A/N: Apologies for how long it's taken me to update. I've had a lot on at work, some older fics to finish off and barely any time to write. I could have posted earlier but this chapter would have been half as long.

"You're still here then?" Katie's greeting is less than friendly as she dumps her purse on the kitchen table and goes straight to the fridge for a beer. I roll my eyes at her from where I'm perched on the sofa, watching some rubbish horror movie where every 'teenager' in it looks closer to thirty-five.
"No, I went home hours ago."
"You should have." She snaps at me as she slams the fridge door shut. Ok, so that was a bit harsh.
"Fine, I'll go. I just thought you'd appreciate me keeping Eff company tonight."

I stand up, but instead of making my way to the front door I head over to the kitchen. I fold my arms across my chest lean against the fridge, my head resting on the cool metal. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing-"
"Katie." I reach out to stop her from walking away from me, somehow my hands slips and instead of taking hold of her wrist I end up holding her hand. We stand in an awkward silence as we both stare at our joined hands, my thumb brushes casually against the inside of her palm. Katie pulls away first.
"Leave it Naomi. I'm tired, yeah?" She picks up her beer bottle again and slips past me to take a seat on the sofa.
"Yeah, me too." I open the fridge and help myself to a beer before taking a seat beside her. "So, I asked Effy about staying over here. She's fine with it. She knows you're going away though."

"Figures." Katie sighs as she spreads out on the sofa and throws her legs over my lap. She looks exhausted and preoccupied. "Fuck are you watching?" She frowns at the television as yet another bimbo blonde meets her grisly death. She picks up the remote and begins channel flicking, a habit I detest. Why can't people just pick a fucking channel and watch it?
"I was watching that!" I'm not particularly fussed about watching the stupid movie, but it's the principle that matters.
"My house, my clicker." She shakes the remote in front of my face to wind me up. I reach out to snatch it from her and she pulls it away, high above her head, laughing as I fail to get it from her. The laughter lights up her face as she teases me. I don't give up though and end up climbing on to her lap as I try to snatch the remote from her hand.

Before my fingers can reach the remote our lips find each other instead and all thoughts of television slip from my mind. Katie's lips are insistent and urgent as they battle against my own. She pushes back against me and at first I think she's pushing me away, but then I'm lying on my back on the couch with Katie straddling my hips. I've given up trying to be in control with her so I lie back and let her take the lead. It seems to be the only way we get anywhere anyway.

We lie there for longer than I expect, just kissing. For all the urgency to her actions Katie doesn't try and take things any further; so I don't push it either. The longer we kiss the more relaxed Katie becomes, her lips are no longer fighting against mine, our kisses become slow and soft; almost intimate. Eventually we end up just lying on the couch, with Katie's head resting on my chest. Neither of us says a word. My arms wrap around the girl lying on top of me while my eyes settle on the television screen. Katie's more tired than I realise as before long her eyes are closed and she's softly snoring in to the crook of my neck. I hadn't intended on staying the night, but I feel my own eyes begin to grow heavy as the TV screen blurs in front of me. My eyes close of their own accord for a moment before I struggle to open them again.

I try to wriggle out from under Katie, but she groans in her sleep and drapes her arm over my chest, pinning me down even more. There's no way I'll get out from under her without waking her up and she looks so peaceful that I don't have the heart to wake her. She looked utterly exhausted when she walked in the door and I know she's got a lot on at the moment, with planning her big shoot in Milan and looking after Effy. I close my eyes again, but just for a moment; I'll wait till Katie's in a deeper sleep then try to move again.

My plan to rest my eyes doesn't quite work out as I wake up hours later; alone. My limbs feel stiff from being curled up on the sofa, but at least there's a heavy blanket over me to stave off the cold. It's the little things like this that remind me Katie isn't the bitch she was in college; or not quite anyway. The Katie Fitch I knew back then would have left a window open or something to deliberately make me uncomfortable, not drape a blanket over me and tuck a pillow under my head. I roll on to my back and stare up at the ceiling, contemplating whether or not to take a chance on making my way in to Katie's room; in to her bed.

