Disclaimer: I do not own Skins, please don't rub it in. :-(

Author Note: I was going to save starting this until after Christmas, more fool me, I can never let go that much. Haha. Excuse the pun. This sequel will hopefully allow for more development character wise. I'm really excited to share it with you actually. Emily is a little idea-less so if anyone has any thoughts where they're interested in any of the storylines/characters going, feel free to share. Also, voting is still something you can do in this story! :-D Enjoy.

I've been making a Skins advent calendar which I've been putting a new picture/caption up every day - if you want to have a look it's on my website, link in my profile. :-)

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Carry Me Away

Chapter One: When The Sun Came Up

A stinging pain settled on Naomi's knuckles, deep red gashes lay across each bump, contributing to the pain. She stared at her hand, carefully brushed her other fingers against the injury until a voice pulled her from her daze.

'Someone will interview you shortly, I'll get someone to have a look at your hand too.'

Naomi nodded, jumping at the sound of the door closing behind her. She turned around, watched the small flap shut and she was left alone. She let her injured hand fall to her side, her other one reaching up to her cheeks to wipe the stray tears strolling down her face as she closed her eyes.

'Save our store, stop global business, save our store, stop global business.'

The last hour was imprinted in her mind. The protest; the shouting of each pre-determined line, the cheering along to the leader of the group, punching the guard who tried to stop them, just in time for the police to arrive and arrest anyone causing trouble.

She stared around the tiny cell. The walls were grey, looked like they needed a good paint job. A bench big enough to lie on sat against the wall, looking uncomfortable and uninviting thanks to a number of stains discolouring the plain surface. A pungent smell filled Naomi's lungs, made her insides contract until she felt sickly. She didn't know how long she was going to be in there, didn't want to think about how late she was going to be. She analysed the bench again, searching for the least disgusting patch upon which she perched, with the hope of resting her tired legs. She turned over her wrist, glanced at the time which only made her head begin to pound.

'Christ,' she called out, pressing her lips together and sliding the fresh tears from her cheeks.

As the minutes drew on, no sign of someone coming to talk to her, Naomi's mind wandered. She couldn't stop the unwanted thoughts of Emily's rejection nearly four months earlier, or the meltdown she'd suffered because of it. She tried to forget it, to push the thoughts out of her mind. But they were quickly replaced by thoughts of her mother; of Gina still wanting to marry Emily's dad. Knowing that soon enough they'd be married, and Naomi wouldn't be able to hide from Emily any longer, made the tears come down faster. Naomi covered her eyes, trying to forget that conversation she'd had with her mum barely a week after she got engaged.

'I was going to go see Rob, do you want to come?'

'Oh,' Naomi had replied. 'No.'

Gina had perched on the edge of her bed, looking sadly at her daughter. 'I know this isn't easy Naomi.'

'He's your fiancé,' she'd muttered, knowing the importance of that fact. 'What can I do?'

'If this really makes a difference then maybe we could slow things down until you and Emily make peace.'

She didn't think that would be possible then; knew that Emily wanted to be friends but nothing more. Naomi had tried to believe that things would work out, had hoped that Emily would have come around to tell her she'd changed her mind. Or that her feelings would have disappeared and she could handle just being friends. No such luck. In the end Naomi had avoided her at all costs, was thankful that Emily didn't return to college until after Christmas. Even begged Gina to spend Christmas Day just the two of them to avoid having to see Emily.

'No,' Naomi had told her, not wanting to be the cause of any problems. 'You love him, you should get married.'

'What if I want to wait?'

It was commendable, the way Gina wanted to fix things, to make everything easier for Naomi. But she'd spent seventeen years giving up her life to be her mother. Naomi knew then that it was time to let Gina have a life of her own. Even if that life meant Naomi had to face Emily.

'You don't, you know that as well as I do. You and Rob are going to get married in March like you're planning to.'

Gina had patted the duvet where Naomi's leg was, a comforting gesture that made Naomi smile. 'Yes, well, I don't mind changing it for you.'

'No,' she had been adamant, didn't want to ruin her mother's chances. 'It's your wedding day mum, you should enjoy it.'

The gold watch on her wrist read twelve-forty. Naomi's heart beat faster and her tears didn't subside. They were just twenty minutes away from her recent actions impacting on her mother, would stop her from being at the wedding when it was the most important day in Gina's life. She felt guilty, regretted going to the protest at all, but more than anything, regretted not accepting Gina's offer to push the wedding back.

