Hello dear psych-o's!

Remember me? I told you over a year ago that I take requests for more missing scene moments... uhm, well... here is one! Finally! :D I'm sorry that I have kept you waiting for so long, but at least I haven't totally forgotten about it! ;)

I received a wonderful guest review from someone named 'Alex' and I wish I could have replied to it, but instead here is an extra long missing scene moment that hopefully covers all of his/her requests at once! Alex... I hope this will get to you!

Missing Scene 7x13 "Nip And Suck It"

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Did you ever wonder what made Juliet officially forgive Shawn for his lies and how he explained the truth to her? This takes place shortly before Shawn announces to Gus that he and Jules are back together again...

...

Juliet awoke with a smile on her face.

The sun, shining through the curtains, tickled her nose and warmed her cheeks. She smiled because the world seemed calm and happy. Or maybe it was just her who felt that way, she didn't really care. Juliet was surrounded by a warm embrace, holding her secure and tight… and that wasn't just a figure of speech. She was lying in the arms of a man.

And not just any man…

Shawn.

His left arm stuck beneath her and his right was wound tightly around her waist, keeping her close. Even his leg was somehow woven between hers so she couldn't possibly get up without his knowledge. Juliet felt his breath on her neck where he hid his nose in the curls of her hair.

Oh, and they were naked.

Juliet's smile widened. Because it felt right. For the first time in a long while it felt like the rightest place to be again. There was no lingering feeling of anger or regret, no crushing pain or heart ache and no sign of distrust.

Just happiness.

As if he had guessed her thoughts, Shawn unconsciously tightened his grip around her and snuggled even closer. Her name left his lips in a soft sigh. "Jules."

She blinked a few times to get rid of the moisture that suddenly filled her eyes and let her right hand wander along his arm to intertwine her fingers with his, squeezing them. Shawn held her so tight that it was actually hard for her to breathe; as if he feared that she would disappear any moment, leaving him alone.

But Juliet was done with that. After everything she knew now she intended to officially take him back as her boyfriend. Maybe she should have told him so before they slept together, but somehow she wasn't able to find the right words, her mind being otherwise occupied.

Lying there in the blissful happiness of the morning after, Juliet thought back to the conversation that led her back into his arms:

Shawn had persuaded her to go and eat dinner somewhere after they closed the plastic surgery case. They've been relatively civil with each other since Shawn almost gave up his career upon her request. She had stopped him at the last second before he could spill the beans to Chief Vick and they had started a habit of having lunch together since then.

But this was dinner and the mood was different somehow.

Until now Shawn and Juliet had avoided the topic of Shawn's lies and concentrated on learning to be friends again and this "dinner date" was no exception. At least in Shawn's book.

All he wanted to do was making her laugh and he talked, talked, talked until his tongue was in a knot. He desperately fought for her, trying to make her forget everything that happened. Juliet played along for a while; only because he made such an effort in trying to be the perfect gentleman for her. But when he offered to walk her home and they eventually stood on her doorstep, saying goodbye, Juliet couldn't take it anymore.

"Shawn, we need to talk."

All color drained from his face.

She smiled encouragingly and timidly took his hand. "You knew we eventually had to talk about this. I want the truth, Shawn. Come on." She pulled him inside and they sat down on the couch.

Juliet poured them a glass of cheap wine – even though they both usually preferred beer – stating that it will help him loosening his tongue and then she immediately shot him the first blunt question: "Tell me, what's your deal?"

Shawn raised his brows. "My deal? Well, usually it's candy. Gus and I hoarding each other's favorite type in a secret stash and we using it as bribe to get the other to do chores. That's the deal. Gus loves M&M's, but I would kill for Red Vines or sometimes even—"

"Shawn." she interrupted him fiercely. "I'm being serious. Tell me why you started to lie. Tell me now or I swear I'll kick you out again. And I won't let you come back."

Shawn gulped. He studied her face for any sign of reluctance, but Juliet knew that he would find none. She entered cop mode and she wouldn't back down from the conversation that they should have had a long time ago.

Finally, Shawn dropped his gaze into his lap and let out a tense breath. His fingers dug nervously into the cushion of the couch as he began talking. "It started with a situation just like this one." Shawn admitted and then paused. "An interrogation."

Juliet scrunched her brows in mild offense, but Shawn continued before she had a chance to interrupt.

"I met Lassiterwhen I wanted to collect the reward money for a police case that I solved by watching the news. Lassie thought I was an insider and grilled me like a prime suspect… I really was his prime suspect." Shawn mused and then smiled bitterly. "You know me, Jules, I didn't take him seriously and I made fun of him and I was… kind of insulting to be honest." Shawn rubbed his palms together in shame. "He didn't believe the truth and was trying to arrest me, so… I panicked and… I said the first thing that came to my mind."

