The Woman He Married

16. Drunk Habits

At the end of the night, Mae was the least drunk not only between her and Alaia, but also amongst Zane's friends. She ended up calling different cabs for each of them and making sure they got home safely. Mae took Zane and Xavi with her, and ended up at Zane's house that night.

"Why... does it this... happen to me?" Mae groaned as she threw Xavi onto his bed.

"Thank you, my beautiful Mae," he mumbled drunkenly.

Mae was just catching her breath when she heard something toppling onto the floor outside the room. She head outside and found Zane trying to pour himself a glass of cold water. He looked just tipsy for someone who drank over his limit, until Mae come closer and noticed him doing nothing right.

That man did attempt to make a phone call using calculator app in his phone. Thankfully, his silly laughter was cute enough for Mae to pardon his carelessness. And now he's wondering why the water was not filling up his upside down cup.

"That's not how it works, Zane," Mae sighed, staring at him as the cold water overflowed and spilled to the floor.

"Fuck it," he murmured, bringing to bottle to his mouth and drinking straight out of it. He let out a sigh of relief, "That's more like it."

"Come, let's get you to bed," Mae reached for his hand. Zane stepped forward and grabbed her by the shoulders.

He looked at her closely and hugged her. Mae finally figured out his drunk habits at that point. He does not do it to everyone but his friends and occasionally Mae - he gets physical. He hugged them and clung onto them affectionately. Mae found him giving Xavi a good pet on the head when the two passed out in the back seat of the cab.

Mae froze when he nuzzled his nose down the crook of her neck. He inhaled deeply, then hummed in approval. "Let's sleep together. Sleep sleep." Zane mumbled, stroking her hair. He peeled away and cradled her head with his hands. He held his breath and looked around. "Oh, we're home."

Mae scoffed, knowing he wouldn't remember the hardships she went through to get them home.

"Mae," he looked at her, removing his hands just to rake it up the back of her head and grab her hair. Mae relaxed in his hold, her eyes fluttering shut before she knew it. "My beautiful Mae Williams."

Mae gaped at him and found his longing eyes. Mae Williams. She smiled, "You won't remember that in the morning. This is probably the only time I'll get to hear you call me like that."

"You like that?" He grinned, "Mae Williams is your name now. You're mine. My people. Mine."

"You're drunk," she told him.

"I know," he murmured. "I wish I'm not drunk, so we can talk a little longer, but I'm sleepy now."

"That's fine. We can talk tomorrow. And the day after that. And after that, maybe."

"What do you mean, maybe?" He frowned, offended by the word. "I'm going to talk to you every day. Fuck that maybe. If I want to talk, I'll talk even if you don't talk to me."

"Really? What do you want to talk about?"

"Uh..." He pondered, shutting his eyes while playing with her hair. He then looked at her, "Right. Are you free tomorrow?"

"Are you going to ask me out on a date?" Mae asked.

"Wow, how did you know?" Zane scoffed.

"Someone asked me out today, and it went a little like that."

"Who dared...!" Zane raised his voice a little, then his jaw dropped. "Did I miss my timing? Are you going on a date with someone already? Damn, I missed my timing. Oh, god... Should've begged you to come back with me the last time."