The first conscious thought Jeff had was that his nose tickled.

Something was rubbing up below it. Something that was kind of warm.

Then Jeff registered the warm thing resting on his chest. And the warmer thing next to his whole body.

Once Jeff was coherent enough to remember that warm thing was Annie, the rest fell into place.

Like how Annie was next to him in his bed. Like how her head was resting on his chest and her hair was right underneath his nose.

Like how she was naked in the meantime.

Like how Jeff remembered why they were naked. And how this was the morning after their first time together. Well, technically it was the first, second and third times.

No wonder he could barely move. He didn't even have enough energy to open his eyes.

Then again, once he and Annie opened their eyes, they'd have to deal with the hangover. Not any alcoholic hangover, thank God – alcohol had no right to taint nights like that. The real hangover would come with whatever happened next.

They had unplanned, somewhat overdue sex and predictably mastered it right off the bat. Now they had to face if they wanted to do other couple-y things. Or even had the capacity to do them. Or should even try if they weren't sure. Or if trying would crush them in the end, for too many reasons Jeff didn't – or couldn't – want to face. Especially not this early.

So he didn't. He wanted to sleep for just five more minutes first.

Sleep next to Annie. Naked, thoroughly fucked Annie. Then again, they were too pent up to be entirely tender after all this time.

As such, he'd been too consumed by pleasure to savor her lying next to him. To feel the touch of her skin against his body. To feel her cheek resting against his chest. To have her head lie down perfectly under his own. And to feel her hair against his nostrils.

Then Jeff did more than feel it. And with one inhale, his worries washed away.

Even with all their sweat and fluids from last night, the scent of Annie's peach vanilla shampoo overpowered all of Jeff's senses. It was always one of Jeff's favorite Annie shampoos, so having it linger at this moment was very satisfying. It was something that he could recall all of Annie's shampoos over the years, but it was still too early to delve into that.

It was too early and inconvenient to do anything, other than leave his nose in Annie's hair.

As Jeff lightly breathed it in, he recalled all the other times her hair made an impact on him. The way she shook it, the way she took it down, the way it cascaded down her shoulders, and the way she even knew how to twirl fake hair.

The way her real hair's lingering scent was a comforting constant to Jeff at the study table – even on days when he and Annie were uncomfortable and unresolved. Of course, thoughts like that made Jeff feel even less comfortable over the years, and not just in pervy ways.

But he technically wasn't a perv anymore. Now he'd had Annie and had waited long enough to do it relatively guilt free. Technically, he could freely indulge in stuff like this now. If only until they woke up, at the bare minimum.

Besides, he was barely awake. He couldn't even open his eyes. He was too sleepy to remember he wasn't touchy-feely. That was a good enough way out.

If he was too sleepy to be normal, he could do things like rub his nose against Annie's hair. What's more, he could let himself think how sweet and soothing it smelled, and how it enveloped him like another blanket. Like an Annie blanket.

That way of thinking led him to kiss her head. When that wasn't enough, he put his right hand on her hair and almost audibly groaned at the sensation. For all those times the style and scent of her hair taunted Jeff, he had rarely gotten to feel it. Let alone stroke it up and down as he was doing now.

Jeff knew this was probably stirring Annie awake, which meant he'd have to open his eyes and face reality soon. But if anything, it made him sink into this further. With that excuse, he gave her head some more kisses and let his fingers run slower through her sleek hair.

Then they froze as Jeff felt pressure on his chest. As if it was being kissed.

It was obvious it had been, but Jeff didn't want to assume anything. Or open his eyes to check. Instead, he kissed Annie's head again, then felt his chest being kissed in return.

She was awake, all right. Yet she wasn't saying anything, making any noise or asking him any scary questions.

Jeff tentatively thanked her by nuzzling her hair with his nose. His hand trailed down her locks again, then went lower onto her bare naked back.

A bare naked back with bare, creamy soft skin. Annie's bare, creamy soft skin. Skin he kissed, groped, nibbled and devoured all last night, but didn't get to savor like this.

Before Jeff knew it, he was gently stroking Annie's back like he'd done with her hair. Yet the sensation was even hotter and more soothing. Even in those times when they'd hugged and touched before, Jeff almost never got to touch her bare skin.

Yet like her hair, it was taunting, lovely and tempting in ways Jeff had never felt before. Now he could give himself permission to satisfy temptation, in ways Jeff had never done before.

Jeff was nearly awake enough to start worrying that this was dangerously close to cuddling. Jeff Winger was many things, but a cuddler was over the line. It was supposed to be, anyway.

But before he could let the implications trouble him, his hand trailed down the curve of Annie's lower back and all troubles washed away.