"That you were psychic." Juliet finished for him. Shawn looked up, seemingly a little surprised that she immediately assumed correctly.

"Exactly." Shawn said. "I proved my claim to them by pointing out the incriminating proof of guilt of a car wrecker, the fact that I knew about Lassie's affair and McNab's upcoming wedding. That's when I came to Chief Vick's attention. She let me work on a case as a consultant, saying that she will press charges if I failed… so I dove in."

"And you were successful." Juliet guessed easily.

"Eventually." Shawn smiled nostalgic. "I rented an office space, brought Gus into the scheme and intended to milk all the fun out of this act before I got bored again and tried something different." Shawn paused again, sheepishly looking at her. "And that's where you came in."

Juliet felt a blush creeping up her neck upon those implications and smiled briefly before she forced control back into her hands and got back to business. Now wasn't the time to fall for his charms again. "But I… I still don't understand. If it has obviously nothing to do with being psychic then how could you solve those cases?"

Shawn's flirtatious smile fell dramatically and something dark took its place. He began to shift nervously on his seat and fiddle with the hem of a pillow that he clutched protectively against his chest.

"Shawn?" Juliet asked carefully. He quickly glanced up to meet her inquisitive gaze, but couldn't hold it. "Why is this so hard for you to tell me?"

"Bad memories." Shawn mumbled.

Involuntarily, Juliet found herself reaching for his hand to calm him and his tensed muscles. Their eyes met and once again Juliet felt as if those vibrant pools of green would stare directly into her soul and figure out all her hidden secrets within a second. Her heart sped up and her throat ran dry, but Shawn always had that effect on her. There was no denying that she was still putty in his hands if he looked at her like that.

"I have a photographic memory." Shawn blurted out, shaking her from her swooning. "My dad noticed it very early on and he trained me to notice absolutely everything since I was a child. He thought it would be very helpful once I step into his footsteps and become a cop." Shawn snorted humorlessly. "Well, you know how that turned out."

Juliet's mind reeled. "Photographic… what? You mean, y-you can—"

"I can step into a room, analyze it in a second and recall everything I saw at any time later." Shawn explained with detachment.

Baffled, Juliet blinked at him. "Show me." she croaked out and watched in amazement how Shawn sighed and then closed his eyes.

"You probably remember that the restaurant we ate at was awfully wooden-y," he said. "I mean wooden walls, wooden ceiling and wooden floors. It was rustic, but warm. The table cloths were white and the candles on the tables were orange. You might have even noticed that there were four different waiters on staff that evening. Two guys and two girls."

"Yes… yes, I remember all of this." Juliet answered.

"But do you also remember the name of our nice waiter?"

"Uhm…" Juliet thought hard for a moment. Shawn had been distractingly chatty during dinner, but she was a cop, for heaven's sake. She should be able to remember details. "Danny… or Darren or something."

"Almost, Jules. It's Dennis. And he got his eye on his colleague Nicole the whole evening. She seems interested from the way she always smiled back at him and nervously kept dropping flatware. She was also the slowest waitress. There were 24 tables at the restaurant and those six that she was assigned to waited the longest for their food. That's why that elderly couple complained so much the whole evening. If I had to wear such a bad toupee as the one the man got on his head I would be grumpy, too."

Shawn made a short pause and Juliet noticed how his eyes moved beneath his lids, as if he was refocusing.

"On the other side, two tables to our right and one to the back there was another couple. Younger. Married. The girl's hair was dark and curly the man's was greasy and flat. I think they had been fighting and this was their conciliation dinner. The man kept pleading with her, but the woman seemed cold and her arms were crossed most of the time. I don't think they'll make it. The man kept ogling our delightfully clumsy waitress Nicole whenever she passed his table."

Shawn began massaging his temples, frowning in deep concentration.

"There was a man with a diabetes bracelet, two tables behind you on the left side. He came from the movies, still had the ticketstub. Probably some lame documentary. He looked like a history teacher to me with his bow tie and that hideous checkered sweater." Shawn scrunched up his face in disgust as if he actually saw the mentioned article of clothing before his eyes.

"And then there was this sweet, young girl," he continued, "who stole that wealthy Texan's wallet when he bent down to pick up a napkin, which the nervous, shifty-eyed blond waiter coincidentally let fall right before his feet. They're probably a team. Sorry, I didn't warn you, but we just closed a case and you're supposed to be off duty, right?"

Shawn's eyes fluttered open and he met with Juliet's slack-jawed face. A million thoughts ran through her mind as she, too, tried to piece together their evening at the restaurant. She didn't even notice half of it. Juliet's first impulse was to say something quick-witted to show that she wasn't as floored by his performance as she really was. That would make his ego swell annoyingly, she thought. But then Juliet realized that Shawn didn't seem overly confidant for once. Instead he went back to fiddle on the pillow and sink shamefully into his seat as if he was waiting for a snide comment to hit him.

