Disclaimer: Skins doesn't belong to me, anyone fancy kidnapping JB and Bryan Elsley so that I can? ;-)

Author Note: A few ideas mixed together caused the creation of this. The first chapter is from Gina Campbell's POV, if you're unsure about that don't worry. It won't stay like that, it's merely the first chapter.

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It Ends Tonight

Gina was alone.

There was no choice to be made, no decision that caused the loneliness. It just was. During the week it didn't matter. At seven the alarm would go off, forcing her to wake up from whatever dreamland she had been in. That's if she'd been able to sleep that night; insomnia having only really been a problem when she was fresh out of university and everything was changing. Now, she was merely a mother without a daughter, the owner of a nest whose only other inhabitant had flown away. She was by definition alone and there wasn't a thing she could do about it.

So there she lay on a Sunday morning, staring around the faintly lit room wondering what she would do with her day. It wasn't an average Sunday, she remembered. The shops had been broadcasting it for weeks, she'd watched a news programme about the financial implications of such days and had spent an hour debating the morality of it with her good friend Keith. Yet despite the moral issue, she was on her own in a house that no longer saw the laughter of children, or even teenagers, on a day that was supposed to celebrate all mothers. She was still a mother, but without her daughter there, the day reverted back to an average Sunday where she called her own mother up, wished her well, listened to her moan about the state of the economy or the new Prime Minister and then what?

Breakfast was not in bed, it wasn't a lavish meal of eggs, bacon, sausage, tomatoes and hash browns. It was toast and a cup of regular tea (she'd ran out of her chamomile and hadn't found the time or the motivation to buy more) at the kitchen table, a newspaper her only source of conversation as she mumbled her disapproval towards that same new Prime Minister or the man who looked after the economy.

She considered calling her daughter, wondered if her daughter would call her. Didn't do anything about it mind. She was stubborn and so was Naomi. She wasn't the one who would break the ice and she suspected Naomi wouldn't be either.

A faint tapping on the front door drew Gina's attention away from the whistling kettle and out into the hallway. She stepped along the carpet, couldn't remember when the spring in the year-old flooring had vanished to make way for the flatter, less comfortable surface. She reached for the handle, pulled the door open readying herself to fight off the religious types who liked to interrupt her Sunday morning breakfast on a regular basis. But when the door fell completely open, she found her mouth opening in surprise.

'Emily.'

The red head looked up at her with a large smile, big enough to make Gina feel better. If she couldn't be with her daughter on Mother's Day, Emily Fitch was a close enough second. She was like a daughter to her; a beautiful, grown up young lady who actually liked spending time with her. Unlike Naomi. She was the daughter who went out of her way to visit, sending a brief text message when she got her exam results, again when she returned from her solo trip overseas. Gina was the first person she told about her new girlfriend and though it was sad knowing Emily was moving on from Naomi, she also felt relieved that she was getting on with life and not wallowing in everything she herself had pondered over repeatedly at three in the morning when insomnia got the better of her.

'Happy Mother's Day,' Emily smiled, following her into the kitchen.

Gina pulled out two mugs, reset the kettle to make sure it was hot enough and picked out the regular teabags that she didn't much care for. She turned around to ask Emily how she was, stopping short when she spotted the present wrapped on the table. Tears filled her eyes, a lump fixed in her throat until she swallowed it. It hurt to cry, to think of the lack of contact she had with Naomi, the missed opportunities to comfort her shattered daughter.

'Oh Emily,' it was also a beautiful gesture that made her heart swell for the girl she hadn't even given birth to.

'I thought you deserved a little something and I wasn't sure if Naomi would, I hope you don't mind.'

'You didn't need to,' Gina muttered, pressing fingers to a few stray tears. 'But thank you.'

The box was beautifully carved, oriental to the point of not being from the local area. Gina listened as Emily explained its Turkish roots and how it screamed her name the moment she set eyes on it. The regular teabags were quickly forgotten when Gina found an assortment of interesting and new blends from Tea Pigs inside the box.

'This is too much,' she gasped, pulling the smaller, slender girl into an embrace.

'Nothing's too much for you Gina,' Emily noted, patting her back before suggesting the Chocolate Flake Tea as a first choice to try.

