A/N: All I have to say is that Coachella is the best and bronchitis is the worst! My favorite act this year was Azealia Banks, hands down. My favorite amenity was the full bar. Thank you, Coachella, for finally realizing after 12 years that not everyone wants to drink gallons of Heineken. Also, Rihanna showed up for the Calvin Harris set and sang her hits. That was an amazing surprise! Now, only 11 months to go until next year. Le sigh.

Chapter 37

The lazy breeze coming in from the open window gently cooled the light sheen of sweat that covered their bare skin. Emily's naked back, Naomi's hands that were still clutching on to her, gripping her hip and the ink on her shoulder, a leg that had escaped from under the covers. They felt the chill of the evening air as Emily kissed Naomi slowly, caressing her lips with her own, as their bodies relaxed and their other senses regained their abilities.

Naomi was still trying to catch her breath as Emily slowly pulled her fingers from between the blonde's thighs and let her body slide off of hers and to the side. She rolled onto her back and brushed a few strands of damp red hair away from her eyes as she let her muscles melt into the soft sheets. Suddenly, feeling very naked with the absence of Emily's body on top of hers, Naomi pulled the covers up to her chin.

Emily was enjoying the come-down, sheets at her waist, nipples hard, chest heaving; she felt overheated and a bit light-headed, riding out her high. They had been at it for hours; it had helped take her mind off of those five little words she had confessed without getting a reply, but now everything felt a bit cramped in Naomi's single bed, suffocating. There was no space between their bodies, no room to move. Emily tucked her right arm behind her head. "Remind me to take you back to my place next time we're going to fuck all afternoon. Your bed is shit."

Naomi turned onto her side, leaning on her elbow, head resting against her hand. She smiled down at the redhead who was occupying her extra pillow; her fingers immediately started tracing the lines of Emily's tattoos, the ones that were visible anyway. She wanted to say that what they had just been doing was far more than simply fucking, but she didn't. "You could barely make it up the stairs without undressing me. I highly doubt you'd have been up for the commute back to yours."

Emily grinned back at the blonde. "You fucked me in your school's laundry room. I thought the stairwell would be a conservative choice in comparison."

Naomi bit her bottom lip and a blush covered her cheeks. She still couldn't believe she had done that. Wait until I tell Cook! He probably won't believe it either. He'll say he's finally rubbing off on me. Naomi tried to hold back what some might call a smug grin as her fingertips lingered over her favorite of Emily's pieces - the antique key beneath her breast. The one that was given no explanation. The one that was still healing when she saw it for the first time all those weeks ago. The one she couldn't bring herself to ask about.

"You've still never told me about this one." Naomi changed her focus and stroked the length of Emily's upper arm. The light coming in from the street picked up the bright colors of her half-sleeve tattoo; the greens of the tree leaves always caught Naomi's eye. Green reminded her of the redhead.

Emily turned her head to follow Naomi's line of sight, almost as if she had to remind herself what it was that Naomi was referring to. She let out a measured breath. "I was going to. I mean, I skipped it originally when I told you about the others and I haven't mentioned it since, because...I kind of wanted to see if you'd remember it on your own." Emily looked over at Naomi's face to catch her reaction. "Like, you'd see it one day and it would just pop into your head and you'd remember everything I told you about it on the night we met. You know, like some of the other things you've remembered."

And there is was. Naomi's expression changed the way it always did when Emily mentioned that night; she could see her jaw muscles clench, her blue eyes all of a sudden looked dull. It made Emily's heart ache every time she saw that look, but she couldn't bring herself to keep on ignoring it like Naomi did. Just mentioning that night made Naomi sad as opposed to the way it made Emily's heart swell and instantly brought a smile to her face. She hadn't lost hope, not really, but each day they spent together was another day further away from those memories. Perhaps it was time to finally admit to herself that they were truly lost.

