I know it's not Christmas anymore, but I had this idea in my head and just had the time to write it out.
Naomi and Emily never got together during College. They did kiss when they were 15, did snog at Panda's party, and did have the night at the lake, but Naomi could never ready to truly give herself to another person so she existed in a limbo until she reached a dead end.
Naomi's POV
It was Christmas Eve of my third year of Uni and I found myself yet again on the platform waiting for the next express train from London to Bristol. Gina called and insisted I come home after avoiding Bristol for the entire summer.
I wasn't exactly avoiding the city, or the people, or anything like that. I saw an open position for an English translator in Costa Rica, and it just seemed like an opportunity i would enjoy. And i did enjoy it and met a dozen kids that had made me happy for my entire 3 months stay. It's only when i returned home that i realized the monotony of life in London. Goldsmiths had exactly the programs i looked for with Politics and Sociology, and my friends provided an escape from the madness of classes on the weekends, and some weeknights if we're being honest. But i was content. No ups, no downs, just exactly what i was looking for in life… most of the time.
I had seen her around a few times in London. It was bound to happen, what with us going to Uni in the same city. But all the encounters had ended with head nods of acknowledgement, or a casual hello… and one drunken snog. I hadn't meant for it to happen, but i was out with my flatmates celebrating my last night before Costa Rica when I saw her. I was already quite drunk, having 4 pints and copious amounts of tequila shots. She was there with a few friends of her own, and she seemed to be a bit drunk as well. I was on a high that night, feeling excited about the end of the semester, and upcoming trip. I found my legs moving before my brain could catch up. She was always easy to approach, always happy to see me. We got along well, laughed about the small things in our lives, and kept the conversation easy. I bought her a drink, she returned the favor, and as the pub began to clear out, I found myself standing closer to her. My flatmates had said their goodbyes and headed home. I began to relax, and as if she sensed my walls coming down, she became more and more bold. Her hands began to land on my arm as we shared a joke, and my skin electrified at the touch. I looked up from her hand on my arm and found her eyes staring intently into my own, a darker shade of brown. We had both been here before, and i knew what was about to happen and how much I had no control over stopping it.
Our lips connected and a jolt shot through me. It started slow at first, a reminder of places we had been, and secrets we had kept. My hand reached up and grasped the back of her neck, my thumb lightly brushing below left ear. Our mouths opened, our tongues brushing against each other again and again, pulling away and then reconnecting within milliseconds. I felt my head begin to spin, and a barely audible sigh escape my lips before i gave myself to her for the night. "Emily…."
Express to Bristol now boarding on Platform 7.
I shook my head to pull myself out of my thoughts and headed to board the train. I settled in my seat, popped in my iPod and drifted off to sleep against the cool window.
"NAOMI LOVE YOU CAME!" Gina flung open the door and had me in a hug before i could even pull my finger back from the doorbell.
"Yes mum, you did threaten to picket nude in front of my university until I came home." I threw my bags into the corner of the hallway and walked into the kitchen to turn on the kettle for some tea. I heard Gina chuckling as she followed behind me.
"Oh Dear, good to know planning embarrassing riots is still effective in getting you home." We sat for a bit and discussed my life in London, and my time spent down in Costa Rica over the past summer. It felt good reconnecting with mum, although i'd never voice that thought out loud. The old cow wouldn't let me leave the house again if she found out.
I made my way upstairs to my old room with my bags. It looked the same. Same comforter, same bed, same rug, same pictures hung on the walls. My phone vibrated where it sat on my nightstand. I flipped it open and saw one text from Effy. Keiths Pub, 9pm. You're coming.
I guess I have plans tonight. It was a yearly ritual, so it wasn't as if i wasn't expected that text. Effy and I still stayed in touch, texting every now and then after college. We saw each other over breaks, and she had even come up to London twice when she got the time off. I was proud of Effy finding her way as assistant director of the Bristol Women's Health Center. Cook began to run Keith's pub after his 6 months in jail and turned the place around. New carpets and a clean bar-top did a lot for the place. Katie had gone off to some design school in New York, convinced she was destined to do "big things in the big city." Panda and Thomas headed off to Harvard together, how, I will never truly understand. JJ took up math and sciences at a local university, opting to stay close to Lara and her son for the time being. I emptied my duffle onto my bed, and searched for something to wear.
