Sorry for the reprieve, here is the next bit.

Also, Chivalry is Dead is currently in the works. I'm not going to give a parameter, as that seems to just jinx me, but know I'm working on it.

Special thanks to: holysheep, Steph81, ifsomebody'sgotsoul, Guest, mUfF MuNcHeR, Crevette, Katie Watie, fakevegan, DontBeIgnorant23, FrenchKiwi1994, and lalalalee. I really do appreciate you all taking the time.

As always, thank you for reading.

I don't own Skins or anything of its nature.

Chapter III

..

..

Naomi sat on the mess hall steps next to Cook. She watched Emily chat with one of the new kitchen staff from the boys' camp. All of the staff were mingling about before it was time to eat. The cookout was the equivalent of a staff social. It occurred every prep week to introduce the staff to their respective counterparts for the summer.

"Who's he?" asked Naomi.

Cook turned his head, not moving from his lounged position, "Al – something," he said before turning back to scope out the new girl counselors. "Foreign staff. Nice enough dude. Not your kind of foreign though, English ain't his strong suite."

"Says the boy who just said 'ain't."

"I'm a man," Cook sat up puffing out his chest.

"Of course you are."

"Besides that's not what I meant," Cook said, "he's Polish or somethin."

Naomi watched the bloke again. A group of girls from Emily's CIT year were chatting with some of the guys. Al – or whatever his name was had been spending most of his time talking with Emily. Not that she noticed or anything.

"Not that it matters, don't need to speak much to get the job done. We do just fine," Cook added.

The sudden image of Cook and this guy grunting at each other as they drove across the lake on a food run invaded her mind. She knew to give Cook more credit, but it was an amusing vision and probably not half wrong.

"Hey," Emily said as she approached the two friends.

"Hey yourself, Red," Cook smirked.

"Emsy!" a dark haired lad said putting his arm around Emily. It was her cousin Nick followed by a few of his mates. "How is my most favorite cousin in the world?"

Naomi always forgot the Fitch's and Levan's were cousins. Matty was the same age as her, Nick the same as Emily. Nick was a nice lad, but a bit over enthusiastic for Naomi.

"Good."

"And how was your flight?"

"Probably around the same length as your drive."

"Ugh, don't remind me," Nick said. "Everyone always wants to go to New York City, but every time I go to leave it – fucking traffic." Nick and Matty lived in Brooklyn with their dad who happened to the brother of Emily's mum.

"So does that mean there will be no traffic when you drive me back to school at the end of the summer?" Emily asked. Emily went to NYU for musical theater.

"God, I fucking hope so," Nick laughed.

His ginger friend, Alo if Naomi remembered right, nudged Nick in the ribs.

"Right, so," Nick began rubbing his hands together, "when are our dearest Aunt and Uncle Fitch coming to good ol' New England?"

"AKA when can you have a party at the lake house before they get there?"

Nick produced a wide grin and his best puppy dog eyes.

"Not until August."

"Yes!"

"If I agree you've got to actually help clean this time – you know how anal my mum is."

Nick scoffed, "You think your mum's bad? Have you met my dad?"

Cook turned to Naomi, "Well as excitin as this family bonding is, I want an ice cream sandwich."

"There aren't any," Naomi said, "Only brownies."

Cook pffted at her, "I drive the boat your food come in on and I know there are ice cream sandwiches. An I ain't above stealing one from the walk in freezer." He stood up. "You comin?"

Naomi stood with a shrug leaving Emily to discuss plans with her cousin.

Cook whistled as his steps echoed on the hardwood floors. The mess hall was empty save them, it being nice enough to hold the cookout outside.

She followed him through the kitchen and into the walk in fridge. He said something as he disappeared through the next door into the freezer.

"What?" she asked. It was cold in the freezer, a welcome reprieve from the hot summer day outside.

"I said," Cook repeated sticking his head out from behind a stack of boxes, "So are you two bumbin' uglies yet?"

