Months passed by, the case Juliet and Carlton had been staying so late for had long since been solved. O'Hara and Lassiter were on their A game lately, even more so than usual, case after case being solved.

Little did they know that it had a lot to do with each of them spending all their energy on their work. Both of them not wanting to give into the the distraction of each other, a bit ironic as they worked alongside each other day after day. But this system worked, all of their energy was focused on the professional side of their relationship. None of it went toward how much Juliet wanted Carlton to throw her down on top of his desk and take her right then and there. None of it went toward how much Carlton wanted Juliet to shut him up by kissing him senseless. No, that energy was spent on work. Those thoughts weren't practical.

Juliet's phone buzzed yet again on her desk, the loud vibrations quickly ceased as she snatched it off the wooden surface. She already knew who it was. She looked down at the text that read Come on Jules, how abt 2day? We could get tacos, or chicken wings, or pizza, or pasta, sushi, burgers – whtevr u want. Juliet sighed at her phone and shut it without texting back. Shawn had been trying to ask her out for the past couple weeks or so, now that the heartbrokenness of his breakup had worn off – he apparently was ready to date again. Juliet had told him she needed more time, that she was very very busy with work – she was sure it would die down soon yada yada yada. But the truth was she didn't really feel that way anymore. It was proving difficult to be forthright with this, a very uncharacteristic act, she thought.

Luckily Psych had been working less cases with the pair lately, so Juliet was able to avoid the situation – and just as she thought this –

"Lassie I know you missed me! How long has it been, ol' Lassie ol' pal," Shawn waltzed up the hall, Gus not far behind. Juliet could almost feel the tension radiating off of Lassiter. She knew he had had a rough morning; one of the men involved in a robbery they had been called to had taken a swing at him, and it had connected. Of course they had eventually cuffed each offender, and they were currently sitting in a cell, but Carlton was sporting a black eye. One which he really did not want Shawn Spencer to see.

Shawn stopped short of Lassiter's desk and stared for a moment before exclaiming, "Lassieeeee, what a shiner! If only I had been there to protect you," Gus looked at Shawn with a warning look in his eyes, he seemed to pick up on Lassiter's not-so-great day much more than Shawn did. For a psychic, Juliet thought, Shawn is really not self-aware. Or, more likely, he was - but he didn't care.

"Spencer, I swear to any of the gods you want, I am NOT in the mood," and he got up and stormed off, Juliet could hear him say something about having a suspect waiting to be interrogated, but she knew that was a lie, there were no suspects. They had just solved the case they had been working on, and Chief had not assigned anything new to them yet. She hoped that this is not why these two were here…she didn't think Carlton could get through a case with them without giving Shawn a shiner to match his own. And Juliet really did not want to referee the two of them either.

She stood up from her seat, arms folded, "Shawn, why do you always have to push him like that," she cocked an eyebrow at the psychic.

"Jules, if you must know, I really did miss Lassie. Psych hasn't been on a case with you guys in weeks," he moved closer to her, putting a hand on her waist, "and I especially missed you."

Gus was busying himself with the donut table and ignoring the pair, not really wanting to be apart of their charade.

Juliet waited to feel…anything. She used to get a bit fluttery when this man would be close to her, but now she didn't feel a damned thing.

"Shawn, seriously, we're in public," She began before he cut her off.

"Did you get my text?" She knew that one was coming.

"Yes I did –"she uncrossed her arms, ready to tell him again that she just wasn't ready, wasn't able to.

"And you are dying to go to dinner with me?" he finished her sentence hopefully.

She stepped away from him, around her desk and sat down, the desk giving her much needed space away from him. Avoiding his eyes, she looked around at her desk and lied with a little too much pep, "you know, Shawn, another time would be great – but I am just so swamped with work right now," she looked up at him and shrugged, "I think I will be staying late yet again."

Shawn looked at her and she scowled a bit as she saw his hand move to the side of his head, fingers hovering near his temple, "I sense that you are not busy with work, in fact you just finished up a case." Damn his psychic-ness, she thought to herself. Little did she know he had just seen that she was working on writing a report, and had taken an educated guess. She thought for a moment, juggling the idea of actually going on a date with Shawn…

"Wait, Jules, you aren't seeing someone else are you?" He dropped the psychic act and pouted at her, "there isn't another man in your life?" he looked around at Gus with a very dramatic expression on his face, as if to tell his best friend that he had just been heartbroken yet again. Gus rolled his eyes and continued eating the donut in his hand.

