note: updating with chapter 5 because i've got a little mental block with bonus chapter III.

just wanna say a little thank you to goodstuffbro, smcl, sexpistols07, y5290, Anon, Inglestix, redheadedblonde, asdfghjkl, Guest (s), undreamable, MardyBumAtBakery, Mo, Molly, Jazy Girl, NAT, ZombieApocalypse911, Mmm, Iwy'sAshes, marsupial1974, tanner12, Kaz, HyperFitched, GilmoreRos, Parker, AllisonK039 for taking time to leave reviews for my story, especially to mUfF MuNcHeR, crazziii, skinsfan15, R3dN0te, Katie Watie, SomethingReal, ifsomebody'sgotsoul, Ujin for reviewing almost every chapter. special thanks to jaxicen for chatting with me and getting me inspired.

you lovely people give me a reason to stay up all night to finish it and willingly end up with panda eyes. this longest chapter yet is for all you ladies out there. (:

Emily sat inside the darkness of the cockpit watching the bolts of lightning in the clouds ahead of her. The awful weather didn't look like it was going to clear any time soon and the aircraft had been experiencing recurring bouts of turbulence for the past ten minutes or so. An emergency situation was expected any moment now.

Sure enough, seconds later, the 'Master Caution' light on the annuciator panel started flashing red and a blaring auditory alert in the form of a chime filled the air in the cockpit. Emily checked the air temperature in the gas generator, and just like she'd guessed, the temperature of one particular engine had fallen to abnormally low levels.

Engine failure.

Emily's eyes darted briefly to the navigation panel. The approximate remaining flight time read: 18 minutes. According to the navigation unit, she was flying over a large cleared terrain at that moment that was suitable for an emergency landing, after which the plane would be flying over a body of water before reaching the destination. Strictly speaking, the aircraft could still function perfectly well with the three remaining engines, but if another engine had failed, then it would be a matter of life and death for all onboard.

Emily mulled over the risks and trade-offs. Should she make an emergency landing that could result in potential losses for the company, or to take a chance in this terrible weather and head on to the destination with the risk of another engine failure?

Choices, Emily thought. She was never good at making them.

Naomi had texted her the week before, saying that she had gotten her number from Freddie after the concert. She was surprised that Emily had left first, and she wanted to have a cup of coffee together some time, or even lunch, if Emily liked.

Emily deleted the message from her phone without replying.

A few days after, Naomi called. Emily was hesitating for a while whether to pick up the call, but her finger had already pressed the button before she could stop herself. Naomi made no mention of the previous text she had sent, only asked how Emily was doing, and if she would like to go out sometime that week.

Sorry, I have to work all week, came Emily's curt reply on the phone.

Oh, said Naomi. It's fine, another time then!

Emily swore her heart ached a little hearing Naomi trying to mask the disappointment apparent in her voice with a contrived cheerful tone.

Emily closed her eyes and saw her standing there like before, her long wavy locks falling carelessly on her shoulders that were partially exposed by the flowy top she wore that night. Her easy and confident demeanor as she delivered the songs on stage, with a certain laid-back charm that could only be described as elusively fascinating. And god, the indefinable sparkle in Naomi's eye whenever she smiled unconsciously during a song. Emily thought she couldn't hear anything else during some parts of the concert because her heart was thumping so loudly in her ears.

Throughout the entire performance Emily's feet were rooted to the ground, her eyes never once looking to anywhere apart from that face onstage. It's true, Emily was hopelessly captivated by Naomi, no different from the thousands of fans who were huddled around her cramped in that tiny space of a hall, perspiring in the heat and voices hoarse from all the screaming but their ecstatic faces showing not a single hint of regret. Despite Freddie's advice at the airport against pursuing a relationship with Naomi, Emily couldn't help feeling that things were different with this girl she had only met a couple of weeks ago.

For one, Naomi didn't feel like just any other girl to Emily; she was special, and something in her guts told Emily that Naomi felt the same way about her. Emily couldn't put a finger to it, but in any case she wasn't going to let Naomi go without at least giving it a shot.

As she gripped the stalk of daisy tightly in her hands, she decided she would confess her feelings to Naomi that night.

That was, until the last segment of the performance when the last surprise guest-star made his way on stage and she caught the look on Naomi's face. Emily saw beyond the mask that the blonde was trying desperately to put up to hide her real emotions and she detected a mixture of surprise, anger, hurt and resentment in those eyes. At that moment, his name suddenly rang a bell.

