It had been great, really.

The dance itself was something that had brought a sense of familiarity to the students of Greendale as well as bringing to a selected few something new completely. In the end, it was far much greater than it was expected to have been and everyone was happy as they left the campus and made their way home, heading to bed to rest after such a festive night.

Except a certain brunette girl who just couldn't for the life of her fall asleep.

Maybe it was the feeling of defeat that ate at her (though her loss wasn't really a loss, seeing as Shirley hadn't succeeded with her suggested date for Abed either) or perhaps the surreal feeling of it all that kept her up, what with one of her two dorky yet loveable roommates finally meeting his match and hitting it off with her. Annie forced a smile to her lips as she thought about Abed and Rachel, telling herself that she was very much happy for the new couple.

Yeah. Happy.

It had been two weeks since the dance and Abed and Rachel had already embarked on several dates, Annie receiving practically every detail due to the fact that 1) Abed wanted to consult her with how to please Rachel in terms of date locations and activities and 2) Abed was trying his best to 'quench any thirst of gossip' she may have (which would really benefit Shirley, not herself, but who was she to tell him no).

Of course, she couldn't help the automatic giggles and lip bites that ensued as she scanned each text and replied with enthusiasm and encouragement, but somehow, through the obvious happiness she'd put into each response to his equally ecstatic texts—Abed was not one to even text her, let alone text her about something as important as his adventures with Rachel—she couldn't help but feel some sort of resentment towards the messages. While part of her wanted to be over the moon happy for one of her best friends, the other part felt almost queasy. But what was the cause?

She knew the answer, but wanted to keep the question rhetorical in her mind.

"I'm staying home tonight," Abed announced, stepping out of the blanket fort in date attire, confusing Annie before he continued. "Seems like Rachel and I aren't going out tonight." Surprised by this, but not wanting to pry, Annie simply widened her eyes and gave a frown to her friend.

"That's too bad," she started, closing the textbook she had open on the dining table. "Do you want me to turn on the TV for you while you go change?" Abed shook his head as he strode over to the living room, plucking the remote off of the arm of his favourite chair. The TV flickered as it came to life, Abed's mouth quirking upwards as he flipped through channels.

"I spent more than the usual amount of time I take to get ready to prepare myself for tonight and I don't want it to go to waste so," he paused as he waggled his eyebrows at her. "You're welcome to enjoy the outfit for the time being." Annie couldn't help but grin at his joke as she got up from where she was seated and relocate to Troy's chair parallel to Abed's.

Troy and Britta had been out almost every night, which wasn't much different from before Abed and Rachel became a pairing, but because of the absence of both her favourite roommates in the world, the apartment felt incredibly empty and lonely, reminiscent of how it'd feel every day at her old home above Dildopolis. While she often savoured peace and quiet, her home with the boys didn't feel right with only her breathing present and the anxious tapping of her pen against her notebooks as she attempted (and failed) to study. Abed being home tonight was a definite treat.

"Annie." Abed's voice lulled her out of her thoughts, her eyebrow raising to prompt him to continue. "I said that you have been granted the honour of choosing what we watch tonight." Ceremoniously, he held out two remotes, one for the TV and the other for the DVD player, together on both hands, waiting for her to take them. Tentatively she lifted them from his palms and placed them on her lap, taking a moment to feel a twinge of guilt for ignoring him, even if it were for only a couple of seconds, before she turned her body towards him and tilted her head in question.

