Charlie entered the kitchen. Ted was at the island, having breakfast.
"Morning Charlie," he managed to say in between a spoonful of cereal and a sip of juice.
"My father sent me those," said the redheaded, throwing two cards towards his friend.
Charlie stared at Ted, playing with his still unlaced tie, until his roommate slowly took one card with a questioning look in his eyes.
He turned the white card in his hands. One side was addressed with long, graceful handwriting. The other side had only two crossed rings, printed in relief.
"Oh." Ted blinked. "Here we go." He made a grimace "I knew it would happen sooner or later, but I deliberately ignored this...'til now, of course…" he tilted his head.
Charlie studied his friend for a little while before continuing, "I was thinking of asking you if you would want to come with me…"
Ted shifted his weight on the chair, uncomfortably. "Charlie…I..I don't think that's a good idea…you know, Olivia and I…" he avoided Charlie's eyes "I think I like her…and I don't want to see her...ummm…you know…"
"Yeah, sorry, I imagined that, but I had to try," he started to lace his tie, looking at the floor while saying, "I'm so sorry. I know what it means…to love someone you can't have, to watch her find happiness in another man's arms."
Ted shifted his glance to Charlie's face, wondering if he was talking about his crush on his lawyer or if this was a new wound in his tormented heart.
"You know what?" Charlie said while arranging his tie, "I don't think I'm gonna go either. I wanted to, maybe just for the sick pleasure of seeing him insult my mother's memory once again. You know, so I could have another reason to hate him, possibly even more than I do now. But, I don't think I could face that without a friend there with me."
"And what about asking Constance?" suggested Ted.
Charlie made a grimace "Um..our relationship isn't exactly friendly at this moment…she told me to close that door…I think she was tired of waiting for me, It's funny, we were never in the same place at the same time. Me in prison, her out in the world. Then, me out of jail, her married, me not in love with her anymore and her free to love someone else. Being together just isn't our destiny, I know that now."
Ted opted for the idea of a newly wounded heart.
"Oh. That's too bad, Charlie. I'm sorry...what about asking Tina? Or was Gina…I never remember which one is which…"
Charlie laughed "Ted, I said a friend, not an occasional lover…"
"Then ask Dani Reese." he pressed on.
Charlie let out another stifled laugh "Oh, she'd shoot me for sure!"
But, his eyes wandered a bit on the wall, like his mind was contemplating a different scenario, one in which Dani accepts his invitation and goes to the wedding with him, beautiful on his arm in her long dress.
Suddenly, he had a valid reason to go to his father's wedding.
xxx
He was still day-dreaming about dancing with Dani in her long dress at the wedding party when she arrived at the station later the same morning.
"Morning Crews" she said putting her jacket on the chair.
"Uh...morning Reese!"
She noticed the strange look in his eyes and asked "What?..Do I have something in my hair?"
"Oh no..I was just thinking…" About you and me dancing laced in a wedding party, but he didn't add that.
Lt. Davis called out for the two of them. " Hurry up! We have an homicide-suicide at this address."
Crews took the piece of paper from her hands and Dani put her jacket on again before running towards the elevator.
xxx
"I don't understand homicide-suicide" muttered Charlie, his eyes fixed on the doors of the elevator closed in front of him. "I understand homicide, I understand suicide, but not homicide-suicide…you're supposed to actually love the person you killed. If you really love someone you want to see her alive, not dead! You want to live with her and not die with her!"
Dani rased one eyebrow "Who told you that they're lovers? A lot of people commit homicide-suicide…" she tilted her head "...angry sons, frustrated fathers, desperate students, crazy guys with a gun in schools, followers of those religious sects…"
But Charlie went on following his line of thoughts "..you want to be with her even if the whole world around you thinks that you're doing the craziest thing ever...you would do anything, everything for her...even inviting the person you hate most to your wedding only to see her happy...I think I understand that..."
Dani looked at him, puzzled.
"Crews? Did you hear me?"
"Huh?"
She rolled her eyes "You're doing it again!"
"What?"
"You are not talking to me."
His eyes met her dark glance " Dani, do you think that love is the answer?"
The doors of the elevator opened and Dani rushed out past him.
xxx
Dani drove while Charlie was looking at the road, lost in thought.
After a while she eyed him, then turned back her eyes to the road.
"Ok Charlie, what's the matter with you?"
He didn't turn his eyes towards her. "My father sent me two invitations for his wedding…next month he'll marry that eight year old and seems that they want me to go…I don't know why anyhow…I was thinking to go, but then I changed my mind and now I'm thinking of changing my mind again…I'm a little confused."
