Hey guys! Its been forever and I honestly have no excuse other than I just haven't been able to sit down and write for some reason. I had half of this chapter finished for the longest time and was struggling to finish it up but then I got a review today asking me nicely to finish it and I was so surprised that people actually still cared about this story that I forced myself to sit down and finish it. So this one goes out to you countrybella, I know it might seem a bit rushed but I was feeling rusty but I hope you enjoy it anyways :)
This Love(will be your downfall)
Naomi sees the flicker of police lights as she drives through the gates and up the drive towards the Fitch house. She watches as Emily's eyes widen at the sight of the two police cars parked outside of her house. Was there really not something more important going on that would require police attention rather than her breaking her curfew? It was so frustrating that she barely could wait for Naomi to put the car into park before she was out and running up the steps towards the door, Naomi hot on her heels.
"Thank god you're alright," her father says as she swings the door open.
"Where in the world have you been?" her mother pipes up, stepping forward and taking in her appearance.
Jenna's hands unconsciously balled into fists as she took in Emily's smeared lipstick and messy hair, her fingernails digging painfully into her palms when she noticed one of the buttons on her shirt wasn't done up.
"You called the police?" Emily exclaims, gesturing wildly around the room at the few policemen still lingering.
"Its 2 in the morning and we had no idea where you were," Rob says calmly, sensing Jenna's rage about to boil over and trying to diffuse the situation before it turned into more of a scene than it already was.
"It was all my fault," Naomi speaks up for the first time since stepping inside the house, Jenna's eyes narrow in on her and she finds it hard to continue but can't stand the thought of Emily bearing the brunt of this by herself," I lost track of time, Emily didn't do anything wrong."
Emily shot her a look that Naomi caught out of the corner of her eye, a silent thank you for her speaking up for her.
"Naomi would you mind waiting here, we need to have a talk with our daughter," Rob asks, but Naomi knew it wasn't really a question, it was more of a demand so she nods lamely running her hands through her hair in frustration.
"Now Emily," Jenna says sternly when Emily doesn't make any movement towards the other room.
So with a grunt she follows her mother into the other room, looking over her shoulder once at Naomi for some reassurance that they were okay, receiving a small hesitant nod in return she shut the door behind her.
"It really wasn't Emily's fault Mr Fitch, it was all me," Naomi tries again, thinking that maybe if she just took the blame everything would be able to just go back to normal because in reality Emily's parents never really liked her anyways so it really wouldn't make that much of a difference.
Rob doesn't reply, just nods curtly at Naomi, says a quick goodnight to the couple police offers still hanging around and follows the same path his daughter and wife had just gone moments before and soon enough Naomi is left alone. She rubs her hands over her tired eyes trying to figure out how things could go from so perfect to so miserable in less than an hour. Its kind of ironic really that the night that both her and Emily give everything over to each other turns out to be the night that everything seems so hopeless.
"You guys have really fucked it up this time haven't you?" Naomi hears a familiar voice floating down the stairs.
Her eyes snap up and she sees Effy standing there smirking at her in that irritating way that she always does. Naomi can't help but notice she looks a little worse for the wear, not sporting her usual eye makeup and wearing a flannel shirt and a pair of loose jeans rather than her normal tee shirt dress and tights combination. Naomi wonders to herself if maybe Emily was exaggerating a little when she said Effy was doing fine after her breakup with Cook.
"I didn't know…we just you know lost track of time," Naomi mumbles," I didn't mean for this to happen."
"Don't beat yourself up about it," Effy replies, taking a seat next to Naomi on the sofa," It would have happened at some point regardless, they've been waiting for you to screw up some how so they could have a chance to do this."
Naomi closes her eyes and shakes her head, she knew she wasn't Emily's parent's favorite person she never thought the situation was that bad, in fact she had gotten on alright with Rob, or so she thought.
"You should have broken up like me and Cook," Effy says suddenly, immediately gaining all of Naomi's attention back," We could see it was leading to a big messy ending so we called it off before it exploded. But not you and Emily, you just had to hold on to it for dear life and now look at what's happening."
Naomi can't help but narrow her eyes at Effy, feeling a twinge of irritation work its way up into her body at the idea of Effy thinking she could just walk away from Emily like she meant nothing to her. And the thing was she knew Cook and Effy cared for each other, had dealt with a drunk and nearly crying Cook the night they broke up herself as proof so she didn't understand what Effy was going on about.
