The last time someone knocked on Jeff's door at midnight he found numerous cans of olives left outside, neatly arranged into the shape of an arrow pointing towards the Dean's apartment. This time he was delivered another surprise in the form of a petite brunette carrying a pizza box and wearing a nervous smile.
"I couldn't sleep," Annie offered by way of greeting, eyeing Jeff's rumpled clothes and hair sticking up in pillow-sculpted directions. "But obviously you could," she winced apologetically, taking half a step back. "I'm sorry, this was a dumb idea. I should have texted you or…"
"It's OK, I wasn't asleep," Jeff said hastily. He moved back to let her through. "Come on in – just as long as there's no olives on that thing," he said, pointing towards the food. Annie arched an eyebrow at him in question as she crossed the doorway but he just shook his head. "Never mind," he smirked, closing the door behind her.
Annie padded towards the kitchen and set the box down on the bench, dragging out a stool to sit on while Jeff found them paper towel in lieu of clean plates. He sat on the stool next to her while she shrugged out of her purple cardigan and draped it on the back of her seat.
"Feeling nostalgic were we?" he teased, nodding at the 'All 5 Dances' shirt she was wearing with her yoga pants.
A light flush caressed Annie's cheeks as she opened the pizza box and took out a large, cheesy slice. "It was the comfortable option," she said lightly, glancing at Jeff while he chose his own slice. "Plus I'd already packed all my nice clothes." Annie huffed out an incredulous laugh. "I still can't believe this time tomorrow I'll be in D.C."
"Yeah… me either." Jeff swallowed roughly, sensing her gaze upon him. "Well, here's cheers to that," he said with a too-bright smile, raising his pizza towards her so they could 'clink' the crusts together. "You're gonna knock 'em dead."
"I hope not or else my first case will be investigating myself," Annie joked, before screwing up her nose. "I'm really glad the job interview wasn't based on my comedic repertoire," she said sheepishly, popping a piece of red pepper into her mouth.
Jeff snorted, taking another bite of pizza. "As someone who just said the phrase 'here's cheers' – which should only be uttered if you're channel-surfing and stumble upon a re-run of a place where everybody knows your name – you shouldn't be too harsh on yourself."
Dabbing her fingers on her paper towel, Annie noticed an unfinished glass of whiskey sitting beside the sink alongside an empty 'Dinner For One' microwave meal. "So how come you weren't asleep?" she asked, chewing her food slowly. "Did you get sucked in to another America's Next Top Model cycle?"
"That was one weak moment which I severely regret telling you about," he said wryly, ignoring the sound of her chuckling. "No, I just… couldn't shut down my mind," he shrugged, picking off a stray piece of pineapple from his slice. "I'm not entirely sure how to fill the void of summer vacation. I mean not all of us can Mulder and Scully our way through," he said airily, grinning when she whacked his arm.
"You could always come and visit me," she said offhandedly, swinging her feet against the rungs of the stool. "We could spend a weekend or two hanging out. And I promise not to drag you around too many historic landmarks," she teased.
Jeff's mouth upturned with a flicker of a smile. "I'm sure you don't need me lurking around cramping your style," he said quietly, continuing before she could vocalize her protests. "This is your new adventure, Annie. You should enjoy the freedom that represents."
Frowning, Annie opted for one of the smaller pizza slices from the box. "Who says an adventure can't be shared with the people closest to you?"
"True," he replied carefully, scratching at the underside of his beard. "But I'd hate for you to realize you've accidentally read the Choose Your Own Adventure chapter where you end up falling into a vat of acid."
Annie sighed, resisting the urge to throw a piece of crust at his head. "You need to stop doing that, Jeff." She waited as he remained quiet then grew more impatient when he stood up and circled the bench to grab two glasses from the cupboard. "You are not a vat of acid," Annie said in frustration. "Or a nest of vipers, or, I don't know," she floundered, waving her arms around. "Comments on a YouTube video!"
"Now that would be a low point," he said glibly, shoulders sagging when he heard her let out a further sigh of irritation. He filled the glasses with water at the sink and returned to his stool, setting the drinks in front of them. "My default setting is sarcasm," he said simply. "You know that."
"No," she said, shaking her head. "Your default setting is not believing you're worth enough, even though it's clear so many people in your life love you." Annie reached out to where Jeff's hand was resting on the countertop and latched on to his fingers. "I think you had a real breakthrough in the study room the other night," she implored. "Don't let it go to waste."
Jeff grazed his thumb over the top of her hand, lifting his head to look at her. "Three," he said, earning a quizzical glance in return.
"Three?" she repeated.
