A/N: So here is chapter 3, which is a bit longer than the other two and has a bit of angst (if you've read my other stories you'll know I like to throw it in every now and again.) But it's mainly fluff because I'm enjoying writing it and it seems you are enjoying the cuteness. There will be some challenges thrown at these two because I can't write a totally fluffy story, but it'll take a lot less time to resolve them and it won't be anything that major.

There were a few comments about the speed at which Naomily were getting together, so I hope this chapter and the next show that this was intentional and help explain why.

Thank you x 1 million for all of the reviews, I really appreciate you taking the time out to leave detailed comments or just to say you are enjoying the story.

I really will try to update my other stories soon but this is the one that seems to be flowing out of me at the moment and I've been distracted because I bought myself an i-pad 2 the other week so haven't been writing as much as normal.

Hope you enjoy reading it.

Gina PoV

I glanced at the kettle as I entered the kitchen and wondered why I wasn't being greeted by the sound of water boiling. There were no cups out either, Naomi had clearly ignored my request to put the kettle on and make me a cup of tea. I tutted and flicked the switch before reaching up into the cupboard. She'd been acting a bit strangely for a few days now come to think of it. She seemed distracted a lot of the time and when I, quite politely in my opinion, asked what was wrong she jumped down my throat and got defensive. It's not like I'm not used to it, we've had a love/ hate relationship for most of our lives. But we both know deep down we love each other dearly, even if we can't always stand to be in the same room together.

I remember Effy telling us once that it was because we were too alike, Naomi had almost exploded. I thought I had hidden how hurt it made me feel when she ranted how she was nothing like me, as if that was the worst thing in the world, but of course the 'all seeing' Effy had noticed straight away. She smiled apologetically as Naomi continued to protest. Effy's far too intuitive for her own good sometimes, although I do wish a bit of it would rub off on Naomi.

I looked up as my daughter entered the room, muttering something to herself, "Ah, speak of the devil."

Naomi walked over to the newly made tea and picked up a cup, "What?"

I rolled my eyes, "I asked you to put the kettle on ages ago. Honestly Naomi, why is it if I want anything done round here I always have to do it myself?"

Naomi snorted, "So how come I was an accomplished cook, could do all my own washing and ironing and odd jobs around the house by the time I was 12, Mum?"

The emphasis on the last word wasn't lost on me, "Naomi, you know my protests are really important to me. I'm sorry if that meant you were left to fend for yourself sometimes but you..."

"Can't fight injustice by sitting on your arse." Naomi finished for me, "I know that Mum and it hasn't done me much permanent damage I suppose. It just pisses me off a bit when you imply I don't help out."

I smiled, "I'm sorry love, it was unfair of me to say I did everything myself. Sometimes I don't know how I managed when you were away at Uni."

"I expect all of the waifs and strays helped a bit. I could hardly move each time I came back and I can't believe you gave away my room so quickly." Naomi said sternly.

I sighed, when Naomi had gone off to university I was lonely and I missed having her and her friends around the house so I took in a few lodgers. Then I started letting people stay over while we were planning our next protest rally, in the end everyone just stuck around. I suppose it was a bit like a commune but it was never dull. I'd got rid of them all when Naomi moved back home but she still hadn't forgiven me for letting other people stay in her room, especially if she was back from uni at the time.

"Don't even go there Mother" Naomi started when she saw the look on my face, "being woken up by a pair of cheesy feet being shoved in my face and then finding a man who looked like Jesus lying top to tail with me is not 'an act of kindness to those less fortunate than myself' or whatever you called it."

I couldn't help smiling at the memory, Naomi had been furious, "I wonder what happened to him. He was a fantastic shag, even if he did stink."

Naomi stared at me in horror, "God Mum, too much fucking information. Thanks a lot, I now have a totally disgusting mental image running on repeat through my head."

I glanced at the clock, "Hadn't you better hurry up, you'll be late for work."

"Errr, yeah I suppose so." Naomi replied.

I watched Naomi with interest as her demeanour changed and she shifted uncomfortably, "What is it love?"

She sighed, "I was wondering if I could borrow some money? I'll give it back as soon as I get paid."

"How much do you want to borrow?" I asked.

Naomi shrugged, "Dunno, about £50 should do."

I raised my eyebrow, "When do I ever have £50 in my purse?"

"I know, which is why I thought I could take your card and withdraw it from the cash machine." Naomi said hopefully.

I narrowed my eyes, "What do you need the money for?"

My God, was that a blush I could see creeping across her face? It was, what on earth was going on. I waited patiently for her to continue.

Naomi coughed, "I've got the afternoon off work and I have a sort of date, well an actual date."

"So you want to make sure you can pay your way? I'm impressed, never let the man pick up the bill for everything, it's far too out dated." I responded and I watched as my usually unflappable daughter turned an even deeper shade of red.

"Err, that's not quite the reason." Naomi replied unable to make eye contact.

I frowned, "Naomi, what's going on?"

