#it makes sense that she has to essentially chug a whole bottle to get drunk

[forged-in-briar]

It's so funny to me that Garden never trained Yor to have a high alcohol tolerance. She can survive drinking an entire glass of pufferfish poison, but give her just a little too much wine or a whole bottle of scotch and she's a complete gonner.

[meghanmendes]

the morning after [shane & meghan]

TAGGING → Shane Gallagher & Meghan Mendes LOCATION → Shane’s apartment TIMEFRAME → Sunday, after their night out together

Meghan chugged down half the bottle in one swig, both because she was thirsty, and because she was nervous. The cold liquid ran down her throat, and it wasn't entirely pleasant, but Meghan would take that over facing what happened any day. In her rush to satiate her thirst, Meghan nearly choked when Shane confirmed that they had too much to drink ─ a bad time to make a joke. Coughing, trying to catch her breath, her eyes watered, and she laughed raggedly. "God, I don't remember anything. And the fact that I crashed here instead of some other girl... I was a poor wingwoman, huh?" She asked, tiptoeing around the real question, and took a big bite of the breakfast Shane made.

Shane pushed around the food on his plate as Meghan spoke, getting the idea that maybe she didn't really remember the extent of what happened last night and was now kind of freaking out about in case there had been more. "Yeah, your wingwoman skills kinda of failed me last night," Shane nodded, taking a bite of his omelette. "I mean, I guess I wasn't entirely complaining about it when you were kissing me, though."

Meghan was grateful that she wasn't drinking anything at the moment, because Shane would have probably ended up showered with it. Still, the bite she was chewing on almost went down the wrong pipe, and Meghan cleared her throat, biding her time. They kissed? They couldn't h─ OH MY GOD THEY KISSED. She remembered the moment, they were laughing, getting in each other's faces, she was holding onto him trying not to fall, or just looking for an excuse to touch him... They. Kissed. What did that mean, what should she do? Did they...? "Oh yeah?" She asked, raising an eyebrow in a ridiculous attempt to play it cool. "Is that all we did?"

Shane waited for the bomb to drop; for her to realize that yes, they had kissed last night. Silently, he continued eating his breakfast, watching her react, trying to keep it cool on the outside. It wasn't until her final question that he laughter broke loose. "Do you mean, did we have sex?" Shane asked, keeping her waiting for a moment. "No. No, we did not have sex."

Meghan wasn't sure what to make of his laughter. What was it supposed to mean, that yes, they had sex and it was terrible? Or they didn't but the thought of them doing it was laughable? "Right," she said, a frown forming on her forehead, not sure if she was relieved or disappointed because of it. "Why not? Seems like you got me naked anyway." She gestured at the shirt she was wearing, leaning forward with an elbow on the table, cradling her chin in the palm of her hand.

Shane raised his eyebrows; his laughter ceasing with how she leaned in with that look on her face. There was no amusement at all on her part and frankly, it made him a little nervous. His mouth turned dry at her question and he reached up to scratch the back of his head; averting his eyes. "Uh...like I said, we had a lot to drink and I didn't wanna take advantage of that."

Meghan pursed her lips, more memories from the previous night coming back to her, even some feelings. In particular, she remembered enjoying it all much more than she would be willing to admit. "Well, thank you for being a gentleman," she finally said, the smallest smile on her lips. "And for the breakfast, it's delicious." Unsure how to address what happened, Meghan stuffed another bite in her mouth, wondering what this meant. Normally, she'd say goodbye and never see the guy again, regardless of whether they had sex. But this was Shane.

Shane 's smile turned up at the corner of his lips and he nodded his head in response. He would have never taken advantage of a girl that drunk anyway but he especially didn't want to cross a line with Meghan that might have turned out to be a huge mistake. Shrugging his shoulder casually, feeling an air of awkwardness between them, he focused back down to his plate. "No problem."

Meghan: Silence grew around them again, like a black hole sucking them in, and Meghan was trying to come up with a way to fill it. The problem was that she was conflicted all on her own ─ she liked Shane, annoyingly so, but she was afraid to say or act on it in any way. He was one of the few friends she had in LA, not to mention close friends, or one that felt like... home. Finishing her breakfast, she let out a loud sigh and looked at him, clasping her hands in her lap. "So. What do we do now? Because I've never been in a situation like this before."

