A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews and favourites. They all have pink rather tickled pink, and blue and, well, lots of other colours, really.

Anyway, on with the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own skins, and it's a shame, really. I could do with the cash?


"Can I ask you something?" Emily asked, as Naomi painted detail into one of the tentacles of one octopus that graced the side of the bus. They had been outside for about an hour, Naomi touching up parts that she had been painting the previous day, and adding more detail. Emily was sitting next to the area where the blonde was painting, looking on in fascination.

"Sure, what would you like to know?" Naomi replied, her eyes focused on the paintbrush against the metal.

"Why did you pick that image?"

"You're familiar with it, I gather?"

"Yeah. I studied art in college." Emily said. "It's a rather... Interesting choice."

"It is, isn't it?" Naomi laughed. "Remember when I told you about how my mum gave me this bus, on the condition I should decorate it alternatively?"

"Yes, I do."

"Well... I could have done something simple... Like you know, paint "PEACE" or something like that... But then I already have "FREEDOM" down the other side, so it felt a bit... Not so much redundant as something that's, you know, been done?"

"Right..."

"I guess I wanted something out of the ordinary... Something that gets your attention but makes you think the more you look at it." Naomi explained. "It works, because even though it's unfinished, there's at least one person every day who stops to look at it."

"You see people's reactions, then?" Emily asked, surprised.

Naomi laughed. "Yeah. Me and Eff like to hide under the windows sometimes and watch people go by. Like... She'll sit in he bus, and I'll be in there." She said, pointing back to the house. "You see quite a mixture of amazement...and shock. Sometimes disgust. It's hilarious seeing people's faces when they figure out what they are looking at."

Emily smiled. "That's very interesting. You make it sound like a social experiment."

Naomi shrugged. "It can be seen that way, I guess. I guess when the image was created, there was meaning behind it, and the Japanese are..."

"A little weird when it comes to sex?" Emily offered.

Naomi laughed. "You're a smart one, you know." She replied, turning to Emily and smirking.

"I try." Emily shrugs, with a smile.

"You are right, though. Who knows why it was created? One could just say it's how pornography used to be. But these days, it's seen as erotic art... Or a curiosity." Naomi said. "I guess you could say it was the Playboy of its day."

Emily laughed and raised an eyebrow. "Playboy? More like Hustler. But, like... With tentacles."

The two giggled for a few moments.

"You need something that matches the same theme... For the back half, y'know?"

Naomi stood back a little and stared at the bus. "You know... You're right. Maybe a wave, or something?"

"It would certainly fit."

"That's a great idea, Emily." Naomi smiled. "Thanks." She said, leaning over and gently kissing her cheek.

Emily blushed and smiled. "You're welcome."

Naomi looked back at her work. "Ah, I think that's enough for today." She said, beginning to clean her paintbrush. Emily watched on, as she put the brush into a jar of fluid and then shook out the excess, leaving the brush bristle side up in another jar that contains about a dozen other brushes. She then took another seemingly empty jar with a lid, unscrewing the lid and pouring the fluid into it, sealing it shut. She held the jar up to the sunlight and frowned.

"I'm going to need some more solvent, soon."

"Is it hard to come by?"

"Might have to take a trip into Art Bristol and get some." Naomi replied. "But, not to worry... I'll be alright for a while longer." She smiled. "D'you fancy a drink?" Emily nodded. "Alright... You go inside and take a seat, and I'll be right back."

Emily stood up and climbed the steps into the bus, once again taking in her surroundings with a sense of amazement. She couldn't believe how interestingly beautiful it was. That, along with Naomi herself, had Emily for the first time forgetting about the memories of her breakup. The blonde had such an effect on her that she felt lighter, like she could breathe easier around her, in spite of the nervousness she sometimes created.

Emily realised that nervousness was just the attraction they had to each other. She wasn't sure of where it was going, but felt good enough about it to entertain the notion of pursuing it. But it felt a lot different to any other attraction she had felt, to anyone. Whenever she had gone out with Katie since Charly had left, her sister had encouraged her to meet someone, but her heart had never been in it. She eventually told her sister that she wasn't interested in meeting anyone, but true to her nature, Katie persisted with trying.

Naomi stepped onto the bus, finding Emily observing the window at the back of the bus, which was painted in two sections. The left section, was painted in tones of red and orange, and the right, blue and green. Both sections had the colours blended together, and were split by an implied line down the centre, and each section had half a rounded diamond shaped wedge of the opposing side's colour as contrast. It graced the centre of the window, and the border around it, was a two inch thick emerald green line, intricately overlaid with silver vines and tiny flowers.

