FIC: Quarter Life Crisis (24/24) - Carlton/Shawn - PG-13 - Psych
Title: Quarter Life Crisis (24/24)
author: PookaSeraph
pairing: Carlton/Shawn
rating: PG-13
disclaimer: Not mine, Never will be
summary: It's time for a house warming, and the start of the rest of Shawn and Carlton's lives together
notes: Holy cow, it's done! Hope everyone has enjoyed my little fic, this is the first thing I've ever written that I have gone on to finish, so I hope everyone appreciates that. New episodes will probably bring more fic, but I might have a oneshot or two before then.
Previous Parts:
[One] | [Two] | [Three] | [Four] | [Five] | [Six]
[Seven] | [Eight] | [Nine] | [Ten] | [Eleven] | [Twelve]
[Thirteen] | [Fourteen] | [Fifteen] | [Sixteen] | [Seventeen] | [Eighteen]
[Nineteen] | [Twenty] | [Twenty One] | [Twenty Two] | [Twenty Three]
Current Part:
Chapter 24:
Carlton was pacing the living room of his just purchased, newly renovated, near the beach home. Shawn was uncharacteristically still, working in the kitchen, baking cookies to 'make the neighbors like us'.
Carlton cast another look around the living room. Most of the furniture was from Shawn's old apartment, although Carlton had insisted Shawn actually put down the money to buy the furniture rather than keep it in a perpetual state of rented.
Every surface was covered in chaos. Chess board, magazines, weird toys that Carlton still hadn't seen used as anything other than artful clutter. Those were all hold overs from Shawn's original apartment. Carlton's contribution to the mess was minimal, he was the type of man who kept everything in a neat order. The other rooms reflected this more with their clean minimalism. None the less there were a few fishing and gun magazines as well as pictures of him with O'Hara, or with Henry, and a few family photographs.
Confident that the room was a neat as possible, he resumed his pacing.
"Carly! Dude, relax," Shawn commanded from the kitchen, "you're making me dizzy."
Carlton stopped for a few moments. But quickly resumed his pacing.
"Shawn, I'm nervous."
"You weren't this nervous when you met Henry."
"I had less than two hours from the time you asked me to go to the time we arrived at his door. This is almost two weeks in the making. What if she doesn't like me?"
Shawn dropped everything he was doing and came around out of the kitchen to grab Carlton into a hug.
"First off, Annette is an easy going and kick ass lady. Second, she thinks you must be the most awesome man in the world if I did something as crazy as buy a house with you. You already know she doesn't like your job, but the rest of you is amazing."
Carlton sighed, trying to calm down and relax, knowing Shawn was probably right didn't change the nerves he was feeling. Shawn obviously valued Annette's opinion, Carlton wanted hers to be favorable of him.
Shawn returned to the kitchen, still smirking at Carlton's discomfort.
The doorbell rang and Carlton glanced to Shawn.
"Oh, you should get it."
Carlton glowered and went to answer the door.
His first thought was that the woman on the patio had come to the wrong address. She was very beautiful and didn't look old enough to have an almost thirty year old son. Dressed in a snappy, yet professional dress, dark hair in the sort of crisp perfection that Carlton had to admire, eyes a clear, warm hazel.
"You must be Carlton." She gave him a warm smile.
"Yes, hi, it's a pleasure to meet you ma'a- Annette." Carlton caught sight of a compact rolling suitcase parked behind her and the bottle of wine in her left hand.
"Shawn said you were having tuna." She offered him the wine and Carlton accepted it mutely, still unsure what he was supposed to say. His mind caught up slightly, reminding him she was a guest in his house.
"Please, come in." He did his best to usher her in without feeling like an idiot. He felt under-dressed in khakis and buttoned shirt. "The guest bedroom is this way."
Shawn interrupted his train of thought by coming up and grabbing Annette into a hug. He noted that Annette was hardly an inch shorter than Shawn and the resemblance was certainly noticeable when he saw them side by side. Her proper exterior was shattered by the bright grin on her face and the rib crushing hug she gave in return.
