A/N: Officially BLOWN AWAY by your reviews...I should be asleep right now but I had to get this up to say thanks! As for your question neverhappy 10 I could be up for another challenge...depending on what it is of course :P

And for those of you following the story of my blackout – my boyfriend still won't tell me exactly what I did...he thinks it's hilarious to tease me...my best friend remembers bits and pieces...mostly involving sing star and our paddle pool shenanigans...but yeah...no idea...maybe that's for the best?...

Aaaaanyways, I hope you like this chapter...it came out way fluffier than I thought it would...oh well...

"Emilio, this house is fucking mint yeah." Cook held his beer bottle up in salute before wandering further down the hall.

"Glad you like it ."Emily nodded and straightened a picture she'd hung of her and Naomi from their gap year, the two of them standing in Red Square with black fur hats.

"Yeah," he added with a grin, before popping his head into the spare bedroom, "I bet you and Naoms have already christened every inch of this place ay?"

Emily rolled her eyes and pretended it wasn't true...even though it totally was. Turns out having sex in your own house wherever and whenever you want it pretty fucking irresistible.

"And now that you and Blondie have your own shag palace I've got somewhere to stay if Gina kicks me out."

Emily shook her head and smiled. "Sure Cook."

She was glad to have her friends back. Effy and Cook had landed on Gina's doorstep a few days ago, after months of being away, and just days after she and Naomi had moved into their own place. Gina had given her and Naomi a call and they had come over straight after work, pulling their friends into long hugs and asking a million questions. Neither Cook nor Effy had said much about their time away, just that they had spent it travelling through Europe and felt it was time to come home, especially with the wedding in a few weeks. It seemed Effy had been checking her email, as Naomi had decided to tell her that way and hope that it would bring them home. It had worked apparently. Effy and Cook had been staying at Gina's since, though in separate rooms. They weren't together apparently. Emily was determined to get to the bottom of it, but the middle of her housewarming wasn't exactly the right time.

She moved into the kitchen and found Anna and her girlfriend Victoria chatting with Katie. Emily thought back to those painful months in college when her friendship with Anna had been hanging by a thread. But she'd given her friend the space she'd asked for and they'd slowly started to build their relationship again. They'd managed to stay connected during university when Emily was in London and Anna staying in Bristol. It helped that Anna and Katie had become such good friends. It also helped that Naomi had gotten over her jealousy.

"This place is really nice Em," Victoria said as the redhead entered the room.

Emily smiled and moved to stand amongst them. "Thanks. We've been looking for a while and this one really fit."

"Yeah it's great," Anna added, before taking a sip of her drink.

Emily smiled to herself watching her friend share a loving look with her girlfriend. She was so happy that Anna had found someone she loved, someone as great as Victoria. They'd been together for a year now and the redhead had never seen her friend so happy.

"Plenty of room for my little nieces and nephews," Katie winked in her sister's direction.

Emily almost choked on her drink. "I don't know about that Katie."

"Oh you never know," came Naomi's voice from behind her.

Before the redhead could turn around she felt Naomi's arms wrap around her waist, the blonde pressing into her back and resting her chin on her shoulder. Emily's stomach fluttered at the thought of little Naomi's running around, messy blonde hair, inquisitive blue eyes, sarcastic tongues and hot tempers. That wouldn't be so bad. It might even be perfect.

"You two are disgustingly in love," Katie said admiringly, without the slightest hint of sarcasm.

Emily nuzzled her cheek into Naomi's and brought her hands up to cover the blonde's, feeling her fiancée's ring and smiling.

"Yeah, we are," she replied contentedly, knowing that the love they shared was what fairy tales were written about.

They fell into an easy conversation, Katie regaling them all with stories from her holiday in Paris with Liam, but soon Naomi became aware of the fact that she hadn't seen Effy in a while. She gave her fiancée's waist a squeeze and whispered in her ear that she would be back, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and a pinch on the bum before slinking out of the room. She wandered through the house, finding Cook, Liam, Mr Walker and Rob and James Fitch watching football in the lounge, and then past her mum and Jenna talking animatedly about organic vegetables, something she never thought she'd see. She stepped through the back door and spotted her brunette friend sitting on a bench in the quaint little garden having a cigarette, faintly illuminated by the light of the full moon. She felt relieved every time she saw her now, not nearly convinced that she wasn't going to run off again.

