A/N: Um so I just had a lot of ~feelings~ about how they were all over each other on the couch in Birthday Party. Every time I think they can't get cuter, they do. So I wrote this last night instead of, you know, going to sleep. I am going to regret this decision when I'm nodding off in math class. This is set sometime pre-HTR A Birthday Party.

"I'm so tired."

Stevie and Zander both toss their backpacks onto the bright orange armchair as they enter the band room and Stevie immediately sinks down onto the couch, putting her elbows on her knees and burying her face in her hands. "They gave me extra hours at work this week and I was up all last night finishing that stupid Julius Caesar essay and I have math homework and-"

Zander sits down next to her, the weight of the both of them combined causing the couch to sag in the middle so that they're suddenly much closer than Zander intended. "There's still a half-hour until band practice starts," he says, cutting her off. "You should take a nap. You need it."

She sighs. "What I need is a time turner."

"Stevie, I hate to be the one to break this to you, but those aren't real."

The comment earns him an elbow to the ribs, but she's too worn out to put any real force behind it, for which he's grateful. He knows Stevie's tough enough to cause some damage, knows she could probably pin him or something if she tried. "I know that."

He just laughs. "Well, I'd say the next best thing after a time turner is a nap."

She pushes some hair back out of her face, frowning. "I should probably start my math homework…."

"Look, I'm serious, okay? A nap is going to do you a lot more good than finishing two or three math problems. And the longer you spend arguing with me the less time you have to actually nap."

There's a moment of silence, during which Zander can almost see her weighing the pros and cons in her head. "Fine," she grumps eventually, kicking off her shoes and swinging her legs up onto the couch. Zander feels her leaning into him, pushing him with her shoulder until they're both lying down, his right arm squashed underneath her. She reaches above their heads with one arm and a second later she's pulling a pillow into place.

"Stevie?" he says hesitantly. His legs are still hanging off the couch, leaving him twisted uncomfortably, with no clear course of action because every time he's starting to think he's got her figured out she does something like this that knocks him completely off his axis again and he's not sure how to proceed here. "W-what are you doing?"

"Taking a nap. What does it look like?" she mumbles.

"Well, uh, do you want me to leave or-"

"Obviously not."

"Oh. Well. Okay." Carefully, he puts his legs up on the couch, trying to adjust his body without disturbing her too much. He turns toward her, shifting his right arm (which felt seconds away from falling asleep) so that it's under her neck instead of her shoulder. This causes her to… the only word he can think of is snuggle… into him, head tucked under his chin. He can faintly smell whatever shampoo it is she uses because some of her hair is just tickling his nose. There's a near-painful thudding in his chest that he really hopes she can't hear because dammit, it's just Stevie, it's not like she doesn't invade his personal space on a daily basis (though admittedly it's normally not like this). It takes a conscious effort on his part to not drape his free arm across her waist. "Stevie," he begins, mouth a little dry, "are you sure-"

"Shut up," she says, her breath warm against his throat as she tangles her feet with his and his brain goes fuzzy. "I'm trying to sleep."

"Right."

They must both drift off at some point because the next thing Zander's aware of is the too-loud sound of Kevin banging away on the drums, which scares them both so badly that they fall off the couch in their panic. Stevie lands hard on top of him and he smacks his head on the table and for a moment they both lie there, groaning. After a moment they both climb gingerly to their feet and make a move to go after Kevin.

"Dude, I did you guys a favor," Kevin insists, holding his drumsticks in front of him defensively. "Kacey'll be here any minute and you know she would have had a cow."

No one needs to specify what Kacey would have had a cow over.

She bursts into the room seconds later with Nelson in tow, chiding Stevie and Zander for not being ready when they've had a whole half-hour to prep. They exchange glances; first with each other and then with Kevin, who raises his eyebrows but doesn't say anything.

While Zander's retrieving a pedal he stashed behind the drumset, he feels a hand on his arm and looks up to meet Kevin's eyes.

"Dude, you know she's practically my sister, right?" Kevin says in a low voice. Zander's eyes dart around the room, but Nelson's helping Stevie tune her bass and Kacey's looking over some song lyrics - no one's paying attention to them.

"Yeah. Yeah, I know," he says, nodding.

"Good." Kevin releases his arm. "I'll be watching you, Robbins."

"Hey, fearless leader? If you're done chatting some of us would like to rehearse. Preferably today. Because some of us have jobs and homework to get to." Stevie's obviously done tuning her bass because she's standing there, hands on hips, eyebrows raised in his direction.

"Just getting my pedal," he says, holding it up.

"Didn't realize that getting your pedal involved talking to Kevin." She smirks at him and he sighs, looking back over his shoulder.

"There's nothing to watch," Zander assures Kevin.

Kevin claps him on the shoulder with a grin that can only be described as 'knowing.' "We'll see."