A/N: This was written for TheGreatSporkWielder for the Secret Santa Fic Exchange over on Psychfic. This was my first attempt at writing anything anywhere near romance related, so also my first Shules.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
"Say what now?"
Shawn paused briefly in his hectic movements of randomly throwing shirts, a pair of jeans and one shoe into his suitcase, looking up at his best friend.
"I'm going to Miami," Shawn stated, making sure his tone left no room for argument.
Gus frowned as he reached into Shawn's suitcase and pulled out the shoe.
"Why?"
"No reason," Shawn said offhandedly as he grabbed the shoe before Gus 'accidentally' dropped it on the floor.
"Don't give me that, Shawn," Gus answered as he bent down to look under Shawn's couch for the shoe to match the one in the suitcase, "you always have a reason."
"No I don't," Shawn argued as he again stopped his packing to observe Gus as his friend now searched the fridge. "What are you doing?"
"Looking for your shoe," Gus replied without looking back at Shawn, "you can't just pack one shoe."
"I beg your pardon," Shawn exclaimed with fake incredulity as he lifted his shoe, "this is a one-legged shoe."
"It's a what?" Gus questioned as he came over to stand in front of Shawn, peering at the shoe.
"It's revolutionary. You just wear one shoe," Shawn declared doing his very best to sound completely serious.
"Why would you just wear one shoe?" Gus asked and Shawn smirked inwardly.
"To honour the one-footed, buddy."
"To…what?" Gus looked so confused that Shawn almost took pity on him. "You know what? Never mind. You're just avoiding the question."
Shawn dropped the shoe back into the suitcase making a mental note to look for the other one before leaving. He had a feeling Gus may not have been too far off when he looked in the fridge. Gus was looking at him very pointedly, obviously waiting for Shawn to explain himself.
"I want to save the penguins," Shawn said seriously.
Gus blinked.
"What? Shawn, there aren't any penguins in Miami," Gus insisted, though he did look a little confused, perhaps wondering whether his friend had finally lost it.
"Sure there are," Shawn retaliated as he walked over to his fridge and opened the door, disappointed to find nothing of interest.
"No, Shawn, penguins don't live in warm climates," Gus sighed a he looked around bewilderedly as though trying desperately to understand what Shawn was trying to say.
"Really?" Shawn said, feigning surprise, "I was quite sure…" his voice faded as a thoughtful expression lined his features briefly before he looked at Gus again with his trademark grin. "Then, I must say, I have nothing."
Gus straightened and fixed Shawn with a glare. Shawn did his best not to squirm when Gus didn't move, keeping an innocent expression on his face. He sighed, knowing that he had to tell his friend the truth otherwise he would never even be allowed to leave.
"Fine," Shawn mumbled as he shuffled back to the suitcase and pulled out the shoe realising that one shoe actually wouldn't do him much good.
"Hang on a minute," Gus said as the glare disappeared from his face, a look of realisation replacing it, "this isn't because of Juliet, is it?"
"What?" Shawn exclaimed, his voice an octave higher than normal. "No, Gus, don't be a malfunctioning cigar."
"How can a cigar be malfunctioning?" Gus retorted but cut Shawn off when he began to answer, "Never mind. Don't change the subject."
"I wasn't changing the subject," Shawn declared as he dropped down on his couch.
"So," Gus prompted as he stood in front of Shawn, looking down at his best friend. Shawn wasn't sure if Gus was trying to look intimidating, either way he wasn't affected in the slightest.
"So what?" Shawn replied, his eyes narrowing slightly as his brow furrowed.
"You know what I'm talking about, Shawn. Juliet told us she was going to Miami to visit some friends and all of a sudden you have this sudden urge to go to Miami. Don't tell me it isn't about Juliet," Gus said with a rather smug look on his face, sure that he had caught onto Shawn's master plan.
Shawn averted his eyes and pursed his lips. It was true; they had both gone to the station the day before to spread some Christmas cheer and Juliet had happily informed them that she was going to Miami to meet up with some friends. He had tried to be nonchalant when he had asked for how long. A week. Jules was going to be away for a week. A whole one. Apparently Lassiter was the only one who'd caught onto his expression because he had suddenly looked eerily chipper.
"Alright, yes," Shawn sighed as he threw his hands in the air in defeat. Gus was going to be so smug for figuring this out.
"You can't follow Juliet," Gus said seriously, taking a step closer to Shawn.
"I'm not following anyone I just happen to be going to Miami the same week Jules is," Shawn retorted as casually as possible.
