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Chapter 7: What's the word?

Naomi PoV

"Naomi, hurry up! Cook is waiting outside!"

"Just give me a sec!"

It was thursday morning and Cook had made it his mission to escort me and mum till and from work. I was totally fine with it, because I didn't have to use precious time to walk when I would rather sleep, plus Cook was kind of entertaining to be around. Mum absolutely loved him, and had made it her mission to get to work alongside him as often as she could. They got on like fire and grass. I, however, tried to work alongside someone else.

"Looking good, Naomikins." Cook greeted me when I jumped in the boat. I rolled my eyes.

"I just wakened and my hair is everywhere, you obviously don't have a grasp on what a 'good-looking' person should look like then." I grumbled. He just burst out laughing, always being the cheery one. He was not particular charming right now. As said, morning were not my thing, and with the extra early ones with work and all, I had nearly killed mum 50 times today already.

Ah yes, work. That life-sucking, hard and surprisingly enjoyable thing. It was so energy consuming that for the last three days I had flat out fallen asleep within the first 20 minutes of coming home. But it was better than lazing around, doing nothing. This way I actually felt it in my bones that I was doing something, that I was really wearing myself out to earn some dimes. It was a strange, but nice, feeling.

The work tasks itself weren't exactly brain surgery, it rather felt I needed brain surgery after doing it. You didn't need to use your brain at all really, so your mind was free to wander. Not really my kind of job as I am usually heavily relaying of my knowledge of things and problem solving abilities.

This often resulted in my head going into dark places, or even worse, dangerous places. I had successfully replayed my life a couple of times and was analyzing every bit. It was driving me mad. Therefore I tried to secure myself a work spot close to Emily.

She took my mind of these depressive thoughts, replacing them with mindless banter and teasing. I truly believed I was making a new friend, to the point it was making me a bit jittery. I'd never had a friend, like, a real friend, but I really liked Emily. It also seemed like she approved of me too, so that was a good sign.

I didn't quite know how to approach this friend thing, but I mostly just went with my instincts. Talking with her was so much fun. She was witty as hell, and could keep up with my snarky comments. She was just this little ball of energy I wish I could pocket and take out whenever I was feeling blue.

When I thought of her, I considered beginning at the industry one of the smartest choices I've made. It made me have to be close to people, and it was the best way for me to make friends, really. Else I would end up reaching a point where I would avoid them. It made me get to know Cook, who was a obnoxious fucker, but kind of alluring either way. It made me get to know Effy, that weird knob. And it made me get to know Emily, delightful Emily.

I know it had just been three days, but they were all growing on me. Surprisingly so.

"Here ya go, ladies." Cook said as he was helping us get on the pier outside of the industry. Mum gushed all over him for being so helpful and nice.

"Just need to coat the boat. See ya inside." he gave us his biggest grin before reaching for some rope and starting his task.

I turned around, giddy to see Emily again. Mum came up at my side, and hooked her arm through mine before I could stop her.

"That James guy is so friendly, I really like him."

"I've noticed." I answered offhandedly.

"It's so nice to see you around a boy for a change." I raised my eyebrow while turning to look at her.

"Feel free to invite him around for dinner, I would be delighted to have you! Maybe you two would like to borrow Gina and take a day at sea this weekend." she beamed at the name of Kierans fishing boat. I rolled my eyes.

"First, I would never take anyone out on that smelly old thing, and second, I don't want to take Cook anywhere, so just shut it, will you?" I answered with a sneer, freeing my hand. I stomped towards the entrance, noticing Effy leaning against the wall smoking a cigarette whilst smirking at me. I gave her the same look I gave my mother a second ago, before tearing the door open.

I heard my mother yell after me "No need to be so rude about it, love! I was only suggesting!"

Ignoring her calling I made my way to the canteen, my mood instantly brightening when my eyes found a redhead laughing along with something Thomas was joking about. I pray to God that most of my periods today will be with her.

"Panda texted me." Effy started. It was the second break. I had been granted with one period alongside Emily and one with Freddie and Effy, so the foul mood from earlier was thankfully long gone. We were all munching on some lasagna that the cleaning help had brought. She even brought a vegan one for me and mum, they were obviously quite chummy. Of course, everyone loves mum…

"And?" Emily asked between mouthfuls.

"She and Katie wants to go hiking on Vader after work today."

"Yes! I love hiking!" Thomas exclaimed, almost bouncing out of his chair. I chuckled a bit.

"Sorry Tommo, this one's for girls only." Effy answered with a sympathetic smile before turning back to Emily. Thomas shrugged it off, and started talking about a fishing trip with the boys instead.

