A.N Woo finally got my internet fixed so I could upload this chapter. I was going to put the Fitch family dinner in here but I decided to make it next chapter because this one was already long enough. So here you go, thank you for all the nice words on the last one I really appreciate it, and i've got some time off coming up so hopefully it wont be so long till I have the next one up. Hope you enjoy :)
Emily had never made it to Naomi's so fast, especially not on foot. She puts it down to desperation; the desperate need to see the blonde had seemingly caused her legs to move at an inhuman rate. Once she reached Naomi's she made a beeline for the door and was about to knock when she felt someone else's presence outside. Bracing herself for what could be facing her (she had never met as many strange people as she had at Naomi's place this summer) she turns and spots a woman sitting on the swinging bench at the end of the porch. She doesn't recognize her though, Emily figures she must be new to the commune and doesn't think anything of it until she hears the woman speak.
"You must be Emily?" A soft voice says," Naomi talks about you all the time."
Emily takes a couple steps closer and as soon as she's close enough to see the woman in the light Emily knows instantly who she is. A pair of familiar blue eyes are staring back at her, soft facial features and a bob of blonde hair rests around her face, it was no doubt Naomi's mother.
"Wow she really didn't do you justice," Naomi's mom says, a smile twitching at the corners of her lips.
Emily feels her face flush, feels her insides fluttering at the thought that Naomi had told her mother so much about her; about them.
"Hello Ms. Campbell," Emily says, staring in wonder at how alike her and Naomi look, she can't help but wonder if this is what Naomi will look like in 20 years.
"Please call me Gina," Gina says, looking at Emily fondly," Come sit down; I'd love to meet the girl that has made my daughter so happy. I mean really how did you do it? How did you make her stop all her shit and settle down, its amazing to me."
Emily can't help but smile at how well Gina knows her daughter. But she honestly has no clue how to answer the question because she really didn't do anything, Naomi had changed all on her own and as it seemed Emily was just there to reap the benefits of her transformation. She takes a seat next to Gina on the swing, still gripping her painting on her lap.
"I honestly didn't do anything Ms Campbell, I mean Gina. I just showed up at that carnival and she was there and she pursued me, almost annoyingly," Emily laughs," But as soon as I gave her a chance I saw how wonderful she actually was, I don't think she changed, not really. I think this Naomi was in there all along just waiting to come out."
"So it was love at first sight then?" Gina says warmly.
"Well I can't speak for Naomi but for me I just felt like I was drawn to her, and I couldn't get her out of my head no matter how hard I tried or how much I hated it," Emily replies.
"She loves you Emily," Gina says strongly.
Emily can't help the shock that spreads across her face at Gina's words, her heart is pounding at the thought that maybe Naomi had told her mother something along those lines.
"Don't look so surprised," Gina laughs," I'm sure she's never told you, stubborn bitch she is, terrified of her feelings. But I've never seen her eyes light up the way they do when she talks about you, she loves you even if she hasn't figured it out herself yet."
"I love her," Emily blurts out, it feels good to finally say it aloud to someone other than herself.
Gina smiles and nods as if to say she already knew and Emily wonders why it is that it's so easy to open up to this woman that she barely knows when she can't even open up completely to her own parents.
"I know you do sweetheart, now why don't you go upstairs and fix whatever little tiff it is the both of you have had because Naomi got home an hour ago wearing that look she wears when she's trying to pretend that nothing is wrong but something obviously is. She was wearing that same one the day that she went to visit her father up the coast and he turned her away, she came home and went straight to her room refusing to talk about it. Likes to stew in her misery that one, but don't let her Emily she deserves to be happy after everything."
Emily was beginning to realize that Naomi really was more fragile than she let on; she carries around this feeling of not being good enough stemming from her father leaving which was completely understandable. Emily figures Naomi had rebelled in the past to avoid letting some one in, to avoid what in Naomi's mind was inevitable, that if she let someone in they would eventually abandon her like her father did. Christ Emily thinks, she couldn't imagine carrying around that load in her head all the time. But Naomi had screwed up, she had let Emily in, she had taken a leap of faith, and Emily knew that with the way she had acted in their conversation earlier that she had made Naomi feel the way she was scared to feel again, the way she had worked so hard in the past to avoid.