"You're going away for a week?" Gus exclaimed, sitting down on the couch next to Shawn, making it bounce slightly at the added weight before it settled.
"No big deal," Shawn said offhandedly as his eyebrows scrunched together.
"Are you seriously going to follow Juliet around for a week?" Gus asked, looking more worried than anything. Shawn was unsure exactly what he was worried about.
"I hadn't thought that far ahead," he answered, but continued at Gus's exasperated look, "but the plane ticket is already bought – thanks for that by the way – and I'm going to Miami."
He grinned.
Gus glared.
"Did you use my credit card to pay?"
"Yes, yes I did."
Gus could punch really, really hard.
"Gu-us," Shawn whined loudly as he rubbed his now rather sore arm.
Gus rose from the couch again and strode over to Shawn's carelessly packed suitcase.
"Are you going to be packing this again any time soon?" Gus inquired with a pointed look at the suitcase.
"Why?" Shawn asked with a frown as he strolled over next to Gus to peer at the suitcase and its contents. It looked fine to him.
"It's lackadaisically packed."
Shawn turned to look at his friend, his frown firmly in place now.
"Lackady-what?"
"Lackadaisical," Gus said slowly as though he was speaking to a child or perhaps a slow adult. When Shawn still looked utterly confused he took pity on his friend, "It means careless."
Shawn jutted his chin slightly in an effort to look as offended as possible.
"I do not pack carelessly," Gus snorted at this, "I pack like a man."
"A lackadaisical man," Gus challenged.
"Would you stop using that word," Shawn countered. Gus and his words, Shawn huffed.
To demonstrate his – he wasn't quite sure what he was demonstrating actually, but that didn't matter – to demonstrate his whatever, he picked up the one shoe again and threw it into the suitcase while keeping eye contact with Gus, his eyebrows reaching for his hairline.
"If you're going to pack at least pack properly," Gus caved, his obsession for neatness and tidiness and all the other ness's to do with being tidy getting the better of him as he started to unload the suitcase in order to start packing again. "When is your flight?"
"Tomorrow morning," Shawn answered, leaving Gus to fiddle with the suitcase for a while as he went in search of the lost shoe.
"What are you going to be doing on an eleven hour flight?" Gus asked, feeling slightly worried for the other occupants of the plane. "It's not the same flight as Juliet's, is it?"
"No," Shawn mumbled around a sigh. Not that he hadn't tried to get a on the same plane, but it had proved impossible.
Gus chuckled as he obviously found the idea of Shawn sitting in a plane for eleven hours with nothing to entertain himself with hilarious. Shawn hardly saw the hilarity of the situation but he was doing this for the girl.
"Shawn?"
Uh oh. That was Gus's carefully crafted way of saying his name that meant he way about to be in trouble.
"Yes, dear Burton?" If Gus was already mad he might as well go the whole nine yards. Or ten yards depending on what Gus was mad at.
"Is this my suitcase?"
From Gus's scowl Shawn figured it would probably be a good idea not to even attempt the nine yards.
The first lungful of Miami air was not much different from the Santa Barbara air. The soft wind tucked pleasantly at his hair as he stepped out of the airport, eager to escape its confinements. Thirteen hours. The flight had been thirteen hours. He thought he was going to die from trapped hyperactive energy. He had been extremely thankful for the two stops along the way at least allowing him to see something different from the interior of the plane. It hadn't taken long to memorize every part of it in his line of sight. Of course children had to be present as well. Fortunately for him one of said children had been twelve years old and had taken a particular liking to Shawn, so at least he had had someone likeminded to talk to for a while until the kid got bored with him. Shawn was never going to admit to Gus that the boy had been the most enjoyable to chat with on the whole ride. His friend would never let him live it down.
Surprisingly Gus had actually let him bring the suitcase, though Shawn had a feeling his friend was plotting his sweet revenge for both the suitcase and the credit card. Standing outside at eleven o'clock at night, Shawn was quite glad he had let Gus in on his plan to go to Miami the night before instead of waiting till he'd arrived as Gus had pointed out one tiny but really quite important detail. Shawn had neglected to book a hotel. Even Shawn had to admit that after such a long flight only to arrive after nightfall left him tired. Not exhausted, no sir, he was a long way from exhausted, but the sound of crashing on a bed for a couple of hours didn't sound half bad.
