That Chocolate Room must be around here somewhere. Shawn thought.
To the Moose head, he said, "You deserve better, my magnificent friend."
Reluctantly he put his fingers into the Moose's nostrils (Thankfully, the moose was stuffed). Instantly, the wall turned around and Shawn found himself not in a
room of chocolate, but a room with model heads wearing toupees.
And in the corner was Gus… sobbing like a little boy.
Shawn's heart went out to his best friend. Gus looked so small sitting on the floor bawling.
"Oh no… Gus…" Shawn went to his friend at once.
"I-I thought… I-I thought it was the chocolate room!" Gus cried.
Shawn knelt and patted his friend on the shoulder. "I know you did, buddy. Let's get you out of here."
He helped Gus to his feet and gave him a quick, reassuring hug. He was grateful that no one had seen. He was pretty sure that the heads wearing toupees
wouldn't say a word and as for the moose, well, he was facing the other direction and most likely hadn't seen a thing. But even so, Shawn hoped that the model
heads and the moose were trustworthy. If word got out that he actually cared about someone… well, who knew what would happen?
Putting an arm around Gus, Shawn was grateful that the wall turned around, allowing him to escort his friend out of the room. The sooner they got out of there
the better.
Later as Billy sang the song he'd composed (and refused to let Shawn sing along with him!), Shawn glanced at the ceiling, horrified when he realized that he
didn't have much time. The ceiling began to move, causing Shawn to spring into action. He pushed Billy out of the way just seconds before the huge chandelier
came crashing to the ground. Shards of glass went everywhere, and there as a collective scream.
Gus, Shawn knew, was okay. His friend could take care of himself (as long as he wasn't looking for a Chocolate Room), but his attention fell onto someone else.
"Oh, that's quite a mess." Shawn observed.
The others were busy discussing the evidence and the facts with Billy, but Shawn found that he only had eyes for one person.
Juliet.
He went to her at once, and placed his hands onto her shoulders. She looked at him as if he was wacky. And he was, but not in the way most people thought.
"What?"
He couldn't stop staring at her. It wasn't fair for someone to be so beautiful. Or perhaps it was. His hand brushed a fallen lock of soft blonde hair from her
forehead. He wanted to kiss her; oh, how he wanted to kiss her. But the best he could do under the circumstances was to follow his instincts. Gently he cradled
her face in his hands. Her skin was so soft. Was that even legal?
"Shawn, what has gotten into you?" Juliet demanded. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I-I just…"
"Yes?"
"Are you okay?"
"Shawn, I'm fine!"
He looked up at the hole in the ceiling that once held the huge chandelier and swallowed hard, trying not to think of what could have happened had he not had
the psychic flash.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, Shawn! Do I have to spell it out to you? I'm fine!"
"That's good."
Their eyes met and he saw something there. But what it was, he had no idea. Maybe it was his imagination.
"Um, we'd better continue trying to figure out who killed Rip and why, okay?"
Shawn sighed deeply and ran his hand through his hair. "Um, yeah… I guess we should. After all, that's what we do, isn't it? Well… let's get to it, then." He
turned to walk away but then spun around when he heard her voice.
"Shawn?"
He stared at her, once again unable to fathom how someone could be so beautiful.
"Yeah?"
She smiled and took a few steps toward him, cradling his face in her hands, in much the same way he had done to her before. Her lips touched his cheek.
He blinked as a flash came over him. He saw his future… or a dream. He was with Juliet and it was beautiful.
Be it his future or a dream, he could hardly wait for it to come true.
~Fin~