Shout out to ZanyAnimeGirl, Rachel Lyse Brook, Chi-Chi's Poptart, Cielorea, Anonymous Ki, Doodle0505, Marchioness Phantomhive, and briana . schmidt1!

Okay my dear readers, you may or may not have noticed the warning in the description, depending on when you are reading this. It is there so you have a warning and hopefully won't get too angry with me if I don't update for weeks or months at a time. I like this story, but it's not one of my most popular. If you want updates, please ask, and I will attempt to provide them. But be warned the whole cause for the warning in the first place is because my life is as hectic as Hades. (Curse you, college!)

Enjoy!

"Alice?"

"Mmm?"

A hand on her shoulder gently pulling her away from the display case snapped her out of it. Turning to give Alfred an irritated look she protested, "I was reading about that."

"I know, but if you want to get dinner and make curfew we're going to have to get moving."

Alice frowned, grabbing Alfred's wrist to check his watch. They'd been here over an hour. Had it really been that long? Then again, the new exhibit was at the very back of the museum, and the museum itself wasn't exactly small. Going by what she recalled from the map she'd seen on their way in, they were only halfway to the new Aztec section, if they were still in the American History section.

Reluctantly, she let herself be pulled away from the exhibit and back into the main hall. Each large entryway to the exhibits were flanked by dioramas, and though she didn't stop to read she tried to skim as much as she could as they passed. Why didn't they have any of these in Atlantica? They would have to get creative in how they did it, and they wouldn't be able to have many actual artifacts, but surely they could manage it. The museum was far more fascinating than she had anticipated. There was an entire room dedicated to Roman statues for pities sake. She'd have to speak with her father about it when she-

"Oh, can we look in there, please?" she urged, trying to brace her flip-flops on the marble floor.

The virtually nonexistent tread slid a few feet before Alfred stopped, glancing at the room that had her bouncing in place. He raised his eyebrows slightly. "'Oceanology'?"

"Please, please, please? We'll go straight to the Aztec's after this, promise. I'll close my eyes until we get there and everything," she urged. Normally she'd never resort to this, but she wanted to see what the humans had on her home. She wanted to see if it was as fascinating as the rest of the museum. And people called them boring!

"Alright, alright," he said, laugher in his voice as he let her drag him under the archway. "Didn't think you'd be so into this stuff."

"Are you kidding? Ooh, look!" Alice pointed upward, almost laughing in delight. She had discovered humans had a thing for stringing up bones in what would have been their original arrangement, if the whale in the lobby had been any indication.

Alfred bent his head back, studying the display overhead. "Yeah, that one's an orca, a killer whale. That one over there is a sea lion. I think the rest are just seagulls."

Alice had a hard time believing the one in the corner was really a sea lion at first. Then the more she looked at it, the more it made sense. The broad flippers, the sharp teeth, the streamlined torso. The birds were rather obvious. The orca was definitely the largest, though. Ribs formed a barrel chest, the muzzle armed with very sharp looking teeth, but the main length came from the long vertebrae forming the tail.

"I was never all that good at history," Alfred mused as she drifted below the skeleton, studying it. "Coming here made it easier. They make it interesting, ya know?"

"Hearing about it and seeing it are two different things," Alice agreed absently.

"Look, Iggy, I hate to break it to you, but we're gonna need to leave before closing."

"I know, I know," she said, waving him off as she went to peer into a tank of lion fish. Normally she gave them a wide birth, but now that there was a thick wall of glass to separate them she wanted a closer look.

"No, I mean before closing, not at closing."

Alice tore her eyes away from the vividly striped fish to look at him. "Why?"

"Because the good places are closed by then, and I don't want to fall asleep at the wheel."

Her first inclination was to brush the last comment off as a joke. Then she looked at Alfred a little closer, and it occurred to Alice he really did look worn out. He was still smiling, eyes twinkling, but that didn't change anything. There were shadows under his eyes, which were little more than half open. The more she thought about it, the more she felt guilty. She'd been around him long enough to notice the subtle changes that told an onlooker he was running out of steam. Alfred was exhausted, and he had every right to be. Getting up early for an hour and a half long practice, an entire day of school followed by another practice, homework, and now this. The princess realized that he wouldn't even have mentioned it at all if he didn't seriously think he might fall asleep while driving, especially since she couldn't get behind the wheel herself.

"Oh, Alfred, I'm sorry. Come on, let's get a move on then. We'll come back another time, yeah?" she asked, grabbing his hand and pulling him back out of the exhibit.

A smile graced his face, but it was a true testament to his exhaustion that he didn't protest or react with excessive enthusiasm. "Sounds good, Iggy. Maybe we should have put it off, anyway. Didn't think I'd be so tired." This sentence was punctuated by a yawn.

"Are you always this tired at the end of the day?" asked Alice, frowning worriedly as she led him along, fingers laced through his. He never acted like it, unless there had been a test to cram for...

"Not usually. But we had two practices today, and I didn't sleep much last night," he said absently.

