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Lassiter was smiling at him when he came into the station, which was strange. Lassiter never smiled at Shawn unless he thought Shawn was going to leave, Shawn was embarrassed, or Shawn managed to say or do something funny enough to wrestle a smile from his pinched lips.
Stranger still was that Lassiter was smiling at everyone, which means that Shawn's theory that Lassie was just happy to see him was wrong. Lassie was just in a good mood.
Shawn wasn't sure what that meant yet.
"Hey, Lassie," Shawn greeted, slightly wary. Lassie in a good mood was a time bomb for the person who might break it. "Jules called," Shawn explained.
"Hey, Shawn," Lassiter said, silly smile still plastered on his face. Shawn couldn't even acknowledge Lassie just said his first name, he was so stuck on Lassiter's smile, wondering who it was for. Certainly not him. Was he calling him Shawn just because he was in a good mood? "The Chief is waiting for us in her office." And Lassie stood up and led the way, even holding the door open for Shawn.
Shawn was more than a little curious now. He sidled up next to Jules when as soon as he got into the office and leaned over to whisper into her ear. "What's the deal with..." he jabbed his thumb in the direction of Lassiter's smile and general friendliness "... that?"
Jules shrugged. "He's been like this since yesterday. You get used to it surprisingly quick, but I don't know if you ever stop anticipating the return of Lassiter instead of this happy-go-lucky Carlton."
Shawn shook his head. Happy-go-lucky? Carlton? This was too weird.
The Chief was looking over at them now, so Shawn asked quickly, "Did he ask you to call him Carlton?"
Jules opened her mouth to reply, befuddled, but the Chief spoke over her. "Are you and Mr. Spencer talking about something pertinent to the case, O'Hara?" Lassiter looked over at them, giving them his full attention. Shawn eyed him suspiciously.
"No, ma'am," Jules replied hastily.
"Then can we please move on with case?" Jules nodded energetically, and Shawn stepped away.
He kept his eyes on Lassiter as the Chief talked about a new case. Apparently, a psychic had been predicting people's death exactly the way they ended up passing, their murders happening only two days after their reading-but the psychic's body was found dead this morning.
Apparently, Shawn's wrap up solving of the Ciao case had made him more popular cases where the major suspect offed themselves.
"Wait, you think this guy killed himself by some sort of indirect sabotage?"
"No, Mr. Spencer, we think we lost our best witness in our case halfway through it, and you handled a twist like that well last time. Do it again." The Chief stared at them when they didn't all clear out immediately, and they all left awkwardly in the wake of her clear dismissal.
"So," Shawn began, but Lassiter interrupted him.
"I'll meet you guys at the victim's house," Lassiter said, looking at his phone distractedly.
Shawn and Juliet stared at Lassiter curiously. He never liked to be at crime scenes late, always paranoid someone might "tamper with the crime scene", especially if Shawn was one of the first people to arrive at the scene.
Lassiter looked up when they didn't say anything, tapping buttons absently on his cell. "I have, er, personal business," he explained at their expressions. Then, he turned around, still clicking away at his phone, and left the station.
Shawn and Juliet stared at each other before they started walking for the exit, too. They saw Lassiter speed off in the opposite direction of their crime scene.
"So you really don't know anything about that?" Shawn prompted after they had stared after Lassiter for a minute.
"Well," Jules started, looking excited, "I personally think he's in a relationship with someone. The Chief said it's none of my business, but, still, good for him, right?" Jules nodded to herself and started to walk to Shawn's motorcycle. Shawn couldn't find it in himself to be excited over Jules getting on the bike with him like he mighthave a week or two ago. He passed her a helmet.
"You and the Chief really think he's seeing someone?" Shawn asked before they took off.
Juliet shrugged. She didn't seem concerned. Shawn didn't find her scrunched nose adorable this time when she asked, "Where's Gus?"
Shawn shrugged. "Work."
*
Lassiter strutted into the crime scene. There was no other word for it.