She walked up quietly behind Emily, who was staring at the painting, completely in awe of it. She opened one of the beers and held it over Emily's right shoulder. The redhead shivered at hearing the hiss as the cap came off the bottle, and moved her hand up to hold the cool glass bottle. Naomi opened her own beer and took a long sip. Emily did the same, and swallowed the cool, refreshing liquid.

"What do you see?" The blonde asked.

"It's very feminine in nature." Emily replied. "The right side almost looks like a face." She took another sip of beer. "It's beautiful."

"Close your eyes?" Naomi asked, placing her hand on Emily's shoulder. Emily closed her eyes as Naomi drank from her own beer. "Now... Take a deep breath, open your eyes...and tell me which side appeals to you more." Emily took a deep breath as Naomi asked, and exhaled, opening her eyes. They were immediately drawn to the right hand side, it's cool blue and green tones drawing her focus in.

"The right." Emily said, quietly, feeling spellbound by the painting before her. Naomi smiled, because that was the side that she had the most pleasure out of painting, letting her mind run away with swirling brushstrokes.

"It's the first thing on this bus that I painted." The blonde explained. "And the right side... Was my favourite part to paint."

Emily turned around and stared into Naomi's eyes, and the blonde could see how in awe she was. She wondered whether it was just the art, but thought that it was probably her, as well. Emily stepped closer, and without saying anything, wrapped her arms around Naomi's waist and pulled her close.

"Oh!" Naomi laughed, reciprocating the action and slipping her arms around the redheads shoulders. "I think that's the best critique I've had!" She said, a wide smile on her lips. She kissed the top of Emily's head and held her close. Emily relaxed into Naomi's arms and inhales vanilla again, the scent calming her.

"It's amazing." Emily said. "This bus is amazing. YOU are amazing. I'm so glad you had the music too loud. I feel like I want to thank the person who compla-" She was cut off as Naomi pressed her lips against the redhead's, kissing her slowly. Emily was surprised by the interruption, but had no objection to being kissed, finding her lips merging easily with the blonde's, whose hand had moved to Emily's neck, her fingers threading through the fine wispy hair at the back. A soft moan escaped from Emily's lips as the kiss grew deeper, and all too soon, the two pulled away from each other.

Naomi stared into Emily's big brown eyes, and couldn't help her wide smile. "I'm glad we met, too." She said, her voice coming out low and quiet. Emily smiled back, and rested her head against Naomi's chest. "I should probably get going, soon, you must have things to do to prepare for tomorrow."

"Huh?" Naomi said. "OH, right... The festival. Not a whole lot of preparation needed, really. You can stay as long as you like, it's no trouble, really."

"No, I should really..."

"It's Saturday, Emily." Naomi said, with a smirk. "Unless mum needs help with her baking crusade, I'm free." She adds. "I'd like you to stay a little while longer, I have one other thing to show you...for now."

Emily looked down at her beer bottle, fiddling with the label, before finishing the rest of the liquid. Her eyes flicked back up to meet the blue jewels that were Naomi's. "Alright." She said, nodding once.

"C'mon..." Naomi took Emily's hand and draining the rest of her beer, placing the bottle on the table, Emily doing the same. The blonde took her hand and led her down the aisle of the bus, and outside. "How are your climbing skills?"

"What?" Emily asked.

Naomi laughed. "Just kidding, Emily." She led Emily into the house and began to climb the stairs.

Emily began to giggle. "Ohhh... Now I see what you mean by climbing."

The blonde led Emily up a second flight of stairs, and they were faced with two doors. One had "KEEP OUT" painted on the door, in red and purple spiky lettering, much like graffiti. "Yours?" Emily asked.

"Ah, no. One I can't take credit for. That one was Freddie, a mate of Effy's." Naomi replied.

"I see." Emily said, as Naomi opened the door into a bedroom, and ushered Emily inside. A double bed was against one wall, with a tie-dyed duvet that had a giant purple and blue spiral in the centre. The pillowcases matched the duvet, and against the adjacent wall sat a large dressing table, with three mirrors, a central one, and two hinged ones on either side of it. A waistcoat on a coat hanger hung off the wardrobe door. It was black and was covered in all kinds of badges and buttons.

Naomi walked to the window, and motioned for Emily to come over. The redhead crossed the room to the window, and looked outside. She could see the top of the bus. It was painted a pale sky blue colour, and against the blue was the word "PASSION", painted in large red lettering with white trim.

Emily turned to Naomi and raised her eyebrow and shook her head, smirking. "You really need to stop showing me so many amazing things... It's sucking me in further." She said.