Finally she looked me in the eye and took a deep breath, "I'm not going on a date with a man, it's with a woman and I asked her out so it should be my place to pay for it. That might be old fashioned and I don't have much money but it's what I want to do."

I processed the words that had just tumbled from my daughter's mouth at breakneck speed. She was going on a date, with a woman, this afternoon. She wasn't meeting up with a female friend or going on a trip, she'd used the word date, that had romantic overtones. I was stunned.

"Please Mum, say something." Naomi said looking nervously at me.

I had to play this carefully. What I wanted to do was rush over and throw my arms around her while screaming hallelujah at the top of my voice but I knew that would freak her out. I had to take a much more softly, softly approach.

"Well I must admit I wasn't expecting you to say that. Have you known each other long?" I asked gently.

Naomi shook her head, "I met her on Wednesday when I was out on the lunch run. She owns a sandwich shop in town. Her name's Emily."

"I see and now you're going on a date?" I enquired.

I could see her beginning to bristle, "Yeah we are, just to get to know each other better. What's wrong with that?"

I waved my hands, "Nothing, there's nothing wrong with that. I didn't say there was did I?"

Naomi harrumphed, "It wasn't what you said, it was the accusatory way you said it."

I sighed in exasperation, "Come on Naomi, I didn't say anything in an accusatory way. I'm just interested in how you met, Emily was it?"

"Well now you know. So can I borrow the money or not?" Naomi asked sulkily.

"As long as you pay it back of course you can borrow it." I replied.

Naomi scowled at me, "I've already told you I would."

"Naomi, please stop acting like a child and being so defensive. Who you have a relationship with is entirely up to you, I'd never be judgemental about your choices, you know that. I just want you to be happy." I said softly.

"I need to get to work so can I have the card please?" Naomi replied with a resigned sigh.

I handed the card over and watched her out of the window as she headed towards the bus stop. Like Effy, I had long since suspected Naomi might be gay; hence the euphoria when she finally at least admitted it might be a possibility. Naomi had always been adamant that she wouldn't have a problem admitting she was a lesbian if she was, but she wasn't. It was something that never rang quite true as far as I was concerned. Even though she didn't discuss it with me I knew she shagged around a fair bit and had one night stands but she'd never brought anyone home, in fact I wasn't even sure she'd been on many dates before. I wasn't expecting miracles and all of a sudden she'd start treating me as a confidante but I at least hoped she'd talk to Effy. No matter how old she was, she was still my little girl and this was bound to be confusing for her.

I sighed as I put the kettle on for another cup of tea, I just hoped she realised that I meant it when I said all I wanted was for her to be happy and that I would support her no matter what choices she made in life.

Naomi PoV

"Screw you mother fucker." I swore at my computer screen as once again I lost concentration and deleted a section of text I had meant to move.

I undid my last action and continued to type up the notes of a meeting Mandy had asked me to finish before I left for the day. In a way it was a pretty mindless task that a trained hamster could do but I was still managing to fuck it up.

I sighed and muttered to myself, "So it's official, your brain's all over the place today."

It wasn't like I didn't know why, I was shitting myself about my date with Emily. Some of it was the general nerves you get before a date, not that I'd really know as I'd never really bothered with them but I'd seen other people in panic mode. Being apprehensive and hoping things went alright was normal I guess. Don't get me wrong, part of me was really looking forward to seeing her again and every time I thought about it the butterflies, you know the good but scary type, would erupt in my stomach. But I was also feeling uneasy and the fact I was mindlessly copying notes meant that I had the time to think about why.

There's something I need to explain about me – I don't do feelings. What I mean by that is obviously I feel things, I'm not a robot, but I never stop to analyse why I'm feeling the way I am. Absolutely terrifies me, always has done. Effy finds it hilarious that I've managed to go through life like this but it works for me. Or at least it did until now, until I bloody walked into that sandwich shop and met Emily.

Effy, in her smug know it all way, speculates that my reluctance to acknowledge anything I'm feeling stems from my Dad walking out on me. She might be right, I've never really thought about it, ha ha.

Except I had been thinking about things ever since I had to admit to my Mum I needed the money for a date with a woman. I knew I had behaved like a sulky teenager earlier and been downright rude to Mum, even though I needed her help, but I found it really hard to deal with her sometimes. I love her to bits and I know she loves me but she's just so fucking amiable and understanding all the time. I'm not stupid, I know she and Effy have discussed the possibility of me being gay and my reluctance to even entertain the idea. But how can they be so sure when I don't even know myself? How can anything be decided when I haven't ever kissed a woman properly much less done anything else. I understand it must be frustrating when I refuse to talk about it but I suppose I'm just sick of everyone trying to put a label on me.

