Fic: ... And the Battle Began (Chapter Four - Part Two)

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She and Katie spend the Spring half-term drinking wine in Naomi's bedroom, eating dinner in Naomi's kitchen and watching TV in Naomi's living room.

They talk about stuff, sometimes, and Katie genuinely makes Naomi laugh.

Even though she gets cross when she doesn't understand something, like Naomi is personally responsible for her lack of knowledge, but she listens when Naomi explains things to her, like where some oils come from ("You mean, like, sunflower oil actually comes from sunflower seeds? But body oils can be made of almost fucking anything? Jesus.") and then becomes smug when she finally gets it all.

And she still gets impatient when she has to explain things to Naomi that she really should know by now, apparently, and then peppers Naomi with kisses when Naomi expresses her understanding of what Katie's trying to make clear.

But, after it all, they end up stripping each other of their clothes and passing vodka back and forth between them as they listen to something Japanese that Naomi borrowed off the Voodoo Lady (who's actually called Clare, but they still call her Voodoo Lady when not speaking directly to her), their legs twisting around each others' beneath the sheets.

It's so much more than Naomi thought it would be, being with someone. She's surprised that she's been able to give up so much of her freedom so easily, but she suspects that it's because she's still got a fuckton of time to herself to revise for her exams because Katie's got to be careful and that, actually, all of this sneaking around is a little bit exciting.

It is, at least, until she remembers Emily.

It's Friday morning, right at the end of their week off, and Katie's rolled over and jammed her head under Naomi's arm and rested it on her shoulder, a hand smoothing over Naomi's stomach and Naomi's hand in Katie's hair.

"Katie," she says, and she's not sure why she's suddenly thought of it now, but they're relaxed and it's nice, so it just seems like a good time. "Katie, are you ever going to tell your sister about us?"

It comes out a lot more fragile than she'd meant it too, and Katie leans up onto her elbow to look down into her eyes.

"Babes, it's okay. She's not going to find out - I told you. She just wouldn't get it, yeah?"

"What makes you so sure? I mean, she's nice, isn't she? She cares about you."

Katie's eyes narrow then and the way her red hair spills over her shoulders and around her face make it look like she's just been set on fire and Naomi is far too close to the flame.

"And what makes you think you know my sister, hm? You've had, like, two conversations your entire lives - how can you think for a second that you know her better than I do?"

There's no argument for that - Naomi knows it. But she still can't help but think that she's right about this.

"Katie, I just thought - "

"What?" Katie interrupts, her lips tightening. "You just thought what? That you have any idea what my life is like? That you know about my family? You're fucking lucky to have the mum you have and you don't even know it. So don't start talking to me about my sister when you've spent the last four years ignoring her."

Naomi blinks then, and bites her bottom lip, pulling it between her teeth so she can focus on the feel of it rather than the burning behind her eyes.

And Katie's still staring at her, waiting for her to make this worse or better, and she really doesn't know which one to choose.

But maybe Katie's right too - she really doesn't know Katie's family, not even a little bit. Not even Emily.

So she takes a breath, and tries to make what she says sound as reasonable as possible.

"Hon," she starts, and carefully puts her hand on Katie's forearm, feeling the muscles twitch as she supports herself with it. "How can I know your family when I'll never be able to meet them? And you don't talk about them much, so..."

Katie stares down at Naomi again for a second before she lets out a deep breath and Naomi feels her relax in her arms.

"Fuck," she whispers. "Sorry, I just... sometimes I just get... it's not easy for me either. I wish I could tell people but I just can't. Not even Emily."

"Ssh, it's okay." Naomi leans up to kiss her softly, slowly. "I'm sorry I brought it up. And, hey," she says with a grin. "At least this way I get you all to myself, right?"

Katie smiles and wipes at her face where there might have been a tear. "Fucking right, babes."

She meets Naomi for a kiss that lightens the mood considerably, but, still, Naomi hates that she nearly made Katie cry just because she was curious. And she doesn't want to do it again but she remembers something that Katie said, and thinks that it's safe to ask when Katie's nuzzling her neck again.

"Kates, what did you mean about me ignoring Emily? I mean, I haven't -"

Katie snorts then, pulling her lips away while she answers. "Babes, I know you're pretty much oblivious to most things related to women - except, you know, some of the good stuff," she says with a wink, running her hand down Naomi's stomach and between her legs, humming as Naomi sucks in a breath. "But she's been trying to be your friend for years."

