A/N Sorry i've taken so long to update i've gotten a new roommate who keeps dragging me out to party so I haven't had a lot of free time to write. But here's the new chapter, another fluffy one i suppose but I really wanted to write their first date. So I hope you enjoy and keep reviewing because they make me feel all warm and gushy inside ha ha
First Date
There aren't many moments in life that you can look back on and say that's when it all changed, moments that produce a tangible shift in things like walking through a portal into another world. But Naomi knows that she's had one, that night on the boat with Emily changed everything, changed her, for the better. it was like she was seeing the world through new Emily tinted glasses, no longer hiding behind sarcasm and quick wit. It was useless anyways; Emily had made it quite clear that she could see Naomi, deep down to her core no matter how hard the blonde tried to hide.
They soon became inseparable, almost more so than Cook and Effy, only a week after the beach party and Naomi had seen or at least spoken to Emily every day. They hadn't discussed what they were, just enjoyed getting to know each other better. It wasn't until Thursday when Emily finally got fed up with waiting for Naomi to ask and brought it up herself.
"So are you ever going to ask me out or are we planning on spending the rest of the summer skirting around it?" Emily asks.
They are sitting at the pier, Emily's eating an ice cream and Naomi almost chokes on her slush puppy at Emily's words. Truth was she was planning on asking Emily out on a proper date for days now, but her nerves kept getting the best of her. Which was completely ridiculous because Emily had made it clear that everything Naomi was feeling was welcomed and returned, but she had just never been on a real date, didn't have the slightest clue as to how to ask or what to do on one.
"Of course I was going to," Naomi says once she's cleared her throat and recovered from the near choking incident.
"Well its taking you long enough, what's wrong Naoms? Scared I'll say no?" Emily teases, watches as Naomi's cheeks flush and realizes that she actually has been nervous to ask," Christ I mean come on, we hang out everyday, we talk on the phone when we aren't together, you hold my hand when we walk Naoms! Do I even need to mention the kiss last night outside my house? We're pretty much dating already Naomi its just not official yet."
Naomi flushes some more, if this was what dating was like she's not sure why she spent so much time and energy running from it in the past because really so far its been quite wonderful. Knows that it has more to do with Emily that makes it great rather than the act of a relationship itself though.
"I know that Emily, and its been great but I've just never actually been on a proper date before," Naomi confesses with a shy smile.
And now Emily is confused because from what she understood Naomi had quite a large dating history, she had actually been quite intimidated by it when she first heard, one of the many reasons she had kept her guard up with Naomi at first.
"But you've had girlfriends?" Emily asks
"I've had girls," Naomi cringes at the way it sounds," Just never you know…went out…"
"Oh," Emily replies, beginning to feel deflated at her lack of experience compared to Naomi's.
Naomi notices her turn her attentions back to her cone, looking completely self-conscious now, which was the last thing Naomi wanted. So she reaches across the table and links their fingers together, which causes Emily to smile regardless of the unpleasant thoughts swimming around in her head at the moment, the majority of them consisting of Naomi with her hand up some slags skirt against some dirty wall at some dirty club.
"Em," Naomi says, waits to continue until 2 vulnerable brown eyes lift up to meet hers," Look I know I've done a lot in the past, and honestly I'm not proud of the majority of i. But the thing is I've always been terrified of letting anyone close to me, that's why I acted the way I did," Emily nods for her to continue," And then you come along, Emily fucking Fitch, and turned my life upside down. You somehow in a week managed to pull me out of my shell. And no I've never really had a proper girlfriend, because I've never really gave a shit until now. I've never wanted to take anyone out, or speak to them every night before bed, or wanted to introduce anyone to my mom or Cook even. But I want all of that with you, that is if you'll have me? So what do you say, come out with me tomorrow night, like a real official first date?"