Tom McDowell. The guy whom Freddie said Naomi had dated before.

Out of the corner of her eye, Emily saw that Freddie had turned silent and was eyeing her worriedly, but she pretended not to have noticed as she kept a straight face and stared ahead.

Downstage around her, the fans could hardly contain their excitement to see their beloved star pairing standing inches away from each other and talking casually up on stage. Was this Naomi Campbell and Tom McDowell's way of telling the world, "Hey, we're back together again"?

Emily felt her heart sink deeper with every moment as she watched Naomi's face closely. There was no doubt that this McDowell guy had hurt her before, and Emily couldn't help but notice from those watery blue eyes, that Naomi hadn't gotten over him.

That's right. Naomi still had feelings for him.

Emily swore she had no idea how her legs had managed to bring her backstage after the performance without the consent of her brain, but in any case, she'd wanted to hear an explanation from Naomi herself before jumping to conclusions.

That was when she saw it before her very eyes.

Tom McDowell's hands cupping that beautiful face that had appeared in her dreams recurringly for the past two weeks, their lips locked in a passionate kiss.

It felt as though someone had taken a knife and stabbed her several times in her heart. The pain felt very much real, only it didn't kill.

She ran. Where to, she wasn't sure, she couldn't care. All she knew was that she needed to be as far away from that place as possible. But after a while, she realised no matter how far she ran, she couldn't run from the images replaying in her own mind.

Finally, her heel gave way upon hitting the side of a man-hole cover, making her fall onto her knees on that empty one-way street. She watched the blood trickle down her calf silently as a tear that had produced itself at the tip of her eye fell to the black dress she was wearing, making a ringed stain on it.

How naïve she was, to even think for a moment that a girl like Naomi would be in love with her; that she, for one, deserved the chance to go after her. She felt so stupid all of a sudden, for having looked up all the interviews in magazines she could find to know more about Naomi; for getting Naomi a one-stalk daisy in an attempt to make her happy; for confidently defending Naomi in response to what Freddie had said.

And the biggest joke of all, to actually believe her gut feelings that Naomi liked her too.

Emily jolted out of her own thoughts and stared at the panel long and hard. Remaining flight time: 16 minutes. In the past, she would have trusted her instincts and have gone directly ahead in this bad weather in spite of the risks. Somehow this time, her waning confidence was challenging her better judgment.

Oh, to hell with gut feelings.

Emily engaged the gear to the left of the panel and prepared the aircraft for an emergency descent.

Emily sat down on one of the many benches that were facing the hordes of airplanes parked on the runway behind the blanket of glass panels stretching from the ceilings to the floors. The viewing gallery was almost empty, except for a backpacking traveler sleeping at a corner and a family with two kids on the other end of the gallery.

This was one of the rare times that Emily had wandered to parts of the airport other than the pilots' lounges and departure and arrival gates. As she watched the airplanes take off and land in the not-far-off distance, she couldn't help wondering what difference her presence actually made in this world. She was after all, an insignificant speck in the universe. Without her, planes still flew to destinations; people still got to reunite with their families abroad, the earth still kept spinning.

In truth, work had been what Emily's life had been revolving around for the past few years, and all along she had been happy and contented taking a great deal of pride and effort in what she was doing. She built her life around her work, and she was happy doing so.

Why was it that she didn't feel as happy now? What had changed?

Emily leant back on the bench and shut her eyes as she tried to chase away these thoughts.

"Emilio!" a loud voice rang out suddenly from behind Emily, making her eyes fly wide open.

"Cook, what're you doing here?" asked Emily in a tone of surprise as the lad walked up to her with a concerned look that she wasn't used to seeing.

"Shouldn't I be asking you this question?" remarked Cook quizzically.

"I…" began Emily.

"I heard about it from Luke," said Cook as he sat down beside Emily on the bench. "Said you made an emergency landing for no good reason."

"Well, at least now I get a few days off from flying. I needed this break anyway," Emily said as she sighed deeply.

"Tell me, what happened, man? You never did fail any flight simulation tests. Well, not since that one time at the flying academy, anyway," added Cook with a wink.