"Hey Eff," she greeted her as she walked towards her, taking a seat next to her and pulling her cardigan closed against the chilly air.

Effy nodded her reply and blew out a thick cloud of smoke, then offered her pack to the blonde.

Naomi shook her head. "Emily would kill me."

The redhead had badgered her for years about quitting, saying that she didn't want her to drop dead at 40 and leave her alone, and in their last year of uni Naomi finally had. She'd slipped a couple of times since, but whenever she was tempted she thought of her fiancée and how angry and disappointed she'd be, and how much more important she was than a cigarette.

Effy placed the packet on the bench between them. "Nice house Naoms. You're proper grown up now."

The blonde rolled her eyes at the teasing in her friend's tone. "We've all gotta do it sometime."

"I guess."

"Maybe not Cook."

A silence stretched out between them. It had never been unusual for them to sit without speaking for long periods of time before, but now there was an awkwardness to it. Naomi was brimming with questions she wanted to ask her friend and her time away, but decided on the most important instead.

"How you doing Eff?"

The blonde kept her gaze forward, knew that the brunette would freak out if she looked her in the eye.

Effy inhaled deeply and shrugged. "Yeah..." she glanced off to the side and exhaled, "...I always wake up the next day."

The words made Naomi think of Freddie, a shiver running down her spine. Sometimes she felt guilty for being so deliriously happy, when things had gone so horribly wrong for her friends. Freddie was dead and Effy was adrift without her anchor.

Naomi stole a glance at the brunette, her sad eyes and tight mouth. She wanted to say something wise and comforting, but she didn't have the words. So she slipped her hand out of the sleeve of her cardigan and placed it over her Effy's. The blonde felt her friend flinch slightly but not pull away, and out of the corner of her eye she swore she could see a tear rolling down Effy's cheek. Naomi gripped her hand tighter and they sat there for a while, the silence not feeling so uncomfortable anymore.

-x-

Emily glanced around her new lounge room that was filled with friends and family and smiled. She was pretty sure her life couldn't get any better than this. Her own house with her soon-to-be wife. Wife, she repeated in her head and her smile grew wider, her heart fluttered. She was going to marry the woman she loved in a few weeks, and nothing could make her happier. Organising the wedding hadn't been stressful at all and Katie had actually done most of it. Her twin lived for this type of thing and knew people in the business from her PR work. Emily did have to rein her sister in a few times when things started getting a little crazy and there was talk of live doves being released or a horse drawn carriage. They didn't want anything extravagant or too formal. They just wanted a simple ceremony with a fun party afterwards so they could celebrate with their friends and family. Then off to Goa, a place they'd missed on their travels, to spend a week on the beach, laughing and dancing and making love.

Lots of that last one.

"You look happy," Mr Walker said from over her shoulder, shuffling over slowly with the aid of his walking stick and standing next to her.

"Very happy," Emily grinned at him, feeling the words in her bones.

They both looked over to Naomi, who had Liam and Victoria captivated with one of her stories. Emily watched the way her blue eyes sparkled in the light, the way one side of her mouth curled up a little higher than the other, the way her graceful fingers toyed with the hem of her cardigan. Her heart beat a little quicker and her palms tingled. She still couldn't get enough of her.

"She's a special girl," Mr Walker offered, noticing the gleam in Emily's eye.

She nodded, knowing the truth in those words more than anyone else. "I know."

"I remember when I first met her," he continued with a hint of laughter in his voice, "she was a sour little thing. Never smiled."

Emily chuckled at the memory of a teenage Naomi, all attitude and rough edges. The girl she had smiled at across the classroom and gotten a sneer in return. The girl she kissed at that fateful party, finally brave enough to make her move, until Katie ruined everything. The girl who filled her heart and made her dream of things she never thought she'd want. The girl she had relentlessly pursued because she just knew. She knew that they would have this. It was inevitable.

"And she was a terrible driver," Mr Walker added dryly.

