Jeff groaned in frustration as he pulled his Lexes into the apartment parking lot and walked into Annie, Abed and Troy's building. He didn't care if the guys were going to be away shooting scenes for Abed's movie, they should have been the ones to bring Annie her homework if she was sick. But somehow Abed had guilted him into bringing it to her himself. "Annie said she wasn't feeling well this morning and isn't coming to school," Abed had said. "Giving her her homework and study notes should help her feel better."

Only Annie would feel better at being able to do school work, Jeff thought with slightly amused amazement. He walked up to apartment 303 and loudly knocked on the door. "Annie, its Jeff." He waited a few moments before it opened and he saw her standing there on the other side, not looking like he expected her to. He figured she'd be in sweats or pajamas and a bathrobe. Instead she was dressed in a normal Annie outfit, and her eyes looked red and puffy.

"What do you want Jeff," she said in a dull, slightly short tone.

Jeff started commenting on her appearance, but decided it was better not to say anything. "Abed asked me to bring you your homework since you weren't feeling well."

"Thank you."

Jeff looked at her as she dully took the folder from his hand. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine Jeff."

Jeff could tell she seemed far from fine, but wasn't sure if he should press the issue. "Ok then, bye."

He just barely was able to turn around before he heard her burst into tears. As he turned back he irrationally hoped they were just Disney eyes crocodile tears, and that she was trying to manipulate him into doing something for her. But he knew her well enough to where he could see through that, and just by looking at her he could tell this wasn't a manipulation ploy. Something genuine was deeply upsetting her. "Annie, what's wrong?"

"It's, it's nothing. It's just…" She chocked back a sob before she walked away and went into her bedroom. Though he hadn't been invited in Jeff walked into the apartment and closed the door as she walked back out and went over to him with a newspaper in her hand. As Jeff took it from her he saw that it was the obituaries page. With a sinking feeling he started to read the one that Annie had circled.

Franklin Richard Romenoff.

Franklin Richard Romenoff passed away Monday morning due to heart failure. He was 41. Franklin was born on February 11, 1971 and resided in Colorado for his entire life, where he attended Riverside High and attended City College on an academic scholarship before becoming a social studies teacher at Riverside high two years after completing his undergraduate studies. He is survived by his mother, Maria Romenoff, his wife, Jessica Romenoff, and his 10 year old son Jefferson Romenoff. Services will be held at Roaming Hills cemetery on Thursday, 10am.

Jeff stopped reading as he looked up at Annie's tear stained face. "Was he one of your teachers in high school?"

Annie shook her head as she wiped her face. "He was in my group in rehab."

"Oh Annie." Jeff put the paper down as he hugged her. "I'm sorry. That must be rough for you."

"It's sad. But that's not the worst part." She pulled back from Jeff, her face crumbling in sadness. "Now, I'm the only one left."

"What do you mean?"

"When I was in rehab I was in a group with seven other people. We all lived in the same set of rooms, and ate together, and went to group together and talked about what drove us to start using drugs and what we could do to get clean. We all looked out for each other and did whatever we could to help each of us beat our addictions. But since rehab ended each of them have died in one way or another. And now with Frank gone there's just…" She didn't finish her sentence as she buried her face against Jeff's chest and started sobbing. "All of us tried so hard to get a fresh start and now I'm the only one left. It's not fair."

Jeff held her as she sobbed, barely taking that much notice that his shirt was getting tears and snot all over it. He waited until her cries seemed to subside before gently pulling her off him. "Annie, I'm really sorry about all this. It must be really hard for you."

She nodded her head as she sighed sadly. "Jeff, I know this is going to sound really selfish. But the worst part of it is I keep thinking this is where I'm heading."

"What do you mean?"

"Jeff, everyone from my group is now dead because of drugs. Some from ODing, others from something related to their drug use. I mean, Frank said he had a heart defect and that using crack for years had done irreversible damage to his heart, and he ended up dying from heart failure. I'm just afraid…I keep thinking this is an omen. That it's inevitable that I'll fall back to taking pills or something else and it will kill me."

"Annie, no." Jeff gently put his hands on her cheeks and waited until she looked into his eyes before speaking. "I don't believe that for a second. Annie, you're one of the bravest and strongest people I know. Far more than any of us give you credit for. You're worked too hard to throw it all away."

Jeff let go of her face as she sadly looked back at him, her eyes clouding over with a look of grim realization. "Jeff, you didn't know me before Greendale. I know everyone makes light about me taking Adderall. But believe me, I was a full on addict. And I've learned that there's never any definites when it comes to addiction. There's always the chance you can backslide, no matter how much progress you've made. And it's not like I haven't been tempted. Every time I pull an all nighter or am about to take a really hard test there's still a part of me that remembers how much easier it would be if I was taking Adderall. What if one day it just becomes too much and I break down and take some pills?" she finished as she hung her head in shame.

Jeff took a few moments to think over what she had said before speaking. "Annie, I understand that things are going to be more uncertain with you then with a lot of people. But no person's life is certain. We all have the potential to backslide into our old habits. I mean, how many times have I almost abandoned you guys and gone back to being a selfish jerk? I mean a complete selfish jerk," he amended as Annie have him a look.

She looked at him for a moment before nodding her head. "I'm sorry. I know you're not the same Jeff I met three years ago. You have, or are, becoming a caring thoughtful person. We should realize that more sometimes."

"Thanks, but I actually wasn't fishing for a complement there. What I'm trying to say is there's no guarantee I couldn't become that guy again. Or that Britta won't again change her major and have no idea what she wants out of life. Or that Troy couldn't someday go back to being the person he was in high school. Or that Shirley won't give up on her business dreams. Or that Abed won't make it in film and will end up working at her dad's Falafel. Or that Pierce…I don't know, won't again completely turn on us. The point is, there's a chance that anyone can fail and lose what they've gained. But we can't spend the rest of our lives fearing that we'll become who we once were. The only thing we can do is push forward and live our improved lives the best we can."

Annie took a deep breath as she blinked a few times before she wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and gave Jeff a watery smile. "Sometimes I wonder how we picked ourselves up before we had Winger speeches."

"I'm sure you'd manage without them. Besides, most times I just say a speech because I want something for myself."

"Not all the time. I was there when you gave that speech during Shirley and Pierce's trail." She smiled for a moment at that memory before growing more serious. "This is just really hard for me. Even though I haven't seen most of them since rehab, we were all really close during that time. Each of their funerals has been really tough. Frank and I were the only ones who went to all of them, and I only got through them because he was there with me. And now with Frank gone, tomorrow is just going to be really hard for me."

Jeff only took a moment to think about what she said before he made a decision. "What time are you leaving tomorrow?"