A/N: Thanks so much for your kind reviews and messages, especially when I struggled so much with that last chapter...they motivated me to knock this one out a bit quicker...and to all my silent readers - glad you're liking it...hopefully...or at least not sending hate mail if you don't :)

Now before you all beat me with a stick – yes, Emily actually speaks in this one instead of just kissing randoms :P


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It's not until Thursday morning that Freddie brings up their date again.

They're sitting in homeroom in relative silence because Kieran just blasted the shit out of them all and told them to shut up, slamming his fist on his desk and glaring at them. He's a pretty grumpy guy but usually quiet, so the outburst has shocked most of them into silence. Naomi is pretty sure he's hungover. She can't blame him.

He seems to be tolerating a few hushed conversations around the room though, including Katie and Effy bickering about their English homework, but Naomi is taking the opportunity to finish reading her book. She can hear Emily and Cook whispering behind her and she tries to tune it out, but her mind keeps drifting from her book to their conversation, trying to hear what they're saying. Torn between her curiosity and her annoyance with the redhead.

Emily still hasn't spoken to her since the bathroom incident as Naomi has taken to referring to it, and barely even glanced in her direction. For the first couple of days the blonde was bordering on furious, a confusing swirl of hurt and anger over how Emily was treating her. But then she gave herself a reality check. Reminded herself that the redhead is a bitch and that she doesn't even like her, despite the way her body reacts when she's around. She puts it down to some strange anomaly, because her feelings for Emily are new and confusing and she doesn't trust them. So she's decided to completely forget about it. Forget about her. Put it down to some sort of temporary insanity, because clearly Emily doesn't in fact like her, so Naomi isn't going to waste any more time thinking about her. She's going to ignore the little flutter in her stomach every time she hears that husky voice. Sees that mischievous smile. Ignore her completely.

She's decided to focus on her new friends and her college work instead. She's ahead in most of her classes but she wants it to stay that way, and she's vowed to go back to her old plan of not being interested in anyone, Emily or Freddie. It's safer that way. The other way just leaves her anxious and confused, and she hates not being in control of her feelings.

The only problem is that Freddie doesn't seem to want to cooperate with that plan. After the indifference she's shown him the last few days; avoiding eye contact and answering him with short, closed off replies, she thought he might've given up or backed off. But if anything it's just seemed to make him try harder, and against her better judgement she finds herself flattered by his attention again.

Doesn't stop her being surprised though when he turns around in his chair to face her and leans onto her desk, his face is close enough to hers that all she can think about is when they kissed. Her stomach flips again at the memory despite herself.

His eyes seem to struggle for a moment with whatever he wants to say, until he finally opens his mouth.

"Did I do something wrong?"

She's taken aback by the bluntness of his question, but also the genuine concern lacing his words, and her wide eyes blink back at him.

His voice is a low whisper but in the unusual quiet of the room Naomi's acutely aware that her friends and probably his friends might overhear. Emily could too. She wishes he had waited until after class.

"Because I had fun with you at the party and I thought you had fun with me. But since then you've been a bit...I don't know...did I do something to piss you off?"

She instantly feels guilt twisting her stomach, because no, he didn't do anything wrong. In fact he has been completely lovely to her ever since they met, a friendly face that made coming to college every day that much easier. It's just that he confuses her even more, because how could she have liked kissing him if she liked it so much when Emily touched her?

Her focus darts around nervously before finally settling back on him, and his sweet brown eyes seem genuinely troubled be her behaviour. \

Her resolve starts to falter.

"No, you didn't do anything wrong," she whispers softly, hoping that no one else hears. "I've just been...distracted...with settling in and everything. New college and new town."

It's not really a lie, but it's nowhere near the whole truth either.

"Sorry," she adds as an afterthought.

Freddie seems relieved by her answer, a smile stretching across his face.

"Right. Of course. I didn't even think about it like that." He scratches the back of his head in that absentminded way that Naomi thinks is cute. "Jeez, I must look like a real self-involved dick for thinking that it was all about me."

They share a laugh, and Naomi thinks it's better to have Freddie feeling like an idiot than knowing she's one. But then she hears Emily's unmistakable throaty laugh and Cook's chuckle behind her, sees Freddie's smile falter for a second as his eyes flick over her shoulder. Her body tenses, and she wonders if she and Freddie are the cause of the laughter, relieved when Cook says something about some girl's tits and they laugh harder.

