A/N: EDITED VERSION

I know I told you guys I'd update during the weekend, but I get so easily distracted and then I had to search youtube for an interview with Lily as a brunette because I needed to be reminded of that and then I stumbled upon "The Crash" accidentally and then I had to watch that and ... well... Anyways, I guess it's still Sunday somewhere in the world? I don't know. I'm really bad at math. haha.

To get to the point - that is this story - it's a bit long this chapter. I think it might be the longest yet, but I guess I felt bad about the very short update that was chapter nine, so I felt like making it up to you guys. In this chapter you'll see a lot more of Nate (YAY, missed the guy) and Naomi and his relationship. There'll also be some Naomily, obviously, and some more hating on Rosie I suspect. I reeeeally want to get to the fluffy stuff soon, but that would be cheating if I just decided to do that right now, so like me you have to be patient, but hang in there guys, I promise it'll pay of.

Thanks to all the new readers, favorites, reviews etc. your support and encouragement means everything.

Enjoy,

RS xx

Take Me or Leave Me

Chapter Ten

The previous night ended great. After our little talk we talked, drank and just hung out for hours. When Emily finally left we hugged and it wasn't forced in that uncomfortable or awkward way. It was nice, really nice.

Effy went to bed rather early after having observed everything quietly (more than usual) from the couch for a few hours. I could tell something was wrong even though she hadn't said anything. It was the way I'd catch her glazed expression from time to time, like she was miles away and the way the silence was different somehow than it usually was. Needless to say I was beginning to worry and it didn't help much when I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of vomiting.

"Shit, Eff, are you okay?" I asked when I saw her petite figure hunched over the toilet.

"I'm fine." She said and wiped her mouth and I noticed then that she was clutching a photo in her hand.

"Clearly, you're not." I said as she got up from the floor and started rinsing her mouth.

"I said I'm fine, Naomi. Leave it."

"Fine's fucking overrated." I stated as I took a step forward and grabbed the photo from her hand, "What's this?"

It was a stupid question. Of course I'd already known what it was before I'd even laid eyes on it. It was a photo of Freddie. It was slightly crumbled, probably because of how she used to clutch it to her chest every night for so long, but I hadn't realided she still did it or had started again.

She merely looked at me through the reflection in the mirror and rolled her eyes saying what the fuck do you think it is?

"Eff…"

"Don't. I'm just stressed lately."

"You have been working a lot lately…" I tried reasoning with myself, "If it was happening again though, if they were back… you'd tell me, yeah?"

"Yeah, I'd tell you." She said slightly annoyed and grabbed the photo from my hands again. "Stop worrying." She said as she walked back to her bedroom.

Right.

When I woke up again later that Wednesday I noticed Emily hadn't texted me the previous night that she'd gotten home okay. It wasn't a big deal or anything, it was just that she'd told me she would and it just made me worry that she hadn't. As Effy told me, maybe I should just stop worrying. Didn't stop me from sending her a quick text though, just to be sure.

N: Did you get home alright? Never heard from you x

I must've deleted and written the 'x' at the end of the text next to a hundred times before finally deciding that it had the exact same meaning as if I'd sent a text to Effy or Nate. It wasn't a big deal; I was only making it a big deal because… Well, I had no idea.

After checking on Effy, who had suspiciously left early for work, taking a shower and eating breakfast I still hadn't heard from Emily and I was starting to get worried. Well, more worried, but I didn't want to come off like the freakishly worried ex-girlfriend, so instead of sending any more worried texts I went out to meet Nate.

"Open up, wanker. It's nearly 12!" I yelled as I knocked on his front door for the umpteenth time.

"Alright, alright…" I heard Nate say as he made his way to the door and opened the door, "Keep your vagina on."

He was standing in front of me smirking, wearing nothing but a white bed sheet and literally looked like he'd been up all night fucking. The look suited him though, if you're into that.

"Who's the lucky girl then?" I joked as I took in his appearance.

"Um…" He started, thinking so hard I was surprised I couldn't hear the wheels spinning.

