Disclaimer: I don't own Skins, I don't own Naomily and I don't own supermarkets...such is life.

Author Note: Thank you for all of the lovely reviews, I'm very happy to have another chapter with you so soon, even if it took a walk to the supermarket just to get the peace to finish it off.

For 'you're looking sexy' - I hope you're okay after your car accident, I'm glad I could help cheer you up. :-)

And for 'lumagoo1015' - I hope you're able to come out soon, as I hope for Emily too. Families can be difficult. Good luck!

In This Life

Chapter Twelve

Jonah left with some reluctance, Jenna was anything but happy about Emily's early departure and would have rather Jonah stay to make up for it. Emily knew better than that. The poor thing was already quaking in his shoes after a firm grilling on his intentions from Rob; Emily couldn't just leave him there. She didn't care about him in the 'he's my boyfriend' sense, but he was doing her a massive favour and for that she owed him. He asked no questions, even when she begged him to drive her to Naomi's house as quickly as possible. When they pulled up outside Naomi's they sat in silence, staring up at the yellow wooden frame of the porch. It looked even more beautiful in daylight than it had that night Naomi's bike had a puncture. Flowers grew in the front garden, out of control; a symbol of Naomi's life perhaps? She couldn't help but wonder. Nerves got the better of her, stealing away her attention span. She fiddled with the material of her skirt and cleared her throat multiple times. Jonah filled the silence with comments on the 'lovely house' and assurance that he wasn't going to pry. She thanked him, kissed his cheek and climbed out of the car before her nerves got the better of her.

'I'm sorry,' Naomi whispered when she opened the door, her hands reaching out instantly to Emily's waist where she grappled with the material to get a better grip. She let Naomi pull her into the house, pull her into a long, drawn out kissed filled with all of the love and admiration she had for the sweet, blonde haired girl by her side.

Emily forced her concerned look to mould into a smile; 'As long as you're okay.'

They walked through the house; an old fashioned style wooden staircase disappeared up towards the second floor, a bright but gentle yellow covered the walls surrounded by decorations from all over the globe; or at least a shop that sold international products. The style showed little of what Emily had known to be Naomi. She suspected the décor was probably down to her mother instead; a more stylish woman than ultra-modern Jenna Fitch that was for sure.

'You wanted to talk,' Emily began, attempting to push the conversation, the reason for her being there, along.

'Soon,' Naomi nodded. 'Would you like a drink?'

The night moved forwards quicker than Emily expected. When they sat down with a bottle of wine she assumed a glass and the start of a conversation, instead she watched Naomi shying away from the confrontation she anticipated following. Her gaze lowered from Emily's on several occasions, her eyes full of doubt and lack of confidence. There were times when Emily wished she could have told her that everything was okay, but she knew she would be doing a disservice to herself and Naomi. She couldn't tell Naomi about the things that affected her on a day-to-day basis, so how could she expect Naomi?

'I'm sorry,' Naomi repeated an hour or so later, half of the bottle empty. Emily's head maintained its stability, despite a slight buzz making the evening run more smoothly. It settled her nerves, removed her worries and allowed her to sit there in comfort as Naomi's fingers danced circles across her palms.

'What for?' Emily questioned, forgetting the reason for her visit, if only for a moment. 'It's okay.'

Naomi nodded. 'I feel like I'm falling too fast and there's nothing there to catch me.'

Emily closed her eyes, scared her pupils would betray her. She longed to inform Naomi that she wasn't the only one, that each moment in her presence made her heart beat that little bit faster and every time their lips made contact she expected her heart to give out. When she opened them again, Naomi wasn't looking away, she was staring right into them with hope.

'I got scared,' she whispered, taking away the need for Emily to respond. 'I wanted to let you be there, to hold me, to kiss me. I, I couldn't. I want to now.'

'Oh.'

'When I'm with you, I feel like I'm a better person; less lonely, less alone.'

'Alone?'

Loneliness wasn't an alien concept; Emily knew it better than most. She couldn't understand how someone in Naomi's position, living with a mother she seemed to get along with and a child she cared deeply for. How could she be lonely? Except for love; honest, true, romantic love that Emily dreamt about for years before it finally graced her presence. How could she, Emily, doubt Naomi's loneliness when she had never faced up to her own?

'Did you ever watch One Tree Hill? With Payton, 'people always leave', it was her signature thing.'

She hadn't, though she nodded in response. A vague recollection of Katie forcing her to sit down to an episode that involved a picture with those very words; she hadn't cared much for it, but the feeling of loneliness had come across. People do leave; which meant they had to have left Naomi, for the conversation to have even taken this turn.

'I was once in a relationship,' Naomi began, her voice disappearing under the gentle tone. 'I loved him.'

'Him?'

'He left me, he,' her voice broke away, disappearing into the silence of the early evening. The room had grown dim from the approaching night; Naomi's face lay in almost darkness, except for a small stream of light filtering in from the hallway. Her face was, instead, lit up across one side and Emily caught tears rolling down the edge of her skin. 'No one has ever stayed for long since then.'

'I'm not leaving,' Emily whispered, reaching a hand out to brush away Naomi's tears. She hated to see her like that, wished there was a way she could fix the broken mess Naomi seemed to become. Her fingers moved across the pale skin until Naomi's own interlinked with them. Naomi closed her eyes and rested her head against their hands, a tiny smile stealing attention.

