Title: Love Accidentally - Chapter 18

Author: kreia03

Rating: M

Warnings: Some swear words.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and I hate that fact. Seriously.

Summary: The thank you gift :)

A/N: Next chap guys ^^ I hope you like it.

As soon as Naomi's car was out of her sight, Emily rushed back into the living room and picked up the phone, quickly dialing JJ's number, an idea popping out in her mind. She paced back and forth impatiently as she waited for him to answer, the phone burning in her ear, sighing a short breath of relief once JJ had picked up her call.

"JJ!" She cried out a bit too enthusiastically.

"Hey Emily." He greeted back. "What's up?"

"Can you come down here for a bit? I really need some help."

"What for?" JJ asked, curious.

"I'll tell you when you get here."

"You mean now?"

Emily rolled her eyes. "Yes. Now JJ. I do mean now."

"Is the monster there?"

"Oi!" She blurted out. "Don't call her that!"

"But you were the one who called her monster in the first place."

"Christ JJ! Just come here yeah?" She ended the call, not bothering to wait for his answer.

JJ arrived looking all flustered at Emily's sudden call. He looked around, searching for any sign of Naomi and heaved a sigh of ease when he didn't see her car parked on its usual spot. They hadn't really met properly and the last time they saw each other, they were in a rather awkward situation. He rang the door bell happily, the fear knotting his chest suddenly disappearing. As much as he hated to admit it, he found Naomi quite scary.

The door swung open and he was greeted by his best friend with a huge smile on her face. "Great you're here!" Emily exclaimed, bouncing on her heels. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?" JJ asked, his forehead crumpling. "And why are you so excited?"

"We're going to the grocery. I need to buy some stuff." Emily stepped out and locked the front door.

"You're excited to go to the grocery?" He asked in confusion. "Did you call me just so I could carry your stuff?"

Emily rolled her eyes. "No JJ. I'm fit enough to carry them." She replied as they started to walk towards the bus stop. "I'm making something for Naomi. I mean, as a thank you gift."

"Can't you just kiss her? That would be enough, at least I think."

The red head snorted, chuffing her breath out. "She's worth more than that J." She bit her lip, feeling the hotness fanning out on both her cheeks as she turned into a blush.

A knowing smirk curled up on the corner of JJ's lips, acknowledging Emily's sudden blush without saying anything about it. "So what are you planning to make then?"

Emily answered with a mysterious smile, keeping schtum as they waited for the bus to arrive.

O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O

An hour after they had gone back from the grocery store, Emily and JJ were already covered with flour and baking powder, spilling them all over the counter as well. The kitchen was a downright mess that if Naomi was to see it, she'd throw a massive fit of rage without a single doubt.

"Why are we making round shaped brownies, not square ones?"

"Because we're going to make it special." Emily answered, stooping down as she checked on the brownies being baked in the oven.

"How did round brownies become special?" JJ frowned. "I don't get it."

"You'll see what I mean when this is done."

JJ nodded, fixing his gaze on the table.

Emily's head snapped up upon hearing the phone ring. "Could you get that for me JJ?"

"Sure." He slipped out from his seat and raced to the living room to pick up the cordless phone. "Hello?"

"Who's this?"

JJ's heart started to hammer as he recognized the voice. "H-hey Naomi. I-It's JJ." He stammered, swallowing hard.

"JJ?" Naomi's voice raised a tad bit as she tried to recall. "Oh right, the weird guy." She mumbled.

"Pardon?" He exclaimed. "Weird guy?"

"Is Emily there?" Naomi asked instead, ignoring JJ's remark.

"She's in the kitchen right now. Do you want me to get her?"

"Yes please."

"Alright, hang on." JJ rushed back to the kitchen, handing the phone over to Emily who had just placed the baked brownies on top of the counter. "It's Naomi." He whispered.

Emily took the phone, tossing the pot holders onto the side. "Hey, it's me."

"Hey Em." Naomi greeted. "Listen, I'm running late tonight. I won't make it by dinner."

"Oh. Is that so?"

"Bloody photo shoot's taking forever." The blonde grumbled. "You alright there?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Great then."

"How about you?" Emily asked. "You okay?"

"I'm rather tired. They keep re-taking the shots."

"Maybe you should take a quick break."

"Nah, breaks just make the shoot fucking longer." Naomi replied. "Right, I'm being called. I'll see you later yeah?"

"Most likely. " The red head answered with a smile. "I live here remember?"

"Amusing Fitch. Very funny." Naomi sneered. "I gotta go."

