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"Pretty much all of Gravity Falls is perfect." She said before sliding inside the cab he called, taking his outstretched hand for the briefest moment and pulling away as soon as she could. She was a powder keg, and touching him was dynamite. "But good. Glad you agree on my choice."

Shutting the cab door behind Malone, Archer went to the other side of the car and, climbing in, giving the driver Malone's address. The cab lurched into traffic and his instinct was to wrap her up in a hug, but didn't, worrying it'd be too much.

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"Phineas and Ferb could be fun. I've also wanted to rewatch Gravity Falls too." She said as they walked. "I think I have popcorn at the apartment too."

"Gravity Falls sounds great. The Summerween episode is perfect," Archer nodded, leading Malone out of the bar and out onto the curb. Waving down a cab, he pulled the door open and put his hand out to help Malone get inside.

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"If you want to, sure. I'm actually not too drunk to make it up for you, so I'll get it as comfy cozy as I can."

"I know you can, but I'll worry about you either way," Archer shrugged, doing his best trying to be nonchalant. "And I wash thinking we could watch something. Maybe Phineas and Ferb?"

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Malone nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready." Alannah stood up and wrapped Malone in a hug she could only describe as big sisterly and it made her feel shitty all over again. Not that anything was actually going to happen. But she didn't like feeling negative about Alannah. She hadn't ever been, not really. But now, all of a sudden, God she wished she could be more like her. "Feel better, okay?" She said in her ear. "And thank you." Malone's heart squeezed, but she nodded. "Yeah, thanks." She pulled away and looked at Archer. "Let's go, yeah?" She asked.

Archer nodded, putting a hand on Malone's back to lead her out of the bar, looking back at Alannah for a moment to give her another smile. "I can crash on your couch if you want someone there."

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As she walked away, Malone heard Alannah giggle and say "No, not at all. It was sweet. It was nice to meet you too." Malone found Vanessa quickly and threw her arms around her from behind. "Hey babes. I'm gonna go. I'm not feeling up to this tonight." Vanessa turned around and pouted at her. "Booo. But fine. Come here." She properly hugged her. "See you at rehearsal, beautiful." She said, kissing Malone's forehead, making her chuckle. "Yeah. Can't wait." She said sarcastically, giving V a final squeeze before pulling away.

She made her way back to Archer and Alannah, hearing Alannah tell Archer she thought it was sweet he was taking Malone home. Malone had to fight not to snort. She wasn't exactly having pure, sweet thoughts about Archer at the moment. But she was, in fact, the worst, so maybe it was expected. "Hey. Sorry about that." She said, coming back up to the table.

Archer shrugged at Alannah's assessment that his volunteering to take Malone home was sweet. "It's just the right thing to do, you know?" he said, before Malone was back at table. "Don't worry about it," he said, before looking back to Alannah. "I'll text you tomorrow," he said to her, smiling. His instinct was that he should kiss her cheek or her hand, but all of that felt disingenuous so instead he looked to Malone. "You ready to go?"

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Malone watched Alannah's face light up at Archer's question. "Oh! Um, y-yeah. I'd like that." She pulled a pen out of her bag and wrote her number down on a napkin before handing it over. "I look forward to it." Malone turned to Arch. "I see V over by the bar, I'm gonna go say bye to her too. I'll be right back."

Smiling, Archer took the napkin with her number from Alannah, his fingers brushing against hers, and tucking it into the inner pocket of his jacket. He nodded at Malone as she said she was going to say bye to Vanessa, then turned his attention back to Alannah. "It was nice to meet you, even if it wasn't for very long. I hope we can meet for longer… I need to stop talking, don't I?"

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Malone took another moment to stand there before pulling back from him. She looked at him and nodded. "Okay. Sounds like a plan." She turned to head toward the door, holding it open for him as well before walking back to the table Alannah was sitting at, alone. "Hey! You okay?" She asked when Malone and Archer reached her, and a stab of guilt went through her. She really was the worst friend. Maybe she could convince Archer instead of tea, it should be a long Island iced tea instead. "Yeah. I'm fine. I don't feel great though, so I'm gonna head out." She watched the corners of Alannah's mouth turn into a frown. "Oh, okay. Do you need anything?" Malone shook her head. "No. Uh, actually. Archer is coming with me. He volunteered to help."

