Shawn headed into the station Monday morning with Gus, fully intending to speak with Lassie, or at least talk about a time where they could meet and talk privately. When he got to the station, Carly was nowhere to be found, so Shawn got pulled into showing off his skills to a bunch of the officers. He did this for awhile until Lassie finally showed up, with a case no less.

Shawn happily took the case, hoping it was Lassie showing faith in him, not a joke like Gus assumed it was. So he was disappointed when they walked into the interrogation room to see that it likely was a joke case. Shawn quickly decided that he'd take the case seriously and prove to Lassie that he can solve even the oddest of cases. He wanted Lassie to have faith in him. He was also going to use this case as a test, to see if Lassie really would keep his comments to himself if Shawn kept his antics to a minimum.

Shawn and Gus discussed the case at the office, and quickly discovered the guy was describing a location, one that Shawn knew where was. They headed to the location and were shocked to find the cops already there. Turns out there had been a second victim. Shawn was stuck interviewing a second naked guy in two days, and he was not thrilled. He didn't agree, however, with Carly's theory of a copycat. Like Gus had said, who would copy something that embarrassing.

Shawn and Gus then checked out a tanning studio, Shawn being convinced that tanning is what connected the two victims. But when they discovered the third victim, it seemed unlikely, since the dead guy was as pale as a ghost. But that's when Shawn noticed a marking on the victim's wrist, something all three had. When he put his memories together, the marking made up a four-leaf clover. This led him to a speed dating event.

Shawn convinced the Chief to have him and Gus go check out the speed dating event, and Lassie and Jules got dragged into it as well. The four of them attended the event and Shawn kept finding himself distracted by watching Lassie. He hated seeing the guy on dates and being flirted with. From what he saw, Carly wasn't actually half bad at this and seemed to be putting up a similar persona as the one he had when Shawn first met him. It honestly put Shawn on edge, and he was definitely jealous. He ended up not really paying attention to the conversations he had with the various women he met.

One conversation he did pay attention to was when he was paired up with Jules. He expected their usual banter and fake flirting but was shocked when Jules had other plans.

"Tell me about you and Carlton."

"What about me and Carly?" Shawn tried to get a read on Jules, but he had no idea where this conversation was going.

"He told me how you two used to be friends years ago."

Shawn quickly caught on to the lie. "Oh, that. Yeah, we were."

"What happened between you two?"

"Life got in the way; we fell apart. It happens."

"That's not what Carlton said."

"Well that's what happened. Why are you asking me about him?" Shawn felt almost defensive. She was leading to something and he wasn't sure he wanted to talk about whatever it was.

"Were you two close?"

"…you could say that, yeah."

"Why doesn't Carlton believe you're psychic?"

"You'd have to ask him that, Jules. I'm not a mind reader."

"He said you weren't psychic back then. But I thought you claimed to have the gift your whole life."

What kind of answer did she want from him? Was she starting to doubt him too? "I have had the gift my whole life. I just never told Lassie about it because it wasn't important at the time. We fell apart before I could ever tell him."

"Are you sure you've had your gift your whole life?"

Shawn was taken aback by the question. "Of course I'm sure, Jules. What kind of question is that?"

They were saved by the bell. Shawn got up quickly and walked off. What had Jules been hoping to find out? That he wasn't always psychic? What would she do with that information?

Shawn pushed thoughts about the conversation away and started to focus on the case. He had a killer to find.

Shawn convinced Gus to go on a date with a potential killer, probably not one of his best ideas, but it needed to be done. They ran into Jules on the date, but Shawn didn't interact with her, still on edge around her since their conversation, and since finding out that they were a perfect match on the questionnaire. He hoped that since she was on a date, that she didn't put much stock into those questionnaires. The last thing he needed was for the wrong detective to fall for him.

He was relieved to see Gus' date wasn't the killer, but that meant one was still out there. He got called into the station when they brought in one of the restaurant servers, Marvin, who had been caught with stealing the questionnaires. He knew the guy was lying, but he also knew that the guy couldn't have been working alone. He'd found evidence of a woman at the crime scenes, if Marvin was involved, he had a partner.

