A/N- I've had this written for a while now, but I didn't like it very much. Thanks to iknow and her amazing ideas, I finally finished so that I like it. I hope you do too. I don't own Psych.
Shawn rushed into the police station running straight towards Juliet's desk. In his haste he didn't notice Lassiter walking out of the chief's office. Shawn crashed right into him, sending them both to the floor.
"Spencer! What do you think you are doing?" Lassiter growled as a crowd began to form around them. The other officers were wondering if Lassiter was finally going to lose it, and just shoot Shawn.
"Sorry, Lassie." Shawn jumped up before Lassiter could finish thinking of the pros and cons of shooting him. "I just need to talk to Jules," he called as he continued in his pursuit to get to Juliet's desk.
Juliet was sitting in front of her computer, oblivious to everything, including the display between Shawn and Lassiter. She kept re-reading the e-mail from the guy she was supposed to be going out with later that would be her first date in months. She really liked Luke, and she knew her job wouldn't intimidate him since he worked as a prison guard, but she couldn't keep a certain hazel-eyed psychic out of her mind though. She knew it wouldn't last with Luke, but that didn't make it any less disappointing when she rceived the e-mail saying he changed his mind and decided to get back together with his ex last minute.
She was still staring at the screen when someone waved their hand in her face and said, "Hello. Earth to Jules. What are you reading?"
The sound of Shawn's voice pulled her out of her own little world. "Oh, hey Shawn. I'm just reading an e-mail from Luke."
"That guy's a tool," Shawn said before he could stop it. He saw the way Luke looked at her, and he didn't like it. He wasn't jealous though. Shawn Spencer doesn't get jealous. He just thought she deserved someone better.... Someone with hazel eyes, awesome hair, and an obsession with pineapple.
"He's not that bad, Shawn. We were actually supposed to go on a date tonight, but he canceled last minute. He got back together with his ex." The fact that Shawn was with her raised her spirits a lot. She enjoyed being around him, even if he was dissing her almost-dates.
"I knew he was a tool, but I didn't know he was an idiot too. Anyone has to be an idiot to cancel on you." Shawn couldn't believe anyone would choose another girl over Juliet. He couldn't hide his happiness though because that meant she was free tonight.
Juliet couldn't control the blush creeping up her cheeks. Shawn had that effect on her, and that scared her a little. She could see Shawn smiling, but then his look turned into more of a sinister grin.
"Why are you looking at me like that, Shawn?"
"Since Luke was an idiot, you don't have any plans tonight."
Juliet gave him a quizzical look. "So?"
"You can come to dinner with me at my dad's house tonight. One of the guys he plays poker with is moving to Alabama. He's having a going away party for him tonight. Don't ask me why, but he thinks it will be fun to turn it into a dinner party."
"What? No! no way, Shawn! I've heard you talk about your dad, and I don't want to get in the middle of whatever you and your dad have going on. Why don't you get Gus to do it?"
"Gus can't. Apparently he has a date tonight. For some reason he thinks seeing a movie with some girl will be more fun than dinner at my dad's. You are my last hope. Without you one of us won't survive the night, and I really don't want to strangle my dad in front of all of his friends." Shawn gave Juliet a pleading look that made her heart melt.
"What time is dinner?" Juliet grumbled.
Shawn grinned widely. "It's at seven, but I'll pick you up at six thirty. I have to go, but I'll see you later. Thanks, Jules. I really appreciate this."
Juliet watched Shawn walk out the door, wondering what she got herself into.
Juliet was applying her mascara when Shawn knocked on the door. "I'll be right there!" She called as she put the brush back in the tube. She walked out and opened the door.
Shawn's eyes widened as looked at Juliet. She was dressed in a strapless pink dress with her curled hair hanging loosely at her shoulders. Shawn didn't expect her to dress up, but he was happy she did. She looked amazing. "Wow, Jules. You look...Wow," Shawn gasped.
