A/N: This chapter is my belated birthday present to my Nestor, FitchSwitch! ;) (Don't try to guess what that means unless you're Brit. You won't get it.) I love you, darling! Hope you like the chapter!
Since this is a present for my beta, and I couldn't make her beta her own birthday present, it's unbeta'd. Since I've had a long day, and I'm tired, and this present is already late, there are probably mistakes. Hopefully you'll all be willing to overlook them.
Disclaimer: I don't own Skins.
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Naomi
Turn. Push. Stroke. Breathe.
Naomi glances up at the bleachers as she breathes, but they're as empty as they were on her last lap. She's off her game today, and Emily's absence is, at the very least, partially to blame. It's just that she's been there every morning for a week and a half now, but she's not there this morning. Naomi doesn't know why. Emily hadn't said anything about being late today. She should be thankful for the return of her private little morning routine, but she's grown accustomed to catching the flash of bright red as she swims her laps.
She contemplates cutting her morning laps short for the first time in years, then wonders why that is. It'd be stupid to do that just because she's not performing her best. She can't be on top form all the time. It wouldn't be human, right? She just needs to power through, and focus.
She forces herself to avoid looking at the bleachers for four more laps, but then her eyes travel there unwillingly once more. Still no Emily.
Naomi's strokes are off as she comes into the wall and she hits it a little hard as she turns, wincing more at the shock than for any pain.
Fuck, she thinks as she pushes off the wall.
Three more laps and she's done for the morning, but she's not happy about it. For the first time she can remember, her morning swim feels like work.
Effy's waiting for her in the locker room, with a coffee, and Naomi takes a large, eager gulp, before yelping in pain.
"It's hot," Effy says in monotone, and all Naomi can do is glare as she keeps her mouth open to try to cool it off.
"Thanks ever so much," she mumbles when she feels she can close her mouth again. "Some people actually warn people before they take a sip."
"What's got your knickers in a twist today? Another bad night's sleep?"
Naomi glares harder. Effy keeps bringing up the fact that Naomi didn't sleep well for the first three nights after she met Emily. Actually, she hasn't quite been sleeping like herself any of the nights since then. It's a coincidence, Naomi's sure. Just extra stress now that the school year's starting up so she has to share her swimming time with busy work handed out by teachers who don't really care if they learn or not.
"More like a crap swim."
Effy looks genuinely surprised for a moment, and Naomi can't blame her.
"That's not like you."
"Stating the obvious isn't like you. Guess we're both off our game," Naomi mutters in response, as she opens her locker and grabs a dry towel, then heads to the showers.
Effy follows. "Well, at least you haven't lost your bitchiness."
Naomi rolls her eyes as she reaches in to turn on the water. She winces as the cold water hits her hand.
"I bet Emily was disappointed that she didn't get as good of a show as normal."
If looks could kill, the look she shot Effy would have had her lying dead in a pool of her own blood. She's sick of Effy's assumption that Emily has a crush on her. Okay, so she looks at her rather intensely, but Effy looks at everybody intensely and she sure as fuck doesn't have a crush on everyone. In fact, Naomi has never known Effy to have what she considers a 'normal' crush on anyone. Besides, there's been no other evidence to suggest that Emily is gay. Of course, there's been no evidence to suggest she's straight either. Then, there's always the possibility that she falls somewhere in between. That's the likely scenario for everyone, according to Effy. Nobody is completely straight or completely gay as far as Effy is concerned. Naomi's aware that both her and Effy's personal histories lean themselves in support of that theory.
Anyway, it doesn't matter what Emily's sexuality is. It's her business. It would be nice if Effy would stop bringing it up, though.
"Just because you want Katie to be gay, doesn't mean Emily is," Naomi comments snidely before stepping into the shower. It's still a touch colder than she'd like, but it's warm enough, and she knows Effy's going to be annoyed at her response. Probably half of her annoyance will come at the fact that Naomi actually picked up on her interest in Katie, Naomi knows, although Naomi can't understand the interest at all.
She peels out of her swimsuit and hangs it up, before letting the warm water of the shower wash over her head.