Freddie just shakes her head and rolls his eyes then smiles at her. She smiles back, feeling like they're sharing their ownprivate joke, but also because she can't not when he's looking at her like that.

"Well are you busy this Saturday then? I can give you the grand tour of Bristol and then we can have dinner maybe? My uncle owns this great restaurant."

He looks so hopeful that Naomi can't bring herself to say no, which she should because she promised herself that she wouldn't get involved with anyone. But she wants to say yes. Then she remembers that she has plans to go shopping with the girls.

She realises that she's been staring at Freddie blankly for far too long.

"I can't," she spits out finally, and it sounds like more of a rejection that she meant it to.

Freddie's smile drops a little on one side but he tries to cover his disappointment, and Naomi hastens to add the reason why she can't go.

"It's not that I don't want to...but I'm supposed to be going shopping with these guys."

She points and looks along the table to her friends, is slightly alarmed to find them all staring back at her at and Freddie, an amused smile on Effy and Pandora's faces, and an apprehension in Katie's. It's pretty clear that they've heard the whole conversation.

"Don't even worry about that," Effy says waving her hand dismissively. "We can go on Sunday or something. You two go out on Saturday."

Naomi can feel Freddie's gaze fall back to her, and an anxious knot tightens in her stomach. She does want to go, because she likes hanging out with him, but that would mean they're going on a date. Which goes against her whole not getting involved policy. More important is the fact that she's never actually been on a date, and just the thought of it has her stomach churning with nerves...but also a little excitement.

"So...?" Freddie says looking for confirmation.

The words tumble out of her mouth before she even thinks about them.

"Okay...sure."

-x-

Naomi pushes through the double doors of the library and takes a deep calming breath. Friday has been long and painful, mostly thanks to the numerous messages she's received all day from her mother about Roger the electrician not calling her back. She had to hear all about it over breakfast this morning and she tried to be sympathetic then, offering the same supportive and placating words and excuses for why he mightn't have called her that she has in the past, but Naomi's sympathy drained quickly as she got several updates from her throughout the day. For once she wishes that a guy would call her mother just so she can shut up about it.

Part of her is worried that her mother seems to like this guy so much so quickly, but another part knows that if he had called her back her mum wouldn't like him quite as much. In the end she's glad he hasn't called, because it just means that her mum will have to find some other asshole and they might not have to move again for a while.

Her mood also wasn't helped when some bastard bumped into her in the corridor at lunch and almost knocked her over, not even stopping to apologise or see if she was okay.

But the final bell has gone for the week and she wants to let it all go and lose herself in some books.

She carefully slips her stack of borrowed books back into the return slot, smiling politely at the librarian Mrs Clarke, before taking off in search of more. As she moves between the shelves she feels her body relaxing, something about the smell of so many books, so much wisdom and history, that never fails to calm her.

She's glad that her friends and Freddie don't know she comes in here. Partly because she feels like a total nerd, but more so because the library is hers. A place she can go and just be herself. Not have to worry about saying something uncool or wearing the wrong thing. She can just be Naomi.

She's trawling through the fiction shelves when she feels someone tug on her arm. She scowls and turns around, her breath catching when she finds herself face to face with Emily. The redhead looks tired, but she's smiling at her, and again Naomi thinks to herself how much she likes it when she smiles at her.

"Hey."

Emily's husky voice thickens the word so that it sounds to Naomi much more than a simple greeting. It winds its way around her and squeezes all the oxygen out of her body. She can feel her skin burning where Emily touched her. Feels like she can't move. Can't speak.

But then anger swirls inside her and she remembers how pissed off she is with Emily for making her feel like a fool and then ignoring her all week. Finds it much easier to speak again.

"What do you want?"

Emily looks surprised by her harsh words and tone, but she recovers quickly, a gentle smile on her lips.

"Are you angry with me or something?"

Naomi scoffs because she wants to look like she doesn't care, but she's also getting déjà vu from her earlier conversation with Freddie in homeroom, only with Emily the answer to the question is yes. But her forced nonchalance falters briefly when she thinks she sees fear in the redhead's eyes.

"Did Katie say something to you about me?"

Naomi frowns because she wasn't expecting that. "No."

