I haven't written Wega in a while, other than in Nature's First Green Is Gold, but I wanted to step out of that for a while and go back to some fluff, earlier on in their relationship. This takes place the morning after If I Can Leave Off Burying The White ended.

Vega always woke up slightly on edge when she was in a new place. It was instinctive, no matter how relaxed she was or what she was thinking about when she went to bed, no matter how comfortable she felt where she was, she woke up on edge, ready for anything, thrown off by the unfamiliarity.

This time was no different. She knew instantly where she was. It didn't take a moment for the memories of the previous night to come back. There was no temporary panic in wondering why she was naked. She awoke with full clarity, yet her heart pounded for a few seconds. Then she took in a deep breath. She was okay.

She was laying on her stomach – something she hadn't done in months. She turned her head, resting it against the pillow, looking at the only familiar thing in the room.

He was laying on his side, facing her, right arm under the pillow, his left reaching over. She couldn't help herself; she started giggling. She remembered his hand on her back at one point during the night when she'd woken up to shift her weight. But at some point, it had slid down to rest on her butt, and because she knew that hadn't been his intent she found it incredibly funny. She pushed her face into her pillow, trying not to wake him up.

It didn't work; he was shifting his weight, his hand leaving her backside to come up to rest on his neck, as if it was stiff. He grunted quietly, then opened his eyes.

"Morning, sleepyhead," she said, grinning.

"Why do people always say that?" he mumbled. "All of me is sleepy."

"Yeah but it fits you right now," she said, still smirking. "You should see your hair."

"You feel okay?" he asked.

She always hated when men asked that in movies and TV. Why did they automatically think the woman wasn't okay? But Wylie had good reason to ask. "I'm sore," she admitted. "And really tired. But..." she propped herself up on her elbows, smiling at him. "I'm really glad you stayed."

"Yeah?" he asked quietly. "I'm glad."

"Glad you stayed or glad I'm glad you stayed?" she asked, raising an eyebrow flirtatiously.

He rolled his eyes as he shifted onto his back. "Shut up."

She grinned, scooting closer to him on an angle, lifting her upper body off the mattress and lowering it onto him, pressing her lips to his as one of her hands rested against the side of his face. She felt his hands against her upper arms as he kissed her back. "God, Wylie," she said, pressing her forehead against his, "I love you."

He curled his arms around her, rolling them both onto their sides, and pressed his lips firmly against hers again. "Right back at you."

She smiled. "When do you have to go back to Austin?"

He sighed. "Probably later on today. I have to pick some things up from work tonight and it is right back at it tomorrow."

She was quiet for a while. "I knew that but it's still hard to hear."

"You have to start your polygraph training tomorrow, don't you?"

"No. Day after. What am I supposed to do tomorrow? My plans have involved you and physical therapy for months. And now I can't see you for almost a week."

"So eat pizza and don't work out. Be a rebel."

She laughed. "I don't think I could just do that for hours on end, Jay."

"Jay?" Wylie raised his eyebrows. "No one calls me that."

"Do you like it?"

He smiled. "It's a good name. At least in your voice."

Those of you reading Nature's First Green Is Gold know Vega calls Wylie "Jay" a lot, and halfway through writing this I realized I wanted to show the origin of that. Hope you guys liked this little fluffy piece before you go back to all my angst (I promise it gets happier!)