Disclaimer: I do not own Community or its characters, nor do I make any profits. I'm only going to say this for this chapter because it becomes tedious and pointless after that especially considering a disclaimer doesn't really protect you legally.
Jeff Winger was a married man, which was something he never saw himself being especially after watching his parent's divorce. But that's what he was as of five years. He married one Britta Perry and still Perry because we don't like in a patriarchal society anymore. She was also someone who wouldn't expect herself to be married ever. She spent quite a lot of time avoiding this particular convention, but here she was five years later in an institution the government made up just to keep track of people.
It started at the Red Door/L Street. To this day they still haven't agreed on a name to call the place. The only thing they've agreed on is that the other knows what they're talking about when they mention it. Jeff had just closed a case and was having minor celebration and Britta was there on a Thursday proving that going to a bar on a Friday night was lame.
They met at the bar, or Jeff thought she was hot and walked right up to her and made it look like an accident that he was near her, which to this day he won't admit. He gave her a cheesy line which she saw through immediately. This led to Britta getting overly defensive and starting yet another argument that holds no water. At that point people usually give up and realize they're getting nowhere because she has no clue what she's talking about, but Jeff Winger was a lawyer who prides himself any being able to win every argument he's in.
So that argument led to hot angry sex, which led to another argument that made their one night stand into actual dating, which led to more hot angry sex which eventually led to an argument that was basically a game of chicken with marriage. One of them was supposed to back out before they got to the Justice of the Peace, but that obviously didn't happen.
They would have gotten divorced, but that would have meant admitting defeat to the argument. The ironic part that neither of them will say is that they don't have a clue what that argument was about, all they know is that they don't want to lose.
His mother was at least happy, she thought she'd be grand childless for all of eternity, this gave her hope. Misplaced hope, but she didn't have to know that.
So here they are five years later in what essentially amounts to a meaningless marriage, but they've come to terms with their situation. They're both faithful to their relationship, sleep in the same bed, and go to his work events together. Being married had its perks. Having a wife put him higher in the food chain with his boss. He is one of the few employees that gets invited to his house for dinner. And Britta gets to focus completely on her causes. Before she had to worry about bills and making rent that her causes took a backburner. Now she had all the time in the world to organize fundraisers and rallies.
That's how she met her best (only) friend Shirley Bennett. Britta set up a rally at Greendale Community College for Chacata Panecos and Shirley was eager to help with organizing it. She was a recent divorcee who spent the better part of her college years as a wife and a mother. She joined the protest to make up for lost time and do something really collegy, even if she was at a community college.
They were reluctant friends. Shirley's religious attitude made Britta want to steer clear of her and Britta's godless lifestyle just made Shirley cringe, but when they both got through their initial judgements, they realized that they were so different after all and maybe they needed each other in some sense. Their vastly different personalities made them perfect for seeing views outside their narrow-minded ones and any judgements passed between them are only taken at face value.
Shirley was the only person who didn't completely disregard her. Sure, she tuned out went she went on a meaningless rant, but she didn't say condescending things back. She let Britta have her moment and then get back to normal conversations. In the following events of Britta's life, she would truly realize how much their friendship meant to her. She really couldn't have found someone better as a best friend, nor would she want to.
Jeff had just gotten home from work and Britta was on the couch reading a textbook on psychology. She was thinking of enrolling at the community college she protests at, but was a little scared to go back to school so late in life. Also, their neighbor was the Dean of the school and if he was anything there like was here, she feared a little bit more what she'd be enrolling into.
"So, how was your day of lying?" She made sure to sound extra sarcastic as always; she didn't even look away from her book.
"Great, as usual. How was your day of finding things that don't matter to care about?" He took his coat off and put it on the rack.
"I wouldn't call an oil spill in the gulf meaningless Jeff. Shirley and I made a diorama, you should see some time, it's really great and detailed." She was actually quite proud of it; it was one of the best things she's ever made.
"Yeah that sounds like something I can't wait to see. What's for dinner?" He didn't know why he asked this question all, experience had taught him better, but he liked the familiarity of it.
"As I've told you every night for the last five years, I'm your wife not a maid. You want dinner ready when you get home, hire someone."
"And as I've said every night for the last five years, if you're going to home all day, might as well do something productive."
"I am doing something productive, Jeff. My causes are very important and making people aware of them is important. Why is that so hard to grasp?" Britta stood up from the couch and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Well maybe I'd grasp it a little better if didn't spend so much time on lost causes." His voice rose a little at the end of that sentence.
"Well someone needs to care about it." She then walked off to their bedroom and slammed the door.
Their fights always ended with her saying this. He never had a counter argument for it, which made her storming off even better for his pride. He supposed it was because it was how he felt about himself. He was a loner for most his life and now he has Britta. A woman who will commit herself to any lost cause, including him. And on some level he admired her for it, just for the fact that she could commit.
Don't get him wrong, he was the most committed and faithful he'd ever been in any relationship, but it was mostly out of fear that he'd die alone. Though he knew marriage was a scam, he couldn't nut up and die alone nor did he have the patience to even try.
It wasn't until he found himself at The Ballroom in early December that he truly realized that he'd made the wrong commitment and met the love of his life.
A/N: The first two chapters are to be background stories, so no major events will be truly happening until chapter 3. I have this story really mapped out, but it'll take me some time to get it all out.