On the drive in the cab on the way to the hotel that Gus had booked (generously with his credit card with the warning, "payback's a bitch"), Shawn started wondering, for the first time, what he was actually doing. He had never really thought further than the fact that Juliet was going to Miami, so logically so should he. What he now had to ask himself (or should have asked himself before Gus paid for a ticket) was why. Sure he was now once more in the same city as Jules, but what exactly he was going to do about that he wasn't sure.
Apparently Juliet was going to be in Miami this week before Christmas to spend time with some friends before returning to Santa Barbara to celebrate Christmas with her family. The reasoning for this was that apparently her parents were away before Christmas, giving Juliet the opportunity to visit friends in her home town before heading back to Santa Barbara to meet up with her family. Her explanation had been a lot longer and truthfully Shawn had only understood half of it. That did not bring Shawn any closer to the why he was here. He had gone a week before without seeing her. So, why the sudden impulse act of going to Miami? Shawn sighed and leaned back against the car seat, closing his eyes momentarily. He would just have to return to the good old Shawn Spencer way of doing things. Improvising. He was certain that by the end of the week he would figure out what his reasoning for going after Juliet was.
Shawn had to grudgingly admit that the pre-booked and pre-paid hotel room was a pretty good idea when he collapsed on the bed. Who knew you could get that tired from a thirteen hour flight? Tomorrow he would start out bright and early…no, backtrack, bright and early was definitely not a good plan. Tomorrow he would start out at a realistic double digit time that was much, much more do-able for a well-adjusted individual such as himself, and begin his quest to find Juliet. That part shouldn't be too hard as she had let slip which friend she was staying with and Shawn may or may not have looked up said friend's address. His non-existent plan was foolproof.
Something was beeping. Shawn squinted through one eye, groaning as he was blinded by sunlight. He squeezed his eyes shut and felt around on with his hand to locate the source of the beeping. There was no way he set an alarm. His fingers closed around a plastic device and he jumped up from the mattress, getting completely tangled as he stared, wild-eyed around for the source of the sudden noise.
"Let's get dangerous!"
His deer in the headlights look morphed into a frown as he stared at the television screen. He was quite glad he was alone when that goofy laugh escaped him. He cut it off, but smiled at his own paranoia…or stupidity. He, Shawn Spencer, had been frightened by Darkwing Duck. Shawn tilted his head to observe the screen. No, not Darkwing Duck per se, it was more the entirety of the Darkwing Duck universe. He scrunched up his nose in disparagement. Of all the things to frighten him, it had to be a cartoon show? He cut off another goofy laugh as he looked back to the screen. Well, if it was already on he might as well watch, right?
That brought him back to why he was awake in the first place. The beeping had stopped and in his more awake state he realised it had been the message tone from his phone. With a sigh he took his eyes away from Drake Mallard to look for his phone. He found it under the bed, though how it had ended up there he had no recollection…no, wait; he did know how it had ended up under the bed. He nodded to himself as he picked up his discarded jeans, realising the phone had probably fallen out of the back pocket when he had thrown the pants to the floor the night before, where the phone had then completed its journey by doing a dramatic slide, resulting in its current resting place.
Shawn stretched his arm under the bed and grabbed hold of the phone. Eleven o'clock in the morning. He had slept longer than he thought he had. Unsurprisingly the text message was from Gus saying good morning and asking how the flight had been. Shawn decided not to spread the details and kept the flight details vague in his answer.
Some twenty minutes later Shawn set out from the hotel to continue his quest of finding Juliet. It was a bright, albeit slightly chilly day. Despite the unusual crisp feel in the air the sun countered it with strong rays, causing Shawn to reach for his sunglasses almost as soon as he set foot outside. To him, it was a beautiful day. He smiled brightly as he set off down the street with a slight bounce in his step in search of a certain blonde detective.
It wasn't long before Shawn realised that, unlike in Santa Barbara, he was not familiar with the city, which was not really an issue for him, unfortunately that also meant that he was not aware of Juliet's 'hideouts'. He had started to head in the direction of the friend's place that he had gained the address of, keeping an eye out for Juliet at the same time. He had been unsuccessful. This was the time when, normally, Gus would have looked at his friend with a look that clearly said 'I told you so', or he would simply say it out loud, and then he would probably flick his nose with his thumb for good measure.
He stopped in front of a line of shops with a frown on his face when he realised the flaw in his non-existent plan. Maybe it was the non-existent part of his plan that was the problem to begin with. Shawn scoffed mentally at that, as he had always been able to get by with no planning whatsoever.
