When they got to the bar, Cook and JJ were sitting in their usual booth, Freddie standing dutifully at the bar waiting to be served. They were the only people in the bar apart from the staff and two ancient looking regulars who were glued to their bar stools.
"Hello, ladies. You're looking especially shaggable this evening," Cook eyed them approvingly when they joined him in the booth. "Pleased with your exam results, I hope?"
"Yeah," Katie nodded.
"Very," Naomi grinned.
"Well then, that's cause for celebration innit," he beamed at them. "Freds! Get the drinks in!" he bellowed at the boy at the bar and pointed to Naomi and Katie.
Freddie rolled his eyes and nodded.
"That seems to be his reaction regardless of whether you're pleased with your results or not," JJ remarked.
"Isn't that Cook's response to everything?" Katie chuckled.
"Pretty much," Naomi nodded and smiled brightly at the boy in question who was looking at them innocently.
It wasn't long before Pandora and Thomas arrived, the blonde excitedly nattering about her surprisingly good results. They were closely followed by Effy who said nothing about her results and refrained from enquiring about anyone else's. The air soon filled with carefree laughter and easy conversation. Thanks to Cook, there seemed to be an endless supply of alcohol at their table, their glasses never seeming to run dry.
Naomi caught her eyes constantly fixed on Katie, not watching her, just looking, just taking in the small details of her face. She found herself smiling at the way the light danced in Katie's chocolate coloured eyes when she laughed at Cook teasing JJ.
"You look nice tonight," Effy muttered pointedly in Naomi's ear, stealing her attention.
"Thanks," Naomi blushed slightly.
"You letting Katie dress you now, too?" she asked with a smirk.
"No," Naomi replied shortly.
"So this is for her benefit, then," Effy mused coolly.
Naomi narrowed her eyes at her friend. She was tempted to deny it, but, given Effy's innate ability to see through everyone's deceptions, she realised there wouldn't be much point.
"Just leave it alone, Effy," Naomi sighed. They were here to have fun, and being reminded of her unrequited and completely inappropriate crush was not her idea of fun.
"Right, ladies and gentlemen, I think it's time to move to the next venue, don't you?" Cook stood up to call everyone's attention to him. There was a resounding cheer of approval. Uncle Keith's hadn't gotten any livelier since they arrived. Cook drained the remaining contents of his pint glass and slammed it down on the table. "Right then, onwards and upwards."
The next place they went to was a massive step up from Uncle Keith's: it was a real club and it was packed with people. Most of their year had showed up.
Katie took Naomi's hand and pulled her towards the crowded dance floor. They moved together in time with the heavy drum and bass beat, the small amount of space there had been between them disappearing as they lost themselves in the flash of the strobe lights and the feeling of their bodies pressed together. They didn't notice that they were attracting a lot of attention from horny boys hoping to see them kiss, from bitchy girls who speculated about their sexuality, and from the all seeing eyes of Effy Stonem who watched them with intrigue and amusement.
The only thing Katie was aware of was the growing urge to back Naomi against a wall and kiss her until she was breathless.
All Naomi was aware of was the intense arousal she was feeling between her thighs that increased with every movement of Katie's hips. It was more than she could take. She managed to find her voice to shout in Katie's ear that she needed a smoke.
Katie dutifully followed her to the smoking area, of course.
When they got outside, Naomi took a deep breath of the cold, smoke filled air. Her brain felt like it was trapped in a mist of alcohol and Katie Fitch fuelled lust. She took a few more deep breaths in the hope of clearing the fog. The distance between them helped a lot, as did a distraction in the form of Cook bellowing at them from across the smoking area.
They eyed him curiously as he approached them, dragging a slim blonde girl along with him.
"Naomikins, Katiekins," he greeted them with an eager grin.
"All right, Cookie?" Naomi smiled back at him. She moved her eyes to take in the blonde, wondering what was so special about her that Cook was bothering to introduce her to them. She was pretty, average height, shoulder length blonde hair, with a tan that didn't look hideously fake.