"I love Emily," Naomi says, the words coming out stronger than she thought they would," Do you really think I'd be able to just walk away from her like that?"
"Love fucks you up Naomi," Effy states plainly," Look where its gotten you? You're in a fucked up situation that has no chance of ending well or have you forgotten that Emily is moving across the country at the end of the summer?"
"So just because we don't know how it's going to end you say we should just say the hell with it and walk away?" Naomi asks.
"I just think that sometimes it's easier to have an ending like that, like with Cook. We had a great summer, and I'll always remember him but it was obvious that it wasn't going to work. So why torture ourselves by dragging it out until some big confrontation. Wouldn't you rather if you and Emily ended on good terms and she was able to go off to uni with good memories of her time with you?" Effy tries to explain herself," Wouldn't you rather to be able to look back years from now and smile at the thought of Emily rather than having a painful twisting in your gut about the whole thing?"
And Naomi gets what Effy's trying to say, gets the logic of it but her heart is just screaming at her head that it's the stupidest idea she's ever heard. Her and Emily were different weren't they? They weren't meant to just be a summer fling that Naomi would look back on fondly years from now when she was settled down with someone else. She didn't want to settle down with anyone else, right now at this moment she couldn't picture being with anyone but Emily, they had to be different, Naomi refused to accept any other explanation.
Naomi softened her eyes at Effy, realizing that the brunette was really only trying to help. Effy had actually become a good friend over summer, she never really got along with any girls in a friendship kind of way, well really she never really got along with anyone but Cook that way. But Effy and her were quite alike she had noticed, she was going to miss her when she left.
"I get what you're saying Ef," Naomi relents," But it's not the same with Emily and me. I've never felt like this before, never anything even close to this actually. I just can't let it go just like that you know? I have to fight for it, for her, I have to try at least."
Effy shakes her head, and Naomi sees understanding in her blue orbs, mixed with something she can't put her finger on until Effy looks up again and meets her gaze again. She can see it then clearly; pity radiating at her from Effy's steely gaze.
"I like you Naomi, I think you're really good for Emily. She loves you I know that much, I've never seen her look at anyone the way she looks at you," Effy says and Naomi can't help but smile a little, she can remember clearly Emily confessing her love earlier but it's still nice hearing it from someone else." But it's not enough Naomi, how can you not see that?"
"Why can't it be enough?" Naomi asks.
"Because you don't know Emily's family the way I do, you don't know how they operate. Do you really think Katie wanted to marry a football player who has barely enough brain power to function?" Effy elaborates," Her mum pressured her into it, made her leave a guy that she actually really cared about for Danny because he came with more prestige for the family image. They expect the same from Emily don't you see? I don't want to be the one to say it but in their eye's Naomi, you'll never be good enough for their daughter no matter what you do."
Effy's words made everything crash down around her, bringing back all the insecurities she felt her entire life, that she wasn't good enough, that she was going nowhere, that she wasn't ever going to make anything of herself, that she was destined to follow in her fathers footsteps and fuck everything up for everyone around her. Naomi felt tears sting at her eyes, blinked them back quickly and shook her head trying to forget everything that was rapidly running through her mind.
"I'm sorry Naomi," Effy says, leaning in and wrapping her arms hesitantly around Naomi's frame," I really am," she whispers in Naomi's ear before making her way back up the stairs and leaving Naomi alone with her thoughts.
"I can't believe you did this," Emily shouts, glaring at her mother who was pacing the room in front of the desk where he father was sitting," I'm not a child anymore, why can't you just accept that!"
Jenna stops pacing at this and turns to face her daughter, narrowing her eyes at her before turning her attention back to Rob.
"She is out fooling around with this girl until two in the morning and it has to stop!" Jenna growls, finally starting to lose her temper with the entire situation.
She had gone along with Rob's plan because she trusted him, trusted in his faith that this was just a summer fling and that Emily would have no problem tossing Naomi aside and going off to University. But she was no fool, she could see the look in her daughter's eyes, this was no fling and it needed to be stopped now.
