I was stumped by this one, but then, this idea jumped to mind. I hope you like it! :)



Matt adjusted his tie and smoothed the front of his black suit. He looked at himself in the mirror for a moment before tugging off his tie and picking a different one from the stack on the bed.

He'd just finished knotting his fifth option when there was a knock on the door. "Come in," he called.

Joe stepped inside and raised an eyebrow at the mess. "Everything's set downstairs. How's it going in here?"

"None of these ties are right. Why didn't I bring the blue one from the engagement party? That one was nice, right?"

Joe moved several of the ties aside and then made Matt sit on the unmade hotel bed. "Hey, hey. Take a couple of deep breaths. This is your wedding day, and everything is going to be perfect. You trust me, yeah?"

Matt nodded and closed his eyes so that he could concentrate on calming down. When he opened them a moment later, Joe was pulling a striped Persian blue tie from the jumble of material. It was the one he'd worn to his engagement party at Willie's.

"Anything you want to talk about?" Joe asked carefully.

"No, I'm okay now. Thanks." Matt smiled as he took the tie and draped it around his neck.

"You guys are great together," Joe said. "There's nothing to worry about."

"Thanks," Matt repeated, giving him a wider grin. "That means a lot, man."

Joe's lips quirked when he spotted a familiar document on the desk by the door. "Besides, this is all just for show. This," he grabbed the marriage license that had been signed the day before and that he'd witnessed, "says that you're already married. You could slip out the back with Tim and be halfway to your honeymoon before anyone was the wiser."

Matt couldn't help but chuckle at that. Joe was definitely helping him to feel better about everything, and there was no way he was going to leave their families and friends sitting in the hotel ballroom without any grooms for the ceremony.

He held his hand out, and Joe handed over the license. Matt loved the authenticity of document, the way that it bound him with Tim for the rest of their lives. It was everything that he'd wanted since Tim had walked into his bookstore, and he'd fallen almost instantly in love.

"Knot your tie," Joe said, breaking the moment. "You've got five minutes before you have to be downstairs." He patted Matt on the shoulder and left him alone to finish getting ready for his wedding.