It didn't take them long to work their way through the emergency whiskey. Katie found it was considerably easier to drink when it was mixed with coke.
Naomi idly wondered how long it would take Kieran to discover that they'd drunk his back up bottle. She could imagine the stream of expletives that would fall from his lips when he did.
"I should probably go soon," Katie sighed when she began yawning.
"Why?"
"Because it's late and all this whiskey is making me sleepy," Katie slurred, wishing she didn't feel tired because she didn't want to leave.
"So? You don't have to leave," Naomi said, pouting for good measure. "I mean...you could stay...if you wanted to."
"Stay?" Katie looked at her curiously. The offer did sound tempting.
"Yeah...if you wanted to," she shrugged and gave her a tight lipped smile. "You should stay."
"All right, I will." Katie smiled back. "Just try to keep your hands to yourself, yeah? I don't fancy being felt up in my sleep."
"You fucking wish I'd feel you up, Fitch," Naomi shot back. "I could show you what you're missing out on."
"That's what you think," Katie scoffed, "I bet I could teach you a thing or two."
"You could try," Naomi challenged.
"I bet you'd like that, wouldn't you?" Katie glared at her.
Naomi shrugged and grinned.
"Well it's not happening, Campbell, so dream on."
"Always, Katiekins, always!" she giggled.
"Shut up and take me to bed," Katie rolled her eyes, then cringed when she realised her poor choice of words.
"All right, if you insist," Naomi said through a fit of laughter.
Katie gritted her teeth together and followed Naomi up the stairs. Sometimes she really needed to consider her words a bit more carefully.
They changed quickly, too drunk to think twice about stripping off in front of each other, and climbed into Naomi's double bed.
"Thanks Katie," Naomi said softly, lying on her side facing her. "For earlier, I mean, pulling me out of the club...if you hadn't I'd probably still be standing there," she chuckled.
"I'm sure that big brain of yours would have kicked in eventually." Katie rolled her head around to look her in the eye.
"Maybe," Naomi laughed lightly. "Still, I'm glad you were there. I'm glad you're here."
"Me too," Katie smiled, slightly shocked at the sincerity in her friend's voice.
Naomi smiled back at her and their eyes locked for much longer than necessary.
"For what it's worth I think my sister's an idiot for breaking up with you," Katie added honestly.
Now it was Naomi's turn to be shocked.
"I always thought she was supposed to be the smart one," Katie sighed sleepily, "obviously not."
"Wow," Naomi breathed.
Katie looked at her quizzically.
"I never thought I'd hear those words coming out of the mouth of Katie Fitch."
"Yeah, well, you're not as bad as I thought," she admitted, locking eyes with the blonde once again.
"Neither are you," Naomi smirked. Another moment of intense eye contact passed between them until Katie yawned making them laugh.
"Good night, you muff diving bitch," Katie teased.
"Good night, you vapid whore," Naomi fired back, rolling over and turning out the light.
It didn't take long for them to fall asleep, both with smiles on their faces.
Somehow in the middle of the night they shifted around in the bed and ended up spooning.
Naomi slept soundly with Katie's warm body pressed against her.
Katie felt safe inside Naomi's arms.
It was the best night's sleep either of them had in a long time.
In the morning, they pretended they had no idea that it had even happened.
Over the next few weeks Katie became a regular feature in the Campbell household. Naomi noted that every time she called round she seemed to spend a little more time talking to her mum before coming up the stairs. She debated over whether she really wanted to know what they talked about or not. Katie had been making a real effort to study for her history exam, much to the surprise of Naomi, who thought she would have given up after the first week. It wasn't just history though. Katie would come round to study for her other exams, too, claiming Naomi was a good influence on her and that she actually studied when she was with her, not that Naomi was complaining. It was kind of nice having Katie around so much, even if a lot of the time they just sat facing each other with their headphones in and their noses buried in textbooks and notes.
"I don't think I've ever been this prepared for an exam in my whole life," Katie remarked the night before their first test. "Usually around this time I'd be trying to think of ways to bribe Emily into giving me her notes."
"I don't think I've ever seen you spend so much time reading something that wasn't Heat," Naomi threw back playfully.
"I'd be mad but that's probably true," she giggled.
"I just can't wait until they're over," Naomi sighed.
"Yeah, then we can party," Katie grinned wickedly.