That wasn't the Shawn she knew. Taken aback, Juliet stumbled over her words. "W-Wow. That was… that was amazing. I… I noticed that there was a clanging sound of someone repeatedly dropping his fork, but I never knew it was always the same waitress. And the fighting couple and… and there was actually a crime going on and I didn't notice?! Some cop I am."

Shawn's face fell."No, Jules. Don't say that. You're a great cop. The best. That's just… me and my… stupid mind." Shawn mumbled quietly towards the end.

"What?" Juliet laughed skeptically. She couldn't believe her ears. Was he really actually so ashamed of his true gift that he involuntary came up with a lie to make it bearable? "How can you say that? The things you can do… that was actually you and not some supernatural gift. The cases you solved… that's… that's incredible."

Shawn took a swing of his drink and then clutched the pillow even tighter. "Maybe it is, looking at it now. But when I was younger…" he drifted off. "I hated my dad for training me the way he did. I hated that I was different and weird. Gus is and always had been my only friend in life. So eventually… I started to become this other person. The fun and open-minded silly guy than no one took seriously. If you would want to pinpoint the moment that I started lying… that would be it."

Juliet kept quiet. She scooted closer to him, but she didn't dare interrupting again. Not when he showed her his absolute, true colors. She'd never thought that he was hiding so much. Juliet wondered if she should feel hurt, because, apparently, she knew him even less than she thought, but then ultimately decided against it. Juliet always knew that Shawn was a good guy, there were just more layers to him than she could've ever imagined.

"It was because of the person I'd become that Lassie didn't believe me when I told him the truth." Shawn said. "I had to tell him a lie to save myself. And I would lie again if I say I regret it. Because it was fun and it was exciting, I just…" he cut himself off to swallow the lump that formed in his throat. "I just wish I had told you sooner."

Shawn threw the pillow aside, sniffed and nervously looked around in their… no, in her living room never meeting her eyes. He was about to get up and flee from his emotions, threatening to overwhelm him, when Juliet grabbed his arm and held him back. "No, come here." she whispered and opened her arms for him.

He engulfed her small figure in his broad embrace and hugged her tightly. Juliet held onto him and didn't mention that his body was shaking.

"You are amazing." Shawn mumbled into her hair. "I knew from the moment I met you that you were something special, but I'd never thought… that I… would be good enough for you. I'd never thought you would want to be with me or actually fall in love with me."

"Falling in love with you was never part of the plan."

That's what he said at Lassiter's wedding and she had hated him for how callous it sounded. But in the light of truth there was a different ring to it. "Oh, Shawn. Of course I would. How couldn't I? You were amazing, too." Juliet sobbed.

"By the time we got together," Shawn continued. "I was already in too deep and I was s-so… afraid of losing you. I-I didn't know how to tell you. I c-couldn't, but Jules… I never lied about the way I feel for you. I-I love you."

His speech was rapid towards the end and interrupted by hiccupping sobs, but she heard every word. Oh, how could she have doubted his feelings? Juliet felt that there never were more genuine words upon his lips than those. She believed him. Wholeheartedly. And that's when they started to kiss. Passionate and desperate with their tears mixing on their faces. "I love you, too." she said back…

And then there was a hearty yawn, startling Juliet back to the present that resulted from this night of full disclosure. She almost jumped out of her skin, being so lost in her thoughts, but she settled down quickly. Shawn nuzzled her neck and pressed a soft kiss to her skin.

"Morning, beautiful." he mumbled sleepily. "Did I wake you? You seem… kinda jumpy."

"No, I was just… lost in thought." Juliet said quietly, smiling at how easily the compliment slipped from Shawn's lips.

"Hmm, good thoughts or bad thoughts?" Shawn mumbled, pulling her closer to his body and resting his face right in the crook of her neck.

"I thought about last night."

He stiffened. "Okay… uhm… same question, Jules. Good thoughts or bad thoughts?"

Juliet sensed his fear of being rejected all over again and wanted to reassure him once and for all. Smiling, she freed her body from his possessive embrace, turned over towards him and captured his lips with a kiss, catching him completely off guard.

"W-Wow." he stuttered when they parted and he met with her beaming face. "I guess that means good thoughts, huh?"

"Yeah…" she admitted quietly. "I finally know the secret to your success. It all makes so much more sense now, it's…" She paused, smiling. "It's a good feeling."

Shawn leaned in and rested his forehead against hers. His breath ghosted over her skin as he whispered, "You have no idea how thankful I am that you feel that way, Jules."

A few moments of content silence past between the two lovers, only interrupted when Juliet suddenly demanded, "You know that I want to hear the true story to every big case we had been working on, right?"

Shawn groaned theatrically. "Oh, Juules don't make me…"

"I will." she said unrelentingly, but couldn't hide the smug smile on her face.

