Sorry it's been so long since I last updated, it's been a bit busy around here. SKINS FIRE ON MONDAY OH MY GOD GUYS LIKE WHAT I CANT. I'm going to try to have the next chapter up ASAP but then again if ANYTHING goes wrong with naomi and Emily on Monday I cannot promise enough mental stability to manage it. Thanks for reading, please review!

"I have to say I never saw that coming." I heard Naomi whisper after a long laugh that did a sterling job of waking me up.

"Sh, you'll wake up Emily." Effy warned and I grinned, though it was hidden under the blankets. "Neither did I."

"I mean when did you even know? That you were into Katie, I mean."

"It wasn't like it just hit me, it was kind of gradual I think." Effy explained.

"Speak of the devil, where'd she run off to?"

"Who knows. She rarely stops moving."

"Amen." Naomi chuckled. There was a pause as Naomi placed a soft kiss on the top of my head.

"Are you aware of the way you two look at each other?" Effy asked and I felt Naomi stiffen.

"Pardon?"

"It's lovely, really." Effy insisted and Naomi laughed.

"Oh you're taking the piss."

"No really. I should thank you."

"For what exactly?"

"Proving me wrong." Effy explained.

"I'm not sure what you mean, Eff."

"I thought love was bollocks, useless. I'd only ever seen it hurt people. But last year I saw the way Emily looked at you, right from the start."

"While I ignored her and pushed her away like she was the plague."

"No."

"No?"

"I saw the way you looked at her when you thought no one was looking." I swear I could feel Naomi blushing.

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh. And then you two got together and I realize that love doesn't have to be all bad."

"I asked her to move in with me, Effy."

"I know." Naomi sat up quickly, causing me to fall onto the pillow. I was about to open my eyes and complain but she swiftly readjusted and gently pulled me back into her.

"How did you know?" She asked, a little out of breath.

"Cook."

"He told everyone, didn't he?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Wanker."

"Yeah." I smiled at their back and forth, neither of them are exactly ladies of many words.

"So do you love her?" Naomi asked after a bit.

"I don't know."

"Elaborate."

"I think I could, maybe. You got lucky with Emily. She was so open and she got under your skin and you suddenly had two options; love her or leave her, but really there was only one choice. With Katie it's not like that. I don't know how she feels or what she wants and she's confused too and it's all a bit of a headfuck." Naomi stroked my hair affectionately as Effy spoke.

"I guess I understand that."

"She said yes then?" Effy asked. I liked how they didn't drone on about a subject, they spoke about it and then moved on. Katie and I could talk for hours about one thing and get nowhere, perhaps only make it worse.

"Yeah." I could hear Naomi's smile in her voice. "It'll be complicated, of course. She doesn't really want to have to tell her parents, but she practically lives with me now so it's kind of just official."

"What about after college?"

"She wants to take a gap year."

"And you?"

"I don't know what I want."

"Yes you do."

"Huh?"

"Her."

"Okay yeah but I want a future too, Effy, and so much can happen in a year. I don't want to put my life on hold for her only for her to leave me behind."

"You realize you can have both; Emily and Uni."

"I hope so."

"What do you want to do after college, Eff? You don't say much about it."

"Uni, maybe Cardiff. I want to go into business, stocks perhaps."

"Tony went to Cardiff, right?"

"Yeah." I could hear the sadness in Effy's voice.

"When was the last time you saw him, Eff?" I heard the blanket move as she shrugged.

"It's been a while. He doesn't like coming home."

"Can't you visit him?"

"Technically." Suddenly the door opened.

"Oh fuck not Katie too!" James groaned. Naomi and Effy started cracking up, the tension immediately dissipating.

"Sorry, James, is it?" Effy asked.

"Yeah, and you?"

"Effy."

"You're a lesbian?"

"No."

"You're dating my sister."

"Yeah."

"So you're a lesbian."

"Not necessarily."

"Then what are you?"

"I'm Effy."

"Fucking hell."

"Yeah." Naomi laughed.

"There goes my chances of having a brother in law." James pouted.

"You could just marry a boy?" Naomi offered.

"Sorry I don't like dick!" He countered.

"Sorry your sisters don't either." Effy chuckled.

"Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Katie loves dick! I know I've heard her up here with boys!" He whined.

