A/N: Enjoy! Please let me know what you think! Thank you to all that are reading and reviewing!
Disclaimer: I don't own Skins...
With a bounce in her step Naomi entered Cook's office. She's holding a newspaper with a smile on her face.
" Cookie, I know how I can get to her!" She states, excitedly throwing the paper in front of him. Cook sighs heavily.
It's been three weeks and Naomi has yet to give up on this bird and it's causing Cook to worry. He's never seen the blonde this hung up on a chick before.
" Give it up already. She's returned all your letters, she won't take any of your calls. She just doesn't want to see you, alright?" Cook tried being gentle before but she still didn't let up, so he's decided to take a different approach.
" She doesn't think she wants to see me. But trust me, she wants to see me." Naomi informs confidently.
" Naoms..." Cook starts. Naomi points to the paper cutting him off.
" They're having an engagement party for her tonight at the Beach Club. We're gonna be there." Naomi says pointing to herself and Cook.
" We're? No, no, no." Cook says shaking his head. Naomi's had some bad ideas in her past but this seems like her worst.
Naomi sighs deflating a little bit a Cooks reluctance.
" Look, I need you to be my wingman, Okay?" Naomi pleads.
" Nai, her father is the Secretary of the Treasury. There's gonna be Secret Service all over. They'll probably have posters with our pictures on them. There's no way we can get in there." Cook states matter of factly. Seemingly being the only sane one these past few weeks.
" Oh yes we can." Naomi says mischievously smirking.
Cook gives her a skeptical look.
The next day Naomi finds herself in a alleyway outside the Beach club. Dress head to toe in a burgundy suit like uniform. Naomi having planned to go undercover as waitress to get past security without any questions.
Walking up to the rear entrance of the place. Naomi knocks a coded knock. Randolph appears on the other side of the door with a big smile.
" Finally! Okay, mon. Come on in." Randolph says moving aside for her to enter.
Naomi stares at Randolph in disbelief.
" What are you staring at, mon?" Randolph asks
" I just can't believe you're helping me?" Naomi admits.
" I've been working for the Fitches since the twins were infants. I see things, mon.. And I've never seen Emily look at anything or anyone like she does when she looks at you. I know true love when I see it." Randolph pats a blushing Naomi on the back. " Where's your friend?" He asks looking behind Naomi.
" Late as usual." Naomi sighs " Is Ems in there? " Naomi asks looking pass Randolph.
" Oh she's looking fine, mon." He winks at her as she rushes past him.
Naomi is putting finishing touches on a random cake trying to act busy so not to cause any questions. A chef looks on staring at her strangely as she makes a mess of his cake. She just smiles awkwardly at him until he walks away shaking his head.
The kitchen has two doors, one leads to the dining room and the other to the banquet room where the Fitch's are having the engagement party.
In the banquet room Emily, Rob, Jenna and Claire are eating dinner. Claire is bragging again. Emily is spaced out not listening to a word. Instead looking down at her plate moving her food around sadly. She's looking very unhappy.
" Next thing I know they pick me up, put me on the top of this mountain and they start chanting and I realize... They think I'm god..." Claire says having the attention of everyone at the table except for Emily and also Rob who is looking at the redhead curiously, noticing not for the first time how miserable she looks.
" Emsy?" Rob calls softly. Emily looks up as if just realizing where she is and weakly smiles at her father. " Let's Dance."
Emily looks out on the dance floor and smiles a little brighter nodding her head.
Naomi walks up to the door leading to the banquet room, there through the rounded window she spots Emily in a beautifully stunning black dress that clings to her in all the right places, dancing with her father, both of them with smiles on their faces, enjoying themselves.
Naomi's never seen a more beautiful sight. She can't help but smile at the view. All of a sudden out of nowhere Claire's head pops in front of the blonde scaring her shitless.
Next thing she knows she's being thrown out into the alleyway by Claire and who she assumes to be Claire's friends.
Two of Claire's friends lift her up on either side and hold her tight as Claire approaches looking smug as walks up placing her hands on Naomi shoulders smashing her knee into the blondes stomach as hard as she could. Which in Naomi's opinions was pretty damn hard. Than just as she getting her breath back, Claire gives her a uppercut right to her chin. The blonde would be on her ass right now if the two others weren't holding her up.
