A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating. I was focusing on finishing off another fic and I haven't had much time to write with work. I should be back to updating regularly again now though. As ever, big thanks to everyone who's still reading.

"How's she doing?" Bex quizzed as Naomi finally descended the stairs and joined her in the living room in front of the fire she was tending. It was late and, with the sun setting the temperature was quickly dropping. Naomi sighed as she sat down in front of the fire and wrapped her arms around her knees. They'd lost yet another day. It had been almost three days since she'd last seen her family and she wasn't even sure if Katie and Effy had made it out of Henham Hall. She'd fallen asleep beside Emily and had spent the afternoon lying in bed with her. The smaller girl was still sleeping quite peacefully despite the damage to her leg. The farm's doctor had given her some pretty serious painkillers though which would probably keep her out for the rest of the night.
"Ok." She answered, rubbing at her own tired eyes. She felt absolutely drained and couldn't wait to spend the night in her own bed. "Thanks again for taking us in."

"No problem. You know you're always welcome here." The older blonde shrugged at her with an easy smile as she set aside the book she was reading. Naomi glanced down at it and smirked as she picked up the battered paperback. "Stephen King's 'Cell'? Seriously?"
"Trying to get some survival tips." Bex laughed as she snatched the book back from the younger girl's hands.
"Team up with a gay guy and a fifteen year old?"
"You've read it then?"
"Yeah, I prefer Dean Koontz though."
"Ok, off my farm!" She shoved the younger girl playfully, grinning as Naomi shoved her back. The two had hit it off from the start and had Cook not caused so much trouble on the farm Naomi and her family might have stayed with Bex and the others. Cook had caused too many arguments and started too many fights. Cole, Bex's father, had refused to let him stay on the farm and Naomi hadn't been able to turn her back on him. The two groups still kept in touch, trading goods and sharing information, but it had been a while since Naomi had last been to the dairy farm.

"I couldn't get Cook on the radio by the way. I couldn't get any of them." Naomi felt her heart drop as she considered the possibility that Katie and the others hadn't made it home. That wouldn't explain why Panda and JJ weren't answering the radio though.
"Maybe they're all out looking for us…we usually leave someone behind to mind the farm though." She frowned. Panda was useful when it came to playing possum in the middle of the road and JJ was pretty good at map reading, but the blonde couldn't see Cook or Effy taking them along on the road and just leaving the farm unattended. "Maybe they're just in the fields without the radio?"

"Katie always keeps it on her when you guys are away." Bex shared her concern as her brow furrowed. At Naomi's puzzled expression she elaborated how she knew the radio was always with Katie. "I call in and check on her some days…when you're out." She bit her lip as she dropped her gaze, her eyes narrowing on the fire as she felt her cheeks burning.
"Katie never said." Naomi huffed; feeling a bit miffed knowing that her supposed friend had been avoiding her. Things had been strained between them since she'd chosen to stay with Cook and, though she'd thought Bex might have been avoiding her, it was still hard to have her admit it. "You should come over more often, you and your dad are always welcome."
"Thanks. So what's Emily like then?" The older blonde quizzed, her eyes still glued to the fire. It was Naomi's turn to bite her lip as she felt her cheeks colouring. What was Emily like? In a word she was amazing.

Emily was a fighter, a survivor, yet at the same time she was even more vulnerable than Katie. Something about the other girl just made Naomi want to scoop her up and hold her tight, keeping her safe from the many dangers of the terrible new world they had inherited. When Emily had been shot, Naomi had felt the world slipping out from under her feet. In the few days she had known the other girl she had become quite attached to the fierce little Fitch. The thought of losing her, of losing any more of the people she cared about, was enough to turn Naomi's stomach.

As close as they were growing though, Naomi knew the other girl would never fully trust her until she proved to her that her twin was still alive. Naomi's longing to get home to the farm had been growing steadily from the day she'd been taken from Henham Hall and, had Emily not been flat out from exhaustion, she would have been tempted to climb in the van and drive the short distance back to the farm; back to her family. She would even risk driving in the dark in order to get back quicker. As it was though, Emily was in no fit state to be moved and a good night's sleep would do her good. They would set off first thing if she was up to it.