*

The white dress hugged Gina's figure, emphasising her assets and making her dazzling smile look brighter. Katie let her lips curl at the edges, smiling up at the woman who was an hour away from becoming her step-mother.

'You look fantastic,' she grinned, tugging on a loose strand of hair to neaten it up.

Gina beamed back. 'Thank you Katie love.'

Everything was perfect. Rob was at home with his brother and dad getting ready, whilst Gina was assisted by Katie, Emily and her hairdressing friend. It was only a small ceremony, but Katie was happy to be there, was over the moon that Gina had wanted her to be standing up at the front with Emily and Naomi. It made her feel part of the family.

'You look amazing Gina,' Emily called as she entered the room, hoping her smile would be enough to make the blushing bride happy.

Gina just stared at her, cautiously. 'Where is she?'

'I don't know,' Emily sighed. 'She won't answer my calls, but that's not unusual at the moment.'

Emily rested a hand on Gina's shoulder, squeezing it gently as she let a sympathetic smile creep across her lips. She wished there was more she could do, wished there was a way to find Naomi and bring her back in time for the ceremony.

'I'll try,' Katie muttered, taking the house phone off Emily.

It took a few deep breaths for Emily to calm down as she watched Katie take control of the situation. They were very rarely forced together, required to spend time in the same space. Even at college, Katie and Naomi seemed to eat lunch separate to the rest of the group. She wasn't used to such close contact anymore, wasn't used to having to make small talk with the girl who was genetically her sister.

'No luck,' Katie informed Gina, to which the woman bent over, rubbing her eyes.

'Careful you don't smudge your make up,' Emily called, trying her best to be there for Gina.

Katie glanced from Emily to Gina. 'It's fine, we can re-do it.'

It had never been Katie's intention for her relationship with Emily to be even worse than it had been before they found out. She wasn't trying to avoid her, was simply being a good friend to Naomi who didn't seem to want to spend any time in her presence. She didn't understand the situation fully, just knew she couldn't force anything with Emily, until Emily made it clear that it was okay.

'You really shouldn't upset yourself though,' Emily tried, couldn't let Katie have the last word. 'Naomi will make it, she knows how important this is to you.'

Katie counted to ten, could see that Emily was fighting with her for attention, for whatever reason she didn't know. All she knew was that she didn't want to get into something, didn't want to make the competition that Emily seemed to have, become important when the only important thing was their dad's wedding.

'You really do look amazing Gina,' Katie smiled, pulling a make-up wipe out of a packet and cleaning up the smudged mascara.

Emily sent a glare towards Katie, before turning her attention to Gina. 'Would you like some champagne to settle your nerves?'

Gina nodded. 'That would be lovely, thanks.'

*

'Naomi, wherever you are, can you give me a call or better still, turn up!'

Gina paced back and forth across the front steps of the registry office. To say she was nervous was an understatement; she was a mess. It wasn't marrying Rob that was the problem, she was happy about it, more than happy and ready. There was only one person she wanted to be there other than her husband-to-be and that one person wasn't.

'Dad's inside, he says he doesn't mind waiting a bit longer until,' Emily exited the building, stopping when she saw the pained look on Gina's face. 'She didn't answer, did she?'

'This isn't like Naomi,' Katie muttered.

'Actually, it's exactly like Naomi.'

The perplexed stares from Katie and Emily were the last thing Gina needed. Her head was throbbing and she felt a migraine creeping up on her. Tears stung her eyes, which she held back. She wasn't going to cry again, she wasn't going to let it bother her.

'Did she tell you where she was going?' Katie checked.

Gina rolled her eyes, 'If she'd told me, would I be stood here waiting for her?'

Katie looked taken aback, which made Gina feel guilty. 'I'm just trying to help.'

'I know, I'm sorry,' Gina muttered. 'I woke up this morning and she had already left the house.'

Fifteen minutes passed. All Gina could do was search the street, hoping and begging that Naomi would turn up. There was no sign of her. Her nerves were wavering thin, her tears very close to falling once more.

'Any luck?'

Rob's voice filled the silence. Katie and Emily just shook their heads as Gina turned around, wrapped her arms around his neck and thanked him for being there. A layer of tears blurred her vision, but she didn't care. Being in Rob's arms was enough comfort.

