FIC: Drunken Irish Luck (2/3)
Title: Drunken Irish Luck
Author: moondragon25 (or moondragon23 on other sites)
Pairing: Shawn/Carlton
Rating: NC-17
Summary: It's St. Patrick's Day and the gang is out celebrating on their first double date. It was supposed to be a night out drinking with friends and loved ones. But things never go as planned for Shawn and Carlton. Sequel to The L Word.
Disclaimer: I don't own Psych. This is just for fun. I do own all original characters.
Notes: Warning! There is strong, offensive language in this chapter. I do not agree with what the character says but unfortunately I have met people with those views before.
That being said, I really like the way this chapter turned out. I hope you all enjoy it.
Part 1
Shawn took a sip of his beer as he leaned back against the bar. “I told you a double date was a good idea.”
“I'll admit, it has gone pretty well so far.” Gus took a sip of his boring, non-green beer and nodding towards Carlton and Juliet. “What do you think they're talking about?”
Shawn watched a flush slowly spread up the side of Carlton's neck. “Jules is asking about our sex life again.”
Gus sighed in disgust. “I don't understand why she is so damn curious about you two.”
“Hey, we're two hot guys getting it on. Why wouldn't she be curious?” He hissed when Gus punched him hard in the arm. “Watch it! I've got enough bruises there already.”
Gus opened his mouth, then shook his head. “I don't want to know.” He thanked the bartender for delivering Juliet's drink, which was an appropriate green color.
“It's not what you think; I slipped in the kitchen and hit my arm on the counter.” Shawn grabbed Carlton's drink, wondering if he should have the bartender add green food coloring to it. He decided against it; he might not be able to hold out on sex, but Carlton sure could. “Of course, I only slipped because there was olive oil all over the floor. See, we were making dinner and Carlton made a comment on how big the sausages were, and, well,” Shawn sighed helplessly, “I couldn't let such an easy opening pass me by.”
“I said I don't want to know,” Gus snapped. He grabbed his drinks and turned to walk away from the bar. At the same time, one of the men standing next to them shoved his friend, sending him stumbling back into Gus. Juliet's drink splashed between them, coating Gus's front and the other guy's back in the slushy green liquid.
The guy turned around and glared at Gus. He was younger than Shawn, probably in his early twenties. Shawn guessed he was a student at the local college out for a night of drinking. He would call the night a success; the guy was already wasted. “Watch where you're going!”
“Sorry, it was an accident,” Gus said hurriedly. He put his drinks down and grabbed some napkins off the bar. “Here,” he said, passing a pile to the guy.
Drunk Guy snatched them out of Gus's hand. Muttering to himself, he tried to wipe up the mess on the back of his shirt.
A young man, the same one who had shoved Drunk Guy into Gus, clapped a hand on Drunk Guy's shoulder. “Did you know you have some kind of green drink all over the back of your shirt?” he asked with a smirk. A third guy was right behind him, also grinning.
“No shit,” Drunk Guy growled.
Shawn hid a grin at his awkward fumbling as he tried to dry the back of his shirt. Laughing at this point would only make matters worse. He put his drinks down and grabbed some napkins. “Need some help?” he asked, stepping closer and reaching towards the guy's back.
Drunk Guy gave him a hard shove, knocking him into the bar. Shawn bit back a groan as the edge of the counter dug painfully into his back. “Keep your hands off me, you fucking queer!”
Shawn held his hands up calmingly, aware of the sudden silence surrounding them. “Dude, I was just trying to help. Besides, you're not my type.”
“I know exactly who your type is,” Drunk Guy sneered. “I saw you in the paper last week with that gay detective.”
“I wouldn't have figured you for the paper type. Too many words, not enough pictures.” The guy's jaw clenched tightly in anger. Out of the corner of his eye, Shawn saw Gus give him an exasperated look. He wanted to blame the alcohol but he never could stop making smart ass comments, even when they got him in bigger trouble.
The guy's two friends exchanged a look. “Look, Pete, I'm sure it was just an accident,” the one on the left said.
“Shut up, Frank.” Pete snapped. He turned back to Shawn, a smirk on his face. “So what's the deal with the two of you? You do his job for him and he sucks you off at end of the day?”
Shawn clenched his hands tightly into fists, his vision turning red. Insulting him was one thing, but nobody talked about Carlton like that. “You son of a bitch!” He lunged for Pete, Gus's intervention the only thing keeping him from sinking his fist into the asshole's face. “Let go of me!” he shouted, struggling in Gus's grip. He had never wanted to hit someone so bad in his life.
“ Shawn! Calm down! He's not worth it,” Gus said, grabbing him by the shoulders and looking him in the eye. Shawn took several deep breaths, trying to regain control of his temper.
“Pete, I think you've had enough to drink,” the third guy said. “We should go.”