"Bye then." Emily tossed the phone back to JJ as soon as Naomi hung up, surprising the boy entirely that it juggled in his hands, almost dropping it.

"May I just say, could you at least warn me if you're going to pitch things to me? I don't want to break anything. I'm quite sure Naomi would bite my head off if I do."

The red head bit her lip. "Sorry JJ."

"It's alright. I didn't drop it anyway. Which leads me to conclusion that I have amazing catching skills and-" JJ paused, catching the amused look on Emily's face. "Shit. Rambling again, sorry. Anyway, what did Naomi say?"

"She's not gonna be home by dinner." She scowled. "Photo shoot's taking too long."

"What about your gift then?" He asked, inching closer to Emily as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I guess it will have to wait for tomorrow." She sighed, shoulders slumping down.

JJ paused for a moment, ransacking his brain for a possible solution. He didn't want his efforts and Emily's either to just go to waste. "Do you know where the shoot's being held?"

"In Thomas' studio, I think." Emily replied. "Why?"

JJ broke into a wide smile, revealing his braces. "It won't have to wait for tomorrow."

O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O

Emily stood in front of the huge studio doors nervously, her hand shaking as she reached for the handle. Behind her was JJ, fidgeting with the hem of his hooded jacket and looking around, the fear in his chest rushing in as Emily pushed the doors open. They were going to see Naomi, making him more fidgety as they drew near due to his unexplainable fear of the blonde, which was fairly ironic because it was his idea to drop by to the studio. He took quick huffs as he tried to catch his breath, keeping close to Emily's side in case Naomi would pop out, out of nowhere all of a sudden. At least, Emily's presence helped him calm down a bit. He knew it was really ridiculous, this fear he was having, but there was something in Naomi that he found too intimidating, that it was scary at some point. Maybe because he never saw her smile the way his best friend did, or she just didn't look friendly at all unlike Emily. Although, JJ knew he shouldn't compare, because he didn't know the blonde fairly well, which led him into another chain of thoughts. He'd been having a certain impression regarding Emily and Naomi's relationship. He found it all too weird for two reasons. First, growing up with Emily, they had been used to telling each other everything that's been going on about their lives. Yet, he couldn't remember any particular instance that Emily had ever mentioned anything about Naomi to him. Actually, he only learned about the couple on telly as it was headlined in every news program he could think of. It was very unlikely of Emily to keep a secret from him, though he perfectly knew that Emily had every right to do so. He just found it weird and improbable. Second, albeit not being a relationships expert, he could tell that there was something lacking on Emily and Naomi's relationship. Based from most couples that he had observed, observed and not perved, Naomi didn't share loving touches and longing looks with Emily, unlike the others. But then he could be wrong, as he hadn't even spent a whole day with the couple. He sighed, focusing on playing with his fingers instead, stopping himself from thinking because too much of it sometimes result to a painful headache. He was pulled out from his musings when he felt a light nudge to his rib coming from Emily.

"There she is JJ." He heard her whisper. He looked up, following Emily's line of sight, and saw Naomi posing for the camera. JJ returned her gaze to the red head, watching her as she stared at the blonde with a nervous yet admiring smile in her lips. He could feel her bouncing on her heels beside him, too eager to give her gift.

"You think we should call her?" He asked.

Emily turned her head to meet JJ's eyes. "No. I think we should wait."

"Well if you say so." JJ shrugged.

They both stood in the corner, patiently waiting for the current session to finish. Emily's eyes were transfixed into Naomi's perfect form and figure, the blonde's every movement captivating her, like a spell she'd been put under.

"Emily." She heard JJ whisper to her ear. "You're drooling." He snickered.

Upon realizing that her mouth was hanging wide open, the red head closed it instantaneously, gnawing on her bottom lip as she felt utterly embarrassed being caught ogling, by her best friend of all people. He could feel JJ shaking with muffled laughter beside her. "Stop it JJ." She hissed, feeling her face grow redder by the second.

He snorted, bursting into another fit of quiet laughter. "Sorry." He softly mumbled as he felt Emily elbowing him a tad stronger.

"I think she's done." Emily blurted out moments after, hearing the photographer shout "take ten". Her eyes started to sparkle as she rocked back and forth on her heels, clutching the paper bag she was holding tighter.

"Go then." JJ replied, urging the red head to walk towards Naomi who was sitting beside Thomas on the far corner of the studio.