Emily was about to reply to Gina, to tell her that she was going to march inside and upstairs and set things right when the front door swung open and a frantic looking Naomi came barging out, completely ignoring Emily and Gina as she set forward down the steps.
"Naomi dear, someone is here to see you," Gina spoke up causing Naomi to stop in her tracks and turn to face the two women on her porch.
Her eyes widen upon the realization that Emily was sitting there with her mother, having a lovely conversation judging by their body language. Naomi was filled with a mixture of relief and irritation, firstly relief because Emily was there as she was on her way to Emily's to apologize anyways. She had decided somewhere in her anger earlier that it was fine that Emily didn't want to introduce her to her parents, she had Emily that's the main thing, and maybe Emily just wasn't ready yet? It took a minute but she was able to force down the doubts, the fiery dragon from within that was screaming at her that Emily was ashamed of her, that she would never deserve someone like Emily. But now she was irritated, after everything here was Emily sitting with her mother alone having a fucking chat when she had told Naomi that she didn't want her to meet the Fitches, it was hardly fair.
Naomi didn't budge, just stood on the top of the steps staring at Emily.
"Well I'll leave you two alone then," Gina says, she stands up and with one last smile at Emily heads inside the house.
"Naomi," Emily says softly, motioning for the blonde to come sit next to her.
"No," Naomi says sternly," How it is right that I'm not allowed to meet your folks but you feel free to come over here and get all chummy with my mom when I'm not even present? Oh wait, yes its because I'm a massive screw up who whores herself around town and you're fucking perfect, how could I forget the differences."
Emily shakes her head; forcing back tears at hearing Naomi speak about herself that way.
"She was out here when I got here, she called me over," Emily explained," And you are NOT a screw up, you're one of the smartest people I know. You're fucking wonderful Naomi, you're funny as hell and you're so fucking gorgeous it seriously takes my breath away. You can do whatever you want in life, you could be anything, and you inspire me did you know that? You're so free and open, you don't give a fuck what people think, and I wish I was more like you."
Naomi's face softens considerably after Emily's speech, she goes to speak but Emily shakes her head and continues.
"And I know you have trust issues, with everything that's happened to you in your life it's a wonder that trust issues is all you have. But Naomi you don't have to be that way with me, I'm not you're father I'm not going to leave when things get rough," Emily assures her," And about earlier, I shouldn't have reacted that way and believe me it had nothing to do with you it's just you don't know my family. I felt like bringing you to dinner would be like tossing you into the lion's den but if you want to I would love for you to meet them. You make me so happy Naomi, like cloud nine floating around the house happy and I know that I need you to forgive me because even though its only been a little over a month I honestly can't picture my life without you in it. You make me smile and you make me feel special like no one before you ever has. You make me want to tell my parents that I want to study art next year instead of law or medicine or whatever other shit they are expecting me to. And ever since I met you I can't stop painting, its like my passion has been reawakened and I have you to thank for that. So believe me if there's anyone in this relationship who doesn't deserve the other its me."
By the time Emily's finished she's full on crying and its taken all Naomi had to not run over and comfort her during the speech, but Emily seemed like she needed to get it all out. And despite all the rambling Naomi knows no one's every said anything remotely as sweet to her in her whole life, and it's managed to melt away all her anger in a second. But really just seeing Emily's face did that about 15 minutes ago. And now Emily was staring at her, tears flowing and eyes pleading, and Naomi can't help but walk over to her. She wraps one arm around Emily's waist and threads the other one through her hair and brings their lips together. She feels Emily sigh against her and feels Emily's hand creep up her back clinging to her sweater desperately until Naomi pulls back and presses her forehead against Emily's.
"Its okay," Naomi says softly," I hate seeing you cry Em." She brings her hands up to brush away the stray tears off of Emily's cheeks.
"So you aren't upset anymore?" Emily asks seriously, sniffing back any lingering tears," Because if you are I need you to tell me, please don't hold it in."
