AN - Okay, so the first three chapters I wrote in one day (Sunday) and I think somewhere along the line, I got a little sidetracked. I wanted to move the story along but not too quickly, so I'm not quite happy with this chapter..

I still do not own Skins..

Chapter 3

Naomi's POV

I woke up Saturday morning feeling like someone had hit me over the back of the head, no wait, front of the head, no fuck it; all over my head, with a baseball bat. Turns out downing the majority of a bottle of tequila alongside more than a few glasses of sangria wasn't gentle on the body. I moaned and slowly turned around to reach my nightstand where I had been smart enough to place a bottle of water before passing out. I was absolutely parched and drank the whole thing in one big gulp. Pills, need pills. I staggered out of bed and into my bathroom where I kept my small pharmacy of pain medication. I downed two and refilled my water bottle before I crawled back into bed and waited for the pills to work their magic. About an hour or so later, I was feeling well enough to jump in the shower. As I let the warm water gently massage my alcohol poisoned body, my mind drifted to the events of last night.

After I left Emily on the beach, I went in search of Cook and found him smoking a spliff outside his shed. How long had I been with Emily at the beach? He immediately saw I was in a pissy mood and offered me the spliff, which I quickly accepted.

"What's got your knickers in a twist babe?" He asked as I handed him the spliff.

I leant back and rested my back and head against the wall of the shed, closing my eyes in the process. I didn't feel like answering his question, I just felt like being close to someone who would make me laugh and forget what I was feeling. Cook had a way of doing both of that but tonight of all nights he chose to be insightful like he actually gave a fuck. Tosser.

"Babe? Babe!" he asked again. I opened my eyes and shot him a look that should have told him to leave me alone but he was a little thick and kept pushing. His next comment took me completely by surprise though. "It wouldn't have anything to do with that cute little redhead I saw you drag down to the beach earlier, would it?" he winked at me and made some crude, insinuating thrusting movements with his crouch in the process.

I glared at him. "You saw us? I thought you were too busy proving your point with the evil twin?"

"Blondie, your hair kind of lights up in the moonlight, I saw you as soon as Katie dragged me out there". He threw his head back and laughed that infectious Cook-laugh before adding, "I was hoping you might stay for the show!"

"You're disgusting."

"Yeah well, at least I got some, eh babe".

I sighed and shook my head at him. Cook was crude, disgusting and really didn't give a fuck about anything or anyone, except maybe me and Mum. He was sent here three years ago as part of a sentence he had gotten for beating another boy half to death at a party. It wasn't his first run in with the police and his sorry excuse of a mother decided jail would be an excellent place for her 16 year old son and refused to help him. Not that she didn't have the means, nope, she was loaded, which was part of the problem I suppose. Cook's lawyer took a liking to him though and got the judge to make a deal regarding Cook. He was to spend the summer doing community work far away from Derby and his slightly criminal ways and as a result, he was sent here. Turns out, Doug was his lawyer's cousin and he had been more than excited at the prospect of making an impact in a troubled young man's life. I swear, sometimes I think Doug would have made an excellent teacher because he really does care and his enthusiasm is nothing if not contagious. Cook ended up staying for an entire year before heading back to Derby, living with Mum and Kieran. He came back every summer and worked on the different sites while getting me in all sorts of trouble during the weekends. He finished college this summer, one year later than he was supposed to, but hey at least he finished and we were all proud of him. He had become like a son to Mum and Kieran and he truly was my brother and I loved him to pieces. This was the exact reason he knew to comment of the redhead. He came to visit me at Uni a couple of months ago and I had confided some things in him that were seemingly about to burst out anyway.

I sighed loudly and closed my eyes. "What the fuck is wrong with me, Cook?"

He laughed again and shrugged. "So you want to shag the redhead? Who the fuck can blame ya? I sure as hell can't! I wonder if they are completely identical… Hey!" he jumped as I punched him hard in the chest.

"Leave her alone, perv! And who said anything about shagging her?"

"Aahh, you did Blondie, you've been doing it all week – with your eyes anyway." Fuck, was he right? "And she's been throwing some pretty obvious looks your way too". She has?

"Christ, I really thought I was done with this shit…" I shook my head, said goodnight to Cook and went in search of my bed.

