A/N: OH HAI!

Well, what do I do this time? Throw myself at you all and beg for mercy for leaving this without an update for over two months?

In my defence, I got extremely stuck with this, and had to take a break, which is the same case with SF. I sincerely apologise for it, but on the upshot, I managed to unearth a couple of things I'd had hidden away for a while, and blessed you all with Rainbow Unicorn, and started another crazy tale (Thrust Industries). I also started another one yesterday, but I'm not going to post it for a while...maybe not until I've finished it, who knows.

Thank you, though, to all of you who do read my stories. When I started this caper months ago, I wrote mostly for myself to begin with. But actually, I've been doing that for years with poetry. The last time I wrote a long form story before that was in the late 90's, and the story itself is now lost to time. However, reading so many great stories on here led me to want to write my own, and the rest, as they say...

Anyway. Enough drabble from me. The last time I posted a chapter to this I posed the question about the pace of the story. Seeing as I felt it was going a bit slow, time-wise, I've jumped ahead a little. The upshot of it is, the wonderful KFF isn't pushing Effy away anymore, and this chapter takes place well after the last one.

On with it, then...

Disclaimer: I do not own skins. But I'd shag it to death if I could. Any and all typos can be blamed on the laptop, not the iPad.

(Katie POV)

(About two weeks later...A late Friday afternoon...)

I'd had just about the worst day. I had run late for work in the morning, thanks to a road accident about a mile from my flat. Traffic was held up for about half an hour. My boss was annoyed, but eventually realised it was beyond my control, thank Christ. We also had a staff member out sick, so I had to cover their duties. On my lunch break, the heel of my favourite pair of shoes got caught in a grate on the footpath and snapped clean off. Two hundred and fifty fucking quid those heels cost me. On sale, no less. Sigh.

Then, when I had finally arrived home after a frankly tedious day that totally got on my tits, someone was waiting for me, sitting on the wall that bordered my too-small-to-do-anything-with garden. While it's not my colour choice, they manage to wear black quite well. Actually, it's mostly all they wear, the worn leather jacket and black jeans seeming to be ever present, along with the Doc Martens. But the t-shirts were always different. Some displaying the names of bands I'd never even heard of.

She was sitting on the wall, her ankles crossed over, holding a lit cigarette between her long, slim fingers. The smoke was wafting up in thin tendrils, before dissipating and mixing with the air around it. Next to her was one of those paper carry bags with handles. She looked up, and looked right at me as I walked down the footpath, and she smirked. I swear it's, like, her universal look... You know how some people roll their eyes, or raise an eyebrow? Like that. Only slightly more annoying, if you aren't used to it.

"You're wearing flats." She said, as I stepped closer.

"Stating the obvious as usual, babes." I quipped back. "Bloody heel on my favourite shoes broke on my lunch break. Luckily, I keep an emergency pair of shoes in my desk drawer."

"I see."

"Anyway, what have I told you about letting me know when you're coming around?" I asked.

"Am I intruding?" Effy replied.

"No." I sighed, and shook my head. "Not really, I've had a really shitty day, that's all. I was just going to sink into the bath and relax for a bit."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"It's ok... you're here now... come in." I said, as I unlocked the door to my flat and went inside. Effy stubbed out her cigarette and followed, closing the door behind her. "Can I get you a drink or anything?"

Effy shook her head at me, and fixed those blue eyes onto me. Christ, I don't know how, but she manages to make me melt with those eyes of hers. "Why don't you go take a shower, and I'll get us both a drink in the meantime?"

I shrugged. "Fair enough. You know where everything is, so..."

"Right. Go unwind, Katie." Effy said.

So, I did. I took a hot shower, and let the water beat down over my shoulders, and it at least did make me feel a bit better. Once I got out, I dried myself off, and put on my favourite pink fluffy bathrobe, and left my bedroom. I wandered through the flat, wondering why it actually smelled edible indoors, and then found Effy on the balcony. She was sitting on one side of the table I had out there, and on the actual table itself, were two lit candles, along with two plates loaded with food, along with cutlery, napkins and two glasses of white wine. Effy might be mysterious most of the time, but I think she just proved that she can be romantic, too.