They released each other.
"Looking very together, Annette." Carlton was slightly confused by the greeting, but brushed it off as another Spencer oddity.
"The house gorgeous."
"Henry helped get it ready to move in, some plumbing and painting and things."
"Well, you know Henry." After another about a minute taking in the living room, she turned back to Carlton. "You were showing me to the guest room."
Carlton felt a little awkward but gestured past the kitchen towards the spare rooms, and Annette followed his directions. Carlton was trying to find a conversation topic. Unlike Henry, Carlton had no history with Annette so he wasn't sure how to talk to her.
He was about to leave her to start unpacking when she interrupted his departure.
"Stay a moment?" Carlton stood, wondering what sort of assessment Annette was making. "I hope Henry doesn't give you too hard a time for dating his son."
"Henry and I go fishing at least once or twice a month. He says he's not going to hold bad taste in men against me." Carlton grinned slightly. Over the months, Carlton had become versed in Henry cutting sarcasm and knew Henry had grown to like him and had secretly been thrilled at the fact the two of them were now publicly dating.
"I suppose, as an ex-wife, I should be bound to dislike you then, but you seem like a great guy from all that Shawn has told me." Carlton stood stiffly, having no idea what would make the best impression. "Oh, calm down, Carlton. You've met Henry. Shawn had to get that care free attitude from somewhere, right?"
Carlton hadn't thought about it that way. He found he was instantly more relaxed.
He was saved by further chitchat temporarily by a knock on the door. He headed to the front again to find Gus and O'Hara - Juliet - at the door, Gus looking impeccable and together as always, Juliet was wearing a sun dress. He ushered them in and they took in the living room. Neither had seen the house yet and were obviously impressed.
"Carlton, this looks amazing!" Juliet was obviously in love and started to give herself an unguided tour of the house, wandering off towards the master suite.
Gus stood beside Carlton, also impressed. "Dude, way to make sure a guy can't compete. The house is awesome."
Carlton tried to think of an appropriate response and eventually found he channeled Shawn slightly. "My boyfriend buys me nice things."
Gus laughed and headed towards the kitchen where Shawn seemed to be finishing up. Carlton went to find Juliet, make sure she didn't get lost. He found her ogling the closet in the master bedroom.
"This is amazing, Carlton." Carlton just shrugged, but he certainly agreed with her. One side of the closet was filled with neatly hung and pressed suits of Carlton's, the other half a mishmashed jumble and shirts and pants stacked on racks. He knew Juliet hadn't been referring to the shared closet space, but he marveled at it anyway.
The doorbell rang and Carlton headed out to greet his final house guest. Henry was at the front door, wielding a fruit basket like a shield.
"Henry, come on in."
Henry didn't take any time to admire the house, he'd seen it several times in the last few weeks when he was over helping with the repairs.
Annette had made her way back into the kitchen area when Carlton was hunting down Juliet, they both caught sight of each other at about the same time.
"Henry."
"Annette."
"You look..."
"You look nice, Annette."
"I was going to say *you* look ... tanned."
"And exfoliated," Shawn interjected. "With pumice!"
"Shawn!" Henry looked slightly uncomfortable and Carlton tried to decide if he thought he deserved it or not.
Carlton tried to ignore the image that popped into his head of what a much younger Shawn must have been like. He'd seen pictures and heard stories, but something about that moment made Carlton smile at the sort of kid Shawn must have been.
His heart fluttered slightly when he realized he could spend the rest of his life here, with Shawn. It hadn't really sunk in until just that moment.
He reached over to Shawn, pulling his wrist lightly until Shawn came close enough to pull in for a hug. He kissed Shawn's temple, spending a moment enjoying the heat of the younger man pressed against him.
"I love you," Carlton whispered, too softly for the others to hear, "forever."
Shawn brushed a kiss across his jaw and came close enough to Carlton's ear to whisper a response.
"I love you." Carlton smiled, loving the sound when Shawn said that. "We can start breaking in rooms as soon as they all leave."
