Title: Love Accidentally - Chapter 31
Author: kreia03
Rating: M
Warnings: Swear words.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, and I hate that fact. Seriously.
Summary: "They were far too caught up with their little bickering that they didn't notice the way they edged closer to each other every time they spoke, their faces ending up a mere breath apart, noses almost touching."
A/N: Next chap guys! Terribly sorry for the delay! This was written mostly around 4am so please be nice, coz I'm really not sure of this one. I'll make it up to you guys on the next chapters! Please leave a comment if you have the time! ^^ Thanks for sticking with this fic, and with me! Means a lot!
"Em—"
"I'm not talking to you." Emily scowled at the blonde, cutting her off as she threw her a heated glare, before turning her gaze back to the car window. She furiously folded her arms above her chest and scooted even further as she tried to keep the farthest distance she could possibly have away from Naomi, to the point that she was practically pushing herself against the car door.
"Right." Naomi replied with a huge smirk, shuffling on her seat so that she was sitting nearer to the red head, almost a mere inch away from her. She pressed her lips together to suppress an upcoming laugh when she saw Emily cringe, though a small chuckle managed to escape from her throat which she disguised as a feigned cough, but was just far too obvious to be faked, consequently earning her another sharp glare from Emily.
"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" The red head hissed, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "Are you pissing me off on purpose?"
Naomi couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Emily, I don't want another fight yeah?" She retorted. "So don't start."
"I won't if you take me home."
"I am taking you home!" The blonde cried out, making Emily flinch.
"I live at JJ's place." The smaller girl replied firmly, her eyes still narrowed. "And you're clearly going the wrong way."
"Jesus Christ Emily!" Naomi hissed, keeping her voice down when she noticed the wary glances the cab driver was throwing at them, the reflections shown from the rear view mirror. "Will you just stop already? You're being all childish again."
"At least I don't have mood swings, for like, every fucking minute." Emily sassed back, her arms uncrossing from her chest, flailing in the air animatedly.
"Shut up." The blonde muttered in between her clenched teeth, her eyes glaring wide.
"No, I won't." Emily answered back, goading Naomi with a cock of her head.
"Shut up Emily, I'm telling you."
"You're not the boss of me!" The red head replied in a low, heavy tone.
"Shut up or I swear to God I'm going to kiss you again!" Naomi snapped back, her lips quivering with annoyance.
It took Emily several seconds before she could recover, the memory of their earlier kiss deluging her mind, causing a sudden blush spread all over her faint skin. Thankfully, it was dark enough in the car for her to hide the redness of her cheeks. "I hate you." She hissed lowly after a long pause.
They were far too caught up with their little bickering that they didn't notice the way they edged closer to each other every time they spoke, their faces ending up a mere breath apart, noses almost touching. It was Emily who first looked away, tearing her eyes angrily off Naomi, her head turning to the opposite side as she focused her attention on the blurring view on the outside instead. The blonde shifted on her seat and turned to face front with a look that was torn between amusement and infuriation, scooting a little to the other side to provide Emily some space. The rest of the ride was spent pretty much in silence, except for a few muffled groans and a series of low grumbles escaping from their throats, mostly from Emily's.
Naomi fumbled through her purse and pulled out a few bills, handing it to the driver as soon as the cab skidded into an absolute stop right in front of the gate of their empty house. She hurriedly pushed the car door open and hopped out, her hands propping against her hips when Emily stayed motionless on the back seat, with no intention of stepping out. She rolled her eyes and huffed out two quick breaths before stooping down to speak to the red head. "Emily, the driver's waiting for you to get off."
"Why am I gonna get off?" The red head replied sternly without even glancing at Naomi's direction. "This isn't my place."
Naomi let out an exasperated breath upon hearing Emily's words, rolling her eyes in the process. "Christ." She watched Emily intently with a glare for a few seconds, before finally slamming the car door shut when the red head didn't budge even a little. She went around and walked behind the car to get to Emily's side, flinging the car door open quickly. She ducked in and reached for Emily, her arms instantaneously slipping behind the red head's seated form, scooping her again and hanging her over her broad shoulders without any fair warning.
