she read them, and decided she wouldn’t answer, not yet. Emily had left her waiting for days, anyway, and could stand a little impatience. It would be good for her.
At one in the morning, though, her phone started ringing, and she ignored it until the seventh call, blearily answering.
“Hello?” She didn’t open her eyes, pressing the phone against the side of her head.
“Hi. It’s Emily.”
“Hi. S’late.” She rubbed her eyes slightly, could hear that Emily was outside somewhere as a car drove by in the background.
“Sorry, you’re right. Shit. Did I wake you? Just wondered if you got my texts, and were, you know, alright.”
A car drove by her window, as she heard another go past Emily. She sat up suddenly.
“Emily, where are you?” She heard Emily chuckle slightly.
“Outside your house. Not like, being a stalker. More like being, uh, concerned and just. I’m going home now anyway.”
Naomi sighed, looking around her room, barely making anything out in the dark. She was sleepy, and that made it easier to offer what she did.
“Come inside for a bit?”
She opened her front door, something inside her chest twinging when she saw Emily standing there awkwardly, a nervous smile planted on her face. Emily stepped toward her, and without really thinking about it, Naomi pulled her in for a hug, and blamed it on being sleepy.
As Emily cuddled into her from behind, not too much later in bed, and her eyes slipped shut and she felt her mind slanting into sleep, she tightened her hold on Emily’s hand, and told herself that’s how friends acted and this was completely normal. Whatever this was.
V^^^^V
Philosophy was easily the worst class over the next few weeks on account of Pandora sullenly ignoring her and there being no where else to sit. On the sunny days she hated lunch time, sitting behind the college by herself and texting Emily, wondering how on earth it was fair that they all got to skip college and go camping, or whatever they did, Emily only saying, by way of text, that Tony had organised it with the college and he was extremely persuasive.
She met her dad’s girlfriend, who seemed okay enough, but tried too hard to impress her. When she locked herself in her bedroom after the dinner, trying hard not to watch as her dad and Veronica flirted shamelessly, she ignored his attempts to get her to hang out with them. The last thing she wanted to do was watch a bloody family film, let alone with the both of them.
Emily kept showing up, most nights, and they never talked about cuddling up to each other as she slept. On a night where Emily wasn’t there, she was alarmed to realise just how much she missed her. Fuck, she’d thought, I actually sleep better when she’s here.
When they all went out on Friday nights, she didn’t fail to notice that Emily now just handed her a pill, instead of kissing her. But that was what they’d decided, sort of. As it turned out, friends didn’t transfer drugs with kisses, and she wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about that.
Once the drugs hit her though, she lost all inhibitions without fail, and reached for Emily with a blissful smile, tangling her hands in Emily’s hair and pulling her to her neck. Hang over or no, it was a strange intimacy she didn’t want to give up.
She stopped eating lunch when they were at college, smoking cigarettes and laughing as Cook seemed to take it upon himself to keep them all entertained. When Emily sat next to her, which wasn’t every day, they held hands under the table, and Katie glared at her every time, without fail, but thankfully kept her mouth shut.
She realised, laughing uncontrollably as Cook re-enacted a love struck girl stalking Freddie through the streets of Bristol, Freddie rolling his eyes as Cook fawned all over him, and Emily squeezed her hand under the table, that she was actually happy.
She’d never felt like this, ever.
V^^^^^V
“We’re going mental tonight!” Cook yelled as Naomi got into the car, Effy in the driver’s seat and Freddie tapping his hands along to the song on the radio on the dashboard.
She squeezed into the back of the car, Emily in the middle and Cook on her other side. Effy gunned the engine, laughing as Cook shook the back of her seat in excitement.
“Apparently Cook got his hands on some amazing drugs.” Emily said to her, leaning into her shoulder and Naomi breathed in the smell of her, intoxicated by it.
“Jesus, I’m not looking forward to tomorrow then.” Naomi laughed, and Cook leaned over Emily even as Emily put her hand on her knee and squeezed.
“Fuck tomorrow! Tonight is fucking pregnant, princess.” He threw his head back, and Naomi wondered if he’d taken something already.
“Where’s Katie?” She asked Emily, as they drove towards a club she hadn’t been to before.
Emily rolled her eyes. “She’s gone with Chris and them tonight.”
Naomi frowned slightly. “Oh, they’ve gone out too?”
“Yeah, they always do. But we rarely all go out together.” Emily grinned as Freddie turned the radio up as loud as it could go, drumming his hands on his knees, and Cook sang along loudly.
When they walked into the club, Naomi still felt slightly smug that people always turned to look at them with, she thought, something close to envy. She was always the only one to drink, and noticed that they all went off in search of someone to hook up with before meeting on the dance floor, much later, and dancing until it was time to leave.
She couldn’t keep her eyes off Emily, wasn’t sure if it was her outfit, or the way she kept gazing at her, leaning in too close when they talked, constantly touching her when they danced. Emily handed her a pill, and she swallowed it without hesitation, not bothering for it to come on before grabbing Emily and dancing against her.
Emily didn’t seem to mind, running her hands along Naomi’s hips and smirking as they pressed against each other, their faces barely centimetres apart. The club was dark, the dance floor crowded with bodies, and they kept being jostled. A boy appeared behind her, and she felt him dancing against her back, reaching his hands around to her front, and she watched as Emily’s face darkened with something resembling jealousy, and then she’d grabbed her hand and pulled her through the crowd.
Emily dragged her into the toilets, into a cubicle and shut the door behind them, pressing Naomi up against it. She’d never seen Emily’s eyes so dark.
“I can’t stand it.” She heard Emily say thickly, before Emily was kissing her, hard.
She knew she moaned into it, pulling Emily into her, whispering “It’s okay.” against her lips when they parted, surging back with hot, open kisses, and she was aware, vaguely, that Emily’s hands were under her shirt and roaming over her back. She dragged her hands under Emily’s top, her fingernails scratching over her stomach, and one of Emily’s legs slipped between her own. She felt something sharp graze her lip, and quickly reached her hands around Emily’s back, holding her close when Emily, again, froze.
“Don’t go.” She whispered, as Emily pulled away from her with her mouth shut, but Emily moved down her front, pushing her shirt up roughly and kissing her stomach as Naomi’s head fell back against the cubicle door, and the pill started to kick in as the ceiling began to spin.
She felt her skirt hiking up, and was so lost in the moment that she tangled her hands in Emily’s hair and pulled her against her stomach.
Jesus, she thought, as Emily slipped a hand into her underwear, and her legs began to tremble as Emily’s fingers slid against her, Emily’s tongue tracing a line from her belly button downwards. Her underwear was all but ripped off, and then Emily’s tongue replaced her fingers and she thought she was going to fall over.