"I'd like you to meet someone," he tugged the girl forwards to stand in front of them. "This is Tracey."
"Hi," the girl forced a smile and blushed feeling incredibly awkward.
"I was trying my hardest to chat her up and wondering why she wasn't falling for my charms," Cook continued, his eyes alive with mischief when they found Naomi's. "Turns out she plays for your squad, so I thought I should introduce you two."
Naomi cringed at Cook's complete tactless attempt at a set up, and Katie didn't know where to look when she realised why Cook had brought this girl over to them. She was there to meet Naomi, to hook up with Naomi, to be taken home and fucked by Naomi, just like Katie had been fucked by Naomi in her dreams.
"Katiekins, what do you say you let the Cookie Monster buy you a drink?" he suggested, putting his arm around his friend. "Let these two get to know each other better," he winked.
"Yeah, ok," she smiled weakly and allowed him to lead her back inside, fighting hard to resist the urge to look back over her shoulder at Naomi.
"I'm sorry about him," Naomi shook her head when Cook had gone.
"He's not very subtle is he?" Tracey attempted a joke to ease the tension.
"No," Naomi shook her head. "He doesn't see the point in being subtle."
"I can see his point," she shrugged. "I just don't think I have the audacity to pull it off."
Naomi chuckled. This girl was funny. And clearly smart considering she had just correctly used to word audacity in a sentence. She was pretty, as well as all that. Naomi straightened up and gave the girl a bright, inviting smile. She dug deep into her repertoire of witty remarks in an effort to impress Tracey. This was exactly what she needed: a distraction from her feelings for Katie, someone suitable to focus her attention on. When Tracey began to flirt back, Naomi's smile grew larger. Someone to focus her attention on who was actually interested and available: perfect.
Katie let Cook buy her a drink. She let him buy her another. She let him lead her to the dance floor and spin her around until she felt dizzy. She tried her hardest to let him distract her, but her brain seemed incapable of thinking of anything other than Naomi and the blonde in the smoking area. It was for the best, she knew that. Naomi had wasted far too much time mourning over her sister. She needed to move on. But why tonight, was all Katie could think. And why with that girl? She was just so plain, so ordinary, so nothing like Naomi at all. Naomi was smart and brilliant and funny. She gave a shit about things that were important, as well as some things that weren't. Katie couldn't help but think that Tracey didn't look like the type of person who gave a crap about important things. She certainly didn't look like the type of person who could truly understand how amazing Naomi actually was. Katie wanted to believe that Naomi was trying to think of ways to get out of the conversation without hurting the other girl's feelings. Then she remembered that Naomi was single, and had been single for quite some time now. She probably just wanted someone to snog, or worse, someone to shag, and therefore probably wouldn't care that Tracey would never be able to understand her the way Katie did. She would never love her the way Katie did.
Katie stopped dead on the dance floor at that thought.
She loved Naomi.
And not in the strictly platonic way she had thought she did, she really loved her. Her mind started reeling from the realisation. Too many thoughts battled for her attention. The only clear thought she had was that there was no way in hell she was going to let that blonde bitch Tracey get her hands or lips on her blonde bitch.
"You all right Katiekins?" Cook asked, wondering why she had stopped dancing all of a sudden.
"Yeah," Katie replied quickly. "I'm just going to nip to the loo."
She rushed off before Cook could respond. She wasn't going anywhere near the toilets, though. She was going to find Naomi. She wasn't about to do anything ridiculous like drunkenly profess her love for her or anything, she was simply going to make sure that skank didn't get anywhere close to kissing her. The very thought of someone else kissing Naomi made her stomach churn. She checked the smoking area first. Of course they were still there, unmoved from the spot where she had left them. Naomi's head was tilted back and her shoulders were shaking with laughter in response to something Tracey had said. It was like a knife being twisted in Katie's gut. She hadn't expected them to actually be getting on. She had to put a stop to this. She wasn't about to let this nobody steal Naomi away from her, not now that she realised how she felt. She sped across the smoking area and grabbed Naomi by the arm, firing an insincere "excuse me" over her shoulder as she dragged her to a secluded area of the yard.
