Make Tea Not War [Skins; Katie/Tea] - Part One
It hadn’t taken a lot of convincing for Katie to persuade her parents to leave her home alone while they took the annual family end of summer trip down to Cornwall to visit their grandparents, it would be the last one her parents had claimed, before Emily and Katie returned to college and decided that they were too old for family holidays anymore.
Katie had just put on a rather impressive frown, touched tentatively at her scar and managed - “I just don’t feel up to seeing anyone yet, all right?” - that in return, had produced so much concern on her mother’s face that the question was dropped at once with a gentle squeeze to her knee.
Emily, the fucking cow, hadn’t been quite as easily deceived as their parents though and had instead looked at her with the same old pitying look she’d been directing at Katie all summer since that psycho bitch had maimed her with that bloody rock.
She had stopped packing rather abruptly and looked up at Katie from where she was standing in front of her bag and said, “Please come Kay, it’ll be fun, I promise. Staying home and hiding away from everyone isn’t going to help things.” Which did nothing but earn her a scowl from Katie and a harsh, “Just fuck off, and leave me alone Ems.”
Because Emily understood nothing, didn’t get just how much of an effect that night at Gobbler’s End had caused. She was all happy and gross and in love with Naomi and just... fuck it, she didn’t understand, and so fuck her and her sad eyes because this was about Katie and not about Emily and her feelings and whatever. And so with one last final glare from Kate and a deep sigh from Emily, that had been that, discussion over.
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It hadn’t been until the third day - all of the chick flicks watched and chocolate and ice-cream eaten - that Katie had realised that she would have to leave the house at some point to get some shopping in if she didn’t want to like, starve, and she rolled her eyes at the thought of Emily worrying about her wasting away and not getting any sodding fresh air.
She made sure that her hair was covering up her scar - even though her hair was longer and darker now that it would be nearly impossible to see it without looking close - before she could even think about leaving the house. It still made her stomach churn at the mere thought of someone seeing the mark that would forever be etched onto her forehead, pointing and laughing at her now that she was no longer the girl with the bangin’ tits and badass attitude but instead Katie Fitch, the girl who’d been left to die alone in the woods while her best friend fucked her boyfriend.
They didn’t know that really, of course they didn’t, but it didn’t mean to Katie that it didn’t feel like they did; could always feel the tingle creeping up her spine at that familiar sensation of her skin prickling, itching unbearably when she caught someone’s eye, and it made her look away, shy under their gazes for the very first time in her life; attention unwanted.
She hadn’t seen Effy since that fateful night, and why the fuck would she want to see her now anyway? Effy’s actions had made it perfectly clear that they weren’t friends, that they hadn’t ever been friends, so what reason would Katie have to spend time with someone that used her so obviously and fucked her over so openly. It was embarrassing; all of it was horribly embarrassing and just... painful.
Emily had remained angry of course, at Effy for what she’d done, but still, that annoyingly good side of her personality had come out in the end and she had prompted Katie on several occasions during the summer to join her and Naomi with the gang, to try and make amends and put all of the shit behind them before they had to return to college.
Katie had considered it briefly, saw images flash up in her mind of them all at a club, of Effy apologising in a way that Katie imagined to be flat mixed in with a hint of being condescending, and her smiling fakely back in response before losing it altogether and lashing out and ripping the stupid bitch’s eyes right out of her smug little head.
She’d declined obviously, in a way that told Emily that the matter wasn’t ever to be brought up again, and Emily had looked back at her in disappointment with Naomi lingering just behind her looking detached about the whole thing.
Katie had called them ‘interfering lezza cunts,’ and tried not to think about how their group of friends - and she rolled her eyes and tried not to laugh at that sentence, because what a bunch of fucking friends they were - would probably judge her on some level for not being the bigger person and just letting things settle.
But she just couldn’t, not when it was all still so fresh, not when there was a fucking scar on her head to remind her of just how fucked up the last year - possibly more - of her life had been. And it’s not like Effy had tried to contact her either, so screw them all, she’d just stay away from them and their opinions and whatever.
That’s why it came as such a shock, when Katie saw Effy standing there alone in Tesco (of all fucking places), in the middle of the alcohol aisle, her eyes snapping over to Katie as she failed to make a silent and unnoticed retreat; her hastiness making her clumsy as she backed away and knocked a bottle of wine from the shelf with the corner of her basket, sending it crashing down to the floor with an echoing clang.
She felt frozen then, as Effy carefully approached her, didn’t understand why she felt faint and dizzy and scared of the thin girl walking towards her. It was the eyes, Katie thought - the eyes that were always blank an so emotionless that Katie could never read what was going on in her mind - as Effy got close enough to her that had she wanted to, she could have reached out and touched Katie.
Effy didn’t say anything, just looked her over for a long moment before she finally said, “You’re looking well.”
