AN: Hello community of fanfiction, this is my first fanfic ever, so I hope you'l like it! Any reviews are most welcome! Enjoy!

Disclamer: Skins UK doesn't belong to me (unfortunately), only my characters do.


Intro:

A summer's night breeze, the sky is a beautiful cloth of dark blue with nothing but the stars to light the view. It is that time of year again, the time where people will get out of their homes to the dances, opera houses and even carnivals all around town. People seem happier around this season, during the winter no one usually goes out, nevertheless at night- time. It seems that during that season you only see the men leaving early in the morning for work, saying goodbye to their wives, and some to their kids also. The majority of the wives stay home taking care of the house and their kids. Sometimes going out to do the groceries shopping, others to take the kids to school and then returning home at the very instant they finish said tasks. However, it is summer now, and everyone is out on the streets having fun, enjoying the beautiful night and the entertainments, or at least trying.

Among the vast amount of people we can find here, some catch more attention than others do. They are the Royals.

Who are the lovely creatures you might inquire? Well they are the most respected and desirable beings in our society. Some say it is because of their flawless skin and perfect genetics, but I believe it is mostly because of their wealth. At the end that is all that matters to their society. Being rich and successful, no mistakes or non-followers of the rules allowed. Although we do have some exceptions now and then, two of them standing right in the line to the Opera House.

We can see a blonde-haired girl who is said to be a party and careless girl and a petite brunet who they say is extremely intelligent and well behaved. They are cousins and best friends since birth, raised in the same house and under the same values, yet as different as day and night. However if you looked carefully enough, you could see that when they were together, just the two of them, there was nothing that could get between the bond they share. That, among the Royals, was rare, very rare.


CHAPTER 1

"Cassandra! You are so silly!" Said Emily hitting her cousin playfully on her shoulder.

"Ouch! That hurts you know. You seem to forget your own strength."

"You're right, but you also know that I am still learning, so I apologize if sometimes I do forget that I can hurt you." Emily said to her cousin with a smug smile.

"Ah! You wish! Don't you recall…" Cassie began to say but shut up the instant someone approached them.

"Ladies! Lovely evening today isn't it?" Said the man. "And may I add that you both look splendid!" He added with a smirk.

"Thank you?" Cassie said unsurely. After all, she had never seen this man around.

The man stood in front of them a bit longer than needed without saying a word, leaving the two of them quite uncomfortable.

"Excuse me, but are you from around town? I don't recall seeing you around here." Emily asked him a bit impatient.

"Why yes! I am from everywhere!" He answered her with a goofy grin.

Emily was starting to feel nervous, after all who was this person and what did he want with both of them? Luckily for her, Cassie decided to put an end to it.

"Look, lovely to meet you, but we really have to go. The performance will start in a few minutes, so if you will excuse us. Come on Emily!" Said Cassie grabbing Emily by her arm and leading her to the building entrance.

"It will be a pleasure to meet you again! Enjoy the opera!" The man shouted from behind them making them turn around to look at him, but when they did, he was nowhere in sight.

Emily looked at Cassie confused but she shrugged her shoulders and said to her, "Forget him; it was probably just another loony from the common folks. Come on! We are going to be late, and you know they are going to give us a lecture if we are not there in time!" She pleaded to Emily.

"Yes you are right! Let us go then." Emily answered her cousin and dragged her to the main entrance.

The opera house was one of the most elegant buildings in town, built around the Old Era and rearranged a few years ago. It had a tall arch as entrance; with pillars bathed in gold supporting it and the exterior walls were made of a pure white of marble without a single stain or scratch. The ceiling had a painting representing every past generation of the Royals, for they were the first founders of the city. The inner walls of the building were also in gold with huge windows that reached the ceiling decorated with drapes of a dark red velvet.

Some even believe it to be the soul of this town, in which the presence of the ancients could be felt.

"Ladies! Where do you think you are going in such a hurry? You are late!" A deep voice asked them.

Cassie stopped in her heels and whispered, "Shit! We were busted!"

Emily said to her, "Cassie! Language!"

"Sorry! He scared me." She apologized.

The man spoke once again, "Did you hear me young ladies? What is the reason for your delay?"

"I apologize father, but we had an inconvenience." Cassie answered her father without even a small stutter.

"And may I know what the inconvenience was?" He insisted.

Emily began to spoke but Cassie cut her short immediately.

"It was nothing of importance, just a peasant asking for some change. Now father as we are already late to the opera performance, may we be excused to our seats?"

He stared at her daughter a bit unsure but eventually said, "Yes, go right ahead, I will join you in a minute."

Both girls nodded and proceeded to their seats on the state box, as usual the best places were only used by the Royals and on special occasions by their guests of honour. As they were late, the performance had already started and the majority of people were on their respective seats.

