In case you missed it in the pairing and the summary, this is a slash story. If you don't like it, don't read it. Any reviews bashing the story because of this will be deleted.
This pairing is the reason I started writing fanfiction. I have part of the story written and will update weekly until I run out of stuff to post. Hopefully I will be able to keep up. But I have holiday fics planned that need to be posted by their respective holidays, so they will take priority. I decided to start posting this anyway because I just couldn't keep it to myself any longer.
This story takes place halfway through season 3 before Lassie Did a Bad Bad Thing. But I draw on information from all seven seasons so far, so beware of spoilers.

Santa Barbara 1989

The slamming of the kitchen door heralded Shawn's return home from school. Henry looked up from his newspaper as his son entered the room. "What did I tell you about slamming doors, Shawn?" he said irritably.

"Sorry," Shawn muttered quickly crossed the kitchen and stomped his way up the stairs. A few seconds later Henry heard another door slam.

Typical. The kid never listened, at least not completely. He had noticed Shawn used less force to slam his bedroom door. Sometimes he thought his son was too smart for his own good.

Henry sighed, folding his paper. He better go figure out what happened before Shawn destroyed the house. He got up from the table and headed up stairs.

As he suspected, Shawn's bedroom door was shut. He gave a quick rap on it. "Shawn?"

"Go away."

Henry opened the door and rolled his eyes at the sight that met him. Shawn was sprawled face down on the bed,face mashed into the comforter. His shoes and backpack were still on. It looked like he had come in and thrown himself on the bed in a melodramatic fit.

Henry crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame. "I thought you were going over to the Guster's after school today."

"Gus hates me," Shawn said, voice muffled by the bedspread.

"What did you do this time?" Henry asked.

Shawn turned his head to look at him. "Why do you always assume it's my fault?" he whined petulantly.

Henry just looked at Shawn, saying nothing.

Shawn sighed, turning his face back into the bedspread. "It's not fair. She's the one that started it."

Henry raised an eyebrow. "She?"

Shawn sighed again. "Lucy Reynolds."

"What does she have to do with Gus being mad at you?" Henry asked.

Shawn folded his arms under his head and muttered something into the sheets.

"Louder, Shawn."

Shawn lifted his head slightly. "I made her cry in front of everyone at recess," he said, voice barely above a whisper.

Henry sighed. It could never be a simple fix with Shawn. He crossed the room and sat down on the bed next to his son. "Alright kid, start from the top and tell me what happened."

Shawn turned his head towards Henry. He didn't look at him, just started tracing a design on the comforter. "Lucy was telling everyone how her dad had taken her to a Seabirds game. And that her mom had promised to take her to Disney Land this weekend." Shawn scoffed. "Everyone was treating her like she was special. You took me to a Seabirds game. It's not that big a deal."

It was obvious Shawn was jealous of the attention this girl was getting. Knowing his son, Henry guessed what happened next. "Did you tell her that?"

Shawn nodded. He was plucking at the blanket now, pulling out little threads. "She just said I was jealous because my dad was too cheap to take me anywhere. Which isn't true," Shawn said quickly, glancing up at Henry. He nodded, amused by Shawn's sudden show of loyalty.

Shawn turned his gaze back to the blanket and sighed heavily. "Then she said her dad got her a mini bike. A mini bike." He looked up at Henry incredulous. "Who gives a girl a mini bike? She probably wouldn't even know what to do with it."

Henry could hear the envy in Shawn's voice. Ever since he had found out about them, he had been pestering Henry for one every chance he could get. But Henry thought they were too much like training for a motorcycle, and there was no way he was ever going to let Shawn have one of those death traps.

He noticed Shawn's plucking at the blanket had become nearly frantic. It seemed they were almost to the crux of the matter. "So what happened next?"

"I said why should I be jealous of someone whose parents are splitting up?" Shawn turned his face back into the bedspread.

Henry sighed heavily, looking down at his idiot son. "That was a horrible thing to say."

"But it's true," Shawn said defensively. "And don't you say you should always tell the truth?"

"When someone asks you something, yes you should always tell the truth," Henry said. "But that doesn't mean it's okay to tell other people's secrets."

"But someone asked her why her parents kept getting her stuff and taking her places," Shawn said, sitting up on the bed. "She said it was because they loved her."

"And I'm sure they do," Henry replied.

"But that's not why they did it," Shawn argued. "It was because they are splitting up. Which means she was lying. So everyone shouldn't have gotten mad at me. They should've been mad at her." He didn't sound very confident about his argument and refused to meet Henry's eyes.