Emily pushed two fingers into her, and she cried out, not caring who heard them. Faintly, she heard giggles and taps rushing with water, heard hand dryers and chatter in the neighbouring cubicles. But none of that mattered, all that mattered was that Emily was sliding her tongue over her clit, was thrusting her fingers inside her, and it felt incredible. Felt like more than she’d ever felt in her whole life.
Something sharp grazed against the inside of her thigh when Emily moved her head to kiss it, and the slight pain mixed with Emily’s curling fingers, made her gasp and shudder. And then Emily was back, licking steadily as, seemingly without warning, Naomi had the most intense orgasm of her life.
Her vision swam, and then her eyes clamped shut. She was aware that she was probably ripping Emily’s hair out, her hands clamping tightly as she came, and when she finally began to catch her breath, dizzy with the sheer fucking intensity of the whole situation, she realised Emily was again kissing the juncture between her thigh and her groin, even while her fingers were still inside her.
Naomi took deep, shuddering breaths, leaning against the cubicle door heavily, as Emily moved to place a kiss against her stomach, and slowly slid her fingers out of her. She wasn’t sure how much time passed, before Emily was standing against her, holding her, and Naomi chuckled weakly.
“Christ.” She murmured, as Emily pulled back and gave her a small grin.
“Was that alright?” Emily asked, brushing strands of Naomi’s hair out of her eyes, and giving her a shy, if not still rather heated look.
“I think you killed me.” Naomi took in a deep breath, feeling the ecstasy in her system pepping her up again.
“Dance floor?” Emily quirked an eyebrow, and Naomi blinked.
“Do you want…” She started, completely unsure what she was asking, but Emily shook her head.
“Come on.”
There was nothing shy, or awkward about their dancing now, aside from Naomi feeling a little uncomfortable that she was now sans underwear and in a skirt, no less. Emily had her arms wrapped around her, was swaying her hips against her own, and Naomi thought, fuck friendship.
Emily moved to her neck, sometime later, and Naomi was just starting to have happy thoughts about being back in the bathroom cubicle, when she felt herself pulled roughly backwards by someone. She was too dazed, for a moment, to pull her hand away from them, and frowned when she caught a glimpse of Emily’s face, shocked, a weird darkness around her mouth and something else she noticed but couldn’t wrap her head around in the moment.
Two people were dragging her, and when she saw Thomas and JJ, each with their hands clamped firmly against her wrists, she tried to pull away.
“What the fuck?” She shrieked at them, and Thomas looked at her, slightly panicked.
“Come on Naomi!” He yelled, and they were off the dance floor and moving toward the door.
“Let go of me!” She yelled, and JJ gave her an apologetic and frightful look.
“Your neck!” He said loudly, and she struggled against them, wondering why no one was intervening as she was dragged out of the club doors.
“Oi! Let her go!” One of the bouncers yelled, and pushed JJ off her. “Jesus, did they do this to you? Bernie, call the fucking police, man!”
She felt something sticky on her neck, sliding thickly onto her shirt. Had someone spilled a drink on her?
“Your neck.” JJ said, sounding pathetic, standing just in front of her as a bouncer moved toward him.
She frowned, shook Thomas off her, and reached up to touch her neck, wincing when it hurt. She pulled her hand away, saw blood on her fingers, and felt suddenly like she wanted to be sick.
“Please come with us.” Thomas said to her, ducking away from a bouncer that moved to grab him.
“You alright, love?” Another one asked her, and she turned to him with a frightened look on her face.
“No.” She said, and stumbled toward JJ and Thomas, both of them grabbing her again and a car pulled up, Pandora at the wheel.
“Get in.” Thomas said, opening a door, and she fell into the back seat. Thomas and JJ got in, as the bouncers crowded around her door.
“It’s okay. They’re my friends.” She said weakly, and they backed off slightly.
Cook burst through the doors, a feral look on his face when he saw Naomi in the car with Pandora, Thomas and JJ.
“Naomi!” He called, and she shrank backwards as Pandora squealed and the car jerked forward.
She couldn’t stop touching her hands to her neck, and looking at them completely bewildered.
“I’m sorry. Are you okay?” Thomas asked her, turning around, and JJ rummaged through a bag beside her, pulling out band aids and gauze.
“What the fuck. What the fuck.” She whispered, staring at her hands. No. This wasn’t. No.
Her heart stopped, she felt it, just for a moment, when Emily’s face flashed before her eyes on the crowded dance floor as she’d been pulled away. Her mouth tinged with something dark, and her teeth… Jesus fuck, her teeth. That’s what she’d seen, hadn’t she?
Emily had fangs.
V^^^^^V
Chapter Five: Who Is The Lamb And Who Is The Knife
Chapter: 4/9 Happiness Hit Her Like A Bullet In The Back
Pairing: Naomi/Emily
Word Count: 8040
Disclaimer: I don't own, or claim to own, anything related to Skins. Borrowing the characters and throwing them into an entirely different universe altogether. I also don't own Twilight, and wouldn't ever want to. Chapter title from Florence And The Machine's 'Dog Days Are Over')
Summary: Naomi and Emily have a hard time being just friends, and Katie speaks her mind. Naomi finally gets an inkling about who, or what, she's befriended.
N.B. Sorry for the delay in updating! The real world stepped in, momentarily.
Previous Chapters: Chapter One: Cause Anywhere Is Better Than Here
Chapter Two: Like Stars Burning Holes Right Through The Dark
Chapter Three: The Youth Is Starting To Change
Happiness Hit Her Like A Bullet In The Back
She woke up feeling like utter death, again, and for a moment the previous night seemed like some kind of weird dream. Had Thomas actually suggested that Emily was a vampire? She smiled sleepily, snuggling deeper into her blankets, reaching for the hand that was resting on her hip and pulling it around her. Thomas was nuts, and obviously had the mentality of a twelve year old. She slipped her fingers through those of the hand she held, curled it into her chest, a body pressing fully along her back. She had images of Thomas and JJ whittling stakes, and building forts, and running around a back yard somewhere fighting over who got to save Princess Pandora from Count Cook the Blood Sucking Party Boy. Bloody ridiculous.
Hang on, she thought, and her eyes had flown open. Why was there someone in bed with her? She pushed the hand away, got up far too quickly and sat back down on the bed, turning in alarm to see Emily smiling sheepishly at her.
“Morning.” Emily rasped, and Naomi shut her eyes for a second.
“Uh, hi. Why are you in my bed?” Her voice scratched against her throat, and she wondered how many more of these hangovers she could go through.