"And Christmas," Naomi added. Usually she loathed the festive season but this would be the first year in as long as she could remember that there would be something resembling a traditional Christmas at her house and it was all thanks to Kieran. He might be a grumpy bastard but he was a grumpy Irish bastard and he was insisting Gina try Christmas his way this year, the turkey dinner and all.
"I am not looking forward to forcing down whatever disaster my mother is calling Christmas dinner this year," Katie shook her head. "Or to spending all day with my family."
"Well you could always come round here if you need somewhere to escape to," Naomi offered. She was hoping she'd be seeing Katie over the holidays. They'd been spending so much time together in the run up to the exams that it would be weird not having her around for two weeks. "It's Mum's first proper Christmas in years, so it'll probably involve her drinking lots of red wine and talking shit about the commercialisation and the flaws with Christianity while Kieran gets drunk on Baileys."
"That sounds much better than playing happy families with Rob and Jenna," she mused. "I might just take you up on that offer, Campbell." Truth was she was grateful for the invitation. Things had been more than a little bit tense in the Fitch household of late, and she would be glad to get away from it all.
History was their last exam. When it was over, Katie walked out of the hall with a smug grin on her face. She was certain she'd done well. Her eyes scanned the crowd for the one person she wanted to celebrate with. She caught sight of Naomi walking out the door with an arrogant smile that rivalled her own and she rushed towards her.
"You're a fucking genius Naoms!" she squealed, referring to the fact that Naomi had accurately predicted almost everything that had been on the paper.
Naomi smiled at how naturally the endearing abbreviation fell from Katie's lips.
"I think that went well," Naomi replied.
"Well?" Katie raised her eyebrows emphatically, "it went fucking fantastically!"
"See what happens when you actually study, Katie?" she smirked.
"Fuck off!" Katie gave her a playful shove, then threw her arm around the blonde. "Now come on, let's go celebrate!"
"What, now?" Naomi asked incredulously. It was a morning exam which meant it wasn't even lunch time yet.
"No, we have to go change first, obviously," Katie rolled her eyes. As if she was going to go out for the night dressed like this.
Naomi looked at her dubiously. "It's only half 11," she pointed out.
"All right fine we'll have lunch first," Katie shrugged. "Let's get dressed up and go somewhere nice!"
"All right," Naomi agreed, knowing she didn't have a choice. Once Katie had made up her mind there was very little anyone could do to change it.
Emily did a double take when she walked by the window. She stopped and full on stared, unable to believe what she was seeing was real: Katie and Naomi leaving school together arm in arm. That definitely didn't seem right. She watched as they walked out the gate and out of sight, laughing and joking with each other. Since when did they laugh together? Or spend any time together? Or even speak to each other with any measureable amount of civility? Emily didn't know the answers to any of those questions, but she sure as hell was going to find out.
Katie was almost ready when she heard the front door slam shut and footsteps on the stairs. Emily walked into the room, lingering by the door, catching Katie's eye in the mirror. She turned from the mirror to look her sister in the eye, wondering what had her sister so serious looking.
"All right, Ems?" She half-smiled at her.
"Not really," Emily frowned, "I'm a little confused, actually."
"Why's that?" Katie asked, wondering what was wrong.
"Because I swear I just saw you walking out of college arm in arm with Naomi," she explained, watching Katie's face carefully for her reaction.
"Yeah, so?" Katie shrugged. She was glad Emily had seen her with Naomi. She wanted her to see the price she was paying for being a cunt. It wouldn't do her any harm to be reminded that the real world still existed while she was off swanning around in all her newfound lesbian glory, and that she had hurt people in it.
"What the fuck's all that about?" she asked, wondering when this new friendship between her twin sister and her ex-girlfriend had formed without her noticing.
"She's been helping me study for my history exam," Katie informed her. "Since when do you care about who I hang around with, anyway? Or who Naomi hangs around with, for that matter?"
"I don't," she replied quickly, reminding herself that she didn't have any right to say who Naomi or Katie could or couldn't be friends with. "I just don't get it. You used to hate her."
"I used to do a lot of things Ems," she said pointedly. "People change don't they?"
"Yeah, I guess," Emily shrugged. Honestly, she was still struggling to imagine a world in which Katie and Naomi were friends.
"Are you going out tonight?" Katie asked.
"Yeah," she nodded.
"Cool," she smiled. "I'll see you later then, yeah?"
