Title: Love Accidentally - Chapter 42
Author: kreia03
Rating: M
Warnings: Swear words.
Disclaimer: I own nothing and I hate that fact. Seriously.
Summary: "I'm a dweeb, you're a twat." She quipped, the corner of her lips twitching up into a soft smile. "We fit together, don't we?"
A/N: it took this long people, my apologies.
Big thanks to my beta (yes, I have one, finally!) Naomilyox, and to TDTC (you know who you guys are!) and to Skye and Harley, and Chantal for the ideas ^^
Emily woke up in the middle of the night to a pair of hands delicately running along her curbs, nimble fingers tracing the scattered reddened marks down the whole length of her arms, some along her bare back, prominent evidences of what had taken place just earlier; gliding with uttermost care and gentleness that she could barely feel the contact they were making against her skin, but was just about enough to make it tingle and raise goose bumps in its wake. She stirred for a few beats, letting out a huge yawn while stretching to the fullest, to shake the last remnants of sleep away, and she caught Naomi's still wandering hand in the process to bring it to her lips for a light kiss. She rolled onto her side and was then faced with a wide awake Naomi, could see her through her squinted, half sleepy eyes, the sight of Naomi instantaneously making her smile. "Hey." She softly called out, voice raspy and thick with sleep. "How long have you been up?"
"A few minutes." Naomi answered, rather stiffly, because she had been watching Emily in her sleep for almost an hour now, if truth be told. She brought her other hand out from under the covers and started tracing the visible marks again, could feel a huge pang of guilt kicking her hard in the chest as her fingers ran along the scratches, ones undeniably made by her nails. "Does it hurt?" She couldn't help but ask, after a good while of just plain looking, and no matter how much Emily tried to fight a wince every time she touched the marks, she could still see past through the effort Emily was putting up with.
"They'll heal." Emily tried to brush off by not answering the question directly, seeing that little fear glinting in Naomi's eyes, one which was overshadowed by a mixture of utter concern and slight remorse, yet, still, fairly visible.
Naomi, on the other hand, was struggling to keep the guilt she was feeling at bay, but it only took one mistaken glance to Emily's swollen bottom lip, the little wounded dent screaming at her, to make her feel disgusted with herself in some way, definitely still in disbelief of being capable to do such things, to Emily of all fucking people. "Jesus Christ." She hissed faintly, letting her hand travel from Emily's side to her cheek, the pad of her thumb hovering above Emily's bottom lip just because she was too afraid to actually fucking touch it. "Em, I'm--I didn't mean to--"
Emily pursed her lips; stretched them forwards to kiss Naomi's thumb. "It's just a small wound." She answered reassuringly. "And you were really mad at me last night so--"
Naomi broke her off immediately. "But." She started with clear words in mind, but the entire length of the sentence pulled the strength away, ripping it from her grasp. "That was no--" Her voice faltered, cracking in the middle of pushing the words out through quivering lips, and when her hold had returned, though only after a good while of guilt filled silence, she muttered. "Reason to--"
She was hushed into silence by Emily's soft fingers. "I know you didn't mean to do any of these." Emily conjured a half smile despite her bruised lip, though she could feel the sting of it, of that little wound which seemed to have pierced her skin. "I know that okay?"
Naomi never got to form one coherent sentence. "Em--'
"Nai." Emily replied with a resigned sigh. "Stop worrying yeah?" She broke into a comforting smile, murmuring "Come here." as she opened her arms wide, and gestured towards Naomi to cuddle in, letting Naomi rest her head at the crook of her neck.
"I'm sorry." Naomi huffed out against Emily's neck, her voice coming out muffled and faint, breathless.
Emily didn't respond for a while, but rather, basked on the thought of how Naomi could be so small once she was curled up at her side, how the difference in their heights just disappeared, and it wasn't something big, but was significant nonetheless, well at least for Emily. She pulled back a little, just so she could plant a kiss on Naomi's forehead. "I'm a dweeb, you're a twat." She quipped, the corner of her lips twitching up into a soft smile. "We fit together, don't we?"
Naomi's face leaned forth, her nose rubbing against Emily's, and kissed the tip of it afterwards. "Yeah, we do."
***
Naomi was having one of those nights, again.
She was slowly drifting off to sleep, Emily's light snores lulling her into a deep slumber, when everything inside her head began spinning around so quickly, like a time space warp thing; and she found herself suddenly transported back in time, into a certain place she knew very well, a place she never wanted to return to ever again, even in dreams.
She broke into a cold sweat.
She found herself stood at a corner across the street, watching the play by play of scenes she was more than familiar with unfold right before her very eyes, every bit and detail ever clear, and she seemed to be so deeply into it, as if she was witnessing it for the first time, when in fact, she had seen it countless of times before, been seeing them almost every night if truth be told.
She watched as the younger version of her was shoved down towards the pavement, but she'd stand in the exact same place, not doing anything apart from anticipating the next thing that would happen, because the same things happened almost always, in the same, exact manner.
The screech of the tires, shoved to the pavement, left to die.
She was already waiting for it, to see the younger her pass out in the cold, bricked floor, though she'd still brace herself somehow because it would hurt the same, regardless of the number of times she had already witnessed it; would still feel the same nonetheless, like a fresh wound newly inflicted.
Her eyes were wide open as the scene continued to play, like a fucking movie she would very much refuse to see but absolutely had no choice, and she was already counting in her head, when the tiny arms hit the ground with a dull thudding sound that echoed inside her ears, counted till she reached five, waiting for herself to wake up and end everything.
Just like every fucking time.
But she didn't.
