Talk with Alex

Clearly happy to see him, Alex appears to go for a hug, only to hesitate right before, her eyes falling on the large bag in Ethan's arms. Seems she was so excited to see him, that she failed to notice the large brown bag he was holding. "Oh! You brought it!"

"I did," Ethan jostles the bag slightly, letting the bottles to clink off each other harmlessly, "As requested."

Alex's smile shifts, changing from excitement to an expression showing she's impressed. "Ah, you're the best..." she chews her lips slightly, her eyes suddenly heavy. She's fighting the urge to kiss him Ethan realizes, the only thing holding her back being...

"Sooo," one of Alex's three friends, the sole girl of the group slips up behind Alex, her eyes fixed on Ethan's face over her friend's slender shoulder. "Alex, gonna introduce us?"

Alex rolls smacks her lips and shifts backwards, turning slightly to half-face her friend and Ethan at the same time. "Ethan. Madison. Madison. Ethan." Alex motions towards each name's owner as she says them. Her sudden lack of enthusiasm is impossible to miss.

Madison frowns. "Well that was miserable..." she shakes it off and smiles at Ethan. "Nice to meet you, and you can just call me Maddy. The two slack jaws behind me are Preston and Bryden."

Ethan glances past Maddy and Alex, regarding the two guys standing side-by-side staring back at him. Fighting a small smile, Ethan notices that their jaws are indeed slightly slacked. While Ethan certainly wasn't an expert on women, he knew quite a bit about being a young man, and so was able to quickly get a good read on them: they were wary of him.

Turning his attention back to Alex, Ethan gives her a small shrug. "So I take it this is for all of you." He nods with his chin towards the bag of booze.

"It is." Alex shuffles forward, arms open, "Thank you." Her eyes gleam, silently offering additional thanks she dares not put into words with an audience.

"M'yes, thank you..." Maddy leans towards Alex, peaking into the bag, her lips curling into a sly smile, "Damn. I might have to bag myself an older man..."

Alex makes a sound in her throat halfway between a cough and a growl. Behind her, the two boys visibly tense, suddenly looking very uncomfortable.

Ethan, for his part, isn't sure what to say. He lets out a slightly nervous chuckle and shrugs weakly, rather than even try to respond

"Hey," Alex shifts her hip, bumping against Maddy and nudging her away, "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

Frowning, Maddy stares at Alex for a beat, then shifts her gaze to Ethan not a moment before returning to her dark-haired friend. "Right..." she glances over at the boys. "Come on losers, walk me home."

"Eh?" One of the boys twitches, caught off guard by being called 'loser'.

"Whatever..." the other mumbles, lowering his gaze and walking forward.

Maddy turns back to Ethan, a smug expression her face. "Thanks again, Ethan..." she articulates the last word in a way that makes Ethan's throat feel dry, "Don't forget to thank Ethan boys."

"Thanks..." the first boy says.

"Uh... Thank you." offers the second.

"You're welcome..." Ethan nods slightly as the three of them walk past him, making their way down the road, the opposite way they came.

"Sorry about her." Alex sighs, once her friends are out of earshot. "She can be a lot."

"I can tell," Ethan clicks his tongue, watching them slowly shrink as they walk away, "But I'm starting to think all the women in this town are."

"Oh?" Alex raises her brow, her smile betraying slight amusement. "That a fact?"

Ethan shrugs. "Just an observation."

"Hm." Alex shifts, the bottles clinking in her arms, "And what kind of sample size are you basing that off of?"