A/N: Plenty more goodness to come!

When JJ's eyes fluttered open the next morning, she found herself alone in the tangle of white hotel linens. The sun was barely peeking through the gap in the curtains, and she was warm and comfortable in her early morning post sleep haze.

She listened as the tap ran in the bathroom. Clearly Will was the early bird of the day. A part of her was disappointed she hadn't gotten to wake up in her boyfriend's arms, snuggle up to his chest, take in his sleepy smell.

'God, when did I get so damn needy?' she admonished herself in her head.

"Rise and shine sleepin' beauty," came the lilting accent she loved so much. She turned her head lazily, locking eyes with Will as he sauntered out of the bathroom clad in nothing but his sweatpants.

"Why did you have to get up?" she asked, her voice taking on a playful whine. "I like cuddling with you when I wake up"

Will laughed, clambering onto the bed and crawling over her. "You're real whiny sometimes, you know that?"

JJ stuck out her lower lip, tipping her head to the side as she clutched the duvet up beneath her chin. "I just want to make the most of the time I have with you"

Laughing, Will leaned down, pressing a warm kiss to her lips. It was slow, gentle, and lingering, the perfect way to kick off her morning. When Will pulled away, he remained just above her, bringing one of his hands up to cup her cheek.

"Are you ok? After last night, I mean," he said softly. "I was worried I had freaked you out"

JJ let out a little laugh. "No, it's ok. I... I want you in my future too. And what you said... it really just told me how much you care about me"

"Which is more than I care about pizza," Will said seriously. JJ laughed, hitting him on the shoulder as he rolled to lay beside her.

"You're a goof," she said with a giggle. "But speaking of pizza, I'm really hungry. Is the breakfast buffet open yet?"

Will laughed, pushing himself up and taking JJ's hands.

"Come on then. Better get the queen of the Olympics some food"

She'd had a fire in her belly like nothing else.

Will's words from the previous evening had played over and over in her head, and while normally it would have made her a skittish mess, today it had made her feel unstoppable.

She had started on beam, where she had absolutely nailed out a killer set, complete with a stuck landing at the end to rapturous applause. She'd come away from the apparatus knowing deep in her gut that night two was going to be a good night.

She'd then gone to floor, where aside from a few steps on her landings, she'd laid out another great set, finishing with a huge flourish and a smile. Floor had earned her a high five and a hug from Nick, and with two events down, she had been grabbed by Kyla and McKayla for a quick piece in the middle of the competition.

"Aly!" JJ shrieked, running ahead of the other two girls and throwing her arms around her best friend. "Oh my god, I've missed you! And Gabby!"

"Hey JJ," Gabby laughed, accepting a hug from the shorter girl. "You guys are doing great!"

"I'm so jealous, I want to be competing, but I'm also glad I took a break," Aly teased, nudging JJ's side. JJ laughed, nudging Aly back as Andrea got situated beside them.

"We're having a break right now in the middle of the second night of competition, and so we're gonna head down to the floor with Andrea Joyce, where she has got all five of the Fierce Five back together!"

"Thanks Al, I'm here with the golden girls of the London Olympics, it's the first time they've all been back together since the end of the Kellogg's tour. Girls, how does it feel to be back together again?"

"Oh, amazing," Aly said, at the same that McKayla chimed in with "so good!"

"And three of you are competing here tonight, JJ, Kyla, McKayla... does it feel different being back here after the Olympic Games?"

"It's a little different, I think we all have our own high expectations now after the success we had in London, I know I've had to remind myself to slow down and just take it easy with the big skills for now," JJ laughed. "But it's so much fun, and getting to share the experiences we've had with the girls who are coming up is really nice, it's helping to gear them up for the years to come"

"Do you think we'll see the Fierce Five in Rio?" Andrea asked.

The five girls all looked at each other with nervous grins, before McKayla decided to speak up.

"I don't know about them, but I'll be there to get that vault gold," she said defiantly, making the other four laugh.

"Alright girls, thanks for speaking today, and JJ, McKayla, Kyla, good luck for the rest of competition!"

After a stuck vault and a ripper bars set to make up for night one, JJ had landed herself in fourth place in the all-around standings. Simone Biles was the newly crowned all-around national champion, which hadn't been a surprise to any of the girls after seeing her routines on night two. She had stood atop the podium, her braces adorned teeth glinting under the lights as she smiled from ear to ear. Kyla had taken the silver, with Brenna Dowell finishing out the podium with bronze.

JJ had retained her status as national champion on the balance beam, with McKayla doing the same for vault and also adding a floor title to her record. Kyla, meanwhile, had taken out the title on the uneven bars and come in just behind JJ on beam, with Simone finishing just behind her older compatriots on all four events.

The National Team had been named, and it was no surprise to anyone that the four title winners had made the team. JJ hadn't been able to fight away the ear to ear grin as they all had their photo taken in their national team gear and holding their plaques.

It was a while later that JJ finally got to see Will and her parents, but when she did, it was all smiles.

"Oh sweetheart, so proud of you. You were brilliant," Michael said warmly, pulling JJ into a tight hug when she reached them.

"Back to business hey?" her mom joked as she turned to hug her after letting go of her dad.

JJ nodded. "Worlds selection camp at the end of September. And hopefully, after that, Worlds"

"You just keep finding new ways to show me up," Will teased as he gave her a tight hug and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I'm proud of you babe"

"Guess we better start looking at tickets to Belgium," Michael chuckled, falling into step beside Sandy as they watched the young couple walking together just in front of them.

"Some things never change," Sandy said with a smile.

And even though they had spent the majority of the last four years travelling around to watch JJ compete... she wouldn't have changed it for the world.

"I think I'm gonna have to take up a sport and start winning everywhere I go, you're making me look real pathetic over here"

JJ laughed at Will's quip, flopping down beside him on the bed and closing her eyes. It was nice to be done with competition, but she was exhausted. Thankfully, Nick had given her a few days to rest before they resumed training for the camp. They were due to fly home the following morning, and she and Will had jumped at the chance for one more night alone in the hotel room.

"In all seriousness, you are killing it this year. I know I said it earlier, but I'm genuinely so proud of you"

Opening her eyes, JJ smiled up at Will, a hint of a blush creeping onto her cheeks.

"Thanks," she said softly. "It's been hard, but it's worth it"

Will smiled for a moment, before leaning down and pressing a kiss to JJ's lips. She reciprocated by wrapping an arm around the back of his neck, her other hand resting against his chest.

"I love you," she whispered in between kisses.

"Mm... I love you too," Will replied happily.

They stayed in their own little bubble, oblivious to the world around them, content to do nothing more than just be with each other for the rare moment in time when there was nothing else to worry them.