"Emily's great." Naomi finally answered the older blonde as she prodded at the fire with a heavy iron poker, pushing the burning embers aside to keep the flames going. "She just…she can't trust me. I need to get her back to the farm, to prove to her that I'm not lying about Katie..."
"Looks like you've fallen hard, Campbell." Bex teased. She was smiling, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Leaning forward she pressed her lips to the younger blonde's cheek before pushing herself up to her feet. "She's a lucky girl…I'll see you in the morning."
"Uh…yeah…'night." Naomi sat dumbstruck as watched the other girl ascend the stairs. The pair had always been quite flirtatious, but Bex had never been so open about her feelings for her before. It wasn't Bex's kiss that was playing on her mind though as she carried on poking and prodding at the fire; her lips still tingled from the ghost of Emily's soft yet demanding kisses earlier. Just thinking about the other girl sent shivers running up and down her spine and warmth flooding through the pit of her stomach. She had only known her a few days, but she had listened to Katie talk about her twin for months, slowly falling for a girl she had never thought she would get the chance to meet. She waited for the fire to die out before she put the poker down and silently made her way back upstairs. It was still early in the evening, but most of the people on the farm were already asleep. They would be up hours before first light to see to the cows and work the farm.

When Naomi slipped in to the room she and Emily were being up in, she found the smaller girl still fast asleep. Cole had given her some pretty heavy duty painkillers for her leg, so she didn't stir when Naomi crawled in to bed beside her. It was probably for the best. Had she been awake, the blonde wasn't sure she would have been able to keep her hands to herself. Lying on her side she watched the younger woman sleeping. She looked even more like Katie when she was asleep, the anger and fear gone from her face. Naomi was missing the older twin, she missed all of her family, but she missed Katie most. They had barely spent a day apart since Naomi had stumbled upon Katie and the brothers in the woods. She just hoped that, wherever the oldest twin was, Effy was taking care of her.

Despite the long day she'd had, Naomi just couldn't switch off to go to sleep. Her mind was racing and her body felt like it was on fire when Emily grumbled something in her sleep and rolled on to her side, her head coming to rest on the blonde's chest. She wrapped her arms around her as she lay staring up at the ceiling, willing herself to just fall asleep. She felt anxious just lying there, so close to home yet not knowing what had happened to Katie and the others. She contemplated getting in the van and taking the twenty minute drive to the farm, but that would mean leaving Emily behind, and Naomi didn't want to take that risk; the way her luck was going she'd probably come back to find the youngest twin missing; or worse. She had no choice but to wait until Emily was up to travelling.

Effy sat on the low stone wall outside the house she, Katie and Thomas had sought refuge in, a fag pressed between her lips and a thick wool blanket wrapped around her slender frame. It was late and without any electric lamps the street was in total darkness. Sitting on the wall she was almost invisible apart from the small glow of her cigarette lighting her pale face. She heard her radio crackle and Cook's impatient voice filled the silent street. "Eff, where the fuck are you? We can't find this street anywhere!" He'd finally got in touch through the radio an hour earlier and Effy had given him and Freddie instructions on how to find the house. They'd been with some random bloke who had been giving them a lift and so Effy had refused to give out the address until they were on their own.
"You're standing on it." Effy sighed in to the radio as she watched the two boys stumbling up the road in the darkness. Cook's immaculate white Nikes were practically glowing in the dark. "Keep going straight, I'm sitting outside." She pulled her lighter out of her pocket and struck the flint, sparking up a small light like it was a candle sitting in a window, guiding them home.

"EFFY!" Cook hollered loud enough to wake the dead, and considering they were in the middle of a deserted village there was a good chance the houses around them were full of the dead; though six months after the outbreak she doubted there would be little left of their bodies. If nature hadn't ravished the corpses of the residents then the local dogs would have. Effy rolled her eyes as she scanned the street for any sign of movement, be it from other survivors or just the local wildlife. The street was thankfully still apart from the two boys making their way along the road towards her. She stubbed out her cigarette on the brick wall and tossed it aside as Cook came bounding over to her. He went to lean in for a hug but she pulled away, wrinkling her nose in disgust. He stunk of cheap cider and weed. Freddie was the same, and his eyes were as wide as saucers. They were both drunk and high! One of their closest friends was missing, dead for all they knew, and they were enjoying themselves! "Eh? Where's the love?" Cook sulked as Effy stood up to get away from him and wrapped the blanket tighter around herself.

