A/N: I wrote an email to a friend recently and I began it simply: *BOOM* That is the sound of my life exploding. I'm at university part time, working part time, trying to keep my life ticking over. And unfortunately my writing has had to take a bit of a backseat, not to mention I've been feeling quite blocky. And I'm sorry for those of you I know follow and love NB. I really do appreciate all your support. I did post up a oneshot recently, for those who didn't see it at the time and/or care - it's called A Piece of You. Not related to NB, but it's there for the reading.

And for those of you perhaps living under a rock... The Game by Predators and Prey. Go and read it, really. It's been quite a ride being involved in such an amazing project, and I give huge thanks and respect to all my fellow writers involved. You guys are all awesome.

Disclaimer - I sadly don't own or have anything to do with Skins.

Chapter 25

Naomi and Emily walked back to the flat, despite Katie's protestations. Outwardly the blonde argued that she did not want to ruin the Fitch's upholstery, given their sodden state. Secretly she felt too raw to be cooped in a car with both James and Katie. Felt like she needed some time to readjust, reconnect. Just the two of them. Knew Emily understood when she smiled gently, and told Katie firmly that she would be home later. Katie huffed, exasperated. The brunette looked like she was going to argue for a long moment, then took a good look at them. Conceded, with a parting shot that Emily call her if she needed anything.

They set off slowly, after the car pulled away. The rain had eased into a patchy drizzle, the dense cloud cover thinning and allowing tiny glimpses of blue sky. Naomi was barely conscious of the weather though. Every sense was attuned to the petite form walking next to her. The blonde nearly jumped when a small hand linked with her own, threaded their fingers together. She clamped down convulsively on the hand in her own. Swallowed, then deliberately relaxed her grip. Felt a reassuring squeeze, and smiled as Emily took a firmer hold.

Several blocks passed by in a barely comfortable silence. They were almost back to the flat before Naomi could organise her thoughts enough to begin speaking.

'I fucking missed you so much Ems.'

The redhead looked up at her, startled by the sudden outburst. Naomi shrugged, slightly shocked herself. That wasn't quite how she planned to start, but it was the truth.

'Every day that went past was absolute torture. It felt like I was being torn in half, and I just felt sick every time I thought that it was all my own fault. That I'd been such a complete fucking twat to you that I actually drove you away. I still... I still need to apologise to you for that. I'm so fucking sorry I was taking all my anxiety and frustration out on you. It wasn't fair and you so didn't deserve my shitty behaviour.'

'And you didn't deserve me being an immature little shit who ran away and hid. Look Naoms, neither of us are blameless here. We can go around and around and apologise until we're blue in the face, but I honestly think that will be a waste of time. I understand what happened. I understand where you were coming from. We've both apologised. Can we just... move on now? I don't want to waste... I feel like I've missed out, on a big chunk of my life when I could have been happy. I want to get on with it now. Being happy. With you.'

'I'm not sure it's just that simple...'

'I know, okay? We can't just go back to where we were. I'm all too fucking aware of that. We're neither of us going to be able to jump straight back in. But we can... We can start moving forwards again. Rather than rehashing what might have been, or what should have been.'

Naomi nodded, slowly. Long fingers squeezed the hand in her grasp firmly. 'Alright. I take your point. And I agree. Onwards and upwards then.' A pause. 'I'm going to need to... I don't think I'll be quite able to put the whole thing behind me until I've had this out with Laura though. I need to get this fucking sorted with her. Because this is so far from on.' Emily had visibly bristled at the mention of Laura's name. The taller woman drew them to a halt, turned to face the redhead. 'I can't... I need to deal with this Ems. She can't have this power over me... over us.'

'I know, babe. I just can't help... I want to fucking punch her, quite frankly.'

'Ems...'

'I said I want to alright? Not that I will.'

'Actually it's Katie I'd be worried about.' Naomi gingerly prodded at her cheek with her free hand, winced at the tenderness she encountered.

'Fucks sake Katie.' Emily freed herself from Naomi's grasp, framed the blonde's face with both of her hands and carefully investigated the cheek. Stroked it gently with her thumb. 'That's going to come up in a nice bruise.'

'I figured. She really clocked me.'

'I'm so sorry for that.' The smaller woman leaned up on her tip toes, bestowed a tender kiss on the afflicted area.

'Kissing my owie? Thanks babes, it feels much better now.' Brown eyes rolled, and Emily gave her a shove. 'You don't need to apologise. It was between Katie and I.'