It was around this line of thought that he caught sight of a food vendor and not one to ever pass up such an opportunity, added to the fact he had yet to grab breakfast or lunch or brunch, it was a logical decision to head in that direction. He did love food vendors that sold burritos.
It was half an hour or so later that the increasing sense of boredom started closing in around him. It was obvious when he had considered for a brief second to try every single hat there was in the hat store he had just passed. In a desperate attempt to distract himself from his impending doom, he eyed the Christmas decorations and tried to take in every single blinking light and colourful displays. Nope, not working. He swivelled his head round in every possible direction, his eyes taking stock of everything, even the things he wasn't even sure he first saw, including…
Juliet.
The chill from the air evaporated, leaving only the warmth of the suns rays as it played along Juliet's hair making it glint golden in the early afternoon light. She was laughing, one hand resting momentarily on another girl's arm as they both looked at some Christmas decorations hidden from Shawn's line of sight. She was beautiful.
His feet were rooted to the spot, which he was not sure he completely understood, because this wasn't the first time he had seen Juliet. It wasn't even more than three days ago since he'd last seen her at station, telling him and Gus about this trip to Miami. What was he doing here? The question seemed more demanding now that he was actually standing here like a gawking idiot looking at Jules.
He blinked multiple times to try to bring himself out of his Juliet-imposed stupor. It worked to a certain extent and soon the surrounding sounds of jingles, cars and people started to infiltrate his mind again, the coolness of the air returned and he took a deep gulp of air. The breath caught in his throat and he coughed slightly, silently wishing that someone would give him a good slap round the back of the head because he thoroughly needed that right now.
Wait.
Why were his feet moving? Was he…oh hell no! He had not followed Juliet all the way to Miami, only to walk away in the opposite direction at first glance of her.
Shawn mumbled harshly to himself under his breath, needing the chastising, but due to the lack of his father's and Gus's presence he needed to do it himself. He turned on his heel and started walking back towards where he had last seen Juliet, knowing she hadn't gone far even though she was no longer in sight.
He darted around people, vendors and stores, though the Christmas decorations proved to be the biggest obstacles as they liked to take up as much space as possible making it much harder to find someone. A particularly cheerful balloon Santa actually made him stop completely, looking up at the air-filled decoration in bafflement, and slight horror.
"Shawn?"
Oh dear God…
Shawn spun around at the sound of her voice. There she was. Standing right there looking thoroughly confused at his presence.
Play it cool! Play it cool!
"Oh, hi Jules," he commented lightly, mentally smacking himself for the slightly higher pitched voice. He cleared his throat rather inconspicuously before continuing, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm visiting some friends," Juliet said, her face set in a particularly cute squirrel impression, "but you already knew that."
"Psychic," Shawn agreed with a smirk as he wiggled the fingers of his right hand near his temple.
"Yeah, that too," Juliet answered offhandedly before she quickly continued, "but I also told you that I was going to Miami. Three days ago."
Shawn squinted slightly, hoping his expression pulled off a thoughtful one as he seemed to ponder on what she had just said. He clapped his hands together and looked at her again with a cheerful expression.
"You totally did!" Shawn exclaimed, hoping the enthusiastic tone of his voice masked the fact that his internal mantra was playing to the tune of Queen and David Bowie's Under Pressure.
Juliet's face altered between an uncertain smile, annoyance, a hint of amusement and confusion. She nodded slightly at his exclamation as though thinking it over, before asking the question Shawn himself did not yet really know the truth to, "What are you doing here?"
"Tri-annual Christmas Chipmunks Convention. TCCC for short but really it's just easier to say the longer version otherwise it's incredibly easy to forget one of the C's or add another one in," he rambled quickly throwing in a quick grin at the end for good measure.
"I see," Juliet answered, a smile glinting in her eyes, though they were the only ones betraying her otherwise thoughtful expression, "and how long have you known of this Tri-annual…?"
"Christmas Chipmunks Convention," Shawn finished for her, "and it was a spontaneous thing. I didn't really know I was going but my presence was urgently required."
The look of amusement that Juliet wore was a clear indicator that she was not buying what he was saying but was willing to play along.
"So, how long are you here for?" Juliet asked, a tinge of humour audible in her voice.
"A week," Shawn answered whilst holding up one finger to back up his words. "Wait…" he paused dramatically and waited for her undivided attention before saying, "wasn't that how long you were staying?"
"Yes, yes it was," she confirmed, though her tone bore slightly less humour than before.
"Guess I'll see you around then," Shawn said, hoping that she would grasp the meaning behind his words. She probably did which would fully explain her answer.
