Shawn was sitting on the porch, waiting for him as Henry pulled into the driveway.

For a moment, he considered backing out and just driving away.

He didn't know what his son wanted, and he wasn't eager to find out.

He'd known something was up when Shawn had practically run out of the station earlier that night without so much as a word, and Madeline had been oddly quiet all through dinner…

Whatever the hell was going on, Henry wished it could wait until tomorrow.

Why can't it wait until tomorrow…?

Finally, he sighed and got out of the truck, knowing it was pointless to avoid his son.

Shawn looked up as he walked up the path to the door, his face set in a stone cold mask.

"What are you doing here?" Henry asked, stopping a few paces away, his heart already pounding in anticipation.

For a moment, Shawn didn't answer. He just stared at his father, silently burrowing holes into his head with his eyes.

"Who left?" He demanded finally, his voice so quiet it was almost swallowed up by the gently wafting breeze before reaching Henry's ear.

Henry's heart stopped.

Of all the possible questions Shawn could have asked him, he hadn't been expecting this one.

"What?"

"You heard me." Shawn said a little louder this time, standing up. "Who left?"

"Shawn--"

But Shawn cut him off before he could get his thought out, nearly exploding in frustrated anger.

"Damn it, Dad! Just tell me!"

Henry blinked at his son's outburst and looked down at his feet, in that moment unable to meet Shawn's eyes.

"It doesn't matter who left, Shawn."

"The hell it doesn't!" Shawn shouted furiously, his eyes smoldering. "You told me--"

Henry looked back up sharply, his jaw setting into the same stone cold expression Shawn was wearing.

"I told you what?" He demanded quietly.

"You told me it was you! You told me you left her, and that's why she moved away."

"No, I didn't."

"You lied!"

"I didn't lie, Shawn."

"What the hell's the matter with you?" Shawn shouted, absolutely dumbfounded by his father's stubborn refusal to admit to anything. "Were you trying to send me crawling to therapy? Was that you goal? To see how screwed up you could get me? Because if it was, you did a bang-up job!"

Henry's eyes flashed. He took a step towards his son, inhaling deeply before responding.

"You want the truth, Kid?" He growled.

"Yes!"

"The truth is you were seventeen years old!" Henry snapped. "The truth is you didn't need to be dragged into the middle of it. It wasn't your fault, it had nothing to do with you."

"I know it wasn't my fault!"

"Shawn…" Henry sighed wearily, wishing to the depths of his soul that this could have waited until tomorrow…until he had the answers Shawn was looking for. "You loved her. You've always loved her. She's you mother. What the hell do you think it would have done to you if you found out she just picked up and moved? That it was her choice? You didn't need to deal with that, Kid. You needed one parent you didn't hate…one parent you didn't blame."

"So you lied to me for fifteen years about what happened?"

"I didn't lie!" Henry insisted, sitting down on the step himself.

"Dad--"

"I didn't lie." He said again, his voice more firm this time, though his eyes were distant...almost mournful… "I didn't lie, Kid. It was my fault."

Shawn blinked, slowly sitting down next to his father on the step.

"What?"

Henry sighed, running his hand over the back of his neck.

For a full minute, he didn't answer.

What was he supposed to say?

"It was my fault, Shawn. She wasn't happy. It didn't matter what the hell I did…couple's therapy…cutting back at work…I just couldn't make her happy anymore. And it wasn't her fault. It was mine. It had to be my fault, because it didn't matter what the hell I did with you, either. Somewhere along the way, I just…lost touch. I just couldn't be who my family needed me to be. That's why she left, Shawn. And that's why I didn't tell you. Because it was my fault, and you didn't need to blame your mother for my goddamn failures."

He stood up without looking at his son and opened the door.

He paused, not quite able to bring himself to go inside.

Somehow, he just couldn't leave it there…

"I thought she was coming back." He said quietly.

Shawn looked up at him.

"You did?"

Henry turned back around, nodding stiffly.
"I tried, Kid…I did everything I could. I thought she'd come back eventually, that she just needed a break…until her lawyer sent me the papers. It took me two months to finally sign them…"

"You never told me that."

Henry smiled palely.

"There's a lot I never told you, Kid."

"I know."

Shawn stood up, looking his father in the eyes.

"You could have told me."

Henry shrugged.

"I didn't want you to blame her." He mumbled.

"I don't."

"Good."

Shawn stepped back off the step into the wet grass.

"I don't blame you, either."