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It's only your shadow
Never yourself
It's only your shadow
Nobody else
It's only your shadow
Filling the room
Arriving too late
And leaving too soon

-Shadow, Britney Spears

Effy stands outside the front door, breathing heavily. Her fists are clenched and she's nervous. She knows she has to do this. She knocks on the door and waits for it to open.

"Oh."

"Hi.. um.. Is Katie in?"

Katie and Emily's mother stood there, glowering at this skinny, messy-haired girl with too much eyeliner. What the hell had caused Katie's ex boyfriend Freddie to dump her for this.. this thing? This was the girl who'd cast a rock at her daughter's head and had left her -close to death- in the woods where the teenagers had been camping. Katie had needed NINE stitches and couldn't take her exams till after her injuries had healed. So to Katie's mum, it was only right that Effy be locked up for what she'd done. Katie had become a shell of herself. No mother wants to see that happen.

"Yes, she is but I don't think she'd want to see you," she told Effy bitterly. Effy blushed and bit her lip. She'd expected Katie's mum to hate her on sight. She was about to turn to leave when Katie's voice came into the conversation. "It's ok mum. She can talk to me."

Katie's mum shook her head. "No Katie. Don't let her pressure you into it-"

"MUM. It's fine. Come on, Ef."

Effy awkwardly stepped into the house and walked past Katie's mum, who stared daggers into her back. Katie led her up to her bedroom that she shared with Emily. It was obvious how different the twins were. Katie's side of the room was decorated with posters of fit men while Emily's had posters of pretty girls.

"So.. what's up?" Katie asked, although she had an idea. Effy stood in the centre of the room and wrung her hands together. Katie sat down on her bed and took out a magazine to show how calm and collected she was, although this wasn't the case. She was nervous that Effy was in her room. She'd never had Effy in her room before.

"I wasn't sure about whether to do this.. but Freddie told me to.." Effy said quietly. Katie nodded, trying to ignore the fact that Freddie's name had creeped into their conversation in under a minute. "I keep waking up at night. I can't breathe. It's like panic attacks. I keep dreaming about that night in the woods with you.. it's horrible. Look, I can't talk about my feelings but.." she trailed off. Katie stared at Effy. Effy was actually talking about her feelings. Just W to the T to the F. Clearly Freddie's deep nature had gotten to her.

"And I saw at your party how annoyed you were about me and Freddie and I just want to say I'm sorry. I never got the chance to apologise cause I went off with Cook-"

Effy stopped and inhaled a deep breath. Cook. The boy who'd fucked her for fun and ended up loving her. She'd twisted his feelings as well as Freddie's. It had been a game to her. But it wasn't a fun game to play.

Katie reached over and placed her hand on Effy's. "It's ok," she whispered. "I'm not gonna say it didn't hurt, you and Freddie. But I accept your apology. Just do one thing for me Effy."

Effy frowned. "What?"

Katie sighed and looked into her eyes. "The whole time I was with Freddie, I knew he loved you. He always has. Please don't fuck him up. You've done it before and he ended up hurting me, as well as himself. Accept that he loves you because fuck it, he's not gonna leave you."

Freddie is at the skatepark by himself. He's had enough of skating for now and is sitting on the ramp smoking a spliff. The sun is setting and the sky is cast with a faint red. Stars are beginning to show themselves. It's a strange sight but in Freddie's stoned state, it's beautiful.

"Freddie."

Freddie looked up and was surprised to see Effy standing in front of him. Wearing a short blue dress made of delicate chiffon and her usual biker boots, she looked amazing, as always. Effy smiled faintly and sat down beside him before taking the spliff out his mouth and placing it into her own.

"What are you doing here?" Freddie asked her. Effy shrugged. "I wanted to see you and Karen said you were here."

"Cool."

Silence. Both were naturally quiet people, one thing they had in common. "I saw Katie today," Effy murmered. Freddie raised an eyebrow. "How did it go?"

"It went well."

He nodded. It was about time Effy and Katie sorted out their differences, god knows he was getting sick of it. He jumped when he felt Effy's hand close over his. He bent his head and kissed her cheek. This was nice. This was the kind of thing they were supposed to do. The kiss on her cheek was transferred to her lips. Effy's hands wrapped around his neck and he took her in. He kissed her forehead, her neck, her shoulder blades. With abandon, he pulled off the delicate chiffon dress, exposing her in every pale inch. His shirt came off and his belt was unbuckled. Freddie wanted her and it appeared that she wanted him. Her hands trailed over his chest and round to his back. She needed him right now.

Against the setting sun, alone in the skate park, the two of them shedded their clothes and loved each other. Freddie wanted Effy but Effy needed Freddie.

Until the next time.