"An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools." ― Ernest Hemingway

Maka knew that she was going to regret this later; she just knew that something stupid would happen, and she would be the one who had to pay for it. Yet here she was, standing under a half roof eating a sandwich while looking at the pouring rain. Soul covered her with his leather jacket, seeing that she was shivering from the cool wind and her partly soaked clothes. Soul had told her that she should eat something before they went drinking, since she was not used to alcohol and did not eat much for dinner. Now he was the one trembling as he kept his hands in his pockets, pretending to be cool and collected, and not freezing his butt off.

They got a text from BlackStar, turned out that the gang was already there except for them. That made the meister eat faster and Soul chuckle at her forcing the food into her mouth.

"There's no rush ya know." He told her and looked through a nearby window. They stood on a staircase that let down to a closed pet store. "Hey look, they got something called 'favorite smoots.' Is that even a word?"

Maka nodded and swallowed the food to explain. "It's actually a unit of measurement. Not a standard one though as it was originally meant as a joke." She then continued eating as Soul starred at it in confusion.

"So, the dog treats are a joke? Or just a silly name for a brand to make people buy them?"

"I don't think this conversation is leading us anywhere, it's just a brand." Maka stated as she finished the sandwich. "Let's just go and get this over with, I have some reading to catch up on."

"Like you would be able to read after this." Soul teased as he grab her arm and led her out into the rain, their already moist hair quickly soaking as well as his hoodie, yet Maka's shirt stayed dry thanks to the jacket. She asked him whether he wanted it back, but he shook his head.

"I never get sick. You on the other hand, all it takes is keeping a window open all night and you will catch a cold. So keep it on till we get there, it's not that far now."

Soon enough, the pub came into view and Maka gulped. She had never been at a pub before, how was she supposed to act? Her father used to go to such places to flirt with girls, as far as she knew he was still doing that. That alone made her hate such places.

It was loud in there. Loud music and voices, drunk young adults trying to sing along or yelling over the beats from the speakers. They could only hear parts of conversations, as everything seemed to flow together and create a cacophony. Maka was about to turn around and head home, yet Soul was still holding onto her arm, insisting that she stayed. She did not have to drink anything, if she wanted a soda, then no one would look down at her, as long as she stayed for an hour or two. That was what Soul told her back at their apartment.

"Oh, there you are! What took you two so long?" BlackStar yelled out, his voice loud enough to outshout everyone else as he walked towards the pair with a beer in one hand. Him and Soul high fived as Maka took off the burrowed leather jacket.

"We got a table down in the back, think we're about to play a game of liars dice! You two gonna join us?" The blue haired loudmouth handed the albino weapon the beer he was holding. He then turned to look at Maka "There's more drinks at the table, so you can get some as well!"

Before she could argue, the two boys headed off towards the group. Not wanting to stand alone, she followed right behind. It could not be that bad, maybe it would turn out to be fun.

It started out calmly; Liz told Maka the rules while Soul and BlackStar emptied a whole beer in a matter of a few seconds, followed by shots. Everyone got a shot, and despite her fear of drinking, Maka still drank it. One could not hurt, right? She was there to have fun after all, and if that meant having a drink or two, then so be it. However, she would not get more than two. That would be the limit.

Each of them got a dice cub as well as five dices, and as soon as everyone was ready, the game began.

It started out calm and collected, everyone giving out their best poker faces as they pretended to have a certain amount of eyes on their dices.

"Five threes." Patty yelled out, smiling.

"Eight fours." Kid bet higher, making Liz squint her eyes at him before looking at her own in secret.

"Nine fours." Now it landed on Tsubaki who was still a bit confused about the rules.

"Nine… Fives?" She turned her eyes to BlackStar who sat beside her. He looked her in the eyes for a few seconds before yelling out "LIAR!" then lifted his cub.

Sure enough, there were only eight fives, much to Kid's relief but Tsubaki's dismay as she lost a die.

"Yahooo! I'm one step closer to winning!"

"Don't get too excited yet, I'm totally winning." Soul challenged, and by the look on BlackStar's face, it was a challenge accepted.

Maka was the first to lose all her dice, not understanding the rules since Liz never explained then properly. For some reason she always had to figure out rules on her own. The next one to accept defeat was Patty, soon followed by Kid who wanted every bet of his to include the number eight.