It's hard to take in the information when Katie's working her middle finger against her clit, devastatingly slowly. "Right," she says. "I... I didn't..."

She's silenced by Katie sliding the same finger inside her and Naomi bucks her hips to try and take her deeper.

"Babes, can we stop talking about Emily now? I'd rather you weren't thinking about my sister while I'm fucking you."

Naomi lets out a strangled laugh as Katie pushes into her with a little more force and she tilts her head back.

She doesn't want to be thinking about Emily either, not while they're doing this, but the thought lingers in the back of her mind that she's done Emily wrong in some way that she's not entirely aware of.

But Katie makes it all seem irrelevant anyway as she kisses her way down Naomi's neck and wraps her lips around an already erect nipple and sucks, hard.

It's Katie who made this happen, who stepped up to claim Naomi, and Naomi was all too eager to be taken. The least Naomi can do is allow herself to be swallowed up completely and hope she's still alive at the end of it.

****

The next time that Emily joins Naomi on the bench at lunchtime Naomi tries a little harder to be friendly.

"Hi," she smiles as she puts down her sandwich. "You all right?"

Emily's stops rifling through her bag and looks at Naomi.

"What?" Naomi asks, eyes flickering away for a second.

"Nothing. I'm fine, thanks. You?" Emily goes back to her bag, pulling out a bag of crisps.

"Yeah, fine. Crisps, eh? Smuggle them in, did you?"

Emily laughs and offers one to Naomi, which she takes with a thanks.

"Something like that. They have such a thing as a shop here, you know. You can buy all sorts of disgusting food that isn't in any way good for you."

"Why not go all out and get a burger, then?" Naomi suggests with a grin. "Really rebel."

"Well, I'm not exactly the rebellious sort. I leave that up to Katie," Emily says, still playing nice. "I'm the good one, you know."

"And Katie's the evil twin?" Naomi laughs.

"Well, one of us has got to be, right?" Emily grins, and the thought that there might be some truth in that stills Naomi for a minute until Emily's crunching dulls the sound of it inside her mind.

Katie's good, Naomi knows she is. She wonders if Emily knows that, too.

****

They eat lunch together often after that, unless Emily's volunteered to help out in the library or Naomi's decided to do a little bit of extra revision.

She passes Katie on her way to the bench every day, and every day Katie catches her eye and the smile she produces tells Naomi that the only bit of evil in her is the way she can manipulate Naomi into wanting her quite so much.

But, Naomi knows, it can't be evil when it feels so fucking good.

****

There's an Art trip coming up, they find out, to the Tate Modern as a reward for their studying so hard and a chance to get properly inspired for their final pieces.

Katie thinks it's bullshit - she already knows what she's doing and she's read all the fucking books so why should she need to sit on a stuffy coach for a few hours only to hmm and ahh over Art stuff she doesn't understand?

Naomi laughs at her, and kisses her pouting lip, and explains that she might get something out of it when she's there, to which Katie raises her eyebrows and Naomi has to tell her that that's not exactly what she meant.

Emily, however, is extremely keen on the whole event.

She tells Naomi as she hands over a leaflet for the venue, pointing out the exhibits she's most keen on seeing.

"I think it's fucking brilliant, the way she's just managed to say everything with that tiny little bit of paint. Almost like she's going This is me. If you don't get it it then fuck you."

"Yeah, sort of like she's daring you to figure it out."

"Yeah," Emily smiles, her finger accidentally brushing over Naomi's as she hands the leaflet back. "Yeah, exactly."

****

Despite assuring Katie that the coach trip would be fine, Naomi is finding it to be excruciating.

They had both thought that if they sat near each other then it would be okay, that somehow it would be close enough, so Katie and Emily took their seats behind Naomi's as planned after they boarded the coach.

But Naomi almost can't stand it, how she can hear Katie and not see her, and Katie's prattling on about Hollyoaks and how she thinks that the girls on it are so beautiful and she thinks that maybe she should be an actress so that she can go on it.

"Katie," Naomi hears Emily say with frustration. "Not once have you taken an interest in Drama - why do you think that you could be an actress?"

"Fuck's sake, Ems. Lighten up, yeah? It can't be that fucking hard, can it?"

