Author's Note: My friend Kevin asked me for a Dresden Files story. Geek that I am, sometimes that means going all the way back to the beginning for ideas. So I rolled the dice and prompt #074 came up: "so then which do you pick: where you're safe out of sight and yourself, but where everything's wrong, or where everything's right, and you know that you'll never belong?"

Originally published on my Tumblr acct, and now shared here.

The Choices One Makes

God, I was tired.

Sitting alone in my office after helping Murph on an arson case (yes, it was arson, and no, it wasn't my fault), all I wanted to do was go home, curl up on my couch with a book and a bottle of Mac's ale, and forget the world existed for a while. As I finished typing up my notes for my files on the old-fashioned typewriter I used, I shoved the papers into a folder and stuffed it into my filing cabinet. Then I paused - I hadn't realized just how many folders I'd accrued over the years. Missing persons, lost items, undone curses, paranormal investigations, and that was just the tamer stuff. My cabinet didn't hold most of the really insane stuff I'd tangled with over the years.

I've been working Chicago now for… God, has it really been almost twenty years now? No wonder I was tired.

Tired of knowing that no matter what I did to help Murphy, she'd have to fictionalize it to the limits of her imagination just to keep her own job…

Tired of people always looking at me sideways, seeing me as a charlatan, as a freak, as a fake…

Tired of risking my ass time and again in ways that most vanilla mortals could never dream of…

I sighed, shoved the typewriter to one side, rested my arms on my desk, and just put my head down on my wrists with a groan. I don't know how long I sat there as darkness fell outside, later now that the seasons were changing and spring was supposedly on its way. All I knew was that it felt like the weight of the world was all on my shoulders, and that I'd give almost anything to make it go away, even for a little while.

I heard footsteps stop outside my door, and as I lifted my head, I heard a knock. A bit late for clients, and my friends would have called first. I pushed myself to my feet and went to answer the door.

My regular mail carrier was outside, holding out a handful of envelopes.

"Evening, Dresden - sorry I'm late, they've got us working overtime."

"Must be, it's going on, what, six?" I asked, looking over my shoulder at the clock on the wall. "I was starting to wonder if today was a federal holiday that I'd missed."

"Yeah, we're short-staffed this week," he apologized. "Anyway, here you go. This one you'll need to sign for… thanks. Sorry if there's anything in there that'd mean a bank trip, you'll have to wait til tomorrow."

"I wish," I said with a sigh. "Thanks, man."

He waved at me and left, heading down the hall to deliver mail to the other tenants, and I went back into my office and closed the door.

Rent notice, phone bill, another Best Buy flyer for business-related technology I'd never be able to use, receipts from Murphy's department for services rendered (I refuse to tangle with the IRS if I can help it), my deposition from a court case…

Huh. A rather elegant envelope with calligraphy on the front. Interesting.

I opened it and found a large, formal invitation inside.

Faith Elizabeth Astor
and
Matthew Justin Thatcher
request the honor of your presence
as they exchange marriage vows
and begin their new life together

For a moment, I couldn't see as my vision blurred, and I bowed my head, but inside, I was smiling.