Following Malone back to the table, Archer tried to think of what he should say to Alannah. Because he needed to say something after seeing the frown on her face. "So this might be kind of forward of me, but... could I get your number? We could... I could take you out for lunch sometime."

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It was entirely too tempting to go home with Archer, especially after he just said he'd ask Alannah out. Alannah, who they'd both ditched minutes ago. And Malone knew she was a bad person, because on a level, she didn't care. If it meant time with Archer, she'd take it. Besides, she'd done her best friend duty and talked her up. "I should at least go say goodbye to V and Alannah." She made no attempt to move just yet though. This was the only place she really wanted to be. Right there. With him. In his arms. And it couldn't last forever, but she selfishly wanted to hold on for a few more seconds.

"Okay, we can do that. And I can ask Alannah for her number so I can text her later," Archer nodded. The thought should've excited him, yet all he could think of was how much longer he'd get to hold Malone in his arms. "Then I can take you home and make you a cup of tea or something."

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Malone didn't know how to articulate to him that she thought being friends with him was the one good thing she'd done, the one thing she was the most terrified of screwing up. She remembered middle school and high school nights, sitting on her roof, talking about everything of just being together. Of Piggy back rides and thumb wars and ditching holiday parties when they got too stuffy and boring. Of That Night and the mess she made of everything. The one she was desperately trying to fix. Because losing Archer once when he went off to college had been hard enough. Now that they were back together, back in each other's lives, she didn't know if she could stomach losing him again. She didn't want to find out. Her arms tightened around him. "I'll always show up for you." And despite how much of a fuck up Malone knew she was, she so badly wanted to keep that promise.

She was his person. She'd been his person since they were kids. He hadn't always known that, but he knew it now. And that was... that was okay. Malone could be his friend and his person. "Do you want to... we can go back inside or I can get a cab and take you home."

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This was what Malone said she wanted, so why was her heart breaking at his agreement? She nodded against him, holding on to him. "Okay." She took a deep breath. "Showing up for you isn't a burden for me, either. I know we're talking about my issues, but I want you to know."

"Thank you," Archer breathed out softly. "And thank you for showing up for me too. I don't say it enough, but I really appreciate it."

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"Just. This. Life." She ran a hand through her hair. "I love you, Archer," She hadn't ever really said those words before, but he had to know she meant them, even if he didn't know how deep that love really went, the shape it actually took. She could feel tears in her eyes. She tried to fight them away. "But I know I'm a lot. I know it's not fun for you to come pick me up from a bar when I'm drunk or get drunk texts from me. Or anything like that. And I know you do it because we're friends and I'd do it for you, too. But you deserve to have… support in that. Someone who's on your side. Who you can complain to about me when I'm being, well, like this. That's why I keep bringing up Alannah. I'll stop, but that's why I'm doing it. I just. Want good for you. And I don't know how to make sure the good I bring you always outweighs the mountain of bad."

Even as his heart skipped a beat, he knew that when Malone said she loved him it wasn't in the way he loved her. But before he could stop himself he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her to him. "You're my friend and showing up for you isn't some kind of burden for me, okay?" he said, hugging her a little too tightly. "And Alannah seems nice. I can… I'll ask her out." He didn't feel a spark with Alannah, but that didn't mean… not all relationships had to have sparks.

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God damn it. She was ruining this. And she wasn't even drunk enough to blame it on the alcohol. "Fuck." She swore. "You're acting like I'm pushing you away and I'm not." She wasn't, was she? It was all so tangled, mangled up. "I just. I want this good thing for you." Why didn't he get it? It was their whole conversation after That Night. How it was better that they stayed friends because she was a mess and couldn't be good for him, despite how desperately she wanted to be.

She had pushed him away. Not physically pushed him, but it felt like she couldn't get distance from him fast enough fast enough in that moment. "You want what to be good for me? I don't get what this is about. You look like you're going to pass out and now you can't stop talking about your friend."

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Malone took a breath and took a step back from him. And another one. Until she couldn't feel the press of his body heat against her anymore. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away. "Yeah, because you're babysitting me. Like always."

