Good news everyone, the beta reader position has been filled! By the ever amazing: redwolffclaw! She is awesome, and it's thanks to her the story may now be free of any glaring mistakes, that I as an author whose mind writes faster than her pen, will fail to notice. Anyway without further ado, please enjoy the story!

~FortuneandCathfernaTH

The light rain had finally let up, and the first light of dawn was coming through the blinds of Shawn's window. Shawn had fallen asleep against him, likely a combination of exhaustion, relief, and the stress of so many tears. That had been over three hours ago, and Lassiter was relieved to see Shawn hadn't stirred once in his sleep. He definitely needed it after all, and if it meant that Lassiter had to remain perfectly still in a sitting position for an extended period of time, he was more than happy to comply. It gave him plenty of time to deal with his new epiphany.

He loved Shawn. As soon as he revisited the memories of his first night with Lucinda and recalled the sparks he had when he first held her, then compared them to what he felt when holding the sleeping Shawn, Lassiter couldn't deny it. But why so sudden? With Lucinda, things developed overtime, though he spent the majority of the time denying his feelings, for the sake of the relationship with his wife. With Shawn, these feelings developed within a day, and it wasn't that he had minded that it happened.

He just wanted this love to be real, and not a product of the recent events that would end in both of them getting hurt. Shawn had been hurt enough…

Besides, what if Shawn didn't have the same feelings? Then everything would be too awkward for Lassiter to help him, and Lassiter was among the few in Shawn's life who knew how to help him with his problem, beyond the PTSD.

No, he couldn't act on these urges, they were just too sudden. Shawn's recovery had to come first, and if he was going to be staying with him until this was all over, it'd be easier if his feelings stayed hidden.

Or would it…?

Just sitting here with Shawn's head on his chest was making him crazy.

Then as if waiting for him to have this thought, Shawn's eyes began to open, and he looked up at Lassiter with a smile. "Good morning Carly," Shawn said sitting up and stretching.

Lassiter frowned. "I was hoping you'd sleep longer… You look like you need it. You've only been asleep for three hours."

"That's still three more than I have been getting, and from the looks of you, three more than you have gotten last night!" Shawn teased as he stood up and began to walk to his kitchen.

"Well forgive me for having a lot on my mind," Lassiter growled making Shawn laugh.

"I get it, just don't become an insomniac because of me," Shawn said opening the fridge and frowning. "I forgot that I need to go grocery shopping. So why don't we grab breakfast and then go to the store? If you're staying here, I should feed you."

"I'll pay for breakfast," Lassiter said standing up as well. "You already bought me two meals, I should repay the favor."

Another epiphany hit Lassiter as he looked down at himself. He hadn't brought any extra clothes. He'd just slept in his under shirt and boxers the night before, and with these new found feelings for Shawn, standing in the middle of Shawn's living room in underwear made Lassiter very uncomfortable. Of course, he just had to drop pizza on his dress shirt from the suit he wore the day before. At least the pants were still clean.

He turned to Shawn and blushed, watching as the other man took an anti-depressant and realized that all Shawn was wearing were boxers with pineapples on them, exposing his broad shoulders and well-defined abs that Lassiter wanted to wrap his arms around and stroke.

Oh yeah… This was not going to be easy on him.

"Hey Shawn…" Lassiter began quickly turning away from the man.

"What's up?" Shawn asked, noting his back was turned to him.

"Do you think I could borrow a shirt and grab a shower?" Lassiter requested blushing. 'A cold one at that…' Lassiter added in his head. At least he didn't have to borrow pants.

"Go ahead! Pick a shirt and I'll go find you some towels, so you don't have to run around wet all day," Shawn said walking to his hall closest.

Lassiter didn't even look at the shirt he was grabbing, just snatched it from the spinning rack and high tailed it to the bathroom. Fast enough to not look suspicious, while hoping to avoid the sight of Shawn's bare chest, which would hopefully be covered by the time he was out of the shower.

Setting the shirt on the sink, Lassiter rose his under shirt over his head, unaware that Shawn watched with a smile on his face.

