So it's been a while. I can only apologise. New jobs + uni being ridiculous + life just being crazy in general hasn't really made me feel much like writing, or given me much time to, even if I wanted. Anyway, here's chapter 10 for those who are still interested. Also, I'm tired and have proof-read this, so sorry for mistakes.
Chapter 10
"You ready to go Naoms?" Emily asked, dumping an overnight bag next to Naomi's and walking in to the kitchen.
Naomi swallowed the last mouthful of her coffee and nodded, not saying a word.
"You alright?" Emily asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Naomi answered. "See you Cook."
"Bye Naomikins." Cook said, looking up from his paper and glancing at Naomi as she left the kitchen. Cook looked over at Emily, who was watching him carefully.
Things hadn't been the same for them since their fight a few days earlier. They spoke, but not about anything important. They slept in the same bed, but they never cuddled. They said good morning and goodnight, but never kissed.
"Well I guess I'll see you in a couple of days then." Emily said, picking up her keys.
Cook nodded. "Yeah, see you."
"Have a good weekend." Emily said, turning around to leave the room.
"Ems, wait." Cook said, putting down the paper and standing to his feet. He crossed the kitchen and pulled Emily in to a hug before she even had time to register what was happening. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close for a moment.
"Sorry for being such a tool these last few days." Cook whispered.
"That's okay. I'm sorry too." Emily whispered back.
"Be safe okay? Drive safely and be careful when you're there, with… you know…"
Emily knew he was talking about being safe when they went to Naomi's old place to get her stuff.
"We will. You don't need to worry about us." Emily assured him.
"Can't help it." Cook said. "I love you. Call me when you get there?"
"I will. I love you too." Emily said, kissing him lightly on the lips. "Have a good weekend. I'll be back before you know it."
"You alright Naoms?" Emily asked.
They had been driving for an hour or so and Naomi had been extremely quiet the entire way.
"Yeah. I'm fine. Just a bit nervous, I guess." Naomi said, staring out the passenger side window.
"Understandably. Nothing's going to happen though. It'll be fine." Emily said reassuringly.
They were silent for another half hour or so, the quiet radio the only noise filling the car.
"I'm sorry I've fucked things up between you and Cook." Naomi said suddenly.
Emily glanced over at Naomi. "You haven't fucked things up. I fucked things up by myself." She said.
"If I hadn't told you that I like you none of this would have happened."
"Yes it would have. I already had feelings for you, I just hadn't realised yet. This all would have happened sooner or later anyway."
"Well I'm sorry it had to happen at all." Naomi said.
"Don't be. I just need to figure out what I want."
"About that…" Naomi said slowly, "I think you should stay with Cook."
Emily looked across at Naomi. "Why?"
"Because you just should. Before I came along you had it all sorted. You were happy with Cook. Didn't take a genius to know that you would marry him, have kids with him and live happily ever after with him. Now I'm here and everything's fucked. And you love him. And he fucking adores you. You should just pick him and be friends with me. It would be easier."
"It's not easier for me if that's not what I want."
"You'd be happy with Cook." Naomi said.
"I'd be happy with you too." Emily said.
"Would you though? I'm not exactly perfect girlfriend material. And you can't even imagine how judgemental and horrible some people can be if they find out you're gay."
"I'm sure I'd live." Emily said. "And stop putting yourself down. I'm sick of you always saying horrible things about yourself."
Emily pulled the car up outside the hotel and they both stepped out of the car. "I'll just give Cook a real quick call, let him know we got here fine." Emily said, pulling her phone out of her pocket and taking a few steps away.
Naomi opened the boot of the car and pulled out hers and Emily's overnight bags. She walked in to the foyer of the hotel and walked up to the desk. "Hi, I have a room booked under the name 'Fitch'." Naomi said to the woman at the desk.
"Yes, two nights, is that right?" The woman asked.
"Yep, that's it." Naomi said.
"Great. Here are your keys, you're on the third floor, room 36."
Naomi took the keys to the room and picked up the bags again. She walked over to the elevator and pressed the up arrow just as Emily walked back inside.
"Here's a key for you." Naomi said, passing a key to Emily. "We're on level 3."
"Great, thanks," Emily said, taking the key and her bag from Naomi.
"How's Cook?"
"He's good. He's working and Mum and Dad's and Zack and Mia were over so he's having a blast." Emily said happily.
"Good, I'm glad he has something to do." Naomi said.
"Yeah, me too."
They stepped in to the lift and Emily pressed the button for the third floor, trying to ignore Naomi's stare that she could feel burning in to the side of her face.
