Hey hey kids!
'Tis me again, back much faster this time. Hopefully I will continue updating with regularity until this story finishes, which is not that far away now *wink wink*. I honestly thought about ending it last chapter and just having Naomi die... nah I'm kidding! I could never do that to you guys... or the characters for that matter!
I bet you're all laughing at the title of this chapter. But hey, I like 80s one hit wonders, they keep us honest. Plus this song really fit with the mood of this chapter. Also, for anyone who is interested, I used the Glee version of this song to write this because I like the way it ends better (because it ends with the line "turn around bright eyes" and I imagine Emily thinking that at the very end in response to Naomi's thought... and I imagine her singing all the "turn around" parts haha). So I guess you know it isn't going to be all sunshine and rainbows, but when is this story ever? This chapter is longer than the last couple as promised. It was originally even longer, but I split it into two parts because it didn't flow as well as one giant chapter. But the good news is that you can expect the other half very soon. I'm also very excited because I used some original Naomily dialogue in this chapter (yes, there is actually Naomily interaction in this one!) which is something I don't normally do. I think I used it well, all you experts on doing so will have to let me know what you think. :)
Once again I'd like to thank all of my reviewers and readers. You guys are really the reason this story has become what it has, because as you will recall, I originally intended on it being nothing but a smutty one shot. I can't exactly promise more smut in the future, but I can promise that you won't regret sticking with this story! Also, I've been meaning to say this for so long and I just remembered so I'll say it now: I love how much everyone loves my evil-sociopath-Effy. Effy is one of my favorite characters and that was what made it so fun to make her like this. If I did it with any other character, I just don't think it would work as well.
Again, another giant author's note from me. I think I like talking too much...
Anyway... it's 2am and I'm going to sleep... enjoy!
The first thing I was aware of when I opened my eyes was the searing pain shooting through my skull. I squeezed them tightly shut once again hoping to make the pain disappear, but it seemed to do nothing to help me. I groaned involuntarily and tried to lift my arms to rub my eyes, but I quickly realized my left arm was handcuffed to the bed.
"Fucking Stonems," I whispered aloud, panic setting in very quickly. They must have gotten me as a I was making my way out of Freddie's apartment.
I started roughly, and futiley, tugging on the handcuffs to try and free myself but due to my recent injury I was quickly tired out. I collapsed back onto the bed in frustration and anger. Fucking hell, things just couldn't possibly get any worse, could they? Not only was my whole life in shambles, but now I was a fucking prisoner chained to a bed.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," I repeated angerly, but quietly as I wasn't sure I wanted my captors to be aware that I was awake just yet. I pushed myself up once again and examined the spot where I was chained to see if by some miracle I could just slip the handcuffs right off. I was disappointed to find I was chained to the bedframe, so escape that way was not an option. I punched at the bedframe in frustration but quickly withdrew my hand as a sharp pain shot through it. I looked down to see that both of my hands were bandaged up. Fuck, I had practically destroyed them on the ground last night hadn't I?
But why would people who kidnapped me bother to bandage up my hands?
"Oh good, you're awake," an unfamiliar female voice rang through the room causing me to jump about a mile in the air. My eyes fell upon a young woman with dark hair who was slowly making her way towards me juggling a glass of water, more bandages, and a bunch of pill bottles. My brow furrowed in confusion. Did the Stonem's have their own personal physician? And why the fuck did they care whether or not I was in pain, they had certainly caused me enough emotional pain by now. The woman set her items down on the nightstand next to my bed and reached for my hand.
"Let's take a look at these now shall we…" she said with a smile, but I yanked my hand away from her before she could touch it.
"Who the fuck are you?" I asked, sounding more fearful than angry.
A look of confusion crossed the woman's face, but her features quickly shot up into a look of surprise and worry.
"Oh shit, I'm so sorry. I guess this doesn't look good with you chained up to the bed and me just prancing in here without introducing myself," she replied with a sheepish smile on her face. "Freddie she's awake!" she suddenly shouted, causing me to recoil from her once again.