'Maybe something's happened,' Rob suggested, holding Gina at arms length so that he could look into her eyes. 'I know she'd want to be here.'

'If she wanted to be here, then why isn't she?' Gina snapped, wiping her eyes and taking a deep breath.

'What do you want to do?'

Gina stared up at the sky. 'I don't know.'

The registrar wasn't willing to wait around forever, Gina knew that. She allowed Rob to take here inside where they sat together, their fingers interlinked between them. She prayed that Naomi would turn up, hoped that it wouldn't be long before Emily or Katie would come into the room with Naomi, or news of her whereabouts. In the end the registrar joined them, informed them they had just five minutes until they had to postpone.

'I'm so sorry Gina,' Emily informed her. 'She's still not here.'

'I phoned the hospitals, but she's not there,' Katie stated, sharing a sympathetic smile with Emily.

Gina nodded her head and maintained her composure. 'I guess there's nothing more we can do.'

'Does this mean we can get married?' Rob asked, sandwiching her hands between both of his.

Getting married had never been a major life goal. Gina prided herself on her independence and ability to live life without a man in it. She enjoyed the company of men, but she'd never needed someone as much as she needed Rob. The most important thing had been marrying him, showing her commitment to him in front of their family. It broke her heart to say it, knew it was breaking Rob's too when he narrowed his eyes.

'You don't want to marry me?'

'I can't do this without Naomi, I can't.'

Rob nodded. 'I understand.'

He didn't understand, that much was obvious. He looked just as broken. Gina regretted doing it, but there was no other way. She gave Katie and Emily a hug, thanked them for all of their hard work in trying to track down Naomi. Eventually she turned to Rob, slid her arms around his waist and held him for a while.

'We can rearrange, we'll get married another day.'

There wasn't much more to be said. Rob simply nodded, wrapping his arm around Emily as she comforted him. Gina hitched up the hem of her dress and walked out of the registry office. Rob called after her, begged her not to go, but she couldn't stand the thought of spending the day with him when she couldn't become his wife.

*

The interview didn't last long. Naomi didn't care that she was admitting to a crime, she was too distracted, too focused on what she was missing by being there. She needed to get out and quick.

'Do you understand?' the police officer asked.

'I can go?' she questioned, a bit too enthusiastically.

'Miss Campbell, I hope you understand the seriousness of this incident. The man you assaulted is fine but if he'd sustained a more serious injury, you could have been in a lot of trouble.'

'I know,' Naomi sighed. 'Can I go now? I'm late for my mum's wedding.'

'I'm sorry but we have to complete your paperwork first, it's going to take a few more minutes.'

Naomi raised her voice. 'I don't have a few more minutes, I'm already half an hour late!'

'Miss Campbell, this is a police station not a fast food restaurant. Sit down and we'll call you when we're ready.'

Naomi let out a long, deep breath, lowering herself into a chair in the waiting room. She watched a number of officers arrive with people in handcuffs. She subconsciously rubbed her wrists, remembering hours earlier when the metal bars wrapped around her own. The clock on the wall ticked by slowly, the hands now approaching two in the afternoon. A lump formed in Naomi's throat.

'Naomi Campbell?'

She stood up, stepped towards the desk where she signed a piece of paper. She tucking her lip nervously under her tooth.

'Do you know how long weddings take?'

The officer frowned. 'No more than half an hour if it's a civil service.'

'Christ,' Naomi sighed, rubbing her temples and taking a number of deep breaths.

The spring sun shone overhead as Naomi wandered out of the police station. She couldn't believe the time, couldn't believe she'd missed her mother's wedding for something so stupid. It was a beautiful day, a perfect day to get married. She pressed her lips together, tried to push away the onset of tears as she reached the front of the station.

'Hope you got away with it,' a voice called out, making Naomi turn around.

'They didn't charge me if that's what you mean,' she replied, falling into step beside the girl.

'I'm sorry, if I didn't invite you to this protest you wouldn't have got arrested.'

'It's not your fault Fem, I'm a big girl. I can miss my own mother's wedding all by myself.'

'Your mum's wedding was today?'

