In the end he decided to call Gus before anyone else. He was nervous – but not as nervous as he was going to be calling Jules. That could wait until he got his courage up.

But even so, he was nervous about getting in touch with Gus – which was crazy because he was never nervous around his friend. But this time – he wondered if Gus truly had been better without him. He'd wanted to ask his father, but was too scared to hear that Gus was doing very well – that his career had taken off, and that he really was better without Shawn.

Finally he took a deep breath and picked up his phone. With a deep breath he hit his speed dial and the phone began to ring.

"Shawn!" Gus's voice shrieked in his ear. "Oh my GOD! It is you! Where are you? What are you doing? Are you okay? Did you talk to your father? What have you been doing? Why didn't you call me? What are …"

"Gus. Gus. GUS!" he finally yelled. It was only then that his friend stopped talking – for a brief moment. "I'm back at my Dad's and ..l"

"Stay there!" Gus interrupted. "Don't you move! I'm going to be right over. Promise me Shawn. Promise me that you'll stay there!"

"Of course, buddy. I'll be right here." Almost before the words were out of his mouth he heard a "click" and the call disconnected.

"He on his way over?" his father asked, as he walked through the room and plunked down on the living room sofa.

"Yes," Shawn laughed briefly. "Uh – I think he was glad to hear from me."

"You think? Shawn, Gus has been lost without you. He called me almost every day, asking for you."

"Really?" Shawn slowly made his way to the chair and lowered himself down. "I thought he'd be happier without me."

His father's eyebrow went up but all he said was, "you're an idiot."

Shawn looked at him, and then slowly grinned. "He really missed me?"

"We all did – but don't let it go to your head," Henry added, picking up the remote and turning on the TV.

"Papa bear missed me!" Shawn crowed. "You know I'm never going to let you forget that you said that."

Henry didn't reply for a moment, but then finally looked at his son. "Okay – just as long as you also don't forget that I mean it."

That shut Shawn up for a few seconds, but then he grinned and sat back and watched the TV with his father. Neither of them were good a verbalizing their love– but it was moments like these that they both knew how much they meant to one another.

Ten minutes later there was a pounding on the door and Shawn jumped to his feet. "Gus," he cried, rushing to answer it. He flung it open and the next thing he knew, he was practically barreled over by his best friend in the whole world.

"Don't you ever do that to me again," his friend babbled, as he squeezed the breath out of Shawn. "I was worried! Next time you call me – except there'd better not be a next time. But where were you Shawn? And why didn't you call me? You know I'm your best friend and you need to keep in touch! Don't ever run off again like that again – okay!"

"Okay, okay buddy – I hear you." Shawn finally managed to step back, although it looked as if Gus might launch himself at him again. "Why don't we sit down and have a drink," he suggested.

"And you'll tell me what you've been up to?"

"Yeah – I'll tell you everything," he said, heading towards the kitchen.

Gus followed behind and couldn't help but notice that Shawn still limped. It was a stark reminder of all that had happened. By the time Shawn turned around, however, Gus had wiped any concern off of his face. "So – tell me everything!"

So Shawn did just that – with a few embellishments thrown in – as well as some stories and even more exaggerations. In the end, however, he got a whistle and a "wow – that's great Shawn," from Gus.

"I can't believe you went to college," his friend told him. "How did you do?"

Shawn reached into his pocket and pulled out a sheet and handed it to Gus. "There ya go," he said, letting Gus see the evidence of his brilliance.

Gus looked stunned – and if Shawn wasn't mistaken, a wee bit jealous. In the end, however, his friend came through for him – as usual.

"Well done Shawn. That's great. Did you show your Dad?"

"I did."

"He did," Henry shouted from the other room. "Many times!"

"Hey, it's not every day that a guy GETS STRAIGHT A'S" he called out. He then grinned at Gus. "What about you? What great things have you been up to?"

All he got out of that was a shrug– accompanied by a rather blank expression.

"Gus? What's up?"

"Nothing Shawn," his friend said, sounding grumpy.

"How's the job?"

"It's okay," another shrug.

"Have they promoted you yet?" asked Shawn, hoping for a bit more.

"No."

"Uh – okay. Have you done anything else exciting? Met any gorgeous women?"

