I haven't done an author's note in a while. Just a few things: first, thank you to everyone who reads and reviews! You're all very encouraging. And thank you to those of you who read and don't review. I don't leave reviews often either. Thanks for sticking with me!
Second, updates may be sporadic because I tend to get writer's block and walk away from my stories for weeks at a time or more. I've been forcing myself to write through the block, but I don't like sacrificing quality for quantity. So far, I've been pretty steadily inspired.
Speaking of inspired, I'm really pretty excited for where this story is going. I promise it will be more than just a relationship story, although that is kind of the focus. I do have an actual plot that I am building towards.
Third (fourth? I think the last point was a tangent to 2), SPOILER for Mr. Yin Presents (really more of a vague reference, but still).
Lastly: I love Shawn. Sometimes I forget how much I love Shawn because I love Lassiter so much. This chapter reminded me how much I love Shawn.
Enjoy!
It didn't take a psychic to see that the head detective and the receptionist were an item, which was probably a good thing since the resident psychic was a fraud. What was surprising, at least to Shawn, was the tiny detail of just who was being discreet about the relationship and, more importantly, which of the two was not discreet in the least. Aside from a warm smile when the detective had entered the station, Melody had remained completely focused on her job all morning. In complete contrast, from what Shawn had observed from the edge of Jules' desk, the officer in quiestion couldn't keep his eyes off of the girl for more than two minutes at a time and kept finding excuses to get up and walk past the reception area. Shawn could barely restrain his laughter when Jules walked over to Lassie's desk and slapped her palms down on the surface in order to get his attention.
"Hi Detective Lassiter, your partner here. Just wanted to know if I could get your input on this case that we're supposed to be working on. Together. Right now." The startled detective cast another glance at his girlfriend, and Juliet sighed. "Carlton, I'm really happy that you've found someone," she conceded, dropping the sarcasm, "but you're not focusing. You're acting a little bit like a teenager. Now, if you want, I can ask McNab to help me with this case..."
"What?" The dreamy look was gone from Lassiter's eyes, replaced with indignation and determination (and a few other -ations that Gus would know but Shawn couldn't be bothered to name). "Don't put the rookie on this case! I claimed this one, it's mine." He shot one last look over to Melody, who happened to be facing his direction. She smiled, causing him to soften for a moment. Jules cleared her throat and he snapped to attention. "Right. So. String of robberies. Has anyone questioned the owner of the jewelry store?"
Juliet glanced through the case file. "No, doesn't look like it."
Lassie nodded. "Let's go." He snatched his jacket off of the back of his chair and took off towards
The female detective rolled her eyes and returned to her desk, maneuvering easily around Shawn to set the file down and grab her gun. She smiled at the psychic. "See you later, Shawn. And stay out of trouble! You're not working this case."
The man raised his hands in mock surrender. "Trouble? Me? I have no idea what you're talking about." He grinned as Juliet shot him a withering look and followed after her partner. Absently he wondered if she had noticed that she hadn't told him to get off her desk, or that her hands had been mere inches away from his derriere when she reached for her gun. Forcing himself to think about something else, Shawn reached for the case file. He scanned the robbery reports and took in the crime scene photos; there were signs of forced entry in every picture, but there was something in the back of Shawn's head telling him to look closer. He read through the reports again. No alarms had been triggered at any of the businesses; the crimes had all been reported the next morning. So either the thief had figured out the alarm codes for each location... or he already knew them, and staged the break-ins after the fact.
"Insurance fraud? Really? So unoriginal," Shawn murmured. He made a mental note to find out if the businesses had been struggling financially before the robberies took place and set the file back down on Juliet's desk. The faux-psychic took a moment to examine the rest of the desk's contents: one cheap ballpoint pen, a half-empty cold mug of coffee, numerous sticky notes covered in distinctly feminine handwriting, a framed picture of an O'Hara family reunion circa 2004 (pre-Santa Barbara, mid-police academy) and, taped to the bottom of her computer monitor, a photo of Jules with her arms around Shawn and Gus. Shawn smiled as he recalled the event; the pair had kidnapped Jules on her birthday and taken her to Red Robin, where much to her embarrassment Shawn had alerted their waitress that it was, in fact, the detective's birthday. Pros: free ice cream sundae. Cons: annoying birthday song and the attention of everyone in the restaurant. But Juliet had dealt with it all quite graciously and had even admitted to having a good time. The waitress had offered to take a picture of the three. Shawn hadn't known the Jules had printed it, or that she kept it on her desk.
