Hey everybody… I due apologize for the lack of updates, life's just been shit to me lately…

Other than that, so I did write this chapter a little bit ago, but I don't really like it so I re-wrote it… Make that re-wrote twice… Make that three times. Perhaps thrice will be the charm… (I am so very tired, have mercy.)

Kind of important: You may want to re-read Chapter 12, in case you've forgotten Naomi's back story because there will probably be references in this chapter to it, or within the next few. So, erm, yeah. That concludes this message.

(Mistakes will be corrected later, too tired right now… just wanted to give you guys this chapter before the weekend…)

Chapter 22: Thrill Ride - Naomi's PoV

Emily's red hair was sprawled out on the pillows above our heads. I was cuddling her small and sleeping body underneath the blankets and watching her breath. After her cry in the jacuzzi we had toweled off and gone back up to the bedroom tired out from the extreme heat and steam that surrounded us. She didn't really say anything after she told me that I made her happy. In fact, she practically fell asleep in my arms right after she said so. I wonder what kind of mood she'll be in when she wakes up, perhaps she'll be less tired having gotten the breakdown of her chest. Another step towards getting back to her normal self, and I would be there to protect her and encourage her to keep moving right along.

I was so caught up in thinking about Emily that when someone walked into the room I didn't even notice until they pulled the covers off of us.

Sandy-brown hair, cheeky smile, male. Not David. Boy. In my room. In our room. Without our permission. Wiggling his eyebrows. Who the fuck is this guy?

To say I'm not embarrassed about what I did next would be a lie. But I'm not completely at fault; it's not as if we were expecting company, let alone a boy to interrupt our sleep, well Emily's sleep and my daydream. And I was thinking about protecting her, so when he came so unexpectedly, there was only one way I consequentially reacted.

And that is why the back of my fist crashed into the boys eye, and he's swearing to himself quietly while clutching where I hit him. I was about to climb out of the bed and kick him in the bollocks when the elder Fitch twin came into the room.

"There you lezzers are; I've been looking for you both for ages! What the fuck, Cook?" Katie ran to the boy who was touching his hand to his eye and then looking at his hand to check for blood. She pulled his chin up and looked at his face before turning to see my clenched fist which I had quickly forgotten in the heat of the moment. I bit my lip nervously, realizing I had just given Katie's 'Cook' a shiner, and the explanation was a little more than embarrassing.

"What the fuck Campbell?" Katie walks up to me with her hands on her hips, but it's not as intimidating as it should be considering I know that the only small leverage she's getting are from the four inch heels she's wearing.

"Wait a second, blondie's last name is Campbell?" Cook started snickering. "Didn't you say her first name was Naomi before, Katiekins?"

He didn't really need an answer because I kind of shifted on my foot and blew the hair out of my face, and I wasn't doing a very good job hiding my eye-roll.

"That explains the anger don't it?" His snickering was going to have to end. With a brush past Katie I walked up to Cook who was looking me in the eye with a cheeky smile getting wider by the second.

"Prick." I resumed what Katie had interrupted and watched as Cook's knees buckled while his hands shot down to hold his crotch after the hard and fast swing of my foot. Instead of cursing more though, he starting laughing. I had no idea why this boy was laughing, but I had to bite my lip to keep from joining in. I turned around to Katie for some sort of explanation at why this guy laughs at pain but she looked as clueless as I felt.

"Cook, what the fuck are you laughing about?" She brushed past me this time and bent down near Cook, who immediately stopped laughing and moving on the floor when he sensed her next to her. I sat down on the bedside watching everything play out, trying to hide my amusement.

"Come closer, Katie." He squinted his eyes and coughed dramatically. Perhaps Katie wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer because she seemed to take the bait and leaned in closer to him so that their faces were a part. "Closer…" He whispered. Now only few inches away. What a character…

"Grab my…"

"Grab your what Cookie?"

"Grab my…"

"You need some ice, babes?"

My laugh was ready to burst out of my throat but somehow I was able to hold it in a little longer. Katie's voice was just so filled with concern, a side of Katie I had never seen before that it was a sight to behold.