"Emily where did you think I was going in a hurry a minute ago?" Naomi says with a smile," I was heading to your place to apologize to you. It's not physically possible for me to stay angry with you; I care about you too much. And I'm sorry about the way I acted earlier, if you aren't ready for me to meet your parents that's completely fine."
Emily's smiles, feels a giant weight being lifted off of her shoulders at Naomi's words. But the more she thinks about it the more she realizes that she really does want Naomi to meet her family. All she wants is for them to take her relationship seriously and she knows that hiding Naomi away isn't going to accomplish anything of the sort.
"You're so lovely," Emily giggles, pressing her face into the crook of Naomi's neck and feeling the vibration of Naomi's laugh against her face," But I really would love it if you would come over on Saturday, it would mean the world to me."
"You're sure?" Naomi asks, she feels Emily nodding against her shoulder and smiles," Okay then I'll be there."
Emily hears the door swing open again and lifts her head off of Naomi's shoulder spotting Gina standing in the doorway smiling at them.
"I see you've made up?" Gina says, her voice full of teasing," How about you come inside for some dinner, I'm making pancakes?"
"Pancakes for dinner? Isn't that more of a breakfast item?" Emily grins at Naomi.
Naomi takes her hand and starts leading her inside the house, she stops before they enter and turns to face Emily.
"Of all the things you've seen at this house does dinner pancakes really surprise you?" Naomi says and Emily can only shake her head and continue following.
As soon as she's inside Naomi's mom is instantly pulling out a chair for her to sit on. Naomi's kitchen is simple, just a four seater oak table, no extravagant chandeliers or useless crystal vases like are everywhere in her kitchen. But it's nice she thinks, its just got this home feel and it isn't showing off and Emily can't help but feel completely at home at Naomi's.
"So what do you have there?" Gina says once they're all sitting and eating contentedly.
Emily scans the room for what Gina is pointing at and finally sees the painting she had left by the door when she came in. She flushes, doesn't really want to open it in front of Gina, she's never showed anyone her art work it was always just a secret piece of her and she wanted to show it to Naomi. But by the way Gina was looking at her expectantly she doesn't think there's any way out of this one.
"It's just something I painted, I was going to give it to Naomi," Emily explains, flicking her eyes over to Naomi's for a minute and seeing nothing but curiosity and adoration pouring back at her.
"Well Naomi never told me that you're a painter," Gina says with a grin.
"I don't tell you everything mom," Naomi says feigning irritation, though Emily gets the sneaking suspicion that Naomi does tell her mother nearly everything, she's actually a bit jealous of how open and close they seem to be. Emily wishes she had any semblance of that with her own mother.
"Sure honey, so I must just be a psychic then," Gina laughs," Otherwise how do I know so much about Emily here?"
"She's exaggerating," Naomi insists, directing it towards Emily.
"You should have seen the state she was in before your first date Emily. Pacing the living room for hours it seemed, she even stooped as low as asking Zeus for advice," Gina points to the man walking up the stairs wearing complete head to toe tye dye and long dread locks down to his waist," She must have been desperate, but naturally I stepped in and saved the day. Then she spent hours picking out an outfit, I don't think I've ever seen her so stressed out in my life."
Emily grins and places her hand on top of Naomi's, who was looking more embarrassed by the minute. Naomi must have had no idea but Emily liked the fact that their relationship, that Emily made her nervous. It was oddly comforting knowing that someone as stoic and confident as Naomi usually is can but just as nervous and insecure as everyone else in the world.
"You're sweet," Emily points out," Though I would have been happy doing anything as long as it was with you."
"Ya well I wanted it to be perfect for you," Naomi admits.
"It was," Emily says dreamily, her mind drifting back to that night," It was the best night of my life."
"Good, now that that's settled let me see this painting," Naomi reminds her.
"I don't know," Emily says shyly, feeling uncomfortable with the attention.
"Nonsense," Gina gets up and retrieves the wrapped package, a smile spreading across her face as she unwraps it," This is very good Emily, looks a bit familiar to me too," She adds winking at the red head.