"Room 36, did you say? Emily asked, stopping in front of the door.
"Yep, that's the one."
Emily unlocked the door and stepped inside. "I'm afraid there wasn't too many rooms available at short notice. Apparently there's some festival on here this weekend, so everywhere was booked."
"This is fine, thanks for organising it." Naomi said, placing her bag down on one of the single beds.
"Sorry that we'll have to share a room." Emily apologised, putting her stuff down on the other bed.
"It's seriously no problem." Naomi said, "I think it's quite nice."
"I'm just going to go and freshen up." Emily said, walking to the bathroom.
"Is that your polite way of saying you need to wee?" Naomi asked with a cheeky smile.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, it is." Emily said throwing a smile Naomi's way before closing the door.
"So do you want to get this over and done with now or leave it till tomorrow?" Emily asked Naomi as they sat in a café eating sandwiches.
"Maybe get it over with now." Naomi said. "I don't really want to be thinking about it all night."
"Cool. Lets get going then." Emily said, taking the last sip of her coke and standing to her feet.
"What, like right this second?" Naomi asked nervously.
"Like right this second." Emily said. "You can do this Naomi. You don't need to be scared. I'll be right next to you the entire time. Nothing is going to happen" Emily told Naomi, taking her hand and leading her to the car.
"This is the one?" Emily asked, slowing the car to a stop and pulling up outside a dirty house, the garden overgrown and the windows dirty.
Naomi nodded.
"It looks… nice" Emily said.
"It used to look a lot nicer, when Mum was alive." Naomi said.
Emily nodded. "You ready then?"
Naomi swallowed and unbuckled her seatbelt. "As I'll ever be."
Naomi and Emily walked up the front steps and Naomi knocked bravely on the front door. A moment later the front door swung open, revealing a man whose appearance surprised Emily. Although Naomi had never told her what her uncle looked like, she had expected him to be the clichéd, horrible drunk: balding hair, beer belly, grubby wife beater, un-showered. But Victor looked surprisingly clean. He was wearing blue jeans and a pale blue button up shirt. His thick brown hair was combed and his goatee neatly trimmed. He removed his fashionable glasses from where they sat upon his nose as he looked at the two women that stood before him.
"Naomi." He said, clearly surprised to see her. "I wasn't expecting you to come back."
"I'm just here to get my stuff, then we'll be leaving."
"You can't just come in and take whatever stuff you want. I own it."
"Not all of it you don't. I have just as much right to my Mum's stuff as you do." Naomi said assertively, pushing past Victor and stepping inside. Emily followed close behind.
"And who are you?" Victor asked Emily.
"It's none of your fucking business who she is." Naomi said.
"It is if she's barging in to my house and stealing my stuff. She your girlfriend?" Victor asked, eyeing Emily up and down.
"No, she's not. And don't look at her like that." Naomi said, taking Emily's hand and pulling her close to her.
"Still haven't told me what your name is, kid." Victor said to Emily.
"It's Emily. Emily Fitch." Emily told him, her voice coming out braver than she felt. He was surprisingly intimidating for a man who looked so nice.
"Fitch?" Victor asked. "Not Robert and Jenna's daughter?"
"Y-yeah. How do you know them?" Emily asked.
Naomi squeezed Emily's hand a little tighter. "Since when do you know the Fitches?"
"Your Mum used to rave about them. When you moved here it was all 'Rob Fitch this' and 'Jenna Fitch that' and 'The Fitch's are the nicest people' and 'The Fitch's throw the best dinner parties' and 'Those Fitch children are just the nicest children around.' Never fucking shut up about them." Victor said.
"Yeah, well they were friends. Now where's all my Mum's stuff."
"You're not taking your Mum's stuff. It's mine."
"She was my Mum. I think I'm deserving of at least some of it."
"Well I'm not telling you where it is." Victor said, lighting up a cigarette and offering one to Naomi and Emily. Naomi took one but Emily declined.
"Well I guess we'll just have to look for it then. C'mon Ems." Naomi said, taking a puff on her cigarette and leading Emily upstairs.
Emily followed Naomi up the stairs and across the landing. Naomi opened a door and held it open for Emily to go inside.
"Was this your bedroom?" Emily asked, looking around the room.
Naomi nodded.
"It's… small…" Emily said, unsure what she was supposed to say.
"Yeah. I just want to grab a couple of things from here. There's not a lot of stuff in here that's important."
Naomi knelt on the ground and pulled out a suitcase from under the bed. She opened the wardrobe and pulled out a few items of clothing and dumped them in the suitcase. She grabbed a few books and a couple of CD's, an old teddy bear, a photograph in a frame and a few other knick-knacks and threw them in the case, then zipped it up.