Jeff couldn't ignore or cover up his groan as he felt – or more accurately, caressed – Annie's waist. In fact, he went further by putting his right hand back into her hair, while the left went down to rub her lower back.

Feeling these two impossibly silky features while his nose was buried in her hair made Jeff's stomach clench. It had clenched many times around Annie, although Jeff usually told himself it didn't. But feeling it here and now was one of the most overwhelming feelings of his life.

He really didn't want to wake up now. No matter what it meant, he didn't want to stop. Yet when this completely woke her up, she'd –

But then Jeff felt Annie kiss his chest again. Then he felt her hand trail over his upper abs.

Apparently, if Jeff could get cuddly without fully waking up, Annie was letting herself do it too. Considering how her hand felt against his chest, Jeff wasn't ready to complain.

In fact, Annie rubbed his chest just as soft and slow as he rubbed her back. Women had touched and groped his chest before, since that's what it was there for. Annie did her share of groping and even biting last night.

And yet the slow, gentle touches Annie was giving him now felt even better. For lack of a word that made more sense.

What made even less sense is that Jeff didn't want to go further. Not yet.

This should have led to them devouring each other like they did last night. But although they were just touching each other, without even looking at each other, it felt like it was enough. That if nothing more physical came from this, it would still be satisfying.

This should have stirred Jeff to wake up and stop himself from going crazy. And yet when Annie moved up to kiss his neck, he trailed his hand down to her ass and his brain shut down again.

As Jeff's right hand went deeper into Annie's hair, his left pressed deeper onto her ass, yet he didn't just squeeze it. He took in the full texture, swiped his thumb across the round surface and groaned into her hair as he kept rubbing.

Finally, it didn't feel like enough to just use his hands. This was when Jeff should have reverted to his old, overwhelming form. Annie had certainly earned a third encore.

But when he took one last whiff of Annie's hair, it shut him down again. Not in that way – especially as he felt himself stir down below.

He just felt too comfortable. Too enveloped in soft, smooth touches and skin and soothing scents to take it up a notch. Yet he still wanted to do more. Just not in that usual Jeff Winger way.

That should have woken him up and scared him. It was a wonder Annie wasn't waking up and asking what was going on either. But she wasn't. She was just leisurely kissing his neck and clavicle, like she was totally relaxed.

Relaxed had rarely been an accurate description of Annie Edison. Relaxed was never what Jeff expected from her on their morning after. But Jeff could feel how relaxed her body was, how calm her breath was against his body, and how she sunk into him without being clingy or swoony.

The usually stressed, over-thinking Annie was just letting herself get swept away. Because of him and how he was swept away like never before as well.

It gave Jeff a boost of male pride. But not the kind he was used to.

Yet comparing how he usually did things was getting exhausting. If Annie was turning her overactive brain off and just letting herself feel, Jeff owed her no less.

After all, as long as he was still asleep, he didn't know better.

So he didn't think. He didn't question why he rolled them over, put them onto their sides and laid his face on her neck with his eyes still closed. He just did it.

From this position, he could still smell her hair even if it wasn't pressed against him. He could also smell her natural scent coming off her neck, which reminded him of springtime. And at the same time, he could kiss her neck and rub his nose and lips against another batch of creamy skin.

As Jeff did this, his left arm went around Annie to put his hand back in her hair. He moved it against her neck while he was slowly kissing it, as the combination made him groan into her. He began to hear Annie groan too, which encouraged him to use his tongue on her neck, then kiss the parts he had licked.

Although this was technically more intense, Jeff was content to keep doing it slowly. He was all but lying on his right arm and couldn't do much with it in this position. To make up for it, his left hand left Annie's hair and trailed up and down her side.

By the time he got to her hip, he felt Annie's right hand rub his chest again too. The two sunk into their give and take, as Jeff glided his hand on Annie's lower side, Annie trailed her hand over his chest and pecs, and Jeff kept burying his face into her neck.

Then Jeff noticed his hand getting closer to Annie's crotch.

Before he could take stock and wonder if he was ruining this, Annie's hand went lower too.

Moments later, Jeff wound up putting his left hand between Annie's legs while her right hand was settling between his. What's more, he felt Annie's left hand reach over and rest on his back. She experimented with rubbing his back before her right hand rubbed something even stiffer.

Jeff groaned into Annie's neck again, then put a finger onto her opening. For added pleasure, Jeff dabbed his tongue onto Annie's clavicle, blew on the saliva left behind and then kissed it gently. Now Annie was moaning, yet not quite loud enough to break the gentle mood.

Even as they pleasured each other simultaneously, they still felt too comfortable to break the soothing atmosphere. Annie's hands were rubbing Jeff's back and cock in no real hurry, while Jeff was content to trail his fingers over Annie's crotch and occasionally dip inside.