“Sorry. Last night you,” Emily sat up, but didn’t get out of her bed. Just scooted backwards until her she was resting against the headboard. She folded her hands in her lap. “Asked me not to leave if you fell asleep.”
“Did I?” Naomi said, more to herself, turning her back to Emily and bringing her hands up to rub her face.
“Feel okay?” Emily asked softly, and Naomi felt a hand gently rub against her lower back. She would’ve moved away, but sudden movements would probably have made her sick and anyway, it felt nice.
“Christ no.” She sighed, felt her mind spinning and a strange kind of hollowness in her limbs.
“Here.” Emily said, and she felt the bed jostle as Emily moved away from her for a moment. Jesus, she thought, no more drugs. Ever. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and Emily handed her a large bottle of orange juice. “Drink this, it’ll make you feel better.”
Naomi frowned, but accepted the bottle. “Is this mine?” She asked, feeling entirely too confused and grumpy.
“Yeah, I swiped it from your fridge before we came upstairs last night. You don’t remember?” Emily rubbed her back again, and leaned her cheek against her shoulder, and Naomi couldn’t be bothered shaking her off. She tilted the juice bottle against her lips, and drank until it was almost empty. She burped, and felt Emily smile against her shoulder. “Charming.”
“Yeah well, I’m not feeling my best. I think I need to lie down again.” She felt Emily move back, away from her, and she put the juice bottle on the floor before lying backwards, curling into the foetal position and feeling absolutely woeful.
“I’m sorry.” She heard Emily whisper, and she turned to see the girl giving her an awfully guilty look.
She felt her own expression soften, and reached for Emily’s hand, tugging her until they were spooning again. “S’not your fault. It’s my bloody own. Fucking pills.” She was starting to feel better, which was something. Who would’ve figured that orange juice was such an effective hangover cure?
A kiss was pressed near her ear, and it made her shudder.
“So, you’re not gay?” She heard mumbled, as another kiss was pressed below the first.
She frowned, though after a moment it dissolved into a half smile. “No.” She turned onto her back, pushing Emily away from her, but kept hold of her hand, kept her close. “You’re not so bad, though.”
Emily gave her a bashful smile, and Naomi couldn’t help looking at her lips briefly.
“Yeah, you’re pretty alright.” Emily’s smile had grown wider as Naomi rolled her eyes. “Maybe just pretty.” She amended, and Naomi wasn’t sure what feeling was stronger at this point - the urge to roll her eyes again, or smile in return.
“How is it you’re not nearly as hung over as me?” She opted to change the subject instead, watching as Emily’s smile grew wan.
“Magic.” She mumbled, pulling her hand out of Naomi’s and leaning back, looking away.
Oh, Naomi thought, okay. She frowned after a moment, leaning her head to look at the clock next to her bed. “Jesus, it’s only nine in the morning. No wonder I feel like bloody death warmed up.” She narrowed her eyes at Emily, as Emily turned back toward her.
“Yeah well, I thought your dad would be asking questions so woke you up.”
Naomi shut her eyes, remembered the feeling of someone running their hand over her arm, along her waist, and back again. She opened her eyes slowly, looked at Emily, and forgot what she was going to say.
Sometimes Emily had this way of just gazing at her, as if her eyes were locked to her own and she couldn’t look away. There was something too intriguing, too lovely, and altogether too much about her. She seemed so relaxed, lounging back against her headboard, her head cocked slightly to the side. But her eyes were staring intensely into her own, as if looking for something. As her lips quirked into a small smile, Naomi wondered if Emily thought she had found it.
She felt her stomach drop, felt something altogether alarming happening further down, and bit her lip as Emily’s eyes flickered between her own and her mouth.
“Fuck.” She said, barely audible, and reached for Emily as Emily fell toward her.
She felt her chin dip as Emily pressed her lips against her own, pushed back as her mouth opened and she had Emily’s tongue in her mouth, and it felt altogether too wonderful. She heard herself moan, very slightly, deep in her throat, as Emily cupped her face with one hand, pressing deeper into her mouth. Naomi kissed her back, opening her mouth wider, wondering for a moment if she could get it wide enough, feeling as if she couldn’t get enough of Emily inside her.
She lifted her head slightly off the bed, pushing herself into Emily. Emily shifted herself, not taking her lips off Naomi’s, moving until her body was lying half over Naomi.
This was new, Naomi would’ve thought, if she’d been capable of anything resembling coherency.
She ran one hand up Emily’s back, tangling it into her hair and crushing their mouths together harder. The other she kept on Emily’s shoulder, clamped tightly.
She moaned, loudly, when Emily dragged her hand down from her cheek and cupped her chest, squeezing her tit as she arched into it, and something sharp caught her lip and she realised, after a moment, there was blood in her mouth.
Emily froze above her.
“Ow, Jesus.” Naomi ran her tongue along her bottom lip, feeling the smallest of cuts. She looked at Emily’s face, frowning when she saw that Emily had squeezed her eyes and mouth shut as if she was in pain. “Ems?” She asked, softly, and Emily pushed away from her, moving so quickly to the end of her bed that Naomi wondered if she’d imagined it.
Emily sat with her back toward her, her head down, gripping the bed sheets in both hands.
Naomi raised herself onto her elbows, taking stock of what the Jesus fuck had just happened. Hot and heavy didn’t even begin to cover it, and as she sat up she noticed a decidedly uncomfortable slipperiness between her legs. She cleared her throat, unsure what to do with herself. After all, her lip had already stopped bleeding and it wasn’t that big a deal.
“Sorry.” Emily rasped after a while, her voice so low Naomi barely heard her. “Got a bit…” Emily trailed off, and Naomi watched as she brought one hand up as if to cover her mouth.
“So did I.” Naomi murmured, and took a deep breath.
“I should go. Let you recover.” Emily stood, refusing to look at her. Naomi felt stupidly confused for a moment because wasn’t she the one who was meant to have the sexuality crisis?
“Are you alright to drive?” Naomi asked, wincing because what she meant to say was ‘Stay.’
Emily turned to her after a minute, offering a smile that wouldn’t meet her eyes, nodding. She walked slowly back to the bed, leaning down and pressing a decidedly chaste kiss against Naomi’s lips.
“Bye.” Naomi said softly, reaching a hand up to her mouth. She enjoyed kissing Emily far too bloody much.
Emily gave her a small wave as she opened her bedroom door, and Naomi thought about manners and politeness, and seeing people out of houses, but she was far too bloody hung over to get up. And Jesus Christ she was turned on. She wondered if she could actually walk.
Emily closed her bedroom door with a soft click, and a little while after that Naomi thought she heard her front door shut and a car start outside. She lay on her back, eyes closed, and thought about Emily.
