Hi! So, here's a third story for my "Getting Up from Falling Down" YAY new story! Sorry, I'm kind of excited for the new episode in less than an hour.
The first two stories took place in January 2014 and this one is in April 2014. So 3 months have passed. I guess you don't really have to read the other two stories to understand this one but it would help.
Um, I'm not so sure about the title. I wanted to stick with the theme of using cliches and this was the first one I came across that fit with the story in some way.
Disclaimer: I am in now way, shape or form associated with Psych, no matter how many shooting stars I wish on :( Or anything else I might mention in the story.
"AHHHHH" Shawn screamed in pain as the hot iron was placed on his back again. The Boss had told him that he was marking Shawn with a very intricate design. He does it to all his victims within the first couple weeks. This was only the third session with the hot iron, it usually took 5 or 6, depending on cooperative the person was.
As soon as the iron was removed, Shawn took deep breaths. He heard the Boss sigh and move to put the iron back into the hot pot of coals. Shawn closed his eyes and carefully listened to the Boss move around the couch to the table of various instruments. He knew that he was about to get punished since he was struggling against the hot treatment.
Without a word, the boss came back to the couch and slipped something around Shawn's neck, buckling it into place. Shawn opened his eyes, a bit confused since they had yet to put anything around his neck.
"What…?" Shawn tried to ask, only to get a shock of electricity from what he soon realized was a shock collar.
"Just trying something new to keep you quiet and still." The boss said as he petted Shawn's hair before picking up the hot iron again.
As soon as the hot iron pressed against his skin again, Shawn couldn't prevent his yell and soon received another shock from the collar.
Shawn awoke with a gasp and grabbed at his neck. Realizing that it was a dream, he quickly scanned the room as his eyes adjusted to the low light. Besides the random movie posters on the walls, he kept his bedroom pretty empty. There was a low dresser on the other side of the room with a pineapple lamp on top, the bottom part giving off a slight glow that he used as a nightlight.
Still feeling anxious, Shawn got out of bed and made his way into the living room, turning on all of the lights. He turned on the TV, grabbed his notebook, sat down on the couch and started writing. Doc Greg got Shawn in the habit of writing down all his nightmares and then burning them. It was supposed to help, and Shawn guessed it sort of does in the sense that it helps him calm down and sort through them.
It only took Shawn 10 minutes to recap the nightmare and his leg was bouncing the entire time. Tearing the paper out of the notebook, he put it on the pile that he would burn later. Since his landlady didn't appreciate the smoke detector going off at odd hours of the night, he had to wait until he got to the psych office.
Leaning back, Shawn watched the program that was on while he continued to bounce his leg. After a few minutes, he jumped up and went into the bathroom. As he waited for the water to heat up, he grabbed a towel and quickly stripped.
His middle-of-the-night showers consisted of five minutes of vigorous scrubbing under hot water followed by a two minutes of deep breathing under the cold water. Shivering, Shawn finally stepped out of the shower, grabbed his towel and froze as he accidentally looked in the mirror. Usually Shawn would throw his shirt over the mirror but he forgot tonight. Shawn stared at all the scars on his body.
Most of them had faded enough that the casual observer would only notice them if they knew where to look, but Shawn always kept them covered. The only ones he had trouble hiding were the slight burn on his back and the scar on his neck. But then again, he always had a shirt on so no one could see his back and they would only see his neck scar if he was looking up into the sky, which he tried not to do in his "psychic" visions. He didn't even let Juliet kiss him there when they made out.
Suddenly, his thoughts turned to Juliet. She had been a huge help with his self confidence these past few months. They had taken their relationship slow, almost glacier slow. It took Shawn almost a month to be comfortable enough to go to second base and they had yet to go any farther. He knew that Juliet understood, but it still didn't stop how guilty he felt every time he stopped them or the flicker of disappointment that would cross Juliet's face before she would smile slightly and suggest something else that they could do.
"DAMN IT! Damnit-Damnit-Damnit!" Shawn yelled as he banged his fists on the counter. "Why are you such a damn loser? She'll never hurt you!" Kicking the cabinet, Shawn stormed into his bedroom. He quickly got dressed and was outside mounting his motorcycle within minutes.
A million thoughts ran through his head as he sped down the street. He couldn't believe how much of a wimp he had become. The old Shawn would be ashamed of him since any other person he would have bedded within the first few dates, possibly waiting a little bit longer since Juliet is a coworker and definitely someone that he could see himself spending the rest of his life with.