There's a long pause, and, if Naomi didn't know her so well, she might think that Effy had left. Naomi knows her surly mood and snide response isn't enough to run Effy off, though. Effy's doing one of two things: 1) biding her time until a good enough retort strikes her, or 2) emphasising the silence in hopes that Naomi will fill it.
Naomi sighs when she's almost done with her shower and Effy still hasn't said another word. She turns off the water and reaches out a hand expectantly. When a moment later, her towel has yet to appear in it, she sighs again. "Emily wasn't there, Ef. Now may I please have my towel?"
Effy complies, and when Naomi emerges from the shower, towel safely wrapped around her, she's met with Effy's smirk.
"What?" she demands, doing her best to convey with her voice that she's too tired for this shit right now.
"Oh, nothing, really. You have a shit swim the first morning that Emily's not there? It's just interesting, is all."
"Fuck off," Naomi replies, not liking what she's fairly certain Effy is implying. "Everyone has off days."
"Usually for a reason," Effy shoots back, her eyes shining.
"All right, then, All-seeing-one, what's my reason? Go on, tell me!" Naomi challenges, staring Effy in the eye, daring her to say something.
Effy likes to push people's buttons, Naomi knows, but right now she fortunately chooses to refrain from it. It's the little things like that that let Naomi know that Effy does actually love her and value her friendship.
"Better shake out of it by Saturday," Effy says, and Naomi takes it as her version of a peace offering.
Naomi makes her way to her locker and starts to get dressed. Effy follows and leans against the lockers behind her.
By the time Naomi's tugging on her grey T-shirt, she's calmed down enough to let the nagging question of where Emily is this morning seep back into her consciousness.
"Em didn't mention anything to you about being late today, did she?"
She stares hard at Effy once she's asked, daring her to smirk. There's a flicker of one, but Effy quickly covers it with her normal, bored expression. She shrugs. "No. Katie neither."
Naomi scrunches up her nose. She doesn't even really know why she cares. Sure she's become friends of a sort with Emily, but she's more than just idly curious like she would be if JJ or Freds was late or absent. In fact, all of her emotions and thoughts regarding Emily seem to be a little different than those regarding any of her other friends (except Effy, who's always been in a class of her own). That alone bothers Naomi, but it's probably just because Emily's new in her life right now. There hasn't been anyone new in her life since her mum started dating Kieran four years ago. Everything new seems more interesting, right? It's like when Amy McCullen moved there from Manchester and joined the Henleaze Swimming Club, and everyone swarmed around her for a few weeks until the novelty wore off. Naomi's feelings and thoughts would fade and become more normal as Emily's presence becomes less of a novelty, surely.
"You could always text her. Find out if she's all right," Effy suggests.
Naomi scowls. "I could, but a) I don't have her number and b) I'm not a stalker."
Effy shrugs and pulls out her phone. "I'll text her, then."
Naomi's annoyed at the slight pang of what might, possibly be construed as some minor form of jealousy. "You have her number?"
Effy shrugs again, but there's a cheeky smugness in her eyes when she glances up at her. "Want it?"
Naomi hesitates. It's weird to get someone's number from someone else, right? Except there are legitimate reasons she might need it. Besides, they are friends. It's not like they just met once and now she's asking Effy for Emily's number. She shrugs as nonchalantly as possible. "Sure. Why not? Could come in handy."
Naomi ignores the gleam in Effy's eye as she takes her phone and looks up Emily's number before putting it into her own phone. She hands Effy's phone back and stares at Emily's number in her own. She could text. Just to see if Emily's coming in today or if she'll need notes from today's lectures. Except school hasn't even started yet. She might even be there, just not have come to the pool. It would be weird that Naomi even noticed her absence, really, right?
She locks her phone screen and puts the phone away, only to look up and be met with a raised eyebrow from Effy.
"Not going to text her then?"
Naomi shrugs, trying to shrug away not just the question, but also her feeling that she's behaving silly. "She's probably just running late, right?"
Effy gives a noncommittal nod of her head as Naomi gathers her belongings. She heads for the exit as Effy pushes off the lockers. "You'd be surprised about Katie, by the way," Effy murmurs under her breath as she walks past Naomi, who's holding the door for her.
"I think Katie would be surprised about Katie if what I think you think is the case is actually the case."
