I have one of my reviewers NorikuKitsune to thank for some (most) ,of this chapter-I really had no clue how to start it but their review really made me realize useful hints and tips! After I got the first paragraph started, it all melted into place to the last chapter which you see before you.
Disclaimer: …-insert witty yet dramatic and heart-wrenching disclaimer here- …XD
And now, the exciting conclusion to Catch Me If I trip, Fall or Likwise!!
Psych!
Suddenly Shawn grinned wolfishly and his mind flew at a speed far fasters than Carlton's. "Aww, Lassie, you haven't even taken me out to dinner yet! Aren't you moving things a little too fast, hmm?" Lassiter swallowed and gapped at the slighter.
This was not something that the New Shawn said. Grinning like the Cheshire Cat was not something the New Shawn did. And that spark in his bright hazel eyes most certainty did not belong to the New Shawn.
That meant only one thing, if you get my drift.
"Sh-Shawn!"
Two whole days had passed after this little incident. Two whole days, mind you, but the significance of two whole days was nothing compared to the fact that Shawn remembered nothing, that apparently his mind blacked out had taken every memory from the Night It Happened to Shawn waking up with Lassiter's lips inches from his own.
Naturally he told everyone who asked that he 'woke up' whilst drinking a pineapple smoothie at Carlton's kitchen table and Carlton himself was somewhere very far away.
Gus and Juliet weren't in favor to believe this. Not after the way Shawn had stuck to Lassiter, not after the way Carlton had become protective and concerned of the first person in years, or so the chief hinted to them.
"I'm really glad you're back, Shawn, we missed you…" Juliet smiled then glanced behind her shoulder, Shawn had taken up residence on her desk for some reason, (and it was not that she really minded) and had been completely ignoring Lassiter like the plague. She smiled sympathetically at the head detective, who was hunched over his own work and not making eye contact and talking to anyone.
Shawn Spencer may have come back to them, but Carlton Lassiter had gotten more inverted and quiet with a hint of sternness as an after effect.
Juliet chewed her lower lip, this wasn't fair.
They belonged together. It was cute, their relationship. Shawn brought out the best in Lassiter; he made him laugh and see something else in the world besides murders and drugs and guns. And Lassiter in turn became caring and sensitive. He put Shawn before anyone and anything else, even his job, to which he was so readily addicted too.
"Shawn…listen, I know you don't remember anything that happened these past few days, but you have to believe me; Carlton really needs you right now." Shawn swallowed a sip of his smoothie and regarded the petite officer.
"Is that so?" Shawn replied steadily. His mind slipped into old dusty memories of Carlton like a glove.
He liked this man. Loved. Liked.
Love is such a strong word.
"-hink you should talk to him, after all he's down for you, I know this may be hard but…you can't just left him stay like this."
Shawn smiled softly. "Jules, there really can't be that much of a difference in his-" she was cut short by an outburst from across the bullpen.
"Dammit McNabb I said 'three creams and four sugars' don't you listen, goddammit!? It's like I'm talking to a bloody wall! Or my ex-wife! Damn!"
"Okay." Shawn set down his smoothie. Something was up when Lassiter mentioned his ex-wife in anything but confession.
"See?" Juliet pointed at the storming whirled-wind of a detective, who had stalked back to his desk and slammed several random drawers that he didn't even need open, causing several newbie-officers to scurry from him as if their life was threatened by Lassiter.
His response was a glare, and his eyes followed them one by one until one walked by Shawn and his eyes flickered to the younger man's face. Shawn waved sheepishly.
They hardened face softened for a minuscule instant that only Shawn's hyper sensitivity could catch, and Carlton was suddenly sitting back down with his eyes glued to the paper on his desk and fumbling for a pencil.
"You might have gotta point there, Jules..." Shawn mumbled as he pulled his protesting body from the blonde's desk.
Juliet watched his movements suspiciously, before inquiring, "Have you taken any of your pain-killers Shawn?"
"The spirits don't like my pain-killers, it makes us kinky. And everything comes in blue…" Shawn stated absentmindedly as he prepared himself for facing the Head Detective.
Juliet just shook her head and watched Shawn trounce away.
"Lassie-face!!" Lassiter cringed into his keyboard and considered jumping out the near-by window. It was wouldn't hurt that much, would it?
Spencer stopped dead in front of him and put his hands on the desk, balancing himself. "Carly, I think we need to talk…."
Four Hours Later….
Shawn sat in his apartment on the couch, licking his wounds.
Not literally of course. He didn't truly think Carlton would ever hurt him. He hoped not, cause Lassie could really do some damage in over-powering Shawn. He made that apparent enough before this whole incident.
