I honestly meant to post this sooner, but I got sick and the days passed by without me noticing. This is the chapter that differs the most from the previous story (for obvious reasons).

I hope you all enjoy it.

Shawn stared up at the ceiling in the Psych office, slowly spinning his chair back and forth. It had been a busy couple of weeks; three cases from the police department, the last of which hadn't wrapped up until late last night. Gus was using the day to catch up on his route. He was planning on an Airwolf marathon, just as soon as he had the energy to move over to the couch.

His father had finally tracked him down halfway through the first case. Henry had stormed into the station and demanded a private conversation with him. Shawn had tried to get out of it; he knew there were enough officers with tattoos on the force who would have backed him up if Henry started something in front of everyone. Problem was, his dad knew that as well and eventually won in getting Shawn alone.

However, the confrontation he was expecting never happened. His father had studied the tattoo for a couple minutes, and then looked up at him. "You take good care of this, kid," Henry had said.

"I will," Shawn had replied.

Henry had waited as if expecting Shawn to say something more. When he didn't, Henry had sighed, wished him luck, and left.

Later he heard someone had asked his father if he wanted in on the pool of whose initials were on his arm. His dad had replied it wouldn't be fair since he already knew who it was.

Shawn wasn't sure how he felt about that. While he now understood Henry had given his approval of the relationship, he didn't really want to discuss his love life with his father. Things were complicated enough already. He had decided to avoid Henry for a while; at least until he figured out what he was going to do about the whole situation.

He had also made sure to wear long sleeves any time he was around other people, making sure nobody got a glimpse of his tattoo and the damn initials everyone was so curious about. So far he had succeeded, but he knew it was only a matter of time until someone figured it out.

He scratched idly at his arm through the sleeve. The tattoo had mostly healed, but it was still itchy.

Someone behind him gave an exasperated sigh. "Shawn, what did we tell you about scratching?"

Shawn lifted his head and spun the chair around. Juliet was standing in the doorway, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. She looked pointedly at his arm and he quickly moved his hand away. "Jules! I thought you would be cooped up inside doing paperwork all day. Did you bribe someone to do it for you?"

Juliet smiled at his enthusiastic welcome. "I'm a cop, Shawn. We don't bribe; we ask nicely after giving you full knowledge of the consequences." She crossed the room until she was standing next to his desk. "The Chief gave us the day off. Said the paperwork would still be there for us tomorrow." She shook her head. "I think she just wanted to get Carlton out of the station. He hasn't slept for the last two days and he was getting vicious with the rookies."

Shawn winced. "The last thing we needed is an armed, sleep-deprived Lassie." He leaned back in his chair and tilted his head as he looked up at Juliet. "So of all the places you could be on your day off, what brings you to my humble office?"

"Well, it's been a couple weeks," Juliet said slowly, watching her fingers as she dragged them along the edge of the desk. "Your tattoo must be almost completely healed by now."

"Pretty much," Shawn agreed reluctantly. He knew where Juliet was going with this and he wasn't sure he was ready to let her look at it again.

"And everyone has been wondering whose initials those are." Juliet looked up at him expectantly.

"You got a chance to look at them," Shawn reminded her.

"But that was when it was all scabby and flaky." She pouted, giving him a pleading look. "Please, Shawn?"

Shawn's eyes narrowed. "You're not trying to cheat to win the office pool, are you?"

"Who, me?" Juliet asked innocently, giving him a wide-eyed look. "I just want to make sure it's healing okay. You have been scratching it a lot."

Shawn sighed heavily. He could never saw no to her. He stood and rolled up his sleeve before extending his arm to Juliet.

He bit his lip as her small hand circled his wrist. His skin tingled where she was touching him, almost like a pins and needles feeling. He watched her as she studied his arm, her eyes moving from the head of the leopard near his elbow down the lithe body to where the tail curled near his wrist. She twisted his arm, using her free hand to trace the curled tail. He fought to hide his shiver at her touch.

"This is really good work," Juliet said, glancing up at him. "Much better than you would expect from a shop catering to drunken tourists."

Crap. "I got lucky?" he suggested.

Juliet looked down at his arm again. "Did you know each tattoo artist has their own style? My friend got a tattoo from a place on the boardwalk not far from here. Yours looks like it could have been done by the same guy."

Stay calm, Shawn. You can talk your way out of this. "I was drunk, Jules. I'm not sure where I ended up." He shrugged, making sure not to break eye contact. "It could have been that place for all I know."

Juliet raised an eyebrow and pointed at his arm. "Adding those initials like that is a custom job. Not something you get with a walk in." She looked down, gently tracing the outline of the tattoo. "And the place is close to here."

Shawn sighed in defeat. No point denying what she had already figured out. "Okay, I may have gone there a couple of times, maybe with some pictures," he admitted. "But I never would have gone through with it if I wasn't drunk."

Juliet gave him a shrewd look. "Just how drunk were you? Because most places won't tattoo someone who is inebriated, even if they know them."

"Drunk enough," Shawn muttered. Why did Juliet have to be such a good detective? He tugged at his arm. "Are you done looking?"

"I still haven't reexamined the initials." She bent her head and studied his arm.

Shawn held perfectly still, hardly daring to breath. This was it; the moment of truth.

Juliet slowly lifted her head and looked up at him. "'J. O.'" She took a deep breath, looking him in the eyes. "Shawn, those are my initials."

"Congratulations. You're the first person to read them correctly," Shawn said quietly. With the possible exception of my father.

Juliet sighed. "Look, Shawn – "

He cut her off before she could continue. "Their not your initials. I mean, they are but I didn't get them because of you. They stand for Jenny. . ." his eyes darted frantically around the office, "Olli. . .chesk. . .lamper. . .frisinkerous?" He would have smacked himself for the so obvious sounding fake name if Juliet wasn't still staring at him, stroking his arm. "Met her in Dallas. She died in a freak. . . um, freak. . . skate. . .thingy. . . accident." He swallowed hard, looking down at where Juliet's fingers were lightly tracing the initials. "You know, that is really distracting," he said hoarsely.

