Title: Call It What You Want
Pairing: Mini/Alo
Rating: T - language, mentions of drugs
Summary: The whole gang travels to Morocco for summer vacation. Unexpected seating arrangements reveal the unspoken thoughts and feelings of an excited Alo and a heartbroken Mini.
A/N: When I initially watched Series 5 of Skins, I was all about MIN-Independence and partying!single!Alo. Seeing these pictures from Series 6, however, I've realized that the two share a natural chemistry and a dynamic which could make them epicly great. The wait for January 23 has been killing me, so this fic is a result of that.
Title from Call It What You Want by Foster the People
The Levan brothers invite the gang on an all-expense paid trip to Morocco to visit their maternal relatives, and everyone except him is automatically on board.
It takes some endless persuasion and the promises of working on the farm for practically forever, but his mum and dad eventually give him permission to go.
At the airport, he can't help but grin widely at anyone who looks at him. He's fucking ecstatic because he's never been on an airplane before, and he knows it'll be a riot.
Rich had convinced him to leave the drugs and booze at the farm, so he's been a bit antsy being sober for so long. Nick checks the group in, and when he hands them their tickets, the former rugby player winks at him and says that he's managed to sneak in some spliffs for the plane.
As he looks at who he's sitting next to, however, he realizes that he might have to be sober for a bit longer.
Grace doesn't mind his antics, but he knows that she won't be willing to put up with him completely arseholed for the whole flight. It seems as if Rich has seen who his seat mate is too because before he knows it, his best mate has swapped their tickets. He smile becomes larger since now he can do whatever he wants.
When they are finally seated though, he thinks he would have been better off sitting next to David Blood's daughter. Sure he gets to sit with Nick, but he's also stuck next to Mini, who's been mighty depressing for the past few weeks after the wedding.
He looks at where his other friends are sitting, spying Matty and Franky next to each other and simultaneously staring out the window. Bollocks, he thinks, those two would never switch with him.
Moving his eyes to the right, he notices Liv with a fashionably dressed boy. The chap is their age, dressed in bright red pants that cut off at his ankles and a dark blue plaid shirt rolled to his elbows. Other than the squinty eyes, the lad seems to be all right, so he makes up his mind to try and get Liv to change seats with him. He's about to walk over there when the girl in the middle seat pulls him back down.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing, farm boy?" she asks.
He gulps. "Going to see if Liv would do a mate a favor and swap places with me."
"And why the hell do you want that?" she retorts, much angrier now.
"No offense, Minerva, but you've been bit of a downer lately," he explains.
She glares at him. "Well when you've had your heart broken twice in just one bloody year, I don't think you'd be smiling all the time either."
He sighs and looks over her shoulder to see if Nick has been listening to their conversation. Naturally, their mate is already so high that he's got a permanent grin etched on his face. The barmy wanker didn't even share his spliffs, he says in his head.
He hears Mini let out a huff, and his eyes return to her face. She's got her arms crossed, and the expression she's got on is far from pleased. When she cocks her head to the side, he knows that she wants him to say what's on his mind.
"You didn't love either of them, McGuinness." He angles his whole body to face her. "You keep looking for someone to love, but you keep looking in the damned wrong places. You thought you loved good ol' Nick over here because you thought you two were supposed to rule Roundview together. You thought you fancied Franky because she was the first person to call you out on your bullshit. You just thought you loved them."
She scoffs at him. "You don't get to tell me how I feel, Creevey."
"It's not what I was trying to do." He runs a hand through his hair. "Look, Nick and Franky both love you to bits. You're their friend, their girl, their Mini. They just can't love you like that because they're both in love with someone else, and you know it. It's like you try to set your heart up for failure, Mins. If you'd just quit trying to force yourself to only love them, then you'd see that other people love you too."
"Right, people like you?" she says with a snicker.
"Oi, what the bloody hell's wrong with that?" he answers as the corners of his mouth lift up. "You saying a plain chap like me can't love a prissy princess like you?"
She smirks. "Please, we both know that we're not right for each other."
"Don't count us out yet, Minerva." He replies with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "We're going to be spending a lot of time together during this summer hols, and you just might fall in love with wicked ol' Alo here."
She lets out a loud laugh. "In your dreams, farm boy."
He shrugs innocently. "You never know, Mins. Morocco just might surprise you."