A/N: Hey guys. I just want to clarify a few things before we get into the thick of things; first off, there are discrepancies in the show about age. Circa season 2, Shawn mentions doing something for thirty plus years, but in season 4, Gus says something about being 29. As Shawn and Gus were in the same grade in school, that means they're the same age. For this fic, I'm going with the theory that Shawn is thirty four. Another discrepancy is that Shawn left home at 17, but in Christmas Joy, he is said to make out with Gus' sister while Gus was at college, implying he was still in Santa Barbara at an age older than 17. I will follow the pilot by saying he left when he was 17 and didn't come back until much later.

Shawn Spencer sat at his desk with a pen clenched between his desk, playing Squirrel Assassin as his friend Gus played trashcan basketball. It was a rather slow day at Psych, as the two best friends had just solved a case and the Santa Barbara Police Department had yet to present them with a new one. So instead of them spending their day stalking badies and solving crimes in Shawn's flamboyant fashion, they were at the office, desperate to cure their monotony.

"Dude, we have the day off and we're sitting around doing nothing. We need to make something of ourselves! We could steal your dad's classic car and cruise around, maybe crash a parade—"

"You are no Ferris Bueller, Shawn," Gus said dryly. "Besides, that would make me Alan Ruck. No way."

"Gus, don't be such a silver spoon," Shawn said flippantly. "You're missing the point. We need to do something, man! I can only take so much more of watching you miss such a dreadfully close target. How much money is in our savings?"

"Nuh uh, Shawn, we don't know when the next case will come our way. There's no way in hell I'm going to spend the money we may need to tide us over."

Shawn let out a sigh and was about to retort when a loud knocking came from the front door. Shawn smiled smugly. "Oh, Gus, ye of little faith." He paused for a second, and as the knocking persisted, he threw his head back and shouted for the person to come in. A pretty woman, about their age, walked in. Her face was crumpled with worry, and Shawn saw anger flash in her eyes before she schooled her expression to be much more cool and aloof. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gus straighten up and smile smoothly.

"Hello, I'm Shawn Spencer, and this is my partner Willtower Hopkins—"

"Ignore him," Gus said, popping his collar. "I'm Gus, but my friends call me Ole Brown Eyes."

"I know who you are," the woman said, shifting uncomfortably. "We went to high school together. I'm Melisa Valero."

Shawn blinked in shock and he and Gus shared a shocked look; this was not how they remembered Melisa Valero. In school, she had always been fastidiously well-groomed, all slick hair and manicured nails. Now, she was wearing an oversized sweater, her hair flat and rather lifeless, her eyes weighed down by bags.

"Wow, Melisa… It's been a while," Shawn said slowly. Her eyes met his and he saw more anger, and he couldn't help but wince. Gus noticed this, but to his credit, said nothing.

"Yes, it has," she said stiffly. "You've missed a lot, Shawn."

"How much can I have missed, really?" he asked lightly, despite the fact that his stomach felt like it was full of lead.

"A lot," she repeated. "Maybe we should go out to lunch. Alone."

"Whatever you have to say, Gus can hear," Shawn said surely. "I'll tell him the second you're gone, anyway."

That didn't seem to be what Melisa wanted to hear. Her eyes narrowed and her lips pressed into a thin line.

"Fine, fine!" she said irritably. "You have a daughter! The night before you left? When you told me you loved me and got me into bed just to leave for God knows what the next morning? Turns out the condom broke. I got knocked up!"

Shawn froze, unable to really comprehend what she was saying. He was too young to have a daughter. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Her name is Lucy," Melisa whispered, suddenly much softer. "She just turned sixteen last month. She looks mostly like me, but she has your smile, and she acts a lot like you."

"I can't be a father," Shawn muttered, mostly to himself. "Gus—Gus would have told me. My father would have told me. Someone would let me know."

"I didn't know, Shawn," Gus told him, his voice higher than usual due to his shock.

"I didn't tell anyone you were the father. I was embarrassed and angry, and I didn't want you to find out. I didn't want you to have anything to do with it, so I kept anything that could have led you to finding out about her a secret. I told everyone I got drunk and had a one-night stand. It was better than the truth, and dealing with you." Melisa collapsed onto an armchair and wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater. She was smiling, but it was sad and wistful. Shawn sat down across from her, his hand over his eyes. He couldn't believe his luck.

Okay, so he knew he was a total punk when he was seventeen. He had accepted that fact a very long time ago, and he liked to think that even when he was immature now, at least it was in an innocent childish way, versus selfish like he used to be. He felt Gus' hand on his shoulder, but he couldn't concentrate on his friend's kind gesture. The only thought running through his mind was 'Oh holy crap, I'm a father.'

He couldn't help but imagine her. The way Melisa described her. Lucy? Lucy. He could see it. Melisa's olive skin, emerald eyes, black hair. All finished off with his smile. In his mind's eye, she was laughing, and saying something, but he couldn't imagine her voice, so he had no clue what she was trying to tell him. But he couldn't help but smile a bit. He looked up when Melisa cleared her throat. "Can I see her? I mean— is it okay if I meet her? Does she know you're here?"