"Katie j-just… grab my…"

"What do you want me to grab?" She moved closer to him so their foreheads were touching, and she wouldn't miss a word of what he had to say.

"Grab my balls." Cook said it so seriously that it took Katie a minute to realize what the hell he had just said. She smacked him over the head once she did, getting up before storming out of the room. There was no force holding down the laughter anymore, Cook picked himself up off the floor and started laughing as well. We may have had a shit start, but anyone who could do that to Katie deserved a little of my respect.

I felt the bed shaking next to me and saw that Emily was laughing too. I hadn't even noticed that she woke up, perhaps she sensed it was a moment not worth missing… After we put ourselves back together Cook sat on the edge of the bed and watched as Emily wrapped her arms around me.

"So babes, you got yourself a good-lookin blondie now?"

Emily sufficed his question with a peck on my cheek that made me blush. I wasn't sure whether I was comfortable with public displays of affection yet, as much as I loved any affection that came from the adorable little red-head that I so fortunately get to call my own.

"Well you better take good care of Emilio here, nobody ditches catching up time with the gang unless it's someone real special, so it's gotta mean that you mean a lot to her and I'm required to be the big broth-"

I was so thankful that Emily cut him off. With her head wresting on my shoulder she probably felt the embarrassed heat that flooded through me at his little monologue.

"Cook, I think she gets it. I love her." She smiled and I couldn't help but looked into her beautiful brown eyes and smile back, subconsciously mouthing 'I love you' in return.

"Right, just saying, you mess with Emilio here and I'll be the one throwing the punches and kicking your balls up your ass…" He grabbed his crotch suggestively and wiggled his eyebrows.

It was good timing for a distraction to end the conversation that was starting to make me feel awkward, which luckily came a minute later.

"Are we interrupting something? Katie stormed off from this direction and I figured you had something to do with it…" David was standing in the doorway, nodding his head down the hall towards where Katie had left to.

"That's my cue to go chase after the little temper…" The bed evened out as he got off the bed, giving us each a wink before running off into the hallway.

"That's my sister Cook! Not to mention it's your fucking fault in the first place!" Emily shouted out after him. My hand reached up to cover my ear which had been near her mouth for the outburst, the relief came instead from a light kiss on it.

His shout echoed off the walls of the hallway, "Meet me downstairs later Emilio, we've got plans to make!"

I raised my eyebrows at the red-head who was smiling to herself, in curiosity but she just shrugged with an smug little smile that made me laugh lightly.

I leaned against the circular headboard of the circular bed, Emily doing the same, however making sure there wasn't any space between us, casually laying her head on my arm.

My eyes REVERTED back to David who was still standing in the doorway. I bit my lip, now a little sore, to hold in the laugh at the second funniest sight of the day. David was acting bashful and looking down, obviously acting shy yet excited over something.

I was enjoying his unusual behavior but Emily being the nicer one decided to spare him.

"What is it David?"

He looked up happy that she had asked, "I wanted to introduce you to Matt. My mate we picked up from town."

An tall and buff looking guy appeared out of the hallway standing next to David. He was a good foot taller than the already tall David, and he was much more muscular. The way he dressed reminded Naomi of a cowboy, all masculine and whatnot, but the way Matt was leaning ever so slightly, but intentionally into David, she assumed they were a little something more than mates.

With a glance at Emily, her suspicions were confirmed. She could read what was on the girl's mind and knew that she had come up with the same guess. I'd forgotten about being polite, too busy thinking, which was interrupted by the husky voice next to me.

"Nice to meet you Matt. I'm Emily… and this is Naomi, my girlfriend."

I coughed nervously at the sudden label dropping. She was showing me off to them and I wasn't used to it. The way Emily's expression had changed to mischievous I could tell that she had done it to intentionally throw me off and make me embarrass myself in front of the new guy. I almost started coughing harder when I heard what came out of the blonde boy's mouth next.

"You two are cute together. Perhaps after this weekend I can convince David to be my girlfriend." He let out a strong laugh that I could only smirk at. It was going to be nice to see someone putting David in his place. I must've looked kind of dumb because I was now the only one who hadn't said anything, and I was smiling stupidly at the thought that Cook was going to deal with Katie and this Matt guy would deal with David.

