Revision Session - Part Six
As they reached the bottom of the stairs Naomi, who was slightly in front of Emily, turned and smiled, giving her hand one last squeeze before letting it go. Emily felt her heart melt slightly as she tried to restrain a huge grin from breaking out on her face. It was all just a little bit more than she could have hoped for, dinner with… Naomi. She had to stop herself from saying ‘girlfriend’ in her head knowing that, despite her definite want for that to be the case, she wasn’t quite convinced that they were feelings which the blonde reciprocated. But, for now, this would definitely do.
The smell of food had wafted up the stairs, causing Emily to realise just how hungry she was. As she approached the kitchen, trailing behind Naomi, she was met by the cheerful face of Gina who was placing food onto the table, and the slightly less cheerful face of Kieran.
“Ah, hello there girls. Nice of you to join us,” he grumbled, glancing up briefly at the girls as they took their seats opposite him.
Naomi winced. “Alright, Kieran. Keep your hair on. Christ,” she retorted, Emily smirking beside her.
Kieran looked at them more fully, a smile threatening at the corner of his lips, his grumpy facade slipping. “Speaking of hair,” he said lightly. “What in the name of Christ happened to you two? You look like you’ve been fucking wrestling or something.”
The girls exchanged a shocked look, noting each other’s hair, which was equally matted and ruffled. Their hands flew to their respective heads, smoothing it down and running through tangles.
Gina smiled and winked at Kieran, pouring red wine into four glasses. “Come on now, love. Don’t tease them. They’ve been working hard up there,” she smiled. “Haven’t you girls?”
Naomi and Emily murmured in agreement, their cheeks flushed.
“Right, so,” said Kieran. “And I’ve been doing the Great Northern Run.” Emily laughed out loud, wondering when that became a metaphor for... well. They hadn’t exactly been doing what she’d caught Katie and Freddie doing but it was near enough for the moment. It made her think momentarily of JJ, who she’d been with at the time, and it was enough to sober her. ‘Not now,’ she thought. ‘Not while things are nice.’
“Really? I’d thought you needed to be a bit fitter for that sort of thing,” Naomi snorted, snapping Emily out of her daze. She figured that this could go on for a while and, to be honest, she wasn’t enjoying the way Naomi had scrunched her face up in irritation. She’d seen it too many times.
Keeping her eyes fixed ahead of her, Emily slowly dropped her hand under the table and, holding her breath, placed it on Naomi’s skirt-covered thigh. Emily jumped when Naomi stopped mid-snipe and took a short, sharp breath. The redhead was about to move her hand, for fear of being sent a glare of her own but, to her surprise, Naomi recovered, clearing her throat and leaned forward to rest her elbow on the table, almost as if to shield them from their teacher’s view.
Kieran eyed them both suspiciously as Gina took her place beside him, grinning and oblivious to the previous exchange. As they exchanged a look, Naomi took the opportunity to reach her own hand down and lightly cover Emily’s. Emily exhaled quietly.
“Right then, dig in you lot,” prompted Gina. The girls moved their hands away from one another’s and picked up their cutlery.
They ate in silence for a moment before Gina spoke again. “So girls, how’s it all going?”
“Fine thanks,” Emily replied after swallowing a mouthful. “I like to get a lot of revision done before exams. Probably some kind of nervous thing.”
“You’ve got nothing to worry about, Ems,” Naomi reassured her. “You’re pretty brilliant with college stuff. You’ve already taught me loads.” The blonde meant this in more ways than one, and kind of hoped that Emily picked up her hint.
“Well,” said Emily. “You’re a pretty good student.” They caught each other’s eye briefly, smiles evident on their faces.
Gina watched, taking the girls in while Kieran ploughed into his food, stopping to speak whilst chewing.
“Naomi is a good student, actually. She’s top of my class,” he praised, before catching himself and looking towards Emily. “Oh, no offence intended, Emily. You’re pretty close, I must say. Far better than that unobservant sister of yours, anyway.”
The girls laughed, nodding their heads in agreement.
“Yeah, Katie’s never been that good with college. I’m pretty sure that the only reason she’s there is to get loads of fit boys to eye her up,” Emily said with a sneer, replicated by Naomi.
“Oh yes,” Gina said, gesturing with her knife. “Naomi mentioned your sister. Said you all had a bit of a falling out at school. That all sorted out now then?”
“Sort of. I’m not sure Katie’s gotten over it yet.” Emily answered.
“She doesn’t seem too friendly, Emily, I hope you don’t mind me saying,” Kieran said.
“Not at all. She can come off that way sometimes.” Naomi snorted a little next to her and Emily turned to give her a reproachful look.
“Sorry Ems,” Naomi said. “But you know. Want some garlic bread?” She asked, reaching over to the basket on the table. Emily nodded, taking the basket from the blonde’s hand, lightly grazing over her fingers in the process. Naomi felt a tingle, recalling where those fingers had previously been. She remembered the way they slid under her t-shirt, trailing lines up and down her stomach before making their way further up.