Her stomach was fluttering with the familiar butterflies she got when around Naomi lately. Decides that actions speak louder than words and reaches her free hand across the table and without warning rubs her ice cream on the side of Naomi's mouth. The blonde barely has time to react before Emily's leaning across the table and kissing her. Delicately cleaning up the ice cream off her lips with her tongue and Naomi thinks vanilla ice cream will forever be Emily to her now as she smiles into the kiss.
"I'll take that as a yes then?" Naomi says as she wipes any excess ice cream that Emily had left behind.
"I think its safe to say so Naoms, Jesus read the signals and keep up," Emily pins her with a sly grin and feels her stomach drop in a good way.
Emily wasn't sure what to expect as she sat in her lounge wait for Naomi to show up. After Naomi's confession about her lack of date experience Emily just assumed Naomi would pick her up and they would go to a film or something. But Naomi was being so secretive all day that Emily was starting to get anxious.
She felt a bit guilty though, after telling Naomi to face her fears and watching the blonde be so brave through this whole thing, Emily really felt like a coward. She still hadn't told her parents about Naomi, she hadn't lied, just hadn't really said anything either. She was scared, after the way they reacted back in Bristol when she tried to delicately hint that she was gay, the idea of telling them about Naomi and everything that this girl was making her feel was terrifying. She just wanted to be happy and enjoy her time with Naomi for a while without having that weight hovering over them, especially when she really didn't know where she stood with Naomi anyways.
Emily was thankful when the sound of a car pulling into the driveway broke her from her worrying thoughts. Pulling back the drapes Emily peeks out and spots Naomi, sitting in her mom's car about to get out and walk to the door. She jumps up and runs to the door herself, wants to stop Naomi before she gets up to the house which could be a potentially awkward experience for all parties involved seeing as her parents still don't know she's been seeing a girl. She's about to open the door when her father comes up behind her.
"Where are you off to?" he says through his thick Scottish accent.
"Just out with Naomi dad, I won't be late," she replies, once again technically not a lie.
"Alright love, have fun," he smiles and pats her on the shoulder.
Emily returns his smile and gives him a quick hug before running out the door towards Naomi. Some how managing to catch her before she got fully out of the car.
"I was going to come to the door you know," Naomi says," A little eager are we?"
"Always," Emily raises and eyebrow, breaking into a grin as she gets in the passenger seat and spots the flowers in Naomi's hand," Are those for me?"
Laughs when she sees Naomi's cheeks flush, really likes that she can get such a response out of her.
"Ya well my mom said its customary on a first date, so I picked some from the garden," Naomi hands the fresh flowers to Emily," Sorry they aren't roses or anything, its just she told me at the last minute and I didn't have time to stop before coming here."
Emily shush's her with a finger to her lips and shakes her head.
"They're lovely Naomi," Emily assures her," Just stop worrying yeah."
"Sorry," Naomi says sheepishly, thinking to herself that it was easier said then done.
"So where are we going?" Emily asks, her curiosity finally getting the best of her
"You'll see soon enough," Naomi grins and Emily thinks that she might have just fallen for Naomi all over again.
They were pulling out of the driveway when Jenna finally speaks up, she's been watching out the window since Emily ran so excitedly outside. There was just something about the way Emily spoke about this Naomi girl, and she just had to see if her suspicions were at all founded.
"Did you just see that Rob, there were flowers Naomi certainly isn't just Emily's friend," Jenna sighs, turning to face her husband and shutting the drapes," What are we going to do?"
"Its just a summer thing sweet heart," he tries to sooth her worries, knows its really no use though," This is Emily we're talking about, at the end of the summer we'll have picked out a wonderful school for her to attend and she'll be gone and will have forgotten all about this Naomi."
"I don't know Rob it makes me nervous," she shakes head.
"We can't push her Jenna, all it will do is make her resent us and will push her more towards this girl. If we just sit back fall semester will start before we know it and things will be fine," Rob explains," Just trust me, Emily always makes the right decision."
Jenna reluctantly agrees, follows her husband out of the room and tries not to think about how this could destroy all the dreams she had for her daughter.
Emily smiles when Naomi pulls up to the beach, she was glad Naomi hadn't opted for the traditional dinner and a movie date because they weren't traditional and she liked it that way.
