A/N – So this is the first time I have ever done anything like this but after discovering Skins a couple of months ago and discovering the wonderful and colorful world of fanfiction, I simply had to try my hand in it! Tried to find a setting I hadn't seen before, which, honestly, is hard since there are so many great stories out there…

I do not, nor will I ever, own Skins…

Chapter 1

Naomi's POV

"Right!" Kieran exclaimed somewhat enthusiastically, "it's that time of the year again, so let's just all work together and try and make it go smoothly this time round, yeah?"

I stopped myself from giving my stepdad a small smile and instead noticed how his smile faltered as he looked expectantly at me and the other employees gathered in the small meeting room of the museum. I loved the guy but he was not the most inspiring leader to have ever lived. Of course, in all fairness, there was nothing exciting about the next few weeks and we all knew it. Every summer, the museum had a six week excavation period where volunteers, mostly pensioners and teenagers, joined in on the ultimate fun that was archaeology. Basically, the pensioners, or dinosaurs as I liked to call them, sat around drinking coffee and bringing home-baked goods for all of us (not that that part was so bad) and on the rare occasion, some of them would actually take photographs or draw profiles of a postholes. Christ, the postholes! Is there anything more exciting than a good 'ole posthole? Short answer here would be YES! Before Mum met Kieran, I was living in blissful ignorance of the world of postholes. He came to Bristol five years ago to consult on an ongoing excavation and my Mum was working at a little deli next to the excavation site. Naturally, it was love at first sight and after a whirlwind romance I was swept away to live in this dump. Okay, so it's not a total dump, it is quite charming and peaceful but when you've just turned 14, a charming, quiet, seaside village isn't really what you're dreaming of. Jesus, I miss those pre-posthole days…

"Ah, Naomi!" Kieran brought me out of my daydreaming of the good 'ole days in Bristol. "Being the youngest here, I thought you might feel up to the challenge of showing the teens the ropes? Unless of course, someone else would like to volunteer?" he asked hopefully and looked around the room. I shot him an annoyed look and pursed my lips. This was the absolute worst task and we all knew it. I glanced around at the others who were either finding their shoes or hands extremely interesting all of a sudden or were straight up smirking at me, the wankers.

"Fuck it", I answered and got to my feet from my sitting position on one of the tables. "I'll do it, take one for the team and all that. How many this year?"

"Only four I'm afraid." Kieran actually sounded a little upset. Personally, I thought four was four too many. You see, the teenagers, the "volunteers" were usually not from around here. They were part of a program where you got the chance to work on a dig and gain experience in case you wanted to join the fantastically interesting world of archaeology but mostly, it looked really good when applying for work or uni. And let's face it THAT was why teenagers came here out of their own free will. In the five years I had worked on these digs with volunteer teenagers, maybe one or two had actually been truly interested in what was going on. I, of course, had been no more interested during the first year than any of the other kids and I was technically too young to be on the dig at the time, so I only got to do simple stuff. The second year, I had just turned 16 and was allowed near the machines and the actual work. And somehow, somewhere during that second summer, I actually started to find things fascinating. In hindsight, it might have had something to do with finding a 2000-year old skeleton all by myself. That was kinda cool and both Mum and Kieran had been so proud they were practically glowing. Plus, that summer I got paid for the work I did…

Kieran handed me clipboard with a list of names and went through the different stations I was to show them during the first week. I already knew the drill of course, having done this for years but this was the first time I was in charge of the group and I was feeling a little anxious. I knew these were kids who had either just finished or were starting their second year of college. Reminding myself of the fact that they were a year or two younger than me made some of the nervousness recede. He wished me good luck with a weird look on his face, sympathy perhaps, and patted me gently on the shoulder. I sighed as he hurried away and shook my head as I walked towards the main building where the assembly of teens and dinosaurs were waiting.

"Ah, speak of the devil!" Doug, the museum inspector said, smiling eagerly, "I was just explaining to these fine young people that you are our proudest product and would take great care of them". I smiled shyly as the dinosaurs all gave me pleasant smiles and nods acknowledging Doug's compliment.

"Hello everyone! I'm Naomi, as Doug might have mentioned and I will be helping some of you getting settled here." Believing I actually pulled off sounding confident AND enthusiastic, I continued, "so, when I call your name, please come and stand by me." I looked down at the list of names and read the first name out loud, "Jonah J. Jones?" A shy-looking boy with a head full of curly, unruly dark-brown hair raised his hand like he was at assembly and walked up to me.

