Disclaimer: I don't own Community, yo.
Description: Five times Jeff and Annie spent the day together over the summer (and one time they spent the night).
This is a response to a VERY old Ficcy Friday prompt from teruel-a-witch (it was prompted after the season 2 finale). Anyway, I figure it works just as well now as it did then. Hope you like it!
Advanced Studies in Leaps of Faith
Friday, June 15
The summer after third year was a little different for the study group, who each had five courses to make up for after their expulsion earlier in the year. Primary among those courses was Biology, which was easily the most difficult and time consuming, and also the course they were least able to focus on because every time they got together, the discussion quickly devolved into how much they just wanted to enjoy their summers.
But not every day was taken up by classes. Monday through Wednesday they were all at school, but they still had Thursdays, Fridays and weekends off with which to enjoy the beating sun, warm breezes and various summertime activities. For Jeff, that meant spending as much time as possible looking for other law firms to do contract work for, since his term with his old firm officially ended when he caused Alan to lose one of his wealthiest clients.
In fact, on this particular June afternoon, Jeff had just left what felt like one of dozens of job interviews with another local firm. Another 'no'. Another, "We've heard about you. We're not interested."
With his blazer carefully folded and slung over one arm, and his tie loosened around his neck and his collar popped open, he wandered through downtown Greendale, feeling once again rejected, dejected and useless. Four years earlier he'd had it all. He'd had the job, the women and the life he'd always dreamed of. Now he was taking summer school classes at Greendale's second-ranked community college and was spending his spare time with a group of misfits and screw-ups.
Okay, the misfits and screw-ups part didn't suck so bad... but the rest certainly did.
He yanked his tie the rest of the way off and slung it over his coat on his arm, unbuttoning a few more buttons and relishing in the breeze hitting his skin. It was too hot to be out in a long-sleeved shirt and black slacks. Just like it was too hot to be worrying about where he was going to work when he graduated... or how he was going to continue paying for his apartment and car, and, you know, eating on a regular basis.
He squinted up at the sky. It was a gorgeous, clear blue day. The sun was beating down a little hotter than he would have liked, but he was hardly about to complain about it. The beautiful afternoon was the only thing keeping him from hopping in his Lexus and driving home to drown his sorrows, before jumping into another assignment for another course he should have finished months ago.
Had he mentioned he hated summer school? Because he really hated summer school.
He looked away from the sky and tried to blink the sun out of his eyes. He spotted an empty park bench and decided to take a rest and bask in the heat for a little bit. He carefully laid his blazer and tie out beside him before slipping into the free space where he went about rolling up the sleeves of his shirt so his forearms were bare. A part of him wanted to just take the shirt off too, but it was mid-afternoon and there were kids around.
He pulled out his phone and began playing Angry Birds.
"It's 95 degrees and you're still playing on that stupid phone." He squinted up to see the culprit who had interrupted his game.
"It's 95 degrees and you're still wearing a cardigan," he threw back. Annie grinned and peered to the spot next to him.
"Blazer and tie on a dirty bench, open collar, sleeves rolled up... you just came from an interview."
"Good extrapolation," Jeff said, turning back to his phone. Annie slid into the seat next to him, shrugging off her cardigan and reaching across his lap to place it on top of his discarded clothes.
"Didn't go well?"
"Another good extrapolation." He dropped his phone onto the pile next to him with a sigh.
"What happened?" Jeff bit the inside of his lip and looked down at his lap, which was uncomfortably warm beneath the dark fabric and searing sun.
"Same as usual," he divulged. He peeked over at her. Her concern was, as usual, plastered all over her face. "This might not happen for me, Annie." She shook her head and reached into his lap, grabbing one of his hands encouragingly.
"Of course it's going to happen. You just need to keep going to interviews and keep showing people how great you can be." He frowned down at her their entwined hands.
"I don't think "community college changed me" is going to work with this crowd, Annie. I think they're more interested in what's on paper: ex-lawyer caught cheating and lying, soon to be disbarred." Annie wrapped her arm around one of his and gave it a little squeeze.
"It's going to work out Jeff. I promise." He looked back at her.
"How do you know?" She offered a small smile.
"Because I know you. And I know it's only a matter of time before someone else sees how great you are." Jeff's lips quirked up slightly.
"You're a good liar." She rolled her eyes.
"I'm not lying." She pulled herself to her feet. "But I am going to get ice cream. Interested?" She held her hand out to him. Jeff groaned.
"Ugh, all the carbs!" She rolled her eyes.
"Come on! Throw your coat and everything in your car, and come spend the day with me. You can sulk and drink yourself to sleep later." Jeff winced.
"You really do know me too well." She giggled and grabbed her cardigan, then held her hand out insistently to him again.