Emily laughed as she glanced at Cook. She remembered that one time when they were still trainee pilots at the flying school. In the name of brightening up the festive mood, Cook had spiked the shared drinking water at the dormitory the night before Christmas Eve, on which all the cadets had to pass an important flight simulation test in order to graduate from the academy as qualified pilots. Almost all the trainee pilots (including Cook himself, who drank the water "to be fair") failed the test entering the flight simulator stoned and completely oblivious to what was going on. The Chief Training Officer was unspeakably furious when he found out the reason behind it, and Cook was almost expelled from the academy for his prank.

"Those were good times," remarked Cook with a chuckle, but stopped laughing when he realised that Emily fell silent.

"You alright, man?" asked Cook as he placed his arm around her shoulders.

Emily forced a weak smile as she kept quiet and stared at the floor.

"I'm just tired of work, I guess," said Emily quietly.

"Wow. I don't mean to be an ass, but that, coming from Emily Fitch the Workaholic, is really quite terrifying," replied Cook, his eyes widening dramatically in mock fear.

Emily laughed and elbowed the lad in his sides, making him howl out in pain.

"Ouch. Seriously, you need a girl to take you in hand," cried out Cook as Emily scoffed and elbowed him further.

"Alright, stop it! It hurts! You don't know your own strength, Emilio. Oh, that reminds me," he added. "I'm holding a birthday party at my place this Saturday. You're coming."

"What? Why? Whose birthday is it?" asked Emily.

"Mine, of course!" remarked Cook with a hurt look, pretending to take offense at Emily's question.

"But your birthday doesn't come till next month!" retorted Emily with a roll of her eyes.

"Yeah, can't a guy hold a pre-birthday party these days? Besides, I'm doing this for you, dude," Cook added with a cheeky grin that made Emily uncomfortable.

"What in the world are you up to, this time?" asked Emily, her eyes squinting in suspicion.

"You'll thank me for it, Emilio. Promise," said Cook casually as he whistled and looked everywhere to avoid Emily's glare.

"James Cook, I'm warning you. If you dare pull any tricks on-," began Emily.

"Come on, don't be a prude," Cook broke in before Emily could finish her words. "Look, I'd better see you there on Saturday or I'll come personally to your place to drag you over."

"You can't make me if I don't want to go," said Emily matter-of-factly.

"Oh yeah?" said Cook with a raise of his eyebrows and his trademark toothy grin. "Try me."

Emily alighted from the car as the engine was switched off. She arched her eyebrows in amazement at the house that stood before them. The lights in the house were flashing different colors like those you see in a club and the music playing inside was loud enough for the entire street to hear and sing along. Right outside the house, some guys appeared to be already drunk and were shouting swearwords across to one another with beer bottles swinging in their hands. Freddie grinned as he and JJ came out of the car and looked up at the building in front of them.

"Trust Cook to do the best parties around here," said Freddie, evidently impressed. JJ looked a little nervous and self-conscious as he smoothed out the creases on his shirt, while Emily only stood nearby looking disinterested, wondering for the hundredth time what Cook had meant the other day by him doing this party for her.

Emily cringed as they made their way past the sweaty gyrating bodies in the hallway. The heat that was radiating through the air was enough to bake a pie; there were at least a hundred people inside this house. Emily caught sight of a bar counter set up on the side of a room as she elbowed her way through the crowd, complete with two sexily-clad barmaids (Cook's style) and a range of liquors and cocktail bottles on the shelves behind them. On the other end of the room, a live band was apparently playing and there was a huge crowd gathered in front of the band singing drunkenly along to the music.

Emily groaned internally. Why the fuck does it feel as if they were at a club? It hit her suddenly that Cook's idea of a party was way beyond her concept of one.

"EMILIOOO!" a distinctive voice boomed above the noise of the crowds.

Speak of the cookie monster. Emily turned her head in the direction of the voice and saw Cook weaving through the sea of people towards her with a toothy grin on his slightly flushed face. It was only 7 in the evening and Cook was already tipsy.

"You're late!" Cook announced theatrically before extending his arms wide towards Emily in a welcome gesture for a hug.

"Who the hell are all these people, Cook?" Emily shouted above the music into Cook's ear as she edged in gingerly for a hug with him.

"They're friends of me Cookie," Cook yelled back tipsily with a dorky grin as he swayed unsteadily from side to side, giving Freddie and JJ sloppy bro hugs. "Shum of them anyway… I don't know where the rest came from," he slurred with a hiccup.

