A/N: And here we are again, my friends...sorry for the delays with my stories and with reading and reviewing all the other great work out there. (You know who you are)
If any of you have decided to post to the fandom, and I haven't seen it and read it, I apologize. Send me a PM and let me know if you have a story that needs reading and I'll remedy that ASAP. Don't be shy, people...
Also, huge shout out to my partner in crime, mswitsend :D If you haven't read her awesome story, Stonem House, then shame on you and fix that right away!
Also, I want to shout out to TheAeacusProject, for being generally badass...you should definitely read The Ultimate Currency...actually read anything written by TAP, trust me you will not regret it!
Chapter 5: The Walls You Can't Knock Down
"This is Mandy Lawson, for BBC Entertainment News. We're talking with Emily and Katie Fitch of Fitch Construction, the new stars of the Stonem Group's newest reality show, Rebuilding London. Welcome, ladies."
The interviewer smiled and turned to Emily and Katie, who had been sitting for an hour waiting to do a five-minute interview.
"Thank you, Mandy." Katie replied, knowing that Emily would only speak if asked directly. "It's a pleasure to be here." She beamed a genuine smile, as she caught Effy smirking behind the reporter.
"So, your show, London Rebuild, tell us a little bit about that?"
"What we're looking to do is help families rebuild a home so that they can get back on their feet." Katie started explaining. "You see, Mandy, developers are closing estates down at an alarming rate, so that they can bring in bigger, money making, developments. Office buildings, storefronts and similar buildings. But they're displacing families and they're not even trying to help them find suitable housing."
Mandy nodded as she listened, glancing every so often at Emily who sat quietly next to her sister. "Right. Emily? Your CV is very extensive. You've traveled to foreign countries, building homes, schools and even a couple of hospitals and all before the age of twenty-five. That's very impressive, I must say. What's your feeling on this new project?"
Emily sat up a bit straighter, not really wanting to answer, but she knew she had to, so she took a moment to consider her answer. "It's a project that I can get behind fully, ya know? Our core value as a family," she gestured between herself and Katie, "has been about helping others. Especially helping people help themselves."
Mandy listened intently, smiling the whole time, and flicking her eyes behind Emily and Katie every so often and smiling, and it grated on Emily's nerves. "That's admirable, Emily." Mandy replied, earning a not so genuine smile from the younger twin. "Is there something you want to add?" She asked, looking behind the twins, where Naomi had been sitting silently, plucking at the bandage on her hand.
"Who, me?" The blonde asked startled, as the itch under the white gauze became more noticeable.
"Sure. Why not?" Mandy beamed a smile at her.
Naomi didn't like the look in the woman's eye, or the way she smiled her fake smile when talking to the twins. She had a feeling that the brunette was eyeing Emily up, and that pissed her off. The jealousy that ripped through her caught Naomi off guard.
But Emily didn't take the bait and chose to talk only when spoken to, basically ignoring the journalist. That's when she turned that mega-watt smile to Naomi.
"What do you think about the show?" Mandy prodded her for an answer, and Naomi caught Effy behind her, nodding her head, telling her to answer the question.
"I love it." Naomi said simply, feeling the need to slap herself for that inane answer. "I-I...w-what I meant was, I agree with Katie. I don't think it's fair when someone's been ousted from their home, all because some suited pr-, uh...gentleman...thinks a new ASDA should go there instead."
Mandy nodded her head the whole time Naomi spoke, smirking at the blonde's almost slip. "Right...and how do you feel about working with Katie and Emily? This isn't your normal kind of show, is it? Actually, the last programme you worked on was...," She looked through the notes, to make for sure she had her facts straight, "...Brighton Beauties, is that right?"
Naomi groaned loudly as the journalist brought up that fucking show. "That's right." She responded stiffly.
Mandy waited a few seconds for Naomi to elaborate, but got nothing in return, so she pushed on. "It's quite the change, isn't it? Going from a show with absolutely no substance to this?"