Anything more intense might make them move, and Jeff didn't want to break this position – or break his face away from Annie's warm, porcelain neck – just yet. However, it occurred to Jeff that he didn't have to. Yet he could still ramp this up without breaking the mood.

He'd established last night that Annie was on the pill. As such, Jeff could just push himself closer to Annie, line himself up, and slowly sink inside of her.

Annie let out the most intense groans of the morning, which made all the sense in the world to Jeff. Before she could do anything else, Jeff wrapped his now free left arm around her waist. After a while, Annie took her free hand and put it on Jeff's neck to push him closer.

Jeff surprised himself one more time by not beginning to thrust. Instead, he froze and just took in where he was now, and how they must have looked. They were on their sides, his face buried into her neck with his eyes shut, while they each had an arm around each other as their other arms were between their bodies.

Needless to say, Jeff couldn't believe he was here. Not just in the dozens of ways he couldn't believe it before this. He meant he couldn't believe he was here like this.

He and Annie were savages last night, and now they were doing it like this? It made no sense. Not just on Jeff's part, but her's too.

Then again, Jeff always figured – or tried not to – that this kind of slow, gentle love was Annie's style. It was last night's passion and intensity from her that stunned him more. Although it shouldn't have.

Every time he assumed something about Annie, she surprised him. For all those times he was convinced she was just one thing – one naïve, childish thing that shouldn't get a second thought – she proved to be something else. But she was so many things.

She'd been all those things in bed over the last several hours. And Jeff liked every single one.

That realization flooded him as he finally pumped into Annie. He did it slowly, just in case he might go off too soon. Annie rocked back against him just as slowly, keeping her moans and whimpers down. Jeff kept his own down as well, as the two settled into a slow, steady rhythm they couldn't develop last night.

But it was like they were naturals like this. Like Jeff was a natural, despite how this was not his style. Like Annie was a natural at the hotter stuff last night, despite how it wasn't supposed to be her style. Like she could be any style she wanted.

Like she wasn't just a naïve, innocent girl Jeff had to protect from himself. Or an adult who finally knew better about a few things. She didn't have to be one or the other. In fact, by combining all these things and more, she was so much better than those limits.

And maybe Jeff was as well.

He almost shuddered at that – not just in the erotic way as Annie tightened around him. But he slowed down to delay his release a bit longer. It would give him an excuse to let his mind wander and distract him from cumming early.

Yet he'd never had to distract himself like this. Not with huge epiphanies years in the making. Then again, Jeff never did anything the traditional way, and neither did Annie.

It was why Annie was so many different contradictions. Innocent and adult. Naïve and wise. Selfish and giving. Serious and silly. Rigid and adaptable. Paranoid and brave. Ruthless and kind. Fantastical and grounded. Dangerous and safe. Scary and comforting.

Passionate and tender. Sexy and sweet. Seductive and classically beautiful. Dirty and loving. Scorching and soothing.

She could be any of those things and it would be okay. She could be herself – all of herself – and it didn't have to be embarrassing or shameful. In fact, it could even be fun with the right person.

Fun for her with Jeff.

And fun for him with Annie.

When that washed over him, he held her tighter and pumped harder for several seconds. But the emotional and physical buildup was almost too much, so he forced himself to slow down. Annie's hot moans didn't help per se, and neither did her gentle coos when they slowed down.

Yet the fact that Jeff was equally turned on by both noises backed up his epiphany.

This kind of sex should have been humiliating to enjoy, but it wasn't. Enjoying this type of woman looked humiliating for years, but it finally wasn't. Being a man that could do this should have scared Jeff to death, but it didn't.

And yet he didn't just have to be the cool, confident, historically awesome Jeff Winger – or the supposedly lame Jeff he thought he'd have to be for Annie. He could still be all these things and everything in between, like Annie was.

He could love hot sex and tender sex, as long as it was with her. He could be above lame stuff, yet still do it as long as he could also see her happy. He could have his independence and still want to see Annie laugh and smile with him. He could still be the Jeff everyone else knew and was wise enough to worship, yet be something else altogether just for her – as long as it was just for her.

He didn't have to be embarrassed or scared to show these secret, lame sides of himself because she had them too – not as secretly, of course. Yet it made her understand him, his insecurities and fears better than he'd let himself know them.

But that was okay. It was okay for it to be okay. If it made him feel the passionate way he did last night, AND the tender way it did now…..it was more than okay.

Yet accepting it made him feel less than tender, as he kissed and suckled on Annie's collarbone to celebrate. Annie bucked harder against him, and with no personal realizations to distract Jeff, he could have come then and there.

