Hello everybody! I didn't expect to be back so soon, but writing this was a lot easier than I expected, even though I did have to watch three episodes from seasons 3 and 4 to write this chapter! One of you asked for more development between Naomi and Cook, and that is definitely coming.

Sadly, this chapter is where everything turns to shit, but I think you all knew it was coming.

And as usual, I don't own the characters or have anything to do with Skins.

Chapter 25: Take it All

"You wanna stay for breakfast?" Cook asked as he walked over to the kitchen. I'd been putting off heading home for about an hour. I was nervous, obviously, about what I was going to tell Emily. I knew it was very likely that I could end up without a home and without a girlfriend by the end of it all. My nerves were definitely justified.

"No, Cookie, I've really got to get this over with. The longer I keep it from her the worse it's gonna get," I sighed as I got out of bed. "What are you up to today?"

Cook shrugged as he cracked an egg into his one and only frying pan. "Gonna go pick up Paddy in about an hour. Spend the day with him," Cook smiled. Cook's brother Paddy was one of the few people in the world that Cook genuinely cared about. Cook's mum was a mess to say the least, and Cook often wanted to take Paddy out of the house to get him away from the bullshit. Of course, Cook would never have been able to get legal custody of Paddy, considering Cook could barely hold down a job and lived in one of the worst parts of Bristol, but I knew Cook loved him and wished he could take care of him properly.

Cook and I had often spent days together with Paddy, and I was pretty fond of the kid myself. He was like Cook in an odd way – he was less guarded and obviously more innocent than Cook was. Paddy was exactly what I imagined Cook had been like when he was a kid. He loved freely and honestly and hadn't yet learned to guard his feelings and act like he didn't care about anything.

"Well, I hope you have a good time. Don't be too surprised if I'm back here tonight with my bags packed if Em kicks me out," I said as I hugged Cook from behind. He nodded.

"You know you're welcome here anytime, Naomikins."

I smiled and walked out of the flat. I knew he meant it.

I knew Emily wasn't scheduled to work today, and I had also dawdled a bit on the way home so that Katie and Effy would have already left for work and wouldn't have to be there for the inevitable fight.

I walked in to the flat, which seemed empty.

"Emily?" I called out as I brought the newspapers and mail in.

"In the office," Emily called back. I dropped the mail on the coffee table and walked into the office. Emily was sat at my desk and was going through some paperwork I'd left lying around.

"You weren't here when I woke up," she said, her voice tight. She didn't bother to look up at me and continued fiddling with her paperwork.

"I, uh, I went to Cook's," I said before walking over to the chair next to my desk and sitting down. I dropped my keys on the glass surface, trying to get Emily to look at me.

She nodded. "What for?"

"I needed to get away. Needed some time to think."

Emily nodded again, though I could see her lips becoming thinner and angrier. She cleared her throat and suddenly she didn't seem angry anymore. Her face was like stone and I could tell that she really was angry with me; her eyes were seething.

"You don't want this, do you, Naomi?"

I looked down at my hands and shook my head. "I can't, Em."

She sighed, still refusing to look at me.

"Why?"

I shook my head. "Please, Em, I'm just not ready. I can't change that."

She pursed her lips and nodded. "Well, I'm still doing it for Katie and Effy, but things have changed for me, too."

I sighed with relief and grabbed her hand. "You're not ready either?"

She looked up at me and shook her head. "No, I'm ready to have a baby. I've been offered a job in Paris working with Chanel and I've just decided to accept their offer. I'm staying until they've finished extracting my eggs and then I'm leaving."

I was stunned. And furious with her. It was just like when she left for London all over again. "What? You're leaving, all because I'm not ready to have a baby?"

"No, Naomi, I'm leaving because it's a smart career move. It's not all about you, you know!"

I wasn't known to be a very angry person. I rarely yelled, I hardly ever got into any sort of argument. I'd never been this angry before. But the way Emily was looking at me, acting all high and mighty, it made me furious.

"Fine, Emily, you go ahead and leave. Things get tough, you leave. Well, fine. You go to fucking Paris, see if I give a shit. But this time, don't bother coming back begging for forgiveness, because this time I will slam the door in your face! I can't believe I've let you back in my life! Things were almost back to normal and you came back! I've let you into my home! I've let you into my heart, I've told you things I've never told anybody, and this is how you repay me! All because I'm not ready to have a fucking child with you!"

I grabbed the desk lamp and hurled it onto the floor, ignoring Emily's stunned face, pushing her off me as she tried to get me to stop. I overturned the desk, sending my own laptop crashing to the floor.

"Do you see the fucking mess, Emily? This is what you've done to my life! I never used to care this much, and it's all your fucking fault!"

"Naomi, stop it, you don't me-"

"Shut up! You've only been back for a month and suddenly it's time to talk about babies and commitment! You can fucking tell Effy that I'll be back in two days to get my things because there is no way I'm staying in this house with you, and your sister, and my baby-crazy best friend because all of you have gone fucking mental!"

I walked out of the office with Emily running after me.

"Naomi, please don't go, stop it, I'm sorry, please don't leave things like this!"

She grabbed my arm just as I reached the front door. I quickly pried her off me, and looked at her properly. Her hair was a mess. She had mascara running down her face from crying, and her arm was red from when I'd pushed her out of my way.

"I really loved you, you know. But I've fucked you up and you've fucked me up and I can't take it anymore. It's too hard. So I'm going to stop this now," I said as my own tears finally spilled down my cheeks.

I walked out of the apartment and slammed the door behind me.

Thank you for reading! Please leave a review and let me know what you thought of the chapter!