Author's Note: Oh my god, thank you so much for all the reviews and follows guys. I'm loving the way this story is going and the pace so far. And with that, ENJOY :)

Chapter Eight: Turning Labels

Emily stepped back and noticed Naomi's eyes were still closed, lips slightly parted. She watched as the blonde eyebrows furrowed and her blue eyes looked at her full of unspoken words. "Emily..." Her voice was as soft as her lips had felt.

"I-I'm sorry. I just thou-" Emily began to apologize, flustered at what she expected to be rejection. She had to remove herself from the situation before she could be left more devastated than she had ever been. The kiss left her feeling so vulnerable. It was a risk worth taking until it fell through. Now she could not even foresee a friendship. Fuck, what have I done? She probably hates me.

"Stop." Naomi shocked Emily. "We need to talk." Emily waited for her to say something. "Not here." She took Emily's hand firmly and tugged her down the corridor and through the exit.

"Naomi," Emily protested.

"No. Wait." Naomi took a hesitant Emily down the sidewalks, not even caring about the attention they were getting as two girls holding hands. It appeared as if Naomi were dragging a very confused and worried person from an outsider's view - perhaps a friend forcibly consoling another. But no one knew the fragile thoughts racing through Naomi's head as she was doing so. She honestly did not know where she was going; she was trying to kill time until she figured out what exactly it was that she wanted to tell Emily.

Emily was getting tired of the suspense, "Naomi, just say something already! I'm not following you forever," even if I want to. Emily stopped walking, forcing Naomi to stop as well.

Naomi realized she had to say something; she was not being fair. "Well, this is exactly where I wanted to take you." They were standing in front of the university's giant fountain. There was a statue of an angel wearing a graduate cap standing on one foot with water spouting out of its mouth. It was actually a traditional place where people asked their significant others out; Naomi realized this too. Her subconscious must have led her there because this was certainly not the cliché of a location she would have intentionally chosen. She wished that her subconscious would also do the talking. Maybe this won't be that hard. "Emily..." Uhhhh... fuck, what do I say? You look so cute right now.

Emily waited, unable to read Naomi's facial expressions. "Naomi, say something - anything."

"You look so cute right now." Fucking hell, anything but that.

Emily instantly blushed. "Thank you, but not that. You're supposed to tell me what's going on, in here." Emily reached up and touched Naomi's head gently. Naomi's eyes looked up and followed Emily's hand to her temple until it fell back to the shorter girl's side. Emily was slightly embarrassed once she realized how dumb that must have looked. She did not know that the physical contact had made Naomi's stomach summersault, in a potentially good way.

Naomi had no choice but to be honest. "I'm not sure."

"Is it good?"

"Mm... It's not bad."

"Care to elaborate?"

"I'm not gay." Naomi sighed and looked away.

"Nobody said you were," Emily stated, causing Naomi's eyes to shoot right back to looking at hers, challengingly.

"Are you gay?"

Emily breathed in deeply then answered, "Yes. I'm gay. I like tits and fanny, rosy cheeks, soft lips, and cute bums. I like girls. I like kissing girls, I like touching girls; I like being with girls." Emily exhaled, relieved she had finally said to Naomi what she wanted to say out loud ever since the first time she had a crush on a girl, years ago. Now was the first time she had said it so blatantly to someone outside of her family.

Naomi's eyes widened and she bit back a smile. She blushed a little at the automatic thought of her and Emily doing all those things. "Tits and fanny, eh?" She covered her inappropriate thoughts with outward teasing.

Emily blushed again. It seems they were taking turns embarrassing each other, intentionally or not. "Yeah, and cute bums." They chuckled. "So what do you say?"

"What do I say to what?" Naomi smirked. She knew exactly what Emily was getting at but was being evasive for the sake of her own amusement.

"We don't have to label it or anything. I just thi-"

That was enough for Naomi. She took Emily by surprise, something Naomi noted to make a habit of, and kissed Emily before she could finish her sentence. After an electric moment, Naomi pulled back, trying to stop smiling like a silly little schoolgirl experiencing her first kiss. She had kissed loads of boys, and a few girls for dumb drinking games at parties, but this was so different. Emily's smile was practically a reflection of her own. "Okay," Naomi said.

"Okay?" Emily's pitch raised in excitement.

"Yeah. I think." Naomi still instinctually fought the commitment. She knew that was something she was going to have to work on.

Emily caught her. "You think?"

"Well, I've um, I've never dated a girl before."

"Me either, for the most part."

"Then how do you know you're gay?"

"Have you ever had chocolate covered crickets?"

"No."

"Would you eat a chocolate covered cricket?"

"God no, that's repulsive."

"But you haven't had one, so how would you know?"

"Touché, but boys aren't all bad. Like chocolate covered things, strawberries, good, and crickets, bad. It depends." Naomi shrugged.

"All the ones Katie's ever dated are disgusting."

"Well, I have better taste than your sister then." It took Naomi a moment to realize what she had just said.

"You most certainly do, Campbell." Emily smirked.

"Oh, alright, fine. That applies to my picking you too, I guess." Naomi stretched her words as if it were a hassle to admit the implied compliment. Naomi rolled her eyes playfully. Then she looked back down to Emily. They were only a few inches apart but Naomi was used to dating guys taller than herself. She kind of liked the new change, she thought. "So, Emily... what do we do now?"

"I can think of a few things..." Emily leaned in to kiss Naomi. Naomi closed her eyes and waited expectantly. An unusual amount of empty seconds passed before she finally realized she was not about to be kissed. She opened her eyes and pulled back to see Emily trying to withhold a laugh. Emily continued her sentence; "But I think a first date is in order."

Naomi scowled at Emily's tease. "You're a twat, you know that?"

"Mhm!" Emily smiled amusedly, knowing better than to take offense.

"Okay, so what exactly do you have in mind, shrimp? Hmm?"

Emily rolled her eyes at Naomi's name-calling and then quickly smiled with an idea. "Well, there's this..."

Author's Note: Let me know your thoughts in the reviews! I think I nailed Naomi's noncommittal side. I'm going to be exploring a different interpretation of Emily's self-expression soon, but I think it suits her. We'll see what'chu guys think.