To everyone's surprise, it ended up being Liz and Tsubaki who had to fight for the gold. Liz won the first game, and soon a second game began, followed by a third, and then a fourth. Once they hit the fifth game, everyone except for Maka was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol.

"Alight, I say, six, fives." Liz slurred, followed by a laugh as she almost knocked a glass over.

"Oi! No way had ya got that much!" Soul slurred back before looking at his own dices. It was just him, Liz and BlackStar left in the fifth round, and there was less than ten dices left. "I call Liiiiar!" They lifted their cups and sure enough, there were only four fives. "Hah! Last die, you're out!"

Liz grumbled and almost knocked the glass down again.

"Aleight Souul, I'll beat ya ass!" BlackStar starred at his friend as they exchanged smirks.

"I ain't gettin beaten by you, I'm too coooool for that." The boy with white hair was about to place his bet when someone's singing distracted him, making him turn his attention to them.

"Your sweet moonbeam, the smell of you in every single dream I dream." It was Maka. Of all the people gathered around the table, drinking and playing, Maka was the one singing along to a song. Not only was it slightly off beat, she was laughing and hitting the wrong notes. Was she, the one who would only take one or two drinks, getting drunk? Still baffled by this, Soul found himself starring at her as she pointed towards him. "I knew when we collided, you're the one I have decided who's one of my kind."

He blushed, not that he meant to, but the way she acted… It was kind of cute. Okay, he would bet now.

"Two threes!" The moment he yelled that, the other girls joined Maka "Hey soul sister, ain't that Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo, the way you move ain't fair, you know!"

"Three threes!" BlackStar yelled back, but before Soul coul react, Maka started crawling over Patty to sit beside him, poking his nose as she continued on "Hey soul sister, I don't want to miss a single thing you do… Tonight" First of all, how did she know the lyrics? As far as he knew, she never listened to music. He never heard her sing either. Could it be possible that she actually listened to music without his knowledge?

"Uhm, Maaaka… You okay?"

"I'm gooood! I'm sooo good, I feel great! Wanna cuddle?"

His face turned a rather uncool shade of red, he was about to answer when she lay herself down, her head in his lap as she looked up at him and, to no surprise, continued. "Just in time, I'm so glad you have a one-track mind like me."

"M-Maka, stop, for real stop." She was turning him on, something he never thought would happen. It was the alcohol, it had to be the alcohol or she would not act this way, and neither would the building lump in his pants.

"You gave my life direction, a game show love connection we can't deny-y-y-y!" Now she cupped his cheeks with her soft, warm hands.

For some reason he wanted to accept, but another part of him, the part that was not completely wasted, told him that it was a bad idea. Deciding that enough was enough, he pulled her off him and into a sitting position. She looked confused for a moment, but that soon turned into a playful smile as she turned to Patty who had been watching in amusement and started braiding her hair. Good, she was distracted; they could continue the game now.

"Uuuuuuuhm." He looked at the dices, completely forgetting the numbers the other yelled a few seconds ago. "Where were we?"

"Duuuude, you're, sooo out of it!" BlackStar laughed before repeating the numbers. "Three threes!"

"Oh! Four threes!"

"I call Liiiar! Ya only have two dices! No way ya have twoh threes!" They lifted their cups, and much to his shock, Soul turned out to have two threes. "Cheater! I call cheat!"

"Just get rid of a dice already!" Soul groaned before taking yet another shot. He was not wasted enough to deal with all this. Truth be told, he had not been too fond of going either. If he had not managed to pull Maka with him, he might have stayed home. Not that he wasn't having fun, it had its charm.

They had just shaken the dice cups when Maka's back suddenly leaned against Souls shoulder. This time he tried to ignore her, but that proved to be harder than he thought.

"The way you can't cut a rug, watching you's the only drug I need. You're so gangsta, I'm so thug, you're the only one I'm dreaming of. You see, I can be myself now finally, in fact there's nothing I can't be!" At the last part, she turned her head to look at him "I want the world to see you be with me."

That was it, the final straw, he was gonna kiss her if she didn't stop this madness. He knew she did not mean any of it, she was drunk for the first time, and her way of reacting was to get cuddly. That alone was enough of a reason for him not to give her anything in return, even if he wanted to. They were partners, weapon and meister, he was not going to ruin that by returning the love.