Shawn slammed on the brakes as soon as that trail of thought entered his brain. "Where did that come from?" Shawn wondered. Sure, it had crossed his mind a few times, like when he had that awkward conversation with his dad and again when he found Juliet, but the drive to the station had helped him reorder his thoughts and think clearly. He hadn't thought about it again since that day.
Seeing that he was stopped in the middle of an intersection, Shawn quickly started up again.
But maybe it was finally time to think about it. He was getting older, he was almost 37 and if he ever wanted to have kids, he should probably hurry up so he wouldn't get too worn out from them. And who knew how long Juliet would stick around if he didn't propose, nobody was that patient.
On the other hand, he finally got his life back on track. He and Gus reopened Psych, he finally moved out of his father's house, his therapy sessions were going so well that they only met every other week and he was thinking about getting a fish. He initially wanted a dog, but his dad pointed out that a dog would need a lot of attention and it might get neglected when they were on tough cases. His dad suggested a cat but Shawn really couldn't see himself cleaning a cat box everyday. Juliet had a few cats, but her mom had gotten her one of those automatic litter boxes that cleans itself after every use so she only had to empty twice a week…
And there he went again, thinking about Juliet. Sighing, Shawn turned onto the next street and actually took a look around. He was on Juliet's street. It always surprised him where his self-conscious would take him on his night rides. He ended up at the beach, Gus' place, the Psych office or once at an all-night diner; this had to be the first time he ended up at Juliet's house.
Taking a deep breath, Shawn killed the engine, and took off his helmet and walked over to Juliet's house. Checking his phone, he saw that it was almost 3am and was a bit hesitant to wake Juliet up. She had been at his dad's house for Easter dinner and told him that she had to testify at court in the morning.
Raising his fist, Shawn hesitated only a second before he knocked. He waited a full 30 seconds before knocking again. He was about to knock a third time when a light finally turned on inside and Juliet peeked out the living room window. He gave her a small wave just before she turned away from the window and opened the door.
She looked at him with concern and asked, "Shawn? What are you doing here? It's 3 o'clock in the morning. Is anything wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong. I just…" Shawn crossed his arms when he noticed them shaking. "Can I come in?"
"I guess for a little bit but I really do need to get some sleep."
"Okay," Shawn nodded as Juliet stepped back. He walked into the living room and kept his back to her as she closed and locked the door. He listened as she took 5 steps toward him, stopping three feet behind him. He heard her clothes rustle as she lifted a hand to place on his arm before she stopped and lowered it again.
They stood there in that awkward silence for a few minutes until Juliet finally asked, "Shawn? Are you going to tell me why you came over here in the middle of the night without a shirt?"
Frowning, Shawn looked down and noticed that she was right. He had put on jeans, a zip-up hoodie and only one sock in his rush to escape his house. Shawn laughed shakily as he zipped up his hoodie and finally turned around. "Sorry. I, I guess I wasn't really thinking."
She nodded and bit her lip. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"There's not much to say. I had a nightmare, was freaking out, took a shower, had the urge to go riding and somehow ended up at your house." Shawn looked down at the floor when the look of pity started to show on Juliet's face. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be waking you up with my problems." He shook his head and started moving around her.
"Wait!" Juliet exclaimed as she placed a hand on his arm.
Shawn stopped at both the single word and touch. He was slightly surprised that he didn't flinch, especially since both were unexpected. When he didn't move, she rubbed his arm and asked, "Do you want to watch some TV? I can put in a movie or something."
Shawn frowned as he looked at her. "Don't you have to get up early?"
"Not really. I just have to be at court at 9. And since I have the day off from work, I can just sleep later."
Shawn looked down at his hands as he thought, realizing that he had stopped shaking once she touched him. Sometimes he really thought she was too good for him. She would do almost anything for him, no matter what it cost her. She once cut work in order to drive to San Diego, where he was hiding out for a few days after he and his dad had a really bad fight. She not only convinced him to come back but also offered to help him look for an apartment, even though her mother was visiting from Miami for the weekend. He agreed, only if they waited until after her mother left to go apartment hunting.
Taking a deep breath, Shawn gave her a small smile and nod. Smiling, Juliet led him over to the couch and placed his helmet by the door. "Anything in particular that you want to watch?"
Shawn sighed as he ran a hand through his still wet hair. "Something funny?"
"Okay." Juliet carefully examined her DVD collection before smiling and picking one out. "Here we go. I haven't watched 27 Dresses in ages."
"Seriously? A chick flick?"
"What? You said funny and it's a romantic comedy."
"It's a chick flick. I was thinking something with Molly Ringwald or John Cusack."