" Alright Claire bear, one more and then we should get back to the bar." One of her friends said to Naomi's left.
" You're right." Claire laughs unkindly. She bends over a little so she can look Naomi right in her drooping eyes. Wanting the blonde to really hear what she is about to say. " You get near my fiance again... I'll kill you." Just as Naomi was about to get a word in Claire punches her square in the face as hard as she could knocking the unspoken words right out of the blondes mind. Claire and her friends leave her lying there as they enter the beach club.
The blonde lays there on the ground for a couple of more moments before she feels she is able to lift herself up. Which she does on wobbly feet. With one last frustrated sigh towards the beach house, she heads home.
Naomi finds herself in front of Cook's place. Beyond piss about him never showing up. She needs to take out some of her anger out on someone and Cook fits the bill. She also need an explanation as to why her supposed best mate blew her off.
She really need him tonight for moral support. Although he could have come in handy when she was getting her arse handed to her outside the alley of the beach club.
She decides to let herself in using the spare key only her and Cook know about after hearing music blasting inside. She doubted he be able to hear her knocking.
As she enter the house she followed the sound of the music and found that it was coming from Cooks bedroom.
"Fucksakes." She muttered as she marched towards his room.
Nothing could have prepared Naomi for what she saw when she flung opened Cook's bedroom door. Inside stood her best mate James Cook dressed in an identical uniform as her own with a pair of womens legs wrapped tightly around his waist. It wasn't the fact that he was making out with a women, no that is quite normal with the pair of them. It was more of who he was locking lips with that took Naomi's head for a whirl. None other than Katie Fucking Fitch.
They both turn their attention over to Naomi as they hear her enter. Cook looking ashamed and guilty, while Katie just look surprised and a little embarrassed.
" Perfect." Naomi sighs shaking her head. Walking out of the room and out the house.
" Nai! Nai! Wait a second !" Cook yells hot on her tail, pulling up his pants that had been dropped to the floor. " Come on, Nai!."
Katie being left in Cooks room looks down at her watch realizing she is 2 hours late to her sister's engagement party because she lost track of time with Cook. She rushes to throw on her heels.
Outside Naomi is quickly trying to get as far as she can from Cook. Him calling for her half dressed.
" Noams, wait up!" He yells. " Let me talks to you for a second, please." Cook jumps in front of the blonde, stopping her.
" About what?" Naomi says finally. " About how you left me high and dry to get my ass kicked by Claire. Again." She stresses out the word again.
Cook notices the bloody nose and the bruising eye for the first time.
" Claire did that to you?" Cook ask softly. Naomi ignores him.
" And how long have you been sneaking around with Katie behind my back?" Naomi asks upset that Cook didn't tell her.
" I wanted to tell you about Katie. I tried to, I didn't know how." Cook pleads. " I'm sorry that you had to find out this way."
Naomi crosses her arms over her chest and sighs.
" I care about her a lot, Nai... I...I love her." He admits.
" What?" Naomi couldn't be more baffled and surprised than she is right now hearing this from Cook. " You're unbelievable... JUDAS!" She points at him walking away again but not without adding. " Rule number five : You're an idiot."
" There is no rule about this, Nai!" He shouts as she walks away. " What's the rule about walking away? Never walk away from a fellow crasher !" He yells, hurt that she's just turning away from him like that after him just expressing his feelings. " You're an asshole!" He screams at her fleeting figure watching her disappear around the corner.
Naomi and Cook don't see each other after that. Naomi avoids Cook at all cost, and Cook has his hands full with Katie but that doesn't stop him from trying to contact Naomi anyway he could. The blonde just isn't interested, she finds it hard to be interested in anything nowaday, little does she know somewhere Emily feels exactly the same way.
Cook calls Naomi one night when he's watching the game of his and the blondes favorite sports team. They would always watch it together, make a night of it. Instead they are both alone and sadly drinking on their beers staring sadly at the television.
Cook gets a very depressing voicemail from the blonde while Naomi listens in.
" Hey Nai, it's Cook. Just calling to see what you're up to. Love to hear back from you mate. Give me a ring."
Naomi just looks back at the Tv having no plans of calling him back.
