Disclaimer: This work is protected under the parody clause of copyright law. I do not own the characters, the creative content of the show Community, or the fandom.
Spoilers: Up to and including Season 3 finale.
Abed gestured to direct Annie's attention to the spread. Literally. He'd taken the biggest quilt off the far wall, where there was a normal wall anyway, and laid it on the floor. The snacks and drinks were lined up across the right side and there were pillows propped against the edge of the bottom bunk. Annie put a hand to her chest. It wasn't like the picnic she'd planned for Troy and that girl for 'A Night Under the Stars' but it was a lot of thought. And it was very Abed.
Abed watched her reaction, head slightly turned. "Not what I was expecting," he said. "Are you unhappy with how I put things out?"
She blinked and looked at him. "What? No Abed, this is just… really nice. Thank you." She gave him quick a hug, which he returned. He felt pleased for making her happy.
When she released he asked, "Do you want to change into your pajamas? I want to wear pajamas."
"It's only 6 o'clock," she laughed.
"I want to wear pajamas," he restated. "I don't see why what time it is has anything to do with that. We're not leaving. We can wear pajamas."
"You know what? You're right," she declared with a nod. "I'm going to get into my pajamas. "
She left and Abed pulled on his dark blue sleep pants and a sleeveless shirt. They didn't have the AC turned up very far and it was only going to get warmer when the TV had been on for a while. Annie returned a short time later with her hair down, and wearing a shorts-cami combo with little flowers on them. She twirled for him and Abed gave her a thumbs-up. He took her hand and helped her sit, then put the movie in.
"I like the previews," he said as he reached for a glass. "I like to see how many of them are relevant now."
"Me too," she said. "Can you mix me an apple cider and whiskey?"
"Sure, how many parts?" He asked reaching for the mini fridge.
"One part whiskey, two parts cider," she said. He mixed it and handed it to her. He watched intently as she sipped. "This is great. Do you want to try it?"
He tilted his head and considered. "Why not," he asked. He took the offered glass and took a drink. "Tastes like cider," he declared.
"That's why I like it," she admitted. Abed reached for the liquids. "What are you doing?"
"I want one," he told her as he mixed. "I think I want equal parts though, so I can still taste the whiskey."
"I didn't take you for one of those," she smirked as she sipped.
"One of those what," He asked, sitting back and taking a drink.
"One of those people who likes to taste their alcohol. I figured since you love sweet things so much you'd prefer to, you know, not… taste it?" She finished uncertainly.
"I like the sweetness of it, but I also like the bite the whiskey gives it. I don't know if that makes me one of those or not." He admitted.
Annie smiled. "Me either." She reached out and they clinked their glasses.
Half an hour into the movie Annie was done with her second drink. "You're surprisingly tipsy for having only had two drinks," Abed commented as Annie shook her glass at him for a refill.
"So?" She said with a smile. "We're having a party. A private picture party," she giggled. He took her glass but set it down instead of moving to make her another drink.
She pouted at him. He downed the rest of his drink and put that glass down too. "You don't need to make Disney face, Annie," he said as he stood.
He held out his hand. The movie dialog and his overlapped, "Do you trust me?"
Annie looked up at him, confused. "What?"
"Do you trust me?" He repeated as Ali schmoosed the princess.
"Yeees?" Annie answered warily reaching up. He grabbed her hand and pulled her up. In the movie the music swelled.
"You asked for a repeat performance," he said by way of explanation before he started singing again. "I can show you…"
When the song ended Annie fell to the floor in a fit of giggles. "Oh, Abed, that was so much fun," she laughed again. He stood over her watching. He smiled.
"I had fun too," he said. She wiggled back up to rest against the pillows. He looked at her a moment longer than he should have. If she hadn't been distracted it probably would have made her feel uncomfortable but as it was she didn't notice. Finally he turned to make her a third drink.
"I love when they fly off into the moon together," Annie sighed. She was sitting with her legs crossed, her elbows on her knees, her chin in her hands.