That's what my sense of unease was about, I felt rushed into going on this date, not by Emily, she was lovely but by everyone else. Katie had forced the issue, Effy and my Mum would be cheering and organising a coming out party for me, my other best friend Cook would already be fantasising about us in bed. But what about me? Even though I had surprised myself a bit at how suggestive I'd been in my texts I knew it would be different when we were face to face. It was one thing sending flirty messages, you could always be brave when you hid behind a phone, I suspected I wouldn't be quite so bold when we were actually in the same room. I definitely wanted to get to know Emily better, I was sure about that, but I didn't know if that meant I wanted us to be friends or if it was something more. I was clearly attracted to her on some level but did that mean I had a crush on a new friend or that I was gay? All I wanted was a bit of space and time to figure it out. I was sure Emily would understand if I explained it to her but I wasn't used to articulating anything I was thinking or feeling so how could I get my message across without making her think it was personal?

I finished the notes and emailed them to Mandy before I glanced at the clock, 12.20. I sighed loudly before shutting down my computer. It was time to do what I did best and not face up to anything, so I buried my lingering doubts and got ready to go on my date.

Emily PoV

"One all day breakfast toasted Panini, one mozzarella, tomato and basil ciabatta and two lattes." I said with relief as I laid the plates and cups firmly on the table without dropping them. "Enjoy your meal."

The customers smiled and thanked me before tucking into their food hungrily. I looked at the clock, it was nearly half past and there was no sign of Katie. Where the fuck was she? There hadn't even been a call or text to let me know she was running late or even worse couldn't make it. She knew this afternoon with Naomi was important to me, I hadn't had a date in months.

If I'm being totally honest my last 'date' wasn't what you'd call a proper date; it was a quick drink with my ex which was a vague attempt to disguise the fact that we were going to go back to her place and screw each other's brains out. I was the one who insisted on having a drink first as it made me feel less like a desperate slut, she'd laughed and said who cared if all we were meeting up for was sex, we were both consenting adults but she indulged me all the same. I wasn't particularly proud of the fact we still met up occasionally for a shag, but for a variety of reasons I didn't find it that easy to meet new people. The fact that the no strings sex was pretty amazing helped too, although to be fair by the time I was frustrated enough to call my ex a fuck with anyone would have seemed sensational. Naturally I'd prefer to be in a relationship where sex meant something more than a welcome alternative to me sorting myself out but I'm only human and my ex was very, shall we say, adventurous; as far as she was concerned nothing was off limits. Until I met her I thought some of my fantasies were dirty, she pretty quickly disabused me of that notion. That was part of the reason we broke up, her ideas of great sex got increasingly outlandish and I got bored of never having an emotional connection. I chuckled to myself as I thought of the last time we'd got together, I definitely wasn't interested in any sort of emotional connection then.

I shook myself as I started to get a bit worked up at the memory; I was supposed to be thinking about Naomi. My thoughts turned to the blonde and I couldn't help smiling. I had meant what I said to Katie about feeling there was a connection between us, I couldn't explain it properly but this already felt different, like it might lead somewhere.

I knew Katie was sceptical, she was always telling me I was a fantasist who fell for people too quickly and she regularly admonished me for having too many 'inappropriate crushes'. As far as she was concerned there was no Mr Right, just Mr Right now. I was exactly the opposite, even though I'd had my heart broken plenty of times, deep down I was a hopeless romantic who still believed in happy ever after. That's why I was so eager to go out with Naomi. I fancied plenty of women and sometimes I had the guts to take it beyond the crush phase and not just admire them from afar. When I was younger I was a serial monogamist and was always far happier in a relationship than out of one. But I hadn't met anyone in a long time where I thought the attraction I felt was or could be something more than physical. Don't get me wrong it's not like I believe in love at first sight or anything, I'm not that much of an idiot. I suppose what I meant was even though I had only just met Naomi I already felt she was someone I wanted to get to know a lot better and spend more time with.

Oh God, what the hell am I doing? We haven't even been out yet and here I am imagining us riding off into the sunset. That was another major failing of mine as far as Katie was concerned, instead of going with the flow and seeing what direction things took I always had to plan and over think everything. It usually ended up with me tying myself into knots over a hypothetical event that was never going to happen, so I suppose Katie has a point.

I gave myself a pep talk. Calm down Emily, don't scare Naomi off by coming on too strong, especially not on your first date if you want there to be others. Take things slowly, see how this develops and don't fall for her too quickly.

"Hi Emily, I'm sorry I'm a bit late. I know you said I should text you if that happened again but I'm not great at multi tasking so I thought it was better I concentrated on getting here."

I blinked as Naomi's voice broke through my internal dialogue. I looked up and found myself staring deeply into the beautiful eyes regarding me nervously. Oh fuck, she's totally gorgeous and completely adorable. My heart rate increased sharply and I had trouble catching my breath. It felt like I was drowning in the deep blue pools staring intensely at me.

I gulped and tried to go over my pep talk again but I knew it was pointless. The simple fact was no matter how many times I told myself not to get carried away, I was already falling for Naomi and I was falling fast.

Naomi PoV

I watched as Emily anxiously gulped and continued to stare at me. After a while it started to unnerve me that she still hadn't said anything. She didn't look ready to leave and I panicked as the thought that she might have changed her mind entered my conscious. I know I was nervous and a bit apprehensive about our date but that didn't mean I didn't want to go out with her.