“ But the fun is just getting started,” Pete said. “Here's Mr. Head Detective himself. ”
Shawn turned as Carlton came up to them, Juliet hot on his heels. “Are you okay?” his boyfriend asked quietly, though he kept his eyes on Pete and his friends.
“Yeah, I'm fine.” Shawn wasn't sure if Carlton's arrival was a good thing or a bad thing. The detective was quick to anger, though maybe having a cop involved would scare Pete off.
“Pete, let's go,” Frank urged.
“If you and Derek are too big of a pussy to fight, go,” Pete said. “I can handle the detective and his little boy - toy on my own.” So that's a no on the scaring off then.
Carlton's eyes narrowed dangerously. “ What did you just call him?”
“You heard me. Gonna do something about it, faggot?” Pete asked, getting right up into Carlton's face.
Carlton went still, his gaze murderous. While Shawn was impressed by how well his boyfriend was controlling his anger so far, he knew it would only take one more well aimed remark for things to get violent. Judging by the growing size of the crowd around them, he wasn't the only one who had noticed.
“Look, our friend's drunk. How about we get him out of here and you can forget this ever happened?” Derek said.
“It sounds like a good idea to me,” Juliet agreed, Gus nodding nervously behind her. She looked imploringly at Shawn. “What do you think, Shawn?”
As much as he hated the idea of letting this guy go, he also didn't want to get caught in the middle of a bar fight. They were not nearly as much fun as they looked. “Lassie, dude, as much as it kills me to say this, we need to let this one go.”
Carlton glanced at him and sighed. “All right.” He looked back at Pete. “I have better things to do than to argue with every lowlife that calls me a name. Go crawl back into the sewer you came from.” He turned his back on Pete, grabbing Shawn's hand as he walked away.
Shawn could feel the tension in his boyfriend's frame. He was tense as well, waiting to see if they had managed to get out of this one without anyone getting hurt. He wasn't sure how Pete would react to Carlton's last cutting remark.
Shawn heard a low growl behind them. “Pete, stop!”He saw the movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned and just managed to get his hands up to block the punch Pete had aimed for his head. The force of the blow caused him to loose his balance and he fell, crying out when his head connected hard with the side of the bar.
Carlton glanced at him, but his attention was quickly gained by Pete as he went after the detective now that Shawn was out of the way. His boyfriend blocked the punch aimed at his own face and dodged the one aimed for his ribs. Ducking under Pete's arm, he delivered a powerful hit to the guy's abdomen, knocking the breath out of him. Pete backed off a couple steps, hunched over in pain.
Someone from the crowd moved forward to intervene, but Carlton held up a hand to stop them. “Stay back!”
The moments inattention cost him. Pete recovered faster than anticipated, lunging at Carlton and knocking him back into the bar. This time, he wasn't quick enough to block the hit to his face, his head snapping to the side with the blow. He groaned in pain, but it didn't stop him from bringing his knee up and hitting Pete in a delicate spot. Shawn couldn't help wincing in sympathy as Pete gasped, curling in on himself and allowing Carlton to push him away.
Once again, Pete recovered faster than he should have. Must be all the alcohol he drank. This time, Carlton was ready, blocking the blow aimed at his side and throwing a punch that forced Pete to jump back. However, Shawn noticed Carlton was favoring his left side; he must have hurt it when he was shoved into the bar.
He glanced at the crowd. Gus and Juliet were standing off to the side, keeping the spectators back. Juliet was watching the fight intently, looking for an opportunity to help. By the frustrated look on her face, he knew she wasn't seeing any openings.
He, however, was in a perfect position. Pete seemed to have completely forgotten he was there, though he knew Carlton had not. He hugged his knees to him and slid closer to where the two men were fighting, managing to get behind Pete. Carlton noticed him move and tried to draw Pete away from him. Shawn shook his head, meeting Carlton's eyes and hoping his boyfriend would trust him. Carlton shifted again, this time moving Pete closer to Shawn, though it cost him a busted lip. Shawn felt a flash of guilt, but knew if they timed this right the fight would soon be over.
Carlton gave Pete a shove. He stumbled back and Shawn shot out a leg, catching Pete behind the kneecaps. Pete fell backwards hard, landing inches away from him. Shawn jumped on him before he could get up, quickly joined by the two friends and Juliet. Pete struggled and cursed at them but they managed to hold him down.
As soon as Pete stopped fighting, Shawn extracted himself from the pile. He crawled a short distance away and collapsed to the floor against the bar. He leaned back against the solid wood, breathing hard.
Carlton crouched down carefully next to him, wincing in pain. “Are you okay?” he panted, looking at Shawn with concern.
“I should be asking you that.” There was a small cut at the edge of Carlton's eyebrow slowly oozing blood. “You should put some pressure on that.”
Carlton reached him, hissing as he touched the wound. He looked at the blood on his fingers for a moment. “I'm fine.” He stood up slowly, then reached down to Shawn. “Come on. Let's get you off the floor.”