"Maybe."
The grin slipped off Shawn's face abruptly, but with a quick clearing of the throat he forced it back on.
"Juliet!"
Ah, saved by the friend.
Juliet quickly turned her head to the sound of her name as a brunette woman came trotting up to them.
"Hello," Shawn said, wondering briefly whether it was a good idea or if he was just acting on autopilot. Lately – meaning this last few years – it had been automatic to spout out a name, not necessarily his own, whenever someone approached him. Juliet looked at him briefly, though and he caught the slightly desperate warning look in her eye. Well, she should know by now that never stopped him. "I'm Shawn, friend of Jules from Santa Barbara."
Juliet's friend lit up with a smile as she glanced questioningly at her friend before looking back at Shawn.
"Hi, I'm Tammy," she looked so utterly thrilled when she informed Shawn of this that he momentarily wondered if she would spontaneously get cavities if she tried to sound or look any sweeter.
Shawn revelled slightly in Juliet's obvious discomfort. She never said she didn't want him to follow her. After all, she was the one who had told him she was going to Miami. She had even given the exact dates of departure and return which clearly had meant that she did indeed want him to follow her whether she knew it or not. Hence, Shawn smiled brightly at her barely concealed deep, calming breath.
"Yeah, Tammy, Shawn and I just bumped into each other," Juliet spoke quickly, clearly worried that he would start talking. "He's here for the…what was it again?"
She had that cute little squirrel face of confusion again.
"Tri-annual Christmas Chipmunks Convention," Shawn supplied as seriously as possible. Tammy apparently didn't buy it because she immediately burst out laughing, complete with dolphin shrieks and snorts. Shawn actually looked baffled for a few seconds causing Juliet to fight very hard against a smile and possibly even a giggle. "It's actually very serious." Shawn was amazed at how little like a woman Tammy could actually sound when she laughed so hard.
"She's pretty sure you're joking," Juliet whispered as she leaned a bit closer so he could hear her over the sound of her friend laughing. Shawn really didn't mind.
Shawn looked her in the eye and raised an eyebrow at her along with a smirk, feeling rather pleased with himself when Juliet tried to cover up the unavoidable blush by tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
"Juliet told me you were a joker," Tammy said once she had regained control of herself.
Shawn's smirk turned into a full blown grin at Jules' look of absolute horror.
"Really?" Shawn said questionably, trying to look serious but it was difficult when he also had to watch Juliet's obvious embarrassment.
"Oh yeah, she told me loads about you," Tammy replied, clearly not aware of her friend's struggle for control over the situation as Juliet shook her silently from side to side. Shawn wasn't sure if she was even aware she was doing it. "So, how long are you here for?"
"One long week of TCCC awesomeness," he said while nodding, hoping he looked as cool as he felt, though sharing a knowing look with his buddy would really have helped his predicament.
"A week, huh?" Tammy said with a smirk and a quick glance at Juliet who was now shaking her head vigorously. "Well, if this convention won't take up too much of your time you should totally come to this Christmas party at a friend of mine's house. It's the day after tomorrow."
"As long as there won't be an ice storm," Shawn commented, laughing briefly at his own joke.
"Tammy, I'm sure Shawn will be busy –"
"I'll come."
Juliet should know by now that when Shawn was met with negativity he only tried harder to get his way.
Three o'clock in the morning was not the time to be awake.
Seriously, he had no reason to be awake at a time of day that he shouldn't even have known existed, unless it had been a very long night before consisting of several movie marathons. But it had not been.
The day after Shawn had so miraculously – he smiled slightly at that – bumped into Juliet, he had had no luck of seeing any sign of her. If he didn't know better it almost seemed as if she had gone places she knew he would never go. That theory went out the window though, when he had overcome his fears to peer into a hair salon specializing in Mohawks. Shawn had run his hands protectively over his hair as he fled the scene.
Apart from that rather horrific event, the day had been rather dull. He had played tourist for a while but there were only so many times he could annoy locals using different accents and pretending he couldn't speak English before that game became old. It had been amusing for a while.
This did not give any reason to being awake at three in the morning though. He sighed and rolled over onto his back, his legs getting tangled in the sheets in the process leading to a rather heated fight between him and the blankets. He so won. Shawn threw his head back against the pillow, mumbling an "ouch" when he realised his pillow had somehow ended up on the floor during his fight with the sheets. He grudgingly had to admit that he and the bed were now even.