"I'm not babysitting you. We're friends and you looked like you were going to pass out. I'm… looking out for you." He felt mildly angry, not sure why Malone was suddenly acting like that.

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"I think…" She closed her eyes, exhaling. "I think she'd be good for you." Malone forced the words out, trying to do her Good Friend Duty, to both Alannah and Archer. "She's kind. She's responsible. She's fun when you get to know her." She was basically made in a lab to be the perfect girl for Arch. And Malone hated it. She wanted to not say this. Wanted to grab Arch and pull him against her and make out against the bar because maybe that would help them figure everything out. But she wouldn't. Still, her hand reached up and touched his cheek before she could stop the motion. "She… she could be a good thing for you, Arch. And you deserve that." More than you deserve to be more tangled in my mess.

Nothing Malone said struck Archer as relevant. He was sure Alannah was a very nice person, but that she liked him... he didn't want to think about that. Especially when he was outside, getting fresh air, with Malone. "That's great, but that's not really... where my focus is right now."

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Malone took another breath, exhaling slowly. Suddenly, she was transported back to when she was younger and the weight of her parents' expectations still crushed her. The violin wasn't hard, but they pulled it out like a party trick at every event. And for awhile, that was fun. She liked playing and being the center of attention. And then it became an obligation, a foregone conclusion she'd play. And Arch was always there to calm her down when the pressure and expectations got to be too much. Was it selfish to lean on him so much? "She's not a stranger though. She's my friend. She likes you." Malone was irrationally mad at Alannah. For not being brave enough to shoot her shot and basically forcing Malone to do it. For wanting to go out with Archer in the first place. She knew she should move away from the press of his forehead. But she didn't.

"Her not being a stranger doesn't mean I'm going to suddenly going to like talking in a bar." The revelation that Alannah liked him was… he didn't know what to do about it. She was nice, but he… was he supposed to ask her out? Was that why Malone was telling him this? So that she could get some distance between him and herself?

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Malone took a deep breath, instinctively leaning into the touch of his fingers. "I'm being dramatic." She finally said. "I honestly don't know why I'm acting like this." And that was true. On a level, she didn't get it. She knew she wasn't good for Archer, it's why they decided to stay friends. But she loved him. She loved him with every inch of her bruised, messy, complicated heart. It was as simple and complex as that. "Sorry for interrupting your conversation with Alannah." And she meant it. Malone wanted this chance at happiness for Archer almost more than anything. Almost.

"You're not being dramatic," Archer shook his head, leaning in until his forehead came to rest against Malone's. It should've felt like a mistake, but it didn't. It felt… like something he wouldn't let himself dwell on to preserve his sanity. "Talking to someone in a bar isn't really my favorite thing anyway," he shrugged, "now take another deep breath."

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God. Fuck shit damn it. She was the worst friend. She was absolutely the worst friend in existence because she should tell Archer to sit and talk to Alannah and that she'd be fine. She should do that. But the words wouldn't form. "I - yeah. Sounds good." She rationalized she could talk up Alannah to Arch when they were outside, could tell him to go with her because she was nice and smart and kind and put together and everything Malone wasn't. Archer was everything Malone wanted -had been since they were young- but Alannah was everything he deserved. "If you two want to get air, I can hold the table down." Alannah offered. And God. Malone was the worst. She couldn't tell Alannah not to go for Archer, but she also didn't know how to support it. "Yeah, okay." Malone looked at Alannah. "Thanks." Alannah shrugged. Malone weaved through the bar until they were at the door and it was pushing open, the cool night air hitting her face and relaxing her somewhat, letting her take a full inhale. She knew she was going to have to tell Arch something, she just didn't know what exactly to say yet.

Archer gave Alannah a thankful smile before following behind Malone. He felt bad just leaving her at the table, but Malone looked almost unwell and he couldn't ignore that.

He'd wanted to reach out, to grab Malone's hand as she wove through the crowd, but that was probably a bad idea. It wasn't until they were finally outside in the cold, fresh air that Arch felt like he could touch her and he moved closer to her, his hand rubbing her arm. "Take a few deep breaths and just… I want to tell you it's okay, but I don't know if it is. But I'm here."