Juliet felt her face heat up. A shy smile appeared. "Thanks. I didn't know if I should dress up or not, but I found this in my closet. I never had a chance to wear this before, so I figured I would wear it now. You look pretty good yourself." Shawn was wearing a black suit with a green shirt. His tie was black with green stripes and she noticed his tie clip was a miniature pineapple.
"Are you ready to go? My dad hates it when I'm late."
"Yeah let's go. Did you borrow Gus's car or are we taking mine?
"Gus needed his car for his date so we'll take yours. I'll just leave my bike at your place."
Shawn climbed into the driver's seat and Juliet sat next to him. The ride over to Henry's house was silent. Juliet didn't know why she was so nervous. It wasn't like she was being introduced to her boyfriend's parents or anything. Shawn was her friend, but that's not how she felt. After a few minutes Shawn pulled into the driveway. He turned off the car and got out. He walked to the other door and opened it for Juliet to get out.
"Thanks," Juliet said as they walked to the door.
Shawn could see how nervous she was, so he rubbed her shoulder and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, Jules. My dad's going to love you. I don't know why he wouldn't. Just be yourself and you'll be fine."
As Shawn massaged her shoulder, Juliet could feel every muscle in her body go lax. She felt like she could stay there forever until Shawn reached around her and rung the doorbell. The sound pulled Juliet out of her thoughts, and she stood, her back ram rod straight. Shawn let go of her shoulder and opened the door.
Juliet noticed that there were five or six elderly guys inside. She felt slightly awkward because she didn't know who any of them were. Truth be told, she didn't even know who Shawn's dad was. She had seen him a couple times before, btu she never rally spoke to him. As Shawn was taking off his coat, Juliet looked around the living room and noticed a lot of fishing and camping stuff. She couldn't imagine Shawn liking either. While she observed everything, an elderly man with snow white hair approached her and Shawn. His eyes were a light blue and she could tell he would have been a handsome man when he was younger.
"Hello, Shawn. Who's the young lady you brought with you?" The man asked Shawn.
Hi, Jerry." Shawn smiled and gestured toward Juliet. "This is Juliet O'Hara."
"Nice to meet you, Juliet. I'm Jerry. I worked with Henry for years. Shawn is like a son to me. So, how long have you two been dating?"
"What?" The shock in Juliet's voice was evident. "Shawn and I are coworkers and friends. Nothing more."
Shawn tried to hide the hurt look that appeared on his face. She sounded so...definitive. "Yeah, we're just friends."
"Oh, sorry. I just assumed there was something going on between you two. You act like a couple and the chemistry is definately evident."
Shawn knew that Jerry wasn't trying to annoy him, but it was working anyway. Jerry was crossing a line that even he and Juliet didn't cross. "Do you know where my dad is? I want to let him know that we're here."
"Yeah, he's in the kitchen. I'll talk to you later, Shawn. Nice to meet you, Juliet."
Juliet followed Shawn into the kitchen. She kept replaying the conversation they had just had with Jerry over and over in her head. She couldn't believe he thought they acted like a couple and had chemistry. When they stopped in the kitchen Juliet saw Henry stirring something in a pot on the stove.
"Hi, Dad. How's dinner coming?"
"Hey, Shawn. It's almost done," Henry said without looking up. Henry turned off the burner and faced his son. He was expecting to see Shawn and Gus, but instead he saw a familiar looking woman next to him. He knew he had seen her before, but he couldn't put his finger on where. "Whose this? I thought Gus was coming with you." Henry said pointing towards Juliet. He had a perplexed look on his face.
Juliet gave Shawn a dirty look. "I thought you told him I was coming."
"I must have forgotten," Shawn said with a smirk. "Dad this is Juliet O'Hara. She's a detective at the SBPD. Jules, this is my dad. Gus had a date so he couldn't come. Jules is taking his place."
"Nice to meet you, Juliet. I'm Henry Spencer." Henry extended his hand to Juliet. She gripped his hand and shook it.