Ignoring the hand, Shawn scrambled up on his own, grabbing the edge of the bar to help him up. “Maybe you should sit down,” he said, worried by the way Carlton was leaning.
“I'm fine,” Carlton insisted. Shawn rolled his eyes and gently pushed his boyfriend until he was sitting on one of the bar stools. He grabbed a napkin off the counter. “Here.”
Carlton took it and pressed it against the cut by his eye. “Thanks.” He used his free hand to push at Shawn's shoulder, forcing him to turn around. “Let me see your head.”
“Since you're injured, I'm going to let that one slide.” Shawn winced as Carlton tentatively felt the growing lump on the back of his head. “Keep poking it; that's bound to help,” he complained.
Carlton sighed as he forced Shawn back around. “Quit whining.” He frowned as he looked into Shawn's eyes, checking for signs of a concussion.
Shawn reached up and cupped the uninjured side of Carlton's face, forcing his boyfriend to really look at him. “Carlton, I'm fine.”
Carlton stared at him, eyes searching for any sense of falsehood. “How's the back?”
“Sore, but I'll live.”
“Your arm?”
Shawn held it up. “Bruised but fully functional.”
Carlton nodded, looking a bit more relaxed. “Will you at least sit down? If only for my own piece of mind?”
“Sure.” Shawn sat down next to Carlton, trying to hide the relief he felt to be sitting. His head was pounding and his back was aching but he didn't want to worry his boyfriend any more than he already was. “So are you going to keep saying you're fine or are you going to tell me how you really are?”
“I feel like someone beat the crap out of me,” Carlton said irritably. “I've been in worse fights before; I'll be fine.”
Shawn gave up asking, at least for now. Carlton's ego was already bruised from the fight; his boyfriend wasn't going to admit to any weakness in public after that. He'd just keep his eye on him until he could make sure himself Carlton was really okay.
The bartender came over to them, placing two drinks down on the counter. “You boys look like you could use these. On the house.”
“Thanks Eddy.” Carlton grabbed his drink and tossed it back, making a face as the whiskey burned his throat.
Shawn took a more cautious sip of his own drink. He didn't usually drink whiskey but he could use the numbing effects of the alcohol right now. “Someone should call this in,” he said.
The bartender nodded behind them. “She looks like she's got it taken care of.”
Shawn turned to look. Juliet had moved away from Pete, leaving his two friends and a couple of eager bar patrons to watch over him. She was on her cell phone, a worried Gus hovering nearby. “I bet she would admit if she got hurt,” he muttered.
If Carlton heard the comment, he ignored it. “I hope they can send someone soon. I'll feel better once this guy is off the street and behind bars where he belongs.”
Juliet ended her call and sighed. Gus was immediately in front of her, taking her hands and looking at her in concern. She said something quietly that made Gus relax, a small smile on her face. She turned to walk away but Gus pulled her back, bringing her in for a kiss.
Shawn couldn't help smiling. The two of them were good together. He was glad he set them up on Valentine's Day. He caught Carlton's eye and nodded his head towards the happy couple. “Isn't that sweet?”
“As long as Guster keeps his hands in acceptable areas,” Carlton muttered.
“Acceptable to you or Jules?” Shawn asked teasingly.
Carlton glared at him irritably, though his expression softened somewhat when he looked back at his partner and her boyfriend, who were now talking quietly. “He just better behave himself.”
Juliet and Gus headed over to them. “Dobson and Murphy are on their way to pick him up,” she said. She glanced over to where Pete was now sitting up, holding his head in his heads. “He seems to have calmed down.”
“Too bad it wasn't sooner,” Carlton complained. He pulled the napkin away from the cut on his face, checking to see if it was still bleeding.
“How are you?” Juliet asked.
“I'm fine,” Carlton said shortly, throwing the bloody napkin on the counter.
She glanced at Shawn, who just shrugged. He doubted his boyfriend would admit anything more to her with the mood he was in. She pursed her lips but accepted the lie for now. “Are you planning to press charges?” she asked instead.
“Damn straight,” Carlton said firmly. “Shawn could have been seriously hurt by that bastard.”
“Lassie, I'm fine,” Shawn assured him. Gus raised an eyebrow in disbelief. He had been Shawn's friend for too many years not to be able to tell when he was hiding an injury. He shot Gus a look telling him to keep quiet. “Though I agree with you. I don't like people beating on my boyfriend.”
“Excuse me?” Shawn turned to see one of Pete's friends, Derek, standing there nervously. “I'm really sorry for what my friend did, but he's not normally like that. He just had a bad day and too much too drink. I understand you wanting to press charges but I was hoping I could convince you not to.”
“After he attacked both me and my boyfriend?” Carlton shook his head. “Not gonna happen.”
“Pete's not usually like that. He's really a nice guy,” Derek insisted.
