Okay guys, here's the second to last chapter :'( Sad times I know.
I realised I never really did a time from for this story so I'm going to quickly explain it now.
It was March 2010 time when Naomi arrived in chapter one. The bet took place for a month so it was April when Emily ran away. When Emily arrived back, it was late August/Early September 2010. Naomi and Emily slept together for the first time about three weeks after, so around Late September. They became official in Early October. Rob passed away five weeks later so middle of November 2010. This chapter's time period is spread out a little. It starts off right after the last chapter, but then the time changes. The rest of the chapter takes place over the span of a year, until finally ending at late December/early January 2012. When Emily and Cook have their drinking game and the new bet is in stored, it's made in September 2011 and the bet lasts Two months.
If that has confused anyone, feel free to PM me and ask questions about it to me.
Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter, they made me smile.
Disclaimer: I do not own SKINS
Cook goes to rap his fist against the pale white door, but pauses when he sees the door is slightly a jar. Reaching out with a finger, he softly pushes the door open and pokes his head in. He frowns when his eyes land on Emily sat on the settee, staring blankly at the TV screen. She doesn't even blink when he walks in and slams the door behind him; her gaze still stays on the TV.
Cook's eyes start to water slightly when he sees how frail and helpless Emily looks in only a dressing gown. From looking at her legs, he can tell she hasn't eaten properly in days. What used to be muscle is now just skin and bone, the bones in her foot are protruding through the skin, looking like it might tear in at any moment.
"Hey Emilio, where's Naomikins and Luce?" he asks. He knows they're at the pub with JJ and Effy, but it would be strange if he didn't say that. Emily doesn't reply, she doesn't even note his presence when he sits down next to her.
He looks at Emily's face, seeing how fragile she looks. Her bright red lips are barley even a pale pink, almost white. Her cheeks are showing her high cheekbones, but not in a nice way, more in a scary drug user way. Her normally sparkling brown orbs are lifeless. When he looks into them, it looks like there is no life inside her body.
Without saying anything, Emily gets up from the settee and walks into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her. It occurs to Cook that he can't wait for Emily to say anything as she won't, so he has to go in there and get straight to the point.
He lugs himself off of the couch and opens up the bedroom door, seeing Emily looking through her draw, holding the garments in her fingers with such weakness, Cook feels she might collapse from just holding the material of the shirt.
"How you coping Ems?" like he expected, Emily doesn't reply. He walks further into the room "Want to know what I think? I think you're not coping well. I think you are completely destroyed inside. Emily, you're not well. You're sick" his voice is laced with helplessness.
Emily pauses in her movements and glances at Cook from the corner of her eye for the first time. She shakes her head, making that the only form of communication she's made in weeks.
"You are Emily. You're destroying yourself, making yourself unhealthy" He grabs her frail body and plants her in front of the mirror "Look at yourself Emily." She refuses to look, keeping her gaze on the ground. Cook sighs and unties her robe, fighting off her resistance and opens it up. He shows Emily her frail, naked body, not caring that Emily is naked. He's got only one thing on his mind and that is to help his friend. "Look!" he says "You are literally nothing. You're killing yourself and you will kill yourself if you carry on how you are. Naomi is worried, I'm worried."
Cook's heart breaks when he watches Emily in the mirror. Her eyes run over her body, before a lone tear escapes her left eyes and she shakes her head. She grabs her robs and re-ties it before stepping away from Cook.
"Not only are you destroying yourself, you're destroying Naomi. Did you know she curls up in a ball on your bed and cries! She cries after you use her like some sex slave and then when you come back into the room, she holds you. She holds you and protects you and comforts you when in fact, you should be the one to comfort her"
Emily shakily walks to her dresser again and lays her hands upon the wooden surface, her head hanging down in shame.
"You're pushing her away Emily. You're pushing all of us away instead of talking to us. We can all see you're hurt and pained Emily. We want to help you, but you won't allow us. You need to stop pushing us away because if you do, you'll end up killing yourself. That will hurt Naomi so much more than anything else in the world."
He doesn't notice the way Emily's hands curl up into fists, her knuckles turning white from the force "You're being selfish Emily. I get it. You're Dad died; you're in pain from it. But do not push us away when we want to help! Do not make Naomi go through any more pain than she is because you don't want your pride to be bruised!" He becomes angry, his speech ending in a shout.
"Why are you doing all of this! Tell me!" He screams.
