"Why the hell did I agree to this? I knew this trip was only going to cause me problems"
Jeff thought him to himself as he laid next to a peacefully slumbering Annie. To be completely honest, he knew exactly why he had agree to go to a rented cottage for the weekend. Britta had sent him a text inviting him to a weekend trip with the rest of the study group, minus of course Pierce who was still not speaking to them. According to her, the group needed some positive time together to bond after the whole Pierce paintball debacle. He did agree, Pierce deciding to leave the study group had really shaken them to the core.
He resented Pierce's "I'm done with whatever you call this" comment, and the fact that he had abandoned them so quickly even after they had seen it fit to forgive his transgressions towards the study group throughout the year. Britta was quick to point out to him that everyone (except for Annie) was in favor of kicking Pierce out right until he turned out to be the knight in paintball armor to the damsel in distress that was Greendale Community College. She said to an obviously irritated Jeff, "I could see why Pierce would be insulted by our change of attitude. Even Annie wasn't on his side after a certain point, and hell, after thinking about, if it was me in Pierce's position, I would have probably never spoken to you guys again."
He spent most of his summer avoiding the study group, so he didn't exactly want to spend a weekend roasting marshmallows and singing campfire songs with them. He had been screening texts and phone calls in regards to the trip for a couple days, until he received a text from Britta that caused some anxiety in him.
Britta: Did you know that Abed and Annie kissed during paintball? (Oh and I still need an answer about the trip.)
Jeff: Wait, WHAT? WHEN? How do you know? (and I'll see. I'm still trying to decide if I'd rather sleep in my Egyptian Cotton bedspread and watch some Mad Men or get massacred by mosquitoes in the woods.)
Britta: I forced it out of Troy during one of our movie nights. Abed had said to him that he had kissed her during the game. Something about pretending to be Han Solo? I don't know. I just don't think it's a good idea.
Jeff: Uh of course not. Abed was just playing a role, and Annie's probably going to go and fall in love with him or something. Crap. I hate to agree with Pierce, but what the hell is going on with this group? Next I'm going to be hearing about you and Troy.
Britta: …
Jeff: SERIOUSLY BRITTA. WHAT?
Britta: Okay that's not the point. Don't worry about that. The point is, I just. I think we need to nip it in the bud okay? Although, from what I recall, Abed did set her straight at the final meeting.
Jeff: No, I don't think he might have gotten his point across. This is Annie we're talking about, the girl who made us spend a whole evening searching for a purple pen. You better not be tricking me into coming with you guys, Perry. I'm canceling some pretty hot dates for you.
Britta: Oh boohoo. If you don't want to go, just say so. I'll keep a close eye out for anything weird, but I don't think we have too much to worry about.
Jeff: Already canceled, so I'm going. Uh, please tell me we at least have indoor plumbing.
Shirley wanted her family to come along, and Troy (who was crashing temporarily on the Bennett couch) had driven up with them. Jeff stated since he would be driving, the rest of the study group would go up with him. 6:00 am on a Sunday, Jeff drove towards Annie's apartment with a knot in his stomach. He wasn't jealous of what had occurred between his friends, he just didn't like the sound of it. The study group was pretty complicated already and he wasn't about to deal with a whole year of Annie/Abed tension. Not to mention, If Abed wasn't interested in her, he didn't want to see her get hurt. Although, he would never admit that to either of them.
"Yeah, that's it. I'm just protecting her feelings," he told himself as he walked up the stairs towards the third floor.
"Just a minute Jeff! Just finishing up, come on in." Carefully walking into small apartment, he smiled to himself. It was exactly how he had pictured it would be. He was always amazed and annoyed at her ability to look at the good in the worst of situations, even when it came to this crappy apartment above a sex shop. Picking up her bags, he walked towards her open bathroom door, where he found her carefully applying mascara to those blue doe eyes he constantly avoided looking into.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll be just a little bit. I just can't leave the house without looking proper. My grandmother always said that you should never leave the house without a dash of perfume and a little bit of lipstick."
