Chapter Two: Communication

Summary: Jeff and Annie clear up a few things

"Impression?!" Annie hissed as she and Jeff worked on cleaning up the mess from the teacup. Doreen had scuttled into the kitchen to grab more paper towels.

He glanced up at her frantically. "I didn't mean….look, crap, I don't know what I meant!"

Annie nodded vigorously. "Don't worry. I get it. Perfectly clear."

"Um, what's clear?"

A fake Annie-grin greeted him in response.

"Annie."

She squeaked out, "What?"

His eyes grew wide. He felt his body tense, his heart pounding, aware he had just made the biggest of screwups.

Clusterfuck actually.

He managed to get out, "You know I love you."

She said through her still freakish smile, "I love you too."

They were interrupted by a knock at the door.

It did not escape his notice as she turned to stand that she wiped a tear from her eye. He felt something wrench in his chest. Closing his eyes, he silently berated himself for his stupidity.

Doreen returned to help Jeff clean up the ceramic pieces while Annie accepted the pizza from the stoned deliveryman. Doreen cast a concerned look back and forth between them, aware that anyone would be blinded by the white of Annie's artificial grin. Jeff motioned his mom into the dine-in kitchen and asked her to take a seat.

As Annie arranged the pizza on the table, she said nonchalantly, "You know what, I just realized I told Britta I'd see her this afternoon. She needed my help in picking out an outfit for her date."

Jeff's eyes shot over to her as he was in the process of sitting down. "You're leaving?"

Avoiding his gaze, she said chirpily, "Yes. I really feel so silly I forgot about the whole thing." She turned to his mother and said, "Doreen, it was very nice to meet you."

Doreen started to rise but Annie shook her head and motioned for her to sit.

Extending her hand, Doreen said, "It's been a pleasure, dear. I hope we'll see each other again very soon."

She caught Annie's quick glance at Jeff followed by a frown.

In response, Annie mumbled, "Um, yes. Maybe." She turned to go, but Jeff was already on his feet, his hand on her shoulder.

He leaned down and said, "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

She smiled tightly and nodded before she called out, "Bye, Doreen."

"Goodbye, dear."

Jeff took Annie's hand and gently but firmly pulled her into the living room. She looked up at him.

Crap. Her eyes are really sad.

"Annie, I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She sniffed.

"Don't go."

She glanced past him toward the kitchen. "I'll come back later. This is too weird."

"Please stay and have pizza with us. I ordered it for you."

He frowned as he watched her begin to silently laugh. He arched his brow.

She swatted his shoulder as she continued to seem amused by something. "We never expected it to be like this, did we?"

"Hm?"

Abruptly stopping her chuckle, she sighed. "Like this." She gestured her hands out at her sides. "We're playing house, Jeff. And it's been really fun."

"Wait…past tense?"

She opened her eyes wide and tilted her head. Placing her hands in his hoodie pockets, she pulled him a step closer to her and said in a lower voice, "We moved too fast."

"Again…past tense?"

"We need to slow this down."

He gulped, "You err… you want to slow it down?"

She hesitated for a moment before she nodded.

For one of the first times in his life, Jeff Winger did now know what to say. He barely felt it as she gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek. He watched her grab her jacket and walk out the door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Go after her."

Jeff had re-joined his mother at the kitchen table and was staring at his pizza. He lifted his head and looked at her, a dazed expression on his face. "Hm?"

Doreen placed her elbows on the table and clasped her hands underneath her chin. Looking at him intently, she said, "Your eyes are red. Have you been crying?"

He immediately resumed studying his pizza. "Nah."

"Let me guess. She overheard us."

He closed his eyes and nodded, his lips pursing in frustration.

"Clearly you're upset. Go find her and explain things to her."

"Explain what?"

"That you didn't mean it. That you care about her."

Jeff sighed and opened his eyes. Scooting back his chair, he leaned back and regarded his mother with a steel gaze. "I already did that. She says she wants us to slow things down."

"Well, you know she doesn't mean that, right? My guess would be quite the opposite."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "Really? She's the one who left."

"She's just trying to avoid getting hurt. She thinks you don't want to get serious with her."

He groaned.

She continued in an even tone, "But clearly that's not the case. My god, the girl's practically living here. And up until recently when you've been avoiding me again, I stop by enough to know that you're normally living like a modern Spartan, although tastefully decorated. But still."

She cleared her throat before she added, "Now at least I know why. You're in a relationship."

"Well, um, yeah. I've been busy."

"And you didn't want me to know about her."

"It's not like that. I would have eventually introduced the two of you. Once I was sure."

Doreen closed her eyes and winced.

He felt his chest wrenching again as he explained, "Okay, I know that sounds bad, but it's true. I introduce the two of you, and then, what if it doesn't work out with us? It's a huge risk, before which I'd have to be absolutely, one hundred percent certain."