"Have you changed your mind?" I found myself blurting out.

It seemed enough to snap Emily out of her trance, "God, sorry, I was miles away then. What did you say?"

I cleared my throat, "You don't look like you're ready so I asked you if you had changed your mind."

"What do you mean I don't look like I'm ready?" Emily asked sharply.

I motioned towards the apron she was wearing and the sandwich in her hand.

Emily smiled, "Oh right, that kind of not ready. Katie hasn't arrived yet so I can't leave the shop."

"Oh," I started trying not to sound too let down, "we can do it another time if you'd prefer?"

I saw a look of disappointment briefly cross Emily's face before she hid it, "I suppose we might have to if Katie doesn't arrive some time soon."

I stood there awkwardly as Emily served a customer with their sandwich. My head was an even bigger mess than it had been this morning. I had spent all the time questioning my sexuality or feeling under pressure and in my nervousness I'd forgotten that I was really looking forward to taking Emily out and having the chance to get to know her. The sense of regret I was feeling at the thought of having to cancel proved that to me. The door went and a new rush of lunchtime customers came in.

Emily rolled her eyes at me, "Typical, it would be today of all days we have our busiest trading time."

I shrugged, "Well, I suppose I should get out of your way. I'll call you about rearranging a time for us to go out."

Emily looked at me sadly, "Ok I'll wait for you to call. I really am sorry Naomi, I could kill Katie. I was really looking forward to spending some proper time with you."

I smiled and nodded at her before heading for the door. When I got outside I took a deep breath, Emily had genuinely seemed upset that we couldn't go on our date so I didn't think she'd used Katie as an excuse. But there was something about her expression and tone of voice that bothered me and I couldn't work out why. I glanced back through the window and watched as Emily rushed around the counter preparing food. There was something different about her, the way she was standing with her shoulders hunched, like she was a bit defeated.

I suddenly worked out what was bothering me and I slapped my forehead with the palm of my hand.

"You total fucking idiot." I said loudly, eliciting strange looks and a few tuts from the shocked passersby.

I made my way back into the shop and saw the surprise register on Emily's face. I walked behind the counter and put on a spare apron, "I wasn't trying to get out of our date and I would have called to rearrange."

I could tell from the look on her face that was exactly what she had thought when I suggested we go out another time.

She looked at me unsurely, "You don't have to do this."

I smiled at her, "I know but you look like you could do with a hand and this way we can still spend some time together."

My stomach flipped as she beamed at me, "Well then, thanks and how are you at unloading and reloading dishwashers?"

"That's a particular talent of mine actually." I said with a grin as I opened the dishwasher door and flapped away the steam. I picked up a plate and promptly dropped it back down, fuck it was hot.

I turned around and found Emily staring at me with her eyebrow raised.

I smiled sheepishly, "It's still a bit hot to empty."

"I seriously hope the rest of your talents aren't as disappointing as that." Emily said with a smirk.

I started to blush and became fascinated by a loaf of bread lying on the worktop. I risked a glance back at Emily, who was preparing the next order, she was shaking her head slightly and chuckling to herself. Cheeky bloody cow, I didn't have to offer to help her out and now she was laughing at me. I tested the dishwasher again and decided it had cooled off sufficiently for me to unload it. I began to noisily empty it and stack the various pieces of crockery on the side. Once I had finished I started to place the dirty dishes into the racks. I knew I was muttering to myself as I did it, slowly winding myself up about Emily laughing at me again and thinking of all the witty comebacks I should have made. I hated it when I looked foolish, especially in front of someone I was trying to impress. The trouble was I always tried to blame anyone but myself when I was embarrassed so the likely outcome of this would be me shouting at Emily and melodramatically storming off in a huff. I really didn't want that to happen because there definitely wouldn't be any more dates if she realised this early on how childish I could be.

"I thought the intention was that we spent some time together? You seem more interested in talking to yourself than to me." Emily's voice cut across my thoughts.

I looked up and was greeted by an amused pair of brown eyes staring at me. "Yeah, well it's the only way I'm going to get any intelligent conversation round here."

Slick, Naomi, really slick, insulting her is definitely the best way to make a good impression. Why don't you try pulling her hair or getting Effy to tell her 'my mate likes you' next time?

Emily looked slightly taken aback by my comment until a grin broke out on her face, "Oh my God, you're a sulker."

"No I'm not," I replied in what could only be described as a sulky voice.

The redhead started to laugh, "Oh yes you are. You're still annoyed about dropping the plate and my comment, which is why you've been muttering to yourself. What were you doing, trying to think of all the things you should have said back to me?"

I was shocked she'd already got the measure of me, I mean I was used to Effy being able to read my mind but I had always thought that was just a special ability she had, now Emily was at it too. Was I really that easy to work out, I'd always thought of myself as a dark, brooding, complex individual, well that's how I had romanticised it anyway.

Emily must have registered my surprise at being found out because her next comment was said gently, "Katie is a terrible sulker too, always has been. That's why I can recognise one at 50 paces and that's how I know exactly what you were muttering about."