"I-I gotta take a piss!" Before anyone could object, Soul jumped off the couch and, somehow in his daze, managed to find the bathroom.

"What was that about?" Kid, not being that wasted, asked once he was out of sight.

"Dunno, but he left the game! Therefore, I win! Yahoo!" BlackStar threw the rest of his dices into the air in triumph. "He probubly got tooo scared of losing to me!"

"I don't think that's why he left." Liz leaned in close and whispered something that made the boy gasp. "Oh? Reeeally? I didn't see that! Who gave him that!? Tell!" Liz chuckled and pointed at Maka who continued to braid Patty's hair. "No way! Ahahaha! I gotta see that myself!" with that he jumped off the couch as well and, despite almost running into a wall, somehow found the bathroom as well.

"Huh? Where did Soul go?" Maka finally asked after a while, oblivious to everything that was going on around her as she reached for another drink. "Did he go home?"

"Nah he'll be back once it's flaccid." Liz said it aloud, not thinking much of it as she took the drink from Maka. "And you, I think you've had enough for tonight. Grab a soda or something." Maka pouted but it was short lived as they started the sixth game of liars dice.

"I ain't coming out!" Soul yelled through one of the stall doors "It ain goin down and there's no way in hell that I'm facin her like this." He was leaning against a wall, too out of balance to stand still for long.

"Dude, come on! It can't be that bad!" BlackStar laughed at his friend's misery. "I'm sure she ain't gonna notice nothing!" he leaned against another wall and crossed his arms, trying to be serious for a moment. "Anyway, why didn't ya make a move? You had her right there! She wanted ya."

"It's the alcohol, idiot." The one inside the stall stated. "We ain't gonna do nothin, we're just partners, friendly partners."

"Say that to your boner." He laughed again, much to Soul's annoyance.

"That has nothing to do with her! I just, had to pee."

"And how's the peeing going?"

"… Fuck you…" he opened the stall door, and the moment he stepped out, BlackStar's laughing increased.

"LOOK AT YOU! That's epic man, thumps up for that!"

"This ain't funny, I can't even go!" he almost stumbled, and despite being serious about it all, he started to laugh as well. "You think she noticed?"

"Probably not. Oi! Why don't ya walk home with her? Maybe she'll get all lovely dovely again!"

Soul frowned at the thought, yet had to agree with the home part. He just wanted to go to bed and sleep the night off, and get Maka home safe.

"S-sure, I'll walk her home." As if he completely forgot why he was in the bathroom in the first place, he left to go and collect Maka. He was swaying, and everything seemed to tilt, yet it did not keep him from grabbing Maka by the arm, then started dragging her towards the exit. To his surprise, she refused to go home.

"No! I don't wanna go! I'm having fun!" she Maka chopped his head, making him let go of her to rub at his now aching head.

"Oi! That hurt!" she ignored his complaint and headed back towards the table, hoping that the others did not continue without her. She was winning this round! Sighing, Soul looked down to find the boner to be partly gone. One Maka chop was all it took. Making a mental note of that, he followed her back to the others. Alright, they could stay a little longer, but if Maka started to feel sick, then he would force her back to their apartment. No way was he going to take the blame in case her father found out that his daughter was drinking, because of him.

"Oh? So you decided to come back?" Liz asked upon seeing the two of them walk over, Maka as happy as ever while Soul just threw his hands into his pockets and shrugged. "She's havin fun, ain't gonna ruin it."

"Well then!" BlackStar jumped off the couch, grabbed Soul by the hoodie sleeve and pulled him towards the bar. "We're gonna take shots! First to back out loses!"

"Hell no!" Soul tried to pull away, but BlackStar was holding onto him tightly.

"Come on! We're getting sober, we can't have that! You're thinking too much!"

"No, you do it, I watch. If I get out of it, then how do I get Maka home?" He was barely making any sense as it was, he could not continue filling himself like this. Had he known that Maka would end up wasted, then… He did not get to finish thinking it through as BlackStar handed him a shot glass. "Do it, I dare ya! Or are you a wimp? Wimpy Soul!"