"So my mom said that a first date should be original, you know something to remember," Naomi says as she shuts off the ignition," And I have a feeling you've never watched the sunset on a beach before?"
"Can't say that I have," Emily admits," But I'm happy my first time will be with you," Naomi's eyes snap up to hers and Emily quickly realizes the possible double meaning to her words," My first beach sunset I mean," she adds, blushing furiously.
"Of course," Naomi agrees," That's what I thought you meant."
Does her best to push the lusty thoughts out of her head because she knows that isn't happening tonight. Its all part of Naomi's turning over a new leaf plan, the whole taking it slow thing was new to her but became increasingly important after Emily had admitted shyly that she had never. And for once Naomi actually wants to do the right thing, wants it to mean something if and when her and Emily sleep together. Mostly wants to make sure that if by some act of God Emily chooses her to take that step with her that its nothing at all like the memories she has of her first time.
"Come on then," Naomi says, grabbing Emily's hand and tugging her towards the beach.
She's picked her favorite spot, off the main stretch of beach, a clear view of the water and beautiful fine white sand to sit on. As Emily comes around the bend and sees what Naomi has set up her smile widens. It was nothing extravagant, no candles or rose pedals or anything else overly cheesy. There was just a blanket, a small fire and a picnic basket off to the side. It was quant and exactly how Emily had imagined her first date with Naomi. Naomi was patting the spot next to her and Emily quickly accepted the invitation.
"I know its not like a typical first date," Naomi says suddenly," I just wasn't sure what to plan and I heard Effy say that you don't get as clear a look at the stars back in Bristol so I thought maybe this was a good idea?"
Emily feels her heart warm at Naomi's clear insecurities shining through, places her hand atop Naomi's in a comforting gesture.
"Its lovely," Emily replies," And you aren't typical, I'm not typical and I honestly don't ever want to be normal with you."
And when Naomi laughs its like Emily can see some of the tension leave her body and it's a beautiful sight the way her shoulders sink down and her face breaks out into what Emily thinks really could be a million dollar smile, Emily's pleased that she was able to bring about such a look.
"You basically just called me weird you realize?" Naomi says with mock anger.
"Correction I said we were weird," Emily laughs," But I like it that way."
"Whatever you say Em," Naomi replies," You big freak!" She adds grinning like an idiot when Emily glares playfully at her.
Emily looks around, watches the water lap against the beach with the tide breathes in the fresh ocean scent and thinks that this is Naomi to her. Calm and serenity and beauty, absolute beauty, feels maybe for the first time absolute contentment with where she is.
"So you're sure you like it then?" Naomi says when Emily is silent for a moment," I mean we could still catch a late movie if you'd prefer?"
"For a cocky girl you can be very insecure Naomi," Emily shakes her head, she's starting to learn that maybe Naomi's brash exterior is really just designed to hide the scared girl underneath." There's nowhere I'd rather be right now."
Naomi smiles and leans in pressing a chaste kiss to Emily's lips and then her cheek, pulling back to witness the broad grin Emily was now wearing.
"So were you planning on feeding me? Because be warned I can be a bit of a bitch when hungry," Emily confesses.
"Good to know," Naomi says as she reaches across and picks up the basket.
Starts pulling things out and placing them in front of Emily on the blanket and to say Emily was surprised to see so many of her favorite foods was an understatement. It wasn't till Naomi pulled out the familiar purple package that Emily hadn't seen since she left England that Emily's curiosity got the better of her.
"Garibaldi's?" Emily questions.
"Ya Effy said they were your favorite, never heard of them but I figure if you like them they must be good?" Naomi tosses the basket back to the side and hands Emily a wrapped sandwich.
"Honey and marmite?" Emily gasps as she unwraps the sandwich," Let me guess Effy?"
Naomi nods, unwrapping her own sandwich and taking a bite.