He allowed himself a quick smile. "That's the maximum number of landmarks I'm letting you drag me to when I come see you." Jeff found more shadows lifting from his face when Annie broke into a radiant grin.
"That's three per visit, right?" she said coyly, giving his hand a squeeze.
Jeff huffed out a laugh. "You'd think the lawyer would have foreseen the loophole."
Casting a self-satisfied smirk in his direction, Annie let go of his hand to pick up her glass of water. "Better watch out when I negotiate our visits to see Abed." She took a sip of her drink, tilting her head to the side. "Do you think he'll be OK?" she asked in a hesitant voice. "I know he's come a long way, but I can't help but worry."
"Same here," mused Jeff, trying not to frown too deeply. "But I think we're both doing him a disservice if we worry too much," he continued. "Abed's gonna be Abed no matter what - it's got him this far in life. Besides, isn't everyone in LA operating on a TV wavelength? Abed might discover it's the Robin to his Batman."
"The Leia to his Han Solo," smiled Annie.
"The whatever the sidekick's name is to his Inspector Spacetime."
Annie closed the lid of the pizza box. "I guess I should channel my concern into other matters – like how Britta will probably turn the apartment into a cat emporium while we're gone," she groaned. "At least I've given her parents the heads up about the extra rent." She lifted her wrist to look at her watch. "Speaking of my cherished roommate, maybe I should go home before Britta gets back from work and crashes on the recliner," she said halfheartedly. "Otherwise I'll wake her up."
Jeff fiddled with the corner of his napkin. "Or you could just hang out here a while longer," he said, giving her a shrug. "You've seen Britta bite the snooze dust before – that woman could sleep through a steam train driving over her."
"Is this train from a Bugs Bunny cartoon or is Britta sleeping the eternal sleep of the dead in this scenario?" said Annie impishly.
He narrowed his eyes at her, hiding a grin. "Are you staying or what, smartass?"
She laughed, ducking her head with a pleased smile on her lips. "Yeah, I'll stay."
The only light in Jeff's apartment was the soft glow of a lamp in the corner and the flickering of the television. Jeff lounged back on the couch, his feet propped up on the coffee table, while Annie snuggled in next to him with her legs tucked underneath her, holding up the remote to skim through the channels.
"There's officially nothing on," she complained, landing on yet another infomercial about vacuum cleaners. "Why don't we try Netflix?"
Jeff scrubbed the back of his neck, concentrating on the TV screen. "Maybe we should just keep watching crappy commercials?" he said awkwardly, taking the remote from her hands to switch over to the Home Shopping Network. "Hey look, a set of commemorative Michael Jackson plates. Everyone needs those."
"Why are you being so avoid-y?" she queried, before rolling her eyes. "Are you trying to prevent a walk of shame through your 'previously watched' items?"
He gave her a look out of the corner of his eye. "You would be too if you binge-watched everything Chris Pratt had been in."
"You're an idiot."
"He has magical mystery tour abs and I need to get to the bottom of it."
Annie leaned further in to his side, resting her head on his shoulder. "Even by watching his Marvel movie?"
Jeff lifted his arm to wrap around her, drawing her closer. "I'm willing to suffer for the cause."
They sat in companionable silence while an overly tan man with impressively white teeth on HSN urged them to 'Buy now!' and receive their very own Thriller-motif spoon set as an added bonus. Jeff absently traced his hand up and down Annie's arm.
"Can I ask you something?" he said.
"Yes, Jeff, your abs are way more defined than Chris Pratt's," she appeased.
"No, I didn't mean that. But yeah, duh-doy." He continued skimming his fingertips against her skin. "I was just curious about what your season seven pitch would have been," he said, feeling her tense slightly. "We never got to hear yours."
She kept her focus forward, licking her lips. "It was nothing special," she said offhandedly.
Jeff angled his head to the side so he could see her better. "Really? Because I took a peek at everyone when Frankie got us to imagine scenarios and you were pretty happy." He smiled at her. "Were you signing documents in purple pen at your presidential inauguration?" he said knowingly.
"You got me!" Annie said, the lighthearted tone unbearably forced. She gently wriggled out of his grasp and scooted forward to grab her glass of water from the table, taking a few deep gulps.
Glancing at her in confusion, Jeff let his arm drop to his side. "Annie?" There was no response as she took another sip of her drink. "Did I say something wrong? You can stop loading up on water like you're about to trek across the desert," he added, attempting to lighten the mood. "I won't pry any more. Unless of course you imagined hurtling Leonard into space because hey, we've all been there."