At least the kid knew he was in the wrong. Now he just needed him to understand why. "Shawn, what happened after you said what you did to Lucy?" Henry asked.

Shawn started fiddling with a shoelace. "She yelled at me, then started crying."

"And why do you think she did that?" Henry prompted.

"Girls are crazy?" Shawn asked hesitantly.

"She was upset. She didn't want people to know her parents are getting a divorce," Henry explained. "She lied so people wouldn't find out."

Shawn seemed to ponder this for a moment. "But you said you should always tell the truth," he said stubbornly.

Henry sighed. Sometimes he couldn't tell if Shawn was being difficult on purpose or truly didn't understand something. "Sometimes, when it's something other people don't need to know, it's ok to lie," Henry tried to explain.

"Like when someone gets an F on a paper?" Shawn asked.

Henry looked at him sharply. "What paper?"

"No paper," Shawn said quickly. "But you wouldn't need to know that, right?"

Henry gave him a long stare. Shawn stared back at him innocently.

"I meant something personal," Henry said, dropping the issue for now. "Like the fact that you cried watching Bambi."

"I did not," Shawn protested.

"I saw you Shawn, you were bawling like a little girl," Henry said. He hid a grin as Shawn fidgeted uncomfortably on the bed next to him. "Now, would you want everyone at school to know that?"

"No," Shawn muttered.

"Do they need to know?" Henry asked.

"No."

"There you have it," Henry said with satisfaction.

"So it's like a secret," Shawn said slowly.

"Exactly."

"But didn't you say keeping secrets is almost as bad as lying?" Shawn asked in confusion.

Henry sighed. "It's complicated."

"So is it or isn't it ok to lie?" Shawn asked in frustration.

Henry ran a hand through his hair. "Look, how about this. Don't lie and don't keep secrets from me or your mother."

"But I can keep secrets from Gus?" Shawn asked.

Henry nodded reluctantly.

"But to do that I would have to lie. And you said no lying," Shawn pointed out.

Henry gave up. "Just don't make anymore girls cry, alright," he said in defeat.

Shawn nodded. "I can do that." He shrugged out of his backpack as he got up and headed to the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Henry asked.

Shawn paused in the doorway. "To see if Gus is still talking to me?" he asked hesitantly.

"Nice try," Henry said. He stood up and steered Shawn back into the room and sat him on the edge of the bed. "But you're grounded."

"Grounded?" Shawn asked in shock. "Why?"

"An F on a paper?" Henry asked. "Thought you could sneak that one past me, didn't you?" He walked to the doorway, leaving Shawn looking stunned. "Face it, kid, I always know when you're lying."

Shawn flopped back on the bed with a groan. "Today sucks."

"That's life, kid."

Henry closed the door and headed back downstairs. He hoped Shawn had gotten something out of their little talk. Lying could be useful for a cop, but only in the right circumstances.

He rubbed at his temple where he could feel a headache forming. Maybe Maddie would have a better idea how to explain everything to Shawn when she got home.

Santa Barbara 2008

Shawn Spencer surveyed the table in front of him.

Soda? Check.

Assorted snacks? Check.

Sliced up pineapple sweetness? Check.

Everything was ready for a relaxing night spent in front of the TV. He sat down on the couch and grabbed the remote. Now to pick which show would star in his impromptu mini marathon. He scrolled through the shows recorded on the TiVo until he came across one of his favorite crime dramas. Queuing up the first episode, he popped open a can of soda and sprawled out on the couch with a sigh.

It had been a busy week. First there was the robbery case for the police, which Shawn had managed to solve in record time. But it had involved a lot of leg work on his part in order to stay ahead of the two detectives on the case. As if he wasn't busy enough, Psych had managed to land not one but two private cases this week. Both of which involved cheating spouses, which meant hours spent trailing the accused parties to get the incriminating photos. Gus felt such cases were beneath them and had refused to help. This meant Shawn had to spend a few sleepless nights to get the evidence he needed, which was why he was currently stretched out on the couch in the Psych office relaxing instead of going out like he usually does on Friday nights.

He had invited Gus to his evening of gluttony and mindless television but his friend had other plans. Tonight marked his fifth date with Monica and Gus seemed to really like her. Too bad Shawn knew it wouldn't last. He had seen her flirting with several of her coworkers at Bed Bath & Beyond. Judging by the videos he found in the box hidden at the back of her closet, she had also done some extensive mattress testing in the back room. And a few times on the floor models. But since he had promised Gus he wouldn't spy on his new girlfriend, he had to keep his mouth shut until it all blew up in his face, which should be any day now.

