Cece rapped her knuckles for the second time against the door and growled. Elliot leaned on the door frame, her hands stuffed into the pockets of her jacket, the late night sitting on her shoulders. The hallway was silent as was the room on the other side of the door.

"How are they still asleep?" Elliot asked.

"Because they're stupid, that's why," Cece said.

"You understand that answer makes no sense."

"You make no sense."

"Your face makes no sense."

"It's too early," Cece said.

"This whole day is too early."

"We've gone to a bad place."

"Have we ever been to a good one?"

"Two years ago, on a Wednesday."

"What about it?" Elliot asked.

"That's when we went to a good place."

"I don't remember it."

"Pity, it was a good place."

"I'll take your word for it."

Cece raised her hand to knock again but paused when she spotted Marilyn coming down the hallway pushing a trolley laden with food.

"Hello, darlings!" she said.

"Where'd the food come from?" Elliot asked.

"I stole it from a hotel attendant, I'm sure it won't be missed. Let's go in."

"We would but the boys seem to have gone deaf in the night," Cece said.

Marilyn waved away Cece's annoyance. "Unlikely, I called half an hour ago to warn them of our arrival and they seemed to have heard me just fine." With that said, she knocked brightly on the door. And Elliot had to admit it was a bright knock. Maybe that's why they'd been ignored, their knock had been grumpy.

Milo opened the door, his hair messy but dressed and awake enough to appreciate the appearance of food and coffee.

"I love you!" he said.

Cece groaned. "It's too early for your affection."

"I was talking to Marilyn," Milo said, and helped guide the trolley cart into the room.

"Is Tristan awake?" Marilyn asked.

"He woke up but once he saw that it was still morning he cursed us and fell back asleep."

"That doesn't sound like him at all!" Elliot said, closing the door behind her.

Suitcases, clothes and shoes were tossed about the room. Tristan lay asleep, his scowl gone for the moment. Elliot figured it would make a comeback once Marilyn woke him up. Beck sat on the couch dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, rubbing his eyes, looking like a morning nap might be a nice idea. As Elliot brought him a cup of coffee, Marilyn flung the curtains open. The day was clear, except for a few wispy clouds and a sun that was happy to join in with the wedding.

Tristan rolled over and winced as pure sunlight smacked him in the face. He let out a string of curses that would have won him a standing ovation at the pirate's poetry night.

"I suddenly have the feeling that this hotel is going to have a new history and more ghosts than it knows what to do with," Elliot said.

"Will you shut up," Tristan said.

He sat up and glared at the room at large, still undecided who was the first on his hit list. Cece smiled brightly.

"Morning, Tristan," she said. "How did you sleep?"

"You better have a great explanation why you are here at this ungodly hour."

"It's 10 o'clock," Elliot said.

Tristan looked at her and she shrank back.

"Worst decision I've ever made in my entire life," she said. "That also includes that outfit I wore in the fourth grade. It was not the time for power clashing."

Beck looked over at her and laughed. She smiled up at him. Tristan stood and the room took in a collective breath. He ran a hand through his hair and glared some more, because his sleepy thoughts weren't fully awake.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Marilyn said, to dispel any notions of murder this early in the morning.

He sank back onto his bed. "If you can call it that."

"It's 10 o'clock," she said. "I still think that's technically in the realm of the morning. But if you have a problem with it I'm sure the government would care absolutely nothing about it. As I do. Are you awake?"

"Give me a minute, I'm not sure," Tristan said.

"Well, that's more promising than most days. I'd say you're improving. Now, breakfast is here and we have to go over bets before Cece and Elliot are dragged to their doom."

Beck looked at Elliot for understanding.

"Michelle is expecting us to get ready for the wedding in an hour," she said.

"I thought the wedding was at five?"

"Yes, but apparently changing and applying makeup to your face takes ages."

"Really we should have started on it yesterday," Cece said.

Beck gave a smile that shifted into a yawn.

"We are also doing wedding photos before the actual wedding so that is where all our time will go and die," Elliot added.

"Exactly," Marilyn said, "so we need to get bets organized now. But first, breakfast and looking up the worst wedding fails on Youtube."

