Title: A Day In The Life

Author: Shawn's Pineapple

Rating: T / PG - 13ish

Disclaimer: I don't own Psych or anything you may and probably will recognize. All characters and story elements, except the plot of this, belong to Steve Franks and USA Network. James Roday owns himself and sadly I never will.

Summary: Shawn's POV. A day in the life of one Shawn Spencer, 24 style.

It was gaining on me. What it was, I wasn't sure but I knew I wasn't going to sit around and find out. I could hear it catching up to me, the growling louder than I remembered now.

It was hungry.

And it wanted me.

I ran faster, as fast as I could go while looking back every other second. I could see its bright, red, evil eyes in the darkness, just waiting for me to slip up and devour my existance before I could even scream.

That did not sound pleasant. At all.

The rumbling from the beast was so loud now, that I could barely hear myself breathing. It sounded like it hadn't eaten in a month. Of course, it would pick the time when I came by to fill its stomach...

I rounded a bend and found myself in a clearing. The sun was shining here. The birds were chirping. And Gus was sitting on a blanket with a picnic basket.

"Dude, what are you doing here?" I asked, more confused by the presence of Gus and the basket than the fact that the sky just parted and the sun was shining.

"I don't know," he shrugged from his spot on the red blanket, "It's your dream."

"Hmm," I mused out loud. That made sense, in a weird sort of way. I took in the scene in front of me; there was practically a mountain of food on the blanket, all fresh and recently made, "You made me a picnic? That was so nice of you, man." I walked over toward the food and took a seat on the blanket.

"I didn't make it," Gus announced as I sat down, "It was like this when I got here."

I glanced over at him, curiously, "Where did you come from anyway?"

"Like I said, Shawn, this is your dream. Maybe you wanted company while you ate."

I considered that. And then I totally forgot about everything because a big, chocolate cake was staring me in the face. It was like heaven covered in Devil's Food frosting.

Before I could reach out and taste it, I heard the growling coming from the forest again. I turned to see if Gus heard the noise, but he was gone now. My dreams sure were strange...

I saw the creature coming out of the thick bushes and what I saw brought a scream to my lips. Lassie.

My eyes flew open and I hesitantly looked over at the clock, because I'm known to do that in the morning, and I groaned. That was no monster, or Lassie, it was my stomach. Why couldn't it have waited until after noon to wake me up? That was just so wrong...and yet, I was almost thankful because whether I wanted to believe it or not, I was starving and the pain in my stomach was interfering with my usually great dreams. Although, I have to admit, the cake did look delicious...

I almost fell out of the bed as I rolled back over, but thankfully, the tangle of blankets stopped the floor from breaking my fall. The door was closer to this side of the bed, which meant a shorter walk, and any way to make this journey shorter was definitely a plus. It was bad enough I had to walk all the way into the kitchen now, so every step I could save made me less likely to fully wake up. After all, I was just going to grab a bowl of cereal and then fall back to sleep. Well, after eating the cereal, but I didn't hate the idea of eating it while I laid in my warm, not slept in enough, according to me, bed.

At times like this, I really wish I still lived with my dad. I kind of miss the days when he'd have breakfast ready for me and I could just sit there and eat someone else's hard work; the only muscles I needed to move were the ones in my jaw. And maybe the ones that were in my arm...and hand so I could actually get the food to my mouth. And, it was at times like that, when I missed being a baby, so I didn't have to do anything but spit up my food on people.

I miss being younger.

The kitchen wasn't as messy as I thought I'd left it but that didn't bother me, there was always today. At least it was easier to find a bowl and a spoon and the faster I could shove the delicious flavor of Cheerios in my mouth, the faster I'd get back in my bed and hopefully, sleep the day away. I didn't mind mornings really, I just didn't like the fact that they started so early. I spent enough time getting up early to go to school, I think life owes me big time now.

I searched the counter for that yellow box of love and found it almost instantly. It was almost empty, showing my less than enthusiastic approach at cooking, and that meant I would have to buy some more soon. Or I could go see if Dad had any. I think he still eats Cheerios...

I found the carton of milk right next to the Cheerios and...hey, wait. I could've sworn I put that away yesterday. I wasn't drunk, so that wasn't an excuse. And I wasn't sleep walking, at least not to my knowledge anyway. Maybe Gus came and left it out on purpose so I'd have to get out of the house. He was good but he wasn't that good. Was he?

Oh, wait, nevermind. I remember now. I got up like this yesterday and forgot to put it away before I went back to sleep on the couch. Well, that solves that mystery. My daily quota is fulfilled. That should make Gus extremely happy.

But what was I going to put in my Cheerios?

There was water but that would just be weird. That's not to say that I haven't tried that before because yeah, I so did.

I could always just eat it dry. No milk, no water, no nothing. But that wouldn't satisfy the hunger of my soul. The hunger of my stomach, sure, but not my heart that craved the promise of lower cholesterol the box proudly displayed. I don't have high cholesterol and I don't think the milk has anything to do with lowering it but still, it would bother me.

Then, again, I could just use the milk. Who's to say it goes bad when it's left out? Those people who put the warnings and expiration dates on things don't know anything. I've had stuff stay out longer than it's "supposed" to and it never tasted any funnier than it usually did, to me anyway.