'I know that, but...'

'It's okay, Ems. Honestly. Besides, I should be able to get plenty of mileage out of this one with her.' Sardonic. 'Come on, let's keep moving. I'm fucking freezing now.'

Back at the flat things were awkward between them. They'd come to an understanding about moving forward emotionally, but physically there was a simmering tension. A desire to reclaim what they'd had, overlaid with the knowledge that it just wasn't going to be that easy. And so they dripped all over the carpet of the flat as they tried to navigate who would get to use the bathroom first, what clothes Emily was going to borrow. When Naomi finally closed the bathroom door behind her it was almost a relief. She hated the fact that they were so stilted with each other, that they'd lost their easy companionship that had built between them even before they were actually together.

She thought about that as she stood under the shower's warm spray. Remembered that they were good friends as well as lovers, and felt one layer of stress wash away with the water. They could build on that again.

When she emerged from the bathroom Emily was hunched into a ball on the sofa. Naomi's letter clutched in one hand, quiet sobs shaking her petite frame. Naomi sat gently down beside her, carefully uncurled her limbs. Resettled them both so that Emily was cradled on her lap. Fought back her own tears as she whispered soothingly into the damp red hair. Held her close. Eventually the crying ceased, the tension dissolving from Emily's frame and leaving her slumped against Naomi. Her face pressed into the taller woman's neck.

'I'm so sorry.' The words were so muffled, so faint, that Naomi almost felt them against her skin more than heard them.

'What happened to having apologised enough and moving forward?' Gentle.

'I know, I just... It was just there, and so I read it and...'

'It's okay.'

'It's not okay..'

'It is.' Firm. 'We may have been through the wringer but it's over now, and we canmove forward. I mean look at this. I've got you wrapped up in my arms, something I thought even a few hours ago would never happen again. You're here with me, and we're talking. We can do this. We will do this.' Naomi injected as much confidence as she could into her tone. Willed Emily to believe it.

The redhead leaned back slightly. Damp lashes framed tear-reddened eyes, but shining through the remnants of tears was a renewed belief. And a tentative smile graced Emily's lips, which Naomi kissed briefly. 'We can do this, okay?'

'Alright.'

'Good.' Naomi kissed her again, then stood. Carrying the smaller woman with her, and guiding her to her feet. 'Jesus Ems, have you not been eating at all? You're light as a fucking feather.'

'It hasn't exactly been a priority for me lately.'

'Fuck.'

'I know, okay. Please don't...'

'I won't. But...'

'I will. I promise.'

'Good.' Buoyed both by Emily's promise, and the fact that they hadn't lost their ability to understand without speaking, Naomi leaned down and kissed Emily once again. Revelling in the fact that she could. Emily caught her before she could break away, clasped her neck with one hand and drew them closer. It was by turns fierce and delicate, confident and tentative, demanding and questioning. And when the kiss finally ended Naomi felt grounded once more.

'We can do this.'

Naomi called a taxi shortly afterward. The spectre of Laura was still hanging over them, albeit unspoken, and the blonde just wanted more than anything to get back to London and clear the air once and for all. The next time she saw Emily she wanted it to be on their terms, whatever the outcome. It was the only way they were truly going to be able to move past this.

As they left the flat Naomi shouldered her spare rucksack that had been packed with a selection of fresh clothes. She also picked up a canvas bag from the table. And this she tentatively handed to Emily once they were settled in the cab.

'Naomi...'

'Just... Don't argue with me about this Ems. These are yours, and you need to take them.'

'But...'

'No, no looking back.' She reached into the bag, drew out the necklace. Leaned over and fastened the clasp around the redhead's neck. It looked a little incongruous, partnered as it was with an old sweatshirt. But it also looked right.

A small hand reached up, gently grasped the pearls. 'Thank you. I don't... Katie still has your watch, I didn't bring it with me.'

'It's okay. You... You hold onto it for me.' A pause. 'You can give it to me the next time you see me.' The words were a promise. And also a plea.

Brown stared into blue for a long moment, before Emily nodded slightly. 'I will.'

The train trip to London was excruciatingly uncomfortable. Naomi found herself seated next to a garrulous older man who spent the entire trip telling Naomi about his prize-winning pigeons. She desperately wanted to spend the time planning what she intended to say to Laura. Or even better relive the moments she had shared with Emily earlier that day. But the bare politeness she responded with was apparently enough for him, and he did not take the subtle and not so subtle hints she gave.