"Probably," Emily smiled back, feeling slightly guilty that this was the closest thing to a proper conversation she'd had with her sister in quite a while.
They had dinner at a posh restaurant where the waiters looked down their noses at them and watched them intently in case they stole anything. They laughed about it the whole time they dined, staying for two cocktails afterwards, making sure they mispronounced every pretentious drink they ordered. They discussed their exams and plans for Christmas. Naomi filled Katie in on all the weird ways she spent Christmas when she was growing up, and Katie told her all about how she used to decide what Emily wanted for Christmas, and about the time that James cried because he thought the Barbie dolls were for him. When they finally decided it was time to leave, they left a generous tip in spite of the terrible service. They smiled sweetly at the dumbstruck waiters as they walked out the door.
"I swear to God, you're gonna break your neck in those things!" Naomi rolled her eyes as Katie toddled behind her in six inch heels.
"Please, I can walk better in heels than you can in flats!" she scoffed. She was an expert at walking in heels.
"That's probably true," Naomi conceded, dropping back to appreciate the sway of Katie's arse with every step she took.
Katie looked over her shoulder and caught the blonde leering at her.
"Fucking perve!" she giggled.
Naomi pulled her teeth over her lower lip and shrugged unashamedly.
It didn't take them long to find the party, and once they were inside it took even less time for Cook to find them and supply them with a drink. He was completely off his tits already as he slurred at them to "go fucking mental and enjoy themselves!" before disappearing off after a blonde in an insanely short skirt.
The girls exchanged an eye roll and downed their drinks. A few shots later, they made their way to the dance floor, swaying and moving in time with the music. Katie's arms found their way around Naomi's neck and their hips moved together to the beat. They didn't even notice the small crowd of boys gathering around them with their tongues hanging out of their mouths and erections forming in their trousers. The only thing they were aware of was each other and the thumping baseline.
They got separated eventually. It was inevitable, really, in a crowd that big, but Katie remained constantly aware of Naomi's location the whole time they were apart. No matter who she was talking to, whether it was someone from her class or a fit guy, she found her eyes scanning the crowd for that familiar combination of blue and blonde.
Naomi was on the outskirts of the dance floor dancing with Effy. They both giggled as she spun the Effy around in her arms. Katie chuckled, too, much to the confusion of the guy trying to chat her up. He looked at her strangely, but continued to talk anyway, completely oblivious to the fact that her attention was elsewhere. The guy was good looking and so far not a complete sleaze ball, exactly the type of guy who ordinarily Katie would have been eager to go home with, but tonight she just wasn't interested. She found herself more preoccupied with what Naomi was doing than with finding some fit guy to shag. She couldn't take her eyes off the beautiful blonde by the edge of the dance floor.
"So what do you say babe?" he asked, dragging her attention back to him.
"What?" she blinked. She hadn't heard a word he'd said.
"I was just saying we should go somewhere a bit more private, my place perhaps?" he suggested. Subtlety clearly wasn't his strong point. He flashed a hopeful, lecherous smile at her, and she realised she couldn't even remember his name, though she was sure he had mentioned it to her.
"Nah, not tonight," she shook her head and shrugged. He looked disappointed and a bit pissed off that he had been wasting his time. She smiled at him apologetically as she walked away.
"You're loss," he scoffed, dusting off his bruised ego and heading off in search of his next target.
"It really isn't," Katie chuckled to herself and headed towards the bar.
"You do know that's Katie you're staring, don't you?" Effy asked in an amused tone.
"Yes!" Naomi replied shortly, taking her eyes off of Katie to glare at Effy. "And I wasn't staring!"
"You're right, gazing would probably be a more apt word to describe it," she smirked.
Naomi's jaw tensed. She loved Effy, but sometimes her incredible perceptiveness could be a right pain in the arse.
Naomi's defensive responses were only serving to fuel Effy's curiosity. "Interesting," she pouted thoughtfully.
"No it's not," Naomi assured her.
Effy's eyes flicked to where Katie was standing, catching her staring at Naomi.
Katie quickly averted her gaze when Effy gave her a knowing smile.
"Oh but it is," Effy muttered, grinning like the cat that caught the canary.
By the end of the night, they had found each other again. It was no surprise, really. Even when they were apart, they were watching each other, sharing little looks and smiles.