“Not over a boy, was it?” Kieran asked, bringing Naomi out of her reverie.
“Sorry?” Emily questioned, a bit bewildered, having taken a moment to recall similar things herself.
“The fall out? With you two and your sister?”
“Oh, come on now, love,” Gina interceded before either girl could answer. “I don’t think Emily’s into that sort of thing.
The girls raised their heads from their meal to look at Naomi’s mother, who merely smiled back at them.
“What... what do you mean?” Emily enquired, nervously.
“Boys. Not really your thing, are they, love?” Naomi almost choked on her food.
“Mum!” She shouted.
“No, it’s okay,” Emily said quietly beside her. She continued to stare openly at Gina. “How did you know?”
“Oh, don’t worry, dear. It’s just that a mother knows these things,” she said in a reassuring voice that seemed to unnerve Emily somewhat, until she let out a small strained laugh.
“God,” she almost whispered. “I hope not.”
“She wouldn’t be that keen on the idea then?” Gina asked, concerned.
Emily snorted. “Not exactly. It’s all a bit new still, anyway. I’m not sure what there’d be to tell.”
Despite having no intention of meeting Emily’s parents as anything other than a friend, Naomi felt a sudden pang of something like rejectionat Emily’s admission, the irrational part of her brain wondering if she wasn’t important enough to tell people about. And then she remembered - they were just friends. And you don’t go around telling your parents every time you snog someone at a party. You especially go out of your way to not tell parents about getting drunk and high in the woods and having a girl go down on you and letting them know that, actually, you rather liked it and would definitely consider doing it again.
Naomi glanced at Emily, who’d gone a bit quiet and looked almost sad. She thought it was an appropriate time to show a bit of friendly support and, putting down her knife, reached over to rub Emily’s back to which the redhead responded with a turn of the head and a small smile.
“Don’t worry, Ems. I’m sure Katie will get knocked up at some point by some random twat and then you’ll have the heat taken off you for a bit. Maybe you could time it just right, so you tell them just before Katie and then they’ll have forgotten it completely,” she winked and Emily chuckled.
It was a new feeling, this comforting of someone. Letting herself be needed. It was still pretty fucking scary but, with Emily, things seemed to be getting easier by the day. And, as Emily had been there when she needed her, it was only fair to give a little back.
“Of course,” said Gina, as Kieran continued to eat beside her. “I thought for a while that you were going to be a lesbian, love.” Naomi’s head snapped round and she removed her arm from Emily’s back.
‘No, no, no,’ thought Emily. ‘Don’t scare her off now!’ She gulped, her eyes darting back and forth between them. Even Kieran’s interest had been peaked and he watched, forkful of pasta halfway to his mouth.
“What the fuck are you on about, Mum?” Naomi asked, angrily. Not that she had any right to be angry because, well, it was a little bit true. And also, it was a bit offensive to Emily to act too anti. But, this was her mother, and if she changed her reactions to her now then things just wouldn’t be normal.
“Well, love. It’s been ages since I saw you with a bloke, you know. I think there was a boy a while ago, but he didn’t stick around for very long, did he?” Naomi continued to stare at her mother incredulously as Emily felt the temperature rise in the room. This could get ugly. “Actually, I kind of thought that you and Emily…?”
Before Naomi could react in a way that would probably break Emily’s heart a little bit, she decided to step in.
“Actually, Gina. I’m already seeing someone,” she offered. Naomi slowly turned her head to Emily, unsure of what was happening, her eyebrows knotted together in confusion.
“Oh really, love? Sorry. Anyone nice?” Gina asked as Emily almost visibly sighed in relief, happy to have taken the heat off of Naomi. Luckily, Emily wasn’t really lying, and knew she could answer this question quite easily.
“Yeah, she’s lovely. She’s… I’ve liked her for a long time and… it’s been a bit of a shaky start but she’s pretty wonderful, actually. Sometimes, I think that she just needs to believe that herself,” Emily caught Naomi smiling into her hand beside her out of the corner of her eye. It was nice, this form of honesty. Not perfect but, like so many things, it’d do for now.
“Ah, well, don’t we all. What’s her name?” Gina asked. Emily’s eyes widened for a moment, having been caught almost daydreaming - she hadn’t really got this far with her thought process and so was pleased when her partner in crime stepped in to come to her rescue this time, having noticed her struggling.
“Effy, right Ems?” Emily nodded as Naomi spoke to Gina. “The thing is, though, Effy’s quite new to all this and… sometimes isn’t that good at talking about stuff.” Naomi looked back towards the nervous redhead beside her. “But, the thing is, I’m pretty sure that Effy really likes you, Em. She’s just not all that good at showing it sometimes. In fact, she’s pretty lucky that she’s got you, ‘cos other people would probably have had enough by now.”
