AN: I had already written half of this, so I could resist posting again. Now that I am back with my beloved mobile phone, I can write on the move and so will probably get through this story a lot quicker at the moment. I hope you enjoy the direction this story is taking...thanks for any reviews so far for the last chapter and in advance for anymore that may be written.

*

*

*

The days were getting colder; Naomi could feel the onset of an early winter brushing against her face as she walked through the residential streets of Bristol. She longed to be back at the Fitch house, to start the whole conversation with Emily again. She wished she'd told Emily everything instead of pushing her away further. She wanted to go home, to her yellow house, where her mum invited strangers to stay and random, naked men walked around. That had to be better than this, she found herself wondering. She wanted to call her mother, to spend an uncomfortable night in the car. But her mum's contract had been cancelled when they'd lost the house. Naomi walked around for a while, hoping that movement would keep her warm. But after nearly two hours her toes were still cold and her nose was bright red from the chilling breeze. She thought about her options; she thought about who she could call on, who she could stay with. But on closer inspection of her so called friends, Naomi realised she wasn't that close to any of them. She thought of the group; of the shame of telling them everything and how quickly the information would spread through college and straight to Emily.

*

Reaching into her pockets Naomi pulled out a crumpled five pound note and a couple of coins. It wasn't much, but it was enough to get into the all night bar in the city. It was a Thursday night, the night when most of her friends visited a quieter club on the outskirts of the city centre. She knew the bar would be busy, but at least she wouldn't have to spend the night bumping into her friends and she wouldn't have to spend it alone either.

"I'll have a water please," Naomi asked the bartender as she entered the newly built structure with only a pound left to spend.

"Just a water?" a guy walking up behind her asked.

"Yeah," Naomi sighed, paying little attention to the male stood beside her.

"Well I can't really buy you one of those, can I?"

Naomi raised an eyebrow and looked the handsome guy up and down. She recognised him remotely from college, he had only just started and was little more than sixteen or seventeen years old. She shrugged her shoulders, frowning.

"You want to buy me a drink?"

"Sure do, babe," he grinned, a triumphant look on his face.

Babe. She hated that word, especially when a half drunk, hormonal teenager said it.

"I'll get a lager and lime," Naomi asked the bartender, who took their drinks orders.

The guy towered over her as he introduced himself. She learnt his name was Samuel and then she stopped listening. She paid little attention as he told her a story that made him laugh hysterically in a geeky, teenage way. She nodded and reacted enough to keep his interest, before following him to a group of equally young first year college students. She sat down warily, hoping they didn't recognise her from the few days they'd been at Roundview.

"What did you say your name was?" Samuel asked, his friends giving him victorious looks that made Naomi want to slap them all.

"Nicole," Naomi stated, the name slipping out as though lying was second nature.

She had little interest in Samuel or his friends, but she saw an opportunity and she took it. Free drinks off a group of rampant teenagers. It was an option worth taking, for a while at least.

*

The bedroom light was on, the bulb shining brightly across the room. Emily lay on her bed, her head resting against the soft surface of her pillow. The house was almost silent, except for the faint sobs of her mother crying in her bedroom. A painful atmosphere had filled the house, one that made Emily scared to do her normal activities, like eat, watch television or shower. No one was happy. No one was sad. They were merely surviving in a way that worried Emily. Were they ever going to be the same again? It had been barely twenty four hours since they'd found out, barely one whole day. They still had months ahead of them, weeks of Katie's treatment and knowing that cancer was in their lives in a very real way. None of them wanted to talk, or share how they were feeling. They all went about their half-lives, barely living as the hours drew by.

"Emily?" a faint voice muttered.

James entered the room with red eyes and a worried expression. Emily took a deep breath, feeling a lump in her throat at the sight of her brother's tears.

"What?" she asked, sitting up and watching him take a seat on her bed.

"Is Katie going to die?"

It was a question she'd asked herself several times already, a question she honestly had no answer for. But with her brother sat in front of her, his prepubescent self so painfully unaware of what it all really meant, she found the need to act like she did have an answer.