"You don't remember her name… Classy." I said shaking my head, but smiling nonetheless.

"Yeah… Last night got pretty fucked… Could you, you know?" He asked slyly, gesturing inside his flat.

"Fuck's sake… Fine, but this is the last time." I told him with a pointed finger as I made my way past him and inside his flat.

"What the fuck, babe!" I yelled as I came to stand in the doorway of his bedroom, looking furious, "Who the fucking hell are you?"

"M-m-me?" The half-naked brunette stammered nervously from the bed. She was pretty cute, for a straight girl.

"No, I was talking to the fucking slut that's naked in my bedroom and in my bed. Oh wait, that is you!" I yelled at her.

"I-I-I…"

"You what you fucking boyfriend stealing cow? You were just fucking leaving I hope, yeah?"

I watched as the brunette frantically tried to scramble her clothes together without putting it on, giving me a view of her rather fit body as she stumbled past me.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know -"

"Just get the fuck out of my sight before I change my mind and give you a little parting gift in the package of a black eye."

She was gone before I'd even finished the sentence, but I just had enough time to perve on her naked arse as she was running out of the flat. Nate was literally on the couch laughing his arse off.

"Oh fucking hell, Campbell," he spluttered as his laughter died down, "That was fucking priceless."

"Hm, cute." I said, completely calm again and gestured to the front door where the scared girl had run out, "Nice arse."

"Oh yeah," Nate smirked knowingly.

"Ugh, no details please." I said as I 'faked' a gagging noise, "… and that was the last time, yeah?"

"Oh c'mon, babe. You're my favorite lezzer and if I can't shag you… again… then you might as well be of other use, yeah? Besides, I think you secretly get off on it."

"You're such a fucking pervert." I smiled and shook my head, "Now put some fucking clothes on, we're going out. It smells like sex in here… Straight sex."

"You're only saying that because you haven't gotten any for nearly a month." He said smirking as he got up from the couch, dropped the bed sheet and made his way to his bedroom stark naked.

"You're keeping track of my sex life now, are you? And cover that thing up, it's… unsettling."

"Nothing you haven't seen or tried before, babe."

"Fuck you." I yelled.

"Fuck you right back." he yelled back, laughing.

Hanging out with Nate had always been so easy. Even after we'd slept together it hadn't made things awkward, actually quite the opposite. Of course I'd made sure to let him know quite firmly that what had happened was a one-time thing only, but he seemed to be okay with that.

He reminded me of Cook in many ways and it made me miss him a lot. I'd tried keeping in contact but he seemed so far gone that I'd eventually stopped calling and writing when I never got a response. Didn't keep be from missing him terribly though and I often wondered about how he was and I worried, but there was nothing I could do if he insisted on pushing me away. I couldn't even go to him because I only knew he was somewhere in Manchester, not anywhere specific.

"You okay there, babe?" Nate asked as he passed me the spliff we were sharing.

I hadn't realised I'd been so caught up in my thoughts before he interrupted them. We were sitting on a bench in a near-by park and just enjoyed each other's company, the nice weather and a spliff.

"Sorry, yeah… Just thinking."

"About a certain red head of yours?" He winked at me.

"No, about Cook actually, but now that you mention her she still haven't answered my text. I wonder if she's okay." I said to myself more than to him when I realised I still hadn't heard from her.

"You worry too much." He laughed as he took the spliff from me again. I just scoffed at him before he continued in a more serious manner, "Speaking of which, have you heard from Alex at all?"

"No, only a few calls from her aunt. You?"

"Same." He said and we fell into a silence before he suddenly lowered himself down the bench as if to hide and hissed a quiet, "Fuck."

"What?" I asked confused.

"Emma." He said almost panicked and gestured to a couple coming towards us, "She's right over there… and shit he's with her too."

It took me a second to figure out what the hell the tosser was talking about before I remembered his ex-girlfriend, Emma, that seriously fucked him over with his former best friend. It was almost a year ago though, a few months after we met, so it surprised me he even gave a shit, but sometimes even time and distance can't erase the pain of losing someone you love. I should know.