“Yeah, I'm sure all nice guys spew that homophobic garbage,” Shawn said sarcastically. “Look, it's great that your loyal to your friend but maybe you should think about hanging out with a different crowd.”
“He's not that kind of guy,” Derek said, sounding frustrated. “He just made a mistake.”
“We're not talking about overcooking dinner or forgetting to TiVo Cops,” Carlton snapped. “Shawn and I could have been seriously hurt. He's going to have to suck it up and deal with the consequences.”
“You're not getting it.” Derek sighed, rubbing his hands together. “His girlfriend dumped him this morning and his midterm grades were bad enough he's worried about keeping his scholarship. He also got into a huge fight with his dad this morning too.” He looked at Carlton. “I didn't hear all of it, but some of what his dad said was close to what you said to him.”
Shawn winced. That was harsh. No wonder Pete had turned so violent after Carlton made that last remark. He glanced at Carlton.
His boyfriend did not look impressed. “So having a bad day gives him an excuse to lash out at people? To use them as human punching bags?”
“No, I - ” Derek sighed. “His scholarship has a zero tolerance policy. If they find out he was charged with assault, he'll lose it. He won't be able to stay in school if that happens.” He looked at them pleadingly. “Don't let this one mistake ruin the rest of his life.”
“Give us a minute,” Shawn said. Derek took a couple of steps back to give them room to talk. He glanced at Gus and Juliet. “What do you think?”
“You're not seriously considering this,” Carlton looked at his boyfriend in astonishment.
“You heard Derek. This could ruin the kid's life,” Shawn said.
“You want to give him a free pass over that sob story?” Carlton asked.
“He wouldn't go entirely free,” Juliet pointed out. “He's going to be charged on a drunk and disorderly at least.”
“But he'll get away with attacking Shawn,” Carlton argued.
“And he'll get away with attacking you too,” Shawn pointed out.
Carlton frowned. “I thought you wanted to forgive him.”
“Not forgive, just not charge him. There's a difference,” Shawn insisted.
“Not to me,” Carlton said firmly.
“Carlton, we can't do this,” Shawn pleaded.
Carlton shook his head in frustration. “Why do you care what happens to some drunk kid?”
Because I understand what it's like to have a dad disappointed in you. Because I know what it's like to make one mistake and ruin the rest of your life. Because I was that kid. “Let them bring him in on the D&D. A night in jail will scare him straight without having to press formal charges,” Shawn said, speaking from personal experience. “Lesson learned without getting kicked out of school.”
“Shawn, this isn't the same as what happened to you,” Gus said quietly.
Shawn sighed, glancing at his best friend. “It's not,” he agreed. “Because nobody was there to give me a second chance.”
Carlton studied him, deep in thought. “Guster, O'Hara, give us a minute.” He waited for the two of them to walk off before lowering his voice. “Guster is right. This isn't the same.”
“I can't press charges if it means ruining his chance to make something of himself,” Shawn said helplessly. “I just. . . can't.”
Carlton sighed. “All right.” He waved Derek back over. “Here's the deal. If, if, he apologizes to us when he's sober and you three pay for our tab tonight, then maybe I'll think about it.” He glanced at Shawn, who reluctantly nodded his agreement to the terms. He was lucky to get Carlton to agree to that much.
“Absolutely, no problem,” Derek said in relief. “Thank you!”
“Yeah, now get out of here,” Carlton said irritably. Dobson and Murphy had arrived while they were talking and were getting ready to take Pete away. Derek returned to his friends and the five of them left the bar.
“ Thank you,” Shawn said gratefully.
“I just hope we don't regret it,” Carlton said wearily. He waved a hand, calling the bartender over. “Do you have anywhere I can clean up?”
Eddy nodded. “There's an employee bathroom in the back. Use the hallway behind the bar.”
Carlton looked at Shawn. “Stay here. I'll take you home when I get back.” He stood up carefully and slipped away through the crowd.
Juliet and Gus came back over after Carlton left. “You got Carlton to agree to drop the charges?” Juliet asked.
Shawn nodded. “Though I don't think he was happy about it.”
“He wouldn't be.” She frowned, looking at Shawn seriously. “How is he, really?”
Shawn sighed. “I don't think he's too badly hurt, though his pride certainly took a hit.” He looked in the direction his boyfriend had walked off. “I hope he's not too upset with me.”
“I think he's more upset with himself.” She shook her head at Shawn's incredulous look. “You know how protective he is. He probably feels he should have prevented you from getting hurt at all and letting Pete go free just makes it worse.”
Shawn nodded slowly. “You're probably right.” He glanced again towards the hallway behind the counter. “I'm going to go talk to him,” he said, hopping off the bar stool.
“Good luck,” Juliet said. She wrapped an arm around Gus. “Let us know how it goes.”
“I have my sample case in the car if you need anything,” Gus offered.
“Thanks, both of you,” Shawn said. He watched the couple head back towards their table before winding his way through the crowd to go talk some sense into his boyfriend.