"Why not?" asked Alice sharply, pointingly not looking at the exhibits they passed.

"Uh...battle royal...forgot about quiz...Ivan texted me around one in the morning...don't know whether to thank him or not. At least it was in biology."

Alice opened her mouth to ask about the 'battle royal', but then closed it again. No doubt he was talking about some video game or another. Now that she thought about it, Yuki had seemed a bit drowsy today. If memory served Madeline had been studying for the last few days, wandering from class to class with a stack of flashcards. Gilbert had been banging his head on the picnic tables muttering choice words about their teacher for making it "unawesomely hard".

"How do you think you did?"

"Didn't seem that hard. Don't know why I panicked."

Alice smiled wryly. "I'm sure you did fine, love. Now come on, it's just up ahead."

"Yeah, it's just past the- wait, what?"

The Mer frowned, though she felt heat rise in her cheeks. It had slipped out without her meaning it to, and she'd hoped Alfred would miss it. Deciding to play dumb, she asked, "What is what?"

"What'd you call me?" he asked in an all too innocent voice, grinning.

"Nothing Alfred."

"Uh-huh."

"Oh belt up," she snapped, blushing. "Besides, you keep calling me 'Iggy'."

Alfred grinned amiably as they finally reached the Aztec exhibit. Alice had to admit, it was rather impressive. She'd never given much thought to the humans who didn't live prominently along the coast lines, so this particular group of people had been mostly ignored. That said, they were considerably advanced for their time. They were brutal, yes, but an empire of that size was nothing to sniff at.

They drifted from artifact to artifact, still hand in hand. Alice tried to keep an eye on Alfred, and now that she was aware of it she could see fatigue sitting in. Even his usual bright smile was starting to grow weary, his eyelids drooping, his movements starting to grow sluggish.

They'd only made it through about half the exhibit when Alice said, "We can leave now, if you want. We'll look at the rest next time."

Alfred blinked a few times. "What? No, I'm fine, really."

"You're dead on your feet," Alice informed him sternly, pulling him back towards the front of the museum. It was surprisingly easy to do, worryingly so. Alfred still looked reluctant, she shouldn't have been able to budge him, especially not in flip-flops. Honestly she'd been resolved to take them off if need be, but it didn't look like it would come to that.

"Alice, I can wait...a few extra minutes."

"This isn't up for debate, Alfred. We will come back a different time when you are well rested. Tomorrow's a school day too, remember? It's hardly like you will be able to sleep in."

"Fine, fine..." mumbled Alfred before a wide yawn took him. "Sorry, Iggy. Shouldn't 'a...been like this."

Ignoring his expression, a sort of exhausted shame-faced puppy look, Alice marched back through the museum, Alfred in tow. He wasn't even putting up a fight, trailing obediently behind her. Alice didn't want to fill a giddy, tingling sensation whenever she focused on their hands, but she did. Current situation aside, she had to admit it was something they hadn't exactly done before. Walked together, yes. Alfred had even kissed her, if pecks to the cheek and forehead counted. Though it was both a relief and butterfly-inducing to note he was dutifully avoiding her lips.

Mer did things slightly different from humans, had customs that differed to some degree. Hand holding was on the list. While they did do it, they did it less than humans seemed to. It was a bit harder to swim hand-in-hand than to walk hand-in-hand after all. That said, she could see the appeal. Drowsiness aside, Alice found she liked having Alfred's hand laced through hers. Originally it had just been a simple grip, but he'd changed it when they'd been staring at the entryway's dioramas.

By the time they did eventually make it back to Alfred's truck, Alice had managed to convince him to forgo dinner. He clearly didn't like it, feeling guilty for making them cut it short, but she managed.

"You're about to fall asleep at the wheel as it is," she was saying as he got in. Extreme tiredness or no, he'd still taken the time to open her door for her, which Alice found very sweet. "Just drop me off so you can go home and get some sleep. Alright?"

"I'm really sorry," he said again, face grim as he started the truck. "Didn't meant for it to go like this."

Alice sighed. "I know you didn't, but I don't mind. It's just bad timing is all." She paused, thinking, then asked, "You're more tired than you let on, aren't you?"

"What?" he asked, frowning as he focused on backing out.

"You stupid git, how often do you get like this?"

"Dunno. Depends. Why?"

Alice closed her eyes, tipping her head back against the seat. "You shouldn't have to. And here I thought you had everything mastered."

Alfred laughed. "You kidding? I just figured out how to do everything without dying. That's about the best anyone can do. So long as my grades are good, I can live with being like this if it means I can have fun too."

"Like what? Battle royals?"

"No. Going out with you."

Alice had been unaware it was possible to get sucker punched in one's emotions. But Alfred had managed. It seemed he managed a lot of things. How, she had no idea.

"You're still a stupid git," she grumbled.

He laughed again, then asked, "When can I make it up to you?"

"When you're quite well rested."

"Seriously, Iggy."

"I am serious. I think we've established you're no good to me when you're so exhausted you're falling asleep on your feet. Take care of yourself first, then we'll talk."

