Author's Note: This is an alternate ending to "that is their song." It's not necessary to have read that one though. All you need to know is that Jeff and Annie spent Christmas together and ended up falling asleep on his couch.
They end up in his bed.
Turns out, the couch is too small and somehow, a few hours after they fall asleep, Jeff crashes onto the floor, tangled in the blanket and cursing as his head smacks into the coffee table.
Annie blinks into the darkness, half-asleep and confused.
"Jeff?" she murmurs. There's an answering groan and her eyes flutter closed again, cheek pressed into the soft fabric of the sofa as she drapes her arm toward the floor and pats in his general direction, humming out a half-hearted apology. Her fingertips brush against the side of his nose and he grabs at her hand to keep her from smacking him in the face.
"This is dumb." His voice is deep and gravely. Annie nods her assent, not really knowing what she's agreeing with but she's found a perfectly comfortable position and Jeff's thumb is smoothing along the inside of her wrist, lulling her back to sleep.
It's a long quiet moment before he starts to stand, sort of wobbling sleepily on his feet and pulling her up with him hard enough that she stumbles into his chest.
"Wha-"
"C'mon." He's tugging her toward the bedroom and Annie yawns and follows blindly, snagging the blanket off the ground with her fingertips after she almost trips over it.
"Don't crash into a wall," she mumbles. Or says something like that but the words feel tangled on her tongue and it doesn't matter because they're already in his room and Jeff is flopping down face-first onto the bed. Annie hesitates.
"Annie. Go to sleep." His words are muffled into the comforter and he turns a little, eeling himself up higher onto a pillow and patting a spot on the bed next to him. "It's fine."
She looks back toward the living room but it's dark and she'll probably trip over something anyway and he already seems to have fallen back to sleep so she crawls forward, pulling the blanket up around them both and making sure the ends are tucked around his feet as she curls next to him.
The cotton of the pillowcase is smooth against her cheek and she sinks into it with a soft exhale as she watches his face and tamps down the sudden urge to smooth her fingers along the faint creases at his eyes. A slow shiver spreads through her body, her mouth curling into a soft smile as Jeff shifts again so that his knee presses lightly against her hip.
Her eyes drift closed.
His arm rests against hers, heavy and warm.
The heater in his apartment's kicked on again and it's suddenly too much - their combined body heat under the blanket – making her feel feverish and damp with sweat.
Annie struggles to pull herself from sleep, sitting up almost drunkenly to unzip the hoodie and shake it off over her arms. The air through the thin cotton of the tee-shirt is a relief and she sits there slouched for a beat, eyes closed and hair hanging into her face before throwing the sweatshirt onto the floor.
Jeff stirs, clearing his throat and squinting up at her in confusion.
"Annie?" He inhales deeply though his nose and drops back to the pillow. "You don't have to leave."
She can't help the giggle that escapes her lips, "I'm not."
"Good," he mumbles.
He's barely even awake but there's a pleading in his voice – something unguarded and vulnerable – that surprises her, makes her stomach flutter. She bites her lip and this time can't help feathering her fingertips against his temple, smoothing back a bit of his hair. Jeff hums into his pillow.
Annie pulls her hand away, regarding him thoughtfully, then lays down on her back, close enough that she can feel his breath warm on her shoulder. She tugs the blanket back up under her chin.
His breath is steady and she focuses on it, letting it sooth her back into sleep as the wind howls against the window in a low whistle.
Dimly, she's aware of his arm slung across her waist. Sighing softly she stretches out her legs and turns over to face the opposite wall, cheek pillowed on one hand. His arm stays draped over her and in his sleep his fingers twitch and kind of twist into the hemline of her shirt.
The faint bluish glow of daylight illuminates the edges of the blinds at Jeff's window.
Annie closes her eyes again and inhales shallowly, trying to keep her breath steady but it's difficult because Jeff's arm is still draped over her and the way his fingertips play softly along the planes of her stomach is making her dizzy.
He's asleep. He has to be asleep and it's just some kind of involuntary thing the way his hand is moving against her, palming soft slow circles. She's only halfway awake anyway so maybe it's all just a dream – a really, really nice dream.
The shirt he loaned her is worn and soft and she can feel the heat of him through the thin material.