I wonder how bad the milk smells...

I placed my bowl on the counter and picked up the white carton. I shook it, trying to figure out if it sounded lumpy or out of the ordinary for milk. It didn't. Then, I smelled it. It was kind of hard to smell through the carton but I wasn't about to just stick my nose in there. What if it really did reek? I'd probably never be able to get rid of that smell. Everywhere I go and everyone I sniff would all smell...moldy and sour and...I just don't want to think about it anymore.

Surprisingly, the milk didn't smell...that bad, anyway. But I still wasn't about to use it.

So, I grabbed the box of Cheerios and poured as much as I could into the big fruit bowl that I had in my apartment for some weird reason. I didn't mind though, it was a big bowl and since I didn't like making multiple trips to the kitchen, it was nice.

I snatched up my spoon as I made my way back toward my room. Just the thought of my bed made me sleepy and I really, desperately wanted to eat this food as fast as I could. Maybe the biggest bowl I owned wasn't such a good idea after all.

Oh, well.

Just before I could step into my sanctuary, there was a knock on the door and I seriously almost cried in that very spot.

"Whaaaaat?" I whined, hoping whoever was on the other side would just leave.

"It's me. Your dad called."

Oh, Gus, you're my best friend and everything but I could very easily kill you right now with this very bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios...although, it would be messy and I'd never get around to cleaning it. There's always a downside to everything.

"What did he want?" I still hadn't moved from my spot by the bedroom door. It was heartbreaking. With just a few steps, I'd be in my safezone, away from the rest of the world...and Gus. It was like it was taunting me. 'The bed's so soft and the blankets are so comfy, it's like being in heaven. But you're not allowed in heaven, Shawn. You know why? Because no one likes you.' Stupid few steps.

"Shawn, I'm not going to talk to you through the door." Why not? I smelled the milk through the carton. "Either open it up or I'm leaving."

I was all for him leaving so I could go back to sleep but I couldn't shake the feeling that if he left, he wasn't ever coming back. I wouldn't put it past him. Especially in the morning; I know how cranky Gus can get.

I sighed, "Fine, fine. I'm coming."

I moved the bowl of cereal over to my right arm and unlocked the door with my free hand. Gus was probably going to yell at me for sleeping so late, when in reality, I was up way too early today.

"Finally," I heard Gus mutter as I swung the door open, "I thought you went back to sleep."

"I was planning on it."

Gus rolled his eyes before they fell on my bowl of uneaten, unmilked cereal. I unconsciously picked at the cereal pieces like popcorn and crunched on them; they sounded extra loud without milk. I'd forgotten that. Hmm.

"What the hell are you doing?" Gus asked, looking at the bowl and then looking at me, "What? You can't afford milk? Or did you leave it out again?"

I was surprised; how did he know? Maybe I was wrong. He probably did leave it on my counter yesterday. Oh, he was good.

"You say that like I do it all the time, dude. It was once or maybe twice if I'm remembering a real memory or not from yesterday. Besides, it's not that bad this way. Want some?" I held the bowl out toward him, a slight grin on my face.

His face, though, wasn't as happy as mine seemed to be by the presence of the Cheerios.

"No, Shawn. I do not want some." I heard the annoyance in his voice.

I guess it was time for my day to start.

"Go throw that out or put it back in the box and get dressed. Your dad called, he wants us to come over for something."

Oh, yeah. I totally forgot he said something about my dad calling.

"First off, why would my dad call you? And second, what could he possibly want us to come over for? I haven't done anything to him in the last few days, and he usually only calls when he wants to kill us."

"You mean you." Gus reminded me.

I rolled my eyes, "Fine, me." It didn't make me feel any better agreeing to that. "That's not my point," I began again, "Something's up."

"Look, all he told me was to tell you to get your ass up and get over there before noon. As for why he called me, I have no idea," Uh-oh, I know that tone. That's the tone of "Shawn, you're an oblivious idiot," or something like that. I just know it's when the sarcasm comes out to play, "Maybe the fact that you left your cell phone at his house and he knew you probably wouldn't hear the phone here, considering it's in the kitchen. In one of the cabinets!"

He had a point.

"It's only in there because I don't have a phonejack in the kitchen, Gus." I replied, casually. It was the truth.

"You have a phonejack in your bedroom, Shawn!"

Was he joking? He had to be joking.

"Duh." Did he really expect me to have a phone next to my head when I'm asleep? That would wake me up...

He scoffed, "Why does it matter where it is, anyway, Shawn? It's not like you answer the phone and you'd, more than likely, sleep through the ringing. You'd sleep through an earthquake..."

"Yeah," I smiled, remembering the nice feeling of sleep, "That's true."

The way Gus' face contorted after that made me wish I was still sleeping. At least then I could get away. He looked like he was going to attack me with a bat. It's a good thing I don't have a bat, "Just get dressed."

A/N: Yes, I know it's a slow start but you have to remember, it's just the beginning of the day...well, Shawn's day. Either way, the action/adventure/fun WILL come, don't worry about it one little bit.