Instead, she saw a blur of red and brown mix with all the other colors of her dream, just as she was about to shoot her eyes open, or rather, was supposed to; could make out bright strands of red hair shining underneath the hot sun, the vividness of things notwithstanding, and it was burning her eyes for some reason, making it hard for her to see. She squinted, blinking a few times to clear her vision, and when she directed her gaze back towards the pavement, it was already empty, her young, limp body cradled into someone else's arms, with no trace of blood or bruises, neither scars.
Fully healed, like nothing ever happened.
"I'll take care of her, always." Was the last thing she heard before everything just vanished into thin air, and she was being pulled back into the time warp again, her whole world spinning inside her head, this time, in reverse.
She bolted upright from the bed with panting breaths, exactly at the same time that she saw her feet hit the ground, the sheets and the covers tangled with her limbs from writhing, and there were beads of sweat trickling from her forehead down to the bridge of her nose and the spaces beside it. She remembered everything so clearly, could remember the brightness that had suddenly invaded the dullness of such a horrible dream, like it was radiating in some way, the redness of Emily's hair already a distinct part of it, even though it was the first time she'd ever dreamed about Emily being there.
She didn't know what it meant, but still muttered "Thank you." to a sleeping Emily even so, when she rolled onto her side, and planted a light kiss on Emily's lips.
***
Last night's dream seemed to have turned into a huge, hazy blur when morning came.
Instead, Naomi's attention was caught by a heap of pet magazines, which were mostly about dogs, piled up by the magazine rack on her way to the kitchen, and her brow arched up high because she couldn't remember any particular time that she bought whichever of those; presumed they were all Emily's upon seeing the hand written notes stuck in between the pages of the particular magazine she had picked up. Notes such as how cute, with a doodled heart, and I want one scribbled on post-its with Emily's recognizable, curvy handwriting.
Emily's brooding for a dog was the first thought that came to her mind, though she wasn't able to process the rest because Emily's voice had echoed from the kitchen, announcing breakfast.
***
It was supposed to be alarming, how peanut butter was quickly turning into one of Naomi's favorites when she used to be disgusted just by the mere thought of it, let alone, the taste.
"Em."
Emily lifted her head up and tore her gaze away from the magazine that she was reading, a pet magazine, again, as Naomi took notice, looking all expectant for what she had to say next. "Yeah?"
Naomi blew out a deep breath; cleared her throat as she flumped down the couch, sitting right next to Emily. "I have something for you."
"Really?" Emily's eyes widened with genuine surprise, eyes sparkling bright.
"It isn't the Statue of Liberty though." Naomi quipped and watched as Emily poked her tongue out at her. "Apparently, I've tried but it's immovable."
Emily raised a hand and playfully slapped Naomi on the shoulder. "What is it then?"
Naomi took in a few seconds to pause, mostly for effect, before producing a box from behind her, and Emily's eyes bulged wide, like it was going to pop out from the sockets, her bottom lip caught in between her teeth, shallow dents already forming as they sunk in. "Butterfingers!" Emily squealed. "You remembered Nai."
"Well." Naomi brushed off with a shrug, while Emily was already busy ripping the box open and pulling out a piece, like an overexcited child opening presents on a Christmas day, something which usually earned an eye roll from Naomi, but it was making her smile this time. "I passed by a store and saw those. I figured you'd want one."
A flick of Emily's fingers and the chocolate bar was stripped off of half of its wrapper, licking her lips first before taking a bite, and it wasn't supposed to be turning Naomi on, the way Emily's tongue darted out to wet her lips for a bite, but it was, fucking preposterously. "I've missed this." Emily murmured after a long swallow and a few bites, turning sideways to face Naomi, and she leaned forth to capture Naomi's lips into a sweet kiss. "Thanks."
"That's meant to last at least for a month Em, I'm telling you."
It was supposed to be alarming, but it bothered her as little as it could, surprisingly.
***
Four Butterfingers bars and one make out session later, Emily was already buzzing.
"I have an idea." She said so after her fourth bar, munching on the small bit left, and there were chocolate crumbs spread all over her lips, as well as in some parts of her cheeks.
"What?" Naomi asked, in response, as she pulled out a few sheets of tissue paper from the box by the side table. She caught Emily's chin, slipping a couple of fingers beneath to steady her while wiping the crumbs away from Emily's face. "Tsk. You eat like a kid sometimes."
Emily beamed towards her. "Thank you."
"So what's your idea then?"
"Let's have a bet." She answered excitedly, clasping her hands together in effect.
Naomi's forehead furrowed into a small crumple. "A bet?"
"Yeah." Emily nodded vigorously, and she was bouncing on the couch already, out of sugar rush, Naomi could tell. "We'll play a game in the Xbox and whoever wins gets to ask anything she wants."
Naomi snorted and made a half-hearted 'pffft' sound. "Really Em?"
"Come on, I'm bored."
She heaved a sigh, rolling her eyes in the process. "What game then?"
A small, excited squeal escaped from Emily's lips. "I don't know. Guitar Hero?"
"Seriously?"
"Street Fighter then?" Emily asked, hopeful, smiling at once when Naomi nodded in answer.
"Alright fine." Naomi huffed out, punctuating the words with a low grunt.
"I am so gonna kick your arse."
"Hah. You wish." Naomi snorted smugly, her hands stretching to grab one game pad by the coffee table. "I'm an expert. No mercy."
***
When Emily won the first round, her Chun-Li defeating Naomi's Crimson Viper, Naomi kept on grumbling under her breath about how ridiculously big and distracting Chun-Li's thighs were.
"Fucking massive thighs."