"No. Look – everything's fine but there hasn't been anything exciting – except my worry over you!"

"I'm sorry pal. You know I'd didn't leave to hurt anyone. I just needed some time."

"Couldn't you have taken time and still called?"

Shawn sighed. Gus had been excited to see him – but now the resentment was obviously taking the place of his happiness. He didn't blame his friend, but at the same time it was another burden he didn't really want to bear. He also was rather surprised that Gus hadn't really dug into his career in his absence. He'd always known he held his friend back.

"I'm sorry," he said again. "I thought you'd enjoy not having me around for a while. I thought you wanted to concentrate on your career."

"I could have – if I'd known you were safe."

"Hey! When I was here you blamed me for holding you back – so don't blame me now for holding you back by going away!"

This time Gus sighed but then he nodded. "Yeah – you're right. I just missed you and worried about you – but my career problems are my fault, not yours."

"Aren't things going well?"

"No. I just – lost interest. My boss tells me I'm just not motivated and it's holding me back. He's right. Since you've been gone – well, my job is boring when that's all I have. I – uh – I miss Psych."

"You do? Wow – and here I thought you'd be way happier without me."

"You're an idiot, Shawn."

"That's what I told him," Henry shouted.

"Yes, we all know that Dad," Shawn called back. "But please just watch your show. I'm sorry Gus, but I admit I'm glad to know you missed me."

"Of course I did. Who else would go with me to get jerk chicken?"

"Say, that's right!"

"Or churros? Churros just aren't the same without you Shawn."

"I know. I haven't had one since I left. Every time I'd see a churro for sale, I'd think of my tall chocolate pooh bear and get all sentimental. I think we need to go get a churro Gus – to celebrate our reunion!"

Gus smiled. "You know – that's a great idea! Let's go."

"Great! I call shotgun."

As they left he house – after giving a general wave in Henry's direction – Gus frowned.

"Shawn, there are only two of us. Of course you've got shotgun. There's no one else to take it."

"I still call it," Shawn answered, running to the little blue car. "Churros here we come!"

"Did you tell Juliet that you're back?" Gus asked him, as Shawn took a big bite of churro.

Shawn coughed and sputtered and sat back, finally able to breathe. "Uh – no, not yet."

"You should," his friend told him. "She was pretty upset and I think would like to hear from you."

"Do you think she's mad at me?"

"I doubt it, although she might be a bit hurt. But you know Juliet – she couldn't hold a grudge for all the tea in China."

"Tea's from India, Gus, not China."

"No – it comes from China as well – and that's the expression. Nobody says "all the tea in India."

"I've heard it both ways," Shawn argued. He then went on.

"But you're sure? You don't think Jules is angry at me?"

"I don't know Shawn. You'll have to call her and find out. She may let you have it at first, but I'm sure she'll forgive you. She's a forgiving person."

"She is, isn't she? And she's one of the kindest people I know."

"Yes, she is," answered Gus.

"You don't think – she's not seeing anyone, is she?"

"I don't know. She might be. I know she gets asked out a lot and you can't expect her to wait around for you."

"For me? What are you saying? I didn't expect her to – I mean – there's nothing like that with – she's not – we're not – you're crazy!"

"I'm not crazy – you are – for Juliet. Just admit it Shawn. We've all known for a long time that you have feelings for her. You should ask her out."

"Me? Why would she be interested in me?" he said, sounding hopeful. "I mean - she could do a lot better."

"Probably," his way-too-agreeable friend answered, "but that doesn't mean she wants to do better. Ask her for a date and see what she says."

"And if she says no?"

"Then move on to someone else. There are lots of good-looking women out there."

"I don't' know if I could move on," Shawn confessed. "There's no one like her."

"Then call her," Gus told hm. "You'll never know till you try."

After their churros were done, Shawn and Gus headed out down the boardwalk – enjoying one another's company and conversing as if they hadn't been apart for months. It was only as they reached the end, and went to turn around, that Shawn stopped and pulled out his phone.

"You gonna call her?" Gus asked.

Shawn just nodded, staring down at the screen.

"Good! It's about time," Gus told him. The next moment Shawn hit speed dial and called Juliet O'Hara.