Author note: Hey guys! How are you! I bring a gift of a long chapter. Only been 5 days since i last updated! shocking I know!

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Disclaimer: I do not own Psych


While Shawn slept that night, Charlie retired to her office to make the necessary phone calls. Firstly she called the Guster's and arranged a meeting with their son. At first they were reluctant but relented after their son's protests and assured her that they would come down the next day. When visitors came, they had a special room where they all sat; the room was under surveillance at all times and recorded the interactions made with the outside world. Charlie then thought about ringing Henry Spencer.

Charlie was well aware of Shawn's abandonment issues, which is why Ross had been brought back so quickly and although it was a little soon she decided to call him in the hope that he would rush over and visit his son, to reassure him that he still cared.

However this conversation didn't go as smoothly. In fact, there was no conversation.

She rang the house and there was no answer, so she left a message asking him to ring her back. She thought about ringing the police to get direct contact with him as she guessed the reason why he wasn't at home was that he was still at the station. But she decided against it. It wasn't an emergency and you weren't meant to use that line unless it was an emergency so Charlie decided that she would wait for Henry to get back to her. Little did she know she would be waiting a long time.


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The next day Shawn explored a lot more than he thought he would. He ate his breakfast after watching it being made so ensure it didn't have pills in it and Charlie decided to wait a few days for him to deal with the knowledge of knowing Ross wasn't real but telling him that he would have to take them again. Shawn was thankful that he didn't have to take the pills for a few days, Charlie had said to him that she would delay for a few days but he would have to take them again in a couple of days, Shawn was just thankful that he didn't have to take them for a while. As soon as they started to make him, Shawn would resist until the very end. Shawn now knew that these pills made Ross go away, that Ross was a hallucination and part of his imagination but Ross had always been there for Shawn and Shawn had no intention of deserting him now.

Charlie needed to know if she could trust Shawn and started allowing him to go places by himself. Tests, to see whether he would get into trouble. Shawn was pleased when he found his door unlocked and deciding not to get changed, he slipped on his dressing gown and slippers and made his way downstairs to get his breakfast. For once he had actually gotten down at the same time as some of the other patients and so Shawn got to eat with them. He could easily tell who were thwe patients as every patient was made to wear a bracelet with their name on showing they were patients and a white robe. Shawn knew he would get another soon, he was growing taler every day. He grabbed his tray of the side of the room and peered at its contents for a moment.

"Do you reckon she still spiked it?" Ross asked, peering at the tray.

Shawn frowned, she said she wouldn't so… "Well I guess we'll find out. If you disappear we know she did" he reasoned before tucking into his food. Suddenly someone nudged is arm and Shawn jolted.

"Sorry son" an old man spoke.

Shawn turned round to look at him.

He was an old guy who looked like he was in his seventies and he had trouble walking in a straight line.

"Don't call me son" Shawn resorted angrily. He wasn't his father!

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Joe and you are…" he responded.

"I'm Shawn and this is Ross" Shawn explained, Joe smiled and held out a hand and Shawn awkwardly bumped it. The man laughed and returned the fist bump. Ross smiled and waved too but it went unnoticed.

"So what you doing here for?" Joe asked before staring at his fork absently.

Shawn frowned at the question. He didn't have a diagnosis yet, did he?

"Charlie, my carer said something about…. Seeing things that aren't there. There was a huge snake in my room yesterday" Shawn remembered shivering and Ross grimaced too, remembering what Shawn's reaction had been.

"Snake? That it? I had a dinosaur once!" the man laughed.

Shawn's eyes widened. "You saw a dinosaur?" he asked in fascination.

Joe laughed when he saw he had caught Shawn's attention.

"Yeah, I was almost eaten alive. I welcome these pills now. They stop the scary things" he explained and Shawn looked down.

"The pills I took made Ross disappear" Shawn told him sadly.

"Who's Ross?" Joe quizzed, thinking the name sounded familiar.

"He's my best friend" Shawn told him beaming before smiling at Ross who smiled back and nodding as if to see, you know that's right.

"I had a friend once called Dave. He said he was my friend but he turned really mean. He told me things that weren't true, he lied and tormented me. Listen, you may think Ross is great now kid but just you wait. He won't want you to get better; he'll want you to keep seeing those scary snakes and other scary things cos he won't wanna go"

Shawn stared at him, not daring to look at Ross.

"Shawn!" a voice called, it was Charlie.

"Ah… I see you've met Joe" Charlie smiled and they both stared at her.

