Well, this was a beast to write. I originally got this idea from listening to The Morning Song by The Lumineers, it's what I listened to while I was writing this, but I changed it a lot obviously. Anyway, if you've never heard the song, you should definitely listen to it! Okay, hopefully you like it!
"Pierce gave me a ticket to Paris." Annie tells Jeff and the glass that he was carefully washing falls out of his hand and clanks loudly into the sink.
"What?" Jeff asks picking the glass back up and refusing to turn and look at her.
"Pierce gave me a ticket to Paris. For graduation. It's open-ended. He said I should take the summer and explore." She says from her spot on his couch.
"Oh," is all he manages in reply.
"That's all you have to say?" She questions and he can hear the frustration in her tone. But what did she expect, honestly? He's Jeff Winger. That doesn't change because they've been exclusively having sex for a couple months. They aren't in a relationship. They're friends, who see each other naked. Occasionally.
"Are you going to go?" He places the glass down and finally turns to face her, crossing his arms over his chest as he leans against the counter.
"Maybe." He nods once.
"Cool. Have fun."
"Jeff!" Annie whines and he knows they're heading into dangerous territory. She's going to want to define their relationship. He'll push her away and say something stupid. It's their pattern. And he can feel it coming, he's powerless to stop it. He doesn't know how else to function with Annie. "Why are you being like this?"
"What do you want me to say, Annie?" She shrugs. "We knew this would have to end sometime, so go to Paris. Find some European guy. Have a fling. Go crazy." The words are out of his mouth before he has time to really think about them or stop them. Her eyes narrow and she takes a deep breath.
"Is that what you want?" No. He stares at the ground and keeps his mouth firmly shut. She nods gathering her things. "Fine. My plane leaves Tuesday." She informs him and slips on her ballet flats. "I'll see you in August, Jeff."
She won't.
He spends the rest of the summer in a scotch-induced haze. He sleeps with almost anything that has legs, as long as they're women. He doesn't care what Pierce claims. He's not gay.
But he tells himself he'll stop as soon as August hits. He needs to be normal when Annie comes back. So, on July 31st he finishes off the last of his scotch and resolves to be back to normal Jeff.
His resolve lasts 10 days. On August 10th, Jeff finds out Annie is getting married. He may or may not get entirely shitfaced.
The worst part is that Annie didn't even tell him herself. He hears it from Pierce, who was told by Shirley (she spends most of her workday with him, so it's only natural that she gossips with him too). Of course Shirley got her information from Britta and Britta just so happened to be hanging out (someone should really tell her that they all know she lives there and no one will think less of her because she's relying on a man) at Troy and Abed's when Abed got the call.
So, basically, Annie listens to him. She finds a new guy, evidently it's not a fling though. She doesn't call him once. Not even a courtesy call, Annie was always courteous. But he figures he probably lost the right to most of Annie's good traits when he ended things the way he did. Admittedly, maybe that was a mistake.
But she cornered him! He panicked.
Of course he regrets it, but Jeff had definitely not been in a place to commit at that time. He still isn't. So, it's better, for Annie at least, to get over him now. But it's best for him, that he kept Annie around, which is made increasingly clear by the group's visits following the news of Annie's impending nuptials.
"This seems like the perfect idea for a reunion movie." Abed comments and turns toward Jeff mid-movie.
"Huh?"
"You going after Annie in Paris and telling her you love her and want to be with her." He rambles in his usual indifferent monotone. Jeff ignores the way his heart sounds like it's beating out of its chest. Doesn't mean anything.
"That's not going to happen." Jeff scoffs.
"You're right." He nods. "It's too soon for a reunion." Abed turns back to the television and Jeff breathes out an audible sigh of relief. "You don't have the guts for it, anyway." Jeff looks at Abed in surprise, he merely shrugs. "Movies always drive the main character into action by insulting them."
"That won't work."
"You should think about it." Jeff tells himself he most definitely will not think about it. He ends up thinking of nothing else for a week and he may or may not look at plane tickets.
"Hello Jeffery!" After several loud knocks on his door at way too early of an hour, he's up and opening the door for Shirley. "What happened to you?" She asks after fully taking in his rumpled appearance. "Is there pre-marital relations going on here?"
