Author's Note: Thanks so much for the reviews on the last chapter! To be honest, I haven't had the time to reply to them, what with keeping up with 6 courses at uni and working and trying to have a social life. So I'm very sorry about that! I will definitely reply to the reviews I get on this chapter though :)

This chapter spun out of control. It was supposed to cover 3 days. It ended up covering 1 day. Brilliant...

And as usual, I don't own or have anything to do with Skins

Chapter 6: Freedom to Peaceful Assembly

Needless to say, I was horribly hung over the next morning when I showed up for work. I was also late because I spent fifteen minutes retching that morning before I was even able to get ready for work. Emily was not impressed with me, that was for sure. She wasn't speaking to me and I wasn't entirely sure if that was because she was still mad at me from yesterday or if she was mad at me for being late or if it was a combination of those things. She handed me my work when I popped my head into her office to apologize for being late and that was the only interaction we've had all morning.

I had five folders to look after, each detailing a different task. The first was simple enough – arrange Emily's lunch plans for the day and contact some woman named Mandy and ask her to meet Emily at a nearby restaurant. I got that done and updated Emily's schedule for her and made sure to send her a confirmation e-mail detailing the reservation I'd made for her at the restaurant. Then I took a quick break to go to the toilets and vomit again. Why, oh why did I think it was a good idea to get absolutely shitfaced on a work night? Note to self: never listen to Cook ever again.

I went back to my desk and saw Emily leaning against her doorway waiting for me with an unimpressed look on her face.

"I need you to forget about whatever tasks you haven't finished just yet," She said tersely. "I need you to advocate on my behalf for Elisaveta Dimitrova. She's a Bulgarian waitress who was assaulted at random on the day of the Pride Parade in Sofia, though she isn't gay. The police there aren't actively searching for the people who assaulted her and the CCTV cameras in the area have been wiped clean. It sounds like somebody on the force was involved, but the government is covering their asses and nobody else is getting involved. I already have too much on my plate and can't take on another case, so you're going to have to handle this one. You need to alert media outlets, and get in contact with the Bulgarian ambassador and discuss the matter with him and suggest that his government step up their search for the assaulters."

I stared at Emily blankly, not sure about where to even begin my new task. I'd never even heard of advocating on somebody's behalf, but I couldn't tell Emily that I wouldn't do the task. Emily handed me a very thick folder.

"There's a checklist of things you have to do in there. There's also phone numbers for media outlets, various Bulgarian officials, and a number for Elisaveta herself. I suggest you call her first and hear her side of the story. She does speak English, so you should be fine," Emily said as she looked down at her watch. "I'm off to lunch now. You can take your lunch when I get back."

And with that, Emily grabbed her handbag and sauntered off towards the elevators while I sat dumbfoundedly staring at the massive folder. I did as Emily suggested and phoned Elisaveta first to hear her side of the story. I took diligent notes while she retold what happened to her and how she was left bleeding in the street until early the next morning when a woman who was on her way to work found her. Her calls for help had been ignored and her cell phone had been smashed during the assault, so she had no way of contacting the police herself. She didn't mention anything about the obvious corruption surrounding her case, and I chose not to bring it up. If she wasn't talking about it, there was a good reason. Elisaveta was a waitress but she sounded like a smart woman who was very aware of her surroundings and the shortcomings of the police force and the government. I finished up my conversation with Elisaveta and began calling media outlets and various Bulgarian officials. I was about halfway through when Emily came back from lunch.

"I'll be in conference calls for the rest of the day, please don't disturb me," Emily said curtly after she hung up her purse and walked into her office. She slammed her door shut and drew her blinds closed. "You can take your lunch break now."

Emily is definitely in a fucking miserable mood today. I headed to the toilets before lunch and mercifully managed not to be sick. I then went to grab a coffee and a bagel because that was all my stomach was able to handle. I popped two paracetemol tablets and headed back to work early – might as well work through the half hour left of my lunch break. I was hoping to get all my work done for the day, including all the work Emily had assigned me before the Elisaveta case. Maybe if I actually managed to get my work done, Emily would cheer up.

I got back to the office and finished up with Elisaveta's case for the day – everything else I needed to do would have to wait until the media people and Bulgarian officials were able to get back to my emails and phone calls. I finished up the work in the other four folders Emily handed me, and I also re-worked Emily's schedule for the rest of the week after she sent me an email stating that we were headed to a protest on Friday on behalf of Amnesty International. That meant that all her Friday conference calls were going to have to be rescheduled, so I spent the rest of the afternoon on the phone with various businesspeople and Amnesty-people in order to reschedule those conference calls.

Emily popped her head out of her office at about 6 pm and asked me to order food in and told me that we were going to have to pull a late night tonight. She handed me more work and gave me the details of a business trip I had to book for the two of us. I ordered a pizza right away, worried about how a grumpy and hungry Emily might behave. Grumpy Emily was bad enough and I didn't want to find out what hungry Emily was like.