Twice.
V^^^^^V
She hadn’t been looking forward to Monday, and she was starting to wonder if she’d spend every Monday morning nervously shifting her weight from foot to foot and smoking outside the college, worrying what would happen inside. Fuck it, though. She was allowed to be friends with who she liked. And besides, why was she nervous? She should be the angry one, angry that Thomas, JJ and Pandora thought she was that stupid, or gullible, to believe in their childish bloody fantasies.
She sighed. Emily hadn’t texted her or anything since she’d left her room on Saturday morning. Emily was the gay one, though, wasn’t she? And yet here she was worrying she’d pushed Emily too far.
She had half a mind to skip college altogether. But that was admitting like admitting defeat, and fuck it.
She’d actually managed to complete her coursework for the first time the day before, and that was something. When she walked into philosophy she felt her face fall when she saw the empty seat beside Cook, though he gave her a smile.
She made her way to Pandora, but before she sat down Cook leaned over and tugged at the back of her skirt.
“Have a seat next to me, yeah?” He raised his eyebrows at her, and when she glanced at Pandora, Pandora was staring resolutely toward the front of the classroom and not looking at her.
She sat next to Cook, flinching slightly as he gave her a rough kiss on the cheek and a grin.
“How’s it going?” She asked, getting things out of her bag, the desire to ask after Emily making her tap her foot impatiently.
“Not bad, yeah. You?” Cook leant back against his chair, legs splaying out in front of him, and she frowned when she realised he didn’t have any books on his desk. Had never had any books, or pens, and neither had the rest of them.
“Alright.” She said softly as Miss Clark addressed the class, barking at them in a particularly worse mood than usual. “Where’s Emily?” She asked out of the corner of her mouth, keeping her eyes on their teacher.
“Unwell.” Cook said, looking past her to stare out of the window for a moment.
Naomi looked at him. “What’s wrong with her?” She bit her lip slightly, felt the mostly healed cut on her lip.
Cook just shrugged, looking at her after a pause with a grin. “Sitting with us today, then?” And he raised his eyebrows at the back of Pandora’s head. She rolled her eyes, smiling despite herself.
“Yeah, of course.”
“I don’t mind you changing seats but the least you could do is pay attention, Naomi.” Miss Clark had her hands on her hips, and Naomi felt her face flush.
“My fault, distracting her with something interesting instead of the crap you’re teaching.” Cook crossed his arms, his face expressionless. Miss Clark narrowed her eyes at him.
“I’m not in the mood for you today, James. One more word and you’re out.” They seemed to have a staring contest, until Cook eventually threw his hands up in mock defeat. Miss Clark pursed her lips before continuing, and Cook reached over to Naomi’s notebook and tore out a sheet of paper, grabbing one of her pens.
He wrote ‘She’s just a bit under the weather, nothing to worry about’ on it and passed it back to her, and she smiled to herself because it seemed uncharacteristically sweet of him to reassure her.
‘Think she'll be back tomorrow?’ Naomi passed the piece of paper back, nodding her head with her classmates as Miss Clark talked about something she hadn’t heard.
‘Might.’ Cook just wrote, and Naomi stopped herself from sighing too audibly. Well. Obviously she’d just have to wait and see.
When class was finished, she texted Emily for the seventh time since Saturday, and again got absolutely no response.
She ignored Pandora, Thomas and JJ when she walked past the table they were sharing. She saw JJ try to wave at her, and Pandora shaking her head at him, and held her head slightly higher because not that she cared, really.
Freddie gave her a smile when she sat down next to him, noticed him holding a cigarette that he didn’t really smoke, just let sit between his fingers and smoulder.
“How are you?” He asked her, and she realised it was the first time he’d ever spoken to her. He smiled at her easily, and Effy sat down across from them, Katie and Cook arguing about something a little ways off that Naomi couldn’t overhear.
“Pretty good, recovered from Friday at least.” She returned his smile, feeling slightly awkward. After all, she usually spent all her time with them with Emily.
“Emily mentioned you were pretty hung over.” He said, taking a drag on his cigarette as if remembering it was there. He blew out a cloud of smoke, and pulled a face. “Want one?” He asked, pushing a newly opened packet toward her. She knocked a cigarette out, and blinked as Effy leant across the table and flicked a lighter in her face, lighting her cigarette and moving swiftly backwards with barely a raise of her eyebrows.
“Yeah, those pills you get are amazing.” She nodded her head toward Effy, who tilted her head slightly and stared at her. “But the come down is bloody awful.”
Effy smiled at her slowly, then. “What goes up.” She shrugged her shoulders, laughed softly at her own joke. Naomi glanced at Freddie, who looked back at her sideways and shook his head.
“Is Emily alright?” She asked, wanting to slap herself when she noticed Effy give Freddie a knowing look. “Just, I wouldn’t want to catch anything.” Fuck. That was as good as saying they’d been bloody close enough to share an infection. “I’m easily susceptible to illness.” She mumbled, tossing her cigarette and reaching into her bag for her lunch to give her something else to focus on.
“She’s fine.” Freddie laughed, reaching over to pat her on the back. “Just didn’t feel like college today. Needed some Emily time, or something. She’ll be right as rain soon enough.” She felt herself blushing when he took his hand off her back, and hastily opened her sandwich and began eating it.
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Effy leaned on her elbows toward her across the table, and Naomi couldn’t look away.
“Not sure, really. Journalism, maybe. Politics, perhaps.” She shrugged, taking another bite of her sandwich. Effy was nodding at her.
“You want to save the world.” Effy smiled, and Naomi finished half of her sandwich, unsure how to answer.
“I wanted to be a trumpet player.” Freddie said suddenly, fiddling with the packet of cigarettes, turning them over and over in his hands. Naomi raised her eyebrows.
“Oh.” She just said, because what else was there to say to that, really?
Cook sauntered over to them, then, sliding along the seat next to Effy and giving Naomi a big grin.
“Welcome to the dark side!” He laughed.
“She alright?” Effy asked him, as Naomi snorted and reached for the second half of her sandwich. She watched Cook look back at Katie for a moment, who seemed to be on the phone, and then squint at the clouds overhead.
“Will be.” He said simply, and then grinned indulgently at Naomi. “Coming out again Friday?” He crossed his arms on the table, leaning on them and looking at her eagerly.
She swallowed the bite of her sandwich, and nodded. “Course I am.” She wanted to add ‘If Emily’s feeling better’, but didn’t.