The questions that filled her conscious slowly evaporated in the moment they shared, there was no need to know more; she knew that now. All that mattered was Naomi and her and what they felt for each other. The fears she'd felt earlier in the evening, faced with the intensity of her parents, faded away in the soft kisses Naomi pressed against her neck. Then their lips joined and nothing could stop them from lying back against the sofa, making out like a couple of school kids. She ended up underneath, Naomi's leg pushing up between her own; her hands wandering down the sides of Emily's body. She'd dreamt about it, in the day and night, imagined what would happen if they ever got to the point of being together. Inexperience and lack of knowledge pushed Emily's fears up into her throat, mixing with nerves and the anticipation of breaking her unwanted chastity. She could barely breathe, her heart thumped to the speed of their kisses, faster and faster until Naomi's fingers slid under the material of her skirt. She jumped, pushing the hand away and accidentally falling to the floor with a bump.

'Ems?' Naomi gasped into the darkness, reaching out and pulling her to her feet before attempting to pull her back into a passionate embrace. Emily's body tensed up underneath her touch. She dragged herself away, turned on the light which brought the truth to the forefront. Emily felt like a deer in the headlights of a car; the driver, Naomi, staring at her in an attempt to uncover what had happened.

Being watched by Naomi's furrowed brow made Emily's worries spring to life, 'I should go.'

'No,' Naomi demanded, standing up and taking her hands, returning their moment. She tried to look away but Naomi's eyes stared at her with intensity, little option but to look back. 'I don't think I'm the only one who feels lonely.'

'No,' Emily murmured.

'I think you want someone to want you, well, I want you.'

Sex was the issue. Naomi stared at her with those eyes she'd seen Katie give multiple guys. She didn't just want her, she wanted her. Her hands rested on Emily's hips with reassurance, lust. Everything she'd hoped would happen for years was being offered to her on a plate and she froze.

'I've, I've never.'

A look of realisation filled Naomi's curious gaze, a look of understanding followed. Emily's nerves doubled; a fear of rejection. Who wanted someone who'd never had sex? Intimacy was important in a relationship and if she'd never experienced it, how could anyone expect her to be any good?

'I assumed; I shouldn't have.'

None of it was Naomi's fault, so why was she acting as though it was? Emily wanted to tell her not to be so stupid, that she was defected and she might as well get out while she still could. Then Naomi took her hands, pulled her knuckles up to her lips and a kiss followed. Naomi's fingers traced the lines of her hair, tangling strands up between her fingers like spaghetti on a fork. It didn't matter. For the first time in her chastised years Emily knew that it didn't matter. That someone, more specifically Naomi, didn't mind that she had never even had sex.

'Do you want to?' Naomi asked, running a finger down the side of her cheek. A chill travelled down her spine until it reached her inner core and her body reacted to Naomi's touch. Did she want to?

'Fuck yes,' she gasped, pulling Naomi closer until her own leg pressed between Naomi's and her skin burned to be closer still.

'Wait here,' Naomi informed her with a kiss to the nose and Emily was left wondering why she couldn't have what she wanted.

xXx

'Emily,' a voice shouted through the house, she stood up from her seat on the sofa and opened the door. A shout back was all she needed to get a further shout from Naomi and she followed the voice up the stairs. There she found her smiling at her with a toothy grin, a glint in her eyes and a black kimono as a dressing gown.

'Come with me,' she grinned, taking Emily's hand and pulling her into a bedroom. The room was lit up by various sizes of candles making the probably standard room look extra special. Even under the gentle, romantic light, Emily saw a laptop on a desk, a pile of children's toys in a corner and a washing basket overflowing with probably freshly removed bed sheets. She turned her attention to Naomi, the greatest woman she had ever met who held a hand out towards her. Without speaking she reached out, being pulled quickly into Naomi's arms. She'd considered the various possibilities for her first time over the years; a romantic night in a posh hotel with chocolates, rose petals, soft music and a girl she'd fallen head over heels in love with; a rushed moment in a bedroom with someone she only vaguely cared about; a quickie with a stranger in a club toilet. Whilst she'd considered the latter of the three most possible, she'd also spent night after night longing for the first to come true. It wasn't a hotel and there weren't any rose petals but it didn't matter. It was enough, it was more than enough.

'I wanted to make sure it was special.'

'Oh,' she gasped, getting lost in the blue crystals staring down at her from her inches above. 'Can we have music?'

Naomi nodded. 'I knew there was something I was forgetting.'

With Sarah McLachlan's Full of Grace playing out across the room Emily slipped her arms around Naomi's waist, pulling her body as close as she could get it without being naked. Her dreams were becoming reality, their bodies swayed gently to the sound of the music; each note of the piano in rhythm with the kisses and actions. They swayed across the room; their lips joined in soft and gentle moments, Naomi's body leading the dance, leading everything. Her mouth singing beautiful lyrics against the burning hot sections of Emily's skin, fanning the fire until there was an explosion sending them both into the stratosphere and they collapsed together, their breathing slowing with every breath, their hearts beating as one and Emily's attention lost in the palest skin between Naomi's breasts.

Author Note: Apologies to anyone expecting Naomi to announce everything from her past in this chapter, it was the plan, honest. But then I figured sex was a more important first step, showing that they didn't need to share things about themselves with each other, just sharing themselves was enough. For now. The truth will out eventually.