A/N

This is my first attempt at writing a fanfic and second attempt at writing a story, ever! So I'm a bit nervous but hopefully it's good. The story line is a bit weird so far but I wanted to do something different, there is an actual contiki tour named 'winter wanderer' but I'm not going to follow it religiously, I'll probably just make shit up as I go to be honest, I would really like to do it next year though! Anyway I don't want to ramble on so I'll just say this, I've never been overseas, I've never even been on a plane so I'm apologising in advance for getting anything wrong such as locations.

I don't know where I'm taking this story but bare with me and it will be great (hopefully). Reviews and comments? Pleaseeeeeeee =D

I don't own skins but a girl can dream.

Chapter 1

Naomi's POV

Just 10 more minutes, I thought to myself. You know those mornings where it feels as though your bed feels so unbelievably comfortable that any thought of leaving it is unbearable, that's how it is today. I scrunched my eyes tighter and wished that time would stop.

"IT'S TODAY IT'S TODAY IT'S TODAY" came the excited voice of Panda.

Today was the day that my friends and I left for London to go on a Contiki tour for 24 days, Italy, France, Switzerland and more. We had planned this trip last year, kind of a gift for finishing our A-levels. Don't get me wrong, I am just as excited as the next person would be. I'm just not a good morning person, especially when I'm surviving on 6 hours sleep with a hangover that could bring down a small village.

"Fuck sakes" Reluctantly pulling the covers off to get out of bed. "I can't believe it's today! This is gonna be a blinkin dream! I been up since the crack of dawn! Couldn't sleep so I went downstairs and was talking to your mum and she sais to wake you's up now so we don't miss the train" Panda was ecstatic, bouncing up and down on the end of the bed.

"Here" I looked towards Effy who was sitting beside me holding out a glass of water and two pain killers with a smirk on her face. Giving her a weak smile I took them. Effy is my best friend, she is one of those people who just get you. When I met her I was a loner, just moved to Bristol –no friends – no intentions of making friends – I think I came across as snobbish, but Effy didn't give up on me. She has helped me with a lot, she hardly speaks but when she does it's like a light being turned on in your head. Effy is very in tune with people, most of the time she knows things about you that even you don't. She took me under her wing and I'm now considered a member of 'the group'.

The group consists of Panda, very in-your-face but in a good way. Her vocabulary is hilarious, she dresses in the most crazy outfits I've ever seen, purples, yellows, greens, she is always bouncing around happy. Freddie is a tall guy with tanned skin and dark messy hair, he always wear's jeans with holes in them and most of his clothes are dirty. We aren't that close but I know enough about him to name two things that he is obsessed with, Effy and weed. JJ is an awkward guy, he has curly hair and a nice smile, he's really nice but has a tendency to ramble on a bit and we call it 'getting locked on'. Then there's Cook. Cook is his last name, his first name is James but I only call him that when I'm being serious. Cook is a pig, but a lovable pig. His favourite thing is women. I really love him, he has a side to him that I've been lucky enough to witness, deep down he is a really nice, caring guy. He likes to live a bit harder than the usual person and I think it's one of his best qualities.

Water has never tasted so good, feeling relieved I announced that I'm having a shower. Leaving Effy to deal with an over excited Panda at 8 in the morning. 50 minutes later and majority of the group were downstairs checking bags, making calls and eating the toast my mum had made for everyone.

"Voicemail again!, bloody wanker! It was his stupid idea to go out last night, I swear to god if he isn't here on time we are-" "BLONDIE!" cook bellowed wrapping me in to a tight hug. "Cook what the fuck!" I managed to get out. "Keep ya knickers on, had to stop by Keith's to get some supplies didn't I?" he winked. Cook was almost always late, I sighed looking at his ear to ear smile, I could hardly ever stay mad with him, he just didn't give you a choice really. "Judging by the time we have exactly 20 minutes until our train leaves and my calculations say we should have left 10 minutes ago in order to get there in time because of the amount of people who catch trains at this time of the morning and also because we have to carry our luggage which added another 10 minutes on to-" "JJ getting locked on again mate" Freddie patted his shoulder. "Right sorry" JJ sighed. "Alright, everyone got their shit together then?" Effy asked, everyone nodded, Panda resembled more of a head bang more than a nod.

