Harper tapped the lip of the beer bottle against her mouth as she studied the sleeping figure in front of her. Normally, she'd find checking out a sleeping guy to be extremely creepy but she'd make an exception for one that had fallen asleep against a pillar during a college mixer. Leaning against the wall opposite the man, she committed his features to memory. His cupid bow mouth was slightly too big for his face and the dirty dishwater brown hair kept falling into his closed eyes. Her hands itched for paper and a pencil so that she could sketch him.

Setting her beer down on the counter beside her, she searched her bag for drawing supplies. Around her, the party continued on without acknowledging what she was doing. She pressed a drawing pencil that she had discovered in the bag against her paint-splattered jeans as she studied the sleeping man. Pencil poised over the crumpled napkin she had found, she was preparing to draw when something slammed into her hip, causing her drawing utensils to fly out of her hands.

"Oh, crap!" she said dropping to the ground to pick up the fallen objects. She glanced up to make sure the commotion hadn't woken up the strange man.

"Harper! I'm so sorry," her friend Nadine said with a shriek as she helped Harper up. A tiny giggle bubbled out of her mouth at the sight of her friend on the ground.

"Shh," Harper held a finger to her lips, her eyes never straying from the man.

"Are you staring at that sleeping guy over there?" Nadine asked in a stage whisper. "Gosh, Harper. You're so creepy."

"And you're drunk," Harper said stuffing the pencil and napkin back into her bag. "Let's get you to bed, 'kay?"

"Nope!" Nadine giggled as Harper tried to drag her across the room. "I wanna stay. Lemme go!" She stumbled past the sleeping man and managed to jab him in the ribs with her elbow. He awoke with a start and opened his eyes. Suddenly, Harper was faced with the greenest eyes she'd ever seen. She cleared her throat as the eyes surveyed the room before snapping back to her face.

"Uh, sorry about that," she said. "My friend's a bit clumsy tonight." She tried to smile like they shared a secret but it came out as more of a grimace.

"Nah, it's fine," the man said rubbing at his eyes. "How long have I been out?" When he lowered his hand from his face, Harper was still staring at him. She ducked her head to break eye contact with him.

"About twenty minutes or so," she said a little too quickly. Nadine let out a little snort and elbowed Harper in the side.

"Been counting or something?" the man asked with a laugh. Harper could feel herself blush under her already sun burnt skin. She felt itchy under the man's dancing green eyes and wished he'd look away.

"You were sleeping standing up," she said trying to cover her tracks. "It was… impressive. I've never seen anyone do that before."

"Thanks," the man said with another chuckle. "It's only possible when you're dead tired and with my roommate practicing his drumming constantly, that's the only state of being I've been in for the past week." He looked around at the party and frowned. "How is this still going on?"

"We're all seniors and it's the first week back at college?" Harper offered up. "I wouldn't be surprised if this party lasted for a month." The man laughed again and held out one large, tan hand.

"I'm Colton," he said. "Architecture major. And you are?"

"Harper," she said slipping her smaller hand into his. "Art major. Or something like that. Nice to meet you."

"You too," he said. "And your friend?" He leaned to the right to get a good look at Nadine who was slumped on the ground asleep. "I guess I'm not the only one who can just fall asleep in the middle of a party." Harper turned around to see what Colton was looking at and huffed out a sigh of annoyance.

"I guess I should get her home," she said leaning down to slip one of Nadine's arms across her shoulder and grabbing her around the waist. She tried to stand but only managed to stumble into the wall, which elicited a groan from Nadine.

"Do you need some help?" Colton asked already reaching out a hand to help. "My car is out back, I can give you a ride home."

"That would be amazing, thank you," Harper said managing to hoist Nadine to her feet without falling over. She could smell some sort of spicy cologne as Colton moved closer to her and helped hold up Nadine. He led them through the still crowded house and outside into the crisp September weather. They stopped in front of a beat up yellow car and Colton waited in the driver's seat as Harper helped Nadine into the back seat and buckled her into her seat.

"You seem to be quite experienced in taking care of people when they're drunk," he said as soon as Harper slid into the passenger seat. Wrapping her arms around her thin sweater, she took in the messy interior of the car, all the rulers and scraps of paper. To be honest, it looked a lot like the inside of her room.

"I'm usually the designated driver, is all," she said with a shrug. She wasn't about to divulge into her dysfunctional family business with a stranger. Albeit, a very attractive stranger. She snuck a glance at him and found him staring straight ahead, at the road. She was happy that he wasn't going to push for details.

"I'll be sure to bring you to all the best parties," he said sending a little smile her way. "Just in case I feel the need to get completely drunk."

"What makes you think I'll drive you home?" Harper asked getting into the rhythm of friendly teasing.

"I'd make it worth your while somehow," he said turning onto the street she had pointed to. "I am an architect major, I could build you something."

"Maybe if it was a skyscraper," Harper said watching as the houses passed them by. "Stop here, this is my house." Colton pulled up in front of a small blue house and for a moment, the car was silent. Harper undid her seatbelt and paused for a second with her hand on the handle.

"Do you maybe want to come in for a drink?" she asked. "I can make us coffee or something like that." She could feel Colton's calculating gaze on her face before her turned off the ignition.

"Coffee sounds amazing," he said. "Thanks." He quickly got out of the car and walked around to the back seats to help a drowsy Nadine out of the car. Now, it was Harper's turn to lead, walking up to the furniture crowded porch and letting herself in with a key. It was dark in the house and she made her way through the main hall without a problem. Colton was another story and she tried not to laugh when she heard him bump into something.

She quickly switched on a light for him and started for the kitchen. She was already at the coffee machine when Colton made it into the room. He still had Nadine in his arms and he held her out to Harper like some sort of offering.

"What do I do with her?" he asked. Harper set the filter down and walked over to take Nadine off his hands.

"Will you start the coffee while I get her to bed?" she asked gesturing at the machine. With a nod from Colton, she led Nadine toward her bedroom. With a little bit of coaxing she managed to get Nadine into her bed safe and sound before returning to the kitchen. She leaned around the doorframe for a moment watching as Colton puttered around the kitchen. The urge to draw him came back as strong as it had been when she had watched him sleeping. As deftly as she could, she pulled the napkin and pencil out of her pocket. She had just started to sketch his head when he turned to face her.

"Do you have sugar?" he asked before his green eyes flicked to the napkin she was holding. She flushed as she watched his eyes travel the length of the sketch. "Like what you see?" He took a couple of steps until he was standing right in front of her and looked down at the sketch. "Is this why you were watching me sleep?"

Harper nodded and tucked the pencil behind her ear, prepared to put her drawing supplies away. She tensed as his hand removed the pencil and placed it back in her hand.

"You can continue," he said. "I understand the urge you have to draw. Where do you want me?" Harper gestured in a loss of words at the coffee maker. He walked back, looking over his shoulder at her every so often. Harper's lips curled up in a smile as she started to sketch.

This is a new story that struck me a couple of weeks ago. I hope you enjoy it. It should be quite long, with a couple of parts. It's a bit like a friends with benefits story, only the benefits will be early on…