"Sorry?"

"You and Red," he said as he eyed a box victoriously before ripping its lid open.

Naomi gaped at him, "Um, no…. Fuck off."

"Why the hell not?" he asked before putting a wrapped ice cream bar in his mouth. He held another up to her in question.

She shook her head and he shrugged dropping it back into the box before closing it.

"Seriously though," he continued as he shut the door behind them and they returned to the hot late afternoon air. "She's hot, your hot, fucking get together and feel alright."

"Will you shut up?" she said looking around; they were still alone.

He gave her an innocent look as he unwrapped his prize.

"Not so loud, yeah?" Naomi continued, "Don't need the whole camp to know." Cook was the only person she'd told, not that she was gay – hell everyone knew that, but that her and Emily sort of had a thing. Camp was a gossip factory, and it wasn't anyone's business anyway.

Cook laughed.

"What is so funny?"

"You're not exactly subtle there, babe."

"What?" Naomi said, "We haven't even done anything."

Cook laughed again through a mouthful of ice cream.

She glared at him.

"You eye fuck each other enough, you might as well be."

She scowled, "We do not."

He just looked at her as he shoved the end bit of his dessert into his mouth, tossing the wrapper in the bin by the door as they walked past.

"She does?" Naomi asked a moment later, she couldn't help the curiosity. Her over analytical mind whirred.

He smirked as he licked the last bit of cookie off his fingers. "Oh yeah, babe, just about as much as you do her."

"Shut up," she said hitting him in the side causing him to laugh louder as they rejoined the rest of the staff.

..

..

"Who do we have?" Katie asked, the curiosity burning in her voice. She peered over Naomi's shoulder. The cabin rosters had just been handed out, signaling the end of the last meeting before camp truly began.

"Yes!" Naomi exclaimed right before Katie grabbed the list out of her hands. She had just finished reading their camper roster for the first quarter. She didn't spot any problem campers that she knew of, and a few she was excited for.

"Whose got my sister?" Liv asked down the table. Liv was a counselor in Unit C, the oldest age group.

"We do!" Naomi said causing Katie to squeal (she hadn't gotten that far on the list yet).

"AND she's staying six weeks this year?" Naomi asked looking back over at the list Katie was still scanning.

"Yeah," Liv laughed, "six weeks of snark, hope you're ready for it."

"Oh I am," Naomi grinned. Naomi didn't have favourite campers. But Maude was one of her favourites.

"We've got all the cool campers," Katie said looking up from the list finally.

"Just about," Naomi concurred. Unit B was her favorite age. All of the girls were in that awkward middle school phase. It was when they were just starting to figure themselves out. The variety of maturity and personality that ranged from 11 to 13 year old girls was seemingly infinite; also Naomi loved their awkwardness. As tedious as the thought of living with Katie fucking Fitch for eight more weeks was, they would actually be a good balance for the campers.

"How'd you fair?" Naomi asked Emily as they walked out of the mess hall together.

"Not bad," Emily said as the screen doors creaked shut behind them, "not as easy to tell with the younger campers, first summer for most. Though I do recognize a few that I am pretty excited about. And only one info sheet mentioned potential bedwetting, so all in all pretty good."

Naomi laughed, her trainers crunching the woodchip and pine needle strewn ground, "I still think all you Unit A counselors are completely mad."

Emily rolled her eyes, "Right back at you." She stopped. "What are you doing right now?"

Naomi looked around as if looking for something to do, she shrugged, "Duno, was going to head back to my cabin, I guess. Early day tomorrow."

"Want to hangout for a bit?"

Naomi smiled, "Yeah."

"I don't want to walk all the way to the tree fort though," Emily added quickly, "I'm too tired and it's too far. Especially with early reveille tomorrow."

"Hmm," Naomi said, looking up. Thirty or so paces away, directly in front of them was the lodge. "Lodge porch?"

"Perfect."