Naomi stifles a snigger then, flicking idly through her Maths revision booklet, because she's never heard Emily stand up to Katie before and it's kind of funny, the way Katie can't handle it.

"Whatever, Katie. I'm going to the loo."

Naomi watches as Emily stumbles along down the isle to the middle of the coach.

After a few seconds Naomi feels a tap on her shoulder and she turns around to look through the gap between the seats to find a grinning Katie.

"Christ, she's doing my head in," Katie says. "Always on a fucking downer."

"Shame she doesn't know you're actually a really good actress, then." Naomi doesn't mean it the way it comes out, and Katie's frown is enough to tell her she's fucked up again.

"Oh brilliant, thanks for that. I'll just tell her right now then, shall I?" Katie spits, and then shifts back into her seat properly.

"Katie, wait," Naomi tries, but Katie's ignoring her and shoving her iPod headphones into her ears, so she rolls her eyes and turns back around just as the toilet's flushing.

She closes her book and crosses her arms tight across her chest, thinking about how this day cannot get any worse, when she notices that Emily's stopped by her seat and is staring at Katie in the seat behind her.

Emily huffs and flops down next to Naomi.

"She's being such a cow. Mind if I sit here?"

Naomi shrugs, turning her attention back to the outside world that's flying by, the motorway far too busy for this time of the day.

"Thanks," Emily says quietly. "You know, I love her, I really do, but sometimes I honestly don't think I know her at all."

Yeah, Naomi thinks, the thought taking her by surprise. Me too.

****

When the coach stops Katie's still ignoring the both of them and she grabs her bag and totters off down the aisle and away from them.

"Well," Emily says. "This should be fun. Want to stick with me?"

It's the first time she's asked anything like that with confidence, and Katie's being such a tit that Naomi can't help her answer.

"Yeah, go on then."

They share a small smile as Naomi thinks Yeah, why the fuck not?

****

The gallery is actually pretty fucking cool and, once Naomi's figured out a way to stop paying attention to Katie's skulking around, one headphone still in her ear, she's noticing all sorts of different pieces that catch her eye.

Emily, who's stuck by her side the whole time, whispering things into her ear about the way she wishes she could paint or sketch as well as these artists, is making the whole experience far more enjoyable than it could have been.

And Emily's just as insightful about the work in front of her as she was about what she showed Naomi in that leaflet. Her observations are well thought out and intelligent, not like she's just saying something because she feels she's supposed to but because she legitimately enjoys feeling the art in whichever way she's feeling it.

"What's been your favourite one so far?" she asks Naomi as they break away from the group and round the corner to find themselves in a small room, currently unoccupied by anyone else. It's dark, and there's a projector pointing at one of the room's blackened walls that's playing something in black and white in a loop - a man walking, falling, getting back up again.

"Hmm," Naomi ponders while they watch. "I think it was that one that was mostly black, like that black canvas, but it had this rip in it."

"Yeah I remember that one. Kind of like you could interpret it two ways," Emily says wistfully and leans back against a wall.

Naomi mimics her movement and finds their shoulders are touching. She's surprised when neither of them move away.

"Yeah," she says after a moment. "I like to see it as there being all this shit to deal with, you know? And all it takes is one little ray of light to make things better again."

"To break through the blackness," Emily almost-whispers, and Naomi shivers, like she's been cold for a while and Emily's come along to offer her a blanket.

"Yeah," Naomi just says, watching but not really seeing. Speaking but not really saying anything.

She's not sure what to do next, whether she's supposed to break the silence, so she's really fucking relieved when Emily says, "Oh, I just want to go to the shop before I forget. Wait here, yeah?"

Naomi nods, and she's not sure Emily sees it but she turns and walks away quickly anyway.

There's only a few seconds for her to recover, not really enough time to think about what just happened, when there's a voice coming from the doorway.

"Christ," Katie says. "I thought you two were never going to stop wanking over all this art." She saunters over, fresh grin on her face, and Naomi wonders just when her mood changed.

"Shouldn't you be off sulking in a corner somewhere?" Naomi says, arms crossed, already at battle stations, but Katie's still approaching and gets close enough so they're both in the darkness and the light from the film is flickering on Katie's face.

"I decided it wasn't time well spent when I could be in a room with you away from everyone else." She slides her arms around Naomi's waist, and Naomi wants to push them away but doesn't. She keeps her arms folded though, barrier between them firmly in place.

