How did Gus convince himself?

[u/Capital-Factor-382]

Shawn and Gus were friends during school days but they grew apart in their YA days. At some point Shawn must have bulldozed his way into Gus' life. I'm pretty sure Gus wasn't all peachy with that. We know from Blackapella episode that Gus doesn't mind holding grudges against his mates. So, how do you think Gus convinced himself to let Shawn back into his life?

[u/SpiritedOwl_2298]

I don’t think there was ever a grudge to be had though, that’s why. I think Shawn was dealing with his own issues, jumping around from job to job, traveling a lot. I don’t think he went to college? So he probably left town after high school while Gus went to college and made his college friends. They must have kept in touch because in the first episode Gus doesn’t seem surprised to see him and he already knows where Gus lives and works. Gus only had a grudge with the two friends who betrayed him, but he stayed in touch with the third. I think he was probably glad to have Shawn come back into his life, but they were only apart for those years because of their own personal lives, not anything due to the friendship itself

[u/whole_chocolate_milk]

Gus was in college. Shawn was doing his thing, they never make refrence to any animosity ever occuring between the two.

My best friend and I have known each other since we were 5. When we were both in college and living in very different parts of the country. We did not hang out as much. Then after college, we were in the same city for a while and hung out daily.

Now we live a few hours apart and don't see each other nearly as much. That's just how long term friendships work sometimes. The friendship never goes away, but proximity affects daily hangs.

[u/Boris-_-Badenov]

Shawn moved around with his jobs, he just wasn't there daily

[u/currenthyperfxation]

Shawn and Gus never actually had a falling out, they just went their separate ways for a bit. Shawn was jumping from job to job around the world, while Gus went to college and got a steady job. Even though they haven’t seen each other, there wasn’t any bad blood between them. In the pilot, Shawn comes back to Santa Barbara to collect tip money before he gets busted, so he probably tells Gus he’s in town before then. If Shawn didn’t have the idea for Psych, he and Gus probably would have hung out for a couple of weeks before Shawn blew out of town again.

[u/WhiteKnightPrimal]

He didn't, Shawn never left Gus' life. Sure, there was a distance during their younger adult days compared to their kid/teen days, but it was more a physical distance thing than an emotional one. Shawn was bouncing around the world while Gus was going to college and starting a settled adult life, but they were still in touch during that time. It's just that Gus wasn't being dragged on crazy adventures because he and Shawn were physically separated. I'm sure there were times they met up during those years that included crazy adventures, though, so it never really changed, just got less often, then picked back up when Shawn moved back home.

Gus had spent years becoming acclimatised to Shawn's type of crazy, this is normal for Gus. I'm sure he loved the break he got while Shawn was travelling, but I think he also really missed the crazy and welcomed it when it returned, he just won't admit that fact.

Gus has always been Shawn's constant. His best friend growing up, pretty much his only friend, but also the one he kept in contact with during his travels. Shawn cut Henry off completely, and contact with Madeline doesn't appear to have been consistent or regular, it felt like they could go a few years with no contact and not even notice. But Gus? That would have been constant texting and phone calls and emails, meeting up when they were near. The friendship was fully maintained during those years despite the physical distance.

And Shawn never did anything for Gus to hold a grudge over back then. Not that Gus knew about, anyway. And, yes, Gus can hold a grudge when he wants to, but have you noticed? Never with Shawn. Look at the whole thing with Joy. If Gus was going to hold a grudge against Shawn, it was going to be hooking up with his sister. Especially given Shawn didn't admit it back when it happened. Yet it took Gus a day, at most, to completely forgive Shawn.

There's a difference between Gus' college friends and Shawn. The college friends are just that, friends, nothing more. Shawn is family, has been since they were little kids. Shawn and Gus are the embodiment of platonic soulmates, it's what makes their friendship so perfect. It doesn't matter their differences or issues, they always come together and have each others backs, they always forgive each other and support each other in their own ways. They're brothers in all but blood, best friends, the other half of each other, and they're a package deal. You can't have Shawn without Gus and you can't have Gus without Shawn, if someone tries to make them choose, that someone will lose, because Shawn and Gus will always choose each other. Anyone who wants to be with Shawn or Gus has to accept the other as part of the deal, part of the family, or it won't work.

Gus didn't need to forgive anything or let go of a grudge or be convinced or bulldozed for Shawn to come back into his life fully when he went home, because Shawn never did anything to push Gus that far away and never left his life in the first place, not really. When Shawn returned, they just automatically slotted back into each others lives as if Shawn had never left in the first place, because he never really did.