The pizza arrived while I was half-way finished booking our business trip to Bulgaria. Emily popped out of her office as soon as I opened the box, as though she somehow sensed that the pizza had arrived. She dragged her office chair out and sat across from me as we both delved into the pizza.

"Are you done with your work yet?" Emily asked. I nodded and took a bite of my pizza.

"Almost done. I have to finish up booking the business trip and then I'm all done."

Emily nodded. "Well I suppose you can leave as soon as that's finished up. You must have a busy night of fucking random girls to get to."

I nearly choked on my pizza at that little tidbit of information.

"Sorry...what?" I asked. Emily looked at me straight in the eye and I saw anger flash in her eyes.

"You pocket dialled me last night while you were fucking some girl."

I didn't know what to say to that. Suddenly, Emily's behaviour today made sense – not only was she mad at me for my comments yesterday and the fact that I showed up late this morning, but she was mad because she heard me fucking another woman. Then again, Emily and I never said we were exclusive and we weren't even supposed to be sleeping with each other now that we were working together. So she sort of had no right to dig her nose into my personal life and get pissy with me for having sex with someone.

"My personal life is my personal life, Emily, and I don't think that my personal life should reflect on how you treat me at work. Especially considering whatever happened between us is over," I replied as I tossed my napkin in the garbage.

"You sort of fucking make your personal life my business when you pocket dial me and I have to listen to you fucking some other girl, Naomi."

"Would you rather I fuck you, Emily? Is that what this is all about?" I asked as I turned back to my computer and confirmed the business trip. Emily stared at me without saying a single word, her lips pursed tightly. "Business trip is confirmed. I'll forward you the email. Goodnight, Emily."

And with that, I grabbed my jacket and handbag and walked towards the elevators, adrenaline from our argument still coursing through my body. I hailed a taxi, too lazy to bother with the tube at this time of night. And when I finally got home, I was still angry. What gave Emily the right to get mad at me for who I had sex with? Who did she think she was?

I slammed the door to the flat shut behind me, startling Effy who was sat in the middle of the living room. She closed her laptop quickly when she saw how angry I was. I shoved my jacket in the closet messily and threw my shoes in behind it.

"Naomi, what the fuck?" Effy asked as she fixed my jacket and shoes in the closet. "This is the second night in a row you've come home in a pissy mood."

"It's my fucking boss, she's such a fucking bitch," I replied as I reached into the fridge and grabbed a beer.

"What did she do today?" Effy asked as she sat back down by her laptop and continued looking through a few furniture store websites.

"I don't want to talk about it. Basically she found out about an aspect of my personal life and now somehow that gives her the right to punish me at work," I said, taking a swift swig from my beer. "I like that couch."

"Naomi, you've got to bite the bullet. Not everybody is going to be nice to you all the time and yes, sometimes you'll have a bitchy boss. You've got to just deal with it."

"Well, that's what I am fucking doing Effy. Haven't quit, have I? I need this job, no matter how much Emily pisses me off."

And as soon as I finished saying those words, my cell phone started ringing. Emily's name flashed on the screen and I felt like throwing my cell phone against the exposed brick wall Effy and I had in our flat. But I bit the bullet and answered the fucking phone.

"Hello?"

"Naomi, I need you to come to my flat and help me pack some things up."

"What am I, your maid?"

"Well, you're my personal assistant, so you're whatever I want you to be."

And then she hung up the call. I handed my beer to Effy as I walked into my room to change out of my business clothes.

"Where are you going?" Effy asked as she leaned against my doorway.

"Emily wants me to help her pack things up at her flat," I replied as I changed into an old and torn pair of jeans and a tank top. "Apparently, I'm her maid and whatever else she wants me to be."

Effy smiled at me sympathetically. She handed me back my beer.

"Finish that before you leave. Sounds like you need it more than I do."

That was probably one of the wisest things Effy's ever said to me. It was obvious that Emily wasn't in the best of moods and I wasn't exactly excited to go over to her flat and basically be her bitch for the next few hours. I threw on a pair of sneakers and an old leather jacket before I headed over to Emily's flat.

When I showed up, she buzzed me in right away and left her front door open just like she did the last time I was over. Except the last time I was over, I was greeted by a lingerie-clad Emily. This time, however, I was greeted by Emily wearing leggings and a sweater. The lingerie definitely looked nicer on her. Her hair was held up in a topknot and she'd taken off all her makeup and was wearing glasses. She was bending over a box, which she was filling up with books.

"Didn't know you needed glasses," I said as I shut the door behind me. Emily didn't say anything in reply.