"Oh please mum, have you forgotten who your other daughter is?" Emily fumes, sick and tired of the double standard that had always been there between her and Katie," Katie used to go off and not even come home, you wouldn't even know where she was! And I tell you where I'm going, you know I'm with my girlfriend and you call the fucking cops?"
"Emily do not speak to your mother that way," Rob says finally, watching both woman in a stand off ready to strike whenever necessary.
"Why not?" Emily says, trying to calm herself so her argument would come across rationally, but then again her mother never did listen to reason," She has no reason not to like Naomi, she hasn't done anything other than be a girl and lets be real that's what this is all about!"
"That is not what this is about," Jenna strikes back, her body stiffening when she notices Emily taking a challenging stance, ready with whatever comeback she had prepared to try and convince her father to side with her. But Jenna wasn't going to have it," Fine you want me to say it, you want me to be the bad guy fine! That girl is trash, she's trash, no good for you!"
She bangs her hand on the desk in front of her husband for emphasis, feeling the atmosphere in the room shifting once she voiced what her and Rob had always been thinking but didn't want to have to say.
"I love her," Emily shouts suddenly, tears springing to her eyes, pleading with her father to for once look past someone's social standing and see Naomi for the wonderful person she was.
"You're 17 Emily, you don't know what love is!" Jenna quickly counters, watching as Rob gets up from his chair and begins to pace the room.
"You can't tell me that," Emily sobs," You can't tell me who I can and can't love," she runs to her father and burry's her face in his chest mumbling, "I love her" over and over through her tears.
It was ripping Rob apart to see his daughter like this; he hated seeing Emily cry he especially didn't want to be the reason for her tears. But he knew on some level Jenna was right, they had spent their lives grooming their daughters for success, he wanted so much more for Emily than this town, than what Naomi was able to offer her. So he gently pulled Emily away from his chest and wiped her tears away with his thumbs, looking at her apologetically.
"She's just not suitable for you sweetheart," Rob says, the weight of his words coming down on Emily like blade, splitting her heart in two.
"No," Emily sobs, backing away from her father," I don't care what you say, I love Naomi, nothing is going to change that."
Its only then that she remembers that Naomi is sitting in the other room waiting for her, separated from them by only a thin wall and probably able to hear everything that has been said/screamed in the last twenty minutes. A pit begins to form in the her stomach at the thought of Naomi sitting there listening to her mother verbally tear her apart, she takes off out of the room instantly at the realization.
"she's trash, trash, no good for you"
"she's just not suitable for you,"
Naomi's hands were shaking against her knee's as she listened to the conversation taking place in the next room. The realization hit her like a bucket of ice-cold water, Effy was right, Emily's parents were never going to accept her no matter what she did.
"And why should they," Naomi mumbles under her breath as she rises from her seat and looks around the room one last time.
Maybe they're right she thinks, it was no secret that her and Emily were from different worlds and maybe she was foolish to think that it would ever be able to work outside the bubble of this town. Emily was meant for great things, she was going to change the world someday and Naomi didn't know what her future held but she sure as hell knew she would never be able to provide for Emily the way she was accustomed to. Her heart sank with the weight of the situation she was stuck in now, but she knew what she had to do. She had to walk away no matter how much it would kill her to do it, it would be the best thing for Emily.
So she does, barely gets down the front steps before she hears Emily calling her name, wills herself to not turn around but she doesn't have the strength not to.
"Naomi," Emily shouts after her, taking off down over the steps until she catches up with the blonde who is slowly turning around," Where are you going?"
The last part comes out more like a sob, Emily's voice cracking at the end and Naomi lifts her eyes to meet Emily's, her stomach clenching at the sight of the tears cascading over her cheeks. Naomi can't physically resist the urge to comfort Emily, seeing her cry is far worse than any pain she's ever experienced in her life so she reaches forward pulling Emily into her arms.
"It's okay," Naomi says through gritted teeth, the lie having a hard time forcing its way out of her mouth," Please don't cry." Feels Emily burry her face further into her chest at her words, her sobs eventually slowing.
"They're so awful," Emily says finally, pulling back and allowing Naomi to brush the tears from her cheeks with her thumbs," But I don't care what they say, I'm going to be with you."
Naomi sees the fire in Emily's eyes that only pops up when she's really determined about something and Naomi knows that what she has to do next will be the hardest thing she'll ever have to do.
