Trust Me
By Thalia
Beta-ed by Ptath, Leonarbo, and Dude
Disclaimer: I am neither psychic nor am I a detective; therefore I can lay no claim of ownership on Psych. Sad Day.
Shawn and Gus sat on the couch at the Psych office watching "Sixteen Candles." Shawn was still recovering from the very mild concussion he'd received from, now ex-Detective, Drimmer, and Gus, as his best friend, had naturally agreed to keep Shawn company. Normally, Shawn would have found the situation to have been ideal, but it wasn't. Sure, one of his favorite movies of all time was playing and he had all the comforts of home without actually being at home, Gus had brought his favorite brand of popcorn just for this occasion and of course, he had his best friend sitting right next to him, but he just couldn't enjoy it.
Over the last few days some things that Gus had said had really been nagging at him, and he really needed to get it out in the open or he was going to drive himself crazy thinking about it.
"Hey Gus, you trust me right?"
"No Shawn, I don't. That's why I let you drag me into every imaginable, and even the occasional unimaginable, dangerous situation on an almost regular basis," came the sarcastic response.
"Then why did you keep insisting that Lassiter might be guilty. I mean, I know we've never really gotten along with him, but you couldn't really have believed he was capable of murder."
"My opinions on the matter had nothing to do with what I actually believe Lassiter may or may not be capable of," Gus stated matter-of-factly.
"Of course they did. They must have. Sure, Lassie is uptight, gruff, can be a little over zealous at times, and has a terrible fashion sense, but he's a good guy Gus. You've got to know that. He may not be the brightest bulb in the box, but he is a good cop. You can't honestly think I'd defend a murderer, do you?"
"I know you'd never defend a murderer Shawn, and I already told you, this isn't about Lassiter."
"Then what is it about?" Shawn demanded, now more than a little frustrated.
Gus finally turned his attention from the television and looked his best friend in the eye. "This is about you Shawn."
"What could I possibly have done to make you believe that Lassie was guilty of murder?"
"You don't get it do you? Lassiter hates you Shawn, in case you hadn't noticed."
"Lassie doesn't hate me Gus," Shawn cut in quickly. "Does he find me annoying? Yes. Bothersome? Probably. Pesky? Most assuredly. Irritating? Definitely. But deep down beneath all my teasing comments and his grumpy façade there is a bond we share that words cannot possibly describe."
"He doesn't like you Shawn. He's openly admitted that on more than one occasion. He does everything in his power to keep us as far from the police station as possible. He was practically gloating when we were brought in after being caught at the aquarium. He has zero respect for you and what you do."
"Ok, so maybe we're not Lassiter's favorite people" Shawn began, "but that doesn't mean he was any less innocent of the murder he was accused of. And it certainly doesn't change the fact that I told you he was innocent, and yet, despite your claim to trust me, you continued to assert that he could be guilty. I don't get it. What does any of this have to do with anything? What's the big deal?"
"The big deal, Shawn, is that he could have hurt you. In fact you were hurt, which is why we're here now, you with a concussion and me keeping watch -- and he was innocent!" Gus stated with exasperation. "What if you had been wrong Shawn? You ever stop to even consider that he was guilty. No, because you got it in your head that he was innocent and you were going to keep with that line of thinking until you were proven wrong.
"The thing is Shawn, you've been wrong before and most of the time you end up being wrong the person you suspect first ends up dead or something equally unpleasant occurs and then we have to go from there, stopping to reassess the evidence and reassemble what we know into a more accurate picture. The problem is that you never stop to reassess unless you are given a piece of information that clearly doesn't fit with everything else we know or you are blatantly proven wrong.
"So, what if you had been wrong this time? Would you have figured out that Lassiter was guilty in time to save yourself or would you have gotten dragged down with him? Because if he'd turned out to be guilty after you'd been so insistent about his innocence that could have had serious ramifications on you Shawn.
You risked so much to defend a man who neither likes nor respects you without a second thought, so I did the second thinking. I kept questioning his innocence just in case because I wasn't about to let him hurt you."
"Ramifications . . . nice word Gus."
"You know what Shawn, forget it. I don't even know why I try. Why I ever thought you'd take any of this seriously is beyond me." Gus stood from his seat on the couch and headed for the door angrily.
Shawn immediately got up trailing behind trying to get Gus to stop. "Gus, hey Gus, wait buddy, wait don't leave."
Gus paused with his hand on the door knob.
"Look, I'm sorry." Shawn said contritely. "You know me Gus; if you spring serious on me I don't always react appropriately. Ok, so serious," Shawn took a deep breath and let it out before he began speaking again. "I didn't realize you cared so much, and I definitely didn't realize that my single-mindedness over the last few days bothered you that much. Thanks for having my back man. That means a lot to me. Oh, and I'm sorry for accusing you of not trusting me. I know you do."
"Whatever else happens Shawn, we'll always be best friends and I'll always have your back."
"You know that goes both ways right?"
"Shawn, you've gotten yourself taken hostage for me, it doesn't take a rocket scientist."
Shawn reached out for the fist bump that was promptly met by Gus. Shawn's face lit up with a smile. "Alright, I'm starved. Let's go grab something to eat. My treat."
"You never pay for anything," Gus replied slightly suspicious.
"Well, I'm going to today in honor of our friendship."
"You're going to steal money out of my wallet to pay for whatever we end up eating aren't you?"
"I already did." Shawn held up a 20 dollar bill and handed Gus his wallet.
Gus just let it go. Some things would never change.