"Put me down!" Emily shouted in protest, squirming as much as she could for Naomi to set her down on her feet. "Naomi! Let me go!" She let out a few squeals and screams, flapping her arms and legs again and again as she tried to break free.
The blonde, however, just tightened her hold around Emily's knees in answer, fumbling through her purse for her keys when she reached the front door. She kicked the door open and tossed her keys and her purse on the table standing nearby, heading straightaway to the living room to drop Emily on the couch, earning another hateful glare from the red head for the umptieth time already.
If looks could kill, she'd probably be dead by now.
Emily quickly sprang up to her feet to leave the moment her had body hit the couch, only to be pushed back to her seat by a hovering Naomi. "Sit down." She heard the blonde spoke but ignored it completely, getting up once more, simply to be pushed back for the second time around.
"I said sit down." Naomi snapped as she raised her forefinger at the red head, her voice so full of authority that Emily didn't recognize, surprising her entirely, making her flinch and sink onto the couch while sulking. The blonde then started pacing back and forth from where she was standing, one hand propped on her hips while the other was curled into fist, pressed up against her lips, her forehead crumpled like she was contemplating about something deeply. "Look Em." She spoke calmly after a few beats, settling to sit on top of the coffee table, right in front of Emily. "I just, I wanna sort things out okay?" She clasped her hands together and took a deep breath. "I mean, between us."
Emily lifted her gaze from the floor to face Naomi, eyeing her with an incredulous look. "Things just can't be fixed overnight Naomi." She shook her head at her.
"I know." The blonde paused, catching her lip in between her teeth. "Believe me, I know." She watched as Emily turned her head away from her, her gaze falling everywhere but her. "Look, let's do it this way." She continued. "Lay your terms Em."
"What?" The red head asked, her brow arching up in confusion.
"Lay your terms. Tell me what you want. Your dos and don'ts." Naomi shrugged. "Tell me anything."
"Oh I've got one." Emily replied sardonically, her teeth baring as she sneered. "Leave me alone."
A riled groan resonated from Naomi's throat as she unclasped her hands and buried her face on her palms, scrunching it exasperatedly. "Christ Emily." She huffed out loud along with a grimace. "Why are you being so difficult?"
Emily's sneer slowly disappeared from her lips, her features being replaced by a hard expression. "Now you know how it feels." The red head replied in a serious tone, with a hint of sadness in it. "How hard it could sometimes be when you want to get along with somebody. But they won't let you." She lowered her head, fixing her eyes on her fidgeting fingers to hide the verging tears threatening to fall.
"I'm sorry." A faint murmur came from Naomi after a short pause, the words barely escaping her lips. "I could be a real twat sometimes." She watched as Emily gently nodded her head, letting out a sad laugh, more to herself. "Emily." She softly called out, her hand hesitantly reaching forward.
The red head took a deep breath, her fingers subtly wiping away the fallen tears from her eyes. She slowly lifted her head to meet Naomi's gaze. "What?"
"Next time I run late." The blonde paused as she took a hard swallow. "I'll make sure to call you and explain to you why." She continued, dragging another deep breath as she spoke. "I won't keep you waiting again."
"Don't." Emily replied quickly with a slight shake of the head.
"Don't what?"
"Don't promise me anything." She barely whispered. "Just don't, please."
"Then what?" Naomi couldn't help but ask. "What do you want me to do?"
Emily shut her eyes tight and bit her lip as she inhaled a long, deep breath. When she fluttered her eyes open, she could see the expectant look on Naomi's face, waiting for any form of reply from her. She tipped her head up and took a few swallows to push back the lump on her throat completely, her gaze falling anywhere except the blonde in front of her when she brought it down, anywhere except at those piercing blue eyes."Flowers." She murmured after a few moments of silence between them, when she finally found the will to speak. "Buy me flowers every Wednesday." She continued upon seeing the curious yet confused look on Naomi's face. It was kind of ridiculous, but she couldn't think of anything to say, didn't want to think of anything anymore. Her mind could only handle enough for one day and everything that followed after the kiss was just all too much, the apologies, the confessions, just everything. And this somewhat changed Naomi, this gentle one made it all worse, more confusing, complicated like it already wasn't. She wanted to let Naomi in, but she was too afraid that she'd fall harder and end up breaking her heart again.