"I wanted to give you a taste of home and Effy helped out, though to be honest that sandwich looks disgusting," Emily takes a large bite and makes various sounds of enjoyment," Well to each their own I guess."
"Where did you get all this stuff? I've looked at the supermarket and let me tell you they're no Tesco!" Emily declares
"There's this British import store at the mall, mostly novelty stuff but they have a small section of food and a shit load of tea," Naomi explains.
Emily melts a little more at Naomi's obvious effort to make this date perfect for her. She thinks that for a girl who claims she's never even been on a date Naomi's pretty damn good at planning one. And so far it was perfect, perfect girl, perfect surroundings, and her favorite foods, without a doubt one of the best nights she could remember.
Its much later on when the sun has already set and Naomi has given Emily her sweater after insisting that she looked cold, that Emily thinks that there's a bit of an imbalance in their relationship. She's sitting between Naomi's legs and leaning back into the warmth of her body as they gaze at the stars and Naomi points out constellations to her. Emily pulls Naomi's arms tighter around her body and sighs when she feels Naomi's chin resting on her shoulder.
"Cold Em?" Naomi asks," We could head back?"
"No," Emily says quickly, the last thing she wants is for this night to end," I'd like to stay a litter longer, I was just thinking about something."
"Go on then," Naomi encourages her to continue, presses a lingering kiss to Emily's neck that causes an involuntary shiver to run down Emily's spine.
"I was just thinking that you know so much about me but I still know very little about you."
Naomi furrows her brow, she hadn't really thought about it like that. It was just how she felt comfortable; asking questions about Emily and learning as much as she could. She didn't realize that in the process she might have unconsciously made it seem like she was closing herself off.
"Well what do you want to know?" Naomi says," Ask me anything."
Emily mulls it over for a bit, there are so many things she wants to know about Naomi. If she's completely honest she wants to know everything about her.
"Favorite color?" Emily finally decides on," What its legitimate!" she defends when Naomi starts to giggle behind her.
"Wow delving deep here aren't we Em," Naomi jokes," And its either green or blue."
"Okay, any siblings?" Emily asks.
"You mean other than my dads new family which I've never met?" It comes out much harsher than she intended and she feels instantly guilty," Nope, no siblings just me and my mom."
Mentally kicking herself for the slip up Emily turns slightly in Naomi's arms, expects to be met with an angry stare but instead finds Naomi simply looking back at her, nothing but a smile but still a hint of sadness present on her face.
"I'm so sorry, I'm such a twat! I shouldn't have said that,"
"Its okay Emily I'm over it, really you don't have to tip toe around the subject all the time," Naomi says, can see how guilty Emily is for bringing it up and now feels even worse for reacting in such a knee jerk fashion.
"Its okay if you're not you know?" Emily says," You don't have to always be the strong one, you can be a bit weak with me because I'll be there to catch you I promise."
It stirs something inside Naomi; she's never been one to count on anyone else. Learned from a young age that the only person you can really count on is yourself. But there's something about the way Emily says those words, something about the look in her eyes that just forces Naomi to believe her no questions asked. And really she just wants to tell Emily that she's already a bit weak with her, wants to tell her how much intensity of what she's feeling is scarring the shit out of her. But she doesn't, she doesn't want to scare Emily away. So she just smiles at her and nods, stroking her hand across Emily's cheek when she moves in for a kiss.
"I should probably get you home then," Naomi says reluctantly," Last thing I need is to make a bad impression on your parents by bringing you home late the first night."
Emily stiffens slightly in her arms and Naomi wracks her brain to come up with what she could have possibly said wrong.
"Or we could stay if you want?"
"Its just…its just," Emily stammers, hopes Naomi wont react badly to what she's about to tell her," I haven't told them about us yet."
Suddenly everything makes sense, the way Emily always meets her places when they hang out, the way she ran outside earlier to keep Naomi from walking to the door. She feels something foreign then, something in the pit of her stomach; hurt. Well at least Emily was consistent in making her feel Naomi thinks.
"Are you mad?" Emily timidly asks.
