A big thank you to those who are following my story and have reviewed so far. My god this was a depressing chapter to write! This type of scene would never happen in the show but I felt that if Jeff did something like in Chapter 2 Annie would have every right to be pissed. The beauty of fan fiction huh? On we go…

Oh spoilers: Big ones from season 4 and specifically the convention episode (I couldn't help myself ). Plus some references that hark back to season 1 and 2.


Chapter 4


Britta knocked gently on Annie's door and waited for a response. When none came she glanced back at Troy and Abed who were standing behind her worry etched on their faces.

"Annie? It's Britta. I was wondering if I could come in?" She asked tentatively with her face practically pressed against the door. They began to hear movement and someone approach the other side of the door. Britta stood back a few steps to allow the door to open.

When it did they saw Annie's tear stained face and Britta immediately raced over to give her friend a hug. Annie let Britta engulf her and rested her chin on the blonde's shoulder, peering sadly at her male roommates.

"I'm okay." Annie insisted unable to help the sniff that followed. "Really, it's nothing."

Britta pulled back and stared at her with a look of disbelief. "Please Annie. What's wrong? Is it Danny?"

Annie swallowed hard before letting her eyes well up. She gave Britta a sad nod and let herself be lead over to one of the chairs and they all ended up sitting around the table.

"Did you hear from Danny?" Troy asked while Abed looked at her with wide eyes. Had anybody been looking at him they would have seen a face portraying clear guilt. Luckily for him all eyes were on Annie.

Annie shook her head as she dabbed her eyes with a tissue provided by Britta. "Not exactly. I bumped into him after my meeting with Professor Wilson. And…" Her voice began to shake and she tried clearing her throat before continuing. "And he couldn't have been more disinterested. It was as if he couldn't wait to get away from me."

"I don't understand." Britta said rubbing a comforting hand on her back and giving her another tissue. "You're sure everything was ok after your study session?"

Annie nodded and shrugged her shoulders. "Yes. Everything seemed fine. He even said 'See you tomorrow'. I don't know what happened between then and now!"

Troy opened his mouth to speak but before any words came out there was a firm knock on the door. Everyone except Abed looked at each other with confusion, wondering who could be visiting them. Abed walked over to the door and opened it to reveal a concerned Jeff.

"Hey Abed." He greeted solemnly and entered his apartment while Abed waited behind to close the door. He made his way further into the living room but stopped short when he saw a tearful Annie surrounded by Troy and Britta.

"Hey guys." He said gaining their attention. He frowned at Britta's accusing stare.

"So, still think I should give Danny a break, Jeff?" She asked while squeezing Annie's shoulder.

Jeff rolled his eyes and ignored her comment. Focusing his gaze on Annie he licked his lips nervously. "Annie. Can I speak to you? In private?" He clarified avoiding Britta's questioning look.

Annie sniffed and gave him a puzzled smile. "Um, sure. " She stood up and moved towards her bedroom taking the box of tissues with her.

Jeff followed her ensuring that he caught no one's gaze on the way. Once he reached her room he saw Annie sitting on the bed and he turned around to close the door after he gave Abed a reassuring nod. Once they had privacy Jeff gave Annie a sad smile before joining her on her bed.

"What's up?" She asked trying to act as if she weren't deeply upset at this precise moment.

"Uh…Abed told me you were upset and I just wanted to check in with you." Jeff explained truthfully, before asking, "What happened?"

Annie peered up at him with a slightly shocked expression. "You came to check on me?" She asked and Jeff wished it hadn't been with such disbelief. Did he really act as if he didn't usually care about these things?

"Yeah. I know I'm not the best when it comes to…well these situations but you can talk to me." He promised hoping that she remembered their conversation at the hotel where they stayed for the Inspector Spacetime Convention. After Annie's role-playing marriage to Jeff they had actually discussed the incident with maturity and left the state of their relationship with no awkwardness with Jeff making it known to her that he did care and respected her. Granted it was after this trip that he had noticed Annie pulling away slightly, reducing their encounters to nothing more than two friends hanging out and Jeff felt he had to dial down the flirting. Ironically it was in these past few weeks that he had felt a stronger pull towards her and he desperately wanted to tell her about finding his dad's contact number. But he didn't want to drag her into that knowing she was exploring her new major so he had, reluctantly, let her keep a distance.

Annie sniffed again but gave him a grateful grin and gripped his larger hand gently. "Thanks. That means a lot Jeff."

After gazing at each other for a few seconds Jeff remembered why he was there and cleared his throat. "So what happened? Something to do with Danny?" He asked carefully expecting her to say yes.

