Hello everybody! I hope you all had a great Christmas/ whatever holiday you celebrate in the winter time. Sorry it's taken me so long to update but I've felt a bit discouraged - I only got two reviews on the last chapter and I felt unsure of my writing. Has my writing gotten bad? I hope I don't sound like a whiny author - I genuinely want to know what I can do to improve the story for you guys. So let me know if there's something that you think I could improve on :)
As usual, I don't own anything to do with Skins.
Chapter 18: I'll Be Waiting
A week had passed since Emily told me about London, which meant that she was supposed to leave tomorrow. I hadn't been able to see her as often as I would have liked since she had to constantly go back to her apartment and pack her things up. Apparently packing up her makeup kit was quite a lot of work in itself, not to mention clothes and shoes and other things that she'd need while she was in London. She'd given me the key to her apartment to pick up her mail and take care of it while she was gone. It felt strange, to be trusted with that kind of thing. Strange in a good way, I suppose.
Katie was upset that Emily had to leave, but in a different way than I was. She was jealous that Emily had managed to find the job all on her own since she still hadn't managed to find anything. As we expected, Freddie didn't take their calls or speak to them at all, and last I'd heard he was planning on relocating his business.
While Katie was out pounding the pavement trying to get a job at any makeup counter and sending out portfolios and Emily was packing her life up, Effy and I had decided that it was best if Effy moved in with me for the next little while. Of course, this also meant that we had to get a new flat since Effy was still currently sleeping on my living room floor and the flat was just far too small for the both of us. Emily had offered to let Effy stay in her apartment, but Effy refused. I think she didn't want to be on her own – after all, she was dealing with a lot at the moment, what with her premature menopause and no longer having a flat or a job, not to mention what was going on with Freddie. He had agreed to buy Effy's shares in his company, which gave her a decent amount of money to begin her new life. I'd put the flat up for sale two days ago, and things were looking good.
We'd welcomed in the New Year quietly by opening a bottle of champagne and watching a movie in my flat, which had somehow turned into the hub of all my friendships. JJ and Cook would come over as they pleased, and Katie and Emily and Pandora would as well. We never mentioned Freddie. Everybody was a bit upset when Effy and I announced that we were looking for a new flat, but after we assured them that there would be more room for all of us to get together they relented.
Things with Emily weren't exactly easy at the moment. We were both being clingy and hiding our feelings and busy with other things in our lives. It was an odd position to find ourselves in – Emily was busy packing, I was busy working and trying to sell the flat and find a new one, and while we both wanted to spend time together before Emily had to leave, our pride wouldn't let us. I didn't want Emily to know how hard her leaving was going to be for me, and Emily didn't want to be a nuisance while Effy and I were trying to pack up the flat. She was leaving at quite a bad time – we'd just confessed our love for the other and instead of celebrating that and spending time together, we were apart.
"What's going on in that lovely head of yours, roomie?" Effy said as she walked into the kitchen, balancing a box on her hip.
"Uh, just, you know, Emily stuff. What're you doing?"
Effy put the box down on the kitchen table and turned it so I could see the label on the side of the box. It read "plates" in bold writing, followed by "DON'T FUCKING DROP THIS". Typical Effy. I smiled and nodded at her before picking up my mug and washing it.
"Don't you think it's a bit early to be packing up the plates already? What are we going to eat off of?" I asked as I shut off the water and dried my hands. Effy smiled as she opened the cabinets and began to pack the plates away.
"I just got off the phone with the realtor. We got an offer – they met asking price with no conditions, but we've got to be out of here in two weeks," she said, finally looking up at me and smiling hugely. I squealed and hugged her, almost making her drop a few plates, but this was unheard of. The flat was in a great area and was in good condition, but for it to be sold within two days of being put on market is incredible.
"Well, you have to call the realtor back and accept the offer and I have to call Emily and let her know the good news!" I said, reaching into my pocket and grabbing my cell phone as Effy did the same.
"I can't believe this is going to be our last night together in this place," Emily said as she cuddled into me on the couch. I nodded and kissed the top of her head. The flat was quiet as I'd asked Effy if she wouldn't mind spending the night at Katie's. Emily and I really needed the time together. "I'm not even going to be able to help you find a flat."
Emily's face morphed into a full blown pout, and it wasn't one of those I'm-being-cute pouts either. She seemed genuinely upset and I saw tears filling her eyes. I pulled her chin up so I could look in her eyes.
"What's wrong, love?" I asked. I didn't want Emily to be upset, or feel like she was missing out on things.
"I just... I want to be with you for that kind of stuff. Finding a new flat and moving in and helping you set up. I wish I didn't have to go to London for that job. I wish it could have been here in Bristol so I could stay with you..." she drifted off, looking back to the TV again. "It's going to be so different now, without seeing you every day and being in London and not being able to come home. I'm going to miss out on a lot of things."
I kissed her gently and hugged her tightly into me. I couldn't really argue with her – everything she said was true and it was exactly what I was worried about also. I knew I was going to miss her immensely, but I would never ask her to stay with me. I wished we could just go to bed, holding each other tightly, and wake up and have breakfast and Emily could stay with me and not have to go to London.
"I'll miss you, Naoms. More than you can imagine," she mumbled into my shirt. She grabbed my hand and held it tightly, her fingers nearly crushing mine.
"I think I'll miss you just as much," I responded before kissing her gently. "But we'll try to talk to each other every day – I don't care what time you get in from work, you can call me whenever and I promise I won't get mad if you wake me up. Maybe I'll even try to come to visit you one weekend when you're not working and after Effy and I have settled."
Emily nodded against me. "I love you."
I sighed against her. "I love you, too."
"Don't forget about me, Ems. Don't get all caught up in the rush of living in London and find someone better than me. Just don't forget that I'm waiting for you at home," I whispered, voicing my true fears. It was plausible. Emily was attractive, and I'm sure she'd meet other attractive people while she was in London. I needed her to remember me, to remember what we had.
"I would never forget about you, Naoms," Emily said with finality as she leaned up and kissed me. "Let's go to bed."
She got off the couch and pulled me up from where I was sitting before leading me into the bedroom. It wasn't the first time I wished that time would stand still for me, so I could cement the memory of Emily's bright red hair in the dim light of my room, or her pale skin against my sheets, her lips against mine, the tightness in my chest when she was near. But time moved on, as time always does, and I knew that Emily was leaving and that these memories would be all I had until she came back to me. So I tried as best as I could to make our last moments together as good as they could possibly be.
I could do nothing less and nothing more.
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