"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Spencer."
"Please, call me Henry. Why don't you go the living room. I'm sure a lot of the guys out there would like to meet. you. Shawn needs to help me with something in the kitchen."
Shawn gave his father a strange look, but his father just ushered him into the kitchen. Juliet didn't know who any of the people there, so she just sat on the couch and pretended to watch whatever was on the TV. She strained her ears to try to overhear what was being said in the kitchen. She could hear the first few words spoken by Henry, but her eavesdropping was interrupted by a man who looked to be in his sixties.
"Hello, beautiful. What's your name?" The man asked.
Juliet was taken completely off guard by him. She had never had an old man call her beautiful right out of the blue. "I'm Juliet. What's your name?"
"My name is Richard, but my friends call me Dick. Who did you come here with?"
"Umm, Shawn brought me. His other friend couldn't come so he asked me. We work together and he's my friend, so I agreed to come," Juliet said with a shrug of her shoulders.
"Well if you and Shawn are just friends, then you can leave with me." Richard had this look on his face that Juliet could only think was supposed to be enticing. Juliet found it slightly funny, but she was also appalled. She couldn't believe this guy was trying to flirt with her. Well, it was more like border-line sexual harrassment, but both were totally inappropriate. Juliet was just about to tell him off, but before she could, Jerry walked up to her.
"Hey, Juliet. Do you want me to give you a tour of the house?"
"Yes!" Juliet almost shouted. She was just so happy to get away from Richard.
She stood up and followed Richard down the hallway. As soon as they were out of earshot from Richard, Jerry said, "You looked desperate out there. I know how he can be around young women. His last wife was twenty-five. They got divorced a couple months ago, and now I think he is looking for her replacement."
"His last wife? How many has he had?"
"I think she made number five. He is extremely wealthy, so his oldest wife was thirty. All of them only stayed married to him long enough to get money in the divorce settlement. Don't tell anyone, but in my opinion Richard is basically a dirty old man. He will probably find quite a few new candidates when he moves."
"Oh, he's the one moving. Shawn told me someone was moving, but he didn't tell me who it was."
"Yeah, he's moving. I won't be too sad to see him go. He used to be my friend until he hit on my daughter. That was the only time I've ever punched one of my friends in the face. If Shawn knew he was trying to get with you, the old man would probably get punched again."
"What? Why would Shawn care?"
"Trust me. Shawn cares about you a lot more than he lets on. He has this protective look in his eyes. It's almost like you are his and only his. Nobody else is good enough. My sons had the same look in their eyes when they were dating the women that are now their wives. I am sure that he loves you. He can deny it, but I won't believe it. I know him too well." Juliet stood quietly staring at her shoes. She was trying to comprehend what Jerry was saying.
"You love him too," Jerry said matter-of-factly. This caused Juliet's head to jerk up.
"What? I do not!" She wouldn't even allow herself to think about such things. "I mean he is smart and funny. He saved my butt on multiple occasions. He even saved my life a few times. He's really hot, too. Maybe I really do love him," Juliet said, her voice barely above a whisper. She hadn't realized that she said all of that out loud, until she saw Jerry smiling. Juliet felt her face grow hot. "You can't tell him I said any of that, okay?" Juliet pleaded.
"Only if you promise me one thing," he said with a gleam in his eyes.
"You name it."
"You have to tell him yourself. I won't tell him if you do."
"You don't give me much of a choice now, do you?" Jerry laughed. He really liked this woman. He could see why Shawn liked her so much. "I'll tell him, but I'm going to be ticked if you're wrong and he really doesn't like me."
"I'm not wrong. Now I'm curious. Tell me about one of the times Shawn saved you because I've never known Shawn to put anyone else ahead of himself."
Juliet began to tell Jerry about the time Shawn saved her from the woman holding a knife to her throat. They walked back out to the living room to wait for dinner to get ready.