Emily, Freddie and JJ all shot Cook incredulous looks at once but the latter took no notice at all.

"James."

Every bit of Emily froze as she heard the voice that approached from somewhere behind her.

Are you fucking kidding me?

Cook's flushed face lit up upon recognition of the owner of the voice.

"Naomikinshhh!"

Holy motherfucking cows.

"For goodness' sake, stop calling me that!"

Emily swore she stopped breathing as she spun around. Naomi was wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a dark blue tight-fitting blazer over her top with her hair falling nonchalantly on her shoulders; her blue eyes that were accentuated by make-up sparkling as she cheekily slapped Cook on the head.

Emily felt her heart skip a beat at the sight of the face that she had been desperately trying to rid from her mind for the past two weeks. She almost forgot how effortlessly gorgeous Naomi was.

Oh, who was she kidding. There was never a single day since the day they'd met that she didn't think about her.

Emily swallowed hard as Naomi's eyes caught hers the next second. The latter's eyes first revealed a look of recognition and surprise, then a hint of joy that was quickly replaced with sadness. Emily felt so guilty she wanted to die on the spot.

"Oh yeshhh," said Cook as if suddenly remembering something and turning slowly to Emily, JJ and Freddie.

"Guys, meet Naomikins. You've heard of her, haven't ya? She's the frontman of Ace of Wands. They're a great band… She and I, we go a looooong way back in high school. I got her band to play for my party today," Cook rambled on in between hiccups. "For free," he grinned and gave Naomi a wink. Emily could feel that Freddie's eyes were suddenly on her.

"Ahem, we weren't all that chummy in high school, James," said Naomi with a roll of her eyes. "You hated my guts, didn't you?" she added teasingly.

"Yeah, but that changed, didn't it?" said Cook with a toothy grin as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Uh huh, after I saved the Great James Cook from-," declared Naomi proudly with a smirk on her face.

"Ahhhhrabrabbabnyanyagnyagnya g," an alarmed Cook cut in with gibberish in an attempt to stop Naomi from finishing her sentence.

"From what?" Emily, JJ and Freddie blurted out at the same time with curious faces.

"It don't matter no more," said Cook, desperately trying to change the subject. "Whatsh important ish that Cookie Monster and Naomikins share a precious friendship now, ain't it," slurred Cook quickly with a wide smile as he pulled Naomi closer to him with his arm.

Naomi rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling at the cheesiness of Cook's words.

"Pretty sure this friendship is one-sided," teased Naomi as she stuck out her tongue at Cook.

"Bitch," Cook remarked with a grin, inciting Naomi to elbow him in the sides once again. Cook pretended to howl out in pain, making Naomi laugh heartily. Emily shifted uncomfortably upon seeing how intimate the two were.

"God, Emilio," said Cook as he winced and rubbed his sides. "I'm shinking you and Naomi will get along very well, what with this strange fetish of elbowing people that you two share."

Emily felt her cheeks grow hot in an instant.

"Anyway, Naomikins," continued Cook. "Theesh are my friends from the company. We graduated together at the flying school. Fredster… JJ… Emily… and Fredster… Oh, have I mentioned him already?" he added as he gestured to each of them.

"Hey," said Naomi as she smiled politely at JJ, and nodded with a knowing smile at Freddie. Her eyes rested uncertainly on Emily, who was looking away and was seemingly interested in something over at the bar counter. The red-head was definitely trying every possible means to avoid eye contact.

"By the way, lads, Naomi's strictly off limitsh. She's got the Cookie Monster's stamp of protection. You gotta get my approval first before going after her," said Cook tipsily with a smirk. "That includes you, Gay-milio," he added with a chortle as he eyed Emily.

Emily felt her throat went dry.

What the fuck, Cook.

If not for the fact that Cook was so drunk that she was almost sure he had no idea what the hell he was talking about, Emily would have given him a black eye for outing her to Naomi on the spot. Emily's eyes darted anxiously to Naomi to see what her reaction was, but she couldn't tell anything from the wide-eyed look on the blonde's face.

Was that a look of disgust? Shock? Indifference?

"Shut up, James," said the blonde uncomfortably as she squirmed under his arm. "I'm not yours to protect."