As the night drew to a close, they just gravitated back towards each other, knowing exactly who they wanted to go home with. The lights went up and some surly looking bouncers ushered them out onto the streets.
"So..." Katie smiled as they stood outside in the cold, "got any more of that emergency whiskey?"
Truth be told she didn't give a fuck about obtaining more alcohol. She'd had more than enough already. She was merely fishing for an invitation back to Naomi's house. She told herself that it was because she couldn't face going back to her own house, but she knew that wasn't the only reason.
"I don't think you need any emergency whiskey," Naomi chuckled. One look in Katie's glazed over eyes told her that her friend was completely wasted. She did look adorable though. "There's space in a double bed going though...if you're interested?"
"I couldn't care less about the whiskey, really," Katie beamed and threw her arm around Naomi, "but please, let's get a taxi, ok? 'Cause my feet are killing me!"
"I'm not surprised!" Naomi was amazed Katie was still standing, albeit somewhat unsteadily, in her high heels. Most of the other girls on the street were walking around barefoot, opting to carry the offending footwear rather than tolerate the pain any longer. She took Katie by the hand and led her up the street a bit. "We'll probably have a better chance of getting one away from that hoard."
Neither of them let go of the other's hand while they waited for the taxi. Or in the car on the way home. They didn't break the contact until Naomi needed both hands to open her front door, a task that was proving to be considerably more difficult because she was drunk. They eventually burst into the house in a fit giggles and insults being fired at Naomi for being too stupid to open a door. They stopped at the bottom of the staircase and composed themselves, drawing their shoulders back and standing up tall before making a pathetic attempt to ascend the stairs. Eventually they made it to Naomi's room and collapsed side by side on the bed.
"Naomi?" Katie sounded confused.
"What?" she leaned her head closer to Katie, unable to physically roll over.
"There's something wrong with your room...it keeps spinning," she sighed, wishing the blonde would fix her stupid room.
"What?" Naomi managed to lift her neck up slightly to examine her bedroom, and found that Katie was right, it did appear to be spinning. That couldn't be good. "Shit! Why the fuck is it doing that?"
"It must be broken," Katie decided.
"Fuck it, I'll fix it in the morning!" she groaned, stumbling as she got up and attempted to undress.
"All right but I think you might have to get someone in, seems pretty bad," Katie said sagely before falling onto the bed while trying to remove her tights. They climbed under the duvet in just their underwear and rolled into a spooning position.
"Goodnight, Katie," Naomi murmured into Katie's hair.
"Night, Naomi," she sighed contentedly and closed her eyes.
When they woke up the next morning, they were both too hungover to care about the fact that they were still spooning.
It had been days since their night out and days since Naomi had seen Katie. She had received the odd random text from her, but she was starting to miss Katie's physical presence in her house. Even Gina had been enquiring as to when Katie was coming around again. When the doorbell rang the night before Christmas Eve Naomi rushed to answer it hoping it was Katie.
"Effy?" She tilted her head to the side and hoped she sounded pleasantly surprised rather than disappointed.
"Expecting someone else?" Effy raised her eyebrow and smirked. "Small, brunette, brown eyes, older twin perhaps?"
"No I'm just surprised to see you," she smiled, refusing to let Effy get under her skin. She could tell that Effy had noticed too much already, she didn't want to give her any further ammunition. "Come in."
"Is that Katie?" Gina called from the kitchen.
Naomi cringed while Effy's eyebrows shot up, and she shot Naomi one of those classic Effy smirks.
"No," she replied through gritted teeth, internally cursing her mother out for inadvertently giving Effy license to torture her for the next hour or so. "It's Effy."
"Oh, hi, Effy!" she shouted cheerfully from the kitchen.
"Hi, Gina," Effy called back.
Naomi rolled her eyes and headed up the stairs with Effy at her heels. "So to what do I owe the pleasure?" she asked, dropping onto her bed and stretching out.
"Just thought I'd call round to see a friend," she replied innocently.
Naomi gave her a sceptical look, raising a questioning eyebrow at her. She didn't believe that for a second.
"All right, I just had to get out of the house," she admitted reluctantly.
"Anthea doing your head in?" Naomi nodded sympathetically. "Parents eh? Can't live with 'em, wouldn't be born without 'em."
