Today
"Do you promise?" Annie stressed, making sure to hold eye contact with each member of the study group.
They all nodded solemnly.
She got up and went over to the couches on the other side of the study room. Well aware of her six friends watching her, she lifted the box she'd left on a couch earlier and, with a deep breath, walked back to her seat with it.
Once she was at her seat, Annie uncovered the box and pulled out the dress.
Silence reigned for a bit.
She relaxed.
Then.
"Hey guys! Annie's getting married!"
"Jeff!"
Annie was acting in a play being put up in the Greendale Community Centre.
For the last two weeks, she'd been helping out Colleen and Anderson Reed with their idea of putting up a play for kids.
Everything had been going amazingly, until the girl they'd found for the part of Princess Anna couldn't fit into Colleen's old wedding gown, because she'd been – you know what? Doesn't really matter.
What matters is, Colleen and Anderson asked Annie to play the role of the Princess.
She agreed, on account of the gown being absolutely gorgeous.
And, you know, she was needed. It felt nice.
What didn't feel nice was the group making fun of her wearing a wedding gown, despite her extracting a promise not to.
"Hey." Jeff called, catching up to Shirley and Britta.
They turned around. "What's up?"
"I was thinking. It's kinda wrong for us to be so mean to Annie about her play, right? I mean, we support Troy and Britta's weird little recitals and college musicals; we support every single film Abed makes…" Jeff trailed off, raising his eyebrows, letting the other two complete the thought themselves.
Shirley hitched her bag further up her shoulder and smiled proudly. "Truth be told, I already have tickets for the show."
Britta looked at her in surprise. "What?"
Shirley nodded gleefully. "Elijah had seen the poster, so he got Andre to buy the whole family tickets. The play is tomorrow and it sounds very child-friendly. It's about a Princess named Anna who falls in love with a King Christian, but gets kidnapped by a monster."
Britta shook her head sadly. "And, of course, she will have to be saved by the Prince, who will be in love with her too. After which, the two will be happily married. God, what a stereotypical portrayal of women."
Jeff and Shirley exchanged looks and started walking faster down the hallway, eager to get away before Britta got started properly on a feminist rant.
"Have you guys noticed how no one ever thinks about why the monster kidnaps the princess? I mean, what if the monster is just lonely? Or maybe the Princess just killed the monster's family? No one ever hears the monster's story."
Britta went on, oblivious to the fact that her two friends were tuning her out.
"And the monster is never a girl. Its like, what, a female isn't capable of being evil?"
Jeff rolled his eyes.
Does Britta even realise what she just said? He thought, as images of being handcuffed, punched, manipulated, tortured by a twelve year old and threatened with kitchen utensils flew past his eyes.
He was definitely never going to think that females weren't capable of being evil.
He heard Britta take a breath and quickly stopped her.
"Going back to the original subject, should I get tickets for the rest of the group, too?" Jeff asked, looking at Shirley.
She nodded, but Britta shook her head.
"We'll buy them ourselves, Jeff, you don't need to."
Jeff waved his hand dismissively. "Think of it as a late Valentine's Day present to you guys."
Britta aw-ed.
"Troy? Abed?" A frantic-looking Annie called the moment she stepped into their apartment, slamming the door behind her.
The two of them looked up from the table where they'd been working on a biology lab assignment (the boys got stuck with most of the responsibility for bio lab, seeing as they'd done it in their first semester at Greendale).
"What's wrong?" Troy asked, as Abed jumped up to get a bottle of cold water for Annie from the refrigerator. (He'd realised that this worked best whenever she was worked up.)
Neither expected her answer. "I need one of you to play the monster for the play."
Before her audience could say much, Annie barrelled on. "Because now the Prince and the guy playing the monster have dropped out of the play, because they think we fired the girl who was going to be Princess Anna because she put on weight! Like we're that shallow!"
Abed handed her the bottle of water. Opening it, Annie drained half of it before continuing.
"So, anyway, now we have no Prince and no monster – the guy even abandoned the costume he was making! We were supposed to have a green monster. Now we have a green monster without a head!"