Emily could feel Naomi's eyes on her as she pretended to look away casually. She could hear the violent trepidation of her heartbeat in her ears again.

"I'm gonna go get a drink," Emily said before hastily turning in the direction of the bar counter and disappearing into the crowd.

Over at the bar counter, Emily watched Naomi bend over laughing heartily on the other side of the room as a tall good-looking guy with sleek brown hair whispered something in her ear. Emily downed her fifth shot of vodka as she caught sight of Cook staggering towards her in the crowd.

"Whatcha doing sitting here alone man?" asked Cook as he rested an elbow on the counter and eyed Emily questioningly. "I'll have whatever she'sh had, gorgeous," Cook said to the barmaid with a wink while gesturing to Emily's empty shotglasses. The barmaid smiled and returned a flirtatious glance.

"Listen, Emilio… Cookie wants ya to meet shumbody," said Cook as he turned to Emily and lowered his face so that she could hear him above the music. "She's fit as fuck and she playsh for your team," added Cook with a broad smile on his face.

"Leave me alone, Cook," said Emily with a roll of her eyes. So that was what Cook meant when he said he had done this party for her and she would thank him for it.

"Oh come on, Emilio. If she ain't so gay I swear I would have kept her for myself. Ya know, show her a good time. Trust me, you'll like her," continued Cook as he downed a shot of vodka. "Oh look, there she cumsh!"

"Hazel!" Cook called out and waved wildly to a girl in the sea of people before Emily could stop him.

A tall blonde girl in the crowd turned her head upon hearing Cook's voice. Emily recognised her face immediately. She was the air stewardess who had passed her Naomi's airsickness bag message on the plane. They had met each other previously working on the same flights. Emily thought Hazel was really sweet and all but she wasn't interested in her. Not when Naomi was constantly on her mind anyway.

Please don't tell me that the girl Cook is hooking me up with is Hazel. Oh dear god, Cook is fucking drunk.

"Hazel," said Cook as the blonde walked over. "Meet Emilio. Emilio, meet Hazel."

Cook winked at Emily as he whispered to her in a low voice, "Fit as fuck, isn't she? You're welcome."

Emily fought the urge to strangle Cook with both hands.

"Hi, Emily," said the blonde timidly as she smiled shyly at Emily.

Emily smiled awkwardly back, and for a few seconds, an uncomfortable silence hung between them.

"Come on, don't just shtand around staring at each other," said Cook as he gently pulled Hazel closer to Emily. "Go get drunk and get acquainted. Go ahead and explore each other," said Cook, chuckling at the innuendo of his last sentence. Emily wished she had something sharp within reach to stab the boy with. Cook seemed to have caught the glare Emily was giving him and shut up at once.

"Alright, I'm leaving. You girlsh have fun," said Cook, flashing a broad smile before turning to ditch Emily in this painfully awkward situation. Emily wished for the millionth time that Cook would trip over himself in his drunken stupor and just die on the spot.

Emily scratched her forehead uneasily as she thought of something appropriate to say, but nothing came to her mind. Hazel stood close by, smiling tensely and looking so ill at ease that Emily felt sorry for her.

God, it's been so long since she'd done this hooking up thing. This was hopeless.

"Erm," ventured Emily after a long excruciating silence. "Can I get you a drink? Since all the drinks are on Cook, we should drink all we can to thank him for dumping us in this awkward situation huh," added Emily with a nervous chuckle.

Emily turned silent when she noticed that Hazel didn't look amused at all. Shit, now she must think that I loathe her company.

"I- I don't mean that I don't like hanging around with you," Emily began rambling in an attempt to salvage the situation. "I mean, you're a nice, gorgeous girl, you don't have to do this if you don't want-," Emily's words were cut off by the touch of something soft and sweet on her lips, the unexpected contact sent her backing away a little in shock.

What in the world?

"I've liked you since the first time we flew on the same flight, to Los Angeles," confessed Hazel shyly as she lowered her head to avoid Emily's gaze. "You were so serious while you were working. I found it wildly attractive."

Hazel looked up at Emily but the latter just stared blankly back at her, her face clearly still in shock.

"Everyone in the company knew who you were because of that Captain Velleman incident. Yet when you spoke to me you'd never put on any airs like some of the pilots do when talking to the rest of the cabin crew. You were gentle and friendly and sweet."