Part 3
Author: moondragon25 (or moondragon23 on other sites)
Pairing: Shawn/Carlton
Rating: NC-17
Summary: It's St. Patrick's Day and the gang is out celebrating on their first double date. It was supposed to be a night out drinking with friends and loved ones. But things never go as planned for Shawn and Carlton. Sequel to The L Word.
Disclaimer: I don't own Psych. This is just for fun. I do own all original characters.
Notes: Warning! There is strong, offensive language in this chapter. I do not agree with what the character says but unfortunately I have met people with those views before.
That being said, I really like the way this chapter turned out. I hope you all enjoy it.
Part 1
Shawn took a sip of his beer as he leaned back against the bar. “I told you a double date was a good idea.”
“I'll admit, it has gone pretty well so far.” Gus took a sip of his boring, non-green beer and nodding towards Carlton and Juliet. “What do you think they're talking about?”
Shawn watched a flush slowly spread up the side of Carlton's neck. “Jules is asking about our sex life again.”
Gus sighed in disgust. “I don't understand why she is so damn curious about you two.”
“Hey, we're two hot guys getting it on. Why wouldn't she be curious?” He hissed when Gus punched him hard in the arm. “Watch it! I've got enough bruises there already.”
Gus opened his mouth, then shook his head. “I don't want to know.” He thanked the bartender for delivering Juliet's drink, which was an appropriate green color.
“It's not what you think; I slipped in the kitchen and hit my arm on the counter.” Shawn grabbed Carlton's drink, wondering if he should have the bartender add green food coloring to it. He decided against it; he might not be able to hold out on sex, but Carlton sure could. “Of course, I only slipped because there was olive oil all over the floor. See, we were making dinner and Carlton made a comment on how big the sausages were, and, well,” Shawn sighed helplessly, “I couldn't let such an easy opening pass me by.”
“I said I don't want to know,” Gus snapped. He grabbed his drinks and turned to walk away from the bar. At the same time, one of the men standing next to them shoved his friend, sending him stumbling back into Gus. Juliet's drink splashed between them, coating Gus's front and the other guy's back in the slushy green liquid.
The guy turned around and glared at Gus. He was younger than Shawn, probably in his early twenties. Shawn guessed he was a student at the local college out for a night of drinking. He would call the night a success; the guy was already wasted. “Watch where you're going!”
“Sorry, it was an accident,” Gus said hurriedly. He put his drinks down and grabbed some napkins off the bar. “Here,” he said, passing a pile to the guy.
Drunk Guy snatched them out of Gus's hand. Muttering to himself, he tried to wipe up the mess on the back of his shirt.
A young man, the same one who had shoved Drunk Guy into Gus, clapped a hand on Drunk Guy's shoulder. “Did you know you have some kind of green drink all over the back of your shirt?” he asked with a smirk. A third guy was right behind him, also grinning.
“No shit,” Drunk Guy growled.
Shawn hid a grin at his awkward fumbling as he tried to dry the back of his shirt. Laughing at this point would only make matters worse. He put his drinks down and grabbed some napkins. “Need some help?” he asked, stepping closer and reaching towards the guy's back.
Drunk Guy gave him a hard shove, knocking him into the bar. Shawn bit back a groan as the edge of the counter dug painfully into his back. “Keep your hands off me, you fucking queer!”
Shawn held his hands up calmingly, aware of the sudden silence surrounding them. “Dude, I was just trying to help. Besides, you're not my type.”
“I know exactly who your type is,” Drunk Guy sneered. “I saw you in the paper last week with that gay detective.”
“I wouldn't have figured you for the paper type. Too many words, not enough pictures.” The guy's jaw clenched tightly in anger. Out of the corner of his eye, Shawn saw Gus give him an exasperated look. He wanted to blame the alcohol but he never could stop making smart ass comments, even when they got him in bigger trouble.
The guy's two friends exchanged a look. “Look, Pete, I'm sure it was just an accident,” the one on the left said.
“Shut up, Frank.” Pete snapped. He turned back to Shawn, a smirk on his face. “So what's the deal with the two of you? You do his job for him and he sucks you off at end of the day?”
Shawn clenched his hands tightly into fists, his vision turning red. Insulting him was one thing, but nobody talked about Carlton like that. “You son of a bitch!” He lunged for Pete, Gus's intervention the only thing keeping him from sinking his fist into the asshole's face. “Let go of me!” he shouted, struggling in Gus's grip. He had never wanted to hit someone so bad in his life.
“ Shawn! Calm down! He's not worth it,” Gus said, grabbing him by the shoulders and looking him in the eye. Shawn took several deep breaths, trying to regain control of his temper.
“Pete, I think you've had enough to drink,” the third guy said. “We should go.”