Troy pulled Annie down to one of the chairs at the table. She sat, hands fidgeting with the bottle of water.
"So I really really need you guys to help me. Colleen isn't being of any help, because her sister just got back from Washington or something with her kid and Colleen's trying to show off how she's being so giving and using Anderson's money for good and… god, guys, please help?"
Annie finished with a weak sort of cry and looked at Troy pleadingly.
He knew for a fact that he was about three seconds away from being Disney Faced.
Jeff and Pierce walked out of the community centre with five tickets in hand.
(Pierce hadn't known the way to the centre and had decided to accompany Jeff so he wouldn't be lost the next night.)
The tickets were a soft pink, "as is suitable for a post-Valentine's day show" (like the gushy woman who identified herself as Colleen Reed had informed them).
Giving Pierce his ticket, Jeff was just going to leave when he heard someone call his name.
He turned.
Mrs. Reed was running towards him. Jeff turned to look at Pierce, who shrugged, looking just as confused as him.
"Mr… Winger… I…. need to… talk to you…" Colleen panted, coming to a stop in front of him.
He gave her a few seconds to recover. "What about?"
The woman straightened up, adjusting her thick (and crappy, he thought) sweater and tweed pants. She grinned. "I'm looking for a new Prince for the play. Our old monster and prince walked out on us."
"No."
She looked crestfallen.
"Please? I know Annie is your friend-"
"No."
And The Day After
"So how did Jeff get roped into this again?" Britta asked, shoving her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket.
Pierce, who was on her right, shrugged. "I may have said something about how Annie would have to kiss the Prince at the end of the play."
Britta snorted. "That idiot is so predictable sometimes."
Then she stopped short and turned fully to look at Pierce, abandoning for a second their journey from the parking lot to the community centre. "Wait. How did you realise you had to say that? You're not usually observant."
Pierce smiled down at Britta (she really is the shortest in the damn group isn't she?).
"I'm a lot more than all of you give me credit for. I do notice things."
Britta smiled. It was such a change to see Pierce this nice.
"For example, I noticed that today your boobs look-"
She groaned and turned back to the entrance of the centre. Of course it wouldn't last.
(She remembered happily that Annie's the same height as her. Not that any of that has anything to do with this play, really, but it was nice to know.)
Jeff straightened the sleeves of his costume and then stood at his full height.
To be honest, this costume was pretty awesome. It actually fit him, unlike that terrible toy soldier costume he wore at Christmas.
He smirked. What was he not good at? He was doing this last minute and already looked more princely than that pimply faced kid who used to be Christian.
He turned to the left and exited the bathroom, banging right into Annie.
Or rather, Princess Annie.
Ever since he'd seen the dress and heard about this play, Jeff had assumed Annie was going to look like some kiddish Disney princess.
But the wedding dress fit her perfectly. It had no straps, so she'd left her brown hair open, cascading in pretty waves and… okay, he'd been staring for a while now. He needed to be smooth and suave.
"Um, hey." Well, he tried to sound smooth and suave.
Annie smiled up at him. "Hey. Nervous?"
They fell into an easy conversation, walking towards where they'd left Troy and Abed debating about who would play the monster.
But not a second passed without this really irritating orchestra playing something that sounded suspiciously like a wedding march in his head.
"Abed, this is probably the best idea we've ever had."
"Yeah. Annie's going to love it."
"Why is there a two headed monster here?!"
Troy and Abed turned around (pretty easily, because they practiced) in their two-headed fairytale monster costume to look at Annie standing in the doorway, looking extremely shocked, and Jeff valiantly trying not to burst out laughing.
It was almost time for the show to start.
The audience was divided into two parts. The front part of the room was dominated by children, and all the adults were sitting behind them.
It feels nice, Shirley mused, slightly squeezing Andre's hand, to sit like this. It's been too long since we've been out together, just us.
Andre looked at her and smiled gently, just as Britta and Pierce sidled past them to sit down on her left.
