The Peculiar Occurrence of the Truth in the Afternoon
Summery: A short, fluffy, Shassie tag for Ghosts.
Disclaimer: Steve Franks owns the characters and Carbon Leaf owns the lyrics used in the beginning, and the title is a knock off of 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time', but belongs to Mark Haddon. So yea, I own a big fat nothing. I'm just using them for fun.
For Hendrick248848 – hope you enjoy!
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I'm a saddened man,
I'm a broken boy,
I'm a toddler with a complex toy,
I'm falling apart…
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Lassiter actually felt pretty good as he put the key to his and Shawn's apartment in its slot, today had been a good day. "Hey, Shawn?" He called, feeling like laughing. "I found out your mom is the one I've been talking to. She's really nice, actually…" But as he caught sight of Shawn his smile faded away. There sat his boyfriend, curled up miserably on the couch, his cheeks stained with old tears, his eyes bloodshot. "Shawn?" He called, placing his keys on the table and taking off his coat. "What's wrong, babe?" Lassiter made his way to the couch. Shawn still had yet to respond as the older man sat next to his head and began to lovingly stroke his hair. "You wanna talk about it?"
"It was my mom." He whispered, his voice strained.
"What was?"
"She left us. Dad told me it was his fault but she…I mean, these last thirteen years…I feel like I've been living a lie." He slowly drew out, as if finding the right words was too hard. He turned to Lassiter. "Why would my dad lie to me like that? Why did he want me to hate him?"
"He didn't want you to hate him, he just didn't want you to hate your mom."
"I feel like fucking Christopher Boone."
"It's not your fault, you didn't-"
"Didn't know? My father was just trying to protect me, and how do I repay him? By being a shit to him for half of my life." Shawn turned his head and buried it in the cushions of the couch. His muffled voice quietly saying, "I'm a horrible son."
"Shawn, no. Look at me." Lassiter ordered, his boyfriend complying. "Sure, you give your father a hard time, and yes you resented him after the divorce – but who wouldn't? I mean, when my father died and my mom started dating again I resented her for a long time. All children resent their parents in situations like that." He sighed, "And it's not like your father even started dating again…did he?"
"Except for the Chief's friend a few days ago…never. But—but that's the thing. He wanted to fix it." Shawn got that heart broken look on his face again. "He didn't want the divorce back then, but my mom did. He's even been trying to fix it now. The whole time my mom's been back, that's all he's been trying to do. And I…I yelled at him. Told him to just back off. And all he was trying to do was fix it from the start."
Lassiter said nothing and they were silent for a moment. But then finally the older man asked, "What…what did you say after your mom told you?"
"Nothing. She told me and then dad showed up looking for her. I mean, when he saw her he just got this genuine smile on his face. I couldn't take it. I ran out, didn't even glance at him. Mom must think I'm psycho."
"I'm sure they both already know you're psycho." Shawn smiled and playfully reached up and smacked his boyfriend's arm.
"I'll…I'll go talk to him tomorrow." Shawn said quietly after a moment, and Lassiter nodded in agreement. "I'll…I'll tell him that mom told me the truth. And I know it wasn't his fault." Shawn trailed off and Lassiter looked at him with a C'mon, you know you have to say it face. "And that I'm sorry."
With an almost proud smile Lassiter bent down and kissed Shawn. "Good. It's about time you and your dad have a real conversation." Shawn just rolled his eyes, but smiled non-the-less. "So…wanna watch Heartbreak Ridge?"
-The End-
I really hope this was what you were looking for, Hendrick. And for everyone else…I just hope you enjoyed it!
-claire