I've got a feeling she'd probably kick me out though. Tonight was different to what we've been doing; we've been at it like rabbits all week and yet tonight instead of the usual escalation of going from kissing to tearing each other's clothes of we just kissed. No. It was more than that. We lay cuddled on the sofa, kissing until Katie fell asleep. It's not something I ever imagined myself doing with Katie, even after we slept together. I never thought of this as something so intimate. It was just sex, scratching an itch as Effy would say, but now it seems to be growing in to something more. Something serious.

I'd be lying if I said the thought of something actually going on between me and Katie didn't terrify me, of course it does! If this turns in to more than some twisted friends with benefits booty call then I'm screwed. Straight laced Katie Fitch would never date a girl, and even if she would she'd never date her sister's ex, the girl her mother hates with a passion. What if I do fall for her and she brushes me off? What if she wants me back? What if tonight was a sign that this is more than just sex to her too? How could either of us look Emily in the eye again? Eventually I fall back in to a fitful sleep with these thoughts still floating around in my brain, refusing to leave me be.

When I wake up again Katie's creeping around the living room in the dark. It's just starting to get light outside but the thick curtains at the windows block most of it out. I ruffle the hair that's plastered to my face from lying curled up on my side all night. "What time is it?" I croak as she's bent over a suitcase on the floor.
"Early, go back to sleep."
"What time's your flight?" I ignore her and sit up.
"Ten. I'm leaving from Heathrow though so I've got to get to London before the traffic starts." I check my watch and realise it's barely five in the morning. "I've left the number of the hotel on the fridge, there's some emergency cash in a jar in the cupboard if Effy needs it-"

I can't help but laugh at her. "How old are you?" She scowls at me but a small smile sneaks through as she rolls her eyes. "Just look after her Campbell or I'll kick your arse."
"Bring it Fitch." I smirk back at her as she finishes zipping up her suitcase. Her passport is lying on the coffee table in front of the sofa and when she comes over to pick it up she bends down to kiss me.
"Why don't you climb in to my bed and get some more sleep?"
"Why don't you come with me?" It's a stupid thing to say, but I'm still half asleep and the single kiss is enough to get me going. She actually giggles as I steal another kiss from her; maybe I'm not the only one who's half asleep.
"I'll be back Monday night."
"Have fun."

When the taxi shows up to take her to the airport I take her advice and drag myself off the sofa and in to her bed. I manage to get a few more hours of sleep before Effy makes an appearance and prods me awake, mercifully she's carrying two steaming cups of coffee, one of which is for me. "Katie get off then?" I almost choke on my coffee as she picks her time to ask her question. "To the airport I mean." From the way she smirks at me I know exactly what she meant.
"I'll have you know I spent the night on the sofa-"
"Katie playing hard to get? That's a first."
"Fuck off Eff!" I snap a little too harshly at her. I know she's joking and that she and Katie are close now, but what she
said still annoys me.
"We just kissed." I huff, sulking in to my coffee. "Don't." I add as she gives me that piercing look like she's seeing right through me.

To her credit she manages to keep her comments to herself for a whole two minutes before her lips part. Her words are ominous and her expression is troubled. "Just be careful, yeah? You're playing with fire."
"Like I don't know that." I snap and roll my eyes at her. I don't need to be told anything. I know I'm skirting in dangerous territory at the moment, but I can't help it. Just the memory of her soft lips, her body pressed firmly down on mine as her hands cupped the back of my neck, ran down my back and tangled in my hair, it's enough to drive me to distraction and she's not even here. God help me I'm becoming addicted to Katie Fitch. I'm totally screwed. I don't need anyone else to tell me that.

Effy looks at me with something akin to pity in her eyes and it just rubs me up the wrong way. "I'm going in the shower." If I hadn't promised to keep eyes on her this weekend I'd be walking out the front door instead of making my way to the bathroom. I wait until the water is scalding hot before pulling off my clothes and stepping under the spray. I stand with my hands braced against the tiles, the only thing keeping me upright as my legs begin to buckle. A strangled sob tries to escape from my lips but it's choked by the water pouring over my face. I can't do this. Not again. I can't fall for a Fitch; For Emily's twin. It's taken me so long to pull myself back together; I can't risk slipping back in to that madness all over again.