The porch ran along the whole far side of the lodge, facing the lake. Emily chose one of the benches that rocked, Naomi following suite. She loved the porch; it was the best spot in camp for thunderstorms. Well, it was the best spot in camp where you could safely watch the storm engulf the mountains and cascade over the water without the variable of potentially being struck by lightning.

"How are you?" Emily asked as she tucked a leg underneath herself. Naomi smiled. She watched the moon dance a watery trail across the lake's surface. There was just something about the way Emily would ask that, such a simple, common question. She made you feel like the most important person in the universe when she asked it. Unlike whenever anyone else asked, Emily said it with such a concern, such a genuine interest. It went to straight to Naomi's head every time, like a blowback.

"Really happy to be back, to be honest," Naomi said looking back over to Emily who was watching her.

"Same," Emily said through a small smile. "I was kind of torn before I got here, hearing all the cool things different friends were doing. There are just so many different things you can do in a summer, you know?" Emily said, trying to explain herself. It hadn't been until early spring Naomi heard from Emily that she'd signed on for the summer. "But then you get back here and it's just…"

"Home," Naomi finished for her.

Emily laughed, "In a weird sort of way, yeah. It totes is. It's like this place is it's own world. Nothing ever changes."

"It's timeless," Naomi smirked, "Paradoxical universe."

"Are you referencing that show again?" Emily said with an amused, all too knowing look.

"I might be."

"You Brits and your humor."

"You love it."

Emily laughed.

Naomi smirked, "You wouldn't know what to do without me or it."

Emily laughed again, "You're right. I don't think I could get through the whole summer in this parallel world if you weren't here."

Naomi had the type of side smile cross her face that was accompanied by a tingling in her gut and a slight tinge to her ears. She appreciated it was dark out. After last summer, she definitely couldn't have imagined this one without Emily.

"Where's Jal this summer again?" Naomi asked.

"Taking some summer courses and Nannying last I talked to her."

"Sounds exciting."

"If you think about it, it's basically what were doing," Emily said.

"Only we're on a gorgeous lake," Naomi said.

"Only we're on a gorgeous lake," Emily repeated with an eye roll.

"With no coursework."

"With no coursework."

"And with friends."

"And with friends."

"And in a foreign country."

"And in a foreign – hey!"

Naomi smirked, "What, California to New Hampshire? That's practically a different country."

Emily shrugged, "maybe if we were down south."

"That's its own whole other parallel universe."

Emily shook her head. "We should visit Jal this summer."

"That'd be ace, yeah," Naomi said. "I'd be awful to not get to see her this summer."

Naomi and Jal had been friend since before Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Their friendship can be attributed to a random seat assignment in the mess hall and to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (mainly Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban). Each on one end of a bench the two spend the rest of that week at their assigned table discussing books followed by doing the exact same thing by the lake or via Skype for next nine years en counting.

"It's kind of weird without her here."

"I know, now who am I to talk to about Harry Potter?"

Emily laughed. "I'll call her and see when would work for her so we can put in for a time off."

"Fantastic."

"Wow," Emily said, thinking aloud, "that's already two of my days off planned and camp hasn't even really started yet."

"Two?" Naomi asked. They were allotted seven per summer.

"Yeah, Nick was bugging me at the cookout to take a time off with him and some of his mates at my parent's lake house."

"Right," said Naomi. A half smirk pulled at the side of Naomi's mouth, "Sounds fun."

"Shut up."

The two continued their talking much later than either had planned and the moon had shifted significantly in the sky.

"Have you talked to Sophia recently?" Emily asked a while later.

Naomi hadn't expected the question. This was Sophia's second summer not back.

"No, not recently," Naomi shrugged, "I know she worked at that little shop by her Mummum and Poppop last summer but I don't know what she's doing this summer."

Sophia had visited the previous summer spending most of her day with Naomi and following her to her different activities. They had been close so it wasn't that odd.

"Did you guys ever…"

Naomi rolled her eyes, "You can ask the question as many times as you like, the answers still the same."