"What? Bad timing?" she guessed with a dawning expression on her face and Joe nodded and looked back at Shawn who was still staring in shock and a slight expression of panic, his eyes fully showing his inner turmoil.

"Come on Shawn" she gestured quietly, mouthing a silent thank you to Joe who shrugged before continuing to eat.

Shawn followed obediently in complete shock. He wasn't completely aware of where he was going but just let Charlie's arm guide him.

In the therapy room, she guided Shawn to the sofa.

"What happened Shawn?" she asked.

Shawn continued to stare blankly but on mention of his name his eyes flickered towards her panicky.

"Come on Shawn" she gestured and Shawn focused on her and swallowed.

"He… he said. About Dave being mean. And that Ross doesn't want me to get better… wants me to see the snakes and the dinosaurs!" Shawn whispered.

Charlie knew nothing about Joe's old imaginary friend Dave and hoped Shawn hadn't been seeing another guy called Dave.

"Who's Dave?" she asked, taking this one step at a time.

"Joe's friend but not real…like Ross" Shawn explained.

Charlie nodded. "Shawn, you know now that Ross isn't real, he is only as real as you make him. Part of you doesn't want him to leave ever, he is a big part of your life and I know you don't want him to go. He won't want to go either. But the reason you saw scary things like the snake is because he is still here. If you take these pills it will get rid of all things that aren't really there. Including Ross"

"So Ross wants me to see more snakes and dinosaurs so I don't get rid of him?" Shawn asked, wanting to make sure he got it right.

Charlie nodded.

"You don't want Ross to go because he's your friend but you can have more than one friend and I can prove it!" she said with a grin and Shawn looked at her with anticipation. Shawn could tell that she had organised something. Not waiting for her to say anything, Shawn glanced at her desk behind her and spotted numbers on a post it note that he recognised.

"You rang Gus? He's coming to visit today isn't he?" Shawn guessed grinning.

Charlie briefly looked surprise at how quickly he got it and smiled whilst nodding.

"He should arrive any minute" she announced looking at her watch.

Shawn grinned before realising hose the other number was that was on the post it note.

"My Dad's not coming though is he" Shawn said quietly.

Charlie looked conflicted and paused before answering.

"I'll be honest with you Shawn. I called him yes but didn't get through so I left a message asking him to call me. Next time he's home he'll get back to me" she explained.

"Yeah right. Your dad won't come" Ross scoffed and Shawn turned her head sharply meaning Charlie knew Ross had spoken.

"What did he say?" Charlie asked.

Shawn sighed, "That my dad won't come. He's right though. My dad would never come here. I've heard him talking about this place in the past, saying that everyone is a whole load of nutters. Apparently loads of people plead mental insanity to get out of going to jail."

Charlie's narrowed her eyes. "No one here is a nutter Shawn. Everyone here is genuinely ill. Someone can plead mental insanity but after a couple of days we would know, no one can keep up an act forever"

"Yeah, but he's still never gonna come. He ignored me completely for the past two years; he was only acting nice cos he felt guilty that I was gonna come here" Shawn explained, fiddling with his hands in his lap.

Charlie thought for a moment of how to respond. "I'm sure he was only trying to do what is best for you. Your father is a very busy man, he is a cop. He puts bad guy in prison"

"Yeah well my mom left. She's a psychologist and she always thought I was a freak" Shawn continued sadly.

"You are not a freak Shawn." Charlie reassured him.

"Yeah right" Shawn scoffed, "So where's Gus?" he asked perkily.

Charlie looked surprise at the sudden change in emotion but stood up and began to lead the way anyway. Charlie led him to a square room that looked a lot like a prison cell. It had a rectangular shaped table in the middle and four chairs, two on either side. Shawn noticed the one way mirror and the lone chair, knowing that Charlie was going to be sat watching them annoyed Shawn immensely. Through the one way mirror, Shawn saw that he could see Gus sat there in one of the chairs with his mother sat next to him. Gus looked adamant on staying but any idiot could tell that Mrs Guster looked very uncomfortable with her current surroundings.

"He actually came" Ross stated smiling at Shawn. Shawn grinned at him before entering the room.

"Shawn!" Gus cried as he got up to hug his best friend. Shawn grinned and Mrs Guster immediately softened towards him.

"Gus!" he yelled.

"I've missed you!" Shawn admitted shyly.

"Me too. You know they did the rocket thing the other day. It's weird without you though" Gus admitted.

"They did it without me!" Shawn moaned.