"Fine by me." Emily said.

Effy's big blue eyes were redirected at me. "Naomi?"

"Huh?" I said, barely looking up from the hot meal I was ravaging. I felt Emily turn to look at me too.

"Are you coming?" she smirked, looking between Emily and myself. I turned to look into Emilys eyes. Did she look hopeful?

"Look, you don't have to invite me because of charity or anything." I said hesitantly.

"Don't be ridiculous." Emily smiled reassuringly, "you're coming." bumping our shoulders together and turned back to her food. Effy kept smirking and staring and flicking her gaze between us. I frowned at her until she turned to Freddie, letting him feed her grapes. I shaked my head, she's so weird sometimes.

Effy picks me up in her car after I have showered and changed into some training attire. She and Emily are in the front seat, while Panda and Katie are in the back with me.

"Did you suffer from some sudden blindness when you picked out your clothes?" were the greeting from Katie. The first words she ever spoke to me, and I was a bit baffled by it all. Effy snickered through her nose as she started driving.

I looked down at my clothes. I was wearing some entirely black training pants and an old band tshirt. Fuck sake, we were only going hiking, what did it matter?

"Stop being so fucking rude Katie!" comes the harsh answer from the front. "Could you be civil for at least a day?" Emily narrows her eyes at Katie after briefly turning around in her seat.

"Whatever." Katie turns away from me.

I stare intently at my hands in my lap for the rest of the ride while doing some small talk when needed. What the hell did I do to her?

After a ten minute drive we parked by the side of a road near a big white house. Emily comes up at my side after we exit the car, everyone with sunglasses on and water bottles in hands.

"We're going this way," she points towards an opening in a fence beside the white house, "and then we'll come to a small lake of sorts. I bet you 5 quid that Panda will jump right in it." she smiles at me, trying to lessen the tension that clearly was created by Katie back in the car.

I try to give her a big smile back, showing her she's making me comfortable. Because really, she is.

"Emsy! Naomi! Come on! I wanna jump in before the sun goes down!" Panda screams from further away. I turn around to see the others already walking up the path, Effy and Katie in some discussion.

"Told you." Emily whispers in my ear before strutting after them. I giggle and run after her.

The walk to the lake wasn't quite long, not the distance I would call hiking anyway. But, bloody hell, we're on an island, that there is hiking opportunities at all is a bit surprising. Within one minute after arriving, Pandora is already ripping her clothes off, limping to the water edge. Katie and Effy is not far behind. Suddenly I become a bit self-conscious. I remember what underwear I'm wearing, and the thought to be sporting that when I strip for the first time in front of Emily … uh, the girls, is a bit unnerving.

I feel a tug at my forearm, realizing it's Emily. Her hand is warm against my skin.

"Let's go a bit further."

I smile gratefully at her. "You don't feel like swimming then?"

"Not really. Don't tell me you are?"

"Not at all. It was like you read my mind" I answer while falling in step beside her. She giggles.

"Yeah, I'm going all Effy on you" she winks.

"I knew it! She's a psychic! I knew it." I yell while laughing.

"Yep, pretty much." she nods, "I don't have another explanation for her than that."

We walk in silence for a bit, just feeling the warm afternoon sun on our skin. It's lovely, walking with her.

"So, where are you taking me?" I ask when there don't seem to be an end to our route.

"We're nearly there," she points up on a hill "just up here."

"Oh, okay."

After a breathless walk up a steep trail, we finally reach the destination. The view is really beautiful. We're up kind of high, well, higher than the landscape around us, and pretty close to the ocean too. We have a great view over the sea and just ahead of us is the big mountain coming straight up from it which I saw on the ferry. We sit down on some bare rocks avoiding the heather around us, leaning on our hands. We just exist there for a bit, breathing slowly until our heartbeats goes back to normal. She's the first to break the silence.

"Sorry about Katie." she turns to look at me instead of the view.

I brush it off. "It's not like you can control her. I'll just bare in mind to wear the latest fashion when I'm around her." I joke.

She giggles a bit. "No, seriously, she haven't even talked to you, and the first thing she does is offend you. It's so typical Katie."

"A great way to make friends!" I raise my hand, as if I just had a brilliant idea.

"No, it's not that. She just feels threatened by you is all." I look at her confused. "Well, you're new, so in her eyes you're automatically threatening her place in the group. It's not personal, and she'll get over it eventually. She just wants to show you that she's the boss and we're her people and you won't squeeze her out."

I'm even more confused by her ramblings.

"But I don't want to squeeze her out." I say exasperated, wondering how to fix this.