However, the tender part of Jeff felt that was the wrong way to end this. It should have made him feel sick to think this, but he wasn't the best judge for that. He trusted Annie a bit more – and he trusted her to appreciate this enough for both of them.

When they both stopped to catch themselves, Jeff let himself take in this comfortable position one last time. He put his hand back in her soft hair and slowly kissed, licked and blew on her soft neck, which made Annie whimper until she put her hand onto his hard backside.

Jeff and Annie let themselves hold, stroke and rub these body parts that had tempted and teased each other for too long. Their other teasing, tempting parts thrusted and rubbed together in a steady but powerful rhythm that was running its course.

When they were ready to bubble over, Jeff delivered several steady, deliberate thrusts. He narrowly avoided biting Annie's neck while he made her come first, and came even closer to it when he finally released. Yet Jeff kept his teeth at a safe distance and laid his face against Annie's throat as he gave out.

His eyes closed tighter than ever until he almost saw spots. He blinked them out without opening his eyes, then felt himself slip out of Annie as she rolled over. Not that he saw her do it – in fact, now it registered that he hadn't even looked at Annie once.

He told himself he'd been too sleepy and comfortable to break the mood from sleepy morning sex. But now it was over. Now it was time to see what he had wrought.

When Jeff opened his eyes at last, he first saw that Annie's eyes weren't open either. She was lying on the pillow, catching her breath and closing her eyes out of what looked like bliss. The hair that Jeff had enjoyed all morning was splayed out on the pillow, framing Annie's satiated, flustered, well-loved face in the most striking way possible.

Jeff was still trying to catch his breath, but now there was a new reason for his breathlessness. It was one thing to see Annie like this at long last. Then it sunk in that this was the first sight he had seen all day.

Waking up with a woman first thing in the morning was not Jeff's forte. He never wanted it to be. Yet seeing Annie's face like that for his first sight of the day was mesmerizing. Hell, just seeing Annie's face as the first thing he saw all day….it didn't sound half bad. Even when it wasn't after sex.

This was almost too much for Jeff, as he laid back on his pillow and closed his eyes again. Part of it was to keep what he saw fresh in his mind, and part of it was to calm down. Eventually, his breathing settled down and he heard Annie's quiet down as well.

However, with Annie settled and no longer cuddling him, Jeff would have to look at her while she could look back.

Once Jeff heard Annie rustle, he opened his eyes for a second time and looked up at the ceiling. He then looked to his right, where Annie's face was hovering above his shoulder – and positively glowing.

Annie's face glowed quite frequently, and Jeff knew all the different ways it did. Except for this one.

Seeing it glow after sex – great, lovey-dovey sex he was willingly part of and kind of liked – no Disney face could have prepared him for that.

Those familiar sparkling eyes, that familiar sparkling smile, that familiar rosy face and that familiar shiny hair – they all had a different light now. A light Jeff couldn't get enough of. A light he could very well see again every morning – or every other morning to ease into things.

"Good morning to you, too," Annie teased to break Jeff's concentration. Of course she even sounded like a morning person. Even that was exciting Jeff now.

She looked, smelled, felt and sounded so beautiful – and Jeff almost said that out loud word for word. But he wasn't a complete mental case just yet. However, there were other ways to get his sentiments across.

Jeff guided Annie's face back down, kissing her lips for the first time today. He didn't close his eyes immediately, as he wanted to see how serene Annie's face looked while they kissed. After she closed her eyes and he gazed at her for a second, he let himself rest his eyes again.

They didn't get hot and heavy, yet this slow and gentle kissing was addictive in it's own right. Jeff was barely surprised when that sunk in.

For all those times Jeff thought he was too old for Annie, he felt like a teenager with her right now. Especially since he was already getting recharged enough to go again.

Yet even then, Jeff didn't go back to the steamy stuff. Unlike last night and earlier this morning, Jeff laid Annie's body out, slowly kissed it up and down and all over, savored tasting all the gorgeous body parts he'd quickly devoured last night, then took his time to give her another climax with his mouth.

Then Annie recovered and did the exact same thing for Jeff.

Then they rested for a bit and made love on their backs, with their eyes fully open. Then it got hot and dirty again by the end. Then they slept long enough that when they finally woke up and ate, it was almost an early dinner instead of a late lunch. But they had a late dinner to balance that out later.

Jeff should have woken up by then. He should have come to his senses, told himself he was only this sappy because of sex, and that he still couldn't do a real relationship with Annie. He should have stopped himself before he got too deep, saved Annie before he let her down, and saved himself before he got deluded enough to think this could last. Or that his life might not ever be as good again if it didn't.

But that part of Jeff had been awake for far too long. He really needed some sleep.

So Jeff knocked him out and let him sleep for five more minutes. Or hours. Or days. Or weeks. Or whatever.