Ahaha, I have no excuses. This is just sappy.

"So guys!" Wen started, clapping his hands together as he surveyed the group. "We are officially playing the first song at the wedding."

"Oh my god, no way!" Mo squealed. "Your dad and Sydney want our song to be their song? For real?"

Wed nodded, grinning. "They do. And let's be honest, I made no effort to convince them otherwise." He spread his arms wide in mock overconfidence.

Stella punched him in the shoulder. "Dude, this is awesome. We are gonna rock that wedding!"

The others laughed. "Just remember, you guys are dressing for a wedding, not a regular gig," Wen added, lifting a teasing eyebrow at them.

"We know, dude. Your dad's wedding. We won't screw it up on you," Scott promised, holding up his hand for a fist bump. Wen returned it with a grin.

Charlie pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked up at the others. "Tommy's waiting for me out front. Later guys." Then he glanced at Stella. "We still giving you a lift?"

"Yeah man," she responded. "All right, see you guys on Monday!" She waved casually, hoisting her guitar onto her shoulder and following Charlie out of the basement music room.

Scott looked at Mo. "We should probably head out too," he said. "I've gained enough of your dad's trust to drive you places. I don't want to push my limits by keeping you late."

"He has a point," Mo admitted with a glance at Wendell and Olivia. "Time to go. Bye guys."

"Bye," Olivia said with a smile. Wen high-fived Mo as she walked past him, and then Scott gave Wen a friendly smack on the shoulder. Soon it was only Wendell and Olivia left in the music room.

"Should we go too, or…?" Olivia began to ask, trailing off.

Wen smiled his good-natured smile and shrugged. "No rush. I've got nowhere to be."

"Okay. Me neither." Olivia smiled, feeling a little awkward. Being alone with Wendell gave her a lot of mixed feelings.

Wen hoisted himself up onto a desk. "So I've been meaning to talk to you about something."

Olivia's smile faded, and she leaned back against the desk behind her, suddenly anxious. "Um, yeah?"

He hesitated for a moment, then grinned, laughing to himself. "Calm down, Liv. You should know by now that I don't bite." His grin widened, and he wiggled his eyebrows. "Unless, you know, you were into that."

Olivia flushed red and looked away, her eyes suddenly roaming the flaws in the ceiling. "Oh wow," she murmured, embarrassed.

Wen laughed. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I've been hanging out too much with Scott. I'm sorry," he repeated, reaching out to touch her shoulder. Smiling as though both amused and uncertain, Olivia looked at him once again, her blush fading.

"I was wondering," Wen said carefully, still smiling a bit, "if you wanted to come to the wedding with me." Now he looked embarrassed, facing down and looking up at her from beneath his brow. Her heart fluttered when she looked at his adorable expression, but nonetheless, she was puzzled.

"We're- we're all already coming to the wedding, though," she answered, frowning in confusion.

"Well, yeah, but," Wen laughed self-consciously, looking away for a moment as his hand went nervously to the back of his neck. "I meant, like, with me, with me."

Olivia stared at him for a moment longer before realization dawned on her face. "O… oh! Oh, Wen, really," she blushed again, flustered. "I mean, you don't… Like, I know Mo and Scott are going together together, and Charlie's bringing a date and stuff, but you know, that doesn't mean we have to, have to…" she trailed off, floundering for a moment. "I mean, like Stella, right, she's flying solo, and there's nothing wrong with that, and we could both definitely, you know…"

Wen watched her, that nervous smile still on his face. He rubbed his neck, glancing at the floor and then back up at her. "Olivia, I'm not asking just 'cause I want a date, or anything," he said, laughing slightly. "I'm asking 'cause, y'know, I'd like it if we… went together."

"Um." Olivia licked her lips, swallowing, and despite the situation Wendell couldn't help thinking how cute she looked embarrassed and surprised. "What… I mean, what exactly… are you saying?" she asked quietly.

Wen laughed, anxious and a bit exasperated. "C'mon, Liv," he answered, but she stayed quiet, and he rolled his head to the other side, biting his lip. "I mean, it's not that hard. I don't know how to make it much clearer." Grinning sheepishly, he looked up at her once again. "I brought you a kitten."

Olivia chewed her lips, her eyes flicking away from him and back up to the ceiling. "You may have to, um, spell it out for me," she managed quietly, "because otherwise I'm just going to wonder and worry and overthink, and…" She swallowed and forced her gaze back to him.

He stared at the floor for a few moments, biting his lower lip hard, still laughing uncomfortably. "Damn, you make this difficult." He looked up at her again, grinning, and slid off the edge of the desk. "Listen, Olivia… The band's been together for like eight months now, and y'know, we've been spending a lot of time together, and…" Finally he dropped his hand from the back of his neck, his eyes searching the music room briefly before returning to her face. "Olivia, I'm pretty much crazy about you, you know? I think you're amazing, and I just kinda wanna kiss you all the time, and I wanna be allowed to dance with you at my dad's wedding, and I want an excuse to get protective when guy fans try to chat you up, and you know, I just…" He pushed his hands deep into the pockets of his trademark red skinny jeans, shrugging and smiling at the floor.

"Um," Olivia stammered, blushing beet red. "Um. Um."

Wendell looked up at her once again, blushing a bit himself, and after a pause, he asked, "Could I um… can I kiss you?"

Olivia covered her mouth, surprised; ever so slowly, she dragged her hands away. She met his gaze and nodded slightly.

He tugged his hands back out of his pockets, taking a couple of long, lazy strides toward her, and then for a moment he just stood there, staring at her face like he was trying to memorize every detail. Then, carefully, he leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips. It was a quick kiss, and he pulled back away, but only barely. And then without really thinking he leaned back in to kiss her again, and again, and then her lips were curving into a smile and she began to kiss him back as she lifted her arms around his neck and he wound his own around her waist and for a few minutes they stood there in the music room, where it had all started, wrapped up in each other and kissing and smiling and as happy as could be.

x

Several weeks later nearly a hundred wedding guests were crowded into a small area of the spacious back lawn at the Gifford residence. The bride was ushering all of the unmarried women at the wedding into one place for the bouquet toss, and Mo and Olivia rolled their eyes and tried to hang back but Stella laughed and grabbed their wrists and dragged them in. They hung around at the back of the crowd as Sydney turned around and prepared to throw. Then the bouquet was arcing high above the shouting women and then all of a sudden it was dropping straight down from above and Olivia's self-preservation instincts kicked in and she raised her hands above her head and before she knew it she had a bundle of flowers in her hands and everyone around her was laughing and clapping. Stella was absolutely hooting. And then from somewhere behind them Wen emerged, laughing, from the group of men and grabbed the sides of Olivia's waist and pulled her back against him and to one side so he could lean around her shoulder and kiss her, garnering renewed applause from the wedding guests.

Wen rested his forehead against Olivia's and, quietly enough that only she could hear him over the ruckus, he joked, "Maybe you're the next Gifford, hm?"

She blushed, biting back a grin. "I love you, too," she said, leaning in to kiss him again.