14. Smile
Juliet is beautiful. Oh, sure, brides usually are, but she's especially lovely. Lassiter swallows dryly and stares at a flower arrangement as Juliet's father leads her down the aisle toward Shawn Spencer. He wants her to be happy. Telling them, telling her, would only make her upset. She's already upset too often because of their job. He doesn't ever want to be part of the reason she's hurting. He wants her to be happy. She deserves it.
He makes himself smile, even exchanges a few words with someone's aunt about the bridesmaids dresses. He'd almost asked Vick to put him on duty today, but that would have raised to many questions. He could imagine Vick's reaction if she'd found out. Disgust, shock, pity.
It's hard enough watching the person he's in love with marry someone else without knowing that he was being pitied because of it.
Instead he sits and watches. Kisses Juliet on the cheek. Congratulates Spencer and shakes his hand. Even tosses in a small threat about taking care of his partner that he's only partially joking about. Spencer clasps his hand just a little too tightly for just a second too long, his mouth grinning, but his eyes dark and knowing and apologetic.
Later, when the bride and groom take to the floor for their first dance, Carlton makes his way over to the bar, orders a scotch, and forces himself to tear his eyes away from Spencer-Shawn-and keep smiling.
Kristin: Why am I so mean to these characters when I love them so much? I'm going to blame this one on the fact that I can't get Etta James' All I Could Do Was Cry out of my head today. If you've never heard it, then do yourself a favor and follow the link to Youtube. (http:/www[dot]youtube[dot]com/watch?v=0_i-AI61Peo) Phenomenal song sung by a powerhouse of a vocalist.
Also, can I just take second to point at the numbers at the bottom of the screen? 2/10ths of the way through! Woo!
20/100