***
In the middle of the second round, Naomi had paused the game, out of the blue.
"Oi!" Emily hissed in protest, but looked all confused upon seeing the scowl that took over Naomi's face. "Nai-Nai?"
"My game pad's broken." Naomi answered gruffly; tossed the offending controller at the coffee table a bit too forcefully.
"It's perfectly fine during our first match. How could it be broken?"
"MY combos aren't working." She shifted on the couch, eyes glued to the telly. "I think one of the buttons is stuck."
Emily huffed out two breaths with a roll of her eyes. "Fine, we'll switch pads then."
***
Naomi lost four rounds out of seven in the end, and blamed the game pads for it entirely. "I need to buy new ones." She grumbled lowly, pinching the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. "They're both broken."
"Don't be ridiculous." Emily snorted, biting her lip to stifle a huge laugh she could feel bubbling up inside her. "They're both working."
"No they're not." Naomi replied ever so sternly, with a half serious, half pissed off look in her face that Emily had to pinch some part of her thigh to stop herself from cracking up altogether.
Emily had to resist another giggle upon seeing the way that the scowl scrunched up Naomi's face; feigned a cough when she couldn't hold it any longer and it escaped from her lips, alongside her muffled laughter. "So--" She spoke, halting abruptly when Naomi's head snapped to the side, and she was caught laughing silently.
"I don't like the sound of that." Naomi interjected, breaking Emily off quickly, with a good natured glare thrown towards Emily's direction, which turned into a full squint upon seeing Emily's shoulders shaking slightly.
"Hey! You lost yeah?" Emily frowned, though a bit playful. "I get to ask for what I want."
"Technically, you didn't win because the pads are broken."
"Oh please."
"What?" Naomi feigned disbelief, matching it with a gasp. "They are."
"Still, I won, even if the pads are broken." Emily raised her hands and quoted the last word, fingers curling and uncurling in the air. "Admit that you lost already." She scooted over, her bottom lip sticking out so low that Naomi caught a glimpse of the small, bruised wound, and she had to avert her gaze, falling onto everywhere else except Emily, because the wound looked so nasty that it almost genuinely felt like she hit Emily rather than kissed her forcefully, in some way. "Come on, Nai."
"Fine then." Naomi huffed out, lips curling onto the side. "What do you want?"
Emily stilled for a second, caught in deep thinking, and Naomi had to pester her with gentle prods to her side until she squirmed. "Hang on, I'm thinking." She muttered in between laughs, because she was that ticklish and Naomi's that fucking impatient for an answer.
"Come on Em. What do you want?"
"Oh, I know!" Emily blurted out after a few beats of serious thinking, and Naomi had a sudden inkling that it wasn't of something good, well, for her, judging by the looks of Emily's sparkling brown eyes. "I want a giant teddy bear. Like--like, a huge one! The really, really big one."
After all, it was Emily. Naomi knew that she should have somehow suspected that it was going to be something like that.
"Oh fucking hell." She ran a palm along the whole length of her face, scrunching it altogether, because she couldn't even bear to imagine herself buying any stuffed toy at all, let alone, the biggest one. "Size-wise Em, I don't think a huge one fits. You're, you know, a bit--"
"I'm not that small yeah?" Emily retorted, shooting a glare towards Naomi's direction.
Naomi shook her head helplessly, heaving out deep sighs as she cringed at the thought of the inevitable embarrassment she'd probably be facing, because it was a fucking teddy bear that was involved, and she didn't do adorable, ever. "Can you ask for something else?"
"I want a teddy Nai."
She was about to say no, the word already dangling at the tip of her tongue, but when Emily leaned forwards and kissed her earnestly, it got lost along with the other objections she had in mind, her view on things changing in an instant.
***
"Nai-Nai."
Naomi turned around, the hem of her coat clutched tightly on one hand, the other shrugging the rest of the coat on. "Yeah?" She asked with a half smile as she grabbed her keys from the table near the door.
"I changed my mind." Emily murmured, barely whispered actually, her head kept low, eyes glued to her wriggling toes.
"About what?"
"Never mind the teddy bear." Emily's hand soared up from her side, and held on her open palm was Naomi's phone flashing incessantly. "Just come home early, please?" The 'please' came out so breathless, that Naomi almost didn't hear it, though she did, heard it as clearly as ever, along with the plea which came with it, and it sounded so broken that it caught her off guard, disarmed her for some reason.
Naomi hesitantly reached for the mobile; could make out Effy's name on the caller screen, her face pulling up to an apprehensive grimace. "Em--"
"Take care." Emily didn't wait for another word, turning around to head onto some other area in the house after a quick peck on Naomi's lips; nearly said those three words, but had decided against it, that it was probably for the best that she didn't.
Naomi was left gobsmacked by the front door, keys jangling on her one hand, her mobile still ringing in the other, and she was torn between aggravation and disbelief, because it felt like she was stuck in the fucking middle of things without having any choice, let alone, knowing how she even got into that position.
A win-lose situation, though the problem was who she was going to let to win.
***
Effy had asked to meet her in the pub at two in the afternoon, for sodding out loud, though it bore no surprise.
"Hey." She greeted casually, occupying the bar stool next to Effy at once.
Effy pushed a shot glass towards Naomi in response, into which Naomi grabbed a bit hesitatingly.
"Can't drink that much Eff. I'm driving."
"I know." Effy answered coolly, the way she always did, unfazed by the wary eyes and murmuring lips that, she was mostly sure, were talking about them.
Effy's cool seemed to have helped Naomi to loosen up a little bit. "Something up?"
