AN: Alrighty, first of thanks to those who listened to my last author's notes and reviewed. Second, it's all coming down from here on out...hehehe

Warnings: Language

Disclaimer: I don't own "Skins".

Chapter Eleven
A Breeze to Cause a Storm

"Tony?"

Fuck.

There is no way to explain this away. No way to even pretend that this isn't exactly what it looks like. Tea's shirt is gone, halfway across the room, and Tony's is barely on, half hanging off his shoulders. Their pants are undone, slung so low on their hips right now that it seems obscene.

No, for all of Tony's brilliance, there's no way to bend this situation to his advantage. So he decides not to try.

"Michelle." He greets with a grin brimming with aw, you caught me like the dick he really is. He's shielding Tea with his body, hoping she goes unnoticed. Trying keep the explosion as small as possible so he can still pick up the pieces after the smoke has cleared. "It's not what it looks like?"

Even drunk as hell, Michelle is not that stupid. "What the fuck, Tony?" She's storming in, slapping the hell out of him. He takes it with a smile, because it doesn't hurt him to hurt her. Not like it should. "And who the fuck is that?"

And that's the question he didn't want her to ask, because everything is about to go straight ot hell.

"Hey, Chelle..." Tea answers, exposed and unashamed in the face of betrayal.

"You! You boyfriend stealing whore! She hand flies out and the sound of her bitchslap against Tea's cheek is louder than the music around them. Tea just takes it, she deserves it after all. She's been sleeping with her friend's boyfriend and she always knew this would happen. Secrets like this don't stay secret long, and they had been careless. "You were supposed to be my friend. My gay friend."

"I'm sorry, Michelle." Tony says, he even manages to sound sincere even though he's not.

"Go to hell. Both of you." And she's crying, tears that pain and anger and more than a little hate. "Just go to fucking hell."

Tea grabs her shirt and shrugs it on while Tony starts doing up his jeans. And Michelle watches them with all her hurt and betrayal. It's moments like this that really highlight how completely fucked up they are, how similar. This betrayal should affect them something terrible, should make them feel guilty. Feel like a shit boyfriend and shit friend.

But Tony's more worried about collateral damage to his kingdom and trying to think of way to use his golden tongue to weave silver webs of lies and make this seem okay. And Tea just wants this all to be over. The dramatics, the accusations, the empty words. All of it. So tedious and unnecessary. Yes, it was a betrayal. Yes, they're horrible people.

Does Michelle honestly think they're not aware?

But she's spitting venom, words shouted and screamed, and no one's listening. She's ranting. Raving about Tony and Tea and herself. And no one is really listening. They already know what she's going to say before the words leave her mouth. They know everything about everyone. They see everything everyone tries to hide. There is nothing they don't notice. Not about each other. Not about themselves. Not about anyone.

They know.

Michelle's still screaming at them and throwing random objects around the room like the end of the world because it's the end of hers. People are noticing, sticking their heads inside the room to witness the drama unfolding. The conclusions they draw are both obvious and true. Which wouldn't matter if the only spectators were unimportant gate crashers.

But Daisy's there too, eyes wide with disbelief and confusion. Abbud looks like he's been slapped. Chris looks about ready to bolt; he doesn't handle conflict well.

"Enough!" Tea finally shouts. She's had enough of this. "I fucked him. He fucked me. It's all very sordid and fucked. Now can we all shut the fuck up about it?"

"No. Because my lesbian friend just fucked my boyfriend, and I'm a bit drunk and more than a bit pissed the fuck off." Michelle counters, slapping Tea once more. This time, Tea hits back. A solid, hard punch to the face that has Michelle on her ass in less than a second.

She looks up at them both, tears black with mascara. "You hit me."

"I did." Tea nods, tired of all the damn drama already. "And now I'm leaving."

The crowd parts like the Red Sea as she passes. Daisy looks at her like she doesn't know what exactly she's supposed to do, torn between confronting one friend and comforting another.

Tony looks down on his girlfriend who isn't anymore, and walks away from her. He doesn't look back as a fresh sob fights it's way out of her lips. He doesn't care. He never really did.

He's already running through battle plans in his head, plotting out how to spin this in the best possible way. But first, before he can enact any of the devious schemes rolling around his brain, he has to find Tea again. Has to find out where they stand and where they go from here and...

He doesn't know. He just has to find her.