Juliet laughed a little too forcefully, "Shawn, no…no no, I am not seeing anyone else," and in that moment Carlton Lassiter came bounding back down the hall, looking very grumpy, huffing toward his desk. At the sight of his least favorite person, he scowled and dropped to his desk. He had hoped that his moments of fresh air had rid the station of these two.

Juliet continued to look passed Shawn to Carlton, her mouth still slightly open, momentarily lost for words. Shawn glanced back at Carlton and then to Juliet, his eyes narrowed, like he knew something. Juliet snapped her eyes back to Shawn, panicking at the look he was giving her, "fine, Shawn, I will go to dinner with you, fine…" she sighed and swore she could see Carlton's back straighten at the words, but as soon as she saw that moment of tension happen, it had subsided.

Shawn's prying look disappeared and was replaced with a huge smile, "Oh happy day! Jules, you will not be disappointed, I know the perfect place."

She forced her best smile, this is what she had been looking forward to for the years now right? She should be excited, "What time should I be ready?"

"How about 7? I will swing by your place to pick you up –"

"No motorcycle, Shawn."

Shawn's shoulders dropped, "fine," he whined, "I'll pick you up in something with four wheels."

"Thank you," Juliet let out a genuine laugh, which boosted Shawn's sudden drop in mood immensely.

"Alright, I will see you tonight, fair Juliet," and before she could think to stop him he came around the desk, took her hand in his own and kissed it. A very silly thing to do, really, but her eyes immediately went to Lassiter, who had just swiveled around in his chair to get up from his desk. He glanced at the scene and his bright blue eyes shot up to Juliet's with a look of…what? Sadness? She wasn't sure. But it was very quickly replaced by a grimace. He sauntered away to the Chief's office without saying a word.

Gus entered the scene as Shawn stood up, "Ok now, come on Romeo, we have a "case" (he said this with air quotes) to work remember?" he looked to Juliet, "it's another poor woman wanting to speak with her deceased husband, sometimes we take those just because it's so…sad." He shivered slightly as he pulled Shawn away.

That is sad, Juliet thought to herself.

"I will be the one with the flower in his pocket Jules!" Shawn called to Juliet as he was dragged away. And she could hear him say to Gus, "I am not wearing that stupid hat again for this, nor am I using any sort of glass ball."

"It makes the experience more authentic, Shawn," Gus said. And then they were out of earshot, and out the door.

Juliet shook her head, smiling slightly, and focused on writing her report again, she was just about done. She was very good at writing reports, very detailed but in the most concise way possible. She also enjoyed writing reports, which is something many officers would say is their least favorite part of the job. It allowed her to get everything out and then fold it up neatly, so to speak, and move on.

Her partner came back from the Chiefs office; he did not look too thrilled with the day. Not that he was ever thrilled, unless, if there were a weapon disassembling-reassembling competition going on, she thought he might be thrilled about that.

"Once you're done with that report, O'Hara, you can head home a little early," he stated before sitting back in his chair, "you'll need enough time to get ready for your date," he practically spat out the last word. She wasn't even sure if he meant to say this loud enough for her to hear.

She decided to ignore the last statement and asked, "what about you?"

"No, I don't have a date to get ready for," he laughed darkly, and turned in his chair to look at her. Arms folded, sleeves rolled up, exposing his strong forearms. It was the end of the day, so his jacket was off, his hair was a bit more tousled than it had been that morning. It was Juliet's favorite look. Aside from that black eye.

She again ignored his negative tone, "how is that eye doing?" she stood up and walked over to him, leaning down so they were at eye level. He got a little warm at the proximity, crossing his arms even tighter and fidgeting in his chair uncomfortably.

"O'Hara, it's fine, this is hardly the first time this has happened," he grew silent as she took his chin in her hand and moved his head to the side to get a better look. Her hand was warm and soft against him. What was he, a kid who go into a playground scuffle at school? What was she playing at here? But still he didn't move.