A sharp knock at the door rouses me from my stupor and as I finally shut the water off I realise just how long I've been standing under the water as I catch sight of my prune like hands. "Unless you've slipped down the drain I suggest you hurry the fuck up in there. We're going out!" Effy shouts at me from the other side of the door as I step out of the shower and wrap a towel around myself. It's quite a small towel and since it barely covers my thighs I think it's a good guess that it belongs to Katie, I can't imagine it covering much of Effy.
"Where are we going?" I grumble at her as I tease my fingers through my soaking wet hair, trying to untangle it. I make my way in to Katie's room, well mine for the weekend I suppose, and Effy follows me in. She flops down on to Katie's bed and makes no attempt to avert her gaze as I slip the towel down to get dressed.
"Anywhere that will put a fucking smile on your face." She teases, though she's only half joking. I can see the concern in her eyes, not quite hidden by the smirk on her lips. She thinks I'm going to crack up, just lose it; maybe I am. If I was, Effy would probably be the first to know.

"London." I close my eyes as I think of my easy life back in my new home. My pokey little flat that has nothing from Bristol in it, no photos or keepsakes from the dark days of my life I'd rather forget. I want to go home, back to my new friends and my new life; but that's not going to happen. Not today anyway. Today it's my job to look after Effy, so I open my eyes with a sigh and wait for her to tell me what we're doing. She doesn't though, she looks at me expectantly and I realise she wasn't kidding. It's up to me what we do today. The only problem is I have no idea what will put a smile on my face right now. There's nowhere in this wretched city that I want to go to. After a few moments Effy's patience wears out and she rolls her eyes at me.
"Bottle of vodka down the canal?"

At first I think it's a stupid idea to be drinking when it's barely gone midday, like were seventeen again and sneaking drink where we can get it, but as we lounge on a bench in front of the water, the sun searing overhead, I think this is just what I needed; to sit carefree in the sun and drink my troubles away. "Me and Freddie used to come here a lot." Or not.I try to prepare myself to be a good friend, to push all of my own crap down deep to help Effy; but it's harder than I expect. I know it makes me a really shit friend but I'm falling apart myself right now, I can't help keep Effy together too. "It's where me and Katie made our truce." It seems Effy's not as fragile as we all think as she smiles sadly out at the water, her eyes on the wooden platform moored in the middle of the water. "I wouldn't be here now without her." She idly traces her thumb over the scar on one of her wrists.

"I never thought I'd see the day the two of you were bosom buddies." I admit to her with a bemused expression. "You did bash her head in with a rock-"
"She tried to strangle me." She shoots back defensively. Neither of us can hold the other's gaze and we burst in to a fit of laughter. Our group of misfits is so fucked up it's unreal.
"I'd have hit her with a rock back then too." I muse as our laughter dies down and we pass the bottle of cheap vodka between us. "She was a selfish bitch back then-"
"And now?" Effy quizzes, her gaze intense as she loses her smile, like my answer could mean the difference between life and death. I shrug my shoulders at her in response, pondering my answer.

"And she's still a bitch." I answer truthfully. "She's still brash and loud, and fucking annoying…but something's different. She's different. I see the way she is with you and…" I wring my hands together, unsure of my words. Unsure how to translate the mess that is currently my mind when it comes to Katie Fitch. These last couple of weeks have been a whirl wind and my head is all over the place. I thought maybe it was all to do with Emily; Now I think knowing that it doesn't have anything to do with her makes it even harder to bear. "I don't know how I feel about her now."
"We fucked more than once." My jaw sets and my teeth grind at her words as I feel a flare of anger and a stab of jealousy. Effy smirks at me as she snatches the bottle back from my shaking hands. "I think you have your answer."

We spend the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening sitting by the canal, talking crap and drinking the foul vodka. When we get back to the apartment Effy follows me in to Katie's bedroom and starts to strip off. My eyes widen and she shakes her head at me. "In your dreams, Campbell." She smirks as she pulls a man's T-shirt out of one of Katie's drawers and it's clear from the way it hangs on her that it's hers. It would seem she shares a bed with Katie more often than I thought.
"How many times?" I ask her, not sure I even want to know the answer. She doesn't have to ask me what I'm talking about. She knows I've had one thing on my mind all afternoon.
"Twice." She answers honestly, almost dismissively. "It was just sex…Can I get in to bed now?"
"As long as you can keep your hands to yourself." I snap at her, but there's no vehemence in my tone. Effy smirks at me as she pulls the covers back and climbs in to bed, on the opposite side to where Katie normally sleeps.
"I'll try my best."