"Annie, you look fine. It's 6am and last time I checked, we're going to woods."
"That doesn't matter, I only look this way because I made an effort to wake up early and fix myself up!"
Shaking his head and pulling her out of the small room, he said "Crazy woman, It's not even light out. You didn't sleep did you?"
"Uhm. I might have gotten distracted by a certain download of a X-Men movie with a certain Scottish actor. So, no I didn't."
After picking up a very sleepy Britta and an alert Abed, they started their 3 hour drive. Annie had chosen to sit in the backseat with Abed so that Britta could continue sleeping. The knot in Jeff's stomach seem to have not liked that idea, because as soon as Annie was seated in the backseat of the car, it came back with a vengeance. Choosing to ignore the feeling, he looked at the road ahead of him and kept his mouth shut. An hour into the drive, Britta was finally awake, messing with the radio, and complaining that Jeff's music was older than everyone in the car's age combined. "So kill me for being into the classics. You didn't see me complaining when you made me go to that horrible con…" Staring into the dashboard mirror he caught the sight of Annie, who had fallen asleep on Abed's Shoulder. Smiling, Abed softly patted the top of her head, and continue to look out the window, unaware of the attention that was being focused on him at the moment.
SCREEECH.
"WINGER WHAT THE HELL?
"AH WHAT HAPPENED?"
"It seems something startled our driver. Maybe he saw a man running out into the middle of the road and we're about to have a horror movie weekend."
Jeff, climbing out of his Lexus, paced out in front of his car for a couple minutes as six curious eyes stared straight at him. How was he suppose to explain that? Oh sorry guys, saw a raccoon in the road. By the way, Abed try and get away from Annie? The knot had grown to the size of a basketball, when he saw how comfortable Annie looked. How much at peace she seemed while she rested on her friend's shoulder. He wanted to say "It should be my shoulder you're on, not his." But he quickly repressed those thoughts, realizing how inappropriate it was. She was still years younger than him, and quite inexperienced from what he knew. But Abed was not moron nor was he blind. While he may not have feelings for her at the moment, he could decide the turn this into another one of his roleplaying activities and it could lead to something else.
At this point, everyone had stepped out of the car and started walking towards Jeff. He waved them down and tried to slide back into his nonchalant attitude, before approaching them. While Annie and Britta walked back to the car, Abed continue to approach him.
"Okay. So I'm assuming you saw me with Annie. I'm always going to assume that you know about the kiss. Well, calm down. It was just part of the game and I'm not going to pursue any Dawson's Creek love triangle here."
"What are you talking about? Okay, woah calm down Abed. I've just got a really bad headache and I thought I saw a raccoon and…"
"You know, for someone who says that it's all in Annie's head. You sure are acting strangely. I usually just observe and never comment unless it is absolutely needed, but after this year, I'm going say it. You don't want to be with her, but you don't want anyone else there either. If I had been interested, what would you have done? You would have not been able to say that I'm not good for her. You know my character and I wouldn't exactly be a bad match for her, I might even tone her down a bit. You also can't use the study group for an excuse either, seeing as that didn't stop you and Britta from having sex in my dorm."
"Headache coming back, oh god. I'm dying. It's a brain tumor and it goes by the name of ABED NADIR. Let just forget this happened and go to the car, okay?"
The rest of the drive was pretty silent, seeing as Jeff's "headache" had gotten worse and now Britta was driving his most prized possession.
I MISS COMMUNITY SO MUCH. SEPTEMBER IS WHEN THEY'RE BACK RIGHT? PLEASE?
Uh, so yes! I miss them too much and I had to write this. Tell me what you think. It will probably only be 5 or 6 chapters at most. I don't know yet, but I'll see! Tell me what you think so far, but I'm still pretty new at writing fanfic on a public forum, so be gentle.