"Listen, Martha-,"
"It's Mandy, actually." She corrected, making sure to keep her smile in place.
"Right. As I was saying...," Naomi didn't catch the underlying hostility from the woman and just kept on going, "when you start out in this line of work, you basically get the shaft, don't you? You get handed what no one else wants, and you either do it or find a new line of work. It's just that simple. You do the best with the tools you've been handed. So what if Brighton Beauties was never going to win any awards? It was never about that, was it?"
Effy rolled her eyes because Naomi was on a tangent now, despite having been talked to about it.
"The thing is, Mandy," Naomi made sure to stress the correct name, oblivious to the blush forming on the journalist's face, "you take what you can get starting out, because that's how you learn your skill...your craft, so to speak. Granted, spending my time around girls too vapid, too...," she searched for the right words, "conceited...too up their own arses to even be human, was not what I had imagined doing when I went to four film schools, but I did the best with what I had. And this project? Yeah, I can stand behind this project because it means something, doesn't it? Giving back to someone who's had everything taken from them?"
Emily, Katie and Mandy could only stare in wonder as Naomi finished her rant. Katie was amazed that the blonde barely took a breath throughout that whole diatribe, Mandy briefly wondered if Naomi was that feisty in bed and Emily felt her heart speed up as she saw the same fire in her eyes as she did the night they had slept together because she was that feisty in bed.
Naomi felt herself blush as three sets of eyes bored into her, but despite her personal feelings for Emily, it was her brown eyes that was causing the most havoc with Naomi's emotions.
"Right! I think that wraps it up for today," Effy knew that Naomi was on the verge of snapping, so she decided to take control of the situation and get her girls out of there, "don't you, Mandy?"
The reporter had to drag her eyes away from Naomi, so turned on by the blonde that it wasn't even funny. "What? Oh...yeah, right. Thank you, ladies. I look forward to the show."
Katie and Emily stood, and Katie made sure to thank Mandy whilst Naomi headed over toward Effy and Emily followed quietly, with her eyes cast down.
"Well, that was impressive, Nai." Effy stated simply, quirking her eyebrow in a silent question.
Naomi shrugged. "I didn't like her attitude. She was fake...and bringing up that show?" She stated as if that made all the difference in the world.
"Alright, Naomi...let's not get a bad rap before we even air, yeah?" Effy said as Katie came over. "All set?"
"Yeah. We'd better get going because the guys are already at the house and Freddie's just texted to let me know that the family has arrived along with the camera crew." Katie told them, as she pulled a set of keys out of her purse.
"Great." Naomi stated in excitement. It had been a while since she'd seen Thomo and JJ and she was looking forward to seeing them. "And don't forget, I've got to leave around noon today, so I wanted to get the promos for the show done." She reminded Effy.
Emily's ears perked up at that but she couldn't bring herself to ask about it, so she stayed silent as they all piled into Effy's car and made their way to the first house on the list.
When they arrived, Emily thought it looked like a good old fashioned American block party was taking place, as her crew mingled with Naomi's crew. She found Cook and Freddie and went straight over to them, leaving Katie, Effy and Naomi behind.
"Alright, Emilio?" Cook grinned at her.
Emily nodded silently, too wound up after having spent so much time with Naomi to form any words.
"It's gonna be cool, Emsy." Freddie said quietly, wrapping an arm around his tiny friend.
Emily was about to respond when Naomi's voice cut over the noise.
"Alright, everyone...can I get your attention please?" Naomi waited until everyone quieted down before continuing. "Thank you. As you all know, scheduling for each episode is tight, yeah? I'd like to introduce you all to my camera crew. This is Thomas and JJ and you all know my assistant producer, Effy." She gave them all time to greet the newcomers before getting back to business. "If there are issues or concerns, please address myself or Effy and we'll take care of them. Okay, I'm turning things over to Katie and Emily Fitch, of Fitch Construction. Katie?"