"Seriously?"

This time Naomi laughed, "Yes, seriously. God why does everyone think that we snogged?

Emily giggled.

"Why does everyone think we 'hooked up'?" Naomi said using her fingers to make air quotes.

"Um because you hung out together all the time, you went on time off together, and because everyone knew she liked you."

Naomi opened then closed her mouth, "Not everyone."

"Bullshit," Emily said, "There is no way you didn't know."

"Not entirely," Naomi said, a bit of guilt in her tone, "I mean, I kind of had a hunch."

"A hunch?"

"Okay, maybe deep down I had an idea and was ignoring it. We were mates!" Naomi tried to defend. "Well, or at least I tried to until she told me she liked me…"

Emily's eyebrows rose, "what'd you do?"

"Said I was sorry?" Naomi said, knowing to look guilty as she did so.

"You said you were sorry?" Emily repeated.

"Yes, and then gave her a hug."

"That's horrible, Naomi."

"Well what should I have done?" Naomi said, "I was a complete wreck that summer, I mean, we didn't really know each other then, you and I, but I feel like everyone knew that."

"Yeah," Emily said, her voice softer, "I remember Jal mentioning something about that."

Naomi and her first girlfriend had broken up right before Naomi left for America for the summer. Naomi had been dumped right before she left for America for the summer.

"I didn't see her like that, she was just my mate," Naomi shrugged, "God I don't even know why she fancied me. All I ever did was talk about Michelle. I was completely still hung up on her."

"So nothing really happened with you and Sophia?" Emily asked again as if saying it aloud would make her believe.

"No," Naomi said exasperated but smiling. "God everyone really thinks we did, don't they?"

"Yeah," Emily laughed, "pretty much."

Naomi rolled her eyes, "Brilliant."

Emily laughed again.

Naomi thought back to last summer with Emily, and how different it had been than with Sophia. She guessed that was the difference intrigue made.

..

It was a pleasant summer night that brought cool relief from the hot day. They had gone to the tree fort again. A habit that was getting harder to pacify as the summer moved on, as it does, and responsibilities ramped up. Which always seemed to happen when time wore down.

They had come multiple times by now, each time the different degree of space between them varying with the degrees of heat in the air. Currently they sat kitty cornered to each other in the warm night, each leaning against a short wall. Naomi lightly kicked the sole of Emily's shoe.

In the light that escaped past the trees Naomi saw Emily look up at her with a smile. She sighed.

"I just want to know you," Emily said. "I don't know what it is. I just want to know you."

The eye contact was heavy and unwavering. Naomi had left her foot where it was, toe pressed against the sole of Emily's trainer. Even through fabric and rubber she was acutely aware of the contact.

"I know what you mean," Naomi smiled studying Emily's face, "ditto."

It was the truth. Even before they were friends, back when they just knew of each other through mutual friends it just felt different. Not like with Sophia who was a mate or Grace who felt like a sister, how she felt around Emily was something entirely different. The two girls sat there for a moment in a comfortable, weighted silence.

"Naomi, I want to tell you something," Emily said. Naomi watched her hands fidget and still. The tone of her voice was a taught rope finally released.

Naomi looked up.

"Naomi, I like you," Emily said. "And I just want you to know that. Even if it's one way, which I don't think it is. I just wanted you to know."

The smile on Naomi's face appeared as slow and as sudden as a sunrise. Starting in one corner of her mouth and stretching to the far reaches of each corner of her eyes. "It's definitely not one way."

The feeling in her stomach at those words was like a poison, delicious and warm spreading in the low of her stomach up to the top of her chest. It was the kind of thing that could make your heart stop. The kind of thing that reminded you you were alive.

..

Naomi sighed. That was a year ago. Though any delusion she may have fabricated throughout the year about her feelings for Emily disappeared the moment she stepped into the mess hall. Naomi wondered if she'd be so lucky that Emily still felt the same. A lot can change in a year. She just hoped some things could remain the same.