Title: Love Accidentally - Chapter 28

Author: kreia03

Rating: M

Warnings: Swear words.

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

Summary: "I'm with Naomi." She muttered softly, averting her gaze to hide the guilt in her eyes. She knew she had to lie somehow, because she didn't want to hurt him. He was nothing but good to her. And she's afraid that she might not be able to take the guilt if he got his heart broken just because of her.

A/N: Next chap guys! I really hope you like this one, especially those who got disappointed on the past chapters. My apologies for that. There's just a lot going on in my mind that I got a bit lost on track. But I'm trying my best to bring this back on track again. Thanks for all the reviews and comments! *crosses fingers* Here we go.

"Emily, wait." Freddie scrambled on his steps as she chased after a retreating Emily, his hand reaching out just in time to grab the red head by the wrist. "Emily." He called out and gently turned her around, not letting go of his firm grip on her.

"I'm sorry about that." The red head softly murmured after a few beats, her cheeks tainting bright red out of embarrassment. "It's just, I mean, I guess I'm not yet ready to face her." She kept her head low as she refused to meet Freddie's eyes.

"I know." He answered with such understanding and concern. "And I understand that."

"Thank you." She replied as she fixed her eyes on her fidgeting fingers, still not being able to look at him.

"I'm sorry too." Freddie muttered following a short pause, suddenly realizing where the awkwardness was coming from. "I mean, about earlier."

Emily finally tore her gaze from her fingers and threw him a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

"About, uhm—" He stammered as he got lost for words. He didn't even know what to call it, the near-kiss incident. "I-I'll try to keep my hands to myself." He smiled hesitantly instead, withdrawing his hand from gripping Emily's own, pursing them both on the back pocket of his jeans.

"Oh." It was all that Emily could come up with, feeling the hotness on her cheeks spread like fire just as it did a few minutes ago. She turned away from him to hide the sudden blush of embarrassment tainting her face.

Freddie heaved a long sigh. "So what you say? Let's backtrack a little and start over?" He paused and flashed a warm friendly smile to the red head as she looked at him again. "Perhaps, getting ice cream to begin with?" He suggested with a tiny hint of hesitation in his voice. "But I could take you home if you don't want to." He added when Emily didn't answer immediately.

"No, it's okay." She blurted out, finally returning his smile to totally get rid of the uncomfortable atmosphere surrounding them. "Ice cream sounds nice."

He broke into a wide grin and gestured towards his car. "Ladies first."

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

They found themselves sitting on the swings at the playground, with ice cream cones in hand, kicking the sandy ground from time to time to keep their swings moving. They sat mostly in silence, occasionally throwing random questions at each other as they both enjoyed their cones.

"Well that was lovely." Freddie cheerfully spoke upon finishing his own first, dropping his feet on the ground to stop himself from swinging.

"Too right." Emily answered before chewing the last bit of her cone, her swing slowing down to a complete halt. "Thank you Freddie." She murmured sheepishly as she shifted on the metal seat, facing him.

"For the ice cream?" He chuckled. "It's really nothing Emily."

"No, I mean for everything." She replied, catching her bottom lip between her teeth as she averted her gaze from him. "For cheering me up. For standing up for me."

"Emily. It's—"

"I know it's not easy for you Freddie." She continued, cutting him off. "You're sacrificing a lot of things for me, for my own sake." She blew out a deep sigh. "And I really do appreciate it."

"I know Emily. I know you do." He reached out, catching her chin with his hand, and lifted her face for his eyes to meet hers. "And I know you're worried." He smiled at her comfortingly as he pulled his hand away. "But you shouldn't be."

"I can't help it." The red head replied. "I don't want to cause you any pain Freddie. I don't want to hurt your feelings."

"Ssssh Emily." He shushed and took her hand, placing it in between his own. "If it's about me getting hurt, just remember that it was my decision to stand up. It was my choice."

"But—"

"Look." He paused for a moment, thinking of a way to elaborate his point. "I know that with the decision I made, I'm more likely to be hurt. But I'm up for it Emily." He said with enough conviction. "I'm up for anything, really." He watched as Emily closed her eyes for half a beat, heaving a sigh. "I know what I'm facing, trust me."