"Naomi's fine by the way." She snapped, instantly sobering him up.
"We were looking for her!" He tried to defend himself, but he knew he was in the wrong. Freddie had the good grace to keep quiet as he kicked at the path, scuffing his battered old trainers against the gravel drive of the house they would be spending the night in. "We met this tip top bloke right, and he's been driving us around all day, helping look for Naoms-"
"She's heading home." Effy cut him off as he rambled on. "We found Thomas, Naomi found him, and Emily-"
"Tommo's here!" Cook cackled. "Nice one, where is he?"
"Sleeping! So keep it down!" Effy hissed as she punched Cook in the arm hard enough to bruise. She turned her attention to Freddie with a glare. "There's a spare room upstairs, third on the left, keep him quiet!" She turned on her heels and left the two boys helping each other up the drive.

After checking in on Thomas, and finding him fast asleep, she returned to the room she and Katie had taken and found the other girl sitting up in bed. The thick curtains at the window were slightly ajar and Katie had obviously been peeking out of them when she'd woken to find Effy gone. "Cook and Freddie found us." Effy explained as she slipped back in to bed beside her.
"I heard." Katie sighed as she cuddled in to the older girl. It would have been impossible not to hear Cook. "So we can leave for the farm first thing then?"
"First thing." Effy mumbled in agreement as she pulled Katie closer to her, so that they were spooning, just like they had been before the radio had woken Effy up. She pressed her lips to the smaller girl's cheeks and Katie craned her neck to catch her lips. Effy's own lips curled in to a smile. Katie was slowly growing more confident with her, though her body stiffened as Effy's hand slipped down between their bodies. "Sorry." She quickly apologised as she pulled her hand back, not wanting to freak the other girl out. Katie didn't say a word, but she didn't pull away from her either. Effy had fucked plenty of people, some were even girls, though the sex had meant little, if anything, to her. She had never fallen for another girl before. She wasn't quite sure what to say or do, especially since Katie wasn't even sure on her sexuality. She settled for keeping her arms wrapped around the smaller girl, holding on to her while she fell in to a light sleep. No doubt she would be up at the crack of dawn to get back on the road.

Emily's eyes snapped open as pain shot up her leg. The offending limb felt stiff and sore as she struggled to sit up. She had to untangle herself from Naomi before she could push the covers away and slide her legs over the side of the bed. Her injured leg was swollen to twice the size of her other one and the skin around her stitches was red raw and inflamed. The doctor had had to dig deep in to her flesh to remove all of the glass and Emily had passed out before she'd seen the finished stitching. When she'd first woken up she'd been too distracted by Naomi to check her wound. Despite the large gash that had been cut in to her thigh the stitches didn't look as bad as she had expected and hopefully it wouldn't scar too badly either. She warily pushed herself up on to her feet and bit back a scream as the pain in her thigh increased tenfold. She flopped back down on to the bed with a heavy sigh and cast a glance back at Naomi, glad to find her still sleeping. Even while sleeping the other girl looked exhausted and Emily didn't have the heart to wake her. She wasn't really sure what to say to her when she did wake up either. They'd ended up falling asleep holding each other after their extensive kissing and Emily wasn't sure how to feel about that. She fancied the blonde, hell who wouldn't? She was smart and gorgeous and Emily would have had to be blind not to fancy her, but the youngest Fitch still couldn't be certain that Naomi wasn't just stringing her along for the reward Minhas was offering. She wasn't sure her heart could take the other girl letting her down if she let her get too close. She would have to work harder at keeping her walls up around Naomi until she knew one way or another whether she could trust her.

Gritting her teeth she pushed herself back up on to her feet and tried to ignore the pain as she slowly shuffled towards the door. Taking one step at a time it took her almost ten minutes to get out of the room, along the hall and halfway down the stairs. She sat down three steps from the bottom, clutching her aching thigh and cursing under her breath. "Emily?" A blonde woman in her early twenties emerged from the living room and instantly spotted her on the staircase. Emily vaguely recognised her from in the kitchen the previous afternoon, when the doctor had been working on her while Naomi anxiously looked on. The older blonde had been holding her hand. She made her way over to Emily and slipped an arm around her waist to help her down the last few stairs. Despite her wariness of the stranger, the smaller girl was grateful for the help. She let Bex take most of her weight, though the tiny girl didn't weigh all that much, and the pair slowly made their way in to the living room across the hall. Bex helped her in to an overstuffed reclining armchair and popped the footrest up so that her thigh was raised. She left for a few minutes before returning with a glass of milk and some small white pills that Emily presumed were painkillers.