"C'mon." She said, taking Emily's hand and leading her from the room. "I've got a feeling Victor keeps Mum's stuff in the attic."
Naomi climbed the stairs to the attic and found the light switch. She looked around the dark and dusty attic just as Emily climbed up and joined her. Naomi grabbed a cardboard box that was close to her and opened it. "This is nothing." She said. Just some old papers and junk."
"So is this." Emily said, looking through another box.
The two friends worked their way through the boxes, occasionally mentioning if they found something interesting, but mostly they worked in silence.
"Hey Ems, I found all my old baby stuff." Naomi said.
Emily looked up. "You gonna take it home?"
"Nah. No point. It's nothing special."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. It's just my Mum's stuff that I want. Lets keep looking."
"Hey Naoms, I think I may have found something." Emily said a few minutes later.
"Really? What is it?" Naomi asked walking over.
"It's a box that says 'Gina'" Emily said.
Naomi opened up the box and looked at what was inside. "What's in it?" Emily asked.
"All sorts. Photos, books, CD's, videos, a few papers. Some stuff from her volunteer work she used to do." Naomi said. "I think I'll take it all with me."
"Ok. I'll put the stuff we want by the door." Emily said, picking up the box and carrying it across the attic.
"There's a whole bunch more boxes with Mum's name on it." Naomi said.
"What's in them?"
"This one just looks like crap. Just leave this one. And this one's clothes. You can leave this one too."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. I have no need for it."
"What's in that one?" Emily asked, pointing to a smaller box.
Naomi opened. "A bunch of… Envelopes. Looks like letters." Naomi said. "Some of them have my name on them."
"Really?" Emily knelt down next to Naomi.
"That's my Mum's writing." Naomi said, showing Emily that envelope that had Naomi's name written on the front.
"There's a whole heap more for you here." Emily said, looking through the rest of the box. "Here, 'for Naomi on her 16th birthday', 'for Naomi on her wedding day', 'for Naomi on her 18th birthday', 'for Naomi when she finishes college'. Looks like your Mum had it planned out. There are loads of them, for pretty much every occasion. And some that just have your name, not for any specific time. There are some for other people too." Emily said, passing Naomi a stack of letters. "Do you want to read them now?"
"No." Naomi said, putting the letters back in the box. "I'll do it when we get home. It's too much to do now. Lets just take them all."
Naomi stood up and picked up the box. "Are you okay?" Emily asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just want to leave." Naomi said.
"Okay, lets go."
The two women walked back downstairs. "Find what you were looking for?" Victor asked as they walked back in to the lounge room.
"Yes. We'll be leaving now." Naomi said. "I found this for you though." Naomi passed Victor one of Gina's letters that had his name on it. "Thought you might want it."
"That's your Mum's writing." Victor said, looking at the letter.
"Yeah. She wrote a whole heap." Naomi said. "Ems, I just need to grab one or two more things, do you want to put that in the car?"
Emily nodded and picked up a couple of boxes and took them out to the car, as Naomi walked to the back of the house.
A few minutes later, Naomi walked back in to the lounge room, a plastic bag filled with things in one hand, a photo in a frame in the other hand. Emily walked back inside at the same time. "You ready to go?" Emily asked.
"Yep. Did you see where Victor went?" Naomi asked. Emily shook her head. "Lets just go then." Emily took the plastic bag from Naomi and walked to the front door, Naomi following behind.
They reached the car and Emily put the bag in the boot and opened Naomi's door for her. Naomi was just about to hop in when she heard the front door open and close. "Naomi, wait!"
Naomi turned around and saw Victor walking toward her, his eyes red with tears, the letter from Gina still in one hand.
"What?" Naomi asked.
Victor stood for a moment, not saying anything. Eventually he took a deep breath. "I'm sorry." He said.
"You're sorry?" Naomi asked, shocked at his words. "I don't think 'sorry' is going to cut it, Victor."
"I don't expect it to. I just needed you to know."
"Where is this coming from?" Naomi asked.
Victor held up the letter. "Your Mum had some stern words with me. Told me how she expected me to raise you. How important it was that I take care of you properly. And I failed her. Completely failed her last wishes. And I am so sorry for that."
Naomi stood silently, watching the man that had made her life hell break down in front of her. She reached for Emily's hand, found it and held on to it tightly.
"I don't expect you to ever forgive me." Victor said, tears running down his cheeks. "I just need you to know that I truly am sorry and if I could do things over I would do it completely differently."
"I just… I don't understand why you're telling me this now." Naomi said.
