A/N: Hello you beautiful, lovely peeps, you! How is everyone? Good? Great? So-so? Well that's good to hear!

I wanna take a moment to apologize for the delay in posting this and the next chapter of RTW, but I've been sick and it felt like a constant hangover for two weeks! UGH!

But I'm feeling much better, and I felt like giving you all this little nugget;)

Any typos/grammatical errors are mine.

Disclaimer: I do not own Skins, which is a low down shame:(

Chapter 5- The Party

December 2013

Effy had confirmed again with both Emily and Katie about Friday night. She was apprehensive, to say the least, about it. Which was a strange feeling for the mysterious girl to be feeling. She had always been sure of herself, even when she was younger, but there was something in the air that she couldn't put her finger on.

She thought about Naomi. Effy knew that this was harder for her to handle than anything else that had ever come their way. It had taken a lot of talking on Effy's part to allay her friend's fears, but the blonde started to come around to the idea.

Effy was just bringing herself to get out of bed when she heard a knock on her door. She knew before she answered, who it was.

"Good morning Cook." She opened the door with a smirk. "Late night last night?"

Cook had a grin in place as he walked into Effy's room and sat down on the sofa. "It was a tip top night, Efs. I meet this top shelf bird, and she could do the most wonderful things with her tongue."

Effy scrunched up her nose, making Cook howl with laughter. "You can leave out the details, yeah?" She gave him a hard look as he continued laughing.

"Sorry, sorry. I'll keep my thoughts to myself." He said as he sat up straighter and wiped the smile from his face. "We need to talk, though."

"Yeah? What about?" Effy made her way over and sat down next to Cook. "What did you do?"

"Hey, I didn't do nothin'!" He declared as he held his hands up. "But that Mandy girl was at the club last night."

Effy didn't say anything, but her mind was working overtime to process the new information. Cook watched to see if she was going to react. When she didn't he went on. "She was holdin' court with a buncha slaggy lookin' girls just bitching about the ball."

"Did she mention Naomi?" Effy asked with a tremor of emotion in her voice. She watched as Cook nodded his head.

"She mainly talked about how Little Red would soon be crawling to her on her knees." He stated.

"What did she say about Naomi?" The brunette was starting to think that Mandy could be a serious threat not to Emily, but to Naomi as well.

"Just bitched to anyone who would listen that Naomi's a cunt. Nothin' too extreme, but she worries me. If one of the twins is our curse breaker, they'll need protection."

Effy nodded in agreement. "I'm working on that, but it's gonna take Naomi to pull it off. That's why I'm counting on this party to do it."

Cook looked as if he was in deep thought. "What if neither one of them like her?"

Effy smiled her mysterious "I know something that you don't" smile. "I wouldn't worry about that."

"What do have up your sleeve, little girl?" Cook asked, eyeing her up.

"I have nothing up my sleeve. I really don't think I'll have to do anything at all when it comes to Naomi and the Fitch twins, or should I say Fitch twin." Effy said with a gleam in her eye and a smirk on her face.

The way Effy's mind worked never failed to amaze Cook. "I am so glad you're on our side, Effy. In another life, you'd use your skills for evil."

"What makes you think I'm on your side?" She snickered at her friend. Once again, Cook threw his head back and let out a bark of laughter. "We need to sit down with Naomi and talk to her about this. We could use this to our advantage."

Cook wiped tears from his eyes as Effy spoke. "How so?" He asked, curious.

"If Mandy is a threat to Emily, we could offer her a place to lay low for awhile. God knows enough hiding gets down around here."

"Too true. Well let's go." He said as he stood up and waited for Effy to follow.

Naomi was sitting out on her balcony, oblivious to the cold. She was deep in thought and inhaling her third fag. She couldn't get her thoughts organized and it was really doing her in. The party that Effy had planned without her knowledge was happening tomorrow night. That meant she had to strip herself bare for probably the first time since this whole fucked up situation started. 'Fuckin' Effy!' She thought to herself. 'What was she thinking?' Naomi scoffed at herself for that thought. Effy always has a plan. Her friend had always been this way and it seemed as if nothing was ever going to change.