They let Marvin go and went to the speed dating event for the second night in a row. He noticed one of the women glaring at Marvin whenever he seemed to flirt with a girl. Bingo. He sat down across from the girl next to the woman. While the girl talked he observed the two and noticed that they both had wedding ring tan lines. Married huh? He also remembered the boring questions the woman had asked him the night before. Questions that would be asked by a bank for security reasons. Perfect. He had everything he needed.

He stood up and ratted the two of them out. He happily watched as Lassie arrested the two of them. The speed dating event ended, and he turned back to the girl he sat across from. Before the two of them could start a conversation, Jules showed up and asked to sit down. The girl left and Jules sat.

"Here to question my abilities again?"

"No, Shawn. I wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have questioned you like that. I'm sorry. I just found it hard to believe that you could be friends with Carlton and him not know you were psychic. Your visions are kind of hard to miss."

"Let's just say, sometimes I put on more of a show than I have to." He smiled.

She smiled back. "I also wanted to talk to you about our questionnaires."

"Oh those, don't worry about it. I totally copied your answers over your shoulder, we aren't really perfect matches."

"Okay, well good, I don't put much faith in those things anyway. I didn't want things to get awkward between us, since we'll likely be working together a lot."

"Nothing's awkward, promise."

She nodded. "Good." She stood and left.

Well that was a burden off his shoulders. He didn't want Jules to get a crush on him, he just didn't see her like that. Maybe if Carly wasn't in the picture he'd consider it, but not when he wanted Carly to love him again.

Following the speed dating case, Shawn found it hard to get Carly alone to have a conversation. Whenever he tried, the detective blew him off saying he was busy. It got to the point where Shawn couldn't take it anymore and was willing to scream about their relationship in front of the whole station just to get the man's attention. He didn't, but he was tempted.

To make his week even worse, his motorcycle got impounded. He forgot to pay his tickets, and may have parked near a fire hydrant, but that gave them no right to take away his mode of transportation. Luckily he got a case out of the whole courthouse ordeal, the bad news was that it took up most of his time so he didn't have time for a sit down with Lassie.

It ended up being an interesting case about a woman supposedly stabbing a weatherman. They found the real killer and revealed it in court. The whole court situation was actually rather fun, both Shawn and Gus enjoyed themselves.

On Saturday, following the case, they all headed over to the police station for the auction, hoping to win Shawn's bike back for him, only to find out it was removed from the auction. Shawn was shocked until he saw Lassie leave the auction. No way, he didn't. Shawn sent Gus back to the car and followed Carlton.

"Lassie!"

"I said go home, Spencer."

Shawn waited until he caught up to Carlton before he said more. "Did you get my bike removed from the auction?"

"Of course not, Spencer, don't be ridiculous."

"You did, didn't you?"

Carlton sighed and stopped at his desk. "What do you want, Spencer?"

"I want to talk."

Carlton started looking through the files on his desk. "This is talking."

Seriously? "We need to sit down and have a talk, Carly."

"About what?"

"About us."

Carlton tensed and looked up at Shawn. "There is no us to talk about."

"We need to talk about what happened between us six years ago."

"And what makes you think I'd be willing to talk about that?"

Shawn glanced around before lowering his voice. "Because you still care about me. I know you do. And if you want to claim you don't then fine, but then at least let's talk so we can get some closure."

Carlton thought about it for a minute.

"We can grab dinner next week, just us, and talk things out…Please, Carlton."

Carlton still looked reluctant. "Fine. Wednesday. If I'm not busy with a case."

Shawn smiled. "Perfect. Wednesday it is." He turned and headed out of the station.

2001

Carlton sat at his kitchen table and stared at the ring in his hand. It was a simple, yet elegant diamond ring. He had bought it last night when he got the urge to propose to Victoria. He loved her, he knew he did, but something was holding him back from asking the question.

He pulled out his phone and dialed his first speed dial. It rang and rang before going to voicemail. He hung up without leaving a message and pocketed his phone. He stared at the ring again.

Over the next couple days, he repeated the process, calling the number several times and hoping someone would pick up. No one ever did. If they'd just pick up, he'd know what to do with the ring.

A week after he bought the ring, Carlton was dressed up in his best suit. He was taking Victoria out to her favorite restaurant and was planning to propose during dessert. Before he left the house, he called the number one more time.

"This is Shawn Spencer. You've reached my voicemail. Leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

Carlton hung up. If Shawn would just answer, he knew he'd go back to the man in a heartbeat. He loved Victoria, he did, but he knew it was nothing compared to what he felt for Shawn.

