A/N: In a rush, rush, rush. So I'm going to keep this short. Just wanted to thank everyone for the cheering and reviewing. What an great crowd to return to. R&R. Finally, some Naomily.

I won. I would tell you what sentence that was awaiting Tom in jail, but really, I don't know. After the words 'guilty' were uttered, nothing mattered anymore. None of it.

After the storm and the calm that replaced it, you wouldn't expect things to be the same as they were before. And of course, they weren't. But, it was getting better. All of it. Not necessarily things between me and Emily, but it wasn't getting worse there either. No progress nor fallback. I found it pretty hard seeing her after everything that had happened these last few weeks.

I didn't avoid her, but I made an effort not to look for her, which I've otherwise done for as long as I can remember. We haven't spoken about this. About her coming to my rescue, in every way possible. About the red that resided within me. Burning for her. Yearning her for touch.

Me and Freddie have been going to the pier more often since the courtroom. Reconnecting on a new level. With everything out in the open, nothing left to hide. Nothing holding me down anymore.

"Don't feel bad for not telling me, N." He says as he nudge his shoulder against mine. "You were right, I would have fucking killed him in an instant."

I let out a small snort.

"Tell me about it." I reply.

"Kinda glad, y'know. Wouldn't want to waste my days in a orange suit, after all." He says.

"Me too. I'm glad someone gets to, though. For a fucking lifetime." I say. "Bastard." I mutter under my breath.

"He never.. you know.. Did he?" I know what he's getting at and I can't blame him. Or Emily for that matter, who's also asked the inevitable question. I would've asked the same.

"No, never. I was expecting it to happen, though. But it never came." I say.

"Why were you expecting it?"

"I don't know. Being a moron and a retarded cripple that must've been dropped as a baby it wouldn't surprise me if he thought raping me would, and I quote "set me straight". Literally."

Freddie turns his head to look straight at me, with a half disgusted and half surprised face.

"Set you straight? As in, straight straight? Is that why he did all of it?"

I nod as I continue to stare at the setting sun in the horizon.

"That's... fucked up, N." He breathes out.

"Mmmhm." I reply as I nod.

The silence takes over. It's not forced or intrusive. It's palpable but nice.

"She's not necessarily straight, you know." He says.

I look at him through the corner of my eye, seeing him fidgeting with his beer bottle label.

"I.. I guess I do know that." I think back on that time me and Emily shared a bench in the Fitch's backyards and she countered with Luke not having a brother, but a sister. And then the phone call when she ended something which I assume must have been some form of relationship. With someone who knows Luke. I just assumed it was Lisa.

"You do?"

"I think she's been with Luke's sister Lisa."

Freddie doesn't say anything. Maybe because he knows it's true. And from the way his fingers are fidgeting in an even more anxious manner, ripping off pieces of the label, he definitely knows it's true. And it breaks my heart a little bit more.

"Maybe. But you're the girl of her dreams, princess."

I snort.

"I think you got us mixed up, F. It's the other way around."

"No, really. Literally. She fell asleep on the sofa downstairs the other night while we were watching a film. Started to mumble incoherent stuff and all for a while until she mentioned you. Seemed to be a good dream as well." He winks.

I immediately blushed at his words. If only he had the slightest of ideas of the "good dreams" I've been having of Emily lately.

"She said my name?" I couldn't hide my excitement even if I tried.

"She did." He smiled.

"It could've been a nightmare. She did find me close to dead, y'know. That's got to do something for you."

"From the sounds she was doing, I doubt it."

This makes me blush even harder.

"I wish I could tell her."

"You can."

"I can't. It feels like everything is ruined. I'm not the person I want her to know. This emotional cripple with way too much baggage for someone my age to carry."

I stretch my neck backwards. Then to the sides. As if I was feeling it by just talking about it. Feeling the weight of it all.

"It's not just your baggage anymore, N. It's hers as well. And mine. And Katies. And Rob's. And Jenna's. And your mum's. It's everyone's now. And we'll gladly carry a part of it for you. We all share it, and always will."