"Because everyone leaves me!" Emily screams, turning round. Her face is contorted in pain and anger as her eyes bore into Cook with so much fury, he feels she might set him alight with that look alone. "Everyone important in my life has left me! My mum left me when I needed her most! James left me! Katie didn't talk to me for a fucking year! Effy left me for Freddie! You left me! Naomi left me and now, my fucking Dad has left me! The only person in my life who swore he would never leave me has done so! He just fucking died without even saying goodbye! How could he do that? I need him! I need him so fucking much Cook! And now, I can't ever have him hug me and tell me it will all be okay! It's not fair!" Emily is screeching now, the pain in her voice and eyes stabbing into Cook over and over again.
Cook swallows back his tears and takes a step closer to Emily "We haven't left you Emily. Katie's here, Effy is here, Luce is here, Naomi is here and so am I. None of us, none of us are ever going to leave you. Not again. And your Dad?" He smiles softly at Emily and steps up to her "He's always going to be here, he hasn't left you Emily and he never will"
"He's dead Cook. He's left me" Emily says, her fists unclenching.
"No he hasn't. Do you know why?" He places his index finger against Emily's heart "Because he's right here Emily. Your Dad will never leave you because he's in your heart. You are a piece of your Dad Emily, you'll always be his daughter and you'll always carry a piece of him with you. You have your memories of him and you have his ring. He's always going to be here Emily, all you have to do is think of him."
Tears flow down Emily's face at Cook's words. She bites her lip and runs her tongue over it, tasting the salty tears as they run over her lips "I miss him so much Cook. I miss his contagious smile, his protective arms, and his happy laugh. I miss his smell and his love" Cook's arms wraps round Emily, bringing her into a hug. At this, she breaks down in the boy's arm, tears falling rapidly down her face and staining Cook's shirt "I miss my Dad" she cries into his shoulder.
After about five minutes, Cook takes them to the bed and lies down. He allows Emily to rest her head on his shoulder and cry more. During the three hours she cries, Cook just holds her and runs his hand up and down her arm. He knows she needs to cry, to let out all the pain and sadness she's feeling. After everything she said, Cook's going to make sure he never leaves Emily and that she will always feels protected.
12:00am
Naomi opens up the door to the flat, Luce right behind her as they walk in. They both scan the area, spotting the hardly eaten granola bar on the coffee table and the V+ menu shining on the TV screen. Luce pats Naomi on the shoulder, saying a soft good night before walking into her bedroom. Naomi sighs and picks up the cans of beer off of the settee and places them in the bin. Cook didn't get through to her then Naomi thinks then walks towards the bedroom.
She stops when she hears soft sniffles from the other side of the door. Worrying her bottom lip, she opens the door, the light from the hallway causing a trail of light to fill the dark room. The light beams across the bed, settling on the forms of Cook and Emily. Naomi's heart breaks when she sees how sad Emily looks, her eyes shut closed and her fist holding onto Cook's shirt.
Naomi drops her bag on the floor and walks over to Cook; she gently shakes him awake and waits for his eyes to open. Upon spotting her, Cook smiles sadly and carefully removes himself from Emily. They both watch as Emily curls herself into a ball, whimpers still escaping her.
"You can sleep on the settee if you like" Naomi whispers to Cook as she kicks off her shoes. Cook just nods and leaves the room.
Naomi takes off her skirt and shirt, replacing them with her pyjama bottoms and her sleeping shirt with the pig on it. She gets into the bed, letting out a soft sigh when Emily automatically rolls over and curls into her side, her left arms draping over Naomi's stomach.
"Naomi?" a hoarse voice whispers into the darkness.
Naomi holds back a sob when she hears Emily's voice. It's been so long since she last heard her sweetheart speak to her and hearing her say her name in such a broken voice just set Naomi off.
"It's me sweetie" Naomi says, wrapping an arm round Emily and pulling the girl into her.
"I'm so sorry" Emily whispers against the blonde's neck, tears flowing out of her eyes again.
"It's okay"
There's silence between them for a while as they both soak in each other's presence. They've both needed each other over these past weeks and Emily feels so bad from keeping them from having each other.
"Naomi?"
"Yes?"
"My Dad died" Naomi's heart crumples at the pain in Emily's voice and the way the redhead holds onto her tighter.
Naomi shuts her eyes tightly, tears pushing themselves past her wall and sliding down her face "I now Sweetie, I know"
Emily bursts out into more tears and clings to Naomi. Naomi holds her and calms her down, eventually making them both fall into a deep sleep.
Over the next few months, Emily starts to build herself up again. With the help of her friends. Emily agreed to go to a counsellor to help deal with Rob's death and get her to come to terms with it. After that, Luce came up an idea for Emily and Naomi. So neither of them will hold back family feelings and other secrets from each other, Luce enforces a game where every morning, Emily and Naomi have to make one confession to each other. It can be anything they like, ranging from favourite film to family to their toilet schedule.