Carlton looked in the mirror and fixed his tie. He pocketed the ring and left the house.

Shawn was nervous to say the least. It was Wednesday morning and he had spent the past few days not thinking about Lassie. But now it was the day they were meant to talk, and he didn't know how it was going to go, at all. It was times like this that he wished he really was psychic and could see the future. He really wanted this talk to go well. He needed this talk to go well.

Shawn missed dating Lassie. He knew he shouldn't, the man abandoned him after all, but he couldn't help it. Carly was handsome, intelligent, an amazing person. It was hard not to fall for the man. Problem was, even if the talk went well tonight, there was still a chance that Lassie wouldn't want to get back together, and that made Shawn sick to his stomach. He felt so nervous that he didn't eat all day, worrying Gus who happened to have the day off.

Shawn had told Gus about the talk, so his best friend knew about his worries. Gus spent the day trying to distract Shawn the best he could. First with food, and when that didn't work, they sat down and binge watched American Duos all day. Gus could tell it still didn't work well at distracting Shawn, but it did help a little bit.

By six o'clock, Shawn had never felt so nervous in his life, even when he was waiting to hear if he made it into the Special Forces he wasn't this nervous. He checked his phone every few minutes, waiting for Lassie to give him a call. He didn't pay attention to the TV at all.

"When did he say he'd call?"

Shawn glanced at his best friend. "Well his shift was to end at 6, so anytime now."

Gus nodded. "It's going to be okay, no matter what happens tonight."

"What are you the psychic now? There's no way you could know that, Gus."

"Whatever happens, you'll get through it. You got through it before, and you'll get through it again."

Shawn nodded and checked his phone again. Nothing. He jumped when his phone rang a few minutes later. He answered it.

"Lassie!"

"Spencer, I got to work late tonight. We'll have to reschedule."

Shawn's heart stopped. He didn't want to have to go through this nervousness again. "Are you working alone? Is Jules there with you?"

"No, she went home. What does-."

"I'll be there in 20 with takeout. Chinese okay?"

"Spencer-."

"Perfect." Shawn hung up. "Looks like I'm going to him." He stood up and grabbed his jacket.

"Good luck." Gus turned off the TV.

"Thanks, buddy." Shawn headed out of the office. He went and picked up Carlton's favorite Chinese takeout before he headed to the station. It was deserted except for the few night shift officers. He spotted Carly working at his desk, completely alone.

Shawn walked over and set the bag of food on an empty corner of the desk. "Hey, Lassie-face. I got you food from the Chinese place down the road that you love. Cashew chicken, right?"

Carlton seemed shocked that Shawn remembered. "Yeah, thanks. Look, Spencer, this isn't the best place to have this conversation."

"I know, but no one's here and we really need to talk." Shawn pulled cartons from the bag and handed Carlton his food. "I figured we could get this talk out of the way and then maybe I could help you with the case you're working on. It's a win-win."

"I don't need your help."

"I know you don't need it, but a little help never hurt anyone." Shawn pulled over a chair and sat down. The two of them dug into their food. Neither knew where to start.

After a few minutes, Shawn finally spoke up, voice quiet. "I didn't leave you Carlton."

Carlton tensed up and looked ready to argue.

"I know what happened. The officer that was killed on your watch…and I'm sorry I wasn't able to be there for you when you needed me. But I told you I'd be gone for 6 months, and I told you I'd be unavailable. So to accuse me of leaving you isn't fair. You are the one who went and found someone new…"

Carlton didn't say anything.

"I'm glad you found someone to help you through your tough time…but I thought we had something, we even mentioned futures together…You left me."

Carlton didn't say anything for awhile, just poked at his food. He didn't look up at Shawn when he spoke. "You never came back. After 6 months you didn't come back. How is that not leaving?"

"I did come back. As soon as we got back I hopped on my bike and came to see you. I needed you…and Victoria answered the phone. What was I supposed to do? Reenter your life when you'd already moved on?"

Carlton finally looked up at Shawn. "I would have left her in a heartbeat if I saw you again."

Shawn couldn't believe what he was hearing. Then why had Carlton gotten engaged in the first place if he wanted Shawn?

"I called you every day for a week before I proposed, hoping you'd answer and give me a reason to call things off with Victoria…but you didn't answer. I took it as a sign to move on, to stop waiting for someone I didn't even know was coming back."