“ But the fun is just getting started,” Pete said. “Here's Mr. Head Detective himself. ”
Shawn turned as Carlton came up to them, Juliet hot on his heels. “Are you okay?” his boyfriend asked quietly, though he kept his eyes on Pete and his friends.
“Yeah, I'm fine.” Shawn wasn't sure if Carlton's arrival was a good thing or a bad thing. The detective was quick to anger, though maybe having a cop involved would scare Pete off.
“Pete, let's go,” Frank urged.
“If you and Derek are too big of a pussy to fight, go,” Pete said. “I can handle the detective and his little boy - toy on my own.” So that's a no on the scaring off then.
Carlton's eyes narrowed dangerously. “ What did you just call him?”
“You heard me. Gonna do something about it, faggot?” Pete asked, getting right up into Carlton's face.
Carlton went still, his gaze murderous. While Shawn was impressed by how well his boyfriend was controlling his anger so far, he knew it would only take one more well aimed remark for things to get violent. Judging by the growing size of the crowd around them, he wasn't the only one who had noticed.
“Look, our friend's drunk. How about we get him out of here and you can forget this ever happened?” Derek said.
“It sounds like a good idea to me,” Juliet agreed, Gus nodding nervously behind her. She looked imploringly at Shawn. “What do you think, Shawn?”
As much as he hated the idea of letting this guy go, he also didn't want to get caught in the middle of a bar fight. They were not nearly as much fun as they looked. “Lassie, dude, as much as it kills me to say this, we need to let this one go.”
Carlton glanced at him and sighed. “All right.” He looked back at Pete. “I have better things to do than to argue with every lowlife that calls me a name. Go crawl back into the sewer you came from.” He turned his back on Pete, grabbing Shawn's hand as he walked away.
Shawn could feel the tension in his boyfriend's frame. He was tense as well, waiting to see if they had managed to get out of this one without anyone getting hurt. He wasn't sure how Pete would react to Carlton's last cutting remark.
Shawn heard a low growl behind them. “Pete, stop!”He saw the movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned and just managed to get his hands up to block the punch Pete had aimed for his head. The force of the blow caused him to loose his balance and he fell, crying out when his head connected hard with the side of the bar.
Carlton glanced at him, but his attention was quickly gained by Pete as he went after the detective now that Shawn was out of the way. His boyfriend blocked the punch aimed at his own face and dodged the one aimed for his ribs. Ducking under Pete's arm, he delivered a powerful hit to the guy's abdomen, knocking the breath out of him. Pete backed off a couple steps, hunched over in pain.
Someone from the crowd moved forward to intervene, but Carlton held up a hand to stop them. “Stay back!”
The moments inattention cost him. Pete recovered faster than anticipated, lunging at Carlton and knocking him back into the bar. This time, he wasn't quick enough to block the hit to his face, his head snapping to the side with the blow. He groaned in pain, but it didn't stop him from bringing his knee up and hitting Pete in a delicate spot. Shawn couldn't help wincing in sympathy as Pete gasped, curling in on himself and allowing Carlton to push him away.
Once again, Pete recovered faster than he should have. Must be all the alcohol he drank. This time, Carlton was ready, blocking the blow aimed at his side and throwing a punch that forced Pete to jump back. However, Shawn noticed Carlton was favoring his left side; he must have hurt it when he was shoved into the bar.
He glanced at the crowd. Gus and Juliet were standing off to the side, keeping the spectators back. Juliet was watching the fight intently, looking for an opportunity to help. By the frustrated look on her face, he knew she wasn't seeing any openings.
He, however, was in a perfect position. Pete seemed to have completely forgotten he was there, though he knew Carlton had not. He hugged his knees to him and slid closer to where the two men were fighting, managing to get behind Pete. Carlton noticed him move and tried to draw Pete away from him. Shawn shook his head, meeting Carlton's eyes and hoping his boyfriend would trust him. Carlton shifted again, this time moving Pete closer to Shawn, though it cost him a busted lip. Shawn felt a flash of guilt, but knew if they timed this right the fight would soon be over.
Carlton gave Pete a shove. He stumbled back and Shawn shot out a leg, catching Pete behind the kneecaps. Pete fell backwards hard, landing inches away from him. Shawn jumped on him before he could get up, quickly joined by the two friends and Juliet. Pete struggled and cursed at them but they managed to hold him down.
As soon as Pete stopped fighting, Shawn extracted himself from the pile. He crawled a short distance away and collapsed to the floor against the bar. He leaned back against the solid wood, breathing hard.
Carlton crouched down carefully next to him, wincing in pain. “Are you okay?” he panted, looking at Shawn with concern.
“I should be asking you that.” There was a small cut at the edge of Carlton's eyebrow slowly oozing blood. “You should put some pressure on that.”
Carlton reached him, hissing as he touched the wound. He looked at the blood on his fingers for a moment. “I'm fine.” He stood up slowly, then reached down to Shawn. “Come on. Let's get you off the floor.”