"Ugh, no." He groans sitting down at the counter and placing his head against it.
"Now I'm even more worried." Shirley mutters under her breath and Jeff's head snaps back up.
"Why are you here?"
"Sometimes I just like to visit my friends in the morning with freshly baked brownies." Jeff's eyes narrowed.
"Shirley…" He prompts more forcefully. He wants to go into full-on lawyer mode, but he's hungover and it's early. He really needs more sleep, if he's going to have to cross-examine her.
"Well, Britta expressed concern about your reaction to Annie getting married. She thought since we used to be gossip buddies I could get it out of you." She admits guiltily.
"What? Why would she-? No, I'm fine." Shirley raises her eyebrows. "I am!"
"If you don't tell me what's going on, I will tell everyone about Tinkle Town."
"I'll tell everyone about Big Cheddar!" Jeff immediately rebounds.
"Oh, Jeffery, I know you wouldn't blackmail a good, Christian woman like that."
"But you just tried to blackmail me!"
"This is for your own good, boy. Now tell me what happened with Annie." So, he does because he needs to tell someone and Shirley seems like the best option out of all of them. She listens attentively, interrupts once to yell at him for defiling the study room too many times, but he was kind of asking for that. He finishes by telling her exactly what happened before Annie left. "And now she's getting married."
"Have you tried calling her?" He shakes his head.
"She doesn't want to hear from me, Shirley. She hates me." He sighs and sinks further into the chair. "I don't blame her." Shirley watches him for several moments before moving to the other side of the counter to where he's seated.
"I may not have approved of you and Annie at first, but you're a good person, Jeff Winger. With the good Lord willing, you could be the best man for Annie." Shirley says with a pointed look.
"I'm not going to church with you."
"Fine, then I won't support you and Annie."
"There's nothing to support with me and Annie. She's getting married, Shirley."
"She's only marrying him because she thinks you don't want her." Jeff laughs bitterly. There's no way he can fix this, unless he takes Abed's advice.
"So, what should I do? Go to Paris and tell Annie that I miss her and want her to come back?" He shakes his head. "It'll change nothing. What I said to her when she left is still true. I'm still Jeff Winger. A commitment-phobic asshole with daddy issues." Shirley sighs heavily and gently pats Jeff's hand.
"You're readier for this than you think, sweetie." She smiles sweetly at him before leaving.
Weekend's are typically spent drunk with Alan at a bar, but ever since he found out about Annie, it's been a lot more weekends spent getting drunk alone in his apartment.
He glances quickly at the clock and realizes he's perfecting his hair at 4 in the afternoon. God, he really needs to get it together. He's falling apart over a girl. No. This is not Jeff Winger. Jeff Winger does not cry when some girl he was sleeping with for a couple months gets married. A voice in his head reminds him it was more than that because she's (or was, at least) his best friend and he was too chicken to admit he had feelings for her.
He hadn't even let Annie finish what she wanted to say before he freaked out and she left.
Maybe, she didn't even want a relationship. But she's getting married in a week. So, yeah she wanted a relationship. Although Annie's always been understanding with him…
No, that kind of thinking is dangerous. Annie's getting married and he has to be okay with it because he didn't do anything to stop it. He let her go to Paris because he's an idiot. Or at least that's what he convinces himself. He's okay with it.
And then Britta shows up.
He should've expected it. After all, she sent Shirley over, so it was really only a matter of time.
"Winger." She greets stepping inside his apartment.
"No thanks, I didn't invite buzzkill over for breakfast."
"Hey, you can't do your weird thing with my girlfriend anymore!" Troy shouts coming up the steps and Jeff looks at him quizzically. "When you guys fight and flirt and then fight and have sex and ah, it's exhausting."
"We never did that." Britta and Jeff both say at the same moment groaning when they realize it.
"You're right. I couldn't possibly know what I'm talking about." Troy mumbles sarcastically taking a seat on the chair. "And did you say something about breakfast? I wouldn't mind some pancakes." Jeff ignores Troy and instead looks at Britta.
"If you're here to talk to me about Annie, then you can save it."
"Ah, so you do think you need to talk about Annie?" Britta questions in a superior tone.
