I came up with this idea for the domestic prompt for Shassie Week back in April but never got around to finishing it until now. I know I haven't posted anything Shassie related in awhile so hopefully this helps make up for it.

Carlton pushed open his front door, glad to finally be home. It had been a long stressful day and all he wanted to do was sit down with a drink and relax.

As he walked through the doorway, he tripped over his boyfriend's shoes, which he had left in the middle of the hallway again, and had to quickly put out a hand to catch himself from falling. Growling, he slammed the door shut and kicked the shoes next to his own so they would be out of the way.

He could hear the noise of the TV coming from further back in the house. A glance into the kitchen showed the sink piled with dirty dishes. He continued down the hallway and walked into the living room.

The table and floor in front of the couch was littered with old take-out containers, candy wrappers, and empty beer bottles and soda cans. The floor was littered with crumbs and there was something sticky looking on one corner of the table. A haphazardly stacked pile of video games and DVDs on one end of the table threatened to fall on the gummi bear village next to it (complete with Swedish fish in the 'rivers' and gummy rabbits hopping between houses built of graham crackers).

The perpetrator of this mess was lying on his back on the couch, his legs draped over the back. He was watching the TV upside down; or he would have been if he hadn't somehow flipped the TV and propped it up precariously so he could watch it from that position.

"Shawn, what are you doing?" Carlton asked wearily.

Shawn twisted his head, the smile on his face looking weird upside down. "Lassie! You're finally home." He flipped himself upright. Carlton cringed when his foot almost knocked over a mostly full beer bottle off the table. "I was almost ready to go down to the station and drag you home myself."

"I bet," Carlton said dryly. He put his briefcase down next to the end of the couch and gestured around the room. "You promised me you would clean up your mess today. Instead, it looks worse than it did this morning."

Shawn rubbed the back of his neck as he looked around the room. "Yeah, I was meaning to get to it but I lost track of time. I was helping my teammates protect themselves from the zombie horde. It was really brutal Lassie; I think zkiller81 is going to need therapy."

Carlton raised an eyebrow. "So you sat on the couch all day drinking and playing video games."

"First off, I only had a couple of drinks. Any more would have destroyed by impeccable hand-eye coordination and led to the gruesome death of my fellow survivors," Shawn said. Since Carlton only saw two bottles lying on the floor and knew Shawn wasn't a big drinker, he was willing to give in on this point. "Second, I did not spend all day on the couch. I made dinner."

"And left all the dirty dishes in the sink, along with last night's." Carlton sighed. "Look, I don't mind if you're here during the day but I can't stand you leaving the place looking like this. I'm tired of cleaning up after you."

"I know and I'm sorry," Shawn said, sounding sincere. "I promise it won't happen again."

Carlton crossed his arms. "I've heard that before." And he would keep hearing it until he showed Shawn he was serious about this. "I told you what would happen if things didn't change."

"You were serious about that?" Shawn asked in surprise.

Carlton nodded and held out his hand. "My key, Shawn."

Shawn pulled his keys out of his pocket and detached the one Carlton had given him less than a month ago. "Can't we talk about this?" he protested, holding the key tightly in his hand.

Carlton shook his head. "We've been over this a dozen times and nothing has changed."

"But Lassie – "

Carlton held up a hand to cut him off. "I'm tired enough when I get home without having to worry about cleaning up your mess. For God's sake, you're thirty-one years old. It's time you started acting like an adult instead of a child," he snapped.

"It never bothered you before," Shawn said softly.

"It did." Carlton looked away from the surprised hurt in Shawn's eyes. "I don't want someone to take care of. I want an equal; a partner." He sighed. "I'm not sure we're looking for the same thing in this relationship."

Shawn inhaled sharply. "Are you breaking up with me?"

Carlton could feel the tension building between them as Shawn waited for an answer. He hadn't meant to say it but now that it was out there he had to admit it was something he had been wondering for awhile now. Did he want to break up with Shawn? They got along pretty well most of the time but he couldn't deny they had some major issues. Was it worth it to try working through them or should they just through in the towel now? Carlton groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose as he felt a massive headache forming. "Honestly? I don't know."