"Thank you, Naomi. Emily and I, along with our whole crew, would like to thank The Stonem Group for giving us this opportunity, so thank you, Effy." Katie said, smirking at Naomi's refusal to talk directly to Emily, knowing that she was the head manager. "Emily is the manager of each project and I will be the design manager, so everything will go through us. Emily?"
Emily stepped over to Katie and forced a smile on her face. "Hello everyone." She addressed the crowd of people, trying her best to keep her eyes off Naomi. "I'm looking forward to getting started, so why don't we dig in, yeah?"
Emily and Katie were interviewed along with the first family on the list, the Mayhews. Tim, an out of work factory worker, his wife, Stella, who worked at a local market, their son, Andrew and their daughter, Ariel, both of whom attended the local college.
Tim had lost his job last year, when the factory he worked at closed its doors and he bounced from odd job to odd job, barely keeping his family afloat. Three months ago, tragedy struck when Tim was injured doing a job and without any compensation to help cover the costs of living, Tim and Stella lost their home.
Naomi was empathetic to the family's plight, and she smiled as Emily talked with Tim and Stella in a "get to know me" session that Naomi, JJ and Thomas were filming.
"What would this house mean for you guys, as a family?" Emily asked, getting to the heart of the conversation, and looked at Tim expectantly.
"This would mean a chance to get back a bit of dignity and peace of mind." He replied after a few minutes of thought. "A chance to be able make sure my wife and kids have a warm, dry place to sleep, ya know?"
Emily nodded along with him, as his wife teared up a bit. "Well, let's see what we can do about helping you achieve that, yeah?" She said, and Tim and Stella both smiled at her. "What we have here is a detached single family unit, built in the 60s, okay? The foundation is solid, as well as the outside framing, so we won't have to do a complete demo and rebuild."
Naomi knew she would have to bite the bullet and swallow her pride, to do her job, so with a deep breath, she prepared herself to talk to Emily for the first time since Bristol. "So, what exactly does that mean, Emily?"
"As you can see here," Emily pulled out the plans that she and Katie had drawn up, covering her shock and surprise with work, and explained, "the foundation and the outside are stone construction, bricks in this case, and they've surprisingly held up over the years, so the only thing we'll have to do there is make sure it's fortified. But the inside is where the real work is gonna happen." Emily felt a burst of confidence and smirked at Naomi. "Can you swing a sledgehammer? With your hand and all? I mean, the stitches come out soon, don't they?""
Naomi's heart beat violently at the adorableness of the redhead, emotions warring with her good sense, and she had to shake herself to answer as she thought of the night she broke the wine glass in her hand and the reason why. "Um...yeah?" She replied nervously, as JJ and Thomas chuckled next to her.
"Cook? Can you bring Naomi a sledgehammer, please?" She shouted over to her friend, keeping her eyes on the blonde. "She's gonna help with demo today."
Cook ran over with the tool and held it out proudly to Naomi, who stared in shock and wondered if she had to do this.
"It'll be mint, Naomikins! Just swing as hard as you can!" He told her with a cheeky grin.
Emily smiled as her crew and Naomi's chuckled at the horrified look on Naomi's face, but then sent her guys off and took everyone else inside.
"Alright, Tim? You want to start in here?" She pointed into the lounge, and started rapping her knuckles on the wall. "You're going start knocking out the walls here, in between the studs. Stella, you're going to help him pull the sheet rock off and bin it." She explained, pointing to the open window and the skip that sat outside. "Naomi, you'll be in here." Emily gestured toward the kitchen area.
"Thomo, you're with Tim and Stella. JJ, you're with Emily." Naomi said as she followed Emily into the small space, feeling closed in and a touch uncomfortable. "What am I meant to be doing?"
Emily could tell she was nervous, but didn't let on. "We're going to do the same in here." She indicated the wall that separated the two rooms. "It's not really that hard. I'll have you start on this side and I'll be over here," she nodded toward the other side of the kitchen.