Gina hands the painting to an eager Naomi who instantly recognizes the scenery as the beach where she had taken Emily on their first date. She wonders if Emily did it from memory or if she went back, its impressive either way really. The way the colors meld together and the lines are so graceful, this is what Emily should do is all Naomi can think.
"Well I'll leave you two alone, leave the dishes it's Jesus's turn to do them anyways," Gina says before walking over and giving Emily a hug and whispering "It was nice to meet you" in her ear.
"Your mom is like proper sweet Naoms," Emily says once Gina has left the room.
And it wasn't a lie, Gina has made Emily feel right at home, this was where she belonged, and Emily couldn't help but wonder if it was true.
"She's alright," Naomi grins," Come on lets go upstairs before all the others decide to come barging in here, I'd rather you not have to hear anymore stories about me from them."
Emily nods and follows Naomi upstairs and into her bedroom, she smiles when Naomi puts her painting on top of her dresser facing her bed. Naomi plops down on her bed and pats the place next to her for Emily.
"So what do you want to do?" Naomi asks once Emily has laid down next to her," We could still go to the bonfire."
"Can I ask you something?" Emily asks propping herself up on an elbow to look at her properly.
"Sure," Naomi replies.
"Well you know my dream, what I'd like to do with my life, what's yours?"
And she has Naomi stumped because truth be told over the last couple years Naomi had been living in the moment and ignoring the future. But everything changed when she met Emily, things stopped being just about her and she started thinking in terms of "them".
"I don't know," Naomi answers honestly," I've never given it much thought I guess."
"Have you ever thought about college?" Emily asks hopefully, thinking back to the stack of letters from various universities on her desk waiting to be opened.
"I'm not really college material Em," Naomi says flippantly, not expecting the enraged reaction she gets out of Emily.
"Why do you do that?" Emily asks, her eyes blazing with something Naomi doesn't recognize," Why do you speak that way about yourself, I don't like it and I wont come to your pity party. I think you can do anything, you just need to believe it too."
Naomi eyes her in wonder; it's completely amazing how Emily believes in her so openly. It makes Naomi feel awkward; she has no idea what to say to that.
"What do you love, what are you passionate about?" Emily tries again, and Naomi smiles at Emily's use of the same words she used that night on her boat.
Naomi thinks about the question and the only answer she comes up with is "you" but she shakes that thought out of her head because surely there must be something else.
"The water I guess, anything to do with it. I love the feeling I get when a student rides a wave for the first time without falling, it's the best feeling in the world," Naomi says.
Emily grins, she loves the mental picture of Naomi teaching someone to surf. Actually she loves the image of Naomi surfing herself, all graceful with water flying around her, its remarkably sexy.
"Good, don't let anyone take that away from you," Emily replies," Maybe one day you could teach me to surf."
Naomi bursts out laughing, she can't help it because it had taken a crazy amount of persuasion and some of the physical variety to convince Emily to even step foot in water. She would probably have to make love to her for hours to get her on a surfboard, though it doesn't seem like such a bad idea now that she thinks about it.
"Baby steps Em," Naomi gasps through her laughter," Lets get you swimming first yeah?"
"Oi you never know, I might surprise you," Emily giggles.
"You already do…everyday," Naomi replies, her tone suddenly so serious that it takes Emily of guard.
And her eyes are no longer twinkling with humor but with something else. Its like it's pouring out of Naomi, right out of her soul.
Love
Love is all Emily can see radiating from Naomi's eyes, and its like it's engulfing her in warmth, like she's wrapped up in a warm snuggly place that she never wants to leave. Gina was right all along; Naomi does love her, even if she hasn't admitted it to herself yet.
Emily's powerless not to kiss her in that moment, she leans down slowly from where she's propped up on her elbow and brings their lips together. It's the slowest kiss they've ever had she thinks and Naomi's hands are on the sides of her face holding their mouths together and it feels like Naomi's breathing her in. It quickly turns passionate with Naomi deepening it and rolling them over so she's on top, shifting her hips so her thigh falls between Emily's and presses down slightly with just enough pressure to make Emily yearn for more. Naomi moves her kisses down to Emily's neck, nipping slightly then soothing with her tongue, her hands are slowly inching their way up under Emily's top, fingernails dragging softly across skin as she continues to grind her hips slowly into Emily.