Emily lifted her gaze to JJ and smiled at him, returning the encouraging smile that he gave. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves down and started walking, only to come to a complete stop after two or three steps. She froze in her spot, her eyes fixed on Naomi, still oblivious of her presence, and the girl who quickly approached the blonde.

Effy.

She could feel her heart hammering out loud, could feel JJ's questioning gaze boring in her back, but her feet remained rooted to the ground. She watched in agony as Effy sat beside Naomi, handing her a bottle of water and some tissue, the blonde smiling wide in return. A smile that Emily herself had never seen Naomi give her, a smile that was just exclusive for Effy, a smile that almost certainly wouldn't be hers, ever. She turned around and walked towards JJ, her steps quick yet heavy.

"What's wrong Emily? Why don't you go there?"

She swallowed hard, pushing the lump that had formed in her throat. "Let's go home."

JJ crumpled his forehead. "It took us a long way to get here. Why go home?"

"It's not the right time to give this to her." She replied, her voice breaking a little bit. "Let's just go JJ, please."

"But Emily-"

Emily broke JJ off by grabbing his hand, dragging him forcefully towards the studio's exit, thankful that he stopped asking questions and wasn't relinquishing her hold. She walked on scurried steps with JJ in tow, that familiar sharp twinge making its presence known, wrapping itself around Emily's heart and clenching it tight, too tight that it hurt.

Yet no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't escape. She was meant to stay.

"Emily!" It was Panda. "Whizzer! I didn't know you were here." She shouted, announcing the red head's presence just as she was about to leave.

"Hey Panda." She greeted, forcing a smile. "Actually, we're just about to leave."

"Are you here to see Naomi?"

"Erm, sort of."

"Were you able to meet her then?"

Emily softly shook her head. "I think she's busy."

"I'll call her for you."

"No Panda! Wait! Don't-"

"Naomi!" Panda waved her hand high, trying to catch the blonde's attention. "Naomi!"

Emily shut her eyes tight as she chewed her bottom lip. "Fuck."

"There she is."

"Thanks Panda." She muttered in a grave tone.

"No problem." Pandora replied, skipping her way to Naomi and Thomas' table.

Emily considered breaking into a run for a moment, but was unable to ponder at the idea as she felt Naomi's presence behind her. She slowly turned around but kept her gaze down.

"I didn't know you were coming here."

"I-I, uhm-" She faltered, searching for something coherent to say, but her mind won't let her articulate anything logical at this moment.

"She came here to give you something." It was JJ. Emily's head snapped up, eyeing him with a glare. She squeezed his hand tight, telling him to keep his mouth shut.

"You're JJ right?" Naomi asked, her gaze falling on JJ's anxious face.

He nodded exceedingly. "The weird guy." He added.

The blonde grimaced. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to call you that."

"It's alright. I'm kind of used to it." He let out a faint smile.

Naomi smiled timidly in return before turning her attention back to Emily. "You came to give me something?"

The red head nodded sheepishly. "You said you were running late tonight, so I kinda thought of bringing you something to eat in case you get hungry." She muttered and lifted the paper bag, handing it over the blonde.

"What's this?" She grabbed the paper bag and took out the box inside.

"It's actually a thank you gift, not just some food to eat." JJ butted in. "You know, for the birthday presents. I told Emily to just give you a kiss but she said you were worth more than that."

Emily's eyes grew wide in shock. "JJ!" She shouted, throwing a lethal glare at him.

"Oh bugger." He blurted out, seeing the grimace and embarrassment on Emily's face. He quickly averted his gaze and looked at Naomi who had a rather amused expression.

"A gift eh?" She bantered, letting a smirk curl up at the corner of her lips. She lifted the box lid, her eyes circling wide with surprise at the sight of what's inside. A dozen round brownies, each and every one of them designed to look like Naomi. Each brownie had yellow icing on top of them, resembling Naomi's blonde hair, dark chocolate for her eyebrows and the cartoon-like nose, blue icing representing her blue eyes and red for her lips. "You made these?" She cried out with glee.

"Yeah." Emily mumbled, fixing her gaze on her fidgeting fingers. She was too embarrassed to meet Naomi's eyes that she missed the glint dancing in them.

Naomi's smirk turned into a wide, much pleased beam. She took the red head's hand, interlacing it with hers absentmindedly as she towed Emily towards the table where Thomas, Panda and Effy where seated, JJ trailing behind them two. She carefully put down the box on top of the table and called the photographer, asking him to take a picture of the brownies. The photographer gladly obliged, earning a couple of thank yous from the blonde.