Emily gaped at the confession that Hazel had just made. She'd thought this was just one of Cook's crazy, spontaneous set-ups of his friends. She had no idea that Hazel had a crush on her. She gazed back at the blonde, her head clouded by the alcohol she had downed too fast a while ago. As Hazel leaned in for a second kiss, Emily found her hands cupping the blonde's cheeks and deepening it.

Naomi…

Emily froze as her eyes shot wide open. She pushed the girl who was still kissing her away abruptly, eyeing her as if she hadn't noticed her before. Hazel looked back at her with confused, hurt eyes. Emily felt guilt-ridden as she turned away and left Hazel alone behind without a word, but there was no way she could stay.

She desperately needed some air.

Emily lit a fag as she stood alone outside of the house, leaning against its wall. She rubbed her eyes with her fingers as she blew a whiff of smoke in the cold night air.

What the hell was she thinking? There she was, making out with a gorgeous blonde girl who was into her. And she just had to go and think about the one person she ought not to think of.

"Hey," came a voice beside her suddenly, rudely jolting her out of her thoughts.

"Naomi," Emily managed out shakily as she turned and saw the blonde looking at her tenderly with concerned eyes. Naomi was looking more stunning than ever in the soft dim light of the streetlamp, her cheeks a shade of red from the alcohol or the cold, Emily couldn't really tell, but god, did she look beautiful.

"I saw you heading out here by yourself," said Naomi as she bowed her head for a moment before looking up at Emily again. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm alright," said Emily with a weak smile, surprised that Naomi actually took notice of her.

Stop over-thinking things, Emily Fitch. She's just concerned about you as an acquaintance.

Naomi kept silent for a moment before blurting out the words.

"Emily… Have I done something wrong or something? Because I feel like you've been avoiding me," said Naomi, hurt apparent in her voice.

The image of Naomi and McDowell kissing backstage crept sneakily into Emily's thoughts for the millionth time.

Emily stood rooted to the ground, not knowing how to answer Naomi.

She can't. She can't do this anymore. It hurts so bad.

"I think it's best we don't meet anymore," Emily finally said, her heart breaking into two as she did so.

Naomi only looked back at Emily silently, her eyes blinking back tears before she finally nodded without a word.

"It's the tabloids, isn't it?" said Naomi knowingly.

"No, it isn't," replied Emily a tad too quickly.

"Then, why?" asked Naomi, her eyes unable to conceal the hurt behind.

"I…," began Emily, but it hit her that she was speechless.

What can she say? Was she supposed to tell Naomi that she was in love with her? That she couldn't even bear to remain friends with her and see her anymore because it hurts so bad to know Naomi would never love Emily back in the same way she loved her?

Emily's heart sank as the tornado of thoughts hit her. She was at a loss as to how to answer Naomi.

It was at that moment when she caught sight of Hazel amongst the crowd through one of the windows in the house.

She had no idea why she did it. The words came out before she could stop herself.

"Because I have a girlfriend," Emily lied as her eyes darted to the floor and avoided Naomi's gaze. "And I don't want her to get the wrong idea about us."

"I'm sorry," added Emily before hastily walking back into the house, leaving Naomi all by herself in the dark cold night.

Emily Fitch. You big fucking evil liar.

Emily placed her hands on the waist of the blonde in front of her and swayed tipsily to the music. Hazel was looking back lovingly into her eyes as she slung her arms around her neck, making Emily feel an overwhelming sense of guilt instantly.

About half an hour ago, Emily had looked for Hazel and asked her for a dance. Emily wanted to put up a show for Naomi to prove her point. She felt bad for using Hazel, but she needed Naomi to be convinced so that she would stay away on her own accord.

After tonight, she and Naomi would probably never meet again and maybe, just maybe, if she stopped seeing Naomi around, she could start trying to get over her.

Emily's eyes darted to the far end of the room. Naomi was sitting at the bar counter in between two guys. Her face was much redder than it had been before, and her sluggish actions showed that she was obviously tipsy. Naomi was laughing at something one of the guys had said, and when he handed her a drink, she took it and downed it in a blink of an eye.

Emily turned away hurriedly as Naomi's eyes looked up in her direction to meet hers.

Was that a hint of sadness she saw in those beautiful blue eyes?

That nagging feeling in her gut crept up on Emily once again.

She feels the same way about you.

