A/N: Hello everyone...just a quick update...
Huge thanks to MsWitsEnd.. she knows why and if you're not reading her fabulously awesome story, "Stonem House", then you aught to be ashamed of yourself!
Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah, blah...we all know the drill, don't we?
Chapter 21: The Talk
"...the contributions from Campbell Corporation will go toward funding many viable projects in the future. It would be our great honour for you to visit our facility for a tour and a meeting...,"
Effy sat staring at the letter in front of her, reading the same lines over and over again.
'What the fuck is wrong with me?' She asked herself, but then it hit her, as she thought about that night in the hedge maze with Katie.
Katie had kissed her and she had been replaying that kiss over and over in her mind since then. What did it mean? Effy knew what she wanted it to mean, but what did Katie want it to mean?
"Ugh!" Effy said out loud, as she shuffled the papers on her desk. "This isn't helping anything, Effy!" She chastised herself for getting worked up over it.
She knew she had done the right thing by pulling away before she could get carried away, causing Katie to run? Avoid her? Actually, Effy had been the one doing the avoiding so far.
But Effy didn't want to think too much about it, because every time she did, she kept hearing Katie remind her that she wasn't gay!
Katie's not like Emily!
'Yup! Message received, Katie! But let's kiss on it, shall we?' She thought to herself, getting a bit angry, but choosing to push that feeling down, because what good would that do?
No, Effy was very good at hiding how she felt, so it was easy for her to turn all mysterious when she pulled away from Katie's lips with a smirk and though it killed her a little on the inside, she walked away from the older twin.
She was so deep in thought about it, that she didn't hear the door to her office open, until Katie's voice called out.
"Effy, we need to talk."
Effy looked up and found Katie staring at her from her spot just inside the door. "Katie...what?" She was flustered.
Effy Stonem, mystery girl of Bristol, was flustered by Katie Fucking Fitch!
Katie walked further into the room and sat in the chair across from Effy, her desk the only thing separating them. Katie sat there all prim and proper waiting for Effy to find some words.
It took a few minutes, but Effy finally composed herself enough to speak. "Talk about what?"
The question struck Katie as a dumb one, used to deflect from the real situation. "The kiss!" She snapped out. "Don't tell me you've forgotten about it already, Effy, because if you have, you can fucking forget about the rest!"
"Oh. That...well, I just figured...,"
"Figured what, exactly?" Katie narrowed her gaze on the brunette. "You basically said you liked me, but you pushed me away when I kiss you? What's that about?"
"You're angry at me because I stopped you from making a mistake?" Effy asked in disbelief.
"What do you mean, a mistake?"
Katie looked hurt, and Effy wanted nothing more than to walk around the desk and comfort her, but she didn't, couldn't really, because it felt like her body was weighted down.
"Katie," Effy said calmly, knowing Katie's temper like she did, "yes...I like you. More than a bit, if we're being honest, but you had just got done telling me that you "were not like Emily" and then you turn around and kiss me! I didn't want you to think I was trying to pressure you for anything." She explained, making air quotes with her fingers.
"I didn't feel pressured." Katie said quietly as she looked down, staring at her hands.
"I'm not an experiment, Katie!" Effy's tone held an edge of anger.
"And I'm not a fucking scientist, Effy! I kissed you because I wanted to!" Katie shouted at her.
Effy didn't say anything, choosing to think before she did, as Katie glared at her.
"Fuck you, Katie!" Effy exclaimed before standing up and leaving the room in a hurry, leaving Katie sitting there, shocked at the outburst.
She needed a moment to think. And Effy couldn't think when Katie was in the same room as her, so she walked into the lounge and threw herself on the sofa.
'Fucking Katie Fitch!' She thought to herself as she felt tears forming in her eyes.
"What the fuck, Effy?" Katie's voice cut across the silent room, as Effy closed her eyes with a sigh, not expecting the older twin to have followed her.
"What do you want from me, Katie?" Effy asked in desperation. "Contrary to what everyone believes, I'm only human you know!"
Katie stared at her, confused about what was going on as she stood in front of the brunette, hands on her hips. "I know you are...wait! What are you talking about?"
Effy sat up straighter and glared at the twin. "You can't tell me in one breath that you don't fancy me because you're straight and then turn around and kiss me! It's not fair on me, Katie, can't you see that? I have feelings and for you to play with them makes you no better than Naomi before the curse!"
She broke down right then, as she panted like she had run laps around the house and her face was flushed. Actual crying! Something she hadn't done since she was a little girl, before she learned how to control her emotions, before Katie Fucking Fitch came along.
"I couldn't take it if you were just...trying it out,"
"Trying what out?" Katie tried to ask, but Effy kept on talking.
"...because I like you. I like you more than a little and I might even go as far as to say I love you, but that wouldn't be realistic, but it feels like I do and for you to mess me about would be devastating...,"
Effy kept rambling on, but Katie had latched on to three little words in her attempt to keep up with Effy's verbal diarrhea.
"I might even go as far as to say I love you!"
