Aren't you just lucky people, I disappear for a week and come back with two chapters in the space of a few hours :D

I have a solid idea for where this story is going, although I havn't read over this chapter so I'm not sure how it's going to go down. Well I hope! (;

Chapter 7

From her revelation onwards, Naomi kept a wide berth of Emily Fitch. She wasn't sure why she was so worked up about it all, she was no homophobe after all. In fact she was all for gays-hats off to them for having the balls to get out there. But somewhere in her mind a tiny voice was reminding her that she was scared. Scared that now Emily could possibly like her there was a small chance of them being. Being Emily and Naomi. Naomi and Emily. Like Katie and Emily but without the incest. Eww.

Still she carried on in her usual way. 'Being' with Cook. Fuck it, they were Cook and Naomi. And again the tiny voice in the back of her head was reminding her that if it went on much longer with Cook she would lose him. Then she would just be Naomi. Cold, distant and broken Naomi that she'd hoped never to see again.

Through her worrying thoughts she found a peace of mind in her guitar. She would play in the streets until all hours, enjoying the serenity she found in listening to her own music filling the town, enjoying forgetting about it all for a while without a hangover the next day. She'd play until her fingers were red-raw and then she'd go home and rest them and come back the next day.

Sometimes she'd recognise the faces of people who stopped by often to listen to her. 'Daily Listeners' she liked to call them. They consisted of a tall man who always wore a suite and carried a briefcase, a short guy in his early twenties with long straightened hair covering his ears and large 'geek' glasses, a pretty woman who was no doubt the stereotypical 'receptionist on a coffee break' and a group of teenagers not much older than herself who sat on the wall on the opposite side of the road. They cheered whenever she played a song they liked and bopped their heads in time with the music.

Today however, Naomi saw the familiar glint of red hair, as she always did in the summer, and noticed Emily sitting in her usual place, with her usual coffee and her usual book. Naomi finished her last song, noting the decrease in people lining the streets, and packed up her things. She emptied the coins people threw into her empty guitar case into a bag and slid the straps of her guitar case over her shoulders.

As she turned to leave, she left a strange feeling in her gut, and on instinct followed it. Her gut was usually right. She turned back.


Emily lowered her eyes back to her book when she saw Naomi turn to leave. She didn't want to see her walk away again, was sick of seeing her walk away. She didn't, therefore, notice Naomi sit down beside her. She raised her head but continued to stare straight ahead of her. Mostly out of shock, she hadn't been this close to the blonde in 4 years.

"You used to watch in the summer too."

Emily took a minute to process the fact that Naomi had noticed. Naomi Campbell had noticed her.

"Yeah, well I like your music."

"Uhm...thanks."

"I knew I'd recognised you from somewhere."

"Couldn't quite place me?"

Emily finally turned you face Naomi.

"Well you've changed a lot."

Naomi was beat, Emily could tell.

"Can I get you a coffee?"

Emily's eyes snapped to Naomi once again. She was staring at the empty Starbucks cup sitting beside her.

"I-uh, I don't drink coffee."

Emily watched Naomi's face contort to a frown, then continued to watch her frown at the cup for several more moments. It was amusing watching the clogs turn in her head as she tried to figure out why a non-coffee drinking person would possibly have an empty coffee cup beside them.

"But," Emily began, making sure to emphasise the word, "They do serve killer Caramel Hot Chocolates."

Naomi raised her eyes to Emily again and Emily allowed herself to become lost in the blue orbs for all but a second before smiling slightly at the blonde.

Naomi gave her a small smile in return.

"Can I buy you a hot chocolate instead then?"

Emily wasn't sure. She and Naomi's 'relationship' was definitely a dodgy area. It's never going to repair itself if you keep avoiding each other, her head told her.

"Uhm-"

"Look, I've got all this change here," Naomi stated, indicating to the jangling bag hanging across her shoulder, "And I need rid of it to be honest..."

"Sure."

The pair crossed the road and entered the emptying coffee shop.

"We close at 6," called a waitress from behind the counter. Emily checked her watch, 5p.m, and took a seat near the window as Naomi went to buy the drinks. She watched as business men and office workers straggled town the main street, exhausted from a day's work, and tried to ignore the butterflies in the stomach.

Naomi Campbell is having coffee with me. ME!

A few minutes Naomi sat down opposite her, and watched the world pass the window. There was a slightly awkward silence between the pair, though not nearly as tension filled as it had in the past.

"How have I changed?" Naomi mused, her eyes never leaving the view from the window.

Emily hesitated before answering, thinking of all the ways Naomi really had changed in the past 4 years.

Naomi noticed her hesitation and quickly said, "I mean I was just wondering, you don't have to ans-"

"Your hair's longer, your taller, tanner. You're thinner, you're..."

Emily stopped mid rant and reached into her bag. She pulled out her book and removed the bookmark.

Naomi's brow creased in confusion as Emily continued to unfold the bookmark, which turned out to be a folded up photo.

"You're not her," Emily concluded, pointing to a smaller, short-blonde haired girl in the front row of the photograph.


Naomi scanned the photograph. It was her old Year 9 class, and her twelve-year-old self was smiling at her from the front row. As she returned her gaze to the window she saw her reflection staring back at her in the glass and realised just how much she truly had changed.

Physically at least. She was only too aware of how she had changed emotionally. Become a shell of her former self. Resorting to sarcasm to ward off any incoming criticism, hiding behind walls she had built within herself to shield her away from the world, becoming cold as ice.

