Summary: One shot - Jeff helps Annie build a blanket fort but ended up doing more than that.
A/N: Yet again, prompt taken from imagineyourotp. (I swear, that blog is the ultimate heaven of ideas for one shots). I''m currently working on several fics for Community but I was itching on posting a one-shot for it so here you go!
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own anything. Dan Harmon does.
There was a knock on the door just as Annie was laying out the last blanket in the living room. "Just a minute!" she called out. She invited everyone to the apartment for a little project. It's been four days since Abed and Troy went on their road trip to another Inspector Spacetime convention.
They're due to be back tomorrow and since she's been missing them, she was hoping a little surprise would cheer them up from their tired trip and would help them have some bonding time. She was thinking of extending their blanket fort towards the living room and set up a marathon of the old seasons of Inspector Spacetime. She even already prepared the ingredients for buttered noodles and for popcorn.
As she opened the door, she saw Britta, Shirley and Pierce.
"Hi guys! I can't believe you guys went here together!" she said giving Shirley and Britta a look.
"Oh. No. Shirley and I went here together. We just bumped into Pierce downstairs." Britta said.
"Oh, that makes more sense." Annie answered.
"Hey! I'm right here!" Pierce protested. The women just laughed and entered the apartment.
"So, is this all you got Annie?" Shirley asked.
"Yeah, that's pretty much it. Did you guys bring extra blankets?" everyone nodded then settled their blankets next to Annie's.
"I also brought a special blanket Annie," Pierce said and laid out a huge fuchsia-colored blanket that has seen better days.
"Gross! Pierce, has that blanket ever met the laundry?" Britta shuddered in disgust.
"Hey! Don't talk like that! This blanket has helped me canoodle with more women than you can count. If I wash it, it will lose its capabilities." Pierce explained as if it were normal to have a 'special sex blanket'.
"All the more reason we need to get rid of it ASAP." Shirley interjected and grabbed the offensive blanket and went to the kitchen to chuck it down the garbage can. Pierce followed suit defending the said blanket.
"So, I take it Jeff is a no-show today?" Britta asked Annie as they started setting up the blanket fort in the living room.
"Well, he didn't exactly respond when I sent out the group text last night. I guess he won't be showing up." Annie shrugged her shoulders.
"Huh. Typical Jeff Winger move." Britta scoffed and went back to work.
The last time they saw each other, the group was hanging out at Pierce's place for a movie marathon.
The study group was sprawled out at Pierce's entertainment room and it just happened that Annie was sitting next to Jeff in the couch. It was getting late and Pierce was already sleeping on his recliner and Britta has gone to the bathroom while Shirley already went home to take care of her boys. Troy and Abed were sitting in the floor, discussing how convincing Brad Pitt's accent was while watching 'Inglorious Basterds'.
Annie was starting to nod off when she vaguely felt Jeff's hand encircle her own. She looked up at him and saw a faint smile on his lips. She returned a smile on her own and he moved closer towards her. All of a sudden, Annie wasn't aware of her surroundings anymore. Just Jeff. Jeff and his smell, Jeff and his grip on her hand and the circular motion he makes with his thumb on her palm. He was leaning his head closer to her as if to kiss her when they heard Abed and Troy shout "BEAR JEW!" on the top of their lungs.
It was loud enough to wake Pierce who woke up and yelled "Don't kill me!". Jeff let go of Annie's hand as fast as he could and moved back. It took Annie a while to register what happened then. They did it again. Annie couldn't help but feel that there is no end to this game they're playing. When she saw that Jeff looked neutral, as if nothing has transpired, she turned back her attention to the movie.
"Was it necessary to pick a movie about World War 2?" she commented to make things lighter.
"It's Quentin Tarantino." Troy and Abed said as if that explained everything.
Annie snapped back from her musings when she heard a commotion and saw a victorious Shirley and a brooding Pierce come out from the kitchen, she shook the thoughts away and started working back on the blanket fort.
It was almost dinner time when another knock came from the door.
"I'll get it!" Annie said to her friends who were still trying to connect the blanket fort to Troy and Abed's.