She took a last drag of her smoke and put it out, when she heard Effy and Cook come into her room. "Out here!" She called to them.

"Mornin' Blondie, it's a beautiful day, yeah?" Cook grinned at her.

"What are you doing out here?" Effy asked with concern.

Naomi looked at her best friends, and not for the first time felt very guilty. It wouldn't be the last time either, but she would have to live with it. "Just needed to clear my head a bit, that's all."

"What's going on in that brain of yours?" Cook asked quietly.

"What do you think? I'm nervous about tomorrow. I'm scared about how the twins and their friends are going to react." Naomi shrugged her shoulders as if to blow off her concerns. "You know, little things like that."

"Come inside, breakfast is here." Effy told them both, turning to walk back in, not waiting for them. Naomi and Cook gave each other a look, and then chuckled.

"Naomi, we may have a small problem." Effy started pouring tea as the others sat down. The blonde looked up sharply at the brunette.

"What sort of problem?" She asked, her eyes turning frosty.

Effy nodded at Cook, who sighed and then proceeded to explain what happened last night. By the time he was done, Naomi looked concerned, but for who, was the question.

"So that Mandy slag is really going to try going after Emily?" Naomi asked in disbelief.

"It looks that way. But we could offer her some help." Effy said, buttering another piece of toast.

"Yeah, that's true, Blondie." Cook agreed.

"And how would we do that?" Effy and Cook went through their plan with her. Once they were done, Naomi sat back, thinking over everything.

"That could work, but why don't we just put Mandy out of our misery?" She joked as she sipped her tea.

Effy sat there and watched the blonde across the table. Naomi didn't realize it, but she was no longer concerned about herself. She was truly concerned for the younger Fitch twin. Effy smiled once again, causing all conversation at the table to stop.

"What?" She asked the other two. "Did I drop jam on my shirt?" She looked down to see the damage but found nothing.

"You do realize that when you smile, a small kitten is being killed somewhere." Cook stated flatly causing Naomi to laugh out loud. "It's scary Ef, and you need not do it." He finished as he reached for more eggs.

"Fuck you Cook!"

"Fuck you right back!"

Naomi drifted off into her head again as her friends went about their morning ritual, arguing with each other. Effy's plan was a good one, but she doubted the girls would go for it. Naomi knew she'd never go for it, if she was in Emily's shoes.

Emily.

Just saying the girl's name in her head sent a warm shot of pleasure through her system. She had never met anyone like her before, and that was saying a lot for the few hours they had spent together. Emily Fitch. The red headed girl who works for her parents, but is that what she wants? Naomi asked herself. Doesn't she want more than that? What does she want? Who is she as a person? Why can't I stop thinking about her? There were so many questions running through her over active brain, that Naomi didn't realize that Cook and Effy were trying to get her attention.

She blinked in surprise when she noticed Cooks hand waving in her face. "What?"

"Was it fun in Blondieland?" He asked with a grin. She could feel herself blush harder than she's ever blushed before.

"Cook, stop it." Effy said quietly. The brunette didn't share his grin, but on the inside she smiled at the look on Naomi's face. It had been years since the blonde had that look on her face. And she had a feeling what, or rather who, has put that look there.

The three of them spent the rest of the morning going over last minute details of their Friday night. Once they had everything figured out, Cook left the girls and headed into the city.

"So, Emily?" Naomi's head shot up, and ice blue eyes meet with smokey blue ones. "She is rather beautiful, Naomi. There's no reason to be embarrassed about it."

"Will you please tell me how you do that?" Naomi was exasperated at Effy's mind reading skills. No one is immune to it, Effy can unearth anyone's deepest, darkest secrets. It just irritated the blonde so much sometimes. "Or quit doing it, because it's kinda scary as fuck!"

Effy chuckled, unaffected by Naomi's small outburst. "I can't actually read minds, ya know. I read people."