"Love?" I turned to face my mother. "You will be careful won't you?" rolling my eyes I withdrew an exaggerated breath. "Yes mum, we've been through this, I'll call you yeah?" She smiled and pulled me into a hug. I've never been a really touchy person, even with my mother. As annoying as it was to reassure her I decided to anyway, just in case something happened. I let go of her and reminded her that we're just going on a bus tour, not camping out in the jungle, everything was planned.

After finally getting out of the house, and bolting to the train station we finally settled on the train. The trip was mostly boring. I slept most of it. We arrived in London at 11.20 and decided to get lunch before meeting at Trafalgar Square with the Contiki group in the afternoon. After lunch Panda and JJ decided they wanted to go watch the street performers so the rest of us hung near the square. Whenever I come to London I feel inspired, it's such a beautiful place. When I was young I pictured myself living here. I wanted a nice apartment with a blue door, to be able to walk across the street and buy everything I need. Okay so maybe that dream was mostly inspired by 'Knotting Hill' but I love that movie so it still counts. We sat back on a bench and watched Panda in the distance dancing along with the street performer. "Fancy a spliff?" Freddie flopped down next to Effy. Effy smirked and raised her eyebrow. Over the next hour we laughed at cook pointing out who he deemed "shaggable", watched Panda dance with street performers, JJ perform magic tricks with them, talked about our trip and shared 3 spliffs. "Right then let's heard them up" Effy said after lighting a cigarette with the butt of one she had just finished. "OI PANDAPOPS!, JAYKINS!" Cook yelled in their direction. Panda and JJ joined us and we headed towards the meeting point. The walk to the bus station was nice, I was relieved to move after sitting on the bench for so long. Effy and I decided sunglasses was a good choice for our situation after Panda informed us that our eyes were "Redder than a red starburst". The bus wasn't hard to miss, it was big and white and had the logo all over it. A few people were there already, some smoking, some loading their luggage under the bus. Effy took my hand and Panda's hand's and lead us towards the people who were smoking whilst the boys started loading our luggage under the bus.

"How many people are meant to be on the tour?" I asked more to my self whilst I tried counting how many people were here. "24" Effy replied. Most of the people looked in their 20's, I watched Cook talk to a bunch of guys, he is so animated. They all seemed to be in ore of what ever story he was telling. I could tell by his face expressions that he loved the attention. "Bloomin ek twins!" Panda squealed with delight pulling me out of my head. "I love twins! Never met em but! Mum sais I was supposed to be a twin but that God decided I was one of a kind instead!". "Yes Panda, one in a million" Effy smirked.

I followed their gaze towards the pair of twins. One had bright red hair and the other more of a deep purple. They must be extroverts I thought. Twin number 1 with the purple hair was wearing a blue leopard jacket with dark blue jeggings and a light top, she had black heels on. Rolling my eyes I looked towards the twin number 2, she was wearing a plaid red shirt undone with a grey top, black skinny jeans and black vans, she was actually quite cute from what I could see. They were saying their goodbye's to a tall guy with dark hair and an easy to read face, their dad?. Twin number 2 turned towards my gaze suddenly, I noticed her face was slightly different from Twin number 1, she was very short, they both were. She had cute lips and a button nose. I looked further up and noticed she was staring at me, is she checking me out? I asked myself. Her eyes, they were an amazing beautiful shade of chocolate brown. My knee's felt weak, I felt myself drowning in them. We smiled at each other for a minute. A mantra playing in my head "she smiled at me, she smiled at me!".

"Smoke?" I jumped hearing Effy, she had a curious smirk on her face whilst looking at me.