"I need you to do the closet," Emily said as she lead me into her bedroom. Her bed was unmade and her room looked a mess. She lead me into her closet and gestured to the left half of the massive walk in closet. "Everything on the left side of this closet needs to be put into boxes. I don't care how messily you do it, just get it done, okay?"

"Uh...okay," I replied. Emily handed me a bunch of boxes and a tape gun. "Why?"

"Because my ex is refusing to move her things out of my apartment. I'm going to box everything up and have them all sent to her."

"Oh," I replied as I started removing fancy suits and dresses from the hanger. Emily turned to leave but hesitated when she reached the doorway. Her fingers gripped tightly onto the doorframe.

"It would be nice if you'd wrinkle her suits. Especially the nice ones. In fact, don't fold anything," Emily said without turning around. She left as soon as she'd finished speaking and the way she stomped her feet and moved her hips told me that yes, she was pissed. I was just happy that at least she wasn't currently pissed off with me.

I finished up the closet much quicker than I expected – it didn't take very long to fill eight boxes full of clothes when I didn't have to fold any of them and was encouraged to wrinkle things. Emily popped in to check on me a few times and actually helped me tape some of the boxes shut.

I walked out into the living room and saw Emily sitting on the floor and taping up a box. Her living room looked pretty empty without all those books she'd packed away. Her shelves looked sparse and half her closet was empty and it was weird to see Emily exposed like this. I suddenly felt sorry for Emily. I'd been pretty rude to her earlier today and even though she kind of deserved it, I was a bit harsh. Emily didn't seem angry anymore, she just seemed sad. I'd feel sad if I broke up with someone I'd shared a home with.

"Hey," I said quietly as I sat down next to her. She looked up at me and I saw how tired she looked. She smiled a small smile at me. "You okay?"

She shrugged. "I suppose so. Just a bit upset, you know."

I nodded. "Emily, I really hope I'm not being presumptuous asking this, but did your relationship end because of what happened, you know, between us?"

Emily sighed. She looked at me and smiled slightly again.

"What happened between you and me showed me that Mandy and I weren't right for each other. I...I never felt...when I was with you, Naomi, it was like I felt alive again. I was with Mandy because it was easy to be with Mandy, it was easy to live my life with a blindfold on, completely unaware of what I was missing out on. So, I suppose, yes, my relationship did end because of what happened between you and me," Emily fiddled with a bit of tape on the box as she spoke.

I didn't know what to do, or say. I wanted to wrap my arms around Emily and tell her it was going to be okay, but I wasn't sure that it was going to be okay and I wasn't sure that I was allowed to wrap my arms around her. So I did the next best thing. I grabbed her hand and squeezed it in what I hoped was a reassuring way.

"Sorry I was such a dick earlier," I said. "You didn't really deserve it."

Emily looked down at our entwined hands and nodded.

"No, I did deserve it. I can't control you. You can do whatever you like," Emily said as she pulled her hand away from mine. I bit my lip nervously, unsure of what to say next. Emily pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

"I didn't want to do that, though. I didn't like it," I said very quietly. Emily turned her head and rested it against her knees so she was looking at me. She watched me intently as I bit my lip and contemplated what to say next. "I fucked that girl to try to prove something to myself."

Emily nodded, but her face remained impassive. I was hoping I wouldn't have to spell things out for Emily, hoping that she would just understand what I meant.

"Did it work?" She asked.

"No," I replied. Emily nodded and this time, she reached out to grab my hand.

We just sat like that for a few minutes. I really hope Emily was able to understand what I was trying to say because my heart felt like it was beating out of control and I didn't like it one bit. I was starting to realize that I wanted to be with her and that, really, nothing was going to change that, no matter how hard I tried to fight it.

"Naomi," She whispered quietly. "Can you stay over tonight? I really don't want to be alone."

I nodded at her. Because I didn't want to be alone either. I stood up and grabbed Emily's hands and helped her get up. She wrapped her arms around my waist and stood up on her tip toes and kissed me gently. She kept an arm wrapped around my waist while we walked to the bedroom.

We both undressed down to our underwear and climbed into Emily's unmade bed. We both lay down facing each other, and I reached over and traced patterns on the bare skin of her arm.

"I thought this wasn't allowed anymore," I said quietly with a small smile. Emily smiled back.

"Fuck the rules," Emily replied. She moved closer to me and we both wrapped our arms around each other. Emily leaned up to kiss me again and I kissed her back. "You still gonna be here in the morning?"

"Yeah."

"Goodnight, Naomi."

"Night."

We didn't have sex that night, but we did fall asleep together for the second time. I really liked it. I tuned out all the internalized worries I had and I managed to just let myself be in the moment. I wanted to be with Emily. It was a scary thought for someone who's never been in a relationship. But that was okay because right now I wasn't letting myself feel scared.

Author's Note: Please don't forget to let me know what you thought of the chapter in a review :)