Too Much To Bare

[musicalluna]

Title: Too Much To Bare
Fandom: Psych
Author: MusicalLuna
Rating: T
Characters/Pairings: Shawn
Genre: Humor, Hurt/Comfort
Warnings: None
Complete: Yes
Summary: Even Shawn gets into situations he just doesn't want to talk about.
A/N: For dragonnan's fantasy for nekkid!Shawn. XD
Disclaimer: The show doesn't belong to me or Shawn and Gus would be a lot more in sync. Probably disturbingly so.

 

“Shawn?”

 

At the sound of Juliet's voice, Shawn swore, staggered back, and promptly fell onto his bare butt.

 

Into the ocean.

 

Again.

 

His entire body seized up in response to the frigid ocean water, goosebumps spreading in waves across his bare back and shoulders before flooding down his arms. As soon as the shock wore off, he immediately began shivering, shoulders hunching and the water lapping at his equally bare ankles and lower back, only to make his shivering worse.

 

“Shawn?” Juliet called again, sounding more hopeful and less anxious.

 

“N-no, no, no!” Shawn hissed to himself, “Go away! I don't need your help anymore!”

 

“Shawn?” She was even closer now.

 

Then, without warning, a light bloomed over him, hitting him directly in the eyes and he hissed, throwing his hands up to protect his eyes.

 

“Shawn!” Juliet exclaimed and then, much to his horror, turned and shouted, “I've found him! Carlton! Gus! Over here!”

 

He wasn't sure if it was fortunate or unfortunate that he could see again when she came jogging toward him across the beach. “Shawn, are you okay? We've been looking everywhere for you!” She paused at the water's edge, looking incredulously at him. “What are you doing in the water? Get out of there, it's freezing!”

 

“N-n-no, I think I'll j-just stay here,” Shawn said, trying to ignore violently chattering teeth. “I'm f-f-fine. Y-you guys go on w-without me.”

 

“Don't be ridiculous,” she told him. “You called us.” Then concern took over her features again. “Are you hurt?”

 

“S-s-seriousl-ly, J-Jules, I'm f-f-fine,” he said, but got the impression that she wasn't buying it.

 

Juliet stepped forward tentatively, reaching out and said, “Come on, you're going to—” A frown creased her forehead. “Shawn, where's your shirt?”

 

Another light hit the water near his waist, his dad's voice shouting, “Shawn? What the hell is wrong with you?”

 

“Jesus Christ, Spencer,” Lassiter snarled a second later from another direction. “You had better be bleeding or I'll cut your fingers off before we get off this godforsaken beach.”

 

Juliet was still peering at him, trying to figure out why he wasn't wearing a shirt and probably searching for injuries to explain why he was being so difficult; Shawn's face grew hot at record speeds when he saw her eyes go wide.

 

It was Gus though, still a good twenty feet down the beach, further than any of the others, who said it out loud. “Oh my god. Shawn! Why the hell are you naked?!”

 

Shawn closed his eyes with a groan wishing he'd just lain down in the water and drowned. Now he was going to die a slow death from hypothermia and humiliation.

 

Putting his forehead against his knees so he wouldn't have to actually look at any of them, he called back, “It's a long story.”

 

“Summarize,” Lassiter snapped.

 

“Have you gone insane, Shawn?” his father demanded. “Get out of the water! I don't care if the entire world sees your bare ass, you are not going to catch hypothermia because you were too stupid to get out of the freezing cold water!”

 

“Technically, Mr. Spencer, you don't catch hypothermia—” He shut up abruptly and Shawn could just imagine the death glare his father was laying on him right now.

 

“I th-th-think I would r-rather f-f-freeze to death, th-thanks,” Shawn said.

 

Henry muttered something that was probably extremely uncomplimentary and then Shawn's head snapped up at the sound of someone entering the water. It was too late for his already well-chilled body to resist. Henry grabbed him around the arm, dragging him to his feet and pulling him bodily toward shore. Juliet, Lassiter, and Gus all flinched, eyes closing as their hands came up to block anything they didn't really want to see even as Shawn's hands dropped to provide what little protection they could.

 

Shawn was offended. “It's not l-like I have r-r-rolls or anything.”

 

“This is disgusting,” Lassiter said.

 

“Please, Shawn. You're the one who's ashamed of being naked.”

 

“It's not that—” Juliet started apologetically.

 

“For God's sake, Shawn, just move, will you?” his dad said and tugged sharply on his elbow. Shawn took a step forward, but his feet had gone pretty much numb from sitting in cold water for almost ten minutes and he was immediately thrown off-balance, falling face-first into the sand.

 

“Dammit!”

 

He pushed up, spluttering and spitting sand. “Walking is n-not w-working for muh-muh-me!” he shouted, patience starting to run extremely thin.

 

“No kidding,” Henry said, “That's what happens when you sit in ice cold water like an idiot.”

 

“Nobody has something I can cover up with? Really?” he demanded, refusing to acknowledge the tugs of his father's hand and instead opting to curl up on the wet sand at his feet, pulling his knees toward his chest.

 

“My jacket would never fit you,” Juliet said helplessly.

 

“No,” Lassiter growled when four sets of eyes turned toward him. “Not a chance. I paid eight hundred dollars for this suit!”

 

Shawn groaned. “S-seriously. J-just leave me here to die. It would be more h-humane.”

 

“How did you even wind up out here naked in the first place?” Juliet asked.

 

Shawn gave up. It wasn't like he had any pride left anyway, what was the point trying to protect it? “I was g-getting r-ready to take a sh-shower at my dad's house because I d-didn't feel like going all the way b-back to my place. Someone br-broke in and came after me with a knife. I ran, he p-pursued.” His face burned as he pressed his forehead to his knees, mumbling, “Somewhere along the way I lost the guy...and my towel. I th-think it had something to do with the c-case, G-Gus and I are w-working.”

 

“Unbelievable,” Henry muttered.

 

“Oh, I believe it,” Gus said.

 

“I can't feel my fingers and toes anymore,” he informed them, voice louder than necessary.

 

Henry rolled his eyes and then leaned down, hooking a hand under his arm. “Gus, give me a hand with him.”

 

“You owe me, Shawn,” Gus said, but he moved in without hesitation, pulling one of Shawn's arms over his shoulder.

 

Juliet flushed as they pulled him upright, diverting her eyes and said, “I'll, um, I'll go get a blanket, or something, out of the car.”

 

And then she was gone.

 

Lassiter jabbed a finger at him, while pointedly keeping his gaze on his face. “This is technically a crime, Spencer. You're lucky I don't arrest your ass and throw you in a cell, naked and hypothermic or no.”

 

His eyes flicked sideways for the barest of seconds and Shawn sighed. His dad was throwing around the death glares again.

 

“It's not like I enjoy this, Lassie.”

 

“Thank God.”

 

As they were crossing from sand to black top, Juliet returned with one of the huge woolen blankets paramedics and firefighters usually doled out. She threw it over his shoulders and then, still unable to look him in the eye, said, “Try not to do this again, okay?”

 

“Oh, don't worry. I won't,” he muttered.

 

Shawn was never getting undressed again. Ever.