And he was right. This wasn't my shit anymore. Everyone was involved. Everyone carried it. Shared the weight of it. Not just my shoulders anymore.

"I never thought of it like that."

"There's a lot of things you haven't thought of." He says.

"Like?"

"Ah, ah, ah." he says as he wiggles his finger from side to side. "One thing at a time, babe. One thing at a time."

I just roll my eyes.

The vibrating sound of a text message against the floorboards of the pier comes to life. Freddie starts rummaging through his pockets until he finds the offending item. He reads it and quickly types something back before returning it to it's previous position.

"We're going to Effy's tonight. You're coming as well. Apparently Cook's got some good shit."

"Is she going as well?"

He smirks.

"You just have to come and see for yourself, don't you?"

I sigh.

"You're impossible."

"I like this... this side of you. You really like her, and it's... rather cute actually. I mean, coming from someone like you."

"Fuck off. It's not 'cute'. It's fucking horrible. And pretty unbearable as well."

"Then, do something."

"You do something." I'm referring to Effy and he knows exactly what I'm getting at.

"I will." He says a bit defiantly.

"Then me too."

It was a silent agreement. We just both promised each other to act on our feelings. It spoke volumes for people like us. Scared of the rejection that it might result in. Scared of the approval it might result in. This night was not going to go down well.

We went straight to Effy's after leaving the pier, and of course, she was there. Well, she and what certainly looked like hundreds of other people. I instantly found her vibrating red hair in the crowd as we entered the kitchen. Where the party's always at. Everyone knows that the the best party is always in the kitchen.

A sudden roar startles me.

"Speaking of the little devil! Naomikins!" Cook and the drugs flowing freely in his system were more than happy to see me as the lifted me up in what felt like the tightest hug he's ever given me.

Emily's gaze instantly took an interest to the floor as he unsteadily held me in his arms. Myself though, couldn't stop staring at her.

"You fancy some?" He asks me as soon as he loosened his arms around my lanky frame and held out his tongue with a small white pill on it.

"Never know where that one's been." I said smiling, turning down his make-out offer as I take the pill from his mouth with my hand. "But thanks."

"Touché." A wink. He passes one on to Freddie as well.

Katie was mixing drinks by the kitchen table so I went over and offered to help. Some distraction from the other twin that made my knees all too weak.

"What can I offer you, my dear?" She says, obviously intoxicated. Probably been alternating giving out drinks and having one herself for everyone that came up to the table.

"Same old, same old." I reply, handing her the rum bottle.

"One rum and coke coming up!" She calls out, loud enough to make me flinch.

"Make that two." A voice from behind says.

That voice. God. Emily. Freddie wasn't joking when he said that Cook had brought some ace stuff. I was already feeling it. How could I not have noticed Emily coming up to the table? Katie being too smashed for her own good hadn't even noticed her sisters presence.

"Two it is... Oh, it's you!" Katie says, giggling when she saw her replica standing behind her. "Thought you didn't do rum." It wasn't much of a question but Emily answered it anyway while looking straight at me.

"Neither did I." It was raspy and wonderful. I couldn't help but think if that sentence held more to it than just alcohol preferences.

She always paralyzed me by her mere presence. I couldn't do anything but to stare back. After the conversation with Freddie earlier today, guts took over nerves. I wasn't going to be the one backing down tonight. Not averting my eyes, forcing hers to stay with me.

You see, Emily was the stubborn one of the twins. Challenging her is like accepting a loss before it even begun. She didn't take no for an answer. She never backed down. And her intensity. Gosh. I always thought my dreams of red was unbearable, but this. This staring contest that must've looked more like glaring than admiration was making me all dizzy.

Fortunately Katie managed to finish preparing our drinks and broke whatever spell that was coming over us.

"Cheers then!" She held up her own rum and coke, waiting for us to join. Told you she was alternating drinks. I know that girl all too well.

We all saluted in unison. I took a large swig of the drink, instantly feeling the amount of alcohol burning down my throat. Katie must've dropped the bottle into our glasses or something. It burned. But it was a good burn.