"Oh fuck," Emily gasps when Naomi's teasing touches become too much for her.
She's not sure how Naomi's managed to turn her on so much with barely even touching her but she's done it and fuck does it ever feel incredible. Before she knows it she's dragging Naomi's mouth back up to hers and kissing her breathlessly, so much so that all of Naomi's movements come to a halt and soon they're parting and both gasping for air, and Naomi is resting her head in the crook of Emily's neck (the opposite of their usual positions) and pressing soft kisses there.
"You're so beautiful," Emily hears Naomi mumble into her as she nuzzles her face closer and Emily feels like her heart is bursting out of her chest, she wonders if Naomi can feel it beating against her rib cage since they're pressed so close together.
Word vomit starts creeping up Emily's throat.
"I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you," Is all Emily can think.
So she guides Naomi's face back up to hers and kisses her softly to stop herself from blurting something out that Naomi might not be ready to hear.
"Was that okay before?" Naomi asks when they part, she knows she had just taken things a bit further than they ever had and just wants to make sure it was okay.
Emily smiles playfully and tucks a stray piece of blonde hair behind Naomi's ear so she can see her face.
"It was nice," Emily comes up with eventually, stunning herself with her lack of vocabulary at the moment but quite frankly her bran was still a little fuzzy from everything.
"Nice?" Naomi teases," Well that's one I've never heard, I guess I'll have to try a bit harder next time I suppose, maybe I'll get a good or great or even a mind blowing," Naomi quirks her eyebrow suggestively before leaning down and planting a kiss on Emily's nose.
"Well did you ever consider that it was so "nice" that I'm just not able to come up with a better word at the moment? Though I'm actually a bit intrigued with this whole you trying harder scenario because I didn't think it could get better than that."
Naomi smirks, like actually smirks and Emily just knows that Naomi is good at this. There's no denying it because Naomi just looking at her like that is causing her to feel overheated. And Naomi must notice, se must notice the way Emily's breath has quickened and how her face is flushed because she's bridging the gap between them slowly, teasingly until Emily can feel soft breath on her lips. Emily closes her eyes and waits for Naomi to finally close the gap but before she can Emily's phone goes off in her pocket, vibrating not unpleasantly and when she opens her eyes Naomi hasn't moved but is silently laughing to herself.
"That better be a phone in your pocket Em, otherwise I'm going to start thinking you aren't as innocent as you claim to be," Naomi says through a grin.
She reaches in Emily's pocket and pulls out her phone before Emily can think of a comeback.
"It's Effy," Naomi says handing the phone to Emily who flips it open instantly.
"Hello," Emily says and Naomi can hear Effy's voice on the other end asking Emily why she isn't at the bonfire," I'm just bus…" Emily takes a sharp breath when Naomi resumes kissing her neck, tries pathetically to push her off to no avail," busy I mean…no I'm not with Naomi."
Naomi smiles against Emily's neck and grinds her hips down into Emily's again, kisses her way down Emily's neck and lingers on her collarbone while one of her hands rest on Emily's hips, manipulating them so Emily's experiencing the most friction possible.
"Christ," Emil breathes out and Naomi can hear the amused tone in Effy's voice through the receiver," Fuck it, yes I'm with Naomi and we're a bit busy at the moment so fuck off will you!"
Emily snaps the phone shut and tosses it on the floor in desperation, dragging Naomi back up to her mouth and kissing her filthily, their tongues swirling together. She pushes her hands up under Naomi's shirt and starts smoothing her hands up and down Naomi's back, raking her nails up and down every so often. Naomi starts shaking then, Goosebumps breaking out on her skin as she breaks the kiss to get a much-needed breath.
"Jesus," Naomi says huskily," How do you make me feel so good."
"I was going to ask you the same thing," Emily replies.
Naomi leans down and gives her one last chaste kiss before rolling to the side and lying next to her, attempting to catch her breath. It makes Emily love her more, the fact that she just knew that Emily wasn't quite ready to go any further. Emily searches blindly for Naomi's hand and intertwines their fingers when she finds it.