"...and I don't know what's gonna happen after Naomi...well, you know...because I don't think I could stand not being around you! Even if it's just as friends! Can't you see? I'm willing to put my feelings aside if you don't feel the same...I'm willing to be just your friend but...Katie, you can't just kiss me and expect me not to want more!" Effy was pleading with the older twin now. She needed Katie to understand that it wasn't okay to play with people's emotions like that.
"You...love me?" Katie asked, feeling dazed at the admission but also something else, something she had never felt before. She suddenly felt tired and had to sit down. "Whoa!" She said.
Effy looked embarrassed, because out of everything that had just spewed from her lips and that was the one thing Katie picked up on. She stayed silent as she awaited Katie's reaction.
"Why?" Katie asked, obviously baffled.
"Why what?"
Katie rolled her eyes at Effy's sudden confusion. "Why would you like me?"
"Why not?" Effy replied, shocked that she would ask that. "My god, Katie...don't you know how wonderful you are? Hasn't anyone ever told you before?"
"No." Katie said sadly, thinking about all the boyfriends she'd had in the past. "I've heard fit, fuckable...I've even been called kinky."
Effy rolled her eyes in anger. "Boys have very limited vocabularies, plus they're idiots...but you are fit and outstandingly sexy. But beyond that, you're beautiful, smart and funny as fuck!"
Katie's jaw dropped and she knew she'd need help picking it back up.
"Seriously, no one's ever told you that before?"
Katie felt her throat close up, the emotions all warring within her, so she shook her head instead.
"When you walk into a room, you light it up." Effy said softly, tired of treading softly around the older twin. "Honestly, you're like a breath of fresh air...god, I didn't even realise how stagnate my life had become until you walked into it, all ballsy and brash!" Effy told her, giggling at the memory of her first encounter with Katie. "You don't take anyone's shit and you stand up for what you believe in...,"
"I don't think I'm ballsy...," Katie stated sadly, "If I was, Mandy wouldn't have gotten anywhere near my sister."
"Bullshit! You know that she waited until you weren't around to attack Emily," Effy scooted closer to Katie and placed two fingers under her chin, lifting her face up so smokey blue eyes could gaze into soft brown ones, "you do realise that right? You know Mandy never would've made it past you to get to Emily if you had been right there, don't you?"
"Maybe." Katie whispered as she let her eyes take in every feature of Effy's face, from the delicate arch of her brows to the straight line of her nose and down to those very soft kissable lips. She suddenly had the urge to kiss those lips again, so she quickly licked her own and leant forward.
Effy watched as Katie's pupils dilated, feeling her heart start beating faster than she'd ever felt before. She couldn't move. Effy was so undecided on what to do, that she couldn't move forward or pull away and for the first time in her life, she was actually scared of another person!
Katie was about a millimetre away from Effy's lips when the door to the lounge opened up.
"Has either one of you seen Naomi?" Emily's voice rang out, breaking the spell that Effy was under, causing her to scoot away from Katie and blush.
"Have you ever heard of fucking knocking!" Katie snapped at her sister.
Emily looked stunned by the hostility from her sister, but couldn't help but notice the look on Effy's face. "Sorry. It's just...I've already looked in the office for her and I thought she might be somewhere down here."
Effy sat up straighter, cleared her throat and gave the younger twin a small smile. "I think she may be in her rooms?" She told Emily, earning a thank you as she left, closing the door behind her.
Katie and Effy sat still as they both tried to process the fact that Katie had tried to kiss Effy again and what that meant.
"I can't promise anything, Effy," Katie was the first to speak, knowing it had to be her to do it, "all I can say is that...I like you too, okay? And it's all new to me, because I've never liked a girl before, but someone told me that it's not about the gender, it's about the person," Effy's hopes started to rise as Katie kept talking, "...and you make me feel things I've never felt before, so...yeah...I think I'd like to try...slowly, of course...but I can't promise I won't freak out at some point, so please...just be patient with me, yeah?"
Katie had barely gotten the last word of her rambling out when Effy lunged foreword and captured Katie's lips with her own.
Katie sighed into the kiss as she felt how soft Effy's lips were. It was strange and exciting all at the same time, because while Effy was taking control of the kiss, it wasn't rough and harsh like all the kisses she'd ever had with guys.
It was demanding and pleading, giving and taking...it was the best kiss Katie had ever had.
At first, Katie was unsure of what she should be doing whilst Effy sat there kissing her, but then she remembered that she instigated this and so she brought her right hand up to weave her fingers through Effy's hair and grabbed her around the back of the neck with her left, just to make for sure Effy didn't pull away again.
Effy had no intention of pulling away. Not now that she had gotten another chance at this. She wanted to make sure that Katie understood how she felt, so she poured everything into the kiss. When Effy's tongue ran across Katie's bottom lip, begging for entrance, Katie gasped, then sighed as she opened her mouth slightly and felt Effy's enter to stroke hers.
Effy moaned. She couldn't help it, as she tasted Katie on her tongue. 'Fuck me! If I ever get to sleep with her, I might just die of pleasure!' She thought to herself, as she felt her lungs burn with the need for oxygen.