"That's not fair. I told you I'd be back."

"For all I knew, you could have been dead."

"…someone did die, it just wasn't me." Shawn looked away.

"What?"

"Coop died, Lassie, and you weren't there when I needed you."

Carlton remembered all the stories Shawn told about his team. He remembered Coop. "…Shawn, I'm so sorry."

"…It's a little late, but thanks."

They sat in silence awhile, neither knowing what to say now. Their misunderstanding was resolved, but now what? Could they return to being a couple? Or were they doomed to be apart?

Shawn was the one to break the silence again. "So now what?"

Carlton sighed. "We can't go back to what we had."

That was not what Shawn wanted to hear. "Why not?"

"Because it's been six years, Shawn, we've both changed. We've moved on."

"Have we? Because I know you still have feelings for me, and I still have feelings for you. That doesn't sound like moved on to me."

Carlton doesn't deny his feelings for Shawn. "We're coworkers now, things are different."

"There are no rules saying you can't date a consultant. I checked."

"Maybe not, but I can't date you, Shawn. I can't trust you."

Shawn almost stopped breathing. "Yes, you can."

"I can't because I know you're not psychic. Which means you're lying, daily. How am I supposed to trust a word out of your mouth if you won't even tell me the truth?"

"I have a gift. That's the truth."

"I need the whole truth, Spencer."

The use of his last name again hurt. He gathered his trash and stood. "I told you the whole truth, the day you tried to have me arrested. It's not my fault you didn't believe me, Lassiter." He threw away his trash. "I've never lied to you, Carlton. So don't give me some bullshit on how you can't trust me. If anyone can't be trusted, it's you. You're the one who left." Shawn turned and headed out of the station. When he reached his bike he could finally breathe, though he felt like he'd been punched in the gut. That was not how he wanted the conversation to end.

Carlton stared after Shawn. That was not how he expected that conversation to go. The way Shawn described it, it sounded like Carlton was the one to abandon Shawn. Was that really how he saw it? Was it true? Was Carlton really the bad person in this scenario?

He pushed those thoughts away, not able to think about it right now. Instead he focused on what else Shawn said. Shawn claimed to have told the whole truth that day he claimed to be psychic. What exactly had he said? Carlton got up and headed to the file room. When he got there, he searched for the case file for the store robberies. Inside the file should be transcripts of the tip line call Shawn made, as well as a transcript of the interrogation.

He flipped through it until he found the transcripts. First, he looked over the tip line call.

"Police tip line, what can I do for you?"

"Hello..uh it's the store manager…he did it."

"The store manager?"

"The stereo robberies…he's on channel 8 news right now"

"And what proof do you have for this?"

"His hands are a nervous tic. And he won't look the reporter in the eyes"

"And what's your name, sir?"

"My name? My name is Shawn Spencer."

So Shawn watched the interview on TV and spotted a nervous tic and the interviewee wouldn't meet the reporter's eyes. So Shawn spotted guilt by merely watching an interview? Was it a lucky guess? No, Shawn wouldn't call in if he wasn't sure. He pulled out the transcript from the interrogation. He skimmed it.

Detective Lassiter: "Pardon me if I'm just a little skeptical. Believable as it is that you solved all these crimes- I'm sorry, what was it? Watching the local Channel 8 news reports."

S. Spencer: "I confess. That's not true. Sometimes I watch Channel 5. I prefer Channel 8. The weather girl? Adorable."

Detective Barry: "So you're telling us that you can read guilt off of TV interviews?"

S. Spencer: "Can't you?"

So Shawn admitted to reading guilt off a mere interview. He knew Shawn was intelligent, but this would require fantastic observational skills. Was that it? Was Shawn just extremely observant?

He searched the file room again for Shawn's file. He skimmed it and looked at the various tips he'd called in in the past. All were very similar and required a keen sense of observation, something a civilian wouldn't have, but maybe he developed it during his time in the army? So Shawn was highly observant and combine that with his intelligence, did he just pull details together and make assumptions? Carlton needed more data.

He put away the files and decided to call it a night. He headed back to his desk and grabbed his coat. He put his work away in his desk and headed out of the station.