Naomi stared at her in disbelief at what she just said. "Would you care to elaborate?"

"I watch people, see how they react to situations around them. Body language is a very valuable and sensual form of conversation." Effy explained, almost emotionally. Naomi was having a hard time accepting this new version of her friend. Effy has never done emotions, it just didn't feel right.

Naomi shook her head and threw up her hands in resignation. "I give up trying to figure you out."

Effy chuckled at the blonde. "There's nothing to figure out, Naoms. I'm actually quite simple. It's just nobody wants to take the time to really dig through all my layers to see it." Effy said quietly, her eyes shadowed.

"I'm sorry, Ef. I didn't know." Naomi said, the guilt she felt thick in her voice. She lowered her eyes, unable to look at the brunette.

"Naomi? Please look at me." Effy waited until her eyes lifted back up to her own, "You and Cook have always been in here," she placed her hand to her heart. "You guys have always been past the layers, okay? Don't feel guilty for something that's not even an issue."

Naomi only nodded her because she couldn't trust her voice. They finished their breakfast in silence and then set out to finish preparations for tomorrow night's get together with the Fitch twins and their friends.

Katie stood in the middle of the liqueur aisle at the local off-license, not sure on what to buy. She tried again to talk Emily out of going to this party, but she was adamant about not letting Mandy run her life. As if that's even possible. Katie sighed, thinking about just how stubborn her sister really was. Freddie didn't help matters, either. For as long as Katie could remember, Emily and Freddie were the best of friends. He was her support system when Emily had come out to the family, he was the one that made it okay for Emily to be different. Katie wished that she had been the one to stand by Emily's side, but she hadn't and it drove a bit of a wedge in between them. They were better now, but Katie still felt guilty about it. She rounded the shelves at the end of the aisle when she ran into someone else's cart with her own.

"Fucks sake! Watch where you're going much?" Katie spat out with so much venom in her voice that the other two people shrank back at her harshness.

"Whoa, calm down there Killer Fitch." A smooth voice caused Katie to actually look at who she was verbally abusing. She saw Effy Stonem and another girl standing in front of her. "Sorry, I didn't see you there." Effy apologized.

"So you're gonna take a crack at my height now?" Katie recovered quickly and smirked at the brunette.

"Well, I did notice you happen to come in fun size, but no, I really didn't see you there." Effy gave the small girl a cheeky smile. "What do you got there?" Effy asked, peeking into Katie's cart. "Is this breakfast?" She pointed to the bottles of vodka that were lining the cart.

Katie snorted at the brunette and shifted her eyes toward the other girl, who has yet to say anything. "No, they're for tomorrow night." She explained.

Effy chuckled and looked toward her friend, standing slightly behind her. "Katie, this isn't college, yeah? I invited you, I'll provide for you."

Katie blushed, and then her eyes flashed with annoyance. "Yeah, well, habits are hard to break. Not all of us can have posh parties all the time." She was finding it hard to hold on to her cool in front of Effy. There was something about Effy that constantly threw her off kilter. "What are you doing here anyway?" She asked in a huff. "Don't you have a maid or someone who does your shopping for you?" The unknown girl chuckled from behind Effy. "And who the hell are you?"

Naomi froze up at the question. Finally having Katie's eyes on her was uncomfortable. She was wearing her baggiest pants and hoodie, with the hood pulled up, along with her favorite wool coat. She was, once again, for the most part, covered from head to toe, but she felt exposed. "I... I'm...uh..." She started to stutter, embarrassing herself.

"Oh for fucks sake!" Effy muttered. "Katie, you remember Naomi?"

Katie stared in disbelief at the goth reject in front of her. "Babes, not for nothing, but your fashion sense is shit!"

Effy laughed at the small girl as she watched Naomi flinch at the harsh words. The blonde was getting anxious at the thought of being scrutinized by the elder Fitch twin.

"I'm not out to impress anyone." She said quietly. "I didn't think I'd have to put on my poshest frock just to buy alcohol."

