When they arrived at the airport Stu introduced them to Lauren's little brother, Teddy. He was young and smart and he seemed to be pretty chill. Stu informed them that he was studying in medical school as a premed.

It was very impressive considering his age but right away Alan seemed to be intimidated by the kid, which was extremely unnecessary.

after a traumatic experience, people will tend to feel a strong emotional attachment to the people who experienced it with them. This was the case for alan but because of his lack of social opportunities, he took it worse than everyone else.

so naturally he felt threatened when another person was introduced to the group. "i thought this was a wolf pack only type of convention" alan stated blatantly.

stu patted his back. "it's a wedding and he's lauren's little brother of course he's coming. relax alan."

alan seemed tense and hesitated to accept the fact that this kid would be going along with them.

liv rubbed his shoulder and looked up at them. "i'm getting a water do you guys want anything?"

doug shook his head and she looked to alan hoping for some spark of emotion but was left hanging. stu pointed at a shop behind them. "i'll have a smartwater thanks"

"is tap water to poor for you?" she responded, giggling as she adjusted her bag. Stu just tilted his head smiling.

Phil took her suitcase from behind her and rolled it to doug. "i'll go with you sweetheart" he grabbed her hand and they walked to store that stu had pointed to.

"he's like a dog man" doug shook his head. "i don't know what he would do without her." stu laughed and they went to their gate.

"i'm worried about stu hon" liv said looking at the menu. she couldn't decide between a sandwich or a croissant but for the prices of both of them it didn't really matter. "lauren's dad is not being accepting of him whatsoever and the lack of effort he's putting into the father in law - son in law relationship is just terrible"

"well baby it's probably just a cultural thing you know, i mean i know for a fact that he's never spoken to the man so maybe it's just because he doesn't know him that well."

"he hasn't even given stu a chance. he's told me at the office that he tried multiple times to get in touch with him." she threw her hands up and pointed to the water bottle she wanted and signaled to the cashier.

she hated the fact that a man stu hadn't even met couldn't give him an ounce of respect. she loved stu and wanted him to be happy but it pissed her off that this man was getting in the way of that. to be fair she hadn't met him either and she didn't like him but she had a good reason to.

"liv it could just be the cell service. he's like 8,000 miles away." he took out his wallet and paid. "damn 9 dollars for water." he rolled his eyes and grabbed their things.

she switched the shoulder that her duffel bag was resting on and turned around. "why are you giving him the benefit of the doubt, stu is the one that's our friend." he grabbed her free hand and they started to walk back to their gate.

"i don't know i guess i just want to assume that everything's gonna be okay" he smiled at her.

"yeah" she sighed. "me too"

they found their friends. olivia took a seat in between her brother and stu, handing her best friend his smartwater. phil put their bags together and sat down across from them next to alan.

he was staring at teddys neck pillow with crazy eyes. "you okay buddy?" phil leaned over and whispered to him.

"he's not even part of the wolf pack. why is he here?" alan crossed his arms and pursed his lips, pouting.

"he's the brides little brother, i'm pretty sure he has to be there. plus he's like his dads prized possession so i doubt he will have time for us anyways" phil cracked open his water and gestured to him.

"you really think so" he smiled

"i know so."

-

after settling in and gathering their things for the days to come the group sat still at the large white dinner table waiting for the first speech.

olivia wore a tight cream colored dress with gold heals and earrings to match.

Lauren's and Teddys father stood up holding a glass. Olivia rolled her eyes and rested her chin on her palm. Phil rubbed her back and the man began to speak.

"I would like to thank my son teddy for putting together this beautiful cello piece for us tonight, he will soon be a great man and an then an even better surgeon." he paused. "when i first met stu i must say i was not quite sold."

everyone snickered and olivia perked up already pissed at the man. "he seemed unattractive, he lacked imagination and intelligence." liv threw her napkin and started to stand up to say something but phil pulled her back down. "he's not worth it." she rolled her eyes and tuned him out, not wanting to hear the things he had to say about her friend.

after a while of him being a dick she looked at stu sympathetically as he was trying not to react too much to what the old man was saying. before he could respond to a joke that he made, alan stood up and began looking through some note cards as a cleared his throat.

"hey everyone!" he winked at liv which at this point unfazed her. he situated himself and looked through the crowd awkwardly. "here are some fun facts. the population in Thailand is 63 million people. wow. it is twice the size of Wyoming and about 13000 people a year are killed in car accidents-

"hey bud why don't you uh skip to the last card" doug spoke up hoping to save the tables from some humiliation.

alan flipped through his cards until he landed on one that he saw fit. "none of you know stu like i do, or my wolf pack does. we have been through so much together, in fact, this is not stu's first marriage." liv put her head in her hands and looked away. "there was a whore in las vegas-

phil stood up shushing him. "i think that's good alan, you can sit down"

"are you sure? did i do okay?"

"yeah of course. you did great."

alan smiled. "thanks phil" he sat down and there was a long pause before someone said "to stu and lauren."

glasses clinked and conversations started. everyone seemed to have a great dinner except for alan of course who was intensely staring at teddy for the majority of it.

-

phil and liv walked side by side with arms around each other to the elevator and found stu and lauren talking. she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him as their friends approached.

"hey, rice pudding" phil patted him on the back referring to something lauren's das had said in his speech. "come have a drink with me and the guys. we've got a bonfire going and everything"

stu laughed. "guys?" he gestured to liv.

"you know what i mean" he rubbed olivia's shoulder.

"what no i'm going upstairs. i need a shower" she smiled at lauren and they walked towards the elevator. she pushed the button to the floor they were on.

"i'm with liv on this one, i'm pretty tired" stu said walking towards the girls.

"no come on, just one drink." phil said grabbing olivia's arm and pulling her out of the elevator.

"phil you said the guys" she stared up at him. he pulled her closer.

"you know you're one of us" he looked at her "cmon" he patted stu and they obliged.

they walked towards the beach together after stu bid lauren a good night. lauren had suggested bringing teddy which phil enthusiastically agreed to.

"sealed bottles anyone" doug said holding up a case of beer. stu smiled at the gesture. "yes please"

alan was rustling around with something in his hands when olivia saw what it was. "marshmallows!?" she jumped up and grabbed them immediately popping the bag open.

"how old are you again?" stu asked.

"we are the same age dipshit" she said shoving them in her mouth. Alan seemed stunned for some reason but said nothing.

"hey, hey, let her have her fun" phil said laughing. they enjoyed making fun of her like this. it amused them to no end and they knew they weren't actually hurting her feelings so it just made it even better.

phil handed teddy a beer. "oh i'm not really uh old enough to drink"

"oh it'll be fine. please, no one's gonna tell on you."

"well it's illegal" alan said. "be a shame if someone reported you." he contorted his face to make fun of him but teddy didn't seem amused.

"alright let's make a toast" liv stood up and the rest of them followed. "to stu and lauren"

"cheers"