"When I was eighteen, I once woke up to a man who looked like Jesus in my bed. I slept naked" Naomi said one day. This cause Emily to starts coughing on her slice of pancake as she started to laugh at what Naomi told her.
"I once pooed myself in a class. I was at university" Emily had said after, making both girls crack up into fits of laughter.
During the course of the passing months, Emily has started to eat more regularly, building up her body fat again. She also started to work out again, turning the fat into muscle and soon gained her normal BMI back. She was healthier than ever and loved every minute.
The company also started to pick up again. With Emily being her normal self again, Effy and Emily where able to bring in more investments, which in turn meant more money for the company. Needles to say, Emily was well on her way to being a Millionaire. Effy and Cooks relationship also started to build up again, they had regular double dates with Emily and Naomi which always ended up with Cook and Emily making bets. Not like the last time, no one wanted a repeat of that again and plus, both Cook and Emily have someone who loves them.
"Okay Emilio, first one to finish both pints of Beers gets forty quid and the loser becomes their personal slave for two months" Cook declared on the couples' twelfth double date within ten months after Rob's passing.
Emily smirked and placed two twenty pound notes on the table "You're on Cookie" she said, holding onto the handle of her beer.
Effy and Naomi looked at each other and smiled, used to the behaviour of their loved ones. They also found it very humorous as no matter how many times they did this, Emily always won. Cook never learned.
"Okay...one...two...three!" Cook shouted.
Like always, Emily had won. Cook had not been happy to be Emily's slave, thinking that she'd be awful. Which, in all fairness she was for the first four weeks of the wager. She sent him off to do a whole load of awful tasks and then would get him to eat horrible concoctions, filming each of them with delight.
To say Cook was shocked when Emily asked him to help her find an engagement ring for Naomi on the seventh week of their bet is an understatement. He was gobsmacked, and then he became ecstatic and happily hugged Emily. So, on the crisp November evening two days later they went out and searched every shop for the perfect ring. After three hours of searching, they had finally found the ring.
Emily had picked out a beautiful 9 carrot white Gold Sapphire and Diamond Crossover Ring. Sapphire is Naomi's birth stone which sealed the deal on Emily's choice between the simple white gold ring with a diamond and this one. It spoke Naomi. It's Elegant and sophisticated and not too flashy. It was perfect. However, this didn't stop Emily from becoming paranoid about it as they walked back home.
"She won't like it Cook, I know she won't." Emily had said as soon as they left the shop "I need to take this back, I don't want Naomi to feel I haven't thought about her when picking it" She went to turn back, but Cook stopped her.
"Emily, trust me when I say this: Naomi will love it. She will see how much thought you put into it. She will also love the proposal, as cliché as it will be, she won't care. Naomi loves cliché anyway"
"She'd never admit it though. What if she says no though Cook? What is she doesn't want to marry me? Oh god, I've read all the signs wrong haven't I? She's not ready yet, it'll be too much for her-"
"Emily!" Cook shouted, grabbing Emily's attention "Naomi loves you okay? She loves you lots and lots. She wants to marry you. I know it. So listen to me and calm down. It'll be fine. You've been together for what? Thirteen months? If she didn't love you enough to marry you, she should've fucked off by now"
Emily smiled and nodded at him "You always know what to say to me Cook."
"I wouldn't be your best friend if I didn't" He smiled and wrapped an arm round her shoulders "Now, how about a pint?"
Today is the day. The day Emily will pop the question to Naomi. She's nervous, her hands are sweating and anxiously palming at the blue velvet box in her pocket. She's standing inside JJ's and Lara's holiday home as they celebrate the New Year. It's an hour before Midnight and Emily needs to time everything perfectly in order for this to go how she wants to.
Naomi walks over to her and smiles "Hey babe, you okay?" she asks, wrapping an arms round Emily's shoulders and placing a kiss to Emily's temple.
Emily nods "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Just and little anxious"
"Anxious? Why?"
Emily's eyes widen 'Crap! I wasn't meant to say that!' "I'm anxious about...kissing you at midnight"
A smile breaks out on Naomi's face "Aww, that's cute Ems." She kisses her on the lips "I'm sure you'll do fine" Naomi whispers against her lips before Panda drags her off to dance.
Luckily, neither Naomi or Emily had drank anything during the party, with the help of Effy-who, every time Naomi picked up a drink, would hit it out of her hands or drink it herself. This happened a lot and so Effy was now pissed out of her mind whilst Naomi was sober, having given up on trying to have drink.