Why can't you just leave it? Naomi recognized the look on Emily's face, disappointment. She forced a smiled and shook her head. She wasn't about to let the conversation go down that road again. They just made up. She had to divert, keep it light. Naomi looked a bit apprehensive under her cheeky grin, but she hoped Emily would take the bait. "I was one of those girls, wasn't I?"

"One of what girls?" Emily frowned in question.

"Oh come on, Ems." Naomi rolled her eyes and made her voice high and girly. "Oh wow! Your tattoo is so beautiful. What made you pick this design? Does it have a special meaning?"

Emily regarded her with a raised eyebrow.

"It looks so sexy on you. Did it hurt? Can I touch it?" The blonde flipped her hair and giggled for good measure.

"Are you finished?"

"I'd love to see your other tattoos sometime. Here's my number. Call me."

Emily waited for Naomi to put a pin in her dumb blonde act.

"Okay. I'm done now." Naomi looked pretty proud of herself.

"First of all, no, you were not like one of those girls. And secondly, whatever that was," Emily motioned towards Naomi, "rarely happens."

Naomi's eyes went wide. "Like hell!" She dramatically fell back on her pillow with a soft thud and stared up at the ceiling, her hands reaching up in exasperation. "Let's think, shall we? At the bar, at the club, while you're working..." Naomi added emphasis by counting on her fingers. "At the cinema, at the market while we're picking up groceries for dinner, every time you get your color done! Your stylist wants you bad; you've told me some of the things she said to you so don't even try to deny it."

Emily was now propped up on her elbow watching Naomi's theatrics with an adoring smile on her face. "Fine. It does happen, on occasion, but I repeat, you were not like that. You didn't even seem to notice my tattoos until later on. Or maybe you were just playing it cool."

"Doubtful. The last imaginable explanation for my actions that night could never be related to anything cool."

"I don't know about that...I thought you were pretty cool."

"Don't lie."

"I'm not!" Emily teasingly poked Naomi in the ribs, trying to tickle her. Naomi squirmed out of the way and caught Emily's left hand with her right. They intertwined their fingers, pulled them apart, together again, fingertips crossed down a palm and then back up to the tips, soft skin played with soft skin, stilling only slightly before the eight fingers and two thumbs started the messy pattern all over again.

Emily scratched her nails down Naomi's palm, down to her wrist; she slowly traced the ink of her E, her deep brown eyes locking on to the black lines that formed the letter's shape. "You were just so relaxed and confident and easy to talk to...and clever! You made me laugh, a lot." Emily leaned down and kissed Naomi on the collarbone. As she brought her head back up, her brown eyes caught Naomi's blues. "I wanted to keep talking to you all night."

Naomi found it hard to believe. Emily was never at a loss for company. She'd observed Emily talking to loads of girls when they were out, waiting at the bar, in line for the loo, anytime Naomi left her side for a moment. Girls flocked to her like moths to a flame; it was probably the hair. And Emily always smiled at them and leaned in close as they exchanged names, laughed at what Naomi had to assume were lame chat-up lines. If Emily wasn't expected to return with their drinks, Naomi was sure she could talk to any one of those girls all night long and have a great time!

Naomi figured that Emily was just trying to make her feel good, which was nice. "Speaking of talking all night," Naomi brought Emily's hand to her lips and placed a kiss on her knuckles, "could we perhaps talk about what happened last night?" She could feel Emily tense beside her. "I've been thinking about everything and I know that-"

"Of course we can." Emily plastered on a fake smile. "But first, I'm dying for the loo." Emily untangled her hand from Naomi's and quickly got out of bed, searching for her discarded clothes among the pile that littered the dorm room floor.

Naomi partially sat up, resting on her elbows, and watched Emily's mad dash to get dressed.

"Hey, you know what sounds good right now?" Emily hopped into her jeans, while scanning the floor for her top. "Italian food." Emily's eyes were bright as she looked to the blonde for confirmation.

