A/N: This is an OLD story, that is up on a different site, but for some reason my computer doesn't let me on the other site anymore. And so, I have decided to move it to FFnet, in case others are unable to reach the other site as well. I have much more to this story, and so I will upload maybe every day, or every other day... or maybe a couple in one day, who knows... but as I try to find some sense inside me, maybe getting back by uploading old stuff here will help me out.

I have no rights of Psych, yada yada.

KARLTON, not even sorry I'm not sorry.

Freaking love Karlton.

And if you don't know what Karlton is: it's Carlton and Karen.

So yea. obscure ships for the win.

Love lots,

CBC

Divorce

Karen wiped away the tears in her eyes as she stepped through her front door after the court hearing. She still couldn't believe her husband had been seeing another woman… Sure, they had been fighting some… ok, a lot, before she found out… but she had never once thought about cheating on him, she thought that the bout of fighting would blow over… but it got worse after his affair leaked out. 'Because of you!' he had said… 'Because you don't pay me enough attention… you're always neck deep in cases and when you get a break you spend most of your time with Iris!'

She was still livid that he had dared to say such things to her. Of course she wanted to spend time with her daughter; Iris was growing up so fast, she was already seven, and because of work Karen didn't always get to spend quality time with her. God… he hadn't even been there for the birth of their daughter, he had been stuck in traffic, leaving Lassiter to be there for her. Lassiter… her lips twitched upward slightly as she remembered the first time he had genuinely smiled at her, truly acknowledged that she was good at her position, after he'd been so rude to her because she had been below him in rank to suddenly shoot up above him. She had been his partner for a good while after Henry had retired, then the Chief had retired and she found herself surpassing him… neither liked it, but she grew to the idea faster then Carlton had.

"Mommy!" Karen looked up, drawn from her thoughts, to find her daughter running towards her with the babysitter in tow.

"Hey there baby girl, how was your day?" She couldn't help but smile widely as she picked up Iris and gave her a big squeeze.

"Good… but Mommy… I'm not a baby anymore," Iris whined as she squeezed her mother back.

"You'll always be my baby girl, no matter how big you get," Vick kissed Iris's cheek before setting her back on the floor, "Could you get me a glass of water, and pull the steak from the fridge, while I talk with Claire?"

Iris nodded happily, excited by the word steak, and skipped off in direction of the kitchen, "Be right back Mommy!"

When she was out of ear shot the babysitter turned to her, "How'd the hearing go?"

"I won, I have full custody of Iris, but he does have visitation rights. I have the house, and he'll be coming by sometime this week to pick up the assets he was able to get his grubby little hands on."

Claire smiled, "Good, Iris deserves to be with you."

"I'm going to have to change your hours around, which is good and bad. I mean, you'll be getting paid more, but if there's a day you can't watch her I'll have to bring her to the station. I don't have the time to find a second sitter, and I really don't want to have a second one. My mother did that with me… it ended horribly."

"No problem Karen. If you need me to I could ask Danielle. We both know that she has a flexible schedule, and she loves Iris just as much as I do."

Vick sighed, "Sometimes I guess we could do that, at least it would be someone that Iris knows, and I know. Maybe then I can continue to keep my divorce from leaking out at the station."

"Well, give me a call if you need help with anything," Claire smiled and headed for the door.

"Wait, Claire?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you care to stay for dinner?"

Claire smiled again, "Sure, I would love to."

Three and a half weeks… it's been three and a half weeks… God, I can't believe I never was able to pick up on the signs of the affair… and now Iris is curious about where her dad is… and I don't know what to tell her. She's seven! She won't understand… and I don't want her hating her father like I hated mine….

"Chief?"

I guess, I guess my family 'curse' is true… just like all of the women before me… they all got divorced. I truly had thought that I would be different… so much for that…

"Chief?"

Karen jumped slightly and wiped the tears from her face before looking up, "Yes?"

Carlton was standing above her and when he noticed the red puffiness of her face, a concerned look spread across his own, "Vick? You ok?"

She nodded, "I'm… fine…. Now, I'm pretty sure that you didn't come in here to ask how I'm doing."

Lassiter paused a moment, staring her in the eyes, before scooting a chair back and sitting down, "Chief, are you sure you're all right?"

Her voice caught in her throat forcing her to nod awkwardly as she tried not to let the tears spill down her cheeks, "I'm… per…fectly… fine," she choked out and tried to smile for reassurance.

Carlton stood and closed the blinds and door before sitting back down. "No, you're not. What's wrong?" His brow was furrowed as he kept her gaze with his own. Concern was etched so deep into his face it almost scared her that he could care so much about how she felt.

She looked away, unable to lie straight to his face when he was being so kind, "Lassiter, please… I'm fine."

"Then look me in the eyes, Karen, and tell me again."

She turned back, shock written into her features and opened her mouth to say she was fine but instead of words a sob escaped her lips, and the river of tears she was holding back fell down her already tear-worn cheeks, "I got… a divorce… almost four… weeks… ago…. He… was… having an… af… af… affair!" Burying her face into her hands she didn't see Carlton stand up until he was taking hold of her hand and pulling her to her feet.

Wrapping his arms around her in a hug he made no efforts to get her to stop crying, instead he held her close and said, "It's ok to cry. I'm right here for you."

Half an hour passed before Karen was able to stop crying, and the whole time Carlton had stood there with his arms wrapped protectively and caringly around her. They continued to stand there for a few moments and then Lassiter stepped back just enough to tip her head back to look into her eyes. He brushed her hair from her face and gave her a serene smile, "Feel better?"

Vick swore she felt her heart skip a beat as she nodded in reply.

"Good. You want to talk?"

She shook her head no and looked down at the ground, "Not… not right now."

He used her chin to tilt her head back up again and meet her saddened gaze with his own, "I'm here for you, if you ever need to talk. You're a good woman Karen, and you shouldn't feel like you're alone."

She stood there, frozen still, staring deeply into his sweet blue eyes. Before she knew what she was doing she leaned forward, and found him leaning down, to catch his lips with her own.

So, what do you think? If you were ever on Psychfic, let me know if it's still up... cause I can't get on it.

Love lots,

CBC