*

Three different mugs of tea later, one abandoned, Gina and Emily had shared all the small talk they could muster. With only two very brief mentions of Naomi, there was now nothing left but to discuss the person between them they so often avoided talking about.

'Has she not called then?'

Gina shook her head, smiled to assure Emily she was okay before the questions started rolling in. Instead distracted herself with another variety of tea. Emily saw through it, closed the box before she could attempt to discuss it any longer.

'I thought you were the one not wanting to talk about my darling daughter,' Gina noted.

'She left me, I didn't stop loving her.'

The saddest truth of all lingered between them like an icy river keeping them apart. Gina knew what Emily said was the truth because she felt it too. Her daughter hadn't left her, not metaphorically, like she had Emily. Yet she still wasn't there, she'd still moved away in the hope of gaining clarity on her life.

'I know.'

They stayed silent for a while, the quiet contemplative silence allowing them to think about their losses and their gains. Emily's hand covered Gina's, squeezing it until their eyes locked and they shared a comforting smile. It was a smile of understanding, of two people who knew.

'I got a message last week, she's busy doing assignments and living life to the fullest, just like she always wanted.'

The countless times Gina had listened to her daughter rave about her future, her plans to go to university and find her place in the world, it never got tiring. Even now, hearing about it in hindsight, it still made her smile. She wanted to hate Naomi for the way things ended, for breaking Emily's heart, for the last time they saw each other. But she was her daughter. She just couldn't hate her.

Emily smiled, squeezed her hand again. 'That's good.'

'So, what do you have planned for the rest of the day?' Gina cleared her throat, returned her hand to her mug of tea and set about clearing up the crockery. 'Don't expect you to spend the whole thing with me.'

'Oh, not very much,' Emily sighed, putting the remainder of the regular teabags back into the cupboard.

Gina raised an eyebrow, staring at Emily with contention. 'Not very much?'

Emily shrugged. 'Just family stuff.'

'You can tell me you're going to spend the rest of your day with your mum,' Gina rolled her eyes, reprimanding her second daughter without a moments thought.

'I know.'

'Emily, you don't need to wrap me up in biodegradable cotton wool. I'm okay.'

Emily nodded. 'I'm having drinks with my parents and then Katie, mum and I are going out for dinner.'

'Just the girls, well that'll be lovely.'

'You should come,' Emily smiled, nodding along to her rash decision. 'I'm sure Katie won't mind and mum, well, she'll be okay.'

'Nonsense, it's Mother's Day. Not Mother's and random older women day,' Gina noted, running the cold tap and washing her hands. 'I've not yet had the pleasure of meeting your mother, but I know for a fact she wouldn't approve of me being anywhere near her.'

'If you're sure,' Emily trailed off.

Gina picked up the wooden box, placed it beside the kettle and ran her fingers across the oriental markings. She did love her new tea box and the luscious smells housed inside of it.

'You should go,' Gina assured Emily. 'Thank you for the lovely morning and for the box. We should do this again sometime, drink tea.'

Once Emily had left, after a few more minutes of disagreement, Gina returned to the kitchen and her newspaper. A number of mug shaped brown rings marked the front page, soaking through a couple of sheets. She flicked through to the page she'd been on earlier in the day. The article was rather drab and boring, she gave up after only a couple of lines in order to find the crossword. She wasn't the most intelligent of people, yet she still liked a good Sunday newspaper crossword to keep her brain alive. Much better than those damn sudoku, she told herself, can never get anywhere with them.

A light tapping on the front door pulled her from her paper again. Gina rolled her eyes, muttering her disapproval at the disruption, glancing over her shoulder in search of the room

'Don't tell me you forgot,' Gina began, her voice breaking up as a second visitor appeared on her doorstep.

'Not gonna let me in?' the tall girl asked after a moment longer waiting on the doorstep.

The voice was like music to Gina's ears, the blonde hair hanging loosely around her daughter's shoulders. It was even longer than it had been a few months earlier. She took a deep breath, tried to swallow the ever larger lump in her throat, giving in as tears slid down her cheeks. Naomi shrugged her shoulders, staring at her with confusion and worry until Gina wrapped her arms around her, pulled her into the house, into her arms. This, she thought, is the best Mother's Day present ever.

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