The evening was stilted and awkward, conversation pieced together by Henry's insistence that they were all having a lovely, lovely time.
The food was expensive and came on plates twice the size of the meals themselves, and more than once Zoe caught Max chasing something unidentifiable about the plate with his left hand, struggling without the use of his right. She had smiled, the concentration on his face knotting her stomach with affection, the oversized clothes causing him to attract more than a few raised eyebrows and disdainful glances.
He didn't seem to notice.
They had ended up at the bar, Helena had spent the evening drinking neat vodka until she declared herself too bored and took herself back up to the room. Max and Zoe had spent the next hour trying to make excuses to leave but the drinks kept being poured and Henry seemed to always be able to find something to say to make them stay.
Eventually, as he was distracted with the woman behind the bar, they managed to say their goodbyes and slip back to the hotel room, Zoe leaning heavily into Max, her eyes mildly bloodshot, the marbled floor seeming to spin slightly as they fell into the lift.
She stood opposite him in the lift, looking at him with squinted eyes as though trying to work something out. He laughed.
"What?"
He asked as the lift rose from the ground floor up to level 21.
"Why are you swaying like that?"
She asked, her voice thick with drink.
"I'm not. You are."
He laughed again and shook his head as the doors slid easily open, displaying the long corridor ahead of them. He took her arm and guided them to their room, unlocking the door and holding it open with his foot while she made her way in with a happy sounding sigh.
"Do you want a drink?"
She asked, moving to the mini bar, her words were slurred and her cheeks flushed as she bent to peer at the labels on the bottles that she had lined up on the chest of drawers.
"I'm OK thanks..."
He moved over to her, she was pouring two glasses of something despite his words.
She handed one two him, sipping her own and closing one eye so that she could focus on him.
"How are you not drunk?"
She asked, an air of suspicion about her as she asked, watching as he took a sip of his drink and placed it back on the chest of drawers.
He smiled a slow, deliciously even smile, the white of his teeth just showing through his parted lips.
"Because I am the sensible one..."
He moved around behind her as he spoke.
"Shh, stop saying...words."
She had taken another large sip of the concoction that she had poured and a wave of nausea filled her.
"Ok...we could try morse? But I don't know any..."
He placed his free arm about her waist, pressing himself against her back, his lips just brushing her ear.
"Come with me..."
She stepped away from him, stumbling slightly and making her way to the bed, one eye closed again, and staggering slightly in her heels.
"that's a very interesting new walk you've got there..."
He murmured, tilting his head, watching her place one hand onto the bed and lifting her heel up to her other hand, trying to pull the shoe from her foot but struggling as she lost balance and fell sideways onto the mattress.
She laughed and rolled over, scrambling up to the top of the bed and placing a hand on the top of her head she leant back, closing both eyes now, and sighing loudly.
"Why have you got your hand on your head?"
He asked, moving over to the bed slowly, kicking off his shoes mid way.
"Invisible hangover hat."
She breathed, letting her head tilt back against the wall, her mouth open.
"You what now?"
He asked, letting his knees press into the mattress, leaning his weight against it.
"Invisible hangover hat. You can't see it..."
She paused to swallow against the rising bile in her throat.
"Because it's invisible...?"
He asked, still smiling.
"Mmm...If I take my hand away I will have...in the morning I will have the worlds worst hangover. And then I will be very, very sick."
She whispered, placing a hand on her stomach, her skin paling at the mere mention of the word.
"Would you like some water...painkillers?"
He asked, glancing about the room for a glass.
She shook her head.
"I want the stuff I use...to kill people."
A smile twitched her lips.
"Nope...saving all that for Dr Evil..."
She opened an eye as he spoke, pursing her lips into a lopsided smile.
"Why are you alright? How can you be alright? Helena is bloody pissed...I'm...how are you alright?"
She asked, frowning at him again.
"Because I am the chosen one."
He breathed, using his good arm to rest on the bed, pulling himself up so that he could kneel next to her.
"No why really?"
She asked, closing her eyes again.
"Because I didn't drink any of Henry's ethanol punch that he was having you both drink."
He said quietly, reaching out to touch her forehead, wiping the sweat from it.
"Ok, lets have a look at this hat of yours..."
He leant towards her and she opened both eyes to look at him, the room swaying suddenly.
"What...wait...too much movement."
She placed a hand over her eyes for a moment before daring to peer out at him from between her fingers.
"What are you doing?"
She asked, watching as he reached out above her head.
"I'm swapping your hangover hat, for my, 'I knew when I'd had enough' hat..."
He said, miming the swapping of hats with an eccentric hand gesture.
"There."
He said, placing his hand back into his lap and shifting next to her to lean against the headboard.
She paused, opening both eyes, momentarily feeling better, until she turned to loko at him, the colours of the room spinning violently.
"I think I'm going to be sick."
She whispered, her skin paling again.
"O-ok..."
He swung his legs back off the bed, moving around quickly to help her off the bed and into the bathroom, steadying her as she bent down to loll against the toilet where she wretched until she threw up.
He ran his hand in soft circles on the curve of her back, her arms draped across the bowl of the toilet, her forehead resting on them.
"Ugh."
She breathed, accidentally glancing into the water below her.
"I think it's gone..."
She whispered, her voice echoing in the pan of the toilet.
"God. Sorry..."
She breathed, turning her face to him, not daring to open her eyes.
"Don't be..."
She could hear the smile in his voice and dared to open her eyes, letting herself fall away from the toilet so that she was now just kneeling in front of it.
He raised a hand to stroke the hair from her face. His eyes looked bluer than usual in the soft light of the bathroom, he breathed through his mouth, his lips parted just slightly.
"You're a very attractive man aren't you..."
She sighed, looking almost put out by the fact.
He smiled slightly.
"I know."
He whispered, smiling all the more as she raised an eyebrow.
Her eyes lingered on his lips before glancing down at the triangle of skin at the gape of his shirt collar, moving further to the pull of denim over his thighs.
"Are you thinking about having sex with me?"
He asked, still that smile hovering about his lips. She looked up at him, her cheeks flushing again.
"It had crossed my mind..."
She dipped her head as she spoke, avoiding eye contact.
He held out a hand to her, rearranging his legs underneath himself so that he could stand.
"Come on you drunkard."
He said, taking the hand she offered and pulling her to her feet.
"I want to see what drunk Zoe's like in bed."
I will get to the exciting bit soon I promise! Taking longer than expected with teething toddler xxx