"Those brownies look nice yes?" Thomas commented, reaching for a piece.

"Oi!" Naomi slapped his hand away from her brownies. "These are mine yeah?"

"Don't be so selfish Naomi." It was Panda. "Give us some."

"No. I don't want to." The blonde refused, squeezing the red head's hand tighter. "Emily made these for me. If you want some, go find somebody who'll bake for you." She turned to Emily and tugged the red head's hand which was still intertwined with hers. "I'm being called now. Look out for my brownies, will you?" She watched and smiled when Emily nodded. "I swear I'll throw a bloody fit if one of these goes missing." She warned, her forefinger pointing at each person surrounding the table before letting go of Emily's hand and standing in front of the camera, leaving Thomas, Panda and JJ laughing in amusement.

Emily, on the other hand, remained speechless, just too stunned to speak. Everything happened too fast that she had a hard time to catch up and comprehend every single thing. Although two things had managed to stand out amidst her swirling thoughts, Naomi's hand that never left hers until she needed to, and Effy's heated glares that she could see well at the corner of her eyes.

JJ though, had seen something that changed his opinion and view about the whole thing. There might be no loving touches and longing looks, but there was definitely something connecting Emily and Naomi. A certain, indescribable attraction that was existing between them, holding them together, like opposite poled magnets, pulling each other closer.

O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O

Emily excused herself for a moment, the weight of Effy's glares sinking beneath her skin. She scurried her way to the bathroom, splashing water all over her face as she tried to draw in heavy breaths. She gripped the sink tight, propping on her arms as she watched herself in the mirror. The familiar sharp twinge still made her chest ache, but it was no longer unidentifiable unlike before, for she perfectly knew what exactly it was by now.

Jealousy.

She clung to the sink tighter, the word ringing inside her ears, her knuckles turning white from the pressure as she admitted the fact bit by bit. She was jealous of Effy, jealous of the lingering stares that Naomi gave to her. She was jealous of that particular smile only Effy could see, a smile that was exclusively hers, a smile that was screaming "I'm in love with her" all over it. She closed her eyes, fighting back the stinging tears and pushing the lump on her throat that she had been struggling with. She couldn't be jealous. She shouldn't. She had no right to.

"Emily."

She caught her breath, slowly turning around with shut eyes. "Effy." She muttered, batting her eyes open as soon as she felt the need to.

The brunette stepped closer, stopping a fair distance away from Emily, her hands crossed above her chest. "I need you to know something."

The red head gripped the sink behind her, bracing herself for whatever Effy was going to say. She swallowed hard, taking a deep breath before she answered. "What?"

"She's mine." Effy mouthed, a classic smirk pulling up at the corner of her lips. "And she will always be." She quirked her eyebrow before turning around, leaving Emily completely defenseless.

O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O

"Where have you been?" Naomi asked as soon as the red head had gotten back.

Emily lifted her head up and forced a tight smile. "Bathroom." She replied. "You done?"

The blonde nodded, reaching for her box of brownies on the table. "Hah! Still complete. Good job Em." She snickered, her wide smile faltering as she saw the disturbed look on Emily's face. "You alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm just tired." The red head mumbled. "Let's go home."

"Hang on, just let me get my things and then-"

"Naomi."

Emily bit her lip hard as she painfully watched the blonde turn around, turn her back from her.

"Yeah Ef?"

"You going somewhere tonight?" The brunette asked, glancing at Emily's torn look, a triumphant smirk forming in her lips.

"Em and I were just going home. Why?"

"Wanna go out?"

Naomi paused for a moment, shuffling a little bit so that she could see the red head as well, her gaze flickering between Effy and Emily. She sighed, giving a half nod towards Effy's direction before turning around to face Emily.

"Em-"

"Don't leave." The red head broke Naomi off, getting desperate as the seconds ticked by. "Please." She pleaded, her voice almost inaudible as she tried her hardest to get a hold of herself. She hated sounding so defeated. "Don't go."

"I won't be long." Naomi replied, crushing the red head's hope altogether. "I'll ask somebody to drive you and JJ home."

"Go home with me, please."

"Naomi." Effy called out, growing a little impatient.

"In a minute." The blonde replied, glancing towards Effy's direction. "I'll see you later yeah?"

Emily's eyes bore into Naomi's back as she watched her turn around and join the brunette to head out of the studio. She buried her face into JJ's chest, who was standing behind her the whole time, letting go of her tears as soon as Naomi and Effy were out of her sight.