"I-I'm not even sure if I can give you what you want Freddie." She answered, her voice wavering. "I might just end up breaking your heart. And I don't want that."

"I'm prepared for it Emily. I'm actually prepared for anything."

"But Freddie—"

"I'm not giving up on you okay?" Freddie answered with a strong resolve. "I'm not giving up on you until you see that you could be happy with me. Or I see you happy with someone else."

"I'm with Naomi." She muttered softly, averting her gaze to hide the guilt in her eyes. She knew she had to lie somehow, because she didn't want to hurt him. He was nothing but good to her. And she's afraid that she might not be able to take the guilt if he got his heart broken just because of her.

"But you're not happy with her. She keeps on hurting you."

She swallowed hard. "I-I'm happy with her." Partly it was true, Naomi did make her happy, though clearly not this point in time.

"You're not." Freddie countered. "I can see that you're not."

"Why are you doing this?" She couldn't help but ask. "Why are you risking so much?"

"It's because I really like you Emily." He answered truthfully. "I've never felt this much to anybody."

"But you barely even know me."

"I know." He paused. "I myself can't explain it." He shook his head, letting out a soft laugh. "It's really weird you know. It's like, like a big celebrity crush."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Freddie—"

"No, wait." He broke off. "It's just— This is the best way that I can put it yeah?" He took a deep breath before speaking. "It's a lot like fancying someone on telly, you know. The first time you see them, you feel something different at once. Then when you get the chance to talk to them, you like them even more." He paused as he watched Emily's forehead crumple with confusion. "What I mean is, though you don't really see them every day, you still can't get them off your mind. You tend to relive those moments that you happened to see them or even meet them. And you wish every passing day that you'd meet them again."

"I don't get it that much." Emily grimaced.

"Think of one celebrity you really, really like."

"Dita von Teese." She replied hesitatingly, biting her lip.

Freddie pressed his lips together to stifle a laugh. "Right. So, put it this way." He watched as Emily nodded her head. "You met Dita for the first time, even had dinner with her, and you liked her so much from then on. Then you met her again a few more times and even became co-workers with her. There's a huge chance that you'd fancy right?"

"I guess." She shrugged.

"That's the best analogy I could think of." He replied. "Sorry if it confused you more."

"But I'm no celebrity Freddie. There's a huge difference."

"That's the beauty of it." He smiled. "You're not hard to reach."

Emily heaved another sigh. "But the point is—"

"Oh no. No, no , no." He shook his head exceedingly. "We're not going back to that argument again."

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

Naomi had been staring blankly past the windshield, for God knows how long already, and onto the parking area now barely lit by street lamps as darkness had begun to spread, Freddie's car long gone from its previous space. She'd chance a glance to it from time to time, like it would magically re-appear on the empty space bringing Emily with it, Emily with her wide warm smile and sparkling brown eyes, Emily with her deep husky voice that only she could manage to pull off and make it sound so inviting.

Emily with no Freddie beside her.

"Shit." She grumbled lowly, letting out a series of soft groans as she placed her two hands over the steering wheel and rested her forehead above them. The idea of Emily being with him made her stomach twist violently, as if something vile dropped on the very pit of it that caused her to feel like throwing up. "Shit, shit, shit." She murmured and swallowed hard while knocking her forehead against her hands, over and over for a couple of times, before giving up altogether. She heaved a deep sigh and reached for the key in the ignition to start the car, speeding down the road in just a matter of seconds.

She found herself stepping out of the car and walking absentmindedly towards her house later on, like she's on fucking auto-pilot or something, and she's doing things out of habit or routine and not because she's willed herself to. It was pretty much as though her brain was completely detached from her body, her thoughts floating on someplace else while she lay seated on her own couch. It was weird and unexplainable, how she's void of any feeling or emotion, yet so full of them at the same time, and like, she's going to burst at any given moment. Maybe there were too many emotions to feel that she had no idea what to feel first anymore, which made her end up being blank and impassive instead. Maybe she was still too surprised of what had just happened, of Emily walking out on her, that it hadn't sunk in completely, the gravity of things still not registering on her thoughts.