Effy tipped her neck back, downed the shot glass in one go and Naomi had watched the way Effy's throat worked the liquor down; knew that she wasn't supposed to stare, but she did, anyways. "Nothing." Effy said upon swallowing, wiping her lips with the back of her hand. "Should there always be a reason when you ask somebody to see you?"
Naomi's lip twitched up into a small smile. "No, not really."
"I figured." Effy's shoulders hunched up into a shrug, her head tilting a little to the side, and her eyes settled at Naomi; stared at her, just plain stared, until she had managed to somehow hit a nerve and had Naomi blurting out "What?" with an obviously miffed tone. She smiled, feeling a round of laughter bubbling up inside her at Naomi's slightly agitated but mostly wondering state.
"Are you high Effy?"
Effy flicked her hair, brushed it off her shoulders. "Has it ever happened to you?"
"What? Being high?"
"No, you cow." Effy snorted a chuckle, rolling her eyes internally. Naomi joined her effortlessly, until she stopped, mood changing quickly into something serious, something even Naomi herself had rarely seen. Her lips quivered momentarily, like she was afraid to let the words out, but she knew she had to, sooner or later. "That you've thought you were in love with someone for so long, but as it turns out you actually weren't?" Effy continued, eyes trained straight towards Naomi's own, her lips pulling up to a cryptic smile. "You thought you were so in love with somebody that you fail to see who you really feel for?"
Naomi gnawed on her bottom lip, had to avert her eyes away because she couldn't bear to meet Effy's any longer. It felt too heavy, Effy's stares that were, felt too overwhelming, and it clearly wasn't in a good way. "No Eff." She answered after a few seconds of staying in silence, watching Effy's little movements at the corner of her eyes. "I don't think it has."
"Really?" Effy's eyebrow quirked into a perfectly sculpted arch.
"Yeah."
"What would you do if it happens to you then?" She followed up as she placed her hand down gently on top of the bar counter, right beside Naomi's own, her littlest finger stroking the back of Naomi's hand absentmindedly, like it was the most natural thing to do, and it felt exactly like that, well, for Effy, at the least.
Naomi was quiet for a good while, did nothing but to just stare at Effy with quizzical eyes, wondering if this was a trick question or just one of Effy's fucked up games designed to baffle the mind. "The fuck Eff? It's too early for this yeah? What have you been drinking?"
"You didn't answer me."
Naomi blew out an exasperated breath. "That's because I don't know."
***
"I had a great time in New York."
Naomi snorted out loud when the words registered in her head, her first thought flying towards the fight Emily had picked once she got back home, and she was suddenly equally torn between laughing altogether and taking things seriously, just because she found it actually ridiculous and rather impossible, Emily's rants about flirting that was.
"What?"
"Nothing." She shook her head while chuckling softly. "Well, I just remembered something."
"Tell me." Effy persuaded, downing another shot before pestering Naomi with incessant nudges until she finally spilled.
"Emily picked a fight with me yesterday." Naomi started, heaving a deep breath before speaking again, as she watched the beads of water formed around her shot glass trickle down slowly. "She thinks we were flirting and that I was rather enjoying it."
Effy stilled for a moment, fingers stiffening around her own shot glass held in between her hands, that for a moment, it actually looked like it was going to break into a thousand tiny shards. "What if we were Nai?" She mumbled, first with her eyes closed, and when she batted them open, did not even spare one glance at Naomi. "What if we were?" She slowly turned her head around, dragging her eyes with it, and for a second, she looked like she was going to break down, looked so vulnerable.
It was that certain glint in Effy's eyes, the earnestness in them that almost made Naomi want to believe Effy's words, that Emily was speaking the truth all along. "Eff--" She called out, a nervous chuckle coming along with it, reverberating deep within her throat, and when Effy did not answer right away, she felt something heavy drop at the very pit of her stomach. "You're kidding me right?" It came out faint, almost breathless, as if she was actually pleading for Effy to say yes, just because it couldn't happen, it just couldn't.
Effy's quivering lips quickly turned into a smirk, classic. "Of course I am, you twat."
It was almost too convincing, the way Effy had asked, catching Naomi entirely off guard that it remained etched in her mind, how Effy's eyes pretty much belied everything else she was saying.
***
Emily was waiting by the front door steps when Naomi got home that night.
She watched her pace back and forth from inside her car for a few beats, with an incognizant smile gracing her lips; patted the thing seated next to her and unbuckled her seatbelt, the car door slamming shut as she stepped out, and in a matter of seconds, she was leaning against the passenger side's door, arms crossed over her chest. "Em." She called out loudly.
Emily, who was still pacing back and forth stopped abruptly, and almost legged their distance upon seeing Naomi nod towards her, gesturing for her to come. She approached the car with a light bounce in her steps, matching it with a toothy grin that only grew wider as she drew near. "Hey."
"There's somebody here who wants to meet you." Naomi offered a smile upon seeing the confusion that fell on Emily's face, and she stepped aside to give way. "He's inside."
"He?" Emily squinted her eyes, tried to see past the car windows but they were so heavily tinted that she could barely make out a silhouette. "Inside?"
"Yeah."
Emily's hand, shaking for too many reasons, reached forwards and lightly grabbed the door handle, pulling it with uttermost care, and she was half expecting a giant teddy bear to surprise her, because, well, it was what she had asked for.
Turned out, it was far better than what she had expected.
The door swung open and she was greeted by a sleeping puppy lying by the passenger seat, whom at the sight of her quickly stood up, wagging its tail at her, and barking its small, cute barks. She scooped it in her arms at once, almost absentmindedly, not wasting another second, her strangled squeals muffled by the dog's fur as she buried her face in it, hugging it so tight, because, well, she had been wanting one for ages.