Ignoring the hand, Shawn scrambled up on his own, grabbing the edge of the bar to help him up. “Maybe you should sit down,” he said, worried by the way Carlton was leaning.
“I'm fine,” Carlton insisted. Shawn rolled his eyes and gently pushed his boyfriend until he was sitting on one of the bar stools. He grabbed a napkin off the counter. “Here.”
Carlton took it and pressed it against the cut by his eye. “Thanks.” He used his free hand to push at Shawn's shoulder, forcing him to turn around. “Let me see your head.”
“Since you're injured, I'm going to let that one slide.” Shawn winced as Carlton tentatively felt the growing lump on the back of his head. “Keep poking it; that's bound to help,” he complained.
Carlton sighed as he forced Shawn back around. “Quit whining.” He frowned as he looked into Shawn's eyes, checking for signs of a concussion.
Shawn reached up and cupped the uninjured side of Carlton's face, forcing his boyfriend to really look at him. “Carlton, I'm fine.”
Carlton stared at him, eyes searching for any sense of falsehood. “How's the back?”
“Sore, but I'll live.”
“Your arm?”
Shawn held it up. “Bruised but fully functional.”
Carlton nodded, looking a bit more relaxed. “Will you at least sit down? If only for my own piece of mind?”
“Sure.” Shawn sat down next to Carlton, trying to hide the relief he felt to be sitting. His head was pounding and his back was aching but he didn't want to worry his boyfriend any more than he already was. “So are you going to keep saying you're fine or are you going to tell me how you really are?”
“I feel like someone beat the crap out of me,” Carlton said irritably. “I've been in worse fights before; I'll be fine.”
Shawn gave up asking, at least for now. Carlton's ego was already bruised from the fight; his boyfriend wasn't going to admit to any weakness in public after that. He'd just keep his eye on him until he could make sure himself Carlton was really okay.
The bartender came over to them, placing two drinks down on the counter. “You boys look like you could use these. On the house.”
“Thanks Eddy.” Carlton grabbed his drink and tossed it back, making a face as the whiskey burned his throat.
Shawn took a more cautious sip of his own drink. He didn't usually drink whiskey but he could use the numbing effects of the alcohol right now. “Someone should call this in,” he said.
The bartender nodded behind them. “She looks like she's got it taken care of.”
Shawn turned to look. Juliet had moved away from Pete, leaving his two friends and a couple of eager bar patrons to watch over him. She was on her cell phone, a worried Gus hovering nearby. “I bet she would admit if she got hurt,” he muttered.
If Carlton heard the comment, he ignored it. “I hope they can send someone soon. I'll feel better once this guy is off the street and behind bars where he belongs.”
Juliet ended her call and sighed. Gus was immediately in front of her, taking her hands and looking at her in concern. She said something quietly that made Gus relax, a small smile on her face. She turned to walk away but Gus pulled her back, bringing her in for a kiss.
Shawn couldn't help smiling. The two of them were good together. He was glad he set them up on Valentine's Day. He caught Carlton's eye and nodded his head towards the happy couple. “Isn't that sweet?”
“As long as Guster keeps his hands in acceptable areas,” Carlton muttered.
“Acceptable to you or Jules?” Shawn asked teasingly.
Carlton glared at him irritably, though his expression softened somewhat when he looked back at his partner and her boyfriend, who were now talking quietly. “He just better behave himself.”
Juliet and Gus headed over to them. “Dobson and Murphy are on their way to pick him up,” she said. She glanced over to where Pete was now sitting up, holding his head in his heads. “He seems to have calmed down.”
“Too bad it wasn't sooner,” Carlton complained. He pulled the napkin away from the cut on his face, checking to see if it was still bleeding.
“How are you?” Juliet asked.
“I'm fine,” Carlton said shortly, throwing the bloody napkin on the counter.
She glanced at Shawn, who just shrugged. He doubted his boyfriend would admit anything more to her with the mood he was in. She pursed her lips but accepted the lie for now. “Are you planning to press charges?” she asked instead.
“Damn straight,” Carlton said firmly. “Shawn could have been seriously hurt by that bastard.”
“Lassie, I'm fine,” Shawn assured him. Gus raised an eyebrow in disbelief. He had been Shawn's friend for too many years not to be able to tell when he was hiding an injury. He shot Gus a look telling him to keep quiet. “Though I agree with you. I don't like people beating on my boyfriend.”
“Excuse me?” Shawn turned to see one of Pete's friends, Derek, standing there nervously. “I'm really sorry for what my friend did, but he's not normally like that. He just had a bad day and too much too drink. I understand you wanting to press charges but I was hoping I could convince you not to.”
“After he attacked both me and my boyfriend?” Carlton shook his head. “Not gonna happen.”
“Pete's not usually like that. He's really a nice guy,” Derek insisted.
“Yeah, I'm sure all nice guys spew that homophobic garbage,” Shawn said sarcastically. “Look, it's great that your loyal to your friend but maybe you should think about hanging out with a different crowd.”