"Come on, you twat," I said as I got up and pulled him off the bench, as the couple came closer, "Stop acting like such a tit and act like you don't give a fuck instead."

"Oh, you mean like you?" he asked playfully, but clearly still on the edge of panicking.

"It's my fucking life philosophy." I answered, but still put my arms lovingly around his waist and plastered on a fake smile.

I felt rather than saw Nate's confusion of my weirdly display of affection and muttered a quietly, "just play along," as the approaching couple that was Nate's past came to stand in front of us with their own fake smiles plastered upon their faces.

Emma was quite attractive; there was no denying that. I'd only met her a few times before, because she wanted to meet the girl he was spending so much time with, but I'd had the same feeling with her as I had when I met Rosie – that I just didn't like her nor would probably ever.

She had long wavy golden hair, pretty brown eyes, that of course didn't compare to the enchanting browns of Emily's, but pretty nevertheless and quite the fit body with a nice pair of tits. She was dressed a bit like Katie used to though, apart from the leopard print, which was such a turn off because you could just see that she tried way too hard to look sexy, but the thing that just nearly made me cringe about her and the biggest of all turn offs was her fucking attitude as she was standing there in front of the boy whose heart she'd once broken. It was like I could actually see that she was even proud of what she'd done with the way she was smirking at him.

"Nate. How nice to see you again," she said in the most fucking horrible voice, seriously, it sounded like a bunch of pigs were being slaughtered, "Naomi."

I could feel Nate tense all over, so I tightened my grip on him a little more, moved my hand slightly under his shirt and kissed his shoulder, which earned me a confused frown from the couple.

His former best friend, Mason, was exactly the kind of guy who'd go after a girl like Emma. I'd met him a few times and he was just… really not my fucking cup of tea either. He was one of those blokes that used way too much hair gel, used more products in general than any of the girls I knew and would pretty much try to fuck anything with a pulse. Needless to say his middle name should've been something like 'sleazebag' or 'dickhead'.

When it didn't seem like Nate had the strength to answer I decided to do it for him, "Emma. Mason. Aren't you just a sight for sore eyes?" I asked sarcastically.

"I could say the same about you." She said and gestured to our loving embrace, "I thought you were gay."

I was having a hard time keeping a straight face (no pun intended) and I could imagine Nate having the exact same problem if I knew him at all.

At first Emma had been quite jealous of our friendship and later when she found out I was into girls she acted like she thought I was only hanging with Nate to get to her or something. It was fucked. Like I'd ever actually shag a girl like her… well, not sober anyway.

I faked a smile in their direction and answered, "Not that it's any of your business, hun, but I've never exactly labelled myself as anything. Besides, if anyone was ever man enough to straighten me out it was always gonna be this stud right here." I said the last bit as I leaned up and kissed him affectionately on the cheek.

"And it was an absolute pleasure doing so, love." Nate said lovingly as he kissed my temple and grabbed my ass. He was so going to pay for that later.

Both of the twats standing in front of us looked like they couldn't believe what they saw. I'm not sure whether that was because they'd never seen or heard me having the slightest interest in any guys before, or if it was just Nate's newfound 'I don't give a fuck about you' attitude. Either was fine with me, though it seemed like Mason couldn't keep his creepy 'I want to fuck you' eyes away from me all of a sudden.

Never gonna happen, wanker.

"Right." Emma said and cleared her throat as I was placing small kisses up Nate's neck, "Have a lovely day." She added with what sounded a lot like a mixture of disgust, jealousy and anger as she forcefully grabbed Mason's wrist and dragged him along the path.

"Oh yeah, we're planning on it," I yelled after them, "A lot of shagging to do yet."

Granted it earned me a few stares from the by passers, but it was so fucking worth it by the look of their faces.

Nate was absolutely gobsmacked as he looked down at me in amazement. He wasn't even looking at the bitch who broke his heart, which in my head was a mission accomplished. He was just about to say something when my phone buzzed.