Carlton pressed his head into Shawn's shoulder and laughed; the first of many in his new life with Shawn.
author: PookaSeraph
pairing: Carlton/Shawn
rating: PG-13
disclaimer: Not mine, Never will be
summary: It's time for a house warming, and the start of the rest of Shawn and Carlton's lives together
notes: Holy cow, it's done! Hope everyone has enjoyed my little fic, this is the first thing I've ever written that I have gone on to finish, so I hope everyone appreciates that. New episodes will probably bring more fic, but I might have a oneshot or two before then.
Previous Parts:
[One] | [Two] | [Three] | [Four] | [Five] | [Six]
[Seven] | [Eight] | [Nine] | [Ten] | [Eleven] | [Twelve]
[Thirteen] | [Fourteen] | [Fifteen] | [Sixteen] | [Seventeen] | [Eighteen]
[Nineteen] | [Twenty] | [Twenty One] | [Twenty Two] | [Twenty Three]
Current Part:
Chapter 24:
Carlton was pacing the living room of his just purchased, newly renovated, near the beach home. Shawn was uncharacteristically still, working in the kitchen, baking cookies to 'make the neighbors like us'.
Carlton cast another look around the living room. Most of the furniture was from Shawn's old apartment, although Carlton had insisted Shawn actually put down the money to buy the furniture rather than keep it in a perpetual state of rented.
Every surface was covered in chaos. Chess board, magazines, weird toys that Carlton still hadn't seen used as anything other than artful clutter. Those were all hold overs from Shawn's original apartment. Carlton's contribution to the mess was minimal, he was the type of man who kept everything in a neat order. The other rooms reflected this more with their clean minimalism. None the less there were a few fishing and gun magazines as well as pictures of him with O'Hara, or with Henry, and a few family photographs.
Confident that the room was a neat as possible, he resumed his pacing.
"Carly! Dude, relax," Shawn commanded from the kitchen, "you're making me dizzy."
Carlton stopped for a few moments. But quickly resumed his pacing.
"Shawn, I'm nervous."
"You weren't this nervous when you met Henry."
"I had less than two hours from the time you asked me to go to the time we arrived at his door. This is almost two weeks in the making. What if she doesn't like me?"
Shawn dropped everything he was doing and came around out of the kitchen to grab Carlton into a hug.
"First off, Annette is an easy going and kick ass lady. Second, she thinks you must be the most awesome man in the world if I did something as crazy as buy a house with you. You already know she doesn't like your job, but the rest of you is amazing."
Carlton sighed, trying to calm down and relax, knowing Shawn was probably right didn't change the nerves he was feeling. Shawn obviously valued Annette's opinion, Carlton wanted hers to be favorable of him.
Shawn returned to the kitchen, still smirking at Carlton's discomfort.
The doorbell rang and Carlton glanced to Shawn.
"Oh, you should get it."
Carlton glowered and went to answer the door.
His first thought was that the woman on the patio had come to the wrong address. She was very beautiful and didn't look old enough to have an almost thirty year old son. Dressed in a snappy, yet professional dress, dark hair in the sort of crisp perfection that Carlton had to admire, eyes a clear, warm hazel.
"You must be Carlton." She gave him a warm smile.
"Yes, hi, it's a pleasure to meet you ma'a- Annette." Carlton caught sight of a compact rolling suitcase parked behind her and the bottle of wine in her left hand.
"Shawn said you were having tuna." She offered him the wine and Carlton accepted it mutely, still unsure what he was supposed to say. His mind caught up slightly, reminding him she was a guest in his house.
"Please, come in." He did his best to usher her in without feeling like an idiot. He felt under-dressed in khakis and buttoned shirt. "The guest bedroom is this way."
Shawn interrupted his train of thought by coming up and grabbing Annette into a hug. He noted that Annette was hardly an inch shorter than Shawn and the resemblance was certainly noticeable when he saw them side by side. Her proper exterior was shattered by the bright grin on her face and the rib crushing hug she gave in return.
They released each other.