She eyed them sceptically, as though the stranger would have a reason to poison her. Bex seemed unfazed by her over cautiousness as she scrutinised the pills, looking for any sort of markings. "Just Paracetamol I'm afraid, ran out of MDMA a few months back." Her voice was light and teasing and despite her wariness Emily found herself smiling. She placed one of the pills on her tongue as she picked up the glass of milk. She drank half the glass swallowing just one of the tablets. The others quickly followed and she put her empty glass down on the weathered coffee table in front of the chair.
"I haven't had fresh milk in months, just that powdered stuff." Bex pulled a face at her admission. She had been brought up on the dairy farm and had always had fresh milk. Even when the world had gone to pot, her family had still had cold milk.
"Perks of living on a farm I guess. I tried to show Katie how to milk a cow once; she almost threw up on poor Daisy." Bex grinned, trying to put Emily at ease, but her words had the opposite effect. Bex couldn't prove conclusively that she knew Katie any more than Naomi could.
"Poor cow." Emily commented. Her attention was elsewhere as she craned her neck to look out of the living room window. Despite the early hour there were already people milling all over, going about their daily lives and ensuring the smooth running of the small dairy farm.
"Daisy's my cousin." Bex admitted, which brought a genuine smile on Emily's lips. She could just imagine her twin reacting to been shown how to milk a cow by throwing up on some poor girl. "You know Katie was a lot like you when I first met her; she didn't trust anyone, except for Naomi of course, barely left her side for a second. I think she trusted her with her life, maybe even owed her it…Naomi's a good kid, you could do worse." The older woman wore a sad smile as she tried to talk Emily in to trusting Naomi. She really sounded like she believed what she was saying, but Emily couldn't share her faith in the younger blonde. She had lost her faith in humanity a long time ago.

"You care about her." It wasn't a question; Emily could see it in the other woman's eyes. Naomi meant a lot to her.
"I used to think I had a pretty good chance with her." Bex admitted with a hint of bitterness creeping in to her voice. "Then I saw the way she looked at you yesterday…I can't compete with that."
"I can't trust her." Emily sighed; the pain in her thigh wasn't the only thing bothering her. "If she's lying about Katie then she's lying about everything…I can't…I…I've lost too much already-" She fell silent as she heard a creak on the stairs. A few moments later Naomi walked in to the living room. Her eyes were red and framed by dark circles that seemed to be growing bigger with each passing day.
"Hey." She greeted the other two girls and seemed to be feeling as awkward as Emily was. "How's the leg?"
"Sore."

"I've given her some painkillers and antibiotics. We can spare a few more of each until you get back to the farm."
"That's great, we've got plenty at home…Help yourself to whatever you want from the van in exchange." Naomi appeared to be off with Bex too. She stood by the door frame with her arms wrapped around herself, her eyes darting around the room.
"We took a couple of cases of Jaeger already…Do you want some breakfast or something? We've got some fresh eggs…"
"Uh, no, thanks. I just really want to get on the road. If you're up to it?" Her gaze finally settled on Emily as she checked the smaller girl was up to travelling. "We should only be in the van half an hour." Emily bit her lip as she nodded at the blonde. In thirty minutes she would know whether she could trust the other girl or not.

With Bex and Naomi's help Emily managed to get out of the house and in to the transit van. She sat with her back against the passenger door and her injured leg up on the seat as Naomi said goodbye to her friends. She shook Cole's hand and thanked him for his hospitality before turning to Bex. They shared an awkward embrace before Naomi pulled away and climbed in to the van. Emily tried to put her leg down but the pains piercing through her thigh were unbearable. "Here, scoot over." Naomi ushered her over and got the smaller girl to lean against her so that she could put her leg up on the seat with her foot pointing towards the passenger door. It was easier on Emily's leg and once she was comfortable Naomi slipped the van in to gear and headed home to the farm. She was eager to get back, to find out what had happened to Katie and Effy, and to prove to Emily that she was being honest with her.

The drive back was quiet and uncomfortable, as though Emily had slipped back in to her earlier distrust of the blonde, and Naomi felt a flood of relief when they finally slipped off the motorway and came across the side road that would lead to the farm. It was hard to make out the dirt road in the dim morning light, especially with the thick rain clouds looming overhead, so Naomi was grateful when she spotted the first few solar lights that lined the road up to the main house. She kept a watchful eye on the passing scenery, looking for any hint that something was amiss, but when she parked the van in front of the farm house everything looked exactly as it had done a few days earlier. The house was in darkness, which was also normal. JJ was usually the only one up before dawn to see to their small collection of animals. If the others were home they were all probably still sound asleep.