"It wasn't that," Annie said softly, putting down her glass. She slid back to the corner of the couch creating some space between the two of them. "It started off happy, my scenario," she began, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as Jeff watched her searchingly. "Everyone was hanging out in the study room having a good time. Shirley and Troy were back. Pierce too."
"Casper the curmudgeonly ghost?" Jeff suggested.
"Placeholder poltergeist," she replied, a brief smile upturning the corners of her mouth before she continued. "It felt really nice, like cocooning yourself in a blanket on a cold night. Or that twinge you get in your heart when you look back at an old photograph."
Jeff rested his arm on the top of the couch, watching as she played with the knot she'd tied on the side of her t-shirt. "But…" he said, encouraging her to continue.
She took in a steadying breath. "My chair was empty," she revealed, not meeting his gaze. "I found myself watching the whole scene unfold from the outside. And half of me wanted to charge back in and reclaim my spot, but the other half…" Annie twirled the ring around her finger her bubbe gave her for her twenty-first, swallowing hard when Jeff's hand reached out to still her movements. She lifted her head to find him giving her a sad smile.
"You don't have to beat yourself up for wanting to move on, Annie," he said gently, tracing his finger over the gemstone in the ring. "You deserve so many great things that Greendale just can't offer you."
She gave him her own mournful smile. "I'll bet D.C. doesn't have a butt flag, though. Epic paintball wars that go on for days." She winced. "Or a world record for most asbestos found underneath a building."
"See?" Jeff replied, squeezing her hand. "You'll have plenty of weird stuff to look forward to when you come back to visit."
Annie bit the side of her lip, feeling a burning sensation behind her eyes. "I know one other thing D.C. doesn't have," she said, her voice wavering. "You." The tears spilled down in a cascade as she closed her eyes, wiping at her cheek with her free hand. "God, I wasn't going to do this…"
"Annie," Jeff said shakily, moving closer to pull her into a bone-crushing embrace. She sank into him, folding her legs across his lap. He felt the wetness of her tears seep through his thin shirt and the clutch of her arms around his torso. Jeff rested his chin on top of her head and ran his hand up and down her back in a soothing motion, his heart aching at the sound of her breath catching in quiet sobs.
"I don't know why I'm getting myself so worked up all of a sudden," she sniffed, shaking her head. "We're not luddites, and I'll only be gone for the summer." Annie felt Jeff's hand still in its movements for the briefest of seconds before resuming its rhythm.
She breathed in and out slowly until the tightness in her throat began to subside. "It's going to be fine," she said with forced conviction. She swiped her cheek again with her hand, leaving behind a smudge of mascara. Annie tilted her head back to draw comfort from Jeff, raw emotion gripping her chest like a vice when she saw the redness in his eyes.
Jeff reverently caressed the side of her face, letting his fingers thread through a soft wave of her hair. "We'll be fine," he reciprocated in quiet reassurance, leaning forward to press a delicate kiss to her forehead.
Her vision blurring with renewed vigor, Annie closed her eyes and surged forward, capturing Jeff's mouth with hers. While their kiss in the study room was chaste and sweet this was desperate and fierce, unleashing every pent-up urge they'd repressed over the years. Annie felt the scrape of his beard against her cheek as he angled his head to deepen the kiss, goosebumps trailing over the rest of her flesh.
Jeff drew her closer as her fingernails scraped at the nape of his neck, his tongue curling around hers, warm and slick and insistent. Memories of their clinch after the Transfer Dance rose to the forefront of his mind and he silently berated himself for waiting so fucking long to kiss her again. But I let you go. Jeff pressed one last, lingering kiss to her mouth before slowly dragging his lips away to rest his forehead against hers, both of them breathing heavily.
Annie took a moment to gather her thoughts, leaning her head back to gaze at him with bittersweet affection. "This isn't goodbye forever, okay?" she said with a soft smile, ghosting her fingers over his jaw.
Jeff nodded, taking in every detail of her. "Too many variables, right?" he said thickly, giving her a quick smile.
"Exactly."
Annie settled herself in her seat while the last of the passengers filtered down the aisle. After staying up half the night with Jeff, plus an emotional farewell lunch with the group and seeing off Abed at his gate with a multitude of hugs and impromptu handshakes, Annie was ready to collapse into a solid three-hour nap. She took her phone out of her purse to switch it off when she noticed a text from Jeff. Opening it to read, her face broke into a bright grin at all the promise conveyed in the simple message.
Milady.
Typing back her one-word response, Annie turned off her cell and tucked it away, a whisper of excitement sweeping through her at whatever new adventures the future was going to bring.