Reluctantly, Effy pulled away and giggled when Katie tried to follow her lips in an attempt to reattach them to hers.
"Fuck me!" Katie whispered under her breath, making Effy smile brightly at her.
"Is that an offer?" Effy asked, innocently, before leaning closer to whisper into Katie's ear. "We could do it right here if you really wanted to, but I think I'd like our first time together to be special."
Effy stared into Katie's eyes as they widened at what she had just said.
"Would you please pay attention to me?" Katie suddenly snapped out, confusing Effy.
"Effy?" Katie's mouth said again, but it wasn't her voice that came out. "For fucks sake, Effy!"
Effy blinked rapidly as Naomi started snapping her fingers in front of her face.
"What?" Effy had been so deep into her thoughts of yesterday and Katie, that she had totally zoned out on Naomi. "Sorry, Nai...what were you saying?"
Naomi stared at Effy hard, noticing the blush that had started creeping it's way up the girl's neck, settling on her face. "You were telling me how Katie had asked you out...," Naomi trailed off, hoping that Effy would pick it up from there.
"Um, yeah. We had a nice...chat," Effy smirked at that, "yesterday and then she just came right out and asked."
Naomi narrowed her gaze, not quite believing what her best friend was telling her, knowing that there was more to the story, but she wasn't about to push her. "That's great, Effy." Naomi smiled at her. "So when's the big day?"
Effy grinned thinking about it. "Tonight, in a couple hours, actually." She replied, but then frowned. "I'm kinda nervous."
"What, why?" Naomi asked.
"C'mon, Nai...you know I'm almost as bad as you when it comes to this! I've never been on a date before...what am I supposed to do?" Effy pleaded with Naomi, asking her without actually asking her, for her help.
"Well, I say just be yourself, you twat!" Naomi said, laughing. "She must like you or she wouldn't have asked, right?"
"Yeah...I guess."
"So just keep on being you and I'm pretty sure the rest will work itself out." Naomi told her. "Now, how about we take your mind off of Katie Fitch for a few moments, yeah?"
Effy shook her head, as if physically dispelling all thoughts of Katie from her mind. "Alright! What's on your mind?"
"The twins' birthday is coming up and I wanna do something special for them." Naomi said. "I'm thinking a ball?"
"Oh, we can rent out the Centre again...I'm sure they'll let us this time of year!" Effy became excited about the prospect of planning it.
"No...Effs, I wanna have it here." Naomi told her, causing Effy to sit up straighter and just look at her.
"You want to invite people, loads of people, it our home? The place where we never let anybody enter?" Effy asked, not knowing for sure if she had heard the girl correctly.
"Yes." Naomi replied firmly, understanding Effy's doubt. Knowing that no one had entered into the Campbell house since the curse, until Katie and Emily Fitch had entered their lives. "Whatdya think?"
Effy watched Naomi's face, looking for any signs of doubt or hesitation, but found nothing. "You're actually serious." Effy breathed out in wonder, knowing how huge this was for her reclusive friend. "Okay...lets do it!"
Naomi and Effy grinned at each other. "Great! But I want it to be a surprise, yeah?"
Effy nodded along, already planning in her head. "Yeah...that's fine. I'll start planning after the service tomorrow." She told Naomi. "About tomorrow...,"
Naomi knew what she was going to ask, and smiled. "I'll be fine. It's time to put the past to rest, don't you think?
"You'll get to see your Uncle Geoff." Effy told her with a smile. "And Frankie!"
"Yeah...there is that." Naomi replied, thinking maybe she had done the wrong thing in keeping everyone away. "Maybe I shouldn't have been so stubborn about them staying away...,"
"You did what you thought you needed to do, Nai."
"Alright...enough of this!" Naomi shook off her sadness and stared at Effy. "You have to get ready for your date, yeah?"
Effy groaned loudly as the nerves that had been held at bay whilst they talked about Naomi's plan came rushing back in, making her feel as if the whole cast of Riverdance were step dancing in her stomach.
Naomi laugh at Effy's reaction. "C'mon, I'll help you get ready."
Effy followed Naomi out of her office and muttered to herself, with a frown. "This should be fun."
But then the grimace on her face morphed into a huge smile as the realisation hit her full force and it didn't even scare her. 'I've got a date with Katie Fucking Fitch!'
A/N: Okay.. I hope this was okay, as I've never written Keffy before, so I'm very unsure about this...
With that being said, I wanna take a moment to let you guys know that it might be a few weeks before I'm able to update again, but I wanted to get this up today. As some of you already know, I lost my grandmother last week and while we will be laying her to rest tomorrow, the next couple of weeks will be busy for my family.
Thank you to everyone who has sent me kind words, believe me...its very much appreciated, and thanks for making me laugh or even smile! Its been you guys, and all the awesome ladies(And yes, I use that term loosely ;D) that have helped me avoid slipping into my head the past week. So thank you all very much:)
Love,
Marci :)