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The ceremony was a quiet one. Well, it was less of a ceremony and more of Jay stumbling through the preacher's lines. This was Alabama after all, and two men getting married could be just as dangerous as the thing chasing after them. Depending on who you went to. But Tim wanted to play it safe, so Jay went through the trouble of figuring out the logistics of marriage and playing that part. It was sweet, in a way. Tim was happy for a moment for Jay, for what they were doing. Yeah, Jay wasn't the brightest bulb in the box (considering how he lied about Marble Hornets, posted his medical information without his consent) but Tim's words of sticking together meant something to him. That they'd get married, tie that knot. Two men who nobody in the sane world would want, going for each other because why the hell not. Who knew whether the next day would be their last, by the hands of Alex or the hooded man. You only live once.
Jay recorded the whole ceremony. They did it in their hotel room, camera on a tripod, saying the vows that needed to be said. Not death till us part, rather let nothing kill us and we stay side by side. Tim, after the ceremony, asked Jay what he was going to do with the tape. It couldn't be full already. Jay was labelling it, and put it in his bag. He said he wanted to keep it, in case one of them forgot.
A tape, recorded just for them. No editing it. No uploading it for the world to see. Just Tim's and Jay's eyes for their marriage, no matter how half-assed and bad the thing was.
Jay later managed to scrape up the money for a couple of rings. Not really your usual gold wedding bands. Not really rings either- just a couple of cord friendship bracelets. But it was enough for Tim. Jay put his on his left, and Tim's on his right. When they held hands, Tim would feel Jay's bracelet rubbing against his wrist, a reminder they were in this together, thick and thin.
Though that fell apart.
All it took was one more argument, one stupid hooded man, and Jay being an idiot. A single gunshot, taken to the chest. That was all it took to lose Jay. Tim found himself with the tapes, all the questions Jay had about everything. And others, like where Jay went. He watched the footage over and over, constantly at war with himself, seeing his death on repeat at any hour of the day. He stopped, mid-tape. When Jay was.. Showing his wound. He couldn't watch that thing take Jay again.
But he didn't take his eyes away.
There was that bracelet, their promise, their vows of marriage in a shitty hotel room at four in the morning. Covered in blood, frayed a little bit. But it was there.
Jay wasn't there. He couldn't change that. But he could do something about it. Make the man who took Jay out of this world suffer for it. Make sure he knows the price of messing with either of them.
A few years passed. The days became a bit of blur to Tim, between driving, finding a new house, getting a new doctor. He concocted a story of his friends going missing (not killed, he didn't want to remember that). And Marble Hornets, or what part he played in bringing an end to it, faded to the back of his mind. He got better- for real this time. No crazy monsters hanging around, no hooded men stealing his pills. Nobody but him and his life.
Until Tim decided to clean out the closet. There, tucked behind some old boxes and under some clothes, was a duffel bag. It wasn't his, no. This one was roughed up, closer to the colour of his jeans. He opened it up, curious. Inside was some clothes (not his size, wonder who they belonged to), ibuprofen bottle that expired. Flashlight, and in one of the smaller pockets was a tape. It had a label.
Jay and Tim marriage, and the date was messed up. Tim still had that tape camera (maybe this Jay had owned it?), so he searched around and found it. He put the tape in.
There they were. A shitty hotel room, saying their wedding vows, Jay tripping over the words. There, they were making the best out of a horrible situation, one that Tim barely remembers but this - this, tears streaking down his face, sobs rattling his lungs with every word between them, the laughs on the tape when Jay fucked up something. This would be the one tape, the one thing that Tim keeps.
He tries to find that bracelet of his. But it's long gone, wherever it left. So he saves up, and finds a place. He gets a ring, made out of steel, with Jay's name and birthdate in there. He has one with his name and birthdate in it too.
And on the day he guessed to be their marriage day, he takes himself out to dinner. For the two of them.
The ring with Jay's name stays on his right hand. The one with his name stays on a necklace, tucked under his shirt. He pretends it was Jay's.
And he hopes that wherever Jay was now, that he was doing alright.