"No, I think you think I need to talk about Annie." Jeff corrects crossing his arms.
"You're not going to out-confuse me, Jeff. Even if you think I think you need to talk about Annie, that doesn't mean you think you don't need to talk about Annie. Or maybe you just don't want to think about wanting to think about thinking about Annie!"
"That didn't even make sense!" Jeff responds triumphantly.
"THIS IS WRINKLING MY BRAIN!" Troy cries curling into a ball.
"Congratulations, you broke your boyfriend. Now what was your advice about how to handle my relationship?" He asks sharply as Britta rushes to awkwardly comfort Troy.
"You don't have a relationship, Jeff. That's what you were afraid of, remember?" Britta reminds him through clenched teeth as Troy's sobs start to subside. "That's why Annie's marrying the second-biggest douchebag because you, Jeff Winger, are the first."
"Okay first off, ouch!" He says pressing a hand to his heart. "And second, Annie's fiancé is a douchebag?"
"He helps his dad run a huge company in New York. But some of the things that company does are horrible, Jeff. I wanted to stage a protest but Annie told me not to." Britta explains.
"Annie says his family is old money, which is weird because I can never find any old money anymore. They're all new and fancy and colorful, but this dude has a whole family's worth. It's not fair, Jeff. I want old money too!" Jeff settles his eyes on Troy looking for something to say, but settling on shaking his head.
"So, do you have legitimate reasons to hate him or think Annie is in danger?" He asks looking between the couple.
"Those multi-corporations are what's wrong with the world…" Britta rants as Troy wails about old money and simple times.
"Okay and out you go." Jeff grumbles escorting Troy and Britta to the door.
"I'll be back." Britta promises as Jeff starts to close the door. "AND I WON'T BRING TROY!" He hears her yell and shakes his head.
He knows his friends are trying to help, but sometimes they do way more harm than good.
He doesn't talk to Annie. He doesn't call her or write her a letter or go find her. He ignores mostly everything the study group has told him over the past two weeks, but he does keep in mind what Pierce said. "It's only her first marriage. She's 22. I give it a month before she's back at Greendale."
Yeah, he's desperate enough to listen to what Pierce is saying. That's a completely separate problem in and of itself.
But whatever, he doesn't do anything about it because he doesn't really know what to do. Annie's clearly moved on and nothing he says will change her mind. He knows Annie, better than anyone else in the study group, at least he thinks so. And he knows he can't turn it around at this point.
Yeah, so Annie gets married. She is married. Annie Edison isn't Annie Edison anymore. He doesn't even know what her husbands name is? He wonders if anyone else does. Probably. He's assuming Annie's called everyone else by now. Abed informed him that they were getting married in Paris and it was quick and maybe they'd have a bigger ceremony when they came back to the US and Jeff tunes out after that part because he doesn't care about Annie's wedding. Or maybe the problem is he cares too much.
Whatever, it doesn't matter. Jeff doesn't want to hear about Annie's wedding, so he completely ignores everything involving it. When the group realizes it, he notices them talking about Annie less and less in front of him. He appreciates it.
Pierce was wrong; Annie's not back at Greendale in a month. Of course she's not. When Annie decides to do something, she does it 110 percent, she wasn't going to give up on her marriage a month in.
That's when Jeff really resolves to get over Annie. She's living some plush life in New York with her husband. She's not coming back to him. She's gone. He accepts it. Or as close to acceptance as he can get.
Annie's the first domino to fall. Once she's gone for good, everyone else leaves Greendale shortly after.
Shirley and Pierce's business venture becomes more successful than they'd even hoped and soon they're opening chains. Shirley moves the headquarters to Denver, to live in a better school system for her children ("I had great times at Greendale, but the Lord knows I do not want my children attending that place"). And Pierce manages all of his duties from the offices he insisted on opening in Florida after marrying his eighth wife ("It's great. There are women everywhere. Although, there's a lot of border-crossers. I think they're illegals. Wanna help me out with their convictions, Jeff?").