Shane felt as though every second that passed by filled with nothing but silence dragged on. It was so...unlike them, to be in a situation like this. Shane wracked his brain for some sort of joke or sentence to fill the silence but nothing came. Thankfully, that's when Meghan did it for him. "I, uh..." he paused, giving her an amused look. "You've never kissed a guy before? Really? I wouldn't have been able to tell judging by last night." Yes, he was teasing her, no, it probably wasn't the best time, but it just felt pretty natural to him at this point.

Meghan couldn't help the laugh that escaped her when he teased. "You know that's not what I meant," she said, stretching out her leg to playfully hit his. For a brief moment, it felt like nothing had happened and there was nothing to be awkward about. "I've kissed plenty of guys before, just none that were... well, you." She waved her hand around, like that would explain exactly what she meant by that. Already, the need to put up walls and push him away grew inside her, and Meghan had to stop herself from doing it. She grabbed her mug, and took a sip of the coffee, mulling over her thoughts.

Shane felt his smile widen at her statement; almost feeling a sense of pride wash over him at her statement. It kind of made it sound like he was different from the other guys she'd kissed. It was almost as if she'd sensed that and quickly put up this invisible wall between them to keep them at bay. Leaning on his hand, Shane leaned in a little and fluttered his eyelashes at her playfully. "I /am/ a phenomenal kisser."

Meghan rolled her eyes, nearly snorting out the coffee she had in her mouth at the moment. "You're alright," she said in an unimpressed tone. God forbid she gave him more reasons to be smug. Setting down the mug, she mirrored his movement, leaning in closer, eyeing him as a smirk started to show on her lips. "I'm starting to think you're happy last night happened. Considering your giant crush on me."

Shane didn't miss the surprise and he couldn't help but laugh. The best way to avoid turning this into a thing was to just mock it completely. Teasing her, keeping it playful. It couldn't have been a thing...right? No, no, this was something that they'd be stupid to get into. Although as Meghan began to lean in, Shane wondered why the hell it couldn't be? "Oh, my giant crush on you?" Shane repeated. "Don't you mean your giant crush on me?"

Meghan was glad that at least they seemed to be able to joke about the whole thing, with most of the awkwardness gone by now. The moment to hook up with Shane without consequences was long gone, and even just kissing would have repercussions she wasn't ready to deal with ─ like having to admit that she actually wanted something more. So the fact that they were making light of everything was more than okay with her. "No," she shook her head. "my crush /used to be/ giant. Yours has only gotten to that point recently." She was teasing, he'd never actually crush on her, not knowing what she used to be like and all her embarrassing moments ─ like the eyeliner, and the music. There was just no way.

Shane raised his eyebrows at her reply and held up his hands, almost innocently. "Whoa, whoa, whoa...hold up just one second," he piped up, narrowing his eyes towards the beautiful brunette. "Are you telling me...right here in and now...in my kitchen...where I have just graciously made you breakfast after you forgot our first. Ever. Kiss..." Shane paused dramatically for a moment; taking a deep breath. "That....your crush on me is no longer giant!?"

Meghan was startled by the shock in his voice, but quickly saw through it as playful as he went on to express his surprise. Is that what she was saying? Sure. Was it true? Not really, not as much. But could she tell him that, and ruin their friendship? She shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, I had it worse for you before." Despite her best efforts, a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "You're deflecting, though. We were talking about your crush on me, you know, the one that won't let you forget about our first. Ever. Kiss."

Shane swiped his plate to the side out of his way so that he could fold his arms on the counter and really look at her. Maybe it was his subconscious way of literally pushing everything aside, having no barriers or anything in front of him; essentially showing he had nothing to hide. "Right, right, that's what we were talking about..." Shane nodded thoughtfully, keeping his eyes glued to Meghan's. "Well, I can only speak for myself because your memory is a little hazy but...I thought it was pretty damn good."

Meghan watched as he slid the plate aside, almost as if it were somehow in his way. The way his eyes held hers, intense and suddenly different made her nervous, and it showed in the way she chewed on her lower lip, waiting to see what would come next. It was a little scary, and it made her pull her hands in her lap, crushing her fingers in anticipation. His voice was softer, not as amused as it had been moments ago, and her toes curled around the leg of the stool she was sitting on. "That so?" She whispered, her voice barely audible, her heartbeat picking up. "Good enough to do it again?"

Shane noticed a shift in the atmosphere, suddenly everything seemed a little tense. All signs of joking fell from Meghan's features and clearly, there had been some honesty in her earlier statement when she mentioned the other guys she had kissed not being like him. The girl seemed to pull back a little and the last thing that Shane wanted to do was overwhelm her. "Good enough to do it again," he nodded confidently. "Drunk or sober. However you like it."