She lets her hands drop from Emily's face and link lightly with her hands instead, not quite able to let go completely yet. She looks into Emily's sad brown eyes and, swallows back the tears that are threatening to fall from her own.
"Maybe they're right," Naomi says, her voice weak, feels Emily grip her hands a little tighter in response as if she could sense Naomi was about to slip away.
"They're not Naoms, they're being ridiculous," Emily replies strongly, deciding that she isn't going to let Naomi destroy this without a fight.
"Emily I don't know much, but I do know that you're meant to go places. Your passion, it fucking rolls off you in waves, you're meant to be something, something great," Naomi starts," And me, well this is as good as it gets for me Emily, I'm never going to do great things, I'm never going to have nice things."
"I don't fucking care about that," Emily says, frustrated tears welling up in her eyes again.
"I do," Naomi shakes her head," You deserve someone that can take care of you Emily, not someone who's destined to be stuck in this shit hole town for the rest of their life."
"Shouldn't I get to decide who's good enough for me," Emily points out, her eyes pleading with Naomi to fight for them, to not just give up," And Its not the fifties Naomi, I don't need someone to take care of me! Why are you doing this, I love you, I want to be with you, no one else."
"Emily you're leaving in a couple weeks," Naomi replies, finally voicing the nagging thought that had been eating away at her since the ill fated dinner at the Fitch residence," I know we were trying to not let it feel like our relationship had a timer, but in reality it does because you're leaving and I'm staying here."
Emily's mind starts racing in desperation at Naomi's words, she had known this conversation was coming, she would have been stupid to think it wasn't but this isn't how she saw it happening. She saw her and Naomi sitting down and talking about it rationally not yelling at each other in her driveway and Naomi talking like they're already over before they've even figured anything out.
"I can stay here," Emily says desperately, willing to do anything at this point to wipe away the look of utter defeat that Naomi was wearing across her usually confident features.
"No you can't!" Naomi exclaims, irritated that Emily wasn't getting what she was trying to say, that instead she was offering to do exactly what Naomi didn't want for her," You aren't going to ruin your life on account of me."
"It wouldn't be ruining my life, we could be together," Emily argues
"Brown is your dream Em, you would just end up resenting me in the end if you stayed,"
"You could come with me." Emily offers, her hands letting go of Naomi's and making their way up to cup Naomi's face instead hoping to persuade her.
"To Providence?" Naomi asks redundantly," What am I going to do in Providence?"
"Be with me," Emily says weakly.
"Yeah," Naomi agrees, softening her voice slightly as her hands move to grip Emily's forearms," Look we don't have to decide all of this tonight."
Emily felt a twinge of irritation spark up in her suddenly at Naomi's words, couldn't believe that after all this Naomi was willing to just push everything under the rug again to be dealt with another day. Emily just couldn't take it anymore, she needed to know where her and Naomi stood, and she needed to know now.
"What does that mean?" Emily asks, her voice having a sharp edge to it.
"It means we'll finish up the summer and then see how it goes," Naomi offers lamely, wincing slightly at the angry look that was creeping onto Emily's face.
"Are you saying you want to break it off?" Emily says quietly, as if she's not really able to say the words
"I just don't see how it's going to work," Naomi replies lamely
"If you want to break up with me do it now, don't wait till the end of the summer," Emily raises her voice slightly and takes a step back from Naomi, creating a noticeable distance between them.
"Emily don't," Naomi sighs, she's tired and has a million things running through her head and the last thing she needs is to deal with Emily when she starts acting like an immature child.
"No you don't," Emily says, trying to keep control of her temper," If that's what all this is about then just fucking do it, don't wait a couple weeks on my behalf."
"I'll call you tomorrow," Naomi states with an air of finality that doesn't sit well with Emily.
So when she turns to get into her car Emily stops her, shuts the door before Naomi can get in and pins Naomi between her and the car door.
"Just fucking say the words," Emily shouts, all semblance of control was now gone out the window as she shoves Naomi repeatedly into the car door, the fact that the blonde wasn't fighting back only urging her on," Tell me you want to break up with me! Fine i'll say it, we're done! Let me guess you got tired of the nice safe little committed relationship? Or was it that you were just waiting to fuck me, and now that you have you can move on to the next slut? Wouldn't want to taint the Campbell track record now would I"
Emily regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth, as soon as she saw the look of shock and disbelief on Naomi's face. She looked like someone had slapped her, and Emily had, well verbally anyways but Naomi knew that what Emily had said hurt far more than any physical blow she would have taken.