Taking the cigarette, I decided to ignore her inquisitive look and focus on Panda who had made her way over to the boy's and was now skipping in circles with Cook and JJ chanting "We're finally here!". Freddie was watching them and laughing. "Come on" I smiled.

We were standing outside the door of the bus deciding on who would sit with who when a tall guy with dark skin and probably the most friendly smile I've ever seen came up to us. "Hello I am Thomas your tour guide, so glad to meet you all" he beamed looking from person to person. He was wearing navy blue jeans a black tee with the collar pulled up, it had 'Winter Wanderer' (the name of our tour) imprinted on the pocket. Cook, Freddie and JJ were all asking him questions, apparently he moved to London last year from the Congo with his family, he had made some contacts and landed this Job, he had a contract to tour 3 times a year with Contiki and this was his third of the year. Getting bored of the conversation I started to look around hoping to spot the twin from earlier when I noticed the look on Panda's face. She was hanging off every word Thomas said, laughing extremely high when he would say something funny and nodding her head fast when he would say something interesting.

Each time he laughed a huge blush would spread up her neck towards her cheeks. I nudged Effy and nodded in Panda's direction, the look on Effy's face must have mirrored mine, huge grins.

The inside of the bus was surprisingly spacious, lined with dark blue seat's in sets of two running along each side of the bus. The windows had dark blue curtains to match the seats and at the far end of the bus there was what I assumed to be a toilet. We paired off into two's and headed for seats close to each other. Cook and Freddie were opposite Effy and I (to our right) and then Panda and JJ were behind us.

The back of each seat had a TV screen on it and in between us there was an arm rest with two drink holders built in. I had gladly given Effy the window seat because I have a history of travel sickness, although the medication usually works it's better to be safe than sorry!. I stood up to put our handbags in the compartment above our seats making sure they had their locks on them. "Panda pops have a crush?" Effy teased at Panda who was leaning her head between the back of our seats staring at nothing with a huge smile plastered on her face.

Effy and I joked with Panda whilst I fiddled with the lock on my bag, "Ladies!" Cook yelled from somewhere behind me. I turned to face him and noticed the twins were standing beside me waiting to get through to the empty seats that were behind Cook and Freddie. "Hi I'm Katie and this is Emily" Katie directed to Cook. Being so close to them I could now notice more things about them, like the distinctive lisp Katie had and the way that she stood high. Definitely confident I thought. Emily was laughing at Cook's sexual innuendos towards them, my god her voice was husky. I haven't met much people with a 'husk' but I decided here and now that it was my favourite type of voice. "Right ladies, let me introduce you to the gang then?" winked Cook. "Fredster", Freddie leaned over his seat to shake their hands "Nice to meet you ladies" Freddie beamed. "Jaykins" JJ gave a shy smile. "Pandapops" Cook seemed to be going through each person, like we can't talk for ourselves, tosser. I rolled my eyes. "Howdy doody! I'm Pandapoo! I'm useless" Panda greeted. "Naomikins" Cook put his arm around my shoulder. "Eh hi" I smiled glancing towards them, Katie nodded with a smile and Emily winked at me. I sat back in my seat internally debating the wink. "Last but not least Ef!" Cook smirked at Effy, Effy smiled and nodded at the twins.

Not long after everyone was seated. Cook and Freddie were turned in their seats asking Katie numerous questions whilst JJ performed some of his many magic tricks to Emily. From what I heard, they were both 18, born and raised in London, this trip was a gift from their parents for finishing their A-levels. Neither of them seemed shy, Katie was probably the opposite. Panda was happily assisting JJ and chatting to Emily. Effy was laying back listening to her ipod, eyes closed. We were going to be spending a lot of time on this bus and it was still a while until we arrive at our first stop so I planned to sleep some more. I pulled out my phone and quickly text mum to let her know we were on the tour bus and then leaned back and closed my eyes putting my head phones in. I had forgotten to make a play list so I settled with Florence and the Machine. "and oh poor atlas the world's a beast of a burden" played as I drifted off in to sleep.