Venus smiles not in a house of tears

by RayMontague

A very short scene between Juliet and Paris, taking place after the events of 3.1 and after it's decided that they will marry. I wrote this entirely out of anger and disappointment at the fact that it is never acknowledged that Paris and Mercutio are related (since they're both kinsmen of the prince). Paris has just lost a family member here. I want to see a reaction.

When he entered the room, she was surprised to see that his usual sickeningly charming glow was gone. He stood stiffly, as if he was putting all of his strength into appearing strong. When he smiled at her, it was a smile that she had never expected to see on him, but that matched his oddly dull eyes perfectly. When he spoke, it was not with his infamous silver tongue, but in a voice that cracked and threatened to crumble.

"Please, Juliet," the strange voice said. "I love you. Try to be happy. You…" He looked down. "We could use a bit of happiness in our lives right now."

He looked up at her again. A lock of his impeccably groomed hair fell out of place. He made no move to push it back.

He stood in front of her for another moment. Then he gave a quick nod, turned away, and left just as stiffly as he had come.

The door shut behind him with a soft click.

A few muffled footsteps later, she thought she heard mournful sobs echoing through the hall outside.