"Ugh… alright. I guess you deserve to know." Shawn said, pressing a kiss to her forehead and sitting up to put on his shorts. "But I must warn you, it might take the mystery out of me. I'm no longer a psychic crime-fighting superhero, you know."

"I think you're still pretty decent though." Juliet joked, propping herself up on her elbows just as Shawn stood to go to the bathroom. His bare back was facing her and for a few seconds before the bathroom door closed, Juliet was able to see a small, pink stripe of new skin on his right shoulder blade.

Juliet frowned. She was pretty sure that what she saw was a scar and that it hadn't been there the last time she had seen him without his clothes on. Quickly, she checked her memory to find out if this injury resulted from working a case, but she couldn't think of anything.

The only incident that came to her mind where Shawn was severely physically harmed was when he got shot and held hostage by this Garth Longmore guy. But the scar he carried away from that was roundish and located on his left front side.

What happened to him? Juliet wondered. Was there something else she forgot… or something he didn't tell her? Not yet at least, she thought.

Juliet got up from her bed and swiftly put on her underwear and blouse. Before she patched things up with Shawn she needed to know the origin of this new scar, she reasoned.

She heard the toilet flush and in the next moment Shawn appeared again, finding her sitting on the edge of the bed, facing him.

He smiled at her. She smiled back and nervously clenched her fists in her lap. Shawn immediately frowned. "You okay, Jules?" he asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, all good." she stuttered quickly. Juliet cursed herself for letting him know so easily that something was up, but then reconsidered. She won't be able to get away with anything now that she knew what a keen observer Shawn was. Who was she kidding, she sucked big time at lying; she never stood a chance.

"Okay." Shawn said warily and proceeded to pick up his shirt from the ground, starting to put it on.

"Wait." Juliet blurted out with a sigh, clenching her fists once again and sheepishly fixing the floor with her gaze.

"I knew it." Shawn said with a wolfish grin, still holding his shirt in his hand. "You want an encore, but you don't think it's appropriate to ask since we're not officially together yet."

Juliet's head snapped up. "What?!" she exclaimed indignantly. "Oh, no. No, no, no, your observational skills are way off on that, Shawn!" she emphasized forcefully.

"Oh." Shawn's grin turned to a slight embarrassed blush. "I knew that." he claimed. "Just, uhm… wanted to drop that in for, uhm… for comedic effect, you know." he finished weakly.

"Yeah… right." Juliet's own blush warmed her cheeks, but she was the first to recover. "Look… I just wanted to ask you…" She looked into her lap where she nervously picked at her fingernails and took a deep breath before she started anew. "I noticed you had a… a scar… on your right shoulder. I just wanted to know how you got it."

The mood shifted again as Shawn's features darkened and he walked around the bed so he didn't have to look directly at her anymore, while slipping on the buttoned shirt to cover himself. "Oh, that… that's just a skin rash, or a mole… probably. Nothing to worry about." Shawn said nonchalantly.

Juliet crouched on the bed, watching how Shawn, sitting on the opposite side facing away from her, intensely concentrated on buttoning up his shirt. "I think I know the difference between a skin rash and a scar." she declared fiercely. "And I would know if you had a mole there."

"You would?"

"Of course, I know your body." she snapped and regretted those words the moment they left her lips. She could hear him snicker again.

"Well, I can't disagree with that."

"Shawn…" she said soberly and crawled over to sit beside him. "Look at me and tell me if you're lying."

Shawn sighed. Seemingly, as if he knew that she would ask him exactly that. "Jules…"

"Tell me." she repeated again.

"Okay, listen, first of all there has to be a limited amount of times you're allowed to make me feel guilty with this and second…" He looked up and over his shoulder right into her eyes. "Yes… I'm lying, because I really think it's better if you didn't know."

"Why?" she asked. The pain that had finally subdued inside of her fought its way back to the surface.

"It's… it's not because I don't trust you. I do, Jules, I really do. But this… it might scare you, I'm just trying to protect you."

Juliet could see it in his eyes; she could hear it in his voice. He was telling the truth. But that tiny bit of pain also brought back the cold resoluteness that protected her heart when she was the most vulnerable. "I don't need to be protected." she said sharply. "I'm a detective, Shawn. This is what I do."

He snorted bitterly. "Funny. That's exactly what you said to me when I got the scar."

Juliet took pride in the fact that she usually was a very patient woman. It helped when being partnered up with a very determined, stubborn man. She can keep cool and nice when an interrogation took longer than necessary and Lassiter already threatened to strangle the truth out of the culprit. But this lie, this explanation of the truth already took too long. Juliet didn't want to be patient anymore. "Shawn… for god's sake, it's like pulling teeth with you. Just tell me what happened!"