Katie finally laughed at Naomi's sarcastic words. "Right, sorry, but really don't you think that look is a bit outdated?"

Naomi stood up to her full height as she prepared to blast into the small girl. She caught Effy's look and held back. "It's what I'm comfortable in, yeah?"

"Katie?" Effy grabbed the girl's attention before Naomi unleashed on her. "So, you're bringing everyone, right?" Katie sighed and then nodded. "What's wrong?" Effy asked her, noticing for the first time that Katie had a sad look in her eyes.

"Nothing."

"Bullshit!" Effy stated.

"You might as well tell her, she probably already knows anyway." Naomi said as she crossed her arms in front of herself. "And if she doesn't, she will."

Katie looked a little alarmed at Naomi's statement, but brushed it off. "Look, if you must know, I'm concerned for Emily, alright?" Katie's shoulders slumped, as if she was carrying the world on her shoulders.

Naomi became very interested in the conversation now, as Effy stepped forward and placed her hand on the smaller girls arm. "What's wrong?"

Katie shook her head and looked around to see if anyone was listening. "I can't talk about here."

"Would you like to go for lunch? Our treat. I know this quaint little place on the other side of town, out of the way and private." Effy asked, watching the small brunette.

"Sure, why not." Katie started making her way up to the checkout. "I'm still buying this shit, though." She called over her shoulder as Naomi and Effy chuckled after her.

Twenty minutes later found the girls sitting in the back of a very small cafe. It turned out that Effy was telling the truth about it being private. She was a co-owner along with a girl named Michelle, and it didn't open until later, so they had the place to themselves and Michelle of course.

Once they got their drinks and ordered, Effy and Naomi looked to Katie to start the conversation. When she didn't, Effy sighed.

"So what's got you worked up?" She asked.

"This whole Mandy situation is getting to me." Katie finally saying something.

"Why is it getting to you?" Naomi asked. "Isn't it Emily she's going after?"

Katie narrowed her eyes at the blonde, suspicion evident in her brown orbs. "And just how the fuck do you know that? Are you and Mandy friends?" She was starting to get riled up.

"Fuck no!" Naomi stated, forcefully. "Katie, you were there at the ball, remember?"

"Then how'd you know that Mandy is going to try something?" The smaller girl asked, still wary of the blonde.

Naomi sighed and then looked to Effy for a little help.

"Cook was out last night and saw her at a club. She wasn't quiet about Emily." Effy explained gently, knowing that the brunette was highly strung at this point.

"I knew it! Mandy is going to do something and Emily's just blowing it off!" She slumped down in her seat, crossing her arms in front of her. "She's blowing me off." She said, quieter than before. She looked hurt at the thought that Emily wouldn't take her seriously.

Effy and Naomi sat there as she ranted about Mandy and Emily, and waited until she was done.

"Why wouldn't she listen to you?" Naomi asked, unusually curious. "What do you want her to do?"

Katie glanced at Effy, then over to Naomi, who still had not removed her hood from her head. For some reason that bothered the smaller girl, more than her questions.

"Are you that fucking cold?" She glared at the blonde, who flinched at her tone. She immediately felt guilty about snapping at her, which was so out of character, it wasn't even funny. "I'm sorry. It's just that, when Panda and I had lunch the other day, I ran into Mandy." Katie explained. "It's almost as if she's having Emily followed or something. I'm really afraid for her, but she's so fucking stubborn."

Katie stopped talking as soon as Michelle brought out their food. Effy thanked her and then turned back to the smaller girl.

"So you've talked to Emily about this?" Effy asked.

Katie nodded as she pushed her food around on her plate, she had lost her appetite. "She doesn't want Mandy to have the upper hand, so she's going with Fitch tradition and ignoring it."

Naomi smirked at her honest answer. She was starting to like the older twin, but the girl still scared the shit outta her. The blonde watched as Effy and Katie carried on the conversation, only adding something if she was asked out right. Naomi was starting to get a better picture of who Emily Fitch was, just by listening to Katie.