He looked at me and smiled, "You can call me JJ, all my friends call me JJ" he stated proudly but then his resolve faltered and he started to ramble, "not that I am insinuating that you and I are friends, in fact, I realize that you are in fact an authority figure and as such, I would never presume that we were equal and now, I have already messed up and I haven't even started working yet and.."

"JJ!" I said sternly and placed my hand on his left shoulder, squeezing it slightly. He stopped his rambling and blinked intensely as he met my eye. "It's nice to meet you", I simply said and gave him a bright smile. That made him relax and he smiled back shyly. I returned to the list and called the next name. "Katie Fitch?" A small brunette inappropriately wearing high heels and a little too much makeup considering that she was going to be spending the next six weeks digging and transporting dirt, sashayed, yes sashayed her way up to where JJ and I were standing.

"Present." She simply stated and raised an indifferent eyebrow as I tried to give her an earnest smile. I could already tell she was going to be a handful.

"Next, Elisabeth Stonem?"

"Effy", a raspy voice called out somewhat indifferently as a young woman walked up and stood next to JJ, hooking his arm with hers. I cast a curious look at her and was met by a pair of beautiful blue eyes slightly darker than my own. There was a slight challenge in her eyes, as if to say that I shouldn't expect her to present herself to me in any way, shape or form, in other words not acknowledging my seniority. However, there was nothing hostile in her challenging gaze which kind of made me respect her a little.

Back to the list then and surprisingly, another Fitch appeared. Sisters? Cousins? Surely Fitch wasn't that common a name. "Right then, last but not least, Emily Fitch?" I asked and lifted my gaze, curious to see if there was any obvious family resemblance. A petit redhead appeared from behind a large male dinosaur and looked very cautious as she walked towards us. She seemed the polar opposite to the other Fitch who had a simmer of confidence about her but aside from that, they looked very similar. I didn't really get a good look at her face until she was standing right in front of me and looked up to meet my eyes. I instantly felt myself drown in the most beautifully dark pair of hazel-eyes I had ever seen. They were warm and full of excitement but still seemed to express a vulnerability and shyness that wanted me to wrap her in my arms and protect her from the world. I stood there, speechless and probably gawking while thinking; shit, shit, shit! over and over again.

"Hi, Naomi", she said in a small, yet husky voice and I was utterly mesmerized. Shit, shit shit! Without braking eye contact I swallowed hard, tried to smile and gestured that she should join what was obviously her twin sister, JJ and Effy. She held my gaze for what felt like forever but in truth was probably no more than a few seconds before giving me the cutest little crooked half-smile and retreating to her sister's side. I followed her with my eyes as she walked away and caught myself staring once again. Christ Naomi, pull yourself together! I couldn't though and was still staring at Emily when Doug came to my rescue.

"Right then, now that you are all acquainted, welcome to the Ogmore-by-Sea Pre-historic Museum summer excavation!" Doug proclaimed and led the dinosaurs into the actual museum grounds for a lengthy tour, leaving me alone with the teenagers. Katie had gotten her iPhone out and looked out of place and bored already. JJ was gazing lovingly at Effy, who still had her arm hooked with his but was smirking at me with an odd, questioning look in her eye. What's that about? Emily's eyes had thankfully retreated to the floor as she once again seemed timid, standing slightly behind her twin sister. I let out a silent sigh and faced the group.

"Our first stop is to the changing rooms and once everyone is dressed appropriately", I emphasized the word and let my eyes drift to Katie before continuing, "we will jump in the van and visit the site itself. Sound good?" I didn't actually wait for anyone to reply and simply started walking towards the common dressing room. I did however overhear Katie incredulously asking Emily what the hell I meant by appropriately, claiming that she looked fucking fantastic and that the blond bitch didn't know what she was talking about…

The excavation site was a ten minute drive south of the museum, on a hill overlooking the sea. A farmer living on the outskirts of the field we were in had opened his home and thankfully his bathroom to us for the full six weeks. As I explained this to the group on the way there, Katie gasped in horror at the idea of otherwise having to pee in a port-a-potty and made a point of thanking the old farmer heartedly when I introduced the gang. I was happy to see a softer, less aggressive side of Katie and was starting to hope that this wouldn't be a disaster after all. That is, until we started to ascend the steep hill and she fell back, constantly complaining and out of breath. JJ and Effy were trailing shortly behind me as I set a steady pace and I was surprised to see that Emily had left Katie's side and was running to catch up to me. The sight of her running towards me with an excited look on her face made my heart literally skip a beat and I couldn't help but smile. What are you doing? I asked myself. You don't even know this girl!