Meanwhile in the kitchen...
"Shawn, we need to talk." Shawn figured he was going to be reprimanded, but his father's next quesion surprised him. "So, how long have you and Juliet been together?"
"We aren't together. We have never even been on one date. We're just friends. Why does everyone keep asking that?"
"Shawn, I saw the way you look at her. You are more than friends, or at least you want to be."
"How do you know?"
"You haven't willingly introduced me to one of your girlfriends, ever. Now you bring this girl here that you say is just a friend to meet your dad. I don't believe it."
"Well, believe it, Dad, because it's true. You can't say you haven't met any of my girlfriends. I introduced you to Abigail."
"No you didn't. Abigail took it upon herself to introduce us." Henry kept repeating the name Juliet O'Hara over and over in his head. It sounded so familiar, but he couldn't place her. Then all of a sudden something clicked. "Shawn, trust me. You love her."
Shawn felt his jaw drop. "No I don't. Why would you say that?"
"You ran into a building with a crazy woman with an axe to save her. You caught the man she let escape because she was feeling bad about it. You risked your life to protect her when she went undercover at the roller derby. No offense, Shawn, but you don't usually risk yourself for someone else."
Shawn opened his mouth to deny it, but he knew it was useless. "It doesn't matter. I may love her, but she doesn't feel the same about me. I think it's better to keep my feelings to myself and just stay friends. She means too much to me to risk our friendship."
"Your my son and I love you, but you're an idiot. I can tell she loves you too. I know you never listen to me, but the greatest risks reap the greatest rewards. If she really means that much to you, you need to talk to her."
"I already know what she's going to tell me. She'll say it would be a mistake and then things will get extremely awkward between us again."
"How do you know? Are yoa a real psychic all of a sudden?" Shawn gave his dad a dirty look. "You need to tell her how you feel, Shawn. If you don't you will regret it later."
"Fine Dad. I'll talk to her, but if she turns me down and breaks my heart, I'll blame you."
"Just so you know, if you two start dating and you break her heart, you might not want to come around here for a while because it won't be safe for you."
"Don't worry. I could never do that to her. If I was responsible for breaking her heart, I couldn't live with myself."
Henry saw the sincere look on his son's face. He was pleased to see his son grwing up. "That's good to hear. Now help me carry the food out to the table."
Henry and Shawn placed the food on the table. Juliet heard them in the dining room and she and Jerry wandered over to them.
"Hey Jules. Dinner's ready so you can take a seat anywhere. Did you have fun mingling?" Shawn hoped she didn't feel too out of place around all of the men that were strangers to her.
"Mingling? Really, Shawn? Who says that anymore?" Juliet gave him a sly smile. "But yes, I did have fun. Jerry and I had a good conversation." Juliet sat in the chair closest to her, and Shawn took the seat next to hers.
"Did you talk to anyone else?"
"Yeah one other person," Juliet said glancing to Richard. He was talking to someone over by the door. Other people were beginning to sit down to eat so Shawn had to lower his voice.
"Oh crap," Shawn mumbled. "I sohould have warned you about Richard. Please tell me he didn't try to make you wife number six."
"Oh he definately tried. He told me to call him Dick." Juliet let a small laugh escape because after thinking about it, it was kind of funny.
One look at Shawn though, told her he didn't find it one bit humorous. Shawn leaned closer to Juliet so no one else could hear what he said next. "He is so perverted. I don't know how he got that many women to marry him in the first place. I also don't know how he thought he had a shot with you. I mean, his other wives were all sluts and airheads. You are nothing like any of them."
Juliet could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she felt Shawn's breath by her ear. She wanted nothing more than to turn her head and capture his lips with hers. Instead, she restrained herself. "It's not that big of a deal. He's moving anyway, so neither of us will probably ever see him again."
