Disclamer: I do not own Psych or Twilight. Oh, and Glorious Plumage is awesome. Enough said.
Author's Note: Sorry it took so long for the chapter. School is horrible and mean and cruel, and getting a cold isn't that great either. But I did get to watch a bunch of Psych and Colbert Report and The Daily Show with Jon Steward and Robin Hood BBC, so it's all good.
I knew for a fact that I was going to miss Santa Barbra and it's 75 degree weather. And it didn't help any that my mom, who was currently driving me to the airport, kept going on and on about the different, warm, places she was going to go to. Perhaps the only good thing about being a traveling police psychologist was the traveling part.
Smiling, I turned to my mom, trying to soak her all in. I wasn't going to be able to see her for a long time, so I wanted to remember everything about her. And with my photographic memory I would, but I still wanted to remember exactly how she moved her hands while talking, even while driving.
"Shawn, are you even listening to a word I'm saying? You don't have to go live with Henry, you could stay with me and go to an online school." My mom said, pulling me out of my thoughts. It was nice, seeing my mom get worried about me. But it who wouldn't be worried about her son moving in with his police dad in Sporfs, Washington?
Sporfs, Washington was a very small town. Sporfs High School, the school I would be forced to attend, had a population of 315 students. There had been more than 900 students just in my junior class back home. And to top it all off, it was always raining. So the town had a rather gloomy feeling about it, a very big difference from sunny Santa Barbara, California.
I still wasn't sure why I had decided to go live there. After my mother had escaped with me when I was at the young age of 3 months, I had never thought I would have to go back, not including the month I had been forced to live with Henry every summer until I was 11. I hadn't seen my dad in 6 years, since on my 11th birthday I had decided I would have nothing more to do with him. And now I was going to live with him on a permanent basis?
"Mom, I already made up my mind. I'm going to live with Henry and attend Sporfs High School. Even if it is cold and wet and gloomy and I don't know anyone there." I replied in a monotone, leaning back in my seat and yawning.
"Speaking of cold and wet, are you sure that's going to be warm enough for you, Goose?" My mom asked, referring to the black basketball shorts, thin white 'Duran Duran' t-shirt and sneakers that I was wearing.
"I've already told you, I brought my coat." I pointed to the backseat where my overly-bulky winter coat had decided it would stay. And I wasn't going to argue with it, I wanted to stay as far away from that thing as possible for as long as I could.
The rest of the ride to the airport was silent, neither of us having much to talk about. We had already exhausted all normal conversation 4 days before my departure date. When we finally arrived at the airport and found my terminal my mom pulled me into a tight hug.
"Be careful Shawn... I'm going to miss you so much. Make sure to check your email everyday. I want to know everything that you do." My mother finally released me, tears sparkling in her eyes.
I smiled and hugged her back before grabbing my coat and heaved the duffel bag that served as my suitcase over my shoulder. After taking a few steps toward the door I stopped and turned back around, a teasing smile on my lips. "Mom, I'm going to be fine. It's not like I'm going to get the life sucked out of me or anything."
It was a 3 hour flight from Santa Barbara to Seattle and another hour to Port Angeles' small airport. And then after that I would have to endure another hour in the car with Henry. I could handle the flying part, I could catch up on some sleep or flirt with the closest hot girl. But the car ride with my father would not be easy.
Actually, Henry had been pretty good about me deciding to crash at his place. He had already enrolled me in high school and was going to look around for some car I could use since he had forbid me from bringing my motorcycle with me.
But it was going to be horrible living with the detective. Either he would try to teach me some stupid lessons on how to be a cop and yell at me for not listening or he would yell at me for not seeing him for 6 years. Either way my eardrums would get a workout. No wonder my mom had left him while she still could. Henry wasn't exactly lovable.
When I finally arrived in Port Angeles, it was raining. I tried to not let it bring my spirits down, but I couldn't help it. With all this rain it was bound to be hard to grow pineapples, making them harder to find and more expensive. But what did I know about pineapple husbandry?
Henry was waiting with his squad car. I had thought as much. It was almost as if the cop had married his car, they seemed to go everywhere together. He gave me a short, curt nod and grabbed my bags, stuffing them into the trunk without a word. Hopefully the whole ride would be like that.
We had been driving for about 5 minutes when Henry turned to me and sighed. "So, long time no see."
"Really dad?" It probably wouldn't be a good idea to call him Henry to his face. "We were having a nice silence going on there. Way to ruin it with small talk."
Rolling his eyes, Henry sighed again. "Oh, grow up Shawn. I haven't seen you for 6 years, I have a right to talk to my son." Well, he did have a point. But of course I would never admit that he did. I was Shawn Spencer after all.
"Whatever you say dad." I muttered, turning to stare out the window. This was going to be so much fun.
A few more minutes of silence passed before Henry tried to start up a conversation again. "I found a car for you." he said, keeping his eyes on the road.
"Well, it's the least you could do, making me leave my motorcycle behind." I answered, my tone bitter.
"Aren't you even going to ask me about it Shawn?" he asked, starting to sound annoyed. Maybe I was pushing it, I really didn't want to be kicked out of the car in the middle of nowhere.