I pouted slightly, "I don't sulk."

I could see Emily trying not to laugh again, "Ok I'm sorry I suggested that you do. As a matter of interest what was the best comeback you came up with?"

"If you play your cards right, you'll find out for yourself what my other talents are." I uttered the words without thinking and immediately realised I'd fallen straight into Emily's trap.

The redhead pretended to ponder my words, "Hmmm, not bad, although you did have ages to think of it, you know while you were sulking and emptying the dishwasher."

"Hey, that's not fair, you tricked me." I spluttered indignantly.

"So that's two new things I learned about you today. One, you are a terrible sulk and two, you're gullible as hell." Emily replied counting them off on her fingers.

I was about to bristle again when I looked into Emily's eyes, which were twinkling as she gazed at me. Oh God, how could anyone stay annoyed when those beautiful eyes were focused on them. I felt the slight remaining defensiveness drain completely away from me. I blinked a couple of times and refocused on the shop, which was now starting to empty.

"I'll try not to sulk too much anymore." I said quietly unable to look Emily in the eye.

Emily laughed, "And now I know three new things about you."

I looked at her with a confused expression, "what's the third thing?"

She smiled mysteriously before turning away with a wink, "That just like the rest of the human race, you're powerless to resist me when I give you my puppy dog eyes."

My mouth fell open in shock, she'd looked at me like that on purpose, she'd manipulated me into not being annoyed with her. I glanced in her direction and found her smiling at me. Very slowly and deliberately she blew me a kiss. I tried not to react but I couldn't help it as I started to go red and giggle. Emily stared at me before shaking her head and laughing.

Oh Christ, what was happening to me? I'm Naomi Campbell for God's sake. People don't wrap me around their little fingers, I do the manipulating. Yet here I was giggling, actually giggling like a fucking schoolgirl, in a sandwich shop just because someone had blown me a kiss. I needed to get a grip on myself. I stopped laughing but I couldn't keep the smile from my face when I thought about the redhead standing on the other side of the shop from me. Let's be totally honest here, I wouldn't have reacted like that if just anybody had blown me a kiss, it was purely because it was Emily.

I looked over to the redhead who had started to wipe down some of the tables, she really was beautiful. Inwardly I groaned, no matter what doubts I had this morning about going out with Emily or whether I wanted to date a woman at all the truth was getting harder to ignore. My reaction when I looked at her or when she smiled at me was getting predictable.

Sweaty palms - check. Quickening pulse - check. Butterflies erupting in my stomach - check.

I could picture Effy's smug face when I finally told her that she might have been right all along because after spending the afternoon with Emily, one thing had been irrefutably cleared up. Regardless of whether I was gay or not, I seriously fancied the redhead and wanted to go on another date with her as soon as possible.

"Fuck you Effy Stonem, fuck you and your shitty ability to always be right," I muttered under my breath with a sigh.

Emily PoV

I'd just finished wiping a table when I heard Naomi muttering under her breath again. I looked up to find her staring strangely at me and when she saw that I'd noticed she coughed loudly and looked away. Had she been checking me out?

"Is everything alright?" I asked innocently.

"Hmmm, what was that?" she responded vaguely.

I looked squarely at her, "I was asking if you were ok? You were muttering something under your breath and you had an odd expression on your face when you were staring at me. What were you thinking about?"

I watched as she started to go red, bingo, she'd definitely been checking me out. I waited for her answer, this should be good.

She shifted uncomfortably, "Actually, I was thinking that I'd had a really nice time today and was wondering if you fancied going for a drink once we've finished here."

My eyes widened in surprise, that wasn't the answer I'd been expecting at all and I certainly didn't expect Naomi to be so honest. I glanced at my watch, because Katie hadn't turned up I should probably go home and find out if she was ok. There were also some other things she was supposed to be taking care of for me and I couldn't run the risk they'd be forgotten. But I really wanted to prolong my date with Naomi too, it had been nice spending time with her and I felt like I knew her a bit better but there were still loads of things I wanted to ask her. Jesus I didn't even know her surname.

"Look it's ok Emily, I get the message. Thanks anyway for the date. I'll see you around maybe." Naomi said ruefully as she made her way to the door.

Shit, she'd interpreted my thinking time as a sign that I was trying to find a way to let her down gently.

"NO!" I shouted ferociously, shocking myself and definitely Naomi if the way she nearly jumped out of her skin was anything to go by. She turned back to look at me.

"Sorry," I continued more quietly, "You've got it all wrong. I was taking my time because I was deliberating whether a drink with you was more important than finding out if my sister is still alive. Believe me the fact that she's dead is going to be the only excuse I'll accept for her ruining our first date, even if I did have a really great time. I wanted to find out a lot more about you than I have done."

Naomi smiled shyly at me, "Like what?"

I shrugged, "I realised I don't even know your surname."

She shook her head violently, "There's a really good reason for that."

"Such as?" I asked, clearly curious.

Naomi held her hand up, "Sorry, that information is classified and will not be revealed until at least date three."

