The first shot burns. Bill picks up the sticky glass from the table, quickly pours the alcohol down his throat, and slams it back onto the table. Mabel jumps back when he does. He thinks of apologizing for startling her, but he's feeling too distressed for any of that.
"That's just wonderful, Mabel. You're a lucky woman to be..." he couldn't bring himself to say the word because if he did he would have to admit to it, "Yeah."
She was engaged. The thought of it made him want to scream. She was happy, at least he thinks she is. She hasn't smiled since she told him.
And he stupidly brings it up, "Aren't brides supposed to be happy?"
"I'm..." she finally manages a smile, a fake one, "I am happy."
"Right," he glances from her eyes to her lips that seemed to be trembling.
"I am!"
He can sense the hostility in her voice, so he decides to leave it there. He tells the bartender for another shot and when it's set on front of him, he immediately drinks it down. She watches, he tries to not feel nervous by it.
"Do you want to come?" maybe he's too drunk to respond, but the abillity to speak or even think is gone. The ony thing he does is shrug, "I'm not saying you have to, but it'd be nice to have you there."
The third shot went down and he tries to fight back the agonizing feeling he gets when her hand lays across his leg. He sniffles, as if at any moment he'd cry.
He's never met this guy, but it never meant she didn't try. So showing up to a wedding between a stranger and a girl he may be in love with wouldn't be right.
But, "Okay," slips out and now he thinks he needs a few more drinks.
One shot later and she's dragging him out of the bar to her house. He falls against the couch and feels a slight headache forming. He curses himself and for a split second she grins. It fades when she moves from the door to his side. She touches the fabric of his tie.
He can't breathe.
A slight tug at the knot lets him know she's trying to undo it. He wants to to stop her because it's beginning to feel too real. But instead he doesn't. He touches her shoulder, she slows down to inhale.
"How drunk are you?" she asks. It's almost like she wasn't even there at the bar with him.
"Not too drunk to know what's going on," he begins questioning why she asked. Nothing out loud of of course just for the sake of this moment. The tie comes off and over his head and landing on the floor.
Then, she hugs him. She wraps those delicate arms around him and the only thing he can think of is the way her hair smells.
"Am I rushing into this?" it almost sounds like she's going to cry, so he hugs tighter hoping that she doesn't.
"Marriage?" he asks and she nods.
"I've only known him for a year Bill. Isn't that rushing?"
He's at a loss for words. It's his chance to make it all stop. The wedding, he relationship with another guy, the pain in his chest that keeps tightening every passing second she's near him. But would he? If it's her happiness at stake here, that's not something he'd risk just because it was too hard for him.
He braces himself, "Do you love him?"
"Um..." she's hesitant and it's not something he expected from a woman who's engaged. He pulls away from her embrace to try to get a better look at her expression. She looks conflicted and the way she bites her lip shows that she is.
"Do you?" he asks again. This time she shrugs, "How do you not know? You're marrying him",
"I don't know. It just hit me at once! We were out having a good time and suddenly he's on one knee asking and I said yes. I panicked Bill! I just... panicked" it can't hurt to finally admit it to him. He's drunk and she's beginning to wish that she was, "I don't love him, but he loves me."
"That means you shoul marr-"
"Because it's enough," and the tears begin to fall. He doesn't know whether to leave her alone or hug her again. He's never seen her cry.
"Don't you think you deserve to be with someone who loves you?" he clarifies and wipes a tear away. He can feel her shuttering at his touch. Something he could grow to like.
"Bill" she laughs, "There's things that not even the all knowing Bill Cipher can explain."
He needs answers because something he needs to know isn't being said, "Like?"
"Like," she breathes and he's so close he can feel it, "Like why I'm marrying a guy I don't love... and why did I," she pauses glaring into his eyes and it feels too intimate, "Bill?"
He inhales the scent of perfume and exhales only when she brings herself closer to him, "Yeah?"
He knows what's going to happen when her eyes meet his lips. He waits for it, "Stop me."
He doesn't and her eager lips capture his in the most searing kiss, "I love you."