He groaned as he stretched an arm over the side of the bed and searched blindly for the pillow, locating it quickly and promptly proceeded to drag it back towards him. That was plenty of excitement for one day. He closed his eyes with a contented sigh as his head hit the pillow.
He opened one eye and peered towards the curtained window. No light was shining through. It was obviously still night time and no sane person should be awake at this ungodly hour. This was going to be a long night.
If he was perfectly honest with himself he looked pretty damn good. Shawn turned away from the mirror in the hotel bathroom before spinning quickly on his heel to look at his reflection again, grinning smugly at his awesome look and slightly silly James Bond routine. His hair was immaculate. It was done to the perfect just-out-of-bed look that he knew the girls just loved.
Shawn froze, the grin slipping off his face immediately. He looked down at himself, taking stock of the dark blue jeans and dark green t-shirt. This would never work. He actually looked good, but what struck him the most was that the look was what he had used many times to chaperone a pretty lady. Juliet most certainly was not just anybody. Shawn sighed, tilting his head to the side thoughtfully. Then again, she had seen him dressed like this many times before, so he actually hadn't made that much of an effort. Awesome. That was all he wanted to assure himself of before leaving for the Christmas party. He was not dressing up for anybody; no one whatsoever.
He managed to somehow bang his had into a cupboard on the way out of the bathroom. He rubbed the sore spot on his forehead as he went in search of his shoes, glad now that he had found the lost shoe before leaving Santa Barbara. Still, why he had thought it a good idea to put his perfectly good shoe in the microwave in the first place he really didn't have a clue.
The Norton was the definite missing piece to complete his arrival at the party. The bike had always had a way of automatically drawing an eye, and being without it took away an ounce of his confidence. Gus would probably argue that that was a good thing. Even without his trusty Norton he still wore his brown leather jacket and he subconsciously brushed off imaginary dust from the shoulders as he made his way up the front steps to the house to which he had been told to go to for the party. He was quite certain he was in the right place if the amount cars outside and the music playing inside the house just audible from the outside was anything to go by.
The mini hedge leading up to the house was decorated with blinking white lights, lighting the path warmly. The owners of the house had somehow managed to get what looked like a stuffed Santa Claus to sit on the roof. Shawn wondered if it was on purpose that he was tipped forward just far enough to be leering at any visitors arriving at the house.
Knocking on the door proved pointless, but the door was unlocked so he hesitantly opened it only to be met with a noise level to battle a busy airport. He closed the door again, staying outside just for a few more seconds. He shook his head, hoping that he could just try to be normal and not take any every single detail just for tonight, because there was so much going on in that house that he would have a headache after five minutes if he were to see and remember all of it.
He opened the door again, surprised when he realised that it was not Christmas music paying, but instead Camel Walk by Southern Culture On The Skids. The reason for this Shawn had no idea. He had barely taken two steps into the house before a beer was thrust into his hand by a rather cheerful looking man slightly older than himself. Shawn smiled in thanks but the man had already turned away, which was probably for the best as Shawn promptly put the bottle down at the nearest table. Maybe later.
He moved skilfully through the crowd of enthusiastic partiers, trying to look for one person in particular. He found himself nodding his head along slightly to the music, remembering it all too well.
"Shawn!" Shawn turned quickly to the sound his name to see a very happy looking Juliet standing next to him. How did she get there so fast? "I'm so glad you could make it!"
"Have you had a beer?" Shawn asked her speaking louder than normal so she could hear him over the music. He couldn't help but let his eyes take in how gorgeous she looked in that red top and those jeans. He blinked and shook his head quickly, instead focusing his eyes back on Juliet's face, trying to ignore how her hair fell in perfect golden curls over her shoulders.
"No, not yet," Juliet answered, looking confused briefly before her face lit up again, "do you want one?"
"A beer?" Shawn was about ready to smack himself. This was most definitely not the conversation he had hoped to have with her.
"Yeah, come on."
Before he knew it Juliet was leading him by the sleeve towards what seemed to be the kitchen. It was slighter quieter in there though it did help that Camel Walk had played its last tune and a different song was now playing, this time a Christmas song which Shawn was not even sure he could recognise right now.
"Here you go," Juliet said lightly as she handed him a beer, holding one in her own hand.
His fingers brushed briefly against hers as he accepted the bottle with a quick, "Thanks". She smiled brightly at him before heading back out the kitchen, Shawn stunned for a few seconds before following her.