“Christ in fucking hell I swear I’m going to punch her right in the face.” Katie threw her phone violently onto the table and sat down next to Cook. “Move the fuck over would you?” And Effy moved down, continuing to gaze at Naomi, while Cook continued to grin at her. Christ, when would she stop being made to feel like she was under a fucking microscope?
“What’s her problem?” Freddie asked, gesturing at the phone, and Naomi felt herself start to blush.
“Fuck knows, or cares at this point. Hi.” Katie turned to face her, tersely, and Naomi swallowed her bite quickly.
“How’s it going?” She tried to be friendly, but knew it was the wrong question when Katie gave her a small glare.
“Fucking ridiculously, actually. No bloody thanks to you.” Katie frowned as Cook put an arm around her.
“Relax, darlin’. It’ll sort itself.” Naomi watched as Cook squeezed, and Katie shook herself out of the half embrace.
“Or you, arsehole. You always fucking encourage her, and it always goes fucking badly.” Katie leant an arm on the table, and looked at Naomi. “Just what are your intentions towards my sister, anyway?”
Naomi blinked, dropping the rest of her sandwich between her knees and onto the ground. “What?” She asked, blushing ridiculously.
“Leave it, Katie.” Effy said mildly, and Naomi looked at Freddie, who rolled his eyes and gave her an impish grin, and Cook winked at her.
“Whatever.” Katie said. “Christ, give me a fucking cigarette. I don’t care if it doesn’t work.” Freddie passed her the packet, and Effy leant across Cook to light one for her.
Naomi had no clue what they were talking about, and realised with alarm that she was starting to grow used to secrecy.
“Is anyone going to tell me what’s going on?” She asked, beginning to feel annoyed. She had thought she’d left all this mysterious crap behind her when she’d chosen not to sit with Thomas, JJ and Pandora.
“Actually, babes, it’s none of your fucking business.” Katie blew out a breath of smoke angrily, before directing her anger toward her half smoked cigarette and crushing it onto the table. “Fucking useless.” She muttered at it.
“Yeah.” Freddie laughed, and Cook looked at him. “It’s a twin thing.” They said in unison, and Cook fell about slapping the table laughing, as Freddie chuckled beside her.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to us.” Effy gave her a small, calm smile, reaching over to briefly squeeze her arm. She noticed Katie watching Effy’s action like a hawk, and frowned. Katie looked at her, crossing her arms.
“What?” She spat out, and Naomi held her hands up in defence.
“Jesus, nothing. Don’t get your bloody knickers in a twist.” She couldn’t help it, Katie was acting like a right twat.
“Shouldn’t have said that.” Freddie muttered to her, and Naomi didn’t think Cook could look happier if he tried.
“Here we go!” He rubbed his hands together, and she watched as Katie’s eyes got narrower and narrower.
“Listen you fucking rug munching fashion reject, if it wasn’t for you none of this shit would even be happening so don’t you fucking dare give me lip about my knickers in a twist.” Katie smiled at her, cruelly. “Unless my sister’s knickers aren’t the only ones you’ve been fantasising about?” Katie raised her eyebrows at Naomi quickly, as Naomi’s jaw dropped.
She felt her mouth go dry, watched Cook look between them, his gleefulness thankfully gone at the look on her face, and Effy tilted her head up to stare at the clouds.
Naomi stood up. “Sorry, Katie, I best be off before I get too excited and finger you under the table. Oh wait, I don’t go for slags. I forgot.” She shook her head, and stalked away from them, ignoring Cook’s shouts, trying desperately not to look as shaken as she felt, particularly when she walked past Thomas, JJ and Pandora. They were the last people she wanted thinking that any of them had hurt her.
V^^^^^V
She’d skipped her afternoon classes, complained of period pain and had her dad pick her up, even if it was slightly embarrassing. She sat in her room and cried, and hated herself for it. But Emily was avoiding her, for some reason, and she missed her mum though was loathe to admit it, least of all actually call the woman and admit it to her.
Everything had turned to shit.
The worst part, the bit that made her feel the angriest, was she didn’t know what exactly she’d done to warrant Katie’s outburst, or Emily skipping college. After all, Emily had kissed her, had reached for her, had fucking felt her up even. It didn’t make sense.
She refused dinner, didn’t feel like eating and was able to blame her cramps for making her feel ill. At nine she heard her phone buzz, and reached for it quickly, disappointed when she saw it was a message from Thomas.
‘I am still here when you need me.’
V^^^^^V
She’d thought of skipping college, complaining again of cramps she didn’t actually feel, and then thought the better of it. Katie wasn’t scaring her off, fuck her.
She got out of her dad’s car, started walking toward the college doors and stopped abruptly when she saw Emily and Katie standing outside. Katie had her arms crossed over her chest, was whispering furiously at Emily, who was looking around as if searching for someone. Naomi took a deep breath, and wondered if she should walk over to them or pretend she hadn’t seen them.
“Naomi!” Emily called out, walking toward her.
Naomi stopped, feeling guarded. Which was normal, fine, but so far Emily had been the only person she hadn’t felt like this with.
“Hey.” Naomi said, grasping the shoulder strap of her bag to give her hands something to do.
“How are you?” Emily asked, reaching forward to touch her arm, pulling her hand back at the last minute.
“Alright. Feeling better?” Naomi peered at Emily, watched as her expression tightened for a moment, before she nodded and smiled.
“Yeah. Just a bug, probably.” Emily looked as awkward as she felt, and turned to her sister after a moment.
“Well?” She called out, and Katie stalked over to them, rolling her eyes.
“Fuck’s sake. Naomi, hello.” Katie wouldn’t look at her though, casting her gaze everywhere else. She watched as Emily elbowed Katie in the side. “Right. Sorry about yesterday.” Katie glanced at her then, eyes narrowing as if expecting Naomi to laugh at her or something.
Naomi shrugged. “For calling me a rug muncher, or blaming me for something I have no idea about?” She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows.
“I don’t know, all of it. Look, I’m apologising so just fucking accept it already.” Katie put her hands on her hips, looking back toward the college for a moment. “I was cranky and I snapped, alright?” She looked at Naomi, and Naomi was pretty sure she didn’t mean the apology at all.
Naomi nodded anyway. “Thanks.” She said, added “Sorry for calling you a slag.” for good measure because she wasn’t letting Katie have any kind of higher moral ground for a second.
Katie surprised her by snorting as she started walking backwards toward the college. “See you round then, yeah?” She turned on her heel, striding toward the front doors, and Naomi turned to Emily, almost forgetting she was there.
“So I skip one day and look what I miss.” Emily gave her a half smile, her voice soft, starting to walk toward the college.
Naomi walked next to her, far enough away not to touch or brush against her accidently. “That was the highlight, mainly. You make her apologise?” Naomi reached the doors first, holding them open as Emily walked through.
