Disclaimer: I don't own Community, yo.


Advanced Studies in Leaps of Faith

Sunday, July 29

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Jeff grumbled as he parked the car along the side of the road. There were about six other cars there too, and a group gathering at the mouth of the trail just up ahead.

"You're going to have a blast," she reassured him for the hundredth time. "Besides, it's for a good cause."

"Is that cause the "Annie Makes Jeff Do Awful Stuff Foundation?" Because I'm thinking of pulling my support." Annie unbuckled herself and turned in her seat toward him.

"You know it's Big Brothers Big Sisters. Those kids," she said, pointing to the group, "need mentors. A lot of them come from single parent families in rough neighbourhoods, and it's the least we can do to take them out for a hike." Jeff rolled his eyes.

"I had a single parent household—no one took me for a hike, and I turned out fine." Annie fixed him with a glare. "Mostly fine," he amended. Annie grabbed his hand and gave it a little squeeze.

"Just try to have a good time, Jeff. This is going to be fun." He sighed deeply.

"Fine. But if this turns out to be the disaster I think it's going to be, you owe me. You owe me big time, sister." Annie giggled and leaned forward, placing a chaste kiss on his cheek.

"Thanks Jeff. Let's go!" Jeff waited a moment as she extracted herself from the car before following, gathering his wits. Spending a day hiking in the woods was one thing. Spending a day hiking in the woods with 12 hyper kids and teenagers was another entirely.

Again, he had no idea how he let Annie convince him to go with her on this one.


The hike started not long after Annie and Jeff joined the group. Every adult was assigned three kids to keep watch over as they embarked on the four mile journey. Jeff's kids were Jacob, Kyle and Lisa. He knew who Lisa was; it was a toss-up as to which was Jacob and which was Kyle.

As expected, he was extremely awkward with all three of them when they started. He didn't know how to talk to kids, or act around them, or what to do to keep them entertained. He settled for walking a few steps behind them to make sure they were all still with the group. He figured keeping them from getting lost was probably his primary function anyway.

The first mile passed by like this, just walking, with Lisa and one of the boys (Jacob, maybe?) talking amongst themselves while Kyle wandered a little further away from them, his hands in his pockets, his head down. Jeff frowned at the boy, wanting to help make this a more enjoyable experience for him, but not knowing exactly how to do that.

He peered further ahead at Annie. She had three girls, and all three of them were excitedly talking her ears off. One of them was even holding her hand and peering up at her like she was totally amazing. Jeff smiled a little at that. He could relate—he spent a lot of time staring at Annie and thinking she was totally amazing too. He looked over at Lisa and Jacob. They were getting along great. They didn't even need him. He thought he smelled puppy love, which kind of warmed the cold, dead cockles of his heart, just a little.

But then a quick glance back to Kyle told him this still wasn't going as well as it should have been. He picked up his pace, stepping into stride with the boy who only came up to Jeff's shoulder.

"So, Kyle," Jeff started.

"It's Jacob," he corrected quietly. Jeff groaned inwardly.

"Right, sorry. Jacob," he said again. "What's your story?" he winced at his own insensitivity. He was so not good at this. Jacob just shrugged and said nothing, keeping his head down. "Well... how old are you?" he attempted again.

"Fourteen," Jacob said. Jeff nodded.

"Fourteen, huh? Got a girlfriend?"

"Nope."

"A... boyfriend?" Jeff attempted. He inwardly kicked himself when the kid looked up at him, a little confused

"What are you doing?" Jacob asked. Jeff's brow furrowed.

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you trying to talk to me?" he clarified. Jeff shrugged.

"I dunno. I'm your leader... that's what leaders do." Or at least he thought that's what leaders did... he wasn't 100% sure.

"Not here," Jacob clarified. "I've been on six of these hikes... no one's ever said anything." Jeff frowned.

"Well... that's stupid." Jacob shrugged.

"I guess." Jeff bit his lip, not sure what else to say, but kind of relieved that the kid was actually talking to him.

"So you're on the waitlist?" he asked. Jacob looked up at him. "For a Big Brother," he clarified.

"Yea, I guess."

"How long have you been waiting?" Jeff asked. Jacob shrugged.

"Two years, maybe? I don't really know. My mom signed me up." Jeff was a little surprised by this.

"Why so long?"

"I dunno. They matched me once by the guy didn't stick around. Said we were incompatible," he explained. Jeff rolled his eyes. What a jerk.