Tristan managed a grin. "Now you're making sense."

Beck gave Elliot a puzzled look. "Weddings fails?"

Elliot shrugged. "A Mckenzie wedding tradition in the making."

"Sounds about right."

They all crammed onto Tristan's double bed and proceeded to wipe away the remnants of sleep with their laughter.

*******************

Elliot and Cece stood side by side, silent for a long moment, staring at their reflection. The suite around them was a flurry of voices, hair dryers, shouts for assistance, pleas for help with zippers and unneeded frantic searches for missing items. Clothes were strewn across the floor, hiding the lost items and giving off the general impression that stressed women were not at all organized. The smell of hairspray, perfume and hair products floated through the room and settled on every available surface.

"Well, that is just..." Cece said, pursing her lips at the mirror.

"Yup," Elliot replied.

"I mean..."

"You said it."

"I mean really..."

"Took the words right out of my mouth."

"There is really something about-"

"Resembling a flavor of ice cream-"

"That puts you in the wedding spirit," Cece said.

Elliot twisted making the loose skirt of her mint green, strapless dress sway. Cece shifted the tight bodice of hers.

"Are we supposed to breath?" she asked.

"No, oxygen has been labeled as overrated, so last year and a thing of the past that should not be remembered."

Cece dropped her hands to her sides and cocked her head, still looking at the mirror. A bridesmaid let out a call for her missing shoe. The room ignored her, knowing their problems outweighed hers. Elliot put her hands on her hips.

"It could be worse," she said.

"Really? Because I'm one minute away from licking the end of my dress just to check it's not ice cream."

"We could be wearing yellow and looking like omelets."

"True. I'm glad Michelle leaned towards the dessert side of bridesmaids dresses rather than the breakfast foods."

"Exactly, we could have ended up in gowns shaped like a pastry."

"Well put Taylor."

The tornado of motion continued to whirl through the suite, the panic of the other bridesmaids not touching the two sisters. Outside on the lawn men and women in white dress shirts and black slacks hurried about as Stacy called out last minute orders. The faint echoes of her voice were lost in the clamor of the suite.

Elliot tapped her bare shoulders with her fingers and scowled.

"I don't think I've shown this much skin since birth."

"That's true, even your bathing suit looks like a tent in comparison."

The room fell silent all of a sudden. The lack of noise startled Elliot and Cece more than the chaos of a second before. They turned around as Michelle stepped out of the adjoining room. Her wedding dress was fitted to her waist then flowed out. It was beautiful, but nothing compared to the look on Michelle's face. Bridesmaids turned to each other with bright smiles and barely held in tears. After a second the room broke into squeals as the girls forgot their panic and rushed to share in Michelle's happiness.

Cece and Elliot remained where they were, held there by shock.

"She-"

"Yeah-"

"Looks so happy," Cece finished.

"She does."

After loud exclamations over Michelle, the dress, her hair, and the overall picture she presented, the group finally was brought back to their own need to look beautiful. They turned away and went searching for their shoes, earrings, necklaces and general sanity. Michelle looked over the room. When she saw Cece and Elliot, she moved over to them. No creases of worry or stress were held in her face. A laugh tumbled from her lips before her words did as if her happiness couldn't be restrained.

Despite the perfect dress and the flawless hairdo, Michelle pulled her sisters into a hug, which they readily returned.

"I'm so glad you decided to come," she said. "It means a lot."

"You couldn't have stopped us," Cece said.

"Not for the world," Elliot said. "You look beautiful, Michelle."

Michelle beamed, her eyes glowing. For a minute they stared connected, a tether of memories holding them together. Michelle glanced at their dresses then back at them.

"You look beautiful as well," she said.

Her name was called and she turned away from them, walking towards the voice. Elliot and Cece stayed there, watching her.

"You were right-"

"I usually am."

"About letting go of the past."

"You letting go?"

"I'm getting there."

********

Time seemed to play funny tricks as the next few hours passed. It sped up and slowed down at all the wrong moments. The pre-wedding photos seemed to stretch for hours, but the breaks in between were gone in a blink. By the time the wedding party was congregating at the back of the lawn to start, Elliot wasn't sure what day, month or year it was.