Naomi looked at the wall in front of her and wondered if this was life's idea of a metaphor. "Alright, sounds simple enough." She replied as she hoisted the sledgehammer in her hands.
Emily scoffed. "You'd think that…," she said under her breath, but didn't elaborate. She took a maker out of her back pocket and placed a big X on the wall. "Start here, studs are roughly thirty and a half centimetres apart, so try not to take those out just yet." She went along, marking X's as she went. When she was done, Emily stood back and nodded to Naomi.
"Alright, so I swing as hard as I can, yeah?" Naomi contemplated the sledgehammer in her hands, feeling the weight of the tool against her stitches before bringing it back and then raising it above her, letting it smash into the wall.
It felt anticlimactic as Naomi stared at the four-inch hole with the head of the hammer still stuck in there. She didn't know exactly what to expect, but she had been hoping for more destruction. Behind her, JJ sniggered as she wrenched the hammer out of the wall.
"Oi! Watch it, Jay!" Naomi snapped playfully, before turning to look at Emily, as if asking "what now?".
"Did you hurt your hand?" Emily asked, concerned.
Naomi shook her head. "No, but I thought it'd be more…," she trailed off, searching for the right word, "…I don't know, more…I thought there'd be more damage?"
"You figured the whole wall would crumble, yeah?" Emily replied, chuckling as Naomi nodded. "Well, unless you're a wrecking ball, that doesn't happen. What you wanna do is picture something or…someone you're angry with, like me," Emily muttered the last part under her breath, but Naomi heard it and felt a wave of sadness creep over her, "then swing. Channel that anger into your swing and please, don't hurt yourself, yeah?"
Naomi watched as Emily stepped away. 'Alright, Campbell…channel your anger, easy enough.' She thought to herself, as she remembered how angry she had been for the last month. But when it came down to it, that anger she had been bottling up toward Emily, suddenly deflated.
She had seen the way Emily had completely closed in, hiding that vibrant spark that Naomi was attracted to and it just didn't sit well with her. But she also couldn't forget the fact that Emily had had a girlfriend at the time they slept together, a girlfriend Emily wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon, despite what little info Effy had told her. And it's not even the fact that Emily did have a girlfriend, because that had never seemed to stop Naomi before. If a woman was willing, Naomi had always been able to help them relieve some tension, but Emily was different. And that scared Naomi more than she would ever admit to herself.
"C'mon, Naoms…try again." Emily, encouraged her quietly, ducking her head. "It's just repetitive, yeah?"
Naomi nodded and swung the sledgehammer again, close to the first hole and smiled as she noticed that more of the wall fell. Emily watched as Naomi got into the joy of demolition, but then realised that it actually hurt to stare too long at the blonde, so she turned her back to Naomi and started on her own wall.
An hour later, they had finished tearing down the kitchen walls, leaving behind the skeleton of the room, whilst Tim and Stella had finished most of the lounge. The blonde was sweating and Emily couldn't help but stare at the hair plastered against her forehead and the sides of her face. Naomi caught the redhead looking at her, but refused to say anything about it, didn't want to draw any attention to the tension between them.
"Nai, it's time for you to leave, yeah?" Effy broke the silence as she entered the kitchen, followed by Katie.
Naomi glanced at the watch on her wrist and cringed. "Fuck! I've gotta go."
"Take my car, yeah?" Effy threw her keys at the blonde, who smiled gratefully. "Go! We'll be fine."
"Thanks, Effs…I'll see you guys tomorrow." Naomi said as she rushed from the room, very aware of Emily's eyes tracking her every move.
After she left, Effy noticed that Emily looked lost. "Alright, let's get back to it." She smiled at the younger twin. Emily smiled back but it didn't reach her eyes.
'Probably meeting her girlfriend.' Emily thought to herself bitterly, as she went back to work.
"Naomi! Over here, love!"