Abed gets an offer from some television studio that saw the Community College Chronicles and wants to turn into a real show ("It'll be great. I can be like Liz Lemon. Except on a sitcom instead of a variety show. Am I producing tears out of my mouth yet?"). Troy naturally goes with and gets a job as a plumber, that he's probably more excited about than he should be ("I can fix the sinks of famous people. You could say a name and I could be like 'aw, yeah. I touched their toilet.'"). Britta moves too, because she's going to graduate school and not for any other Troy-related reasons ("I could stay here and be fine. I don't need a man and I think it's a tragedy that in today's society women are always expected to move with the man. What if I had a big career planned? It would get thrown aside?"). Jeff cut off Britta's rant with a typical "you're the worst" comment and she stopped.
Jeff is the only one who stays. He still lives in Greendale, granted he moves to a nicer condo once getting a solid job at a law firm. Jeff's life returns to normal. Sometimes he thinks his time at GCC was his imagination, but then he'll turn on NBC and watch the newest episode of Community College Chronicles and he knows it happened.
He hears from Pierce occasionally. It's typically to give Jeff some unnecessary comment about the girl's bikini on the beach. Or it's one of those stupid joke emails filled with things that only someone like Pierce would find funny.
He sees Shirley once a month for dinner. Denver isn't too far from Greendale and they make it a point to catch up on the last Saturday of the month, because Sunday is God's day, Jeffery. Sometimes Shirley brings the kids with, other times she leaves them at home.
Abed calls him every week without fail to check how he felt about the most recent episode and to question how true the character was to real life. Or just to let Jeff know that these were the decisions he should've made while at Greendale, and didn't.
Troy interrupts the middle of his conversations with Abed to share with him the latest thing he's discovered. They're never anything clever, or really all that brain-wrinkling. Last week, he revealed that peanut butter and apples go together. Abed assuages all of Jeff's worries about Troy. Apparently, he's going to invent dance pants in 2019. Jeff doesn't even want to know what dance pants are.
Typically he hears from Britta every time one of her friends ends up in jail. "You're a lawyer! Do something good for the world instead of being a slimy douchebag." He may have actually helped a couple times. But he'll never tell anyone that. Ever.
Annie calls him once. It's in September, after she gets married. He doesn't answer. He wishes he would've because he doesn't think he can bring himself to call her back. She leaves him a long message. She apologizes for not calling him before now, for getting married without telling him. She wishes things could've been different. She wishes she wouldn't have thrown everything away again. He doesn't know what that means. He should've called her back. But by the time he worked up enough courage to do it, it was two months too late.
That's pretty much how life goes for the next four years. Monthly dinners with Shirley, weekly phone calls from Troy and Abed, occasional conversations with Britta and Pierce, and no contact from Annie. Which is fine because Jeff moves on from her.
He starts dating a paralegal that he works with, Mary. She's gorgeous and smart, she reminds him of Michelle a little. And things work out for him and Mary ("Slater 2" as Abed dubs her) for awhile. But then, she wants him to commit. She's asking to meet his mom and maybe even move into his apartment and it's all too much. Although, he treats this differently than the previous time he was faced with commitment. He talks to her like an adult, tells her he's not ready for it now, might not ever be. And she doesn't take it well. She yells about leading her on and not appreciating her. It's a pretty blowout fight. They break up after almost 6 months of relationship bliss.
It's after that that Jeff declares himself officially over Annie. He's been in a decent length relationship with someone very different than Annie. He doesn't spend every night thinking about her anymore.
He's moved on.
Jeff realizes how wrong he was about moving on from Annie when he sees her for the first time since the day she left his apartment, before Paris, before her marriage. She looks almost exactly the same. He knows 4 years isn't long, but Jeff always imagined she looked some high society debutante now. She doesn't.
She's wearing a white sundress, no cardigan, it is summer after all. Her hair is in loose waves around her face and Jeff can't believe she straightened her hair all those years they were at Greendale because this look works for her. She's still Annie. His Annie. Whoa, no. Where did that come from? She was never his Annie because he blew it every single time. Slowly, he approaches her. He needs to talk to her. He needed to talk to her way before now, but she was never just there before.
What is she doing here? She's supposed to be in New York with her husband. Husband. Shit. What if her husband is here? Maybe he should just run and not say anything, pretend he never saw her. He makes his decision to run at the minute that Annie finally notices him.