Shawn hesitated to ask Lassiter where he'd been. It wasn't any of his business. He turned to Gus, who had arrived a few minutes before Lassie, for distraction. Shawn wasn't really aware of what the conversation was about even after it ended.
He was too busy watching Lassiter out of the corner of his eye.
*
Two days later, Shawn was still stuck on Lassiter's sudden increase in happiness. It's not that Shawn wanted him grouchy again, he just wanted him to react past the occasional, hardly irritated warning growl of "Spencer..." he'd been getting lately.
Gus, too, had found it weird how much in good spirits Lassiter seemed to be in, but he got over it about two minutes after Lassiter had complimented him that first day.
"I think it's an improvement," Gus had said when Shawn had mentioned it. When Shawn insisted, Gus seemed undisturbed."He's just happy, Shawn," Gus had replied, waving him off.
"Happy? Gus, he's manic. I think he's having a breakdown." Shawn didn't actually think so, but it would explain all the smiles Lassie was sending everyone's way, including the convicts, and he was sure it was making everyone slightly uncomfortable, especially the convicts.
They had mentioned it when Shawn needed someone else to complain to since Jules, Gus, the Chief, and Henry all seemed adamant he let it go.
"Whatever." Gus brushed him off again. He had dropped Shawn off at the Psych office, and Shawn had been trying to keep his musings - and investigating - about Lassiter to himself. He was sure Gus wouldn't approve of Shawn checking in on Lassiter now and then, especially during the times when he did it when they weren't even working together, even if it was with good intentions.
Shawn was just making sure there was nothing nefarious going on with Lassiter's sudden increase in happiness. Maybe an increase in squirrel deaths? A surge in gun sales?
Really, Shawn was just being a good citizen of the law. He was sure Lassie would be proud of the effort if it were anyone else Shawn were following - which was why Shawn was being discreet with his questioning of Lassiter about his personal life.
Or at least, as discreet as he knew how.
*
"So who is he?" Shawn asked the next day. It was lunch time, and Shawn was sitting on Lassiter's desk. Lassiter wasn't nearly displeased enough about it, in Shawn's opinion.
Lassiter looked up at him between a bite of his burrito. "What?"
"Who is she?" Lassiter eyed him for a moment, but apparently decided to let Shawn's slip-up slide. He took a swig of his water.
"Who is who?"
Shawn rolled his eyes. "The person you're seeing."
Lassiter choked on his burrito. Shawn had to give him the heimlich.
Lassiter didn't bring the subject back up, and Shawn avoided it in case Lassie choked again.
He had his answer anyway. Lassiter was definitely seeing someone.
Shawn didn't understand why that made his stomach clench unhappily. He was pretty sure finding out the answer to all of this would solve the problem, though. He resolved to dedicate himself to it more completely.
*
Shawn finally saw her the eighth day after Lassiter started acting strange (not including the extra day Jules had seen).
She was pretty; petite figure, long brown hair, pleasant features. Shawn supposed she was very kind, too, from her constant smiles and wandering hand that always clasped Lassiter's arm familiarly.
Shawn felt his stomach tighten again, but it felt more uncomfortable than last time.
He sat a few tables away from them, trying for casual, but Lassiter spotted him and called him over. Shawn's stomach knotted.
He had been going to approach them, as though by coincidence, and now he had lost the upper hand.
"Shawn." Lassiter was smiling, and his lady friend seemed more than a little displeased. Shawn smothered the urge to scowl.
"Hey, Lassie. Nice weather we're having, huh?" Shawn chastised himself. How's the weather? The mysterious lady friend already won this round.
Lassiter seemed amused, though. "You're eating lunch here? Where's Guster?"
Shawn fumbled for a second, but tried to play it off. "Umm, yeah, er, I eat here all the time. Gus doesn't like it, really, he never comes here with me much."
Lassiter looked increduous. He shared a look with his lady friend.
"Well, I didn't think you were a fan of vegan cuisine, Shawn. I have to admit, I agree with Guster. I like my meals to have more meat." Shawn flushed slightly. He hadn't known it was a vegan restaurant - and why did Lassie's lips look so shiny when he said meat? He almost missed what Lassie said next. "... Melanie James. She owns a ranch. We met at the horse race."