Annie squeezes her eyes closed even tighter and turns her head ever so slightly into the pillow, only to catch of whiff of something kind of musky and familiar - the cologne he normally wears that she's smelled on him when they're standing close together or when he's draped his arm over the back of her chair at lunch. It's like being enveloped in all things Jeff.
His fingertips skim under the hem of her shirt, brushing along bare skin and her muscles twitch involuntarily a little under his touch.
Jeff's hand stills and Annie's eyes fly open. She waits, biting her lip as he slides his hand back up, resting in the dip of her waist. She hears him exhale loudly in a kind of frustration, but he doesn't move away completely and his thumb continues to brush back and forth lightly.
She seizes that, thinks about it only for a second and then shifts back, toward him, fitting their bodies together. His fingers curl in, grasping her waist, then relax and slide back down, under the edge of the shirt to press flat, almost possessively over the bare taut skin of her stomach. The comforter rustles as he shifts even closer until his chest is pressed solidly against her back.
When his nose nuzzles against the side of her neck Annie's breath catches in her throat, and she has to hold back a little noise of overwhelmed approval.
Neither of them says anything and she's thankful for the silence because there's this bubbling hysteria deep in her chest that she needs to keep swallowing back. Her entire body feels vibrant, like there's an electric current running through her veins and she's almost afraid he'll feel it, how completely and utterly affected she is by him.
His fingers circle her belly button and down, dipping just below the edge of her sweatpants, between the jut of her hips and then back up again to trace along the lines of her ribs with the backs of his fingers. It tickles and Annie hums out a little high-pitched squeak that makes him chuckle silently, the muscles in his stomach contracting against her back.
When his thumb grazes underneath the curve of her breast, then skirts away she knows he's being careful, or something, but she wants more… so she arches into him just barely, sliding her foot, toes curled, against his calf, tangling her legs with his so they're locked even tighter together.
He pauses, then starts walking his fingers back up, inching along her sternum until he's palming her breast and she's gasping noiselessly at the jolt of pleasure that wakes down her body.
Suddenly, she wants to turn over and climb on top of him and ask for things she's never been able to voice out loud, even alone in the safety of her own apartment. She thinks he'd do them, she thinks he'd be good at them and that he'd make her call out his name, smirking down at her as he… oh dear.
She's had these fantasies before but never while being in bed with him and now every inch of her body is blushing as his movements continue soft, smooth, and without any kind of urgency.
It's all making her a little frantic.
Each time his fingertips drift lower, running along the curve of her hip, teasing the line of her panties, closer to where she feels hot and achy with need, her eyes roll back as she presses into him but then his hand is sliding away and he's smirking, lips pressed against the back of her neck. She wants to berate him for being a jerk, for being Jeff, for making her feel this way but she can't possibly speak right now and he continues until she's practically trembling in his arms, until she's pretty sure she might actually die if he stops.
He doesn't stop.
Finally, finally, finally when she's on the verge of begging, his fingers hook into the waistband of the sweatpants and tug lightly. Annie nods and then he's stripping them down and off, along with her panties, in one quick movement. She turns her face into the pillow, suddenly embarrassed as his fingers dance back up her leg, circling over her knee and the pale skin of her thigh before settling at her hip.
The mattress creaks as he shifts away and Annie shakes her head, alarmed that he might actually be stopping this.
"Nnnn," she starts to whimper. But then his arm is sliding under her head, wrapping around her and anchoring her to him. He nips at her earlobe and she thinks he whispers something, hushes her before pressing a kiss, open-mouthed to the slope of her shoulder. His breath is hot and uneven against her skin as if he's just affected by this as she is but oh god that doesn't even seem possible.
The hand at her hip traces circles, lower and lower between her legs, painfully and achingly slow and Annie's practically holding her breath until he's there, sliding one long finger into her and it's such a damn relief that she throws back her head and moans, loudly.
Jeff groans in response, low in his throat, and hitches her up closer, presses a kiss at the edge of her hairline, under her ear so that she can feel the scrape of his stubble against her skin and she can feel everything right now, everywhere he's touching her, stroking her and suddenly everything teasing and slow is gone and he's pressing into her harder, slicking in another finger so that she gasps and grinds back down onto him.