"I'm sorry," he mumbled again.

"You don't need to keep saying that, love."

Immediately Alice kicked herself as she let it slip again. But at least it ensured Alfred finally quieted down. It was a true testament to his exhaustion that he didn't poke at her for more or tease her in some way. Seriously, how had she let it get this bad? She was supposed to be his girlfriend for pities sake, she should have noticed. For a moment Alice wondered if Madeline had noticed, and done nothing, but quickly discarded the idea. It sounded like this wasn't an uncommon state for Alfred later in the day, once things slowed down. If Madeline had noticed and attempted to do anything, Alfred would have brushed her off. Like he would tried to do with Alice if he wasn't the designated driver, no doubt.

Alice tried to keep an eye on Alfred as they drove, gauging how he was doing from the flashes she could get as they passed under streetlamps. They made it through the main part of the small town easily enough, but once they got on the empty stretch between the cluster of a town and their neighborhoods, Alfred started to slow down. Alice noticed the drop in speed, to the point where less than a mile from town they were doing ten under the speed limit. Considering Alfred had a tendency to push it so they were just under getting in trouble should a cop check their speed, it wasn't exactly comforting.

"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked carefully.

Rather than answer, she felt the truck slow down even more. Then it rumbled as they pulled off the road completely, rolling to a stop in the gravel by the side of the road. Alfred let his hands fall from the wheel, eyes closing.

"'M sorry, Iggy," he mumbled. "Just...give me a few minutes."

Before Alice could either argue or agree, peering at him, she realized he was already out.

Well, if it meant having a safe driver and an Alfred who was better off, she could wait a few minutes. He'd stopped under a streetlight, at least. Every now and then a car drove past, but they were few and far between. When Alice checked her phone, it was nine fifteen. Hardly near the midnight deadline, but at least it meant they could afford naps.

Alice dutifully waited, but after ten minutes Alfred showed no signs of waking. Fifteen minutes, still nothing. Peering at him, Alice could see the weariness lining his face. She could see being tired meant it was easier to sleep, but upright in the driver's seat?

Chewing her lip, Alice tried to figure out what sort of time span would equate to a power nap. Deciding half an hour should be suitable, as the idea of sitting out here for too long wasn't a pleasant one, she settled in to wait.

At exactly the thirty minute mark, Alice reached up to give his shoulder a gentle shake. "Alfred?"

Nothing. Not so much as a hitch in his breathing. Suddenly Alice remembered tales of a creative Madeline attempting to wake him up every morning.

Shaking him harder, she called, "Alfred!"

Her heart sank as she got the same result. She shook him, poked him, even pinched his nose shut. After a few seconds all this did was introduce snoring to the mix as his mouth fell open.

Alice slumped in her seat, a bit daunted. How could someone sleep so deeply so quickly? It was coma-like for pities sake, it was unnatural.

The longer she sat there, though, the more tired she herself felt. She might not be juggling as much as Alfred, but she had been getting up early and enduring quite a bit of stress. Besides, Biology hadn't been the only test that day. She'd spent half of last night studying for a stupid math test.

Maybe I'll just join him for a tick, she thought. It's better than waiting for him to wake up. Nothing I'm doing seems to be working.

The truck was comfortable enough, all things considered. She settled down into her seat, closing her eyes. At first Alice wondered just how one was supposed to simply nod off, especially when they didn't feel particularly drowsy. Then she admitted she did feel a little sleepy, which wasn't unreasonable. Alfred had cut the engine, but it was still cool in the truck's cab, crickets chirping outside, the surf just barely audible in the distance.

The next thing Alice knew, she was jerked awake as something thumped down onto their hood. She bolted upright. The first thing her eyes landed on was a seagull, only a few feet from her face, staring at her. Even as she gave a shriek of surprise, she noticed he was only one of six that were now perching on the pickup's hood.

Beside her, Alfred jerked up. "What! Alice, what is it?"

Alice rubbed her eyes, only to stare at her hands as they came away streaked with makeup. Beside her, Alfred cursed under his breath, twisting the keys in the ignition. She looked around, and her heart sank. Suddenly she felt like cursing herself.

It was morning. That was why there were now half a dozen seagulls on the hood of the truck. It was also why the sun was starting to peek over the horizon. The birds took to the air as the engine rumbled to life, and Alice fumbled with her phone as they pulled out onto the road again.

"No, no, no," she mumbled, flipping it open. "Do you have practice today?"

"Yeah, what time is it?"

"Five forty. Just drop me off, I'll call Yuki. Damselfish, how did we stay out here so long?"

"I guess I wasn't the only one who needed a rest," said Alfred wryly, pulling back out onto the road. "Not exactly how I thought things would go last night." His face was chagrined, but he looked much better than he had last night. Alice herself felt better, fresher. As much as she hated to admit it, it was almost worth it.

Alice sighed. "It can't be helped. Do you still want to try it again? Perhaps on a weekend, after we've both gotten a good night's rest?"

"Deal."

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