Naomi had heard her mum before she saw her and breathed a sigh of relief. "Sorry I'm late…traffic was bad." She explained as her mum reached in for a hug.
"That's alright, love," Gina assured her as she hugged her daughter, "I've not been here long, so no harm, yeah?"
Naomi sank into the hug, feeling safe in her mother's arms. "Jesus, I've missed you, Mum." She exclaimed, practically feeling the tension in her body dissipate. "How've you been holding up?"
Gina heard the sudden change in topic and chuckled. "You've got something on your mind." She stated plainly, pulling out of the embrace and staring intently at her daughter. When Naomi blushed, Gina knew she hit the nail on the head, but decided to let it pass for now. "I'm hungry…let me treat you to lunch?"
Naomi breathed out a sigh of relief, knowing that her mum would eventually wheedle out of her what was wrong, but she appreciated the fact that she let it go for the moment. "C'mon, Mum. I'll treat you to lunch, yeah? I know this great little café, serves the best sandwiches I've had since leaving New York."
Gina agreed and allowed Naomi to lead her out into the weak English sun, toward the parking lot, making small talk along the way. It was wonderful to sit and listen to Naomi's day to day life when they were seated at the café and had ordered, something she had missed immensely when she and Kieran lived in Ireland.
Gina smiled at the thought of her late husband, and felt relief when it didn't hurt.
"Mum, are you alright?" Naomi saw the wistful look and concern for her mother rushed through her.
Gina was brought back to the present and her smile widened. "I'm perfectly fine, love. Just thinking about your father."
"Oh, Mum…," Naomi reached over and grasped Gina's hand, "I know it's hard, but-,"
"It's not anymore, Naomi." Gina stated, gently squeezing Naomi's hand, noting the look of confusion on her daughter's face. "Hard, that is. Oh, I'm not saying that I don't miss him, I'll always miss him, but after all this time I've come to remember the good times we had. I remember the way he loved me, and you…," she trailed off with another smile, "you were his daughter, Naomi and he loved us with everything he had."
"I miss him." Naomi said sadly, still feeling the pang of intense loss.
"I know you do, love," Gina smiled at her, "but you can't focus on what you've lost. You must remember what you had and learn to move on. Kieran wouldn't want you to be sad, Naomi...you know that. He would tell you to quit your moping around and get on with life." Gina said in a perfect imitation of her late husband, causing Naomi to laugh.
"I know, I know…and you're right. And it doesn't hurt as much to remember him." Naomi told her mum as she took a bite of the sandwich that had been delivered to their table and remembered the conversation with Effy and Katie. "I just wish I'd had more time with him…it just feels like I missed so much whilst I was off at school." She looked out the window as she ate, deep in thought.
Gina watched the emotions dance across Naomi's face and waited patiently for her to say what was on her mind. She didn't have to wait long as Naomi turned back to her.
"Should I not have gone to the States? Maybe just gone to the school here in London?" She asked quietly, afraid she had wasted precious time that could have been spent with Kieran. "I didn't need to go to those other schools…I could've-,"
"Don't be ridiculous, Naomi." Gina cut her off before she could work herself up. "Don't you know how proud he was of you?" She asked and sighed when Naomi shook her head. "My god, he…he bragged about you down the pub! He was always telling the lads about his daughter, the movie director!" Naomi felt tears down her face, but her mum kept going. "Beating yourself up about it isn't going to do you any good, love. Kieran wouldn't want that and neither do I, okay?"
Naomi looked like she was about to protest, but Gina smiled and gave her hand one last squeeze.
"Yeah…you're right, Mum." Naomi replied as she picked up her glass and went to take a drink.
"You know he tried to fix me up with one of his mates before he passed away." Gina stated out of the blue and Naomi almost choked on the liquid as she tried to swallow.
"What? Why?"
Gina laughed at the look on Naomi's face, it was so comical that she couldn't help herself.