“He's not that kind of guy,” Derek said, sounding frustrated. “He just made a mistake.”
“We're not talking about overcooking dinner or forgetting to TiVo Cops,” Carlton snapped. “Shawn and I could have been seriously hurt. He's going to have to suck it up and deal with the consequences.”
“You're not getting it.” Derek sighed, rubbing his hands together. “His girlfriend dumped him this morning and his midterm grades were bad enough he's worried about keeping his scholarship. He also got into a huge fight with his dad this morning too.” He looked at Carlton. “I didn't hear all of it, but some of what his dad said was close to what you said to him.”
Shawn winced. That was harsh. No wonder Pete had turned so violent after Carlton made that last remark. He glanced at Carlton.
His boyfriend did not look impressed. “So having a bad day gives him an excuse to lash out at people? To use them as human punching bags?”
“No, I - ” Derek sighed. “His scholarship has a zero tolerance policy. If they find out he was charged with assault, he'll lose it. He won't be able to stay in school if that happens.” He looked at them pleadingly. “Don't let this one mistake ruin the rest of his life.”
“Give us a minute,” Shawn said. Derek took a couple of steps back to give them room to talk. He glanced at Gus and Juliet. “What do you think?”
“You're not seriously considering this,” Carlton looked at his boyfriend in astonishment.
“You heard Derek. This could ruin the kid's life,” Shawn said.
“You want to give him a free pass over that sob story?” Carlton asked.
“He wouldn't go entirely free,” Juliet pointed out. “He's going to be charged on a drunk and disorderly at least.”
“But he'll get away with attacking Shawn,” Carlton argued.
“And he'll get away with attacking you too,” Shawn pointed out.
Carlton frowned. “I thought you wanted to forgive him.”
“Not forgive, just not charge him. There's a difference,” Shawn insisted.
“Not to me,” Carlton said firmly.
“Carlton, we can't do this,” Shawn pleaded.
Carlton shook his head in frustration. “Why do you care what happens to some drunk kid?”
Because I understand what it's like to have a dad disappointed in you. Because I know what it's like to make one mistake and ruin the rest of your life. Because I was that kid. “Let them bring him in on the D&D. A night in jail will scare him straight without having to press formal charges,” Shawn said, speaking from personal experience. “Lesson learned without getting kicked out of school.”
“Shawn, this isn't the same as what happened to you,” Gus said quietly.
Shawn sighed, glancing at his best friend. “It's not,” he agreed. “Because nobody was there to give me a second chance.”
Carlton studied him, deep in thought. “Guster, O'Hara, give us a minute.” He waited for the two of them to walk off before lowering his voice. “Guster is right. This isn't the same.”
“I can't press charges if it means ruining his chance to make something of himself,” Shawn said helplessly. “I just. . . can't.”
Carlton sighed. “All right.” He waved Derek back over. “Here's the deal. If, if, he apologizes to us when he's sober and you three pay for our tab tonight, then maybe I'll think about it.” He glanced at Shawn, who reluctantly nodded his agreement to the terms. He was lucky to get Carlton to agree to that much.
“Absolutely, no problem,” Derek said in relief. “Thank you!”
“Yeah, now get out of here,” Carlton said irritably. Dobson and Murphy had arrived while they were talking and were getting ready to take Pete away. Derek returned to his friends and the five of them left the bar.
“ Thank you,” Shawn said gratefully.
“I just hope we don't regret it,” Carlton said wearily. He waved a hand, calling the bartender over. “Do you have anywhere I can clean up?”
Eddy nodded. “There's an employee bathroom in the back. Use the hallway behind the bar.”
Carlton looked at Shawn. “Stay here. I'll take you home when I get back.” He stood up carefully and slipped away through the crowd.
Juliet and Gus came back over after Carlton left. “You got Carlton to agree to drop the charges?” Juliet asked.
Shawn nodded. “Though I don't think he was happy about it.”
“He wouldn't be.” She frowned, looking at Shawn seriously. “How is he, really?”
Shawn sighed. “I don't think he's too badly hurt, though his pride certainly took a hit.” He looked in the direction his boyfriend had walked off. “I hope he's not too upset with me.”
“I think he's more upset with himself.” She shook her head at Shawn's incredulous look. “You know how protective he is. He probably feels he should have prevented you from getting hurt at all and letting Pete go free just makes it worse.”
Shawn nodded slowly. “You're probably right.” He glanced again towards the hallway behind the counter. “I'm going to go talk to him,” he said, hopping off the bar stool.
“Good luck,” Juliet said. She wrapped an arm around Gus. “Let us know how it goes.”
“I have my sample case in the car if you need anything,” Gus offered.
“Thanks, both of you,” Shawn said. He watched the couple head back towards their table before winding his way through the crowd to go talk some sense into his boyfriend.
Part 3