A/N – I wasn't planning on writing another chapter tonight and I am getting seriously sleep-deprived. Friday morning I am leaving for a six day conference and will probably not have time to write at all so I thought it was best to get this chapter out before committing to radio-silence for a week or so. I hope you enjoy it and please keep sending reviews and comments my way! They are a great inspiration and motivation!

Not the owner of Skins…

Chapter 6

Cook's POV

I came running out of the house at the sound of loud, angry voices. I had recognized Naomi's and she had sounded scared. It was dark and I couldn't tell what was going on until I was standing right in the middle of it. I had only been gone for a minute to take a piss and was more than a little confused at the scene that met me upon my return.

"Katie, don't!", Emily begged as she tried to drag Katie off of someone sitting in one of the lawn chairs. A split second later, I realized it was Naomi's chair and immediately took hold of Katie and lifted her away, effectively restraining her furious punches. JJ and Effy had been watching the scene, obviously too shocked to react and it took a moment before Effy snapped out of it and rushed to Naomi's side.

"Cook fucking put me down right now!", Katie screamed at me but I wasn't about to let her go off on my friend again so I ignored her. JJ knelt down at Naomi's side and helped her stand up.

"Is she alright, mate?", I asked him while trying to keep tabs on the wrestling Katie Fitch in my arms. He studied Naomi's face intently, touching her lips and making her wince.

"Her lip is bleeding pretty badly but it's not too deep, I reckon", he answered without taking his eyes off Naomi's hurt face. Effy had turned on the light on her phone and I could see Blondie's face myself now. She was bleeding, in shock and trying really hard not to cry and I knew she needed to get away from the scene. I couldn't take care of her myself since Katie was still cursing at me and fidgeting angrily in my arms so I asked JJ and Effy to take her inside and get her cleaned up. When they had cleared, I finally put Katie down, taking note to stand between her and the house in case she decided to rush after Naomi to continue the beat down. As it turns out, I should have been standing between her and her twin instead.

Emily was pacing back and forth with her hands on her head. All I could really see now that Effy had taken our only source of light with her was the red hair and the silhouette of her arms on top of it. Katie however had no such problems and walked straight up to where Emily was pacing. I gathered it was a twin-thing and since I couldn't make out either of them anymore. I figured it was best to stay of a sibling brawl but I was a little curious about what had happened. I had my guesses and I was going ask Naomi about it anyway so it wasn't really all that important for me to listen in on their conversation. I took out a fag from my chest pocket and lit it.

"What the fuck, Emily?" Katie hissed. Emily either didn't reply fast enough or said something I couldn't hear. What I did hear though, was the unmistakable sound of a hard slap across the face, Emily's probably. "I asked you a fucking question!"

"I… I… I didn't…", Emily stuttered, obviously too shocked to form a complete sentence. I felt bad for her but not enough to get in Katie's way again.

"What, are a you mong now as well as a lezzer?", Katie mocked. She was being downright mean and it was starting to get on my nerves. My guess had been right and something had happened between Emily and Naomi but nothing really justified this type of abuse. I felt kinda glad that I didn't have a twin.

"Is that why you were so eager to come here without me? So you could shag any bitch willing?" She emphasized the word bitch and I assumed it wasn't the first time she had used that specific word to describe Blondie to her sister. I took a couple of steps closer. Emily held her hand up to her cheek and simply shook her head. Katie continued her rant, "well it's not gonna happen, 'cause I won't let it!" She took another step towards Emily, and spitefully said, "You're not gay, just stupid!"

At that last comment, Emily turned and ran off in the direction of the beach. Katie ignored it and walked towards the house, still fuming. Noticing I wasn't following her back inside, she turned to face me. "Coming?", she asked and looked at me expectantly.

I hesitated for a second, contemplating whether Katie beating the shit out of Naomi and being a downright bitch to her sister was enough to make me refuse an awesome shag. The memory of Naomi's split lip made the choice pretty easy, really. I flicked my fag away, exhaled and started walking towards the beach.

"Whatever." Katie simply said, obviously not really caring about me or her sister as she walked inside.

I found Emily at the same spot we had all been lounging about in earlier during the day. She was sitting on her knees with her legs tucked in under her, her head buried in her hands. I sat down in the sand next to her, remaining silent. She was sobbing violently but had noticed my presence and was trying to get it under control. I took out another fag, lit it and offered it to her.

She dried her face with the back of her hand and looked at me. "I don't smoke…"

"Shame", I said, "'cause you look like you could use one." I inhaled deeply and offered it to her again. This time she took it from my fingers and stared at it for a while before putting it to her lips and inhaling. She didn't do it properly and started to cough. "You didn't do it right." I smiled at her. "Just breathe normally except through this." I pointed to the fag in her hand. "It's easy!" I lit up a different fag and proceeded to show Emily how to become a smoker. By the second fag she had gotten the hang of it and I had even gotten a few small laughs out of her in the process. I noticed her shivering so I took off my sweater and draped it around her bare shoulders.

"Thanks", she said and glanced at me sideways. "You're a lot nicer than most people think, aren't you Cook?"

I smiled. "Fuck you."