"So what now? You just go on a lot of hikes, huh?" Jacob laughed lightly. It was the first time Jeff had seen the kid crack a smile. He felt a small amount of pride for that.

"Yea, a lot," Jacob said. He turned to look at Jeff. "My mom likes to have me out on these things."

"Why's that?"

"I don't know. Probably because she feels better when I'm not at home." Jeff's brow furrowed. Jacob explained: "We live in a pretty shitty part of town. It's not really safe." Jeff nodded slowly.

"What about your dad?" he asked. "What does he think about all of this?" Jacob huffed.

"You'd have to find him and ask him yourself. I haven't seen the guy since I was five." Jeff frowned. Now he knew why he was so drawn to this kid—he was him.

"I haven't seen my dad since I was a kid either," Jeff informed him. Jacob's eyes shot up, surprised.

"Really?"

"Yea," Jeff confirmed. "He was just there one day, and gone the next." Jacob nodded slowly as he digested this new information.

"So you kind of... know what it's like then," he said slowly. Jeff offered a sympathetic smile and clapped Jacob on the shoulder.

"I know all too well, Buddy. But you know, it gets better. After a while you stop worrying about what he's doing, and start worrying about what you're doing—where your life is going." Jacob nodded slowly.

"Like you're finally free of him?"

"Exactly," Jeff agreed. Jacob offered him a lopsided smile.

"Thanks for talking to me, Jeff." Jeff grinned down at him.

"Thanks for letting me, Jacob."


As Jeff and Annie pulled away from the roadside where his car was parked, Annie turned toward him in her seat, a smile on her lips.

"So how was it?" she asked, excitedly. Jeff offered a small smile.

"It was good," he said. "Really good, actually." She grinned.

"Oh, I'm so glad!"

"Yea," Jeff agreed. He peered over at her for a second before returning his eyes to the road. "Hey, do you know anything about becoming a Big Brother?"


Thursday, August 16

Jeff and Annie walked through the central part of Greendale. It was now mid-August, and the weather was hotter than ever. Annie was dressed in her typical sundress, although this one had slimmer straps and was shorter than most. Jeff had given up on his designer jeans and turned them in for a pair of khaki shorts and a tight white v-neck t-shirt. He still looked like a Gap ad, but now he featured their summer collection.

This was probably the tenth or fifteenth time the pair had taken off together for one of their much-loved days off from Greendale. The rest of the group didn't seem fazed by their sudden closeness, which Jeff took as a blessing. He wasn't interested in answering questions about whatever it was he had going on with Annie. He wasn't even sure there was anything going on with Annie. Sure, they spent a lot of time together, and occasionally, like at this particular moment, they held hands... but they never went further than that. There was no kissing, no heated lovemaking on humid nights, no candlelit dinners (or, well... no romantic candlelit dinners), no frantic hands or hushed moans... there was just time. Lots and lots of time spent together, doing everything and nothing.

And so today it seemed perfectly natural that they would, together, head downtown to enjoy the Busker Festival. Each year in August a group of street performers made their way to the middle of downtown Greendale and performed. They were flanked by small shops selling things made by local artisans, trucks selling greasy food, and lots of other fun, interesting things that one could only find during a one-week period in the middle of the summer. It was one of Annie's favourite times of year—a fact she had made clear to Jeff when she was begging him to join her the night before.

The two wound through crowds of people surrounding various acts. One man was break dancing, another was throwing knives, a woman was doing contortion and another was doing acrobatics on stilts. It was all very bizarre, but undeniably entertaining. Annie stepped forward in one crowd to watch a man play a complicated concerto on the cello. Jeff stepped up behind her, wrapping his arms around her middle and allowing her to rest against him. He could have argued away their proximity as being due to the large crowd around them, but if he was being honest, he just liked having her near him.

"He's incredible," Annie said, her head craned so she could see him. Jeff just smiled down at her, placing a quick kiss on her cheek. He saw her smile before she turned her head back to watch the performer finish the song.

They moved on after that, visiting various pup tents and looking at what the artisans had to offer. There were seas of homemade jewelry, of which Annie picked up two or three bracelets and necklaces. Jeff plucked a purple geranium from one vendor while Annie had her back turned and presented it to her as she swung back around, tucking it into her hair behind her ear. He was met with a smile that was well worth the $2.95 the flower had cost.

As they ventured further, they passed by a tent where a few guys were applying airbrushed tattoos to customers. Annie pulled Jeff to a stop and pointed excitedly.