"Katie," Naomi said, looking at her like she'd just gone insane, "what's going on?"
"Nothing!" Katie huffed, her voice sounding tight as she shook her head. She wouldn't even know where to begin to explain this.
"Then why'd you pull me away like that?" she asked.
Katie looked away, refusing to meet Naomi's icy blue eyes.
"Katie," Naomi insisted. Tracey was the first viable female she'd spoken to since she broke up with Emily, so Katie must have had a reason to drag her away.
"I don't know!" Katie said frantically, her fingertips pressed against her temples as she tried to figure out which of her thoughts she should voice. Naomi raised an eyebrow at her and everything she'd been trying to keep inside her head spilled out in rapid succession. "I don't know! I just saw you standing there talking to her, and she was making you laugh, and, I don't know, maybe you like her, but she's just not right...I mean she's...she just won't...she's just not right for you!" Katie sighed in frustration. None of her words were coming out the way she wanted them too.
Naomi opened her mouth to respond but Katie continued to ramble over the top of her.
"I mean you deserve to be with someone...someone better. Someone who gets you, who finds your stupid jokes funny and can tell when you're being sarcastic and when you're being serious, even though sometimes it's hard to know the difference because you're so fucking sarcastic all the time. Someone who can overlook your terrible fashion sense and find your hideous outfits kind of cute."
"Katie," Naomi tried to interrupt.
"Like that floral skirt and fluffy jumper thing you were wearing the other day. On anyone else it would have looked disgusting but on you it was weirdly cute. And I know, right, I know I had no right to drag you away like that, but I just couldn't stand the thought of you being with her when she's so completely wrong for you."
"Since when do you care who I kiss?" Naomi scoffed. "I mean, since it's not your sister anymore."
"I do care, you stupid bitch! I care about you!" Katie snapped back. "Or maybe you hadn't noticed. I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. I know it's none of my business who you kiss or who you want to kiss or who you want to shag, but I fucking...care about you, all right? I fucking care."
"Who then Katie?" Naomi asked, knowing the one person she desperately wanted to kiss didn't reciprocate her feelings. "Who should I kiss?"
"I don't know," Katie shrugged, finally finding the courage to look Naomi in the eye. She almost drowned in the blue. She saw everything she loved about the blonde in those eyes: the kindness, the caring, the sarcasm, everything. "Me," she muttered so quietly Naomi wasn't sure she'd heard her.
"What?" Naomi replied in a whisper, needing confirmation that what she had just heard wasn't just wishful thinking on the part of her imagination.
"Kiss me," she repeated softly, sounding slightly surer this time.
A thousand thoughts flooded Naomi's brain, a lot of them wondering if she was being serious, some of them rejoicing over the fact that Katie wanted to be kissed by her, a few questioning what might happen if they did kiss, and one overwhelming thought that was telling her to stop thinking so much and just fucking kiss her.
A million butterflies flapped wildly in the pit of her stomach as she closed the distance between them, her eyes locked on Katie's the entire time. Her heart beat so loudly in her chest that it drowned out the din of the people surrounding them. Slowly she brought her lips to meet Katie's, igniting sparks in both of them from the first moment's contact. It was the kind of kiss she'd seen in films or read about in epic romance novels, the kind of kiss very few people get to experience in their lifetime.
Katie leaned in, pressing their bodies closer together, adding to the searing heat that was growing between them. This wasn't just a kiss, it was a meeting of souls.
They parted briefly, each wanting to see the other's reaction to the kiss. They gazed deep into each other's eyes and found love and desire mirrored there. Seconds later their lips crashed together again, this time more frantically, with more desire, more need. Katie's tongue swept over Naomi's lower lip before pushing its way inside her mouth where it began to caress her own. Katie shuddered at how unbelievably good it felt to kiss Naomi. She had never been kissed like this before, so hungrily and passionately, but also tenderly. If it weren't for the smell of smoke and the drunken howling of the other people in the smoking area they could have easily forgotten where they were.
