Nick's POV

Between the trip up north in September and Maggie's wedding, I had exactly three real conversations with my sister. Each one of them was about her relationship with Jay. All I wanted to know was if she was involved with him at all. She refused to tell me. "It's nothing serious," she told me the first time. "Don't worry about me."

"I'm worried about Sam," I replied.

She laughed. "Don't be. No one worries about Sam."

Maybe someone should have worried about Sam.

The second time, she told me, "It's nothing worry about. Jay's just a guy."

Yeah, and my brother spends so much time in a coffee shop because he really likes the smell of coffee.

The third time, two days before the wedding, she told me, "Look, moron. Jay is hot. Sam is rich. I know which side my bread is buttered on. You don't have to worry about me. I can take care of myself."

I never told Annie about any of these conversations. I always felt like I should have. I felt like I needed to go to confession or something to purge my soul. And I needed Annie's input. But I was afraid of what she would say. I wanted someone to tell me I was right but I didn't want someone to tell me I was right. If I was right about Jay, then that would mean that I should probably breakup with his sister. And I wasn't quite ready for that one yet. I liked the idea of Daisy.

Sam and Maggie got married the weekend before Thanksgiving. It was an incredibly fancy wedding-especially considering how little time they'd had to plan it. But my sister was determined to get married quickly because "I'm in love and I just want to be married. I don't want to waste time being engaged. That's boring. Plus, I've always wanted a fall wedding. It'll make November more exciting."

I rolled my eyes at that statement, but no one had been paying attention to me that day anyway. In all of the wedding planning, Hugo and I had been pretty much ignored. No one cared about the opinions of two brothers who didn't like their sister.

Nevertheless, I was still expected to play the part of loyal groomsman. I wasn't sure why since I had spent so much effort questioning the match.

"You look good in a tux," Hugo told me the night before the wedding.

"And you don't?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "Well, Annie says I look good in anything. And Kate says I look best shirtless. But Sam probably doesn't want a groomsman who is better looking than him to outshine him in the pictures and make him look like the lame Zac Efron wannabe that he is."

I laughed. "You really do love yourself, don't you?"

"I'm the best, and you know it, man."

"Oh shut it," Kate said as she came into the living room from the kitchen, a mug of tea in hand. "You just want us all to notice you so you don't feel lonely tomorrow when Annie and I are helping Lauren with the photography and Nick here is in the wedding."

My brother stuck his tongue out at his girlfriend. "I'll just sit with Daisy and make fun of how my brother looks in a penguin suit."

"I thought you hated my girlfriend."

"Are you two still officially together?" he asked with a quirked eyebrow.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, of course we are."

And then Annie came in, all bundled up in a black jacket and dark purple scarf over skinny jeans. "It's actually acting like November out there," she said, rubbing her pink cheeks.

"Yeah, Mags is pissed that the weather isn't following her orders," I told her. "She wanted a fresh, crisp November wedding."

"It's November in fucking Michigan," Hugo said. "Tell her to get over herself and realize that this is what happens. You can't order the perfect day; you just live with what you get."

"Yeah, but you know she'll start bitching at Lauren tomorrow like this is somehow her fault," I reminded my brother.

"I'd rather that she bitched at Sam."

"That's stupid," Kate pointed out. "Sam just takes whatever your sister dishes out."

"Yeah, I told you he was the vanilla ice cream boy," Hugo said. "I can't see what Mags sees in him. He's as exciting as beige paint."

"Oh be nice," Annie scolded. "Your sister is marrying him. You boys are stuck with this dude for the rest of your lives."

"Or until Prince Valium stops taking his daily interval and divorces my sister's bitchy ass," Hugo suggested.

While Annie rolled her eyes, I laughed. "Nice job, Hugo, your ability to reference Spaceballs and Equilibrium in one analogy impresses me."

My brother grinned. "I try to be both nerdy and awesome at the same time."

"I think that under the Josh Duhamel-lookalike exterior, you really are a dork," Kate commented.

"He does love to watch Star Trek when he thinks no one's watching," Annie observed as she carefully hung up her coat. I was watching her movements out of the corner of my eye. She was so light, so graceful, so fragile to me.

But this news about my brother had also captured my attention. "You really watch Star Trek?" I asked.

He sighed, but Kate nodded. "And it's not just like he watches the recent movie. He watches the original series with Shatner and Nimoy."

