Hey guys!
Sorry for the big gap between chapters, I've been in a 'dark' place called Those Of Us Left... my newest fic. It's not bad, I promise. Check it out? It will surprise you ;) The summary is a bit shit, but the people reading seem to really, really love it; even if they've never heard of or played the game. It has one shocking storyline let me just say, and the fact that it's Naomily-centric will probably make up the fact that this story is lacking in it at the moment :)
That being said, I haven't felt very lovey-dovey, real world lately (hence my submersion into the post-apocalyptic). Mostly, because Fire knocked all the romance out of me :( So this chapter was HARD. But, I struggled through it, because it's my way of thanking those of you reading. I've started a new job (painting. Sexy, right?) and I'm going on holiday next week so my updates are about to seriously lag for this story.
Oh, and to aeondj14, this chapter may make you love me. Just sayin' ;)
September POV
"For fuck sakes Effy, why is it so hard for you to believe I don't want to fuck you!"
"Because everyone does!"
"Yeah, well. I don't."
"Don't protest too much."
I shake my head at her, I haven't laughed this much in a long time.
'
'
A few hours earlier...
After my show, the guys I played with gave me the address to their recording studio. They want to feature me in a couple of their songs, and I'm super excited. I thought about going back to New York for a while, but I'm glad Katie convinced me to stay. I've been able to relax and come out of my shell a little, I don't have to worry about things here. I can preform at dingy pubs and not worry that someone I know is going to 'show up' and make me completely self conscious. I don't look over my shoulder in the fear I'll bump into someone from my past, and the people here think I'm edgy and mysterious because I have an 'accent', though I never thought I'd ever say that sentence in my life. It's opened a lot of doors for me, I would have never been asked to sing on an album before; too much budding Hip-Hop talent in the Empire State, you see.
I was packing up, when I noticed that girl was sitting at the bar with Katie and they were actually chatting, laughing even. I decided I didn't want to intrude, because I know how lonely Katie has been. It's nice to see her hang out with someone other than me for a change. I make my way around the bar, and find Effy trying her hardest to get a message across clearly to some roided up guy who I'm assuming was making advances towards her. It was strange, she actually looked unsettled, so I did what I always do in this situation; pull a super-mario and rescue the damsel in distress. Big mistake.
"Hey Eff" I try to appear chipper, like we are here together and I've been looking for her. I walk up to her, grab her hand tighly and kiss her cheek for emphasis. Take the hint, buddy. Little do I know this just aggrivates him more.
"So" He starts, eying me up like a prized piece of meat. Ugh, no wonder she's trying to turn you down; you smell like a brewery. "This is what you turned me down for? some..." He looks at me objectivly before completing his sentence "...fucking, cunt? Oh honey, please let me show you what driving stick feels like, huh? Better than licking any day" He wiggles his brows at her and I've had enough.
"Hey!" I snap at him like I'm chastising a child. "How 'bout you fuck off? Take rejection like a man, or are you a bitch that doesn't let things go?" Bad idea turned worse.
He growls in anger and goes to swing, and at the same time I grab Effy's arm and pull her behind me. There is a loud CRACK! Sound, and one of the guys I sang with smacks him over the head with a beer bottle. "Eh!" He shouts. "Di'int you hear our song earlier? Real men don't hit women, you shit!" In one swift motion, the guy is lifted off the ground by some security guard - his head bleeding profusely (from all the alcohol in his system most likely) - and is thrown out the back door on his face. My buddy from the band turns to me, and says to me and Effy "Right. Some guys can be right pricks. You gals okay?" I pat his arm to thank him, before I turn my attention to a clearly upset Effy. He squeezes my shoulder telling me to deal with her, and saunters off to his band mates. I'll thank him later.
"Eff?" I ask. "Are you okay?"
She's looking off somewhere, and her eyes are like a deer in headlights. "Eff?" I ask again, this time placing my hand lightly on her shoulder to get her attention. Her gaze fixes on my hand, then up my arm, and eventually my face; and it finally registers that I'm talking to her. She doesn't reply, she just attacks me with a bone-crushing hug. Somehow it feels like her legs are off the ground... She pulls away, and finally looks into my eyes. And it's wierd, the way she's looking at me. No one's ever looked at me that way, not even Emily. The fuck is she thinking?
She looks down, takes in our proximity, and steps back before saying a tentative "Thanks. That guy wouldn't take a hint" i smile at her, and go to say something when I hear Katie from behind me shouting "Hey! He-... piss off tosser!" She pushes some skinny guy out of her way. "Hey, are you guys okay? Did I just see some bloke take a swing at you?!"