"Hey, Em."
Naomi freezes as she turns and sees the now familiar bright red hair and the big, curious brown eyes. How had she not noticed her when she'd pushed open the door?
"Hey, Ef," Emily replies, shooting her a shy smile. "Hi, Naomi," she adds, turning her smile on Naomi.
Naomi finds herself smiling back at her. "Hi."
"So what will Katie be surprised about? And why are you talking about my sister?"
Naomi flinches internally, wishing that Emily hadn't overheard her comment to Effy. "Nothing. No reason."
Emily raises an eyebrow sceptically. "Riiight…."
"Katie would be surprised about so many things, Emily."
Emily looks from Effy to Naomi, and Naomi can only return the look that says, "This is Effy being annoyingly all-knowing, again."
"Anything in particular that I should know about?"
Effy shrugs. "Not right now."
Naomi rolls her eyes and catches Emily half grinning in amusement at her.
"Naomi was wondering why you weren't at the pool this morning."
Wonderful. It's so nice when friends throw you under a bus, Naomi thinks. She briefly contemplates throttling Effy, but it probably wouldn't do any good, and it definitely wouldn't take back what Effy just said.
She thinks there might be the hints of a blush on Emily's cheeks when she finally stops glaring at Effy, who is examining her nails and failing to appear innocent, and looks her way.
"Really?" Emily asks, her voice small.
Naomi shrugs as nonchalantly as she can. "I just noticed you weren't there. You're hard to miss with the red hair."
Emily's expression changes from almost pleased to mildly upset.
"It's a rather awesome shade of red. Very bold. Not many people could pull it off the way you do."
Effy coughs, and, Naomi wouldn't swear to it, but she thinks she might have heard the words "flirt" somewhere in it. She's not flirting. She wouldn't flirt. Not with Emily. Certainly not so lamely.
"I mean, it suits you," she tries again to sound normal, and realises that she's still failing spectacularly. This is what happens when she doesn't get a good morning swim in. She's just off the rest of the day.
Effy coughs again, and Naomi's sure she hears the word "smooth" in there now. She shoots Effy a warning look.
Emily's definitely blushing now, though it could very well be because the conversation started out slightly awkward and is now verging on painfully so, Naomi reasons.
"Thanks," Emily murmurs.
Naomi nods, unsure of what exactly she's being thanked for. Effy's smirking, though she's trying to appear like she's not, and Naomi can't resist reaching out and giving her a little shove.
"Hey, look, it's Cook. See you ladies in class," Effy says, pointing off down the hallway (though Naomi would bet money that she hasn't actually just spotted Cook), and Naomi can hear a repressed chuckle as Effy walks away.
"Is she feeling all right?" Emily inquires, looking after Effy's retreating figure with a puzzled look on her face.
"She's just being annoying. I think it's in her DNA."
Emily giggles and Naomi finds herself smiling in response.
"Oh, you wanted to know why I wasn't at the pool before. I was just running late. Had to catch a ride with Katie instead of my dad. It was Katie's fucking fault, too. She took all the hot water this morning and took forever 'perfecting' her makeup in the mirror. I think she wanted to look good for Cook, or something, who wasn't actually there when Effy pointed just now, by the way."
"She has issues," Naomi supplies.
Emily giggles again. "So how was your swim?"
"Shit, actually," Naomi replies, though suddenly she's not feeling as bad about it.
"I doubt that's possible for you."
Naomi glances sidelong at her, and Emily looks away as soon as their eyes meet. Naomi shrugs, eyeing Emily curiously. "Everybody has an off day."
"I haven't seen you have one yet."
Naomi lets out a light laugh. "You haven't even known me two weeks."
Emily blushes and looks away.
It doesn't mean anything, though, right? Emily's shy. She blushes a lot. Cook's definitely made her blush, and Naomi's positive that it's not because Emily fancies him. And yet…
Naomi feels the words to a question bubbling up on the tip of her tongue, but the bites them back. It's none of her business, she reminds herself. It's just Effy putting ideas in her head, anyway. Otherwise she wouldn't even be wondering.
(It's not like she's been seeing intensely focused brown eyes staring at her at night in her dreams. Ones that she can turn around in just about any class and see in real life. It's not like looks like that mean anything. Or dreams like that, for that matter.)