Shawn approached him slowly. When he was standing right in front of Carlton, he pressed the key into his hand. "I think it would be a big mistake to let a catch like me go." Shawn attempted a smile but it was weak and forced and he quickly gave it up. "Let me know what you decide," he said quietly. He hesitated, then gave Carlton a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving.

Carlton sighed, turning over the key in his hand. They had fought before, and often, but this was their biggest fight yet. They had only been dating three months; was their entire relationship going to be like this?

Carlton shook his head. He was too tired to think clearly right now and pissed at how the case at work had gone down and now the mess he had to deal with. A night apart would be good for them right now. Tomorrow, after he got some rest, maybe he could figure out what he wanted to do.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Pulling it out, he saw it was a text from Shawn. He almost deleted it but instead reminded himself he was an adult and it could be important and opened it.

Dinner's in the oven. Made your favorite since you had a bad day.

I'm really sorry Carlton

He walked into the kitchen and opened the oven door. Sure enough, he saw two juicy steaks and a large pan of homefries. He could tell by the smell Shawn had made the fries from scratch using his grandmother's recipe. He glanced at the sink and saw that yesterday's dishes had been cleaned. The only ones there were the ones from tonight. The counter had also been wiped down and the empty bottles and cartons were gone.

The small bit of cleaning only made him more depressed instead of happy. He figured Shawn had gotten bored while cooking and only cleaned to keep himself busy. His boyfriend certainly hadn't touched the rest of the house.

He took off his jacket and laid it over the back of a chair and rolled up his sleeves. Then he pulled out some Tupperware containers and foil and wrapped up the dinner. He was too upset now to eat, even if he knew he should be starving since he had skipped lunch. He just didn't have an appetite anymore.

As he was wrapping the steaks, it struck him that Shawn must have been waiting until he came home to eat. He didn't know why, but that thought only made him more upset.

Throwing the food in the fridge, he grabbed down the bottle of Jack Daniel's and poured himself a double. The whiskey burned going down and the warmth did little to ease the coldness he felt inside. Pouring himself a second drink, he took the glass with him into the bedroom.

Shawn's clothes were still thrown about the room, though a small pile on the bed may have been an attempt to straighten up. He picked up the pile and dumped it on the chair in the corner. He placed his gun and holster carefully on the dresser along with his badge, wallet and phone. He sipped his drink as he stripped down, for once not caring as his clothes fell carelessly to the floor.

He finished the drink and climbed into bed, trying to ignore the yawning emptiness next to him. He hoped the booze would help knock him out but his mind refused to let him go that easy. It kept replaying what happened, substituting other things he or Shawn could have said that would have led to them sharing the bed together tonight.

He tossed and turned for hours until finally falling into an uneasy sleep.

When Carlton woke up, sunlight was peeking through his window shade and a warm weight was pressed against his back. The sunlight was expected; he usually slept in on his days off and considering how long it took to fall asleep the night before he wasn't surprised he slept later than usual. The person sharing his bed was not, though he felt he shouldn't be surprised. Shawn had always had an issue obeying rules and boundaries.

Carlton rolled over carefully and looked at his bedmate. Shawn looked tired even in his sleep, as if he too had been up most of the night unable to rest. There was a black smudge on the side of his face and he was still fully dressed laying on top of the sheets. He was curled up into a ball on his side, frowning slightly. It was the way he slept when something was really bothering him.

Carlton should wake him but he still wasn't sure what he was going to say. It would be better to let him sleep while he had a cup of coffee. He was sure he would need plenty of it; between the sure to be uncomfortable talk with Shawn and the disaster his apartment was it was going to be a busy day.

He carefully slipped out of bed and went to the dresser to grab a pair of sweat pants to throw on. He felt there was something different about the room, but couldn't figure out what it was. He shrugged. After coffee.

He walked down the hallway, yawning, and entered the kitchen. He stopped short and stared, wondering if the lack of sleep was causing him to hallucinate.

The room was spotless. All the dishes had been washed and put away. The counters were sparkling, the stove scrubbed, and the floor mopped. Even the cobwebs in the corners of the ceiling had been removed.

