Firstly I cannot apologise enough for my inability to update this story recently. I know it's been well over a month since my last update but you will not believe the amount of insane stuff that has been happening in my life. I spent the whole of September moving from B&B to B&B and then in October I was sent away on a business trip to the middle of nowhere. I have no internet here, and sadly no time to write anything. I've managed to find time to write this chapter and I've been able to pop (very briefly) into an internet cafe to post it up for you guys. I'm not sure when I'll be back home yet, there are a lot thing going on here, it could be next week or it could be December for all I know. Anyway, I HAVE NOT forgotten about this fic and I want to thank you all for sticking with me in this crazy crazy time. I promise once I get home and into a regular pattern I will be updating frequently again (If you still want me to).

Thanks so much for all of the reviews and comments for the last chapter and the story in general, the recent ones really gave me a kick up the bum and made me find time for this update. So thank you soooo much! As always thanks to everyone who reads this fic and especially to my reviewers 2ndhand15(x2), starsdieout , GilmoreRos, 101lincy(x13),I'mjustafanficreader, naomily15, braziliangirl87, Natsroks, tclick, Mari1202, LoveNAOMILY, kredka69, nay, lumagoo1015, MoaningMyrtle123, nitaxnitro, Ellie Timmers, vaskon, Merimies, yesimoan, vero, Naailah, InYourShadow, you're looking sexy, Lara201322, dourememberthat, What'sInTheBox, Emily Shitification Fitch, smcl, k-dawg55, HappyAsIAm.x, coolbeans17, lovelessandless and JustFitched I really appreciate you guys taking the time to let me know your opinions! MUCHOS LOVE to you all!

Anyway, sorry again and I hope you enjoy this update,

Hoden xxxx

Chapter 21

*Emily's POV*

"I thought you wanted to paint the beautiful view from here." I say sounding really confused.

The corners of her mouth pull up into a smile.

"I did."

Nothing could have prepared me for this moment. I'm shocked to silence; I really have no clue what to say to her right now. I'm just standing here mouth open staring at the girl sitting on the sand watching me. I'm unsure how much time passes but it must have been a few minutes, the intense staring competition Naomi and I are having seems to finally get to her and she breaks eye contact with me and starts to nervously play with the sand she's sitting on. I'm not trying to upset her; I genuinely have no idea what to say or what I should say. I just made out with the girl I'm borderline obsessed with in the middle of a secluded beach and she then pretty much tells me I'm the most beautiful thing here, so forgive me for being slightly flabbergasted.

I can see she's getting upset by my lack of response; even though her face is bowed down towards the sand I can tell she's not alright. I wonder what's running through her head right now and I what I can say to make it better.

Without lifting her head I hear her clear her throat and say "Hmmm... well... I mean...umm...I've painted this view so many times before, it made sense to ummm try something different you know?" And there is the cover up. Because I'm such an idiot and unable to think of a valid response she thinks I'm freaked out and uncomfortable with her.

"I guess we should start packing up, it'll probably take two trips back to the car with the paintings being wet and all." She says in a low disappointed sounding voice while getting up from the sand and making her way over to the picnic basket and putting stuff away. Shit. Fuck. Bugger. I need to set this right.

I take a deep breath and march over to her grabbing her arm and spinning her around to face me. Before she can process what's happening I've cupped her cheeks and pulled her into what I hope is a passionate kiss. I need to show her I'm not freaked out, annoyed or whatever it is she thinks I am, so I try to put all of my emotions into the kiss. I can tell she's shocked at first, trying to figure out what's going on, but as soon as she's gotten over it she surrenders herself to the kiss, pulling me closer until there is no room left between us. Her hands find my hips and grip them hard as she deepens the kiss and once again I'm lost. Anything could be going on around us right now, but all I can think of is her.

She pulls back from me, but still keeps hold of my hips, and looks me in the eyes; "I thought you were freaked out." She says honestly and a little shyly. She's adorable.

I lean in to capture her lips in a short kiss and pull back. "Definitely not freaked, just speechless." Her face lightens upon hearing me, and a small smile graces her lips. "You're annoyingly sweet." I say suppressing a giggle.

"I try" she responds fully smiling now. "Come on we should head back. It'll take a while to take all this stuff back to the car, not to mention the long drive home...and I believe some people have work in the morning." She says winking at me.

"See now that's just cruel. While you laze around in bed all day I have to clean your house!" I playfully slap her on the arm.

This causes the sexy smirk I've grown to adore to appear on her face, "Oh that reminds me, I have a huge pile of laundry with your name on it."

"Oi! I'm not your maid!"

"Well technically..."

"Shut up!" I interrupt, slapping her arm again "I'm not your laundry maid, I don't do laundry." She's full on laughing right now. I can't keep my mock angry face in place when she's like this and I feel a smile break out across my lips.