She looked back at me with a gentle smile on her face, "I'm Karen McClair, well, Dr. Karen McClair, Freddie's sister," she told me, sticking out her hand for me to shake it. I just sort of looked at her hand for a moment before she suddenly pulled it back and covered her own mouth with it.
"Oh shit, I'm so sorry! I totally forgot that they're are so damaged and that it would probably, like, hurt a lot to shake someone's hand right now!"
Seriously, this woman was a doctor?
Before I could say anything sarcastic or insulting, Freddie poked his head in through the door and smiled at me. I shot him a weak, and annoyed smile back.
"Hello Naomi, good to see that you've rejoined us. Hope my sister didn't scare you."
"Oh no it's fine," I started sarcastically, glancing over at Karen who was now re-bandaging my hand, "knocking me out, chaining me to a bed, and then having the first person I see when I wake up be a stranger didn't make me think I was kidnapped at all."
"Yeah sorry about all that," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck, "I didn't mean to knock you out, I was just trying to stop you from getting away without getting myself shot."
A memory of myself brandishing a weapon suddenly flickered across my mind.
"Oh shit, sorry about that," I apologized, sort of in shock at my own behaviour.
"It's alright," he replied quickly, "you were really fucking upset, and rightfully so, we just didn't want you to go and get yourself killed last night."
A pain much sharper than the ones in my head or hands suddenly shot through my heart as I remembered the reason I was so upset. I quickly rebounded, and trying to push it out of my mind for the time being, I nodded.
"Yeah thanks, I was a real mess… is that why I'm chained to the bed?"
"No, that was all me," Karen suddenly spoke up, winking seductively at me. My mouth opened in shock, but before I could say anything they both burst out laughing.
"Kidding, kidding," she said, holding up her hands defensively.
"Yeah, we cuffed you to the bed to make sure you wouldn't wake up and run off when you woke up," Freddie answered once he had stopped laughing.
"And they knew you wouldn't be safe at a hospital, so Freds called me in to bandage up your pretty little self," Karen told me with a wink she continued to tend to my wounds.
I nodded absently, my mind drifting off to another place as Freddie and Karen carried on the conversation without me, joking and bickering in a way only siblings could. Cook and I used to be like that. I felt a single tear rolling down my cheek as I realized he was the only family I ever really had. My parents had died in a car accident when I was really young, and growing up in foster homes didn't exactly give me the chance to get close to anyone. Cook really saved me, I don't know where I would be without him. He was like a brother to me. Sure we would bicker and take the piss out of each other all the time, just like Freddie and Karen were doing now. But ultimately, he was my best friend, my brother, my family… and now he was gone. And the only other person I had let get even somewhat close to me had broken my heart into a billion tiny pieces and lit them on fire. I sighed, wishing for days when things were less complicated, when Cook was alive and Emily and I were still happily together. When I could always taste her on my tongue, or feel her on my skin. When her laugh was all I heard and her smile was all I saw. But now, all of those memories were tainted with the images of her kissing Effy, and the way she had looked at me when I told her I never wanted to see her again.
I was snapped out my reverie by the sound of a door closing loudly in the other room. I glanced over at Freddie and began to feel a twinge of fear when I saw that he and Karen were currently sharing a look of concern.
"Are we expecting anyone?" I asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.
"No," Freddie answered simply, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a small pistol.
We could hear footsteps getting closer and closer as we waited in silent anticipation. The door to the bedroom creaked open to reveal the face of the last person I wanted to see right now.
Effy Stonem.
"Well, well," she said with her trademark smirk appearing on her lips, "what do we have here?" She walked towards the bed looking at me with completely fake concern plastered on her face. "Did you slip and fall babe?"
"How did you find us, Effy?" Freddie asked, seemingly in shock that Effy could possibly know where we were. Effy just smirked wickedly in his direction.
"My driver is quite fantastic at following distressed blondes," she told us, as she glanced back towards the door. As if waiting for her cue, the person I somehow simultaneously loved and hated stepped through the door holding a pistol in her perfect white hands.
Fucking Emily.
