Her Promise To Heath

When Alaric emerged, he found Zane with a sour expression. Alaric shot him a look, "What's with the long face? It's just a girlfriend issue. I don't even have one, why are you the one fussing?"

Zane retorted, "Since when does this kind of thing depend on who came first?"

Having drunk quite a bit, Alaric decided not to dwell on it. He sat down and heartily indulged in the food before him. The hot pot meal stretched from dusk well into the night, past ten.

Aurora, after hours in the car and more hours fishing with Heath, touched by a hint of alcohol, was now fighting off sleep.

Alaric, Lysander, and the others, buoyed by their drinks, seemed to grow more energetic, showing no signs of wanting to sleep.

Aurora, barely holding up, turned to Heath, "You guys keep talking, I'm off to sleep."

Heath nodded. Aurora went upstairs to her own room, took a shower, and fell asleep.

Not long after Aurora left, Heath put down his glass, no longer interested in drinking, and decided to head upstairs.