I raised my eyebrow, "You're very cocky, what makes you think there'll be a date two let alone a third one?"

"Oh, I didn't want to presume or anything but I hoped you might like to go out with me again. Not that we actually went out this time, which makes me look a bit cheap, but I had it all planned..." once again she looked unsure as she started to ramble, which only served to make her more adorable as far as I was concerned.

"Naomi, it's ok, I was joking. I'd love to go out with you again." I said and was rewarded with a massive smile.

"Oh, right, well that's great." She paused and shook her head before continuing, "I'm not normally this idiotic you know? I am actually an intelligent, coherent, articulate woman and contrary to my actions today, I do have a sense of humour, well most of the time."

I smiled at her, "I did wonder about that, both based on today's sulking and after my attempts at jokes fell flat the other day."

Naomi rolled her eyes, "I'd hardly call that an acid test, they were terrible. Anyway, I still laughed at the pregnant women comment."

"Hmmm, that should have been my first clue that you weren't only interested in my sandwiches." I said with a smirk.

I felt a subtle shift in the atmosphere in the shop. I could tell Naomi felt it too because she grew serious and I saw her gulp more than once. I closed the gap between us until I was standing directly in front of her.

I swallowed "I mean, I have got that right haven't I? You are interested in more than my sandwiches?"

Naomi stared at me nervously before she gave a slight nod of her head. I tried not to show how relieved I was, it would have been totally embarrassing if she'd said no. I mean I thought the chances of that happening were small, but like I've already said, panicking about remote possibilities is a specialty of mine. I smiled up at her wondering if I should make the first move. We'd only met two days ago but all I could think about right now was what it would be like to kiss her. I saw her eyes dart down to my lips and back up again, so I knew at least sub consciously Naomi was thinking the same thing.

I was surprised when it was the blonde who leaned towards me, closing her eyes as she gently covered my lips with her own. At first the kiss was tentative, like we were both unsure we should be doing it but after a while we both increased the pressure of our lips against each other. I was determined to let Naomi take the lead so even though I wanted to reach up and cup her face in my hands I resisted. I was even more stunned when I felt her tongue gently brush against my lower lip as she requested entrance to my mouth. I willingly let her in and couldn't help a small moan escaping as Naomi began to caress my tongue with her own. I felt her stiffen before she pulled away.

"I'm... I'm really... sorry. I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have done that." She stammered at me as she began to blush furiously.

I looked at her in shock, "Naomi, it's ok. I wanted you to do it."

She finally made eye contact, her eyes were full of fear, before I could help it I reached out and put my hand on her arm. She visibly flinched and pulled her arm away like I had burned her.

"Naomi, please talk to me about what's going on here?" I asked gently.

She shook her head vigorously and made her way to the door repeating the words, "I can't, I can't." over and over.

"Look, I know it might be a bit hard to talk to me as we don't know each other that well. But I'd like to think we are at least friends enough for me to help, I do remember what it's like, how confusing things can seem." I responded.

Naomi turned to me sadly, "You don't understand, that's not what I meant. I'm really sorry Emily, but I can't do this, any of it. You and me, it's not going to work. I'm not confused at all, I'm just not gay."

I was so stunned by her speech, I didn't even try to stop her going. I watched in total shock as she quickly opened the door and left the shop. Even when I saw her practically run away I still stood motionless, unable to quite believe how things had gone wrong so rapidly.

I jumped as the shop door went again, "Naomi?"

"No, it's me. Is it safe to enter?" Katie asked cautiously.

I was still so bewildered about what had just happened I forgot I was supposed to be angry with her, "Yeah, come in."

Katie walked carefully into the shop and stopped as soon as she saw my face, "What's up Emily?"

I told her about the date and the way it had ended.

She looked confused, "So Naomi instigated the kiss, but then she totally freaked out?"

I nodded.

Katie frowned, "And you have no idea why?"

I stared at Katie, of course I had my suspicions, but nothing concrete to go on, "Not really, I thought things were going really well."

I watched as Katie shook her head, "This doesn't make any sense, I thought she liked you."

I shrugged, "I still think she might but I tell you one thing K, I'm sick of people thinking I'm a pushover. Whether Naomi wants me to or not, I'm bloody determined I'm going to find out exactly what happened today."

Effy PoV

I had just finished calling Cook a wanker for the millionth time when the doorbell rang, "Get that."

"Fuck off Eff, wankers can't open doors." Cook said with a spliff sticking out of the side of his mouth.

I tutted and muttered the word wanker under my breath. The doorbell rang again, twice in quick succession causing me to shout, "All fucking right, I'm coming."

I opened the door and gasped as Naomi fell through puffing and panting like crazy. "What the fuck?"

As she lay on the floor struggling for breath, I managed to make out the words, 'Emily', 'date', 'kiss' and 'ran here'. I was used to Naomi's incoherent ramblings and normally I could piece together what she was on about quite successfully, but not this time. I didn't have a clue.

Cook walked into the hallway and stared at Naomi before he turned to me, "What the fuck?"