Emily brushed the thoughts away angrily. She was afraid; she was very afraid of indulging in these delusions that would only serve to hurt her further later. It had happened with Leia, and it had hurt her real bad the last time. She couldn't afford to let it happen with Naomi as well. She was sure this time it would surely kill her.

Emily stared intently at Hazel's face. To be fair, Hazel was really fit like what Cook had said. Her brown eyes shone brightly as she smiled; her hair was soft and straight; she smelled so great, and hell, she had a body that even Emily was jealous of. To top it all off, she was a great kisser. And surprisingly, Emily hadn't resisted her when they kissed earlier.

Why couldn't she fall in love with Hazel instead? Hazel was gay and liked her. Everything would have been much simpler. Emily knew Hazel would never be able to hurt her like Naomi was able to.

Because Hazel wasn't Naomi.

Emily bit her lip as she glanced at Naomi from across the room, all the while dancing slowly to the music with Hazel in her arms.

Emily felt Hazel's hands pushing her shoulders back gently.

"You're in love with that girl, aren't you?" said Hazel sadly in a knowing tone, her head cocking slightly towards where Naomi was sitting. "That cute blonde on the airplane who passed a message to you."

Emily's mouth went dry.

"She's adorable," continued Hazel as tears streamed down her eyes and she removed her arms around Emily's neck. "I hope you end up with her," she added with a smile.

"Thanks for keeping me company tonight," whispered Hazel as she leant in and kissed Emily on the cheek, before disappearing into the crowd of people dancing.

Emily stood there gaping, guilt-stricken for the second time that night.

Hazel knew all along that Emily was just using her.

Emily felt awful about what she did and was going to run after Hazel when she caught sight of Naomi on the stairway. Naomi appeared to be severely drunk and the two guys from before were holding her up the stairs. Emily noticed that there was something wrong with Naomi's eyes. They were vacant and unfocused. As the trio disappeared into the dark upstairs, Emily was gripped with an uneasiness she couldn't explain.

Without a second thought, she jostled her way through the throngs of people towards the flight of steps.

Upstairs, the smell of pot filled the air in the hallway lined with couples making out. Emily scanned the hallway briefly; Naomi and the two guys were nowhere to be seen. She grew worried as she opened the doors to each of the rooms and found that the three had mysteriously disappeared. Finally, she came to the last door at the end of the hallway and found it to be locked.

Emily rammed hard on the door. "Open up!" she yelled as she yanked at the doorknob, attracting the attention of one couple who was lying at a corner. After several more knocks, the door finally opened to reveal a guy's head in the tiny gap in between.

"What the fuck do y-," the guy's words were cut off when Emily kicked the door hard, making him fall back onto the floor.

Emily froze at the sight before her as she entered. At the side of the room a guy was holding up a phone camera and shooting something. When he saw Emily he was so startled he dropped the phone on the floor.

On the double bed in the middle of the room laid Naomi on her back, her dark blue blazer removed, and her top violently ripped to reveal her bra within. Her eyes were staring dreamily as she let out bouts of giggles, completely oblivious to what was going on.

"Oi, mind your own fucking business, will ya," the guy who had fallen down had picked himself up and was pushing Emily back to the door.

Emily felt an immense wave of rage surging through her veins. The next thing she knew, her fist had swung right into the guy's face, the sound of bones cracking tearing through the air as the impact hit his nose.

"FUCK!" yelled the man as he raised a fist and punched Emily back. Emily winced in pain as she fell back onto the floor, her hand instinctively touching the side of her mouth as she tasted blood on her lip.

Emily saw that the ring on his right middle finger was stained with blood.

As the man raised a fist for another blow at Emily's face, his arm was stopped halfway in midair by another hand. The next moment, a couple of punches flew into the guy's face.

"This will teach you not to hit the ladies," said the voice as he punched the guy again in the tummy, making him bend over and howl out in pain, before dropping to the floor and writhing in agony.

Freddie glared at the other guy with the phone camera, who stood frozen to the ground and looked like he was going to pee in his pants any time soon.

"You do know you can go to jail for this, don't you?" said Freddie as he cocked his head towards Naomi, who was giggling and mumbling to herself now, obviously high on something the guys had spiked in her drink.

"Please don't call the police!" the guy begged, seemingly alarmed. "We meant no real harm! We just wanted to have some fun," he added desperately. Emily thought he looked like he was going to break down and cry the next moment.

