No excuses, just an apology. I will finish this and I am so thankful for anyone that is still reading this. I was on holiday when they released Skins 'Fire' and am glad, I refuse to watch it - I guess the writers just couldn't get over how much Naomi and Emily were loved by us all that they had to destroy it. That's why I love it here, we can write them our way and live in a world where everything is perfect.

This is for mynameislizzie who mentioned me in a note at the beginning of her newest story The Long Road Home (if you haven't already go and read it!) She made me realise that people still cared about this - so here it goes.

Chapter 37 - Every Rose Has It's Thorn

Naomi :

I felt Emily's hand tighten in my own, reminding me that we were in this together and that nothing would ever tear us apart. Within seconds she was gone, that security and warmth that came from the knowledge that she was right there...vanished in the crowd. I listened to person after person congratulate me on a fantastic display, shook more hands than I care to remember and smiled and nodded with the best of them. Everyone seemed to have appeared from nowhere, I was sure that I hadn't noticed this many people before, but in a way I was proud. It was bloody brilliant and if it was going to help us kick Karen's sorry arse from here to the moon and back then I could deal with a little schmoozing.

It was the first time in my life that I had achieved something, I'd been responsible for capturing people's memories for them on the happiest days of their lives and felt nothing. Yet here I was, fighting back the sudden urge to throw my hands in the air and shout "I was part of this!" Maybe because for once I wasn't just doing something that portrayed other people's joy, it was for me. I stopped for a moment, lost in a mass of people who were making muffled comments about how beautiful the display was, and thought about how far I had come because of her. I'd never been one for thinking about a future of any kind, in fact imagining myself in a few years time always used to give me the creeps, but now I guess I finally had something to look forward to. I thought I had loved Freddie and I guess if I had gone back and asked myself if I wanted to marry him and start a family I would have probably said yes, but I never pictured it. Standing there, being patted on the back by the nineteenth person so far and pretending to listen to their words of praise, I could see everything so clearly. Our house, car, wedding day (preferably with someone else taking the photos), children...everything that I thought I never wanted was right there in her eyes as she flashed me a smile. Fucking crazy.

"So...wanna come with me and look at the shit that everyone else has come up with?" Before I had chance to reply Katie was dragging me through other companies set ups, I had a funny feeling I was about to get the 'talk'.

"Is this where you threaten to cut my tits off and hack me to pieces if I break her heart...again?" She turned and looked me dead in the eye with that glare of hers that is terrifying even if you didn't know she packed one hell of a punch to back it up. I swallowed, at least if she had changed her mind and decided to beat the crap out of me after all, the bruises and cuts would add a little reality to the show. I braced myself as she stretched to be as face to face as she could get, considering that I was a good few inches taller than her, she did well enough to look me in the eye. What is it they say about bear attacks? Play dead? Somehow I didn't think that was going to work on this one, so instead I just braced myself for whatever was about to happen.

"Thank you." She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into one of the tightest and most painful yet comforting hugs that I had ever been given.

"I never thought I would see Ems like this, going through all that shit when we were younger and our parents never really getting on board with the whole gay as a fucking window thing, it really destroyed her. Then some bollocks with her first serious relationship, not to mention Karen the fucking crazy bint. Seriously, no shit...thank you..." I would have been less surprised if she had produced a gun from her arse and shot me square in the chest. I didn't know what to say, how was I supposed to say anything to that, Katie Fitch was many things but I didn't think she had a heart, kind of like the tin man from the wizard of oz but more bitchy and in stilettos. In the end I just hugged her back and felt some unknown tension escape from her body, I couldn't help but think that she was ever so slightly taller then Emily, not noticeable to the naked eye but Emily had been in my arms enough times I could just feel it. Slowly she pulled away and looked at me, her poker face working wonders again, hiding any hint of emotion.

"But yeah, if you hurt her I'll hunt you down and skin you with a rusty teaspoon...you get me?" As much as she fought it I could see a twitch of a smile tickle her lip, I hate to admit it but the more I got to know her, the more I started to like her. No more words were needed, she just put her arm through mine and we walked slowly around all the other displays. Everything was so over the top it was ridiculous, some of them actually made me feel woozy and a little bit light headed. Don't get me wrong the photos were good but it was just far too much, suddenly I was very excited to see what the cat walk shows would throw at us. It didn't take us long until we had gone full circle and could see the last of the massive crowds disappearing from the front of our display.