"Come on, Jeff. You know you wanna. That nice, cold ice cream is just taunting you." He groaned and grabbed her hand, allowing her to pull him up. Together, the two walked across the street and stowed their discarded clothes in the back seat of his car (his, on a wooden hangar that he kept there for emergencies), before heading back out to the pathway that looped around and through the public gardens where a vendor was selling ice cream.
"If any of this gets on my white shirt, I'm holding you personally responsible," he said once they both had cones. Jeff's held a heaping scoop of chocolate while Annie's was nearly toppling over with strawberry. She licked a drip away and stuck her strawberry tongue out at him. "Mature," he teased.
"Says the guy holding a third party responsible for his ice cream disasters," she shot back. He just chuckled and took a lick, catching a drip just before it had a chance to cause real damage.
Together, the two walked and talked amiably as they ate their ice cream. If Jeff was being totally honest, he would admit that this was kind of nice, especially after the terrible time he'd had at his interview. Annie was fun and free and didn't mind being a little bit silly. She was also beautiful in her flowered sundress with her hair pulled back in a high ponytail and her tongue darting out every-so-often to capture more of the sweet snack. Jeff tried to put the kibosh on those particular thoughts, but it became difficult when a drip made its way over her hand and wrist, forcing her lick it off of her own skin. He barely suppressed a groan at the sight.
As the two wandered deeper into the gardens, Annie became easily enamored with the flowers that were now in full bloom.
"It's so beautiful in here," she gushed. "I never come here. I don't know why not." Jeff smiled at the way she was talking more to herself than to him. It was a cute little habit she had when she completely let het guard down, and it was more than a little endearing. He popped the end of his cone in his mouth and crunched it away, feeling full and cooled down, and significantly more jovial than he had been just twenty minutes earlier. Annie tended to have that effect on him. Well, Annie and a beautiful summer's day spent outside.
But yea, it was mostly just Annie.
Thursday, June 28
"Okay, first rule: nobody knows about this. Cool?" Annie rolled her eyes.
"Fine."
"Good. Second rule: if I suck, and I will suck, you do not get to laugh at me." She giggled this time.
"Jeff, it's not a big deal!"
"THIRD RULE," he interrupted. "If I hurt myself, we're coming up with an alternate story, and you are not allowed to stray from it. Deal?"
"Fine, Jeff. Geez. Would you calm down a little? This is supposed to be fun!" Jeff sighed and acquiesced, slightly.
"I know—but it'll be more fun if we both follow all of my rules. Capisce?"
"Capisce?" she teased. "What, are we in the mafia now?"
"Well, you did make me an offer I couldn't refuse," he said with a smirk.
"Alright, alright—fine with the rules. If it'll make you stop being such a girl!" Jeff shook his head.
"I'm adding an addendum to number two—no teasing." She scoffed.
"You teased me the moment you got here."
"Okay, no teasing me."
"Do you want to do this or not, Jeff?" she asked. Jeff hesitated a moment. "Jeff..."
"Yes!" he said quickly. "Yes, I do. Please." She watched him critically for a moment to see if he was planning on making any more last-minute additions to his list. Satisfied that he really was done, she reached down and picked up the ball laying at her feet.
"Okay. Then let's learn how to throw a ball." Jeff offered her a small, thankful smile before backing away a few steps to create some space.
The group had known for some time that Jeff, while good a number of things, was painfully hopeless when it came to throwing balls. He couldn't throw a baseball, or a football. He could sort of pass a basketball, but that's because it was only ever thrown short distances. When it came to long-distance throwing, he was useless. He'd never played on any sports teams as a kid, and he blamed having a sport-phobic mother for his inability to do anything other than dribble a ball and occasionally, if he was lucky, get it in a basket.
That summer, Annie casually let it slip that she used to play competitive softball. Now, baseball (or softball) was not a sport that interested Jeff in the least. As far as he was concerned, it was generally just a bunch of old fat guys standing around and scratching their balls, waiting for a ball to come vaguely in their direction. But they did need to throw... and he figured asking Annie for help would be less embarrassing than, say, asking Troy, the former quarterback (a fact that definitely did not intimidate Jeff at all).
Annie, naturally, had jumped at the opportunity, prefacing their lesson with the disclaimer that she hadn't played since high school, so she was probably a little bit rusty.
But now that they were actually on the ball field (and Annie was dressed in a cute pair of capri pants, an old baseball jersey and cap), whatever skills she'd lost over the years were quickly returning to her. For a moment, Jeff thought he might have actually preferred to be there with Troy and a football. At least then he wouldn't be getting showed up by a girl.
Jeff had a catcher's mitt on his right hand, which only helped him catch the ball some of the time. Apparently he was an even worse catcher than he was a thrower.