I shrugged, "That was my first thought too. I think she ran here."

I couldn't help smiling as Cook burst out laughing, the thought of any of us doing any exercise was usually enough to send us into fits of laughter, the fact that Naomi had seemingly done it voluntarily was absolutely hilarious. We each grabbed one of her arms and part carried, part dragged her into the living room before throwing her onto one of the sofas. Eventually, her breathing slowed enough so she could speak.

I stared at her, "Are you going to tell us what's going on?"

Naomi shook her head, "Not now. I need pills and vodka."

I handed her the open bottle and watched as she took a long swig before grabbing two pills from Cook and washing them down with another large gulp of vodka.

Cook was appalled, "Steady on Naomikins, you're going to be wasted by five o'clock at this rate."

I raised my eyebrow as Naomi took another large drink from the bottle, "Somehow Cook, I think that's the idea. So what's the occasion?"

Naomi's head snapped up, "I've already said, not now. Tonight I need to get absolutely wasted and I'll tell you tomorrow why."

I shot a look at Cook and shrugged, I knew there was no getting through to her when she was in this mood. Besides she'd be drunk and coming up on the pills in a bit which would make her much more chatty. I would just wait and be patient, it usually did the trick.

We sat in comfortable silence, Cook and I were playing cards and smoking as we always did on a Friday as I finished work early and Cook was a lazy fucker who didn't do anything for a living. I shot frequent looks in Naomi's direction but she was intent on getting wasted. I was glad there were two more bottles of vodka in the kitchen because at the rate she was going this one wasn't going to last long.

After we had been sitting for about 20 minutes I saw a small smile playing round her lips, the pills were kicking in.

"Fuck that's seriously good shit." Naomi slurred.

Cook nodded, "When does the cookie monster ever let his favourite girls down?"

I watched as Naomi swayed unsteadily towards him and sat in his lap with a big smile, "Am I really your favourite girl?"

Cook rolled his eyes, "Come on Naoms, ya know you and Eff are like sisters to me."

"I doubt you'd keep trying to fuck us both if we really were your sisters." I said with a smirk.

Naomi blinked at Cook, "Hey, you haven't asked me for a shag in a while, why not?"

"Because you keep turnin' me down, it hurts a man's ego after a while." Cook replied with a grin.

I snorted, it would take more than a few rejections to hurt Cook's ego, hell he got more than that on a typical night out but always struck lucky in the end.

"Go on ask me again, I might say yes this time." Naomi challenged him.

I cut across Cook as he was about to open his mouth, he might be one of my best mates but he was a typical bloke, always thinking with his dick, "James, you're not fucking Naomi, even if she begs you to. You know the rules."

I could tell Cook knew I was serious, I never used his first name unless I wanted him to sit up and take notice.

He shrugged, "Sorry blondie, I'd be well up for it but Eff brought up the rules."

Naomi smiled at him, I'm guessing she thought it was seductively, but she was already pretty pissed, "Aren't rules meant to be broken."

Cook laughed, "Maybe some are babe, but not ones that are punishable by Effy chopping off little Cook and feeding it to next door's dog."

Naomi turned to me, "Spoilsport."

I stared at Naomi trying to work out what was going on in her mind. I thought about the words she'd uttered earlier when she'd been out of breath trying to piece it all together. I was sure there was a girl's name in there along with the words date and kiss. What was the name? Emma? No Emily. Naomi was now sitting on the floor with her back resting against the sofa, she was serenely staring at a spot on the wall and smiling. Fuck it, she was probably far enough gone by now. I glanced at Cook and he nodded.

"Naoms," I began and she turned to look at me. "Who's Emily?"

At first she smiled but this was quickly replaced by a frown, "No one."

I was going to have to try harder to coax her, "So why did you mention her earlier?"

Naomi bit her lip, "I don't remember."

"You said something about a date and a kiss in the same breath as you mentioned Emily, so I'm just wondering who she is." I said gently.

Naomi stared at me and then at Cook, before starting to cry. Jesus Christ, I hadn't expected that. Cook rushed to put his arms around her and held her as she continued to sob quietly. He shot several glances at me, but I was at as much a loss as he was. Eventually Naomi wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. She sat staring at her hands as we waited for her to speak.

"Come on Naoms, you know you can tell us anything, we're your family." Cook said gently rubbing her back.

Finally she looked up, "Emily is a woman I met the other day when I went into her sandwich shop. Yesterday, after some cajoling from her sister, I asked her out on a date and we we're supposed to be going this afternoon but for some reason her sister didn't turn up to cover the shop so we couldn't leave. So I stayed and helped her out."

I tried to hide my shock that Naomi had actually been on a date with a woman. Sure I thought she was a screaming lezza but she was so far in the closet she was practically in Narnia, so I'd never expected her to act on it.

"So I'm guessing it didn't go that well?" I prompted.

Naomi shook her head, "We actually had a pretty great afternoon until I fucked it all up by kissing her."

I heard Cook chuckle and this time I made no attempt to hide my surprise, "You did what?"