It was Naomi who pulled away, in response to a cat call directed at them, although how she found the willpower to do it, she will never know.
"Not here," she muttered, shaking her head.
Katie nodded, unable to verbalise any of the thoughts she was having, and took Naomi's hand allowing her to lead her out of the club. They didn't bother stopping to say goodbye or make excuses as to why they were leaving. They just walked straight out the door without so much as a thought.
Effy smiled when she saw them leave together over the shoulder of some random guy trying to chat her up. She thought it would have taken them longer.
No words passed between them as they hailed a taxi and headed back to Gina's. They were afraid the wrong words would ruin the moment. Naomi paid the driver, tipping generously because she didn't want to wait for her change, and pulled Katie into the house and up the stairs. When the door clicked shut, Naomi had Katie pressed against it, her lips capturing the smaller girl's as though they had been starved for oxygen while they were apart. As their tongues explored each other's mouths and their hands roamed each other's bodies, Naomi knew she was close to getting carried away.
"Katie," she breathed, pulling back slightly to look in Katie's eyes.
"I know," she murmured against Naomi's lips. She knew they needed to talk about this, about what was going on between them, but right now, she was responding to a more pressing need: the need to show Naomi exactly how she felt about her. She reached up and grabbed Naomi by the neck deepening the kiss.
Naomi's hands pressed hard against Katie's back, pulling her closer, as if that was possible. She found the zip of Katie's dress and slid it down slowly allowing it to fall to the floor in a crumpled heap that Katie would complain about in the morning, but right now she was too preoccupied with getting Naomi out of her gloriously tight fitting dress. They parted briefly so Katie could slide the sheer material over Naomi's head and throw it across the room. Naomi used the opportunity to fully appreciate the sight of Katie in her underwear. The lacy garments were exquisite and matched not only each other but also the dress that now decorated Naomi's floor. Of course, she grinned. She would expect nothing less from Katie fucking Fitch.
Katie's mouth went dry as her eyes travelled Naomi's half naked body. She'd seen her changing before but this was different, this was so much better. She thrust her tongue deep into Naomi's mouth and pulled back, smiling devilishly at her before pushing her onto the bed.
The wrinkled bed covers felt cold against Naomi's back, a result of her once again leaving the window open after smoking in her room, but Katie's body on top of her felt blisteringly hot. This was everything she wanted and it was happening right now. Katie's tongue skilfully swept and massaged her own in ways that excited her beyond belief.
The feeling of skin on skin ignited them. Their kisses became more frantic as their hands grabbed at each other. Naomi's delicate hands softly stroked Katie's exposed breasts, cupping them and toying with her nipples. Katie shifted on top of her, dropping her thigh between Naomi's parted legs, the friction offering her mild relief from the tension building there. The silky material of Naomi's bra was hastily pushed aside as Katie kissed a trail from her neck before taking her nipple in her mouth and massaging it with her tongue.
It took all the energy Naomi had not to climax on the spot. She managed to recompose herself, rolling so she was on top of Katie. She deliberately slowed her actions. She wanted to taste every kiss, relish every touch and savour every moment of it.
As the last pieces of their clothing took up residence on the floor and they looked deep into each other's eyes, they knew they wouldn't be stopping any time soon.
They fell asleep eventually, and when they did, they slept deeply and peacefully, naked in each other's arms.
It was Katie who awakened first. As the first threads of consciousness wove into her sleepy brain, she became aware of Naomi's arms tightly wrapped around her waist and Naomi's bare breasts pressed against her back, and she smiled. She rolled over to examine the sleeping blonde's face and the serene look that graced it.
It was still a few minutes before Naomi stirred, her eyelids fluttering open to catch Katie looking at her. She smiled broadly, grateful that Katie hadn't fled her bed.
"I'm not Emily," Katie blurted out, feeling the words escape her mouth before she had a chance to stop them. Her mouth had a habit of running away from her.