In a daze, he stumbled towards the living room. Here, too, a miraculous change had taken place from the night before. The television was once again in its upright position. Shawn's Xbox and games were sitting neatly in front of it on the floor. All the garbage had been picked up and the table scrubbed. He could see some crumbs in the carpet but there wasn't much Shawn could have done about that without running the vacuum and that would have woken him up and ruined the surprise.

And boy was Carlton surprised.

Not only had Shawn cleaned, he had done it quietly enough that Carlton had slept through it. He knew part of the reason was so he wouldn't wake up and kick Shawn out again but he wanted to believe Shawn also wanted him to get some sleep.

Walking back to the bedroom, Carlton figured out what had bothered him before. Shawn had cleaned in here as well; all the dirty clothes were off the floor and in the hamper. The suit he had worn yesterday was hanging neatly on a hanger off the closet door, ready to go to the dry cleaners.

He wondered how Shawn had managed it all. He must have been more tired than he thought or Shawn could actually move silently if he put his mind to it. He tried to imagine Shawn sneaking quietly into places and found it wasn't too much of a stretch. The man was way too curious for his own good and he was sure that skill had been put to less altruistic purposes before.

Carlton shook his head. It didn't really matter. The point was that Shawn had cleaned the apartment. The question now was what Carlton was going to do about it.

He climbed back onto the bed and laid down facing Shawn. He gently touched the side of his face. "Shawn, wake up."

Shawn groaned, scrunching his face and curling tighter into himself. Carlton cupped his face and brushed his thumb across his cheek. "Shawn, you have to get up."

Shawn sighed. "Lassie, don't want to," he muttered softly.

"We need to talk."

Shawn's body stiffened as his sleepy brain finally remembered how they had left things last night. He slowly opened his eyes and looked warily at Carlton. "Hi," he said finally.

"Hi." Carlton pulled his hand away and propped himself up on one elbow. "You cleaned the apartment."

"You asked me too," Shawn reminded him.

"I asked you to yesterday," Carlton said.

"Well, better late than never, right." Shawn chuckled nervously.

Carlton sighed. "It's not that simple."

Shawn sighed too. "I know." He rolled onto his back and looked up at Carlton. "I'm really sorry. I know you like to keep your place neat. I shouldn't have trashed it like I did. I won't say it won't happen again but I promise to clean up if it does."

"Sounds fair," Carlton said slowly. "But I need to apologize too."

Shawn frowned in confusion. "What for?"

"I keep expecting you to be someone your not." Carlton held up a hand to stop Shawn from interrupting him. "I'm not saying I don't appreciate the small changes you've made or want you to stop. I just need to accept that at heart you are a messy, irresponsible person."

"And is that the type of person you can see yourself being with?" Shawn asked quietly.

"I can learn to live with coming home to the occasional mess or unwashed dishes. Especially when you make me dinner after a long day or let me put on history documentaries even when I know they bore you." He reached across the gap between them and grabbed Shawn's hand. "You can't pick and choose what part of a person you like. It's all or nothing and I don't want it to be nothing."

"Me neither." Shawn closed the gap between them and kissed him.

Carlton's hand came up to curl in Shawn's hair but he pulled away when he encountered something sticky. He broke off the kiss and made a face. "You're filthy."

Shawn raised an eyebrow. "In a good way or a bad way?"

"Bad. We're going to have to change the sheets."

Shawn leered at him suggestively. "Well, if we're going to have to anyway we could make them really dirty."

Carlton sighed and gave Shawn a shove. "Shower. Now."

Shawn pouted but climbed out of bed. He started walking towards the bathroom, then paused. "Would you care to join me?" he asked, glancing back over his shoulder saucily.

Carlton grinned and got up. "Now that you mention it, I could use some freshening up myself." He followed Shawn into the bathroom, glad he had decided to give this relationship another chance.

I don't want to jinx anything but I may have a new chapter of Outed ready to go soon (for those of you still reading it). And one of these days I'll find time to sit down and answer reviews. I promise I do read each and every one of them and they do mean a lot to me when you leave them.