"I can't believe…" Naomi trails off, shaking her head and blinking back tears.
Naomi couldn't be here anymore, she couldn't fight with Emily anymore, she was exhausted. She couldn't believe that Emily would throw something like that back in her face so viciously when all she was trying to do was make things easier for Emily in the long run. To make it easier for her to go off to school and onto the next phase of her life without Naomi holding her back, no matter how much it was ripping Naomi's heart apart to do it.
So she turns away from a now crying Emily and gets into her car, she doesn't roll down the window when Emily bangs her fists against it but she can hear her clearly anyways.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," Emily cries, banging her open fist against the window," You don't really want to break up do you?" She continues, her voice getting more hysterical at each syllable," This is just another fight and we'll wake up tomorrow and everything will be fine."
But Naomi doesn't reply, she just starts the engine and takes off down the driveway, finally letting the tears overflow from her eyes. Leaving Emily standing there, her arms wrapped around herself for some form of comfort as she watches Naomi drive off for what might be the last time, she's never felt more alone or more helpless.
Naomi wipes furiously at her eyes as she puts her car into park, she doesn't even remember how she got here like her body just subconsciously took her to Cooks without her knowledge. She hovers around the door for a couple minutes before knocking, failing miserably at trying to pull herself together. She's never felt more vulnerable in her life but for the first time she can remember she doesn't want to deal with this on her own, maybe her mom was right and Emily really had changed her. But thinking about the redhead only causes a new onslaught of tears to being welling in her eyes so she swallows thickly and knocks on the door.
"Naomi!" Cook grins toothily at her as he opens the door, his face falling quickly when he takes in her appearance," Babe what's going on?"
Naomi shakes her head, unable to find the words at the moment. Cook simply pulls her towards him, wrapping her up as tight as he could feeling her shudder violently against him as she felt herself break down again.
It takes Naomi a good fifteen minutes before she's able to pull herself together again, Cook brings her inside and up to his room offering her a beer which Naomi thankfully accepts.
"So you gonna tell me what the hell is going on," Cook asks, genuinely worried now because he's never even seen Naomi cry not alone have a complete breakdown like that.
"Its Emily," Naomi says, taking a big gulp of her beer," We're done."
Cook shakes his head in disbelief, as far as he was concerned he couldn't think of two people that were better suited for each other than Naomi and Emily. They were one of the couples that were meant to make it, it was how it was supposed to be.
"What happened? If i remember correctly you guys were pretty loved up last time I saw you?" Cook says resisting the urge to make a pervy comment about what he walked in on earlier.
Naomi takes a deep breath, downing the rest of her beer. She places the empty on the desk and looks at Cook expectantly until he hands her another.
"We were, everything was pretty well damn near perfect and then we got back to her house. Her parents were pissed, I could hear them talking to her in the next room telling her that she wasn't able to see me anymore, that i wasn't suitable or in the words of her mother that I was trash," Naomi explains, tears welling up in her eyes again despite her best efforts.
"Naomi thats fucking ridiculous," Cooks points out.
"Its true though Cook can't you see?" Naomi says waving her hand to shush him when he went to protest," Emily is leaving, we were stupid to think we could ignore it. She's going to Brown to make something of herself and i'm staying here, it never would have worked. She deserves so much more than I can give her. It had to end, i just didn't think it would happen like this, I never thought she would say some of the things she said."
"What did she say?" Cook asks, his fist clenching tighter around his beer.
"She was so angry, i've never seen her like it before," Naomi recounts," She accused me of only caring about getting her into bed and then fucking off. But its not true, I fucking love Emily! I didn't want to break up, I was doing it for her why couldn't she see that."
"It'll be okay," Cook wraps his arm around Naomi's shoulder, smiling softly when she rests her head against his shoulder," Maybe it's for the best, you said yourself Emily's leaving soon and believe me i know it hurts like hell but we'll get you through this I promise."
Naomi nodsagainst his shoulder, praying that he was right but knowing deep down that Emily wasn't the girl that you just get over.