"No," Emily assured him, letting him lean into her as she wrapped her arms around him.

He was a pain in the arse and he invaded the twins privacy far too often. But he was still her little brother. She held him closely, letting him cry. She wondered if her vacant tears would finally fall, but they didn't even make an appearance. Instead she focused on James, her baby brother. The precious bundle of weird smelling skin that her parents brought home from the hospital one day. Katie had hated having to share their parents with anyone else, but Emily liked the idea of having another sibling. She always thought that it got lonely when one of them wasn't there and a third sibling would make that easier. But with foresight and a situation where one sibling was not there, they both seemed to feel just as lost. James was another sibling, but he couldn't make it feel any better that Katie was still in hospital, or that she had cancer.

"I don't want her to have cancer," James cried, clinging to her skin, like he did as a toddler.

When James was two he went through a phase where Emily was his favourite person. Emily flashed back to a day in the middle of the summer when Katie stopped talking to her because she paid more attention to James than she did to Katie. It was typical Katie. But Emily couldn't help wonder if that moment had been different, would Katie still have leukaemia?

Eventually James fell asleep beside her. She didn't mind too much. What she did mind was the silence, the empty space in their house that made everything feel so much more terrible. Then she thought of Naomi and the situation that had unfolded at the doorway. She didn't understand why Naomi blew up at her, nor did she have any energy left to feel angry or frustrated at Naomi's words. She was confused and she wished she knew more about why Naomi had got so mad. But it didn't matter much to her, nothing did since Katie was diagnosed.

*

The group bore Naomi pretty quickly. They reminded her of her first year at Roundview where their only real worries were who was sleeping with who and what drugs they'd have that night. Things were different now and she liked to think that she had matured over the past few months. She had gained several free drinks from the group and was happily tipsy, a feeling she was thankful for as it drowned out the sorrows she didn't want to remember.

"We're going to go," Samuel announced, "Got college tomorrow, don't want to overdo it."

Naomi felt like she was going to cry. She didn't want them to leave. She didn't care if she ever saw them again after that night, but until the night was over she didn't want to be alone.

"Wanna come back to mine?" Samuel asked, a look of excitement on his face that made Naomi glance down to find equal excitement. She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"I don't think so, it's been a nice night, but you're not really what I'm looking for,"

"Come on babes, you haven't taken your eyes off me all night," he grinned, leaning in to kiss her. She felt his lips brush hers lightly and she pulled back.

"No, I don't like you in that way,"

"Course you do, why else would you hang around me all night?"

"Because I'm fucking homeless and my girlfriend is pissed at me," she announced, wondering how it was so easy telling a perfect stranger her worries.

Samuels lips curled into a smile, "Yeah, right, now give us a blow job."

Naomi closed her eyes. She couldn't believe how slimy he had become. She turned to walk away when he reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her round to kiss her again. She pushed him away and screamed for him to leave her alone. In one quick movement, someone came out of nowhere and thumped him clean on the nose. Naomi gasped as she watched the teenager fall to the floor, sobering up quickly as blood spilled from his nose and his friends pulled him out of the bar.

"Fuckin' hell," Naomi cried out, looking up to find Cook staring down at her.

"I was gonna say the same thing, that guy had a metal face or something, my hands killing me,"

"What are you doing here Cook?" she asked, her tone less thankful than she was hoping for.

"Saving you from first years, obviously."

Naomi wanted to laugh, but instead tears fell down her cheeks and she felt her body jerk with sobs. She felt Cooks arms around her, something that didn't happen often, unless sex was going to be involved. She felt somewhat safe in his arms, she felt like he was more of a gentleman than she'd ever given him credit for.

"Tell Uncle Cookie all about it," he grinned, "And then Ill take you home."

"I don't have anywhere to go," she told him, avoiding his eyes.

"Then you'll just have to come stay with Cookie until you do."

*

*

*

AN: Thanks for reading, I am currently unemployed, having finished university...I have plenty of time on my hands, so keep reviewing and more will come.