Juliet heard her phone start chiming her favorite Friendly Indians song and quickly checked the caller id. It was Gus. Stepping away from the scene and hoping Shawn hadn't killed their witness in under an hour, she picked up. "Gus, what's up? It hasn't even been an hour."
"Juliet," Gus said urgently, "listen to this."
She listened, even covering her other ear to drown out some of the outside noise, but heard nothing. "Gus…what am I supposed to be hearing?"
"Nothing!" That's just it!" Gus replied, sounding eager.
"What? Gus, come on, I'm busy, does this have something to do with Kate or Shawn?"
"Yeah," he said, serious now, "Kate silenced Shawn. Like they had a fake-psychic face-off and I'm pretty sure she won. Plus something funky happened when Henry stopped by."
"Woah, back up! Henry stopped by?" Juliet could feel her temper rising, had she been wrong to trust Shawn with this? "And what do you mean something 'funky' happened." She then stepped farther away from the scene and spoke quietly into the phone. "And Kate never even claimed to be a psychic, so how could she and Shawn have a… 'fake-psychic face-off' did you say?"
"I'm sorry Juliet, I thought he would be ok. Plus, he just made eye contact with Kate for an awkward moment before she ran off to the bathroom—then she came back looking like she had been crying. And she called Shawn's bluff, now he's been silent for over five minutes!" He paused for a second, seemingly checking on Shawn, "I think she may have broken his brain!"
Ugh, she didn't need this right now. Carlton was all grumpy, she had to keep working on her case, but Shawn meant more than that. With a sigh, she told Gus to have Shawn meet her outside behind the Psych office, then hung up her phone.
"Carlton!" She yelled over the din of people, "I have to check on…something…" She nodded toward the Psych office and gave her partner a significant look.
He seemed to understand, but yelled, "Keep it short O'Hara!" as she walked away.
As she turned the corner, she saw Shawn sitting on the bench outside the door. "Hey Sweetheart." He said half-heartedly. How is the case?"
Dang, he did sound broken, and it broke her heart. "Babe? You ok? What happened with Kate?"
He turned and looked at her sadly. "She beat me at my own game Jules. Without really even trying. She beat me."
"You want to talk about it? I don't have long, but you can start."
He looked away from her, staring at nothing. "There's not much to tell. She knew I wasn't psychic, then she—you know—" he put his finger to his temple, "read me. And way better than I did."
She so wanted to check her watch, but Juliet hadn't seen him this down…ever. "So, what are you going to do?"
"I don't know Jules. Maybe I'm not cut out for this anymore. Maybe you should have let me just tell the Chief the truth." His voice started changing from disheartened to fired up.
"Shawn," she said cautiously, "Babe, you don't mean that. I said it then and I'll say it again, you do good, I see that. So the kid knows you're not a psychic, so does Gus, so does your dad, and now so do I. Everyone is bound to meet their match at some point."
"No, Jules, you don't get it. Just go back to work." He said as he stood up and walked toward the door.
His words stung, Juliet prided herself on her ability to sympathize and even empathize with most situations, but Shawn wouldn't even give her a chance. She grabbed his arm, spinning him around so he faced her. "Don't do that Shawn, don't cut me out. Talk to me." She hated herself for being so close to tears, but she managed to keep them in check.
"I'm not cutting you out, I just know you have to work." The words he was saying could have been kind, but his tone was sharp.
"Carlton can handle the scene, we were about to leave anyway. I need you to talk to me." Now her voice was hard, more interrogator than girlfriend, but she couldn't help but get defensive.
Shawn sighed as he fell back onto the bench. "What do you want me to say?" He threw his hands in the air, clearly frustrated. "My job is lying. Lying about being a psychic, lying about how I get all my information, lying, lying, lying. I've almost died. Almost bankrupted Gus. And—most terrifyingly—almost lost you. I am a liar and apparently I'm not even a good one anymore. Plus, now that you know—which I'm glad you do, really—but now you are forced to lie to protect me. Forced to do something you hate so vehemently for me and I'm just not sure it's worth it anymore."
She thought she heard a phone vibrate, but she didn't feel hers. She dismissed the sound because she was shocked by the tone of Shawn's voice. He sounded defeated. She knew their break had affected him, but she hadn't realized just so much. She had been so busy being hurt and confused, she hadn't really taken the time to see how much she'd cracked that seemingly unshakable confidence. She took his hand in both of hers and looked into his eyes, a dark hazel at the moment, darker than she'd seen them before.
"Shawn, sweetie, that's where you're wrong." Her voice was soft, "Your job involves lying, yes, but you are not a liar. Not where it matters. That was part of the reason I wanted to split. I thought you were a liar, I thought I couldn't trust you, but I can.
You are not a liar. You are a good man. If I've learned anything from being a cop, it's that people are inherently evil, but every once and a while, a miracle happens and someone tries to do good, to be good. That is you. And yes, you have to lie to do that, but if you hadn't, Lassiter would have put you in jail and would have continued to be partners with that woman, I would never have come to Santa Barbara and we never would have met. Yes, it hurt me that you lied, especially because you did it for so long, but I stopped you from telling the Chief because I realized that what you do is important, it's good, and it's worth protecting. I do hate lying, especially to Carlton, but…" She looked deep into his eyes; they were slightly lighter now, a little more green as his mood lightened. "I love you more than any of that." She ran her fingers through his hair, careful to not mess it up. They didn't often say 'I love you', not the actual words at least, so they both understood the gravity of the moment.
"I love you too, Juliet." He stood up, pulled her into a tight hug and kissed her. She was shocked by how passionate yet tender the kiss was, expressing far more than words could say. He rubbed her back with his hand, but slowly slid it down towards her butt, which he pinched.
She pushed him away with a laugh and said, "Ok, clearly you're better now." He stood there, lips still extended like he was kissing her. After another second he shook his head and gave her his signature cocky smile and a wink.
"I'll see you later, Detective." His eyes were bright green now. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek then went inside, back to his normal self.
She watched him go, then looked down at her sleeve to check what was poking her wrist. She pulled out a short brown hair, Shawn's hair, and a plan hatched. She pulled out an evidence bag and put the hair in, then pulled out her phone and texted Gus.
/\/\/\/\/\
Woo! I have reviews to address! I admit, I very much enjoy that I get to do this!
Cupcake/Cupacake now? I'm assuming you're the same person, but if you're not, I sincerely apologize! I'm glad you're enjoying it! I had written the two Henry/Kate chapters as one then split them so it messed with the flow a bit. But, glad you were able to figure it out, it's sometimes hard to introduce minor characters because you don't want to spend too much time on them. Annnyyway...sorry for the long explanation and thank you for the comments, glad you like it!
Shootingstarsareawesome-I hope that's your username, I'm going off memory, I'm really glad you're enjoying it! The confrontation will be in a couple chapters, but it should be a doozy!
Now to the general public...what do you think? A more emotional side of Shules-how did I do? So I've been driving all around the country getting ready for school, but during that drive I figured out the general plot and order of chapters and I'm really excited about it! But I start school/work on Monday so I won't be able to write nearly as often, but I'll do my very best so hang with me! I'm hoping to write a bit tomorrow then post the chapters I write fairly regularly. And on that note, I hope you enjoy! Please continue to review! They seriously mean a lot. :)