She giggled. About what, I'll never know. But she continued to giggle as she left me and Emily to awkwardly stand in front of each other, drinks in our hands.

"Is it going to be awkward from now on?" I blurt out. Told you I wasn't backing down tonight. What I didn't know though was that my mind and mouth was obviously not communicating well enough for me to actually be a part of the decision making in choice of words.

But she just smiled and let out a throaty laugh.

"I prefer it not to be." She replies.

And just before it almost falls back into the same awkwardness that I tried smothering by acknowledging it, I feel her arms around my neck and her small little frame pressing hard against mine. The second hug to receive from Emily Fitch. I instantly respond by lifting my arms and resting them on her back.

..5,

6,

7,

8,

9 seconds before she loosened her grip. She was about to say something and by the sad and guilty look of her eyes, I already knew what it was going to be so I beat her to it. Started shaking my head.

"Don't. Don't apologize. You did nothing wrong."

A smile. Ah, how I love that smile.

"How did you know I was going to say that?"

"I know everything." I smirked.

She mumbles something as she casted a look downwards.

"What was that?" I ask.

"Nothing." Another smile on her lips. I frowned but returned her smile. "You wanna sit for a bit? The sofa is free."

The sofa wasn't just any sofa. It was the best sofa. Just next to the living room there was this small and open space with this certain velvet sofa and a reading lamp. And Emily was right, it was free. Everybody seemed to either be enjoying themselves on the dance floor or the kitchen.

The cushions dipped down as Emily sat down way too close next to me. I wasn't complaining though. The drugs were doing their job fairly well, and the alcohol was rubbing off too. I was at ease. I was everywhere I wanted to be right now. Free. Happy. With Emily next to me. Fucking. Perfect.

She smelled of her usual mix of raspberry and the distinct smell that was Emily herself. I didn't how she did it. Smelled that good, I mean. It was more intoxicating than any of the drugs that were mingling inside me at the moment. She was THE drug.

"So, you know everything, huh?"

"Try me." I smirk.

"I will." If I would have been sober my smirk would have faltered. Saying 'Try me' to Emily is like offering a challenge to Barney Stinson.

She looked up towards the ceiling, pondering over a question. My hands were becoming sweatier by the second. What have I dragged myself into?

"Who painted that huge cock on Gemma Fallon's locker?"

Gah. Too easy. I mockingly rolled me eyes as if the answer was the most obvious one in the world.

"Duuh. Cook? Who else."

"Good, good." She nodded. "I was just testing you."

"Go on, then. Hit me."

As I said before, brain and mouth not co-operating. The choice of words couldn't have been worse. Emily's smile was instantly wiped away.

"Fuck no. Never." she says as she looks me straight in the eyes.

"Bad choice of words. I'm sorry." I said with what must have been a guilty look that matched the guilt I was feeling inside. This seemed to ease her a bit. She shook her head slightly and smiled again. Erasing everything bad. Every wrong.

"Which member of the Backstreet Boys left the group?"

"Kevin."

"I didn't even know that." She laughs. "Hmmm.. What does Freddie keep in that locked up box under his bed?"

"Can't say."

"Not fair! It's because you don't know. Consider yourself beaten." She says triumphantly.

"Okay, okay. If that's how you want to play. Three pictures of Effy and mostly weed."

Her eyebrows raised.

"Effy?"

"Sorry? What? I don't know what you're talking about." I joke. I wasn't really disclosing anything Freddie would've minded me saying. At least not to Emily. And either way, I could never deny this girl anything.

She giggles. A lovely sound. The rum and coke instantly agreeing, multiplying the double takes of my heart.

The questions were firing. About anything and everything. Presidents, countries, colours, music. All of it. They came faster and faster. Leaving less room for afterthought. More room for mistakes.

"Madonna's real name?"

"That is her name. Plus Louise Ciccone, of course."

"When did youtube come?"

"In 2005." I said.

"Favourite colour?" She asked.

"Red." Red, red, red. I could've have just said 'you'. It would be more than sufficient.