And no she isn't mad, she wishes that she was. At least anger was an emotion she was used to, she could deal with anger, but this feeling swirling around in her gut right now wasn't pleasant.
"Depends," she says finally, watches as Emily turns around in her arms again, her eyes looking guilty," Is it because im a girl or because I'm me?"
Emily's eyes go completely frantic at this, her hands fly up to cup Naomi's cheeks in some attempt to make sure the blonde is listening.
"Jesus no Naomi you have the complete wrong idea," Emily says quickly, ignores the disbelief in Naomi's eyes," It's nothing to do with you, you're lovely, its just the last time I brought up my gay inclinations they lost it. Well mum did, dad seemed pretty cool but mum just wouldn't let it go. Kept telling me I was confused and that I should be more like Katie. So over the years It just got easier to just let her believe what she wanted to you know."
Emily waits for some sort of reaction from Naomi that will tell her that everything is okay, gets it when Naomi smiles gently at her and places her hands on Emily's forearms, pulling Emily's hands off her face and taking them in her own.
"Its okay," Naomi says," I'm sorry sometimes I forget that not everyone has liberal hippie parents like my mom. Like I know that my reputation doesn't make me the most desirable person to bring home to your parents so I don't mind if you want to just you know keep it on the down low for now."
Emily knows Naomi is just trying to make everything easy on her. But she knows Naomi hasn't hidden who she was for a long time, admires her bravery actually, the way Naomi seems to be able to effortlessly look the world in the face and say "this is me, deal with it". The fact that Naomi is willing to keep things between them under the radar when its so against her nature causes Emily's heart to melt a little.
"That's really sweet of you Naoms but I don't want to lie about us," Emily says with conviction," In fact when I get home tonight I'm just going to come out and tell them that you're my girlfriend and they'll just have to deal with it."
The words just came out of Emily's mouth before she even noticed what she had said. Naomi's eyes widen for a moment as she processes what Emily has just called her. She smiles then, kind of likes the way that word sounds coming from Emily. It's like something in her changed this summer, because months ago that word would have terrified her to no end, would have made her feel trapped. But now it only made her feel warm and happy, and she thinks that maybe Cook was right, this new Naomi was starting to creep her out too.
"Girlfriend?" Naomi says, an amused smirk dancing on her lips.
Emily must have realized what she said because she suddenly she was turning a bright shade of pink and shaking her head awkwardly.
"Shit no, I meant…fucking hell," Emily stammers
"Em?" Naomi says
"Yeah?" Emily replies, her hands placed over her face bracing for the worst.
"Would you like to be my girlfriend?" Emily removes her hands and sneaks a glance at Naomi, who is looking back with a huge grin on her face.
"Fuck Campbell you had me thinking I scared you off." Emily laughs, the panicked feeling slowly dissipating.
"Now who's the insecure one," Naomi teased," So how about it? I've never actually had a girlfriend before, would you like to be my first?" Naomi kinks her eyebrow suggestively and Emily feels her stomach drop.
"I would love to," Emily says and if possible Naomi's grin grows," Now kiss me you fool."
Naomi doesn't need to be told twice, she snakes her arm around Emily's neck and pulls hr into a kiss. Deepens it instantly as she pulls Emily down so she's laying half on top of her, one of Naomi's hand burying its way into red hair and the other one sliding down and resting on Emily's lower back keeping them pressed together. And for someone who's as inexperienced as Emily says she is, she's remarkably good at this. The way she arches her back slightly unknowingly pushing herself further into Naomi, and it's surprising to Naomi how the most innocent of movements from Emily can turn her on so much. She knows she has to stop it, because Emily's lips are slowly drifting down her jaw and too her neck and she feels like her skin is on fire and her stomach is fluttering and if she doesn't stop this now she doesn't think she'll have the will power to later.
"Ems," Naomi says, tries and fails to hide the shudder she breaks out in when Emily sucks a little harder on her pulse point.
"Emily," she tries again, sounding a little more forceful this time.