When Annie swung the door open, she was greeted by Jeff who was carrying a pack of beer and a pizza on both hands.
"Sorry I'm late." He smirked.
"I still can't believe it. Jeff Winger is good at making blanket forts! Who would've guessed?" Britta laughed as she drank her beer. The teasing started when Jeff figured out how to connect the fort from the living room to the existing one.
"As much as you'd like to think that my childhood was dysfunctional, it wasn't that bad. I learned how to make a blanket fort when I was a kid, thank you very much." Jeff answered after taking a bite from his pizza.
They have placed beanies in front of the TV and are currently lounging on it. The blanket fort was coming out nicely. The only thing missing was the Inspector Spacetime DVDs which Annie has yet to prepare.
"As much as these talk about childhood and blanket forts interest me, I've had enough of blankets for today." Shirley said as she started to crawl out. "I need to go home to my sweethearts."
"Thanks Shirley! I appreciate your help." Annie said.
"Oh, anything for you sweetie." Shirley cooed as she went out the door.
"Me too, I have to go. I still need to see if I can salvage my special blanket now that Shirley has gone home." Pierce said as he struggled to stand.
"Pierce give it a rest! It's not about the blanket; it's about how well you function." Jeff said.
"Ugh gross." Annie swatted Jeff's shoulder. At the same time Britta muttered in repulsion, "Men."
Annie, Britta and Jeff hung out for a while before Britta excused herself to go home. She said something about an early vet consultation for her cat's diabetes.
"Cats have diabetes?" Jeff laughed after Britta left.
"Hey don't look at me. I'm not a cat expert." Annie giggled.
"How interesting." Jeff said. There was silence for a while. Annie sighed and decided to break it.
"I better clean up. Wouldn't want the blanket fort to be dirty when Troy and Abed arrive." She said as she started picking up bottles and the pizza box.
"I'll help." Jeff said and started dusting off random crumbs on the beanies.
"Oh. You don't have to, Jeff. You can go home."
"But I want to help Annie. I arrived late."
"Really, it's okay. You even brought us dinner. Go home and rest."
"I don't want to." Jeff grabbed Annie's arm. Annie was caught off-guard and just stared at him. He looked different. His cool façade wasn't present but instead, a raw expression was on his face.
"Is there anything wrong Jeff?" Annie asked carefully.
"I don't want to play games anymore Annie." He said. Annie swallowed, slowly digesting Jeff's words.
"What do you mean?"
"I want to be more honest."
"More honest with what?"
"Oh, damn it." Jeff sounded exasperated.
"Jeff what do you-" Annie was cut off when Jeff swooped down to capture her lips. His kiss was soft, teasing and tender. Annie was shocked and baffled but then she remembered it was Jeff who was kissing her.
Finally. Annie thought as she started to kiss back, as she did so, the kiss got rougher and they toppled over the beanies. When they broke off, forehead to forehead with Jeff's hands cupping her face, Annie was breathing hard and she could feel her cheeks were getting a deep shade of red.
"D-does that mean," she was silenced once again by a peck in the lips.
"Yes Annie. I don't want to fight it anymore. If I want to hold your hand, I'll hold it. If I wanted to kiss you, I would do so. If I want you, I'll take you. To hell with what the others would say."
Jeff's words hit Annie's heart hard. She didn't expect this would happen. But then, she never really did expect anything close to this because apparently, Troy and Abed wasn't the only one who had a surprise waiting for them. Yet again, Jeff Winger has caught her off-guard.
"That was unexpected." She smiled against his lips as she kissed him. "But I liked it." And after that, words were not spoken for a while.
When Abed and Troy went home and entered their apartment the next day, Troy started bawling his head off.
"Abed, are you seeing this?" Troy sniffed.
"Annie has outdone herself this time." Abed smiled and Troy nodded his head vigorously.
The two started crawling in the blanket fort and stopped in their tracks when they saw a sleeping Annie and Jeff. Jeff had his arms around Annie possessively and Annie was solemnly burying her face toward Jeff's chest.
Troy gasped. And Abed just closed and pumped his fist in victory and simply said, "I told you so."