I do not own Skins, or anything pertaining to the show. This fanfic is purely for fun and not for profit!

I'm sorry this has taken me so long. I'm not going to get into any excuses, because, let's face it... who cares! LOL!

Thank you for all the reviews/subs/alerts to both this story and myself. It's truly an honor. Sorry, no individual shout-outs this time, and I'm sorry for not replying to any reviews after the last chapter. Please don't take offense, I'm just not really in the state of mind to do so. With that said, here is the next chapter, which is what you're really here for anyway. Sorry for it's short length, but I kind of needed this chapter to get on with what will be next. Sorry if it's not all that entertaining!

xxxxx

No, Katie and I didn't end up sleeping together, not in the way that you think at least. She stayed over, we both called in ill to work and spent the morning together, going downstairs to have breakfast with my mum, who, I'm positive, loves Katie as much (if not more) than she does Emily. It was a comfortable atmosphere. I was surrounded in laughter as Katie made mum and me eggs (over medium), bacon (turkey bacon!), and wheat toast.

Eventually though, she had to go, and I had to stay. Life was rearing its ugly head again, bringing me back to reality. We had hugged for much too long, yet way too short, and soon she was gone again.

xxxxx

"You really should just tell her," came Gina's voice as I walked back into the house, my demeanor tanking the moment Katie actually left. I look up to my mum's bright blue orbs, a smile on her lips as she waited for my objection that she knew would be coming.

"No." I say back, though it's not as final as I would have liked for it to be, there was the tiniest inkling of doubt and knowing my mother, she would surely hear it. It's what I'm feeling. Doubt. I really want to tell the older Fitch twin, profess to her all the things that I feel… but I can't. I won't.

I don't even notice until my mum's arms are wrapped around me, that I have tears in my eyes. My head falls to my mother's shoulder as she holds me tighter, guiding me backward until we move around to be sat on the sofa. I curl into her, needing her support, her strength, her love. I don't remember a time ever, in my life, where I've just fallen into my mum the way I am now. I'm full and shattered at the same time. It's strange. Even after my relationship with Emily ended, I didn't cry, not properly, not the way most would expect after my world came crumbling down.

"Surely, Naomi, you can see in her eyes how she loves you. I know I can, or are you purposely not looking?"

I really don't want to be having any kind of Katie-related conversation right now. My mind is already jumbled enough right now without Gina interfering with it. My lungs suck in a few breaths as I try to even out the thoughts in my mind, but they don't seem to be working with me. It's like trying to catch leaves blowing with the wind, I grab at them, and I may even make contact, but I can never properly grasp onto one.

"Love…"

My mum starts before I raise my hand up, cutting her off from saying anything else. I can't have both my thoughts and the ones she's saying invading my every waking thought. It's enough for me to be able to concentrate at work without starting to doodle her name, putting a little heart over the 'i' in her name. Sometimes it's not just her first name, it's her last name as well, with another heart over the 'i' there as well. It's pathetic. I'm sure I've had to throw away plenty of papers that have Katie Fitch scribbled all over them, in different print and script, different sizes, different degrees of difficulty to create them. Some are simple, some are so complex that it takes me all day during work to complete it… only to toss it in the rubbish bin, hoping that my boss didn't walk by and see me not working.

I get up from the warmth of Gina's embrace, kissing her on the cheek before I go upstairs to my room.

Before I realize it, I'm on my laptop, looking up job offerings in Southampton. I notice then, that the company I'm employed with has an office there. I search the openings there. My heart starts beating faster and I'm not really sure why. It's not like I would move there, not without knowing I have a place to live. Who am I kidding? I would move there and live out of a box if that was needed to be closer to Katie. What about my mum, though? A laugh escapes my lips; mum would probably push me to go, actually. Not that she'd want me to leave her, but she's not alone, she has Kieren, and she knows that I would be happier near the Fitch twin.

xxxxx

It's really something I should have talked to Katie about. But my obsession with the job offering in Southampton is invading my thoughts almost as much as Katie herself does. A week after the Fitch family dinner, I put in my internal transfer job application. For three days following I can't seem to reply to any of Katie's texts or calls. I'm too nervous. I should have said something, I should have asked, I should have… Fuck.

My boss comes to my desk, asks to speak with me in his office, in private. I comply with a smile, following him as if I don't already know what it is regarding. He offers me a seat, a smile planted firmly on his lips. He never was the type of man to smile, but I can't help but give him a bright one of my own.

"Never expected you to leave," he stated, unbuttoning his suit jacket as he sits down. I stay silent; I've worked with him for a few years, so I've learned how he tends to speak. He takes long pauses between sentences, sometimes so long that I've interrupted him a few times after becoming impatient. "So, you'd like to go to the Southampton office?" I nod, not really trusting my voice. "I've already put in my recommendation, but I have to ask, for myself… what brought this on?"

Christ.

Do I lie? Do I tell the truth? Maybe half of a lie, just a little white one? Shit, now I'm taking too long to answer, now it seems false, scripted…. "I think I'm at a point in my life where I need to branch out and try new things, Sir, and I would be moving up in the company, which is something I've continued to do since day one." I end up saying. It's not a complete lie. I've moved up quickly in the company with my hard work and dedication. I think the day I called in sick with Katie is probably the only sick time I've used in the last two years.