They spent over an hour at the cafe, just talking when Katie looked at her watch and was startled to see that she was running late to meet Emily and their mum. After making sure that Katie had directions to their house, they all left, with Katie heading off leaving Naomi and Effy.

Emily sat outside the fitting room with her mum, waiting for Katie to try on her twentieth dress. She didn't mind shopping, but she hated shopping with her mum and Katie. It never failed to bore her to tears. Emily was the type of girl that knew what she wanted in a store and was able to walk in, get it and then walk back out. No fucking about!

Katie was late showing up today and when Emily asked where she had been, Katie replied rather sheepishly that she had met up with some friends. Emily tried to get her to clarify, Katie just shrugged her off. It pissed her off, but there was nothing she could do about it. She had her own shit to worry about.

She had run into Mandy the other day. Emily didn't say anything to anyone about it, but the other girl was starting to scare her. They were going to see the family solicitor this afternoon to see what they could about the girl.

"Katie? Are you almost done in there, dear?" Jenna called from the chair she was sitting in. "We have to meet Doug in forty five minutes."

"Hang on to your vaginas!" Katie shouted as she opened the door. Emily rolled her eyes as her mother hissed in disapproval. "How does it look?" She asked, modeling the dress.

Jenna smiled at how beautiful Katie looked. "Oh, it's simply wonderful Katie."

"Emily? What do you think?" Katie looked to her sister, waiting for her response.

"It's really beautiful, Katie." Emily was being honest. Katie had the ability to be the most beautiful when she dropped her pretenses and attitude. Emily just wished she did it more often. "Is that what you're wearing tomorrow night?"

Katie flinched at the question. Even after talking with Effy and Naomi today, she was still apprehensive about it. It was also something that their mother didn't know anything about.

"What's going on tomorrow?" Jenna asked with interest.

"We've been invited to hang with Effy and Naomi." Emily replied, watching her sister look sheepishly. "Katie didn't tell you?" She smiled sweetly at her mother.

Jenna looked back to Katie, ecstatic at the thought that her children were associating with well to do people. "No. But it probably slipped her mind."

Emily just rolled her eyes at her mother. Katie obviously didn't tell her for a reason, but for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why. But another thing that bothered her was her mum.

Ever since Emily came out, her mother has treated her different. After the initial shock wore off, Jenna was fine with it, but there was a subtle difference in the way she treated her daughters. It's not as if she treated Emily as an outcast, but Jenna had always been nice to any of the guys that Katie's brought to meet the family, whereas unless any girl that Emily is even interested in isn't from a well to do family, Jenna won't even invite her to dinner.

It's little things that on their own don't hurt, but when you add them all up and examine them, you find out it stings badly.

Emily was deep in her thoughts and didn't realise that her mum and Katie were expecting an answer of some kind. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I swear Emily. The way you daydream sometimes. It's amazing you get anything done." Jenna stated, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry, mum. I've just got a lot on my mind." She sighed, sitting up in her chair. "What did you ask?"

"Emily, I was just telling mum how Effy invited us and Freddie, Panda and JJ to just hang out." Katie had a look that urged Emily to agree, but as far as the younger twin knew, that was the truth.

"Well that's nice girls." Their mother said as she headed toward the front of the store, leaving Emily and Katie standing there.

"Katie, do you plan on telling me what the fuck is going on with you anytime soon?" Emily glared at her sister.

"I think you know, but if you're choosing to ignore it, that's all on you." Katie shot back. Emily shook her head as she followed her mum.

Katie sighed to herself as she went back into the dressing room to change. It shouldn't be this hard to talk to her sister she thought to herself.

The three of them made their way into the offices of Burke, Smyth and Devonald later that afternoon.
Douglas Devonald had been the Fitch family's solicitor since before the twins were born. Rob and Doug had gone to Uni together, and had remained friends.