E: Can we go somewhere? x

I didn't even hesitate before I send her my quick reply.

N: Sure, you alright? Where? x

"Look Nate, I'm really sorry, but I gotta go." I said apologetically

"Your girl calling you?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah… I mean… No. I mean… God. She's not my girl, but yes I need to go see, Em." I answered flustered.

"Funny how you automatically assume I was talking about Emily," he said with a quick wink, but before I could protest he added, "It's fine, go to her. I'll see you at work, yeah?"

"Thanks, babe," I said then and shot a quick look in the direction his former girlfriend had taken off and saw that the couple was sitting on a bench a bit farther down, not so subtly staring at us.

I decided then to give them a show. I grabbed a hold on the back of Nate's neck and completely surprised him by pulling him to me and crashed our lips together.

I'd always found most guys' kisses far too sloppy and way too…. Rough somehow. Especially with tongue it sometimes felt like they were fucking trying to dig their way to my cunt or something, which is one of the reasons I've always preferred kissing girls. Especially Emily, because even though you're girl doesn't automatically mean you're a great kisser, trust me. Emily however… Well, nothing really compared.

It wasn't because Nate was a bad kisser at all, actually one of the better of his gender, if not the best, but I always ended up comparing everyone to Emily. I always fucking had and it annoyed the crap out of me.

We only broke apart because of another incoming text of mine; I guess I'd been a bit lost in thought during the kiss.

E: Anywhere x

I kept staring at the text for a few moments. The choice of words between us reminding me too much of another time and another place a long time ago that would always be one of the greatest memories I had. One of the most life changing moments in my life where I would look back and say that's when it all changed.

"Wha…" Nate started confused.

I looked up and saw the shocked expression on his face and realised how confused he was about what had just happened.

"Three o'clock, your past was looking." I answered his unspoken question and shifted my attention to my phone again to reply.

N: Meet me at Rico's in half an hour x

"I'll see you later, yeah?" I said to Nate as I made my way to the street to call a cab.

"Yeah…" he replied as he watched me leave just as shocked as he was a moment ago.

Rico's was a small, but cosy, coffee place close to our flat that had become me and Effy's regular hangout spot. We'd become quite friendly with the owners and they pretty much knew our order by heart. I knew Emily would know where it was because she'd been there with Effy a couple of times and had also bought us coffee a few times when she'd come to visit.

As I got out of the cab and looked to the opposite side of the street I saw that she'd already arrived and from where I stood she didn't look okay at all.

She was dressed in an oversized grey sweater that looked all too familiar and black skinny jeans. Her hair hung loosely around her shoulders and she was hugging herself like she was freezing despite the good weather. Her face looked sad, but also sort of lost.

When I crossed the street and she caught my eye, she immediately tried to hide the sadness I'd already seen and smiled at me, but I could tell it was forced.

"Em, hi." I said as I came to stand beside her, worry clearly tinting my voice.

"Hi," she said, avoiding my eyes suddenly, her voice betraying the fact that she was definitely upset.

"Ems, what -" I started but she cut me off when she suddenly pulled me into a tight embrace and started sobbing, her whole body shaking involuntarily.

My arms immediately went around her shoulders and pulled her closer. I felt her flinch at my touch and I was about to pull away, but she simply held me tighter, not letting me pull away. As confusing as it was I just kept holding her until she eventually calmed down, not caring one bit about the people giving us strange looks as they passed.

"It's okay," I said soothingly into her hair as I gently stroked her back calmingly, "You're okay."

I slowly felt her body relax and her breathing even out as she calmed down. After a few moments she pulled away from me and wiped the remaining tears away.

"I-I'm sorry," she said, her voice shaky, "I didn't mean to -"

"Hey," I interrupted and motioned for her to look at me. I looked into those beautiful, but sad, familiar brown eyes and told her gently, "don't ever apologise for crying or for feeling sad or for needing me, okay?" and for some reason I felt the need to add, "We're friends, that's what I'm here for."