"It isn't something I like to remember, okay!" Shawn suddenly exclaimed defensively. "The downside of a perfect memory is that you can also keep memories that you don't want to have. Scary memories." He lowered his voice at the end when he realized how much he had startled her. Ashamed of his outburst he looked away and dropped his shoulders in defeat. "Sorry… I-I didn't mean to scream like that. I'm sorry."

Juliet was fascinated and unsettled in equal measures by how out of character Shawn suddenly seemed. Gone was the happy-go-lucky, smiling façade; replaced with a worried and truly scared man. She took one of his clenched, jittery hands. "It's okay." she whispered. "I didn't mean to pressure you. You're right, bad memories are… hard to remember."

Coincidentally, Juliet's other hand rested upon his injured shoulder. She carefully rubbed the covered spot where the scar must be. "Maybe…" she paused hesitantly. "C-Can I look at it? Just until you find the right words…" She placed her hands upon the shirt's collar and tentatively tugged at it. Shawn didn't resist when she lowered the fabric just so much that it slipped an inch down his shoulders and revealed the fresh scar.

It was small; hardly two inches long. Tenderly, Juliet let her fingers wander over the pink spot with ragged edges. Shawn tensed, but didn't flinch and Juliet could imagine his pained expression as he remembered whatever had caused that scar. "This looks like a cut from a knife." Juliet considered observantly.

"It is." Shawn admitted quietly.

"Who attacked you?" Juliet asked while rubbing softly up and down his shoulder.

Now, Shawn withdrew from her touch and he took her still upheld hand, capturing it between his. "Remember the case we worked together right after… we broke up?" Shawn didn't look up from their clasped hands and continued before Juliet had the chance to answer. "We were looking for that guy, Anders, the so-called boyfriend of that crazy Swede, Elin."

"I remember." Juliet voiced timidly since Shawn was still not making eye contact.

"And I had a… uhm, a revelation," Shawn stressed. "In the Chief's office that Elin was actually the one behind the murders. But… the truth is, I followed a lead on my own and found Anders right after Elin had killed him. And she was still around."

"Elin did that?" Juliet asked. "But I saw you and her fighting. Lassie and I came right on time before she could stab you." Involuntary, Juliet squeezed Shawn's hand tighter as she remembered the heart-gripping fear she felt when she saw Elin wrestling with Shawn, the tip of her scary butcher knife just right above his chest and his heart. In that moment it hadn't mattered that she was still furious with him or that she acted cold and distant after she saved him… Juliet had been so terrified by the fact that she almost lost him there.

And as she will find out now… it wasn't the only time Shawn almost died during that case.

"No… I mean… yes, it was Elin, but this happened before she tried to stab me… when I was on my own." Shawn explained. He began massaging Juliet's hand, apparently to mask his own uneasiness. "She caught me, finding Anders dead at the side of the road and she snuck up from behind. We fought, I managed to kick the knife out of her hand, but then she pushed me and I fell into the street."

Juliet realized she was holding her breath as she waited for Shawn to continue, but at the same time, she dreaded his next words, because she knew she would hate whatever followed now.

"Of course there was a car." Shawn snorted, rolling his eyes heavenwards as if he would curse his luck. "I managed to roll out of the way onto the other side of the street, but then… there w-was a truck." He cleared his throat and briefly gestured with his hands before holding on to Juliet again. "Long, big… wide monster of a truck..." Shawn paused, staring aimlessly onto their joined hands. "It was already too close to escape it."

Juliet couldn't believe what she was hearing. She wanted to say something, but her throat was dry and she was frozen with fear. She saw the look in Shawn's eyes; equally terrified and lost and she knew that he was reliving that moment vividly right now. Every last, frightening little detail must be replaying itself in total clarity in his amazing, unforgettable mind.

"I… I just… stayed there." Shawn murmured. "Cheek pressed to the street, hands tucked right by my side and the truck… it just thundered over me." he swallowed, pausing again. "Thank god, it was high enough to run over me without leaving a scratch, but… it was… I-I thought it was over."

From the way Shawn carefully paused during his narration, Juliet could tell that he was trying very hard not to get overwhelmed by the panic he must have felt back then. "I remember your revelation." Juliet finally spoke up after a tensed silence had settled over them.

The sentence must have seemed so out of place for him that Shawn dared to look up. His eyes were pale-green, lost and haunted.

"You were sitting down the entire time and you kept rubbing your shoulder." Juliet recalled. "I remember thinking that you looked so exhausted… like you've been through hell. But I was still so angry and thought you were just acting for your psychic charade… but I'd never thought… that you… that y-you almost died just a few hours before." Juliet paused, horrified about where her thoughts were leading her. She slipped out from Shawn's grip and covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh god." she whispered. "Oh god, you could've died."

Live returned to Shawn upon seeing her fear. He reached for her arms again. "I didn't die. You see, that's why I didn't want to tell you. Now you worry for nothing, Jules. It's over. It's in the past. I'm here now."