"I know," Naomi replied softly, chewing her bottom lip thoughtfully. "You're nothing like her actually." She leaned in to place a soft kiss on Katie's lips.
Katie's heart felt like it stopped beating for a second. "So this isn't some weird 'I can't have your twin sister so I'll settle for you' thing then?" Katie asked, already sure of the answer,but wanting to hear it from Naomi's lips.
"You have a twin?" Naomi feigned surprise.
Katie rolled her eyes and kissed her again; it seemed to be a fairly effective way of shutting her up.
"So what is this, then?" Naomi asked when their lips parted again. She had been harbouring feelings for Katie for what felt like ages now, but she never dreamed Katie would reciprocate those feelings. "I mean, what's going on here?"
"I don't know," she answered honestly with a weak smile. "I mean...I didn't even realise I fancied you until last night. I just thought I was having really random sex dreams...and then when I saw you with that girl, when I thought about you being with someone else, I realised...that I like you. I like you more than I've ever liked anyone before, actually."
"Wow," Naomi breathed. She had imagined this moment happening many times, in many different ways, but she had never imagined how good it would feel to hear those words come from Katie's mouth.
"Is that the best you can do?" Katie huffed indignantly, she'd been expecting a bit more of a reaction. "I thought you were supposed to be good with words!"
"So...you've been having sex dreams about me?" Naomi teased, poking her tongue out between her lips, inciting the other girl.
"Oh fuck you Campbell!" Katie frowned and gave her a playful shove.
"In your dreams, apparently," she retorted, grabbing Katie's hands and pulling her closer. "And last night," she practically purred as she pounced on Katie's lips once again.
Katie protested slightly at first, trying to squirm away, but she gave up quickly, parting her lips to deepen the kiss. The kissing soon lead to groping, and the groping to grinding. Before they knew it, they collapsed into each other's arms, breathless and sweating.
"You know," Naomi began, taking a deep breath and drawing inspiration from Katie's chocolate brown eyes, "I never thought I'd like you, even as a friend."
Katie's brow furrowed. This wasn't exactly the profession of love she'd been hoping for.
"But then I got to know you, and I realised you weren't that bad...you weren't bad at all. You were actually kind of nice, underneath all of that bitchiness. You're smart and funny, too, when you want to be. I never thought it could be so easy to be around you," she chuckled softly. "So easy that I didn't even realise I was falling for you until it was too late. And then, when I did realise, I couldn't bear to be away from you. It just seemed better to suffer in your presence than in your absence."
"How long have you known?" Katie couldn't stop herself from asking.
"New Year's Eve," Naomi shrugged. "When you kissed me I...I didn't want you to stop."
"Is that why you got so drunk?" Katie put two and two together in her head.
Naomi shrugged, the blush turning her cheeks pink answering for her. "Probably not my finest hour, but it was the only way I could think of to deal with unrequited love," she sighed, her eyes widening when she realised what she had just admitted.
"You..." Katie choked out, her heart thumping loudly inside her chest as she tried to process everything that had happened since last night and how she felt. "Maybe..." she began, hesitating slightly. "Maybe it's not unrequited."
"It's not?" Naomi asked, struggling to control her grin.
Katie couldn't answer, she simply shook her head.
They smiled at each other like idiots, hearts racing as they realised that this was real. When their lips met again it was different than it had been before, it was surer, more meaningful somehow.
"So...what do you want to do today?" Naomi asked, lying back down with Katie in her arms.
Katie chuckled and shook her head. "Can we just stay here...like this?" she asked.
"Yeah, ok," Naomi smiled and kissed Katie's hair.
They knew they wouldn't be able to hide away in Naomi's room forever. They would eventually have to rejoin civilisation. They would have to make some attempt at explaining this to the outside world, even though they didn't fully understand it themselves. But, for now, they were happy, locked away in the sanctuary of Naomi's room with only Gina's non-judgemental eyes present to see their developing relationship, and a text message from Effy saying 'it's about time!'.