"Mother! That's not funny." Naomi glared at Gina as she wiped her face with her napkin. "Why would you say something like that?"
"Because it's the truth, dear." Gina told her as she continued eating. "You know…when you meet that one person who'll become your everything, become your whole world, you learn how to be a better person. You feel things on a deeper level, you learn to open yourself to another person, you hand your heart and soul over to them, trusting in them that they'll keep it safe.
When Kieran stormed into my life, I was still heartbroken over what your real father, the shitty prick had done, because I thought he was the one to complete me, to make me happy, but we know how that turned out, don't we? You were only three at the time and I was devastated. Here I was, broke and jobless with a baby to take care of. How could I do that when I couldn't even take care of myself? Hmm?" Gina took a sip of water as she remembered those days when Naomi was little and that waste of space left them alone. "Kieran showed me that it was okay to trust him…it was okay to put myself first on occasion, because if I didn't, I would come to resent my life and everyone in it, you included. He made me believe in myself, to have confidence in who I was as a woman."
Naomi was confused as she digested her mother's words. "What does that have to do with Da trying to set you up?"
"He asked me not to wallow in misery after he was gone and he didn't want me to be alone for the rest of my life, ya know?" Gina explained, knowing that her daughter was reacting the same as she did when Kieran brought it up. "That's not to say I wasn't angry at the idea, because I was. I was also hurt and the thought of being with anyone besides your dad?" Gina shook her head as she remembered the feelings that thought had provoked. "Well, that was just unacceptable to me at the time, but after a few heartfelt conversations and a lot of pleading, Kieran finally declared his reasons why."
Naomi was honestly interested in what her mother was telling her and sat up in her chair, bringing her elbows to rest on the table and rested her chin on her hands. "And?" She asked as her mum took her time taking a bite of her sandwich and chewing slowly, as if to amp up Naomi's anticipation. When Gina merely smiled at her, Naomi rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration. "Are you going to finish the story or not?" She asked, huffily, leaning back and crossing her arms in front of her.
"Patience, Naomi…it really does pay off, you know." Gina smirked at her daughter, never failing to find amusement at her expense . When Naomi sighed again, she decided to have a touch of mercy. "His greatest fear of dying was the thought of leaving me alone. I told him that I would never love anyone the way I loved him, and the bloody fool laughed at me. Kieran was a simple man, but he was also a closeted romantic."
Naomi felt tears sting her eyes at the thought of her dad and mum in their last days together, but she sniffed them back as her mum finished.
"He said to me,'I know that, Gina, my love, but that doesn't mean you won't be able to love again. And I want you to promise, promise me with all your heart, that you'll at least try and find someone that makes you happy, because I won't be able to rest peacefully knowing that you are unhappy.'" Gina told Naomi what Kieran had asked of her, complete with his gruff Irish accent and Naomi laughed through the tears that had started to fall again.
"And did you promise him?" Naomi finally asked, astonished and charmed all at once and then when her mother confirmed that yes, she did promise him, she asked. "How could you promise that?"
Gina shrugged. "It's easy enough to promise the one person you love anything. That's not saying I'll find someone, it's not like I'm "on the pull"," Gina said, using her finger to make air quotes as she spoke and that brought out a real honest laugh from Naomi, "I'm not actively looking, and I told him that I wouldn't, but I did promise that I would be open to the idea of meeting someone new. That's all."
Naomi needed time to think about what her mother had sprung on her and the two of them sat in silence for a bit, eating and sipping their drinks and just sharing space together.
Gina felt as if it was time to shift the conversation to something happier. "So…today was the start of the new show, yes?" Naomi nodded after taking another bite of her sandwich, not wanting to be rude and talk with her mouth full and Gina appreciated the gesture. "Tell me all about it."
And that was it. Naomi and Gina spent the rest of the afternoon talking about Effy and the show and how excited Naomi was to finally work on a show that meant something. She answered her mum's questions, only hesitating slightly when asked about the twins, and found herself talking more about Katie than she did Emily, totally on purpose and missed the gleam in her mother's eye as she realised that fact.
