AN: Thanks for all your comments, etc. I love reviews, if you didn't already know that. I hope you're all enjoying the direction this story is taking...it seems to have a life of it's own as things keep happening or coming to me as I write it and I think "I hadn't planned for that to happen...but...". Enjoy!

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Every single pair of eyes hit her. At first she thought something must have been wrong with how she was dressed, or her hair. But then she remembered what Naomi had said about Doug. Emily made her way through the corridors of Roundview, holding her head down as people muttered and watched her go. She didn't want to be there, least of all with half the college staring at her. She didn't want to be back, she didn't even know why she'd agreed to return. It was still only a few days since Katie's diagnosis. Her dad decided he didn't want her missing anything more and with Katie coming home that evening, it was time the "family got back to normal". Normal? Emily had wanted to laugh at her dad's choice of words. They weren't normal, they were never going to be normal again.

"I'm sorry about Katie," a girl in her history class informed her as she walked by.

Sorry. Why was anyone sorry? She was ill, it wasn't their fault. Several more familiar and some unfamiliar faces said the same sort of thing. It made Emily want to shout at them, to tell them they had nothing to apologise for so why bother? Their messages didn't make her feel better, their only purpose was to make the person saying it feel like they were being supportive.

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"You gonna tell me why you had to stay at mine?" Cook asked for the fifth time that morning.

Naomi rolled her eyes, "Does it matter?"

"I put you up for the night, I let you sleep in my bed so you didn't get cold, the least you can do is tell me why I did it."

"I lost my key," she snapped, "Happy now?"

"Lost your key?" Cook repeated, a look of disbelief in his eyes as he shook his head.

"Now stop following me and leave me the fuck alone," Naomi muttered.

"Nice to see you're actually thankful, eh Naomi?"

"I'm just glad you didn't try something,"

"I can be a perfect gentleman when I want to be, not that I wouldn't have minded a willy waggle with a hot lesbian."

"You fucking tosser," she snapped.

"Oi, I let you stay, didn't I? How about some gratitude?"

She was sick and tired of Cook's moaning and groaning. All night he'd complained about the space in the bed that he had offered her, he'd complained that she wriggled too much, he complained that her clothes were covering the floor. She was sick of hearing it. He'd offered her a place to stay, she hadn't asked, she hadn't wanted to stay there. She took a deep breath and tried to feel more grateful for the warm place to sleep. Cook eventually muttered a goodbye, perfectly timed as Naomi came face to face with Emily.

"Emily?" Naomi muttered, walking over in an attempt to fix her mistakes.

The deep brown eyes that belonged to her girlfriend saw her, they registered her presence. But Emily diverted her path around Naomi and continued to walk down the corridor. Naomi took a deep breath, trying to stop the lump from forming in her throat. Her phone began to ring and Naomi greeted her mother on the other end.

"I found a friend we can stay with," Gina informed Naomi, an announcement that made her smile.

At last things were looking up and they were beginning to get back on their feet. Naomi took down the address from Gina and thanked her mum. She didn't know Tony Lester, she didn't even know how her mum knew him, but she was so thankful that he had a spare room.

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Naomi was on her mind. They'd bumped into each other briefly earlier in the day and without even thinking, Emily had blanked her. She was annoyed, more annoyed than she realised, that Naomi had been so mad. She had no right being mad for something that Emily thought was none of her business. Katie's illness was new for all of them, just because she hadn't told her straight away, didn't mean she wasn't going to confide in her about it. As she walked towards the exit of the college, she could see Naomi stood outside smoking a cigarette. Her stomach twisted in knots, her body still reacting to the sight of the girl she loved. Even if she was angry, she still cared about Naomi, she still loved her.

"Emily!" the blonde reacted, noticing her walking towards her.

Emily frowned, she might have still loved her, but she wasn't ready to talk, "I'm not in the mood to hear excuses," she responded, walking past Naomi before anything more could be said.

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There was a tension in the house that seemed to surround her before she'd even reached the stairs. Katie was home. She couldn't see her, or her belongings, but she could sense that things had changed. She thought of seeing her sister. She knew she was the same Katie, her treatment hadn't properly begun and her hair was still intact. But something in Emily's head was distorting her memories; removing Katie's hair and making her look ill. When she opened her bedroom door she found Katie sat up in bed, James and their mother hovering around her.

"Would you just give me some peace?" Katie asked, the usual snappy tone replaced with a sincere request.

"Okay," Jenna muttered, looking crestfallen at the prospect of not being by her daughters side.

Once James and Jenna had left the room, Emily stepped inside, warily. She tried to smile at her sister, who's face was more cheerful than she'd expected. She had been to see Katie at the hospital only the day before and she'd seemed broken and confused. It was like looking at a completely different person.

"You gonna tell me what's been going on at college then?" Katie asked, tapping a space on her bed for Emily to sit on.

"Nothing much," she replied, having paid little attention to the majority of the day.

Katie nodded, as though processing her answer, "Anyone going out tonight?"

"Effy said something about a club, but I said I couldn't go."

"Why not?"

Emily found herself laughing. It felt wrong to go out and have fun, when Katie was so ill. She couldn't believe her selfish sister was actually wanting her to go out, without her. She thought carefully about what it would mean to go to a club; loud music, dancing, drinking, perhaps some drugs. It was everything her parents would have hated had they'd known, it was everything Katie used to love, it was everything someone needed to hide away from their problems. But she didn't feel right doing it without Katie.

"Can you get me a glass of water? Mum said I can't leave my bed and I've got to take my medication."

The water was a simple request, but as Emily watched her sister taking pills, she felt strangely weak. She'd heard the doctor explain that Katie was ill and what would happen, she'd read about leukaemia multiple times. But she had barely seen what it all meant; what the treatment would look like, how Katie would react, what medication she would have to take. She thought about the pills that Katie swallowed one by one and it was difficult not to think about the Es that Effy had promised would be there at the club waiting for whoever turned up. It was a tempting offer and one that looked more and more promising.

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AN: Thanks for reading, I hope you did enjoy...and I hope that if you did like or even if you disliked it, that you'll leave a message, a comment, a review, it's a nice way to repay a writer for the work they've done.