"Here's a couple of towels, wash cloths are under the sink," Shawn informed, making Lassiter jump and turn in surprise. Shawn was only inches away from him.

"Thank you Shawn," Lassiter said keeping his under shirt mostly over his chest and staring just above Shawn's head.

Shawn noticed this too grinning inwardly, and knew what Lassiter was feeling. Lassiter was being shy, over polite, awkward, and having sudden reluctance to have any arousing parts of anatomy shown. Lassie had a crush on a certain fake psychic. Not that he had a doubt, but he knew the feelings had finally surfaced to his conscious, and Shawn was going to have him admit it by the end of the week.

"I'll leave you to it then," Shawn said turning around and shutting the door to the bathroom behind him. He then went to grab some clothes, plotting his plan of attack to get Lassie to confess.

Lassiter stood in the middle of the bathroom awkwardly for countless seconds, still holding his shirt like he was some teenage girl about to have her breasts seen by some unknowing stranger.

"Pull it together Carlton…" He sighed to himself, setting the undershirt on the sink, and doing the same with his boxers, fighting the anxiety of doing so every second.

He was now butt naked in Shawn's bathroom. This wouldn't have been so awkward yesterday or last night, if only he hadn't remembered that first night with Lucinda.

"Alright… Let's get this over with," Lassiter said to himself as he turned away from the door and stepped into the bathtub-shower combo.

Attempting to focus on the task at hand, Lassiter turned the water on, letting the lukewarm droplets rinse his body of the tension. He tried to clear his head of Shawn, but found himself unsuccessful when he began to lather his hair with shampoo.

"It smells like pineapple. No wonder Shawn always smells like pineapples…" Lassiter said thoughtfully, before shaking the thoughts away. 'Focus Carlton! You're ignoring these feelings, and if you keep thinking about Shawn it will only make it harder for you!'

Finishing the shower without any more lingering thoughts, Lassiter picked up the towel and began to dry himself off, making sure to keep his eyes away from the hamper and the broken mirror. As he was slipping on his boxers, Lassiter made the unfortunate realization of the shirt he had borrowed from Shawn.

It was a green t-shirt with a giant pineapple on the front of it.

He couldn't wear his regular work pants with a t-shirt that had a giant pineapple on it! He'd look even more ridiculous than he already would be wearing Shawn's shirt and the smell of pineapple coming off his hair. The only way to fix this was to borrow a pair of Shawn's pants. If he was going to look unprofessional, might as well go all the way. Whether or not this was the actual case or that part of Lassiter's subconscious really wanted to get into Shawn's pants in some form, and was using this as a convenient excuse to do so, was something he decided not to dwell on.

Defeated, Lassiter opened the door; feeling exposed in his boxers, and looked out to find Shawn now fully clothed, scanning his kitchen and writing down items hastily on a list.

"Shawn…" Lassiter began making Shawn turn to him. Shawn had the audacity to grin. It pissed Lassiter off, but he managed to keep a lid on it.

"Yes Carly?" Shawn said his green eyes locked with Lassiter's blue.

"Can I borrow some pants too?" Lassiter asked trying not to look directly into his eyes, feeling like he would crumble under them.

"Why Carly if you wanted to get into my pants so bad you should have said so! Normally I don't put out until the third date, but I've known you for a while so I guess I can make an exception," Shawn said licking his lips suggestively. Lassiter felt his cheeks grow hot.

"If I wear my work pants I'll look stupid, that's all!" Lassiter complained as Shawn laughed.

"Oh alright, but just because you look so sexy in my pineapple t-shirt, and I just really want to see you in casual clothes!" Shawn agreed making Lassiter narrow a glare at him.

"Don't make me shoot you! Because I will," Lassiter warned in as intimidating of a tone as he could manage while going to the clothes rack and snatching a pair of pants angrily. In his mind however, he was overjoyed Shawn had referred to him as sexy, even if Lassiter was in denial, and Shawn was more than likely joking.

The pants, Lassiter noted as he slipped them on, didn't even cover his ankles, but they would have to do. He turned back to Shawn who was still grinning at him.