Emily studies her for a moment as if she's trying to work out if she's telling the truth.

"Did Freddie?"

"We have better things to talk about."

Naomi smirks, satisfied with her snarky comment. She realises too late that it would have been the perfect opportunity to ask exactly what either Katie or Freddie could have told them about her.

Emily's eyes narrow, and she moves on before Naomi has a chance to backtrack.

"Then why are you pissed at me?"

"Why do you care?"

"I don't."

Emily shrugs and looks down, leans back against the shelf with her shoulders hunched, and it occurs to Naomi that this is the first time she's seen the redhead's cool exterior waver. Emily almost seems wounded, and it pulls at something in Naomi's chest. Makes her want to take back the last minute and start over.

They stay in a silent stand-off, Naomi not sure of what to say but not wanting Emily to leave either. They're a metre or so apart on either side of the isle but Naomi feels like Emily is so much closer to her. Surrounding her. Wearing her down. She wants to take a step back but her back is hard up against the shelves.

"You've ignored me all week," she admits finally, feeling foolish for being so honest as soon as the words leave her mouth.

But it's the truth. All week Emily has acted like a complete stranger. Worse than that really because the redhead has almost gone out of her way to avoid even looking at her, and Naomi wondered if it was intentional. And what she did to make Emily act that way.

Emily lifts her head, her mysterious brown eyes locking with the blonde's, and Naomi feels her heart skip.

"You didn't talk to me either."

Naomi blinks. She wasn't expecting that. She hadn't even thought of it that way. That Emily might have been waiting for her. That's just not the way she thought they work. Emily is always finding her, always initiating any of their conversations.

But then she thinks about the time she watched Emily reading in the library, or in the bathroom at the party, and realises that that's not really true. Either way she knows exactly why she didn't approach her all week.

"Well on Monday I saw you with that girl in the caf–"

Emily's face scrunches in confusion. "Mandy?"

Naomi's feels a flicker of irritation at the question in the redhead's voice. As if she was with so many girls on Monday that Mandy could have been one of many.

"Yeah," she says with an edge in her tone.

Emily pushes her shoulders off the shelf and straightens up, closing the gap between them slightly. Looks at Naomi hard.

"Why does it matter that I was with Mandy?"

The question sucks the air out of Naomi's lungs.

She wants to tell Emily that it matters because after the party she thought the redhead actually liked her. It matters because she admitted to herself that she's attracted to her. A girl. It matters because seeing that giant Mandy girl all over her felt like a punch in the stomach. Made her feel like a fool.

It matters.

But she can't tell Emily any of that. So she lies.

"It doesn't."

Emily continues to stare at her with an unreadable expression, but something about the knowing look in her eye makes her think that the redhead knows the truth. Has Naomi's heart beating wildly.

The blonde is thankful when a couple of guys walk past the aisle talking loudly, the distraction diffusing the tension between her and Emily and allowing her time to take a couple of steps further down the aisle away from the redhead.

She turns her back on Emily and faces the shelves, her eyes scanning the books but not reading anything, just taking the time to take a few deep breaths and compose herself. She doesn't want Emily to leave, for their exchange to end, but she can't look at her at the moment.

She's relieved when she hears the redhead behind her.

"So which book is your favourite?"

Naomi smiles, thankful for the change of subject, but keeps her back turned. She thinks a lot clearer when she's not looking at Emily.

"That's a very big question."

Emily chuckles, and it lands deep in Naomi's stomach. "Do you have a very big answer?"

"I can't pick just one favourite."

The redhead makes a playful exasperated sound in her throat that makes Naomi's grin wider. "Yes you can. Like if you were stuck on an island and could only have one book what would it be?"

Naomi bites her lip and thinks about it for a second, the obvious answer coming to her quickly. She moves away from Emily down the aisle until she finds the book, pulls it off the shelf and makes her way back. Hands it to the redhead.

Emily reads the title, a small smile gracing her lips. "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." She lifts her eyes to meet Naomi's. "Why this one?"

"Because I love it," she says quickly, then realises that it's not much of an answer. "I've been reading it since I was little but it's different every time," she explains, turning her back on Emily again. "I get something new out of it each time."

Emily makes an approving noise over her shoulder, and when Naomi moves slowly down the aisle again the redhead follows.

"What about you?"