"Looking very together, Annette." Carlton was slightly confused by the greeting, but brushed it off as another Spencer oddity.
"The house gorgeous."
"Henry helped get it ready to move in, some plumbing and painting and things."
"Well, you know Henry." After another about a minute taking in the living room, she turned back to Carlton. "You were showing me to the guest room."
Carlton felt a little awkward but gestured past the kitchen towards the spare rooms, and Annette followed his directions. Carlton was trying to find a conversation topic. Unlike Henry, Carlton had no history with Annette so he wasn't sure how to talk to her.
He was about to leave her to start unpacking when she interrupted his departure.
"Stay a moment?" Carlton stood, wondering what sort of assessment Annette was making. "I hope Henry doesn't give you too hard a time for dating his son."
"Henry and I go fishing at least once or twice a month. He says he's not going to hold bad taste in men against me." Carlton grinned slightly. Over the months, Carlton had become versed in Henry cutting sarcasm and knew Henry had grown to like him and had secretly been thrilled at the fact the two of them were now publicly dating.
"I suppose, as an ex-wife, I should be bound to dislike you then, but you seem like a great guy from all that Shawn has told me." Carlton stood stiffly, having no idea what would make the best impression. "Oh, calm down, Carlton. You've met Henry. Shawn had to get that care free attitude from somewhere, right?"
Carlton hadn't thought about it that way. He found he was instantly more relaxed.
He was saved by further chitchat temporarily by a knock on the door. He headed to the front again to find Gus and O'Hara - Juliet - at the door, Gus looking impeccable and together as always, Juliet was wearing a sun dress. He ushered them in and they took in the living room. Neither had seen the house yet and were obviously impressed.
"Carlton, this looks amazing!" Juliet was obviously in love and started to give herself an unguided tour of the house, wandering off towards the master suite.
Gus stood beside Carlton, also impressed. "Dude, way to make sure a guy can't compete. The house is awesome."
Carlton tried to think of an appropriate response and eventually found he channeled Shawn slightly. "My boyfriend buys me nice things."
Gus laughed and headed towards the kitchen where Shawn seemed to be finishing up. Carlton went to find Juliet, make sure she didn't get lost. He found her ogling the closet in the master bedroom.
"This is amazing, Carlton." Carlton just shrugged, but he certainly agreed with her. One side of the closet was filled with neatly hung and pressed suits of Carlton's, the other half a mishmashed jumble and shirts and pants stacked on racks. He knew Juliet hadn't been referring to the shared closet space, but he marveled at it anyway.
The doorbell rang and Carlton headed out to greet his final house guest. Henry was at the front door, wielding a fruit basket like a shield.
"Henry, come on in."
Henry didn't take any time to admire the house, he'd seen it several times in the last few weeks when he was over helping with the repairs.
Annette had made her way back into the kitchen area when Carlton was hunting down Juliet, they both caught sight of each other at about the same time.
"Henry."
"Annette."
"You look..."
"You look nice, Annette."
"I was going to say *you* look ... tanned."
"And exfoliated," Shawn interjected. "With pumice!"
"Shawn!" Henry looked slightly uncomfortable and Carlton tried to decide if he thought he deserved it or not.
Carlton tried to ignore the image that popped into his head of what a much younger Shawn must have been like. He'd seen pictures and heard stories, but something about that moment made Carlton smile at the sort of kid Shawn must have been.
His heart fluttered slightly when he realized he could spend the rest of his life here, with Shawn. It hadn't really sunk in until just that moment.
He reached over to Shawn, pulling his wrist lightly until Shawn came close enough to pull in for a hug. He kissed Shawn's temple, spending a moment enjoying the heat of the younger man pressed against him.
"I love you," Carlton whispered, too softly for the others to hear, "forever."
Shawn brushed a kiss across his jaw and came close enough to Carlton's ear to whisper a response.
"I love you." Carlton smiled, loving the sound when Shawn said that. "We can start breaking in rooms as soon as they all leave."
Carlton pressed his head into Shawn's shoulder and laughed; the first of many in his new life with Shawn.