Or maybe she was just all too afraid to admit that it was hurting her, the thought of Emily being with Freddie and not with her, of Emily standing true to her word when she said that she'd mean nothing to her from then on. She's so afraid, that she'd rather keep it all in, ignoring it as hard as she could even if it's screaming inside her already, wanting to be let out and be recognized even for once.

"I think I need therapy." She mumbled, mostly to herself, finding her situation so unusual that she wondered if most people experienced something like this. If most people had those moments where everything just got so confusing and they tended to deny things even if it were that fucking obvious, tended to keep certain feelings because they were afraid to let it out, thinking that it's wrong or a mistake or something, and the only right thing to do was to fight it. Although the more they kept it and fought with it, the stronger it grew. So strong that it overwhelmed people sometimes and take over their senses completely, ensuing actions that they never meant to do, like smashing cordless phones or snooping and spying around, or grinning like an idiot because somebody could never have his hands on someone else's baked brownies.

"Jesus Christ." She sighed exasperatedly, her fingertips rubbing her forehead soothingly. She didn't even have control over her thoughts anymore. They just fly the fuck around, pretty much everywhere, though all of them going down on the exact same thing.

Emily. And she had this certain feeling that everything's just starting. She hadn't seen the end of it.

She was pulled out from her musings when the phone rang, jumping a little at the sound of the first few rings. She shifted on her seat and hurriedly reached over for it, fumbling with the cordless phone momentarily because of her slightly shaking hand. "Emily?" She slapped her forehead as soon as she blurted out the name, hating how it sounded so needy when it came out of her lips.

"Naomi Campbell!"

She winced and pulled the phone away from her ear for a moment. "Mum." She rolled her eyes. "You're the second person to yell at me."

"You'll get more than just yelling if you were here!" Gina answered on the other line, sounding utterly wound up. "Will you explain to me what on earth is happening with you and Emily?"

"It's nothing Mum." She replied with a sigh, getting tired of explaining. She felt like all she did this day was to explain again and again. "Really."

"It's all over the news and you're telling me it's nothing?"

"We just had a huge fight."

"What did you do this time Naomi?" The older woman reprimanded.

"Jesus! It wasn't just my fault!" She exclaimed, her voice rising up a notch.

"Are you sassing your mother?"

"What? No!" She grimaced. "Of course not." She blew out a tired breath. "Look, Mum–"

"Whatever happened between the two of you, I want you to fix it." Gina broke off. "Emily is a very lovely girl. Don't go messing around with her."

"I know Mum."

"Stop being a twat to her Naomi." Gina added. "You hear me?"

The younger Campbell rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

"Don't make me come over there and give you some spanking yeah?"

"I get it Mum, okay?" She answered, bidding her mother goodbye as she felt her stomach rumbling all of a sudden. She tossed the phone on the couch and scurried her way to the kitchen, rummaging through the fridge for something that could resemble as a decent meal. She scowled upon finding nothing of her taste and decided to just order for some pizza, it being the first thing to pop up on her mind. She dialed on her phone and placed an order, finding herself saying Emily's favorite instead of hers and realizing it much, much later on, minutes after she had hung up the phone. She groaned.

She tossed and turned on the couch while waiting, the very same thoughts running on her mind once again and it's starting to annoy her really, because the more she thought of it, the more she felt empty and lonely, not to mention, confused to the tenth degree. And the maddening silence of the house isn't helping one bit.

She couldn't be any more thankful when the door bell rung, thinking that at least the food might get her off her thoughts even for a few minutes. Just a few minutes break would be nice. She hurriedly opened the door, her jaw scraping the floor at the sight of who was standing before her.

"Paid your pizza for you."

"Effy?" She called out. "What are you doing here?"

"Just dropping by." The brunette merely shrugged. "Aren't you gonna let me in?"

"Oh, right. Sorry." Naomi stepped aside and opened the door wider to let Effy in, settling on the couch and tossing the pizza box on top of the coffee table. The blonde opened the box, a sad smile shaping on her lips as she remembered it being Emily's favorite.

"Why are you staring at the bloody pizza?"

Naomi jumped at the sound of the brunette's voice, quickly grabbing a slice. "You want?" She turned to her and offered.

Effy shook her head. "By the way, I've got your dress ready for tomorrow night."

The blonde's forehead folded into a crease. "Tomorrow night?" She asked as she swallowed the bitten piece.

