I fix the ridiculous red bow tie that Uncle Rob picked out for the guys to wear. I fuss with it to make sure it's straight. There's a knock on my door, and with a frustrated sigh I give up. I expect to find Uncle Rob or mom but instead it's Dan. His hair is an unruly mess, and his suit jacket hangs open with a pink tie wrapped around his neck. He walks right in without a word and stalks to the bed. I shut the door and spin to find him sitting on the edge of the bed running a hand through his hair.

"Everything okay?" I ask.

"God, who's crazy idea was it to ask my best friend on a date? She's gonna want to kiss me. Girls get sappy and shit at these things," he says.

"You haven't kissed her yet?"

"It's different with her." Letting out a sigh, he shakes his head, and rakes a trembling hand through his already messed up hair.

"What would be wrong with kissing Maya?"

He throws me a look.

"Not that I want to, but honestly - what is wrong with kissing her?"

"Nothing," he shouts. "That's the damn problem, nothing." A growl slips through his barred teeth.

I sit down next to him, but not too close.

"Do you want to kiss her?"

Dan shakes his head, then nods, and shakes it again. He throws his hands in the air.

"You know damn well that I do. Ugh!"

I chuckle lightly at his dramatics. Dan has never been so bent out of shape before. Sure, he's been pining over her for years, but now that he's so close to having what he wants I can see how much it scares him. Behind his eyes hides the many reasons he's never asked her out before. Their friendship is the most important thing in his life. Messing it up would destroy him.

"Hey," I say, patting his back. "You got this."

I debate about texting Maya to find out how she's doing. If he's this much of a wreck, she must be in full on Maya panic mode.

"If I mess this up..."

"You won't."

I cut him off, trying to reassure him. "You got this, now let's fix you up."

I give Dan some hair product and help him get his tie together. We are both standing in front of my mirror trying to straighten the bow I have when my door flies open.

"Hope you're decent," Alexa sings.

Standing in the doorway is Alexa, Maya, and Lennox. Holy crap - Lennox. Her hair is up in this twirly looking bun thing, and some stray hairs fall into her delicate looking face. She's wearing contacts today that brighten her eyes a bit. Her dress though, I'm in awe. Her tall thin legs peek out from the bottom of her lavender dress, and her body fits the outline perfectly. I know my mouth is probably hanging open, and God I hope I'm not drooling. Suddenly I feel the way Dan was when he came bursting in here.

Lennox steps forward and stands in front of me. I block out everyone else and focus on her. I don't know why she gets me so bent out of shape but having her standing here like this makes me want to kick everyone else out so that I can kiss her all night. Other thoughts pop into my head, but I try to control them.

"Hey." Her voice is soft and so very sexy at this moment.

"Yo, Romeo weddings starting in five, save the smooching for later."

Alexa sure knows how to ruin a moment.

"You look amazing," I say to Lennox, ignoring everyone.

"You too, love the bow tie."

Her face lights up the room with a small teasing smirk. She reaches up and jostles it a little.

"You do realize it took the two of us forever to straighten that thing?" I tease.

"It looks adorable," she says puckering her lips.

"Come on love birds, wedding time," Dan shouts.

I look around the room and that's when I notice Maya resting her body against Dan. He doesn't look nervous anymore and the smile radiating across his face says it all.

"Let's go." I throw an arm over Lennox.

We make it outside just as the violinist starts playing some music. I give Lennox a quick kiss on the top of the head and walk up to the makeshift wooden altar.

"Way to be on time," Uncle Rob teases.

"Oh quiet, I was distracted by a hot girl."

Uncle Rob laughs as some of the bridal party starts walking down the aisle towards us.

I stand at the altar staring off into the crowd. My eyes focus on Lennox. She's laughing with Alexa, and actually talking to Maya. At the beginning of summer, I never would have imagined things turning out this way.

My eyes wander some more and land on mom. Tears are falling from her eyes. Then in the distance towards the front yard I see someone running across the street with heels in her hand. I take another glance and realize it's Aunt Dawn. I nudge Rob.

"Oh my god is that..."

Rob stiffens beside me, his eyes water as he watches his twin jog up the side yard towards the back. She quietly attempts to sneak in and makes her way to the front. Mom's eyes well up with more tears, as Aunt Dawn kneels next to her.

"You're here?" She asks over the music.

"I'm here," she says, crying a little as well.

Rob steps down for a second. Aunt Dawn stands and wraps her arms around him. There's a little muffled chatter between the two. He must say something snarky because she ends up elbowing him in the gut. With a gleaming smile on his face, Rob comes jogging back to the altar.

"Can't believe she's here," he whispers leaning in.

"Me either."

Everyone in the yard stands as Monica steps out of the house and onto the green grass. She stops at the top of the aisle. Her bright red puckered lips turn into a smile as she looks at Rob. Her bump is present through the white floral dress. It's not one of those fluffy dresses, it hugs her body.