It was as if no time had passed when I entered the pub and saw Effy, Panda, Thomas and JJ sat around a few pints laughing while Cook threw his arms in the arm animatedly telling a story of yet another catch he had over the weekend.
"Oi Blondie, it's about time you made it!" Cook called to the bar for another pint, and had me in the air before I made it to the table. Effy raised her eye brow in acknowledgement. Panda bounced over until she had me in a hug. Thomas politely shook my hand, and JJ stuttered out a welcome greeting before he silenced himself with another sip of his beer.
"The twins are on their way." Effy spoke directly to me before Cook launched into another one of his conquers.
About an hour later, and a few pints, Katie barged through the doors with a few bags in tow.
"KATIEKINS!" Cook howled and took a step forward before Katie held her hand up with a look of disgust.
"Cook don't even think about touching me in this Burberry coat!" Katie wiped down a chair and took the seat beside Effy. Their arms brushed, and they smiled at each other before Katie began shouting again.
"Um Cook don't you like, run this shithole or something? I'm pretty sure I should be drinking a vodka-tonic by now. And Campbell, nice jumper,.Glad to know London hasn't changed your shit style."
"Pleasure to see you too Katiekins."
Cook made his way to the bar while my attention drifted towards the door. Emily should be coming through anytime now. I hadn't seen her since that last night at the bar, where things got a little out of control and the night turned into a blur of lips and hands and…
"So where is Emily?" Effy pulled me out of my thoughts with her question.
"Dozy bitch said she has to finish her Thesis before year end. I flew all the way to fucking Bristol from New York, and she can't even get her lazy ass down here from London! It's all a bunch of wank shit! Like a thesis is more important than seeing her fucking sister!"
"… or the rest of her family? or to celebrate Christmas?" Effy finished the rant for Katie. My stomach dropped, and my head ducked down when I heard the news. Emily wasn't coming? But she's always here on Christmas Eve. We always spent it together, since we were 12…
My chair scraped as I stood up and headed to the bar. Ordering 2 shots quickly, tapping my foot impatiently as the bartender poured them slowly. As I reached to toss back the first, an arm snaked beside me and grabbed the second one off the bar.
"Thank God Campbell, I needed something strong. " Katie shot back the tequila. I followed suit.
"So what are you gonna do without Emily the next week?" I asked casually while ordering two more shots.
"I could ask you the same." Katie said to me, holding eye contact.
I just sighed before shaking out a slow breath and running my hand through my hair. "Is it that obvious?"
"For fucks sake Naomi! I'M HER SISTER! Do you think I don't know whats happened between you two? JJ might be too dense to realize, but I've been there through everything. When you fucked her around in college, your disgusting Christmas Eve routine! Keep her coming home just so you can fuck her up for a whole other year? Grow up Naomi! And you think I didn't hear about what happened in London? You think it's ok to sleep with her again after THREE YEARS and then leave for fucking Guam for three months!"
"It was Costa Rica."
"Guam, Costa Rica, you could have gone to Pluto I don't give a shit! Did you even call her when you got back to London? Didn't think so. I don't know why she still puts up with you, you never are going to get it, are you?"
I just stared at Katie. My brain couldn't put words together to build a response.
Katie sighed dramatically and grabbed a pen out of her bag while she scribbled something down on a napkin at the bar before throwing it on me.
"Whats this?" I struggled to catch the napkin, and stared at it confused for a few seconds. An address?
"FIgure it out Campbell, I'm not gonna walk you through this whole thing… just don't mess around with her. Either end it, or do something about it. And I'm here for another two weeks so if my sister calls me crying you better hide because I WILL hurt you." With that, Katie turned around and walked back towards the table.