Packing up the car was uneventful, Naomi was right it did take us two trips to do it (even with Carl's help on the second run). When I say uneventful I mean it, I tried to take Naomi's hand on the way back to beach to collect the last of the stuff but she sort of brushed me off. Not in a horrible way, she kind of briefly took my hand gave it a quick squeeze then let it go again – I was not expecting that, not since we'd been all over each other a mere 30 minutes previous. Although she didn't say anything I got the impression she doesn't exactly want Carl knowing about us (if there even is an us); she was gushing to him about how brilliant my painting was, showing him her favourite parts of it, but never once did she even mention hers let alone show it to him.

Additionally, the journey back was also 'uneventful' the conversation was light and fun but nothing happened between the two of us at all. I guess I could have tried to initiate something, but to be honest I was scared how Naomi would react. I'm not really pissed off about it but some forewarning would have been nice. I guess I'll put it down to the fact she doesn't want her parents to find out about us, her Dad is such a well known figure in the business world it might not reflect well on his company if his daughter is gay (insert gasp here) especially if he trades in less liberal countries. So I'll let it go for the time being, but if things progress then I'm going to need some answers.

As we approach my street I'm wondering how to say goodbye to Naomi, do I just leave? Should I hug her? Do we kiss? God this is so confusing.

The car pulls to a halt outside my building and I turn to Naomi, who seems to be unplugging her seatbelt.

"Soo..." I say trying to dissipate the silence.

"Carl I'm just going to help Emily with her stuff, be back in a minute." She says casually opening the door of the car. I guess that's my cue to leave the vehicle too.

"Thanks Carl." I say quickly as I shut the door and turn to find Naomi already carrying my canvas and handbag. "I can carry them" I say as she repositions herself slightly.

"No no, it's fine. You'll need your hands to unlock the door." Damn she's right.

When we get into my flat she walks over to the table and puts the painting down and places my bag next to it before turning around to face me as I continue to hold the door open. She bites her bottom lip as her forehead lightly scrunches up, she's obviously thinking of something to say but I beat her to it.

"Thanks for carrying that and for today I had a good time." I say somewhat awkwardly as we both remain rooted to our current positions.

"Good I'm glad." She smiles "Thanks for coming, I've never brought anyone there before, it was nice to finally share it with someone."

Once again an awkward silence falls between us. Naomi looks at her feet and I fiddle with the keys in my hand.

"Look..."

"I'm..."

We start talking at the same time then abruptly stop upon hearing the other and laugh.

"You go first" I say to her.

She takes a step closer to me "I'm sorry about earlier. I really did want to hold your hand" She laughs a little to herself. "I still do. I just... whatever this is" She motions to the two of us "Do you think we can like keep it between us for the time being?" she pauses briefly to study my face. "I just need some time to process everything." She finishes by looking at me with a mixture of hope and apprehension.

How am I supposed to respond to that?

"What do you need to process?" I prod.

"Nothing" She closes her eyes and shakes her head. "Everything...I've never felt this seriously about anyone before and I don't want to complicate it by adding other people into the equation yet." She's lying, I can tell that much, that may be one reason but based on what she told me (or rather refused to tell me) last night it's not the whole story. At least she's trying though, I mean she could be telling me everything was a mistake and putting a stop to whatever is going on, but she's not, she's making an effort. This makes my answer a little easier, but I still don't like the idea of being someone's secret.

"Ok."

"Ok?" She questions.

"Ok. Let's keep it simple for the time being. I like you a lot Naomi and if you want to keep this to ourselves for the moment then I can do that. I just...I have to know is it because I'm a girl?" I ask her directly. If there is one thing I've learnt it's never be someone's experiment; Naomi doesn't strike me as the type to use me like that but I need to hear her say it.

"No! God no!" She replies quickly. "I'm out Emily; I mean everyone knows I'm gay. This has nothing to do with that." She tells me honestly. That's all I need to know. For now.

"Good." I say smirking "I think you should be kissing me now then."

Her eyes widen in shock, "What?"

"You heard me." I reply still smirking at her.

That's all the confirmation she needs. She walks over to me sliding her hand around my neck before pulling me into her lips. It's slower than our last few kisses, like she's testing the water but still showing me she does want this. As the kiss progresses it gets faster and more passionate and Naomi pushes my back into the open door and presses her body against mine. Fuck I want her so much. I don't want her to leave but I know she has to; Carl is waiting in the car outside and I need to get myself sorted for work tomorrow so I reluctantly pull away from her.

"You should get going, Carl's waiting." I say breathlessly into her lips.

"mmmm I think he can wait another minute" she mumbles leaning back in and once again catching my lips.

Eventually we break apart, both knowing that she has to leave. "I should really go this time"

"Yeah you probably should"

She takes a step back from me but reaches down to take my hands. "See you tomorrow?" She asks.

"I don't see why not." I reply with a smile

"That's good because..." she leans in again until our lips are nearly touching "I really need someone to do my laundry."

