CHAPTER FIFTY TWO.

"You girls have a slumber party?" Rob grinned as Naomi winced, her muscles protesting about her sleeping decision.

"Dad, we're not twelve," Emily bit back, her headache making her quite grouchy. Fuck, how much did she drink last night? And why was Naomi looking at her weirdly? Shit, hopefully they didn't fuck last night. Wait. Would Naomi take advantage of her? No. She wouldn't. Fuck, her head was getting worse.

"We were just talking, about the Bristol gym. I guess we fell asleep," Naomi offered, pushing over a glass of water in Emily's direction. The redhead looked quite panicked for some reason.

"Love, why are my socks wet?" Rob had stumbled across them when he showered, and he had no idea how one sock was so soaked when everything else was dry.

"Huh?" Emily had no idea what he was talking about.

"Never mind," Rob went back to his breakfast.

"How was last night?" Naomi asked.

"You did well last night kid," Rob smiled at Emily before turning to Naomi. "It went smashing. Real potential."

"Good," Naomi hoped she sounded sincere enough. She really wanted to get up from the table and take a bath. Her fucking body was not happy with her.

"So, where's Katie?" Rob asked Emily.

"How the hell should I know?" Emily muttered. If her father switched on that blender she'd be fucking shoving his big annoying smile right in there with his fucking whey protein.

"She said she was staying with friends," Naomi interjected, catching the surprised look on Rob's face.

"As long as she's up for work today," Rob shrugged. His daughters were grown women now, and they had to make their own decisions, even if he'd like to be the one telling them what they should be doing with themselves.

"I'm going to have a shower," Emily pushed her chair out, leaving Naomi with Rob.

"She not get enough sleep?" Rob frowned. Emily wasn't usually like this, not since they all lived together when she and Katie were teenagers.

"Maybe," Naomi shrugged. How did Rob not hear any of that last night? He must be a sound sleeper.


"Here," Naomi handed over a piece of toast with a light cover of butter to Emily who was sitting on the couch.

"I'm not hungry," Emily pushed it away.

"Ems, you have to eat," Naomi sighed. Emily was quite a cranky redhead when she was hung over. No wonder Katie had warned her. Rob seemed oblivious to Emily's plight though, thank fuck.

"I don't fucking want it," Emily hissed angrily. Naomi was being too nice to her, she hated it. Well, that wasn't entirely true, but still, she couldn't afford to forget things weren't right between them based solely on Naomi's lovely care of her during the night.

Naomi sighed. There was not point pushing her, not while she was like this, it would only lead to a stand-off that she wasn't interested in pursuing.

"Fine. I'm going to have a bath," Naomi began walking off, stopping when Emily called her name.

"I almost kissed someone last night. A girl. I wanted to do it. To spite you. To see if I could be happy with someone who doesn't treat me like you do. I almost did it."

Naomi had to brace herself against the wall at Emily's whispered admission. Emily looked contrite, but when she looked back up, she was also defiant, like she was looking for the admission to get a rise out of her.

"Yeah? She must have been almost fucking great, Ems for you to remember that but not me helping you all fucking night while you threw your fucking guts up."

Emily opened her mouth, but Naomi stopped her.

"No, don't bother thanking me now, I don't really want to hear anything from you at the moment," Naomi left the room, waiting until she had the taps of the bath running before she broke down, crying.

So this was what it felt like to be in love? No wonder she'd never bothered before. Naomi had just gained a painful insight into how Emily really felt when she told her about Andy and when she had her friends dancing with her the night of their date. It felt fucking horrible to be wondering if something was going on, if someone was going to be given the chance to love Emily better than she could. Emily was right, that feeling was like someone ripped your heart out. Her causal manner had hurt her the most, the way Emily had looked to cause pain by stating it with no preamble. Emily must really hate her.

She knew she shouldn't be too mad. They had no ties to each other beyond the friendship realm, but Emily's soft confession distressed the complete and utter hell out of her, and she hated it.

Naomi grabbed her phone. She needed Freddie.


Naomi had broken down as soon as she told Freddie, and he let her release it without empty fucking platitudes. He let her be, and then told him Effy was already taking the car and coming to get her. She wanted to protest, she wanted to tell him that Effy would be driving hours for no reason. But she didn't have anything here anymore, Emily had pushed her away using the blondes own tricks. Smart woman, Naomi thought, using a tactic that she had utilized many times in the past. It was always a powerful weapon, and now she felt it from the other end. Fucking hurt like a mother fucker.

Freddie had simply told her it was the right thing to do, and let Naomi hang up first. He couldn't help but feel his friend's pain; she wasn't really one for showing weakness, even in front of him. He bemoaned the chance both Naomi and Emily had been presented with, and the lack of courage and trust to grab it and become a partnership that would truly be worth something. He wanted to be angry with Emily, but he had grown to admire her, and he knew she would be suffering just like his dear friend.

Naomi pulled out the plug; she didn't much feel like a relaxing soak in the bath now. She wanted to get out of this place, get back to Bristol. It made her smile, the realisation that she had always tried to escape that place for somewhere like London. Now she longed for her home. Hiding in here wouldn't help; soaking away the pain was a useless past time. What she craved for was a fucking drink.

Emily was still on the couch, her head in her hands when Naomi re-entered the room. She was sobbing, but Naomi didn't comfort her. She wanted to, but she felt herself balk at offering support.

"I'm leaving," Naomi announced, taking some satisfaction as Emily jumped at the harshness in her voice. It was best to leave with her anger intact. It was best not to think of taking Emily in her arms and asking to be together. Her anger would shock her into remembering how fucking stupid romance was, and how dangerous it was to fall into something strong with Emily. She had been seduced by the idea, but that would soon be a thing of the past.

Emily said nothing. She didn't know what to say, so she just nodded and waited for Naomi's next move.

Naomi always projected to the world that she was so strong, but that was just some kind of front to ward off connections with people. Emily was seeing it now, quite clearly. She was just as fucking human as Emily. She didn't have the answers any more than Emily did. She wasn't infallible. She was breaking, and Emily was the only one who could repair the fucking damage.

"Okay," Emily nodded, getting up and walking past the blonde. This was how things ended. It was weird, Emily had known something was coming, but this cold exchange was not how she imagined it would go. Still, neither knew what to say, so perhaps they had said it all already. Now it was time to leave it all behind.


TBC ...

Sorry I didn't post yesterday. Fell ill, but feeling better now so I'm back on track with the updates. Thanks, everyone.