"Fair enough."

"And I've heard Katie talking about how much of a slut you are." He giggled.

"Yeah, what have you heard?" Effy challenged.

"Oh Freddie, oh Cook! I'm so hot and aloof, everyone wants me!" He imitated. I stretched out and finally decided to enter the world of the living.

"Don't be a dick James." I scolded.

"Oh sorry, I forgot no one in here likes dicks." I smiled at his joke and he grinned at me.

"So Effy." He said turning his attention.

"Good morning." Naomi quickly interjected, kissing me softly.

"Yes James?"

"Do you actually like Katie or is it just because Emily is taken?" Effy furrowed her brow.

"Why would you ask that?"

"Because Katie is a bitch."

"And Emily?" Naomi asked. James smiled at me.

"I used to hate her. But now we're cool."

"What changed?" Effy asked.

"Well, Gordon has a huge crush on her and so I started being nicer to her and then I found out she's actually really fucking A."

"Gordon has a crush on me?" I asked, a bit grossed out.

"Oh yeah. He took that photo of you and Katie in Paris off of your night stand." I looked over to see that he was right, the picture was missing.

"James what the fuck?" I asked.

"I can't tell him no, he could beat me."

"Just get it back will you? Ugh that's so pervy." I groaned and James laughed.

"You can't blame him, Em." Naomi kidded and I elbowed her.

"Boys will be boys." James shrugged and Effy laughed. "Well I'm off to Gordon's." He turned to leave. "Emily you don't happen to have any knickers that you no longer-"

"Fuck off James!" Naomi snapped and he chuckled as he left the room.

"So that's the infamous James Fitch. Wow." Effy commented. I shook my head apologetically.

"He's a character."

"Well I'll say." She agreed. There was a knock at the door.

"Whatever it is, no James!" I shouted.

"What the fuck?" Katie asked.

"Katie, why did you knock?" I questioned, a bit confused.

"Effy's still here?"

"Yeah?" Effy said.

"Oh I kind of thought you'd have left, I didn't want to walk in on you two shagging." Katie explained.

"Where were you?" Effy asked. Katie put down her purse.

"I got us dinner for tonight, Mum and Dad will be out so I thought I'd cook." I burst out laughing.

"You're going to cook?"

"Fuck off, I can cook."

"Yeah, cereal." I teased, Katie's eyes narrowed.

"That sounds nice." Effy managed, though she looked skeptical.

"Speaking of dinner, we best be off Em." Naomi advised, and I glanced at the time. Gina and Kieran would be home within the hour.

"True." I agreed as I followed Naomi out of bed.

"Remember we're going out tonight, yeah? Thommo has his gig." Katie reminded.

"Yeah I know?"

"So bring a change of clothes...?" Katie explained and I nodded understandingly. I turned to look in my closet and realized I had no clue. Katie quickly pushed past me and within thirty seconds threw me an outfit. "There you go. Now shoo."

"Love you too, sis!" I groaned.

"Whatever." She cackled and I saw Naomi mouth 'Good luck' at Effy.

"Emily, I love you, but your sister still scares me to death." Naomi admitted as we left my house.

"Me too, babes, me too."

Naomi

"Emily, dear, can you come work for us as our private chef?" Mum begged and Kieran nodded his head in agreement. I rolled my eyes.

"Are you thinking of studying culinary in Uni?" Kieran asked.

"Uh, no Kieran, doubtful." Emily laughed.

"Well what do you want to study dear?" Mum asked. I suddenly became acutely aware that I didn't know the answer to this question.

"Either publishing or photography, I think. I'd love to go to New York for a year or two." I looked at her, a bit shocked.

"Really?" I blurted out and she looked a bit hurt.

"Yeah." She answered, smiling tightly.

"Emily that's wonderful, sounds very exciting." Mum exclaimed, patting Emily's hand.

"A girl with a plan." Kieran gave me a look. "Where do you think you want to study?" He asked.

"I'm not too sure, actually. It's just about impossible to get into the University of the Arts in London, but I'll probably apply. My mum wants me to look at Goldsmiths and Cardiff though."

"Naomi is looking at Goldsmiths!" Mum screeched excitedly.

"I know." Emily nodded, but I knew she didn't like thinking of the Open Day and the kiss that went with it.

