A/N So... Marlowe isn't around anymore, but this takes place right around the time she would have been marrying Carlton. Also, I don't own them or else Marlowe wouldn't be around anymore and Shawn would have accidentally flailed off a bridge... Just sayin'...
This is somewhat a songfic, but I left the chorus until the end. The song is in italics. "Follow My Feet" by the Unlikely Candidates
Juliet sat on a bench by the beach and sighed. It was her lunch break, and she was meant to be eating lunch. She had plenty to think about, though, and she wasn't all that hungry.
Dobson's youngest daughter had just gotten married a few weeks back, and she and Shawn were invited to the wedding. That was where she had discovered his duplicity.
They were at the wedding reception, and she had gotten cold. Shawn put his jacket on her and walked away. She had been happy until she reached inside the jacket pocket and discovered a piece of evidence that Shawn had to have used to create his supposed psychic vision that led them to solving a major case they had recently had. He'd been called in while getting his suit tailored, and she supposed he must have accidentally left the receipt in his pocket.
She asked him why he would call this a psychic vision when he and had visited the killer's location. She had asked him to explain himself, but he couldn't. He started to make an excuse for why he had to do it, and tried to get her to see the good he had done, but she didn't want to hear it.
She had asked him point blank if he was psychic. He begged her not to make him answer that question, but she could see the truth in his eyes.
She had thrown her drink in his face, and had promptly walked out the door with a tearful and apologetic goodbye to Dobson and his family.
Now here she sat, contemplating and listening to the radio some kid had playing.
There's a fork in the road in front of me,
At the crossroads of identity.
The Devil is standing to the left.
He says "Either way, they both lead to death."
She realized that this song felt very applicable to her current situation. She was in a sort of "Damned if I do you; damned if I don't" state. On the one hand, she loved Shawn. On the other, though, he had been lying to her and everyone she held dear for literally the entire time she'd known him. Countless cases that could have been solved much quicker if he had just told them what he knew, but cases that were likely solved through illegal means since he had been lying about being psychic. Still, she didn't need any cases being reopened because of Shawn's fraud, and who knew what would happen if he were exposed? She truly had no idea how to handle it.
I've a friend who lies and steals and cheats.
Always taking more than he can eat.
He says "To get what I want, I would probably kill.
If I don't take it, somebody else will."
That sounded familiar. That sounded kind of like Shawn, unfortunately. In fact, that sounded exactly like Shawn. She could think of multiple instances where he, though not directly responsible, had put his life or the lives of others in danger because of his raging narcissism. She didn't know if he necessarily stole, but she knew he cheated at games and for damn sure lied with practiced ease. She could also see him coming up with an excuse as stupid as "If I don't, someone else will." For a genius, he could be pretty dumb.
There is no time,
Falling behind,
Plant harmony,
Or burn the tree.
She took that to mean she needed to make up her mind. Either she needed to get back with Shawn and go on as though everything were basically the same, or she needed to just be done with him completely. There really wasn't a middle ground with Shawn Spencer. If she took him back, he would assume everything he did was just okay, and she was realizing that to simply not be the truth.
I have a friend who loves humanity,
Braves bullets in war-torn countries.
He traded a life of wealth to help the poor and ill.
He says "If I don't do it, nobody will."
For some reason, those lyrics made her think of Carlton. As far as anyone knew, of course, he did not love humanity. In fact, most would believe he hated humanity. On the inside, though, Juliet knew that Carlton felt things more deeply than most. He had a great sense of justice, and she could see him having fought in the Civil War or World War II had he been alive for those events. He had a brilliant mind, and he could have succeeded at anything. He chose to be in a profession that meant helping people not because he had to, but because he knew that he could do an excellent job at it. Because he sincerely wanted to help people. Deep down, people meant a hell of a lot more to Carlton then he let on.
And the high road's steady and steep,
And the low road's easy and deep.
Guess I'll follow, follow, follow my feet.
Guess I'll follow, follow, follow my feet.
I don't know where,
I don't know where,
Where my path will lead, but I'll follow my feet and
my beliefs will keep me on the ground and I'll keep walking to the sound
Follow, follow, follow my feet.
Follow, follow, follow your feet.
Juliet figured that advice was as good as any. She would just have to take it one day at a time and see what happened. She knew one thing for sure, though. Her feet were pointing less and less to the easy way, and more and more to the high road - no matter how hard it may be.
