I Take You Seriously

Juliet and Shawn were sitting on opposite ends of the couch. They had been in this position for the last twenty minutes, talking about anything ranging from Shawn's amazing skiing prowess to Juliet's cats.

"-and that's how the cat ended up on the roof." Juliet finished.

"Jeez, your cats have some mad skills, haha. Anyways, have you reconsidered the sharing body heat idea now that you and I have been freezing to death for a while?"

"Now that you mention it." Juliet remarked as she scooted over and lay on Shawn's side.

Shawn smiled as he wrapped his arm around her, "How about the taking off clothes part? Is that not happening, or is that still to come?"

"Well, I guess you're right, it is the best way to stay warm." Juliet replied seriously. Shawn's mouth fell open, literally.

"I-I-I…" Shawn stuttered. 'Dammit, get a hold of yourself man. Your Shawn Spencer, you don't stutter!' Shawn thought to himself. "Wait-really?"

"Yup, that way Lassiter can come in and find us naked and huddled together. Sounds great!"

Shawn stared at her for a moment, opened his mouth, and closed it again. He then said, "Oh…umm, right." He paused, "My psychic senses told me you were joking."

"Haha, sure they did Shawn," Juliet laughed. "Anyways, now that my cat story is over and that is through with, I'm curious, did you ever have any pets growing up?"

"Almost! I almost had a dog."

"What happened?"

"My damn dad made me prove that I could handle a dog. He wanted me to make the doghouse for the dog before we got it. To prove that I could be responsible or something."

"Hmm. Shawn, why is it that you and your father have this ongoing war always?" Juliet questioned, she knew that Shawn had a deeper side, and she wanted to get to know the real Shawn better.

"Well, he was…an intense father."

"He had really high expectations didn't he?" Juliet prompted.

"Exactly. He was a cop and he always expected me to follow in his footsteps. He made my childhood into a training camp. Always trying to hone my skills when he never bothered asking if this was what I wanted. He always saw me as…well…"

"Falling short?"

"Yeah, everything I did wasn't good enough."

"It's ironic, because one of the reasons I became a cop was to prove something, to both myself and to my older brothers. To prove that I could hold my own, they always coddled me. I was always the little sister," Juliet said as she lay her head on Shawn's shoulder, "Always the baby sister that needed to be taken care of. I wanted to prove that I could take care of myself."

Shawn looked over at Juliet and rested his cheek against her head. "I know what you mean, I've always wanted to prove to my father that although I am usually irresponsible, I do take some things seriously. Like my job with the police department." 'And you.' Shawn thought to himself. "He doesn't seem to respect me or what I do.

"Shawn, I-I think that you may be wrong. I've seen how he reacts to your amazing feats with the police department. All those cases you have solved. You may not have followed his ideal path for you, but you followed one that he can understand and I think he has come to accept that."

Shawn looked into Juliet's eyes, her deep blue eyes, "Really?"

"Really," Juliet replied as she began to close the distance between their lips.

Shawn closed his eyes and-"Spencer!"

Shawn and Juliet jumped apart at the sound of Lassiter's voice. Shawn quickly scrambled over to the door and let Lassiter inside. "Are you two okay?" Lassiter questioned as he entered the cabin, trailed by two men from the ski patrol.

Shawn glanced over at Juliet, who was trying to cover up her blush, "Yeah, I think we're gonna be just fine, but there is something I think you should see." Shawn replied as he walked towards the removable beam on the floor.