A/N: I'm trying really hard to get back into this story. Work has been crazy, and the motivation to write has been slim; however, I have hopes to eventually finish this story! Thanks to everyone who has favorited and followed, despite my gaps in posts!
Juliet tried to focus on the file that had been sitting on her desk for almost two hours. She hadn't made much progress; however, it was not a pressing case, allowing her some time to let her mind wander down memory lane. She had never thought she would admit to herself she had missed Shawn. His impish smile, tousled hair, his always watchful eyes. It was funny how she had never noticed that before…how he was always watching, observing. Maybe she had so desperately wanted to believe his lie that she had not wanted to notice the telltale signs.
"Mr. Spence," Chief Vick's voice was low, almost a growl. "Do you know what you've done?"
Shawn just stood there, his arms hanging loosely at his sides. But Juliet could tell he was scared. She could see it because his eyes were moving faster than usual, as though he were trying to recall everything he had ever done. "Chief," Shawn said, "I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am for all of this."
"A murderer almost walked away with a non-guilty verdict because you lied about evidence." Vick's knuckles were white as she clenched her fists. Juliet thought she might even take a swing at Shawn if she weren't the chief of police. She knew all of them wanted to.
Juliet and Lassiter had spent countless hours on this case, combing through evidence, pursuing wild goose chases, running down leads, losing sleep and sanity. And then Shawn walks in with "evidence" for the case, evidence that would get their man without further effort. Then it turned out the evidence meant nothing. It was all based on a lie…as hollow as the man Shawn became the moment his secret was broken. Fortunately for all of them, the lie had been found out before the evidence was submitted. One lie could have cost them more than a case.
"What do you want me to say, Chief?" Shawn asked, his voice edged with suppressed anger. "I've apologized, I've told you the truth. Now what?"
A burning sensation pricks Juliet's eyes as she remembered what happened next. It was like a ticking time bomb that none of them had known was there exploded. The shrapnel of heated words left everyone in the room devastated. Perhaps none more than Juliet, the woman who realized the man she loved had won her attention using a lie. Looking back, Juliet knew that Shawn was not entirely a lie. Not the man under the lie. He was still a good man, kind and gentle with a good heart. However, trust was something Juliet could not waver on. Ever.
Before Shawn was commanded to leave the police station and to never come back on threat of prosecution, he had thrown at Juliet a harsh, cold, calculated smile. "It's not my fault you all were stupid enough to believe me." Though he was addressing the room, his eyes bore into hers, as though he were aiming them right into her soul. Because that is exactly where they hit.
After that, Juliet never heard from Shawn again. Not for ten long years. The pain had finally started to ebb, the betrayal becoming nothing more than a bitter memory from her past. Of course, in typical Shawn fashion, he waltzed back into her life when she least expected it.
However, the man that she had called in was not the Shawn she remembered. His familiar face was careworn from sleepless nights, his haircut more practical. His eyes were still ever watching, but there was a sadness behind them, so deep Juliet did not even know how to sympathize. Shawn was a father now, a widower, a man broken by death's cruelty. When he apologized, she knew that he truly meant it from the depths of his shattered heart. She did not know that she would ever be ready to invite Shawn back into her life as a friend; however, she knew she was ready to forgive him.