Effy chuckled, wholeheartedly agreeing with her friend. Deciding they'd spent quite enough time talking about her, she pulled her cigarette tin out of her pocket and plucked a perfectly rolled joint from it. "Spliff?" She figured plying Naomi with a good dose of THC might make it easier to extract information from her about what was going in between her and Katie.
Naomi took a draw from the joint and felt the harsh smoke hit the back of her throat. A few more draws and she could feel that familiar haze descend upon her. This was good gear. Effy always knew where to get the best drugs.
"Exactly how much time as Katie been spending here recently?" Effy asked curiously, her eyes flicking around the room before landing on Naomi's ice blue irises.
"Not that much," Naomi shrugged, hoping she was lying convincingly with all the weed clouding her mind.
"Really?" Effy challenged. "Because I don't see you as the type to write in pink ink," she nodded to the collection of colourful pens in a glass on Naomi's desk, "and I don't think that leopard print scarf belongs to you either."
"I've been helping her study for her exams!" Naomi shrugged defensively. Of course Effy would notice the smallest little things that no one else would. That was what made her Effy. It was also what made her incredibly annoying to be around sometimes.
"The fact that she seems perfectly comfortable leaving stuff here would suggest that it's more than just studying," Effy pointed out.
"We're friends!" Naomi replied trying to make it sound like it wasn't a big deal.
"Right, 'cause I spend most of my time on a night out staring intently across the room at my friends," she scoffed.
"I wasn't staring!" Naomi growled.
"Who said I was talking about you?" Effy smirked and raised one perfectly arched eyebrow.
Naomi opened her mouth to say something and closed it again. Effy's remark had thrown her for a loop. She really wasn't sure how to respond to that. She opened and shut her mouth a couple more times, looking somewhat like a fish, before finally making a sound. Even at that, a confused "Huh?" was all she could manage. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Wha...What? What are you talking about, Eff?" she sighed.
"Nothing," Effy shook her head. She knew Naomi had heard what she'd said, and she wasn't going to spell out for her what it meant. That wasn't her place. She just wanted to make Naomi aware of the fact that whatever this thing that was happening between them was, it wasn't one sided.
"I hate it when you do that," Naomi sighed and glared at her friend.
"I know," Effy nodded.
Katie wasn't mentioned again for the rest of the evening, but Effy's comment still lingered in Naomi's head. When Effy left, she found herself replaying every interaction she'd had with Katie over and over again in her mind. She started questioning whether every look, every touch, every conversation had another meaning to it. She cursed Effy for getting under her skin and putting dangerous ideas in her head. Fucking Effy and her cryptic bullshit. Her friendship with Katie was just that: a friendship. Why would she want to complicate that by seeing something that wasn't there? She pushed all thoughts of Katie from her head, heading downstairs for a cup of tea and distracting conversation with Gina and Kieran. Fucking Effy.
Christmas in the Fitch household was kind of like being stuck in a time warp. Rob still thought of his children as his babies, and, despite their numerous protests, insisted on carrying on the pretence that Santa Claus was real. He would force them to write a list early in December and woke them all up at the crack of dawn on Christmas day to go down and open their presents.
"This is so fucking stupid," Katie grumbled to her sister on the way downstairs.
"I know," Emily agreed.
"It's a load of bloody bollocks," James chimed into the conversation.
"All right kids, let's see what you got for Christmas," Rob said excitedly, opening the living room door for them, bubbling with anticipation as they reluctantly trudged inside, wearing grumpy faces.
They opened their presents and feigned excitement on the condition that they could go back to bed when they were done.
The second time they were woken up, they got dressed into their new Christmas clothes and sat down to Jenna's version of Christmas dinner. The odour wafting from the kitchen was entirely unappetising, so they dreaded to think what the meal would actually taste like.
"Wow! This looks fantastic," Rob beamed at his wife when she set the plate down in front of him.
The Fitch children shared looks of disgust.
"It's tofu turkey with sweet potato mash, Brussels sprouts and cabbage," she smiled.
"Incredible," he grinned. "Is your mum not just the best cook in the whole of Bristol?"
"Why can't we have turkey and ham like everybody else?" James demanded.
Emily and Katie had to fight hard to hold in their laughter.
"This is better than turkey and ham, son," Rob assured him. "This is pure protein, just what you need to feed your growing muscles."
"I'd rather have turkey and ham than huge biceps!" he huffed.
Rob shot him a warning look, and James scowled, sighed and pushed his food around his plate.