"Yeah I don't mind it," Emily answers nonchalantly.

Naomi smiles. "I meant which book would you take to the island?"

"The bible."

Naomi stills in surprise and whips her head around. Finds Emily smirking back at her struggling to stifle a laugh.

"Very funny. But seriously?"

Emily takes a step toward her and widens her eyes in feigned innocence. "What? I'm extremely religious."

But the redhead can only hold it for a few seconds before her mischievous smirk is back. Naomi tries to glare at her sternly but she too ends up smiling. She likes Emily's smirk. Emily's lips.

It's then that she notices that the redhead is close to her again. That she's wearing a t-shirt with a low neckline, and Naomi can't stop her eyes from falling to Emily's chest fleetingly.

But when she looks up the redhead is smirking at her in a different way, and she knows that Emily saw her. The tension between them tightening again as the blonde tries not to blush too obviously, knowing she can't stop it completely.

"I can't believe you're going on a date with Funsponge."

Emily's voice is light and casual, but her eyes tell a different story, studying Naomi seriously. The blonde is caught off guard by the abrupt turn in the conversation, but even more so by the fact that she'd completely forgotten Freddie existed until now. She thinks about what that says about who she really wants to be going out on a date with.

But Emily's question troubles her further, and she wonders if the redhead is referring to the fact that Freddie is popular and hot, someone Naomi always thought was out of her league. It's something she's thought about often, especially when she catches the jealous and contemptuous glares directed at her from various girls around the college when she's talking with Freddie. He dated or did whatever with Effy, and Naomi doesn't consider herself to be even half as gorgeous as the brunette.

But she wants to hear Emily's answer.

"Why is it so unbelievable?"

Emily shrugs. "Because he's a fucking dick."

There's a harsh resentment in her voice, and it's then that Naomi remembers that Emily hates Freddie. And that they used to be best friends. Takes the opportunity to ask why.

"Why aren't you two friends anymore?"

Emily stares at her with an unreadable expression, and Naomi shifts on her feet uncomfortably. She doesn't like asking people questions. Mostly because she hates answering them herself. But she desperately wants to know the answer to this one.

The redhead bites her lip and sighs. "You should ask Freddie."

"I did."

Emily looks surprised. "And what did he say?"

"He didn't really answer."

The redhead laughs and nods slightly then, like she expected that.

And Naomi thinks that she hasn't known Freddie for that long but he's been nothing but sweet to her, and she feels the need to say so.

"He just offered to show me around Bristol and then have some dinner. He's actually been really lovely to me."

But Emily doesn't seem to like that, her features hardening and jaw tightening, the tension between the two of them shifting again.

"Yeah, that's because he's trying to fuck you."

Naomi blinks, unsure of how exactly to respond to such a claim, or why Emily seems so annoyed by it in the first place. She doesn't know how they got from laughing about books to arguing about Freddie, but she can feel the anger radiating from the redhead.

"Just don't fall for any of his bullshit," Emily says finally, a bitterness in her tone. "Because he's full of it.

Naomi isn't sure if it requires an answer but she nods her head anyway.

The redhead takes a deep breath, then glances out to the other end of the aisle.

"I better go."

She turns back and locks eyes with Naomi, and the blonde doesn't want her to leave like this, after that small argument, but she can't think of a reasonable excuse for her to stay.

"Okay."

A small smile tugs up one side of Emily's face and Naomi smiles in return, though it's more forced than anything, and then the redhead turns and walks away.

And Naomi is again left wanting more.

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Poor Naomi...Emily alway leaves her hanging :P

For those of you wondering about when I'll finish Memories & Dust...to be honest I don't know. I feel like it will come when the mood takes me (does that sound dirrrty to anyone else? :P ) but I don't know when that will be...sorry...but I WILL finish the last two chapters...eventually... :/

Also, just because I'm obsessed with music and love sharing it - some of you (especially Aussies) may have heard of Megan Washington and her band Washington, but if you haven't you should definitely youtube them...especially the new single 'Sunday Best'...they are the shizzz...

Next chapter – FREDDIE & NAOMI DATE NIGHT! See, you're not excited now but you will be when you see what I got planned :P

Reviews are welcomed...and appreciated...and encouraged...and treasured like stars in the sky...okay I don't know what that was...but you get the point... :)