Delivery

The walk to Alex's house is far from comfortable. The weight of the heavy bag is part of it, but then there are the looks. More than a few town's folk stare at Ethan, eyebrows raised at the amount of booze he's carrying. He does his best to ignore the looks, but he can only do some much.

It doesn't take long for him to get out of the main town and onto the country roads, well away from the gawking masses. The rest of the walk to Alex's house is quiet, but the weight of the bag slowly starts to take its toll.

Grunting slightly, Ethan shifts it around in his arms just as Alex's house comes into view. Making his way up the front steps, he awkwardly rings the doorbell.

Nothing.

Ethan waits for about thirty seconds, then rings it again. Alex might not be home, a thought Ethan hadn't even considered. She should have been, after all, expecting him. After another thirty seconds, he rings it a third time, now starting to worry. What was he going to do with the bag if she wasn't home? Take it home? It would take him weeks to get through it all...

Frowning, Ethan loses himself in thought...

Then he hears some faint laughing.

Not at him, he realizes, it's too far and too faint for that. It's on the wind. Traveling. Ethan looks out to the road, quickly spotting the source of laughter. Four figures are walking on the side of the road, moving in the direction of Alex's house. Squinting slightly, Ethan thinks he can make one of the figures out as Alex, but it's hard to tell for sure at this distance. The other three, Ethan has no idea who they could be.

Ethan eyes the giant bag of booze in his arms, and feels his fight or flight response kick in. Was it Alex and her friends? Or Alex and her family? Her parents were surely back from their vacation right? And her brother would make them four...

No, it had to be her and her friends. Why would she be walking around and laughing with her family?

Swallowing, Ethan realizes they haven't seen him yet, and finds himself with a choice.