The sun is slowly going down by the time they reach his hotel. On the scale of living-out-of-his-car to highly-esteemed-defense-lawyer, it's a little below Greendale-professor levels.
Which, for reference, makes it a Holiday Inn.
He's staying at a Holiday Inn.
(Which normally would depress him, but he can't really complain about the situation right now - holding hands with Annie, walking with Annie through the reception area, riding the elevator to his floor with Annie, pushing open his door one-handed and stepping into his room with… With…)
"Annie?"
She makes a little humming sound in the back of her throat, craning her neck a bit to stare up at him. Though it's not really necessary, she stays close.
It suddenly occurs to him that they haven't even kissed yet, and he only arrived in DC less than 6 hours ago… Fuck, and he just up and dragged her back to his hotel room like an idiot. Does she even want this? (Does she even want him?)
"Sorry, we should- I mean. I."
"What?" Shit, he hopes he's only imagining the way her eyes narrowed just there.
"You - And - Annie, we haven't even kissed yet."
"So?" He's definitely not imagining the way she moves away slightly, shifting backwards so there's more than just a few inches of space between them.
"So-" How does she not see the problem here? "We're here! In my hotel room!"
"Are you really so upset about that?" She looks vaguely insulted, and maybe a little confused. "Jeff-"
"No, it's just. There's all these - these implications. I don't want you to think I planned this - I didn't mean for-"
"I never thought you planned this or anything," she attempts to reason, voice soft. God, she's talking to him like he's a child - not surprising, given the way he's freaking out right now. "And, we can definitely take things slow. We don't have to do - anything - tonight, if you don't want to."
Now she probably pities him. Or is mentally planning an escape route for the second he turns his back. Or is wondering why she ever invited him to DC in the first place. Fuck.
She squeezes his hand (shit, and she was holding it the entire time and it's probably all gross and sweaty now-) and tries to meet his eyes. When she succeeds, she explains, "I just want to spend time with you. All the other stuff doesn't really matter."
She's so smart. And though he doesn't exactly believe in her sentiment, he definitely believes in her.
So he squeezes her hand right back, and tries to forget about the rest.
She wasn't so sure before, but now Annie gets it. He wants her as much as she wants him. And everyone knows she's always been a sucker for emotionally vulnerable!Jeff, even though the current circumstances aren't the greatest.
And she totally respects that he's overwhelmed - truthfully, so is she - but right now, she needs to touch him.
How does one ask the person they're in love with to kiss them without sounding too desperate?
'Cause, yeah, she's done it before. They've done this before, but last time, it was a kiss for the end of Everything, and now, it's the exact opposite.
In an ideal world, she would have said something simultaneously subtle and quietly romantic. What comes out instead is, "Kiss me?"
Spoiler alert, the outcome is just as nice.
Jeff quirks his eyebrows and opens his mouth, probably to make a joke, but soon thinks better of it. Rather, he reaches out the hand not currently holding her own to cup her cheek. Eyes searching, possibly for confirmation?
So she holds his stare and tries to convey through expression the mantra of YES, yes, yes, yes, YES, please! that is presently running through her mind.
Something must click, because suddenly he's kissing her, all soft and sweet, and God, it's just as amazing as the other times.
Though she really wishes he'd stop being so careful, stop touching her as if she'll break if he's not gentle enough.
That thought slips her mind, however, as she slides a hand up to his chest. Warm. Firm. Soft sweater. Like before, in the airport, but also like Before, back home. She can feel the rapid thump of his heart and wonders if he knows he's having the very same effect on her.
She lets out a little sigh, which prompts him to press his lips a little more firmly to her own. It's like she's floating.
They both seem pretty content to stay like this for a little while, and so they do, until Annie's neck goes a little numb from craning, and Jeff's fingers twitch where they're intertwined with her own. At that point, they break apart, all bashful smiles and fluttering breaths and beating hearts.
"We should - slow down." Jeff suggests, in a tone implying that he would probably rather do the exact opposite, but knows, begrudgingly, that this is the best way.
"Yeah." Annie agrees breathlessly, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.
He cocks his head in the direction of the bed - less than a foot away - and asks, simply, "Do you wanna watch TV?"
"Sure." She watches as he busies himself with the remote, flopping down onto the bed when he's flicked the set to life. He raises an eyebrow at her comfortable, spread-out position, before sidling past the bed and taking a seat in the nearby armchair.
Well, then.
"Y'know, when you said we should watch TV, I kind of thought you meant, watch TV together."
"This is together." He deflects. "We're together right now."
Instead of dignifying his attempted lawyering with a reply, Annie scoots over a little, before patting the new space next to her.
"Annie, I'm trying to be a gentleman, here."
"Ugh." She makes a big show of rolling her eyes. That'll show him. "I'm pretty sure we can sit next to each other for a while without… Doing anything." Ignoring the last little stumble, she continues: "You're not that charming or - ah - irresistible."
"No, but you are." He responds easily.
Of course, it melts her heart. She clamps her lips shut, tight, lest she accidentally slips up and tells him what is currently running through her mind.
I love you I love you I love you
"I guess I can move," he concedes, letting out an exaggerated put-upon sigh as he sinks down onto the mattress. After a moment of shifting: "Happy now?"
"Mm-hm." She's staring at her hands. God, she just wants to touch him again.
"Let's see…" He murmurs, perhaps mostly to himself. Over the next minute she sees the colours of the screen flicker and change out of the corner of her eye. When he finally settles on a channel, he explains, "Weekend At Bernie's."
Annie finds her nose wrinkling in distaste. "This movie's gross."
"We can find something else if you want…?"
"No." She shakes her head, remembering. "Troy used to love it. We should watch it. In his honour."
"He's not dead, Annie."
"I know. But - he's not here. And who knows how many chances he'll get to watch this when he's out at sea, travelling the world?"
"Huh. Alright, then." He sets the remote on the bedside table, before shifting a little on the bed. Is it only her imagination, or does he move closer?
The film seems to be already around 20 minutes in and a slightly boring, dialogue-heavy scene plays on the screen. It is difficult to concentrate like this - being able to see him in her peripheral vision, knowing that if she just slides over a couple of inches, they would practically be pressed shoulder-to-shoulder.
And so it goes.
Every so often a joke will land, and she will feel surprised and slightly guilty from actually finding it sort of funny. Though Troy would be pleased, Britta and Shirley would definitely be more reproachful.
However when it gets to the more gritty parts, it's difficult to hide her discomfort. When Bernie's body lands on the beach with a dull thud, Jeff notices her wince.
"We really don't have to watch if you don't want to." He reminds her, tilting his head to the side. His stare is equal parts amused and concerned.
"I do want to." She dutifully trains her eyes back to the movie.
However, after a few minutes, she feels his thumb brush her pinkie. She waits until it happens a second time to make sure it wasn't a (lovely, beautiful) fluke, before gently sliding her hand over his.
Their fingers intertwine: her small hand clasped tightly over his, and when Annie looks up, her companion's gaze is warm, soft. The sort of look she could melt into. Maybe she already has.
And it's invitation enough to shift over, just barely, just enough for their arms to touch and for her to rest her head on his shoulder.
The rest of the movie doesn't seem so bad.