"Where the fuck did you two bugger off to?" Ah the melodious voice of my one true love ringing through my ears, is there any sweeter sound? Emily was stood, arms folded scowling at me and her twin arm in arm; talk about role reversal. She looked pissed; probably something to do with Katie and I vanishing, leaving her to deal with wave after wave of sweaty camera crews coming to see what all the hype was about. Katie walked past her, punching her playfully on the shoulder as she went, leaving me to my fate. Emily didn't flinch, she just kept those perfect eyes fixed on me...I got the distinct feeling that I was in trouble and not the good kind.

"Do you know how many people have tried to grab my arse whilst giving me a congratulatory hug?" I had a feeling the question was rhetorical so just stood there grinning like a tit hoping that would help my predicament in some way. Thankfully it seemed to have some affect as she shook her head and walked over to wrap her arms around me, placing a chaste kiss on my lips before burying her head in my chest. The sweet smell that was completely Emily surrounded me as I kissed her hair, we almost melted together.

"Thirteen..." I was confused for a split second before I realised that she was giving me the answer, her voice was muffled against my top but still as sultry as ever. It shouldn't have been funny but I still had to catch the chuckle that was about to burst from me. Instead I ran my arms down her sides, gently over the smooth curve of her hips and round slightly until I had my hands firmly cupping her arse.

"Fourteen." I felt her smile as she pushed away from me, slapped me cheekily on the wrist before linking our fingers and leading me over to our crew. Everyone looked so happy, JJ was literally vibrating with excitement, muttering long and complicated words incredibly quickly to no one in particular. Katie handed us a piece of paper with the schedule for the cat walk shows, we were the middle act of the second half...right after Sweet Disposition. It was too perfect, Karen would get to showcase her agency then we could trample all over her latex hopes and dreams. If I was ever going to have the opportunity to laugh like a James Bond villain, this was it. I would have, if I wasn't surrounded by other people, one of which was running her fingers in circles over my lower back. Fucking distracting.

We got to watch the first half of the show, it was a whirlwind of colour, strange wigs and a midget. I'm not kidding, one agency decided fairytales were the way to go and brought in a midget to make the model look like a giant as they tried, and failed, to portray Jack and the Beanstalk. Katie and Emily both fell about laughing but I like to think I was a little bit more polite and composed. That was until the Fairy Godmother's theatrical line snapped and she ended up flattening Cinderella who, from the sound of the thud, definitely won't be going to the ball. It really wasn't a laughing matter and Cinders was taken away in an ambulance but I still snort laughed loudly in the shocked silence that followed. Wait a go Naomi, wait until it's silent to be rude and mock people...clever.

At the interval we had to go and get ready, unfortunately it meant we didn't have a front row seat for Sweet Disposition's show but we could catch glimpses from backstage.

"Everyone has gone so over the fucking top! It's insane!" When Katie got nervous she got verbal diarrhoea, she couldn't help but talk.

"Seriously, what the hell was that giant thing all about? There wasn't even a story to it. It's all because of the Dante's inferno stuff, they've all upped the anti so much it just looks fucking stupid!" She just kept going on and on, usually it's garbage but she was right, people from the other agencies had gone too far. Some of this shit was ridiculous.

A drum sounded, my heart leapt into my throat and tried to hide behind my tonsils, it was loud and deep. Again...again; gradually building tempo until it sounded like the second hand booming around a clock face. At least Katie had stopped talking. The pounding built to a crescendo, louder and faster with an echoing rapture. A single spotlight flicked on as silence erupted over us all, I could feel my heart racing, carrying on the steady drum beat that had vanished. Karen was stood there, hands on her hips, scarlet red leather hugging her from shoulder to mid thigh...tight enough that it left very little to the imagination. Caressed in her right hand was a whip, black, curling like an obedient dog around her ankles. Karen took a breath as I realised I was holding mine.

"Hold your breath, believe your eyes as we take you...to Cirque Du Freak." With a flick of the rest the whip cracked like thunder and we were left in darkness again as her sinister laugh trickled through the air. If that wasn't weird and scary enough, music started flowing that sounded as though it belonged at the end of a horror movie. You know when they leave it on a cliffhanger but play some horrible music to let you know that the evil guy is still out there somewhere probably in your cupboard or under your bed getting ready to kill you in your sleep. The lights came up to a dim glow, illuminating the stage to show three models dangling, wrapped in silks. They twisted and contorted themselves in ways that weren't completely natural. In fact it was pretty fucking disgusting, incredible, but it looked as though shoulders were being dislocated and as if they weren't born with enough ribs.

