Never Lie To Your Mother ~ A Shules Fanfic

Chapter 5: The Best Reason

"Nice shirt, buddy." Not even bothering to try to hide his knowing grin, Shawn held Juliet's door open so Gus could enter.

Adjusting the collar of his blue button-down with his free hand, Gus replied defensively, "Shut up, Shawn. It's the only thing that went with these pants."

"And a sharp-dressed man you are, Gus. The O'Hara's won't be able to resist you." Glancing down at the dish his friend was carrying, he continued, "Of course, the blackberry cobbler won't hurt either." Narrowing his eyes, he examined the dessert. "Dude, did you do the lattice work on top yourself?"

Gus simply glared in response. He was saved, however, from having to come up with a retort when Juliet and Helen came in from the kitchen. "Gus, you're here! Let me introduce my mother."

"Hey, Juliet. It's wonderful to meet you, Mrs. O'Hara." He held out his hand in greeting.

"Please, it's Helen. So you're Gus - I've already heard so much about you. Did you actually have a goat as your best man?"

"Shawn, I can't believe you..." Gus's protests were met by good-natured teasing from Shawn, his pretend girlfriend, and her family, as soon as Mike joined them in the living room. It set the tone for the rest of the evening. All throughout dinner, the group laughed and joked, sharing stories, embarrassing and otherwise. Juliet was mortified when her mother insisted on telling about the time that she beat up a boy on the baseball team in middle school for daring to insult her pitching.

By the end of the meal, everyone was clearly having a good time. Shawn was leaning back casually in his seat, one arm slung behind Juliet along the top of her chair. He absently ran his fingers across the exposed skin of her upper arm as he spiritedly participated in the conversation. Gus, sitting across from them, noticed in amusement that Juliet leaned unconsciously towards him, her shoulder brushing against his chest. Even more interesting were the looks she gave Shawn on a regular basis, sometimes for no other reason than because he drew her attention as he shifted in his chair; whether Juliet realized what she was doing or not - and Gus was willing to bet she had no idea - they were very telling to someone who'd known her for a few years.

For Gus, however, as enlightening as the young detective's actions and expressions were, it was Shawn he watched with interest. In the twenty plus years they had been friends, Gus had identified, experienced, and catalogued every twitch, every clue, every hint of emotion that accompanied his feelings about the women he met. Besides the fact that such knowledge was a side effect of being as close as a brother to him, Gus had made these mental notes out of necessity - Shawn's family past made him a bit prone to disasters in the dating arena.

Right now, though, he had to say he'd never seen him quite like this - content, comfortable, relaxed...grounded. Gus only hoped that the complicated situation Shawn had built for himself with Juliet didn't backfire on him...because it looked like this one was going to hurt if it did.

After dessert, which everyone insisted was the best thing they'd ever tasted, not to mention the most appetizing, given the almost professional crust on top - Gus raised his eyebrows triumphantly at Shawn at that particular compliment - Juliet stayed in the kitchen to organize the dishes while Shawn entertained her parents.

Gus, following her a few minutes later to offer to help, picked up a stuffed white kitten off the counter. "What's this, Juliet?"

As she turned around to see what Gus was referring to, her cheeks colored in a faint blush. "Oh...um...Shawn got that for me at the zoo a couple of days ago. He...uh...arranged it so I could play with a pair of baby snow leopards. That's a souvenir."

Setting the animal back down, Gus caught Juliet's small smile at the memory before she returned to the plates. He silently started handing glasses to Juliet so she could stack them in the dishwasher.

Glancing furtively out into the living room, she murmured, "Thanks for everything, Gus. I really appreciate your help."

Keeping his voice low to match hers, Gus replied, "It's nothing, Juliet. Considering some of the things Shawn has asked me to do in the past, this one is relatively painless." They shared a grin of understanding.

Catching a glimpse of Shawn in the middle of a rather animated story, Juliet said almost under her breath, "Shawn's going out of his way on this. I owe him - it means a lot to my mom. She was practically crying yesterday as she was talking about him."

Gus responded drily, "He has that effect on people sometimes."

They finished stacking the dirty pans, and Juliet closed the lid. "I'm still not sure why he decided to start this charade though." Gus could hear the curiosity in her tone.

Cocking his head to the side, he tried not to smile; sometimes, even smart people couldn't see what was right in front of them. He couldn't resist making one comment. "Even though it often may not seem so, Shawn doesn't do things without a reason. This time, he may just have one of the best." Picking up the stuffed cat, he flipped it over to her, and she caught it instinctually. Her brow furrowed as she looked back and forth between it and the man who had retreated to the living room. She absently noticed that he walked in at the perfect moment to enter seamlessly into the story Shawn was telling about one of their mutual adventures.

****

"I think that went well, don't you?" Shawn shut the door to Juliet's apartment behind him after his trip downstairs to walk her parents to their rental car. They were staying at a hotel because Juliet didn't have any extra space.

Her mind still working on Gus's cryptic statement, Juliet took a second to answer. "Hmm...yeah. Gus was perfect."

Shawn sighed dramatically. "He usually is. Gets annoying really." Juliet smirked at the obvious lie.

Alone now, a silence seemed to fall over them - although it was more charged with an odd sense of anticipation rather than any real awkwardness. Finally, Shawn spoke up, "So we probably need to decide what the plan is for next week."

"Yeah, yeah, you're right. Well, Monday is a holiday, so that won't be a problem, but, after that, sooner or later, they are going to want to see the station. What are we going to tell them about why people don't know about us?"

Thinking hard, Shawn stared unseeingly for a moment before his expression cleared. "Sometimes, the answer is so simple that you can't believe you've missed it. We'll just tell them that we can't announce our relationship because it's kind of against department policy! We have to keep it quiet because they might not let us work together. Will your parents buy that?"

Considering his suggestion, Juliet had to admit that the explanation sounded plausible and it had the added beauty of being simplistic. She nodded, "Yes, I think they will. All right, that sounds good - let's go with it. I'll try to bring it up in a conversation tomorrow or Monday, and, then, they'll already be prepared for it."

Shawn stared at Juliet's face in fascination; he loved that serious look she got when she was focusing on a problem and trying to analyze it from all sides. It made him feel like he could see right into her mind - he wished he had the same ability to see inside her heart.

Realizing how late it was, Shawn decided reluctantly that he should leave. What he really wanted to do was throw himself on her surprisingly comfortable couch, draw her down next to him, and spend a few hours just feeling the imprint of her body resting willingly against his as they talked about anything and everything. But he knew that it wasn't time for that, so he stored the image away, with countless others, for future reference.

"Good night, Jules."

Juliet's gaze caught on something glimmering in his hazel eyes that she couldn't define. "Night, Shawn. I'll see you tomorrow evening?"

As he opened the door, he glanced back and gave her his trademark grin. "Of course."