She nodded sadly and let go of his hand returning it to her lap where she was picking at her used tissue. Jeff flexed his hand missing her contact already and clasped both his hands while leaning his elbows on his knees. "We bumped into each other outside Professor Wilson's office and he just…it was like he didn't want to speak to me. Like we weren't even friends, or classmates who have hung out almost every day for the past few weeks. But I know it's my fault." She added causing Jeff to frown at her.

"Wait, why is it your fault?"

"Because I did it again." She exclaimed gesturing with her hands. "I read too much into it, I acted all bunny boilerish and scared him away. Classic Annie!" She flapped her hands one more time before letting a stream of tears fall down her cheeks.

Jeff froze seeing her completely break down and raised his hand as if to place it on her shoulder but left it hovering in the air. This was even worse than he had realised. Not only had he scared off Danny but he had reduced Annie to thinking she was incapable of keeping a guy interested. Looking back at their confusing relationship Jeff knew he had been a big reason for her thinking this at one time but he thought she'd grown in confidence recently, in fact he was sure that was why he felt more drawn to her now. But now it seemed that all that confidence had gone. Unable to watch her just cry Jeff finally let his arm reach around her slim shoulders and pulled her into his side hoping it was would provide some comfort.

Annie went willingly and practically fell into his side still crying. After a few minutes it sounded as if she was calming down and Jeff knew that he finally had to tell her everything. At least she would finally know that it wasn't her fault and the blame was all his. It was a small comfort for Jeff.

"Annie? I need to tell you something." He announced quietly while enjoying the feel of her pressed against him and her hair brushing his cheek. She took a deep breath and eventually pulled away leaving Jeff feeling cold. She raised her puffy eyes to look at him innocently.

"What is it?" She asked wiping her eyes with back of her hand and then giving him a patient smile.

Jeff pursed his lips unable to bring himself to speak. Annie's patient smile morphed into a confused and slightly puzzled expression. "Jeff? What's wrong?"

This was the moment. "You didn't scare Danny away." He stated firmly, before wiping his suddenly sweaty palms on his jean covered thighs. When she knitted her eyebrows together in confusion he quickly powered on, not needing her questions just yet. "I did."

He let that fact hang in the air between them as he tried to gage her reaction. She continued to portray a bewildered expression before asking "What do you mean you scared him away?" Her tone was very neutral, indicating that she didn't understand what he meant.

"Danny approached Abed and I this morning. He asked us if it would be ok to ask you out." Jeff felt his heart thumping against his chest and forced himself to maintain eye contact with her despite desperately wanting to look anywhere else. He could already see the change in her usually bright and welcoming eyes as they became slightly darker. "And I…I…" He stammered hoping she would finish his sentence for him. He was too ashamed to say it himself.

"You what?" Annie asked in a clipped voice, not letting him off the hook and fixed him with a steely gaze.

Jeff sighed resignedly. "And I told him you were already seeing someone." He lowered his gaze to the floor avoiding her eyes. He kept it there for a good few minutes while Annie never said a word. This was even worse than when he had tried to put a stop to Annie dating Vaughn and when he tried to prevent Rich from getting into their study group so he and Annie couldn't spend time together. And she'd barely forgiven him then.

The stretch of silence continued and Jeff finally realised that she was probably expecting him to do the decent thing and look at her. It was the least he could do. Wiping his hands yet again on his jeans he slowly raised his head to face Annie's wrath.

He was surprised that she was not actually looking at him. He was not sure how she managed it without making a sound but Annie was standing at her window with her back to Jeff. He wasn't sure whether this was better or worse. His eyes bore a hole into her back while he waited for some kind of response. After a few more moments of silence he finally spoke to her in a quiet voice.

"Annie-"

"Why did you say that?" She interrupted softly although Jeff was sure that he could hear a slight tremor in her voice. She still kept her back to him. The wait to see her face was driving him insane. You could usually always tell Annie's true feelings by observing her face. Hearing just her voice wasn't working.

"I don't know." He admitted matching her tone. "As soon as I said it I…" Jeff trailed off as Annie turned around. And he really wished she hadn't.

"You don't know?" She asked in a harsh tone her face finally revealing the extent of her anger and disappointment. "You don't know?!" Her voice raised in volume slightly causing Jeff to flinch. He had never seen her this angry before, never.

"Annie-"

"No! Don't bother Jeff!" She warned him folding her arms and stepping back even further. Jeff stood up and approached her carefully, as if she was some kind of wild animal. "How could you do that? I really liked him!"

"I know. I know!" He insisted still moving forward but he stopped when she held up a hand indicating for him to go no further. "Well, I didn't know. I had never heard you talk about him before so when he asked it kind of blindsided me."