And okay, she was looking better than she had done a few weeks ago when it had all first happened, but seriously, fuck her. “Yeah, no thanks to you though, huh, babes?” Katie replied, her voice coming out a little choked and making Effy’s eyes flash with something unreadable before they narrowed in on her.
She smiled then, Effy, and it was almost menacing the way her lips curled up and revealed her teeth. It left Katie feeling sick and hurt and fucking embarrassed all over again, because Effy was clearly mocking her right in front of her very face.
“Yeah, sorry about that, hitting you with the rock, but I was having trouble thinking, what with being all high and chocked, and spat on.”
Effy’s voice was so cold, so vicious that it made Katie stumble back a few steps just to put some distance between them, and at that point she didn’t care that it made her look even more pathetic than she already was; Katie just needed to get the hell away from her.
“See you around Katie,” Effy said, nodding her head just once and brushing their shoulders together as she passed by her in a way that made Katie shudder involuntarily.
Katie released her breath then, surprised that she’d been holding it and felt the need to leave the shop at once, to return home to the safety of her house and to bury herself under the covers of her bed; safe in the warmth and darkness they’d bring.
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She fled the shop in a hurry then, discarding her basket in the middle of an aisle and headed straight for the door at a near run. It was that blind panic that caused Katie not to focus on where she was going, made her catch the tip of her shoe against the security barrier and stumble into a warm body.
Naomi was looking back at her when she opened her eyes again; concern written over her face as she steadied Katie with her hands. And all Katie could think was blue, so fucking blue, and she wondered momentarily where the hell that thought had come from and pushed herself away from Naomi’s grasp.
“Get the fuck off me, yeah?”
Naomi ignored her outburst, glanced at Katie’s face again and then reached for her hand, holding onto it forcefully with one of her own and tugged Katie out of the shop with a firm, “Come on.”
Katie followed behind her, let Naomi lead her in a direction that definitely wasn’t towards her house until she realised that her hand was warm, that Naomi’s fingers were still weaved through her own and she was letting them fucking hold hands, and in public for Christ’s sake.
“Let go of my hand for fuck’s sake,” Katie said as she pulled her hand free from Naomi’s grasp, all the while muttering, “You fucking walking monstrosity. It’s bad enough that I have to fucking walk next to you but touching is a no go.” She looked at Naomi with a glare. “Got that super model?”
Naomi chuckled to herself, and slid her hand into her pocket, retrieving a packet of cigarettes and lighting one for Katie before doing the same for herself; inhaling deeply and blowing out a trail of smoke.
She looked back over her shoulder at Katie when she noticed she wasn’t next to her a second later and called, “Come on, it’s not far now.”
Katie knew she should say no, and more importantly what wasn’t far now, but instead she found herself following along behind Naomi like a lost puppy and briefly wondered if this was what it must have been like to be Emily.
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“There you go,” Naomi said as she placed a steaming mug of tea down on the table in front of Katie and settled into the seat opposite her.
Katie tried not to shuffle too noticeably in her seat as she eyed the contents of Naomi’s house but couldn’t help the curiosity that arose within her that this was where Naomi (the fucking dykey hippy) lived, that this was the place that Emily considered a second home and here she was sitting at the kitchen table like some kind of familiar guest.
She felt Naomi’s eyes on her and dropped her gaze down to her mug of tea and instantly felt disgust rise within her when she read over the ‘make tea not war’ logo that was imprinted onto the china of her cup.
Naomi must have caught the look on her face because she sniggered, and smiled with that smirk Katie had seen far too many times and shrugged. “Mum always said that a good cup of tea could fix anything, so...”
Despite still feeling a little shaky, Katie managed a smirk of her own. “Yeah, well your mum’s a fucking whacked up hippy, yeah? She probably thinks lighting incense and getting rid of spirits will get rid of my problems too, right?”
“She prefers voodoo dolls actually,” Naomi said, her smirk widening as she rattled off her irritatingly witty reply, much to Katie’s annoyance. “More satisfaction getting to stab the pins in, you know?” Naomi lifted her mug to her mouth and took a long sip before she smiled back at her and added, “Drink up Katiekins.”
Katie looked down at her mug and watched the slight trail of steam rise from its surface before she looked back up at Naomi. “Eh, fuck’s sake, haven't you got anything stronger than this?” Naomi shook her head and blew across the top of her mug again. “God, you really are a useless fucking bitch.”
Naomi rolled her eyes in response, ignoring the chance to respond and get into a war of harsh banter with Katie and instead took several large sips of her tea before she let out a content sigh. “Ah, that really does hit the spot, huh?”
Katie took a small sip of her own tea and looked back at Naomi with a pissed off and slightly frustrated expression. “Well nothing else currently is,” Katie scoffed and looked back at her tea in irritation. “So I guess this shit will have to fucking do."
“Dry week?” Naomi asked teasingly, quirking her eyebrow as if to provoke Katie to come back at her with a bitchy remark.