"I'm so proud. Give me a hug, you closet trekkie."

My twin rolled his eyes, which only made Annie and Kate laugh.

"Come on, Hugo," I said. "Get your sorry self over here and give your brother a hug."

"Remind me tomorrow after I've had a few brews."

I rolled my eyes. "I'll try, but you know how my memory is after a few."

"I know," Hugo replied. "That's what I'm counting on."

Before the conversation could go any further, Annie yawned and stretched. She was almost feline in her movements. "Right then," she said looking around. "I'm off to bed."

"Annie," my brother said suddenly. "Is Liam still coming for Thanksgiving or Christmas?"

She shook her head. "He was going to come for Thanksgiving, but I'm spending that with Mollie's family, so he postponed until Christmas. But now he has a girlfriend with a kid and she wants him to spend Christmas with them instead. So, I'm just going to have to wait some more before I see my brother."

"Well, you can see my brother for Christmas instead," I teased.

She smiled weakly. "Dan already got me an invite to the Cassidy family Christmas. But I'll still spend Christmas Eve with your family, Nick. Don't worry."

"You and Dan, huh," Hugo said. "Should I be worried?"

"Worry about Milo and Lauren first," she told him with a smile.

He laughed. "I'm so proud of her."

"She's happy, Hugo," Kate said. "Instead of spending her life taking pictures of other people's memories, she gets to make her own memories."

"Yeah, but she's still taking pictures of my sister's memories tomorrow."

I sighed. "We'll see how long those memories last."

"Not as long as Lauren and Milo's will, I hope," Kate said.

"Or ours," Hugo said, kissing Kate's hand.

That shook my soul. My brother was talking seriously about making memories with someone.

"Well, I'm off to sleep," Annie said as she stood up.

"Night," I said flatly. I wasn't in the mood for people anymore.

Hugo and Kate both hugged Annie before she left the room. I was all discombobulated and I didn't even know why.

My sister's wedding was nice, I suppose. It was fancy and expensive. And I think that was what she wanted it. "It photographs well," Annie told me after the ceremony.

We were standing in the back of the church watching as Lauren took picture after picture of my sister and Sam. "They look good together."

"Well, your sister wouldn't marry an ugly man," Annie replied flatly.

I sighed. "Personally, I'd rather marry a smart girl than a pretty one."

"Well, you seem to have gotten lucky with Daisy on that account."

The comment didn't require response, but I wanted to reply anyway. But at that exact moment, Julia came dashing over. "Nick, we're doing family pictures now. Stop wasting time and come with me. Oh, and Annie, that's a nice skirt. I think I had something like that back in fifth grade."

I grimaced as Annie blushed and walked away. And I just followed my sister.

Daisy and I stayed until the end of the reception. That was her idea. I wanted to leave around ten when I got tried, but she insisted that it was our duty to "keep the party going."

I was annoyed because Kate and Hugo left around ten-thirty and went home to watch a movie with Annie who'd left a few hours earlier.

"I'm tired," I pouted as we walked out of the reception hall at two o'clock in the god-forsaken morning.

"Yeah, well, at least we had fun," she said, waving the bouquet in my face.

"Speak for yourself," I replied. "I'm fucking tired."

"Oh, whine all you want. You know we're going to be the next ones married."

"How the hell do I know that?" Research has shown that Nicholas Bertram swears more when he's tired.

"Well, I caught the bouquet."

"I think Kate and Hugo are more likely to get married first."

Daisy huffed. "We've been together longer than they have and you know your brother has commitment issues."

"And he loves Kate."

"I don't get that. Kate's gorgeous but she's also really fucking boring."

"I doubt Hugo would agree with that statement," I said, finding the idea of my brother dating anyone who was "fucking boring" absurd. This was my brother, the renowned playboy. Any woman he dated would have to be interesting-especially in the bedroom, not that I'm claiming to have any knowledge of my brother's sexual relationship with his current girlfriend.

"Oh, just shut up and drive me home," she ordered when we reached the car.

I sighed and complied. At least I could go home and sleep and not have to worry about her for a couple of hours.

And maybe I could convince Annie to be my sanity for a couple of hours at some point before she went away for Thanksgiving weekend. God alone knew how disordered my brain was.

A/N: I know that I'm the world's most sporadic updater, but I really would appreciate some reviews.