"Naomi, dear, you know I love you and I think you're a beautiful daughter, but what the fuck are you doing right now?" Gina was leaning against my doorway as I frantically paced around my room throwing the clothes I'd emptied onto my bed back into my duffle.
"Please leave me alone mum. There's something I need to do. Where are my fucking shoes? I can't find them anywhere!"
"You're wearing them dear, and frankly you're starting to worry me."
I ignored her as I grabbed my bag and walked past her and down the stairs to the front hallway. "Where the fuck are Kieran's keys? MUM!"
I turned around to see Gina smirking with the keys swinging between her fingers. "Can I at least know where my daughter is going at 2 in the morning?"
I grabbed the keys out of her hand and walked out the door towards the car.
"TELL EMILY I SAID HELLO" was the last thing I heard before I slammed the door shut and started my journey back to London. Jesus, was it that obvious?
I breathed heavily as I found myself outside Emily's flat. I was a nervous wreck, having an internal argument with myself whether or not to knock. You just drove all bloody night to get here and you don't even have the balls to ring the fucking bell?
My finger shot up to the buzzer and held itself there for a few seconds.
A minute went by with no response. I grew impatient and brought my finger back up to the buzzer, this time leaving it there for 30 seconds. I saw a light flick on and some cursing from behind the door. My heart stopped beating, then picked up at the speed of a hummingbird.
The door flung open and there stood Emily staring at me with a confused look on her face, her bare thighs barely covered by an old long jumper of mine. Her hair was still the bright shade of red I've grown to love and it flowed just under her shoulders, her facial features outlined by the streetlights. I stared back at her trying to find the words to say.
"Naomi? What are you-"
"Emily. Please just let me say what I need to say… I… I… It's Christmas, ya know? I go through this shit all year, making sure I get good marks in my courses, trying to volunteer and build a future for myself, getting pissed on the weekends, just getting by, trying to keep myself busy. And its all okay because I know at the end of the year I'll always go back to Bristol for Christmas and I'm not even religious but just knowing that I'll get to see you… to be with you.."
I looked up to see Emily, lips slightly parted with hazy eyes. It swallowed hard, begging myself to continue.
"I know I've been so shit to you over the years. But I was so scared when I first met you; of the pull I instantly had towards you. And in college, you completely saw through me. I just had to run from you. And I'm so sorry because I've dragged you all this way for all this time and you've been so wonderful to me. You're always wonderful and i don't deserve it half the time. I've just been this okay person just getting by but I don't want to be okay anymore, I want to be happy and you make me happy. When Katie said you weren't coming home this holiday, my heart stopped because I haven't known a Christmas without you and I don't want to know a Christmas. I don't want to know a day without you Emily because I love you and I knew it from the first time i saw you-"
I was silenced as her lips crashed against mine. Emily's tongue instantly sought out mine and I moaned softly as I tasted the sweet mint of her breath, and the familiar taste of Emily. I felt tears stream down my face, pure happiness flowed through me as I wrapped both my arms around her petite body and kissed her like I was dying.
After a few minutes, I gently led her back into the warmth of her apartment, and closed the door behind us. I ran us straight into a side table, when Emily suddenly reversed our positions and pulled apart with a gasp. She stared at me with wide eyes and an open jaw before a small smile began to form on her lips.
She lifted her chin and looked straight into me, beyond my front, my eyes, and into my soul. "I love you too, Naoms." She looked down and shook her head softly. "I've been waiting 6 years for you to say that." She began to chuckle as she slowly walked passed me further into her flat.
I turned around and watched her walk away. My eyes were drawn to her bare feet, up her fit legs, wishing that jumper would rise just a little bit more to show her tight little-
Emily cleared her throat and my eyes snapped back up to hers. A small smirk played on her lips.
"Well, are you gonna join me or just stare at my arse all day?"
I laughed out loud then and began making my way back to her. Yes, I'd follow you anywhere Emily Fitch, always.