Despite his words, Juliet was still shaking with fear. "I didn't even know." she mumbled to herself. "I-I should've asked you if you were okay. I should've asked what happened. I... I—"

"No, it's okay." Shawn reassured her. "You were angry with me and you had every right to be. I didn't tell anyone anyway. Not even Gus knows about this."

"I don't care!" Juliet exclaimed, agitatedly trying to free herself from Shawn, but not quite succeeding. "I don't care who you told; I didn't know and you almost died! If it had been another type of car, if you had made just one false movement…"

Tears were clogging up her voice and Juliet suddenly found herself in Shawn's warm and strong embrace. He hugged her tightly to his chest, shushing her and stroking her head. "Shh, it's okay. I'm fine." he said. "This happened weeks ago. I don't even think about it anymore… and you shouldn't, either."

Juliet could hear and feel his steady heartbeat beneath her, reminding her that he was alive, but even that couldn't quite calm her down. "If you had died…" She started her conditioned thought patterns again. "I couldn't have told you again that I still love you. I wouldn't have had the chance to learn to forgive you. We were broken up and the last words I would've said to you were full of resentment and hurt."

"Jules, would you please stop that. Please." Shawn asked her softly. "I'm fine. I didn't die. Stop thinking about what could have happened. It didn't and I swear to you I won't follow a lead completely on my own again. I'll take Gus with me… or you. You know Gus would totally stop a car for me."

She knew that he was trying to cheer her up with his humor and Juliet played along as best as she could with a weak, wet chuckle. "Somehow I seriously doubt that."

"He would." Shawn stated. "Gus wouldn't survive a day without me. I mean who else would take care of him when he's on a sugar binge or run background checks on his girlfriends? You know they all seem to be crazy, man-eating killers, Jules."

This time her chuckle was more genuine. "You're right… he needs you." With fear still stuck in her bones, Juliet suddenly felt tired again and she wasn't ready to give up the secure connection with Shawn. "I need you, too." she whispered. "C-Can we… just lay down for a while longer?"

Shawn pressed a kiss to her head, mumbling against her hair, "All day if you want, Sweetheart."

She was sitting in front of her computer at the station, looking for information about this Anders character. They still didn't know anything about him except that he allegedly was one of Elin's boyfriends and that he could be the one behind the murders.

Lassiter came up to her. "Hospital just called. Elin has been picked up by her host mother. We need to find out where they went or we can't save her from her maniac boyfriend. What do we know about Anders?"

"Nothing." Juliet answered. "He's not in the system. At least not in the US data base. Maybe we should check out if he was convicted in Sweden?"

"You can do that later." The Chief ordered, emerging from her office. "Somebody found his death at the same road where Mr. Spencer picked up Elin after she was attacked. It looks like a random car accident, but you two will check it out first before we can presume that it's not connected to this case."

"Who's the victim?" Lassiter wanted to know.

"We don't know yet." Chief Vick said. "A trucker called it in. He was in shock, saying that this guy was suddenly lying on the road and he couldn't stop in time. We need to know if it's possible that he was dead before he got run over."

Right after the Chief ended her sentence, Juliet sat next to Lassiter in his car, driving to the location of the accident. For some reason she couldn't remember anything that happened in between. And she also didn't care. Probably just a normal car accident, hopefully not connected to their case so this wouldn't get even more complicated.

They arrived at the scene. Black and yellow police tape blocked the road. The blue flashing lights of the squad cars illuminated the hectic mess. An ambulance car was already here, but the paramedics were only focused on the baffled trucker. Apparently all help was too late for the other guy. No wonder, considering the amount of blood on the street. It reached from underneath the big tires of the truck, standing diagonally on the road to a heap on the ground covered with a white cloth. Dark-red spots of blood drenched through the fabric. Woodrow Strode knelt next to it.

"What do we have here?" Juliet asked professionally, walking over to him.

Woody looked up. He seemed truly shocked to see her here. Juliet figured that he shouldn't be that surprised to meet her at a crime scene, but what puzzled her more was his total lack of kind weirdness. It seemed very out of character for him.

His mournful, dead-serious voice should have been the next clear sign for her that something was absolutely wrong with this picture. "I'm sorry, Juliet. I'm so… so sorry."

"W-What?" she accidentally stumbled over her words. "Why are you sorry? Who is it?"

Woody sighed deeply and placed one hand at the edge of the cloth. He paused woefully as if bracing himself before he pulled it back. "It's Shawn, Juliet… it's Shawn."

Juliet's heart stopped. Her world started spinning around the battered face she looked upon. She couldn't turn her gaze away; her muscles were frozen. "N-No. It c-can't be…" She heard a fragile voice utter, too shocked to realize that it was her own.

Her blood rushed in her ears. Her knees got weak and her stomach flip-flopped. "H-He was fine… yesterday. That's not… it can't…" Mechanically, Juliet forced her legs to move forward. Just one, two steps until she could properly see his wild, bloodied mane of dark hair, the careless stubble on his cheeks and the bloodshot bump on his forehead.