When they finished up after copious amounts of tea, they made their way back to the car and headed toward Naomi's flat. It was decided that Gina would stay with Naomi until she found a place of her own, so when they arrived, Naomi took her mum's suitcases into the spare room.
"Here you go, Mum…," Naomi stated as Gina took a seat on the chair that had been placed in the corner of the room, next to the window, "bathroom is down the hall, towels and such are in the cupboard behind the door…do you want a cuppa?"
"Calm down, Nai…you're nervous about me being in your space, I get it."
Naomi's eyes widened. "No, no…that's not it, I just…," she stopped to gather her words together, "I want you to be comfortable here, Mum. It's a huge change for you and I'm trying to make it as easy as possible, that's all. I'm really happy that you're here."
Gina smiled at her daughter and stood up, taking the few steps needed to reach her and gave her another hug. "I'm really happy to be here, love. I've missed you so much."
Naomi smiled and deepened the hug. "So…tea?"
"Actually, I'm feeling tired. Would you mind terribly if I just…went to bed?"
"Not at all, Mum. I'll leave you to it." Naomi said as her mobile sounded, alerting her to a text. She pulled away from Gina to fish it out of her pocket and saw that it was from Effy.
"Anyone important?" Gina asked as she opened one of the suitcases and pulled out her toiletries.
"Effy…she wants me to come out with them tonight." Naomi said absently as she sent back a "thanks, but no thanks" text. "They're celebrating the first day and wants me to join them. It's no big deal, I'll see them tomorrow."
"Why don't you go with them?" Gina asked, eyeing her daughter critically, as she pulled out a pair of pyjamas and laid them out on the bed.
The question caught Naomi off guard, as she considered her answer. If she told her mum the truth, how she didn't want to spend any more time than was necessary with Emily, Gina would automatically know that that was a lie. Because the truth was, Naomi did want to spend time with Emily. She couldn't help it, but she didn't want her mum, or anyone else for that matter, to know that.
Naomi shook her head. "It's fine, Mum. I just wanna make sure you settle in okay, not go traipsing all over the city, drinking my weight in alcohol, getting pissed."
Gina laughed loudly at that. "Since when?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow, rivalling her daughter, who rolled her eyes and laugh with her.
"Since now. It's fine, really…besides, if Elysse finds out I went out and didn't go out with her, she'd never forgive me." Naomi spoke before she thought, suddenly remembering that she hadn't told her mum about her girlfriend.
"Oh? Elysse? Girlfriend?" Gina pinned her daughter with a pointed look, and Naomi sighed, knowing there was going to be no way she would get away without telling her about her girlfriend. "Ya know what? A nice cuppa sounds brilliant, yeah? I'll be out shortly."
"Yes, Mother." Naomi replied grudgingly, as she trudged into the kitchen and put the kettle on. 'This could be painful.' She thought to herself, as she set out two mugs and grabbed the sugar. She could hear her mum walk down the hallway, just as she reached into the fridge for the milk she knew that her mum would want.
"Alright, my darling daughter," Gina smiled as she took a seat, reaching for the kettle as Naomi placed it on the table, "sit and start talking."
Naomi groaned out loud, but did as requested, fixing her own cup before she spent the rest of the night talking to her mum about her life at the moment.
Despite having to tell her mum about her girlfriend and having Gina ask questions, Naomi had enjoyed the time spent with her mum, telling her about Elysse, about the show and Katie and her crew. It was so different to when she had been a sullen, brooding and snarky teenager, intent on keeping her parents out of her business. This time, when Gina questioned anything, Naomi spoke freely and felt a lightness at being able to do so after years spent apart from her mum.
The only thing she kept to herself was her thoughts and feelings about Emily. Gina had tried a few times to get that info out of Naomi, but she knew when she was wasting her time, so she let it go for now.
