You Didn't Call (post-Valentine's ep)
Annie felt his presence behind her in the parking lot before she saw him.
"You didn't call," he said as his stepped into stride with her.
"Good morning to you, too, Jeff!" she chirped, giving him her most sarcastic smile.
He ignored her look and repeated, "You didn't call."
Annie shrugged. "You said you wanted space and that we were in a fight."
"I did," Jeff nodded, "but you didn't call after I sent the text message, either."
She looked at him blankly. "So?"
"So, Troy called to tell me that the librarian was mean, Shirley called to tell me she is really worried about Pierce, I think Pierce may have butt-dialed me," he rambled, "and Abed and Britta both texted me about Britta kissing that lesbian friend of hers."
He placed his hand on her arm to stop her movement and glared down at her. "By the way, how could you watch Britta make out with another chick and NOT take a picture for me?"
Annie narrowed her eyes, slapped his arm and resumed walking. "Don't be gross, Jeff."
"Oh, that's not gross," he said, "Gross is Chang taking over my apartment and using my toothbrush. I had to go to the store at midnight to get a new one."
"I heard about that," she nodded, "are you really going to let Chang live with you?"
"You're misdirecting me, and I'm not falling for it, Annie," he replied. "Tell me why you didn't call."
She shrugged again. "I know it's hard for you to express anything resembling a feeling, and I didn't want you to feel embarrassed," she explained, "plus, I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve, so I didn't really have anything to say that you didn't already know."
Jeff considered her logic and realized, in Annie World, it made sense. But he still wasn't ready to let it go. "Okay, but when people who are in a fight make up, it usually involves talking."
Annie rolled her eyes, wishing he would let it go. "You were in a fight with six people, Jeff. I'm sorry if I didn't realize that you needed all six of us to get in touch with you last night."
"Yeah, but you always call," he insisted. "You call when I'm late for class, you call to make sure I'm studying. Hell, you even called because you felt bad about killing me off in your play. You were the main person I was expecting to call."
She noted the genuine disappointment in his voice and his eyes. Huffing, she stopped and removed her backpack from her shoulders. Jeff just watched as she unzipped the bag and pulled out a CD.
"Here, I made this for you," Annie said, shoving it into his hand.
"What is it?"
"It's a CD of my favorite Barenaked Ladies songs," she mumbled.
"Annie! I told you I have unresolved issues…" Jeff began, eyes wide.
"I know!" She yelled over his protest. "But just give them another chance. They have some really good stuff."
He didn't answer, just continued looking in disgust from the CD to her.
She rolled her eyes, exhaled loudly and said, "When I got home last night, I typed in the first six numbers to your cell, then I realized I had no idea what to say. If I said, 'I love you, too' you might have thought I meant I love you, love you, and freaked out. If I said we missed you at the dance, you might have thought I was trying to make you feel guilty."
She looked at him slyly. "And if I told you about Britta making out with Paige, you would have yelled at me for not taking a picture."
Jeff's features softened as he gave her a small nod.
"So I hit cancel, plopped down on the couch and took a look around my really, really crappy apartment. Then I got, 'If I had a million dollars stuck in my head, so I thought I'd make you a BNL CD. Just to, you know, remind you that we all have things to teach each other, and we all make each other better."
"Annie, it's just a pop group," he said snidely, "and not even a good one."
A look of hurt flashed across her face, then one of anger. "Fine, if you don't want it…" she reached for the CD but he moved his hand away from her reach, then over her head. She stretched her arms out and stood on her tip toes, to no avail, so she settled for smacking him on the chest. "Just give it back."
"No, I'll take it," he said, his tone gentler and his expression apologetic, "but I don't know what I'm going to learn from the Barenaked Ladies."
Annie paused at the door of their study room and gave him a wicked smile. "You'll learn that your friends have better taste in music than you do."
Jeff smiled back at her, feeling better than he had in 24 hours. "Oh, I beg to differ, Miss 'Lady GaGa rules.'"
"Ugh, are we doing this again?" Troy whined as he and Abed walked up behind them.
"No, not today," Jeff answered cheerily as they joined the rest of their friends and began to grill Britta about her "lady kissing" experience.
It wasn't until a week later, as he was driving to class, that he realized he was tapping his fingers and humming along to "Alternative Girlfriend."
"Dammit, Annie," he muttered under his breath, but smiled to his reflection in the rearview mirror.
Maybe he could learn something from the doe-eyed 20-year-old, after all.