A/N: So this is my first Skins USA fanfiction. I wrote this not long after episode 2 "Tea", which was the inspiration for my return to after a very long self-induced hiatus. I love the dynamic between Tony and Tea, even if the show isn't everything it could be. I like taking liberties with these two characters, and if I continue to write Skins USA fanfiction (which I will) then they'll likely be the focal point (OTP yo). I wrote this as an attempt to learn the characters and start to get into their heads. Not sure I've succeeded in doing that yet, but we'll see how it goes. Anyway, this started out as a drabble-y ficlet, but I pushed it over 1,000 words which is what I consider a full on one-shot. It's still kind of drabble-y style wise, so I'll say a drabble-y oneshot. Lol. Enjoy! R&R! Thanks! –Mac
Disclaimer: I don't own Skins USA.
Broken Patterns And Inevitable Conclusions
They were creatures of habit, Tony and her. They followed specific patterns, operated certain ways, and never deviated from a set course. And maybe they were realizing that it was boring following the same routine day in and day out. Sure their lives looked like a great adventure in search of the next great high, thrusting forward, doing as they pleased, not caring who got cast aside in the process. Tea was feeling it, the thing that was missing in the midst of the same old hazy nights, filled with the same pills, same alcohol, and same casual sex with random strangers—girls with no names worth remembering—who will never mean anything to them.
The two of them coming together was never in the plan, never supposed to happen. It wasn't plausible. It wasn't supposed to be possible, considering their sexual preferences aligned far too exactly in the anatomical department. Yet, it had happened. There was a final moment where they could have resisted, could have walked away without ever knowing what it felt like. But they didn't walk away, they didn't run from each other, and they didn't fight to regain a grasp on their worn out routines when they began to slip out of their fingers.
They broke their habits for the first time, freed themselves from their patterns and set themselves up to fall fast and hard. It was clear they had met their match for the first time.
It put Tea off balance. She was off her game and on edge. She had a taste of what life was like outside the boundaries and she couldn't bring herself to return to the static routine. For the first time, she didn't have the answers she clearly needed. She didn't want the dull monotony, but she wanted the certainty of self if provided her. She hated that a minute, a blip on the radar of a lifetime, was enough to tear the floor out from under her—leaving her unstable on shaky ground. That's why she pushed Tony away. That's why she pretended the parties, and the cheap highs, and the easily charmed girls were enough for her, because she wasn't sure if she could survive another assault on her sanity—her perceived reality.
Yet every time Tony cornered her—alone in a dimly lit alcove at a party, or in the halls at school, or out on the street under the stars—it got harder to resist the urge to recapture that feeling of freedom from the mundane.
"We're inevitable, Tay," Tony whispered huskily against her ear, once when he was able to back her into a wall out of sight of their friends enjoying the party around them. He nuzzled his face against her cheek, ghosting his lips over her skin. He pulled back to look at her. "Let's not pretend anymore. Just give in to it."
"Never," Tea raised her chin, defiantly—her unbroken gaze on his eyes, a challenge.
Tony quirked that smirk of his, "It'd be so much easier if you would just accept that I'm inescapable. What's between us is unavoidable."
"As far as anyone else is concerned, there is nothing between us."
"True, but I'm not concerned with what everyone else thinks. The only thing that matters is you and me," Tony reached up to her face and slid a stray hair back behind her ear. Her breath caught in her throat for a moment, before she let out a shuddered breath. His hand lingered on her cheek as he said, "You'll see it soon enough. I can wait. Everything changed that night, you know it and I know it. It's time to face it Tea. There's no going back, only forward. Try the new road, I'm already on it. I don't know where it's going to take us, but I'll meet you there."
Tony started to walk away, but Tea caught him by the wrist and he turned back to her. She pressed close to him. She could feel the anticipation oozing off of him, but she wasn't ready yet. "You're so sure that this is the right path. How do you know it's not leading us off a cliff?"
"I don't. But I'd jump if you did. This is the first time I've stepped outside the lines, broke free, felt something real. And I know you felt it too," Tony placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes. "Tell me I'm wrong."
Tea broke away from his gaze and didn't answer him.
"Maybe I'm further ahead of you than I thought. Think you can catch me?" Tony said, with a smile in his voice. He removed his hands and took a step back, putting distance between them.
"Tony," Tea shook her head.
"Inevitable," Tony repeated, slowly backing away, with his eyes on her the whole time.
Watching him go that time, Tea knew he was trying to tease her out. He knew she loved the chase as much as he did. He wanted her to surrender to the urge to follow him wherever the road they were on would lead. She was hesitating, because vulnerability didn't suit her. But she had seen it in his eyes, he was putting everything on the line, risking it all. He left everything lingering on her choice.
"Inevitable," Tea whispered to herself.
She had tried to put distance between them, tried to hide behind the façade of their broken patterns, tried to convince herself that it didn't feel right. But no distance, no amount of time, no empty words or half hearted actions could fight the inevitable. Her realization, her epiphany, took time but she finally saw what he saw, just like he said she would.
And he had issued a challenge. She never backed down from a challenge. He had a head start, but she would catch up and then together they would find out where this thing was going.