Emily uttered seven small words to her as she got up and left, placing her empty mug on the table in front of her.

"I know she's still in there, Naomi."

Naomi fixed her stare on Emily's empty cup, noticing how full her own still was.

"Thanks for the drink."

And the door shut closed as a light wind entered the cafe. Naomi didn't feel it though, Emily had left her feeling numb, again.

Surprising how a simple coffee could change how you viewed your choices throughout the past four years of your life. Naomi began questioning every move she'd made since that night at the party. Asking the dreaded 'what-if' question.

What if I'd not moved to Spain? What if I'd stuck out Katie's bitching for a few more years? What if I'd never went to that party in the first place?

It was driving her mad.

She chugged the rest of her lukewarm coffee and left the Starbucks. She wandered through the empty streets, still lost in thought, until she managed to shut her bedroom door behind her, admittedly not before tripping a few times on the stairs on the way up.

She began raking through her music collection, deciding it would be quicker just to rake through her iTunes instead and grabbed her laptop from her desk. When she had found the song she was looking for she quickly set about Googling the guitar chords, scribbling them down on a page along with the lyrics and hauled her guitar from its case once again.


Emily had felt refreshed as she'd left the coffee house yesterday. She'd finally had a conversation with the blonde and for once it was her walking away. Now though, as she ambled aimlessly through Bristol town centre, she wasn't so sure if telling Naomi these things would help rebuild their friendship. Mostly she was worried about Naomi's reaction.

She was drawn from her thoughts as she walked into a short, stubby man with a bowler hat.

"S-sorry," she stammered as he shot her a look, before continuing his brisk strolling down the street. Come to think of it, she noticed that Bristol was exceptionally busy for a Sunday. Still she continued strolling down street after street, ignoring the unfinished coursework sitting on her bedroom floor that needed finishing before tomorrow, and hoping, maybe just a tad, that she would see Naomi while she was out and gauge her reaction to last night, so as to prepare herself for tomorrow.

She entered the top of the main street and slowed. This was the street Naomi played on, the street the coffee shop was on, and the street she could hear the familiar twangs of Naomi's guitar strings sounding from. She smiled as she approached the blonde, although totally hidden from view by the large crowd. She froze, however, as she heard the lyrics protruding from Naomi's sweet singing voice.

"Cause it's a Bittersweet
symphony, that's life.
Trying to make ends meet
you're a slave to the money, then you die.
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down.
You know the one that takes you to the places where all the veins meet, yeah.

No change,
I can't change
I can't change
I can't change
But I'm here in my mould
I am here in my mould.
And I'm a million different people from one day to the next
I can't change my mould, no-no, no-no, no.

And Emily wondered, as she walked away, just how aware Naomi was that those lyrics contradicted everything she had tried to convey to her last night.


She couldn't change, she'd forced herself into a hole in her own body so deep she couldn't see the light anymore. Couldn't find her former self in the darkness. But she didn't mind her new self; she couldn't get hurt this way.

She kept these thoughts in her head as she finished singing the song. It was silly, almost childish that she felt the need to be so extreme in an attempt to assure herself. Singing in a busy city centre about how you won't change at all for anyone is pretty extreme after all.

Whatever happened to the motto 'No pain, no gain' Naomi?

She was about to start another song when a man approached her. He was quite short for a guy, still taller than she was though. He was young, early twenties she guessed, with shaggy dark hair a bit longer than Freddie's. Perched on his nose was a pair of large geeky looking glasses. She was about to ignore his presence, recognising him as one of the people who would wait around to listen to her sometimes, when he cleared his throat.

"Hi, my name is Jonathan, Jonnie, eh-Bailey...Jonnie Bailey. I, eh, work for a number of bars and clubs around Bristol and I would uh-like to offer you a gig..."

Naomi zoned out there and then. A gig. He wanted her to stand and sing on a stage. Fuck off. No way. No way hosey...Christ. But her mind was invaded with a series of childhood memories, of getting her first guitar, playing her first chord, learning her first song and singing along, planning any number of 'band practises' in Spain she never got round to attending. She hadn't taken in a word he'd said but somehow found herself inching forward to that childhood dream she'd hidden at the back of her heart...


She found Cook where she knew she always would. In Keith's pub. Their place.

"Cook," her voice sounded more urgent than she thought it would, but she had his full attention none the less.

"I need to talk to you."

"Fire away babe," he replied.

"I got offered to play a gig."

She'd told Cook about her busking, and her ambition to become a singer. He was probably the only person to know about it apart from perhaps her mother, who didn't really need Naomi to tell her, Gina just knew these things. She was surprised by how well he had taken it, supported her whole-heartedly too.

"Fucking ace man!" he shouted, clambering off the stool and gripping her in a bear hug. He soon noticed her lack of enthusiasm and his smile disappeared.

"Naomi...Naomi!"

He clicked his fingers in her face, gaining her attention back from staring into space.

"You did say yeah, didn't you? Babe?"

"Yes."


Hope you all enjoyed that one! Thoughts are always a lovely surprise (:

Much as I would truely love to stay up and await your spectacular reviews (Thanks for those on the last chapter by the way, not sure if I've said that already...) it is infact 00:52 according to my laptop and probably time I went for a kip, I'm exhausted!

Goodnight!

(Oh and just FYI; the song used in this chapter is called 'Bittersweet Symphony' by 'The Verve'. If you havn't heard it...GO LISTEN TO IT YOU SAD SACK! No no, your not sad, im sorry...but its a classic, give it a shot! :D)