Cook wonders over to Emily "Calm down. You'll do fine okay? If she says no I'll chop my dick and bollocks off, fry them then eat them." Emily laughs "You know I'm serious about knowing she'll say yes as I would never say anything to harm little Cookie is I didn't believe it"
Emily smiles "Thank you Cook"
"No problem"
"I mean with everything. Not just this. Thank you for being there for me, for saving me from Ben and from saving me and my relationship from myself. I wouldn't have been able to get where I am now if it wasn't for you, especially during the past year and a bit. I love you, Cook. I love you like a brother" Emily says, wrapping her arms round his waist and burying her face into his chest.
Cook smiles and holds her tightly, kissing the top of her head "I love you too Emilio."
"Ten minutes till Midnight!" JJ announces to everyone.
"Time to go" Cook says, pulling away from Emily.
Emily takes a deep breath and nods, making her way to Naomi "Hey, can we go outside for a bit?" Emily asks, wrapping an arm round Naomi's waist. Naomi happily nods and allows Emily to take her outside to the garden.
She sits them down on the bench, her fingers toying with the box in her pocket nervously. She licks her lips and runs a hand through her hair, trying to calm her erratically beating heart.
Spotting Emily's nerves, Naomi lays a gentle hand on Emily's bouncing knee "Sweetie, are you ok?"
Emily's eyes dart to Naomi before looking back at JJ's garden. She takes a deep breath then turns to Naomi, holding onto the blonde's cold hand in hers.
"Naomi, you once said to me that to be in love, you need to be brave. I don't believe that. To be in love, you need to be scared. You need to be scared of living a life without the one you love; you need to be scared that one day they won't be here anymore. And I am Naomi. I am scared to be in love with you, I'm scared that one day, you will pass away, leaving me alone, I'm scared of going through my life without you by my side. I need you by my side."
Naomi cups Emily's cheek "I am by your side Ems. I'm here with you"
Emily bites her lip and takes Naomi's hand away from her face "I know, but, as the wise Winnie the Pooh once said: 'If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.' I mean it Naomi. I lost you once before, I'm never going to leave you again. Even if it means following you to the edge of the earth, I will."
"Emily, why are you telling me this?" Naomi asks, confusement floating through her eyes.
Emily stands up from the bench and fishes around in her pocket and takes out the box. She watches as Naomi's eyes widen slightly. "Winnie the Pooh also said: 'Love is taking a few steps backward maybe even more...to give way to the happiness of the person you love.' I'm willing to do that for you Naomi. If you need me to take a few steps back, I shall."
Emily get's down on one knee in front of Naomi and opens the box. Naomi gasps at the action and the ring inside.
"Ten...Nine!" Everyone from the party starts to shout from inside.
"What I'm trying to say Naomi is that I love you more than anything else in the whole wide world. You are the Jack to my Jill, my Wallace to my Grommet, my Juliet to my Romeo. I can't see myself living without you."
"Eight...Seven!"
"When I picture our future, I see you standing in the kitchen, cooking up a mean pot roast whilst two adorable blonde haired children run around the dining room as I sit at the table, watching you."
"Six...Five!"
"And upon your finger I see a beautiful ring, tying us together for life"
"Four...!"
"Naomi Tyra Campbell, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?" Emily asks, her hand shaking as it holds the blue velvet box.
"Three...!"
Naomi stares at Emily in awe, tears running down her face as she takes in everything Emily has just told her.
"Two...!"
Emily licks her lips, waiting for Naomi to speak, becoming scared at the fact she might have been wrong all along. Cook, be prepared to eat your dick.
"Yes" Naomi says.
"One!"
Emily beams, her own tears falling down her face. "Really?"
"Yes, I'll marry you"
"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Fireworks and part poppers go off, but both women are solely focused on the lady in front of them.
Springing up onto her feet, Emily slides the ring onto Naomi's ring finger and brings her into a deep, passionate kiss. Tongue's duel, moans are exchanged and tears are mixed as both Ladies show their love to each other in the kiss, trying to convey everything they are feeling towards each other.
When air is needed for the both of them, they pull apart and pant heavily. Their foreheads touch and their eyes stay closed as they drink in everything that has happened between them.
Emily's eyes flutter open, only to be met with sparkling azure eyes smiling at her. Emily gently pecks Naomi on the lips and sighs happily "Happy New Year my Fiancée" Naomi whispers.
Emily beams at her "Happy New Year Mrs Campbell-Fitch to be"
Okay, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. The next chapter is in fact the last chapter. It will be much shorter than this one; it might be very brief, I'm not sure.
Anyway, thank you for reading this chapter and I hope you enjoyed it.
Cheers
xx
