Disclaimer: I honestly don't even know why these are even necessary, why would I write fanfiction about something I can make happen? I have to say it though, I don't own community.
Annie was getting married. It was her big day. She was getting married to the person who made her life perfect. It was how she had always imagined it, they had met via school, in one of her classes. They had been lab partners, and his awkward charm encouraged her to get to know him more. He was sweet, kind, caring. He did almost as much volunteer work as she did, had a defined career path that would lead to great rewards in the future, and was a hopeless romantic. And it showed. He was as interested in planning their wedding as she was. He refused to allow her to move in with him due to the correlation between living together before marriage and high divorce rates. He did his best to fit in with her friends, as difficult as that was, and he even managed to succeed in that effort. Except for one person.
This one person was the reason she wasn't absolutely giddy on the morning that she was to be wed. Jeff Winger. The calm, cool, enigmatic current-lawyer had not responded to her wedding invitation by the RSVP date. This had bothered her, as Jeff had grown into being her best friend during their time at Greendale, so she confronted him about it. It was a warm fall day when she knocked on his apartment door, fully prepared to nag him about how important it was that he respond by the RSVP date since he needed to be fitted for a tuxedo as he was supposed to be a part of the wedding party. When he opened his door, the look of utter hurt and exhaustion he gave her threw her off. She had asked him what was wrong, stepping into his apartment.
"Nothing, Annie. It has just been difficult working at my old firm. Even though I just got promoted, and got Alan fired, things haven't been going all that well. I'm in the middle of this one case and I don't know how I can even get a plea deal out of it." He responded, his words being backed up by the multiple stacks of open books haphazardly spread throughout the apartment.
"Oh, Jeff" Annie whispered, suddenly feeling guilty for being ready to grill him for not RSVPing to her wedding. She moved Jeff towards the couch, which was clear of books, and sat him down, plopping down right next to him as soon as he was seated.
"I don't want to worry you, but I need to know if you can come to my wedding. You would be a part of the wedding party, obviously, and we need to figure out a time we can get you fitted for a tux." She calmly explained, stroking his back. Her contact with him caused her to notice his flinch when she mentioned the wedding.
"Annie" he began "I can't go to your wedding, I'm sorry, but I can't do it. I know that you'll be happy on your big day, and in your marriage, no matter how much I've tried to deny it, you love this guy. But I can't be there. It'd be too much." He finished, his voice soft and full of heartache.
Annie was no fool, she knew that Jeff still had feelings for her. She also knew that she would always love him. However, he was non-committal, and she was a girl who needed structure and commitment in her life. So she gave up the idea of ever being with him in a long-term relationship, regardless of how much she wanted it. But when he looked at her, broken and defenseless, she realized that even if she couldn't have the long-term relationship that she wanted, she could give in to her desire, if just this once.
So she kissed him. Passionately. It was different than any of the other times they had kissed, and they had kissed many a time over the course of their friendship. After a moment of shock and insecurity, he gave in and reciprocated the kiss. Their kiss developed, and the two lost more and more of their sense of inhibition as they made their way to Jeff's bedroom. All thoughts other than ones involving the other were lost as soon as the door slammed shut.
The next morning, Annie woke up in Jeff's bed, fully aware of what had transpired between her and her friend last night. She moved to get out of bed when she realized that Jeff was not lying in bed with her, but that she could smell coffee and bacon coming from the kitchen, accompanied by the sounds of a sizzling griddle coming from the kitchen. This prompted her to walk out of the room and towards his kitchen, after putting on one of his overly large shirts.
"Hey" he casually greeted her, soft smile gracing his face as she entered his view. Butterflies rose in her stomach (God, she hated that he could still do that to her) as she gave a shy nod in his direction while she grabbed a mug from one of his cabinets and poured some coffee from his pot.
"You know we can't do this." She stated. He nodded in response, his smile dimming slightly. He sat down on the counter next to where she was leaning and planted a quick peck on her forehead, his smile growing into a full-on grin when her cheeks began to redden slightly at the contact.
"I know we can't do this. I know that we shouldn't do this. But would it be so bad if we did?" Jeff mused, his eyes meeting her, somehow calming her. She found her mind traitorously listing the pros and cons of being with Jeff instead of getting married in three months. She was even more surprised that even though there were far more cons than pros, she was extremely tempted to take the plunge and leave her fiancée for the extremely attractive, in all aspects, man sitting next to her contentedly munching on a piece of bacon.
"It wouldn't be. Not for a while. But you don't trust yourself to not hurt me, so you can't give me all of you. And you know I can't settle for anything less. So I have to go get married, and I know that you can't be there, but I can't wait for you while you realize what I already know: that you would never, ever hurt me." She finally answered. Jeff continued to eat while he pondered her words.
"You're right. And I wish I saw what you did in me, because I don't know how I will live my life without you right there by my side. But I want you to be happy more than anything else, and if this is what does that, than I can be okay with it." He sent back, sad smile etched onto his face.
They finished eating, small talk balancing out their personal conversation from earlier. When his, but not-his, blue-eyed princess finished eating, she grabbed his clothes from his bedroom, and changed. He walked her to the door, and they had one last parting kiss (one that lingered on her lips even now) and he said goodbye to his lady, as she said farewell to her lord.
Annie was taken from her wistful memories by Shirley, who was already in her bridesmaid dress, and was knowingly giving Annie a look. The bridesmaids had begun to line up, which meant that Annie only had about ten to twelve minutes and 28 seconds, before Pierce would walk her down the aisle. She nervously fiddled with her bouquet, as the seconds ticked away. What felt like an eternity later Pierce walked into her room and gave her a large smile, and presented her his arm, which she promptly grabbed and thus began Annie Edison's wedding.