And suddenly there was no more room for denial.

It was him.

"Oh my god!" she whispered, feeling utterly sick. The world swam in front of her face and before she knew it she was kneeling on the ground, emptying her stomach in front of her. Black spots kept dancing before her eyes. She could feel hands on her back, could hear Lassiter's voice talking to her, but she couldn't understand him. Everything was too loud. Too shrill. Rushing in her ears. Emptiness in her mind.

Her heart pumped wildly. She knelt on the ground, supported on her hands. The black spots didn't go away.

His heart didn't pump. His mind didn't think. He was dead.

"NO! God, no, no, no!" she screeched, crawling over to him on all fours and leaning over his destroyed body. "Shawn! Shawn, please! Please, you can't be dead! You can't be…" Juliet realized she was crying hysterically by now, but she couldn't do anything about it. With a shrill voice, strange to her own ears, she begged him to wake up. She touched his cheek. Cold. Ice cold and so… still.

Juliet recognized the white shirt he was wearing. The one he wore when she splashed her sparkling wine into his sad, confused face. When she found out the truth. No more lies will come over his lips. God, how much she wanted him to tell her a lie. Tell her anything! But he won't. His mouth was sealed and his eyes were closed. Forever.

Juliet's knees were drenched in blood. His blood. Covering the entire street. Her tears dripped onto his face, mixing with the blood and blood-red drops ran down his skin and onto the blood-red ground.

Juliet screamed.

Suddenly, Gus and Henry were there. Gus was sobbing uncontrollably. "Why couldn't you forgive him? Why did you leave him?" he asked her, drenched in tears.

"You left him alone! You should've stayed with him! Now my son is dead!" Henry accused her, tears in his eyes, but his voice full of menace.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Juliet sobbed. "Oh god, Shawn. I'm so sorry. I love you. I forgive you. Can you hear me? Please, say that you can hear me!"

Lassiter took her by her arms, pulling her away from the lifeless man on the ground. "Leave him, O'Hara. He's gone. He's long gone."

"No! No! He can't be dead! No, Shawn… Shawn!" she screamed.

She screamed, shooting up in her bed.

Juliet's fingers dug into the bedsheet, her lungs heaving, her heart racing. Darkness surrounded her. The only sounds were her labored breaths and the thumping of her heart.

A dream, she realized, it was just a dream. A horrible, bad nightmare.

Her whole body still shivered and as she raised her hand to her face she felt tears on her cheeks. My god, it all seemed so vivid and real, Juliet thought. It could have been reality, if Shawn hadn't been so damn lucky again.

Juliet froze… then in a flash, she reached over, turned on the lamp on her bedside table and looked at the space next to her.

Shawn's side was empty.

Her heart thumped faster again and her throat began closing up in rising panic. "Okay, calm down." Juliet mumbled to herself. "No need to panic."

After Shawn had told her the story behind his scar, they lay together for a while just as Juliet asked him to, but eventually she needed to get up to finish paperwork at the station for their latest case in the cosmetic surgery and Shawn wanted to check on Gus and his frozen forehead. The moment had seemed to be over and Juliet missed her chance to unmistakably tell him that she wanted him back as her boyfriend.

She went to bed alone that night. Shawn was temporarily crashing on the couch in the Psych office, because he had slept at Gus' place for the entire last week and didn't want to bother him again.

At least she thought that he was there.

Stop it, that's ridiculous, Juliet scolded herself. He's alive and well and probably snoring away just a few blocks away from here.

Her breathing had returned to normal and her heart had slowed down. Rationality had won again. Shawn was fine. She could check on him tomorrow. Relieved, Juliet turned out the light and lay back into her pillow.

She closed her eyes… and all she saw was red blood. On the street, the tires of the truck, the cloth, his body…

Her eyes popped open again. Still, Juliet was able to see his absolutely motionless face. Stiff and cold and dead. "Oh god, I'll never get back to sleep." she whispered to herself… and she was right.

She tried it for almost two hours before she gave up. Agitated, Juliet jumped out of bed, grabbed her keys and hurried out the door in her pajamas. She knew that this whole situation was stupid and irrational and so not her style, but she did it anyway. Driven by the need to clear up the air between them once and for all.

It was dark in and outside of the Psych office. The night was cloudy and black and Juliet shivered as she hurried over to the entrance door to find it locked for once. Impatiently, she knocked. "Shawn? Are you there? Shawn?" Nervously, she glanced around, feeling exposed in her short pajama pants. Although at this time of night no living soul should be up and wandering the streets. Well, Juliet knew better; she was a cop.

"Shawn?" she knocked louder, getting nervous and just a little paranoid. "Please, open up."