"But for tonight you're gonna sit here with me and drink away our worries," Cook smiled gently, pressing his lips against Naomi's forehead when she laughs softly," See there you go smiling already, I told you."
Naomi wraps her arms around him again whispering a soft "thank you" in his ear before he got up and grabbed them some more beers.
Emily stood in her driveway for a half hour, hands wrapped around herself before Effy finally came outside and dragged her back inside. She thought that maybe if she stood there waiting Naomi would turn around and come back, and see her waiting and everything would be okay again. She would get out of her car and run over, tell Emily that she loved her, kiss her and make everything normal again, but Naomi didn't come back and quite frankly Emily didn't blame her.
"Emily its going to be fine," Effy says, sitting down next to Emily who was staring aimlessly out her bedroom window.
"Its not going to be fine," Emily lets out a frustrated sigh," How did everything go from so perfect to utter shit in only a couple hours."
"Its life," Effy says stoically, but Emily isn't buying it, she knows that Effy is hurting just as much as she is.
"Don't pretend like nothing matters to you," Emily says," I know you're upset about everything with Cook, I know you know how I feel."
Effy shakes her head and places her hand on top of Emily's.
"I was never in love with Cook the way you are with Naomi, so I have no idea how you're feeling really," Effy points out,"but you do know she was only doing it for your own good right, she didn't want to break up with you she just wanted you to be able to have the life that you always wanted without her holding you back."
"I'm so fucking tired of everyone telling me what I should want out of life, shouldn't I get a say in what's "good enough for me"," Emily spits.
"Well just talk to her tomorrow and explain that to her," Effy offers lamely, but knowing inside that the damage had already been done.
Emily lets her head drop, she couldn't feel any worse about the things she had said to Naomi earlier, she was pretty sure the look on Naomi's face after she threw her past back at her would be imprinted in her mind forever.
"You didn't hear the things i said to her Ef," Emily sobs, wiping at her eyes," I basically accused her of not caring about me, that she was only with me to get in my pants and now that she had she was done with me. She looked so hurt, I can't believe I was the cause of that look on her face, I can't believe I told her we were done, I was just so angry that she wasn't listening to me."
"Naomi loves you Emily, she'd forgive you anything i'm sure of it," Effy explains," you just need to figure out what you really want. Can you honestly tell me that when you look into your future five or ten years down the road you still see Naomi?"
"Yes," Emily answers instantly, barely even giving it a second thought.
"Then you know what you have to do, go find her tomorrow and work it out, no yelling just a sensible conversation. I'm sure you guys can work something out, it might take a little work but if it's what you really want you can fix it, i'm sure of it." Effy says confidently.
"You're right, we're not out of time yet. I can still fix this," Emily says more so to herself than to Effy.
"Get some sleep Em, you look exhausted," Effy gets up and gives Emily one final nod before leaving her alone with her thoughts.
Emily crawls in her bed, not even bothering to change or wash her face. Effy was right, she was exhausted, she felt like she hadn't slept in days. She closes her eyes and tries not to think about Naomi, just wanting to fall asleep so the morning would come faster.
When she wakes up its to the sound of someone rummaging through her dresser drawers, she opens her tear stained eyes slowly only to see her mother violently throwing piles of clothes into a suitcase that she had sitting open on the floor. Emily throws the covers off herself and is out of bed in an instant, standing between her mother and the suitcase she gives her a questioning look.
"What are you doing?" Emily asks, glaring at her mother through swollen eyes.
"You're packing, we're leaving for Providence today," Jenna replies simply and continues digging through the dresser.
"What are you talking about, we aren't leaving for another week and a half," Emily exclaims.
"Things have changed, we're leaving today. You're father has arranged for the movers to come tomorrow and take anything we can't bring with us today," Jenna says, her voice challenging Emily to disagree.
"You can't do this mum," Emily cries," Do you hate me this much?"
Jenna stops in her tracks at this, turns towards her daughter and places her hands on her shoulders, forcing Emily to pay attention to what she's about to say.
"Im doing this because I love you," Jenna says," Its for your own good, you might not see it now but you will one day Emily."
Emily shakes off her mother's hands and takes a step backwards, tears welling up in her eyes for what felt like the millionth time in the past 24 hours.