She smiled nodding "Oh, now I understand all your muttering about love and doing things you don't want to…"
He turned in his seat to look at her "Do you think I should go?"
Dani raised her eyebrows.
Charlie waited. His eyes stared at her profile until she added "You know I'm not the right person to ask about father and son's relationships, but if you want my opinion…Two invitations you said? You can bring someone with you so you'll have someone to focus on if the things will go bad -"
Charlie blinked, a smile formed on his lips. "Maybe I could ask her to come after all." he thought.
"- but just because I don't like weddings ... "
"Or maybe not." His smile faded away.
"- with their fake feelings, envies, people who feel themselves forced to be happy…I'll say that maybe you could stay at home and simply send them that blender you were talking about few months ago."
She didn't look away from the road.
"Yep, or…maybe…you…" Charlie nodded without conviction, awkwardly turning his attention to his right knee.
Dani noticed his hesitation and asked herself if he was hiding something he was afraid to say loud.
Then a sudden realisation popped up in her mind.
No.
Wait.
It wasn't possible…
Was he planning to ask her to go with him?
To go with him.
"Just you and me. Not Detective Crews and Detective Reese. Only Charlie and Dani".
That thought pleased her. And her being pleased scared her. A lot. But what scared her most was the answer she would have given him.
Luckily ("or not?"she thought) Charlie changed suddenly the subject.
"It's strange for a girl not to like weddings…every girl I've ever met thought that wedding is the right ending for every important love affair," he said, interrupting her thoughts.
"Crews…I'm not a girl." pointed out Dani.
Charlie turned slowly his face towards hers.
He rested his eyes on her for a little while. That look in his eyes. His inquiring look. She started to feel strange. Uncomfortable. Hot.
"I know Dani, I know you're a woman…" he finally muttered, with his best husky voice.
"Wha-?" she turned her head meeting his eyes. Weren't his words but their inflexion that astonished her.
Did he know something about her casual relationships? Was he concerned about that?
Charlie didn't look away. Blue eyes interlaced with brown ones.
"You're strange today, Crews" said Dani turning his gaze back on the road "If it's possible, you're acting stranger than you usually are!" she was trying to hide her uneasyness with some direct sentences. His rough voice and the look Charlie had given her made her feel scanned, exposed, powerless.
Seen.
xxx
He was right.
It turned out the homicide-suicide was a man in his early thirties who murdered his ex-girlfriend three days before her wedding.
Coming back to station later the same afternoon Charlie was looking at her with those puppy-childish-happy eyes that screamed "I told you!", a half smile pasted on his face.
"Ok, you guessed right, Crews," admitted Dani "They had been lovers, but, and here's my point, they weren't in love anymore, so at the very end, this isn't a love-affair turned bad. It's a crazy man who killed a poor girl."
"Oh no, my darling!" laughed Charlie "Maybe she wasn't in love with him anymore but, and this is my point, he was. So it was a love-affair turned bad!"
Dani eyed him. "So love is the answer, huh?"
"Always." He nodded energetically.
"And what about the hate?" she pushed.
"Oh, of the love we can speak, but not of the hate, for what is hate but love tortured by its own hunger and thirst?"
She raised her eyebrows looking at him "I think I don't understand you…"
"When love is hungry it seeks food even in dark caves, when it thirsts, it drinks even of dead waters." he looked straight into her eyes.
And then she got it. These words and his gaze were spoken for her. Oh yes. Only for her.
"Now I'm sure he knows something," she established.
Dani turned her eyes to the road, she had to do something, had to say something able to stop that gaze.
"I'm going to the wedding with you," she spit it out in one breath.
Not what she expected. And, not what he expected.
It was his turn to have a surprised look towards the road "Uh…oh…'mkay Reese. Good. Amazing."
Nobody spoke until they arrived at the station, fifteen minutes later.
xxx
Dani disappeared to Lt Davis office for two hours to update her, while Charlie filled in the blanks.
When she came back to her desk, Charlie took something from his first drawer and handed it to her partner saying "Er…I suppose I have to give you this…"
She reached out her hand towards the invitation.
"Yes, I suppose it too" she said without looking up at him.
He deliberately didn't let go the white card immediately, so they ended in holding it at the same time: Dani pulling it, Charlie holding it firmly.
At last, she lifted her head. Their eyes met for the first time in hours.
"Thank you," said his mouth. "It's not a mistake," ensured his eyes.
"You're welcome," answered her lips. "I'm going to regret it," replied her look.
TBC