"Dammit I wish I got him back for this one, I'd like to give this guy two black eyes," she muttered. She caught the look in Carlton's eyes and suddenly she realized just how close they were, she dropped her hand immediately and straightened up, "sorry, sorry," she smiled at him trying to cover up just how flustered she felt, "next time I will get them back for you."

"O'Hara, that's hardly necessary," he cleared his throat and looked around, no one seemed to notice their display, "but thank you for your concern," his features softened as much as Carlton's features could. He thought how to change the subject.

"So…date with Spencer tonight. Have fun with that one," he could hardly contain his sarcasm.

Juliet couldn't read him in that moment, "yeah, well…" she trailed off.

"That clown doesn't deserve you Juliet." He said this with more intensity than he meant to. No one does, he thought.

Juliet was surprised by those words, and the tone he said them in, and let out a laugh, "Carlton, come on…he's not that bad –"

The man in front of her scoffed and moved his gaze back toward her, wanting to tell her how amazing she was, that no man deserved to even kiss the ground she walked on, especially not Spencer. But instead he said,

"Sure, maybe – but still," and that's all he could get out without hinting at what he truly wanted to tell the woman standing in front of him. He could feel himself growing more and more tense as they remained there in silence,

"Well, I need to finish up this report then," Juliet suddenly said as she turned to her desk again. She wanted to get farther away from Carlton, the desire to touch him again was growing a little too strong, "you're going home after that report too, right Carlton?"

He knew that question was coming, she seemed to always be concerned about him overworking himself. They both worked a lot of extra hours, but he definitely tended to work even more. It was because he was going home to nothing, just a steak for one and a glass of whiskey. He was lonely. Which is something he admitted to no one. Being at work gave him a purpose, and he frankly dreaded the time he spent alone each night.

"Yes, O'Hara, Chief Vick instructed both of us to take an early evening, she also wanted me to thank you for the extra work you've been putting in," She smiled warmly at him, "Of course," she said, and turned her gaze to her computer screen.

He had also very much enjoyed the many hours with Juliet, the many cases solved. He continued to look at her without her realizing it, fingers ticking away at her keyboard as she wrote her report. He smiled to himself and thought about how lucky he was to be paired with this young detective.

Initially, when Lucinda had decided to leave the SBPD, he was heartbroken. And then this fairly new to the force, young blonde had been assigned to be his partner. He had to admit he had judged her in the beginning, how could the Chief pair him with some inexperienced cop from Miami? He ate those flippant judgments completely only a couple weeks after they had began working together. She had taken down a perp who had the audacity to fight Carlton, and gave him a black eye. He had gotten quite a few black eyes in his career, he realized, maybe he just had a puncheable face?

She had shown strength he never knew she could possess, she had forced him to the ground and cuffed him before Carlton even realized what was happening. And that's when he began to realize how amazing this young cop from Miami really was. That was 5 years ago, and she still continued to mesmerize him.

"Why are you staring at me?" Juliet looked up at Carlton from her computer and he could see a slight blush in her cheeks, and he knew he was beginning to match that sentiment.

"Oh, nothing, sorry, lost in thought I guess," he grumbled and swiveled his chair around. How dense was he? He couldn't just sit there starting at his partner like that. He started clicking away at his own report, he fucking hated doing reports. He caught the low life person, they're rightly in jail now. The end. Couldn't that be the end of it?

He loved doing the rest of this job so much, that writing reports was a small price to pay. So he begrudgingly tried his damndest to write a clear report, as per usual. They both ticked away for another half hour or so before he heard Juliet stand from her desk and say, "Well, I will see you tomorrow, Carlton," the clock read half passed 3pm, "have a good night, OK?" she came up beside him and couldn't help but place her hand on his shoulder and give it a squeeze. He let the feeling linger, "You too, O'Hara," he didn't mention what her night would consist of. A damn date with Spencer. He knew this event was bound to happen at some point.

She left him and he felt suddenly lonely, even though there were plenty of people still at the station. Plenty of people that he didn't get along with too well, sure they respected him, but no one he could really call a friend. Juliet had become so much to him, the thought of losing her, made his stomach drop. He wanted to take her, hold her, kiss her, make her his. But as he had told himself many many times before, this would jeopardize everything. And she didn't feel that way, she was off to go date Spencer. His face soured at the thought, and he focused back on finishing up. Then he could go home alone and have a much needed whiskey after the day he'd had.