Emily pulls back and looks at her, takes in Naomi's slightly heavier breathing and the way her eyes are the darkest she's ever seen anyone's. She gulps, realizes exactly what effect she was having on the blonde. It stirs something in her, knowing she has the power to make Naomi feel like that, she smiles at the realization and leans in and kisses Naomi softly this time.
"We've got tones of time for this," Naomi says when they finally break apart," No need to rush anything okay?"
"Fucking hell you're damn near perfect aren't you?" Emily blurts out blushing when she realizes she actually said what she was thinking out loud.
"Well I try," Naomi grins," But we really should get you home it's getting late."
Emily looks at her watch, its well after midnight and she knows Naomi is right, if she doesn't get home soon she knows there will be hell to pay from her parents later but she selfishly just doesn't want this night to end.
"Ya you're right," Emily concedes," Just sad it has to end is all."
"Well I'll see you tomorrow right," Naomi laughs," you're my girlfriend now you're kind of stuck with me Ems."
"Well when you put it like that I'm not so sure," Emily teases.
"Fuck off," Naomi replies, stands up offering a hand to Emily to help her up.
She puts out the fire and gathers up the rest of the things she had set out and tosses everything in the trunk of the car. The drive back to Emily's is short and Emily gives her another kiss in the car before she takes off inside wearing the biggest smile Naomi had ever seen her wear. It's something close to pride what Naomi feels, she's happy Emily enjoyed her evening. That was all she wanted really, to give Emily a night that she would remember, one that she could look back on one day and smile at the memory and it seemed like she had exceeded.
Emily waves at Naomi once as she pulls out of the driveway before heading inside and leaning against the door with a huge grin after she shuts it. She feels like she's floating, it's a feeling that she can't even describe like there are no words that fit it.
"Did you have a good time love?" her dad's thick accent cuts through her thoughts, she snaps her head to the side and spots him and her mum sitting in the lounge staring at her.
She swallows thickly, thinks to herself that its now or never as she walks towards them.
"Yeah I did," she says," there's something I have to tell you and you're not going to like it."
Emily takes another deep breath and mentally prepares herself for the backlash she knows is going to follow what she says next.
"Naomi is more than just my friend, she's my girlfriend," it feels good to finally say it out loud and the knowledge that Naomi really is hers gives her the strength to continue," She's rather beautiful, and smart and wonderful and to be blunt you're just going to have to get used to it. Because mum dad I love you but I can't keep on hiding who I am so you can live in this fantasy world, it hurts too much and I just can't do it anymore."
It all comes out in one quick succession and she doesn't even take the time to look at them to see their reaction, just squeezes her eyes tight when she's finished and prays for the best. But they don't speak and after a few minutes of silence Emily finally opens her eyes and looks at them and she's surprised to find her father smiling at her. Looks over to her mum and sees a similar smile on her face as well, though it seems forced and tense.
"Emsy we just want you to be who you are love," her father says," Right Jenna?"
Jenna smiles and nods but the way her hands clench slightly at her sides doesn't go unnoticed by Emily.
"Of course dear," Jenna says, her voice tight," we just want you to be happy."
Emily wonders if when she was out some aliens attacked the house and possessed her parents because this was the last reaction she was expecting from them. But decides to take it anyways, doesn't quite buy that they are this okay with everything but figures if they are making an attempt then she will too. So she says good night and kisses them both on the cheek before making her way up the stairs to her room, she can hear their voices as she shuts her door but can't make out what they're saying. Frankly she doesn't care right now, just wants to enjoy the moment for a while.
Effy is sitting on her bed waiting for her with a smirk when she enters the room and Emily can't help but grin back at her. Its ridiculous really, her face is sore from smiling so much but she just can't stop, its how Naomi makes her feel, just so ridiculously happy it's a little bit sick.
"So tell me all about it," Effy says," Was she lovely?"
you have no idea Emily thinks as she throws herself down on the bed and begins to recount one of the best nights of her life to her best friend in the world. She thinks that if this is as good as it gets for her that right now it would be enough