She nodded slowly, averted her eyes again and started laughing a bit nervously, "I just… You were always so good at calming me down and I just…I really wanted to see you."

She said the last part as she looked up to meet my eyes. She looked so vulnerable, but so beautiful at the same time and I suddenly felt something resembling flutter in my stomach then, but I quickly murdered the small beautiful creatures before they took over.

Normally I wasn't one for animal slaughter of any kind, but in that particular case I made an exception. It was merely self-defence, I justified to myself.

"I'm here now," I told her reassuringly, but sighed inwardly at how it again seemed like I was substituting someone else's place in her life. This wasn't supposed to be my job, but as I'd told her I was her friend regardless and fuck me if I was going to leave her upset. Watching her cry, watching her upset… well, that was the worst thing in the world.

"You want to grab some coffee to go and take a walk?" I asked and when she nodded her agreement, I told her to stay put and let me get the coffees.

When I got back and handed her her coffee I realised something and started apologising, "Sorry, Ems, I completely forgot you hate when people order for you without ask -"

"Naoms, it's fine." She said reassuringly, "As long as you got…"

"…Three sugars and a spice of cinnamon. I know Ems, it reminds you of Christmas yadayada. You're such a child." I laughed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Miss Campbell, we can't all be sophisticated grown ups who takes their coffee black… with chocolate syrup." She smirked and started walking ahead of me.

"I'll let you know that chocolate syrup is indeed very sophisticated, more so than fucking Christmas in a cup." I said as I fell into step beside her, "Why you insist on being reminded of that over-hyped so-called holiday that completely degrades the concept of giving and really only benefits manufacturers, stores, and huge corporations, while driving individuals into debt, I have no idea."

"Naoms."

"Not to forget the fact that this annual consumer frenzy wreaks havoc on the environment, filling landfills with useless -"

"Naoms!"

"What?" I asked confused.

"You're acting like JJ." She smiled amused, "Not to mention reminding me of your passion of 'I don't ever want to shut my mouth-ism'"

"Right. Sorry." I said and bit my bottom lip sheepishly, "I got you to smile though."

"Yeah… I've missed that, you know." She said thoughtfully and stared intently into my eyes in such a way I could almost hear the fluttering sound again.

"Missed what?" I asked quietly, almost breathlessly because of the way she was looking at me.

"Your passion." She simply answered as she bit her bottom lip and started walking towards the park.

It wasn't until she'd said it that I realised how much I'd missed it too and for once I didn't slaughter the beautiful creatures who fluttered incessantly in my stomach.

A while later we were sat on the grass in the park. She was lying with her head on my stomach.

We hadn't really talked that much, I could tell she was still sad and I didn't want to push her into telling me what was bothering her, but we'd been lying like that for almost an hour and I needed answers. One question in particular seemed to be flowing my mind.

"Ems…." I started, not stopping the reassuring stroking of her hair I'd somehow started at some point without me really noticing.

"I feel safe." She said before I could continue, like she already knew what I was going to ask, "I feel safe when I'm with you. That's why I came to you."

"Why would you need to feel safe?" I asked then, "Or better yet, why weren't you feeling it in the first place?"

She only shrugged and I could tell I wasn't to push any further, so I asked the next question on my mind instead.

"What about Rosie? Why didn't you go to her?"

I thought I felt her stiffen slightly when I asked about her, but I might've imagined it. Maybe it was wishful thinking in some weird way.

"She's part of the reason I wanted to see you." She said quietly.

For some reason I felt my heart beat slightly faster with what I could only decipher as hope. For what I didn't know, but I stayed quiet, praying she couldn't hear the slight change in my heartbeat and waited for her to continue.

"She came home early, way early in fact. She was already at Katie's when I came home from yours. She was just shitting in the chair in the living room, waiting for me to come home. She knew I'd lied of course and she also knew where and whom I'd been with. She completely flipped…" she said and I could tell by the sound of her voice she was getting more and more upset by talking about this, "I know it's my own fault of course. I shouldn't have lied… I know that, but when she finally calmed down and we went to bed Katie woke us up, telling me that… that mum had been in an accident."