“Cook regaled me with the whole thing, including a re-enactment. Katie snaps, sometimes. She’s like,” Emily shrugged, looking shyly at Naomi sideways as they walked. “Got the worst temper, and loses it all the fucking time.”
Naomi snorted. “I’ll say.”
“Cook does the best impression of her though. And you. What did you threaten her with, fingering under the table?” Emily laughed then, loud and lovely, and Naomi found herself smiling genuinely for the first time since the weekend.
“So what did I do to you that made her so angry, anyway?” Naomi stopped outside their philosophy classroom, watching as the laughter left Emily. Emily adjusted her bag, tilting her head and gazing back at Naomi after a moment.
“You didn’t do anything.” Emily watched her, reaching out to grab her hand when Naomi felt her own expression close off and an eye roll imminent. “Really. I was just overwhelmed by, well, Saturday morning and,” Emily stepped closer to her, softly rubbing her thumb against the back of Naomi’s hand. “I’m sorry.”
Naomi blew out a breath, pulling her hand gently out of Emily’s grasp. “We did get a bit out of control. We should, you know, just be friends probably.” She heard herself say the words, and tried desperately to believe them. She gave Emily a soft smile, and Emily licked her lips, and nodded.
“I think so too.”
Later, Freddie gave her a big smile when she sat with them at lunch, and Effy raised her eyebrows appreciatively. Katie rolled her eyes.
“Don’t make such a fucking big deal of it, arseholes.” Katie tossed her hair, flipping off Cook when he laughed at her.
“She’s done well, facing a tiger like you again.” Cook winked at Naomi, laughing when Katie slapped his chest. Effy was seated next to Katie, and when she leaned her head to rest on Katie’s shoulder, Naomi started wondering about sex cults again and hated herself for it.
“Like you can talk, mate.” Freddie leaned forward, and Cook screwed his face up. “She ate your balls for breakfast first time you met. You almost pissed yourself.” Freddie waggled his eyebrows, and Emily laughed.
“Operative word being ‘almost’, Freds.” Cook put an arm around Katie, fondly. “Sides, managed to get on her good side didn’t I?” Katie smirked, and Naomi thought she’d clicked onto something, finally.
“So you two are…?” She asked, gesturing vaguely toward them, a half sandwich in one hand.
They all started laughing, and Emily shook her head at her, reaching out to gently touch her hand.
“We don’t play happy couples like Pandora, Thomas and JJ.” Emily gave her a smile, and Naomi remembered what it felt like to have those lips against her own. She felt a mild anxiety at the thought, wondered if it was so appealing because they’d decided not to let it happen again. She looked away from Emily when it became too much, when thoughts other than kissing drifted into her head, and she must have missed something because Katie slammed her hand onto the table and declared she needed the bathroom, right fucking now, and left.
In the back of her mind, she realised that for the second day in row none of them had eaten anything for lunch, and she felt slightly awkward being the only one to do so. And there were a lot of reasons why they didn’t, from weird diets to, fucked if she knew, some kind of religious reasoning. When she heard Thomas’s voice echoing in her head, she ignored it.
‘But they do not eat…’
V^^^^^V
Emily bumped her shoulder into Naomi’s as they walked out of college, smiling at her sideways. Naomi was surprised when Effy slipped an arm through hers, and smirked at her.
“Come on Campbell.” She said, leading Naomi toward the parking lot. Naomi looked to Effy’s other side, watched as Katie kept glancing at their intertwined arms.
“Fuck.” She heard Emily mutter as a boy leaning against a car smiled at them. He had bright yellow sunglasses on, and an open shirt, and Naomi had never seen him before in her life.
“Well, well, well.” He said as they approached, and Effy gave her arm a squeeze before pulling away, her and Katie walking off into the carpark. She watched the boy wink at them, and then turn to her. “You must be Naomi, then. Lovely, yeah.” He looked her up and down, and lifted his glasses to give her a surprisingly warm smile.
“What are you doing here?” Emily asked him, and he spread his arms out to either side of him.
“Giving you and your lady friend a ride, clearly.” He leant forward, extending his arm toward Naomi. “I’m Chris, friend of Ems.” She felt her entire arm shaking as he enthusiastically shook her hand.
“Nice to meet you.” Naomi said, looking quickly to see a slightly alarmed look on Emily’s face.
Chris jumped forward, opening the passenger door and gesturing toward her. “My lady.” He said, and she found his smile ridiculously infectious. She gave Emily a somewhat helpless look as she got into the car, and Emily rolled her eyes and walked around to get in the seat behind the driver’s.
Chris got into the car, and Naomi glanced at him, had expected the other people Emily had mentioned living with to be much older than he seemed.
“Really, Chris. What the fuck?” Emily leant forward, her face appearing in the space between the front seats.
Chris turned to look at her. “What, I can’t drive your girlfriend home? I wanted to meet her.” He smiled openly at Naomi. “She talks about you all the time.” He started the car as Emily sat back in her seat with her arms crossed.
“Actually, we’re not. You know. That.” Naomi smiled thinly, not looking back at Emily, and Chris winked at her.
“Oh yeah.” He said, and turned in the complete opposite direction to where she lived.
“Actually, I’m…” She started, pointing behind them, but he cut her off.
“Thought we’d go for a drive, get to know each other. See what little Emily’s gotten herself into.” But he kept his smile light, and open, and after a moment Naomi snorted.
“Are you and Katie tag teaming or something?” She wound her window down, put her hand out of it and moved it over the gusts of wind as if riding a wave.
“Jesus, couldn’t this happen when I’m not, like, present.” Emily stared moodily out of the back window, and Naomi faintly heard her mutter. “Or not at all.”
“I heard about your little tiff with our Katie yesterday. She’s a vixen, she is, but a top girl. Quality.” He started fiddling with the cigarette lighter, pushing it in and pulling a cigarette out of his top pocket. He lit it when the lighter popped out, and offered her one. She took it, smiling. “Fiercely protective. Get her on side though, and she’d kill for you, man. Top girl.”
“So you live with Emily and Katie, right? In some big happy teenage family.” Naomi blew smoke out of the side of her mouth, turning to face Chris, ignoring Emily being grumpy in the back.
Chris smiled slyly at her. “Something like that. Us oldies, and the kidlings. Isn’t that right, Ems?” He looked at Emily in the rear view mirror, and Emily flipped him off.
“You don’t look old.” Naomi said, and he didn’t. He looked barely a day older than Cook or Freddie.
“Good genes, man.” He winked at her. “We graduated before these ones started. Same college. Good old Roundview.” Naomi had no idea where they were driving to, but she was having a surprisingly good time.
