Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, places, events or ideas used in Skins.
She hovered above him, mindlessly fucking him. She knew that if she felt she would cry. She heard his breaths shorten, until he finally climaxed. Effy rolled off him and lay in a naked, crumpled heap as he dressed.
'See you later, yeah?' his voice rang, and Cook was gone in a flash. Effy cried. Cried for Cook and how she loved him, cried for Freddie because he loved her best, and cried for herself because she had to choose. She knew she wanted Cook more. It had always been Cook, ever since that first day at college. But he didn't love her, not really. Not like Freddie.
As Cook walked home he was left alone in his thoughts. He drew a cigarette from the packet in his pocket and as he lit up, his mind drifted to Effy. He never stuck around after they fucked. He wasn't going to end up with her anyway, so what was the point? He savoured the closeness he felt when they had sex, the way she called out his name and kissed his chest and dug her nails into his back. But she loved Freddie more, and Cook knew his days were numbered. He smelled her skin on his skin and grew angry with himself when he smiled. He headed straight for Keith's pub.
After Effy hit Katie with the rock, Cook was the only one there for her. She showed up at his dorm in the student housing block late in the evening, cigarette in one hand and a bottle of vodka in the other. Her eyeliner was smudged down her face from crying. She had hurt her friend. She had hurt Freddie's girlfriend. But it was an accident, and it was all so fucked up. No one believed her, and she didn't expect them to.
She didn't know why she had come to see Cook. She hadn't seen him since the other night at Gobbler's End and she hadn't properly spoken to him since the other day when they had last had sex. She knew that it was foolish to come here because she would probably leave feeling worse, but something made her gravitate here as she wandered the streets of Bristol. She took a swig from the bottle of vodka and wiped her eyes and nose. She knocked three times and stubbed out her cigarette.
Cook hadn't been expecting anyone, so he was surprised. He had stopped sleeping with Pandora weeks ago and no one else was talking to him anyway. He didn't even bother to get dressed; he just opened the door in his underwear, unashamed. He wished he had bothered once he saw who it was. Effy just looked at him silently.
'All right, peachy?' Cook tried to sound nonchalant but it didn't work. For the first time his voice conveyed concern, but Effy didn't notice. She didn't say anything. She just shook her head and stepped inside. Cook shut the door and walked over to where she was standing by the bed. 'What's happened, Eff? What's wrong?' Unable to respond, fresh tears sprung to her eyes. It broke Cook's heart a little to see her like that. He pulled her into a hug and they stood like that for a while, her crying into his neck, him holding her tightly and telling her everything would be okay.
'What's happened, Eff?' Cook asked again after a while. He held her at arm's length and studied her face. She looked miserable. 'Come on princess, you know you can tell Cookie.'
Effy looked down at the bottle of vodka still clutched in her hand and spoke, as if to the alcohol, 'at Gobbler's End, we ate 'shrooms, and I was- I was tripping and Katie attacked me, and I hit her in the head with a rock. I knocked her out, Cook. It was an accident, I swear, but I put her in a fucking coma! She needed nine fucking stitches! I've fucked things up with Freddie; no one will talk to me. Not even Panda is answering my calls.'
'Fuck everyone else, Eff! You and me, we're different. They just don't know how to party, ay?'
Effy looked depressed. She unscrewed the vodka and took a hearty swig before offering it to Cook. 'I need to get out of here,' she stated simply.
He gulped at the vodka. 'Let's go, then, princess.' Cook smiled. He didn't know why he was offering himself as a companion when he knew she didn't want him, not really. Effy nodded, offering her gratitude.
'Okay.' She wasn't sure what she was doing, but it felt right. She reached up and kissed him softly on the lips. She had never kissed him like that before. It was usually filled with lust and hunger and fire, never letting on how she truly felt about him. But this was different, and she couldn't quite place it. Cook was surprised, but he kissed her back. In that moment he thought she could see right through his façade to his true feelings.
After their outlaw tour of Britain, Effy had done what she thought was right, and gone with Freddie. She had spent their entire trip playing the role of his girlfriend but she knew it wouldn't last, because Cook didn't do girlfriends, and how long could they keep running away? She didn't know that Cook wanted to buy them a boat and get a job and make a life with her. She thought that, to him, their trip was just town after town, spliff after spliff, fuck after fuck. She never saw the love in his eyes or realised the way he had fought for her, first against Danny and later Freddie.
After their outlaw tour of Britain, she rarely saw Cook again until around the time of Freddie's disappearance and death. She had done well to forget Cook once she became Freddie's girlfriend. After all, she did love Freddie, and she knew Freddie loved her best. He treated her well and made her happy, but as she descended into her madness she knew that something was missing, and she began to think once more of Cook.
After their outlaw tour of Britain, Cook knew he wouldn't see much of Effy anymore. He tried to fill the void with alcohol, drugs and parties. He returned to fucking any girl that let him- anything to forget about loving Effy. It never worked, though, and he often thought of her. He never really expected to be with her despite always having a glimmer of hope. He prayed for a second chance.