Somewhere Emily and Claire are going over wedding plans. They are listening to the two planner they hired go on and on. Emily is nodding along feeling very unhappy and overwhelmed while Claire is excitedly jumping in giving some suggestions. Claire turns to Emily with a huge grin on her face which breaks Emily out of her haze, she smiles fakely at her. They continue to go over ideas while Emily's fake smile slowly fades as she realizes this is actually happening.
Her stomach twist unconformably and her eyes well up a bit. She feels like she might puke. She feels trapped. There is only one person in this world that never made the redhead feel that way. Made her feel every other feeling except that. A woman with breathtaking blue eyes and beautiful blonde wavy hair. A woman who makes her stomach flip and gives her butterflies with just a single glance or even the thought of her. But then with a punch to her gut she remembers that this same women tore her apart and broke her heart into pieces. That it was all just a game with her. Playing with Emily's feeling so carelessly, making the redhead think that they were something special, something worth disappointing her family's wish for. But no, it was all just to get into her pants. Just a quick shag to brag about to Cook and they could laugh about little naive Emily falling in love with the blonde.
At least that's what Emily believed anyway. So here she was faking happiness over a wedding she doesn't even want in the slightest. Her wedding to someone she isn't even in love with. But it isn't for her is it. It's what's right for the family. Emily repeats that to herself over and over in order to keep the tears and vomit at bay.
Naomi starts crashing weddings on her own. Though she's not that big of a hit seeing as though her issues begin to spill out at every wedding she attends. All of them remind Naomi about the one girl she's ever wanted to marry and now she never will.
" Does anyone ever feel like their just disappearing? I feel so much like giving up." was a small part of a much bigger speech she gave at the Raymond wedding before she ripped the table cloth from the table while everything just kinda went everywhere. " Get it!?" Naomi laughs before being escort out of the respection.
At the Wendol wedding she tried to snog the bride which as you can assume did not end well.
At the Abraham wedding she wrestle a women to get the bouquet of flowers that she missed by just that much.
At the Beckers wedding she ended up at the kids table wearing a balloon made crown.
" Love doesn't exist. That's what I'm trying to tell you guys. And I'm not picking on love, because I don't think friendships exist either." She explains on her third slice of cake. The kids listen intently to her.
Naomi hits an all time low when she's at the Gray wedding getting a little to drunk and grabs the mic from the band, smashing about until she falls face down on the drum set.
She's woken up on the hill looking over London where Cook and her use to meet to go over the wedding season after it was over and done with. A cop nudges her and tells her she can't sleep there.
On the other side of town Cook is trying to work up the nerve to ask Katie a big question but seeing as he's never has before he's having a little trouble getting it out there.
" Katie love, I've been ah, thinking a lot about us and ahh, well I.. I think that I'm ready to take that next step with you in this relationship. Ya know take this relationship to the next level " He stutters unsure of himself.
" You mean anal?" Katie smirks. Cooks eyes widen.
" No I meant.. I was thinking more along the lines of engagement." He pauses and Katie smirk disappears and she's looking at Cook intently. " But if you want we could totally do anal, I mean it's a great sensatio-" He cut off by Katie's lips on his.
" I loved to." She smiles as they break apart. " To both." She winks at him, Cook howls and tackles her down on the couch.
" I love you." He says, not believing he found his perfect match.
" I love you too." Katie laughs.
" I..I can't believe they're getting married. I mean don't you think that's really soon?" Emily asks Rob as they are walking around a flower shop picking out flowers.
" Well you know Katie." Rob shrugs. " She's impetuous, has to have what she wants, when she want's it. We had to give her a sweet sixteen on hers and yours thirteenth birthday, you remember that." Rob finishes.
" Yeah, I remember." Emily nods. " But this is... Dad this is marriage." Emily states, concerned for her sister.
" When you know what you want, you know what you want." Rob says, softly.
Emily slowed down walking a little bit, looking down, taking in her father's words.
" So.. Which of these do you like?" Rob asks pointing at the flowers. Emily has to shake herself out of a daze. She's getting more upset by the second and her eyes are welling up a bit.
" I ahh.. Like the.. the umm..." Emily voice is breaking and her eyes are getting more watery. Rob notices.
" Emsy?" He says softly.
" Yea?" Emily says quietly, not meeting her father's eyes. He waits until she does.
" What's wrong, love?" He smiles softly at her.