I bet Katie could have gotten him to fuck off, that mouth of hers would've made his invisible tail tremble between his legs. "Yeah, everything's fine, really. I'm gonna take Effy home, okay? Stay, have fun with your friend" I give her a playful smirk, and she rolls her eyes.
" 's alright, I can come with ya? I don't need to like, be here or anything" I look over Katie's shoulder, and see her friend has returned from the washroom, watching our exchange closely as if trying to figure out her next move based on Katie's.
"No, Katie." I start "You have a friend to catch up with." I nod towards the girl, and Katie turns; her face turning bright red.
"But I-" she goes to argue, but I playfully push her "It's not gonna kill you to have some fun for once! Call me if you need anything, okay?" And I hug her goodnight. We break away from each other, and she gives me a thankful smile before she turns to Effy and says:
"It was good to see you too, Effy. We should catch up, yeah?" Effy smiles back at her, and she walks back to the bar and the girl.
"Seems like she does well with both sexes. I'm guessing this is your doing?" She gestures to Katie, and I know she's implying Katie's recent... team change.
"Oh, no" I say "This was all her. She is a twin after all, just took her a little longer is all" I wink at her, before taking her hand and ushering her out of the bar with me. "Come on!" I say, pulling her along the street with me. "I'm starved. Food?"
She nods, and laughs at my enthusiasm as we briskly walk down the street towards a bright yellow sign that has chinese symbols on it. Chinese it is then.
'
'
Present Time
"So, Effy. Tell me, why are you having so much trouble with those chopsticks? I've heard you're quite famillar with sticks" I jibe playfully.
She looks up at me between taking mouthful's of rice and chicken, ineffectively being able to get the chicken from the plate to her mouth. She glares at me, but still manages to smile at my dig before literally tossing the chopsticks over her shoulder - landing somewhere on the floor under a table - as she reaches over to the table next to us and grabs a fork. I laugh, becuase she can be so defiant without even having to say a word.
"Because..." She responds, after scooping up a healthy amount of rice into her mouth "... I discovered the power of the pussy." She says this with the straightest face I've ever seen, and I picked the worst time to take a mouthful of noodles. I choke, and a few bits of noodle go flying back out on my plate before I cover my mouth with my hands. "What the..." I cough out. "...Fuck did you say?!" She full on laughs now, her face contorting into a big bright smile, and it's actually quite a nice sound; Effy laughing. The lack of creases in her face tell me that she doesn't do it often, and that's really sad.
"Yup, I did. And I promise you I'm well versed. I could make it worth your while" She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively at me.
"For fuck sakes Effy, why is it so hard for you to believe I don't want to fuck you!"
"Because everyone does!" She shouts, laughing as she does so.
"Yeah, well. I don't." I say, raising one of my eyebrows in defiance.
"Don't protest too much." She says, scooping up another piece of chicken off her plate and into her smiling mouth. She is being smug now, chewing away happily while she squints her eyes and cocks her head at me.
"So full of yourself, Stonem."
She nods to this playfully, and then I see her demeanor change drastically; like she forgot to turn the oven off or something. She places her fork down on her plate, uses a napkin to wipe her face, and looks at me. Seriousness is evident, so much for teasing.
"How are you holding up?" is all she asks. She has nothing in her hands, nothing to distract her or me. Her full attention is on me and I don't exactly like it.
"I..." I stutter. How do I do this? How do I tell her that I'm in hell?
"I don't know." I say. I guess it's time to be honest. "I feel like Christina Perri is mocking me, you know? Like a thousand years isn't going to be enough for me to feel okay again."
She nods, and still hasn't taken her icy blue eyes off of me. "Well," She starts "I don't know what to tell you. Getting over a Fitch is tough business."
"Come again?" I croak. Was she in love with Emily?
She smiles at this, and shakes her head. "Take a breath Hun, not her. Katie."
"What about Katie?" I ask, clearly not getting the hint here.
"I had feelings for Katie once upon a time. But I lived."
That seems like the oddest pairing in the world. Bitchy, style obsessed Katie Fitch and edgy, observant and quiet Effy Stonem? On what planet...
"I assume you broke it off then?" Is the next words out of her mouth. How did she know?
"Emily wouldn't have done it, she's too kind. Probably would have married you and had lots of babies if you didn't. Though, you probably know that."
I nod. I know she would have stuck it out with me. Hell, we could have been married forever. But, I love Emily. And I wouldn't want her to be unhappy, and I would have eventually broke down because I know deep down that I'm just not it for her. I think that's the worst part of it all.
"Well, I took your advice Effy. I got out of their way, and now I just have to burn and move on."
She's confused now. "What advice?"
Really? You don't remember? I scan her face looking for any kind of malice or deviance, but there's only confusion; and I see a bit of fear behind her eyes as well.