Carlton was handed a case the following weekend and Shawn somehow worked his way onto it. When he could, Carlton observed what Shawn did at the crime scene. He glanced over O'Hara's shoulder while she was talking and watched as Shawn squinted at a few photos before turning around. He then moved his fingers to his temple and claimed to have a vision. The murder weapon was a missing trophy. O'Hara noticed the dust line marking where a trophy could have been.

When Shawn and Gus left the crime scene, Carlton walked over to where Shawn stood and looked over the photos. When he really looked, he noticed a trophy in each photo, exactly where the missing one would have been. Carlton then turned around and noticed the missing trophy spot, just like Shawn did. So Shawn had noticed the photos and drew the assumption that it was the murder weapon because it fit the profile of the object that was used. It was extremely good detective work and required heightened observational skills. Carlton likely would have taken longer to come to the assumption of the missing trophy if he would have at all.

Shawn had heightened observational skills and intelligence. Is that really all he used when it came to his visions?

Shawn didn't like his ex going fishing with his dad. Even if his dad had no idea about their past relationship, it was still extremely weird. He had to watch as his dad talked fishing with Carlton, gave him a hat, and even saw them have lunch together. What could they possibly have to talk about? Him? Police work? Him?

To say he was thrilled when Carlton cancelled on his dad, even with a lie, was an understatement.

"I think I understand your past a little better, Spencer."

Shawn watched as Carlton walked away. He had no idea how to take that. Was that some sort of compliment? Maybe an olive branch between the two of them? Shawn wasn't sure.

1999

Shawn and Carlton walked hand in hand through the holiday fair. Down by the docks there were craft and gift booths set up for holiday shoppers. Shawn and Carlton decided to walk around and see if they could get their last-minute shopping done.

They were walking along when Shawn saw the perfect joke gift for Gus, a Die Hard snow globe. He started to pull Carlton towards the snow globe booth, when Carlton pulled them to a sharp stop. He glanced back and noticed Lassie's face had gone white.

"Carly, what's wrong?"

"Nothing…Let's just not go to that booth."

"Why? There's the perfect gift for Gus, it'll just take a sec."

Carlton nodded and let go of Shawn's hand. "Okay, I'll go grab us some apple cider. Meet you at the benches?" He pointed at some nearby benches.

Shawn nodded and watched Carlton walk off. That was weird. Something about the booth had put Carly on edge. Shawn walked over to get his snow globe and looked around, trying to figure out what had bothered Carly; all he saw was the owner and a bunch of snow globes. If it had been something with the owner, Carly would have told him what was wrong, so it had to have something to do with the snow globes.

Shawn bought his snow globe and headed over to the benches where Carly was waiting for him. He accepted his apple cider and took a seat next to his Carly. They sat in silence for a bit before Shawn had to ask. "So, you don't like snow globes?"

Carlton seemed to tense up a bit. "You could say that."

Shawn nodded and waited. Carly would tell him more if he wanted to.

Carlton took a few minutes to continue. "…Since I was little, I'd get this dream that I'd be trapped in a snow globe and the snow would burn my skin…"

"I can understand why you wouldn't like them."

"It's dumb, I know-."

"Babe, it's not dumb. Everyone has their own quirky fears. It's okay." He leaned up and kissed Carly's cheek. He kept it brief since Carlton wasn't a huge fan of public displays of affection. "It's just one more thing that's endearing about you."

Carlton smiled and wrapped his arm around Shawn.

Juliet was at a loss with what to do. Carlton's birthday was coming up and she had no idea what to get him or how to celebrate it. The Chief already told her not to do any surprises for him, calling his mom had only led to trouble, and searching his desk came up with very little except a list of names of people to invite. Though she was shocked to find out Carlton was allergic to mint, since he hardly ever shared anything with her. She had officially run out of ideas on what to do, so she reached out to the one person she knew that would be able to help – Shawn.

Juliet texted Shawn and asked if they could meet for coffee. He quickly agreed. That was how she ended up sitting at a coffee shop near Psych, waiting for Shawn to show up. He showed up right on time.

"Hey, Jules." Shawn sat down across from her.

"Hey, Shawn, thanks for meeting me."

"Of course, anything for you." He smiled at her. "So what did you need?"

"It's about Carlton."

His smile disappeared. "Look, my past with Carly is, I gotta say, none of your business. If you're here to interrogate me again, I'm leaving." He moved to stand up.