"I know that." she says quietly, looking at the sea. "She just notices how much we like you. How much … I like you. And she needs to own everything around her. She was just like this when Effy moved here too. But it will pass, I promise." she turned back to me with a meaningful look. She likes me repeats itself a couple of times in my head while I look into her deep pools of brown.

"Well, she's your sister and you know her the best," I give her a small smile, "but am I forbidden to bite back?"

"Not at all! Let her get what she gives, she have to learn to get over herself. I just wanted to give you heads up for her behavior before you got hurt."

"Okay, then thanks for the heads up." I give her a genuine smile, and she seems to relax, having taken this off her shoulders.

I can't seem to look away from her though. There's something breathtaking over her where she sits, leaning on her hands, feet laid straight ahead and looking at the sea. I admire how well trained she is all over her body, her muscles clearly showing. Her hair is up in a messy bun, but there are some strands of hair flaring about in the wind. There's also a sheen of sweat on her forehead and in her neckline. Her face is sporting a carefree expression, like she don't have any worries. A gust of wind bring with it a whiff of her smell. I close my eyes as I inhale it. Cherry.

I open my eyes to her curios warm ones staring intently at me. Her eyes fleetingly dart down to my lips as she licks hers. The situation is so charged I have to break it. I rack my brain for something from our conversations that I can ask her to get away from this intensity.

"You're saving!" I blurt out.

"What?" she looks a bit dazzled, eyeing me with an amused look.

"You said you were working on the industry because you're saving to something big."

She smiles. "I did."

Then she looks away, not elaborating. I shift a bit closer, sensing this is a big deal for her. "Care to share?"

"Yeah." she folds her hands around her legs, staring thoughtfully at me for a second before she starts.

"My parents won't support me going to university unless I take a course or something to take over the shop." I gasp. That's cruel.

"You're kidding!"

"No, I'm not. So if I want to chase my dreams and end up as something other than a shopgirl out here, I need to work for it." she nods.

"What do you want to study?"

"I haven't made up my mind yet. I'm really interested in media and such, so maybe something about photography or web design … or advertising." I could really imagine her as something like that, even after talking with her only for a couple of days. Then a thought hit me.

"Since Katie doesn't work that much, does it mean that she's going to take over the shop?"

"No, they'll help her with the finances." My eyes grew even bigger, if possible.

"What? I mean, just … why?"

"They've accepted that she's not cut out to handle everything about keeping a small business alive in such a small place. So they'll help her pay for fashion school in Paris or Barcelona or somewhere. They, or my mum though, dad just agrees with her on everything, still believes that I'll change my mind since I'm not certain about what I want to be…" she looks so sad when she turns to me, like all the world have given up on her. I look helplessly back, wanting with all my being to just do one thing to brighten her situation.

Hesitantly I lift my hand and rub her back, just between her shoulder blades. She lays her head on her knees, gratefully smiling at me. I had no doubt in my mind that she was strong enough to go through with her plan, but right in this second she looked so small and fragile and I realized it must be hard for her. I just hoped she had talked to Effy about this stuff, since I had picked up on their close friendship.

"Fuck them." I say confidently. "If they can't see what great potential you have to go out in the world and conquer it, then fuck them! I understand that you don't want to stay here."

She sniffs a bit, averting her gaze from mine. "It's not that I don't want to be here, I love it here." she looks around at the surroundings. "I want to come back and settle when I'm older, I think. With someone special." she smiles a bit to herself, seemingly lost in her dreams. I decide that this is enough touch and feel for one day, and steer the conversation away from it.

"It is pretty spectacular here." I say in a mocking voice. "Just look at that, a mountain jumping right out of the ocean, that's not very logic is it?"

She laughs, the worrying lost somewhere in the wind. "That is Alberach. It's a pretty known mountain, because of its jumping out of the ocean." she imitates my voice, glint in her eyes, "I actually think it's been in one Hollywood film."

I smirk at her. "You're such a small island, but the things I learn about it give me clues that not everything about it is so small."

She nearly topples over in laughter. "I think I've never heard anything that cheesy! We're really softening you up, aren't we?" I blush, realizing that it may have been a bit soft coming from my hardcore mouth.

"Yeah, whatever." I clear my throat, "Let's see if the others have drowned yet." I declare, standing up.

"Sure." she smirks, the matter clearly not forgotten.

We return to a pretty bizarre scene. Katie and Pandora having a big water fight while arguing over who is the hottest actor between some random dudes in a movie, while Effy is floating on her back in the middle of the pond. It almost looks therapeutic. The floating, not fighting with Katie, that is. After Emily called everyone back on land, we headed home, knackered.