"Uhm... I went over to your place, talked you out of the bathroom. Don't you remember?"
She looks down sadly and shakes her head. I don't know exactly how to proceed, and when she lifts her head up I see something I never thought I'd see; tears forming. "I'm messed up, I'm sick. I have all kinds of medication, I do fucked up things. I don't remember what happened that night, and if I did something to hurt you I'm so-" I cut her off by placing my lips on hers. I feel her place a hand on my back and her other hand on my neck. Okay, so I didn't think this would turn into something so intimate. Shit. Why doesn't this feel the same as last time? I was just trying to comfort her. Though, it's not that bad... I kinda feel better? Fuck.
I pull away from her, and I see that one single tear has escaped and trailed down her face. I see them then, the creases in her face. Those ones you should get when your older, because you've smiled and laughed so much. But, in her, I see them when she cries, like she's cried more often than anything. I push aside my hesitance then and kiss the top of her head before saying quietly:
"I know. It's nothing I can't handle."
Katie POV
"Are your friends okay?" She asks, as I walk back over to our bar stools.
"Yeah, 'course." I reply, slumping myself back down next to her.
She turns to me, smirks, and orders another drink. I'm starting to feel fuzzy so I ask the barman for a coffee.
"Going somewhere?" She asks, eyebrow raised.
"No, I just need to cool it is all. I'm not 16 anymore." I chuckle in response.
She smiles while taking another sip of her drink, and then places it down on the table. Something has changed, because there is a silence between us that wasn't there before. So, my mind and ears wander to the music pumping out of the loudspeaker above me. This is the fucking strangest song I think I've ever heard.
gimme a drink a water,
I'm gonna 'sing around the collar'
And I don't need a microphone
I look up, just passed the wine glasses hung by their stems above the barman, and see some images flash on a TV screen. I think it's following the song? There's a guy on the screen (I think it's a guy. My vision is a little blurry) dressed in red and then it suddenly shifts to a black and white movie thing. Is this what passes for music now a days? Is the song even in sync?
handcuffed to a bunk
Robbed blind
Looked around
And there was nobody else
Well, I guess it's not that bad, the guitar is actually quite catchy.
Left alone
I hit myself with a stone
Went home
And learned how to clean up after myself
Ha! there's some old lady on there with a white eyeball! That's funny, man. Wow. I am really drunk.
"Can I ask you something?" She blurts out, startling me a little since my body was starting to get used to the silence.
"Sure" I nod. Why the fuck not, right?
"Are you with that girl who sang earlier?"
"Who?" I ask. "September?"
"Yeah" She nods. "Cause I wanna take you home, and that's cool if you want a fling and all, but I don't fuck people in relationships."
If my mind wasn't so foggy at the moment from so much alcohol, I probably would have said 'What the fuck' really loudly. But, if there's anything booze and life have taught me, it's to enjoy the little things. I'm gonna take this as a compliment instead of an insult to my 'straight' projection. Besides, she's well fit, and I did snog the hell out of that girl when I visited Em in New York. That reminds me...
"Where are you from?" I ask. She looks at me, raises her eyebrow at me for what feels like the third time tonight, and shakes her head before having another sip of her drink.
"I'll take that as a no." She mumbles. "Good, 'cause I think that girl she was with has a serious thing for her anyway."
"Who? Effy?"
"Miami." She replies quickly. Finishing her drink in one swift motion.
This conversation is getting seriously jumbled, and my incoherent brain is working at top speed. And, lets face it. I'm in 'the mood'. Listening to music that gets my heart pumping and drinking with a pretty, and dare I say anonymous girl makes me feel better. She's not from around here, so I don't have to worry about calling her or whatever after. Strange, this must be what it's like for guys. No wonder they fuck up all the time, they don't have half the brain power, so how on earth can they figure out when to call or if they should? I know I'm not going to even ask for her number. Time for anonymous lesbian sex baby.
I sip the last mouthful of my coffee, and stand up. She looks surprised, as I reach out and take her hand. "Okay." I say. "Miami, is it?" She looks sceptically at me, and then smiles and nods in response.
"Good. Let's go then."
Now, I know there was no Naomily, and that's my fault. I'm having HUGE brain farts (pause for laughter) when it comes to their date, hence the un-Naomily related chapter :( (I was struggling before Fire, but now it's worse.) You know what would help me update quicker? Your ideas :) Reviews :D Anything XD Shameless, I know. I just love to hear from you is all. Honest, it makes my day. Thank you to those of you who have given me your ideas, they have been really lovely and I appreciate your efforts. I just need some serious jump-starting of my romantic heart is all. Yeah, I'm needy. Sorry.
'Till next time,
xo Violet