I know it's short and I'm sorry if it sucks, but I have to get used to this story again. Anyway, that chapter goes to SkinsUSfan. Your review made me want to write that story again. Thank you! :)

"Hi, how are you? No, that sounds awful… Hello, Emily, you look great… even worse. Damn," Naomi kept saying to herself while walking to Emily's house. When she reached the door and rang the bell, she felt like she couldn't stand the stress anymore and wanted to run away as fast as possible, grab the first bag she finds in her house and fly to Peru or God knows where, so that no one could ever find her. Instead she just took a deep breath and tried to picture in her mind the way Emily looked at the first party they were ever together at. Her brown eyes, bright red hair, the way one corner of her lips would always travel up every time she heard or saw something funny. The way those lips tasted… She heard the steps on the other side of the door and shivered. There was no way back, not now. The door opened slowly and she quickly understood that she completely underrated the hold the red had on her. When she saw Emily in the daylight (her pale skin shining in the sun and stuff), after a year of not seeing her, after a year of forcing herself not to check Emily's facebook profile every three seconds, after a year of dreaming about her every night, or staying up all these hours just to spend them on thinking of what could have, would have, should have happened… When she finally saw her, the world stopped turning for a second. Everything disappeared, the only colour that was left was red. Until she noticed Emily's facial expression. Full of horror and shock, her pale skin becoming even more pale than a second earlier. Naomi bit her lip.

„Just don't faint, Emily," her voice was gentle and quiet.

"Jesus," it was obvious that Emily was close to losing her consciousness, but she was doing her best to keep standing.

"It's Naomi, Ems. Not Jesus," Naomi tried to joke, but Emily didn't smile, she just kept on looking at the blonde with her eyes widened. "Um, anyway, do you think I can come in?"

"No," the redhead answered immediately and blushed. "Yes," she added and drew back very unsurely. Finally she sighed and looked at Naomi sadly. "I mean, why?"

Naomi's throat tightened. "Because I want to talk."

"About what?"

"Us?"

Emily snorted. "Us? There is no us, Naomi. There never was, you should know better."

Naomi didn't give up. It wasn't as if she wasn't expecting an answer like that. "Fine. So I want to talk. Just talk, okay? We haven't seen each other for a year, but it's not like you don't know me at all now, is it?"

Emily puffed a breath. "No, it's not," Naomi didn't say anything, just waited patiently for the red to make her decision. "Come in," the red finally said and Naomi was really grateful for that, because she didn't know if she could hold her breath any longer.

"Great," Naomi answered with a hearable relief. "By the way, it's really nice to see toy, Ems," she added with a smirk while crossing the threshold. She didn't know where she took the courage to say that from and she regretted it the second the last word escaped her mouth, but if she turned around at that moment, she would see Emily rolling her eyes behind her back and a ghost of a smile appearing on her perfect, lonely lips.

Why didn't you tell Katie that I tried to fix things between us?" Naomi asked as soon as they sat down on the sofa. "She hated me now."

"She would hate you anyway, Naomi. She is my sister, you shouldn't be wondering why. And anyway, may I ask some questions first?"

"S-sure," Naomi stuttered, trying to make herself ready for Emily's questions, but immediately knowing she wouldn't succeed.

"Where did you meet Katie?"

"At school. I'm moving back to Bristol. And coming back to Roundview."

"Oh," Emily's eyes darkened. She didn't seem happy about the idea of Naomi being in the same school as her again.

"So why Katie isn't back home yet?"

"Effy said she would stop her so that we could talk," Naomi said, not without satisfaction.

"Effy? That's so fucking great," Emily mumbled. "Anyway, how is Jason?" Emily wasn't looking at Naomi while asking that question, suddenly finding the window very interesting.

"He stayed in Spain," Naomi thought it was the safest answer."

"So, when is the wedding?" Emily asked as her eyes snapped up to Naomi's.

"Emily—"

"I think you should go," the red stood up.

"Ems, I—"

"See you at school tomorrow."

Naomi was just going to leave when she decided that this time she will not give up. "No. You know what, Emily?" she started saying as she turned around and stood face to face with the red, who seemed completely shocked. "I'm tired of that too. Believe me, I would rather not spend the last year wondering how you're doing or thinking of what I should've said to you when I had a chance. And I would really love to be happy with Jason. But I'm not," she took a breath quickly not to let Emily say anything, because she could see her opening her mouth. "I was doing all the things I mentioned I would rather not be doing. The whole year, Emily. Tell me that you haven't been doing the same. Tell me that you've been perfectly fine and I will leave. Just because we go to the same school doesn't mean we have to talk. I'll handle it. Just tell me the truth," she blurt out.

"I didn't forget what happened last year, Naomi," Emily whispered after a while of bothering silence.

"It's not an answer to my question."

"Then what was your question? If I was fine? No, I wasn't. I was almost raped or killed, I was being threatened on and I spent that year being afraid of my life, just because I fell for the wrong person. It's not something you can be fine with."

Naomi felt tears filling up her eyes and she just let them fall, something she wasn't used to do, because she knew there was no point in trying to stop them. The emotions were too strong.

"I was afraid for the same reason," she said simply, hoping it would be enough for Emily to understand how she feels about her.

Emily sighed. "I don't want to go through it again. I told you that once, I will repeat it if you don't remember. I can't do that."

The world fell down, but Naomi knew there was only one way not to lose Emily completely. "Can we be friends?" her throat was so tight that she was surprised any voice came out of her mouth. Though, it wasn't the thing she wanted, she realized that after a 'friends' word.

Emily thought for a while before answering and finally nodded. "Yeah. I'd love that."

One huge lie, Naomi could tell. "No," the blonde said. "Never mind. I can't be your friend. It won't work. I'd rather not speak to you at all, trying to forget that the thing we both wanted to work, didn't work because once I was naive and stupid."

"You won't convince me, Naomi. The fact that you're crying is hurting me a lot, but it's about my life. Please, don't be egoistic. It's so not you."

Naomi took a deep breath, realizing how much Emily's changed through that year. She was no longer that quiet, weak girl. She became stronger and she knew what she wanted. That's when Naomi understood that this is the girl that is worth being strong for. When she understood that there are things she should've done a long time ago that she had to do now in order to gain what she really wanted. To gain Emily.

The phone rang unexpectedly, making Effy Stonem, who was just in the middle of dressing up for a party, rise her eyebrow (because it's not like her to jump in her chair out of surprise or anything like that). However, she just smirked looking at the phone screen before answering. The voice that she heard speaking, she knew very well, and she would be lying if she said she wasn't aware of what the owner of that voice might want from her.

"Stonem, I need your help."

I have some ideas for the following chapters, and the next one is almost ready, but I won't promise anything. My promises suck. But I hope you enjoyed reading. :)