"We'll see you two later, I have to prove that Matt here isn't all the man he thinks he is. First stop the roller-coasters." David swiftly turned around and gave the blonde guy a light punch on the shoulder before running off.

Matt just shook his head and laughed before nodding to us and following his 'mate.'

"So Naomi, why'd you hit Cook?" I turned to the brown beauties that were eyeing my with concern. All the humor that had been put in my smile from the moment before faded away instantly. I didn't even have to say what I was thinking out loud, I was grateful Emily remembered because I honestly don't like talking about my past let alone, repeating it. "You can trust them, okay? Cook's a cheeky bastard but he means no harm. I'll keep you safe Naomi, you won't get lost again."

I looked down at the small hand that was squeezing my own, nodding then looking back up at her comforting smile. "Thank you, Emily…"

"Yeah, that's what I'm here for. Can't be all about me, never mind how important and adorable I am."

"Adorable and important, eh?"

"Yes. And beautiful."

"You forgot something."

"What's that?" Her cheeky smile was replaced with one of curiosity.

"Ticklish." Her eyes widened and she started shaking her head.

"Oh yes. It's what I admire most about you… your inability to control yourself from squirming when I have my hands all over you." I winked suggestively, knowing intended what I meant in a different way, making her blush. Not that I really saw her face for long because it was buried under the blanket avoiding my hands that were preparing to crawl all over her skin.

I felt the blanket slip from underneath me as she pulled it tight all around her, and sitting on top of any opening I could possibly sneak through. Playing hard to get, hmm? Instead of the oncoming tickling she was expecting, I took advantage of her covered limbs and picked up the mound in my arms. Sure it was heavy, but the surprised and muffled squeal coming from inside of the duvet was enough to help me lift her off the bed.

I would've dropped the shaking body once I got in the hallway if it hadn't been for Cook who was talking to Katie nearby. He noticed my struggling and rushed over to grab the encased body from my arms. He held the covers tight around her so they wouldn't loosen and let her free, then threw her over his shoulder.

Katie was laughing at her sister's complaints. Still unaware that I was no longer the one carrying her.

"Where to?" Cook mouthed so Emily didn't hear. I pointed in the direction down the steps and he told me to get Matt who was stronger than him and could help him out. Emily wasn't heavy, just when she was wiggling as much as she could it wasn't an easy task.

Turns out Matt wasn't very hard to find, all I had to do was text David and they both appeared out of one of the numerous rooms to come and help. Cook took one end of the blanket and Matt grabbed the other while they carried Emily down.

I swear, Emily had stopped screaming and now was just laughing. I just hoped that she wasn't having a hard time breathing, but I bet she was getting a good ride. When we got down the steps, Matt took Emily completely and carried her around his neck like a wrestler, not giving her much ability for movement between his strong arms. Everyone had apparently heard about what was going on and started quietly following us to our destination, none other than the foam pit.

With the nod of my head, Matt lifted Emily's body over his head and shouted, "SACRIFICE," before tossing her into the middle. She let out a yelp at the sudden flight through the air which was quickly cut off by all the bodies crashing into hers, including my own.

Apparently, I had missed the wink between Matt and Cook. Before I had a minute to react I felt myself being swooped up into Matt's arms and being carried along for his dive on top of Emily who was just starting to uncover the blanket from her face.

A tall and lanky boy was carrying Effy, while an awkward one barely carried Panda in. And lastly Cook was the king of the hill with queen Katie in his arms, claiming the top of the mountain of bodies as his own. Not without shouting, "CHARRRGE!" and moving his legs as if he were falling in slow motion. What a character…

I'm not sure how the next thing started either. I think I was the closest one to Emily, and I felt her stomach bounce with quiet laughter which soon caught on to myself. Then my laughing was caught by Matt and whoever else was on top of me. Within a minute, the entire group was laughing hard and trying to dismount themselves from the pile to get some proper air.

"This is going to be a fun two weeks, ain't it?" Cook was clutching his belly lying nearby. None of us really had the energy to answer him, so he took it upon himself to do so. "Yes, going to be the best fucking two-weeks ever. LETS GET FUCKING MENTAL!"