"I take it you like him then." Naomi said, creeping up beside her to pat the puppy's head.
Emily turned around and pulled Naomi by the hem of her coat with her free hand, while she held the puppy in the other, and she began kissing Naomi senselessly, that it made Naomi's knees wobble and her toes curl, Naomi's back hitting the side of the car with a not so painful thud, Emily's fingers entangling themselves with Naomi's hair; and if it wasn't for the puppy wriggling in Emily's arm, they would have done more than they already did, never mind that they were outside.
***
The details only registered minutes after, when Emily had managed to calm down from her excitement and they were both seated next to each other at the couch, with the puppy lying on her lap.
He had three colors; his fur mostly dominated by white but had black portions in it, especially around the head and the tail, the black topped off with light brownish tips.
"It's a Pomeranian tri-color." Naomi explained, a finger tapping the puppy's nose. "It's pretty rare."
Emily leaned forth, kissing Naomi again with sparkling eyes, because she could feel her heart swelling ten folds, since in her dictionary rare meant special. "What are we gonna name him then?"
"Well what do you want?" Naomi asked after another kiss.
Emily fell deep into her thoughts as she racked her brains out for a decent name, since anything related to flowers mostly wouldn't really fit. "I got it." She beamed, stroked the puppy's hair before picking him up from her lap and facing him to her. "Nemo."
Naomi's yawn quickly turned into a slack jaw, cutting it midway, and she stared at Emily like she had just given her the most ridiculous idea ever. "Em, Nemo's a fish."
"I know." Emily answered casually, cooing at the puppy with her lips puckering up, that it was making Naomi want to kiss her again in some way. "But I've always wanted to name my pet Nemo."
"Em, we're not naming our dog after a fish." Naomi voiced out protest, caught Emily's chin to force her to look at her way. "Alright? Not after a fish."
It took Emily seconds to object, because the way that Naomi had said 'our dog' was making her heart turn over beneath her chest. "But--"
"Ah." Naomi interjected, breaking Emily's objection entirely. "No, not Nemo."
"Why? You got anything more brilliant than that?" Emily goaded, wriggling her head away from Naomi's hold.
"'Course." Naomi answered smugly, the corner of her lips twitching up to a smirk.
"What then?"
"Zeus."
***
Later on that night, Naomi dreamed about the same thing like the past night, dreamed about it for a few more nights after, and it nearly became something constant, a part of her subconscious: screeching tires, empty pavements, Emily.
Though at times, she had dreamed about her being shattered into a thousand little bits for no particular reason, and Emily was there, picking her up, finding every little piece that had gone missing, until Emily had everything scooped in her hands, ready to build her again, to patch the pieces together.
"I'm here." She would hear Emily say, in that raspy voice of hers that it felt so real, almost like she was awake. "Always here." And Naomi would believe it, even until the moment she would wake up and everything would be hazy that she could barely remember anything, she would believe it.
She didn't know what it meant, except that Emily was always there to pick up the pieces when nobody else did.
***
Naomi's mornings had now gotten to work this way:
She'd wake up to either Emily kissing her relentlessly, until she was the one to pull back and Emily would end up giggling, murmuring "good morning" in between laughs, against her ear while Emily's hot breath trickled into her skin, in that raspy voice of hers which would unravel Naomi completely, the sound settling somewhere deep within her stomach and in between her thighs.
Or, she and Emily would wake up to Zeus' little barks and licks, switching alternately until Zeus could see them both stirring from their sleep, and she would scoop him on her arms and pat him on the head, while Emily would cuddle up next to her and kiss her good morning, smiling dreamily, Emily's fingers threading along Zeus' fluffy fur.
At breakfast, she'd hand Emily her cooled coffee and Emily would give her a plateful of pancakes in return, complete with Emily's adorable shapes that she had gotten used to, or if not pancakes, whatever Emily had served for breakfast, still with the shapes, since Emily would almost always find a way to doodle things around her plate. And she'd watch with a small, contented smile as Emily would call Zeus, laughing at her occasional slips of "Nemo." into which Emily would blush and murmur "sorry" with when she'd thrown her a good natured glare.
They would do the dishes together, every now and then when Naomi didn't need to hurry up for work, would watch Zeus walk around and play with him even, together, like he was their child although it strangely felt like that in some way.
It was funny how they fell into doing more couply stuff as each day passed, without them really knowing it, and oddly, it felt nice, felt the word 'together' be more tangible than ever.
***
Emily would still raise the name issue from time to time.
"Why can't we call him Nemo?" She asked one lazy evening, when she and Naomi were both flumped down the couch, eyes flickering between the telly and Zeus playing with his newly bought chew bone and ball.
"Em." Naomi called out in an admonishing tone; scooped Zeus from the floor. "I thought we already sorted this out."
Emily took the puppy from Naomi's arms. "I know. But, Nai-Nai, I really want to name him Nemo."
Naomi shuffled on the couch, so that she was sitting face to face with Emily. "No Em. Zeus doesn't have gills."
"But." Emily paused, pouted for a while. "Let's name him Zeumo then."
Naomi snorted and broke into a huge fit of laughter, that it startled the puppy for a moment, squirming on top of Emily's lap. "Zeus, Em. I think it's good already."
"Zenemo?" Emily suggested, tone a bit too hopeful that it somehow broke Naomi's heart when she turned it down with a shake of the head, Emily's effulging smile quickly falling to a lopsided frown. "What about Zeusnemo?"
"No Em. Zeus is enough."
"Nemozeus?"
"No."
