Chapter 13: Tell Me More

The only sound that filled the small hospital room was the continuous beeping of the machines Lassiter was hooked up to, verifying he was still alive. Although he was very alive, he had been in and out of consciousness over the past two days in the hospital.

Shawn tried his best to stay awake as he half listened to whatever episode of C.O.P.S was playing on the tv opposite of Lassiter's bed. Throughout the past week of what seemed like hell, Shawn found it impossible to sleep when Lassiter was who knew where getting who knew what done to him. Now that he was safe and sound, recovering in the hospital, Shawn struggled to stay awake.

In the end, Shawn gave into his body's pleas for much needed rest, and that's why his neck was currently throbbing after being in a weird position for who knows how long--actually, glancing slightly at the clock, he concluded he was out for about three hours.

He sat up in his chair, popping his back as he did so. Never sleep in hospital chairs again, he reminded himself as he tried to sooth the pain in his neck by popping it as well.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," a familiar voice to his left spoke up and Shawn snapped his head up in the direction the voice was coming from.

He frowned when he saw Lassiter sitting up in bed, scooping what little jello remained in the small container he was holding. "I thought I told you to wake me up when you woke up," he pouted slightly.

Setting the now empty container on the bedside tray, Lassiter chuckled slightly. "I was going to, but you looked like hell and I figured you could use the rest."

Shawn's frown turned into a smile and he nodded at the gesture. His way of saying 'thanks'. Almost as quickly as the smile formed, it faded and Shawn turned his attention to the ground. He looked back up slightly, opened his mouth to speak, and closed it almost instantly. How was it that he, Shawn Spencer, the king of talking about anything and everything, was struggling to find the right words?

After what seemed like an eternity of thinking, he finally opened his mouth to speak. "Um.. I just wanted to say… About the cuts on your stomach--"

"I don't want to talk about it," Lassiter immediately blurted out, cutting Shawn off.

Shawn hid the urge to laugh at the statement. Of course he didn't want to talk about it, and Shawn wasn't expecting him to. "I understand that, but that's not what I was going to say," he explained as he watched Lassiter's eyebrow raise in confusion. "No one else knows."

Lassiter visibly relaxed and Shawn elaborated. "When I got to you in that warehouse, the first thing I did was stop the bleeding. In doing so, I hid the cuts from the view of others. Of course the various doctors and paramedics that saved you know, but they didn't tell anyone else."

A few moments of silence passed before Lassiter finally spoke up. "Thank you," he stated simply without taking his eyes off his lap.

Shawn left Lassiter alone, not wanting to approach anymore uncomfortable subjects. After a small knock at the door, he focused his attention on who was now standing in the doorway.

Without a second thought, Shawn jumped up from his chair and made his way out of the hospital room. "I'm gonna go get a.. Coffee.." he mumbled as an excuse to not be present when Juliet questioned Lassiter on their relationship.

Lassiter kept his head lowered in shame without looking towards the doorway. He already knew what was coming. He shouldn't have been so selfish by excluding Juliet from something she had a right to know about.

"Carlton, can you stop sulking for one minute and look at me?" Juliet finally broke the awkward silence that formed between them as she approached his hospital bed slowly. When the man in question didn't budge, Juliet sighed. "You know, Carlton, I get it."

Without moving his head, Lassiter quirked a brow at that comment and was very confused on the direction his partner was going.

Juliet noticed the shift in behaviour and smiled slightly. "You were trying something new, out of your comfort zone, and I know you don't like to bring personal matters into the station. I'm not mad that you didn't tell me, I just want you to know that I'm here for you if you ever need anything."

A few more moments of silence passed before Lassiter finally lifted his head to look at the junior detective. "Thank you, O'Ha-," he caught himself halfway through and decided it was finally time for him to step out of his business only persona and call his friend by her first name. "Thank you, Juliet," he forced out with a slight struggle.

"Okay that was weird, let's just stick to O'Hara," Juliet commented after hearing her partner use her first name for probably the first time. Not that she didn't appreciate the thought, she was just so used to him using only her last name.

"Agree to agree," Lassiter chuckled after the look on her face. Juliet followed Lassiter's lead and laughed at the awkward situation.

After the laughter died down, Juliet lowered herself into the chair next to the bed. "Now that that's out of the way, would I be pushing my boundaries by asking for details?"

His only response to the question was a raised brow. Simply because he was confused as to what she exactly wanted to know.

"What if you start from the beginning and leave out any details you don't want me to know?," she suggested.

Contemplating the request took a few short moments before he nodded his head in agreement and said, "Alright. That's fair."

Juliet instantly lit up with a smile across her face. She looked like a teenage girl gossiping at school. "Well, how did you two discover your feelings? It seemed like you hated him, how did you get around that?"

Lassiter chuckled slightly at the memory. Something he wasn't necessarily proud of, yet he managed to find someone who makes him happy. "Basically.. I was drunk. And I mean really drunk," he started explaining.

Shawn peeked through the small window next to the door with a smile. Everything was finally back to normal and better than ever. Starting now he would get to live his new life with Lassiter in the comfort of the police station without anymore secrets.

Glancing down to the small cup of warm coffee he was holding, he gulped down the rest before tossing the cup in the nearest trash can. It's probably best to give Juliet more time to gossip, he thought to himself with a grin as he walked away with no clear destination in mind.

A/N: Finally a happy ending after having this story in progress for what seems like ages. I would like to thank everyone who stuck around for this story, and all those who were gracious enough to leave reviews.

If you're interested in learning why Lassiter was very very drunk, I'm currently working on a prequel!

Well time to wrap this note up, so once again thank you to everyone who has supported this story! I'll see you on my next one!