nebula :: [malik]

[ xxxvii :: tequila ]

Jesse snorts loudly and Zayn can't help but laugh harder.

"I mean..."

Zayn pauses, reaching for bottles and another glass because he's about to refill his own and help out his mate, too.

Zayn lifts a brow, watching Jesse take a seat on the counter. "You mean...?"

"Fuck off, Zayn," Jesse scowls. "Is Magdalena gonna be there, or...?"

"You mean you're scared of Mags, now?"

"Fuck off, Zayn."

"What?" He scoffs, sliding him a very large shot of Tequila. "Thought you weren't scared of anything, Jesse."

"Fuck you, you mother fucker," is the reply, as Jesse lifts the shot to his lips and downs it without salt or a chaser. "I'm not scared of Magdalena, so shut the fuck up and don't ask me that shit again."

"So." Zayn pours another shot. "You're coming then, yeah?"

"Yeah," and Zayn smirks as Jesse lifts the glass to his lips. "Fuck you, I'll be there."

Zayn nods, swallowing his own shot. "Good."

And Jesse downs his second. Or, was this the third? He can't remember. All he knows is that Zayn's pouring another for the two of them and they're matching each other's alcoholic intake again.

"Hey," Zayn begins as they drink their next glass full. Why he's pouring these shots, he isn't exactly sure to be perfectly honest. I mean, it's Thursday. "Hey, where the hell's Zach?"

Jesse shrugs, "But he's s'posed to help me close."

Zayn nods, and he's pouring more when Jesse interrupts, "Is Magdalena gonna be there, Zayn? Is that why you asked, or something?"

"I mean..." Zayn stops pouring and meets Jesse's gaze, because now this is the stuff Anais claimed to be good at that Zayn wanted to avoid completely. Jesse Rutherford, Zayn's noticed, would not ask if he didn't care. He just wasn't like that.

And Zayn knows the answer to this question. Of course he does. But, he's also not trying to delve too deep into this thing Magdalena and Jesse have going between them, because mostly he's trying to help Anais get the two of them in a position where they can talk and work this out themselves and things can go back to normal.

So, he lies.

Kind of.

"Honestly," he shrugs, realizing now that he hasn't pulled out salt or chasers and that they've literally been taking straight shots of tequila. "Honestly, mate, I'd have to ask Anais."

Which is the truth.

But, as Jesse nods, jaw clenched, Zayn can assume that Magdalena would be there because Anais would be there, right?

If she had any say, Magdalena would definitely be there.

And the somber silence that follows makes Zayn realize that despite Jesse's aversion to the topic, he really really is fucked up without Magdalena. Like, Zayn realizes that he really, really liked - likes - her. This silence makes Zayn realize that he's becoming more invested in getting the two of them back together.

It also makes him pour more shots.

"What the fuck're you guys doing?" Zach exclaims, chuckling as he waltzes into the empty bar, shaking his gloves out and slipping out of his outer layers. And it's when Zach gets an eyeful of a near empty bottle of tequila - the bar's tequila - that he flips a shit.

"Holy fuck, you can't drink all that shit if you're not gonna pay for it!"

And at this point, Zayn and Jesse are both toasted, like, they're really toasty and warm and giggly, and they're staring over a near empty bottle of Patron, which Zach snatches from Zayn's hand because, "Dude, this is hella expensive, man!"