"I will never see it mum," Emily says quietly
"We're leaving Emily, and there's nothing you can do about it," Jenna says with an air of finality, ignoring the way Emily's face falls even further at her words.
Emily doesn't say anything, she just turns and takes off down the stairs at a full run, ignoring the calls of her mother and father as she bolts out the front door. She grabs her bike from the side of the porch and pedals as fast as she can to Naomi's. There was no way she was going to let her parents get away with this, she wouldn't let them ruin her life the way they did to Katie. She had found the one for her, and she might only be 17 but she knew what love was and there was no way she was about to let it go without a fight. But Naomi isn't home, Gina explains that she picked up an extra shift for the day so without a good bye Emily heads off for the marina. When she reaches the parking lot she jumps off her bike, letting it sit against the fence where it fell and runs down to the dock, her eyes scanning her surroundings frantically for blonde hair.
"Emily?" she hears a familiar voice calling from behind her.
"Cook," Emily sighs in relief," Where's Naomi?"
"She's out with a group right now," Cook says," What's wrong?" he continues sensing her distress.
"Im leaving," Emily says
"What? When?"
"Today, like now," Emily says desperately," Look I need you to tell Naomi something for me, I need you to tell her that I love her and that I'm sorry."
Cook shakes his head, his face softening slightly at Emily's desperate tone.
"I don't know Em," Cook says," I think its over, she came to see me last night, i've never seen her like that in my life."
"Its not over," Emily exclaims defiantly," We just had a fight, we said things that we didn't mean."
"Emily just go, don't make it any harder than it already is," Cook tries
Emily goes to argue further when she hears a horn honking behind them, hears her mothers voice yelling her name and turns to find her parents sitting in their car staring at her expectantly. She wants to tell them to fuck off, wants to wait for Naomi and talk to her before she leaves but she knows she doesn't have a choice. Her father would throw her over his shoulder and carry her out of here if he had to so Cook is her only option at the moment.
"Cook please, just tell her that I love her okay," Emily pleads.
Cook sighs in defeat, and nods his head receiving a small half smile from Emily in return.
"Look i'll tell her though I don't know what good it'll do, she'll write you if she wants to okay." Cook relents.
"Thank you Cook," Emily says seriously, pulling him into a quick hug.
"Tell Ef I say goodbye okay," He says as she turns to run towards the car receiving a nod from her in return before she gets into the back of the car and speeds off.
Its only about ten minutes later when Naomi's boat comes into the dock, Cook watches as she helps off her group and then runs over to her.
"Cook what's up," Naomi says sensing his urgency.
"Its Emily, she was here just a minute ago," Cook explains.
Naomi's eyes snap up to the parking lot scanning the crowds for Emily, feeling her chest tighten at the thought of Emily coming here to try and work things out after the disaster that was the night before.
"She's leaving Naomi," Cook's voice snaps her out of her search.
"What?" Naomi exclaims.
"Her parents are taking her to Providence today, she wanted me to tell you that she loves you," Cook explains," I told her you'd write if you wanted to talk."
Naomi doesn't reply, she just takes off up the dock knocking people out of her way until she reaches her car. The only thought going through her mind as she speeds down the highway is getting to Emily and telling her that she loves her too. That she wants nothing more than to make it work no matter what it takes because only one night without her had made Naomi miserable, she didn't know if she'd survive a life time without Emily in her life. But when she reaches the Fitch residence she's met with a locked gate, she beeps frantically at the intercom attached, growling to herself until someone answers.
"I'm here to see Emily Fitch," Naomi says into the receiver.
"I'm sorry but the Fitch's left for Providence a half hour ago," The voice on the other end explains.
The reality of the situation sets in then, Emily is gone and there's nothing she can do about it. She pulls out her phone and dials Emily's cell phone number only to receive a message saying the user of this number could not be reached, Naomi could only assume the Fitch's had cut off Emily's cell phone. She sat back down in the car, her heart racing trying to come up with some way to stop this but she couldn't think of anything until she remembered what Cook said. He said he had told Emily she would write her if she wanted talk and since she had no other way of getting in contact with her at the moment email seemed like her last chance.
So Naomi takes off back towards her house, walks inside purposefully towards her bedroom, ignoring her mothers questions about what was going on and sits down with her lap top. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before beginning to spill her heart out as best she could with her words as she writes her first email to Emily.