Needless to say, things hadn't gone well…
….but going into it wasn't important. 'Maybe I made a bad play. Maybe I shouldn't have shrugged-off the last four days with Lassiter.'
'Maybe…' A twinge had been in his left shoulder, from where a knife had pierced it he dimly remembered, for quite a while now. It was getting stronger…..
"Okay…maybe a pill wouldn't hurt." Pushing himself off the couch, Shawn made his way to the bathroom, and by the time he was there his aches were pains and his modest twinges became a constant throbbing
All thoughts of Carlton were shoved aside in his limping and as he yanked open the medicine cabinet while leaning on the counter for balance.
'Take two as prescribed by doctor.' Shawn read of the container he'd pulled from the shelf. He popped too in and thought a moment…
'Well…one more couldn't help it.' He was in a lot of pain. Swallowing the third pill, the poor thing nearly came back up when a stern and dark voice cut through the fog of his mind.
"Aren't you taking to many Spencer?" Shawn spun on his heels as fast as his aching body allowed him. Which wasn't very fast but he still knew it was Lassiter.
"What do you care?" the brunette quipped back hastily, suddenly going on the defensive. Carlton's expression, from where he stood in the door way, softened considerably.
The detective's next motion wasn't something Shawn expected. He took two quick strides and pulled the slighter into a nearly bone-crushing hug.
From somewhere behind his ear he heard Shawn heard a mumble, "I'm sorry. This whole mess. I'm sorry for everything. For not protecting you, for not taking good enough care of you….for falling for…." A choke sounded just after that and Shawn bit his lip as his eyes went hazy with…tears?
"Lassie…I…." His sentence came to a dead halt as he flinched underneath the taller of the two.
Carlton pulled back immediately, afraid he'd hurt his little brunette. "Shawn?" Shawn doubled over and probably would have come into contact with his tile if Lassiter hadn't pulled him halfway back up.
"Shawn?" Lassiter called again, his tone worried.
"I think….I think those pills are making a round trip."
The next thing he knew he was facing a porcelain angel, and he gratefully heaved up the contents of his stomach into it second later as a palm gently rubbed over his arched back.
It was about fifteen minutes later and Shawn was still thanking God and anyone else listening up there for the head detective.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
Shawn chuckled and sipped his water before replying to the hovering Irish-man. "For the eighteenth time, Carly, I'm fine. It was just a little stomach acid."
Carlton huffed and then plopped himself closer to the pseudo-psychic on that tacky green couch than he ever would have a week ago. "I have not asked eighteen times. And you only threw up one pill. This probably means you're going to be a little drowsy soon…."
Before Shawn could answer his hiccupped and frowned softly, his eye lids dropped and Lassie's face suddenly turned darker in worriment.
The younger's world spun unkindly, Shawn felt his body lower and he couldn't stop it or pull it upright again. His glass of water was rescued from his hand. Apparently he had been heading somewhere dangerous, (and, if gravity was still working it was probably the floor) because Lassiter was balancing him with his palms by cupping Shawn's face.
Lassie has nice hands….pineapple are yummy… Mhhhmm…
"Shawn?"
"Mhhm…?" Weird…everything really was coming in blue.
"Nothing. Nevermind. You need to sleep."
"But I don wanna…" He slurred, nuzzling into the nape of a certain someone's neck as strong but gentle arms picked him up and held him against a powerful chest.
"Go back to sleep. You need the rest." The detective's voice was a lot quieter than usual, than it usually was speaking to any one else, anyway.
"M'kay Carly." They had reached his bedside by now…Shawn was certain of it. He felt his bed come in gentle contact with his bed. A few mumbled words, the older man's tone sounding apologetic, and the hand sifting through his unruly mop had stilled midway through its pass, as if his companion's attention had been drawn by a sudden thought.
And then warm breath was playing over his features, stirring the murky colored strands of hair that fell across his brow as Carlton bent low above him, halting in another show of hesitation.
At length, Lassiter suddenly carried through with his motion, leaning down until the fake psychic felt a faint touch against his hairline, a pressure so subtle that he'd surely wonder later if he hadn't simply dreamed it.
With one more sigh ghosting across his forehead, his detective withdrew for the final time, leaving Shawn to rest as the last of his consciousness faded with the lingering sensation of lips upon his skin.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
The next thing Shawn knew, he was on his bed. No, in his bed, all his clothes on, tangled in the sheets to prove it and all his body parts were coming into his brain and saying they were just fine. Oh good. Now he and Carly could play.