Shawn grabbed a hand full of chips, spilling half of them on the floor. He sighed but made no move to clean up the mess. That was too much work right now. Besides, if he left it, Gus would clean it up. Sure, he would lecture Shawn the entire time about keeping the office clean for potential clients but Shawn would still get out of doing it. It was one of the perks of doing this here. That and the TiVo. Shawn didn't see a point in paying for his own when they already had one for the office. He had already loaded it up with all his favorite shows.

Right now, he was watching the squint squad help Booth solve another FBI case. Like with most cop shows, he had figured out who the killer was within the first five minutes, but the interactions between the characters kept him watching. Especially between Booth and Brennan. He had been rooting for them for years and was glad they had finally become a couple. Now, if only such a relationship would work between him and a certain detective.

His train of thought was interrupted when his phone started playing Cyndi Lauper's 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.' Speaking of detectives he thought with a smile. He quickly paused the show before grabbing his phone. "Hey Jules. What's up?" There was silence on the other end of the line. "Hello, Earth to Jules," he said in a sing song voice.

"Shawn, hi," Juliet said finally. He noticed her voice sounded a little higher than normal. "Um, so what's new?"

"Nothing much," he said, thinking the question odd. He had just seen Juliet yesterday, after all. "Just hung out with Gus and played video games all day. I was totally kicking his ass in Soul Caliber IV."

"Good, good," she said, voice tapering off into silence.

It was clear she was nervous about something. He glanced over at the clock. It was a little late for this to be about a new case, and she had never sounded so flustered calling about a case before. Something else was going on. "So, Jules, why is a pretty detective like you calling me on a Friday night?" he asked, deciding the best approach here was to just ask her outright. "Shouldn't you be out on a date, rocking the night life?"

There was another lengthy pause. He took a sip of his soda as he waited impatiently for her to answer. "I need to ask a favor," she said hesitantly.

"Is this one of those favors that could lead to embarrassing blackmail photos for years to come?" he asked teasingly.

"Shawn, this is serious," she snapped angrily. He was surprised by her tone. Juliet was usually so happy and cheerful. It was her partner that was liable to bite someone's head off over a little joke. It was eerie and worrisome how close she sounded to Lassiter just then.

He turned off the TV and put down his soda, the call now gaining his full attention. "Jules, what's going on?" he asked uneasily. Her nervousness, the odd timing of the call, snapping at him over a joke; everything was telling him something had happened.

"I screwed up. Big," she said quietly. "And now Carlton. . ." He heard her sigh. "I'm worried about him."

"Screwed up how?" Shawn asked anxiously. "Was it a case you were working on? Did someone get hurt? And why are you worried about Lassiter? Did something happen to him?" He was talking too fast, something he always did when he was nervous. But having grown up around cops, he knew how bad it could get when something went wrong with a case.

"No one got hurt," she said, causing Shawn to relax slightly. "And it wasn't a case. Look, something happened down at the station today. I told. . .I may have. . ." He felt his interest peak. She sounded almost. . . embarrassed, trying to tell him what had happened. She continued with a sigh. "I just really think someone needs to check on Carlton," she said quietly.

"Jules, this is Carlton Lassiter we're talking about," Shawn reminded her. "Gruff Irish detective with a bad temper? Never lets anything get to him? Whatever happened, he'll just get drunk, get over it, and be fine by Monday."

"Not something like this," she insisted. She took a deep breath. "I know you guys don't always get along, but could you check on him? I think he could really use a friendly, non-police face tonight."

"OK," Shawn said slowly, slightly confused. Non-police? "Seriously Jules, what the hell happened? Why are you so worried about him?"

"He'll probably be at the bar near his house," Juliet said, ignoring his question. "Thanks Shawn." He heard a beep as the call disconnected.

He sat there a moment, staring at his phone. "Well, that has to have been the strangest phone call of all time." What could have possibly happened that would lead Juliet to call him, worried about Lassiter of all people? He tried to piece together the few bits of information he had. He knew it wasn't about a case. It almost sounded like it was personal. Something personal about Lassiter. Except the man was usually an emotional rock. So whatever happened would have to be really big to break through that tough exterior. Something big enough to lead his partner to call one of his least favorite people in the world to check up on him. Shawn shook his head. None of it made any sense.

Knowing he would probably regret this, he got up and grabbed his keys. The quickest way to find out what was going on was to go to the source. And that meant tracking down an irritable, and possibly drunk, Head Detective.

This chapter is more of a teaser to grab your interest.

Next chapter; drunk Lassie!