"Katie, you can't just fucking snap at me, ignore me and then expect me just to be fine with it. I'm not someone you can just push around, you know."

Katie sighs, and pulls Naomi in closer. And it's always Naomi that takes the last step, always Katie that forces her to take it.

"Yeah I know, but I'm saying sorry now. Will you let me say sorry?" she asks, and when Naomi rolls her eyes and uncrosses her arms she takes it as a yes and reaches up on her tiptoes until her lips are lightly brushes against Naomi's.

"We're in public, Kates - someone might see us," Naomi whispers, pulling away.

"It's fine," Katie says, her voice low, and pushes Naomi further into the darkness. "We've got some time."

****

It turns out, though, that they didn't have as much time as they thought.

Katie's got her hand up Naomi's top, fingers brushing over a nipple, when they hear the gasp.

Naomi looks up and Katie looks around just in time to catch a flash of red hair disappear back from the doorway and Emily's swiftly retreating figure vanish from their sight.

"Shit," Katie says, rubbing her temple. "Shit, shit, shit."

"Katie, it's okay," Naomi offers, knowing full well that it's not.

"Fucking... how can it be, Naomi? Emily saw. Emily..." she flounders, and Naomi finds she has nothing reassuring to say whatsoever. "I need to go after her."

And she leaves Naomi standing there, pulling her top back down and waiting for her heart to slow with it.

She slowly ventures outside the room, wondering where the fuck she's supposed to go, when her foot kicks something that goes skidding across the polished floor.

Catching up to it, she picks it up - it's a paper bag, and inside is a postcard of the black canvas with the rip in it, the one that she and Emily had been talking about just before she left the first time.

This time, though, where Naomi had seen light, all she can see now is the darkness enveloping it, threatening at its edges and waiting to consume it completely.

****

Naomi spends the next hour walking around the gallery on the lower floor, looking at and seeing nothing.

She has no idea what's going to happen when they come back or what they've been doing. She wonders if there's been a fight, some kind of physical violence, and the thought that her they've come to blows because of her makes her feel sick.

They're sisters, twin fucking sisters, and Naomi's now the cause of a massive problem between them.

It's not clear in her mind if Katie's decided to be apologetic, or argumentative, or nasty or nice, or anything because she's never seen them in a fight. Never seen them as anything other than bitchy towards each other, and even then it's always been trivial.

But this... this secret that Katie's kept, it seems bigger somehow. And Naomi wishes as she heads outside to the South Bank, sick of being enclosed, that she'd pushed Katie a little harder to tell Emily before it came to this.

She's got fags in her bag, and she's getting one out with shaky fingers when she hears a light flicker beside her. This time, though, it's not offered to her and Emily lights her own cigarette before putting the lighter back in her pocket.

Naomi watches her inhale, noting the redness around her eyes and the way her mascara is smeared down her cheeks, and waits, her own cigarette forgotten about.

It's a minute or so before Emily speaks, flicking ash over the railing, and when she does it's husky and low.

"Katie doesn't know that I smoke. She'd disapprove. But, honestly, I don't fucking care any more."

"Emily, I'm..." she trails off because she's not sure she's supposed to be sorry. She's not sure she has the right to be.

"Yeah, well. Me too. Should have known I was wasting my time."

Naomi frowns and finally lights her cigarette, using it as a distraction from whatever it is that Emily's not saying.

They smoke together in silence, looking out at the river, watching the boats bob up and down, just staying afloat because they have to.

Emily finishes hers and chucks it over the side.

"She's looking for you. And... she's upset, so go and find her." She doesn't give Naomi the chance to say any more, doesn't look at her, and heads back into the gallery.

Naomi watches her go, her head down again, arms wrapped around herself, and wonders if she's really fucked it up this time.

She checks her phone, which was on silent, and finds three missed calls and a text from Katie, and remembers why she's in this situation in the first place.

Abandoning her cigarette in the same way Emily did, she pockets her phone and goes to find her girlfriend.

****

Katie's in one of the toilet cubicles on the 2nd floor and when Naomi taps on it she lets her in, wrapping her arms around Naomi's neck before she's even locked the door behind them.

It's awful, seeing her like this, but at least she's stopped crying, Naomi thinks, squeezing her back just as hard.

"Hey," she says into Katie's hair. "Hey, it's okay."

