So my attempt at this fic to be a writer's block breaking fic seems to have failed because I struggled with this chapter. This story really isn't expected to be very long - 5 chapters perhaps. But if it goes well then perhaps I will continue onwards with a full length fic basied in the same little world.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I appreciate it, more than you will ever know.

To anyone a little unsure about Gina being depressed - do you remember the conversation between Naomi and Kieran in series 3 episode 6?

Naomi: 'Sometimes she's up, sometimes she's down.'

Kieran: 'Sometimes she's only halfway up, which is neither up nor down.'

That was one of the only suggestions that perhaps Gina suffers from some form of depression. I went with it because it's been in my head for a while. In series 4 when Naomi got *really* down about things with Emily, I wondered if maybe she showed some signs too. It can be genetic after all.

Disclaimer: This is Skins fanfiction...which means I'm a fan who writes about Skins...of course I don't own it.

Chapter Two

Whispered thoughts entered Naomi's head in a jumble like the Webdings font on a computer. It all made little sense. She tossed about in the bed, threw the covers back from her boiling hot body. She slept, somehow she knew she wasn't conscious, yet her thoughts continued their journey into the unknown.

'He won't bite,' dreamGina assured her, resting a tiny person into Naomi's arms. She resisted the urge to swear at her mother and accepted the little boy.

'He looks like a potato,' she pointed out, creasing her nose at it's bridge before smiling into his big blue eyes.

Somehow time sped forwards and he wasn't a baby anymore, but a child. A faceless child. He kicked her and screamed at her to leave him alone before running out of the room. Her restless state increased as she flailed her arms about.

'He won't hurt you Naomi, he loves you. You're his big sister. Kieran, tell your sister how much you love her.'

'Screw you Gina.'

She woke with a start, her legs twisted up in the edges of her bed covers, her forehead caked in sweat. A hand cupped her cheek and she turned to face the owner. Emily sat on the other side of the bed watching her, smiling at her with translucent eyes and a cheeky smirk.

'I fell asleep?' Naomi asked, pushing up her weary body and resting on her hands.

'You needed it I think,' Emily suggested, moving closer until she could reach Naomi's lips with her own. They kissed, a soft, sensuous embrace that caused Naomi's breath to hitch and her fingers to trace ever so slightly across Emily's collarbone, carelessly wandering.

'He's gonna be a fucking twat,' Naomi told Emily, relaying the dream to her curious girlfriend.

Emily frowned at her, her eyebrows turned inwards. 'It was a dream Naoms, I'm sure he'll turn out a little like you. Perhaps he'll be a complete carbon copy of his big sister. You'll both like girls and politics and when he's old enough you can take him to protests. You could be the next Ed and David Balls.

'Miliband.'

'What?'

'It's Ed and David Miliband, the other bloke is Ed Balls.'

'You know what I mean. How about Ming for a name?'

'Somebody save him now,' Naomi groaned, lying back against the bed and pulling a pillow across her face. 'Fuck my life.'

'What are you twelve?' Emily laughed.

'Yes. Being an adult is overrated.'

'Sorry babe, too late,' Emily chuckled. 'We should probably get ready if we need to be at the hospital by ten.'

X

The corridor leading to the ward was yellow, the shade no less depressing than the green from the day before. She stopped by the doorway, took a long deep breath in and looked to Emily for comfort. They covered their hands in the anti-bacterial lotion that was required before Naomi followed Emily into the room.

The ward had at least half a dozen beds, each one filled with expectant mothers and their equally expectant partners. Gina sat at the back, perched on her bed looking as small and insignificant as Naomi imagined she was probably feeling. To reach her they passed a neurotic woman trying to explain to her partner where everything was to be kept in the freezer, another mother attempted to keep her two older children in order whilst her husband watched some sporting event on a portable television. Each family, no matter what they were doing had something in common - they were together, all there in the hospital supporting each other. That made Gina look even smaller in comparison.

'Mum,' Naomi whispered as they neared her bed.

Usually Gina would turn with a huge smile on her face, always happy to see Naomi, just as happy to see Emily. Instead she turned slowly and forced her lips into some sort of fake grin. Naomi's throat closed up. This wasn't Gina. It had been her in the past; many times she'd been witness to her mother's depression. But with years came normality and over the last three it had become normal for Gina to be happy and smiling whenever they were around.

'It's lovely to see you both,' Gina muttered, reaching out and kissing Emily on the cheek, holding her face there for a moment. 'You make my Naomi so happy.'

'She makes me happy too,' Emily replied looking startled once she'd escaped Gina's grasp.

'It's time to go home,' Naomi smiled her biggest, phoney grin that she used on Emily after a small argument. 'We've cleaned up so you can relax and not worry about anything.'

'Is...' Gina asked, trailing off. The weakness in her voice saying more than her few short words.

Naomi stood, letting out a deep breath allowing her chest to deflate as she stood a little taller. 'It's just me and Ems.'

X

After a cup of tea and a long soak in a hot bath Gina went to bed. Under the doctor's orders Gina was to stay in a stress-free environment for as long as she could. Naomi felt a desperate need to protect her, to protect the baby, no matter how much of a tit he might turn out to be.

'She's asleep,' Naomi groaned, sliding into a seat at the kitchen table before looking up at Emily, her nose high with intrigue. 'What's that smell?'

'Chicken casserole.'

Naomi stared at her, her mouth agape. 'You cooked?'

