Chapter Ten

Carlton took aim, lined up his shot and squeezed the trigger. Bam. Bam. Bam. Three shots, three fictitious scumbags taken out. If only the real-world were as clean-cut.

Since that night nearly a month ago when Carlton had stalked out of Ian Stiles' hospital room, his anger had festered into a white-hot ball of rage. The confusing thing was, he wasn't even sure what he was more angry with: Shawn's stubbornness, Ian Stiles perversion or his own failings.

You almost act as if I took something of yours.

The next two shots Carlton took nearly missed their mark, blinded as he was by his own fury. Carlton was no predator; and despite what Ian thought, he sure as hell wasn't going to burden Shawn with his own conflicted feelings, no matter how strong they grew to be.

The moment they'd shared back at his apartment a week ago still haunted him. The man had gone from accusing him of wanting to molest him to nearly kissing him. Shawn was still too hurt, too confused for Carlton to even begin to think of in that light.

He raised his arm and concentrated on the final target. He pictured Ian, 15 years younger with a lecherous smirk that was meant to charm teenage boys. He scowled and pulled the trigger. Bam.

A perfect shot.

"Careful, Lassie," a voice said. "If you frown any harder, your face may get stuck that way."

Carlton whirled around to see Shawn watching him with a warm smile on his face. He set his gun down and hurried to remove his protective gear. He looked Shawn up and down, relief spreading across his face at the sight of him appearing like his old, cocky self.

He opened and closed his mouth, preparing to say something before changing his mind. He had a million things he wanted to tell the other man, from scolding him for slacking off to snarking at him for sneaking up on him.

"You're back," was all he was able to manage.

Shawn chuckled to himself and walked over to lean against the wall of the narrow shooting stall. "Yep. I'm back. Gus is, too, by the way. Make sure you look as excited when you see him as you did when you saw me."

The detective flushed slightly. "You've been given a case?"

"No, we've been asked to consult on a case. Turns out, neither the Chief, my father nor Gus don't want me doing much work with this arm."

Carlton nodded. "I agree."

"Et tu, Lassie? Anyway, I put out some spiritual feelers and now your officers have a nice lead."

"Good. Why are you still here?"

"Couldn't leave without checking in on my favorite detective."

Carlton didn't know how to deal with Shawn's easy flirting, so he looked away. "Well, I'm happy — I mean, we're happy to have you back."

"Glad to hear it," Shawn grinned. He couldn't help the small bubble of giddiness he felt at the other's flustered appearance. "Carlton," he began again softly. "I just ..." he looked away, cleared his throat and started again. "I want to thank you. For everything."

"You don't have to —"

"Dude," Shawn interrupted, raising his good hand, "just let me do this. I've never really wanted to deal with ... you know. And I can't promise that I will even after all this, but I'm grateful that you tried."

"We're a team; we look out for each other."

"I also want to apologize for what I said at my apartment. It was uncalled for."

Carlton flushed as he remembered Shawn's accusations of impropriety. "You were hurt. I understand."

Shawn smirked. "Guess I better enjoy this while it lasts, huh?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You've never given me this much slack before. I'm starting to think you may really care about me."

"I'm not a monster, Spencer. Given the circumstances, I'm not going to bust your ass, now."

Shawn forked an eyebrow. "Thank you for giving my ass such kind consideration."

Carlton sputtered. "I didn't — I mean, I don't —"

"Relax, Lass-a-frass, I was only kidding."

"Of course, I knew that."

"Of course," Shawn replied, voice teasing. He looked around the gun range and took in the small pile of used targets. "Looks like you've been down here a while. Hungry?"

The question surprised Carlton. "No, actually I'm fine. O'Hara disapproved of my protein shake lunch and made me have a cup of soup, too."

"Want to grab a drink then? Gus is feeling sympathetic and protective, which means I can get him to pay."

Carlton grimaced. Shawn and alcohol was not a combination he wanted to get familiar with. "No, thank you."

Shawn sighed loudly and ran his hand through his hair. "Geez, I'm losing my touch," he mumbled, mostly to himself. "I didn't think it would be this hard."

"What would be this hard?" the detective asked, frowning.

"You. I can't figure you out, dude."

"What's to figure out?"