“And what, you’re like a collective of orphans?” Naomi exhaled, finally felt like some of her questions might be answered.
“Chris.” She heard Emily’s voice from the backseat, her voice low and serious, and Chris waved her off.
“Sort of. Tony got us together, Effy’s his little sister, yeah. Ten of us work well, most of the time.” He lit a new cigarette off the end of the one he’d been smoking, and flicked the butt out of the window. “You should come visit us.” He grinned at her, holding her eye until she nodded, which she did quickly, on account of not wanting to die in a motor vehicle accident. Or at all.
Emily leant forward again, at that. “It’s not that exciting, actually. And you can if you want. But not this afternoon.” Emily had a tinge of desperation in her voice, and Naomi nodded after a while, though she was burning to see where they all lived.
“Yeah, well, consider this an open invite Naomi.” Chris again lit a new cigarette off his old, tossing the butt onto the road, smoking furiously. “Cass is gagging herself to meet you.”
“Well, maybe sometime soon?” She shrugged her shoulders, glancing at Emily, who was looking out her window with a mildly panicked expression.
“Nice one.” Chris happily tapped his hands against the steering wheel, and Naomi realised they were turning onto her street. “I’ve never seen Ems this animated ever, not since she met you, so you know.”
“For fuck’s sake!” Emily threw her hands up, and Naomi smirked, feeling stupidly smug. She decided she really liked Chris.
“Yeah well, she’s been the nicest to me since I got here.” She looked at Chris as he pulled up outside her house, and thought, fuck it. “I’m thankful I met her.” She glanced quickly at Emily, blushing, and Chris turned around and raised his eyebrows.
“I like this one.” He said to Emily, and Naomi felt like that was something important.
She got a rambling series of texts from Emily later that night, apologising for Katie again, for Chris, and insisting that Naomi’s idea of friendship was the right one. Naomi grinned when she read them, and decided she wouldn’t answer, not yet. Emily had left her waiting for days, anyway, and could stand a little impatience. It would be good for her.
At one in the morning, though, her phone started ringing, and she ignored it until the seventh call, blearily answering.
“Hello?” She didn’t open her eyes, pressing the phone against the side of her head.
“Hi. It’s Emily.”
“Hi. S’late.” She rubbed her eyes slightly, could hear that Emily was outside somewhere as a car drove by in the background.
“Sorry, you’re right. Shit. Did I wake you? Just wondered if you got my texts, and were, you know, alright.”
A car drove by her window, as she heard another go past Emily. She sat up suddenly.
“Emily, where are you?” She heard Emily chuckle slightly.
“Outside your house. Not like, being a stalker. More like being, uh, concerned and just. I’m going home now anyway.”
Naomi sighed, looking around her room, barely making anything out in the dark. She was sleepy, and that made it easier to offer what she did.
“Come inside for a bit?”
She opened her front door, something inside her chest twinging when she saw Emily standing there awkwardly, a nervous smile planted on her face. Emily stepped toward her, and without really thinking about it, Naomi pulled her in for a hug, and blamed it on being sleepy.
As Emily cuddled into her from behind, not too much later in bed, and her eyes slipped shut and she felt her mind slanting into sleep, she tightened her hold on Emily’s hand, and told herself that’s how friends acted and this was completely normal. Whatever this was.
V^^^^V
Philosophy was easily the worst class over the next few weeks on account of Pandora sullenly ignoring her and there being no where else to sit. On the sunny days she hated lunch time, sitting behind the college by herself and texting Emily, wondering how on earth it was fair that they all got to skip college and go camping, or whatever they did, Emily only saying, by way of text, that Tony had organised it with the college and he was extremely persuasive.
She met her dad’s girlfriend, who seemed okay enough, but tried too hard to impress her. When she locked herself in her bedroom after the dinner, trying hard not to watch as her dad and Veronica flirted shamelessly, she ignored his attempts to get her to hang out with them. The last thing she wanted to do was watch a bloody family film, let alone with the both of them.
Emily kept showing up, most nights, and they never talked about cuddling up to each other as she slept. On a night where Emily wasn’t there, she was alarmed to realise just how much she missed her. Fuck, she’d thought, I actually sleep better when she’s here.
When they all went out on Friday nights, she didn’t fail to notice that Emily now just handed her a pill, instead of kissing her. But that was what they’d decided, sort of. As it turned out, friends didn’t transfer drugs with kisses, and she wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about that.
Once the drugs hit her though, she lost all inhibitions without fail, and reached for Emily with a blissful smile, tangling her hands in Emily’s hair and pulling her to her neck. Hang over or no, it was a strange intimacy she didn’t want to give up.
She stopped eating lunch when they were at college, smoking cigarettes and laughing as Cook seemed to take it upon himself to keep them all entertained. When Emily sat next to her, which wasn’t every day, they held hands under the table, and Katie glared at her every time, without fail, but thankfully kept her mouth shut.
She realised, laughing uncontrollably as Cook re-enacted a love struck girl stalking Freddie through the streets of Bristol, Freddie rolling his eyes as Cook fawned all over him, and Emily squeezed her hand under the table, that she was actually happy.
She’d never felt like this, ever.
V^^^^^V
“We’re going mental tonight!” Cook yelled as Naomi got into the car, Effy in the driver’s seat and Freddie tapping his hands along to the song on the radio on the dashboard.
She squeezed into the back of the car, Emily in the middle and Cook on her other side. Effy gunned the engine, laughing as Cook shook the back of her seat in excitement.
“Apparently Cook got his hands on some amazing drugs.” Emily said to her, leaning into her shoulder and Naomi breathed in the smell of her, intoxicated by it.
“Jesus, I’m not looking forward to tomorrow then.” Naomi laughed, and Cook leaned over Emily even as Emily put her hand on her knee and squeezed.
“Fuck tomorrow! Tonight is fucking pregnant, princess.” He threw his head back, and Naomi wondered if he’d taken something already.
“Where’s Katie?” She asked Emily, as they drove towards a club she hadn’t been to before.
Emily rolled her eyes. “She’s gone with Chris and them tonight.”
Naomi frowned slightly. “Oh, they’ve gone out too?”
“Yeah, they always do. But we rarely all go out together.” Emily grinned as Freddie turned the radio up as loud as it could go, drumming his hands on his knees, and Cook sang along loudly.
When they walked into the club, Naomi still felt slightly smug that people always turned to look at them with, she thought, something close to envy. She was always the only one to drink, and noticed that they all went off in search of someone to hook up with before meeting on the dance floor, much later, and dancing until it was time to leave.