"Flowers."
The red head nodded gently. "Let's go to sleep." She stood up from the couch and turned to leave, making her way to the staircase. "Em." She heard Naomi call, feeling a couple of slender fingers circling around her wrist, holding her gently. She twisted around and peered over her shoulder, eyeing the blonde with a quizzical look. "Yeah?"
"I can't promise that I can change." Naomi shook her head.
"I know that." Emily replied, turning around again once the blonde had let go of her hand.
Naomi watched quietly as Emily treaded her way upstairs without chancing any glance to her, springing up to her feet as well when she heard the soft thud of the closing door.
She can't promise that she could change, but it didn't mean that she wouldn't try.
O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O
The first thing Emily thought upon waking up next morning was that last night was all just a dream, something she had managed to conjure up from her subconscious mind to somehow cover-up and spare her feelings from getting hurt further. But the awkward atmosphere surrounding them once they got settled at the dining table later on seemed to make last night's events more real. They sat mostly in silence during breakfast, with an occasional exchange of glimpses and timid smiles, not really knowing who or how they would indulge into a conversion without feeling abashed or embarrassed. It was like running into each other for the first time ever, (because their actual first meeting wasn't exactly that remarkable and they'd rarely gotten along after) as they watched one another from under their lids, waiting for any single sign to at least give them a boost to break the ice. Both of them seemed to be restless on their seats, shifting and shuffling more than usual, their knees brushing against each other from time to time whenever they move or uncross their legs, further adding tension like they ever need more than how much there already was.
Pancakes, breakfast was made of just a plateful of pancakes and it's taking them longer than an hour to finish it.
They both reached for the maple syrup at the same time, causing their fingers to lightly touch against each other accidentally, the brief contact sending a thousand jolts running down their spines, making them pull away quickly.
Emily cleared her throat after a few beats, finally able to get her heart beating back to normal. "You go first." She muttered and let out a tight smile, pushing the syrup closer to Naomi.
The blonde returned the smile before grabbing the syrup to squeeze some on top of her pancakes. "Thanks." She softly murmured, handing over the bottle to the red head.
Emily took the container and squeezed it as well, happily forming an 'E' with the syrup out of habit, unaware of the amused glances Naomi was throwing at her. She smiled contentedly at her work after drawing little flower shapes on the sides, finally placing down the bottle back on the table.
"Do you want bees and butterflies to go with that too?" Naomi couldn't help but ask, biting her bottom lip to stifle her laughter. "Or maybe grasshoppers, though they're pretty hard to draw." She gnawed on her lip harder as she felt her shoulders shake a little while she suppressed her laughter, the nettled look on Emily's face stopping her abruptly from joking around, and she pressed her lips together when she saw the red head's lips quirk. "I'm kidding Em."
"Right." Emily rolled her eyes. "I suppose that's your way of saying good morning."
"Sorry." She mumbled, throwing an apologetic look towards the red head. "I was just trying to make things, you know, light."
"Well you could start by behaving well and playing nice."
"Woke up on the wrong side of the bed?" Naomi bantered, surreptitiously crossing her fingers that the red head would drop her sullen mood, because, really, this awkwardness was killing her.
"Yeah, kind of. Sorry about that." Emily bit her lip, bringing her gaze down on the fork she was holding. "I went a little off."
"I figured." The blonde let out a shrug as she stuffed her mouth with a forkful of pancake.
"Truce then?" Emily asked, a small hesitant smile pulling up on her lips as she lifted her head to face the blonde. "I mean, after all, we're going to live under the same roof again for a month."
"A month?" Naomi blurted out, her face pulling into a grimace.
"Well yeah." The red head answered. "Three months is what's written on the contract right?"
The blonde's mouth opened and closed, unable to think of anything to say as she was too surprised of what she had just heard. "Right, right." She nodded upon recovering, forcing out a smile to hide her sudden look of surprise. Too much had happened that she totally lost track of time, even had forgotten about their contract completely. She wasn't ready for it to end, not when it seemed like everything was just starting. And she was pretty sure it had nothing to do with the house, a certain desire rising in her chest, that particular need to freeze time, to stop it from passing so quickly. It had to do with someone else.