"Abed tell me, is something wrong?" In return, she received the same seemingly blank expression he gave, but she knew that it just meant he didn't quite follow and was willing her to continue. "I mean, while it is apparent that you and Troy let me choose what to watch at least once a month to be inclusive and fair, you haven't really been in home in a while..." She could feel heat rising to her cheeks as she proceeded with animated hand gestures. "I mean, you've been going out on date after date or hang out after hang out and I assume that from all the time you spend outside home, you haven't had much time to watch your shows or movies! And the one time you do stay home, you tell me that I get to choose what to watch? And on top of that, I've already had my choice this month! Actually, with you two being gone so much I've had plenty of choices this month and—"

"We broke up," Abed said cutting through her distressed rant, his voice stoic as always but, what she assumed to be miscomfort, showing through the slight cast downwards his eyes made before looking back to her for some kind of feedback. Annie did a double take as the words sunk into the silence that settled around them. Her eyes, wide from her rambling, seemed to pop out of their sockets as she stared back at him, her mouth opening several times to say something, anything, but the words evaporating into nothing before she had a chance to vocalize them. Regaining composure, Annie nodded to him, keeping her lips pursed in fear of asking or saying the wrong thing. Wordlessly, she got up from Troy's chair and plucked a DVD from the shelf—it was Tangled, an animated movie she and the boys equally enjoyed-then proceeded to feed the disc to the DVD player and plop back down on her seat.

While the movie truly was something she loved to watch, perhaps even her favourite animated film as of late, Annie couldn't bring herself to pay much attention to Rapunzel and Flynn's shenanigans on screen. Question after question floated around in her mind, each pertaining to Abed's relationship, or rather lack thereof, and each too dangerous to ask. As a member of the household, she'd gotten her fair share of tips from Troy on how to treat Abed to prevent him from 'breaking'.

He hated change, a well known fact within the study group, and to have a relationship between someone he genuinely liked end after how many dates and texts about how great it had been... surely he was in shambles right now, probably using her little lesson of empathy to make sure she couldn't see the turmoil and not worry about him.

"The TV looks better from here," Abed said, his voice monotone yet giving off the mattor-of-fact vibe it often did when stating facts such as that. "You like this movie a lot, maybe you should sit on the arm. You do that sometimes, don't you? And you don't complain about it so..."

Annie gave a nod and a small smile as she unquestioningly stood from her seat and perched herself on the arm of his chair. He was right, she never had complained about it before. While some would think sitting on the arm of a chair was uncomfortable and saved only for when guests were too crowded around, she found a certain kind of happiness when she sad there, close to Abed. He gave off warmth that tickled her skin and she found it was easier to catch him watching her when she sat close to him. Settling into her spot, she leaned back slightly as she tried her best to focus on the film when—

"I'm not upset," he stated, interrupting a third time. "You were wondering that, weren't you? And probably some other things, too." Dumbfounded, Annie nodded slowly, still not trusting herself to speak. Abed pursed his lips together and cocked his head to the side before he spoke again.

"In retrospect, I see that our separation was inevitable. To explain it better, we were too much alike. It happens a lot on TV, when two people's similarities not only bring them together, but drive them apart. It's like how people say that opposites attract," Abed gestured to the TV, his and Annie's eyes flickering to Rapunzel and Flynn sitting by a fire. "They bring something new to the table and will never get bored of each other. But that isn't why we broke up. Or stopped seeing each other. I'm not sure whether or not to refer to what we were doing as being girlfriend or boyfriend or people who were dating, which is traditionally people going on dates."

"Then why—" Annie cleared her throat. "Why did you two...?"

"On the phone, she told me that she'd decided that I needed to come to terms with my real feelings." Annie gave him her bug-eyed stare. "I don't know whether you're surprised by what she said or by the fact that she did this over a phone, a big no-no—or so I hear—in the female world. I'll explain what she meant since I don't know why she did the latter, not that it really bothers me.

"It happened last night. Just so I can confirm, not every night that we go out is considered 'date night'. Usually we engage in movie marathons and hang out at her apartment, seeing as she didn't want to come here and bother you or Troy, which I told her she wouldn't be doing because she's not an annoying person.

"Anyway, we were watching an episode of Cougar Town which I had told her that you especially enjoyed, seeing as you smiled a lot during it. She then asked me how I knew that, probably out of curiosity, and I responded that I often watch you watch my favourite shows, deeming you my third favourite show to watch. She seemed unsettled by this, but only slightly, and continued watching in silence until near the end of the episode, she turned to me seriously and took my hands and said,

"'Abed, I like you a lot. I like spending time with you and it's so nice having someone who understands my references and can hold an interesting conversation with me, but I think you might have some unresolved feelings.' I questioned her, and she replied saying that at least once on every date or hang out, I've brought you up. She said that even though I wouldn't talk about you for long, she could sense some kind of endearment and attachment. I didn't understand this, because of course I would feel endearment and attachment to you, Annie, because you're my second best friend and roommate."