A warm flushing sensation spreads low in her belly, down her thighs and arms, up into her chest as little mewling whimpers escape her lips. She's overwhelmed by him, helpless but for the way she rocks her hips against his hand, grabbing and clutching at his forearm so that her nails dig in little moon-shaped crescents. Her other hand claws desperately at the sheets, wanting, wanting, wanting and feeling so close….
His fingers curl inside her, thumb flicking upwards as she feels his breath against her ear whispering just one word. Her name. Annie.
She shudders and comes with a gasp that catches in the back of her throat as she throws her head back, body arched against him as he holds her tight and murmurs things in her ear she can't even begin to comprehend right now.
His fingers work her through it until she groans softly and relaxes the grip on his arm, hand falling limply at her side. She's panting for breath, body sticky and slick with perspiration as she clutches the pillowcase next to her mouth. She can't stop shaking.
Jeff leans in and brushes away the hair that is clinging damply to her cheek. He presses a kiss there, lingering.
"You okay?" he whispers after a moment.
Annie lets out a choked laugh then, nodding weakly. "Hmmm." When she can muster the smallest amount of energy she turns herself around in his arms, not meeting his eyes, and buries her head against his chest. She feels him exhale over the top of her head, his hands smoothing in circles over her back.
His heart thumps loudly in his chest, right below her ear and she breathes in deep, trying to steady herself. She's determined not to get emotional but every cell in her body feels weak and useless. God, how embarrassing if she starts crying into his tee-shirt. He'll get the wrong idea. He'll think she's being… whatever. But that's not it at all.
The blanket's been kicked down, tangled at their legs and Jeff reaches and pulls it back up, tucking it around them when Annie shivers. He settles again, his hand going to the back of her head, fingers tangling into her hair as she snuggles in deeper against him with a little sigh.
They lay there, minutes drifting by in a haze. There's a calming in the little cocoon of warmth that they create, intertwined and pressed together and Annie lets that sink in and fill her up until she doesn't feel quite so undone.
He's still combing his fingers through her hair in a way that feels absentminded, every so often tracing along the edge of her ear and down her neck like he can't help but touch her. Annie shivers again and there's a sudden zip of renewed energy flowing down to the tips of her toes.
She tilts her head up slightly, studying him curiously through her eyelashes, or at least what she can see of his chin and the side of his face. He catches her eye and laughs, hauling her up so they're eye level on the pillow. Annie giggles in a burst of nervousness, her face flushing pink down her neck and her hand settles against his cheek, fingers stroking the stubble of his jaw line.
The room is lit just barely but the steadily rising sun makes everything feel pale and new in the early morning light. There's the tiniest glint of worry in Jeff's eyes but a smile quirks at his lips. Kind of amused and a lot affectionate.
He leans forward and kisses the tip of her nose, then her cheek as her blush grows rosier. When his lips reach hers Annie automatically leans into it, her hand curling around the back of his neck. It's slow and lazy, mouths sliding together, until she pulls back, tilting her head down so that his lips bush against her forehead.
"Jeff." Her voice sounds strange and raspy to her own ears.
"Hmm."
She's not sure what she even wants to say. Her eyes burn from lack of sleep and she feels a little drunk off her orgasm.
"I don't know."
He laughs then, chest rumbling with it and Annie laughs with him as he rolls them over so that she's lying splayed on top of him. She leans up, bracing her hands on the pillow next to his head, her hair cascading around them.
Jeff smiles up at her and smoothes her hair back with the palm of his hand, gathering it up and sweeping it over one shoulder. He presses up on his elbows and kisses the bare expanse of skin at her neck. Annie sighs and tilts her head to the side.
"I don't know either," he murmurs.
She looks at him and he raises his shoulders in a shrug. But he smiles.
There's a swooping low in her stomach and with a surge of determination Annie's smiling back, cupping his face in both hands and kissing him hard, pressing him back into the bed.
Later, they each get a text from Abed asking if they want to meet everyone for pancakes. Jeff shows the text to Annie with a raise of his eyebrows. She purses her lips as if she's considering, it then grins, yanks the phone out of his hand and throws it over his shoulder so that it clatters to the floor. At his noise of dismay Annie clasps her hands over her mouth and giggles, moving to get away from him. He gets his arms around her before she can get too far and tackles her back to the bed.
They never do make it to breakfast.