This past week I had spent most of my spare time going over my interactions with Emily in my mind. I really tried my best to stay professional and not treat her any differently than I did her sister or the others. But it was hard. I was insanely attracted to her and every time our eyes met, I felt my heart stop and I kept blushing when she smiled at me. Since I had been showing them around, I had to get both mine and their hands dirty and on more than one occasion, I had to show Emily how to do something by guiding her hands with my own. The mere proximity of her made my stomach flutter and touching her hands had made my heart race with a million beats per second. Showing Emily things always seemed to take a bit longer than with the others, despite the fact that she was the fastest learner of the bunch. I relished in her company and was ecstatic every time we happened to sit close to each other during breaks. This, to my surprise, seemed to happen a lot. On the third day, temperatures had reached more than 30°C and the sun was excruciating. I made sure everyone applied sunscreen and kept hydrated. Oddly enough, Katie was ecstatic and seemed to work a lot harder when the sun was out. Emily later told me that Katie had never been as tanned as the summer their Dad had forced them to help out in their garden and Katie had learned that the best way to get a tan wasn't to lie around but to move around and sweat. The weather was even warmer on Thursday and everyone had started to dress accordingly. The safety boots had to be worn though but we had all switched to shorts and tops. That's when Emily really became a distraction. She was incredible. I kept glancing in her direction and feeling a little annoyed that she was such a fast learner, seeing as she never needed my help anymore. But at least I got to enjoy the sight of her toned legs and arms from afar and honestly, I didn't do much else that day. By Friday, I had decided to start focusing on the work at hand instead of picturing having my hands on Emily. It was working rather well during the morning but in the afternoon, she had disappeared into a deep hole where she was excavating a well and when I went to check on her, I actually fell into the hole thanks to her. She was taking a water break, sweating and panting slightly from the exercise. She had taken her fucking top off, leaving her in short shorts and a bikini top, leaving me to drop my jaw and drool over her tight stomach with abs showing with each deep breath. I literally lost my footing and slid halfway into the hole and she came running to my side to make sure I didn't hurt myself. I blushed at her concerned, yet teasing look and excused myself after making sure she was coping alright with the well. During Friday's party, I really hadn't spent that much time talking to her until I found her on the beach, which, of course, had been intentional. It's just that as soon as I got wasted, I couldn't stay away.

I got out of the shower and draped a towel around me before setting about getting a bikini out of my yet to be unpacked bags. I was rummaging through my things when someone knocked softly on my door.

"Yeah?" I answered, annoyed and assuming it was Mum coming to check on me.

"Sorry, but your Mum said you might…" Emily stuck her head through my door as she was talking but stopped midsentence when she saw me in my towel. Her face turned red and she diverted her eyes, even if it took a while for her to do so. "Sorry, your Mum said you might have some painkillers? Katie is refusing to get out of bed…" she looked a little flustered still.

I smiled and thought back to what Cook had said about her throwing me looks. "Of course, hang on." I rushed into the bathroom and held out an assortment of painkillers for her. "What do you want?"

She hesitantly closed the distance between us and took some of the pills from my hands, brushing her fingers along my palms in the process. I felt a jolt of electricity course through me at her touch and it took an enormous effort on my part not to allow my knees to buckle. She was standing so close, in a fucking transparent beach dress with a red and black bikini visible underneath. The dress was suggestively showing her slim waistline and my perving gaze went up and down her body before finally settling on her face. She was smirking slightly and something had shifted in her expression. Her eyes turned an even darker shade as her pupils dilated and she took another step towards me, emitting a confidence I hadn't witnessed in her before. It was all too much; I was basically naked and looking at an equally, basically naked and confident Emily Fitch. I gasped slightly as she stood on her toes, leaned in and whispered "see something you like, Naomi?" suggestively in my ear. With that, she left me standing there in my towel with my entire body on fire and probably, visibly drooling. Where the hell did that come from?

Emily's POV

I walked as slowly and confidently out of Naomi's room as I could muster. 'see something you like, Naomi?' Where the hell did that come from? As I reached Katie's room, I took a few deep breaths before knocking ever so softly on her door. "Katie? I have some pills for you now." I said as I cracked the door open. She was lying on her stomach looking absolutely miserable, makeup smeared across her face and her dark hair in a mess.