"Wait here." Naomi instructed, trying to keep her tone light as she pulled the keys out of the ignition and headed in to the house, leaving Emily still sitting in the van. She felt her chest tighten as she scanned the empty farmyard, looking for signs of an ambush or a double cross. She finally let out the breath she'd been holding as Naomi emerged from the house again, carrying a pair of crutches. They were the old fashioned wooden ones that rested uncomfortably under the armpit, but they took the pressure off Emily's thigh and helped her to move about more freely. She slowly followed Naomi in to the house, still keeping her guard up as she crossed over the threshold.

The farmhouse was dark with no electricity or lit candles to guide them and Emily bumped in to the junk littering the hallway. Thankfully the path cleared as they made their way in to the living room. The large family room was crammed with mismatched furniture and there were half burnt candles on every flat surface. The remains of a fire were still smouldering in the hearth, which was a reassuring sign that the farm hadn't been abandoned. Naomi crossed over to the fireplace and switched on the high-powered camping light that ran off batteries, illuminating the room in a cool blue light. Emily watched her every movement from where she sat on the sofa, still wary of an ambush. She offered her what she hoped would pass for a reassuring smile, but Naomi could feel her own panic bubbling up. Where was everyone? "Katie? Effy? Cook?" She left Emily in the living room as she went in search of the others. She carried on calling out to them all as she searched every room and came up with nothing. She had suspected that Cook and Effy would be out looking for her, and that Katie might have even talked them in to taking her with them, but they would never leave the farm uninhabited for fear of other survivors finding it. JJ at least would have stayed behind to look after the animals. She frowned as she picked up one of the radios from the arm of a recliner and tried to locate her missing friends. The radio crackled with static and not much else. She slumped down on to the sofa next to the other girl and sighed in to her hands.

"Ems, I don't know where everyone is, but I promise I never lied to you! They're probably all out looking for us, I can show you Katie's stuff and I'm sure JJ or Panda will be back soon and…Emily?" Naomi stopped rambling as she realised the other girl wasn't listening to a word she was saying. Her eyes were brimming with tears as she stared at the fireplace wall and Naomi felt her heart breaking. She didn't know what else she could say or do to try and prove she was being honest with her. "Emily?" She tried again, but the youngest twin's eyes were glued to the wall. Naomi couldn't understand what held her so transfixed, until she followed her gaze. An overwhelming sense of relief flooded through her and almost brought her to her knees. Turning on the camping light had illuminated the dozens and dozens of photographs glued to the chimney breast wall. They had found a few old instant Polaroid cameras on their earlier scavenger hunts and the wall was littered with photos of the gang. Emily's eyes were glued to a single picture in the centre. It had been taken in the kitchen when Katie had been baking one day. She stood sticking her tongue out at the camera, with flour all over her cheeks and in her hair. More importantly, Naomi sat behind her on the bench, equally covered in flour, with her arms wrapped around her neck as they both beamed at the camera.

"Emily…" Naomi wasn't quite sure what to say. 'I told you so' just didn't seem appropriate. It turned out she didn't need to say anything, after all if a picture was a worth a thousand words then the dozen images of Katie on the wall were a novel in themselves. Emily turned unexpectedly, as though a switch had suddenly been flicked in her brain. Though Katie wasn't actually at the farm, Naomi hadn't lied to the youngest twin and she wasn't going to betray her. Naomi was no longer an enemy. The blonde let out a startled gasp as Emily's lips found hers, but she didn't need much encouragement to return the kiss. Emily's arms wrapped around her neck as Naomi pulled her in closer and somehow the blonde ended up lying flat on her back with the smaller girl lying on top of her and her hands tangled in Emily's red locks. Naomi's hands slipped lower and caught Emily's thigh. The smaller girl hissed, but made no attempt to break their lips apart.
"Fuck, sorry, are you ok?" Naomi asked breathlessly, her concern for the other girl winning out over her craving for her.
"Fine…Doesn't matter." Emily replied as her lips found the column of Naomi's throat and her hand slid down to the hem of her borrowed trousers, where it hovered teasingly; and she was right. Right there and then Naomi could think of nothing that mattered more than how quickly she could get Emily's hand moving again.

They were so lost in each other that they didn't hear the car pulling up in front of the house; or the front door silently opening.