"We should get tattoos!" she exclaimed. Jeff chuckled.

"You a badass now?" She rolled her eyes.

"Tattoos aren't just for badasses, Jeff. They're a way of expressing your individuality." He huffed.

"Yea. I can't tell you how many women I've slept with who expressed their individuality with butterfly tramp stamps." Annie made a face.

"One, gross, and two, it could be worse. They could have gotten your name tattooed on them. Then they really would have looked like idiots."

"Ouch," he joked, putting a hand over his heart. Annie giggled and pulled him toward the tent. "Oh wow, you're serious about this."

"Duh doy," Annie said. Jeff winced at the use of Britta's favourite nonsense term. "Come on, Jeff. Live dangerously!"

"It's not really dangerous to get a fake tattoo that only lasts a week, Annie."

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you want to get real tattoos? I'm sure there's a parlor open around here somewhere," she teased. Jeff rolled his eyes.

"You have at it. I'll just stand back and watch you mutate." She pouted a little.

"Come on, Jeff. It'll be so much more fun if we get them together. Oh! We can get matching ones and be like bosom buddies!" she exclaimed. Jeff shook his head.

"Nuh uh. I don't do bosom buddies unless I actually get to enjoy the... bosoms." Annie scoffed and wrapped her arms over her chest.

"Pig," she said, although she had a small grin on her face that belied her disgust. Jeff smirked.

"But hey, if we can somehow work the bosoms in though, I might be swayed." She giggled lightly and dropped her arms to just under her breasts, pushing them up a little and laughing at the way Jeff groaned.

"That enough bosom for you?" she asked. Jeff shook his head.

"Not by a long shot." She just giggled and dropped her arms.

"Well that's all you get... unless you get a tattoo with me." She slid into the seat next to the artist and pointed to the picture she wanted. As he searched through his pack of stencils, she looked back up at Jeff, waiting patiently for a response.

"So... wait... do you mean I get more boobs if I get one of these stupid things?" he asked. "How much boobage are we talking about here?" Annie giggled and put her arm out for the man to start stenciling.

"Oh, I don't know. Are you a gambling man, Jeff Winger?" she asked, a flirty grin thrown over her shoulder at him. He contemplated this.

"Depends on the odds." She grinned.

"Well, the odds are in your favour... IF you get a tattoo, and IF you let me pick it." Jeff's eyes widened.

"That wasn't in the original deal." She shrugged her free shoulder.

"I just added it. I can do that, because I have the boobs." Jeff's eyes narrowed.

"You're becoming dangerous, Annie." She giggled.

"Is that a yes?" she asked. Jeff hesitated a moment before nodding.

"I can't believe I'm doing this. Yes," he said with finality. He slipped into the seat next to the other artist. "What's the damage?" he asked. Annie motioned for the artist to come over to her, and whispered something in her ear. "Seriously? You're not even going to tell me?"

"It's an even cooler surprise," Annie said with a giggle. Jeff frowned.

"Somehow I doubt that." He pushed his sleeve up and looked away as the artist placed the stencil against his arm and began airbrushing black ink over it.

A few minutes later, both of them were done.

"I'm afraid to look," Jeff groaned. Annie giggled and peered down at her arm and moved so Jeff could see it. He smiled lightly. "Wings, huh?" She grinned and nodded.

"Now look at yours." He looked down at his arm and his brow creased.

"A light bulb?" he asked. He looked up at her for clarification. She grinned.

"Invented by Edison," she explained. A small grin spread across Jeff's face.

"You're even a nerd when it comes to tattoos," he teased. Annie giggled. "Okay, we had a deal," he said, pointing to her boobs. Annie laughed lightly and grabbed his hand, pulling him along with her away from the tents and vendors. Jeff let her pull him along, but was starting to feel a little uneasy about the whole thing.

"Okay," she said once they were hidden from view. "You get one flash—if you don't get a good enough look, that's your problem." Jeff shook his head.

"I was kidding about the boob thing, Annie. You don't owe me anything." She raised an eyebrow.

"You sure?" he nodded.

"I'm sure." She smiled and fingered the top of her sundress. "Annie..."

"What?" she asked.

"Annie, you don't have to." She shrugged and pulled it away from her body a little, peering down.

"I don't know. They're pretty spectacular—you sure you don't want a peek?" she teased. Jeff groaned.

"You're the worst, you know that?" She giggled and let the top snap back in place.

"I know. You're just too easy."


One more to come. Hope you liked it!