Hello everybody! Sorry it's been so long since the last update. It's been a bit crazy with university, between all the essays and presentations I've had to do and the exam I'm supposed to be studying for (that's happening tomorrow), and then getting horribly sick, things have been really busy. But alas, I am back with yet another Christmasy chapter, which was written while I was watching the Gavin and Stacey Christmas Special so a few quotes may have slipped in... not too sure really lol.

I still don't own Skins.

Chapter 16: Christmas Day

"Holy crap, Emily, this thing weighs more than a ten year old child!" I called out dramatically as I struggled to lift the turkey from the oven. Emily had decided that she'd take care of the turkey and I'd do, well, everything else. However, somewhere during the middle of the day after Emily had put the turkey in the oven, she disappeared to have a shower and play board games with her sister, Effy, my mum and Kieran.

She appeared in the doorway and laughed as she watched me struggle instead of coming over to help. I shot her an evil glare and she eventually came over to help me.

"I've been basting this thing and covering it and uncovering it and basting it and covering it and seasoning it and draining drippings from the pan and you have been no help whatsoever!" I said as we heaved the turkey onto a wooden carving board. "Oh, I'll do the turkey, Naomi, love, you do the stuffing and cranberry sauce and roast potatoes and carrots!" I said, trying very hard to sound like Emily, though ultimately failing.

She wrapped her arms around my waist and kissed the nape of my neck, immediately taking my mind off the damn turkey. "Aw, babe," she whispered against my skin, her lips trailing up towards my ear. "I'm sorry I haven't been helping. Can I make up for it later?" Her teeth grazed my earlobe lightly and her hands, which were once on my waist, were now trailing lower, making my breath hitch.

"Mmmm, alright, I guess," I said, sounding quite husky and turned on, though I was trying to sound upset.

"Just forget about the turkey now, love. Everything else is already finished, and it's Christmas. Your mum's been dying to start handing out gifts," she said as she hooked her thumbs into my belt loops and pulled me back into her. "So come on."

She grabbed my hand and we walked out into the living room. My mum was sitting next to Kieran on the loveseat while Katie and Effy were in the middle of a game of charades.

"Look who I found moaning about the turkey!" Emily said in a sing-song voice as I rolled my eyes and sat down next to her on the couch. My mum and Kieran laughed and Effy and Katie continued playing charades.

"A movie..." Effy said as Katie smiled proudly and nodded. Katie held up one finger. "One word..." Effy said as Katie nodded again. She then held up three fingers. "Three letters...?" Effy half-asked as Katie nodded wildly. She then made a triangle shape on top of her head, making her look like she was wearing a very pointy hat. "Elf!" Effy guessed as Katie cheered and jumped on her.

Playing charades with Effy was completely fucking pointless because she got it right every time anyway. Sometimes I wonder if she really needed someone to tell her if it was a movie and how many words there were in the title – she probably knew from the second they got up there.

"We shouldn't have agreed to charades, Kieran," my mum said, looking at Kieran apologetically.

"Err, Eff? Can I talk to you in the other room for just a minute?" I asked, breaking Effy's attention away from Katie's lips. She smiled and nodded at me before untangling herself from under Katie.

I waited until she got into my bedroom to close the door and look at her seriously. "Is Freddie coming here today?" I asked. I could sense Effy tense up, which usually meant she was upset about something or she hadn't told me something important.

"Well, err, you see...um..." Effy stalled, running her fingers through her wild hair. "Freddie and I are kind of...finished. He said that he loves me, that he always will, but that he knows there's someone else and that this wasn't all about the early menopause."

My mouth formed an "o" shape, suddenly feeling very awkward and unsure of how to act here. Was I supposed to comfort Effy? Or would she be alright without it since now she was with Katie? Did I have to apologize?

"You don't have to say anything," she said with a smile, obviously sensing my awkwardness. "Freddie said he'd been waiting for me to make a decision for a while now and that he decided to make one for me. We're still going to work together and try to stay friends, but I'm not sure how it's going to work out."

I nodded slowly before my instincts took over and I reached out and pulled Effy into me. I hugged her tightly with all that I had in me.

"I love you, Eff."

"I love you, too, Naoms."

I kissed her on the cheek and wished her a Merry Christmas before walking back into the living room and sitting next to Emily. I grabbed her hand and kissed it gently before snuggling into her side.

"I'm so happy London Heathrow got closed because of a small snowstorm and our flight ended up being diverted to Paris, Naoms," Emily said with a smile before kissing me gently on the lips. It was slightly awkward, kissing the girl I liked in front of my mum and stepdad, but they were both pretty drunk and in their own world.

"Me too. I'm also happy that your parents decided to go to Scotland for Christmas because now I get to spend this whole day with you...and your sister," I added reluctantly, making Emily laugh and kiss me again.

"Naomi, this one's for you, love," my mum said as she handed me a carefully wrapped present. It even had a bow on top. I looked at the tag, and saw that it was from Emily, signed with a bunch of x's at the end. I looked up to see her smiling shyly at me, and I smiled back.

I opened the present, and revealed a medium sized plain white box. I removed the lid, and at the very bottom of the box were two train tickets to Paris. I beamed at her and jumped over the pile of presents in the middle of the room to get to her. I ended up jumping into her, maybe a bit too forcefully as she fell backwards. I made sure I hadn't hurt her in any way before grabbing her face and kissing her all over.

"Disgusting," I heard Katie mutter as I continued kissing her sister. I flipped her off, and my mum tutted, but Effy laughed.

"That's the true Naomi Christmas spirit showing through!" Effy said. I broke away from Emily's lips and looked up to see Effy standing next to Katie, a lit cigarette in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. So Effy.

"You're gonna make my apartment smell like a pub, Eff," I said before Emily pulled my face down and kissed me gently. She pulled away and smiled at me.

"So you like the tickets then? I thought, you know, we could go together for a romantic weekend and not stay at Euro Disney this time, maybe even see the Eiffel tower," she bit her lip nervously as she finished her sentence. I smiled and nodded at her, kissing her again gently.

"I love them, Ems."

I pulled myself off her and reached into the pile of presents, and pulled out Emily's present from me. "I guess my gift kind of ends up going with yours," I said quietly as Emily inspected the rather thin envelope I handed her.

She opened it and read the letter before squealing and kissing me. I'd sorted out a three day stay at a well-known hotel in central Paris, close to all the tourist attractions.

As Emily got up and showed Katie the letter detailing the hotel stay, and watched Effy look fondly at Katie while puffing away on her cigarette, and watched my mum and Kieran laugh together, I knew for sure that this was the best Christmas yet. I found myself thinking of what next Christmas would be like, hoping that Emily would still be by my side, that Effy would finally find her peace, and that my mum would still be happy with Kieran. Emily came back over to my side, and cuddled into me.

Definitely the best Christmas yet.

Please don't forget to let me know what you thought of the chapter in a review :)

And also it'd be greatly appreciated if you could recommend some fics to me as I'm almost running out of stories to read!