"Wow, it has been a long time since the theatre was so full of people, the performer tonight must be really good!" Emily said with her usual curiosity.

"I hope so, because the last one was as boring as watching a fresh painted wall dry." Cassie said with very little enthusiasm.

"Oh come on, you always say that! Can't you just enjoy the fact that it is finally summer and we can be out at night having fun?" Emily pleaded her cousin.

"That is exactly my point! It is summer and I have to be stuck here all night listening to some chubby old man yelling at the top of his lungs about a woman who stole his heart! I mean, at least change a bit of the story every now and then! Every year is the same boring old theme." She said to Emily exasperated.

Emily looked at her cousin and tried to reason with her, "He is not that bad Cassie, and besides, what are we supposed to do? You know the rules…"

Cassie lifted her tone of voice, "Rules, rules, always the damn rules! For years, we have been dealing with it! I am sick of having to be constantly obeying a society I do not agree with for pleasing people I do not give a damn about!"

"But I am part of that society too! When you despise these people you despise me as well!" Emily answered her cousin with a hurt expression on her face.

"Emsy…" Cassie said with a soft voice, "You know I don't mean that about you. You are one of the few that I care about inside this society. You mean more to me than my own blood relatives! That is why I want to show you what we are capable of doing if we do not follow the rules all the time! I want you to live to the fullest!" She finished with a bright smile and genuine smile.

Emily stared at her cousin thoughtfully for a while and said, "Ok. I suppose one little rule will not hurt… What do you suggest?"

Cassie grinned and said grabbing Emily's hand, "Let us get out of here."

They stood up from their seats, looked around to see if anyone was watching them and left off towards the main entrance.

"What now?" Emily asked worried, "Someone will see us here!"

"Now my friend, we run!" With that, Cassie dragged Emily running towards the backdoor and out onto the street.

"Oh god…" Emily said between breaths, "That was… Amazing!"

Cassie laughed at her softly, "I know. You should exercise more though; you look like you just ran the Excelsior marathons."

"Ah! Very funny. I am not used to running in the middle of a theatre to escape! You on the other hand seem to do it quite often…" Emily provoked, making Cassie scoff at her words and say, "As if it was new to you that I sometimes need to escape some places."

They both laughed at that but stopped when they heard voices near them, "Over here! I think they went through that door!"

Cassie and Emily looked at one another with a knowingly look, "Run!"

After running for a while, they realized that the followers had lost track of them so now both girls were just walking silently in the chilly night.

"Spit it out." Cassie said breaking the silence that had settled since the running.

Emily looked at her surprised "What?"

"Come on Emily, I can see the gears working inside that pretty head of yours. What is it? Tell me." She insisted.

"I was just wondering how you can be so… Careless." Emily said a bit unsure, "I mean, we were raised in the same house, under the same values, and yet, you seem to not belong in the same world as me. Why is that? Why do you differ so much from me?" she finished with a worryingly expression in her eyes.

Cassie looked at her shocked for a while and then spoke, "Because I am myself."

"Pardon?" Emily asked confused.

"You find my way of being different because you are so used following the rules of the society we were raised in that you aren't even capable of answering for yourself. You have become simply a tool for them, a doormat that does nothing more than swallowing without even questioning everything they feed you. All the rules, all the ways you must behave, who you have to be. Only for the sake and wellbeing of the family, the so important Royals!" Cassie said angrily.

"And what am I supposed to do? They are my family, our family! Our society! If not us then who shall have the responsibility?" Emily asked starting to get angry herself.

"You are missing my point, you can still be a good member of the family without being unfaithful to whom you truly are and will become! My point is: allow yourself to live Emsy!" Cassie said more softly this time.

"How can you possibly know if I am not comfortable being like this?" Emily asked annoyed. Cassie smiled smugly, "Because I know you. We have been together for 17 years now. I see how you never speak what you really think, even though you are always bubbling inside with your opinions. Just a while ago, with our running, you said it yourself Emsy, that it was amazing! And you know why? Because you were allowing yourself to experiment! That's living Emily!"

"Maybe you are right..." Emily said still not very sure of it. "I guess I do tend to oppress myself." Cassie laughed a bit, "That is a way of putting it..."

"Hey I am trying ok?" Emily said playfully.

"I know you are honey, but we have just began. Let us go now or we will miss all the fun!" Cassandra said hurrying her friend. Emily asked her with a puzzled look, "Go where? At this hour of the night?"

"Exactly!" she grabbed Emily's hand, "Let's go!"


AN: So first chapter is out! The following chapters are also available, so if you want to, you can already check them out! If you have any opinions regarding the story, just leave a review right below.

Alex