Shawn shook his head and averted his eyes from Lassiter's lips. Shawn didn't recognize her. He wondered if she didn't like him because of his participation in the case, but he couldn't imagine why - he solved a case there.
"Nice to meet you, Shawn." She extended a hand towards him, and her grip was strong and her skin slightly rough. She must work hard on the ranch, and that ranch probably had horses, ponies. Shawn could understand her appeal to Lassiter. His lip still curled almost imperceptibly in dislike. He didn't think anyone noticed.
"Your hands are very strong," Shawn commented idly. "You must have a very prominent life line."
Lassiter leaned forward and opened his mouth to interrupt, but Shawn shushed him. Melanie seemed to be thinking it over. Then, she flipped her hand palm up where it still rested in Shawn's hand without saying anything.
"Here we go," Shawn flattened her hand out and traced the arteries on her fingers absently. When his fingers trailed across her life line, he gasped theatrically. Melanie tried to retract her hand, but Shawn gripped it tightly and pressed it to his forehead. He pretended to be in the midst of a psychic revelation. Lassiter sighed loudly. Shawn bit his lip to keep in a smile - it was the most annoyed Lassie had been at him in days.
"Your life line shows several breaks," Shawn said, "which indicates a hard life." Shawn made a sympathetic face. "It also shows a difficult personality and a stubborn streak," Shawn tsked. "Hmm... and it seems you recently found your soul mate!" Shawn smiled at Lassie while Lassie and Melanie seemed nervous. "How interesting."
He dropped her hand abruptly and reached for Lassiter's. He was disappointed when his palm revealed the same thing: a found soul mate. He didn't believe in palm reading, but he had hoped it would say the opposite anyway, so it would show it was a bad fit. The knot in his stomach quickly turned to nausea. "Your life line is strong, too, Lassie, but it looks like you're going to run into some trouble frequently in your life, some constant force repeatedly making your life more difficult."
Shawn slid a look at Melanie while Lassiter stared at Shawn in amusement before sharing a knowing glance with Melanie. Shawn's stomach rolled.
"Hey, Lassie, I'm just gonna borrow Melanie for a moment," Shawn announced abruptly, and he pulled her away before Lassiter could respond.
Melanie seemed a little disgruntled, but she merely patted down her skirt before her face settled back into disdain. Shawn eyed her with distrust.
"He deserves a lot," he began heatedly after a long pause. Melanie frowned at him. "He is cuddly like a bear and prickly like a rosebush, but he is also very trusting and dedicated and committed. He is a great detective, and an even greater man." Shawn paused, his sudden anger fading. The nausea had become more noticeable, and he finally realized what the tightening in his stomach was and the nausea he was feeling now: hot jealousy and the cold weight of defeat. "So treat him well, and make sure he smiles more than once a day, or his face will get stuck all grumpy like before. I guess I'll see you around."
Shawn walked away before she could say anything. Shawn didn't look back to see how Lassiter reacted.
*
Lassiter was smiling at him when he came into the station the next day.
Shawn was more suspicious than the last time.
Shawn had worked out that he what he had been feeling had been jealousy, but he wanted to shove all of it aside. Every time he saw Lassiter smile, it made his stomach harden and soften with jealousy and resignation. Shawn supposed it was what envy felt like. Envy for Melanie because she was the one to make Lassiter smile like that every day, even at Shawn when he had practically admitted to Lassiter's lady friend that he had a crush on Lassie and she must have told him.
Shawn's stomach was at war. Lassiter was coming closer, smile still in place.
Shawn didn't smile back.
*
It was a few days after Shawn had run into Lassiter and his lady friend at the vegan restaurant, and Shawn was moping. Lassie had been progressively less smile-y since the other day; however, he still smiled at Shawn every time he saw him, and Shawn wasn't sure why. He didn't smile back.