"Is it?" Katie croaks against her neck. "She fucking... she's really angry, Naoms, I've never..."

"So you've told her everything, then?" Naomi asks, feeling a lump sticking firmly in her throat.

Katie leans back but keeps a tight grip on Naomi. She nods, once, before she starts crying again.

They stay there until Katie's breathing has slowed.

"You... you were right," Katie sniffles as Naomi pulls some loo roll from the holder and hands it to her. "I should have told her. She shouldn't have had to find out like this and now she thinks I'm... that I'm..."

"Katie, babe, listen. Only you know if you are or if you aren't. And you might not know yet and, really, I can't see that Emily would have a problem with it. Am I allowed to say that now that I know her a bit better?" she smiles, and Katie punches her in the shoulder as she coughs out a laugh. "Right. She's just surprised. She'll calm down."

"You think so?" Katie says looking up at her, eyes wide and hopeful.

"Yeah," Naomi nods but, remembering how Emily couldn't even look at her, she's wondering if it's the biggest lie she's told so far.

****

Back on the coach, Katie and Naomi take separate seats but Emily doesn't even bother to go to the back where she knows they're sat and Naomi sees her pick one at the front, far away from them both.

Naomi hears Katie sigh heavily behind her before muttering Fuck it and moving around so she's sat on the seat next to Naomi.

"Hi," Naomi says, trying out a smile. Katie's looks equally strained, like she's got no fucking energy left for anything. It's been a fucking long day for both of them, moreso for Katie, Naomi reckons, and she decides that it's her turn to be brave for once.

Reaching under her seat Naomi pulls out her coat and lays it across both of their laps.

Katie eyes her curiously and Naomi fakes a shiver. "Bit cold in here, isn't it?" she says, sliding both of her hands underneath the coat, winking at Katie, and the smile she receives back is the most genuine one Naomi's seen all day.

After a quick look around Katie follows suit, her fingers easily finding Naomi's where they lock together. Katie holds on a little too tightly but Naomi lets her. If it's what she needs then it's fine. Just for now.

They remain like that until they pull up outside the school ready to be collected by their parents.

"I'll text you, okay?" Katie says quietly as the rest of the coach buzzes with activity. And then, leaning in closer, "I wish I could kiss you now."

Naomi shudders, the words enveloping her in a warmth that's only half as good as she needs it to be.

"Yeah," she says. "Me too."

Katie offers her an apologetic smile before she gathers her things and makes her way off of the coach.

When Naomi makes it outside, spying her mum waving frantically from beside her car, she takes a moment to look for Katie.

A tall man, who Naomi figures must be Mr. Fitch, is there waiting for her with a big grin, and Emily's already standing beside him, head tilted towards the floor.

He seems totally oblivious to the fact that his two daughters currently have a distance between them that is so much more than physical (Naomi can feel it from where she stands) and holds his arm out for Katie as permits him a brief hug.

"All right, love?" Naomi's mum says, suddenly beside her. "Oh, is that Katie's family?"

"Yeah. Some of them."

"Her sister doesn't look too happy. What's her name?"

"Emily," Naomi says, the word feeling almost painful in her throat. "She found out, you know. About us."

"Ah. And she didn't take it too well, then?" Gina rubs Naomi's arm sympathetically and Naomi's so tired she leans against her.

"Not really."

They watch as Katie turns before she gets into the car, Emily having gone around to get in the front seat. She stops as she opens the door, scanning the crowd until her eyes settle on Naomi.

It feels like there's no space between them for that moment, and Naomi's glad that her mum's got a hold of her because she's not sure she would be able to stop herself from running over to her.

When Katie waves at them though, and Gina waves back, Naomi feels like there was never any distance between them anyway.

They're linked together now. Whatever happens.

****

She stays up later than she should, drinking wine with her mum, just because she can't go to sleep until she's sure that Katie is okay.

Naomi wants to text her but she knows that Katie will get in contact as soon as she can but it doesn't stop her from checking her phone every few minutes anyway.

"You really like her, don't you love?" Gina says, topping up her glass.

"That obvious, is it?"

"Just a bit," she smiles. "And... this thing with her sister. Do you think it'll be a massive problem?"

Naomi sighs, swirling the wine around in her glass. "I don't know, Mum. Emily's... well, she's really lovely. But a bit intense, like... I don't fucking know. I think it was just a bit of a shock."

