The Weight of Living

Summary: There's an albatross around your neck. Let it go.

A/N: This started out as a couple of vaguely cohesive drabbles and turned into...more. Not mine, don't own. Title and summary are from a Bastille song.

Yesterday, maybe even an hour ago, he would have had no problem pinpointing the worst moment of his life. No contest. The moment he learned his marriage and his career's most important case were both ruined by his wife's careless deception. That was unquestionably the most terrible moment to date. But right now, this moment, is very stiff competition. Because right now, he is on his way to go and tell his partner, the closest thing he has to a friend in this bastard town, tell her that her life is about to change immeasurably, and for the worse. He's painfully familiar with the kind of betrayal and loss she's about to feel, and the dread at seeing it come over her face makes him lightheaded. It was bad enough when his own marriage collapsed, but he knows now that was always inevitable. No one ever accused him of being easy to live with. But Miller-Ellie- she is loving and kind, sees the good in the world, and her marriage to Joe struck them all as idyllic. She is the last person to deserve this. Christ, he thinks, if his heart makes it through this day it must be stronger than the doctors give it credit for.