She couldn’t keep her eyes off Emily, wasn’t sure if it was her outfit, or the way she kept gazing at her, leaning in too close when they talked, constantly touching her when they danced. Emily handed her a pill, and she swallowed it without hesitation, not bothering for it to come on before grabbing Emily and dancing against her.
Emily didn’t seem to mind, running her hands along Naomi’s hips and smirking as they pressed against each other, their faces barely centimetres apart. The club was dark, the dance floor crowded with bodies, and they kept being jostled. A boy appeared behind her, and she felt him dancing against her back, reaching his hands around to her front, and she watched as Emily’s face darkened with something resembling jealousy, and then she’d grabbed her hand and pulled her through the crowd.
Emily dragged her into the toilets, into a cubicle and shut the door behind them, pressing Naomi up against it. She’d never seen Emily’s eyes so dark.
“I can’t stand it.” She heard Emily say thickly, before Emily was kissing her, hard.
She knew she moaned into it, pulling Emily into her, whispering “It’s okay.” against her lips when they parted, surging back with hot, open kisses, and she was aware, vaguely, that Emily’s hands were under her shirt and roaming over her back. She dragged her hands under Emily’s top, her fingernails scratching over her stomach, and one of Emily’s legs slipped between her own. She felt something sharp graze her lip, and quickly reached her hands around Emily’s back, holding her close when Emily, again, froze.
“Don’t go.” She whispered, as Emily pulled away from her with her mouth shut, but Emily moved down her front, pushing her shirt up roughly and kissing her stomach as Naomi’s head fell back against the cubicle door, and the pill started to kick in as the ceiling began to spin.
She felt her skirt hiking up, and was so lost in the moment that she tangled her hands in Emily’s hair and pulled her against her stomach.
Jesus, she thought, as Emily slipped a hand into her underwear, and her legs began to tremble as Emily’s fingers slid against her, Emily’s tongue tracing a line from her belly button downwards. Her underwear was all but ripped off, and then Emily’s tongue replaced her fingers and she thought she was going to fall over.
Emily pushed two fingers into her, and she cried out, not caring who heard them. Faintly, she heard giggles and taps rushing with water, heard hand dryers and chatter in the neighbouring cubicles. But none of that mattered, all that mattered was that Emily was sliding her tongue over her clit, was thrusting her fingers inside her, and it felt incredible. Felt like more than she’d ever felt in her whole life.
Something sharp grazed against the inside of her thigh when Emily moved her head to kiss it, and the slight pain mixed with Emily’s curling fingers, made her gasp and shudder. And then Emily was back, licking steadily as, seemingly without warning, Naomi had the most intense orgasm of her life.
Her vision swam, and then her eyes clamped shut. She was aware that she was probably ripping Emily’s hair out, her hands clamping tightly as she came, and when she finally began to catch her breath, dizzy with the sheer fucking intensity of the whole situation, she realised Emily was again kissing the juncture between her thigh and her groin, even while her fingers were still inside her.
Naomi took deep, shuddering breaths, leaning against the cubicle door heavily, as Emily moved to place a kiss against her stomach, and slowly slid her fingers out of her. She wasn’t sure how much time passed, before Emily was standing against her, holding her, and Naomi chuckled weakly.
“Christ.” She murmured, as Emily pulled back and gave her a small grin.
“Was that alright?” Emily asked, brushing strands of Naomi’s hair out of her eyes, and giving her a shy, if not still rather heated look.
“I think you killed me.” Naomi took in a deep breath, feeling the ecstasy in her system pepping her up again.
“Dance floor?” Emily quirked an eyebrow, and Naomi blinked.
“Do you want…” She started, completely unsure what she was asking, but Emily shook her head.
“Come on.”
There was nothing shy, or awkward about their dancing now, aside from Naomi feeling a little uncomfortable that she was now sans underwear and in a skirt, no less. Emily had her arms wrapped around her, was swaying her hips against her own, and Naomi thought, fuck friendship.
Emily moved to her neck, sometime later, and Naomi was just starting to have happy thoughts about being back in the bathroom cubicle, when she felt herself pulled roughly backwards by someone. She was too dazed, for a moment, to pull her hand away from them, and frowned when she caught a glimpse of Emily’s face, shocked, a weird darkness around her mouth and something else she noticed but couldn’t wrap her head around in the moment.
Two people were dragging her, and when she saw Thomas and JJ, each with their hands clamped firmly against her wrists, she tried to pull away.
“What the fuck?” She shrieked at them, and Thomas looked at her, slightly panicked.
“Come on Naomi!” He yelled, and they were off the dance floor and moving toward the door.
“Let go of me!” She yelled, and JJ gave her an apologetic and frightful look.
“Your neck!” He said loudly, and she struggled against them, wondering why no one was intervening as she was dragged out of the club doors.
“Oi! Let her go!” One of the bouncers yelled, and pushed JJ off her. “Jesus, did they do this to you? Bernie, call the fucking police, man!”
She felt something sticky on her neck, sliding thickly onto her shirt. Had someone spilled a drink on her?
“Your neck.” JJ said, sounding pathetic, standing just in front of her as a bouncer moved toward him.
She frowned, shook Thomas off her, and reached up to touch her neck, wincing when it hurt. She pulled her hand away, saw blood on her fingers, and felt suddenly like she wanted to be sick.
“Please come with us.” Thomas said to her, ducking away from a bouncer that moved to grab him.
“You alright, love?” Another one asked her, and she turned to him with a frightened look on her face.
“No.” She said, and stumbled toward JJ and Thomas, both of them grabbing her again and a car pulled up, Pandora at the wheel.
“Get in.” Thomas said, opening a door, and she fell into the back seat. Thomas and JJ got in, as the bouncers crowded around her door.
“It’s okay. They’re my friends.” She said weakly, and they backed off slightly.
Cook burst through the doors, a feral look on his face when he saw Naomi in the car with Pandora, Thomas and JJ.
“Naomi!” He called, and she shrank backwards as Pandora squealed and the car jerked forward.
She couldn’t stop touching her hands to her neck, and looking at them completely bewildered.
“I’m sorry. Are you okay?” Thomas asked her, turning around, and JJ rummaged through a bag beside her, pulling out band aids and gauze.
“What the fuck. What the fuck.” She whispered, staring at her hands. No. This wasn’t. No.
Her heart stopped, she felt it, just for a moment, when Emily’s face flashed before her eyes on the crowded dance floor as she’d been pulled away. Her mouth tinged with something dark, and her teeth… Jesus fuck, her teeth. That’s what she’d seen, hadn’t she?
Emily had fangs.
V^^^^^V
Chapter Five: Who Is The Lamb And Who Is The Knife