Chapter 1

Shawn pulled open the door to the SBPD, a hum on his lips. He happily waltzed in, Gus in stride behind him. He smiled softly as he looked about; the department was almost completely empty due to the parade. He couldn't ask for a better time to chat up his lover since she was currently on desk duty.

He glanced towards her desk and frowned; she wasn't there. He sadly looked about, thinking maybe she was getting some coffee or was in the bathroom. He bit his lip as he didn't see her but his thoughts were pulled from him as Gus tugged on his arm, forcing him to look at something.

He gasped softly, his heart skipping a beat as he finally saw Juliet. She was sitting on a corner of Lassiter's desk. Her back to them but Shawn could see her fingers resting gently in her partner's hair as held a fork to his lips.

Confusion, hurt, and anger welled up in Shawn's chest. His hands slowly turned to shaky fists as he watched her press her nose to Lassie's hair before the man finally accepted the forkful of food. Something about watching his love feed her partner made Shawn's blood boil as all of Juliet's touches were much too intimate for just friends.

His anger started to dwindle and his confusion grew as he saw Lassiter turn away from Juliet. The man gently moved her hand away and got up too slowly. Something within Shawn felt sick as Lassiter turned away and started to leave down a hall, his walk not more than an agonizingly slow limp. Shawn watched Juliet follow him, something was wrong with the pair but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Intent on finding an answer, he grabbed Gus' sleeve. He pulled his surprised friend to the male detective's desk; they had to find an answer. His friend was reluctant but finally followed.

...P...

Juliet swallowed weakly, her knees shaking slightly as she entered the police station with a bag of food in hand. She bit her lip; she had plenty of time before Shawn came for his daily visit. Lassiter would only clam up and pull away if Juliet's bubbly lover was there.

Taking a deep breath, she walked towards her partner's desk. The walk felt longer than usual. Her internal pain heightening as she looked him over, his split lip drawing her attention. It wasn't unusual that he ignored her and just kept working.

"H-hey partner…" She whispered softly, sitting down on the corner of his desk. The invasion of his personal space made him flinch slightly before looking up at her in confusion. A need to know why she was sitting on his desk could be seen in his eyes.

She smiled weakly and held up a white container. The name of a pancake house on the top, making Lassiter blink slowly as Juliet studied his features.

"Y-you didn't have breakfast this morning before we came to work… Y-you haven't eaten in t-two days, t-thought you might be hungry." She whispered softly as she opened the container. Lassiter frowned softly, the sight of food making his stomach turn. Juliet sighed softly, slowly cutting the pancakes to tiny pieces. She found herself glad that nobody else was there as she forked a piece of pancake, gently pressing it to her partner's mouth. The man frowned softly and moved his mouth away.

"O'Hara, I'm capable of feeding myself." He growled weakly. Juliet could only shake her head softly as she gazed down at his right hand, the last three fingers were straightened and bandaged in a small headscarf that Shawn had gotten Juliet. The hand was practically useless, he could barely write. Juliet wished that he had stayed at the hospital when they went this morning for a bloodtest.

Juliet tried to hold back a sob and a whimper as she straightened Lassiter's fingers, pulling a cry of pain from him. She pulled the scarf off her head and gently but securely wrapped them with it, tight just enough so he couldn't move them too much.

"I-I'll fix t-this, C-Carlton…"

She moved her free hand up, gently resting the fingers in his hair. She brought the fork to his lips again, trying to get him to eat.

"Please, Carlton, just a bite. W-we need to get your blood sugar up." Her soft, caring words made him sigh. He knew she was right; he couldn't risk Marlowe getting scared if he passed out. The phone call to her this morning had been painful enough when he lied to her about where he had been.

Juliet pressed her nose to his hair, softly begging him again to eat. He flinched softly at her closeness but with the soft grinding of teeth, Lassiter weakly accepted the forkful of food. His stomach turned slightly at his submissiveness but let her feed him a bit more. Her gentle touches to his hair helped his body relax enough that he could actually stomach the food.

His gaze flashed up as he heard something by the station door. His food got caught in his throat as he saw Spencer standing back and gawking at them. Lassiter shut his eyes as he gently moved Juliet's hand away before stiffly pulling away from Juliet; he could clearly imagine what was going through Spencer's mind. He shakily got up, knees threatening to give out on him. He turned to leave, Juliet softly asking where he was going. He didn't answer but started to limp towards one of the halls.

Lassiter hissed softly in agony. His inner muscles below his belt burned with each movement. He gasped softly as each limped step sent the burning ache up his spine. He groaned softly as Juliet joined him, arm wrapping around his waist to help him walk.

...P...

Slightly in a confused huffed, Shawn flopped down in Lassiter's chair. He pushed the leftover pancakes to the side, sighing as Gus began to eat them.

"Dude, you do realize it was Lassie eatting those, right?"

"He's not going to finish them." Shawn could only roll his eyes but let Gus continue eating. He tried to ignore his munching friend as he searched the detective's desk. Everyone knew how lovey-dovey Lassiter was around Marlowe, if he was cheating with Jules then there had to be love notes somewhere.

He scrounged hurriedly, checking Lassiter's unlocked drawers. He found a picture of Lassiter's "vampire" bride smiling and looking cheery. The picture had his heart sink, if the detectives were cheating then they'd be tearing apart two loving couples.

Shawn was quickly pulled from his thoughts as Lassiter's cell phone rang from its place to the side of Lassiter's computer. The fake psychic frowned at it but snatched it up, it could be a case.

"Hello?" He greeted softly, thinking it might be Marlowe looking for Lassiter.

"This is Dr. Brinney. Am I speaking to Detective Carlton Lassiter?" The person didn't sound frantic or scared but the person being a doctor made Shawn uneasy. Was something wrong with Lassie?

"Yes, this is Lassiter." He replied, ignoring the strange look he was getting from Gus.

"Good, I'm glad. I called to tell you that we've analyzed your tests."

"Tests?" Shawn swallowed, what tests would Lassie need?

"Yes, the one from this morning. I'm happy to say it came out negative." Shawn sent a worried glance over to a confused looking Gus.

"Negative for what, miss?"

"For what you were worried about, Sir. There are no seen traces of STDs in your system, Detective." Shawn was starting to feel a bit sick.