Fully enthralled by this sudden idea, he tiptoed into the living room where his heightened sensory apparatus pointed out quickly that's where Carlton was.
"You're awake." Came a voice from the couch, the TV was tuned in to a Civil War show. Yep. Defiantly Lassiter.
"Wow…is that how to got be head detective? You sure find some pretty discreet things, Lassie-face."
Carlton rolled his eyes, sipping the coffee he just made.
Shawn observed him quietly a moment before plopping down across from the stern man in his comfy chair, as if in some sort of decision.
"…ya know…I remember that kiss last night." Lassiter's eyes shot up and his body hunched downward.
"Oh?" Carlton responded evenly.
"Yeah." The brunette began fiddling with a random tissue because it was the nearest thing in sight. "And I remember what happened while I was out of 'It', so to say. All the things you did. The pineapple smoothie, and that…man who well, you know. But I also remember how much fun you were for me."
Lassiter swallowed, 'Here it comes,' he thought. 'Shawn's gonna tell me he never wants to see me again.' The coffee was suddenly forsaken and Carlton lessened to watching the steam curl upward from the cup and tickle the rim of it…
"So do I need to get raped again for you to be so nice to me, or can we make this a long term thing?"
Shawn wanted very badly to double over laughing at the look on the detective's face. Taking caution to the wind, Shawn decided to forgo the long route and pounced unto the coffee table between them, tackling the man he decided was very much fun, and would continue be just for him.
Letting out small yelp that he would sooner die than let anyone hear except for Spencer, Lassiter held the juvenile psychic as they both nearly toppled off the couch.
"You're…crazy Shawn." Was all he could muster to gasp out, the wind knocked clear out of him because of Shawn's action and because of…other things.
"But you love me anyway!" Came a sing-song voice.
Lassiter's lip then did something they hadn't done in a very long time. They curved upward and stayed there. A true blue smile.
"Wow, Lassie, you're sm-mmph!" Then they crashed headlong into a certain fake psychics' lips right after that.
He pulled away only when breath was necessary and awaited Spencer's reaction.
Shawn smacked his lips in an appreciatory manner, than dully commented, "You know this means we're engaged now."
Lassiter simply laughed out loud.
The Next Day
Shawn sat perched on Carlton's desk. He was reading some carefully typed up information about their next case-something to do with goldfish. Oh, and murder, but goldfish were much more fun. He sipped his smoothie with an act of religiousness. Hmm. This one looked a little challenging, but weren't they all?
A heavy head suddenly landed on his shoulder and rested there gently. "You okay?" a deep voice vibrated against his collarbone.
Shawn grinned and didn't need to turn around to know who it was. "Yup, got a new case. Wanna help?"
"Meh. Maybe." Carlton paused a moment, than pulled his body from behind the psychic and stood in front of him carefully.
"Shawn." He used his first name to receive and hold his attention, a trick Lassiter had picked up after only a few weeks of being…intimate with Spencer. Pet names only got him so far with the enigmatic psychic.
"You're going to need to make statement against Lendon." Shawn swallowed the taste of the smoothie the second he heard that name. That had been…His name. The man who had….well. You know.
"Uhhm…but, Carly…I…" Lassiter suddenly gripped his shoulders and brought the man much closer than the head detective usually allowed him to be in public, let alone his work place. But Shawn needed this.
"I know. But please, we need your statement, unfortunately, the other ones he has…they haven't made it or aren't in the condition to talk let alone appear in court. I swear to you all you need to do is say yes. I'll be right there the whole time, I won't leave you."
Shawn opened his mouth after Lassiter's last words, he reflected what his lover had said and the tone Carlton had used. He knew that what Lassiter had said was the truth to the third degree; that if that bastard so much as got within three feet of Shawn, Carlton would have his gun out and cocked with seconds. That was just Carly's manner.
"Okay." Shawn mumbled. Lassiter felt the relief fly out of him in great big sigh and his body sagged in mirth.
"And when that's over, Shawn, we can go and do whatever you want. It'll be all over after that and you can put your past behind you."
"I think I'll file it somewhere between childhood memories and my dad, how about that?" Lassiter just smiled sadly, stole a generous sip of the pineapple smoothie, received a glare from his little brunette that had empty threats behind it, and stalked away to scare some new officers like nothing had happened, and nothing had changed.
Shawn grinned. Well, maybe nothing had happened in the long run, nothing out of the ordinary anyway.
Lassiter was right, what would happen; would happen, and they would cross that bridge when they came to it, then burn it down and laugh at the ashes.
THE END.
P.S. No pineapples were harmed in the making of this fanfiction.