So it was that she felt woefully unprepared when she approached the hospital a couple of hours later. The blonde paced the length of the pavement in front of the hospital several times as she tried to order her thoughts. Finally retrieved her phone out of her pocket and called Laura, knowing that the kind of confrontation that was likely to result was not something that should happen anywhere near Harry.

They arranged to meet in a nearby pub, and a puzzled looking Laura arrived soon after Naomi. The blonde steeled herself. Smiled tightly at the brunette.

'Naomi, what is this? What's going on? And what the fuck happened to your face?' There was nothing more than curiosity in the brunette's measured tone, but hazel eyes betrayed a hint of trepidation. Of fear. And it spoke to the simmering rage that lived inside Naomi. A breath. Another. She consciously tamped down her anger, reminded herself that this could only be productive if she didn't go in swinging. Even if her fury was baying for the other woman's blood.

'As a matter of fact Katie Fitch happened to my face. She belted me soundly and then proceeded to give me a serve. At length. About what a monumental prick I was and how I should get myself back to London and my cunting girlfriend.' Laura actually looked startled by this, and the blonde snorted. 'Yes, I have to say that I was quite surprised by this outburst as well. Because as far as I was concerned my girlfriend had scarpered back to Bristol, and I hadn't heard from her in weeks. So when we finally managed to compare stories, I'm sure you can guess what I learned.' Naomi paused. Studied Laura's face for any sign of guilt. Or remorse. But the brunette's face was an impassive mask, and hazel eyes absolutely refused to meet blue. 'Since you're playing coy I'll spell it out for you, shall I? It seems that Emily overheard you. And me. And it seems to me that you fucking planned this.' A pause, as Naomi clamped down on her mounting anger. Moderated her tone. 'You planned your little declaration, sprung a nice trap on Emily and me both.'

'There was nothing little about it, Naomi. I meant every fucking word I said.'

The blonde made a chopping motion with her hand. 'You think I don't realise that? Harry's the thespian in this family, not you. I know that there is no way you could have staged that scene without meaning it. What disgusts me is the way you managed to manipulate the situation to your advantage.'

'How dare you..?'

'How dare I? How fucking dare I? Are you serious? You fucking planned and executed this little coup, and then you turned around and you fucking used Harry against me. YOU USED OUR SON AGAINST ME! And I was so gutted that I fucking let you. How dare I? Fucks sake, I never knew you could stoop so low. But it stops here Laura, do you hear me? It fucking STOPS HERE.'

The brunette stared at her for a long moment, open-mouthed in shock. Stunned expression slowly melding into bitterness. 'So that's it then? Suddenly you get to call all the shots and I just have to live with it, is that it?'

'What..?'

'So it's quite alright for you to fuck off, leave our six year long relationship and find yourself some fucking midlife crisis trophy girlfriend. Involve her in our son's life. And then parade not only her but her sister as well in front of me. And I just need to deal with that, I don't get a fucking say?'

Force of habit opened Naomi's mouth without thought. Ready to apologise, placate, defend. Make amends. She had to ruthlessly stomp down that impulse. Bring to mind Harry's downcast demeanour over the last few weeks, Emily's tears and haggard appearance. Her own misery. Remind herself that this wasn't about Laura and what Laura wanted any more.

'NO. No, you don't.' The dumbfounded expression on the brunette's face both amused and sickened her. Was it really so uncharacteristic that she assert herself like this in their relationship? How had she let it get so bad? 'You don't get any say because not one thing you just said has any basis in reality, and you know it.'

Naomi was uncomfortably aware that they had the full attention of every person in the pub around them. Normally she would have avoided a public confrontation like this at all costs, but this needed to be done and she was so furious that it was enough of an incentive to continue. To allow her to ignore the heads moving back and forth between them like they were some demented tennis match.

'You know very well that I didn't leave you because of some fucking midlife crisis. Splitting up was something that should have happened years ago, because neither of us were actually happy. And Emily certainly is NOT a trophy girlfriend. I never...' Deep breath. 'No, I'm not going there again. We've had this discussion already. I am sorry if you felt that I was parading Emily in front of you, that was never the intention. She has established a relationship with Harry, and they genuinely enjoy spending time with each other. That's all there was to it.' Naomi considered for a moment. 'If it truly makes you uncomfortable then I can make sure that you never need to spend any time with Emily yourself. But Harrison will continue to have a relationship with her, and Katie. And he will continue to see them regularly. Because thankfully once we had managed to establish what exactly had gone on, Emily and I... Well, we're working on resolving things between us, and I am so incredibly lucky. Because you tried your damnedest to fuck that up for me.'