"Hey! You're the one who came to my house and are keeping me up in the middle of night. I should at least get the final say in what movie we watch." Juliet crossed her arms as she stood in front of him.
"Fine!" Shawn sighed. Juliet nodded and put the movie in. He waited until she sat down and was comfortable before asking, "So, where's the popcorn?"
Juliet scoffed and hit him with a pillow. "You know where it is, you make it yourself!"
"Okay." Shawn smiled as he went into the kitchen, planning on raiding the cabinets.
Two hours later, Shawn and Juliet were barely noticed the credits rolling, having gotten into a discussion of whether or not themed weddings were a good idea and how many bridesmaids were too many.
"Come on!" Shawn exclaimed as he turned to face her. "Do you really need more than 2, maybe 3, bridesmaids?"
"Oh, that's easy for you to say!" Juliet poked him in the chest as she sat crossed leg on the couch. "You already know that Gus is your best man, everyone else would just be there to please your bride. But a lot of my friends would be really offended if I don't ask them to be in the wedding party. I'm gonna have enough trouble picking a maid of honor, let alone trying to narrow the number of bridesmaids to a reasonable number."
"This is why people should just get married at city hall and then let their friends organize the wedding reception."
"And that is why it's called the 'bride's day' because the groom would, 9 times out of 10, take the easy route. You probably wouldn't even let people know that you were engaged until the day before your wedding or even the day after." Juliet crossed her arms and looked at him pointedly.
"I would never do that to you, Jules! You can tell them today." Shawn said seriously as he put a hand on her knee.
Juliet stared at him shocked for a moment before stuttering, "W-what?"
"I know how much it means to you, so you can tell them today." Shawn smiled as he put his other hand on her cheek.
"Are, are you saying what I think you're saying?"
Shawn leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips. Juliet immediately kissed back and ran a hand through his hair.
When they pulled apart, Shawn kept his eyes closed and touched their foreheads together. He found her hands and gave them a light squeeze. "I guess I am." He said softly as he opened his eyes.
Juliet smiled sweetly. "Then can you actually say it, just so that I know for sure."
"Juliet Marie O'Hara," He began, moving back a bit.
"That's not my middle name."
"Shh," Shawn put a finger on her lips. "Will you let me continue?"
She nodded silently.
Moving his finger, he looked her straight in the eyes. "Jules, I've loved you for a very long time, possibly since the day we met. You've always believed in me, even when I was having trouble believing in myself. You are the sweetest, kindest, most badass cop I have ever met. And even though I know I've messed things up in the past, I want the chance to show you what a wonderful husband I can be. For you always bring out the best in me. So Jules, I have a very important question for you."
He paused and lowered his eyes, unable to get the words out. This was it, the moment he had been thinking about all night, since he realized he was on Juliet's street. He was going to ask her, oh how he wanted to say those words, but he couldn't get his mind to agree with his heart. Was he really ready for this type of commitment? He just got his life back together, was he ready to go through another life change? A huge one at that.
"Shawn?" Juliet asked nervously.
Looking into Juliet's eyes, he knew the answer. He wanted it so badly and knew that it would work. They were perfect together. This is the longest platonic relationship he's ever had with a girl, and one of the longest romantic ones. If they were that good just as friends and even better dating, he knew that they would be awesome as man and wife.
Smiling, Shawn squeezed her hand and asked, "My sweet, sweet Juliet. Will you marry me?"
Juliet lit up in one of her brightest grins as she responded. "Shawn Henry Spencer…"
"Oh god, don't bring my dad into this." Shawn groaned.
She gave him a half stern, half amused look as she continued. "I think you are an amazing, funny and all around great guy. I love you from the bottom of my heart and would do anything for you. You always bring a smile to my face and I would love for that to continue all the rest of my life. So yes, I will marry you Shawn."
Shawn broke into a huge grin as he leaned forward and gave her the most heartfelt and passionate kiss ever. He tried to put all his love and joy into that kiss and felt Juliet do the same. When they finally broke apart, they were both breathless and had the biggest grins on their faces.
Looking down at their still joined hands, Shawn said, "I'm sorry that I don't have a ring right now but this was very spur of the moment. I'll have to ask my dad for my grandma's ring or something. I know that she wanted me to have it and I know that it's at his house somewhere…."
"It's okay Shawn, I understand." Juliet gently lifted his head back up and rubbed his cheek. "The ring isn't that important, it can wait."
"So who should we call first?" Shawn asked.
"Shawn! It's 5 in the morning! Everyone's asleep."
"Exactly! We're up; everyone else might as well too." Shawn got out his phone and had already hit speed dial #1 before Juliet realized what he was doing.