"Certain of what?"

His eyes widened.

"Jeffrey?"

"Crap. I'm an idiot."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Annie carefully let herself back into the apartment. She had texted warning Jeff she'd be on her way over, making sure his mother was gone. She had spent the past few hours actually hanging out with Britta. They did manage to put together an outfit (she hadn't lied about Britta having a date), and then Annie had spilled a bunch of her insecurities and disappointments. Britta in her surprising wisdom had encouraged Annie to talk it out with Jeff. Annie had thanked her for the advice but had gracefully declined her offer of free couples counseling.

She padded into the bedroom and spied Jeff sitting on the bed, the laptop open and a studious expression on his face. She smiled nervously and said, "Hey."

She could have sworn he let out a sigh of relief as he looked up. He took a few moments to take in the sight of her.

"Hey."

He frowned when he saw the empty duffel bag she was placing on the floor near the closet.

She then walked over and carefully sat down next to him on the bed. Reaching over to take his hand, she said softly, "I'm sorry I was a little dramatic earlier, but I just thought it would be easier if you could talk to your mom alone. We both weren't prepared for a parent meeting."

He kept his eyes on their hands as he said, "You had every right to be upset. I'm sorry I was an ass about it. She just surprised me."

Giving his hand a squeeze, she said, "It's fine. Maybe it's a good thing she showed up. We've never talked about her much. She seems really nice."

"Yeah, she is."

Annie sighed. "Which is why I think I was upset. You know the reason you haven't met my parents. I don't even see them. But you do see your mom, and she seems pretty normal. If my parents and I had a good relationship, I would have wanted you to meet them by now."

He appeared to startle. "Really?"

She smiled sadly as she leaned over and kissed his cheek. "But I think that speaks to some differences we have. See, I thought….I mean, I think this will be fine. Well, only if you want to keep going with it."

"Annie, of course. I don't want to break up."

She relaxed her shoulders as she gave his hand another squeeze. "Well, good. Then we won't."

He gulped. "But the bag?"

She cast a quick glance over at the duffel bag and then back at him, noticing the panicked look in his eyes. "Oh that? I brought that to take some of my things home. Like I said, I think we should slow things down." Taking her hand back, she laced her fingers together and played with them on her lap. "I've practically moved in here, Jeff. We probably got a little too carried away. Let's go back to dating with some sleepovers, but I should really be back at my place most of the time."

She was surprised as he placed one hand over hers and used his free hand to gently guide her to face to his. Pressing his forehead against hers, he said, "I don't want to slow things down."

"We have to."

"Why?"

The tremble in her voice was evident as she explained, "Because after all of this time, after all of these years knowing each other and wondering what if and now actually being together, part of me would be destroyed if we didn't work out."

Without hesitation he said, "We will work out."

The words hung in the air for a several moments as they sat there, foreheads pressed against each other. Finally, Annie moved her head back and looked at him while wiping a tear from her eye.

She said, "Not if we move too fast. That's what you meant when you were talking to your mom, isn't it? That you didn't want us to meet because you weren't all in this. You're not used to relationships, and that's okay. But see, I'm not wired like that. When I'm in, I'm in, Jeff. So when we play house ninety percent of a week, I think we're serious and I want to get even closer."

"Annie, I…"

-"And I have to be honest, it hurts to know you're not there with me. I know you love me, but I..."

He stopped her with a soft kiss.

Pulling back, he said with a sense of urgency, "I love you so much, you have no idea."

"Jeff…"

-"Let me say this. Yes, you are correct that the reason I hadn't introduced you to my mom is because I wanted to be absolutely sure we were going to work out before I did so. I've only had a couple actual girlfriends, and neither of them met my mom. The reason for that is I've had it in my head that I'd only ever have my mom meet the woman I was going to marry."

Annie's eyes widened as she took in what he had just said.

She stammered, "I thought you were a confirmed bachelor up until Greendale."

He let out a low laugh and then nodded. "I was. Which is why my mom doesn't meet anyone. If I'm going to put her through that and risk her getting attached, then I need to be damned sure I was attached to the lady myself. And to me, yeah I guess in some surreal universe even back before Greendale it was marriage. Which I never thought I would actually do, but that was before I met you, so well, now hell."

Annie furrowed her brow in thought, pondering his words before looking up to see an expectant expression on his face.

Clearing her throat, she said, "I don't know what to say. I didn't realize you had that rule in your head, Jeff. About marriage and meeting your mom being linked. It's kind of crazy."

"It is not." He appeared mildly irritated at her reaction.