She wants to say something but she can't, not without breaking down. Rob notices a sob reaching the surface with Emily's eyes watering and her biting her lips together trying to hold it all in but struggling really hard. Her eyebrows inch together painfully, Rob decides to say something.
" We have no way of knowing what lays ahead for us in the future, all we can do is use the information at hand to make the best decision possible." Rob informs, while Emily wipes a tear that has slipped " It's going to be fine." He reassures her. She nods smiling weakly at him.
Naomi is laying on her couch reading a book called " Don't Jump." She hasn't showered in days and she's wearing her pajamas from a week ago. She hasn't left her apartment for a while and it shows with the mess. Take out food all over every counter, garbage on the floor everywhere. She can't find it in her to clean.
She hears a knock on her door. She sighs and stands putting her book aside. She answers the door thinking it is the pizza she ordered not so long ago. She surprised to see it's Cook grinning toothily at her with a sleeping bag in his arms.
" Happy Birthday!" He holds up the sleeping bag. " Can't let a little pissing and moaning break tradition." he says with a puppy eyed look.
" Right. That's today." She says in a monotone voice. She walks away from the door slowly.
Cook follows looking around the place noticing what a pig sty it is from the last time he's seen it. Something catches his eye. He walks over and picks it up.
" I see you're doing a little light reading?" He reads the title of the book and narrows his eye at Naomi. Way beyond worried at this point.
"That's not mine. I bought that for a friend." Naomi says softly. Cook can tell she's embarrassed so he lets it go for now.
" So how ya been, Naoms?" He puts the book down and smiles at the blonde.
" Great, thanks." She lies.
" Good." Cook nods looking around. " What have you been up to?" he asks.
" Oh you know.. This and that.. Crashing weddings." She states looking right at Cook.
" Alone?" Cook asks surprised.
" No... Not alone.." Naomi states realizing how pathetic it must sound to go crashing alone.
" With who than?" Cook asks. It takes Naomi a second to think.
" Keith.." She says unconvincingly.
" Uncle Keith?" Cook wants to make sure he's heard her right.
" Yeah. Uncle Keith." Naomi shrugs..
" Nai, you don't even know Uncle Keith." Cook shakes his head.
" Yes i do. He's a right laugh. Great guy." Naomi states smiling. " We've been having a ball together."
Cook sighs, he knows Naomi is lying.
" Alright look. I wanted to come by here to tell you that I feel really bad about everything that's happened between us. You mean the world to me, Naoms." Cook looks down. " I miss seeing ya." He finishes.
Naomi sighs, she's been feeling the same way.
" I know." She says quietly. " Look I'm happy for you, I glad you found someone." Naomi smiles weakly.
Cook is ecstatic and so relieved to hear that from Naomi.
" You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you say that!" He grins goofly. " Come here you, Cookie monsters needs some lovin' " He laughs grabbing a smiling Naomi in to his arm for a tight and loving hug. He's missed her so much and she him. " You know I love you." he whispers.
" Love you too, Cookie." She smiles as they pull apart.
" Listen, I'm getting married!" Cook blurts out smiling. Naomi's smile turns into a frown in a split.
" Get out." She points to the door.
" What?" Cook narrows his eyes at her, not understanding the 360 change in her demeanour. " You just stood there and told me you were happy for m-"
" I'm hanging by a thread, Cook.. I'm reading don't kill myself books." Naomi states.
" You said the book wasn't yours." Cook points out.
" Don't worry about the book, it isn't mind." Naomi informs shaking her head. " But I glanced at it."
" Naoms, we've been best mates forever, I'm getting married, I need you by my side, you gotta be my best man." Cook pleads with her.
" Leave, Cook!" Naomi demands angrily.
" Naoms-" Cook tries.
" Now!" Naomi interrupts pointing towards the door.
Cook sighs looking down shaking his head. He walks to the door but before he walks out he looks over at Naomi.
" It would mean a lot to me if you came." He says sadly.
" Oh I bet it would, chav!" Naomi says angrily
" What?" Cook asks.
" Tosser!" Naomi responds just throwing out insults.
" What are you talking about?" Cook asks narrowing his eyes.
"Out." Naomi points. " Out."
" You better get your arse to that wedding." Cook states, pointing his own finger at the blonde. With one last glance at Naomi he shuts the door. Naomi sighs.