This time it was me who initiated the laughter, throwing on of the foam bits at Cook after his outburst. I swear this group is all monkey-see-monkey-do because after mine hit him square in the head, everyone else started throwing all the ones surrounding him until he was swallowed up by all sorts of colors.

At some point we stopped aiming specifically for Cook, and we were all spread out around the large pit. Emily and I were in one corner each defending the others back from what I've made out from the name shouting to be Freddie and JJ.

They were just about to close in on us when we were all the way back up against the walls of the pit and Emily grabbed my hand to pull us out. Monkey-see-monkey-do, everyone not wanting to miss out on the fun, came storming after us and joined us on the mini-coaster. I was extremely nervous, not sure how any roller-coaster inside of a fucking warehouse could be safe, not to mention, Emily insisted on us sitting in the front. She just grabbed my hand and laughed as David waved us off and hit the button letting everyone go. Damn, I was jealous of David standing safely on the ground as the ride picked up speed.

The ride wasn't all that friendly looking either, with the seats painting red and a giant face on the front like a devil. I hadn't realized the ride went through a tube, no more likely, was inside of a giant tube, because the ride suddenly made a sharp turn and everything went pitch black. All I could hear were the shrieks of Katie nearby, probably in the row behind us, and the laughter of some of the boys.

I couldn't see, but I sensed Emily's eyes were on me, and if there wasn't a bar holding my shoulders in place, I would've attempted to kiss her right then and surprise her. The way she was squeezing my hand that was gripping tightly onto the bar in front of us, on our laps, I knew she wanted to do the same. The ride was picking up speed and there was no way to know were the hell we were going. A doorway opened in front of us, forcing our eyes to blink rapidly to adjust to the brightness of the revealed light.

My stomach dropped, before we even had a chance to take our next breath we were dropping almost straight down and being straight back up into a spiral. Emily was unmistakably laughing while I think I was shrieking. There wasn't really any time to process my thoughts or reactions before they came, it was all a big rush. "OH MY FUCKING HELL!"

I let go of the bar to clutch my stomach after the loopty-loop. I wasn't expecting the ride to be this crazy, and sure I enjoyed an adrenaline rush, but I a least need to prepare myself for something so mind-blowing. When the ride stopped David was standing their laughing his ass off at my face, which must've been stuck in its shocked position.

As tempting as it would be to shut him up, there were more pressing matters. I twisted in my seat, not getting out even as the harnesses released us, to get a good look at the little Emily next to me.

"I thought you didn't like heights." I mumbled, my voice was still caught in my throat from the drops, and a little sore from the screaming.

A cheeky grin spread across her face, "this was a different kind of heights."

"How so?"

"Well, for one thing, I knew what to expect. It's not like I knew that our cart was supposed to land in the foam pit. I thought we were going to fucking die. Secondly, when there is a bunch of harnesses holding me tightly I feel much safer than a single strap across my chest and lap."

"Fair enough." I climbed out of the seat lending Emily my hand to help her out.

"Your face was priceless, Naomi. You looked like an elephant had just raped you from behind." David was laughing at me, but my need to retort was held back when I felt a loving arm wrap around my waist and pull me away.

"Don't make fun of Naomi, you just wanted to operate the machinery here even thought JJ who can't go on the ride would've been capable of hitting the 'go' button to let you join us for the ride. Naomi's got my balls than you, Davie."

"Touche. But you weren't the one who had to be the first one to test the ride out on your own, so don't question me when I say I'm not interested… it wasn't fun the first time."

"Aww, c'mere Davie, Matt will hold you." The big boy's arms wrapped around the smaller one.

I would've loved to laugh at David's now embarrassed face, however my wrist was being grabbed and tugged towards the kitchen.

"Roller-coaster made you hungry Em?" I roll my eyes, which even though she isn't looking at me, I'm sure she can detect.

"Yes, thank you very much. I also like to eat after my naps, but that was interrupted by a group of rowdy boys and a certain violent blonde, so now it's eatin' time." She chuckled.