"That's definately a good thing," Shawn whispered. He pulled away from her just enough to see her eyes. When he did, he forgot anyone else was in the room. It was only them. He knew his dad was right and if he didn't do something soon, he would regret it. He gently placed his hands on either side of her face and leaned in.
Juliet didn't know what Shawn was doing. Well, she knew what he was going to do, but she didn't know why since they were at his dad's house surrounded by people. Juliet promptly forgot about everything as Shawn's lips met hers. Nothing else mattered at the moment, but her and Shawn. It was perfect, but nothing like she expected. It was slow and sweet.
He didn't move his hands from her face. It was almost as if he was afraid she would stop him. Just as Shawn pulled Juliet's bottom lip in his mouth he felt something hit him in the head. He was abruptly brought back into reality. Everyone was staring at them and his dad and Jerry were smiling. Shawn had a sheepish grin on his face and Juliet's entire face was red.
"Are you two finished?" Henry said with a smirk.
Shawn gave his dad a dirty look, and for the first time since they stopped kissing Shawn looked at Juliet. He could tell she was really embarrassed and he felt bad for doing that to her. He stood up, and said, "Jules can I talk to you in the kitchen?"
Juliet silently stood up and followed him. Henry watched as they left.
When they got to the kitchen, Shawn turned to face her. "Jules, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you like that."
"It's okay, Shawn. We can just forget it ever happened." That wasn't at all what she wanted to say, but she wanted to put off telling him everything for as long as possilble. Juliet turned and began to walk back to the table. Before she could take more than a few steps Shawn had snagged her wrist. She turned around and almost gasped as she saw his eyes. They were wild and determined and almost...desperate.
"I can't forget, and I really don't want to," Shawn said as he took a couple steps forward. Before Juliet could comprehend what he was saying, he let go of her wrist and grabbed her shoulders and his lips came crashing into hers. Juliet didn't think anything could ever feel more right than this. This kiss was completely opposite the first. This kiss was passionate and desperate. Juliet gasped as Shawn's tongue pushed between her lips. Her arms snaked around his neck and her fingers tangled into his hair. One of Shawn's hands was resting on her waist and the other had moved to her lower back and pressed her even closer to him. Her body molded to his and she could hear a low moan in the back of his throat. Their lungs begged for the oxygen they were being deprived of. Shawn finally released her slightly swolen lips, but he wouldn't let her out of his embrace. As they both tried to catch their breath, Juliet rested her head on his chest. He planted a kiss right above her ear before he whispered, "I love you, Jules."
Juliet couldn't believe what he just said. "What?!"
"I love you. I have for years. My dad convinced me today that if I didn't do something soon, I would regret it. I don't want to have any regrets, Jules; especially about you." Shawn was afraid of what she would say, but he knew his dad was right. He also took the fact that Juliet hadn't pulled away as a good sign.
Juliet smiled. That was what she had hoped he would say. She pulled back just enough so she could see his face. "I love you to, Shawn."
Shawn grinned and quickly placed a kiss on her lips. "So, Jules what are you doing this weekend?"
"Probably whatever you are doing."
"It's a date," Shawn said. "Let's get back in there before my dad comes looking for us."
Shawn kissed Juliet once more. Shawn wrapped his arm around her shoulders and they walked back to the table. They were both smiling stupidly, and Henry and Jerry both knew something had happened in the kitchen. Shawn pulled out Juliet's chair for her and sat down next to her. Henry and Jerry shared a knowing look as Shawn held Juliet's hand under the table. Shawn seemed happier now than ever before.
Henry had never been so happy to have Gus cancel plans with Shawn to go on a date. He smiled as he realized this will probably be the first and last girlfriend of Shawn's that he will ever have to meet.
Shawn looked down at his fingers that were intertwined with Juliet's. He was definately glad that he decided to introduce his dad to Juliet. He knew that was the real deal. Shawn knew their relationship was a forever type of thing.
When she lifted her head to smile at him, he just wasn't sure if forever would be long enough.
A/N- Please review because they make me smile:]