"The truth, Shawn," Juliet said. Her face was carefully blank, giving Shawn no hint at all what she was thinking.

He swallowed hard and told her the truth. "They're yours," he said quietly.

Juliet smiled. "That's what I thought." She reached up and pulled his head down to kiss him.

Her lips were warm and soft, pressing against his gently. It took him a moment to get over his initial shock at the contact; then his lips were pressing back against hers, one hand moving to sit lightly on her hip. He let his tongue slip out and gently teased along her bottom lip.

That lick opened the flood gates. She deepened the kiss immediately, letting his tongue into her mouth as she pressed up against him. He wrapped an arm around her waist, keeping her close as he explored her mouth. In all his years fantasizing about this moment, he had never thought about the way she would taste; sweet, almost fruity.

She pressed against him harder, pushing him back into the desk. She came at him with a hunger that was only matched by the one inside him. Her tongue tangled with his, pushing into his mouth, tasting him. Her arms wrapped around his neck, holding him close so he couldn't get away.

Not that he wanted to. He reached one hand up to cup her face, fingers curling in her hair. The other splayed across her longer back, holding her flush against him. The only thing marring this moment was the desk digging into the backs of his legs but he would deal with any amount of pain to prolong the kiss.

However, nothing lasts forever, even wonderfully awesome kisses. Eventually they had to break apart, if only their mouths, so they could breathe. Shawn rested his forehead against Juliet's, looking into her dazzling blue eyes. "Hi."

She smiled. "Hi."

"I guess this means you approve?" Shawn asked with a grin.

Juliet nodded. "Very much so."

"Good." This time he kissed her. It was slower, less urgent than the first kiss, though no less intense. She tilted her head back and he took the invitation to explore the smooth skin of her neck, nipping lightly with his teeth. She shuddered against him. "Shawn," she moaned, her grip on his neck tightening.

His hand slid under her shirt, running along the tattoo on her side. She gasped, arching up into the touch. He chuckled, loving how responsive she was to him.

She retaliated by slipping a hand under his own shirt, rubbing circles along his stomach right above the waistband of his jeans. He groaned, attacking her mouth again as he felt his arousal growing.

She nipped at his lower lip and pulled back, eyes dancing. "Now might be a good place to stop before I have to arrest both of us for public indecency."

"We're indoors," Shawn argued.

"With a giant window behind us anyone can look right through," Juliet reminded him.

Shawn sighed and reluctantly let her go. "You're killing me here, Jules."

Juliet grinned slyly as she looked down. "I'm pretty sure that won't kill you, though it may be uncomfortable for awhile."

"You could always help me with that," Shawn suggested, wagging his eyebrows

"Why Mr. Spencer, what kind of woman do you think I am?" she said with mock indignity.

"The kind who has a secret tattoo and molests unsuspecting psychics in their office." She snorted in amusement as he stepped forward. He reached out and gently touched her side where her tattoo was currently hidden. "I'd love to get another look at this."

"Are you sure you don't just want to get my shirt off?" Juliet teased.

Shawn shrugged. "I'm a guy, Jules. Of course I want to get your shirt off." She smacked him on the arm, but continued to smile at him. "I'd also love to hear why you got it."

Juliet's face clouded for a second and he worried he had said something wrong. But the next moment she was smiling again, touching his right arm lightly. "Of course. As long as you tell me about yours."

"What do you want to know?" Shawn asked. Now that the secret was out, he didn't have any problem answering any questions she may have.

"For starters, why a leopard?" Juliet asked.

"Leopards are beautiful and deadly and people underestimate how intelligent they are." Shawn smiled bashfully. "Just like you."

Juliet blushed, looking away. "Do you really mean that?" she asked quietly.

"Of course I do." He lifted her head until she was looking straight at him. "I'll have your initials on my arm for the whole world to see for the rest of my life, and I don't regret it for a second."

Juliet's smile was dazzling as she pulled him into yet another kiss. She kept this one brief, though it was still enough to leave him breathless. "How did I manage to get such a great guy?"

Shawn feigned a hurt look. "Who? It's not Keith in forensics, is it?"

Juliet laughed and smacked him on the chest. "I mean you."

Shawn grinned at her. "Well, that's good. I don't like to share." He shook his head. "The real question is, how did I manage to convince such a terrific woman like you to settle for me?"

Juliet smiled warmly. "There was no settling involved. You're a heck of a catch, Shawn Spencer."

"And you're a hell of a woman, Juliet O'Hara," Shawn said fondly. The look she gave him was hot enough to bring the issue of public indecency back into question and he quickly looked away. "So, uh, what do you want to do with the rest of your day off?"

"We could pick up some food and head back to my place," Juliet suggested. At his look she grinned. "Or we could go straight to my place and order food later."

"Definitely have to go with option number two," Shawn said emphatically. He gestured toward the doorway. "Lead the way, detective."

Juliet walked towards the door, putting a sway into her hips that should definitely be illegal. He took a deep breath, reminding himself that he still had a car ride to get through. He grabbed his phone, resisting the urge to send a quick text to Gus. He could tell his friend the good news later. Right now, he needed to catch up with the woman who had held his heart for longer than he wanted to admit. A woman who he never thought he had a chance with and was finally his.

Shaking his head at his good fortune, he headed out after Juliet.

I am thinking about writing what happens when they get back to Juliet's apartment. I'll post it as a separate story so I don't have to up the rating on this one. I haven't written Shules smut before but I think its about time I give it a try.

Anyone interested?