We bumped into Cook who was standing in the doorway of the kitchen. "Uh-uh, ladies. We are going straight to the bar. David said there's a bar here, so take me to it. C'mon."

Emily and I were pulled apart with Cook's arms wrapping around us. I was slightly confused because Cook didn't have any idea where the bar was yet he was attempting to lead us to wherever he thought it was. "This way, Cook." The red-head took his arm off her shoulder and grabbed his hand to pull him the right way. The boy turned his head around to shout out to someone behind us.

"C'mon Katie, tell the other's to come to the bar, Cookie here is bringing out his drink-mixing skills." He had no issues boasting whatever 'skills' he had.

He giggled like a little boy when he saw the rotating bookcase, more than impressed, wasting no time to stand behind the bar and shuffle us onto the stools.

"So what will you ladies have?" He threw a small towel he found over his shoulder to make him 'more official' looking, as he put it.

"Naomi doesn't drink." Emily told him, leaning over the bar. I looked at her with shock, answering for me. Cook was about to say something crude about being a spoil-sport but Emily interjected. "She has a bad history. So how about you and your skills come up with something tasty but non-alcoholic?"

"Hmm, let me have a look at the ingredients in this place." He started looking through the shelves and the cupboards. A wave of relief washed over me when he didn't continue pressing on for information. I was glad Emily said no for me, because otherwise I might have given in to the peer pressure. It was just one more reason for me to trust her, and give myself even more to her.

She winked at me when she saw me staring while I thought about how much I loved her for being so perfect for me. I may have turned pink, but I think it went unnoticed because the rest of the gang burst through the bookcase and made themselves comfortable on the couches in the lounge area.

JJ, Freddie and Cook were in one corner playing with some top of the line video games on a giant TV. Katie was admiring some posters of scantily-clad women on the wall, I laughed realizing it wasn't about attraction, she was comparing herself to them, glancing between her own body and theirs. She frowned but Effy quickly pulled her away towards the bar, and into the empty seats next to Emily and I.

A couple hours later we were all sitting around the couches, and those that couldn't fit were close on the floor. We were watching a competitive match between David, who must have spent ages playing video games since he never really went to school, ending up an expert, and JJ, who was undeniably able to play because of his knowledge of cracking codes and patterns within the game, more focused on strategy and logic.

Cook was placing bets with anyone who'd take it, almost everyone said JJ because they enjoyed the flustered underdog who was mouthing the letters he was pressing on his controller. David was in a trance in the game, leaning forward as if he was inside the TV, cursing under his breath, and muttering how he was going to find JJ's guy and obliterate him.

I normally wouldn't approve of such violent video games, which could be really damaging to a kid's mind, but we were all old enough to handle it. Aside from David who was acting like a child and getting upset over anytime he slipped up. Not even David could stay upset when JJ beat him and suddenly cursed with joy. JJ never cursed,

"I FUCKING WON! TAKE THAT YOU FUCKING PIXEL PIECE OF BINARY CODE!" sure it was nerdy, but JJ will be JJ, rare and sudden swearing and all. He shot up throwing his controller to the floor as the words, 'Player 2 Winner!' flashed on the screen over David's bloody dead guy lying on the ground.

Cook started cheering and pulling out a bottle of tequila and taking a swig from it while the other boys lifted JJ into the air. It was a sight to behold, and a memory that would put a smile on my face any day.

To top it all off, it ended with no one I'd rather be with other than Emily, who's body was nestled into mine as I laid sweet kisses in her hair. I think she mumbled I was being a cheesy romantic when I told her I loved her more than anything in the world in the joy of the moment, yet she reassured my embarrassment with a kiss before laying her head on her pillow and going to sleep.

What a wonderful day with wonderful new people.

THERE YOU GO. YOUR FUCKING WELCOME!

Was really hard to write that, seeing as I'm kind of dead in the head right now…

SOOOO. Yeah. Review as you'd like. Definitely helps with the writing faster and quicker updates and yadda yadda. Cookies for all of you. THANKS!

-Shira

(There was something else I wanted to tell you all, but I forgot… So nevermind. ;) hehe. )