Shawn looked him up and down quickly. "I may just have to go for it."

"What are you talking about, Spencer?"

Before Carlton could take in what was happening, Shawn pushed up against him and kissed him.

For Shawn, there was something comforting about the strong, solid body he was kissing. Carlton smelled like gun powder and his skin was pleasantly cool to the touch. He grabbed on to the other man, wrapping his arms around his waist, and pressed himself as close as he could get.

He didn't notice the other's lack of response immediately. He ran his tongue across the other man's lips, whimpering softly when he wasn't granted entrance. When he opened his eyes and saw Carlton staring back at him, Shawn could feel his stomach drop in fear. He pulled away quickly, eyes wide, and began backing away toward the stairs.

"My bad, Lassie," he began. "I thought —" He nearly stumbled over his own feet in his rush to run off. "I'm sorry." He turned to leave before Carlton grabbed his wrist.

"It's alright," Carlton whispered, pulling the other man into a hug. "Don't run; it's alright. You just caught me off guard."

Shawn gave a slightly hysterical sounding sigh of relief before relaxing into Carlton's embrace. "Don't scare me like that," he breathed.

"Wasn't my intention," Carlton said lowly, his voice rumbling in Shawn's ear. He rubbed small, soothing circles in the other's back. "But as long as we're on the subject, you have to promise the same thing. No more getting hurt. I can't take seeing you bleeding or crying or in pain ever again."

"I never took you for a sap, Lassie."

"I never thought you'd get shot. Twice."

"My goal is to get shot 10 times, thereby giving me more street cred than 50 Cent."

Carlton groaned. "Please don't."

Shawn chuckled before leaning forward to kiss the detective again. This time, Carlton welcomed him, holding his breath as Shawn ran his tongue across his lips and tasted his mouth. They took their time as they explored each other. Hands and fingers teased sensitive skin as Shawn tentatively moved his lips across Carlton's mouth and jaw. His breath tickled and he could feel the other man as he attempted to stifle a laugh.

"Are you sure?" Carlton asked him quietly when he was finished.

"About what?"

"About me. About this. I don't want you thinking I'm taking advantage of you.

Shawn sighed and pressed his forehead against the other man's. "Are you?" he asked.

"No!" Carlton tightened his grip around Shawn.

"Good. It's early, Lassie. Don't think so hard. Just let it be."

"I'm not like you, Spencer. I'm not good at just letting things 'be.' I —"

Shawn shushed him, leaning forward to nuzzle against Carlton's neck. They stood there, holding each other, for several minutes. Shawn reached down and laced his fingers in between Carlton's before bringing their conjoined hands to rest above his heart. His pulse was steady and comforting, and Carlton soon found himself breathing in time with it.

"This is nice, isn't?" Shawn asked.

"Yes."

"This is the best help you can give, Lass — Carlton. I don't want to be held back by what happened in the past and I don't want to worry about what's going to happen in the future. I just want to be able to enjoy being here, with you, now. Get it?"

"I can do that. I can do that for as long as you'll let me."

Shawn squeezed him tighter. "I'm sure you can."

Carlton tired hard not to smile giddily. To somehow ruin this moment with some stupid expression of romantic foolishness that would leave Shawn with the impression that he had completely lost his mind. Instead, he decided to do what Shawn said and focus on simply holding the man in his arms. Old habits die hard, though. Carlton, as practical as he was, couldn't stop himself from planning on just what he'd do to make sure Shawn enjoyed every moment with him.

He would take him on a trip first, he decided. Nothing too exotic that might scare Shawn away. A simple road trip out to the country or to the beach. They could go somewhere and eat and be lazy tourists. The one thing Carlton was looking forward to most, though, was taking pictures.

Lots of pictures of Shawn happy.

A/N: The POV is kind of wonky in these last two chapters, but me no curr! It's beens a long time coming, but the story is finally over. Many thanks to any and everyone who has been patient enough to stick it out with me. Special thanks to an_sceal for her constant encouragement! I never would have been able to finish without your wonderful comments.

I hope you all enjoyed the story (crosses fingers!). I plan to post a pdf of this story and "Love is Blind" in the very near future as part of my overall LJ housekeeping. Thanks again! \o/