"What the fuck did I drink last night, Emsy?" she asked me, while swallowing the pills along with a few big gulps of water I had brought with me.

I held out my hand and counted on my fingers; "Tequila, sangria and more tequila", I answered and smiled at my twin as she groaned loudly. "We all did and we all feel like shit right now but Gina made these amazing pancakes and I saved some for you." She lit up at the mention of pancakes.

"You did?" she asked with surprise.

I nodded, "and some eggs, bacon and toast. Oh, and there's fresh coffee as well." She surprised me by pulling me into an unprecedented embrace in an unusual display of affection. This was quite out of character for my twin, especially considering her current physical state. Neither mornings nor hangovers were her best of times. Not wanting to disrupt her happy and peaceful state of mind, I left her to get dressed and told her we were going down to the beach to spend the day. I quickly grabbed my things and went to join JJ, Effy and Cook at the beach. There was no sign of Naomi yet but given the state I had just left her in, dressed in a towel I mean, she would probably be a while.

Katie joined us before Naomi did and she was looking a lot better than when I'd left her. Breakfast along with painkillers had done wonders and she was back to her old self. She did seem a lot happier than I had seen her in a while and when I saw Cook greet her with a peck on the cheek before he ran off to chase JJ into the water, I realized he was the reason for her mood change. Oh my god, she actually likes him! She had blushed slightly when he kissed her and smiled as he ran into the sea. Sure, he had a boyish charm and he was always entertaining to be around and to go as far as to shag him, I could almost understand. No, actually, I could definitely not understand that at all. He was loud, obnoxious and at times quite disgusting. His only redeeming factor was his easygoing manner, making anyone and everyone feel at easy. When I first met him, I thought he might have been involved with Naomi because they seemed so close. It only took me a few hours to understand that they were more like siblings than lovers and I have to admit that I felt relieved. I couldn't understand it at the time, but thought of Naomi and Cook made my blood boil and not in a good way. Oddly enough, the thought of Katie and Cook didn't really bother me.

I joined Effy for a stroll down the beach and enjoyed the silence she always offered. I was lost in thought of my earlier encounter with a towel-draped Naomi when Effy broke the silence. "Did anything happen between you last night?" she asked casually as she lit up a fag.

I stopped cold in my tracks and gaped at her. "No! I mean, who…" I shook my head, "I mean, what are you talking about?"

She didn't bother actually answering me and instead just raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

I sighed. It's not like I wasn't dying to talk to someone about her, not like I wasn't dying to talk to someone in general about all the things that had happened in the past year but Katie was the absolute least likely person to understand and I didn't have any close friends I trusted enough. There was something about Effy that inspired confidentiality, probably because it was hard to imagine her saying more than a few sentences a week, which would never be enough to rat anyone out, even if she wanted to. I made a quick decision and once I opened the floodgates, there was no stopping me. I explained how I found Naomi stunningly beautiful and how I kept thinking she might be attracted to me because of all the looks and moments we had been having, culminating in last night right here on the beach and earlier this morning. How I had found a way to sit next to her during all of the breaks and how I always got up a little earlier every morning just so I could eat my breakfast with her. I explained how I didn't even know I had it in me to lean in and whisper things in her ear, it was so out of character for me and I had no idea what had come over me. She simply smiled and let me get it all out of my system. Once I stopped talking we started walking again, slowly back down to the others. They were still a bit off though when she asked me the one question I really wanted an answer to myself.

"So… Are you gay?"

"How should I know?" I answered, exasperated. "Being gay actually requires experience with girls, right? I mean how can I be sure if I haven't even shagged a girl?"

"Have you shagged boys then?" She asked and looked at me curiously.

I was almost offended at the question. People had a habit of assuming that I was inexperienced simply because I wasn't throwing myself at everyone like Katie seemingly did. Looking at Effy, I somehow doubted that she followed that train of thought and I couldn't really take offence. "Yes, I have." I hesitated before continuing, "although I never really saw the point, so I haven't really been very active on that front recently". We were getting closer to the others and I had run out of things to say. There was however something I wanted to ask Effy.

"How did you know to ask?" I looked at her expectantly. "I mean about Naomi…"

She replied with a shrug and walked back to her towel, leaving me no less confused than I had before the big heart-to-heart or whatever the hell that was

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