-Jeff-
Jeff was working out. He knew what today marked, he had circled the date on his calendar, even though he would not be a part of why the date meant so much to him. She was getting married today, and so that he wasn't able to go crash her wedding and ruin her big day, he had locked himself in his apartment. Just like the werewolves of lore, whom were locked and chained in metal rooms during full moons to prevent them from wreaking havoc. How fitting that he could be compared to a monster. As he finished his thousandth hanging sit-up of the day, he decided to check his cell phone. He was proud to say that he was no longer a technology addict, but he did end up using his phone just as much as he used to due to the high amount of networking that he had done as a lawyer. He had been promoted to head of the firm after Ted had stepped down, and he needed to maintain contact with everyone involved in the firm from employees to clients to shareholders.
When he checked his phone he was only slightly surprised to find that he had multiple missed calls from each member of the study group, except for Annie. He decided to listen to one voicemail from each one of his pseudo-family members, if for no reason other than to not feel guilty about it later. He started with Shirley, thinking he might as well get the hard ones out of the way first.
"Jeffery" the recording began "I know that this is almost certainly a bad day for you, and that me telling you to be here will do you absolutely no good, but I can't help myself. It doesn't feel the same without you here. If you're hurting too bad over An-nie, you could always come to one of my bible studi-"Jeff cut off the voicemail as Shirley began her Jesus-plug.
He went on to Britta's figuring that hers would be shorter as she would go on a rant about the institution of marriage, not that she had much room to talk considering that she was practically married to Troy as it was. "Hey, Winger, I know how hard this is for you, so I'm not even gonna ask you to come. And I'm not gonna talk to you about how you're being a bad friend for not supporting Annie. I'm just gonna let you know that we're all still here for you, and that I will be swinging by after the reception to make sure you're okay. And I will be bringing Chinese so text me what you want or you're just getting the regular shrimp fried rice. Love you. Bye." Finished his blonde-haired friend. Jeff couldn't help but smile to himself at that message, at least he knew that they always had his back.
Small smile still on his face, he moved on to Troy and Abed's joint message. "Hey, Jeff, it's us! Listen, uh, we kinda don't actually know how to act at a wedding, and usually we'd look to you for guidance, but we know we couln't ask that of you. So we are following Pierce's lead (Jeff scoffed at that notion, even though he knew that Pierce would be on his best behavior) here's Abed, Bye!" sounds of the phone switching hands could be heard until his half-polish friend's monotone sounded over the line "Hey, Jeff, it's a bummer that you're not here. Though I have a feeling there will be a major moment today that directly involves you, even though you're not here. I've gotta go, so I will talk to you on Friday for movie/video game night at your place. Bye, bye, bye bye." Finished Abed.
As his friend's voice went off the line, there was a knock on his door. Slightly confused as to who it could be since he didn't remember ordering Chinese or pizza, and the only people who would visit him were currently at Annie's, he opened the door.
To say that he was shocked by who greeted him would be an understatement. Standing on his doorstep was the blue-eyed brunette that was the love his life: Annie Edison. She looked up at him, eyes wide, filled to the brim with unshed tears, a large smile gracing her face.
"Wha-" began Jeff, however he was cut off by the shorter woman grabbing his neck and smashing her lips to his. He instantly melted into the kiss, bringing Annie into the apartment as they separated for air. "Jeff, I just realized that I couldn't do it. I need you too. And I know you're still scared of hurting me, but I know you won't do it on purpose, and I know that you'll commit to me. You practically already have. You don't make my life perfect. You make it complete, and I am hopelessly in love with you." She finished, tears flowing unbridled.
"That's good" he said, Winger grin in full effect "because I just so happen to be hopelessly in love with you too. Though I'm not sure I will ever admit to you that you complete me, I certainly won't deny the fact."
"Whatever you say, Jeff." She responded, sinking into his chest.
"Not that I'm particularly upset about it, but why are you here exactly?" He questioned, grin never leaving his face.
"Well.." she began.
Pierce had just finished walking her down the aisle, taking the exact amount of time it was supposed to (37 seconds) and he had just finished saying his vows, perfect smile plastered on his face. Looking into his eyes, she realized that everything about this moment was perfect. It was everything she had ever hoped for and then some. But it wasn't complete. Something was off. She realized what it was almost immediately. The smile that greeted her wasn't his smile. And with that realization, she ran out, hiking her dress up with one arm, grappling with her shoes with the other.
"And that's what happened." She finished, slightly sobered by the realization that she had left her soon to be former fiancée at the altar.
Jeff sensed the change in her mood and responded accordingly, shifting her in his lap (they had made their way to the couch) and lightly kissing her. "Annie, everything'll be fine, okay. We can deal with everything tomorrow, today, let's just relax, okay?" he assured her. She nodded into the crook of his neck. Jeff picked her up off of him, to her chagrin, and went to order Chinese food, and grab one of his cartons of ice cream and two spoons for them to devour.
"Jeff Winger owns ice cream?" asked Annie, sounding scandalized, a smile tugging at the edge of her lips. "Even I am not perfect, and it's not like it even matters, I work out enough, and I need to reward myself." He responds, a chuckle in his voice.
That's how they remain for the rest of the day, laying in each other's arms, even when the rest of their family arrives, as the new couple knew they would, the two were inseparable. Though Troy and Britta, Rachel and Abed, and Andre and Shirley were the same way. Even Pierce had picked up an actual date who nobody caught the name of. So they all sat, scattered around Jeff's apartment, talking, laughing, and at times crying. However they were all together. And Jeff could never say that his life has ever been more complete.