Time seemed to stand still as my heart involuntarily leapt up in my throat. Apparently my body wasn't quite as aware as my brain that this woman was pure evil. She cast me a sexy smirk that was almost mocking, which earned a look of approval from Effy.
"Emily, this is Freddie and Karen… and I think you and Naomi have met before haven't you babe?" Effy continued, shooting me a amused glance and she slid towards Emily, wrapping her arms around her waist.
"Once or twice," Emily answered as Effy ran her hands down her body. I cringed despite myself, which didn't go unnoticed by anyone in the room.
"What the fuck do you want Effy?" Freddie asked, breaking the thick silence that was hanging in the air.
"Freddie McClair," she started, slinking away from Emily and towards Freddie, seemingly unaffected by the fact that she was moving between two people pointing guns at each other. "Long time no see babe, you didn't really think we actually believed you we dead did you?" she added quickly, throwing in a mocking laugh for good measure. "That's alright though, we don't care about you. You're meaningless. What we want is her," she finished, gesturing towards me.
"Fuck off," I answered quickly, leaping forward off the bed only to realize I was still handcuffed to it, earning a laugh from Effy.
"Oh someone's been naughty," she mocked, "do you really think you can hurt me anyway with a bashed in skull, and damaged hands. Not to mention all the emotional damage Emsy and I have done to you," she added, smiling back in Emily's direction. "That's her favorite kind of damage, isn't that right babe," she purred, making her way back towards Emily who was still in a stand still with Freddie. She slinked up her body and dropped open mouth kisses all down her neck. I watched as Emily shuddered and I let out a shudder of my own. But mine was one of disgust. Effy immediately noticed my distress and turned back to face me.
"You know what you are Naomi?" she asked me, taking a step closer, "you're pathetic," she spat in my face.
My eyes shot to floor as she continued.
"You pushed everyone away until you only had one person left, and now he's gone. You were stupid enough to let a girl who was only using you take your heart and destroy it," she added, smiling fondly at Emily as if what she had done to me was some grand triumph, "and now you're nothing but a shell of a human being; broken by death, loss, and unrequited love. You're worthless Naomi, you should just let us kill you now and save the world the agony of another second with you…"
Effy's sentence was cut off as a resounding crack cut through the room and something connected with the back of her head. The look on her face went from menacing to one of pain and shock. I looked up to see that Emily was no longer pointing her weapon at Freddie, but had seemingly just smacked Effy with it and was now pointing it right at her. Effy fell to her knees and looked up at Emily in shock. It was the first time I had ever seen Effy look so vulnerable.
"Why?" she squeaked out before Emily smacked her once again, this time knocking her out cold.
As her body hit the floor with a dull thud I looked at Emily in complete shock and confusion at what had just happened. I looked over at Freddie for some kind of reassurance but he was simply staring blankly at Effy laying at his feet.
"What the fuck are you waiting for?" Emily voice pierced through the silence, "help me get her fucking tied up!"
Freddie and Karen leapt forward, Karen running out of the room ahead of them as Emily and Freddie carried Effy out, leaving me flabergasted on the bed.
"Hello, still fucking chained up here!" I shouted after them, yanking on my chained arm in annoyance. Karen reappeared after a moment and offered me an apology and a sheepish smile while uncuffing me. I leapt out of the bed and dashed into the living room to find Emily and Freddie tying Effy's limp form to a chair.
"Think this will hold her?" Emily asked, still not aware of my presence in the room.
"Yeah, it'll do," Freddie responded as he wrapped a final knot around her dangling wrist, "Katie was right Emily, this worked perfectly."
"Well you know my sister," Emily replied with a smile, "always with the brilliant ideas."
"Just like mine," he added, laughing lightly as the two of them continued to make sure Effy was properly bound.
"Okay," I said finally, alerting them of my presence in the room.
Both of their heads snapped up and Emily's eyes locked on mine. Her eyes conveyed so many emotions in those short seconds I felt that I would be overcome with the weight of them all. She looked so broken and vulnerable, and terrified of what I was going to say next. Yet she looked at me like I was the only thing in the world I wanted to lay her eyes on right now. I also saw a sense of relief in her, perhaps because she was able to look at me however she wanted right now without anyone watching her. But none of that changed anything that had happened, or the fact that I still had no idea what the fuck was going on.