"Jeff?" She asks and her voice is exactly the same as he remembered. He almost can't believe he went this long, even longer, without speaking to her.
"Annie!" He greets as if he only just noticed her. "Hey." He smiles trying to get himself on track. She turns fully toward him and this time he can see into her cart. What he notices, well, it shocks him. There's a little Annie. Okay, it's not actually a little Annie, it's her daughter (he's assuming?) but seriously she looks exactly like Annie. And everything falls into place. That's why she got married. That's what she meant about throwing it all away again. She had a baby. Holy shit.
"So, you still haven't left Greendale?" She asks with a smile.
"Nah, I like it here." He shrugs. "I didn't know you were back." Annie sighs tiredly and he finally notices what he failed to in his earlier catalogue of Annie. She's older. There are circles under her eyes and she looks tired. That's probably part of being a mom, his inner voice states. He ignores it and focuses his attention back on Annie.
"Yeah, I missed it here." She manages a small smile. "New York wasn't really my thing." She says with a crinkled nose and he nods in understanding trying to picture Annie in high society life.
"So, are you back for good or for a visit?"
"For good." She affirms with a nod and he feels like the Grinch because he's pretty sure his heart just grew three sizes. Annie's back in Greendale. For good.
"Do you want to have dinner?" He blurts out and her eyes widen. Idiot, he sighs heavily at himself. You are such an idiot. "Not like that!" He immediately amends in a panick-y voice and Annie's eyes widen ever further at his antics. "I mean, I know you're married. I just-we haven't- I don't know." He shakes his head and lets it hang in defeat. He thinks he might walk away and have that be that, but then he hears a small giggle and he chances a glance up.
"You're silly." Mini-Annie says, wide smile on her face. Then, he looks over at Annie, who's smiling at him too.
"Jeff, this is my daughter Olivia. Olivia, this is mommy's friend Jeff." Jeff feels the corners of his mouth quirk up at the soft voice Annie uses with her daughter. She's probably an amazing mom. Although, he never would've bet against Annie. She's pretty amazing at everything. Ugh, he needs to stop having thoughts like that. Olivia's looking at him expectantly and he takes a step forward grabbing her tiny hand and kissing it lightly.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." She giggles in return and Jeff smiles involuntarily.
"Hey Liv, do you want to have dinner with Jeff?" Annie asks and Olivia nods in response glancing up at him from under her lashes. This girl is going to be a force to reckoned with if Annie taught her all her powers. "We'd love to have dinner with you."
"Yeah?" He asks in surprise locking eyes with Annie.
"Yeah," she nods as a smile blooms across her face. And god, he's kicking himself right now for not listening to Abed and going after her in Paris and telling her everything she deserved to know.
"What about-?" He stops himself because is he really going ruin it by mentioning her husband.
"My husband?" She asks raising an eyebrow at his inability to finish the question. He nods and even though it's probably the wrong moment for it, he laughs. Because he's missed Annie and now she's here and she's still the same and god, he missed her. "I'm not married anymore." She reveals and his laughter stops.
"What?"
"I don't want to go into details right now." She murmurs angling her head toward her daughter. "But he's still in New York. I'm here. We're divorced." She wiggles her bare ring finger and Jeff actually breathes a sigh of relief.
To recap (because he's pretty sure his mind can't keep up with anything that's happening): Annie is back in Greendale for good, Annie has a daughter, Annie is divorced, and Annie and her daughter are having dinner with Jeff.
"So, dinner?" Jeff asks just to be sure and Annie nods.
"Do you want to get takeout and head to my place?" She suggests. "Someone's unhappy if she's separated from her toys for too long." Annie grins at Olivia, who crosses her arms in annoyance.
"Not true, mommy."
"You wanna hear a secret?" Jeff asks turning to Olivia, who nods eagerly. "Your mom doesn't like to be separated from her toys either. One time she made us miss a puppy parade just so she could find her pen."
"A pen isn't a toy."
"It is to your mom." Jeff tells the girl with a smirk and ignoring Annie's gasping in the background.
"That's silly."
"I know."
"As I recall," Annie starts intruding on their conversation and Jeff grins ready for her retort. "You were the one who locked the doors."
"You screamed bloody murder." He defends.
