When she woke her head was tucked in between Jeff's shoulder and his head. From the soft snores she heard coming out of his mouth, Annie concluded that he was still asleep. She smiled and burrowed her head deeper into his shoulder, inhaling deeply. He smelled like alcohol and sweat, but more importantly he smelled like Jeff. He was an idiot, and he was normally a huge jerk, but he was hers and she loved him. Being apart for three months had allowed her to push her feelings for him to the back of her mind, but being with him again brought them all to the forefront of her brain. How was she going to be able to leave him again? Especially when he was in the midst of an addiction to alcohol. He needed her! Annie pushed those thoughts aside though, repeating her mantra "I have opportunities in DC" over and over again in her head. When Jeff let out a louder snore though, Annie couldn't help but giggle and affectionately stroke his thigh.

"I love you," she whispered, her breath ghosting across his neck. Annie froze as Jeff turned a bit and grumbled in his sleep. She might love him, but she wasn't quite ready to say those three little words to a conscious Jeff. If she told him she loved him, it would undoubtedly change things between them. She wouldn't be able to leave him for DC as easily if she knew he knew she loved him. It wouldn't be right to do that to either of them – if she told him, she would have to commit to being with him. For now, she'd have to keep her feelings to herself – she snorted a bit at the irony of her being the one hiding feelings from Jeff, it had so often been the other way around. Her snort, though muffled by his shoulder, had alerted Jeff to her presence and had left him blinking sleepily and mumbling something under his breath.

"What?" Annie asked, poking him softly in the ribcage.

"Annie?" He mumbled with a confused look on his face. As he shook his head and watched her smirk up at him, his confusion faded. In its place, a headache began to form – indicated by the slow pounding he felt near his temples. Ugh, he needed some scot— oh shit, he thought as he remembered his decision to quit drinking. What was he going to do now? When he glanced at Annie, who had moved from her resting place on his shoulder to the opposite side of the couch, he groaned. How was he going to keep this promise? When she turned to look at him and smiled her (what he liked to call) Jeff smile, he figured he'd have to at least try. She deserved better than this mopey version of him, and dammit he was going to do his best to give her what she deserved – no matter what. So he smiled back, hoping his face hadn't betrayed his inner conflict. When she stood and put her hand out to help him up off the couch, Jeff's thoughts shifted to the morning's prospects. Annie was here, in his apartment with him, and he'd be damned if he didn't spend as much time as possible with her.

"So, do you want some breakfast?" He asked accepting her help off the couch.

"That depends," She said inclining her head towards the kitchen, "do you have anything that's edible and not protein powder in there?"

"Um, come to think of it probably not. I think there were some egg whites in the fridge last time I checked, but that might've been a couple days ago…"

"Jeff!" Annie shouted, slapping his shoulder, "Are you crazy? Have you been eating at all?"

"Of course I've been eating, Annie!" Jeff said looking affronted, "I'm not an idiot."

"When was the last time you ate?"

"Uh…"

"Jeff!"

"I don't know, a day or two ago?" he said looking slightly abashed, "I've been kind of out of it the last couple months."

"I see that," she said looking around the room, "how about this, we clean this place up and get rid of every bottle and then we can grab breakfast at that low-calorie, high-protein café place you like?"

"Sounds like a plan," he said as he grabbed a couple bottles off the coffee table, "though I should probably shower and shave before being in public."

"I agree," Annie nodded as she glanced over at him, "you kind of look like a disheveled hermit."

Jeff snorted as he grabbed a trash bag from the kitchen.

"Thanks for the compliment."

"You're welcome," She said with a soft chuckle as she began picking bottles up off the coffee table.

A half hour later, Annie flopped down on the couch and exhaled loudly.

"Jeez Jeff, that was ridiculous! We must've collected over thirty bottles!"

In response, Jeff just grumbled something from the bathroom where he was getting ready to take his shower. Annie pulled her phone out of her purse and occupied herself with it till she heard the water turn off and a shout from Jeff.

"I can't hear you! What's wrong?" She asked as she stood up off the couch and began walking towards the bathroom.

"I said, I need you to get me a towel. There aren't any clean ones in here."

"You should've checked before you took your shower…"

"Annie!" He pleaded through the door, "Please just get me one out of the hall closet. If you don't, I'll have to, and I really don't think you'll want to see that."

"Fine, I'll find you one." Annie said with a chuckle as she walked to the hall closet. Annie shook her head as she grabbed a towel out of the closet, little did Jeff know that she'd been fighting her desire to see him naked again since that pool class he took freshman year, though – for the sake of not inflating his stupidly large ego even more – she planned to keep that to herself.

"I've got the towel," she said as she knocked on the door. A second later Jeff's head popped out and began dripping water all over the floor.

"Thanks Annie," he said as he opened the door a bit more so he could grab the towel from her. Annie's thoughts were elsewhere though as she eyed his exposed chest, which was dripping with water as well. In fact, she was so focused she was able to trace the path of one droplet of water as it trailed down his chest and began descending into uncharted territory.

"Ahem"

Annie's head snapped up at the sound, only to see a cocky Jeff smiling at her.

"My face is up here."

Annie made a spluttering sound and shoved the towel into his hand, turning away before the blush had a chance to spread across her face. How was it possible for him to shake her up so much without actually doing anything? She was a mature adult, and yet with Jeff she had a terrible tendency to react like a hormonal teenage girl. She was an adult, and he knew that and had acknowledged it, yet she still found herself straddling the line between love-struck teenager and knowledgeable adult. It wasn't like she had never seen a man naked before either! God, she may care about Jeff but that didn't mean she had been celibate in DC. Even with her experiences with other men, Jeff was able to make her flustered in a matter of minutes. Trying to push thoughts of a shirtless Jeff out of her mind, Annie sat back on the couch, glowering at her phone until Jeff entered the room.

"Ready to go get some food?" He said as he grabbed his wallet off the coffee table.

Annie was impressed; he had cleaned up really well and looked much more like the Jeff Winger she had left behind three months before.

"You're not going to bring up what happened outside the bathroom?" She asked as she stood up and grabbed her purse.

"I wasn't planning on it. We're both mature adults. Plus, I understand how difficult it can be resisting the Winger charm – I am a work of art." He added with a devilish grin.

Annie groaned and shook her head, but smiled the whole time. She had missed hanging out with him and his big ego, and was looking forward to the time they would be able to spend together.

"Let's go," She said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him out the front door.