***
Although, it wasn't the puppy's name that bothered Emily most. It was actually surprisingly little compared to her bigger concern.
Emily had managed not to think about Effy every now and then, especially when Naomi was around, but it didn't mean that she had forgotten all about it.
It nagged her from the back of her mind, every time she was alone, or sometimes, even if Naomi was around, how Effy could be doing everything purposely, how Effy could be planning something she had no idea about, hence, she couldn't prepare for, whatever it was exactly. It would come to her mind before she'd fall asleep, would dream about it sometimes, just because.
She'd think about it occasionally, though it never occurred to her that there would come a time where she'd be tested, and her patience.
Katie came storming inside her house one day with Naomi laughing behind, strutting towards the couch where she and Zeus were seated, and Katie squealed a little too excitedly that it made Zeus bark for a few seconds. "Emily! We're going to a party!"
"Party?" Emily's forehead crumpled. "What party?"
"A charity event." Naomi answered from behind, and upon hearing her voice, Zeus' tail wagged incessantly, hopping off of Emily's lap as he ran his way to her. "Tomorrow night." A small grunt escaped from her throat when she stooped down and picked Zeus up.
"I'm going to style your outfits." Katie exclaimed with a few claps. "It's gonna be well lush."
Naomi fell into a light chuckle. "Yeah, you do that Katiekins." She walked towards Emily, flumped right next to her and Emily automatically leaned forwards for a quick kiss.
"Katie, you coming too?" Emily asked, though her eyes were glued to Zeus, busily cooing at him.
"'Course." Katie replied with a proud smile, crossed her arms over her chest. "I won't miss it for the world yeah?"
Naomi rolled her eyes, well, internally. "Of course you can't miss this scene thing. You're way too important."
"Okay, funny. Haha." Katie's eyes squinted dangerously at Naomi, before rolling it straightaway, because well, it was fucking mandatory when it came to her. "So, let me get this straight." She called out afterwards, plopping down on the single couch beside Naomi, her eyes fixed on Zeus. "You got a dog."
"Yeah." Emily nodded in answer. "Obviously."
"You do know that dogs do stuff like, ruin gardens, right?"
Naomi scooped the puppy from Emily's lap and placed him above hers. "Zeus is a very clever dog."
"Indeed, Nemo's really smart." Emily seconded, though upon saying the wrong name, a roll of eyes was thrown her way.
"What really is his name?" Katie asked in confusion, eyes flickering between Naomi and Emily.
"Nemo."
"Zeus."
Katie rolled her eyes. "God, that dog's going to have serious psychological issues, I swear."
***
"So." Katie started the inquisition, again, accompanied by a deep sigh. "You got a dog. Can I ask why?"
"Why?" Naomi repeated, with crumpled creases starting to form along her forehead. "What do you mean why?"
Katie rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time that day, and she could feel a sudden impulse of throwing a shoe at Naomi, because, well, seriously, nobody could be that daft as her. "It's for real then?"
"What's for real?"
"God." Katie blew out an exasperated breath, fingers curling into tight fists. She knew that she couldn't really be blamed for it, her mood ever changing because of the hormones. "Your relationship Naomi. Is it fucking real? Are you two together now, like, for real?"
Emily stilled on her seat, her arm stiffening on the spot, and she stopped stroking Zeus' fur as her gaze flickered between Katie and Naomi, though it was mostly lingering on the latter. Her nails were starting to dig against the skin of her palms, from clenching her fingers into tight fists, because Naomi was taking longer than a few seconds to answer, and it felt like torture somehow, each second passing making her heart thud out loud inside her chest, as if it was trying to break out.
Naomi started with an amused laugh. "Of course its real Katie, what do you think?" She watched as Katie's careful expression turned into something akin to deep satisfaction, like she was relieved of some fucking burden she had been carrying for so long. "It's been real for almost a month now. I thought you already knew."
"Well." Katie brushed off with a light shrug, nails grazing along her leg as she scratched a particular spot. "I just want to make it clear Naomi, and like, warn you as well."
Naomi snorted disbelief. "Warn me?"
"Don't fuck my sister up." Katie replied, the look on her face dead serious that it stopped Naomi from voicing out a retort, the words she was about to say swallowed wholly.
"Katie." Naomi's face turned serious as well, throwing a brief glance to Emily, eyes full of emotions that Emily couldn't decipher that quick, because Naomi had turned her attention back to Katie. "If I wanted to fuck her up, I would have done it a long time ago."
***
The limousine arrived at exactly six in the evening during the night of the event, and Katie was the first one to strut out with Cook tagged along, hopping inside the service car with ease and grace that somehow it was hard to believe she was actually pregnant. Naomi followed suit with a conscious Emily in tow, who was constantly worried about her dress, the event itself and many other things even though Naomi had tried to assure her plenty of times already that everything was going to flow smoothly that evening.
"Em." Naomi stopped walking, suddenly whipping around because she could feel Emily's entangled hand shaking against hers. "Listen to me. It's gonna be alright yeah? It's just an event."
"I can't help it." Emily's shaky voice came out low, raspier than ever. "I've never been in a social gathering with you before."
"It'll be like any other party." Naomi reassured with a smile, dipping her head in to give Emily a quick kiss. "Besides, I'll be with you all night long."
"Yeah, you're right." Emily forced out a smile and leaned forwards for another kiss, if only Katie didn't yell at them for taking bloody too long.
It was something uncanny, the thing Emily was feeling, and she couldn't actually put a finger to it, but it had been bothering her all evening.
***
Later on, she discovered what it was all about.