“Try dry fucking summer, babes,” Katie replied as she let out a displeased sigh before pinning Naomi with dark eyes. “The last time anyone hit my spot was months before those useless shags I got from Freddie and way before Effy decided to hit me over the head with the nearest blunt object and made me look like some fucking deformed skank with this hideous scar."
She watched Naomi stiffened in her seat, looking mildly uncomfortable, at what Katie didn’t know, whether it was the fact she was talking about sex, or whether it was because they were having a normal conversation or--
The reason became apparent then, when Naomi cautiously asked. “Have you spoken to either of them?”
And just, what the fuck, because when had Naomi ‘Twating’ Campbell ever given two thoughts about her and Effy and Freddie and what happened that night. Katie faltered for a second, felt her cheeks grow red and then had to stop herself from screaming at Naomi and slapping her around the face when she growled through gritted teeth, “Why the fuck would I? Freddie used me and that... that tramp almost fucking killed me, remember?”
Katie forgot for a minute just how much of a moron Naomi really was, until she dared to reply and offered, “Maybe they want to apologise... clear the air, perhaps?”
It made her blood boil, the venom creeping up into her chest and spewing out of Katie’s mouth with a vile, “You know what Naomi? You and your shitty herbal tea can just fuck right off if you think I need to sit down with those two cunts and listen to their pathetic excuses about why I was left to bleed out in that fucking forest.”
She made a move to leave then, sick of Effy, sick of Freddie, sick of sodding tea and especially sick of that twat Naomi. Katie stopped in the doorway only when she heard Naomi’s chair hurriedly scraping back, screeching as Naomi almost desperately apologised. “Look, I'm sorry, all right? Don't go... just sit down and drink the tea, yeah? I promise I won’t make anymore dickish comments.”
Normally Katie wouldn’t have even considered it; she’d be out the door without even thinking about it but there was something sincere in Naomi’s blue eyes that made her want to stay, made her shrug her shoulders and slump back into her seat almost like she’d been defeated.
Naomi didn’t speak again, luckily, and Katie was grateful for the quiet, felt oddly calmed by Naomi’s presence and her stupid tea. It was only after a few minutes that Katie found herself staring at Naomi’s own mug as her eyes strained to read what was written on it.
Katie rolled her eyes and tried not to snort as she saw the ridiculous ‘world’s best girlfriend’ written across the side surrounded by little red hearts. “Fuck’s sake, Ems is a right sappy cow.” Naomi seemed confused for a brief moment, until Katie indicated at her mug and she looked down at it before returning her gaze to Katie; a smirk playing across her lips. “That how, Ems, got you into bed, then? Coaxed you with tea and biscuits and sealing the deal with a bit of gardening?”
Katie saw the thoughtful look that her comment caused on Naomi's face, watched as her lips twitched up in a small remembering smile and felt something unsettling stir within at whatever Naomi was thinking about. It made her avert her eyes and just, whatever because it was Naomi so she couldn’t possibly be thinking--
“Yeah, something like that.” Naomi muttered back and interrupted Katie’s thoughts.
It felt natural then, for Katie to just be her bitchy self and make light of it all. “Fuck's sake you two are disgusting.”
Naomi laughed and smiled back at her cockily. “I can get some biscuits out for you if you want?” Katie felt something akin to relief when Naomi waggled her eyebrows playfully in her direction like the famous twat she was.
“Cunt.” Katie rolled her eyes and smiled back despite herself. It felt strangely good that Naomi wasn’t treating her any different, hadn’t ever, not even after she’d been battered and bruised. It was nice, Katie thought, knowing that the events that happened that night, that what had happened to her didn’t change who she was as a person, not in Naomi’s eyes anyways, and it was oddly reassuring, comforting even, in a way Katie felt thankful for.
It fell awkwardly silent when they finished the tea and Katie felt like she’d overstayed her welcome, had accepted Naomi’s gesture of friendliness far too eagerly and had better leave before they became friends or something.
“Well, if there isn't any of your famous vodka stash about then I think I'm going to head home,” Katie said, standing from her seat and pulling her bag up and onto her shoulder.
“Yeah, sorry about that Katiekins, but drinking in the middle of the day is supposedly bad for--”
The shrill beep of Katie’s phone cut off Naomi’s reply and she dug around in her bag until she found it and pulled it out to see who the message was from, expecting Emily or even her mum but not... Effy.
She barely took in the message, fumbled quickly with the buttons on her phone until the message disappeared from her screen and let out a shaky breath.
Naomi stared at her for a second and looked over Katie with concerned eyes. “Actually, I think I may have some weed and a bottle or two lying around up in my room. We could make the tea's ‘Irish’ as Kieran would say. Fancy it?”
Katie swallowed down the lump that had formed in her throat and shrugged her shoulders. “What the fuck. Get your sad little mug and let's go.”
Naomi flicked the kettle on again and Katie knew when Naomi offered her a gentle smile that she’d heard her unspoken ‘thanks’.
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Make Tea Not War - Part Two