Emily walked next to me for a while and I was finding it difficult to start up a conversation. Luckily, she came to my rescue.

"Sorry about Katie." She said exasperated. "I don't think she was expecting to actually have to do any work", she explained.

I gave her a curious look. "And exactly what was she expecting then?"

Emily gave a little laugh and replied, "I'm not sure. She saw some pretty pictures of beaches and shirtless boys digging holes in the ground and thought this would be a great idea…"

"Is that why you came along too?"

She looked horrified and quickly answered, "No! No, this was my idea from the beginning. I'm the history-fanatic and thought it would be fun…" She looked down towards Katie. "I also thought I would get to spend 6 weeks alone, but alas, she saw the brochure and boys, etc. etc. and here we are". She gasped and her hand went up to cover her mouth, realizing that she just badmouthed her twin. "I'm sorry, that was completely inappropriate for me to say! Really, I love my sister. It's great that she's here with me. Please don't tell her I said anything!" She looked absolutely terrified and therefore, absolutely adorable.

I laughed and shook my head. "It's okay Emily, I will keep schtum." She sent me a shy smile that I couldn't help but return. "Besides, part of my job is to keep you safe, so I guess that includes protecting you from the wrath of your sister." She sent me an even bigger smile and I think I actually felt my heart melt a little. Jesus Christ, Naomi. I cleared my throat and realized we had finally reached the top of the hill. I stopped and waited for the others to join us.

"We started excavating this hill site last year, thinking that it wouldn't take longer than the summer". I smiled warmly at them and particularly at Emily. "Obviously, we were wrong and we kept discovering new buildings or graves that kept us intrigued." Katie rolled her eyes as I said the word intrigued and I was actually starting to lose my patience with her. Effy looked as indifferent as she had from the start but JJ had let go of her arm and was gazing hungrily at the site. Clearly, he was eager to literally get his hands dirty.

I gave them a quick tour of the old sites and tried to describe what the site had actually looked like 2000 years ago. It was the same speech I had given visitors during last summer's dig and I noticed that Effy's indifference becoming less prominent as I was describing the beautiful gravesite we had found. I didn't quite know what to make of the girl since she had this whole mystery-thing going for her, but something about that gravesite had caught her interest, that much I was sure of. JJ seemed to suck everything in and sometimes even made correct remarks regarding Celtic culture, which naturally surprised me. We were nearing the new site and I paused to go through some safety measures regarding the machines when someone jumped me from behind.

"Blondie!" Cook yelled way too close to my ear as he jumped on my back, laughing.

"Jesus Christ, Cook!" I shook him off me and gave him a stern look and rubbed the ear he had shouted in. He grinned at me and pulled me into his arms, hugging me so tight I could hardly breathe.

He must have noticed the group because he let me go and turned to them, being his most charming self. "Well hello there, lovely ladies" he said and gave them one of his dazzling, naughty smiles. Seeing JJ, he winked and quickly added, "and lad!"

I rolled my eyes and turned back to the group. Katie was eyeing Cook like he was a piece of meat and giggling suggestively as he shook her hand and introduced himself. Effy was aloof and seemingly immune to Cook's infectious good mood but shook his hand nonetheless. JJ got his hair ruffled after greeting Cook and didn't really seem to mind the slightly patronizing gesture. Cook greeted Emily last and I was surprised to see her shoot him an angry look. This of course only made Cook pull the back of her hand up to his lips and give it a quick kiss as he winked at her. This seemed to lessen her irritation and she smiled shyly and looked down at her boots.

I sighed but smiled affectionately at Cook. "This is James Cook, otherwise known as Cook, the Cookiemonster or Tosser, as I personally like to call him." He grabbed his chest with both hands and feigned hurt at my last remark. "This will mark his fourth summer with us and he is among other things, working the machines." I smiled slyly and continued, "He is also head of our welcoming committee which you will all likely discover soon." I winked at him and he tilted his head back and laughed. I do love his laugh.

I sent JJ and, reluctantly, Emily with Cook to get an introduction to working alongside the machines and spent the rest of the morning in the delightful company of Katie Fitch and Effy Stonem.

So! What did you think? If you feel for it, I would truly appreciate any type of feedback. Next chapter is written and waiting to be uploaded..