Ever since they had arrived and stepped into the red carpet, past the several photographers and reporters, Effy and Naomi had been constantly paired, almost lasting the whole night, that Emily ended up plainly sitting next to Katie on their reserved table, like it was some fucking rejects table in a school cafeteria sense, with Naomi leaving her ever so often because she had to face and eventually interact with people she knew, meet people she didn't.
"This event sucks." Katie huffed out, because she herself wasn't enjoying and Cook looked so damn bored that it wasn't helping with the mood at all.
"I thought you liked elite parties." Emily asked, twirling the knife over and over just so she could have something to do.
"Well, yeah." Katie replied, a little bit hesitant. "But apparently, you don't get to, like, enjoy these things when you're not famous."
"I'd rather be in a fucking pub." Cook grumbled under his breath.
"That's coz you're a loser."
"Emily." Katie reprimanded, shooting a sharp glare. "There are only three of us left in this table yeah? Don't start."
Emily rolled her eyes at Katie's remark, but did so since she had no choice anyway. "Sorry."
A few more minutes of solid silence and Cook was already at the end of his thread. "Where the fuck is Naomi anyway?"
"I don't know." Emily sighed helplessly, her eyes wandering around the whole place, hoping to see any sign of Naomi's whereabouts.
"Probably out somewhere there with Miss 'I'm so mysterious' to meet Mister and Miss 'yeah we're famous come on let's hang out for boring tea'." Katie hissed sharply, her hand slamming over the table a bit too forcefully that it shook, as well as the cutlery above it.
"Preggo girl being hormonal again?" Naomi jumped from out of nowhere with Effy standing next to her, dangerously too close as Emily could notice, but then again, she could be wrong. She slipped in on her chair, next to Emily, and Effy followed suit, much to Emily's utter disappointment.
"Where were you?" Katie exclaimed, tone obviously miffed. "You left us here to rot."
"Sorry. Effy and I had to meet a few people." Naomi apologized, though it was more directed towards Emily rather than Katie.
Emily tried to ignore the way her heart constricted at the mention of Effy's name. "It's alright."
"I'm sure Emily understands Nai." Effy interjected, saying Naomi's name with a particular touch in it, sounding as if it was all lovingly. "Right Emily?" She added with a quirk of her brow, goading Emily as it would seem, and it felt like Effy had suddenly declared a tacit war between them, and Naomi was the fucking prize.
Emily wasn't going to back down.
"Yeah, right." She forced a wide smile, struggling to keep it there plastered in her face, even if it meant that she'd be faking it the whole night, just to not give Effy any form of satisfaction. She reached for Naomi's hand, threading their fingers together, and made sure that Effy could clearly see it, their entwined hands that was, the little scowl briefly flashing at Effy's face somehow bringing her a feeling of relief and confidence. "I definitely understand."
Effy's lips curled up to a rather amused smirk, much to Emily's surprise. "So Nai." She leaned forth, propped her elbow at the table while she caught her chin on her open palm.
Naomi shifted on her seat to face Effy in a comfortable position, though at the same time, not completely turning her back to Emily, their hands still intact. "Yeah?"
"You up for the offer?" Effy asked, in that Effy-esque way of hers that it disarmed Naomi in some way, and she turned blank for a second or so, just plain staring as she met Effy's eyes, drowning in those pools of electric blue at once, while Emily painfully watched in silence as it all happened in front of her.
"What offer?" Katie butted in, breaking the brief but not so subtle contact unknowingly.
"We're being paired up to do an advert and a shoot for some toothpaste product." Naomi answered, squeezing Emily's hand upon noticing her sudden change of mood.
"Oh right." Katie nodded in understanding, chanced a subtle glance to her sister's direction, and the look on Emily's face was making her want to wipe off the smirk on Effy's face in the most twisted ways that she could think of. "You gonna do it then?"
Naomi's gaze wandered to Emily. "If Em wouldn't mind, I'd--"
"Why would Emily mind?" Effy broke off, with an added smirk that Emily could see as a feigned friendly smile. "I mean, it's just the two of us." She placed her hand on top of Naomi's free one, covered the whole length of it. "Right?"
Something inside Emily snapped, as much as she tried to keep her jealousy at bay, because Effy wasn't making it any easier. She could feel her body nearly starting to shake, her fingers were beginning to tremble but she fought to keep her head cool, because she knew that if there was something that Effy wanted, it was for her to start an argument. "It's fine with me Nai." She swallowed hard, pushed the lump in her throat that was starting to form, blocking the air out. "Why not?"
"Well, it's settled then." Naomi heaved a breath of relief. A few locks of hair fell down from her neatly arranged style and she stilled, eyes flickering to her both taken hands, because she was suddenly uncertain about which hand to pull, to rid of the locks hindering her eyes, if it should be the one Effy was holding, or the one Emily was clutching like she was holding on for dear life.
It was an unfunny representation of a real life situation, the perfect analogy to how twisted their circumstances were and somehow, Emily knew that this was the case.
Emily reached out, like she always did, would always do, and caught the locks to tuck it behind Naomi's ear; loosened her grip on Naomi as she planned to excuse herself for a little while, to take a little break because she was finding it hard to breathe, like the walls were closing in on her. That few seconds of hesitation, of deep thinking Naomi had gone into was doing her head in, the fact that Naomi had to think of who to choose. "I'm just gonna go to the bathroom." She pulled Naomi without warning, kissing her as hard as she could, never mind that they were in a very public place and that everybody could see, because she needed this, some form of assurance to somehow calm her down and keep her sane, needed to feel Naomi kissing back, because it was the only source of comfort that she could think of at that moment, knowing that it was something Effy couldn't do, at least for now. She stood up, smiled to herself despite the things going on inside her head, because at least, she had managed to bring a huge frown in Effy's face.