"She still can't drive," Emily laughed, remembering the time Naomi called her at work to tell her that she'd backed her car into a fence...again.

Their laughter faded into a contemplative silence. Emily reflected on the last few years and how their relationship had just kept getting stronger, more fulfilling.

Mr Walker sighed and shook his head. "She was such a scared little girl. So afraid of life and love."

"I know, you helped her a lot," Emily replied, patting his shoulder with her hand. "You and Mrs Walker. I really should be thanking you. She changed a lot after she met you."

He shook his head. "No Emily. It was you."

She narrowed her eyes in confusion.

"She's brave for you Emily. I didn't do anything. This," he gestured around the room with his cane. "This is all because she loves you. This is because of you."

Emily bit her lip and fought the tears that flooded her eyes, feeling the sincerity in Mr Walker's voice. A couple escaped nonetheless and she wiped them away with her sleeve quickly, not wanting anyone else to notice and think there was something wrong.

"The first time Naomi said your name to me she had this look in her eye...and she didn't need to say anything else because I knew that she loved you...just from that look. I recognised it because it's the same way I feel...felt about Marion."

Emily bit on her lip so hard she thought she was about to break the skin, determined not to cry as her heart soared. She pulled Mr Walker into a long hug, catching her fiancée's eye over his shoulder. Naomi narrowed her eyes briefly at the redhead's tears but a look passed between them and Naomi knew that nothing was wrong.

In fact everything was perfect.

-x-

Naomi was standing in the corner of the kitchen waiting for the kettle to boil and checked her watch, wondering when everyone would leave so that she could take her fiancée upstairs and do very bad things to her for a very long time. A whole evening dedicated to celebrating their new house and talk of their upcoming wedding had her horny as hell, and she was tempted to kick everyone the fuck out. But she was on her best behaviour tonight and thought it wouldn't go down too well if she told Emily's parents to leave so she could fuck their daughter's brains out. They'd managed to steal kisses every so often throughout the night but that had only made it worse, giving her a little taste of what she wanted so badly and then taking it away. She zoned out and was imagining what she was going to do to the redhead once they were finally alone when she heard her name being called. She looked up to find her mum and Jenna walking towards her, cornering her in the kitchen. She smiled at them guiltily, irrationally wondering if they could tell what she had been thinking about.

"Katie tells us you're thinking about babies," her mum said directly, as they stopped in front of her.

Naomi's smile faded and she cursed Katie and her big mouth.

"Mum we're not even married yet I mean –"

"Because there are a lot of things to think about and plan," her mum continued, oblivious to her protest.

"That's right," Jenna added. "This house would be a bugger to baby-proof and those stairs will be a nightmare. Some of the furniture might have to go sharp edges. And you'll have to think about schools pretty early on."

Naomi stared at the two of them little dumbfounded as they rambled on, amazed they had put so much thought into this so quickly, and a little freaked out with how they had teamed up. She and Emily had joked about having kids before but never talked seriously. In truth she'd always imagined that they would, whether that was through adoption or IVF. But she did love the idea of little Emily's running around. Smart and cheeky little brunettes with wise brown eyes and stubborn as all hell. And they would be little, given how petite Emily is.

"Hey!" she called loudly to shut them up, a small smile curling her lips. "Can we talk about this after we're actually married? It's not like I can accidentally get Emily pregnant."

Gina nodded, finally taking the hint, while Naomi noticed Jenna blushing a little and remembered that the Fitch family weren't so open talking about sex. She bit her lip and smiled sheepishly.

"I promise you two will be the first to know whenever we make any decisions," she said sincerely.

She glanced at her mum and then her soon to be mother-in-law, relieved smiles gracing their faces.

"That would be lovely," Jenna replied with a satisfied smile, as if forcing that promise from Naomi was her plan all along.

"Yes," Gina added grinning, before the two of them sauntered off, speculating on when they thought Katie would be getting married.

The blonde rolled her eyes and went to make herself a coffee, staring out of the window absentmindedly while the kettle boiled.

"Planning on offering anyone else one?"