"Well you did kind of freaked everyone out. You just stood there and acted all weird" Gus explained remembering.

"I'm sure he couldn't help it Burton" his mother patted him on the shoulder, hoping that her son's words didn't offend him.

"All the people here do some weird stuff too, its sooo creepy" Shawn explained. "Like everyone gets a carer and my carer is watching right now through that mirror"

"But it's a mirror Shawn. You can't see through a mirror" Gus told him in a matter of fact voice and Shawn looked at him annoyed.

"Darling it's called a one way mirror, where you can see through it one way but not the other" Mrs Guster explained.

"That's so cool" Gus gushed and Shawn looked at him in annoyance.

"It's making me paranoid" Shawn admitted looking over his shoulder before grinning, "Yeah I know big words now!" he boasted.

"I still know bigger words than you Shawn! I'm entering the Spelling Bee this year" Gus boasted and Shawn looked shocked.

"Really?" Shawn quizzed.

"He's gonna get picked on so much for being a geek" Ross inserted and Shawn glanced at him.

"Do you really think so?" Shawn asked him and Gus and his mother looked at each other briefly in concern.

"Of course. You know how it is in school, Gus starts going round talking with big words and bully's pick on him. You're not there to stick up for him anymore" Ross explained.

"Don't do it" Shawn told him and they both looked at him confused.

"Why not?" Mrs Guster asked concerned for him.

"You'll get bullied!" Shawn explained and Mrs Guster understood his reasoning now.

"I might not win. But it'll prove I'm smarter that the other guys" Gus told him boastfully and Shawn frowned annoyed.

"You've always been a geek!" Shawn told him. Mrs Guster was eager to change the topic of the conversation. She didn't want Shawn to persuade her son that entering 'The Spelling Bee'. She had aways known that her son was very smart and she didn't want Shawn to persuade him not to enter as she knew her son had the talent to win.

"So how is it here, Shawn?" she asked with curiosity, examining Shawn's state. He looked better than she had seen him before. No longer were there the dark rings underneath his eyes and his t-shirts weren't covered in creases. It looked as if Shawn had brushed his hair that morning as he didn't look like he had just gotten out of bed which was strange as it was a Saturday and no kid usually gets up on a Saturday morning. Shawn had been in that place for a couple of weeks now. Mrs Guster noted how Shawn had filled out a little, now he was finally being fed properly.

Shawn shrugged.

"It's Ok. It's a bit dark and gloomy and I'm the only kid so it's a bit lonely sometimes but the other people are great! Especially a woman called Jessica. She's really nice and tells me stories sometimes" he told her shyly and Mrs Guster smiled back.

"Well, Gus here will visit you all the time" Mrs Guster told him and Shawn grinned.

"He said he would, didn't you" Shawn said and Gus nodded.

"You're my friend" Gus said smiling, "My best friend. I'm never gonna leave you!" Gus promised and Mrs Guster couldn't identify the look on Shawn's face at that particular statement. It seemed to have struck a chord.

"Oh God, Shawn, I'm sorry" Mrs Guster apologised, "I heard about your dad, Gus didn't mean to—" Mrs Guster struggled as she tried to figure out what to say.

Shawn stared at her blankly. "It's not your fault that he left me here" Shawn stated and Gus watched them converse confused.

"No, I mean that he transferred. He's in Miami after a job opening came up and he immediately transferred." Mrs Guster explained but as she did, she realised that Shawn obviously didn't know.

"Oh... I'm sorry Shawn"

"He's in Miami?" Shawn asked quietly.

Mrs Guster smiled comfortingly.

"It doesn't matter" Shawn told her, "I knew he wouldn't want to visit me anyway" Shawn laughed, trying to pull it off as a joke, that he didn't really care but inside his heart was crying. But then again, Shawn wasn't really expecting his dad to visit him. Henry hated this place and Shawn knew that he was ashamed to have a son who needed to be here. Shawn knew that his dad didn't really care about him; for one magical day he did but Shawn knew that was only because he felt guilty he was going to dump him in this place.

"Does Ross like it here too?" Gus asked, knowing about Shawn's other friend.

Shawn shook his head, "It's weird. They made me take these pills and Ross left me too. He came back after I was ill and I haven't eaten any pills all day. I learnt something you know and Ross admitted it, he's not real" Shawn whispered loudly so it echoed through the room.

"What do you mean?" Gus asked back confused.