I climb in to bed beside her and true to her word she keeps her hands to herself. As we lie in the darkness, far from sober, she mumbles in to my back that she sleeps in Katie's bed a lot; when the nightmares get too much for her. I suddenly feel guilty about the time I've spent in Katie's bed, keeping her from Effy. The next night, when Effy follows me to bed again I don't question it. It's nice, to share a bed with someone.

On the third night, Sunday, when the bedroom door opens in the middle of the night, waking me from my fitful sleep, I expect Effy to climb in beside me. She didn't come to bed with me tonight, instead she silently slipped in to her own room, offering no reason as to why. When it clicks shut I lie still and silent, waiting for her to slide in to bed beside me. I hear the soft thud of suitcases being placed on the floor and realise it's not Effy who's slipped in to the room, but Katie. I feel my pulse race as I quietly wait in the dark. She's back early, it's still the early hours of Monday morning and the flight wasn't due to land until later tonight. Is that why Effy didn't come to bed with me tonight?

I hear the buckle of her belt click as she undoes it and slides her jeans down to the floor. It takes a few minutes for her to get changed for bed, but when she climbs in beside me I feel a flood of relief wash over me. She's spoken to Effy over the weekend, which is why I think Effy knows she was coming home early, but I've not had a phone call or a text from her, not even a lousy post on Facebook. Despite how frosty she's been this weekend her arms wrap around me straight away as she presses herself up against my back and buries her face in the crook of my neck as though we're regular lovers. "Took an earlier flight." She knows I'm awake as she mumbles her words, her lips brushing against the sensitive skin of my neck. She makes no attempt to actually kiss me, or to move her hands any lower than my stomach, but somehow lying here like this with her is far more intimate than any of the times we've had sex. I feel my eyes welling up with tears and force a sound of acknowledgement to push its way out of my throat. I feel choked with emotions that I can't even begin to put in to words, the last thing I want is for Katie to realise this, so I put my hands over hers and bury my face in the pillow. It doesn't take long for me to drift off. It's the best sleep I've had in days. Effy was right. Katie keeps the nightmares away.

In the morning when I wake up we've changed positions and I'm lying on my back with Katie tucked in to my side, her head resting on my chest. She looks peaceful when she sleeps, without the makeup and the attitude she looks younger and her skin has a healthy glow to it from the Italian sun. I press my lips to her forehead as she begins to stir. She sighs as she turns her head and catches my lips before I can pull them away. Maybe she wasn't as soundly asleep as I thought. My arms wrap around her as my left hand slips under her bed shirt and my fingers begin lazily tracing patterns on her skin. Her head drops back to my chest and I'm reminded of how little I'm wearing as her own hand finds its way to my stomach, and then slides lower, dipping under the waistband of my underwear.
"Do you intend on doing anything with that hand?" I tease as she doesn't make any further moves and starts to fall back to sleep. I feel her lips against my skin as they curl in to a smile. The rest of her remains stubbornly still and I have to take matters in to my own hands; so to speak.

My fingers wrap around her hand and try to move it away, I'm rewarded with her nails dragging along my stomach, yet when I let her hand go it disappointingly goes still again. "Katie." I whine in her ear as my lips press against it. It's been days since we've slept together and after a weekend alone I'm more than eager for her to wake up. However, it seems Katie is content to play the part of pillow princess today so I'm left with no choice but to slip out from underneath her arms and
crawl down the bed. She suddenly seems a lot more awake as she rolls on to her back and her legs part. "Bitch." I mutter with a smile as my lips trail a path up her thigh.

"Tired." She mumbles, though she doesn't make any attempt to stop me as I slide her shorts down her legs. She lets out a low satisfied moan as my lips find her core. There's nothing rushed or aggressive about what we're doing as Katie opens her legs further for me and I slowly tease her centre with my tongue. It doesn't take long for her to climax, her eyes rolling to the back of her head. When I climb up beside her, an unbearable ache between my own legs, she's practically asleep.
"Katie." I whine again, kissing her neck and trailing a path along her jaw and up to her lips. She giggles in to my mouth as her knee presses between my legs, making me hiss out.

"Tired." She repeats again, though she seems more awake as her hand slips down between our bodies and replaces her knee. She's in no hurry though and I'm proven wrong about her being more awake when her eyes close and she drifts off back to sleep; her hand still trapped possessively between my legs.