"What the fuck is this?" I stuttered, seemingly unable to get anymore words out of my mouth.
Freddie took a step towards me with his hands up as if he were defending himself. I had a feeling I wasn't going to like what I was about to hear.
"Look Naomi, don't get mad okay? But we were hoping that Effy would find out where we were hiding out so we could trap her here," Freddie told me, glancing back at Emily for confirmation.
"We knew Effy would be to resist taking me here to humiliate you…" Emily added as she stared at the floor, refusing to meet my eyes.
"So you used me as bait?" I asked incredulously, my emotions starting to boil over.
"No Naomi, it wasn't like that," he exclaimed, trying to defend himself, "we didn't use you as bait, we just knew Effy would eventually follow you here. We didn't know how or when, but when made a plan for when it did happen."
"So why the fuck didn't you tell me?" I screamed back at him, "you put my fucking life in danger you bastard, and you made me think Emily was fucking evil. Why the fuck did you warn me off her if you knew she was with you all along?"
"I didn't know!" he insisted, "she only came with Katie to speak with me two days ago, before that I could only assume she was with the Stonems."
"So… why the fuck didn't you fucking tell me!" I seethed at him, lacing every word with the uncontrollable anger that was currently raging through my body.
"We couldn't Naomi, Effy is known for being very perceptive and we couldn't risk you giving us away."
"In other words, you fucking used me as bait to catch her, just like I fucking said before. And, apparently everyone I know is hellbent on fucking lying to me"
"No, Naomi please calm down..," I heard Emily start to say from the corner.
"Shut up," I interrupted her, holding my hand up to silence her, "I don't want to hear it, or anything from you. Like I can even trust a word out of your fucking mouth. This changes nothing, you may not be on their fucking side, but you still fucking ripped me to shreads and proved to me exactly why I never let anyone get close to me. So you can fuck right off, I don't even want to be in the same fucking room with you."
I turned away from her, not wanting to see a reaction, and faced Freddie.
"Well… Naomi… I'm sorry but it's not safe for any of us to leave right now. Katie, JJ, Panda and Thomas will be here soon and we're all in lockdown until we enact the plan…" he told me quietly, seeming to be afraid of my reaction. I groaned loudly in frustration.
"Fine, but I stand by what I said before," I started, addressing Emily but still not looking at her, "when this is over, I don't ever want to fucking see you again."
With that I spun around and left the room, brushing by Karen who was still standing awkwardly in the doorway. I rushed to the bedroom where I was sleeping only mere moments ago before everything erupted in chaos once again. I was about to slam the door when a booted foot stuck its way through and stopped the door from closing. I swung the door back open to find Emily standing on the other side. Her eyes were gleaming with unshed tears, and she looked absolutely shattered. No matter how angry I was I couldn't help but feel a twinge of pain at seeing her like this.
"Naomi, please talk to me, I'm so sorry."
"You've done nothing but lie to me since the moment I met you," I answered, the anger had faded from my voice and now it was replaced with nothing but sadness, "you made me trust you, you made me feel safe, you made me fall…" my voice gave out on me before I could say anything else.
"Naomi, please," she begged me, now sobbing openly, "everything I did, I did it to protect you. Please just let me explain."
I laughed and shook my head in response.
"Yeah, a great job protecting me you did. I may be alive Emily, but I wish I wasn't. My best friend is dead, and you completely destroyed me… I don't think I can ever forgive you for what you've done to me. I can't trust you…"
I started to close the door but Emily stopped me again.
"Naomi, I wanted to tell you.."
"But you didn't, did you hun?"
I finally managed to close the door and collapsed against it into a shaking mess. I could feel her do the same on the other side and felt tears begin to trickle down my cheek. Physically there were only a a few layers of wood separating us… but in reality there was so much more to stop us from ever being together again.
I placed my hand against the door, reveling in being even this close to her once again. I could hate her all I wanted, but fucking hell I couldn't change how much I loved her.
Once upon a time I was falling in love… now I'm only falling apart.