She turned towards Cece.

"Do you know what day it is?" she asked.

"How should I know?" Cece replied. "I thought we were in August but I can't tell anymore. Does it feel like spring is in the air to you?"

"No, but I lost all sense of seasons after our second day here."

"That's sad."

The sun was moving towards the horizon, setting a soft, orange glow over the sky. Late arrivals, in pastels, hurried past the bridal party and slipped into empty chairs.

"You know I think Chad has changed his opinion of you," Cece said, glancing at Elliot's groomsman.

"Only because I'm in a strapless dress."

"Still, I think love is in his eyes. How will you play it off?"

"Mocking responses that make absolutely no sense. What about you and Muscles? Do I hear the ringing of wedding bells?"

"We're not in a chapel, so you might just be going deaf."

Stacy called out for everyone's attention. The groups slowly turned away from their companions to look at her.

"Bridesmaids and groomsmen," she said, "please find your partners and get in your spots. We will we beginning in five."

Cece gave Elliot a mocking thumbs up as Chad made his way over.

"I call being maid of honor," Cece whispered.

"Too late, I already gave the position to Milo."

Cece was gone with a roll of her eyes. Chad looked Elliot up and down, his new opinion of her solidifying. He gave her a grin that he meant to be charming and Elliot took as him having gas. He held out his arm and she took it, not bothering to give him an ounce of her attention.

"I never found out what you did for a living?" he said. "I'm a hedge fund manager."

Elliot gave him a surprised look. "Really?"

He nodded, unable to hide his smug look.

"I didn't know hedges needed their funds managed," she said. "Though with the way blackthorn hedges grow that doesn't really surprise me. Personally, I've never been a fan of shrubs. But the way you smiled when you announced your job leads me to believe you probably don't hedge your bets when it comes to your work."

Chad just started at her, completely lost for words. She smiled sweetly. He turned back to the front, his original opinion of Elliot reinstated. Stacy walked along the line, checking dresses and ties. At the first couple, she stopped and turned to face them all.

A quiet fell over the group as she waved for the music to start. The strands of a single violin filled the air, settling the rustling crowd and muting last minute whispers. Seagulls flew over head, buoyed by the breeze. The gentle murmur of waves crashing mixed in with the music. Heads turned and bodies shifted as one by one the couples walked down the aisle, smiling as if it were their day.

At the arch and the white haired minster, Elliot broke from Chad's arm and took her spot with the rest of the bridesmaids. Her gaze scanned the crowd and found the one set of eyes that wasn't turned towards the back. A smile played across her lips and danced into her eyes as Beck sent his own smile her way. He was, along with Tristan and Milo, dressed up and looking better than that morning suggested they could have. Cece appeared. When she saw Elliot's smile, she rolled her eyes.

"And you thought WE were terrible," she whispered.

"You are, but that doesn't mean we can't be as well."

Cece turned towards the rows of wedding guests, her face composed. Milo met her gaze and casually gave her a wink. She fought the smile tugging at her lips. The song shifted. As if moving as one body, the crowd rose and turned. On the arm of her father, glowing with happiness, Michelle moved down the aisle. They stopped before the minister. Michelle was handed off to Jordan and they took one step forward. Seats were occupied once more and the ceremony started.

It passed in a sweeping motion of solemn vows, exchanging of the rings, a final pronouncement and a kiss greeted by a round of applause and cheers. As the noise still filled the air, Cece twisted to Elliot, a smile on her face.

"Glad you came?" she asked.

Elliot nodded. "I am."

****************

With a heavy sigh, Elliot sank into the chair beside Beck. The room around them had broken down into conversations across tables and with neighbors. Plates were dusted with the leftovers of the meal and glasses were on their third legs. Speeches had been given and Elliot was sure she had seen two twenties, six tens and ten fives passing between hands at her mother's table. The bridal party was giving way to intoxication and itching to get on the dance floor. No table seemed to laugh more than at her mother's.