"You cooked?" I asked in surprise, as I stepped out onto the balcony.

"Ah...no. Gina overcooked, as per. When she knew I was coming around, she insisted I bring you something."

"Oh." I said, sitting down. "Well, it smells amazing." I added, picking up the fork next to my plate.

Effy nodded. "One thing I learned early on about Gina... Never underestimate her ability to turn ordinary looking vegetables into deliciousness."

I nodded in agreement as I slid a forkful of what looked to be inconspicuous baked vegetables into my mouth. It might have looked inconspicuous, but my god, it was nothing short of seriously tasty. "Wow." I said, after swallowing. "That's good."

"I'll let her know you liked it."

We spent the next few minutes in a sort of comfortable silence, as we ate. "Did you see Emily this morning?" I asked.

Effy shook her head. "No, I think she and Naomi spent the night at hers."

"Oh, right." That would be why she didn't ring me last night. Honestly, whenever my sister is into someone, a lot of the time she forgets she has a twin.

"They're good for each other."

"I know. I just worry about her, that's all."

Effy nodded. "I suppose that's natural. My brother used to say the same about me. But I guess it makes up for the time I spent worrying about him."

I looked over the table at her, noticing that her brow was slightly furrowed. Her eyes had a far away look to them, and as usual, it intrigued me. "Why did you worry about him?" I asked, gently.

"He was hit by a bus." Effy said, succinctly.

My eyes widened, and I placed my fork down on the edge of the plate. "Seriously?"

Effy nodded. "When I was fourteen. He was talking on his phone at the time, and didn't see it coming." She said, quietly.

"Oh my god." I replied. "He survived though, right? You told me he was married now?"

She nodded once more. "Yes, but it took a long time. He lost part of his memory, had to relearn fine motor skills... Mum and dad had a hard time coping with it. They fought a lot more, not that it was Tony's fault, mind. But the stress of having to look after him didn't help their failing marriage much."

"No, I can't imagine it did." I said, picking up my fork and poking around my plate. I looked at Effy, who stared back at me blankly. "You know... I think that's the first time you've told me anything about your family... Not Naomi and Gina of course, but your parents and your brother." I added.

"You never asked."

"Of course not. You seem to ask all the questions in this..." I thought for a second, and then gestured between us. "...whatever we are."

"You haven't been curious?" She asked.

"Of course I have!" I replied. "You make me endlessly curious about you... but I never thought to ask you about your family that much because...well... I don't know, Eff. I just didn't."

"It's alright, Katie. It doesn't make you a bad person."

"I never said it did." I said. "I just feel like I should have asked, that's all."

"I can understand why you haven't, though." Effy replied.

"You can?"

She nodded. "I know I've made you think a lot about yourself, and it's been occupying your mind."

"That's it?" I asked.

"Yes. You've been self-centred...but not in a bad way. Introspection is good, sometimes." Effy explained. She paused for a moment, and then spoke again. "What do you mean by 'whatever we are'?"

I shrugged. I was sort of hoping she wouldn't ask me that. "I don't know."

Her blue eyes met mine. "Still with the labels?"

I nodded. "I suppose so. It's hard to adjust the habits of a lifetime." I said, looking at what was left of my meal.

"True. I guess it's why I've never labelled myself to begin with."

"Right." I replied, before eating a little more of my meal.

"So, your day was stressful?"

I shrugged. "Tedious, mostly. Chasing up celebrity agents for statements when a celebrity has done something scandalous isn't the main part of my job." I explained. "But we had someone call in sick, so..."

"You had to cover?"

"Everyone works in my office, Eff. We work hard, and when there's staff missing, well, sometimes it's hard enough doing our own jobs, let alone picking up the slack."

"But you like your job?"

"In general, yes." I said, pausing. "But, sometimes I wonder if it's run its course, you know?"

"What else would you do? If you gave it up...same field, or...?"

I shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure. Go back to uni and study, maybe. Don't ask me what, though..."

"Well, there goes my next question." Effy smirked.

"Ha." I replied. "I don't know, Eff. I've always thought about doing fashion, or something."