Not just us, she amended, as Britta slyly nudged her and gestured at the hand-holding going on between her and Andre.
Suddenly, all the lights dimmed, except for the one shining on the stage curtains.
"Once upon a time, in a land called Greendalia…"
Shirley grinned. It was obvious who'd written that line, at least.
The play was very well written, and Annie did a great job playing the Princess who wanted more out of life than just money and a husband.
Pierce particularly liked it whenever Annie added lines that were obviously not originally from the script.
"There is nothing wrong with spending my time with the village boys, mother."
She said, rolling her eyes at the regal queen who was irritated at her daughter for trying to skip the ball she and the King had thrown.
The queen finally succeeded in getting Princess Anna to go back to the ball and dance for a while.
It didn't take too long for her to try and sneak away again, to the delight of the children in the audience.
And the adults, to be honest. At least, Britta thoroughly enjoyed Annie's portrayal of this Princess.
She was strong and determined to – oh, look Jeff's character is being introduced!
She tried not to burst out laughing when Christian came on scene and "discovered" the Princess trying to hide.
The two started talking, the narrator helpfully telling the audience that Christian didn't tell Anna he was the King her parents wanted her to marry.
As the conversation wore on, Britta noticed that it was pretty much a typical Jeff-Annie conversation.
"I wouldn't think you're the kind to want adventure, really." King Christian informed Anna, who let out an indignant gasp.
"Why not?"
"Well, you just… seem so princessy. Even your eyes-"
"What about them?"
"They're so innocent." Here, Christian gave the princess a very Jeff smirk.
Anna narrowed her eyes. "For your information, I can take care of myself. And I am far from innocent."
Christian leaned forward and pushed some hair behind Anna's ear.
"I apologise, then."
The two locked eyes for a moment, and Britta and Pierce exchanged slightly exasperated looks.
This was definitely not scripted.
The two leaned in slightly for a kiss (this she knew was scripted, because Annie's face practically went up in flames), which was when a very weird looking two headed monster decided to jump on stage.
Shirley wasn't the most supportive woman when it came to Jeff and Annie being all romantic, but they managed to make her forget about it and instead focus on how much Christian and Anna were suited for each other.
The light background music (she identified it as the Tangled soundtrack) changed suddenly to dramatic music as the Troy-and-Abed monster jumped out of the shadows and pushed Christian out of the way to grab Anna.
The couple tried putting up a fight (at one point, she heard who she thought was Troy yell out something like "go away, you weird foreheaded king! She's ours!"), but in the end, the monster won and succeeded in dragging away a still struggling princess.
"Baby?" Andre whispered.
She jumped, having been completely engrossed in Christian's anguish.
"What?"
He smiled at her. "You're cutting off the blood supply to my arm."
She smiled back apologetically and let him go, turning back at the stage just in time to catch Christian stalk off it, with the narrator helpfully telling the audience that he vowed to get Anna back.
Someone must not have told Jeff that he had to say that.
The story was gripping, to say the least. For the first time in ages, Pierce was enjoying watching a play. It was a lot better than those stuffy intellectual plays he had to attend frequently with board members, or the few smart women he met.
On stage, the two headed monster tied up Annie and the heads started talking.
"We should eat her with taco meat."
"We can't. We need some vegetables, it's healthier that way."
"Aww, alright. Can we have ice cream later?"
"We can't, Other Me. We're a monster. We have to do monstery things."
"You're such a buzzkill. Why can't we be awesome monsters like in Monsters Inc.?"
"Maybe you could let me go, and I could cook something tasty and healthy for you," the princess piped up hopefully.
Unsurprisingly, the monster said no to that idea.
After some more debating, the monster decided it needed pepper to use on Annie, so it went to the market.
(The children loved this – as did he. Monsters don't go to the market.)
Just as it did, Jeff creeped on stage and whispered to Annie that he had come to save her.
"Pork her, Jeff." Pierce muttered.
Next to him, Britta sighed.
Annie tried not giggling, as Jeff got more and more into his character.
