When Kate's parents got back to the cottage that afternoon they found Kate sitting out on the back patio, staring away at the sea. It was only when her mum walked out there to join her that she saw Kate's eyebrows knit together in an anxious frown, fingers drumming a steady pattern on the arm of her chair. Before she could ask, Kate relayed the text conversation that had happened while they were out.

"Oh, how exciting!" her mum exclaimed, "We'd best make sure we leave nice and early tomorrow so you've got plenty of time to cook. Do you know what you're going to make?"

"Probably a Devil's Food Cake, you know, the one I made for Natalie's birthday right before she got married? Always a crowd pleaser. I was originally thinking of doing something savoury, but then I thought that if I do something warm then I've got to keep it that way on my way to Max's place and it'll probably go mushy. But then on the flipside, I didn't want to do anything cold because I bet someone's probably bringing a bunch of pre-made sandwiches and stuff already, and I don't want to do more of the same."

"Sound logic." Kate's mum nodded.

They sat together outside for a few minutes longer, and then headed inside to find Kate's dad trying to figure out dinner with the few ingredients they had left in the cupboards. The three of them managed to whip something up, and half an hour later took their meal back out to the patio to enjoy the sea breeze for the last time before their holiday came to a close. Kate's mum told her dad that Kate had a party to go to the next evening, so they would need to get a move on in the morning to start their journey.

"That's nice. Is it with that guy we saw when we picked you up last week?"

"Yeah. We just work together, but he's been really friendly since day one."

"Good. So is he, uh, just a guy from work or is he, y'know," he waggled his eyebrows, "A guy from work?"

Kate and her mum burst into laughter at her dad's question. "What? It's just a question!" he said huffily, before joining them in their laughter. As their giggles died down and they continued eating, smiles on all their faces, Kate looked at her parents and tried to lock this moment away in her mind. Things might have been complicated with Max, but she could always count on her parents to bring out the best in every situation.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

True to their plans, Kate and her parents packed up and got ready to leave midmorning the next day. Kate paused, suitcase in hand, to look back at the cottage as she walked out to the car. It had been nice to escape the real world for just a little bit and to have nothing more pressing to do than find a seafront café with an empty table for dinner. Leaving the cottage meant returning to a world of complicated events and emotions, but with no other choice before her Kate pulled the little wooden gate shut and stowed her suitcase in the boot of her parents' car.

The drive back to Kate's house passed quickly. Her mum's favourite radio station played softly and although they didn't talk very much, the lack of conversation wasn't uncomfortable. It was moments like these that made Kate very grateful for her parents and appreciate the relationship she had with them. As they turned onto her street, Kate began to thank them for the holiday.

"I really did have such a lovely time on the coast with you guys. Thank you for taking me with you."

"Not a problem sweetheart," her dad said, looking at her in the rearview mirror with a smile, "It was our pleasure. You might be all grown up, but you'll always be our little girl."

Kate smiled back and rolled her eyes good-naturedly. Her dad was always saying stuff like that. It was cheesy, but she knew he meant it in the best way. They pulled onto the driveway and got out to give each other goodbye hugs and a minute later Kate stood with her suitcase by her side, waving as her parents pulled away to do their long stretch home.

She pulled out her phone to check the time. It was only noon – she still had plenty of time to bake and get ready for Max's party. Hurrying inside, she lugged her suitcase up the stairs sideways (it was the only way it'd fit) and dumped it in her room, deciding she'd just unpack tomorrow. She needed to get the cake baked so it'd have time to cool before she iced it. Kate heard music playing quietly from one of the bedrooms so she knew at least one of her housemates was home. The others were nowhere to be seen and the house was almost silent as she headed back downstairs into the kitchen.

To her dismay, she found that her housemates had left it in a state. She tied her hair in a sloppy bun, got butter out of the fridge to soften, and then started rinsing crockery and loading the dishwasher. She silently cursed her housemates for leaving the kitchen such a mess today of all days. Once the dishwasher was running, she wiped down the counters and began measuring out her ingredients. Although they had a few communal cupboards, each member of the household had their own cupboard for personal dishes or food. Kate's was stocked with baking goods and at the very back (hidden so that her housemates wouldn't use it) she kept a high-quality set of digital scales. She pulled it out now, remembering how she spotted it last year on Black Friday sitting lonely on the shelf. Normally she wouldn't have splurged on something like that, but it was heavily reduced and she'd just decided to go for it. It'd turned out to be a good decision in the end because every time she used it, it made her baking experience a little more special.

As she followed the recipe from a hand-written notebook, Kate tried to lose herself in the baking process instead of dwelling on the party that evening... without much success. She couldn't help but wonder what the evening would be like. Max had said 'little gathering', but he'd made it very clear that he liked to party so maybe it wouldn't be as 'little' as he claimed. Or maybe it would. Stop overthinking this, she thought to herself, letting out a small yelp as she cracked an egg slightly too hard on the edge of the bowl and dropped the shell in her mix. She imagined the pieces of shell as her worries and mentally threw them away one by one as she disposed of the fragments. What if there are way more people there than I thought? Then you'll deal with it. What if Max doesn't really talk to me much and I have to make awkward small talk with strangers all night? Maybe you can make some new friends. What if no one likes the cake? Kate smiled to herself at that one; she was actually very confident that her cake would be a hit. She mixed in the final few ingredients and divided the batter between two pans before putting them in the oven and starting a timer.

Kate came up with a plan of action for the remainder of the afternoon. She'd have lunch while the cake was baking and having it's ten-minute cooling period in the pans. Then she'd turn it out onto a rack and decide on what to wear and do her makeup while it cooled the rest of the way. Once the cakes were cooled she'd layer, ice, and decorate, then put her outfit on at the last minute before she left. She bit her lip as she put bread in the toaster for her lunch. Stop stressing. If this is Max's way of testing the waters between you and his friends before taking things further then that's a good thing and worrying isn't going to change the outcome.

Kate quickly scrambled an egg as she buttered her toast, then ate the combination while lost in thought. She had a lot of hopes riding on this evening, and that meant a whole lot of worry to go with it.