His eyes looked at the bottles, jumped to you and back to the bottles. He hesitated.

"I'd prefer not.", Marcus said and downed the last sip of his alcohol. "Tomorrow is a workday."

You rolled your eyes.

"Come on, grumpy.", you gave him a gentle bump to the shoulder. "You're the sheriff. Can't you, like, take a day off whenever you want to? I mean who's going to say no? The sheriff? Oh, no wait..."

Chuckling, he rolled his eyes and sighed.

Demonstratively, he raised his glass.

"Fine, you win this one.", his eyes locked with yours. "Let's see how well your liver developed."

Laughing, you handed him one of the bottles and raised yours.

"To our first real night of drinking together.", you toast with him.

"Cheers to us.", he whispered, taking a sip so big he had to pull a face.

"Calm down, big boy. We wouldn't want you to end up in the hospital with alcohol poisoning."

He shrugged.

"Wouldn't be my first.", he muttered, walking over to sit down next to you on the table.

With a sigh, he let his head fall onto your shoulder. His eyes closed. A soft, red glow spread across his cheeks, the alcohol already showing its effects.

And it didn't remain without consequences for you either. Your cheeks grew warm, making your head feel dizzy and slow. It was a bit embarrassing. Usually you could handle your alcohol quite well.

Your stomach growled.

"Hungry?", he asked with one open eye and a grin.

You drank a sip.

"Maybe...", you admitted, blushing.

"I could use something to eat.", he jumped from the desk, pulling you with him. "I know a place. Just give me a second to put on pants."

With a meaningful grin, he looked at you, his hand slipping into your back and pulling you to his chest. His eyelids were already heavy, his gaze clouded by alcohol.

Surprised, you stared at him and realized that he was already slightly drunk.

"M-Marcus?", you whispered his name as if the sound of your voice could pull him out of his trance and remind him that he actually hated you.

Sighing softly, he closed his eyes and let his forehead fall against yours. A heavy breath made his chest quiver.

"Shit.", he whispered and pulled you even closer.

Out of reflex, your hands lifted to rest on his chest.

"What, grumpy? Do you have too much already?", you asked with a teasing grin. "How disappointing. And I thought we were going to have fun like adults."

He laughed.

That was the first time he really, genuinely laughed. It was a beautiful sound, deep and so lighthearted like he was having the most fun of his life. But at the same time, there was the hint of relief.

The sound made your heart beat faster. Heat rose to your face.

With a satisfied smile, he rubbed his forehead against yours, lifted his chin and pressed a kiss between your eyebrows. Back then he had had to stand on his tiptoes to do that, but today he almost had to bend down.

A shaky breath escaped your lips. This felt so bitter sweet.

You wanted to say something but the words got stuck in your throat when he opened his eyes again.

Those eyes.

Those dark-brown, intelligent eyes that looked at you with so much unknown gentleness. Normally there was a hardness inside, a deep-seated disgust.

But at that moment it was completely different.

For the breath of a second, the old Marcus looked at you. The Marcus of your childhood. The Marcus you had loved so much that you had sacrificed your life for him.

"I missed you...", he whispered and took your face in both hands. "(Y/N)... I missed you... so unbelievably..."

With a faltering breath you stared at him, your eyes firmly locked with his.

He smiled, even more gently than before. Perhaps it could have been called affectionate, the way he looked at you.

Your heart was beating wildly in your chest, your whole body tense. You were expecting him to fuck with you, but nothing he did at that moment indicated that.

You wanted to believe that it was real. You wanted him to come closer to you again.

But it felt wrong. In the end, it was the alcohol that made him talk.

And yet.

Still, you wanted to enjoy this moment as long as you could.

"Marcus.", laughing softly, you turned your head to the side to avoid a kiss he was about to print on your lips.

Instead, he kissed your cheek. But Marcus, at that moment, was incapable of being upset by this little rejection. As if to annoy you, he began to rub his forehead against yours again and again.

The stubble of his moustache tickled your nose and you had to laugh.

Playfully you pushed him away from you and took a big sip from the bottle. Laughing, you dodged him as he tried to grab you and jumped onto the window sill.

With one eyebrow raised, he grabbed his pants and slid in.

He looked good in civilian clothes, not less attractive but totally different from what you had seen of him so far.

"What are you doing?", he asked, slurring his words slightly.

You shrugged and gave him a grin as you opened the window.

"You wanted to invite me to dinner.", you said, and jumped onto the roof.

Without thinking about it, he followed and balanced with you over the narrow roofs, while taking a sip of the alcohol now and then.

"Wait for me!", he grabbed your hand and locked your fingers together. "The bar is this way."

He pulled you to the right.

"Marcus!", you chuckled. "You're taking me to a bar? I want food."

"You will get a full stomach. I promise."

"If you bring me to a bar full of enforcers, I'll kill you."

He laughed. With a wiggle of his eyebrows, he stopped on one of the roofs and let you take a look at where he was about to take you.

Frowning, you looked at him.

"The Undercity?", you asked.

"The place has the best beer for your liver and the worst food for your health. Trust me."