A little while later, as Gina turn out the light by the bed and settled in for the night, she smiled, knowing that she made the right decision to come home. She had a feeling that Naomi was going to need her soon enough.
Emily danced to the music, letting the sound of the heavy bass float around her and not caring who she was dancing with and she hated it. Deep inside there was only one person that she wanted to be doing anything with, but because she was a coward, that was never going to be an option now.
Effy and Katie sat at a high table, so they could keep an eye on her and Emily knew that Cook and Freddie were close by, just in case anything happened and she hated that too. Hated the fact that she actually needed someone to look after her.
'Why can't you get a fucking grip, Fitch? You're twenty-seven years old, for fucks sake! Learn to fend for yourself!' she thought bitterly as she caught sight of Katie keeping a close eye on her. She was trying to let the music sooth her, but thoughts of working so closely with Naomi earlier had really done in what little self-control she had.
As the song switch to something slower, Emily felt arms slip around her waist from behind, but whilst she was happy dancing with strangers, she wasn't about to let them touch her, so she pulled away and headed for the bar.
"S'cuse me." Emily muttered as she ran into a couple making out close to the bar. She didn't even bother to look up, just wanting to get another shot and a pint, so she continued moving ahead until she reached her destination.
Across the club, Effy and Katie watched Emily's progression to get more alcohol, when Effy stood up suddenly and glared.
"What's up, Effs?" Katie asked, concerned about Emily.
"I don't fucking believe that fucking bitch!" Effy growled as she started to make her way to the bar, Katie quickly following in her wake. "I'll fucking kill her for this!"
Katie had never seen Effy like this in the short time she'd known her, but this couldn't be a good thing, as she watched Effy barge her way through the crowd of club-goers. When Effy stopped suddenly and forcefully spun someone around to face her, Katie gasped loudly.
"Having fun, are we?" Effy yelled as Elysse stared at her in shock. Katie glanced from Naomi's girlfriend to the short dark-haired girl that she had been snogging as if her life depended on it and knew this wouldn't end well.
"What are you doing here?" Elysse asked, glancing around, looking extremely guilty.
"She's not here you fucking cow!" Effy huffed, crossing her arms in front of her, adopting a bored expression, but feeling anything but. Anger. That's what she was feeling. So much anger as she watched the supposed girlfriend of her best friend make out with another girl.
Elysse was about to say something just as Emily walked up to see what was going on and that snapped the dark-haired girl out of the daze she had been in.
"Babes, are these friends of yours? I thought you said it was just gonna be you and me tonight?" she whined, causing Katie to smirk and Emily to look confused as Effy looked like she was about to blow.
"Emily, can you and Katie go tell the guys we're leaving?" Effy stated as calmly as she could, wanting to spare Naomi as much embarrassment as possible.
"Yeah, c'mon Emily." Katie said linking her arm through Emily's and they headed off to find Cook and Freddie.
Effy made sure they left before turning back to Elysse. "Enjoy your night because tomorrow, you and Naomi are done!"
"You can't do that!" Elysse protested.
Effy smiled evilly at the girl. "Watch me." She turned with every intention of leaving, but one thing was bugging her, so she turned back around and addressed the dark-haired girl. "How long have you been fucking her?" She asked her, jerking her head in Elysse's direction and watched as the small girl swallowed thickly.
"A-a-about s-s-six months."
Effy's eyes shot up to Elysse and sneered at her. "I fucking knew it!"
With that Effy turned on her heel and strode out of the club. She had half a mind to go round to Naomi's place now and tell her what she had just learned, but the sight of a heartbroken and drunk Emily was enough to just flag a cab and call it a night.
It would have to wait until tomorrow, till she could sit Naomi down and talk to her. Effy knew she was going to need the night to build up her defences for whatever Naomi would throw at her for being the messenger.
Alright, peeps! What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Let me know, yeah? and if you don't feel like it, that's alright too!
Loves and Hugs to all,
Marci