Laura had looked in turns belligerent, shocked and disappointed. Naomi actually felt pity for her. Because up until now she had really allowed the brunette to call most of the shots, especially in regards to Harrison. And Laura had felt so... insecure in their relationship that she had pulled this underhanded stunt. Which had now backfired spectacularly. She could have kicked herself really. Maybe if she'd been more assertive, more present, then this whole thing would never have happened. But then maybe she would never have met Emily. And that... that was unthinkable. Was enough to sober her.

'I think... I think I actually understand, a little bit, where you're coming from Laura.' Hazel eyes flared in disgust, and Naomi raised one hand in placation. 'I'm not trying to patronise you, or tell you I get it. Because I don't. I don't understand how you could possibly have thought that it was okay to pull something like this. What I'm saying is... I've always let you be in charge, where Harry is concerned. And so that allowed you to... It made it easy for you, to do that. Because you knew how I would react.'

'Clearly I didn't.'

'Oh but you did. And I did behave exactly the way you thought. The one variable that neither of us accounted for was Katie.' Thank fuck for Katie fucking Fitch. Naomi smirked, knew that was one sentiment that would never, ever be communicated to Katie herself.

'Things need to change, Laura.'

'I know.'

'I can't... I won't let you hold this over me anymore. I won't let you hold my time with Harry as ransom. So I'm going to lay it down right here. I will not stop my relationship with Emily.' A shrug. 'Assuming we can salvage it. And I will not stop Harry and Emily from having a relationship. He is my son, and he will invariably have relationships with the people in my life, whether you like that or not. Until now I haven't had anyone else in my life, apart from our family and our friends, so it's not something you've had to deal with. But that's changed now.'

Naomi gathered herself. She was getting to the crux of the matter now, and she had so be absolutely firm. She thought about Harry. Thought about Emily. Even fucking thought about Katie - mentally borrowed a little of Katie's strength. Took a deep breath. 'I know in the past I've always deferred to you, and I felt so bad about how things ended between us that I let you set the terms. But I'm not going to just yield to you and your pronouncements any more. I initially said that I would not fight you for time, but the field has changed now. You've changed it by your behaviour. And I've changed. And so I'm telling you that I will fight. Harry is my son as well and he deserves to spend more time with me. We need to be involved in each other's lives. So if you turn around from this and try to prevent me from seeing him I will seek legal counsel, and I will take the matter further. And I won't give up on this.' Resolute.

The gauntlet had been thrown down. Laura just stared at her. Her expression was a gut-wrenching mix of incredulity and bereavement. And Naomi found she couldn't leave it like that. 'Laura... I don't want it to be antagonistic between us. We've managed until now to pull off this co-parenting thing reasonably well I thought. So can we just... Can't we just keep that up? I don't want everything to be a battle.'

'You've just made it pretty fucking plain that this is exactly what it is.'

'No. No, Laura, that's not... What I said was that I will fight, if I have to. I don't want it to come to that. Maybe we could... Would you consider going to see someone? Together I mean. Someone who could help us to come to some agreement, formalise things for us. It might... I think it would make things easier.'

The brunette gazed at her. Naomi could see a myriad of emotions and thoughts swirling in hazel eyes, could see the effort it cost for Laura to keep her expression neutral. Eventually the other woman capitulated. Slumped back against her seat with a look of defeat. Resignation. Loss. 'Fine. Go ahead, organise something and I'll be there. Just... please Naomi, just leave me be now.'

'Laura...'

'Please Naomi.'

'Alright. I just... I just need to be clear on this. You won't try to stop me from seeing Harry?'

Laura looked up at her, pain so evident on her face that Naomi regretted the need to ask. But she couldn't walk away from this without being clear. The brunette's breathing hitched, and she let out a shuddering sigh. 'I will not.'

And just like that an incredible weight was lifted from Naomi's shoulders. 'Thank you Laura. I'm...'

'Just go.'

The blonde stopped at the bar before she left. Quietly asked the bartender to get Laura a glass of the nicest white wine they had, and left a tenner on the bar. He nodded, shot her a sympathetic smile.

The London air had never smelled so fresh, the weak sunlight had never been so clear or bright. As she stepped out of the pub Naomi felt like she was stepping into a new world. A world in which the possibilities seemed suddenly endless. And full of unlooked for, unexpected hope.