"You know I was furious with my parents when they told me we were coming here for the summer," Emily admits.
"Really?" Naomi says curiously
"Ya I wanted one last summer with my friends, you know before I move to America for school," Emily explains," But now I feel like I should thank them, you've made this the best summer of my life. And I know its coming to an end but I don't want us to."
Naomi smiles at her and gives her hand a squeeze.
"You've made this the best summer of my life to Em," Naomi says," How about we spend the next couple weeks enjoying it as much as we can and deal with everything when it comes?"
Emily nods, she isn't sure if putting everything on the back burner is the best idea but she trusts Naomi, and if Naomi wants to spend the next little while blissfully happy then who was she to deny her of that.
"Sure," Emily replies," Brings their hands up to her mouth and places a kiss on the back of Naomi's," So how about that bonfire then? I'm sure Effy will be here in a few minutes to drag us there anyways, plus it could be fun."
"Lets go then," Naomi says, making her way over to the closet and tossing a sweater at Emily," Wear this or you'll most likely be cold."
Emily smiles at Naomi's thoughtfulness and pulls the sweater over her head. Its to big for her, in fact the sleeves fully cover her hands but she secretly loves wearing Naomi's clothes.
"I was hoping you'd keep me warm," Emily says with a mischievous smile.
"In that case give me the sweater back," Naomi plays along," But you look so cute in it."
"Come on you tosser," Emily rolls up one of her sleeves and takes Naomi's hand dragging her down the stairs and out the door.
As predicted Cook and Effy find them instantly at the party, and Cook is looking at Naomi with that toothy grin that Naomi knows means that Effy told him about the phone call. He's probably expecting details, because Naomi normally would tell him about her conquests but Emily wasn't a conquest so he wasn't going to get anything out of her.
"Ladies, nice of you to join us, didn't take you long to come after Effy's call," Cook grins, his pun not going unnoticed by Naomi or Emily.
Naomi shoots him a warning glare and his grin falters for a minute before he moves forward and wraps his arm around Emily's shoulder, patting her patronizingly on the head.
"Don't tell me Naomi here has lost her touch," Cook whispers in Emily's ear and she elbows him in the ribs successfully causing him to back away from her.
"Judging by the smile on Emily's face when she strolled in here I think its safe to say that Naomi's touch is still in tact, right Em," Effy smirks, links her arm through Cook's and starts dragging him toward the keg," Now enough teasing of the love birds lets get a drink."
Naomi and Emily follow not long after; Naomi wraps her arm around Emily and pulls her in close whispering, "I'm sorry" in her ear. But Emily doesn't mind Cook's teasing, its just how he is and Emily's come to actually enjoy his little taunts even when they are directed at her. It shows that he likes her Emily thinks because from what she's noticed if Cook doesn't like someone he doesn't give them the time of day, he's a lot like Effy in that respect they're just as well suited for each other as her and Naomi she thinks.
"Beer," Effy asks, holding two cups towards Naomi and Emily.
"Sure why not," Emily says with a shrug, she's found in the past that she doesn't hold her alcohol well but figures if she just has a drink or two she wouldn't have a problem.
So when Cook holds up his cup and goes off on some sort of bellowing speech about how they should live in the moment Emily catches Naomi's eye and raises her cup as well. She drinks to the sentiment, hopes that Naomi's thinking the same thing as her, that if she was going to live in the moment there's no one else Emily would rather do it with.
"Listen you don't have to sit here with me all night," Emily says a while later while her and Naomi are sitting on the outskirts of the crowd.
She knows that Naomi went to school with the majority of these people and a lot of them would be leaving for school in the fall, it was only natural that Naomi would want to say goodbye at least.
"I like sitting with you," Naomi grins," I kind of like you, you know."
"Well I'm kind of warming up to you too," Emily says sarcastically," But seriously Naoms go and mingle I'll be fine for a while," Emily shushes Naomi when she goes to protest again," Seriously this may be the last time you see the majority of these people, so go and say your goodbyes."
"You're the best," Naomi kisses her quickly," You sure you'll be okay for a bit?"