Emily laughed and nodded. “Right,” she said, thanking Naomi with her eyes. “Well, I think she’s worth it. She just needs to know that it’s okay to be scared - I’ve been shitting myself ever since I first kissed… her.”
The girls maintained eye contact as Kieran spoke.
“Effy?” he said. “Isn’t she that kind of mysterious looking girl in our form?”
Shock flashed across both the girls’ eyes. They’d completely forgotten that Kieran knew Effy, detached as they felt from everything inside the little cocoon they’d created for themselves at Naomi’s house. Emily floundered for a second before stepping up. She’d started it so she figured she had better see it through.
“Um, yeah. Yeah, that’s her. But, you know, like I said, she’s a bit new to all this…”
“Being a lesbian?” Kieran offered. Emily felt Naomi wince at her side and felt the need to stand up for her, even though Kieran didn’t know that really, just to keep things calm.
“I’m not sure she is a lesbian actually. But, that’s fine, really. Cos I think she likes me, she can work the rest of it out later,” Emily said as saw Naomi relax again.
This dinner was turning into something verging on traumatic. Emily wasn’t sure how many more times she could dart around what they were actually talking about without Naomi throwing some sort of fit but she needed to make sure Kieran wasn’t going to mention this to anyone. Like, ever. “So, yeah, if you could keep schtum about it, that would be great…?” she asked, carefully.
“Ah no problem. Discretion is my middle name, right? I think she’d be better off with a girl anyway, the way those stupid fucking boys follow her around, it’s a bit pathetic,” Kieran finished off with a mouthful of food, unaware of the slightly hurt look that was clouding Emily’s features. That had hit home a bit, and she wondered if people thought that about the way she was with Naomi.
Clearly, though, Naomi was paying attention and was surprisingly intuitive when it came to Emily. She took the opportunity while the adults ate to slide her hand back under the table to Emily’s thigh. She bit her lip as she realised that Emily’s skirt had slid up a little bit and her hand came into contact with a fair bit of skin. Naomi bit her lip to keep from smiling and decided to be brave - Emily, after all, had been the one to ask her to do that - starting to trace small circles with her fingertips. She felt Emily stiffen and shift forwards on her chair a little bit, still eating as though nothing was happening.
It was intended to be a comfort thing, at first, but once Naomi’s hand had felt Emily’s soft skin underneath her fingers it set something off in her again and she couldn’t help but want more. Slowly, keeping her vision directed somewhere in front of her so she could just about make sure that no-one was really looking, she moved her hand further towards the inside of Emily’s thigh.
Naomi wasn’t sure that it was possible, but it was even softer, the skin there. And it sent a rush of want through her as she realised that no-one had really touched Emily there before, not like this. She dared a look at the redhead who was staring into her plate, clearly trying very hard not to shut her eyes. Naomi had never wanted her more and had never wanted more of her. She thought, as her fingers dared to venture even further up Emily’s bare thigh, that she would like nothing more than to kick her mum and Kieran out, who were now engaged in a quiet conversation of their own, sweep everything off the table and throw Emily down on it and…
And. There was definitely an and. Naomi was sure of it now, if she hadn’t been before. She was amazed at just how the touch of Emily’s skin would overtake her thought process this way. It was unstoppable. It was actually a bit scary. Naomi gulped and was about to pull away when she realised that her hand had travelled up a little too far and, as Emily squirmed, trying to contain herself, it caused Naomi’s little finger to press up against the front of her knickers.
It was a bit of a shock and they both jumped, Emily letting out a slight squeal as Naomi bashed her hand on the underside of the table in trying to remove it hastily.
Gina and Kieran looked up at them both with questioning stares, the girls both visibly flushed.
“You alright?” Gina addressed them both, an eyebrow raised.
“Yes! Yeah, I mean, fine. I just, oh,” Emily said as she suddenly shut one of her eyes really tight, shooting Naomi a look with the other one. “I think… I think I have something in my eye…” Naomi narrowed her eyebrows as if to say ‘what the fuck?’ before a look of realisation crept across her face.
“Oh, oh right. Um, do you want me to have a look at it for you?” Naomi asked, standing, reaching out for Emily to take her hand, which she punctuated with a small squeeze.
“Yeah, shall we… can we go to the bathroom? So I can splash some water in it?” Emily said, placing her other hand over her ‘bad’ eye and Naomi led her from the room.
“Yeah of course. Sorry mum, won’t be a minute,” Naomi called over her shoulder as she practically pushed Emily out of the kitchen and towards the stairs.
Gina turned to look at Kieran once the girls had left the room, the sound of two pairs of feet thudding up the stairs at a high speed.
“Do you think they think we’re blind, love?” Gina asked softly as she heard the bathroom door slam shut above them.
“I don’t know about blind, now. But I reckon you’d have to be dead to not see that they’re going at it like rabbits,” Kieran quipped, only to be met with a small backhand slap to the chest from Gina who just laughed and rolled her eyes.
Part Seven