It's weird.

As the rest of the group left, Beth called an Uber to take them to Clancy's. While they waited for the Uber, Joseph realized he wasn't sure how to broach her behavior. He cleared his throat after an awkward silence.

"So, Beth..." he trailed off as she smiled warmly at him, "um, is something wrong?"

She furrowed her brow. "No. Nothing's wrong at all. Why would you ask that?"

Was she really gonna make him say it? "You've been acting really weird all night. Like, really weird. First you insisted that we see Museum District, and then you were, uh, acting strange during the movie."

She took a step towards him. Her face now inches from his, she took his left hand in her hands and looked in his eyes. "Strange? You mean affectionate?" She put his hand on her cheek. "Are you saying you didn't like it?"

Joseph took a step back in bewilderment. Beth immediately let go of his hand and blushed deeply. The look of disappointment on her downcast face was so painful that Joseph rushed to apologize. "No, no, don't worry! I like it! It's just- I don't know, it's weird! You've never shown any interest in me romantically at all before tonight! To be honest, it's kind of freaking me out."

She looked up hopefully. "I'm sorry. The last thing I want to do is freak you out. I mean, I know how badly you want this. I want you to have it." She took his hand in hers again. "I want you to have me."

Joseph wasn't reassured. This was even more uncharacteristic of Beth. She would never objectify herself like that. He was about to tell her as much when the Uber pulled up. She smiled and let go of his hand and they got in.

Unfortunately, the Uber driver was very chatty. Apparently a friend of his worked at Clancy's and he regaled them with boring stories of rowdy drunks. Joseph took the time to collect his thoughts.

The Uber finally pulled up at the bar and dropped them off. As they got out of the car, Joseph muttered to himself, "We're gonna need a lot of drinks for this." Beth cocked her head oddly and they went in.

At the bar, Beth surprised him by ordering two double shots of scotch neat. He looked at her quizzically. Scotch was his favorite liquor, but he had never seen Beth drink straight liquor before. She normally nursed a beer or glass of white wine. She immediately pulled out a debit card and told the bartender to start a tab. She handed him his drink and raised hers in a toast.

"To getting what we want!" She winked and downed her drink. Joseph blinked in surprise and brought his glass to his lips to take a sip. Beth, meanwhile, let out a loud belch and turned to order another. Joseph grabbed her shoulder.

"Hey, whoa, Beth! Maybe you should slow down." She turned back with another double shot in hand. She frowned. "Didn't you say you wanted a lot of drinks?"

"I mean, yeah-" As soon as the words left his lips, the scotch was down her throat again. "But I didn't mean you should get drunk!" She swayed slightly and grabbed his arm to steady herself. "You don't like me drunk?" She asked.

He hesitated. "Well yeah, but I like you sober too. You're a good friend no matter how drunk you are. But I don't know-" He was cut off as she wrapped him in a bear hug. "You're a great friend too!" She practically yelled into his ear.

"Ok, let's find a place to sit and calm down a little." To his dismay, she grabbed another double shot off the bar. Apparently she had ordered it when she took her last drink. "And I think that should be your last drink."

She nodded in mock seriousness and followed Joseph to a booth. Her hips bumped the table slightly getting in, and she giggled at that. She clumsily sat her glass down, spilling a little in the process, and leaned forward. Joseph tried not to look at her cleavage but was only partly successful. He glanced up to see her grinning slyly. "Like what you see?" She jiggled a little.

"Ok, Beth, you're pretty drunk and I don't want to take advantage of you. But I have to ask - what is going on with you? You've been acting really weird all night."

She paused thoughtfully. After a long moment, she spoke. "I don't know. I know I'm acting weird, but it's like I can't help it. You know, I've known about your little crush for years. We all have." She was still swaying and very slightly slurring her words. She took a large gulp from her drink and Joseph took another sip from his. "But tonight I just felt like... I dunno, like I wanted it too. Like all of a sudden a switch got flipped and now I really want to be with you. I just want you to be happy."

This didn't really make Joseph feel any better. He stared into his drink, avoiding eye contact. "And what about this? Why are you getting so drunk?"

She took another gulp. "I don't know, I thought that's what you wanted. You said we were gonna need a lotta drinks so I got 'em. Isn't it what you want?" She looked at her glass, now almost empty.

"I don't know! I just made that comment off-hand, I didn't think you'd come in here and get shitfaced! Even if it's what I want, why is that suddenly so important to you? What about what you want?" He was getting frustrated. "Why are you so focused on what I want?"

"I don't know! I didn't mean to upset you, man! I just want you to have what you want and need! Is that such a problem?" She suddenly quieted down. "Oh shit, dude, I was totally yelling at you. I'm sorry, man. What can I do to make it up to you?"

He stared in disbelief. "We were just talking. You don't have to make it up to me. Beth, tell me something. What do you want to do right now? If it was up to you, would we stay out drinking? Would we both go home? What do you feel like doing?"

"I don't know." She responded instantly. "What do you want to do? I'm up for that."

"I didn't ask what I wanted to do. I asked what you want."

She pushed back from the table slightly, her head tilted to one side. "I want... I want whatever you want. I don't know, I just feel like doing whatever you wanna do. If you don't tell me then how am I supposed to know?" She flashed a devilish grin and ran her leg along his under the table. "I've got a guess though..."