Snapping up to a straighter posture, she said, "Then when would I actually ever meet her, Jeff? I guess maybe, one day maybe we'd get to a place when you felt you'd propose? That would be when? Like ten years? And the whole time you'd be going to your mom's for Christmas or over for dinner or something, and what…I'd be hiding away from her? And would she even know you were seeing me or living with me? Because in ten years, we will be living together, Jeff…"

He smirked at that last bit as she continued,

"And the whole thing's absurd! Your mom and I should know each other. We don't have to be best friends, but she and I should be at a place where we're friendly. You can't compartmentalize your life!"

He interjected calmly, "I don't want to anymore."

Taken aback, she relaxed her shoulders slightly and said, "Well, good. Because that would mean one day when I move it, I want to already be on good terms with your mom. To me, being in a serious relationship means all of that."

He nodded. "Agreed."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, um, okay."

He cleared his throat and then asked, "Where do you stand on the marriage thing?"

She startled for a moment and then shrugged as she began to pick at the comforter. "I'm with Jeff Winger, the man who up until a few minutes ago I assumed was a confirmed bachelor. I assumed we would just live together, which would be fine and amazing and wonderful and…"

He leaned over and gave her another soft kiss. "It would be."

"Yeah."

They smiled at each other for a few beats of silence.

He cleared his throat yet again before he asked, "So, next question, where do you stand on kids?"

She tilted her head and stared at him incredulously. At his nonverbal plea for her to respond, she squeaked, "I don't know. Maybe?"

He raised his eyes brows and waited.

"Yes. I want kids." She then quickly swatted the air, looking away as she added, "I don't meant kids. One would be nice. But if you don't want kids, then of course I'd be okay. You mentioned you wanted to get a dog. We could get a dog." She turned back to look at with a tentative expression on her face.

He reached over and grabbed both her hands, holding them firmly. "Annie, if you want kids then we'll have kids."

She closed her eyes. "Jeff. You can't do this. You can't…"

-"I want kids."

She opened her eyes and stared at him in disbelief.

He nodded slowly, maintaining eye contact. "I know, it sounds crazy. Jeff Winger wants kids. But I've given this a lot of thought, that whole last year before you left, I was drinking myself into a pit…"

She gave his hands a squeeze.

-"I thought I'd screwed everything up. That I was destined to be alone. That I'd lost you. And when you said you were leaving, all sorts of scenarios ran through my head. In one of them we were happy. We had a home, we had a kid."

She smiled at him as he continued,

-"And he was really cute, and you seemed happy, and then I had this panicked realization that I didn't really know what you wanted. So I pushed it all aside while we've been figuring this out, and god, I have to say, it's still what I want. I mean I'd be fine with a dog too. Actually, I'd really like a dog so I hope you're okay with that too, but I want kids. Or a kid. I'm with you on that. We can see how the first one starts to turn out before we go ahead and do it again. And we'd have to make sure the kid and the dog got along."

He paused for breath to take in her reaction.

She squinted at him, a blush forming on her face as she looked down at their entwined hands. He spied a hint of a smile.

"Milady?"

She looked back up and nodded. "That sounds nice."

He let out a breath. "Great." Bobbing his head, he reached over and grabbed the laptop. Turning it to face her, he hit a key to re illuminate the screen. "See anything you like? Cause I wasn't sure about the shape. There are heart shaped ones, more traditional diamond shaped, round ones too. Then there's the whole matter of the band. White gold, silver, platinum, gold…."

She swatted his arm and gasped. "You're looking at engagement rings?!"

He turned to her and said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "Well, yeah."

Her mouth fell open as he added, "Of course I'm not going to buy it online. We can go take a look at them, or you can give me a general idea of what you like and I'll go and look at some in person. I just like to be prepared with styles and price points before I walk into a jewelers. I don't want them to rob me blind."

She muttered, "Amethyst."

"No diamond?"

She shook her head.

Keeping a serious expression, he continued to click through the pictures of various rings. "Band preference?"

By this point, Annie had collected herself enough to lightly slap his leg. He turned to her with a look of alarm.

"What's wrong?"

"You're proposing?"

His face almost went white. He stammered, "Well, um, not at this moment. I mean, I guess I kind of ruined it by asking about the ring, but given all the misunderstandings we've had in the past few hours I really wanted to be sure you'd say yes."

He looked almost pained in embarrassment.

She took a deep breath and then asked, "When were you planning to propose to me?"

He began to tap the keyboard with his index finger. "When I was sure. And then I was going to introduce you to my mom."

"When do you think you'll be sure?"

"I already am. Took me until today to realize it."

He watched as she began to laugh.

"Wait…you do want to get married, right? Cause Annie, we've known each other for years by now. We know. Or at least I know. I was stupid for not figuring it out sooner."

She shook her head, letting her giggles subside. "It's not that. Yes, of course I want us to get married. I just never thought you'd pseudo-propose to me in a Greendale hoodie."

He looked down at his ensemble for a moment before lifting his head to meet her gaze.

A gaze which was filled with affection and unconditional love.

It was reflected right back.