Juliet stopped him with a hand on his arm. "It's not about your past with Carlton. It's about his birthday."

Shawn sat back down. "What about it?"

"Well, it's coming up in a few days and I wanted to surprise him, throw him a party, get him a gift."

"But you have no idea where to start."

"Exactly. You probably know Carlton better than most, I was hoping you could help me out."

Shawn nodded. "Okay, what do you got so far?"

Juliet was filled with relief that Shawn was willing to help. "Well, the Chief said he hates surprises, but if I tell him about a party he won't likely show up."

"Nah, he doesn't mind surprises as long as they're the right kind. You're right though, the party has to be a surprise."

"That's what I thought. I found a list of names in his desk I thought we could invite, so that there'd be people outside the department there."

"Hold up, what kind of list of names?"

"Um, well he had this little black address book in his desk, I assumed-."

"Do not invite people off that list. Carly keeps a little black book of people he's arrested over the years. That's likely what you found."

"Why does he-?"

"He likes to keep an eye on them."

Juliet still thought it was strange, but nodded. "Okay, so there goes the guest list."

"Just invite people you work with all the time. If he likes them enough to keep working with them, then he'll enjoy their company at his party."

Juliet nodded and started to jot a few names down that came to mind. "What about gifts? All I could find out was that he's allergic to mint. I have no idea what he likes." Juliet almost felt ashamed that she knew nothing about her partner.

"Well he's a major Civil War history buff, so any gift that has to do with that will be good. He's also a fan of the TV show Cops, and he's missing seasons 10 and 14 through 18." Shawn gave it some more thought. "He's a big fan of scotch, so any decent brand of that would work. Oh and he loves the Chinese restaurant down the street from the precinct, the Jasmine Dragon, so you could get him a gift card there."

Juliet jotted down all the ideas on her notepad. She's thrilled to have ideas to work with now. "Thanks, Shawn, this really helps."

Shawn nodded. "Happy to help."

2001

Shawn was woken up by the sound of someone pounding on his front door. He groaned at the sound; his head was pounding. He shuffled out of bed and headed for the door. His pounding headache was quickly explained by the various empty bottles of alcohol on his coffee table and kitchen counter. They weren't all from last night, but a decent few were.

"Spence! Pineapples! Open up!"

Shawn groaned again. "I'm coming!" He slowly made his way to his front door, trying not to jostle his already nauseous stomach. He opened the door to reveal Cards and Warren "War" Reid on the other side.

"Damn, Pineapples, you look like shit."

Shawn rolled his eyes and let the two of them inside. "Thanks, War, that means a lot."

The two men walked in and looked around. Cards picked up a bottle of flavored vodka. "You sure are taking your nickname seriously." There were several bottles of pineapple flavored liquor on the coffee table.

Shawn shrugged and plopped down onto his couch. "It reminds me of happier days."

War grabbed Shawn's arm and dragged him up off the couch. "C'mon, the team is going out for food and you're coming."

"Don't be the rotten pineapple of the bunch. I'm not going." He shrugged off his brother's grip.

"Yes, you are." Cards let his commanding tone come through. "We're all going through a tough time, you especially, and what you need is the team. Not to wallow in your sorrows."

"I'm not wallowing."

"The 12 bottles of pineapple alcohol beg to differ. Now go shower and get dressed. This is for the best."

Shawn almost fought his team leader more, but he knew Cards was right. He needed his team, his family. Gus had gone back to Santa Barbara days ago, and he was sick of being lonely. Shawn nodded and walked off to go shower.

Shawn got the text invite for Carlton's party a day later. Gus and he both decided they'd go and show their support of Lassiter, though Gus was still a little salty with the man. Nobody hurt his best friend and got away with it, but Shawn wanted back with Lassiter, so Gus could play nice.

Shawn was a little nervous for the party. He hadn't really talked with Carlton since last Wednesday when they had their talk, keeping conversation light while they worked the previous case together. He'd been hoping Carly would've reached out by now, but he hadn't, so Shawn wasn't really sure where they stood.

However, he had the perfect gift for Carly buried somewhere in his apartment. He'd gotten it shortly after he'd found out about Victoria. He'd walked by this tiny history shop in downtown Seattle. He had no reason to go in, not since he and Carlton were no more, but he was drawn inside. There he'd found a tiny, leather-bound book about none other than Colonel Muscum Lassiter from the Civil War. He didn't know what possessed him to buy it, or keep it, but he had. Now he had a reason to give it to Carly.

