Here, Darling.

Tonight was the night for Max’s bachelor party, she had been home a week and it felt like no time had passed between the two siblings, also Alaska was growing close to Hannah, she was definitely a perfect match for her brother.

Although she had her reservations first at being her brothers best man, in the end she had agreed, as long as he promised that she did not have to wear a suit to the wedding, which he responded that she did not and that he hadn’t even had thought of that idea yet.

Ava loved her time back here, spending more and more of it with Max and Hannah, they were bonding and she knew it was going to be bad for the little girl when the pair left and returned back to Baltimore.

If it wasn’t for the shop she had near completion she would come back home in a heartbeat, there was nothing holding her back, not now that Zack had practically ended their relationship.

At first Alaska had tried to phone him but all her calls went to voicemail and the very few texts Alaska had sent him had gone unreturned, leaving her to presume that all the feelings they had for each other had now become dead, making her instantly regret the night of the party.

She tried Lucy a couple of times but all she got in return was a few vague messages, this was to be expected after all she was meant to take her brother’s side, even though there was no sides to take since Alaska had not done everything wrong.

Not that Zack would actually listen to her and hear the explanation.

Because of this she did not even try to contact the rest of the band, not knowing what their reactions to her would be, but knowing it would not be in her favour.

Tonight was a big night; the night of her brother’s bachelor party. Alaska was really excited, probably more because she was going to see people that she had not seen in over six years, her brother’s old friends from high school that had been practically like brothers to her soon.

She was nervous at being included into the whole bro-fest, but she was thrilled over the fact that they had included her, even if it was going to one of the local bars and having beer chugging contests.

She did not care, she was just going to go and have fun and be carefree, something she had been lacking recently with the constant worries about everything. Thankfully Hannah said she would watch Ava, the pair was getting along smashingly and since the Hen party was a few nights previous Hannah was more than happy to watch movies and bake cookies with the small girl.

Once she was satisfied with her black tailored shorts, and after adjusting her beige top along with the brown belt until she was happy where it sat was she ready to leave, quickly pulling on her spiky black ankle boots and stuffing all her necessary items into her golden clutch, her two gold rings cold on second and third finger on her left hand, not used to the metal shielding it.

“Well, well, well, look who decided to come home” Parker called from the bottom of the stairs as Alaska made her way down them, Alaska’s head shot up, a wide grin spreading on her lips as she practically jumped down the rest of them wrapping around her arms around the tall, muscular man’s neck.

“Parker it’s so good to see you” she practically shrieked, jumping on the spot from where he had released her before flinging her arms around him again, pulling him into a second bone crushing hug. The boy merely chuckled, releasing the girl and giving her a small shove out of the way, trying to award himself off any more hugs, not used to all the physical interaction.

“It’s good to see you too Laide” he smiled, before the pair heard someone clearing their voice behind them turning to see a bemused Max stood there, ready to hit the road.

The walk to the bar was short, a mere five minutes if that, and seemed to be even quicker with all the excitement that was bubbling through her veins, practically jumping up and down on the spot with every step she took.

As soon as she stepped through the door the smile was glued onto her face, spotting the other three familiar faces that was sprawled out in a booth, approaching them she couldn’t help but grin wider, if that was possible.

“J.B.” she grinned, pulling the boy closest to her in a hug before releasing him and turning to the boy that was now stood at her side, giving her a quizzical look.

“Is this you’re hook-up from the other night?” he questioned, eyebrow raised slightly in confusion as Alaska merely scoffed, batting him on the shoulder with her hand, accompanying it with an eye roll.

“It’s Adelaide, Eliot” Alaska stated, earning a stifle of laughter from Parker behind her who she turned to glare at.

“God I can’t believe you felt for it” Evan burst out into laughter, pulling the girl into a hug whilst her cheeks turned a dark rosy colour, not believing that she fell for the joke they had played on her, she had thought after having to live through them all the way through high school she would never fall for them again.

With a simple roll of her eyes she collapsed into the booth, wedged tightly now between J.B and Parker, thanking her brother as he placed a beer in front of her, eagerly taking a large gulp, before thinking better of it and deciding to drink the other half in another gulp, wiping her lips with the back of her hand, a happy smile of satisfaction spreading onto her face.

“So is that how this night is going to go?!” Eliot smirked, before giving the rest of the boys a pointed look, the rest downing the last of the beer before going to get more to replenish the stock.

After a few hours it was safe to say that Alaska was quite far gone, the beers were in constant supply and whenever someone said a name or the word wedding shots of tequila or vodka had to be taken.