"Fuck you right back." She bumped her shoulder into mine and smiled.

I walked Emily back to the house and she gave me a peck on the cheek as she handed the sweater back to me. We hadn't actually spoken a word about what happened but I was never much for heart-to-hearts and thanked my lucky stars that Emily wasn't either. There's nothing that sharing a fag and few laughs can't fix. I reached my shed, opened the door and found Naomi sitting inside on my bed.

"Bloody hell babe, how many times did you let her pound on you?" She looked like shit, honestly.

"Probably about as many times as you were pounding on her just now.", she answered spitefully. "Hope it was a fucking fantastic shag, Cook."

"Naomikins, what in the bloody hell are you talking about?" It wasn't like her to be so dramatic. The great thing about Naomi was that she was literally like on the boys, not too big on all the mushy stuff and she could hold her own in terms of crude banter. She was acting out of character and it made me uncomfortable.

"You shagged her, didn't you? She fucking beat me up and still you went and fucked her." Naomi was definitely not in her right mind and I saw tears forming in her blue eyes. I sat down next to her on the bed and sighed. I fucking hate this mushy shit.

I shook my head. "I didn't." She didn't believe me, I could tell.

"Then where have you been the past hour?", she asked with a sniffle and traced the cut on her lip with a finger. JJ and Effy had done a good job cleaning her up. The cut was barely visible but her lip was twice its normal size and there was a red and slightly blue bruise forming across her swollen cheekbone. Katie had done some impressive damage in a short amount of time. If it had been anyone but Naomi on the receiving end, I would probably have ended up liking Katie even more after witnessing her impressive bar-room-brawl skills.

"Does it matter?" She shot me a determined look and I shook my head in resignation. "Fine. I was with Emily."

"What?!" she jumped off the bed and looked at me in absolute horror. I glared at her in confusion before realizing my mistake and was actually offended that she could think I would take advantage of the situation like that.

"Naomi, calm the fuck down now, yeah?" This whole drama was starting to give me a headache. "I taught her how to smoke fags and we had a laugh, alright?" She seemed to compose herself as I watched her close her eyes and shake her head once, as if to get rid of the image that was me and Emily on the beach doing nasty things to one another. Personally, I quite enjoyed having that image stuck in my mind.

Naomi's POV

I felt bad for accusing Cook of sleeping with Emily, or Katie for that matter. My feelings were hurt, well my feelings and my face as it were, and I wasn't thinking clearly. I took my seat next to him on the bed and buried my head in my hands, groaning loudly in the process.

"Couldn't keep it in your pants, eh Blondie?", Cook said and stuck his tongue out at me. I didn't even bother replying since I was guessing he knew he had hit the mark. I was curious about something else though.

"Did she say anything? Emily, I mean."

Cook shook his head as he got up and walked to the mini-fridge Mum had bought for him last year. He took out two beers and offered me one as he sat back down. "We had a smoke and a laugh.", he said with a shrug and I decided not to push the matter. Knowing Cook, he had already reached his limit of drama for one evening and there was little point in discussing it now anyway.

We sat there in quiet reflection, sharing a few beers and fags before heading back. The house was completely dark as I approached and I was happy to realize that everyone had gone to bed. It meant I didn't have to deal with the twins until tomorrow which was still too soon. I got a little lost in thought as I walked the stony path from Cook's shed to the main building.

Everything had changed so quickly. One moment I was enjoying the delicious lips of Emily Fitch and the next, I was being pounded by the less affectionate fists of Katie fucking Fitch. But the bruises on my face would heal soon enough, that wasn't what had bothered me. As Katie had dragged Emily off me and subsequently began pounding on me, Emily had of course tried to stop her but had failed miserably. Katie had gotten at least five good punches in before Cook came running and pulled her off me. What bothered me was that after Cook had stopped the beating, Emily hadn't done anything. She just stood there, dumbstruck and staring at me.

JJ and Effy had been the ones to rush to my side and subsequently taken care of me, not her. The three of us sat in uncomfortable silence in the kitchen for a while before Effy and JJ turned in and I went to look for Cook at the shed. All I really needed though was Emily. But she was nowhere to be found and I had gotten angry. I knew that a few days of flirting obviously couldn't compete with eighteen years of sharing a room with your twin sister but she could have at least checked to see if I was seriously hurt. It really bugged me to see Emily so weak. Sure, she was more quiet than usual when Katie was around and yes, obviously Katie was used to getting her way and Emily was used to giving in. But the Emily I had gotten to know over the course of the week was much, much stronger than she let on. In the end it all came down to my feelings getting hurt because Emily didn't stand up for me but even more so that she didn't stand up for herself.

When I reached the stairwell, I took off my shoes and tippy-toed silently up the stairs to my room. I entered, closed the door behind and flipped the light switch. I turned around and stared into the watery eyes of one Emily Fitch.

So! Naomi got a beat down, Emily and Cook had a moment and Katie Fucking Fitch made an appearance! I wonder what Emily has to say for herself (honestly, right now I'm not sure what she's gonna say since I haven't written it yet…) Sound off in a review or PM – it will be valued for all eternity!