"Okay, just ease your arm back and throw," Annie instructed. "Not too hard, you don't want to hurt your arm." Jeff rolled his eyes.
"I'm sure I'll survive," he said with about as much machismo as he could produce while holding a softball. He followed her instructions though, and lobbed the ball as well as he could in her... sort of, almost, general-ish direction. She ran the twelve feet to her left where it landed to retrieve it.
"That was good!" she praised him as she collected the ball. Jeff grimaced.
"That was awful," he dished. She shook her head adamantly.
"No it wasn't. Your distance was good, it's just your aim that needs a little work."
"A little?" he asked, incredulous.
"Okay, maybe more than a little—but it was a good first attempt. Let's try again."
The two went back and forth like this for well over an hour, Jeff's attempts getting better and better each time, both at throwing and catching. Jeff had to admit that Annie was kind of a good teacher when it came to this sort of thing. She was endlessly patient, she talked about technique and how not to hurt yourself, and she was encouraging even when she probably didn't need to be.
Jeff was almost surprised to realize that he was actually having fun. Having fun throwing a ball. This was one hell of an unexpected progression for him.
As Jeff and Annie finally grew weary of tossing the ball back and forth, they both met in the middle.
"You're doing such a good job!" Annie gushed. "I'm so proud of you." Jeff couldn't help the small smile that found its way onto his lips. As much as he wanted to be sarcastic and ruin the moment, he just didn't have it in him to do that. Instead, he flopped down onto the grass and laid on his back. Annie did the same, laying beside him with the ball in the middle.
"You're a good teacher," he said once she was settled. She peered over at him with a brilliant smile that warmed Jeff from the inside out. They didn't say much else, just content to let the wind flow around them and sun beat down on their lightly tanned skin, working to make it darker.
It was the first time Jeff had ever put a concerted effort into learning how to throw a ball. Something told him, it wouldn't be the last.
Saturday, July 14
Jeff blinked awake at the sound of an endless banging on his door. He squinted over at his clock and groaned. It was only 9:30. Who the hell was knocking on his door at 9:30 on a Saturday?
He groaned and dragged himself out of bed, grabbing a pair of sweats from his hamper and pulling them on before achingly making his way out to the living area. He inwardly cursed his body for the aches and pains, reminding him endlessly that he wasn't such a young man anymore; although if 40 was the new 30, then 34 had to be the new 24, right? But then that would make 21 the new 11, and that was just something he didn't want to get into... especially when he pulled open the door.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, peering out at the woman on the other side. Annie stepped past him, a cheerful smile on her face and a tote bag on her arm.
"Get dressed, we're going out," she demanded. Jeff groaned and shut the door.
"But it's 9:30."
"Yes..."
"It's 9:30 on Saturday. Bed," he pointed pathetically toward his bedroom. "I wanna be in it." Annie rolled her eyes.
"Stop whining. Come on, this'll be fun!" He gave her a dirty look for the 'whining' comment.
"What is this exactly?" He crossed his arms, waiting impatiently for her explanation.
"We're going on a little road trip." His brow creased.
"A road trip."
"Yes! So go get dressed and we'll go!" she exclaimed. "And pack a bathing suit and towel."
"Why me?" he whined again.
"Because you need to do more fun things." He gave her a pointed look. "AndIWasHopingToTakeYourLexus," she added quickly.
"Aha," he said with a small smirk.
"C'mon, Jeff," she attempted. "The open road, tunes, wind blowing in your hair, salty road food..."
"No to the salty road food," he said firmly.
"Okay, healthy road food," she bargained.
"It's not the type of food that I'm concerned about, it's the food in general. You should know by now that no food enters the Lexus... besides, there's no such thing as healthy road food."
"Carrot sticks!" she supplied.
"Okay, there's one."
"Snap peas, celery sticks, apple slices..." Jeff shook his head at her and wandered away as she continued her list.
He returned a few moments later dressed and with his shades on his head, bathing suit and towel in hand.
"You got any room in that tote bag?" he asked. Her face opened up with a wide grin and she opened her bag for him, allowing him to stuff his belongings inside before the two headed out.
"So where exactly are we going?" Jeff asked once they were on the road.
"It's a surprise," Annie said cryptically.
"But I'm driving," he argued. She shrugged.
"I'll tell you where to go." He sighed deeply and opted to let it go. He knew once Annie had a plan in place, it was pointless to try and sway her. He turned up the volume on the old rock station blaring from his radio and the two raced down the highway, singing badly along with Lyndard Skynard.
They drove for nearly an hour and a half before Annie directed him to an exit, and then another twenty minutes before he was told to take another street. He frowned when the street was unpaved, clearly more concerned about the well-being of his tires and paint job than the opportunity for adventure.
