A/N: HOLY EFF. This is a hard challenge. I'm starting that "music shuffle" challenge: you listen to ten random songs and write drabbles based on them, and you can only write within the time span of that song. I'll be honest, this is my second attempt: my first one was unusable. I think I panicked a little. This time, though, my brain just seemed to yell, "BITCH, I GOT THIS," and went to town. (I actually have to continue the challenge tomorrow, but this is the first one.) I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own any songs that are used or Psych.

"If You Come Back to Me" by Bowling For Soup

Carlton sat beside the phone, waiting for it to ring. It already had, to be fair – eight times in the last hour – but he couldn't bring himself to pick up. He couldn't stand to hear that voice, no matter how much he used to love it. That sweet, "Hey there, Lassie-face," couldn't possibly bring the same smile to his face as it always had before. Instead, it would just make him feel empty and alone.

He ran his hands through his hair. He didn't know which was a worse idea – dating Shawn in the first place, or asking the other man to marry him. He always thought that, were he ever to marry again, it would be well-planned, right down to the very last detail. He never imagined that he would propose with a cheap plastic ring from a gumball machine in the middle of a grocery store like some kind of romantic comedy cliché. Still, it seemed okay. It was Shawn, the man who lived and breathed pop culture. Wouldn't that kind of proposal be just the thing he wanted?

No. Of course it hadn't been. It had just scared the younger man onto his motorcycle and a few thousand miles away.

Carlton couldn't bring himself to pick up the phone, listen to Shawn's empty explanations. Nothing could bring back what they'd had, and he couldn't bear to give himself that kind of hope.

Please read and review! Comments are always appreciated. :D