"Well you just let me know if you need any help with the applications. I am an education figure, you know." Kieran chuckled and Emily smiled at him.

"Thanks, really."

"So are you two all packed?" I asked and they smiled dopily at each other.

"Just about, we're going to finish up here and then off to bed, our flight is bloody early tomorrow."

"Fuckin' five AM." Kieran muttered and Gina glared at him. Emily laughed at the exchange.

"I think we're going out tonight." I informed.

"Oh, really?" Mum looked hurt.

"It's important."

"Important?" Kieran asked.

"Yeah our friend Thomas arranged the whole thing." Emily explained.

"We'll be here to see you off tomorrow, don't worry."

"Let us know if you need us to pick up any last minute things." Emily added and I laced our fingers together under the table. She really was just so thoughtful. Ugh what the fuck is wrong with me?

"Oh thank you dears." Mum grinned. "You two get ready we'll clean up."

"No Gina, we can-"

"Emily, you cooked a lovely dinner, Kieran and I will clean up. You two go have fun." She insisted and I only sort of had to tug Emily's arm to get her to come. As we walked upstairs I got a glance of Gina and Kieran dancing in the kitchen and caught myself smiling.

I grinned as I stepped out of the bathroom. I wore black pants and a black tank top, coupled with a black headband it was reminiscent of the 1920's movie stars from the movies we watched with a little modern grunge. Emily had on a Mint green slip over a blue dress with these red boots that I assumed were Katie's.

"Well fuck me." Emily exclaimed, setting down her book.

"Later, love, later." I laughed and leant down for a kiss.

The club was absolutely packed, and it seemed to be primarily Roundview kids. It seemed like everywhere I turned I saw someone I knew. Thomas gave us these drink cards so we didn't even have to pay, it was wicked. I was fairly plastered, had my beautiful girlfriend on my lap, and all of my mates around me. It was an excellent evening.

"Up for a drinking game, anyone?" Cook offered and the group groaned.

"Last time this happened I ended up kissing you." Emily complained.

"What are you talking about?" Cook asked, feigning confusion.

"You beat Naomi and you got to kiss me." Emily explained. Cook moved around and knelt next to us, as if he couldn't hear her correctly.

"Emily I have no idea what you're talking about." Cook admitted, throwing up his hands. Emily frowned, trying to find words. Suddenly he grinned smuttily. "You're going to have to remind me." She shoved him playfully.

"You'll be mine someday, Red!" He announced, clutching his chest.

"Get in line." A girl laughed as she sat at the booth next to ours, it was Sophia.

"No way girl, I'm ahead of you!" Cook argued.

"Um, I believe I hold rank over you Cook." JJ interrupted but was ignored.

"Who are you anyway?" Cook asked, hanging over the seat so he could speak with her. It was a funny sight to see, Sophia looked nice and composed while Cook's clothes were disheveled and he was soaked in sweat, from the dancing and the drugs.

"Sophia Moore, you're James Cook, right?"

"The infamous." He chuckled happily. Emily looked at me nervously and I just shrugged. I didn't exactly know what I was supposed to do in this situation so as per the usual I just tried my very best not to act and to seem unfazed. "How do you know Red here?" He asked.

"She's in my Politics class." Sophia explained.

"So you're a lezzer too then?" Cook inquired bluntly, toying with her hair. Sophia closed her eyes and exhaled, as if she were trying not to get annoyed.

"Yes, I'm gay."

"So you're into Emily, not Naomi then?" He asked.

"I didn't say that." Emily stiffened on my lap.

"Ooh! A plot twist!" Cook shouted excitedly, turning back to our table for a moment.

"So who would your rather bone?" He asked loudly. Sophia looked horribly embarrassed, I almost felt bad for her.

"Um, I..."

"Hey come on it's not a hard question... Actually it totally is that's difficult. They're both fit obviously. I tried to bone Naomi for so long but eventually gave up. I was friend zoned." He informed, pretending to whisper. "I feel like Red is kind of kinky." Emily blushed and covered her face with her hands. I wasn't sure if she was laughing or about to cry, probably both. "You know honestly I think I'd just have to have a three-way. Then after that I would choose who I'd rather fuck." Cook explained. I looked accusingly at JJ. With a shaky hand he set an empty pack of STUN pills on the table.

