Author's Note: I'm sorry that it took so long to get this chapter up; my muse temporarily deserted me for this story. Can't figure out why, it's not like the boys are hard on the eyes :) Thank you to everyone who's been reading and reviewing. You guys are awesome.

"I figured that if I didn't kiss you, now, I wasn't going to be able to think about anything else for the rest of the night." (greetings: hello)

As he rejected yet another shirt that he pulled off a hanger in his closet, Carlton wondered exactly when he'd lost his mind. He'd never expended this much effort for a date, before, except for maybe with Vicki. Yet, here he was obsessing about the clothes he was planning to wear on a date. A date with Shawn Spencer, no less.

And, maybe, he mused, that was when the insanity had started. After all, kissing the man (multiple, really good kisses, his traitorous little voice in the back of his mind chimed in) was one thing; going out on a date, in public, around people, was another thing altogether. It was different, a more intense level than what they'd done so far, more permanent.

And, God knew, he was really bad at permanent.

Look how badly he'd screwed up his marriage. And that was supposed to have been easy. He and Victoria had so much in common; they'd clicked on so many levels. There were days when he still wondered just how it had all gone wrong.

This thing with Shawn, though, whatever it might have been, this was so much more different. He and Shawn had really nothing in common, outside of chasing murderers. And, even there, they were completely opposite. There was so much potential for things to go wrong, and the thought of that made his stomach twist, unpleasantly.

'Don't borrow trouble,' he could almost hear his brother scolding him. 'Just take it one date at a time.'

That thought, that there might be more dates after this one, also made his stomach twist. But, this time it wasn't unpleasant. It almost reminded him of the feeling he'd had in high school, as he was getting ready to escort Vicki to their prom.

"I am too old to be nervous about a first date," he told himself, firmly, as he resolutely grabbed a shirt and pulled it on without looking at it.

He buttoned the shirt, and then he muttered a quiet curse under his breath when he checked his reflection in the mirror and realized that he'd missed a button. He started over, moving slower to keep from messing up, again, but he hesitated before he buttoned the topmost buttons on the shirt. He could still remember Shawn's teasing comments about his chest hair, only now he wondered if the words hadn't been so lighthearted.

'I need to stop over-thinking this,' Carlton told himself, firmly, when his hands still hovered over the buttons. 'It's just a couple of damn buttons.'

Resolutely, he let his hands fall to his sides, resisting the urge to reach up and fiddle with his shirt some more. Instead, he turned away from the mirror and continued to get ready. It took him less time than he'd anticipated, and he found himself standing in the middle of his bedroom at seven-oh-five, completely ready for a date that wasn't going to start for another hour.

He puttered around the house for a little while, managing to distract himself with mundane tasks like unloading the dishwasher and taking out the garbage. But, when he looked at his watch, he'd only managed to waste another fifteen minutes.

He paced restlessly for another two minutes before finally giving up and grabbing his keys from the hook by the front door. So be it, he was just going to be early. And he didn't want to think about how eager that made him look.

Another ten minutes, and he was parking his car in front of Shawn's apartment building. The butterflies had started up in his stomach, again, but he ignored the sensation as he got out and headed into the building. Shawn's apartment was on the fifth floor, and he tapped his foot impatiently during the elevator ride, trying to block out the annoying music being piped in through the speakers.

He found himself standing in front of Shawn's door, although he couldn't exactly recall the walk down the hallway from the elevator. Ringing the doorbell, he had a fleeting moment where he hoped that Shawn wasn't home. Then, the door opened under his hand and he stared into a pair of warm, hazel eyes.

He expected Shawn to make some crack about how nervous he looked, but, surprisingly, the other man was quiet. He was staring at Carlton with a strange expression on his face, and Carlton was faintly amused by the way Shawn's eyes kept flickering to the patch of hair visible on his chest.

Shawn opened his mouth, but then he shook his head a moment later, his teeth clicking shut with a sharp sound. Then, he reached forward and grabbed a handful of Carlton's shirt, pulling him forward and kissing him, deeply.

Carlton automatically steadied himself with his hands at Shawn's waist, holding on as they deepened the kiss. Shawn still had one hand fisted in the front of his shirt, and his free hand snaked up to wrap around the back of his neck, his fingers hot like a brand on Carlton's skin.

Finally, reluctantly, he pulled away, although his hand stayed where it was on Carlton's neck.

"Hi," Shawn said, a particularly husky quality to his voice that shot through Carlton like a bolt of lightning.

"Hi, yourself," Carlton said, teasingly, feeling the uneasy knot in his stomach loosening as he looked at the younger man. "What was that about?"

"Well," Shawn told him, "I figured that if I didn't kiss you, now, I wasn't going to be able to think about anything else for the rest of the night."

"Well, then," Carlton said, and he surprised even himself by pulling Shawn in for another kiss. "While we're getting things out of the way-"

Shawn's lips were soft on his, one hand playing with the short strands of Carlton's hair while the other moved to the patch of skin displayed by his open shirt. Carlton could feel his breath hitch in his throat as Shawn ran his fingers gently through the clearly-sensitive hair on his chest, and he made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a growl as Shawn tugged lightly on the hair.

Shawn moved back easily as Carlton pressed him up against his doorframe, pressing their bodies together. He could feel Shawn smiling against his mouth as he rocked his hips up, evidence of his arousal pressing against his leg. The smile fell off Shawn's face as Carlton switched tactics, though, the kiss he pressed against the sensitive hollow of the other man's throat eliciting a choked gasp.

Then, the sound of a throat clearing had them both jumping about a foot in the air.

Carlton could practically feel himself levitate as he sprang away from Shawn, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. His heart was racing from the thrill, and from having been caught. And when he snuck a glance over at Shawn, he could see the same redness reflected on the other man's face.

When he managed to look over at the person who'd interrupted them, he saw an elderly woman standing in the middle of the hallway with an amused smirk on her face.

"You boys shouldn't stop on my account," she said, and there was almost a wicked gleam in her eyes as she looked at them.

"Mrs. Stephenson, can I help you with something?" Shawn asked, and his voice sounded ragged, like he was having a hard time forming the words.

"Oh, my sink is backed up, again," the older woman said, switching her gaze to Shawn. "I was wondering if you could take a look at it?"

"I'll be right there," Shawn assured the woman, faintly.

"Thank you so much, dear," the older woman said, with a beaming smile, and then she turned and shuffled slowly back down the hall, leaning heavily on her cane.

"Well, that was-" Carlton started, once the older woman was out of earshot, but he trailed off, unable to think of how to continue.

"My eighty-five year old neighbor just caught us necking like horny teenagers," Shawn said, a disbelieving note in his voice. "I'm never going to be able to look her in the eye, again."

"I don't know," Carlton said, thoughtfully. "It didn't look she minded, so much."

Shawn stared at him in amazement, and then a slow smile crept across his face. After a moment, he started laughing quietly, his shoulders shaking with the force of it.

"Dinner," he finally gasped out, as he wiped away the tears from his eyes. "I seem to remember you promising me food at some point, and I'm not about to let you out of it."

"So, dinner, and then we can go back to acting like horny teenagers?" Carlton asked, and Shawn grinned.

"Sounds like a plan," he said.