Movie night at my house. 1 hour. Eff

That was the text I got right after the delicious saturday dinner at home. I was a bit surprised by the text since the lot had discussed some kind of party at work yesterday. I glance out the window from where I lay sprawled on the couch. Rain. Maybe that was it, the rain being a party pooper, being summer and all. I announced my plans for the night for mum and Kieran, who were too happy for me, before going to get changed into something a bit nicer than sweatpants. What? Emily might be there, and I don't need to look as shit as I do at work.

Nearly an hour later I'm standing outside the house Kieran let me off with his car. It's big and gray, not as big as our house though, but it looks nice. I had decided to wear normal jeans and a nice sweater, thinking that I wouldn't risk being overdressed for most likely a very casual night. I pressed the doorbell, and soon I hear a "Come in!" from somewhere inside. I step into a warm hallway. A smell of popcorn comes from further inside along with the sound of chatter, and I instantly look forward to a night with my new gang. Was it too soon to call them that, my gang?

I think I could distinguish Emily's voice among the others, which instantly brought a grin to my face. I thanked God I changed out of my comfortable clothes.

I walked through the rooms towards the noise, and came down in an area perfect for movie watching. A big corner sofa along with armchairs around it, and on the wall a pull down white sheet along with a projector in the ceiling. Effy, Freddie, Thomas, Pandora, JJ, Cook, Katie and Emily are all scattered around under what seems like tons and tons of blankets. When I think about it, it's a bit chilly in here. After the required greetings I send Effy a questioningly look. She just shrugs from where she's basically sitting on top of Freddie and explains it with "The thermostat is broken, going in reverse or something, but I'm mr fix it." holding up an end of a blanket. I nod in understanding while Pandora start the query on how Effy can be mr fix it, when she's clearly a girl.

It's pretty packed with people, but I notice a bit of space beside Emily on the end of the couch, and as I do she pats it. I, as gracefully as possible with my awkward stance, sit down beside her, stealing some of her blankets. I make myself comfortable, dragging more of the blankets from her while she weakly protests with an "Hey!". I just smirk at her, knowing that she won't make a big fuss about it.

She looks kind of cute tonight, a bit of make up as I've rarely seen her with, and she smell freshly showered.

Effy hits a button on a remote, and the projector starts.

"What are we watching?" I ask the room.

"The wolf of wall street, and I don't care if you want to watch it or not, Leonardo is so hot!" comes the spiteful comment from Katie. I make sure to catch her eye before I openly give her a big eye roll, Campbell style. Emily snickers beside me, moving closer to me. I smirk in triumph when I get an angry look in return.

The film starts and everyone gets quiet, absorbed in the great acting of Di Caprio. My right hand is laid between me and Emily on the fabric of the couch, since there are a bit of space between us as I have pressed myself as far into the corner as possible.

Suddenly warm and soft fingers comes in contact with mine. My breath hitches of the tingling sensation moving up my arm. I look sideways to catch what Emily is up to, if this is her playing around. Her face remains stoic as she watches the movie as if she's not currently touching and stroking my fingers under the blanket. I can't get myself to remove my hand either, the feeling in my stomach making me lightheaded. I don't ever want it to stop.

Then she slowly intertwines our fingers, ending it with a light stroke with her thumb on the top of my hand. I literally stop breathing. My heartbeat races out of control, and I turn around to watch her face again. She has a ghost of a smile on her face, not visible unless you study her - as I'm currently doing. The movie keeps rolling as I admire her face, my whole right side buzzing from the contact with her skin. I think she's noticing me watching, but she keeps her eyes firmly on the screen in front of us and strokes my hand with her thumb now and then.

I find a boldness inside of me and strokes her hand back with my thumb. The reaction is instant. A lip bite, obviously to prevent a smile to break across her face. We sat like that while I watched the other people in the room, wondering if they knew that I was currently having the most intimate moment I've ever experienced - which was odd, considering I'm not an amateur on physical contact. All of them was occupied with the film, but I catched a smirk from Effy before she averted her gaze. Of course she had control on everything.

Emily kept pretending like nothing was going on and my body wouldn't stop reacting to her touch.

I wondered if this was what friendship should feel like, this constant sense of thrill whenever I'm around her. It felt a bit extreme for a simple friendship, even with my lack of knowledge on the area. I considered myself a friend of Effy, but that was totally different.

But if this weren't friendship I was feeling, then what?

.

Naomi is finally beginning to acknowledge this thing with her and Emily! Emily's up next!

Btw - the lake is not the one from the series!