Chapter 5: The Reeling

Waking up curled up in a ball on a hard couch wasn't the best way to start off the day, but Shawn attempted to shake that off as he blinked and looked around the basement. The girls had stayed up all night watching movies, but after the fight with Eamon, Shawn had been unable to get in a better mood and so had fallen asleep in the exact position he had lain down in.

Slowly sitting up, he felt his back crack all the way up to his neck, and a run through of his hand in his hair let him know he was rocking a serious bedhead.

"Welcome to the world." He muttered, standing up and stretching.

Girl voices drifted down the stairs from the kitchen along with the smell of breakfast, and he took no time in bounding up the stairs. Pancakes were being cooked up, and a pile was steaming on the counter already.

"Eat up please before everyone else wakes up and devours it." Evita said over her shoulder while flipping a few cakes.

Shawn grabbed some off the plate and chewed on them dry as he gave Evita a hug.

"What's that for, you leaving already?" She asked, turning to drop more finished pancakes onto the plate.

"I have some stuff I really want to get done today." Shawn said, not quite meeting her eyes.

"What kind of stuff do you need to do that you wouldn't get specific about with me?" She wondered, her hands finding her hips in a motherly stance.

"It's not that I don' want to give details, it's just that I haven't properly sorted those details out for myself yet.." Shawn glanced at her face and then back out the window to where the day was still starting.

"Life changing details? Boy details? You're killing me with this!" She sighed, throwing her arms up in the air.

"All of the above?" Shawn shrugged, finally smiling a little.

"What do you think of my hair?" He leaned against the counter, snatching another cake and chewing it slowly.

"What's there to think on it? It's just there." Evita stated with a smirk, reaching out to ruffle his head.

"Don't. I'm being serious, I have been thinking lately my life would be drastically different if I just tried a little harder. Maybe a change will do me good." Shawn began ripping a pancake apart in his hands before setting it back on the counter.

"Well I agree, some change around here would be for the best." She eyed him up and down. "You really are naturally adorable though, so whatever you do; don't mess it up!"

Both laughed before Shawn straightened up, gave Evita one last smile and headed out the door. The air was crisp and fresh, and already he could smell the earth trying to come alive again.

All was calm and still inside his house, appearing to be exactly as he left it. The light of morning brought everything into a softer, warmer light than the night before, he could almost forget where he was and think it was a pleasant place to be. Almost.

The water glass had been emptied and the pill taken from his father's bedside table, but the man slept on looking deceptively peaceful. He still slept on only one side of the bed, and there were hints of femininity all over the room that were obviously not his father's possessions.

After a quick shower to shake off the feeling that always follows sleeping someplace other than his bed, Shawn was ready to take on the mess of the house. The kitchen needed the most help, so he headed there first. All the bottles were rinsed out and shoved in the recycling bin, along with the empty envelopes from mail that his father left laying on every flat surface of the house.

Still hearing nothing from the upstairs he cooked up enough food for his father to have dinner ready each night of the week, and stacked them in the fridge in order. His father and he had worked out a system earlier in the winter about meals after Shawn noticed his father losing a considerable amount of weight and not doing anything about it. He had stopped taking care of himself or anything else for that matter, which had caused Shawn to become the man of the house. He had had to learn how to cook on his own, meaning the first several meals were terrible and practically not edible. Slowly it was improving to a point where he didn't have to focus on not tasting what was going in his mouth and was instead kind of enjoyable.

He had had his father set aside a small amount of money every two weeks for the ladies at church to grocery shop for them and bring it right to the house. Shawn knew they'd be eating crackers and dog food if they didn't have that, his father didn't care at all and taking groceries home on the bus was just too difficult to do alone.

Noting the progression of the sun in the sky Shawn decided the rest of the house could wait, and went out for a walk. It had turned into a beautiful day, hardly any wind and a strong sun melting everything around him as he went through the city.

He lost track of time, suddenly looking around to notice he'd made it almost downtown. People were all around him, going about their lives without any thought to anyone else in the crowd.

Off to the right side there was an opening to an alley, and Shawn figured it was a good place to get out of people's way and check his phone. It was obvious what time Evita had spread the news about him wanting to change his look, because the girls had flooded his phone with hair suggestions.

Quietly laughing at their attempts to make the decision for him, Shawn shoved the phone back into his pocket and jumped as something crashed behind him.

The lid to a large green dumpster had been thrown open by a boy who was tossing in garbage bags. A chord trailed from an ear down into his plaid blue jacket, a cloud of music floating out from it and reaching Shawn's ears.

His eyes ran over the boy before realizing everything seemed rather familiar. The perfectly disheveled hair, the well fitting pants, the posture, the judgmental expression on that gorgeous face...

Thai.

"What're you doing out here?" Thai asked, standing on tiptoe to recover the dumpster with a loud bang.

"I was going for a walk, I guess." Shawn shrugged, glancing from Thai to the ground and back again.

"You aren't stalking me, are you?" Thai asks with a smirk, taking a step closer.

Shawn's eyes widened in surprise. "Why would I be stalking you? I only just met you! Honestly I didn't know you would be wandering some alley." He paused, reassessing the situation. "Why ARE you in this alley?"

Shrugging, Thai threw his head back and laughed, turning around to walk away. He stopped in front of a beat up metal door painted the shade of gray saved for cloudy days where nothing seems to go right. Hand resting on the scratched brass door knob, he turned his head back towards Shawn, causing his hair to swing and flip like a shampoo commercial.

"You should have said you were stalking me, I'd've been flattered." A smirk worked at the corner of his mouth a minute before he composed himself.

Shawn frowned a little, but a quick dark blur and a slamming door were all he had to respond to in a moment as Thai slipped inside the tall brick building.

The sounds of the city seemed to become muted as Shawn stood in the empty alley, wondering what the hell had just happened to him. Loud music started booming from one of the windows above his head, and he wondered if that was Thai doing it purposely.

Then it hit him. Thai was throwing trash away, and went in that building which were obvious signs that he either lived here or was here enough to have a key.

As quick as was possibly Shawn ran to the front of the street and peered at the brick building's entrance. A burgundy awning and scrawling letters on the windows informed him that this was a hair salon.

"It can't get much more perfect than this!" He thought excitedly, a plan already forming in his head.

A/N: Hey, I'm so sorry about the long wait to post up this chapter. I hate to use the whole "personal life got in the way of writing" excuse again, but basically yeah. My life cracked open but it's all cleaned up and I've been writing like crazy

Please review so I know you are out there and wanting me to continue posting