She had joined the crowd of people in what Shawn now realised was usually the living room. The furniture had been pushed up against the walls to give more floor space while still having the couches, chairs and tables available. Juliet was waving him over towards a less crowded corner where she was standing with two other girls, on of whom Shawn recognised as Tammy, as well as three men around his own age. He bounded over quickly finding renewed energy at being positively received by Juliet, especially after her obvious reluctance to see him at the party two days ago.
"Hi Shawn," Tammy said, followed by a gleeful cackle before she continued, "how are the chipmunks?"
"They are great," Shawn said sincerely as he returned her smile, not missing Juliet trying to hide her own smile behind her bottle of beer, "never been better actually. Apparently it's a very good year for the dear little things."
"Anyway," Juliet cut in before he could make up any more stories about chipmunks, "everyone this is Shawn, a friend of mine from Santa Barbara, who just happened to be in Miami this week as well," she looked at him pointedly but still with that spark of laughter in her eye. "Shawn, you've met Tammy," that he had and that woman was starting to scare him, "this is Stacey," Juliet motioned to the other girl who held up her hand in small wave.
"With an 'I'?" Shawn cut in his eyes moving between Stacey and Juliet.
"No," Juliet said simply before carrying on with her introductions, "this Mark, Johnny and Philip."
Shawn shook their hands in turn. It was probably a good idea to try and be polite even though a joke about each of them was on the tip of his tongue, though his internal voice of reason that piped up on very rare occasions was telling him very strictly not to.
"Juliet tells us you're a psychic," Mark said. Shawn shared a brief look with Juliet rather surprised that she had told her friends about him at all. When their eyes met she smiled at him before turning away to speak to Tammy and Stacey. Shawn looked back at Mark, feeling better than he had in years and he was off. Who knew how much fun it could be to 'divine' different things about the party guests?
It was some time later that he realised that he had lost track of Juliet. He had been talking with quite a few of the other people at the party and even he found it impossible to keep an eye on Jules at all times. He used the excuse to get another beer to leave the group he had been entertaining to go in search of his favourite detective. He was stopped a few times by various people that he had either not spoken to before or people he had spoken to previously who were eager to talk to him again. It wasn't his fault he was incredibly charming was it? He chuckled slightly at that as he moved through another crowd of people.
There she was. He stopped in his tracks, momentarily forgetting how to breathe. She was standing in the doorway leading into another room that Shawn had yet to explore but he believed to be a study. She had a face turned back towards the study, clearly on her way into the living room but stopped by something or someone in the other room. Shawn's eyes drifted upwards and this time he definitely forgot to breathe.
She was standing under mistletoe.
Shawn was quite certain that she had not realised this herself due to the fact that she had been on her way from one room to the next, not purposely lingering in the doorway. Shawn's feet were rooted to the spot as he watched her, the music around him muted as he only saw her. Her head turned and their eyes met instantly.
Run away, run away, run away. Shawn wasn't even aware that his feet were moving away from her, leading him somewhere. He was on the phone in about three seconds after he found a quiet place.
"I choked," Shawn said before Gus even had a chance to finish his greeting.
"What are you talking about?" Gus asked, clearly very confused.
"She was standing under the mistletoe and…" Shawn's mouth kept moving but no sounds came out as he tried to think of what it was he was actually trying to say.
"Who? Juliet? Oh my God! Did you kiss her?" Confusion morphed quickly into obvious incredulity.
"No, do you really think I would be hiding in," Shawn looked around his surroundings briefly, "the bathroom calling you if I'd kissed her?"
"Wouldn't be the first time," Gus commented with a hint of amusement.
"I'm not joking, Gus," Shawn said rather desperately.
"I know, that's why it's so fun to annoy you," the chuckle was very clear over the phone and Shawn had to briefly take the phone away from his ear and stare at it in bewilderment.
"Gus, I need your help here, buddy," Shawn hissed into the phone.
"Fine. I take it you got to the party okay?" Shawn had told Gus about his invitation to the party almost immediately after he had said goodbye to Juliet and Tammy. His friend had been rather enthusiastic, though he had still scolded Shawn for interrupting him while he was doing his rounds.
"Yeah, everything was going great, and then she was standing there and there was mistletoe over her head and…" Shawn's voice died away again but he heard Gus sigh deeply.
"And what Shawn? Why are you hiding in the bathroom?"
"I don't know," Shawn answered, whether it was the truth or not he wasn't sure.