"Premier party?" Effy's brow shot up. "Don't tell me you've forgotten?"

"Oh, that." Naomi nodded her head upon remembering. "'Course not."

"Right." Effy snorted. "Where's Emily?" She asked after a while, her eyes roaming around the house.

It took a few seconds before Naomi could answer, the words caught up in her lips. "Moved out."

"Clean break then?" Effy smirked.

"No." The blonde shook her head. "Cooling off."

"Still don't want to talk about it?"

"Yeah."

"I figured." The brunette replied, watching Naomi finish her second pizza slice absentmindedly. "Something wrong?" She rolled her eyes when the blonde didn't answer, nudging her with her elbow.

"Sorry, what was that?" Naomi whipped her head to face the other girl. She couldn't let Effy see her spacing out.

"You seem out of yourself." Effy stated in an 'as a matter of fact' tone. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm okay." The blonde forced out a smile. "Do you want a drink?" She asked, subtly trying to drop the current subject.

"I drove here. I can't drink."

"I'm talking about orange juice Effy." Naomi snorted and rolled her eyes. "Or tea perhaps."

"Oh right." Effy let out a soft laugh. "Sure."

Naomi sprang up to her feet as she made her way to kitchen, stopping by the window when she noticed that the rain had started to pour real hard. "Eff, it's raining." She announced, making the brunette turn and look out to the window as well.

"Great." She groaned. "Just great."

A flash of lightning marked the sky followed by a roaring thunder, Naomi jumping at the sound of it as it echoed around the house. "Shit! It's a thunderstorm Eff! A thunderstorm!"

"Jesus Naomi! I bloody know it's a thunderstorm yeah." Effy cried out.

But Naomi wasn't listening to her at all. "Shit, shit, shit." She muttered anxiously as she started to pace back and forth from where she was standing, her teeth biting her raised fist when a different voice rang on her ears.

"Nai-nai, I'm scared."

"Naomi, what the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Fucking hell." She cursed under her breath, her mind starting to work out for the possible places where Emily could be staying.

Katie's? No, Emily didn't even know where she lived.

JJ's? Possibly.

Freddie's? No fucking way.

She quickly ran and grabbed her mobile phone on the coffee table, right beside the box of pizza, and dialed JJ's number. "Pick up, pick up, pick up." She held her breath for a few rings, blowing it out when JJ had finally answered her call. "JJ!" She called out, perhaps a little too loud.

"Naomi." He answered on the other line, sounding a little surprised and confused. "What's up?"

"Is Emily there?"

"Yeah, she's here. She's already asleep though." JJ replied. "Why?"

"How long?"

"About an hour ago."

"Thank Christ." She exhaled a sigh of relief, mainly for two reasons. First, Emily was already fast asleep before the thunderstorm came, so there could be little chance for her to get scared. Second, and the greatest reason of all to be honest, Emily wasn't sleeping at Freddie's house.

Fuck yeah.

"Could you check up on her JJ?" She couldn't help but ask. "She might wake up and get scared, you know, because of the thunder.

"Oh right. You know about that too huh?" She could hear his light steps on the stairs and a faint creaking of the door. "Yes, still fast asleep."

"Stay there JJ." She stated.

"What?" He cried out in disbelief.

"Stay there, just so in case she wakes up, she won't get scared."

"Oh, good point." JJ answered casually. "I'll just get my sleeping bag because the floor is bloody cold."

"I mean it JJ. Don't leave her alone in there." She warned with a heavy tone. "Not until the storm stops or I'll beat the life out of you yeah?"

"Don't worry." JJ assured. "I'm not going to leave."

"Great then." She smiled. "Thanks J."

"No problem."

Naomi pressed the red button and placed her phone on her pocket before turning to face a now scowling Effy. "So Eff, orange juice or tea?"

Effy's face turned stoic, but her eyes were flashing a glint of jealousy in them. "I'm going home, don't bother." She quickly stood up and grabbed her coat, darting out to the door and onto the pouring rain, straight to her car.

"But Effy, the rain's pouring—Fuck." Naomi slapped her forehead before sliding her palm down, scrunching her face altogether. "Shit." She groaned.

Just as when she's got things almost figured out, Effy would come along.