Hello everybody! Thank you so much for continuing to read, review, and add this story to your favourites - your encouragement makes writing a lot easier!

Oh, and to the one person who left a review saying that my story was full of "typical boring Naomily scenarios" I'd just like to say thank you for thinking that my life is full of typical boring Naomily scenarios, seeing as this story is inspired by things that actually happened to me.

I'm perfectly fine with constructive criticism - in fact, I welcome it! But if you're going to say something that doesn't really apply to the work, then I don't see what the point is...

All the rest of you have been positively wonderful and lovely and I want to thank you all for the positivity and encouragement you've given me :)

And as usual, I do not own these characters or have anything to do with Skins, but this story is inspired by real events that have taken place in my life (just in case anybody gets confused lol)

Chapter 12: The Results

About two days after I found out about Effy, I dragged her off to a clinic since she refused to take an at home test. Freddie had been bothering me, telling me that Eff had been acting weird and to talk to her. Freddie was used to Effy being a little off, but even I hadn't seen her this emotional before.

She was silent the whole drive to the clinic and refused to talk to me once we pulled into the parking lot. It was a miracle I'd even managed to get her in the car, really.

We walked into the clinic next to each other but not saying a single word. I walked up to the receptionist's desk as Effy walked towards the waiting room.

"Elizabeth Stonem is here for her 10:30 appointment," I said, looking over my shoulder as I heard Effy chuckle before saying hello to someone. The receptionist nodded and told me they were running a bit behind. Great. That just gave Effy even more of a chance to run out of this bloody clinic.

I walked into the waiting area as I searched for my cell phone in my huge bag. I wanted to text Emily to let her know I might be a bit late for lunch – yes, we had a lunch date – but a husky voice stopped me.

"Naomi?"

I looked up and caught shocked brown eyes staring at me. Actually, make that a pair of shocked brown eyes. I cleared my throat awkwardly and placed by bag down on the chair next to Effy, who was smiling devilishly and flipping through a magazine.

"Emily," I said as I walked over to kiss her on the cheek and hug her. I smiled at Katie and nodded at her as she did the same.

"Well..." Katie said awkwardly. "Did my sister knock you up, then, Naomi?"

Effy snorted and then laughed so hard I was sure the people two blocks down the street could hear her. My eyebrows went up so far I was quite sure they were almost at my hairline, and Emily buried her face in her hands in mortification.

I cleared my throat awkwardly as Katie smiled at the ruckus she caused. "No, Katie," I said as Effy continued to laugh her ass off. "I'm not pregnant."

Katie nodded and looked at Effy, who nodded solemnly. Katie nodded herself as Emily and I looked on in wonderment.

"So, you two know each other then?" I asked, pointing between Effy and Katie. They both nodded, though Katie quickly started reading her magazine again and I caught Effy blushing.

"Yeah, Katie and I work with Eff and Freds quite a lot," Emily said, finally looking up at me. My brows furrowed in confusion.

"Katie and I are make up artists," she said, noticing my confusion. I nodded as silence descended upon us and made everything awkward.

"So, Katie, you up the duff then?" Effy asked as Katie looked up briefly and laughed. She shook her head, still smiling.

"No, I...it's a long story," she said, as an upset look crossed her face before she went back to reading her magazine. I shot Effy a warning look as I saw her going to speak again. Obviously whatever Katie was going through was both personal and quite upsetting for her.

"Katie Fitch," the nurse called, walking into the room with a folder that had Katie's name written on the front of it. Katie got up and shot a worried look at Ems before she went to follow the nurse. Emily followed them both.

"Elizabeth Stonem," a second nurse called as Effy and I got up and followed after her. Effy grabbed my hand tightly as we walked into the exam room, and I squeezed back as tightly as I could.

"Well, this test here shows up as negative, but your hormones seem to be acting up quite a bit," the doctor said as he scowled over Effy's folder. "I'll need to run more blood work to find out what's happening, just to be sure, but..."

He looked up at us both, Effy smiling broadly at the news that she isn't pregnant, though I obviously look a bit more concerned. I knew that more tests usually meant something was up. The doctor took off his reading glasses and looked at Effy gravely.

"Elizabeth, from what I can see here, your hormone levels are indicative of early onset menopause."

Effy's smile fell.

"So she can't have children...ever?" I asked as Effy grabbed my hand for the second time that day.

"Yes, it seems that way," the doctor said. "There's nothing we can do."

"Could you freeze some of her eggs or something?" I asked. The doctor shook his head and passed us a box of tissues before getting up.

"I'm very sorry," he said just before leaving the room.

Effy took the box of tissues out of my hands. I saw her knuckles turn white from gripping it so tightly. Before I could even register what was happening, she let out a scream and tore the box to shreds, knocked every jar full of medical supplies off the doctor's desk, and flipped the chair she'd been sitting in before collapsing on the floor and sobbing.

A nurse walked in and looked around the room and at Effy sitting on the ground as I knelt down beside her and tried to comfort her. The nurse shook her head and shot Effy a dirty look before leaving.

"Eff, come on, it'll be alright," I cooed as she grabbed my shirt tightly and pulled me even closer to her.

"Freds is gonna leave me!" She sobbed as I tried to get her to stand up. "He wants...three kids!"

I shushed her and gave up on trying to get her to stand up. We sat there on the floor as Eff sobbed and I rocked her back and forth and tried to soothe her.

I saw Katie and Emily walk by, Katie with mascara running down her face and Emily holding her hand. They looked into the room, alarmed by the sound of Effy's wailing. Katie immediately stopped crying and walked in, got down on the ground behind Effy, and hugged her tightly. Effy calmed down quite a bit after that, and we all managed to get her out of the clinic and into my car. Katie kissed Eff on the forehead as she buckled her seatbelt for her and shut the car door. She smiled at me as best as she could before walking towards Emily's car a few parking spots away.

Emily looked up at me and I noticed how upset she looked as well. "We should probably reschedule lunch," I said absentmindedly as she walked towards me and hugged me. She kissed me gently and nodded before pulling away and walking towards her car.

"Take care of her," she called over her shoulder as I nodded.

I'd never seen Eff act like that before. Never. Not even a few years back when Freds cheated on her. Not even when we were partying away the pain together. Not even when she first thought she was pregnant. Not even when her brother got hit by that bus or when her parents broke up or when her mum left her alone for months.

And then I thought back to her reaction when I asked her if she knew Katie and she blushed. And how Katie was the one who really calmed her down just by hugging her.

I almost crashed into a lamp post I was so stunned by my sudden realization.

Effy and Katie.

Thanks so much for reading! Please let me know what you thought :)