The spectacle continued, getting weirder and more obscure with every note of the spine tingling music. There were girls sticking pins through their own flesh, one even ran a glowing hot poker over her skin and laughed as the smoke rose high. At one point I'm pretty sure Katie disappeared to puke her guts up, it must have been gross, that girl has an iron stomach. There were gasps of shock from the audience and from what I could make out even one of the judges had her hand across her eyes. Karen had taken it too far, she had obviously decided in her ultimate wisdom that bigger and more painful was better, clearly the next progressive step from the heights I had been a part of. Unfortunately she didn't know when to stop and judging by the look of horror on everyone's faces, stopping would be good right about now. Thankfully within a few minutes the music had ceased and once again Karen was stood there laughing, winding the whip around her legs in a careful figure eight.

"The circus is a jealous wench, indeed that is an understatement. She is a ravening hag who sucks your vitality as a vampire drinks blood. Who kills the brightest stars in her crown and will allow no private life for those who serve her; wrecking their homes, ruining their bodies and destroying the happiness of their loved ones by her insatiable demands. She is all of those things, and yet, I love her as I love nothing else on earth. She is my unsweet disposition." Again the laugh rattled through the eerie silence, no applause, no whooping as there had been before. Even as the company took their bows the audience were consumed with the grotesque nature of what they had just bared witness that there was only a glimmer of brief appreciation. Probably because everyone was trying their hardest to hold onto their lunch.

"That was what they stole, even the fucking quote was Effy; she thought it would be funny! Admittedly we weren't going to go quite that far, but..." Emily sighed, her beautiful face cursed with the anger that was welling up inside her. White knuckles as she clenched her hands into fists, all of her consumed with rage.

"The quote was the only good thing about it babe. I think one of the judges actually puked in her handbag, take what you're feeling right now and put it into the performance." We weren't exactly going to lighten the mood, but at least ours was going to pull at your heart strings rather than punch you full on in the face. I leant forward and kissed her gently on the forehead as JJ bustled past me to start setting up the stage.

"How do you do it? All you have to do is smile at me and everything else fucking disappears." Emily looked up at me and I could sense the tension slip away. I never realised before how just by holding someone close you could literally feel their emotion like waves of static electricity.

"Get a fucking room, it's hard enough seeing the photos let alone a live show. I really fucking loved you Emily, do you know how many girls I've had to sleep with to even try and get over you?" Karen, still squeaked into her leather dress, I didn't want to imagine how much that must have been chaffing and had a sudden urge to ask her how much talc they used to get her into it. The only reason my question evaporated into the ethos was the look on her face, it was dark and chaotic a whirlwind of emotion that I didn't think she had in her. I had always thought of Karen as a doll, plastic on the outside, plastic on the inside. I didn't realise she had a heart and from the look on Emily's face neither did she. Emily didn't say anything, there was no need, she had said everything she needed to. Personally I thought Karen was being a bitch just because she was angry and confused...apparently not.

Emily's hand slipped over the white robe I was wearing and rested in the back of my thigh, she knew it tickled but enjoyed winding me up. At this moment I think it was more to rub Karen's face in it than anything fun or sexual and judging by the narrowing of her eyes it had worked.

"You broke my heart Emily so it's only fair that I tell you to break a fucking leg...in fact why don't you just drop dead." She turned and strode away, well I say strode but with such a tight outfit it was more a shuffle. In that moment I hated her, I'd known her for years and thought that maybe...just maybe there was a chance we could have an amicable relationship, after that there was nothing more I wanted than for her to just get to fuck. It was my turn to tense.

"Don't you start...she's just a jealous prick besides she may be as crazy as a basket full of frogs but her threats are about as scary as a carebear. Seriously I've seen more threatening candy-floss." With that I had to laugh, Emily was right, she was a cock but one neither of us would have to deal with anymore, tonight we finished it once and for all, tonight we prove that Sweet Disposition was nothing before us and would be nothing now we had moved on.

"All done, please tell me you guys are ready, I mean it took an unfathomable amount of time and resource to affiliate the dynamics of this ambitious lighting rig display and to think that..."

"JJ, locked on!" Emily and I spoke in sync and he just shook his head before grabbing a set of headphones and joined Effy in the booth. I rolled my eyes and looked at her gorgeous russets, our silent declaration of just how ready we both were for this. It was a lot of pressure, but we were doing it together, this was our family and we were going to pull out all the stops to make sure that the future was bright for Alternative Reality. I wriggled out of my robe and watched Emily do the same, as it fell to the floor we were left in matching white boxers and bras. We were laying everything on the line quite literally, once false move and a boob could pop out or worse, a smile smoothed over my face but I didn't have time to think too much about that scenario. Katie and Effy appeared at our sides and we exchanged looks, they were wearing red underwear covered with a see through black shirt. This time we were going to portray a torrid affair and the aftermath of being caught out, how love can turn to hatred in a matter of a few heartbeats. Similar to the shoot but in a completely new, fucking incredible league, at least that was the plan.