Naomi sighed, "You heard me, I kissed her, on the lips, with tongues and everything."

By this time you could see Cook's mind going into overdrive, I leaned over and smacked him over the head, "Don't look at me like that Cook, I know exactly what you were thinking."

He grinned at me, "Oh come on a boy's gotta have his fantasies now ain't he?"

I pointed at him, "The rules apply to dreams as well Cook."

I saw him gulp nervously, "Alright Eff, keep your vagina on."

"So the kiss was awful? I mean was it you or her who hated it?" I turned back to Naomi, who now seemed remarkably sober.

I watched her bite her lip again, she was clearly nervous, she shook her head, "The kiss was amazing, I've never felt anything like it before."

I glanced at Cook who shrugged, "So how did that fuck things up?"

Naomi gritted her teeth, "You're really not going to go easy on me are you? Things might have got a bit fucked up when I totally freaked out and told her I never wanted to see her again."

"If you enjoyed it so much why did you freak out?"

God you had to love Cook's simplicity at times like these. Naomi sighed and glanced at me, she raised her eyebrow, but I shook my head. She knew damn well I could answer Cook's question for her but I wanted her to say it out loud. She glared at me when she realised I wasn't backing down.

"I freaked out because I enjoyed it, I was scared. Now do you understand why I want to get wasted?" Naomi responded honestly.

I smiled reassuringly at her but Cook still looked puzzled, "Not really, so you kissed a bird and it was better than you thought."

"No Cook, she kissed a girl and she liked it." I laughed at my own joke, it's rude I know but I thought it was funny. I was clearly the only one. But anyway I didn't mind being flippant because Naomi hadn't actually told Cook the whole truth yet.

"Will one of you please tell me what the fuck is going on?" Cook said exasperatedly looking between us both.

"Jesus Cook, how can you be so fucking thick? Naomi exploded.

Cook held up his hands, "Woah Naomi, calm down. Just spit it out."

"I think this is going to need more vodka. Wait until I get back, I wouldn't want to miss this for the world." I said with a smirk.

When I returned from the kitchen Naomi stared at me with a pleading look, "Please Eff don't make me say it out loud."

I shrugged, "It's all part of the process hun."

Naomi sighed loudly, "Fine, I'll say it seeing as you two won't let it lie and I'm clearly not going to get any more alcohol until I do. But promise me I can get totally wasted after this."

I couldn't help laughing, "Of course, but you do know I'm going to bring it up again tomorrow right? I want to know all about her."

Naomi tutted, "I thought you might."

She turned away from us slightly so she wasn't making eye contact, "I freaked out when I kissed Emily because I didn't want it to stop and that made me realise that Effy might be right and maybe I'm gay after all."

I couldn't help my chest puffing out a bit when Naomi finally admitted there was a possibility she was gay. I handed her the new bottle of vodka, "I think you've earned the first drink don't you?"

She took it gratefully and smiled at me, "That wasn't too bad I suppose."

I turned to look at Cook who had a massive scowl on his face, "What's up Cook? Didn't you hear what Naomi said?"

"That's it? The fact that Naomi thinks she might be gay?" He said in a disappointed tone.

Naomi hit him, "Hey, it's a big deal to me."

"Why?" Cook asked.

I thought Naomi was going to explode again, "What do you mean why? It took a lot of courage for me to tell you both that."

I downed some of the vodka and started to laugh when I saw Cook's face. I thought I knew where this conversation was going and hoped he had the good sense to back off while he could. For a second when he shrugged his shoulders, I was given hope that he'd learnt his lesson this time. Unfortunately I realised it was false hope as I saw the smile creep over his face.

"Look Naomi, all I'm saying is I'm not sure why you needed to tell us at all." Cook started.

I sat back in order to get a better view as Naomi stared at him incredulously, "Because you're my two best friends and stupidly I thought you might care."

Cook grinned at her, "That's not what I meant, of course we care, we always have done."

He winked at me, God he really did have a death wish, I looked at Naomi as his words sunk in.

"What do you mean 'always have done'?" She said narrowing her eyes.

Cook couldn't help laughing, "I'm just wonderin' why it took you so long to realise, when we've known you were a muff muncher for years."

To my surprise Naomi smiled and took another sip of vodka, "Cook, just because I refused to sleep with you, doesn't make me a muff muncher you know."

"Maybe not, but wanting to fuck someone called Emily might." I said with a smile.

Naomi paused and looked at me before bursting out laughing, "You know what Eff, I think you might be right, that is probably the thing that gives it away the most."

I raised my eyebrow at Cook and grabbed the vodka, Naomi had hardly even flinched or become defensive, even when we were taking the piss out of her. I was already curious about who this Emily woman was, but seeing how relaxed Naomi had been about admitting she liked her made me want to meet her even more. Now all I had to do was help Naomi devise a fool proof plan to apologise for behaving like a total fuckwit and running off today. I rolled my eyes, and wondered, not for the first time, why nothing was ever simple when it came to Naomi. Because then you wouldn't have anything to do Effy, I smiled as I answered my own question.