I push her away from me "Bitch." She smirks then leans in placing one final short kiss on my lips.

"See you tomorrow" she breaths as we break apart.

"Yeah you too" and with that she's gone; out of my flat and down to the car. All in all I think today was rather...perfect.

Ah Monday morning here we are again. Although, today is a Monday morning with a difference. What is this difference you ask? Naomi. For the first time I'm actually going to work knowing where I stand with her (well sort of), I just hope I get the chance to see her today. Seeing as we didn't exactly plan a time to meet I'm assuming that our usual lunchtime routine will dictate the time and the place. It's going to be a long morning that's for sure.

I make my way into the staff room to sign in and check the book for my duties for the day. It's all becoming second nature to me now, I no longer feel like the newcomer which is always nice. I check the list and see that "Clean guest bathrooms" is next. Great. I initial next to the task (so people know it's being done) and head over to the supply closet to arm myself with cleaning apparatus. As always I start with guest bathroom 1 with the intention of moving on numerically thereafter.

10 minutes into the task the door opens and in walks Mrs Glenn. Perfect, the person I always love to see.

"Good morning Emily." She says abruptly as always.

"Good morning Mrs Glenn." I say turning around to face her.

"Emily, I'm afraid your duties for today have been rearranged. You will no longer be cleaning the guest bathrooms." Huh, interesting. I'm not complaining though.

"Oh. Ok, what would you like me to do instead?" I've said it before, I'm a suck up and I know it.

"Miss Campbell requested that I asked if you would do her laundry." I almost burst out laughing on the spot, but manage to suppress it in my throat.

"Oh, right" I manage to reply.

"She is aware that this is not in your job description, however, requested you specifically as you are the closest member of staff to her age; apart from Mr Cook. She asked me to say, and to quote, "I am no longer comfortable with old trolls rooting through my delicates."" Mrs Glenn finishes curtly with a stern look across her features. If looks could kill...

I know it's incredibly unprofessional but I cannot help laughing. I have to quickly cover my mouth with my hand to try and stop myself. "Old trolls" I swear to God Naomi is trying to get me fired.

"This is not a laughing matter Miss Fitch."

I clear my throat a couple of times. "No, of course not." I say stifling another laugh and smile. "I will of course do the laundry."

"Fine. It is waiting in the laundry room. It will need to be washed, dried, ironed and put away." She states before turning and walking out of the bathroom. As soon as she's gone I quickly shut the door and burst out laughing.

5 minutes later I enter the laundry room to find 3 giant baskets of clothes sitting in the middle of the floor.

"Bloody hell Naomi, when was the last time you had your washing done?" I say to myself stepping into the room and inspecting the volume of clothes I'll have to wash.

"3 days ago" comes a voice from behind me. I must have jumped 6 feet into the air with fright because the short sentence is followed by a laugh. I turn around to see Naomi sitting on top of a washing machine beside the door. She jumps off and quickly shuts the door. "I needed to give you a task that would take all day." She says smiling "And I did say yesterday that you were going to do my laundry." She winks at me.

"And why would I need a task that would take all day?" I say stepping slightly closer to her and she smiles even brighter.

"Maybe I wanted to spend the day with you away from the watchful eyes of the 'Old Trolls' of the manor." For the second time this morning I burst out laughing.

"I can't believe you actually said that to Mrs Glenn; the daggers she was giving me after she had to repeat it was unreal!" I exclaim continuing to laugh.

"You should have seen her face when I said it to her...If looks could kill your job today would be getting the blood stains out of the carpet."

"I hope it's worth it, because she's going to be pissed off for a long time".

She keeps on smiling but starts moving towards me. I feel my pulse start to race as she draws nearer and her face displays a more serious expression. My breathing quickens as she stops right in front of me and leans in until her lips are right next to my ear and I can feel her warm breath tickling me.

"I hope it's worth it too." She whispers before placing a light kiss at the top of my jaw. I audibly gulp at the contact. She trails a line of feather light kisses down my jaw as her hands slowly rub up and down my arms. It all becomes too much for me and I turn my head to capture her lips in mine and grab onto her hips as if I'll never let go. One kiss from Naomi is all it takes to make me weak in the knees, I don't think I've ever felt this much passion for someone before and it scares me a little to be honest. I don't care about that right now, correction, I can't care about that right now. All I can do is concentrate on the amazing girl in my arms kissing me.

I'm not sure who pulls back first, I think it might be a mutual thing as we are both short on breath but when I finally open my eyes she's staring right at me and the corners of her mouth slowly twitch into a smile.

"It's definitely worth it." She confirms.

Right, there we have it. It's nowhere near good enough to compensate for how long I've made you all wait and I can only apologise for that.

I'd love to hear what you all thought of it (even if I may not be able to read the comments for a while). Thanks so much for sticking with this story, it means a lot :)

Hoden xxxxx