Eliot was on the small dance floor of the bar they used to sneak in when they were in high school, hitting on the pretty girls that lined the side of the bar, using Evan as his wingman, and from what Alaska could see the pair had seemed to be having the females eating out of their hands.

Max was even more gone than Alaska, having to take double shots since he was the groom opposed to the singles that the rest of the group had been ordered to follow. He was lounged at the corner of the booth, some of his other friend who happened to be at the bar stopping by every so often to congratulate him, having to then endure about fifteen minutes of his slurred conversation, barely able to string half of his words into complete sentences.

Alaska however was enjoying the light conversation that she was having with J.B. and Parker, the one’s she was the closest to out of her brother’s friends, chugging down beer as if she didn’t have a car in the world. That was until her phone started ringing.

After trying and failing to extract the phone from her bag four times she finally succeeded, fumbling with her keys to unlock it before opening the text message from the contact called ‘Hannah’ a chuckle instantly erupting from her throat when she looked at the picture of Ava that she had been sent.

The little girl smiling toothily into the camera whilst completely covered in floor, her dark brown hair streaked with grey, with smears of which she could only guess as chocolate was smeared across her face.

“Lemme look at that” Parker slurred, snatching the phone away from Alaska, despite the girl’s protest, and her attempts at trying to claw the item out of his hand, however his arms were too long to prevent her from gaining the phone, a simple hand on his shoulder managed to keep her away.

“Who the heck is this?” Parker questioned, gaining the attention of J.B. who caught the phone which Parker tossed him, eyes surveying the picture his eyebrows furrowing as the imagine began to sink in.

“This is Ava, my daughter” Alaska explained eyes, trained on her phone as she tried to type in a message that actually made sense, before quickly tucking her phone back into her bag, finishing off the rest of her beer and placing the empty at the edge of the table.

“Wait your daughter?!” Parker questioned, in all the times that Alaska had been mentioned by her brother in the last few years there was no mention at all about a baby, because if there had been he would have definitely remembered that nugget.

“You guy’s talkin bout Ava” Max slurred, leaning across the table at the trio that sat before, dragging his A’s out longer than what was necessary, causing Alaska to stifle a laugh.

“Park, Ava’s Josh’s baby” Max continued causing Alaska to wince slightly, that was way too much more information than Alaska was willing to have dished out, she was hoping that the guy’s were to drunk to remember any of this in the morning.

“No shit” J.B. mumbled, thoughtfully, rubbing his jaw line deep in thought before tipping his beer towards his mouth, taking a long gulp before taking Max by the elbow and dragging him towards the bar to get in another round.

Parker on the other hand felt his mind was going ten to the dozen, out of all the guy’s Max and him had been the one’s closest to Josh before he was cast off after making some in appropriate remark about Alaska in front of Max. To find out that he had fathered a child that he had never met was too much to comprehend, especially now that he was drunk.

“So why did you come back home?” He settled on, deciding that this was probably one of the best things to go on, knowing that it should be a light topic; also he was curious about the answer. HE was the one that had seen firsthand how much her brother had missed her and was hurt over the fact that they had fallen out of contact and now here she was, back home after six years, as though no time had gone by.

“Max’s wedding of course” Alaska giggled, struggling to get out of the booth, nearly falling onto her face as she stumbled losing her footing, Park catching her elbow, helping her to stay on her feet, the pair helping each other to the bar, collapsing on two of the empty stools at one of the corners.

“But that’s not the only reason is it?” Parker questioned, signalling to the bar tender and ordering shots of tequila and slices of lime, turning to hand the girl one of the glasses, along with the salt shaker, giving her a nod as they began the drinking process, Alaska pulling a face slightly as she sucked on the lime, before pulling it out and stuffing it in her glass, sticking her tongue out in disgust in something that her mother would deem a very unladylike fashion.

“No” Alaska sighed, taking a chug of her now replenished beer bottle, trying to get rid of that vile taste from her mouth.

“You’re not still working at that bar are you?” Parker questioned eyebrow raised causing Alaska to turn, her beer catching in her throat causing her to splutter it onto the counter, miniscule flecks landing on her shirt.

“Bar?” she questioned wide eyed, looking around her to try and locate Max’s whereabouts, finding him on the other side of the room, handing between Eliot and Evan, a dopey smile splashed across his face.