He nods to me, standing up and offering me his hand. I follow his lead, standing myself and grasping the man's much larger hand. "I will miss you, Miss Campbell." I must have a look on my face like I just got struck in the back of the head. My eyes wide, my gob ajar, and I'm just staring at him. He pulls back his hand, "They want you to report there in two weeks, will this be a sufficient amount of time for you to find a place to live?" I nod. "Very well then, I wish you luck in all your future endeavors."

"Thank you, Sir, it has truly been a pleasure working for you. I'm sure we'll be in touch." He laughs, which is strange. I'm fairly certain I've never heard him laugh, like ever. Its rich sounding, it reminds me of Katie's… except it's much deeper than hers.

"I'm sure I'll hear your name quite often, Miss Campbell. I'm proud of you. Now get going and pack your things, you have two weeks with pay to get down there and situated."

I nod to him and give him a gracious smile before walking out of the office. The first things I do are sprint to my desk and grab my mobile from the drawer and then head to the toilets. I notice 7 missed calls, one voicemail, and three texts… all from Katie. I open the messages as I go into the ladies'. She's freaking out because I haven't contacted her; her texts go from calm to panicked. The voicemail must have been the most recent of all of them, because she's bordering on hysterical, apologizing for who knows what (I can barely understand a word she's said between her deciding not to take a single breath, her lisp, and the tone that makes her words all mush together). I hang up and push her speed dial.

It takes me to her voicemail, and I press the 'End' button before it beeps at me to leave a message. I stare at the phone for a minute before calling her mobile again.

"Fuck Naomi… what the actual fuck… I've been so worried," Katie answers on the third ring.

I can't help but smile to myself. "Hello to you too, Katie." I laugh into the phone. I feel lighter already, simply by hearing her voice.

"Fuck off, why haven't you answered?" she inquires.

I don't think I have a valid answer, I mean, it's a valid answer for me, but it wouldn't be for her. "I have a favour…" I begin before cutting myself off. There's silence on the other end of the line and I find myself chewing on my bottom lip.

"Well, what is it! Fucks sake, get to the point, yeah?" She's not irritated, she's worried, and I can tell that by the inflections in her voice as she speaks. It's a defense mechanism. With Katie you can't just listen to the words, you have to listen to what's behind them as well. It took me quite a long time to be able to decipher what the tones meant, and I still sometimes get them wrong.

A hurricane of nerves is moving through my body, and a volcano of doubt erupts within me, filling my veins with hot lava. I can feel my skin flush. "I took a new position, in my company…"

She interrupts, "That's lovely! Congratulations…" Katie pauses then, her mind must be working out the correlation between the favour and the new job.

I can hear her gentle breathing. She's trying to be patient with me, with the way I work. She's not pushing me. "It's in Southampton."

I hear a deep rooted sigh and then she holds the phone away from her face and screams. Christ, that girl has a set of lungs on her. Even after bringing the mobile away from my ear, it's still echoing in the loos. "That's mint, babes, so you can move into my spare! No sense in finding another place…" she pauses again, then her voice comes back, her tone unsure, "… unless you'd like to have your own flat or something."

"Of course I want to live with you. I just…" I try to swallow the anxious feeling that is making me want to be sick, "… I didn't want you to feel obligated or anything."

"So that's why you haven't spoken to me in days?" Katie states dryly. I don't like it when she speaks to me like this, but it is my fault, so I suppose I deserve it.

"Well, yes. I didn't want to mention it, in case I didn't get the promotion…"

Katie cuts me off again, "You knew you'd get it, there has to be another reason." We both go silent for a minute, maybe even two, but it feels like it lasts at least an hour. "Anyway, so when do you need me to help you bring your stuff to mine?"

"Oh," I say. What a sodding genius I am. I couldn't come up with anything more intelligent to say? My throat clears uncomfortably, "I have two weeks to get there and report for my first day of work."

"So I'll take the rest of this week off so we can get you settled in. You don't need anything except your clothes and personal stuff, since you know the room is already furnished." I can hear the excitement in her voice. It makes me wonder why I was so nervous to tell her. Her enthusiasm is actually causing the natural disasters in my body to cease completely. I'm smiling like a complete mental case, but I can't really help it.

"Well it will take me a couple days to get all my things packed to move. You don't have to come down here, you know."

"Nonsense, Naoms. You know I'm the best. We'll have you moved to mine in two days… three tops," she exclaims. "I'll be to yours tomorrow, and I expect some boxes to already be packed."

"I… uh…"

Katie Interrupts, "No… whatever it is… no."

"But… Katie…"

"Look, I'll be on the 6.55 train tomorrow morning, and I'll get to Bristol at like 10.15, yeah? So I expect for you to pick me up." How can I really argue with that?

Wait.

How did she know the train schedule already?

"I've got to go, babes. See you tomorrow!"

I barely have time to say good-bye before the line is dead. That was rather strange. None-the-less I gather my work things and bid farewell to my co-workers, promising I'll keep in touch. I know I won't. I merely put up with them, and I don't think I like a single one of them outside of work.

Great, now I have to get packing. I can't expect to not be in serious trouble if I don't have some boxes packed. Katie might just throw a fucking fit! What have I gotten myself into now?

xxxxx

Wow... so our girls will be living together... sounds like a shitfuckton of torture. Comments, concerns, suggestions? Hit that little review button... it makes me smile!