"Is that a bad thing?" Naomi asked her.

Emily looked into Naomi's eyes, and reached for her hand, taking it in hers and threading their fingers together. "I'm not sure." She said, quietly. She gently rubbed her thumb over the back of Naomi's hand. "All I know... Is that I like you a lot. But..."

"But?" Naomi asked, almost whispering.

"It's not you. I'm just not sure I'm ready to be with someone yet." Emily said quietly.

"Oh." Naomi said, and for the first time, Emily heard sadness in her voice. She pulled Naomi close and held her. They wrapped their arms around each other and stood there for a few moments, before Naomi reached up and stroked the redhead's fringe, tucking it behind her ear. "I can understand that." She said, her eyes bright and searching. "Are you scared?"

"Not so much scared, as vulnerable. My ex... She hurt me pretty bad." Emily explained. "So, I'm just cautious. Apart from getting over her, it's the reason why I'm still single."

"I don't want to hurt you, Emily. But, I'd really like to get to know you better."

"Well that's good. Because I'd like to get to know you too. If you can be patient enough with me." Emily replied, with a shy smile. "I mean... After last night...and being here today... If I left here today, and never saw you again... That wouldn't be something I could live with, somehow..."

Naomi nodded. "I don't think I can let you go, somehow. Not that I'm going to kidnap you, or anything..." She smiled. "But I think there could be something between us, possibly. I don't mind waiting if you aren't ready... I think you are worth it."

"You'd do that for me?" Emily asked, to which Naomi nodded in reply. "Why?"

"Because I think you are worth it, Emily." The blonde said, seriously, not asking her blue eyes off the redhead's brown ones.

Emily closed her eyes and leaned her head forward slightly. Naomi did the same until their foreheads touched gently. "You're too kind." Emily whispers.

Naomi smiles and gently kisses Emily. "I call it as I see it, you know?" She says.

Emily laughs softly, and nods. "I should get going, though. I sort of have laundry to do."

"Ah. The joys of domesticity?" Naomi smirked.

"Something like that, yeah..." Emily laughed.

"I'll still see you tomorrow?"

Emily nodded. "Yes. I'll be there about 1130, with bells on."

"Good, I'm so glad you're going to be there. I think you'll love it." Naomi said, raising her eyebrows twice what could be seen as a seductive way, and smiling genuinely. "Come on... If you must leave, I'll walk you downstairs at least." She took Emily's hand and they began to walk down the stairs.

"Are you on your way out, love?" Gina called from the back door. She appeared to float down the hallway towards the two, her kaftan being flown enough to hide her feet.

"I was just seeing Emily out, mum." Naomi explained.

"Oh, I see." Gina replied. "Pleasure to meet you, Emily love. Hope to see you again soon!"

"It's been lovely meeting you too, Gina." Emily said, with a warm smile.

"Take care."

Naomi led Emily outside again. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." She said, looking at the ground and kicking at an invisible rock. "But you know... Feel free to call me if you want to talk. Okay?"

Emily placed her hand under Naomi's chin and lifted her face slightly, leaning in and kissing her softly. "Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow." She leaned in and gave Naomi one last hug before turning and walking down the street. Naomi watched as she reached the corner, before turning back to Naomi and waving. Naomi waved back and watched as Emily rounded the corner and set off for home.

Naomi turned to find Gina leaning against the door. "My my..." Gina said. "You ARE taken with her, aren't you."

"You think?" Naomi said, biting her lip nervously.

"Doesn't take a genius to figure it out, dear."

"Christ." The younger blonde muttered, walking up the stairs and back into the house, her mother following.

"What's wrong, love?"

"Where's Eff?" Naomi asked.

"Upstairs." Gina answered. "Are you going to-"

"Not now, mum." She rolled her eyes as she started up the stairs.

"It won't help, Naomi!"

"Whatever." She said, as she opened the door to Effy's room and found the brunette lying on her back across the width of her bed, her Doc Martens casually resting crossed over and halfway up the wall. Her head was hanging over the side of he bed, her long, slightly-wavy-at-the-ends brunette hair hanging halfway down to the floor. She had changed, since Naomi had seen her that morning, and she was now wearing a midnight blue tie-dyed t-shirt and black jeans, smoking a spliff while listening to Amy Winehouse at a reasonably tolerable volume.

"Eff." Naomi said, loud enough to get her attention. The brunette looked up, or in her case, down, and raised her eyebrows. "Stash?" Effy's eyes went to her sock drawer, and Naomi wasted no time in shutting the door and crossing to the sock drawer, yanking it open and pulling out the old box that Effy kept the spliff supplies in. Naomi sat down on the floor, opened the box, and set about rolling herself a big one. But as she was overwhelmed with nerves, her fingers were shaking, and she couldn't quite get a grasp of the motion which she had learned at around sixteen, and always considered a decently acquired skill.