"Okay..." Naomi let the word hang in the air with a questioning tone. She didn't know what to make of this sudden change in topic. She wanted to talk to Emily, not get dinner. They had so much to discuss. She wanted to have a conversation about their fight the night before. As well as everything leading up to the fight, the mess she had caused at the family dinner, the apparent feud between Jenna and Effy, Emily's summer internship, Cyprus perhaps!

"We'll talk. I promise." Emily pulled her top over her head and stepped into her shoes. "I'll be right back." Emily slipped out the door, throwing a quick smile in Naomi's direction.

As the door closed behind her, Emily exhaled a deep breath and pulled her phone from her pocket. She had heard it beep at some point during her sexathon with Naomi, three short beeps instead of just two, but her hands had been otherwise occupied at the time, not to mention how inappropriate that would have been. She had one unread message from Effy.

Hey Tiger. Lst nite was
fun. Lets hve a repeat
2nite. C U soon. xx E.

A bright smile spread across Emily's face as she typed out a reply while hurrying down the hall towards the shared bathrooms.

Just like old times :)
Not sure when I'll be
back. Still with N.
She wants to "talk"
x E.

Emily hit the send button as she pushed open the door marked Ladies. She found it silly, really; there was no other option on this girls-only floor, but that was the least of her concerns at the moment. She slid her phone into her back pocket and went to one of the sinks. Luckily, she was the only one in there.

She turned on the tap, letting the cold water run over her hands and wrists as she leaned over the basin, her forearms resting on the edge of the counter. Emily took in another big breath and splashed a bit of water on her cheeks, exhaling as the droplets ran down to her chin.

Emily glanced up at her reflection in the mirror; she looked a sight! Sex hair, smudged eyeliner, her lipstick was a disaster, turning off the tap and grabbing a few paper towels from the dispenser on the wall, Emily set about cleaning up her face. She decided that Fright House Clown was not a good look on her. No wonder she didn't say it back.

The sound of three muffled beeps filled the silent room. Emily tossed the paper towels in the bin and checked her phone. A reply from Effy:

Must b nice 2 hve a
boss that'll cover ur
shift. UR supposed
2 close 2nite. Thx 4
the notice. E.

"Shit." Emily checked the time; she was due at the shop in ten minutes. Emily quickly typed a reply.

I forgot. I'm sorry. Lost
track of the time and
day apparently. I can
be there by half past.
xxE.

Emily hurried out of the bathroom. On the walk back to Naomi's room, she prepared her departure speech and prayed that Naomi would accept a rain check on their talk. Her phone beeped again just as she was about to knock.

Don't bother. Panda's
on her way. She must
b an amzing fuck if u
can't evn remembr
what day it is. E.

Emily shook her head at the screen and tried to hold back a sneer.

Careful Ef. You
almost sound like
you care. It's a bit
late for jealousy
don't you think?

Her thumb hovered over the send button as she read back the text. Emily pressed menu instead and discarded the message. She knew better than to get into it with Effy right now, especially when she was the one in the wrong. She knew better than to make Effy's words into something other than just a friendly jibe, best to ignore it. After all this time, Effy could still get to her; Emily wanted to hate it. She wondered if it would always be like this or if there would come a time when Effy Stonem would stop making her hold her breath.

She put her phone back in her pocket, letting out a defeated sigh, and knocked on her girlfriend's door.

Thank you all for reading, as always. I'm thinking the next few chapters are going to wrap up the last half of Act II (speaking in screenwriting terms). I'm looking forward to turning up the drama knob a bit, a little angst, maybe some tears and regrets…the return of Arsia. *grins with delight*

If any of you darlings are wondering about music…not sure what to tell you. Here's Hi Mom Hi Dad Hi Bitches' profile link http:/ /www. Fanfiction .net/u/2291610/ Hi_Mom_Hi_Dad_Hi_Bitches. Maybe if you ask nicely, she'll, in the words of Katie Fitch, "pull her fingers out" and work on some song picks. It's worth a shot at least.

Until next time…