Beck looked at Elliot, his smile widening. With an ease that made her stomach do the Cha Cha, he took her hand. The feel of his was already as familiar to her as the first lines of a favorite book. Elliot nodded to Ryan and Jay, who sat in the two seats next to him. They seemed to be in a heated argument that involved the whole table, but this did not surprise her. On the opposite side of the table Joe was listening, with Cece and Milo, to Andrew as he told a story that involved a duck, a sword, three swear words and an ending no one saw coming.

"Getting reacquainted with some old friends," Elliot asked.

"It seems I really didn't get to know them well enough at the Cape during our trip there," he said. "They quickly remedied this for me."

"They tend to do that."

Ryan noticed Elliot and his expression got intent. He leaned on the table.

"El, you're here, good," he said. "I need you to clear something up for me."

"You first," she said. "How are you all here?"

"I started speaking first," Ryan said, "so clearly I should have the right of way in this conversation."

"Yes, but I just cut you off and so I'm asking you first."

"Me asking you first is my way of giving you the middle finger, so answer me this -"

"I'm still technically in front of you in the lane so my question should be given the green light."

Ryan scowled and Elliot gave him a wide grin.

"It's a good thing I love you or I would really hate you," he said.

"Funny how those things go hand in hand. Now how are you, Jay, Andrew and Joe here? And did Mom sneak anymore of your cohorts in?"

"Mia was here," Ryan said, "but someone said something to her and I think she slipped away. Might be at the bar arguing philosophy with the bartender."

"Sounds about right. Now how are you here?"

Ryan gave a wide smile, like the answer was obvious. "Jay and I were here already for individual dance reasons. Joe was taking a surfing vacation and Andrew might or might not have hitched hiked to get here."

"He's dedicated, I'll give him that," Elliot said.

"Actually, I think we was just bored." Ryan's face went serious and he pointed to her. "Now, answer me this, Elliot: who is your favorite, non-related brother, Jay or me?"

Jay looked over and sent Elliot a wink as if he could sway her answer. Elliot gave a purposeful hesitation.

"...you," she said.

Ryan threw his hands up and a laugh rippled through the group.

"That's it, you are no longer my favorite," Ryan said.

Marilyn looked at the table. "Who had Elliot hesitating before answering?"

Tristan raised his hand and accepted the five from her. Ryan scowled as Jay put his elbow on Ryan's shoulder.

"I appreciate you announcing that it was me you really loved," Jay said.

Elliot laughed and Beck smiled at the sound and at her. Jay and Ryan both looked between them.

"You two are together, then?" Jay asked.

Elliot looked at Beck and nodded. Without a word, but a very loud scowl, Jay pulled a twenty from his pocket and Ryan took it, his smug smile just as loud. Across the table, Tristan held out a five and Cece snatched it. The DJ announced that it was the newlyweds first dance as Jordan and Michelle took to the dance floor.

"Five bucks says they choreographed something," Beck said.

Ryan looked at him. "I'll take that."

They shook and watched the couple. When they broke out into a simple routine, Beck smiled and held up his hand. Ryan slapped a five into it. Elliot leaned close to him.

"What made you guess?" she asked.

"Jordan looked way too nervous for just a basic first dance."

Elliot grinned and squeezed his hand. When the dance finished the song shifted to something upbeat and the DJ encouraged everyone to join. Before Beck could even move, Ryan stood and took Elliot's free hand.

"Let's go, kid," he said.

Already their entire table was standing and moving to the dance floor, Tristan choosing to remain behind with Marilyn. Elliot rose and looked at Beck.

"You want her," Ryan said, "come get her."

Elliot laughed, the sound carefree. As they walked to the dance floor, she moved closer to Ryan.

"I still can't dance, Ry. You know that," she said.

"I know, you make me look all that much better."

The sudden surge of their table moving on to floor encouraged the rest of the room to join, putting hesitant feet into action. Elliot got a quick flash of her cousin Albert with a cushion of bridesmaids around him. Ryan spun her around, pulling another laugh from her. They were barely a minute into the song before Beck showed up.

"I'm cutting in, whether you like it or not," he said to Ryan.

Ryan clapped him on the shoulder and nodded. "I approve of you now."

Ryan walked away and started dancing with a red head a second later.

"I can't dance," Beck warned Elliot.