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Merritt was almost asleep when his door creaked open.
They had a show the next day; not a big one, but one to test-run how they worked together, to see what each other could do and how that would work for the bigger, grander tricks that they had planned for the future.
As such, they had all decided to sleep over at Merritt’s apartment; he had no idea why. They’d ordered pizza, watched a truly awful made-for-tv movie, and when Danny had finally suggested they get some sleep, Merritt had headed off to his bedroom while the other three arranged themselves on the couch and the floor. Merritt had wanted to stay in there, too, but he was man enough to know that his back would probably hate him for it in the morning.
Henley poked her head in.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, “Danny keeps snoring and I really want some sleep before tomorrow. Can I sleep in here?”
“Yeah, sure,” Merritt mumbled sleepily. She settled in next to him, and Merritt waited for her to relax.
And waited.
And waited.
Until finally, “Henley?”
“Hm?”
“If you tense up any more you’re going to break a muscle in half.” She gave a small noise of assent, but didn’t make a move to do so. Merritt turned over, seeing that she had curled into the fetal position and was staring at the wall.
He reached out, wrapping a warm hand around her shoulder, and she jumped. “Sorry, sorry,” he mumbled, pulling his hand away. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t sleep,” she blurted out, slightly hysterically. “My mind keeps running over everything, what if it goes wrong, what if we don’t work well together, what if-“ Merritt rubbed his hand down her arm, linking their fingers.
“Hey,” he said, “hey, its gonna be ok. We’ve practiced so much, I don’t think Danny would let us do it wrong at this point.” She gave a strained laugh. He could feel her shaking slightly, small tremors from exhaustion and nerves. He reached over and flipped the lamp on, soft warm light spilling across the room. When he turned back to her, she was trying to hurriedly wipe away a few tears on her cheeks.
“Oh, Hen,” he said, smiling softly. “It’s gonna be ok, I promise.”
“I know, I know,” she said, giving a chuckle that ended on a sob. “I’m just really scared that I’m gonna mess up and you’re all going to hate me.”
He reached out and pulled her to him, tucking her head under his chin.
“That’s what these shows are for, so that we can mess up and figure stuff out before the big event.” He wrapped an arm around her back, cradling her head in his palm.
“How are you so calm all the time?” she accused weakly. “You steady everybody, don’t you ever get scared?”
“Honey, I have never in my life been more scared than the day I realized you all wanted me to join the dream dating team. Everything else is easy.”
She giggled, and it sounded more genuine. She was still tense though. He pulled back, pushing her hair out of her face.
“Now what’s it going to take to get you to relax?” He raised an eyebrow. “I could think of some things.” He gave her a suggestive smile, eyebrow raised in what he knew was a poor imitation of Daniel’s.
She laughed, then bit her lip. “Could you… um… use your mentalism and make me fall asleep? I’ll be useless without rest, and it’s a big day.” She looked at him pleadingly. “Just this once?”
He studied her face, then pressed his fingertips gently to the side of her head. Murmuring a few words, her eyes started to drift shut. He laid her down, pulling a blanket over her and tucking it in. As he flipped out the light and settled down, the door opened again.
“Can I sleep in here?” Jack said. “Danny snores.”
Merritt sighed. “The more the merrier, I guess.”
Jack scuttled in, dragging a blanket behind him. It wasn’t even two minutes later that his breathing evened out, and Merritt just huffed fondly. Troublemakers, all of them, he thought.
And that was where Danny found them the next morning, wrapped up together on the bed.
“Why wasn’t I invited to the sleepover?” He frowned.
Henley stretched and yawned, eyes bright as she ran a hand through her hair.
“You snore, that’s why.”
Danny looked affronted. “I do not!”
“You totally do, man,” Jack clapped him on the shoulder as he walked by. Then he swatted his butt. Danny gave a squawk, and Merritt just laughed. God, he loved these kids.
“C’mon, guys,” Henley yelled from the kitchen. “Magic waits for no man!”
Danny turned to Merritt, who was still untangling himself from the blankets.
“You ready, McKinney?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.
Merritt grinned at him. “Are you, Atlas?”
“Well, you heard the woman, lets go!” Jack said as he darted by, already fully dressed.
Danny rolled his eyes. “Ready as I’ll ever be,” he stated, with a totally fake and long-suffering sigh. Merritt threw his arms around his shoulders as they headed for the kitchen to find breakfast.
They were all going to do just fine.