While most girls would take this explanation as a hint that it was their fault that their best friend (or more)'s relationship ended, Annie couldn't help but feel relief. So maybe those feelings of resentment towards their relationship weren't bursts of crazy. Maybe she was right to feel that way after each of his updates. After all, despite her strong denial, she knew that she was indeed attracted to Abed and may or may not desire to be more than his friend.

Abed looked at her then, her expression probably not matching up with what was expected of her. Surely he thought that at this moment, she'd be giving him her sympathetic look, her eyebrows knitted together and her mouth turned down into a frown. But as he looked at her face—her blushing cheeks, her pursed lips (which obviously were trying to prevent a smile), her most-likely twinkling eyes, he didn't show any sign of surprise or confusion at all. Instead, he nodded to her and gave her a small smile.

"I knew you'd react that way," he said. "While I didn't understand when she'd said it to me, repeating herself on the phone made it more clear what she'd meant. She meant that I had to come to terms with my feelings... for you, Annie." While she knew all along that he'd say it, Annie still couldn't believe it. Was this a confession? Yes. Was it expected? No. Was it appreciated? Absolutely.

"I realize now that I may have been suppressing my feelings towards you, thinking that you only liked me when I was in character or that you were too much out of my league to return the feelings at all. It was understandable, of course, considering your romantic interests as of late, but I guess it couldn't go on forever. Both you and I would crack at some point. I'd go into more detail, but I think that I might experience mild embarrassment, and I'd like to avoid that as much as possible."

Gleefully, Annie lurched at him from where she sat on the arm of his chair and hugged him close, the smile on her face growing as the seconds passed. Abed slowly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her onto his lap, a giggle escaping her lips. She'd enjoyed his talking and confessing, but his physical display of his affection spoke much louder. After all, how long had she daydreamed about this particular position?

"For the record," she began, the last of giggles escaping her in small gasps for air. "I cracked the moment I caught myself daydreaming about Paintball almost every day. Which was a while ago, but I'm still in denial."

Abed seldom gave toothy smiles, so when he granted her this pleasure, she couldn't help but dive in and kiss him, his lips closing in to catch hers just in time. It was warm, their lips dancing together in perfect time and moulding together as if they were made for each other. While it equalled in passion to the infamous kiss during the Paintball match, it was gentler than the energy he'd put into it as Han. He was Abed in this kiss, and she loved every bit of it.

He pulled way first, his deep, dark eyes locking with her blues. A hand reached up to caress her cheek, and he placed a kiss to her nose. "For the record," he mimicked. "You are still, and always will be, my favourite person to kiss. It's fulfilling, like when Noah kissed Allie in the rain in the Notebook."

Giddy with his reference to her favourite romance movie, Annie pecked his cheeks and his lips several times as the end credits began to roll on the screen.

"I hope they don't mind you crashing here," Troy said, his voice hushed as he quietly stepped into the apartment, Britta following behind him in an equally sneaky fashion.

"Of course they won't," Britta reassured, placing he leather jacket over the back of a dining chair as quietly as she possibly could before tip toeing to the living room. "As long as I don't wake them—"

"Shh!"

Britta whipped her head around to face Troy and raise a brow before she turned back around to follow his gaze and—

"Well, whatdya know."

Britta couldn't help but giggle to herself as Troy stood in shock, his mouth hanging open as he and Britta stared at a sleeping Abed in his chair, his face buried in Annie's hair while her own face was buried in the crook of his neck, his arms encircled around her and her hands resting upon his.

"Took 'em long enough," Britta said, shaking her head and taking Troy by the elbow, leading him to his bedroom.