"She has no clue. She doesn't even know who you are," Melisa sniffled. Shawn felt uncomfortable at her tears, and the tension increased when he heard Gus start crying.

"Really, dude?" he snapped irritably. Gus glared at him.

"You know I'm a sympathetic crier, Shawn!"

"Whatever," he said dismissively, his attention back on Melisa. "Do you have a picture of her?"

Melisa nodded and pulled her bag, which she had set on the floor, on her lap, rifling through it, the occasional receipt spilling over and falling on the floor. Finally, she retrieved a worn leather wallet and pulled out a small school picture of a girl making a face at the camera. Shawn almost dropped it the second he got a clear look.

The girl was almost exactly as he imagined. The only difference was her nose was slightly longer, more 'J' shaped, and her hair was curly instead of straight. She had horn-rimmed glasses on the bridge of her nose, and her lips were pulled back over her teeth, which were biting down lightly on her tongue. Her eyes sparkled with amusement, bright emerald green, just as he imagined them. "Wow. She's… Wow."

"She looks a lot like you," Gus told Melisa, his eyes wide. He gently plucked the picture from Shawn's fingers and stared at Lucy. "She has Shawn's personality, though. You can tell just looking at her. How'd she get away with having her picture like this?"

"She just refused to take a serious picture. The poor photographer had to give up after about fifteen tries," she laughed. Melisa glanced down at her wrist and frowned, slinging her bag over her shoulder. Crumpled receipts fell off her lap and joined the others on the floor. "I'm sorry, I have to run." She pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and pressed it into Shawn's hand. "There's my cell number and my address. Just… Call before you come over, okay? I want to be prepared, I want a chance to explain everything to her before you two meet."

"Can I… Maybe see her tomorrow?" he asked.

"No, I don't think tomorrow is good. I have work until seven, and I want to be there for the meeting. Be a buffer," Melisa said regretfully.

"Why didn't you just tell her before you found me?" Shawn asked, half-wrestling with Gus to get the picture back.

"I was worried," she admitted. "I thought you wouldn't want to meet her, and I didn't want to get her hopes up. She's gone through a lot, and… Well, she doesn't need more disappointment. I really have to go." And with that, Melisa was gone, leaving a horrible silence in her wake.

"Thanks for coming with me, Gus," Shawn said again as the blueberry pulled in front of Henry Spencer's house. He got out of the car and moved as slowly as possible, the picture of Lucy burning a hole in his pocket. He stopped at the front door, his hand raised to knock, but he couldn't go through with it. Gus sighed.

"Shawn, come on. It's a mistake you made seventeen years ago. Your father can't possibly be mad, can he?" He paused. "Well, he can't do anything to you. You're a grown man now." Another pause. "Well, he won't kill you with me there."

Shawn glared at Gus, too nervous to make a good comeback, and knocked on the door. He slipped the picture out of his pocket, and the second his father answered the door, shoved it in his face. "Do you know her?"

Henry paused and snatched the picture out of Shawn's hands. He shoved his glasses over his eyes and examined it quickly. "I've seen her around. Seems like a good kid. Why, was she murdered?"

Shawn's stomach pooled with dread at the thought, and he immediately felt ridiculous. He hadn't even met this girl yet and he was already acting like he knew her. "No, no, of course not. She… Um… Can we come in?"

"Since when have you had to ask?" Henry snorted, but nevertheless he opened the door and invited them in. Shawn sat down on the couch and buried his face in his hand.

"Alright, Shawn, what's this about?" he demanded, sitting across from Henry and Gus.

"Before I left, when I was seventeen… I might have… Done something with Melisa Valero. And… She…" Shawn found that he couldn't go on; his voice seemed stuck in his throat.

Henry, always observant, immediately understood. "You knocked a girl up, and just left? Shawn, I knew you were irresponsible, but that's just deplorable!"

"I didn't know she was pregnant before I left!" he defended weakly. But Henry didn't hear him; he was working himself into a fit.

"It was bad enough that you left me, and Gus, and worried your mother sick, but the fact that you could leave a poor teenage girl alone and pregnant, it's disgusting! I thought I raised you better than this, Shawn!"

"DAD!" Shawn bellowed, jumping to his feet. "I know, alright? I know! I messed up! I was a stupid kid and I made a mistake. But I'm going to work on it. I'm going to build a relationship with her. Maybe you can get to know her, too."

Henry stared down at the picture, eerily silent compared to his earlier shouts. "What's… What's her name?" he asked, his voice gruff.

"Lucy. She's sixteen, and she has our smile."

Henry collapsed onto the couch. "She seems about as immature as you. You always had trouble staying serious on picture day." He stared at the picture for another minute, completely silent, before he looked back up at Shawn. "When are you going to meet her?"

"I was thinking tomorrow," he said, gently taking the picture back from his dad and tucking it in his shirt pocket.

"Melisa said not to go over there tomorrow," Gus pointed out. Shawn rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, because that's going to stop me."

Review? Please? I would really appreciate it. I gotta know if it sucks or not!