Her phone buzzes then and she reaches for it so quickly that she nearly spills her wine.

Fuck me, that was hard. Think it'll be okay though. Thanks for being lovely. xxx

Naomi lets out a shuddery breath as she works out a reply. There's not much she can say, especially when all she wants to do is to get Katie to come over and snuggle up into bed with her and make all of this go away until tomorrow, so she settles for something simple.

As she's pressing send, her mum pushes away from her seat and stands at Naomi's side, brushing a strand of hair away from her face and pressing a light kiss to her temple.

"It's never easy, is it? But if you care about each other you'll be okay. Emily will come around, you'll see."

"Thanks Mum," Naomi mutters, flicking her hair back around.

Gina heads to bed with the last of her wine, leaving Naomi to stare at her phone as she finishes her wine.

When it doesn't look like Katie's going to say anything else Naomi downs her drink swiftly and retreats to her room.

Tomorrow isn't that far away, she figures. She's just not sure what it's going to hold once it gets there.

****

It's probably the most awkward day of her entire school career to date as Naomi finds herself on edge for most of the morning.

She hasn't caught sight of either of the Fitches, and she wonders for a moment if they've actually managed to put each other in the hospital and the guilt is overwhelming until she realises that, actually, she's not that important to their lives really. Surely not enough to fight over like that.

It's the thought she returns to when, at break time, she's sitting on her (her and Emily's) usual bench and she looks up to see Katie and Emily walking directly towards her. A unified front - two redheads walking with intent and purpose.

Oh God, Naomi thinks. It's all over.

"Hi," Katie starts when they both stop in front of her.

"Hi." Naomi wishes she were standing because, for the first time, they both look so much taller than her and it's a bit intimidating.

"We wanted to talk to you. Well, Ems has something to say, actually."

Naomi can't read Katie's expression. She looks tired, like they've been up all night, and Naomi feels the guilt again for actually having found sleep herself.

"Right, okay," she says, putting down her sandwich.

"Yeah, listen," Emily starts with a sigh. "I'm sorry about yesterday. I just... I wasn't expecting it. But, it's okay now. I get it."

Naomi blinks, confused. Emily doesn't exactly look pleased about the situation but maybe her mum was right - maybe Emily has come around.

"You do?"

Emily sighs again and shakes her head even while she's saying, "Yeah. You're like... you're together. I just... well obviously I had no fucking idea that Katie even liked girls."

Katie clears her throat beside her sister, raising her eyebrows as Emily rolls her eyes.

"Sorry, that Katie likes you. Apparently there's a difference."

It's almost entertaining, watching them fumble their way through this. But then really not, because Naomi's palms are sweating and, despite Emily standing there saying that it's okay, Naomi's not sure that it's okay at all.

Katie seems pleased with Emily's apology and sits down next to Naomi in Emily's usual spot.

She takes Naomi's hand and she finds that it's a lot cooler than her own, like Katie's not shitting herself anymore.

"What Emily's trying to say is that she supports us, yeah? She's not, like, homophobic or whatever, we just surprised her. And," she says, looking up at Emily who's standing there watching them like she's been asked to support a plan to burn down the school library, but clearly Katie's either ignoring it or doesn't see it herself. "And you were right. I should have told her before. She's my sister, and I love her. It would have made things a lot easier."

Naomi holds in an I told you so and only nods dumbly as Katie turns back around to face her.

"Okay, well... thanks Emily. And, for what it's worth, I'm sorry too."

It's not until then that Emily starts to relax and her stance settles into something more like herself.

"Yeah well," she smirks. "Apparently you're a bit useless when it comes to knowing what to do around girls, so I can hardly blame you for this."

Katie laughs, and tells Naomi to budge up so Emily can sit on the other side of her.

It all feels incredibly stunted, the way they're all sat there, the twins passing cucumber and tomato back and forth across Naomi, settling into a conversation about how ridiculous their mum was this morning when they looked like they'd been awake for a week and she wanted to take them both to the doctors.

Naomi can't quite find it in herself to laugh along with them just yet. But, she thinks, there's time yet, as Katie slides an arm around her back, playing with the hem of her skirt.

She hasn't come between them, and that's the most important thing.

Katie's important to her, and, she's surprised to find, Emily is too. She just hopes that this is the last time they argue over something to do with her. It's got to be better, it's just got to be, now that it's all out in the open.

Chapter Five