Finally, heavy footsteps could be heard shuffling over the floor towards the door and then someone yawned demonstratively. A sleepy figure with his hair sticking out at every angle possible opened the door, looking utterly confused to find her there.

"Jules, what are you—" Shawn began mumbling, before his breath was taken away by a crushing hug.

"I'm sorry, I had to see you." she whispered against his chest.

She could actually hear him grinning as he answered, "Ha, so my observational skills weren't that off, huh?"

"Just shut up and hold me." Juliet hissed, squeezing him extra tight in mild anger.

Shawn groaned. "Juules… you're really squeezing every single bit of oxygen out of me. Let me breathe."

Juliet didn't respond to that. "I'm so glad that you're okay." she blurted out without thinking and continued to hang onto him.

"Of course I'm okay." Shawn gasped, making a show of slowly suffocating. "Why wouldn't I be okay?" When Juliet didn't answer right away, Shawn seemed to realize what was going on. Carefully, he peeled himself out of her desperate embrace and attentively studied her face. "Is this about the things I told you this morning?"

Feeling naked under his clever, inquiring gaze, Juliet looked shamefully to the ground. "I-I never dreamt this vividly. It was… it was terrible and you w-were… I-I'm sorry, I know I'm being stupid for waking you up because of a nightmare…" she stuttered nervously.

"Hey, nothing you do is stupid." Shawn interrupted her. Obviously, taking pity on her shivering form, standing half-naked at his door, he reached for her hand and pulled her inside. "Come in. Tell me about your dream."

He half-heartedly apologized for the mess and shoved his blanket and some empty candy wrappers away to make room for her on the sofa. They settled down closely together and Juliet couldn't help but pathetically lean into his side and nurturing from his warmth as she told him what she saw.

"I was at the station when a report came in about a car accident." she started. "I thought it was just a routine day, but then you were there…" Juliet swallowed. "Overrun by that truck you mentioned. And there was so… much… blood. Everywhere." She fought to articulate every word without crying, but eventually she failed. "All I see… r-right now when I'm closing m-my eyes i-is your blood, Shawn." she sobbed. "You were dead. You-You were lying there a-and I couldn't do anything. I-I couldn't tell you th-at I love you and that I-I… and Gus a-and your dad, they—"

"Shh, it's okay." Shawn soothed her, wrapping his arm around her violently trembling figure. "It wasn't real. I'm here, Jules. I'm always here for you." He hesitated a little before he tentatively continued his sentence. "And… you know I'm going to stay by your side for as long as you want… if you want."

Abruptly, Juliet freed herself from his gentle hug and stared right into his eyes. "Yes." she said before the topic could steer away from her again. "Yes, I want that."

Shawn blinked at her a little taken aback. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, but he didn't dare showing it until he knew for sure. "Jules… are you saying, that…"

"Shawn, I want to be with you again." Juliet finally announced clearly while wiping the tears from her face. "I want you to know that… despite how angry, disappointed and hurt I was I never stopped loving you. And now that I know the truth behind all your lies, I'm ready… and I'm able to forgive you."

Juliet sobbed, her voice breaking just a little. "It was hard, but we made it through and I'm thankful for still having you in my life. And because of how dangerous our jobs can be… because everything could be over in just a second… I never want there to be any doubt in either of our minds again about how we feel about each other." She took his face between her hands, her thumps stroking softly over his rough, stubbly cheeks. "I want you to know that… I love you and accept you just the way you are, Shawn."

Now Shawn's smile finally spread, lighting up his whole being. As if there had been a part of him missing… as if he wasn't really himself until that moment when he knew that she could genuinely forgive him. "You mean… I can come home?"

The soft-spoken question was full of fragile hope and love and it made Juliet smile broadly with unbelievably great relief and happiness that this dark part of their lives was over. "Yes." she said again, beaming with joy. "I want you to come home and never leave me again."

Shawn immediately wrapped his arms around her and released a sigh he was seemingly holding for forever. "I won't, Jules. And I promise I won't give you any more reasons to leave me, either. I'll make this work, Sweetheart, you'll see."

Juliet grinned. "I know you will. You're still my non-psychic, crime-fighting superhero, you know."

Shawn parted from her to sat up straight and swell his chest with a proud, self-assured grin. "Oh, I am. I'm so superhero-y you wouldn't believe it." Juliet giggled. "Oh, I have to tell Gus the good news." Shawn said and attempted to get up to reach his phone.

Juliet held him back by his arms and steered him back into the cushion. "It's the middle of the night." she said, slinging her arms around his neck. "Gus can wait... I can't."

She leaned close and kissed him before he could mention that his keen skills of observation had been right all along.

Thank you so much for reading all of this! I hope this chapter made up for the long waiting time... :)

I can't wait to hear your thoughts about it, so please send me a review or a request for another scene you felt seemed missing. Just be warned, It might take a while... ;)