But eventually they did arrive. Annie jumped out first once the car was in park, running forward slightly and through to a clearing where the road ended. Jeff killed the engine and followed her out.
"What do you think?" she asked, gesturing out to the space before them. Jeff took in the scene: incredible cliffs about twenty feet above a lake filled with the clearest water he'd ever seen. From what he could tell, there were easily navigable foothills heading up the sides that they would be able to take up and down. Beneath the clear, cloudless blue of the sky, Jeff had to admit that this was one of the most beautiful places he'd ever seen.
"Okay, this was worth getting up at 9:30," he admitted. Annie smiled widely up at him and reached down to the hem of her sundress, pulling it over her head. Jeff didn't even bother trying to hide his leer as she did so. He'd seen Annie in a bathing suit before, but the experience never got old. One she was undressed, Jeff jogged back to the car to put on his own swimsuit.
Once dressed, he rejoined her where she'd come to sit at the edge of the cliff, feet dangling over.
"No fear of heights here, huh?" he asked, standing back a little.
"Naw, no point," Annie said, swaying her feet over the twenty-foot gap.
"Well, there is some point," Jeff argued. "You could always fall and die." Annie peered back at him, noticing his distance.
"Jeff, are you afraid of heights?" she teased.
"Pfft. No," he scoffed. "I'm just a realistic, rational person who doesn't go near dangerous ledges." Annie laughed out loud at this and shuffled herself a little closer to the edge. "What are you doing?" he exclaimed.
"I think I'm gonna jump," Annie said, a wicked smile on her face. Jeff's eyes widened.
"Are you sure that's safe?"
"Of course it's safe. We're not even that far up." Jeff looked at her incredulously.
"It's like 50 feet!" he exclaimed. Annie rolled her eyes and got to her feet, standing at the edge.
"It's only 20 feet. Don't be dramatic," she said. She peered over and Jeff felt his stomach lurch.
"Seriously, can we just walk down?" She shrugged.
"You can." He groaned.
"Annie, I'm serious, this is way too high." She peered over her shoulder.
"Then walk down, Jeff. You can meet me there." She shuffled forward a little more.
"Is this going to take a dark turn?" Jeff asked, his heart now firmly implanted in his throat. Annie scoffed at him.
"Count me down!" exclaimed.
"No!" Jeff protested.
"Come on, Jeff."
"No way," he said firmly. She rolled her eyes and took a few steps back from the edge. Jeff sighed in relief. "Thank God," he muttered.
And then Annie was running full-tilt toward the edge, flinging herself over it. The air was cut with an ear-piercing scream as she fell. Jeff raced to the edge, his heart hammering painfully in his chest as he saw the giant splash beneath him. He waited with baited breath for five, ten, fifteen seconds, his entire body shivering.
And then she resurfaced, first with a gasp of air, and then a loud, almost hysterical laugh that reached his ears just before he lost all composure.
"Are you freaking insane?" Jeff called over the edge. Annie peered up at him, treading in the deep water, a wide smile on her face.
"Jeff, that was amazing!" she yelled back. "You have to do it!"
"What? No way!" he called back.
"Come on, Jeff. Don't be a chicken."
"It is not chicken to not want die, Annie," he bit back. Annie's laughter filled his ears once again and he watched her swim around a little bit. She didn't look broken, bruised or battered. She didn't even look sore from what had to be a painful landing, she just looked... happy. Thrilled, even. Like she'd accomplished something.
"You know you want to," her voice reached his ears, a little quieter this time. He looked over the edge again, his heart thumping incessantly, his ears ringing with adrenaline. Holy crap. He was going to do this. He was going to jump off a cliff... what the hell?
He backed up and tried to steady his breathing. He took a good ten seconds to do so, and offered a prayer of, "God, I don't know if you exist, but please don't let me die," before setting himself into motion and carelessly flinging himself over the edge.
He wasn't sure if the high-pitched scream he heard was emanating from his own throat, but it was a little embarrassing. That was his last thought before he hit the water and descended a good ten feet below the surface. He swung his arms and legs rapidly, trying to reach the bright surface as quickly as possible in search of that ever-elusive oxygen. When finally he surfaced, he gasped for air, his lungs clamoring for every breath.
And then his heart settled down, and his breathing slowed, and he came to the slow realization that he was still alive. He had jumped off a cliff, and lived to tell about it.
He felt Annie's arms wrap around his neck before he realized she was in front of him.
"I'm proud of you," she whispered in his ear. He grinned and wrapped his arms around her, the two treading water out in the middle of the tiny sanctuary Annie had brought them to.
Yea, he was pretty damn proud of himself, too.
More to come! Hope you liked it.