"Mommy, you're only supposed to scream if you're hurt." Olivia instructs with a stern face and yup, she's learned the formidable face.
"That's right." Annie says glaring at Jeff.
"Then why'd you scream about a pen?" Olivia asks and Annie groans hitting Jeff lightly in the arm.
"We're not talking about this anymore." Annie says looking between the two of them and they both nod in agreement, but when Annie turns away Jeff winks at Olivia.
Later, after Olivia is asleep and Jeff finally gets Annie alone, he feels nervous. All night he's had a buffer. But now it's just him and Annie. God, what is it about this woman that always makes him turn into a 13-year-old girl who's been left alone with his crush? It's ridiculous. He's an adult. He can handle being alone with Annie. He's not nervous. Not at all.
Annie comes back into the room in sweatpants and despite the fact that they slept together for almost 5 months, he's never seen her this dressed down. Other than seeing her naked, but that didn't really count. She smiles at him and takes a seat next to him on the couch.
"You made a good first impression."
"Jeff Winger always makes a good first impression." Annie snorts and he glares in response. "What was that for?"
"You made a horrible first impression with the study group."
"Okay, the study group is special circumstances. Normally, Jeff Winger makes a good first impression." She rolls her eyes, but smiles anyway.
"Well, a certain 3-year-old is now your biggest fan." He shrugs it off, but he feels happier knowing that Olivia liked him. She's a really good kid, of course, she's Annie's but still Jeff wouldn't mind spending time with her even without Annie there. Oh God, he really needs to stop thinking, it just leads him to dangerous places.
"This is a really nice place, Annie." He comments looking around. He wasn't sure what he expected when he came over here, but it wasn't this. This house is in one of the nicest parts of Greendale. Nicer than even where his condo is and he has money to spare.
"Oh yeah, I got a lot of money in the divorce, so I figured I could get Olivia a nice house." She brushes it off, but Jeff can hear the tinge of hurt in her voice.
"What happened?" She laughs and it's harsh and bitter and he hates her husband. Based on that sound alone he knows this guy is an asshole. He's 90 percent sure at the end of Annie's story. He'll track this guy down and maybe kill him.
"I'm an idiot." She says with a shake of her head. "I was a huge idiot." She amends staring hard at the couch cushion. "He was cheating on me." She reveals and Jeff can feel his blood boil. If her husband couldn't appreciate her, then he didn't deserve her. "With a lot of women. All over town." She sighs tiredly. "I suspected something for awhile, but I didn't have proof and then I got all the proof. I told him I was done and he said he had been waiting for this. He paid me off to leave quietly. He can't have people at his company knowing about this." She mutters angrily. "So, he gave me a lot of money, signed off all his rights to Chloe, and signed the divorce papers."
"That guy's an asshole, Annie. He doesn't deserve anyone anywhere near as great as you." He's not sure what makes him say that, but he thinks it was good because Annie smiles. It's brief, but it's there.
"I know. I wasn't even with him for me, though. I knew he wasn't…" She pauses. "A good guy," she finally supplies. "But I wanted Liv to have both her parents. I always promised myself that when I had kids-" She breaks off shaking her head. "Doesn't matter. It was stupid."
"Hey, whoa." Jeff needs to say something because upset Annie always was, and still is, the one thing that can ruin him. He actually can't bear to see her cry, so he definitely needs to turn this around before she does. "She's better off without her father, if what you told me is anything to go by. And it doesn't matter if she has both parents or not. She has you and you're more than enough, Annie. You're an amazing mom, okay?"
He bites his lip after he's finished because was that even the right thing to say? He's hardly the right person to comfort her. They haven't seen each other in years and he doesn't even know much regarding her situation. But then she turns to him and there are tears in her eyes and he knows they're the good kind and Jeff's never felt prouder of himself because he actually fixed something. Then, she's hugging him tightly and he really realizes just how much he's missed Annie.
"Thanks, Jeff." She whispers squeezing him tightly one more time before letting go.
"No problem." He misses her when she moves away and seriously, when did he turn into a teenage girl?
"So, what have you been up to?" She asks curiously curling back into her side of the couch.