"What? No! Shawn, stop!" She tried to reach for the phone but Shawn held it over his head.
"Hey! You're gonna make me hang up before Gus can answer and then what is he going to think?"
They started struggling for the phone, Juliet climbing over Shawn as he stretched his arm farther and farther away. Hearing the ringing stop, Shawn quickly turned on the speaker phone before Gus could answer.
"Burton Guster speaking." Gus sleepily answered.
"Gus! Hey buddy, how's it going?" Shawn asked enthusiastically as Juliet started swatting at his arm. "Ow! Watch it!"
"Shawn? Why are you calling me so early?"
"Well, there's something that I have to tell you. You see…" Juliet clamped her hand over Shawn's mouth, having given up on getting the phone.
"Shawn? What's wrong?" Gus started to sound nervous.
Shawn licked Juliet's hand, making her release him. While she was still distracted, he reached his other hand up and pulled her closer for a kiss.
"Shawn? Shawn, are you there? If you don't answer me in the next 10 seconds, I'm gonna hang up and call your father! Shawn!"
Releasing Juliet, Shawn smiled as he said, "I'm fine Gus. Just making out with my new fiancé."
"Ew! Shawn, why would you call me while you are making out? I don't care if they are your fiancé or…. F-fiancé? Shawn, what's going on?"
It took Shawn a few seconds to respond since Juliet had initiated another kiss. "It's exactly what it sounds like, buddy."
There was a few seconds of silence before Gus asked, "Are you serious?"
"I've never been more serious in my life, except of course when I popped the question spontaneously a few minutes ago. Right Jules?"
"Right Shawn." Juliet giggled as she pushed him farther into the couch.
"Oh wow! Wow. Um, congratulations guys! I'm the best man, right?"
"You know what, Gus, I've got to go. I'll call you later."
"Shawn! I am your best man, right?"
"Bye Gus."
"Shawn!" Gus yelled.
Shawn quickly disconnected and dropped the phone on the side table. "There, now he'll be up for the next few hours worrying."
"Shawn, that was a very mean thing to do." Juliet tried to scold as she smiled down at him.
"He's my best friend; he'll get over it eventually. I'll buy him lunch or something." He reached up and ran a hand through her hair.
"Are you going to call your father now?"
"Nah. He'll kill me for not only calling him an hour before he gets up but also for getting engaged without telling him first. Best to do it after dinner when I can escape for the night."
"Okay, but you're telling him by yourself." Juliet crossed her arms and propped them on his chest.
"What? Come on, Jules! I need you there to back me up!"
"Sorry, I'm gonna have enough people of my own to tell, including a very overprotective partner. I need to break it to Carlton gently so that he doesn't try and shoot you or something."
"Hey! Lassie and I actually have a semi-respectable friendship. As in I semi-respect him while he's on the job." Shawn joked as he started running his hands up and down her sides.
"You know he's going to threaten you with bodily harm if you ever hurt me."
"Isn't there some hypocrite oath that he's agreed to that says that he'll do no harm to innocent people?"
"Shawn, you are so not an innocent person. Besides, that's the Hippocratic Oath and it only applies to doctors."
"I've heard it both ways." Shawn grinned as Juliet giggled. His hands had drifted down to her waist and he was tempted to take her shirt off.
Juliet noticed his hesitation and lifted his chin up to look at her. "I can wait until my wedding day, assuming it's not too far away."
"No, I think it's time." Shawn smiled as he kissed her and slowly changed their positions so that he was on top of her.
"Are you sure?" She asked, one hand unzipping his hoodie while the other trailed up his chest to his shoulder, ready to take it off.
"Yeah. I trust you Jules." He leaned in and gave her another kiss as he slowly lifted up her shirt, breaking the kiss to get it off. He had never seen her with her shirt off before, not even a sports bra or bikini, so he couldn't help it when he just stared at her perfect skin, suddenly subconscious of his own.
"Shawn." He looked up to see Juliet studying him intently. "We can stop whenever you want."
Shawn shook his head. "I don't want to stop. I want to keep running with you through all the ups and downs of life."
Juliet smiled as she finally pushed his hoodie off. "Ditto. 'Til death do us part."
"And even longer. To infinity and beyond." Shawn added as he leaned down for another kiss.
Author's notes: So what do you think? I managed to write this in less than a week and I didn't feel like trying to find a beta reader when I was pretty satisfied with it. There won't be any more stories for this series, for there isn't much else to do with it, except writing a wedding which is so not my thing. I had enough trouble writing the fluffy/romantic parts in this.
Okay, that's it. Bye!