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“Ghostbusters, what do you want?”
Whoever was on the other side of the line was not amused. So Shawn, ever the trooper, recovered quickly.
“Good afternoon, thank you for calling Psych! I’m Shawn.” The faux psychic put on the same ‘fake happy’ act that got him through plenty of soul sucking customer service jobs as he waited for the caller to respond. “And yes, we are serious.”
“Shawn. “ his favorite detective's voice came through the phone begrudgingly. “It’s Carlton, can we talk… Privately?”
Shawn sat up in his desk chair and cleared his throat, with the way the detective had been treating him all day, he was sure Carlton had forgotten all about him.
“Absolutely Head Detective Dumbass,” Shawn smiled, flapping his hand in hand in excitement. “Do you wanna swing by my new office? It’s right on the boardwalk?”
“Sure, I’ll be right over.”
“Sweet!”
**
Carlton let himself into the brand new Psych office as soon as he arrived. Looking around, Shawn was nowhere to be found.
“Shawn?” Carlton called out, his voice echoed on the empty walls.
“Spencer!” the detective shouted. There was a loud crash and Carlton, on impulse, reached for the gun in his holster.
“Ow…” Shawn’s high pitched whine came from underneath one of the two desks. “Take a seat anywhere.
Carlton relaxed and sat at the desk he had assumed Shawn wasn’t under.
“Hi.” Shawn said meekly as he tried to pull himself from under the desk Carlton sat down at. The detective yelped, shooting back in the rolling chair he was in.
“Sweet Lady Justice, Shawn!” Carlton helped the younger man out from under the desk. “Why the hell were you under the desk?”
“Well, at first, I was really excited that you were coming to see the office, then it hit me that you might arrest me and I panicked, so I hid under the desk-” Shawn rambled faster than the speed of light.
“And you fell asleep?” Carlton chuckled as Shawn sat down on top of the adjacent desk.
“Yeah,” Shawn answered defeatedly, crossing his arms across his chest. “You aren’t here to arrest me, are you?”
“I‘m not here to arrest you,” Carlton smiled, getting up to lean against the front of his desk, mirroring Shawn’s upper body language. “I really just wanted to talk, how long have you been back in town?”
“I just got down here from Portland a week or two ago? Time is always fuzzy for me.” Shawn explained. “Did you know they have a bookstore the size of a city block there? It’s amazing!”
“Yeah, I did!” Carlton laughed brightly, tucking his chin to hide his smile. “I grew up a couple hours south of Portland, so I drove up there quite often. There’s also a museum there with a really beautiful view of the Portland skyline! You should see it.”
“Really?” Shawn asked, sounding shocked.
“Really!” Carlton answered, thinking back to his early twenties fondly “That’s where I met Vicky and we got married up there before we moved down to Santa Barbara.”
“That’s really cool, actually!” Shawn beamed, uncrossing his arms so he could lean back onto his hands. “How are you and Vicky anyway? If you don’t mind me asking.”
Carlton’s smile faltered, tightening his crossed arms a little more.
“Your hypothesis from a decade ago was right,” the detective sighed, his gaze downcast. “She thought I was sleeping with Junior Detective Barry and she went back up to Oregon a couple months ago.”
“Holy shit,” Shawn breathed out. “I’m so sorry, usually my guesses aren’t correct the first few times.
“Don’t be,” Carlton shook off Shawn’s guilty look with a shake of his head. “We were growing apart either way, it was bound to happen.”
“I’m still sorry about it.” Shawn mumbled before changing the subject. “So! Do you like my new office?”
Carlton looked around and nodded. “It’s a nice office with a great view- Speaking of your business, how long do you see this going?” he asked, scrunching his eyebrows. “And why not just become an actual detective with all these skills you already have?”
“Four or five years, at least?” Shawn guessed. The younger man had deflated a little, bunching his shoulders and moving a hand to rub at his neck. “And I can’t, because of what happened in 1995-”
“Right, even though those charges were dropped, you can’t.”
“Exactly, so lying to the SBPD is so much easier,” Shawn smiled, looking anywhere, but at Carlton. “Until you or Henry decides that enough is enough.
“Shawn, look at me,” Carlton said, pushing off the desk and walking over to the one Shawn was on, trying to catch the faux psychic’s eye. “I can’t speak for your father, but I promised you a long time ago that I would do everything in my power to keep you safe. And if that means keeping your secret, even though it could very well get me fired, I will do so.”
“And how do I know that you are telling the truth and not just lying to me to get my guard down?” Shawn asked, leaning forward and effectively entering the detective's bubble.
“Because as much as you doing this will be a pain in my ass,” Carlton said, smiling coyly. “Something tells me you being here and helping is going to be a really good thing.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet!” Shawn said in a valley girl accent.
Carlton rolled his eyes. “You’re still a cocky smart ass, I see?” he smiled.
“That’s what you love about me!” Shawn quipped back
“Unfortunately so,” Carlton smiled softly, looking at his watch. “I’m afraid I have to leave, I have to get everything at the precinct ready for my new partner that comes next week.”
“I’ll walk you out then,” Shawn frowned while getting up from the desk, he kept a healthy distance away from Carlton as they walked out of the door.
Gazing up at the head detective, at how his eyes still had that glimmer of fear and hesitancy that was there ten years ago, Shawn was afraid he was falling for Carlton all over again.
“I guess I will see you the next time the next time the department needs you psychic.” Carlton said as they reached the door, his eyes trailing the younger man's body as Shawn leaned against the doorframe.
“I guess I’ll see you later, Lassiepants…”