Naomi nodded, couldn't handle vocalising what she'd done. It hurt too much to think about. It hurt even more when she realised she was relieved that she didn't have to spend the afternoon with Emily. She'd made a mistake, a massive mistake that had impacted not only on her own life, but her mum's. She could have been in the station overnight, she could have been charged, she could have a criminal record. The whole thing was too much to comprehend.

'It's okay,' Fem muttered, her hand slipping into Naomi's with a gentle squeeze. 'She'll forgive you.'

Naomi shook her head. 'She's never been married before Fem, how can she forgive me for not being there?'

The girl's blonde hair blew about in the wind, she tugged it into a hair tie to stop it from getting in her face. Naomi stared at her, watched as she pulled a couple of strands of her purple highlights out until they sat neatly on top of the blonde. Naomi was relieved she was there, relieved to have someone with her when she was feeling so rotten.

'Come on, lets go back to mine, I've got a bottle of vodka with your name on it.'

A quick glance at her watch told Naomi it was nearly forty five minutes since the ceremony began. She'd missed it. There was no way she could take that back. She wondered if she should turn up to the reception, but realised there was no point. It would only make things worse. They needed to celebrate, to have a good party and if she turned up, she knew it would only cause problems.

'Okay, lets go.'

The university halls were only small, big enough for a single bed and not much else. Naomi didn't mind, she just wanted to get out of the cool breeze, wanted to get some alcohol into her body so that she could forget the disastrous day.

'You should think about applying here when you fill in your uni application,' Fem suggested, opening a bottle and handing it to Naomi.

Naomi took a long swig, relishing the burning sensation in the back of her throat. 'Maybe I will.'

'You'll be president of Student Union in no time.'

Laughter fell from Naomi's lips as she sat down beside Fem, handing her the bottle. 'Not sure about that.'

'Why not? You've got that stubborn political mind that's needed to fight for the things that matter.'

After a heated discussion on the ability to become Student President, Naomi lay backwards on the bed, enjoying the buzz she'd got from the alcohol. Fem lay beside her, their arms touching until Fem's fingers interlinked with Naomi's. She felt a chill run down her spine, bit her lip as the pale girl turned onto her side, leaning in so close that Naomi could feel her breath.

'Thanks for today,' Naomi whispered. 'I needed the distraction.'

'I can be more than a distraction,' Fem grinned, pushing her bright red lips against Naomi's, waiting for Naomi to react before sliding her tongue between her lips and deepening the kiss.

*

As soon as they arrived back at the house, Emily wrapped her arms around her dad's waist and waited for him to return the favour. When he didn't and instead pulled away, she felt her emotions waver.

'Dad?' she tried, wanting nothing more than to comfort her father.

'Do you need anything?' Katie asked him, pulling out a mug from the cupboard. 'Cup of tea?'

Rob smiled an awkward smile. 'Cuppa would be great, thanks.'

It wasn't a rejection of Emily, she knew it wasn't a rejection of her. It was just a bad situation. She didn't like to make it about her, but she couldn't help wonder why her dad didn't want her hug.

'I'll make it,' Emily muttered, taking the tea bags out of the cupboard and opening the box. 'I know how he likes it.'

Katie frowned at Emily, could sense the competitiveness creeping up once more. She took a deep breath, wanted to tell her that she also knew how their dad drank tea, but decided against it. Instead she sat down at the table and sorted a small pile of letters.

'I might give the tea a miss actually love,' Rob whispered, looking less than interested in anything going on in front of him.

'It's almost ready now.'

'I think I'm just going to go work out.'

Katie stood up, dropping the letters back into a pile. 'Do you want some company?'

'Yeah, maybe we could go for a walk?' Emily asked, smiling, her grin turning to a smirk as she glanced at Katie.

It felt rather childish and pathetic, the way Emily was fighting with her for attention. It made the whole thing feel uncomfortable, something that Katie didn't like. She hated to feel uncomfortable in any situation, wished that Emily would see that she didn't need to act that way.

'No thanks girls, I'd like to be alone.'

Rob loved the fact his girls cared, would have happily gone for a walk with Emily or worked out with Katie by his side. He wasn't really in the mood for company though. If he was honest, he wasn't in the mood to work out. The thought of being anywhere but his garage made him think of Gina, made him think of Naomi and what had happened. He forced a smile onto his lips, just to let them know he was doing okay, before he opened the garage door and left them alone.

'Nice one Katie,' Emily scoffed. 'He wanted to be alone, couldn't you see that?'