"You're swooning," Abed noted as he chewed on a piece of ice.
"I am not," she objected. She straightened to a sit and glared at him.
"You were," he said unmovingly. "You sighed and everything."
"You're just jealous," she barbed as the credit music played in the background.
"The pop releases are never as good as the soundtrack," he noted. "Why would I be jealous?"
"Because I didn't swoon when you were Aladdin," she challenged, smiling.
"I wasn't Aladdin," he corrected, "I was Abed. I was just singing and dancing with you. I wasn't being a character."
"Oh," Annie said. "That's probably a worse insult. Now I've accused you of being jealous that I didn't swoon for you."
"In either case I think I could make you swoon if I wanted to," he said.
"As Aladdin and as Abed?" She asked incredulously.
"Sure."
"I doubt it," she teased.
"Okay, which do you want first?" he turned to look at her.
She blinked and him blankly. "What?"
"Would you prefer I try as Aladdin or Abed first. I'll do both to prove my point." He was feeling a little drunk but he was pretty sure he could still get in character.
"Uh…A…Aladdin?"
He moved so he had his legs tucked under him. Then his shoulders slumped. His face fell into a defeated sadness. He hung his head. "Rif-raf, street rat, I don't buy that," He started singing. Then he looked up at the wall as if gazing out a window, his eyes shining with longing. "If only they'd look closer. Would they see a poor boy? No siree," his gaze fell back to his lap, he stared at his hands. His voice wavered. "They'd find out. There's so much more… to me." He turned to look at Annie. Her eyes sparkled with tears, she'd collapsed back into her previous position. "Someday," he said as he gazed deeply into her eyes, "things are going to change."
And Annie sighed. Abed reverted.
"You swooned," he pointed.
Annie blinked. "I, I did not." Then she realized how she was sitting, again, and she huffed. "Okay, maybe I did." She sat up straight and squared her shoulders. "But I won't this time. I'm ready for you."
Abed smiled. "I'm not going to do it now," he explained. "We need to pick a new movie." He stood. "My turn," he said and dashed out the blanket fort.
A/n: next chapter is double long and stuff happens! Yeah I know, helpful.
I'm not going to call anyone out but it seems like people have a lot of similar concerns so I'm just going to put this little but down here to talk about what I'm hearing, why I'm doing the things I'm doing, and yeah, a little bit about how I feel. Sorry about that. But I have feelings and sometimes I have to talk about them. Britta would be proud.
You guys realize that the reason I have them taking down the Dreamatorium is because of the end of season 3 right? Where they are taking it down and it is implied, again in the show, that Britta is moving in. I mean I went out of my way (in future chapters) to not have Jeff be a conflict. Annie is definitively not getting pregnant. I think the problem is that all these things that are happening in a lot of stories are happened because we all kind of see that being the natural progression for the characters. I have Abed breaking down and wailing because that's what Abed does in the show (remember the clips they do when they're all in therapy and the cut to day light savings?). I made it a point to talk about Robin because the show hadn't wrapped her up. I didn't bring her in, I just established that after the Biology final (and therefore after the Dreamatorium trip with Annie) Abed felt the need to call it off. I feel like I'm just trying to be through and instead I'm being accused of stealing.
I guess what I'm saying is I already have a bunch more written and this is just the tiniest beginning of this story. It's kind of disheartening to hear people say this story is like X,Y, and Z. I know that it has a similar start but that's not because I wanted to steal someone else's ideas it's because I felt that this would be the natural progression for the characters. I did try to make it my own. Also, you're referencing stories I haven't even read. I read Lessons in Epic Storytelling. I didn't read Loose Ends or Door Number Two as far as I know. And I don't want to now because I don't want them to influence this story.
I think what I have is going to be really good. But it's kind of hard for me to get to writing now because I'm so bummed. I have up to chapter 12 done. So I hope I can get my mojo back before those chapters run out.
We'll see a little more Troy soon, and then more Britta so don't worry about that!
I appreciate all the support. I really am trying to do right by you guys!
Love!