"Well, I burned my bridges with Alan." She nods in remembrance. "But I was able to find a firm that actually wanted me. It's not quite the same law I was doing." He admits, he's never told anyone that. They all just assumed he went back to the smarmy lawyer he used to be, but that isn't him anymore. And he couldn't put himself back in that lifestyle. He spent four years at Greendale trying to be less of a douchebag, he wasn't going to throw it all way.
"Jeff!" Annie practically squeals with a wide smile.
"I know. I've become a good guy." He snarks and Annie's smile softens.
"You've always been a good guy." Jeff raises an eyebrow at that statement. "Okay, maybe it's been deep, deep, deep down at times. But it was still there."
"I think it was you more than anyone." He admits quietly after a few minutes of comfortable silence. Annie's eyes immediately snap to his face and he shrugs. "I mean, the study group as a whole helped me be less of a jackass, but it started when I realized disappointing you was the worst." Annie smiles fondly.
"Like choking the Little Mermaid with a bike chain, right?" She quips reminding him of the words he used their freshman year.
"Exactly." They're both silent after that. Not awkward, just comfortable silence that you only experience with your closest friends. He hasn't seen Annie in years and the last time he saw her, well, things didn't exactly end well…but being around her is one of the easiest things in the world. He's mad that he let their friendship go this much. He's mad that he never called her back. He's mad that he didn't stop her wedding. And he's mad that he wasn't there when her marriage fell apart.
"Will I see you again?" Annie asks curiously and his heart does a full stop at the thought of not seeing her again.
"Yes." He says with finality. "You live five minutes away, it'd be ridiculous if we didn't see each other, y'know?" He's trying to be casual and he knows he's failing, but Annie at least has the decency not to laugh at him. "Plus, I really like Olivia and her mom's not so bad…" He trails off with a smirk.
"Not so bad, huh?" Annie raises an eyebrow.
"Mhm," he affirms unable to wipe the smirk off his face. Annie hits him in the arm playfully.
"You haven't changed a bit, Jeff Winger."
"Neither have you, Edison."
And just like that it's like Annie never left, like they never drifted apart, like nothing ever happened to separate them. He goes over to Annie's after work, where dinner is normally eaten. He hangs out for a couple of hours and eventually goes back to his condo, but only to sleep. Jeff knows it's weird and he's pretty sure Annie does too. They're almost like a very unconventional family, except he's just a friend and nothing more.
He's not bitter about it. He knows it's a delicate situation. Besides, he and Annie have a lot to talk about if they're ever going to cross into the more than friends territory. But Jeff knows he would be ready if Annie ever gave him the opportunity. Hell, he spends more time at her house than he does at his own.
He sighs straightening his tie and tries to wipe the smile forming on his face. He pretty easily worked his way up at his law firm and they're promoting him. A year ago, this news probably would've sent him to the nearest bar to celebrate with a bottle of scotch and the hottest woman there. Today, all he could think about was getting to Annie's house.
"I come bearing gifts." Jeff yells through the house as he swings the door open. He can barely step into the room before a tiny person is throwing themselves at him.
"Jeff!" Olivia yells throwing her arms around his neck as he bends down to catch her.
"Hey squirt," he ruffles her hair and smiles when she pouts at him. "I brought you candy, but don't tell your mom. She might not let you eat it." He whispers conspiratorially as Annie enters the room.
"What are you two doing?" She questions looking between the two of them. Jeff gives Olivia a knowing look and she smiles widely at Annie.
"Nothing!" She chirps as Jeff sets her down on the ground and inconspicuously shoves two lollipops into her pocket. He winks at her and she skips off to her room happily.
"Stop giving her candy." Annie chides as soon as Olivia's out of earshot.
"I have no idea what you're referring to." She rolls her eyes.
"I figured it out awhile ago, Jeff."
"Dammit! How?"
"You were giving candy to a three-year-old. I know what a sugar rush looks like."
"But today was a special occasion!"
"You've been doing it everyday. What makes today different?"
"I got promoted." He says casually. It takes a second for it to click, but once Annie understands she's beaming at him and wrapping her arms tight around his waist.
"I'm so proud of you!" She's using her 'I heart butterflies' voice and Jeff's pretty sure his smile can't get any wider, but it does. "We need to celebrate!" She pulls away looking up at him and he really just wants to hug her more but she disentangles their arms and he steps back.