Katie rolled her eyes. 'You suggested going for a walk, he doesn't even like walking.'

'Yes he does!' Emily snapped. 'We always go walking together.'

'He prefers to run though.'

Being told what her dad liked or didn't like infuriated Emily. More so when it was Katie telling her. She didn't know where it came from, couldn't understand her desire to know more.

'I've known him a lot longer than you have Katie, I think I know what he likes.'

The last thing Katie wanted was to get into a fight with Emily, especially when Rob needed them to support him. She bit her lip, tried to stop herself from responding so that she could think of something else to say.

'Is it alright if I watch TV, or were you going to use the lounge?'

Emily shrugged, hadn't had any plans really. They were supposed to be at the labour club, celebrating the wedding in the function room. They were supposed to have plans that didn't involve sitting around watching television.

'Do you think she's okay?' Emily whispered, talking about not just Gina, but Naomi too.

Katie tilted her head. 'I hope she is.'

They shared a small smile, a tiny offering that made Katie smile even bigger on the inside. She hadn't been able to get close enough to Emily to learn more about her, but Rob talked about her a lot. His stories always made her smile, always gave her an idea about what her sister was like when she wasn't acting like a bitch. For the first time she was seeing the Emily that Rob talked about, the girl that he said cared about people even when they were having problems, something which Katie had never witnessed before. Katie nodded her head as she left the room and even though she didn't want to watch television she did so anyway, because she didn't know what else to do with herself.

*

The streets were dark by the time Naomi arrived home. When she pushed her key into the lock, she imagined her mother and Rob dancing the night away, wished she'd gone along to the reception even if it was going to cause a stir. She walked through the house, hanging her jacket up in the cupboard before heading for the kitchen. When she turned the light on she almost jumped out of her skin.

'Mum? Why aren't you at the reception?'

The whole thing came as quite a surprise, which was why she asked the question, didn't realise until Gina spoke, that it was a stupid question to ask.

'I was going to ask you the same.'

'I,' Naomi whispered, her voice failing before being quickly overshadowed by Gina's.

'It was my wedding Naomi,' she shouted, standing up, her wedding dress still wrapped neatly around her body. 'It was my fucking wedding, do you understand how important this day was to me?'

'I know,' Naomi cried, biting her lip to stop the tears from falling. 'I didn't mean to miss it.'

'You didn't.'

'What do you mean?' Naomi asked, confused by the harsh tone of Gina's voice.

'We didn't get married.'

Naomi's heart dropped, everything she thought had happened, hadn't and she knew, without being told, that it was because of her. She dropped into a chair, couldn't cope with standing any longer.

'Where were you?' Gina asked, her voice small but sharp.

'I went to a protest, I got caught up,' Naomi replied, scared to admit the truth.

Looking into her mother's eyes she could see the disappointment, the sorrow. It was difficult to stare into her eyes, but Naomi couldn't tear her gaze away. Until Gina pressed the button on the answer phone.

'Miss Campbell, this is Sergeant Smith from Avon and Somerset Police. We brought your daughter in concerning an incident at a protest.'

The message cut off when Gina pressed the button again. Naomi closed her eyes, could feel the tears sliding down her cheeks as she hid her eyes with her hands. She rested her head against the table, didn't want to face the world, even though she knew there would be no choice. Not when Gina was stood in the kitchen, on her wedding day, still wearing her wedding dress.

'I don't know what's happened to you recently Naomi,' Gina whispered.

Naomi sobbed into her arms. 'I'm so sorry.'

Gina took a deep breath. Naomi couldn't see her, but she could hear her moving. She felt her walk past her towards the door, knew she was going to leave because Gina didn't do confrontation well. Not when it effected her personally. It was hard to listen, hard to know what was going to happen, but what was even harder was Gina's voice sounding so broken.

'So am I.'

Chapter One Voting Options:

Twins 1) Emily struggles with how she feels when Katie gets through to Rob.

Twins 2) Katie struggles with how she feels when Emily lets slip how close her and Naomi became

Naomi 1) Emily's attempt to confront Naomi about the wedding is disrupted when Emily catches her in a compromising position

Naomi 2) Naomi struggles to reconcile with Gina when she realises she's less than forgiving

TO HAVE YOUR SAY, REVIEW WITH YOUR CHOICES!