Naomi nodded and watched as Emily left the table, with weary eyes, the hand that Emily left unoccupied instantaneously feeling cold, and she knew that it definitely had nothing to do with the temperature of the place.
***
It felt like she was in the middle of a fucking game of tug of war, and she was the fucking rope.
Emily was still in the bathroom, God knows what was taking her so long, although Naomi fairly had an idea about it, and Effy had slipped out of her seat, mumbling something about meeting some random person Naomi wasn't familiar with, and she was left with Cook at the table, because Katie had been asked for a private interview for a particular fashion magazine.
She started to look around, as some sort of entertainment while waiting for anybody to come back so she'd have some company other than Cook, his low grumbles annoying her more than it was making her laugh. She caught Effy's eyes in the process, a smirk thrown her way before Effy averted her gaze, turning into some random girl Effy was talking with, and a twinge of something started rising above her chest, something she could only think of as jealousy, and she tore her eyes away; settled them on some stained spot down at the table. She knew she wasn't supposed to be feeling this way, had no right or reason to be jealous of the flirtatious looks and touches coming from the girl that Effy was receiving whole heartedly no matter how blatant was it, shouldn't be feeling jealous because she was already committed to somebody else.
As she caught a glimpse of Emily, the feeling of being tugged on both ways began.
She could see flashes of Emily's bright red hair as Emily emerged from the crowd of people standing and hovering around, slowly making her way to her, and she started bouncing on her seat, unable to wait for Emily to come back just so she could say something comforting in some sense, to somehow ease the evident discomfort Emily was feeling.
But Emily was stopped halfway on her walk back to the table, by a random girl Naomi herself wasn't familiar with, and she watched at the edge of her seat as Emily entertained the girl, with a fucking wide smile that was supposed to be only for her and her alone, or at least she thought. She tried to dismiss the idea, tried to think that the girl was just asking about some random thing she could not care less, but the pang of jealousy kicking her in the chest was far too strong for her to ignore, as well as the obvious flirtatious looks and actions she was witnessing coming from the random girl. Her fingers had started to curl into tight fists, a little absentmindedly, and she was almost rising from her seat.
"Aren't you going to get her?" Cook asked, from out of nowhere. His eyes trained at Emily and the girl.
"Why would I?" Naomi asked back, and it sounded so strained that she had a sudden inkling to clear her throat. "I'm sure that she's just asking Em about something."
Cook snorted out loud, in that annoying way of his. "I'm pretty sure that's not just plain asking Naomi."
Naomi heaved a deep, exasperated sigh, averting her eyes momentarily because she knew that if she didn't do so, she'd end up marching over where Emily was stood and would catch everybody's attention, would end up risking herself of being embarrassed in front of the whole crowd if ever she was wrong.
"Cook." She called out instead, eyes briefly flickering between Effy and Emily, although her gaze was lingering at the latter.
"Yeah?" Cook answered, following her line of sight, and he snickered at the unreadable look prominent on Naomi's face when he turned his head back at her. "What?"
Naomi brushed the scoff off. "Have you ever felt like you're a rope caught in the middle of a game of tug of war?"
Cook snorted laughter. "What? A game of tug of war?"
Naomi rolled her eyes, deciding all at once to drop the conversation because it seemed to be heading to nowhere anyway, because, well, it was Cook. "Never mind. Forget that I ever asked."
Cook shook his head and looked at her, observing in silence for a minute, and when he was sure enough that it was indeed of serious matter, he finally spoke. "You feel like you're being pulled into opposite directions at the same time." He watched as Naomi dropped the fork she had picked up and played with, dragged her eyes up to see him, and she was looking at him in a way like he suddenly grew another head. "They both want you Naomi. Everybody can see that."
"Effy doesn't want me Cook." She tried to protest, although the confident expression evident on Cook's face pretty much told her that she wasn't going to win the argument.
"I don't think so."
"Cook, she--"
"Naomi." He interrupted, mid-sentence, to insist his point. "I don't usually care about loads of shit happening around me yeah? But let me tell you this. The fact that I don't care and yet I see it, how much Effy wants you must mean something innit?"
Naomi propped her elbows on top of the table and clasped her hands together, pressing her lips against the two thumbs in front of her as she sighed wearily. Her eyes flickered again from Emily who seemed to be itching to end the conversation but was just being too nice about it, and Effy who seemed to be actually enjoying hers. "No." She shook her head. "It's not possible."
"Fucking--" Cook grumbled under his breath, stopped midway of cursing to scrunch his face with an open palm. "Fine. If that's what you want to believe." He huffed out, a bit too gruffly that he earned another glare from Naomi. "But that tug of war thing you were talking about?"
"What about it?"
Cook straightened in his seat as he caught a glimpse of Katie fast approaching their way, fixed his bow tie first with a cheesy grin plastered on his face, one that Naomi had never seen, because Cook's grins were almost always either stupid or annoying. "In that game, there's always somebody who's got the stronger pull. There's no such thing as being stuck in the middle."
Naomi's forehead folded into tight creases. "But what if--"
"The rope goes along with the direction of the stronger pull Naomi. It always does."
Naomi's eyes flickered between Effy and Emily again, once, twice, thrice, and every single time she looked, she was getting more and more confused, the confusion itself doing her head in.
A witnessed flick of the hand, touching the cheek lovingly was what it took for Naomi to sort things out in her head, in some way, because it finally hit her, how huge the difference was in the amount of jealousy, how strong and heavy the twinge she was feeling for one that the other had became almost too unnoticeable.