Beside me, Rob starts to sniffle. I glance over and find him dabbing his eye with his knuckle. I pat his shoulder.

"She looks amazing, dude."

"How did I get so lucky?" he whispers.

Monica's dad and brother both step towards her to bring her down the aisle. Rob's hand trembles, as the two give her away to him. He leans in and whispers something into her ear, and her whole face glows with a smile.

A friend of theirs is officiating the ceremony. He watches them with a grin of his own, and a proud look in his gleaming dark eyes.

"Welcome family and friends of Robert Allen and Monica Lovell. I'm Josh and I've been Rob's best friend for almost thirty years, man we're old," he says, making everyone laugh.

"We are gathered here to celebrate a very special moment. Rob and Monica are here because of me," he says nonchalantly.

A mumbled laugh echoes through the yard.

He rambles on for a few more minutes about the night Monica and Rob met, and then he asks them to say their vows. Monica's vows are short and sweet. She describes the first time she saw him, and even the first time she saw his house and how she still somehow loved him after that. There was not a dry eye in the crowd after her speech.

Now it's Uncle Rob's turn and he's having a hard time getting through without choking up.

"Monica, you are the best thing that's ever happened to me. Call it cliché, but it's true. I was told all my life that I was a screw up, that I wouldn't amount to anything. Here I am though, about to marry this beautiful woman and about to become a father. I wouldn't be where I am at this moment in time if it wasn't for you walking into the shop to talk to Josh that day," he says.

My uncle is a true inspiration. He went from being a man without a plan, to a man who has learned to love and do better things for himself. He's about to be a father as well as a husband and that can't be easy to have all of that piled on at once. He finishes by telling her how much he loves her and can't wait to spend the rest of his life with her.

I stare off at Lennox, who's sitting there wiping her own tears. She has that dreamy look in her eye that most girls have at weddings. I know we're young and we just met, but Lennox is someone I'd like to hold onto, she's, my Monica.

                                                                                                  ***

Rob's wedding is the most fun I've had in a long time. As I look around the room while dancing with Lennox, I must admit it's the best summer on Long Island so far. Sure, it started rough, and I was in a bad frame of mind when I first arrived but seeing my mom laughing and dancing brings me more happiness than I've ever felt.

Dan and Maya have clung to each other all night. They're enjoying this slow dance, their foreheads touching as they stare at each other as if they are the only two in the room. Alexa and Patty are dancing with each other to be silly, and they can't stop giggling about it. Then there's Lennox and I. She's cuddled close to me, her head resting just below my shoulder. Her arms are wrapped around me and she's holding me tight like she never wants to let go.

I lift her chin with my finger so that I can see her face, it still takes my breath away. I don't know if it's the wedding talking or if I'm really starting to feel something a lot deeper for this girl. She lifts onto her toes and kisses my lips. I tilt my head and she follows. We share a short kiss, and I know she feels it too.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" I whisper in her ear.

She pulls back just an inch to get a better view of my face. Her eyes water, but her face is glowing. I know she said she needed time, but it's what I'm feeling at the moment. I want to make this official.

"Yes."

"Yes?" I ask again, afraid I didn't hear her the first time.

"Yes Max, I'll be your girlfriend."

"So that means you'll visit me in Cali?" I ask.

"Most definitely." She smirks as I pull her into me.

She buries her face into my chest, and we continue to dance. Even though the tempo of the music has changed we're still stuck in the moment, and I hold onto that for a little while longer.

***

The wedding has been over for hours and I still can't get Lennox out of my head. I'm wide-awake scrolling through Instagram waiting for my body to shut down. A small red arrow pops up in the corner of my screen. Instantly, I click on it and see the Orbit has sent me a message.

Orbit_TheaterLI: I just had the best night ever, how was your night?

I honestly wouldn't even know how to describe my night. It was nothing short of amazing.

VGMaster_10: Perfect, actually. Starlien premier is next week. How's everything going?

She responds right away.

Orbit_TheaterLI: Going great, everyone should be here on schedule, and we've got a lot of excited fans. Maybe I'll even see you there.

I hesitate to respond, because I'm hoping whoever is behind this will realize that whatever we have here on the internet is only a friendship and that's it.

VGMaster_10: As friends?

Orbit_TheaterLI: Definitely, my awesome night was with the most amazing guy. I should be thanking you though, you gave me some good advice a while ago. So, thank you. Here I'll be wearing this dress. Look for me, you may be surprised who you find behind the mask.

How cryptic. She immediately sends over a picture of a short blue dress with gold embroidery on the top.

Orbit_TheaterLI: Have an amazing night @VGMaster_10. Maybe I'll see you next week.

With that I start to feel my eyes close, so I set my phone aside and drift off.