Effy raised en eyebrow. "Planning on colouring the world in leopard print?" She smirked.

I picked up my napkin and scrunched it up in a ball, throwing it at her. "Bitch!" I laughed. " I'll have you know that I like more than just leopard print."

"Wouldn't know it from your wardrobe."

"Well... Yeah, ok, you've got me there. It's my favourite, though." I said, sheepishly.

Effy looked at me and actually smiled, rather than smirked. It made me smile, too. "What?" She asked me.

I shook my head. "Nothing, it's... You're beautiful when you actually smile, you know that?"

She raised her eyebrow as her eyes stared into mine. "Good to know."

Sometime later, we had finished the meal, and Effy instructed me to go and make myself comfortable while she cleaned up after dinner. I protested, she insisted, and I relented, padding off into my bedroom. I sat on my bed and leaned against the headboard, closing my eyes and just relaxing for a moment. I didn't know what else Effy had planned, and I was so drained after the day, I wasn't expecting her to be here, much less expecting anything else after probably the most perfect dinner I'd ever had. Before I realised it, I'd dozed off slightly.

"Katie?" I heard Effy's voice next to me as the bed dipped.

I opened my eyes slowly and looked at her. "Hey. Sorry, I'm just exhausted."

"It's alright." Effy replied, as she shifted next to me and pulled me into her embrace. I sighed, deeply. I hadn't seen her for a couple of days, and it felt good to be with her again.

"I've missed this, Eff. You being here with me." I admitted.

"I know." She replied, kissing my forehead softly.

"Thank you for bringing me dinner, by the way. It was very sweet of you and I enjoyed it a lot."

"No thanks necessary."

"But, you didn't have to." I said.

"No." Effy replied, looking into my eyes. I thought again, for the millionth time, how I could so easily drown in their deep blue. "I wanted to do something nice for you."

I leaned in and kissed her softly. "Thank you again."

She kissed me back tenderly. For all the lust and insistent looks she had for me when we had met, the day of the festival, when I'd asked her to back off a bit, she had done so. How she managed to keep a lid on it, I don't know, because I'd discovered since then, that Effy Stonem had this raging passion where I was concerned that never seemed to abate itself when we were together. Whether she was just admiring my presence, if she was kissing me or taking her time exploring my skin... This mysterious woman seemed to worship the ground I walked on. But even then, I could tell she was holding herself back in a way, like she was afraid to let go completely... a little like me, in a sense, but not in the terms of letting go of my held ideas about my sexuality.

Effy didn't have that quandary to deal with, but a completely different one. I know she'd had issues in the past, we'd spoken briefly about it, but strangely, she didn't go into too much detail. I was still so curious, but chose not to push it. The thing about Effy is that she will tell me things when she is ready to. I don't know if it's because it's hard for her, or whether she doesn't want to upset me.

But in this moment, lying with her in my bed, wrapped around me... well, it didn't matter at all. I yawned, and cuddled a bit closer. This had grown to become my favourite time, lately. The quiet moments we shared when we weren't talking or joking with each other...or having sex. The more time I spent with her, the more I realised she was actually fun to be around, in spite of her mystery, which did get frustrating at times. But she found out really quickly how much that annoyed me, and had started to open up to me a bit more. The more she did, the more I found myself falling for her.

Effy shuffled under the duvet and pulled me down with her. "You should get some sleep." She said.

"You're staying?" I asked.

"Yes." She replied.

"Mmkay. Good." I murmured, placing a soft kiss against her neck and settling my head against her shoulder.

Once I'd closed my eyes, and my breathing settled, I felt completely relaxed. The last thing I registered before sleep pulled me in was Effy's fingertips gently stroking my shoulder.

A/N#2: There you have it, then. Sweet, but not quite soppy.

So, the deal is... I will try and update this a bit more frequently. Note I said "try". I'm not promising anything. The least I can promise you is to update at least one story at least once a week. Considering that I have six separate stories going, well, you're bound to have something to read every few days...lol.

Ok, that's enough from me. Feel free to leave a review...

Until next time...

~GN~ xo