"Fine. What's the car like?" I asked, feigning interest. Hopefully it wouldn't be a total clunker, but knowing my dad there was always that possibility.
Henry smiled for the first time since seeing me. Even if I wasn't actually thrilled about the car I could tell he was excited about it. And when Henry got excited, things usually ended up badly for me. "Well, actually, it's a truck. A Chevy to exact. I know you hate trucks, but there aren't that many options in Sporfs. And it's not like I'm going to let you buy another death trap on 2 wheels. Jack Lytar offered to sell it to me real cheap. You remember Jack, right?"
My face fell slightly as my dad mentioned it was a truck. I had never exactly loved trucks, they were always to big and clunky and odd in my opinion. And of course I remembered 'Uncle' Jack Lytar. I'd spent most of my time in Sporfs with him and his daughter, since he and my dad had gone fishing so often. The curse (well, not really, it actually was pretty useful at times) of having a photographic memory. Jack wasn't really my uncle, but we got along well enough that he had told me to call him 'Uncle' Jack. And it would have been cool to have him as an uncle.
"Well, how cheap is cheap?" I wouldn't be able to weasel my way out of the price, I was horrible at buying cars or anything like that.
The smile slipped off of Henry's face the moment I asked him the price. "Well, I um..." A faint blush crept up his cheeks, a very un-Henry action. "I already bought it for you Shawn. As a coming home present. And Jack knocked a few hundred dollars off of it because I was getting it for you."
Out of all the things I had been expecting, that had not been it. I would have even expected Henry saying he had begun to date a man more than him buying me a car. "Wow dad. That's... very considerate. Thanks." I mumbled.
"Well, your welcome Shawn." Henry replied, still keeping his eyes on the road.
"Wait, what year is it? Because I really don't want to be driving around a car from 1801." I asked, trying (and failing) to raise an eyebrow like all those good cops could do in the old movies and TV shows.
Henry rolled his eyes and ran a hand over his very bald head. "Shawn, there were no cars back in 1801."
"I've heard it both ways. But you still haven't answered my question." I wasn't going to let this go, my dad needed to know I wouldn't take no for an answer. Or at least no answer for an answer.
"Um... I think Jack said it was from the early sixties or late fifties." he confessed, turning to look at me for a fraction of a second before returning his gaze to the road.
I sighed, slumping back in my seat. "Great. I won't be able to fix it or anything if it breaks. You know that, right?"
"Shawn, don't worry, the thing runs great." Henry replied, a small smile on his face before it vanished, replaced with his normal, stern expression.
The rest of the ride to Henry's house was passed in silence. I was to busy trying to think up nicknames for my new truck (the only two that weren't total crap were 'The Truckinator' and 'Truckenstein') to initiate a conversation, and Henry knew better than try to talk to me again.
Finally we arrived at Henry's, no, our house. It hadn't changed much in 6 years, still white, still strangely large for one man to have be living in alone. I half expected a step-mom and step-siblings to come running out, saying how much they had been looking forward to seeing me. But thankfully no one came out. That eliminated at least one awkward hug and conversation.
My new truck actually was pretty cool. It was one of those old cars that never seemed to end up smashed to pieces in a car accident. And it was red, which made it even more awesome. "Wow dad... I actually like it." I muttered, stepping out of the squad car and over to my new truck.
Henry just grunted as he grabbed my bags, walking quickly to my room. I followed after him, but only after running a hand over the truck. Maybe being here in Sporfs wasn't going to be so horrible.
Perhaps one of Henry's only redeeming qualities was that he never hovered. After depositing my things in my room he left to make dinner (and knowing Henry it was probably fish or steak), I wouldn't have to smile or feign happiness. But then again, I hadn't been doing that to begin with, so I guess that didn't really matter.
Glancing around the room, I sighed. It didn't seem to have changed much in 6 years. The only difference from when I was 11 was the new laptop sitting on my old desk. Somehow my mother had convinced Henry that I needed a laptop with good internet and he should buy it for me, but I had my suspicions that she had paid for more than half of it. The blue striped curtains were still the same, along with the smallish bed with it's green and blue striped comforter.
Turning around, I smiled a real smile for the first time since boarding the plane. Henry had kept my giant 'Star Trek: The Original Series' poster on the door for 6 years. If I thought about it, it was kinda creepy, Henry not packing things up and keeping them in a box. But then again, he was so busy being a police detective that there probably wasn't much time to go around and pack things up, except on sick days or vacation. And from what I knew, Henry didn't take many sick or vacation days.
I would be forced to share a bathroom with Henry, a fact I didn't mind to much. We were both dudes, and it didn't really take to long to get ready for school or work. Well, after the 45 minutes I would have to spend getting my hair right. But Henry would be able to wait for a bathroom that long, he'd been on stakeouts that had lasted longer than that before.
Extended Author's Note: So, I cut a bit of stuff out at the end because I really wanted to get this posted today and I'm getting tired. And there might be mistakes because I really don't feel like reading over it right now. So there won't be any of Shawn saying he has to pale skin and he doesn't fit in anywhere and just over all being a whiny bitch like Bella.
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