The psychic detective let his gaze travel to the reception. He would never admit it out loud, but Shawn Spencer was jealous of Carlton Lassiter. How was it that the divorced detective, the man who thought tact was an embarrassing skin condition, had secured himself the object of his affections in a matter of weeks? Shawn had been working on Jules for over three years, and still nothing. Well, not quite nothing, but pretty damn close. Of course, dating Abigail for about a year probably hadn't helped the psychic get closer to his goal. Really, both Shawn and Juliet had horrible timing when it came to relationships. Or maybe just when it came to their relationship.
If he was going to be completely honest with himself, he was terrified. There was a reason that Abigail had been his first real girlfriend. Shawn wasn't the type of guy to follow through on emotions. Vulnerability was not a comfortable place to be. And with Abigail, he hadn't really been all that vulnerable. True, he had loved her in high school. And sure, she was a great girl and he had cared a lot about her. But love? Truthfully? Probably not. Everything with Abigail had been comfortable, convenient. Routine. Juliet O'Hara was not comfortable, convenient, or routine. She was exciting, frightening, and a hell of a lot of work to get close to. More than that, she had been with him through some incredibly insane, ridiculous times. She understood him, probably as much as if not more than Gus and Henry understood him. He was terrified that he would ruin that, ruin her.
But sometimes Shawn thought that maybe, just maybe, Jules was terrified too.
They had ignored each other for about a week after the Yin incident, trying to get back into some semblance of normalcy before dealing with the elephant in the room. Then, when they did start talking again, neither had been able to find the courage to confront the other. So they were back to the uncomfortable tango of more than friends but less than lovers that had been going on almost from day one.
Shawn schooled his thoughts and slid off of Juliet's desk. Time to go have an episode at the scene of the crime. He sauntered towards the front of the station, happening to catch the secretary's eye on the way out. "Hey Mel," he greeted with a grin and slowed to a standstill in front of her desk. "How's things with our studly head detective?"
Melody flushed slightly and fiddled with her pen, a sheepish smile on her face. "You noticed? Should I be more subtle?"
Cue the infamous Spencer smirk. "Actually, it was your boyfriend who gave it away. But don't worry, I won't start spreading malicious gossip about you two."
"Much appreciated," Melody replied sarcastically. "So, what are you up to today? No Gus, I see."
"Yeah, he had some meetings with clients. For his real job. Whatever." Shawn shrugged and leaned forward against the reception counter. "Although he does help me to channel some of my more powerful visions on occasion, I am perfectly capable of communing with the spirits without Gus."
"True, but I bet some of your more obscure references tend to fall flat without him." Melody laughed as Shawn visibly conceded the point. "Speaking of your visions, I was wondering... would you mind letting me sort of analyze you sometime? Nothing strenuous," she added quickly, noting the alarm on his face. "I'd just like to learn about your psychic abilities. I almost wrote my doctoral thesis on ESP, but I figured I probably wouldn't be awarded my degree that way." Shawn relaxed, and Melody felt bad; people probably wanted to probe his brain all the time, sometimes literally. She suddenly felt like she was taking liberties with the psychic.
"Sure, I'd be more than happy to let you into my head, so to speak." Shawn was just relieved that the woman believed in him and didn't have any intention of disproving his so-called powers. He hadn't considered the possibility that Lassie had tried to sow seeds of doubt within the station, but Melody's request had shocked him very quickly into anticipation of the worst. The assurance that she was just an interested spectator was incredibly welcome. "Why don't you come by the Psych office on one of your days off? Then you can get the whole Shawn Spencer experience, Gus included."
"That sounds perfect! I'll give you a call before I come over." Melody blinked, redirecting her focus. "But we were talking about your plans for today."
Shawn nodded. "Well, I'm about to go solve the robberies."
Melody frowned. "Didn't Juliet say that you weren't in on that case?"
The psychic scoffed. "I can't tell the spirits not to reveal things to me just because some mere mortal didn't OK my involvement. Besides, they're going to realize that they need me on this one in three... two..." Shawn's phone went off, and Melody gasped. The man answered his phone and waved to the receptionist on his way out the door. She didn't need to know that his phone's vibrate kicked in about a second and a half before the ring tone. "Jules! What's this? You need me? It just so happens that I'm free..."