"He took them from my room I didn't even know until we got here." He explained. I nudged Emily and pointed to the pack. Her eyes widened and she tapped Cook.

"Cook, how many did you take?" Emily asked and Cook grinned like a little boy.

"All of them!" He admitted mischievously before raising an eyebrow. "Are you going to punish me?"

"Ew James, please sit down." I demanded and he made a face at me before standing on top of the table.

"You're a mess, Cook." JJ observed. Cook grinned smuttily and started gyrating.

"Cook!" Emily squealed as he threw his shirt at her.

"I think I'll be a stripper!" He shouted. The entire bar was staring now and Cook just seemed to love the attention. Now that I thought of it stripping would be a fitting profession for him. Emily stood up on the bench and grabbed his arm.

"Sit down, Cook." Emily advised and he pulled her up onto the table and started dancing on her.

"James stop, really. I think you should sit down." I shouted and he let Emily go, who looked more than a little traumatized.

"Oh I know what you want." He jumped off of the table and shook his finger at me. "Tsk tsk, naughty."

"Cook what are you doing?" I asked.

"Lap dances cost extra, you know." He chuckled and I shook my head.

"That is absolutely fine I really don't even want one so-"

"For you I'll make an exception." He grinned and moved to sit on me. I scooted out of the way just in time and Freddie took my place so Cook was stuck between him and JJ.

"Please watch out for him." I begged and Freddie laughed.

"I've actually never seen stripper Cook, that's a new one." He informed and I shook my head.
"Let's hope that was his first and last appearance." Emily took my hand and we went to the bar.

"Your friend seems nice." Sophia observed, having followed us.

"He keeps things interesting." Emily laughed, playing nice.

"So this is going to sound a bit awkward."

"Shoot."

"Do you know anyone who sells MDMA?" Sophia asked and Emily laughed at the face I made.

"No not really." Emily shrugged. She was lying, our group probably had ten grams in total on us that night.

"Really? I thought Cook dealt." Sophia asked, seeming disappointed.

"Not anymore. Apparently some people were asking him for drugs just to report him." I explained pointedly, not trusting Sophia at all.

"Well that's stupid. I just want to get fucked up." Sophia laughed, the words sounded off. Emily picked up on this.

"Are you okay?" She asked, the worry evident on her face. I didn't like her concern but I understood it was in her nature to care. Sophia downed someone's abandoned drink.

"Yeah, fine. Have fun." She said quickly and then ran off.

"That was kind of weird." Emily observed, grabbing her beer.

"Kind of?" We looked over to see that the table had pretty much dissipated.

"Is that Katie and Eff?" Emily asked, pointing to the balcony.

"Maybe, shall we?" I asked, holding out my arm. It took probably twenty fucking minutes to get to the balcony and by then there was no sign of Katie or Effy.

"Fuck's sake." Emily groaned, taking a swig of her beer. I turned to walk back down the stairs but she caught my arm about halfway down.

"What?" I asked.

"You look really sexy." She giggled, kissing me. I blushed, not usually being one for PDA but then realized I didn't really give a shit right now. I pulled Emily into me, her beer precariously resting on my shoulder. We had finally talked about our futures and what we wanted to do other than each other. I could feel her smile as we kissed, and I started smiling and it was just us kissing and smiling and it was easily the happiest I had ever felt.

That is until we heard the scream.

Chapter 11 ( Forgot to put it on the last chapter)

Will she say yes?: Fell in love without you - Motion City Soundtrack

Alone in the room: Hands Down - Dashboard Confessional

Talking about the Future: Siberia (Acoustic) - Lights

Sexy Time: Edge of Desire -John Mayer

If Ashley Had a Song for Naomi: Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance with You - The Black Kids

Naomi Deciding They Were Official: So Long to the Headstrong - Fleet Foxes

Chapter 12

Effy's Admittance: Begin Again - Taylor Swift (Cheesy I know)

Kieran and Gina dancing: If you leave me now - Chicago

In the Club: Voodoo - Spiral Beach

Cook Stripping: High for this - Ellie Goulding

Smiley Kisses: iFly - Ball Park Music

Sorry for the cliffhanger: Free of Me - Joshua Radin