'Someone had to,' Emily shrugged, throwing a tea towel on the table and sitting opposite her. 'Kettle's just boiled if you want a brew.'

'Thanks,' she replied, kissing Emily on the cheek and filling a mug with steaming water.

She took the milk from the fridge, poured some into her tea and dropped the carton on the work surface. White, creamy liquid spread across the marble quicker than she could clean it up. She cursed loudly. When the milk reached the edges she stopped, rested against the counter and closed her eyes. Tears threatened to fall.

'It's only milk, it's okay,' Emily called, reaching for the tea towel and mopping up the mess. Naomi didn't move.

Eventually Emily finished cleaning, a hand came down on Naomi's shoulder, another slid around her waist. Emily pressed soft kisses against her neck and she leant back into her girlfriend's arms. She'd been on edge since getting that call from the police; every little thing reached inside her chest and twisted her heart until she couldn't stand the pain any longer. Most of it didn't even matter. She sunk into Emily's embrace, turned in her arms and rested her chin on Emily's shoulder, arms wrapped tightly around each other's waists.

'Thank you,' she cried out, holding her tighter.

'It's okay to be scared.'

'I'm not scared.'

'Well that's something new,' Emily laughed, her joke misplaced in an already fraught moment. 'Sorry.'

Naomi sighed. 'Mum suffers from depression.'

She could still remember the day she found out. At the hospital in Wales they sat on the bed playing card games until a nurse came into the room. She asked for Naomi to visit the nurse's station but Gina insisted that she stay with them.

'Okay Miss Campbell, I'd like to ask you a few questions.'

The type of questions she asked could have been answered by Naomi herself; did she feel happy right now? Did she sometimes feel very down? Did she ever contemplate killing herself?

To that Naomi shouted out, hurt by the suggestion, 'No, mum would never do that. She wouldn't leave me alone.'

'I understand this must be hard for you Naomi, but can you please let your mother answer.'

She folded her arms and sent her best death stare towards the nurse. Gina repeated pretty much what she'd already told her. A few questions later and the nurse had informed them that she thought Gina suffered from a form of bipolar depression and offered medication.

'I'll be okay,' Gina assured her. 'I don't need medication.'

'If that's what you want,' the nurse smiled. 'It sounds like you suffer from hypomanic episodes rather than manic, it's milder. I would like to refer you to counselling.'

'I don't,' Gina tried before giving in. 'Okay.'

They left the hospital later that day with a leaflet about counselling and a bag of sweets from the shop. Naomi chewed on foam sea creatures and talked about the various activities they could do on the rest of the holiday. Gina wasn't listening, she could tell by the glazed look in her eyes, but it didn't matter. They were together again and that was the most important thing.

'You've never mentioned it.'

They moved to the lounge where they curled up on the sofa together, Emily's hand rested on Naomi's thigh. Despite the secrets she'd kept, after everything, Emily still stayed close. She reached up to her face, hesitantly moved her fingers down Emily's cheek.

'There's things that just never came up, that we didn't need to talk about.'

'I would have liked to have known.'

'I know. I'm sorry.'

She imagined she felt the same about Emily, not that there was anything she openly knew Emily hadn't shared. Naomi leant her forehead against Emily's, both hands now cupping her face. She closed her eyes and allowed her senses to take in the picture of Emily's beautiful features. Her fingers trailed across her nose, the ridges of her cheeks, the plump contours of her lips.

'I've always been the person who had to look after her,' Naomi admitted, allowing her breath in to continue to its very limit before letting it out again. 'Most of the time she seems okay, she's a bit extreme maybe but she's okay. Then she gets low, really low.'

'That's what happened this time?'

'Exactly. She loved him Ems, she really loved Kieran and he fucked her over. Every single person she's ever been with including my dad had fucked off when she needed them the most.'

Her voice cracked under the pressure of talking. She could speak for hours about political issues or things that didn't really matter. Whenever she told Emily what really mattered, her voice broke; it ached when she tried to use it.

'Do you see why everything is so hard for me?' she whispered, lowering her lips to Emily's mouth and hovering there with inches between them. 'Do you understand now why I've always been scared?'

'You don't have to feel that way with me,' Emily assured her, opening her eyes, allowing Naomi entrance to her deepest, darkest parts. They stared at each other, barely blinking as they shared one space.

'I'm not scared to be with you anymore Emily. I'm scared not to be,' tears caught in her throat. 'Do you remember what happened when we broke up? That's what scares me. Being like that again, being like mum. I don't want to be that person; I don't want to be the one who breaks every time something big happens.'

'You're not Gina,' Emily muttered, cupping her face to stop her from lowering her gaze. 'You're Naomi, you're strong and you're beautiful and you're brave. I've never seen Gina brave, but you, you fought for me Naomi and you won.'

'But when we weren't together,' she trailed off, interrupted by Emily.

'We were both taunting each other, what happened was horrible, but it's in the past. I thought we'd dealt with that?'

'We have.'

'Then let's forget about this,' Emily grinned, standing up with Naomi's hand still interlinked with her own. 'Let's go have some dinner, alright?'

'Alright,' Naomi smiled back, following Emily out of the room.

I hope this chapter is okay. I'd love some honest, constructive feedback.

Thank you for reading, please leave a review, it takes a minute...this chapter has taken me hours of frustrating moments to get just so and even now it's not exactly as I'd wished it would be. So please leave a review. I accept ANONYMOUS reviews, so you don't even have to log in!