"Jenna Fitch. I have an appointment with Doug." Jenna told the receptionist.

"Ah, yes Mrs Fitch, please have a seat. He's running a bit late. He told me to make sure you and your girls were comfortable." The girl explained as she looked from Jenna to Katie and Emily. "Would you care for some tea and biscuits?" She asked, with her eyes flicking to the younger twin occasionally.

Katie caught her checking out her sister, but Emily did not, which was strange to say the least. Emily noticed anyone in a skirt that breathed, but it seemed that she has been distracted lately. "No, thank you. We'll just have a seat." Katie said, grabbing Emily by the elbow and guiding her to a sofa. Their mum followed closely behind.

"What?" Emily hissed quietly, making sure their mum didn't hear.

"What is going on with you?" Katie asked, concern in her voice.

"What?" Emily asked, scrunching her face up.

"You didn't notice that girl eye fucking you! Something's going on." Katie spat out.

"I really don't know what's going on with you Kay, but you driving me crazy with you attitude, your sneakiness and your assumptions."

"I bet Freddie knows what's going on, doesn't he? Of course he does. It's always about Freddie." Katie's insecurities were coming back big time. "I swear Emily, if I didn't know for a fact that you were gay, I'd think you and Freds were a couple."

Emily had no way to respond to her sister's outburst, so she said nothing. Jenna had come over and sat with them while they waited.

It wasn't much longer until the receptionist was calling them back, and another forty-five minutes with Doug until they walked out with a date set before the magistrate. Emily and Katie both have to attend and Doug said he would contact Naomi, because she was a witness to the first threat.

Once they got back in their car, Jenna asked them if they wanted to do anymore shopping.

"I can't mum, I have to get back to the gym." Emily said.

"Can we just go home? I'm knackered from this morning." Katie did seem exhausted, Emily thought.

'What did she do this morning ?' Emily thought to herself. 'And why is she being so damn secretive?'

It bothered Emily the rest of the day. It threw her off-balance when Katie acted this way, and there was nothing she could do about it. She had something else to worry about. When she was in Doug's office, he had asked for Naomi's contact information. It was only then that she remembered that the blonde had given her business card.

She had forgotten about it after the ball last week or else she would have called the blonde. Naomi fascinated her, it was as simple as that. Emily found her to be very intelligent and very well read. She was able to hold a conversation with the girl and Emily liked that. Most of the girls she had dated in the past were simple and somewhat vain. Emily found that she was looking for someone with substance. More than just air between her ears.

She sat in her office flipping the card over and over, debating if she should call. 'Fuck it!' She thought. She grabbed her phone and dialed the number. After the third ring, someone picked up.

"Hello?" A smooth, almost deep voice came through the line.

"Um, Naomi Campbell, please?" Emily replied, nervously.

"Hello Emily."

"Hi. How'd you know it was me?"

"Seriously? I could pick your voice out in a crowd of hundreds." Naomi stated with a chuckle, causing her to smile. "What can I do for you?"

Emily was at a bit of a loss about why she had called the blonde. It seemed as if her whole brain shut down listening to Naomi laugh. "Um, right, the reason I called. Well the truth of the matter is my solicitor will be contacting you next week."

"Yeah? What for?" Naomi asked, curiosity lacing her voice.

Emily decided that Naomi's voice was the best sound in the world. "We're trying to get a restraining order in place against Mandy. Since you were there that night and heard what she said, that makes you a witness." Emily explained. "I'm sorry to inconvenience you."

"It's not a problem, really. If you give me his name, I'll call him tomorrow and set up an appointment."

Emily gave her everything she needed, and then silence shot down the phone line because she suddenly ran out of things to say.

"Hello? You still there, Emily?" Naomi asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, yes I'm still here."

"You didn't really think this through, did you?" The blonde asked, with amusement in her voice.

"What?"

"This phone call."

"Um... well I...I...," Emily found herself stuttering, which was mortifying. She really didn't know how to go ahead with the conversation.

"Emily?" The red head could hear the laughter in the other girl's voice.

