WHO: Aderyn Ceredig and Will Scarlet WHEN: Monday evening WHERE: A fancy hotel bar I am too lazy to look up WHAT: Oh just alcoholism and depression WARNINGS: Suicidal ideation, alcohol self medication, Addy being an unreliable and incorrect narrator, tba
On Friday afternoon, the penultimate day of April, Addy had met with a lawyer and drawn up a will. She had been awarded a hell of a lot of money from her medical malpractice settlement, and she wanted to make sure that it went to the proper people if something happened to her.
When something happened to her. Because there was a hole in her chest that wouldn't go away and it ached and every day she was stuck living, the ache grew worse and Addy wasn't going to stick around to let that ache continue. To let that blackness inside her grow so dark and deep, that it swallowed her up completely.
So she set up a trust for Evie where most of the money would go, to be managed by Tuck and Will, and she left some for her father and aunt, and some for Iestyn and Henry. While she was with the lawyer she removed Iestyn as her medical proxy and even though before Evie was born she had asked Iestyn to act as Evie's guardian if anything were to happen to Addy, Addy instead named Rhiannon as Evie's guardian. In the event that Addy wasn't around, and Tuck and Will weren't either, Rhiannon would gain custody.
Addy was just glad she wasn't going to be around long enough to explain her reasoning. If she could go right away she would, but her brother deserved a happy wedding. So Addy had to tough it out for another two months. She really didn't want to, but Iestyn had been through so much and he was going to lose more when she went. He should have something nice.
Finding ways to spend her time ended up being relatively easy. Henry carted Evie to the parsonage and Addy to her university campus every morning, and then every day Addy simply left campus to find something else to do. She hadn't been to her classes since the third week of term, and had no plans on ever returning. Which was for the best, since she had well and truly lost her scholarship by now. That was what happened when you didn't withdraw or submit a medical reason for non-attendance. Addy had just ghosted them and not told a single person she had done it. Everyone in her life still thought she was in school.
She filled her days with touristy things. Since coming to the city, Addy had seen very little of it. So she spent her days exploring, since she knew Evie was safe with Tuck. She saw the Met, and the cloisters and Times Square. Now that she had money, she did a little shopping as well, though not much. It wasn't like she could take any of the things she bought with her. Just nice chocolates and fancy perfumes. A few things to get her through the next few months.
Well that, and alcohol. Addy had a few fancy flasks now, and they were always on her person. She put alcohol in everything. Her morning coffee, her coke with lunch, even her tea. She never got completely out of control when she had Evie, but when Evie was with Tuck and Will, she would close herself in her bedroom and after everyone went to bed, she would drink until she passed out. Iestyn was so focused on his new job and his wedding that he didn't notice.
No one noticed.
And it got worse and worse. The classes Addy did go to, the ones where she learned about unhealthy relationships - they only showed her what an idiot she was. Over and over again, Addy had fallen for the same kind of man, and maybe that meant she deserved it. And then Krampus had taken Henry, and instead of helping him, Addy had let him get kidnapped to save herself, thus proving she was the actual worst human in the world.
Evie deserved better. She deserved parents who weren't useless assholes. And at least Addy knew that once she was gone, Evie would be safe and happy in Will and Tuck's home. Evie would be loved by her dads and they would protect her and that was better than Addy ruining her.
Addy couldn't even reach out for help right. After Iestyn had reminded her yet again to choose her maid of honour dress, Addy had snapped and asked Will if he wanted to drink and fuck. Will had agreed to half of that, and Addy was happy just to have someone to rant to. But then Will had gone and ruined it by not listening to her and did no one give a shit about a single thing she said? Did no one listen? Did no one care that she was literally falling apart at the seams?!
God, fuck all of them.
Addy had called a taxi and headed out to drink all by herself. Maybe she would fuck a stranger, who knew. She wasn't going to go to some dive bar though, and since she had money now, she could afford a reasonably fancy bar in a nice hotel in Manhattan. She ordered a cosmo, parked herself in a booth, and once the drink arrived she posted a photo of it to insta because at least it was doing a good job of keeping her company.
Just two months. Just two more months and she could be rid of all of this.