Gus was tired of Shawn's moping. Shawn had complained for a day and a half straight before Gus snapped at him to "just go ask Lassiter out on a date already." Shawn snootily replied that that was a shitty way to help a friend in his time of need, instead of acknowledging that Gus found out about Shawn's crush quicker than Shawn had himself.
The fact that the solution wasn't as simple as telling Lassiter he liked him when Melanie was in the picture.
Gus seemed to understand, but still thought Shawn was being "ridiculous" and was "moping" too much. He left the Psych office over two hours ago.
After trying and failing to distract himself, Shawn headed over to the police station.
He found Juliet first, who was frowning. "Something wrong, Jules?"
Juliet startled, then looked up. "Shawn?" Her eyes widened, and she smiled. Shawn was pretty sure this was the best reception to his presence since Lassiter had started smiling at him.
"Something wrong, Jules?" Shawn repeated.
Juliet shook her head and grabbed Shawn's hand. This would have been a happy turn of events a couple of weeks ago, but all Shawn really wanted was for Jules' smile to be Lassie's. Shawn tried to shake himself out of his mood as Juliet tugged him into the Chief's office.
"I found Shawn!" she announced much too grandly when they opened the doors. Lassiter was sitting in one of the chairs in front of the Chief's desk and craned his neck to look, and the Chief seemed relieved to see them.
"Well, Carlton, it seems Mr. Spencer is here after all. Maybe you can talk to him about the case you needed him on?" The Chief's voice was dismissive. Lassiter nodded and gestured to Shawn and Juliet. Juliet scurried quickly out of the office and out of the station like her butt was on fire.
Lassiter began to follow her at a more sedate pace, and Shawn trailed reluctantly after him.
"What's the case?" Shawn asked eventually.
Lassie turned and smiled at him. Shawn's stomach swarmed, and he placed a hand on his belly in a mostly unconscious attempt to settle the butterflies in his stomach.
Lassiter raised an eyebrow in concern, but Shawn waved him off. "Indigestion," he lied.
Lassiter seemed unsure, but he moved on. "Well, we have a case where people have been dying in 'super natural' circumstances. You're unusually good at solving these cases, and I thought we could use your opinion."
Shawn smiled despite himself. "So you think I'm a psychic after all."
Lassie laughed. Shawn watched with some shock. Lassie didn't laugh at his jokes often, no matter how much he was smiling lately. Shawn's stomach fluttered again. "Never. You're still a fraud, Spencer, but I think you'll be able to have a different... perspective on the case. A needed one."
Shawn nodded, then frowned after a moment of silence. "Isn't today your day off?" Shawn asked. Lassiter didn't normally take days off, but Shawn thought he might since his relationship with Melanie seemed to be flourishing. Shawn's stomach turned into a knot again. "Shouldn't you be spending the day with Melanie?" Shawn asked somewhat scathingly. After all his moping today, he couldn't keep it in.
Lassiter frowned at Shawn. They were outside already and walking through the parking lot towards Juliet, where she was warming up the car. "Melanie?" Lassiter asked, genuinely confused. His nose wrinkled the way it did sometimes when someone asked a stupid question. "Why would I spend my entire day off with her?"
"Well," and Shawn was a little upset that Lassiter seemed to be pretending he wasn't aware of the fact that Shawn saw them together and knew they were in a relationship, "you guys are dating. Aren't you?" Shawn added hesitantly when Lassiter, to Shawn's surprise, laughed again.
"Melanie and I aren't dating. I mean, we had been, but only for a couple dates. She kept taking me to vegan places." Lassie frowned. "But we became friends. She's nice to talk to. Gives good advice."
Shawn let out a breath he hadn't know he'd been holding in, and his stomach finally settled. He relaxed. "Nice to talk to? She looked like she swallowed a lemon."
Lassiter smiled again. "So do I, most of the time."
"Not lately," Shawn commented as he opened the door to the police car.
"No," Lassiter agreed looking at Shawn, eyes and voice noticeably softer. "Not lately."
They got in and closed the door.