Annie x Abed: Brave
It occurred to Abed that taking Annie with him to see Brave had been a bad idea. Generally he wouldn't have but Brave had very obviously been female-centric so for thoroughness he wanted a female's opinion. And since he had never skipped seeing a Pixar movie, as they generally set the bar for the animated film industry, it had seemed like the obvious solution was to bring Annie. She was his closest female friend and his roommate.
But when he'd heard her quiet sniffle he'd frozen in his seat. He hadn't exactly forgotten about her rocky relationship with her parents, and especially her mother, but it certainly hadn't been at the forefront of his mind. And as a huge consumer of movies he'd expected her to handle it the way he did, objectively and detached from his own experiences. Annie's sniffles got a little louder as Queen Elinor blatantly ignored the young Princess Merida's own desires to uphold the long standing traditions of their kingdom. He could only imagine it struck a chord with Annie's own family problems.
Abed shifted in his chair becoming more than a little uncomfortable the longer Annie cried. He had invited her to join him so it was his fault. At the time she had been excited both for the movie and to be included in his activities. He had a tendency to forget to invite her to join him and Troy in their games. Abed knew that even if she didn't want to participate, she appreciated being asked. And lately she had been participating so he tried to make himself remember.
The movie moved from an emotional scene of Merida and her mother fighting to something a little more lighthearted as a new minor character came in. Though it pained him to let his eyes look at anything but the screen during movies, he spared a glance Annie's way. She was determinedly trying to calm herself down. She swiped somewhat angrily at her cheeks, trying to dry them. Abed relaxed again.
His relaxation only lasted until the next scene with Merida and Queen Elinor. As soon as the two characters went at it again Annie's tears started up again. Not knowing what else to do but feelings the weird compulsion to do something Abed reached over to Annie and grabbed her hand. He felt her start and when he'd spared her another glance he saw her give him a small, watery smile. He gave her a little smile in return and then turned back to the movie.
He kept her hand for the rest of the movie. Every time an emotional moment occurred between the two main characters Annie would start sniffling. Then he would give her hand a squeeze and her sniffling would die down. Occasionally she would squeeze back either in thanks or just for the comfort of it. As much as he tried to keep his focus on the movie he couldn't help noticing how nice her hand felt in his. He knew that proportionally, girls had smaller hands than guys. But Annie's hand seemed almost tiny inside his own. He wondered if that bothered her and then wondered at his wondering.
Her hand was incredibly warm too. So warm that at first he was afraid she might have some sort of fever or something. After the initial moment of panic and the urge to wrench his hand free Abed had realized he was being silly. Part of that warmness was his own body heat after all. In fact the more he thought about it, the more he realized he was the one who felt too hot. He pushed past it though, for the sake of the movie and Annie.
As the movie reached its climax Annie's hand squeezes became more of the surprised/frightened kind. Bears fought viciously on screen and Abed found himself impressed that Pixar had not tried to soften it down for the younger audience. It wasn't bloody by any means but the fight was still extremely vicious. And it was decidedly awesome. In a moment of spontaneity he used his free hand to gently pat Annie's arm and though he didn't turn to see, it he felt her smile.
She cried again as the movie finished up and Merida and her mother made up. Abed smiled briefly at the ending. He wouldn't necessarily admit it, but he did sort of like happy endings. And he definitely liked the spirit with which this one ended. They sat through the credits to give Annie time to recover, all the while she never tried to take her hand back. He was actually deep in thought when he felt the tug on his arm and looked to see Annie was standing. She kept his hand as they exited the theatre and for reasons he couldn't quite understand he didn't feel the need to let go.
As they walked towards Annie's car (she had offered to drive) Abed was startled by suddenly being addressed. "Thanks for inviting me to see that with you. I think I needed that." Abed head tilted slightly to the side, trying to figure out what "that" she was referring to. "I needed a reminder or I guess more accurately a wakeup call." Realization dawned on Abed.
"You're going to try and talk to your mother," he said flatly. It was worded as a statement but Annie knew him well enough to know it was more of a question than a fact. She smiled and let go of his hand to unlock the car. Abed frowned ever so slightly as he realized his hand still felt incredibly warm and that he'd liked the feel of her hand is his more than he'd originally thought.
"Try being the key word, but yes. I think I should." She smiled again though it was a little more hesitant than usual. He knew that she was seeking some sort of approval or reassurance and so he smiled back. "That's a good idea. You and your mom have unresolved tension that is no doubt hindering your character progress."
Annie didn't say anything in response but instead moved to take his hand again. She didn't let go until they'd arrived back at the apartment.