Emily laughs and nods, pointing across the field to where Effy is sitting by herself as well.
"I think I'll survive," Emily says
"I'll be back in no time," Naomi assures her, kissing her on the forehead before she turns and heads into the group of people surrounding the fire.
Emily stands up and dusts off her pants, she makes her way over to the keg getting another drink before she grabs the empty space next to Effy, who looks at her with the same smirk she had been wearing all night.
"No Naomi?" Effy questions.
"She's mingling," Emily replies," No Cook?"
"He's mingling," Effy laughs," I haven't seen you without Naomi attached to your hip in ages."
Taking a swig of her beer, Emily glares at Effy over the cup. The truth was she had been missing her best friend lately; they just got so wrapped up in their respective new relationships that they didn't have much time for each other as of late.
"I could say the same about you," Emily points out," How are things with Cook?"
"Pretty lovely," Effy admits, and Emily's never seen her sound so sincere about a relationship before," So have you told Naomi you love her yet?"
And just like that Effy's as always managed to see right through Emily's front, as well as effectively changing the subject away from her feelings.
"What?" Emily feigns surprise but when Effy kinks her eyebrow in that irritatingly knowing way Emily knows there's no point trying to hide anything from her," No I haven't, hasn't been the right time yet."
"Well I hate to point it out Emily but you're kind of running out of time to wait for the right time," Effy says sadly," Or have you not noticed the stack of college letters that your mum brought to your room last week? You're going to be leaving in a couple of weeks."
"I know," Emily shakes her head, wishes she was able to change things somehow," Have you and Cook talked about what you're going to do at the end of the summer?"
"Not really," Effy admits," You and Naomi?"
Emily shakes her head and they both start laughing quietly.
"Quite a pair we are," Emily says.
"You know what," Effy declares standing up suddenly," I say fuck it, the end of summer is going to come whether we like it or not, its no reason not to enjoy life right now yeah?"
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Emily agrees," So I hate to steal Cook's words but here's to living in the moment and having a good time."
Effy clinks her cup against Emily's and nods before they finish their drinks and head to get another one.
Emily finds herself watching Naomi from afar, she can't help it, it's like her eyes are just drawn to her. And she looks so beautiful all smiley and social and Emily's actually really glad they came; it's nice to see Naomi in her natural habitat for a change.
She's filling up her cup again when she feels arms wrap around her waist and her nose is filled with that familiar smell that she can only describe as "Naomi".
"How many drinks have you had miss Fitch," Naomi whispers teasingly in her ear," Am I going to have to carry you home?"
Emily thinks back, she thinks she's had four or five, which is more than normal, and yes she does have a bit of a buzz going but she's perfectly capable of walking so she tells Naomi so.
"I can walk just fine thank you," Emily says matter-of-factly, turning around in Naomi's arms and wrapping her arms around Naomi's neck.
"Well in that case do you want to dance with me?" Naomi asks.
"I thought you didn't dance," Emily challenges.
"I normally don't but I do believe you told me this is your favorite song so I figured you might like to," Naomi grins and Emily listens for the first time to the song playing in the background.
Hears "with or without you" by U2 blaring out of the speakers off to the side and wonders why anyone in their right mind would play a slow song at a party. Emily nods anyways and takes Naomi's hand, lets her lead her over to the clearing that some of the kids had been using as a makeshift dance floor the majority of the night. She wraps her arms around Naomi's neck again and Naomi's encircle her waist pulling her as close as physically possible. And then they're moving, slowing swaying and Emily rests her head against Naomi's shoulder savoring the moment.
Emily's never actually slow danced with a girl before, she's only danced like this with boys. Always standing at awkward distances from each other and barely touching so she never really understood why girls always seemed to make such a big deal over it, but now she understood.
"So I have a confession," Naomi says into Emily's hair," I made them play this song because I wanted to dance with you."
"Oh really, you're getting soft Campbell," Emily mocks, pulls Naomi as close as she can and sighs in contentment against her shoulder.
"Only with you," Naomi whispers and before Emily can reply Naomi's spinning them around in quicker circles and Emily's holding on tight around her neck to keep herself from falling.