It was only now had she realized how precious time could be.
"Naomi?" Emily called out, her forehead crumpling as she watched the blonde get lost on her thoughts. "Are you alright?" She reached out and extended her hand, covering Naomi's hand that was lying on the table. "Hey."
The sudden contact snapped the blonde out of her daze, feeling a strong jolt of electricity travel down her spine. She subtly shook her head and quickly turned her gaze to meet Emily's eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I'm good."
"So what do you say?" Emily asked, her hand still placed on top of Naomi's.
"Sorry?"
"About the truce?"
"Oh that." Naomi replied, nodding her head in understanding as she threw a hasty glance towards their linked hands. "Yeah, sure. No problem." She swallowed hard, silently wishing that Emily wouldn't feel the goose bumps that were starting to creep all over her skin.
O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O
"I'm going out in a few by the way."
Emily popped her head from the kitchen door threshold upon hearing Naomi call out from the living room. "Will you be back by dinner?" She asked back as she unhooked the apron from her neck.
"I'm not sure." The blonde replied. "I'm going to Effy's after the shoot to return the dress I wore yesterday."
Emily's nimble fingers stopped midway of untying the knot around her waist at the sound of Effy's name, feeling a rush of mixed emotions surge through her. She breathed deeply twice before taking a gulp to clear her throat. "Oh, right." She grimaced upon hearing her voice slightly break down, annoyed as well when she failed to come up with something better than what she had just said. Sometimes, she could just be so fucking obvious.
"I'll try to be back as early as I can." She jumped at the sound of Naomi's voice, turning around to see the blonde already standing behind her.
"No, no." Emily shook her head. "Take your time. I'm going to JJ's anyways to get my things."
"Oh, do you need some help?"
"I don't think so. They're not that much." She shrugged. "Just one suitcase."
"I'll drive you there if you want." Naomi offered again.
"Don't worry about it." Emily smiled, though a tad bit uptight. "Just go to Effy's yeah? I'll be fine."
"Well if you say so." The blonde turned on her heels, but looked back when she suddenly remembered something. "If you need help call me yeah? Me and not anybody else." She muttered, the last few words rolling out of her tongue with such weight and hint. She turned around and marched happily towards her room upon hearing Emily answer with a faint "Yeah.".
Minutes after Naomi had gone, after dropping her at the bus stop as the blonde insisted that they leave together to save her from walking quite a long way, Emily decided to check up on Freddie first before heading to JJ's, knowing that sooner or later, she'd have to face him to apologize. Riding the bus once it had arrived, she braced herself for whatever was going to come to her, may it be a rant or a fit that Freddie would throw, because partly she knew that she was at fault. She probably deserved whatever he was going to say, because she had hurt him that much. And if Freddie ever decided that he'd quit and stay away, even if she wanted him to be her friend that bad, she'd have no choice but to accept it, because insisting on keeping him was nothing but being selfish. She needed to be fair to him, though she knew that it was going to hurt her somehow, having been grown to like him better than when they first met.
She had the very same thoughts running on her mind up until she boarded the lift, her heart beating frantically against her chest when she heard that familiar 'ding', the lift doors swinging open, revealing the floor where Freddie's office was. She took a deep breath to somehow calm her nerves down before stepping out of the lift and heading towards her purpose. Finally reaching the door of Freddie's office, she raised one fist and was about to knock when she heard muffled voices coming from inside. She dropped her hand down and leaned closer, her curiosity getting the best of her because the voices just sounded so familiar, that she could hardly be mistaken about who owned them. She pressed her ear against the door, though she knew how disrespectful eavesdropping was, karma taking over at once upon hearing the conversation, wishing that she should have just not listened at all.
"A choice?"
"Yes, Freddie. A choice. I've made a choice."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not going to want you anymore."
"Oh, right."
"It's her."
"Her? I'm not sure I get what you mean Effy."
"I choose her Freddie. It's her I want now."