She smirked at the sound of Katie's voice and turned. "No," she answered honestly. "I'm waiting for you all to fuck off."

They shared a cheeky smile. The words would have once been an invitation for the two for the two of them to bicker, but it hadn't been that way for years. It had taken Naomi a little while but she had finally proven to Katie that she loved Emily and would never hurt her, and in the last few months of college the twin had started to warm to her a little, which meant she was no longer sending death stares. But it was a start, and soon they graduated to friendly small talk, and then they'd actually become something close to friends when Katie would come and visit them in London. Naomi would never admit it to her, but she actually liked spending time with Katie. They had both grown over the years, Katie less judgemental and the blonde more relaxed. Naomi had always found it funny how different Emily and Katie were in most things, but she'd also discovered that Katie shared a lot of Emily's best qualities like thoughtfulness and kindness...she just didn't show them as much.

"Thanks for telling our mums about me and Ems having babies by the way," Naomi continued. "Now they're on baby watch. They're going to hassle us endlessly."

Katie threw her head back and chuckled. "Payback for not helping me convince Emily that ice sculptures at your wedding would not be over the top."

Naomi opened her mouth to argue but Katie kept talking.

"And it got the heat off me and Liam for a little while. Mum keeps asking when we're going to get married."

Naomi noticed the uncertainty in her eyes. "You don't want to?" she asked gently, knowing this relationship stuff was more Emily's expertise. She could see Katie was struggling and turned around to give her some space, busying herself with making them both a coffee.

"I don't know," came Katie's eventual reply from behind her.

Naomi finished making the coffees and handed the twin hers, then took a sip of her own. She sensed that Katie wanted to say more, and stood silently, giving her time.

"I love him," Katie continued, "and I know he loves me...but..."

Naomi raised her eyebrows in anticipation. Katie opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, seemingly having trouble finding the words.

"I don't look at him the way Emily looks at you," the twin confessed finally, her eyes glancing down. "And he doesn't look at me the way you look at Emily."

Naomi's eyebrows knitted together, unsure of exactly what Katie was saying.

"When you and Emily look at each other...you can feel it," Katie clarified, sensing the blonde's uncertainty. "You guys love each other so much..." She looked away wistfully. "Liam and I don't look at each other like that," she muttered sadly.

Naomi could count on one hand the amount of times she'd hugged Katie, but this seemed like one of those times. She stepped forward and reached out her arms, surprised when the twin actually stepped into the slightly awkward hug.

The blonde thought about Katie's words, about how she and Emily were the standard Katie now held for true love. Someone who had been so against them from the beginning was now holding them up as a benchmark. Naomi felt a strong sense of validation that she never knew she'd needed. She grinned and patted Katie on the back a final time before they pulled away.

"Stop trying to make me gay," Katie said with a cheeky smile and feigned disgust.

-x-

An hour later Emily was finishing off the last of the dishes while Naomi dried them reluctantly, wishing that the redhead had of agreed to her idea of heading to bed and leaving them until tomorrow. But Emily was much more of a do it today rather than tomorrow kind of person, which balanced out Naomi who sometimes became a forget about it entirely person.

Emily rinsed the soap off her hands and wiped them dry, then moved to enter the lounge to continue cleaning.

"Oh no," Naomi said as she grabbed the redhead by the wrist and pulled her back gently. "Bed."

Emily lifted an eyebrow at the blonde's demands but gave in easily, following Naomi up the stairs as she was tugged along behind her. She entered the room and was guided to their new bed, a bed that they had picked out together. Theirs. They stripped each other of their clothes slowly, hands roaming over skin, before Naomi pulled the redhead down onto the bed, and finally did all those things she'd been dreaming about earlier, until Emily was breathless and sweaty beneath her. Emily took her revenge quickly, bringing the blonde to incredible heights before they collapsed together, trying to catch their breath.

"I was serious about the kids," Naomi said finally, surprising even herself with her words and how much she meant them.

Emily grinned, slipping her hand into the blonde's and threading their fingers together.

"Yeah...I know."

So there you have it...it's almost 2am here and I'm fucking tired so apologies if it's shit!

If you review I will love you forever..I'm such a whore :P

Peace out :)