They arrived at the party a little early to see Carlton's front yard full of off-duty officers from the station. They're all mingling, waiting for Carlton to show up after his shift. They stopped by to say hi to Juliet and the Chief before Gus spotted Carlton's car pulling down the street. Everyone ducked behind cars and bushes, hiding for the surprise.

When Carlton walked up the front steps they all jumped out and shouted surprise. They then all quickly ducked as Carlton pulled his weapon in his surprise. Shawn quickly approached the man.

"Carly, chill. It's just us." He held his hands up placatingly.

Carlton looked around, recognized people from work, and holstered his weapon. "What is everyone doing here?"

"Well, they're here for your birthday." Juliet walked over, a hopeful smile on her face.

"My birthday?"

"Yeah, I wanted to surprise you."

"I don't like surprises."

"Sure you do, Lassie-face." Shawn gave Lassie a knowing look, which Carly ignored.

Carlton looked around before heading inside to put down his briefcase and change. He then let everyone into his house and the party began.

Carlton hadn't seen Shawn for a couple of days. That gave him plenty of time to think over their past, their relationship, and their future. Now that Carlton knew Shawn had come back, he felt guilty over leaving him for Victoria, even if Victoria had been just what he needed at the time. Even back then he wanted Shawn over her, and the idea that he could have had that all this time saddened him. Who knew where their relationship would have gone if they'd stayed together.

But they hadn't, and that was Carlton's fault. That guilt gnawed at him for days. He had to push through the guilt to even think about what he felt for Shawn now. He still had intense feelings for that handsome, yet childish man, yet he didn't know if they were feelings he should act on. Were they feelings of love and endearment, or were they residual feelings of passion and lust from when they had sex?

Carlton spent a few days organizing his feelings about Shawn. It wasn't easy to sort through the newfound guilt on top of everything else, but he felt that Shawn deserved some kind of answer when it came to them. As he thought back on all their memories together, and their interactions now, Carlton felt that love for Shawn blossom again. He thought back on their times together, their dates, their lazy days, and even the bad times, like the few fights they had and having to say goodbye constantly when Shawn had to leave. He felt that he missed those times, especially how easy they seemed to just fit together.

Then Carlton thought more on the present. His biggest resentment was Shawn's claim to be psychic, but now that he knew it was a mix of hyper observance and intelligence, could he look past that? Could he move passed the lying since Shawn had actually told the truth? Could they be together again?

Carlton found that maybe he could move past it. Shawn was still childish nowadays, but he'd also matured a lot; and Carlton found himself wanting to better get to know this new Shawn. He found himself wanting to talk with Shawn and try to work things out, if they could. Carlton had abandoned Shawn after all, that may not be easily forgiven.

Carlton found his chance to talk to Shawn as his birthday party was winding down. He said goodbye to a few more colleagues before walking over to where Shawn was cleaning up bottles in the living room, something Carlton was extremely grateful for. He reached Shawn's side and lowered his voice. "Will you stay? I think we should talk."

Carlton would have to be blind to miss the small look of hope in Shawn's eyes as he nodded. Carlton walked off and said goodbye to the rest of his guests. Nerves quickly appeared at the idea of being alone with Shawn, to talk, and Carlton found himself not really paying attention to what he was saying as he said goodbye to everyone and then finally Juliet.

"You sure you don't want me to help you clean up?" Carlton subtly ushered her towards the door.

"No, O'Hara. I think Spencer and I got it from here…Thanks for the party. I had…fun." Carlton had found that he hadn't hated the party, so there was that.

"Really?" Juliet smiled. "Good, I'm glad." She opened the front door and stepped outside. "Happy Birthday, Carlton." She left.

Carlton closed the door behind her and let out a breath. Now came the hard part.

Shawn cleaned up the bottles of beer and drinks left behind. He carried the bottles to the kitchen and deposited them in the trash. He finished up just as the Jules left. Now he just had to talk to Carlton.

When Carly had asked him to stay behind, a little bit of hope filled Shawn. Maybe he'd changed his mind and wanted to give them another go. Why else would he want to talk, he'd already sort of apologized for leaving, what else was there to discuss? He headed into the living room to find Carly already waiting for him. They both sat down on the couch without a word.