"I'm sorry." She sighed in defeat. "I forgot about your card until I was at the lawyer's office today and I felt bad for not calling sooner. You probably thought I was blowing you off, and now you're probably thinking I only called because I need something from you." Emily stopped mid rant, because she was running out of breath, hating the word vomit that she couldn't seem to stop at the moment.

Naomi found herself laughing out loud at the younger girl. She thought Emily was adorable and couldn't remember the last time she enjoyed talking on the phone so much.

"Emily? Are you alright?" Naomi asked when she heard the other girl sigh again.

"No, not really." Emily sounded defeated and tired. Naomi picked up on the sound of her voice.

"What's the matter? Is everything alright?"

"It's just this whole Mandy thing. She's more persistent than I thought." Emily said, leaning back in her chair, more composed. "Katie ran into her the other day and she came to the gym yesterday. It wasn't pretty."

"Did she hurt you?" Naomi sat up in her chair, unaccustomed to feeling this protective over someone outside her family. "What did she do?"

"I'm not really sure exactly what went on between her and Katie, but when she came into the gym, she started talking shit." Emily thought about the incident and shuddered. "She's getting harder to ignore and Katie's been acting weird. Do you ever feel like your whole life is going through a major change without your participation?"

"I have felt like that before, but I have learned there's nothing you can do about it except to try and roll with the punches." The blonde stated, thinking about how easy it was to talk to the younger Fitch. "You're still coming tomorrow night, right?"

Emily thought she heard apprehension in Naomi's voice as she asked. "Yeah, as far as I know. Katie's been trying to talk me out of it. She wants me to lock myself up at home until this thing with Mandy is over, but I refuse to hide myself." Emily stated, getting worked up.

"You should probably calm down. I'm sure Katie only wants what's best for you, it sounds like she's concerned for you." Naomi replied, as she thought about the older twin. She knew that Katie was scared for Emily, she had said as much at lunch, but Katie obviously didn't mention meeting up with her and Effy, so she didn't want to cause any problems by saying anything to her.

"Well I don't think you're going to have to worry about that here. It should be fun though." Naomi told her with another laugh.

"Yeah, I hope so." Emily replied with her own chuckle. " I would hate to make an effort for a crappy time."

"I make no promises!" Naomi quipped. "But if nothing else, you can get completely pissed and not have to worry about anyone."

Emily laughed out loud at Naomi's humor. It felt nice just talking to her. "It's nice talking to you." She blurted out. She screwed up her face and slapped her forehead, not believing she said that out loud as Naomi started snickering. "I'm sorry. That was supposed to stay in my head."

"Well, just so you know, I think its nice talking to you too."

They continued to talk, about nothing in particular, for another fifteen minutes until Emily noticed the time.

"Fuck!" She spat out.

"Alright there, Ems?" Naomi asked, unaware of the nickname she just used.

"Sorry Naomi, I hate to end this conversation, but I am so late for my family dinner. I gotta go." Emily explained.

"Oh, okay." Emily thought she sounded disappointed, but then shook off the idea. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Goodnight, Emily."

"See you tomorrow. Naomi?"

"Yeah?"

"Goodnight to you too." Emily said quietly before ending the call.

Naomi set her phone on the desk. As she sat there, she realised that she felt happy. Like, actually happy. It was such a strange feeling, that she didn't know how to handle it. She did know for a fact that she hadn't felt this way since she was eleven or twelve, since before everything went to shit, but she quickly shut down that train of thought. She wanted to feel this for a bit longer.

Naomi knew it was because of Emily, just talking to her made her feel less alone, less lonely. She hoped that it was Emily that could break the curse, she thought with a smile. Yes, talking to her on the phone felt good, she was thinking to herself as she saved Emily's number in her phone, now if only she can impress the red head tomorrow night face to face, Naomi will be all set.

Alright! Another one down:)

Let me know what you think...Liked it...Hated it...Thoughts...Feelings...anything at all!

Marci