All I could hear was the bustling of the audience; people uncrossing their legs, moving slightly in their chairs and clearing their throats. I was nervous, this was going to make or break our agency, some of the biggest companies in the world were here looking for something quirky to represent a new product or perfume. It was pitch black as I sat on the edge of the stage, knees up under my chin with a single red rose playing between my fingers. The music started a slow instrumental telling me that everyone was in place and it was time.

"Shadows settle on the place, that you left..."

The lights flashed like a camera, capturing the movement in my body as I got to my feet, illuminating me to the audience as I lifted my head and put the rose to my striking red lips.

"Our minds are troubled by the emptiness..."

Back in the darkness, I felt Emily move in behind me as I stood waiting for the next 'photo.' She embraced me and I had just enough time to find her lips with my own before the lights flashed bright again. We were at a slight angle to the audience as I ran the rose down her tattooed upper arm whilst I held her close to me. Usually feeling so much of her skin against my own drove me insane but we were both in the moment and it just felt fucking magical.

"From the perfect start to the finish line..."

The flash disappeared and we moved to the back of the stage; Miffy and Katie stepped forward as the music built a gentle beat until it reached full flow. Katie stood there twirling the rose, the lights came on dimmed as Miffy walked towards her.

"'Cause most of us are breathing through corrupted lungs...we are the reckless, we are the wild youth."

As the tempo increased Katie handed the rose over to Miffy and kissed her passionately. They fell to the ground as the lyrics spilled out around them "the lovers that went wrong" rolling and playing with the movement until Miffy sat straddling Katie, sideways so the audience could see everything. She unbuttoned her shirt and let it float to the floor revealing the most agonisingly beautiful tattoo display covering most of her upper body.

"Chasing visions of our futures, one day we'll reveal the truth..."

That was my cue, I walked forward to the scene unfolding at the front of the stage, obviously witnessing my lover with someone else. I pulled Miffy up and threw her to the back of the stage, using all the anger that Karen had awoken in me I glared at Katie. I raised an arm and slapped her carefully across the cheek, simultaneously she bit down on the blood capsule she had in her mouth, letting enough start to run slowly over her chin.

"And if you're still bleeding you're the lucky ones..."

Katie ran off stage as I leant down and picked up the rose Miffy had dropped during the passion of the affair, holding it lifeless at my side. The music built again and the dim light turned to a burnt red as Emily walked towards me, face full of remorse. We stared at each other for the briefest of moments, just listening to the music and tried to portray as much emotion as was possible. I heaved a breath and threw my arm at her but this time she caught it with her own and we slowly started to circle each other.

"It was a flood that wrecked this home..."

We broke into a full blown fight; hair pulling, punching and at one point she was so into it she actually bit me. I used that and forced myself fully into it, Emily was shocked for a few seconds but it just made us better, made the fight more real. The music echoed "you caused it..." as we put our perfectly choreographed demise out there for everyone to see. We were almost laying ourselves bare to the audience and it felt incredible, finally I pushed her away and in the drowning light we each took a side of the stage. I looked distraught out into the crowd; seeing movement at the back, I couldn't focus on it too much as I ripped the petals off the rose and threw it to the ground. I fell to my knees; head in my hands.

"And if you're in love, then you are the lucky one, 'cause most of us are bitter over someone..."

Emily slowly took two tentative steps towards me as I turned to face her; thousands of rose petals rained down on us as the lights went up enough so you could see Miffy and Katie stood bruised and battered slightly behind us. The music grew one last time and as I turned to look away from Emily, Katie and Miffy walked towards her and took up positions either side of her, her guilt and conscious grinning devious smiles out into the audience, proud that they had destroyed us. They both handed Emily a perfectly black rose as the red melted out of the light and we were left bathed in silver.

"To distract our hearts from ever missing them. But I'm forever missing..."

A gunshot rang out. Piercing through the now quiet instrumental ending of the music. I threw myself around just in time to see crimson start to pour from Emily's chest. I ran, caught her in my arms as she started to fall to the ground. I felt the tears start to fall down my cheeks and forced myself to look out into the crowd one final time as the music faded and the light started to disappear. I was just in time to watch Karen's hips sway down the centre isle. Then everything went black.

This was planned before 'Fire' and I'm sorry.

This isn't the end, I still have one more chapter - I hope you all trust me to do the right thing.

Leave me a review, even if it's hating on me right now...I'll need all you guys to help me finish this.

Faith x