Hello everybody! I'm so sorry I've been MIA the past week and a half - I have no excuse other than getting run down from uni and work! I felt pretty uninspired for a while so that didn't help on the writing front, but after this I am back on my regular updating schedule (Wednesdays and Fridays) meaning you should get another update tomorrow! Thank you so much for all your lovely reviews, and I promise I will get around to replying to them all (eventually)!
And again I don't own Skins or the characters but the story is based on true events.
Chapter 9: Four Days of Emily Fitch
We woke up early the next morning at around 6 am so we could gather our things and get ready for the day before getting to the train station with all our bags to catch our 7:15 train. Of course, we ended up running a little bit late as we tried to navigate the narrow stairway of the B&B with all our bags and we ended up getting to the platform just as the train started to pull away.
"That's alright," mum smiled at us and pointed behind her towards a small cafe. "I fancy a cup of tea and a bacon butty anyway."
Emily smiled and nodded before linking arms with my mum. "Gina, I like the way you think," she said as she and my mum walked off towards the cafe. I rolled my eyes and followed them, slightly annoyed that we'd missed the train even though I was also dying for a cup of tea and some breakfast.
The B&B we stayed in was nice and I slept well next to Emily but I still hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in quite a few days now – I could only sleep properly in my own bed and something about hotel linens always creeped me out a bit. I was getting a bit grumpy and I was dying to finally get home as I wasn't all too fond of London and its busy city life. I much preferred Bristol where you could still get the feel of living in a city but know that you were only an hour's drive from the beautiful countryside.
My mum went up and bought us all tea and bacon butties as Emily and I found a cozy spot next to a fireplace for us all. The sandwich and tea hit the spot perfectly and as soon as we were done the next train was just arriving on the platform. We boarded the train and made sure we were all sitting together. As soon as I sat down on that train I felt relief wash over me. This was it – the last step before arriving in Bristol and being home.
After being in Toronto for two weeks and getting used to their transit systems I had to say that I much preferred England's. There was just something about taking a train in England, maybe it had to do with seeing the snow-topped houses and watching houses that were hundreds of years old pass by and just feeling the centuries worth of history that was in this country. Toronto was beautiful of course but nothing would ever compare to England.
I felt a bit tense now that we were going home, only because it suddenly dawned on me that I didn't know when I'd see Emily next. I didn't even have her phone number! Anxiety crept up within me – if she'd wanted to give me her phone number, surely she would have by now, right?
No, I couldn't let myself think like that. Obviously what Emily and I shared was real, obviously she wants to give me her phone number, she just hasn't needed to since we haven't left each other's sides for the past few days. I knew I was falling into a typical Naomi trap – trying to push people away by doubting their feelings for me and feeling the urge to protect myself from them. I couldn't do that anymore. Not with Emily. She'd already let me see so much of her, let me sleep in the same bed as her. I couldn't doubt her.
Just as I'd thought that, Emily leaned over and rested her head against my shoulder. She grabbed my arm and placed it gently over her shoulder before kissing my collarbone. "I'm really going to miss seeing you every day, Naoms," she whispered against the thick material of my jumper. I sighed and squeezed her tightly into me.
"Me too, Ems," I replied before dropping a kiss onto her hair.
Before I knew it, we were pulling into the train station in Bristol and unloading all our suitcases from the train. Emily and I walked together holding hands and my mum walked ahead of us. I noticed Emily's sister Katie right away. They were obviously identical, but Katie had a rounder face and seemed to be slightly taller than Emily. Katie smiled brightly at her sister and started waving her arms about in hopes of getting Emily's attention. I nudged Emily, trying to draw her attention away from her feet and towards her sister. She smiled when she saw Katie and let go of my hand to hug her sister.
"I was so worried about you, Emsy. I thought you were going to find a hot French lesbian and never come back to Bristol!" Katie said as she ruffled her sister's hair. Emily blushed and looked back at me.
Katie turned to me and looked me up and down, obviously trying to figure out if I was good enough for her sister. She smiled slightly, and held out her hand. "I'm Katie, Emily's sister," she said, her voice more restrained and her lisp more pronounced. I smiled back at her.
"I'm Naomi, Emily's err... person she got stuck in France with," I replied. Emily snorted at my awkwardness and tried to hide her laugh by covering her mouth. Katie smiled at me and thanked me for taking care of her sister. She grabbed Emily's bags and whispered something to her before walking towards the car park.
Emily turned to me, sad puppy eyes looking up at me and pouting slightly. "I really don't want to say goodbye," she said as she walked closer to me and wrapped her arms around my waist. She pulled away slightly and reached into my pocket, where she knew I kept my mobile and punched in her contact information. "Let's all get together for drinks soon, yeah? Your friends, my friends, us. We'll make a night out of it."
I nodded at her and looked down as she slipped my mobile back into my pocket. She wrapped her arms around my neck and threaded her fingers through the hair at the nape of my neck before pulling me down towards her lips. The kiss was slightly more frantic and longing than our others, her lips kissing me harder than usual. She pulled back slightly before kissing me chastely a dozen more times before pulling away. When she looked back up at me her eyes looked sad. She squeezed my hand, her own little way of saying 'I'm going to miss you, you better call me, I need you'.
She turned and walked to the car park where Katie was waiting for her as I stood there in amazement watching her go. It killed me to see her walking away like that, and I already missed her immensely. All I wanted was to run after her and ask her to get stuck in France with me again and again and again, but I couldn't. This was what real life was like. This was what our relationship had to become now. We couldn't just climb into bed together at the end the day, and suddenly that seemed really confusing to me. The thought of going back to an empty apartment was upsetting.
That's the funny thing about loneliness. You never really realize just how lonely you are until someone comes into your life and shows you how great it can be to have someone with you all the time, to rely on someone, and that it's okay that you have to have that person near you. That's what Emily did to me. And now I wasn't so sure that I'd be alright with living my life without seeing her all the time, or at least very often.
Four days did that to me. Four days of Emily Fitch turned my world upside down. Part of me couldn't have been happier; another part of me was wondering why my heart hurt so badly as I watched her leave.
Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you thought in a review :)