"Naoms." Effy said, exhaling a long drag of intoxicating smoke. "Slow down."

Naomi stopped what she was doing and rolled her eyes, taking the spliff from Effy's lips and shutting the box lid before thrusting it in Effy's direction. Naomi took a long drag on the spliff and held the smoke in as Effy managed to seamlessly roll over and re-orientate herself so she was sitting up cross legged. She calmly opened the spliff box and began to roll herself a replacement. "Relax." She said to Naomi, who was by now taking her third drag.

"I'm TRYING." Naomi said, exhaling a large cloud of smoke.

Effy sat down on the floor next to Naomi, and placed a steady hand on her shoulder "Stop." She said, taking the now considerably shorter spliff from her fingers. "Calm down."

Naomi put her head in her hands and groaned. "Fuck, Eff. What am I going to do?"

"You didn't fuck it up already, did you?"

"No...far from it. She likes me, I like her. It's just... Complicated on her end. We get along so well that it's scary, given that we barely know each other."

"You want to be with her?" Effy asked.

"I think so." Naomi replied. "Yes."

"So? What's the issue?"

Naomi sighed deeply and leaned her head back against the chest of drawers. "She got out of a relationship a while ago... And from what she has told me, it wasn't the best of break ups... Not that they ever are, but...y'know."

"Ah. So, she's cautious." Effy said, in her usual passive monotone.

Naomi nodded. "She likes me, but she says she doesn't know if she's ready."

"Hmm." Effy mused. "You seem to think she's worth it, though. Otherwise you wouldn't be smoking my spliff like it was going out of fashion."

"Ha ha, Eff." Naomi said, sarcastically. "Any chance you could leave the sarcasm to me, while I'm having a crisis?"

Effy raised an eyebrow and took the remains of the spliff from Naomi's fingers, taking a drag and reaching up onto the dresser for the ashtray, she stubbed it out, and lit the newly rolled spliff between her fingers, taking a drag and handing it to Naomi. "So... At least she likes you." Effy said, once she had exhaled. "Even if it doesn't go anywhere, you've made a friend, which is something you've not done in a long time."

"Thanks for the reminder, Eff." Naomi retorted. "How does that help?"

"Well, at least you can spend time together and see if anything comes of it." Effy explained. "She's coming tomorrow... Start there."

"I told her I was performing tomorrow, too." Naomi said, fiddling with the ends of her shoelaces. "And... I showed her the bus."

"Naoms." Effy said. "You rarely do that."

Naomi shut her eyes. "I know, Eff."

"You must have it bad."

"She took an interest in it first, remember? When she mentioned to Gina... She thought it was abandoned, you know. The bus, that is." Naomi said. "When she said that, I just had to show her... She'd already seen the outside, so I showed her the inside."

"What... All of it?" Effy asked.

"No, god no... Not upstairs." Naomi replied. "Just the bottom level. You should have seen her face, Eff. The way her eyes lit up. She was amazed."

"Well you ARE talented."

"I know. But she was just in awe of it." Naomi said. "I've never seen someone take that much of an interest in my work. It was childlike... Beautiful. She even suggested her idea for what else should go on the side of the bus."

"Beside the girl getting off with the octopi?" Effy smirked.

"Yes." Naomi said seriously, never one to joke about her art. "She suggested something complementary, so I'm going to try and find a wave picture that I can adapt."

"Interesting." Replied the brunette.

"What?"

"She takes an interest in your work." Effy said. "Even though she is guarded she might not be able to control how she feels."

"Hmm." Naomi murmured in reply. Effy passed her the spliff and she took a long drag before handing it back. She thought of how the redhead was so taken by what was painted on, and inside the bus, as well as on the hallway wall. Like it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life, thus far. Naomi now knew that inviting her to the festival to see her perform was the right thing to do.

"Have you figured out what you're painting tomorrow?"

"Yes, but all I need is a way of doing it. That's a massive fuck-off canvas." Naomi replied.

"Why don't you pace it out?" Effy asked.

"What, literally?"

"Yeah." The brunette said, standing up and opening the door, leaving the room.

"Eff?"

"Think about it..."

Naomi rolled her eyes and placed the spliff back between her lips.

"Fuck." Naomi muttered. "Sometimes I wish you weren't so bloody cryptic."


Thanks again for reading... Reviews welcome, as always :)