“Come off it Laide, I know about the bar” Parker said a small smirk pulling onto his lips as Alaska glared, grabbing another shot, quickly licking the salt off of the back of her wrist, throwing the shot down the back of her throat before biting into the lime.

“What do you know?” She asked with a sigh, pushing another shot towards him, looking pointedly at it until he had taken it, Parker sighed, downing the shot not bothering with the salt or the lime before saying his piece.

“Two years or so ago Evan and I were in Baltimore visiting some guys he had been friends with in college, they had recommended that we went to some bar, we turned up and you were behind the bar, flirting with the customers before dancing on the bar. You didn’t see me or Evan and we decided it was best if you never knew that we was there” Parker finished with a shrug, taking a swig of his beer, nearly downing the whole bottle to get rid of the vile tequila after taste, deciding it was better that they switched onto shops of vodka.

“Shit” Alaska mumbled under her brother, gratefully accepting the shots of vodka knocking one back, not bothering with a chaser, vodka was her drink of choice, the one that she used to get wasted on when she was a teen, slowly causing her to build a tolerance for the liquid luck.

“So you still there or not?” Parker asked, turning on his chair so his back was now against the bar, his eyes surveying the crowd, taking notes of where his friends with lounging, keeping tabs in case he needed to locate them urgently latter on in the night.

“Nope, I left a while ago, I’m currently opening my own bakery” Alaska beamed, sloppily shoving the shot in the boys hand causing half of the liquid to splurge down the side, sliding down the glass and onto his hand, causing him to raise his eyebrow at the girl.

“Really? What got that idea into your head?” He questioned, he knew the girl had liked to bake but he didn’t know it was something she wanted to make a career out of, and he knew the best way to get information out of the girl was when she was drunk, Alaska was then definitely more open.

“I always wanted to but Zack gave me a push and now we’re nearly opening the doors to it” She beamed, the idea of the shop causing a smile to her face, one of the two things that could instantly make her happy was baking and the other that was at the very top was Ava.

“Zack? You’re boyfriend or something?” Parker continued to probe, signalling the bartender to pour them shots, noting how the bartender gave them a weary look before complying to the request, knowing he was close to cutting Alaska off, especially with how sloppy she was getting.

“He was... I really liked him and then after I finally sleep with him he leaves because he thinks I’m cheating on him with Max” Alaska snapped, frowning as she knocked back another shot of vodka, slamming the glass angrily onto the counter, turning to look at Parker, a scowl firmly pulling at her face.

“Sound like an asshole” Parker scoffed, hit finger tapping lightly against the glass of the bottle as he took another sip, Alaska nodding her head like a bobble head next to him, a look of determination on her face.

“You’re right, he so is and I’m going to tell him now!”Alaska snapped, continuing to nod her head furiously as she detracted her phone from her pocket, fingers pounding at the keypad, fumbling over the key in her sloppy drunken state.

“’Ello there Cap’n” a voice called down the phone, voice sloppy sounding as if it was in the same state as her.

“Cut with the chit chat Gaskarth” Alaska snapped, wiggling her finger in the air as if the poor boy in question was stood in front of her, balancing her phone firmly between her shoulder and her ear, as her free hand to grab a shot, throwing it back her face contorting into a wince as she realised that it was tequila. “Put ‘im on”

“Hello?” Zack’s voice rang down the line, his voice was filled with confusion and Alaska realised that he didn’t know that it was her on the other end of the phone, probably thinking it was some crazy fan that Jack had set up as some practical joke.

“I thought that I loved you mister, and you completely abandoned me after I put out you’re a fecking asshole Merrick” Alaska began, her tongue was now flowing free and she was on a roll.

“Wait who is this?” Zack shouted, his voice getting louder and was filled with more confusion but Alaska cut him off she was going to win this round.

“Adelaide Wendy fecking Darling okay!” she snapped, not believe that he didn’t realise it was her, how many other girls did he abandon after stealing their virtue like some fucked up Robin Hood.

“And I trusted you! I let you into not just my life but my daughter’s to and you complete fucked us over, you left us with no warning because i was emailing my brother. That’s right, he was my brother not some random guy I was cheating on you with but you didn’t wait around to hear that, did you?” Alaska continued, her finger waggling so much it was like a pendulum on a clock, her head bobbing along with her hand.

“You know what Zack, you were the biggest mistake I ever made I’m glad you left because now it gives me a chance to find a better man, someone to love me and Ava. Someone who bloody trust’s me.” She finished, hanging up the call and turning her phone off, shoving it deep down in her bag.

She was done.

She was so done.