After dinner they were herded into the living room to spend the afternoon playing charades and board games that were almost as old as James. When they were younger this would have been the highlight of their day. They loved playing games together. It was the one day out of the year that they all got along. But they weren't little children any more, they were teenagers, and they had their own lives and stuff going on in them that they'd much rather be doing. They didn't want to spend their day being forced to spend time with their parents. It wasn't just that they were being made to play the games against their will, but also the fact that their father got very competitive while playing them that made it even more unbearable. They purposely didn't try in order to let him win. He was like a spoiled child when it came to being beaten, even if it was only at snakes and ladders.
The only good thing about Christmas in the Fitch house was that Jenna started drinking while she was cooking the dinner and Rob had a few beers while putting out the presents, so by the time the games had been put away and they had suffered through most of 'It's a wonderful life' Rob and Jenna's eyes would start to droop and they would filter in and out of consciousness. That was when they could make their escape. Bribing James with pick 'n' mix and a copy of Nuts to cover for them the girls were able to sneak out for the rest of the night.
They couldn't wait to get out of the house. Katie couldn't wait to get to Naomi's house. She was starting to feel more comfortable there than she did in her own house. She hurried up to her room to grab the present she had gotten for Naomi. Thankfully Emily was too busy changing to ask what was in the bag. She didn't really fancy explaining to her sister that it was a Christmas present for her ex-girlfriend.
"Where are you heading off to?" Emily asked, pulling a clean top over her head.
"Just out," Katie shrugged. The reason she didn't tell Emily where she was going had nothing to do with fear of her sister's reaction or trying to spare her feelings. The reason she kept her friendship with Naomi quiet was because she liked having something that was just hers. She liked the idea of having Naomi all to herself, without the rest of the world getting involved and making it seem complicated. She liked that it was just them. "What about you?"
"I've got plans, actually," she informed her.
"Oh? What's her name then? Or do you not know it yet?" Katiie asked teasingly.
"Fuck off!" Emily laughed. "I do know her name." She was just reluctant to share it just yet.
"That's good. Well have fun then," she smiled as she walked out the door.
"Yeah...you too," Emily called after her.
Katie practically ran to Naomi's house. After spending the whole day basically locked in a room with her family, she was eager to see the blonde. Holding her gift in her arms, she waited impatiently for someone to answer the door. She could hear laughter and cheesy Christmas songs coming from inside the house.
Naomi smiled brightly when she answered the door. "Katie!" She seemed genuinely pleased to see her.
"I was wondering if your offer to spend Christmas here was still open?" Katie smiled hopefully.
"Yeah, of course it is!" Naomi nodded. "Come on in. Mum and Kieran are in the living room...I warn you though, they're quite pissed."
"At least they're still conscious, which is more than I can say for my parents," she chuckled. She stalled outside the living room door and held out the gift to Naomi. "Here, I got you this."
"What's this?" Naomi looked at the neatly wrapped gift with mild confusion.
"It's just a little present...to thank you for helping me with my exams and stuff," she shrugged. She felt a little nervous now. She really hoped Naomi would like the present.
"But I haven't gotten you anything," Naomi frowned, wishing she'd been more thoughtful.
"So? Never mind that, just open it."
Naomi destroyed the wrapping paper in the same manner a three year old would and held out the T-shirt that was inside. It was a long, white, sleeveless top with a black design on the front. It was gorgeous. Naomi was lost for words at her friend's kindness. She just looked at Katie with a big smile on her face and genuine happiness glittering in her eyes.
"I figured if I can pass History then there's no reason you can't wear a decent outfit," Katie smirked.
Naomi laughed. Only Katie would give her a present and then insult her.
"Thank you Katie," she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her friend, pulling her in tight.
Katie's arms instinctively reached up to wrap themselves around Naomi's neck. She sighed contentedly as she inhaled the familiar scent of Naomi's shampoo.
"I love it." Naomi pulled away, placing a soft kiss on Katie's cheek as she did so.
"You're welcome," Katie smiled as she stepped out of the hug, immediately missing the contact with Naomi.
"You'll need a drink if we're heading in there," Naomi said, biting her lips to resist the urge to hug the smaller girl again.
"I needed a drink before I came here," Katie laughed.
"Was it that bad?" Naomi asked sympathetically, pouring Katie a drink.