Shawn glanced behind him at the mirror before whispering again "I always thought I had the special power to see Ross. Turns out he's just someone my brain cooked up"

Gus looked at Shawn in shock and Mrs Guster just stared at Shawn in fascination of Shawn's friend Ross. Mrs Guster had heard about Ross before but she automatically assumed that Ross was someone that they played with at school.

"So you don't have super powers?" Gus asked confused.

Shawn shrugged and shook his head. "Nope" he said, popping the 'p'. "Turns out I am just a mental case" he laughed bitterly and Mrs Guster blinked, not realising how hard it would be to spend time with the two boys and wondered how she was going to do this regularly.

"Well, I am afraid that we have to get going" Mrs Guster announced, looking at her watch. "I have to get Gus home for lunch"

Shawn looked disappointed, "You'll come and visit me soon?" Shawn asked meekly and Gus nodded with absolute certainty.

"Definitely" Gus promised,

"No ifs and or buts about it, yeah" Shawn commented smiling.

"You know that's right" Gus said giving him a fist bump which Shawn bumped easily and Mrs Guster smiled at their interactions. Her husband may not agree but she valued their friendship. Gus wasn't a very social person by nature and she had seen them playing together and noticed how Shawn made him happy, how Shawn really brought Gus out of his shell. Before those two had met he still went by the name Burton for God's sake! She was glad he had a nickname now, helped him fit in better. It was her husband that chose the name, after his father. She hadn't cared at the time, didn't care what he was called. She would love him anyway and the she was a big believer in tradition.

"Bye Shawn" Gus said and gave him a hug. Shawn returned the hug enthusiastically before he watched them both leave. He waved to Gus as he left through the door and Charlie entered through the opposite door in time to say goodbye and say thank you.

Mrs Guster nodded as if to say 'no trouble, see you next time'. Gus waved back enthusiastically too before his mother grabbed his hand and dragged him out, otherwise she was sure they would be there for the rest of the day saying goodbye. She knew her son was like that. He hated to say goodbye.

Shawn turned around to Charlie and said, "My dad's never gonna come is here, is he?" he asked completely miserable.

Charlie sighed and motioned for Shawn to sit down which he did and Charlie took the seat next to him.

"Shawn… I said I would never lie to you and I won't. I tried to ring your dad and I left a message. I had no idea that he had gone to Miami" she paused and seeing Shawn with tears in his eyes gave him a big hug. "Your dad does have our number and will call when he's ready."

"I hate him" Shawn muttered bitterly. Charlie stayed silently and waited for Shawn to explain his frustration. She knew that Shawn needed to vent his anger.

"He used to take me for bike rides you know" Shawn started and Charlie shifted slightly to make sure the camera in the room was on him.

"And take me fishing and I got to gut the fish too! He didn't seem to care I was only little, only that he was an 'Officer of the law!' and could protect me! But then he got that promotion he always talks about and he forgot all about me. Forgot! For TWO WHOLE YEARS I WAS ALONE! HE LEFT ME! HE COMES BACK INTO MY LIFE FOR TWO DAYS AND THEN DECIDES TO DUMP ME OFF HERE! WITH A LOAD OF OTHER NUTTERS BECAUSE HIS GREAT DETECTIVE SKILLS NEVER SPOTTED THAT HE HAD A MENTAL CASE SON!"

"Shawn! Calm down! Who cares if your dad left? He's never really been there for you anyway!" Ross interrupted.

Shawn paused as Ross spoke before laughing bitterly.

"Your right Ross. Why should I care! He's never been there for me before so why should he now?"

"Shawn…" Charlie started but Shawn interrupted her.

"-DON'T LIE TO ME. HE SAID HE WOULD VISIT ME. HE KNELT DOWN AND PROMISED ME HE WOULD!" Shawn shouted and Charlie tried not to react.

"I won't lie and say he's coming to visit you when he might not Shawn. I'll try and get in contact with him and get him to come but I'm gonna say something to you now and I want you to listen"

Shawn looked up.

"You do not need your dad's approval for anything. You are your own person and you don't need him. You've got me… and Jessica. To be honest it doesn't sound like your dad has been a very good dad to you. As soon as I can, we'll get bikes and I'll go on bike rides with you. Your mum and dad may have left you but Gus, me and Jessica. We're going nowhere!" she assured him and the tears that had been building up in Shawn's eyes were immediately released and he clung to Charlie tightly. Hugging her so tightly she believed that he might not ever let go.


Author note: Awww... what an emotional ending. Shawn finding out his dad had moved to Miami without a word... it had to have hurt.

PS: If any of you are wondering! I have finished my exams! woop!

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