"Because you're leaving. For good. And if I were you, I would never want to see me again. So this may be my last chance. And I need you to know. The way I treated you is my biggest regret. And I'll hate myself forever because of it."
Naomi bit the inside of her cheek and looked at him. "You're not as drunk as you normally are." She observed.
Victor looked up at her, surprised. "No, I'm not." He said.
Naomi waited for an explanation.
"When you left, I realised how alone I was. Then I realised how fucked up my life was. So I've been cutting back, getting some help. Trying to sober up a bit."
"That's good." Naomi said.
Victor shrugged. "I suppose."
"It is." Naomi assured him. "I'm going to go now." She said, taking a step back to the car.
Victor nodded. "Will I ever see you again?"
Naomi shrugged. "I don't know. If I'm being honest, at the moment I never want to see you again."
Victor nodded. "I understand. Just… Just know that I love you. And that I'm so proud of you. And I hope that your life becomes everything you've ever hoped it to be." He said, swiping away the tears.
"Like I said," Naomi continued, "at the moment I never want to see you again. But who knows what might change in the future. Good luck with getting things back on track." Naomi said, stepping in to the car.
Victor nodded. "Naomi?" he said, as she was about to close the door.
"Yeah?"
"If you ever need anything, money or a place to stay or anything at all… Don't hesitate to ask."
Naomi nodded and closed the door. Emily got in to the drivers seat and started the car. She took Naomi's hand as they drove off down the street. "You okay?"
Naomi shrugged and took a deep shuddering breath, wishing she could stop the tears that were spilling from her eyes. "I will be." She said, intertwining her fingers with Emily's.
Emily let them back in to the hotel room and closed the door behind Naomi. Naomi crossed to her bed and sunk down on to it, an emotionless expression on her face.
"How are you feeling?" Emily asked, concerned.
Naomi shrugged and patted the space in the bed next to her. "Will you sit with me?" She asked.
Emily crossed the room and sat down on Naomi's bed, her back against the wall, he feet dangling off the side of the bed. Naomi twisted her body so that she was lying down, her head resting in Emily's lap. They sat in silence for a moment as Emily played with Naomi's blonde hair.
"I don't know what I was expecting from today, but it certainly wasn't that." Naomi said quietly.
"It was surprising. He was not what I expected at all." Emily said.
"He surprised me. I haven't seen him that sober since before Mum died. I hate myself for thinking it, but I'm kind of proud of him for that."
"That's understandable." Emily said. "The guy raised you. Yeah, he didn't do it as well as he should have, but you can't spend 15 years with someone and not have any feelings for them."
"Shouldn't I hate him though?"
"Probably. Anyone else probably would. But you're not just anyone. You're Naomi. And you're too nice for your own good. I don't think you have it in you to ever truly hate anyone."
"How come you always know just what to say?" Naomi said, finding one of Emily's hands and holding on to it.
"I just say the truth." Emily said, leaning forward and kissing Naomi on the head.
Silence fell between them once again and it wasn't long before Emily felt Naomi's breathing evening out as she drifted off to sleep.
"Fuck." Naomi said, twisting her stiff body around to look up at Emily. "How long was I asleep for?"
Emily glanced up at the clock. "About three and a half hours."
"And you just sat there the whole time? Why didn't you wake me up or just kick me off you or something?"
"Because you looked so peaceful and you obviously needed the sleep."
"Yeah, but fuck, three and half hours. What's the time?"
"Almost half nine."
"You missed a meal to let me sleep on your lap? You must really like me." Naomi said, sitting up.
Emily slapped Naomi lightly on the knee. "Shut up, I don't die if I miss one meal. I'm not really very hungry anyway. Are you?"
"Not really. I'm actually still kind of tired. I might just go to bed."
"Me too." Emily said, grabbing a couple of things from her bag. "I'll just go change in the bathroom."
"You don't have… I mean, you can stay out here, I'll change in the bathroom." Naomi said, also finding her pyjamas.
"No it's fine. You stay here, I'll go in the bathroom."
Emily disappeared in to the bathroom, changed her clothes, brushed her teeth, washed her face and walked back through to the main room. She looked over at Naomi, expecting to see her already in bed, but instead she saw her sitting on the bed, wearing a pair of pyjamas pants and her bra.
Fuck, Emily thought, she has a good body. Emily went over and stood in front of Naomi, trying to keep her eyes of Naomi's exposed torso and failing miserably.
"You okay Naoms?" She asked.
"When we get back, I think I'm going to change my name back. I don't want to be Naomi Mason anymore. My name is Naomi Campbell."