"Yes! It was horrible. Imagine being trapped in a room with a middle aged man who thinks his teenage children still enjoy playing Cluedo and huffs when he doesn't win, and, well...my mum." She shook her head, gratefully accepting the vodka and tonic from Naomi. It had been a trying day.
"Yikes!" Naomi wouldn't have wanted to be in Katie's position. "You really did need that drink, didn't you?"
"Yeah!" Katie chuckled. "What about you? How was your first proper Christmas?"
"It was good," Naomi stuck out her bottom lip and nodded. "I can see what all the fuss is about."
"How did Gina take it?" Katie asked as they made their way into the living room.
"I think she secretly enjoyed it," Naomi laughed.
"Hi, Katie!" Gina greeted her cheerfully. She was glad to see Katie back in their house. Maybe now her daughter would stop moping around.
"Happy Christmas!" Kieran smiled at her.
She found it slightly odd having never seen him smile before. What she found even stranger was seeing him cuddling up to Gina on the couch. She'd seen them acting like a couple, she'd even walked in on them kissing once when she was round studying, but seeing them curl up together was odd. Kieran really didn't seem the type to cuddle.
"Thanks. Merry Christmas to you, too," she smiled politely at them and took a seat beside Naomi on the other sofa. She sank into the cushions, enjoying being in the Campbell household.
They stayed in the living room for just over an hour before making their excuses and heading upstairs. Naomi pinched the bottle of white wine from the kitchen and brought it up with them. They collapsed onto her bed lying head to toe and leaning up to face each other.
"Did you hear Cook's having a New Year's Eve party?" Naomi asked.
"Yeah I think he sent that message to everyone he knows," she rolled her eyes.
"You going?" Naomi inquired.
"Probably only if you're going," she shrugged and smiled at Naomi, who fully grinned back at her.
"Yeah?" Naomi was pleased that her presence was important to Katie. "I mean yeah, I'm going."
"We can go together then," Katie said decidedly.
The idea pleased Naomi immensely. "All right," she shrugged, trying not to sound too enthusiastic about it.
"Good," Katie smiled brightly. "I might actually be able to enjoy the party now."
"Oh yeah, why's that, then?" Naomi smirked cheekily.
"You know what I mean," Katie glared, Naomi looked clueless. "You're going to make me say it out loud, aren't you?"
"Yes," she smiled wickedly.
"Because I enjoy spending time with you, ok?" Katie sighed, rolling her eyes at the smug look that now graced Naomi's face.
"That wasn't so hard, was it?" she gloated.
"Fuck off," Katie pouted. "I know you enjoy spending time with me too!"
"That's true," Naomi admitted, the smile that spread across Katie's face making her stomach flip. "What a strange fucking turn of events, eh?"
"Yeah, no shit!" Katie chuckled. A year ago they couldn't stand each other, constantly trying to get one up on the other, and now Naomi was the only person she ever wanted to spend time with. "Funny what can change in a year."
"Funny is one way to put it," Naomi gave a forced smile.
"Yeah, well...sorry," Katie stuttered uncomfortably, she really hadn't meant to put her foot in it.
"Don't be," Naomi looked deep into her eyes, "I'm fine."
Katie gave her a look of disbelief.
"Seriously, it hurt at first, I didn't think I'd get over Emily, but I did. I'm all right!" She actually meant it too. She wasn't quite sure when it happened, but, somewhere between hanging out with Katie and studying for her exams, it seemed her heart had healed. She would never admit it, even under torture, but she knew Katie had played a big part in that. When she was around her, everything just felt that little bit better.
"That's good," Katie smiled encouragingly. She didn't like the idea of Naomi being in pain.
They settled onto Naomi's bed and watched some stand up DVD that Kieran had gotten her for Christmas. The small amount of space between them when the comedian took to the stage had all but disappeared by the time he had performed his encore.
"So do you have to leave or can you stay?" Naomi asked when Katie started yawning.
"I can stay," Katie answered a little too quickly. "My mum will be half blind with a hangover until mid afternoon tomorrow."
"Another fun Fitch tradition?" Naomi smirked.
"No we only found that one out last year," Katie explained. "They used to send us to our grandparents house every year, and now we know why."
"I dare say Kieran and Gina won't be feeling too good in the morning either," Naomi mused. She was thrilled that Katie would be staying. Over the past few days she had missed her more than she cared to admit. It was nice having her back in her bed.