He 'untied' her quickly and helped her up, telling her that he had a horse outside the monster's 'cave' for them to ride away on.
Unfortunately for their characters, Troy and Abed decided to come back with a jar full of black powder, labelled cheerily as pepper.
The audience, kids and adults alike, howled with laughter as Jeff tried avoiding the black sand Troy and Abed were throwing at him, going with the explanation they'd given Christian about how it was Anti Prince Medicine.
This was not in the script at all.
And it was so, so awesome.
Getting an idea, Annie launched herself at the monster's back, trying to pull him- them – whatever away from her 'king'.
Finally, Jeff seemed to remember his fake sword and brandished it at Troy and Abed, who gave a very realistic scream and bolted.
Except, they bolted in different directions, causing the costume to rip down the middle, making it seem like the monster had been cut in two.
She backed away with a shocked (and half amused) gasp as Troy and Abed fell down and started writing in pain, then died very, very loudly and theatrically.
Looking up at Jeff, who was looking like he was trying just as hard as her not to laugh, then the cheering audience, Annie made a decision.
Screw the script.
Walking forward, she allowed one foot to land lightly on Abed's monster stomach and let out a loud "IN YOUR FACE, MONSTER!"
The curtain closed for the final scene, giving all four of them the chance to laugh heartily.
Jeff was still sniggering a bit when the curtain opened again, to show him and her standing in front of Anderson, who was dressed as a minister.
The man happily pronounced them as man and wife.
She leaned up and hugged Jeff, grinning with delight as she heard the applause from the audience.
She let go and the curtain started closing again.
Suddenly, one little girl stood up. "Wait! You need to kiss!"
Oh, wow.
It was an audience comprised mostly of kids. In a few seconds, they were all chanting "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"
Annie looked up at Jeff, whose arms were still loosely wrapped around her waist.
She raised her eyebrows and silently asked him if it was okay.
Jeff wasn't going to kiss her, originally, but that expression Annie made was so much like the one she'd made after she had kissed him at the Tranny Dance two years ago…
He leaned down, pulled her towards him and kissed her deeply, hearing the curtains start to close again.
Annie sighed in relief, looking at herself in the mirror.
She was finally out of that wedding dress.
"That was one hell of a kiss."
She spun around. Tracy, the original Princess Anna, gave her a small smile.
Annie got up. "Um, thanks."
Tracy walked towards her. "I just came to tell you that I'm really sorry about how Jack and Burt walked out on you guys because of me."
Annie nodded understandingly, and then raised her eyebrows. "Are you going to tell them the truth about why you left? And that you haven't just gained weight?"
Tracy sighed. "Its… hard. Burt's my brother and… I can't just tell Jack I'm pregnant with my ex's kid. We just got together!"
"Are you keeping it, though?"
Tracy looked up. "I'm not sure. I'm nineteen. I can't take care of some kid. It's not the right time. But what if I never get this chance again? What do I do?"
Annie leaned forward and pulled the girl into a hug.
"I don't really know, Tracy."
She pulled back, and Tracy sniffled a bit, then smiled.
"I bet your love life is looking pretty good, huh? Isn't Jeff that guy you told me about?"
Annie shook her head at her cousin. "You're just looking for gossip to tell Aunt Rebecca."
"Hell, yeah."
"Wouldn't it work better if you just told her your gossip?"
Tracy nodded. "If I keep it."
Jeff walked Annie to her car, revelling in the feeling of wearing his normal jeans and sweater.
The group had already left, promising to rib Annie and Jeff the next day in school.
He stopped and watched as Annie put her stuff into the backseat of her car, still chattering about the play.
"Hey, um, Annie?" He cut in, realizing belatedly that it was rude.
"What?" She asked, still rearranging the flowers Andre and Jordan had given her.
"You… uh, want to get dinner with me?"
Annie turned around slowly, a smile tugging at her lips.
For a second, she just looked at him, then dropped a silly curtsey.
"Milord."
Grinning, Jeff leaned down to place a soft kiss on her lips.
"Milady."