"Shawn, why did you go to Miami?" Gus was using that voice that clearly held no room for argument, though Shawn usually managed to argue anyway. When Shawn didn't immediately answer Gus carried on, "You followed Juliet all the way to Miami, you actually talked to her on your first day there and got invited to a Christmas party, and now you're hiding because she was standing under mistletoe?"
"That about sums it up," Shawn replied, his voice sounding a lot calmer than he felt.
"Dude, you've been sweet talking Juliet for ages. It's getting a little bit boring on the sidelines," Shawn frowned slightly at that but didn't interrupt his friend. "Now, would you kindly go back out there and do something about it."
"That's really not very helpful," Shawn whined helplessly.
"Goodbye Shawn."
"No! Gus! Gus?" Shawn glared at the phone before stuffing it back into the pocket of his jeans.
Shawn eyed the door to the bathroom. He rolled his eyes, very nearly slapping himself before laying a hand on the door handle. He hesitated, still trying to decipher all of the different emotions coursing through him. He had never had a reaction quite like that. It was most certainly not normal for him to run away from the pretty girls. Especially not Jules. He allowed his weight to drop forward so his forehead was pressing against the coolness of the door, bringing back the memory of his meeting with the cupboard earlier that evening. He pulled his head back from the door, absentmindedly running the fingers of his right hand over his forehead, his left still lingering on the door handle.
"This is ridiculous," he mumbled to himself before yanking the door open. "Jules?"
To say he was surprised to see her standing just on the other side of the door would be a total understatement.
"Would it…" he began hesitantly before grinding his teeth sharply together, angry with himself for screwing up this badly, "would it be too much to ask of you to…well, go back out there and stand under the mistletoe?"
Juliet looked up at him, meeting him squarely in the eye. A soft smile was playing on her lips making her eyes sparkle even brighter than before.
"Why did you come to Miami?" She asked the question in such a quiet and soft tone, the smile leaving her lips but still hinted in her eyes.
"I…um…I may or may not have followed you," Shawn confessed, his eyes darting away from her briefly to look anywhere but at her and see her reaction.
"Is that so?" Shawn looked back her, surprised to see the poorly concealed grin on her face.
"Yes," Shawn said truthfully keeping eye contact with her this time.
"Tri-annual Christmas Chipmunks Convention," Juliet snorted and giggled, "You didn't honestly expect me to believe that as the truth, did you?"
"No," he answered her, unsure whether she was laughing with him or at him, "no I never thought you actually bought that."
The smile slid from her face again as true sincerity took its place.
"I'm glad you followed me," she said, her voice lower and softer than before. Shawn nodded, not daring to speak in fear he would ruin the moment. He couldn't take his eyes off of her, suddenly grateful for his detail obsessive mind. "Did you bring a date to this thing?"
The question caught him slightly off guard and he looked at her dumbfounded for a moment before clearing his throat and answering.
"No, I came alone. Why?"
"No reason," the laughter was back in her voice as she looked at him innocently and somehow more at peace than before. "Have you ever been to Miami before?"
"Briefly, but not this part," Shawn answered hesitantly, unsure where she was going with this.
"How about I give you a tour tomorrow?"
Time out! Roll back the clock because he needed to hear that again. His eyebrows had shot towards his hairline in disbelief and though he might have wanted to play it cool he couldn't keep the grin off his face.
"Tomorrow," he repeated dutifully. "When shall I pick you up?"
"Do you know where I'm staying?" This was not Tammy's house, whom she was staying with and Shawn could see her surprise that he knew where her friend lived.
"Psychic," Shawn commented offhandedly.
"Ah, of course," she was very good at looking and sounding professional even in situations like these where it was obvious she was desperately trying not to either laugh, smile or hit him. Shawn wasn't sure which she wanted to do most at that precise moment. "How about nine?"
"In the morning?"
"Sure," Juliet replied as she started to turn around.
"Could we make it a little later?" Shawn asked causing to stop and turn to look at him questionably, "So, you know, I can get breakfast, and…and…" sleep.
"We can just have breakfast together," Juliet offered with a small shrug.
"Nine o'clock in the morning sharp. Got it," Shawn said immediately, truly not daring to believe his luck.
She smiled at him and waved briefly before disappearing back into the living room where the crowd of people were thinning little by little, leaving Shawn alone in his moment euphoria. He was in a daze as he started walking towards the front door of the house, barely noticing the chill in the night air as he stepped outside and started walking, not caring for a cab.
He had been walking for roughly fifteen minutes, his goofy grin growing bigger every minute, when he drew his phone out of his pocket and quickly dialled. After all, he finally had something to say that Gus had not heard before.
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