I was about to ask what had happened, if she was okay etc. but Emily beat me to it again and answered my unspoken questions when she sat up and turned to face me.

"She's alright, nothing too serious apparently, but I still want to see her, you know? I… I need to see her. Katie's going to see her tomorrow, and I really want to go with her."

"Then why don't you?" I asked a bit confused as I sat up on my elbows to get a better look at her, though I think I already knew the answer and it already pissed me off. It explained why she needed to feel safe I guess, that her mum had been in an accident, and yet... not quite.

"Rosie she… she didn't think it was a good idea, to say the least. She was already pissed about the lying so we got into yet another fight. She said that she didn't want to spend an entire day with a woman who was only going to judge her and so forth… I guess I can understand that, I just wish she would go with me, because I'm not sure I'm ready to face my mum after all this time alone even with Katie there, but she just told me that if I wanted to go so bad I could go alone and she would go stay with her dad for a few days. Then I sort of snapped and told her… I told her…"

"What?" I asked, encouraging her to go on, secretly praying she told her to go fuck herself.

"That if it had been you, you'd have gone with me… despite the way my mum already feels about you." She finished quietly, fidgeting with her sweater nervously.

I guess I'm not the only one who compares everyone else to what we had…

I was a bit shocked at what she said to say the least. I wasn't even sure what to say. On one hand it was surprisingly pleasing to hear. It made the fluttering start again and a warm and fuzzy feeling started to spread throughout my body, but then… on the other hand, she shouldn't tell me stuff like that and she sure as hell shouldn't tell her girlfriend, whom she loved, something like that. I felt like the fucking substitute again. The second her girlfriend couldn't give her what she wanted she came running to me. Whether that was comfort, security, support… it wasn't my fucking job to give her that, not anymore. Also, on top of that, I know I was her fucking friend and all, but I sure as fuck didn't want to be the one she came to with her girlfriend problems. Of course with that in mind the fluttering was quickly dispatched of and the warm and fuzzy feeling soon turned cold.

"Oh." Was the only thing I could muster up at the time.

"I mean… I didn't mean anything by it. I just… I don't know…" she said as she looked ashamed to the ground.

"I know, but you shouldn't have told her that. Yes, I would've gone with you and I still would I guess… as a friend, but that's not the point. The point is that you fucking love each other and she's the one you want to go with you so you need to make fucking sure she knows and understands that. And if she can't… well, maybe love really isn't enough then." I said, harsher than I'd meant to and I only realised I'd actually referred to something she'd once said to me when we broke up when I saw her shocked expression, "Ems… I -"

"It's okay. You're right." She said then, "I do love her, and if she loves me then she should go with me."

Ouch.

That might've hurt more than it should've, but I guess it was all for the best. I needed to hear it somehow and not because I was some fucking sadist that liked being hurt, but because of the fucking fluttering and the warm and fuzzy feelings that was almost impossible to stop around her. They needed to be completely extinct and if hearing her scream from the rooftops how much she loved Rosie was going to help me do that, then that was what I needed.

"Exactly." I said quietly as I got up from the ground, "Look Ems, are you going to be okay? I need to head to work, but I feel bad leaving you like this."

She looked up at me with slightly disappointed eyes and nodded, "Yeah, don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Thanks for… you know, being here."

"Always." I said and started walking away.

I looked back at her and I could tell she was slightly panicking again as if she really didn't know what to do, like she didn't want to go home… or be alone.

I sighed then, turned around and asked, "Fancy learning how to make a Screaming Orgasm?"

She looked up at me then with an amused look and raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"It's a drink, Ems…" I smirked as she got up and walked to where I stood.

"I know." She said and winked at me as she walked past me, apparently deciding to join me, "I just thought you knew I've already mastered that one."

A/N:

How I wish Naomi would make me a Screaming Orgasm... *coughs* Yeah, so tell me what you think! I hoped you like it, but if it was shit then please feel free to voice that opinion as well. I'll take it all.

Until next time lovelies, x