And Emily doesn't think she's laughed so much in her life, but Naomi's making this adorable face as they spin and she can't help it. She doesn't expect Naomi to pick her up mid swing and kiss her, and she's forced to re think the soft comment because Naomi is obviously stronger than she thought as she keeps spinning them around as they kiss.
Naomi puts her down just before the song ends and Emily wobbles on her stance a bit, her knees feeling incredibly weak all of a sudden.
"Shit sorry Em that probably wasn't the best idea with your tipsy head," Naomi smiles apologetically, letting Emily rest all her weight on her.
"Its not the alcohol that's making my head spin, its you," Emily says," Its always you."
Naomi kisses her through a smile, using her free hand to flip Cook off behind Emily's back as he makes cat calls at them.
Emily manages to convince Naomi to dance to a few more songs, laughing as the blonde awkwardly bops to a faster Justin Timberlake song that just isn't her style. Taking some pity Emily pulls Naomi's hands forward and places them around her body and forces Naomi to move with her, grinding their bodies together. And Naomi seems to be enjoying herself much more now, she's smiling and laughing and breathing heavily in Emily's ear.
"I should probably get you home, it's late," Naomi says as the song comes to a close," Besides I think we've given them all enough of a show for one night."
Naomi tilts her head to the side pointing out the group of guys eyeing them up with wonder, Emily giggles and allows Naomi to lead her away from the party and towards the car. Emily jumps when she gets inside, doesn't expect to find Effy and Cook making out in the back seat.
"Fuck sake! I said you could wait in the car not soil it," Naomi grunts as she plops down in the drivers seat," Cookie had a bit to much so I'm taking him home which means Effy's coming along for the ride too."
"You're the best Naomikins," Cook shouts," Now turn on the fucking radio we need some music."
Naomi does as she's told, puts on some stupid pop station that she knows Cook will enjoy and pulls out of the gravel makeshift parking lot. By the time she reaches Emily's the three of them are belting out a Justin Bieber song, that Naomi would normally switch off at the first notes, but Emily just looked to cute bopping along to it.
"You know you love me, I know you care, just shout whenever and i'll be there," Emily sings, incredibly out of tune, her eyes screwed shut and Naomi cant help but smile.
Book trying to rap to Ludacris is what tips her over the edge, she can't hold the laughter in anymore and she honestly can't wait till the next morning so she can mock them all. She switches off the radio and receives three glares from the occupants of the car.
"Your home Ems," Naomi says, reaching her hand across to smooth out Emily's hair.
"Mmmm," Emily sighs, in that incredibly drunk way," Okay, i'm a bit tired anyways."
"Yeah?" Naomi asks and Emily nods," Well drink some water before bed okay?"
Emily nods again sleepily and leans over to give Naomi a lazy kiss goodbye. Effy has to help her inside and Naomi wishes she could do something to help but knows that her being in the house at 2:00 AM would only draw more attention to the situation. So she just sits back in her seat and trusts that Effy can take care of Emily, besides she'd been doing it for years before Naomi came along so she must have been quite capable.
If Naomi hadn't of been worried and stayed to make sure that the light in Emily's window switched on she would never have noticed anyone else presence. But she does, its only out of the corner of her eye but two rooms down from Emily's she spots a figure standing in the window. She squints trying to figure out who it is and when she focuses hard enough it becomes as clear as day, Jenna Fitch, standing in the window giving her such a steely gaze that it almost knocks the wind out of her. So Emily wasn't exaggerating when she talked about her parents Naomi thinks as she puts the car in reverse and pulls out of the drive way. And its like she can feel Emily's mothers gaze following her all the way down the drive and onto the street until the house is no longer in view, she can feel the hair standing up on the back of her neck and her palms starting to sweat. And if she wasn't nervous about meeting Emily's family before she sure as hell was now, because if that look had anything to say about it Naomi was fairly certain she wasn't Mrs. Fitch's favorite person.
"Okay Cook lets get you home," Naomi says after a minute, turns around to see Cook passed out in the back seat with his mouth wide open.
She sets off towards his house smiling at the fact that he doesn't even have to be conscious to make her feel better.