Meghan nodded her head to his words, as if she were mirroring her action. In reality, she was weighing all the reasons for and against doing it again, trying to decide whether it was something she should do, because she already knew she wanted to. "We've tried the drunk version once and it didn't really pan out, did it?" Meghan asked carefully. With any other guy, she'd be confident, she'd go in and get what she wanted. But with Shane she was back to being that enamored teenager who didn't know how to. At least she wasn't back to dealing with acne and her voice changing. "How about now?"

Shane felt the smile tug at his lips at her question. He knew all too well where this was heading, he just hadn't been sure if it was going to go this way. Like Meghan had said, he wasn't just anyone and these two had their own history but more than that, they had a valued friendship with one another that was all too important to gamble; yet here they were, gambling it all. "Now? Well..." Shane sighed out, pretending to check his watch (that he wasn't currently wearing). "I guess I could schedule you in real quick. I just, I can't work with all this crap being between us." He gestured to the kitchen counter as he made his way around it, trying to get to her side. "If I'm gonna kiss you sober, it's gotta have the full effect, you know? Can't be some half-assed 'oh, she wants to kiss me, better get on that' kinda thing. It needs to be big, memorable...kinda like..." Shane paused only when he reached her side; placing his hand on the back of her stool to swivel the chair towards him before his free hand slipped up the back of her neck to cradle her head as he crushed his lips down to hers; wasting absolutely no time in getting nervous, even though his heart was beating loudly in his chest.

Meghan 's heart was beating in her throat, as seconds passed and her words rang in her head. Did she really just say that? What was she thinking?! Her eyes fell to his bare wrist and she couldn't help the giddy chuckle that escaped her, nervous and amused. Honestly, she was like a school girl in love and it would have been great if she could just /stop/ already. His big speech was cut short, and Meghan's world spun around as he brought her face to face with him. There was barely a moment to appreciate everything before his hand was on her skin, sending shivers down her spine, and their lips were meshed together in a kiss long overdue (a repeat of it, anyway). At first, Meghan was frozen, not knowing what to do or how to react. Her mind screamed 'this is happening,' forgetting to send signals to her body. Eventually, her back straightened to bring her closer to Shane, and she reached for his waist with her hands, tugging him by the shirt, holding him right there. Her stool was no longer swiveling, but her world was definitely spinning with the kiss, and a giggle finally escaped her as it hit her. "I knew you had a giant crush on me, Gallagher."

Shane thought for a moment, just one tiny little moment, that maybe Meghan really wasn't into this. Maybe she'd been joking with him with her advances and that her putting this shield up was because she was too kind of a person to reject him. Maybe last night had been nothing but the result of a lot of alcohol? Then, thankfully, all of the doubts quickly disappeared the moment he felt her hands tug him closer. There'd been no misread signals or signs here and Shane had definitely made the right move. Well...at least the right move right now. Pulling away only when he felt her laugh against his lips, he kept his hands resting gently against her neck. "Oh, shut up."

Meghan snickered when he didn't find it in him to argue more on the topic, pretty much admitting to what she was accusing him of. And it felt good to think that. After all this time, Shane Gallagher was finally into her. She got to make out with him, /and/ sleep in his bed. And now she got to kiss him again. Her inner high school girl was ecstatic. "Fine, if that's what you want," her expression turned serious, and she pulled away to look at him, trying to figure out what was supposed to happen next.

Shane raised his eyebrows as she pulled away; not having expected her to do so. His hands lingered close to her face for a moment as he figured out what to do next —a position he never usually found himself in —before he tilted her chin up and pressed his lips against hers gently for a few seconds; pulling back while maintaining the eye contact. "Eat your breakfast," he smirked, brushing his thumb along the skin of her cheek before pulling back. "And if you're lucky, I might even spring for lunch later." It was a weird night that turned into a stranger day but right now Shane was just enjoying wherever the hell this thing with Meghan was taking him.

Meghan didn't see the second kiss coming, and she definitely didn't expect it to be this tender. Her eyes closed, but before she could fully appreciate it, Shane was pulling away. Her tongue brushed over her lips, almost instinctively, looking for the last taste of his lips there. The words that came from him next were even less expected than the kiss, and she laughed, her skin tingling where he touched her. "Sure thing, mom," Meghan teased, although she secretly loved every bit of his words. She took the fork in her hands again and dug back into her meal, thinking about that kiss, and what it meant for them. And how she wanted to keep doing it for a long, long time.