"No celebration necessary."
"Yes." He shakes his head resolutely. "Jeff!" She huffs crossing her arms and yeah, okay part of him is doing this because frustrated Annie is actually the cutest thing in the world. "You made me celebrate my job at the doctor's office."
"Well that was an entirely new job. This is just a promotion."
"We're celebrating."
"Look," he says grabbing her hands to stop whatever she was doing. "All I want to do is have a nice dinner here with you and Liv. That's enough of a celebration for me."
"Really?"
"Really." He murmurs tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. He thinks he might kiss her because of all the things he's missed about Annie over the years…kissing is at least in the top five. He's about to lean in when he hears a loud crash from Olivia's room.
"I'm okay!" Annie breathes out a sigh of relief and then pinches her nose in annoyance.
"I've got it." He assures her with a small laugh.
He thinks about kissing Annie a lot. Every time the opportunity presents itself, which is way too often. He knows he shouldn't and that's why he never acts on it, but sometimes it's almost impossible. Especially on nights like tonight.
Olivia's in bed and he's watching a movie with Annie. She's curled into his side, her head resting on his shoulder, and all he can think about is how easy it would be to lean down and kiss her.
But he can't for a lot of reasons. Number one being he hasn't apologized for everything that he's done. Two: Annie might not even want to give him another chance. Three: She's dealing with so many things and throwing a relationship with him into the mix might be too much. Annie huffs in annoyance and shifts causing Jeff to snap out of his inner monologue.
"Are you going to keep staring at me or are you going to watch the movie?" She questions looking up at him.
"Wha-?"
"You've been staring at me for the last five minutes."
"Sorry for not calling you back." He meant to apologize for staring at her, but apparently his mouth has other ideas. Annie completely stills and stares straight ahead.
"What?"
"When you called me right after you got married," he rubs a hand over his face. "I never called you back and I'm sorry."
"Jeff, it's fine."
"No, it's not. Because you were upset and you called me and I should've been there for you, but I wasn't. And it's not okay." Annie sighs tiredly and turns her body so she's sitting towards him. She gently places a hand on his thigh.
"That happened four years ago, you don't have to apologize. Besides, I didn't expect you to pick up. I just-" She pauses nervously running her fingers through her hair and Jeff has to resist the urge to put her hand back on his leg. "I really missed you and I was a mess." She shakes her head and then looks back up at him. "Why are you apologizing now?"
"Because I've put off apologizing for too long. So, I'm sorry for that. And for the way I reacted before you left." Annie lets out a long breath and closes her eyes tightly before refocusing them on him.
"I'm sorry too." His eyebrows crinkle in confusion at the woman in front of him.
"Annie-" He puts a hand up to stop her because she doesn't even have anything to apologize for.
"No, I shouldn't have put you on the spot like that, Jeff. I know how you react in those situations. I shouldn't have jumped down your throat so quickly."
"Well, I shouldn't have been so harsh. The things I said were uncalled for and I didn't want you to leave- but I didn't know how to tell you that." He admits softly.
"It's okay." She assures him patting his hand.
"Sometimes I really wish I would have told you to stay or gone after you."
"You were going to come after me?" He nods and scratches the back of his neck uncomfortably.
"Abed suggested it when I found out you were getting married." He sighs and interlocks his fingers, not taking his eyes off his hands. "I almost did too. I looked up plane tickets and everything."
"Well, that's the sweetest thing anyone has ever almost done for me." Jeff finally looks at her and she's beaming at him. It's the smile that she saves only for him and it actually warms Jeff from the inside out. He doesn't even care how corny it sounds because it's absolutely true.
With that in mind, he leans forward and kisses her, because screw all the obstacles. He wants to be with her and when Jeff Winger wants something, he gets it. Annie hesitates for a second before melting into him and he knows that this is the probably the happiest moment of his life to date.
Graduating from Greendale was great. Being a step away from partner at his law firm is completely amazing. But he knows nothing compares to being with Annie. He's done fighting it. He loves her.
"Are you sure about this?"
"I've never been more sure about anything." He replies sincerely. "Are you sure?" Her smile is the only reply he needs.