"Give me the fucking phone," Freddie hollered and the guy scampered over and passed him the phone.

"Get your pathetic friend out of here," said Freddie as he took the phone and punched the guy in his tummy. The guy bent over yelling out in pain before hurriedly struggling to scramble out of the room with his friend in his arm.

"Jesus, Ems," said Freddie as he eyed Emily's cut lip. "You're bleeding!"

"I'm alright," said Emily as her eyes were fixated on the girl lying motionlessly on the bed.

"Listen, Fred. Naomi can't go out like this, the reporters are everywhere and they are sure to write things when they see her in this state. You go get a top from Cook's wardrobe. I'll look after her and make sure nobody comes in."

Freddie nodded and promptly left the room. Emily locked the door after him and winced in pain as her tongue licked the cut on her lip. Turning her head to the motionless figure sprawled on the bed, she walked up slowly to Naomi's side, her eyes a look of worry as she gazed at her sleeping face.

"Naomi, … Naomi," Emily called out softly as she leaned across the bed and shook Naomi gently, her voice suddenly hoarser than usual.

"Emily?" Naomi said tenderly as she opened her eyes slowly like a child woken up from sleep and gazed at Emily dreamily. Emily's breath hitched at the way Naomi had called her name.

"Can you walk?" asked Emily, before realising that Naomi's eyes had wandered off to somewhere else. It hit her that the blonde had no clue what was going on. "OK, I doubt so. Right, we need to get you out of here."

As Emily leaned forward in an attempt to carry Naomi out of bed, a sudden weight on her back made her lose balance and fall on top of the blonde, her hands pinning down Naomi on both sides to support her weight. Emily realised that the sudden weight was actually Naomi's hands wrapped around her back to pull her in closer. Emily swallowed hard as she froze in that position, inches away from Naomi's face. Those blue eyes directly below her danced with a mischievous twinkle as Naomi broke into giggles, totally oblivious to the tension in the air that was thick enough to strangle Emily to death.

Fuck.

Emily tried to adjust her weight on her knees in an attempt to pull away but she was caught off-guard when Naomi suddenly flipped her over to the side. The next moment, Naomi was straddling Emily and smiling impishly with a playful wink.

"You're naughty," Naomi bent over and whispered seductively into Emily's ear, the warmth of her breath scorching the latter's skin. "You tried to escape."

Emily froze. Wait, is she in one of her sex dreams about Naomi again?

"Don't even think of it," Naomi continued in a whisper, her bra brushing against Emily's chest as she leaned in close. "I'm holding you prisoner for tonight," her words came out slowly as she wetted her lips seductively with her tongue and gazed straight into Emily's eyes.

For a while, Emily thought she saw a hint of recognition in Naomi's eyes and wondered if Naomi was actually sober. But she knew she was mistaken when Naomi broke into giggles in an intoxicated manner again.

What the fuck did those two guys feed Naomi exactly?

Emily tried to pull away, but it was nearly impossible with Naomi's weight on her. The red-head's eyes widened as she watched Naomi remove what was left of her ripped top over her head as she continued straddling her, revealing her black bra fully. Emily felt her knees go weak. Now, it was totally physically impossible to pull away.

Naomi cupped Emily's cheeks with both her hands, her breaths suddenly heavy as her eyes met with the red-head's. For a moment, the air in the room held still, and Emily really thought that it was sober Naomi, not drunk and stoned Naomi, who was hovering above her.

Emily watched Naomi intently as the latter closed her eyes gently and leaned in cautiously and uncertainly, like a teenager who's nervous about a first kiss. Emily's heart thumped wildly as she took in all of Naomi; the long dark eyelashes, the beautiful curves of her cheekbones, her tantalising cherry-red lips.

God, she's beautiful.

Trembling slightly, Emily lifted her head gingerly and met Naomi's lips halfway with her own, closing her eyes slowly and taking in a deep breath as she deepened the kiss.

Moments later, Naomi pulled away from her lips and trailed kisses down her neck. Emily felt her breath quickening and a slight wetness between her legs.

Then all of a sudden, there was no more motion.

Emily turned her head to the side, only to find Naomi's head rested on its side, her eyes closed and her mouth hung open in an adorable 'o' shape as her light snores filled her ears like music.