That was it, he had to do it, if he did not, then he would seem uncool, and there was no way that was going to happen, at a pub nonetheless. "Fine! But if I end up unconscious, I'll kill you!" With that, he took the shot in one gulp, frowning at the aftertaste. It was not that strong, but enough to make him regret it already. He watched as his friend emptied his as well, then they moved on to the second one, then the third, and the fourth…

Once they got to the sixth, Soul was about to give up and let BlackStar win, when Patty suddenly grabbed him by the arm and pulled him off the bar chair. The movement made him realize that the room was swaying again, now more than ever. He was barely able to think straight, seeing everyone as something he could lean against for support. Regret, he was feeling it, the regret of not being able to say no when he should have. Yet everything was laughable, even more so when Patty lead him towards a certain girl who had left the couch to look for him. He swayed into her and placed a hand on both of her shoulders, trying his best to act like he wasn't drunk, slurred words finding their way out of his mouth. "Maka, you see me in me eyes now, m'kay? You…" he was about to tell her how serious this was, how serious he was, and how they seriously had to head home before her father found out about this, yet the words got stuck in his throat when Maka tilted her head to lean it against one of his hands. How could he tell her anything when she was acting like this?

"You wanna dance?" that was all he could ask her at that moment, and she giggled. The music was upbeat, yet somehow they managed to start slow dancing, leaning against each other to avoid falling. They were close, her chest against his as they made up the steps, not able to do it properly. He made her do a pirouette, and when she almost fell, he caught her, which made him lose his balance, sending them both to the floor, laughing. What were they even doing? More importantly, why did Patty make herself fall onto them, leaving Soul with the weight of two on top of him?

At that ungrateful moment, he realized he had to pee, for real this time.

"Patty, do you min- unf!"

For some reason, BlackStar decided to join and fell on top of Patty, who was laying on top of Maka, who was laying on top of him, pressing her knee against his bladder. That was then that he concluded that the world hated him. It was also by then that he remembered growing up with snobbish parents. Whenever they went to an event where you had to sit by a table for a longer period, they would tell him to hold it until they allowed him to leave. Ever since then, he went against those kinds of rules and left when he wanted to, even if it was in the middle of class.

Now was different, he was weighted down and unable to move a muscle. Even if he wanted to get up, he simply could not.

"Guys! Get off! You're crushin' me!" No one but Maka tried to get off, and despite her best efforts, she fell back down, making the bottom in the pile groan loudly from the pressure. Noticing his pained expression, Maka realized that they were hurting him and tried her best to get off again.

"He's ain lying, you're heavy!" Maka slurred, the heat from being sandwiched making her head hurt ever so slightly. In the end, Tsubaki was the one saving them by pulling BlackStar off Patty, who stood up right after. Now Maka was the only one still lying on him. She was not getting up but instead staring into his eyes with a blush and an apologetic smile, her face getting closer, until she placed a kiss on his cheek. He wanted to kiss her back, he really did, but a sudden pain in his lower regions kept him from even trying to make a move on her. Suddenly panicking, Soul rolled to the side, making Maka the one underneath him. Finding the situation awkward and his bladder about to burst, he hurried back to his feet and, as calmly as he could muster, walked off to the bathroom for the second time in less than an hour. Once again, he missed the chance to show his affection towards her.

By the time he came back, Maka had fallen asleep; head leaned against Tsubaki's shoulder. With a sigh and barely any balance, the albino sat down and let his head meet the table. His fears had come true, Maka was out of it and he was unable to carry her home… No, he had to try; he was not going to let her sleep at a place like that. With a groan, he somehow managed to collect himself, helped her put on his leather jacket to avoid getting soaked, and with the help of the others, he managed to lift her onto his back. She let out a groan of her own, and he mentally prayed for her not to puke on him. Despite Kid and Tsubaki asking to follow them home, he assured them that he would get her home safely. He always did, why would now be any different?

With that, he stumbled out of the pub and out in the rain, a heavy headache on its way and all the regret in the world. Spirit was going to kill him if he did not get himself and Maka killed first.

"S-Soul…" Maka mumbled. He was getting ready for whatever she had to say. Thinking that it might be a love confession or an apology, Soul was ready for anything she might throw at him.

"Yeah Maka, what is it?"

"…I have to pee."

Well, this was fun to write, hopefully it was fun to read as well! Please leave a review if you liked it, and if you didn't, feel free to leave some constructive criticism and I'll note it down. Thanks for reading!