"Gus is never going to believe this," Shawn said before walking up to Lassiter. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be I guess." Lassiter said snatching his wallet and car keys. "I feel ridiculous."

"If it's any consolation, I think you look really good in my clothes. Jeans look especially good on you," Shawn said as they began out to the car.

"Really?" Lassiter asked. Shawn sounded sincere, and it made Lassiter smile in spite of himself.

"Really," Shawn replied. "Now come on, I hear pineapple pancakes calling my name!"

'Maybe I should wear jeans more often…' Lassiter thought to himself as he got into the driver's side of the car.

Dear god he was starting to act like a teenage girl!

"Okay first thing we need is pineapple!" Shawn announced as he bounded into the store with Lassiter following close behind him with a cart.

"Don't you ever get sick of pineapple?" Lassiter asked as Shawn's eyes went wide in appalled shock.

"Don't speak such nonsense! You'll upset the pineapples!" Shawn said picking one up and stroking it, before putting it down gently in the cart.

"What the pineapples have spirits now too?" Lassiter said rolling his eyes.

"Yes Carly! They have the most tender spirits in the world! If you upset them they lose their good taste," Shawn warned as he glanced down at his list again. "Onward to bread!" Shawn said pointing to the bread isle.

That's when Lassiter froze in his tracks.

"What's wrong Carly?" Shawn said once he noticed the lack of footsteps following him. "Oh no did the angry pineapple spirits take over your body?! I'll save you!" Shawn said as he wrapped his arms around Lassiter's waist and began to gently squeeze.

Lassiter didn't even notice Shawn make this movement, because walking towards him, with little Iris holding her hand, was Chief Vick.

"Detective Lassiter, I was of the understanding that you were helping a friend recover from a heart attack," the Chief informed him, staring him down with that "explain yourself" glare she was infamous for. "Instead you're here with Mr. Spencer, wearing his clothes I might add."

"I… I can explain!" Lassiter insisted as the Chief let go of her daughters hand and crossed her arms.

"Please do," the Chief replied as Lassiter opened his mouth, but found words would not come out.

"Allow me to explain on Carlton's behalf Chief, as our Head Detective here cannot seem to speak, due to the angry pineapple spirits in his body. Yesterday when he came by to check on me via your orders, he found me unconscious," Shawn explained. He'd assumed that's why Lassiter came, because he normally avoided that place like the plague.

"Unconscious? Lassiter you told me Shawn was fine!" The Chief said glaring at Lassiter again, who found himself still unable to form words.

"That's because I asked him to lie to you Chief," Shawn explained pulling the chief slightly away from her daughter to tell the rest the story secretly.

"Listen, what happened was that the spirits have made sleep impossible for nine days straight. Well I decided to take some sleeping pills, but by that point I was so tired that I kept forgetting if I had taken the pills, and accidently overdosed. Thankfully, Lassie there figured it out, and saved me from near death. This last part may sound selfish, but I told him not to tell you because I didn't want to worry you. He's been staying with me on my behalf, so if you're mad at anybody be mad at me," Shawn requested as the Chief looked back at Lassiter and stared at him.

"Alright Mr. Spencer I believe you," The Chief said walking back over to Lassiter who was now looking hopelessly at the ground. "Keep an eye on Shawn for me Carlton. You have as much paid vacation as you need- just update me…" She whispered to him as she took Iris's hand and began to walk away again.

"Will do Chief," Lassiter said as she passed. He turned back to Shawn whose hand was now clutching the cart, as he stared at the floor.

"I don't think she bought it," Shawn sighed not even looking up at Lassiter.

"Claiming spirits would have been believable, but she has too much experience with these situations… You alright?" Lassiter asked as Shawn smiled.

"Am I happy that she knows? No. But as I've been told, I have a right to be human. Now to the bread!" Shawn announced pumping his fist forward.

Lassiter followed two steps later. Shawn was being honest with him, opening up in a way he wouldn't with anyone else, he'd even saved him from the Chief's wrath by exposing the partial truth.

He couldn't help but feel his love deepen for Shawn, in spite of his brain telling his heart otherwise. Lassiter just hoped he could keep his mouth shut about it, for both their sakes.