When Emily didn't say anything in reply Naomi looked up at her. Emily was smiling down at her.
"I am so, so proud of you." Emily told her.
Their eyes locked and they stared at each other for a moment. Without thinking, Emily took a step forward, bent over slightly and caught Naomi's lips with her own, kissing her deeply. Naomi took a moment to respond, but quickly tangled her hands in Emily's hair, holding her close. The kiss deepened as their tongues met, brushing against each other. Emily knelt up on to the bed, straddling Naomi's lap, wrapping her arms around Naomi's neck. Naomi's hands dropped from Emily's hair to her hips. She pushed Emily's tank top up at the back and ran her hands over Emily's warm skin, gasping in to the kiss as Emily grinded her hips down against Naomi's.
Emily pushed Naomi back so that Naomi was lying against the pillows, still just wearing her pyjama pants and bra. Emily held herself above Naomi with one arm, the other drifted down Naomi's side and across her stomach, causing Naomi's tummy to ripple with excitement. Emily kissed down Naomi's jaw and bit lightly on her ear lobe. Naomi slipped hands down Emily back and rested them on her bum. She slipped one knee up between Emily's legs and bumped it up in to her, causing Emily to gasp in to Naomi's ear.
"Fuck, Naoms." Emily whispered huskily.
Desperate to hear Emily make more noises like that, Naomi bumped her knee up again and used her hands to push Emily's bum further down. Emily grinded herself against Naomi's thigh and bit down on Naomi's neck, hard enough to make Naomi gasp, but not hard enough to leave a mark.
"Jesus Ems." Naomi said, her hands still squeezing Emily's perfect bum.
Emily moved her lips back to Naomi's and their tongues met in a perfectly sloppy kiss. She moved her hand that still rested on Naomi's stomach up slightly, so that it was cupping Naomi's breast. She squeezed it gently, before pulling the fabric of the bra down slightly. She palmed Naomi's bare breast, and ran her fingertips across the hard nipple, causing Naomi to breath in sharply. She squeezed the nipple hard, before palming the breast again.
"Oh, fuck, Emily." Naomi gasped.
Emily grinded her hips in to Naomi's thigh again and pinched her nipple once more.
"Fuck, Ems, stop." Naomi said, removing her lips from Emily and pushing Emily away. "We need to stop."
Emily immediately climbed off of Naomi and sat on the edge of the bed. "Fuck. Sorry. Got a bit carried away."
"We both did." Naomi said, sitting next to her.
"I'm sorry." Emily apologised.
"Don't be. It was just as much my fault as it was yours."
"You were just sitting there and I just jumped you."
"It's not like I tried to stop you. We both wanted it."
"I can't do this to Cook."
"Me either."
"You wont tell him, will you?"
"Of course not."
"I'm gonna go to bed." Emily said, standing to her feet and moving over to her own bed.
"Me too." Naomi said, pulling back the blankets of her own bed.
"I think you should put a shirt on first." Emily suggested, still unable to take her eyes off Naomi.
"Good idea." Naomi slipped a t-shirt over her head and then made a show of undoing her bra and pulling it out the sleeve over the shirt.
"You're a tease." Emily said, switching off the lamp.
"You're a pervert." Naomi retorted.
"You love it."
"Ems?"
"Yeah?"
"Shut up and go to sleep."
"Ready to go then?" Emily asked, closing the boot of the car.
"Yep. There's really no point in wasting your money staying another night. There's no need." Naomi said.
"Yeah, I guess not. As long as you're ready to get back to the real world."
"I am." Naomi said, walking over to Emily and taking the car keys from her hand. "And I'm driving."
"What? Why?" Emily asked.
"Because you got no sleep last night and you look like shit. This way you can fall asleep on the way home without having to worry about crashing your car."
"How do you know I got no sleep last night?" Emily asked, giving in and getting in to the passenger side.
"Those rings around your eyes say it all. And I could hear you tossing and turning for hours. There is no way anyone could be asleep while they were moving that much."
Emily didn't say anything.
"Were you okay?" Naomi asked.
"Yeah, just had a lot on my mind." Emily said.
"Like?"
"Like me and you. Like me and Cook. Like what the fuck I'm going to do."
"I'm sorry if I made it harder on you."
"You didn't."
"Hey, you're back early." Cook said as they walked in. "How was Manchester?"
"Yeah, we decided there was no need for us to stay another day. And it was okay. Did what we had to do." Emily said, pecking him on the lips. "I'm just gonna go up and put my bag upstairs. Might take a shower. Feel a bit gross."
"Actually Ems, could we talk? There's something I have to say to you…"
