AN: So the last few chapters have all been boring little bits of exposition and the tying up of lose ends, and it was a all a set-up for this chapter. So enjoy. And review, if one doesn't mind.
Warnings: Language
Disclaimer: I don't own "Skins".
Chapter Five
Dance With Me
They're dancing again. Tea knows that this is a bad idea. Because the last time she danced with Tony, she slept with him. And she's not looking for a repeat. She's also conveniently ignoring the voice that tells her she's not looking to avoid one either.
It's really not her fault that he's such a good dancer. Or that he fits inside her space so effortlessly. It's really, really not. She's not enjoying this as anything more than the thrill of a good partner though. She's most definitely not. She doesn't push him away when he takes her hand to spin her away and back again, because it's just dancing. And this dance is too beautiful to stop.
He holds her two counts longer than he should, but she doesn't say anything, doesn't chastise him and have them start again. Doesn't dare interrupt the flow of this moment and this dance. And they're moving again, a dark intensity in his eyes as he circles her, almost predatory. And there's a helpless in her motions, a gravitational pull. They're puppets on the music's strings, and this time it's him who backs her against the wall.
He looks down at her, nearly ominous with the shadows falling over his face. She looks up at him, breathless and trapped. Heartbeats thundering in their chests, pressed together. Any second now, she's going to push him away. Any second now.
His hand comes up, brushes a stray piece of hair from her face, leans in. And she lets him.
The sound of the huge auditorium doors opening has them springing apart. "There you are." Michele smiles at Tony, nods a greeting to Tea. "Been looking all over for you."
"I told you I was going to practice." He snaps, more than a little annoyed at being interrupted, as he moves to the stereo and stops the music blasting out. "I need to get this down for the audition."
"You're going to be awesome, Tony. You always are."
"Because I always practice."
He's being harsher than usual, just a little colder. He's always fucked around with Michelle and fucked her over, but he's never really lashed out at her. He enjoys the spotlight of being half of the school's hottest couple too much.
"We're done anyway." Tea tosses out, hoping to stifle the growing undercurrents of anger between two of her best friends. She doesn't do drama.
"The hell we are." Tony growls, eyes narrowing at her.
"Yes, Tony, we are." She refuses to back down, to be another pawn in his I'm the king of all I see scheme. So she walks out on him and Michelle and the tension rolling around the room that had been an escape for the duration of a stolen dance.
He kind of hates himself right this very second. He's sitting on the edge of the stage where he had held her for just a second before time slipped away, and he's fucking pining. He feels so damn lame it's not even funny. The lights have been cut to half power, the music has long since stopped, and still he stays. He imagines a hundred scenarios where Michelle doesn't find him, or finds him after it's too late and he's already kissing Tea. A thousand more where Tea doesn't brush him off the day after, where she just gives this a fucking chance. There are a dozen where they never have sex, where it stops with that first hesitant kiss and goes no further, but he can't stay focused on them for long.
"Tony Synder sitting alone in the dark, what a sight."
His head jerks up at the sound of her voice, and he almost wants to strangle her and be done with it. He's fed up with all the back and forth and the quiet rejections and soft acceptance, and he just wants some sort of real answer as to what the fuck they're doing.
"Tea Marvelli stalking through the halls of school after hours, what a sight indeed." He wonders where the banter has come from, given his rather morose state. But he's Tony and she's Tea, so maybe it's just the natural order of things. Dancing around each other in everything they do. Even when he just wants them to be still and direct for once.
"Shouldn't you be fucking Michelle six ways from Sunday?"
"Shouldn't you be nailing that Betty chick?"
"She bores me. They all bore me." The you don't is unspoken between them.
"I'm waiting for someone more interesting." Like you dies silent on his lips.
"Are you now?" She's raising her eyebrow just the slightest bit. A challenge, he thinks. He hopes.
Tony hops down from the stage and advances on her slowly, watching carefully for any sign that he's reading too much into things, that he's about to scare her off again. "Yes." And he's invading her space now, close enough to smell the coconut shampoo she uses. "So. Will you dance with me?"
"No."
He's about to back away, to shout, to scream, to ask her what kind of game she's fucking playing, but he doesn't get the chance. She wraps her arms around his neck and drags his lips down to hers. It's not a soft as the first, this kiss is far more demanding, but neither mind. It's closer to what they're used anyways. Passion and want and need, and god, they're burning again.
His hands come up to her hips, slip beneath the fabric of her tight shirt to touch soft skin. His grip on her is tight enough to bruise, but he he's too scared that she'll run away again to loosen his hold. Her fingers knot in his hair, pull him closer to her and deepen their kiss.
"Hey, you two!" A janitor shouts. "What are you doing in here. Scram!"
"Would it be considered a crime if I killed him, you know, given the circumstance?" Tea mumbles against his lips, even as he starts to pull away.
"Unfortunately..." Tony smirks before turning his attention to the bumbling moron who'd interrupted them. "Sorry, sir. We were practicing for show choir and then we, well, weren't practicing and we lost track of time." He orders his features into his most convincing mask, the one no one can stay made at.
"Whatever." Grumbles the janitor, "Just get out before I report you."
Tony snatches Tea's wrist and pulls her from the building.