"You never wear red?" Busted.

"So?"

"Just.. Interesting."

I gulped.

"My favourite colour?"

"Black. And blue. Like the Backstreet Boys album, in case you didn't know." I smirked. She just slapped my arm.

I had finished my rum and coke what felt like ages ago now, so Emily offered her glass to me. She held the glass while I took one of the straws in my mouth. My eyes landed unconsciously on her lips.

"Why are you fighting it?" It was hushed. Honest. Not accusative nor raw.

I instantly choke on the liquid. Turning my head down and away to cough. A lot. She puts her hand to my back, carefully stroking it while I continue to cough.

"Are you ok?" She asks, worried as my cough still hadn't subsided. She gets up and kneels in front of me. Hands on my knees.

"I'm.." Cough. "Fine." I look up and try to look everywhere but at her. She's too close. Everything around me is red. Everything around me is her. And Emily, being everything but stupid, notices this.

I kind of knew that Emily was going to understand it, sooner or later. I had been lacking the strength to keep it a secret these last months. I could blame all that happened. That it affected me so much that I couldn't keep the facade up any longer. That some of the red was seeping through, disclosing my obsession. The looks. The need to be close to her. But really, it was just the longing. The need to feel her. The need to have her. I knew it was showing.

"I'm not." I croak out. Answering her previous question. Daring my eyes up to mer hers. Her chocolate brown orbs that usually holds nothing but serenity and calm were now black and hungry. I could feel her hands on my legs press harder, steadying herself.

"You are." She whispered.

So close. She was so close now.

"Not." I whispered back. I couldn't even convince myself. I bit my lip, looking down again. Averting my eyes.

I suddenly feel a hand on my cheek, her slender thumb tugging down my lip from the grasp that my teeth had on it.

"Don't. Don't think. Don't fight. Just..." She paused. Staring at my lips. "Just.. feel it."

With her this close me, one hand on my knee, one touching my cheek, millimetres separating us I couldn't help but think of how it would feel to have her this close every day. Waking up to this. Falling asleep to this. Breaths mingling together. And the butterflies erupting in my stomach, caressing every living organ inside me with it's feathery wings. The yearning to share something with Emily, whether it was a life, a relationship or just one night was too much for me to control this time. The urge overtaking everything that was me, led me closer and closer to her. I lean in.

The moment our lips meet a quiet moan leaves her lips. It echoes inside me, spurring me on. I kiss back even harder the second time. Her lips are soft. Like silk. Very addicting, I think to myself. I would never be able to restrain myself again after tasting her. She is a drug. A drug I've spent seven years waiting to try. But those seven years did nothing to prepare me for this. Nothing would have.

The hand that was occupying my cheek is now caressing my neck. Her other hand grasping even harder at my knee. Stroking it.

It's too strong. I can't help it. I can't stop this. I only crave more and more. I involuntarily let out a small moan as her tongue dart out to my lips. I instantly grant her access as I pull her towards me, forcing her up and onto me. Forcing her to straddle me. Which was a huge mistake.

Her hands now on either side of my face, pushing against the wall. We're eager and hormonal. Her breathing picks up and so does mine as she lets my hands wander over her stomach, playing with the hem of her shirt. Just like in the dreams.

I'm waking up soon, I'm waking up soon, I'm waking up soon, repeating in my head.

She breaks the kiss after I involuntarily pushed my hips up against her, breathing hard against me. Even though every part of me is screaming for her to come back, return to our make-out session, I know that it's not a good idea. I don't want to be fucking her on the velvet sofa at Effy's. It just wouldn't feel.. right. In some ways, I barely know this girl. In other ways, I know her all too well.

"I can't really stop. But I think we have to." She says. Still breathing hard against my pulse point.

"I..I-..." I'm at loss. I didn't prepare myself for this part of it.

A ghost kiss against my throat. I gulp.

"I need a cigarette." I breathe out.

She starts to giggle. Telling me that everything is okay. That nothing is ruined. That we'll go from here. Wherever it might lead us.

"I second that."