"What?" Emily asks.
Naomi realises that she's been staring just a bit while lost in her thoughts, and Emily's not looking back at her. There's a slight spark in her eyes that makes Naomi swallow hard. It's new, and it suits Emily surprisingly well, but it makes Naomi nervous. "What?" she echoes.
"You opened your mouth like you were going to say something, and then you were just looking at me," Emily challenges, and there's a braveness to her words that makes Naomi want to dive go back into the pool, dive under the water and lose herself in the tranquillity, and above all, the solitude, that she finds there.
"Sorry, I was just thinking," she responds lamely.
"About?" Emily asks, and Naomi thinks that maybe she was wrong about Emily being shy at all (but then that might mean that she's wrong about the blush and the looks not meaning anything, and she's not sure why that idea unsettles her so much).
Naomi shakes her head and thinks up a quick lie. "Swimming. What'll happen if I can't get my head back in the right space before my next race."
"When's that?"
"Saturday."
"Can I come?"
The question lingers between them for a second longer than Naomi's comfortable with. She's not sure why she didn't just say yes immediately. "Sure," she does reply when hopeful brown eyes are on the verge of looking away. "Be nice to have a cheering section. Maybe you'll even guilt Effy into coming."
Except Naomi's not used to a cheering section. She actually asked her mum to stop coming to her meets about a year before when the over-the-top cheering had started to make her feel embarrassed. And yet, she finds that part of her really does want Emily there. It's the same part that was disappointed every time she missed the flash of red when she glanced at the bleachers this morning.
"What will Emily guilt me into coming to?" Effy asks, appearing out of nowhere, it seems, and Naomi can't help but roll her eyes.
"I thought you were going off to talk to Cook," Naomi says.
"I did. And now I'm back to see if you two plan on attending class this morning."
Naomi looks around and realises that the hallways have indeed emptied somewhat. She checks her phone for the time and realises they're on the verge of being late. "Fuck. I've still got to go to my locker."
"Better hurry," Effy advises. "Now what am I being guilted into?"
"Going to Naomi's race on Saturday," Emily replies, as Naomi starts off down the hallway. She realises, as footsteps follow her progression that Effy and Emily are coming with her to her locker.
"I've been to her races before."
"Guess, you'll come again," Naomi shoots over her shoulder as she reaches her locker. "Can't leave Emily alone in the stands."
"I'll go to the race if Emily comes to the party Saturday night."
"Party?" Emily squeaks, and suddenly the confidence that Naomi had heard in her before seems to have vanished. There's a sort of surprised hopefulness to her voice now.
"Yeah. At mine."
Naomi rolls her eyes. Parties at Effy's have a tendency to get out of hand, but she can't deny that they're always eventful (and usually fun). "You should come," she says to Emily as she locates the book she needs for class and closes her locker.
The look that Emily shoots her in response makes Naomi think that she really should know better than to question one of Effy's assumptions. Sometimes Naomi hates her for it, but the girl really is always right about people.
"Yeah, all right," Emily agrees. "Sure."
"It's a date, then," Effy comments coolly as they head off to their first class.
"There are three of us," Naomi mutters in protest under her breath to Effy. "And I'll be in the water for half of it."
"Guess it'll be interesting, then."
Naomi groans internally. "Why're we friends again?" she hisses as they take a seat in the back of the classroom just as the teacher rushes in.
"Because you love me, and sometimes I give you just the push you don't know you need."
Naomi frowns. What the bloody hell does that mean? "Cryptic much?"
Effy simply shrugs and looks forward, pretending to be attentive as the teacher starts his lecture.
Naomi glances sidelong at Emily, who's taken the seat on the other side of her. She's met with curious brown eyes that quickly glance away to the front of the class.
Naomi sucks her lower lip into her mouth and furrows her brows. She doesn't need interesting in her life. She doesn't need pushes. What she needs is to focus. On swimming. She turns her attention to the lecture with a promise to herself that she'll swim some extra laps after practice tonight to make up for this morning.
She can't let anything distract her from her goals.
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A/N: Hope you liked it.
And Brit, you're awesome. Happy belated birthday! xxxxx