Her eyes went wide with incredulity. "So because I had never mentioned Danny to you before you thought it was ok to lie about me? Oh you got blindsided which means everyone else just has to deal with whatever emotions come with it huh?"

There was no denying that Annie knew exactly why he did it. She just wasn't going to say it. Her biting comment hung in the air between them and all Jeff wanted to do was run out the door. Both their chests were heaving - Annie's from sheer anger and Jeff's from panic at having to finally face his true feelings. He had two choices. Either continue with his lie of not knowing why he did it and risk losing her – it was becoming clear very quickly that she didn't believe him and there was only so far he could push her. Or finally admit something that he had tried to so hard, and very rarely, to ignore.

Jeff stood up straight letting his arms drop to his sides. Annie kept her arms folded, maintaining her cutting stare as if daring him to run and end this.

"I was jealous."

He almost breathed a sigh of relief as the statement left his mouth. It was out there. It couldn't be taken back. Not sure what he was expecting Jeff was slightly deterred by the remaining cold expression on Annie's face. Maybe his admission was too late. Feeling the need to explain himself more, although she probably already knew his thought process, he continued to talk.

"I didn't like the idea of you dating another guy. Particularly a decent guy like Danny." He revealed finally eliciting a change of expression from Annie but felt his heart sink when she rolled her eyes and fixed him with a grimace.

"So I don't deserve a decent guy then?" She asked scathingly determined to make her hurt feelings known and Jeff didn't blame her one bit. He was now beginning to realise it was long overdue.

"Of course you do!" He insisted stepping forward to reduce their distance. "You deserve the best guy there is and I was scared that Danny was it!"

"If he was then I would've been happy Jeff!" Annie cried finally unfolding her arms and letting her arms fall to her sides. She clenched both her hands into fists and for a moment Jeff wondered if another punch was on its way. He could still remember the pain from the one she threw at him after their Tranny Dance kiss was revealed. "For once a good guy wanted to ask me out but yet again Jeff Winger can't stand that he's not the only object of my affection. Well, just for the record, I no longer feel that way about you!"

A couple of years ago Jeff would have relished hearing Annie say those words but now her revelation hit him hard and it stung. His mouth dropped open slightly and stepped back a few paces. Was this what it felt like? Was this what Annie experienced all those times he acted as if there was nothing between them? It was as if he had been slapped on the face. He had felt her create distance between them but to hear her say that she finally felt nothing for him despite everything they had been through caused his heart to strain against his chest.

She seemed to realise what she had said and removed the scornful look from her face, allowing her innocent beauty to creep back. Her anger dissolved to reveal a look of sadness. Whether it was because she finally realised her own feelings or she didn't mean to be so harsh Jeff wasn't sure. But one thing was obvious from the sudden chill in the air.

Their friendship was fractured.

Despite Annie trying to smooth her expression into one that was regretful she couldn't hide the disillusionment when her eyes caught his. If Annie had ever considered Jeff to be a noble knight in shining armour it was certainly no longer the case. She just finally knew what he and everyone else knew – he was selfish jerk. A jerk who was not worthy of someone like her.

Jeff licked his lips and retreated further back until he was almost at the door, maintaining eye contact with her every step he took. "I'm sorry. I really am. I never meant to hurt you. Honestly." He told her hoping his anguish was obvious and by the way she stumbled forward a few steps showed it was. "I'll speak to Danny. I'll clear this up Annie. I promise."

And this was one promise he intended to keep. Annie looked at him with a slightly grateful expression and he noticed the way her eyes shone with new tears. Not letting herself speak she simply gave him a curt nod and folded her arms once again. To Jeff it was as if she had put up a solid barrier. One he wasn't sure he could ever break down again.

Returning her brief nod Jeff finally turned around and opened up the bedroom door. By the way his three friends bumped into each other and then manoeuvred into odd poses it was evident they had heard the whole sorry incident, no doubt squashed up against Annie's door like a scene from a sitcom. Giving them a guilty glance Jeff walked briskly passed Troy, Abed and Britta not giving any of them time to say a word to him. When he reached the front door he heard quick footsteps behind him and when he opened the door he took a quick look to see who it was. Amazingly, out of those who were still his friends in this apartment it was Abed who had followed Jeff to the door. Abed stared at him with his usual impassive eyes but Jeff was surprised to hear his question brimming with emotion.

"Are you alright?" Abed asked, tilting his head to the side.

Jeff let out a chuckle devoid of any humour. "Uh, not really Abed. But thanks for asking." He replied ensuring his face and tone showed Abed exactly how thankful he was for his concern. Giving his friend a quick, glum smile Jeff finally left the apartment, letting the door slam shut behind him.


What will happen next? Please R'n'R!