Shawn waited as Carly sorted through his thoughts.

Carlton turned to face Shawn. "You're hyper observant."

Shawn nodded, a smile gracing his face. So he'd figured it out. "With an eidetic memory."

"You have an eidetic memory?"

"Yup. I remember almost all things that I hear or see."

Carly nodded and took a minute to process what he was told. "So you use hyper observance and your memory to make calculated guesses about cases."

"It's not always a guess, but in a sense, yes."

"But you still know things that wouldn't come from guesses. So you'd have to investigate things on your own time. Like you knew the astronomer's house had poisonous flowers, you had to have gone to the house at some point."

Shawn nodded. "I did. I investigate the cases just like you do, I just often notice things that are missed the first time around. I also worked at the planetarium for a few days, so I was able to learn some information while I was there that helped with the case."

Carly nodded again. "So you're not psychic."

"…some could see my gift as having a third eye, so technically I could still be considered psychic by some."

"But you're not really psychic."

Shawn sighed, his smile disappearing. "No, I'm not…is that going to be a problem? Because if you rat me out, all my cases could come under review and criminals could walk free."

Carlton placed a hand on Shawn's arm. "I'm not going to tell anyone…you've done good work, Shawn, that shouldn't go to waste."

"So I can still work for the department?" Hope entered Shawn's voice. He liked what he did and it meant he got to see Lassie often. He didn't want things to change.

"Yes, but maybe tone down your antics a little."

Shawn smiled brightly. "I'll try my best." He laid a hand on top of Carlton's. "…What does this mean for us? Is there an us?"

"I'd like to give us a go, if you still want to."

If possible, Shawn's smile got even brighter. Carlton smiled back.

"Lassie-frass, don't be a melted marshmallow without the rest of the s'more. Of course I want to." To prove his point, Shawn pulled Carly into a kiss.

Carlton kissed back immediately. The kiss deepened and tongue was added. They stood in unison and broke their kiss long enough to reach the bedroom. Shawn slipped off his shirt along the way and turned to Carly once they reached the bed. He helped Carlton make quick work of his button down shirt and slipped it off to reveal the sternum bush that Shawn loved so much. Shawn ran a hand down Carlton's chest before pulling him down into another kiss.

They stumbled onto the bed and their kisses turned quick and sloppy. Carlton broke their kiss to trail kisses down Shawn's jaw, neck and down to his chest. Shawn moaned as Carlton took a nipple into his mouth.

Something caught the light to Shawn's right, and he glanced over out of habit. His heart stopped at the sight of Carlton's wedding ring resting on the dresser. Something inside Shawn snapped. He couldn't do this, not if he could get hurt again, in the same way. What was he thinking? Carly was still married and could get back with Victoria at any time.

"Carlton, stop."

Carly stopped immediately and lifted his head to look at Shawn. "What?"

Shawn pushed Carlton back a little and sat up. "I can't do this."

Confusion and then pain crossed over Carlton's face. "What? Why?"

"Because you're married."

"We're separated."

"But still married, Carlton. You could go back to her at any time."

"She doesn't-."

"But if she did, what would you do?"

Carlton took too long to respond.

"Exactly. I can't risk that kind of pain again. You left me for her once, and you'd do it again." Shawn slipped out from under Carlton and climbed off the bed.

"Shawn-."

"I'm sorry. I thought I wanted this, and I do, but I can't. Not with there still being a chance with her."

"Shawn, it's always been you."

"That's not true, you know that." He headed towards the door to the bedroom. "…we can talk again when you're single." Shawn left the room. He grabbed his shirt from the floor, pulled it on and left the house.

Carlton sat on his bed and stared after Shawn. What in the hell just happened? He was finally going to get Shawn back…and now he was gone. All because he hadn't filed for divorce yet. All because he'd been trying to save a broken marriage. If he'd filed for divorce like he'd considered a thousand times, he'd have Shawn again. But he didn't and now here he was, alone.

He glanced over at the dresser and looked at his wedding ring. He hadn't worn it in over a year. He'd been trying to fix his marriage, but ever since Shawn came back in his life, his actions were all automatic. He felt he should try to fix it, so he did. But had he really wanted to fix it during the year Shawn had been back?

Should he file for divorce? What was holding him back?

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! As always, I would love to hear what you think! :)