Summary: Jeff had built his entire career on words. The ease with which they flowed... the subtle ways in which he could manipulate them... the power they wielded over juries and judges and women in bars. He was so awesome at words. But right now – staring at her – the words just weren't coming.

After Abed (in typical clip show format) outs Jeff and Britta for having secret sex... Jeff and Annie are left to deal with the Jim Belushi of awkward fallouts.

Story includes nods to "Debate 109", "Intro to Political Science", and of course, "Paradigms of Human Memory."

I hope you enjoy!

His fingers ran a line down her spine. They pulled at her skirt.

His lips were on her ear lobe, on her neck, on her clavicle.

Zac Efron pushed himself up to look fully into Annie's eyes. But it wasn't Zac Efron. It was Jeff.

Wait, what?

"You ready?" he whispered.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

With a gasp, Annie bolted upright in bed and clicked the off switch. Holding her breath, heart racing, she stared transfixed at the apartment door.

After a moment of silence, she relaxed. Phew. Must have been another apartment.

Looking down at the toy in her hand, she let out a little nostalgic sigh...

Two months after moving into her cramped studio apartment above Greendale's sketchiest sex shop – Dildopolis – Annie had come home rather flustered.

She had won debate. WON! She had kissed Jeff Winger. WHAT? And she had beat that smug Simmons (and his inherent magnetism) at his own game. Who's a loser now, eh? EH?

Man, Annie Edison ROCKED at adulting.

She had hopped up to the front door of the apartment building as a gaggle of youths burst out of Dildopolis. One of them carried a bag that seemed to hold something unnecessarily large. The others giggled obnoxiously. Annie had never even peeked in the window of this... establishment. But that night, she felt mature and confident and maybe she'd just take a quick look inside.

Tonight, nearly two years later, Annie wasn't feeling nearly as mature or confident as she had back then. No, tonight was quite a low actually.

Just a few hours ago, the study group had found out that Jeff had been having secret sex with Britta all year. And he flat-out denied even the slightest attraction to Annie. He had basically called her crazy, in front of everyone!

But you know what? Maybe tonight wasn't a low. No, maybe it was a high. A turning point. Jeff Winger didn't deserve another second of her time or attention. And that realization cleared a whole new path for good ol' Annie.

Men, who needs 'em. They could all go to Hell. Except Zac Efron. Surely he would never act like such a dingleberry.

Smiling, Annie settled back into her pillows and gave the toy a little pat. "OK, Je-... er... Zac Efron. Where were we?"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Definitely her door. Annie shot out of bed like she'd just been caught by her mother.

She could hear her own pulse in her ears. Stuffing Je-... er... Zac Efron under the comforter, she threw a silk lavender robe over her nightgown. And wrapping the ties around her waist, she scurried over to the door. This would be a great time for a peephole. Her next apartment would absolutely have to have a peephole. Non-negotiable.

"Spaghetti?" she called commandingly. "Is that you?"

"Um... no?"

Jeff!? Annie yanked the door open a crack and peeked out.

Jeff raised his eyes from the floor and took in her appearance, head cocked questioningly. Hair mussed and half falling out of a ponytail in soft tendrils around her face, cheeks flushed, hands gripping the robe closed at her chest.

"Jeff!" She glanced sideways at the toy still slightly visible on her bed. "What are you doing here?"

"Are you OK?" he asked slowly, trying to peek into the small studio.

She leaned one elbow against the door frame in what she hoped was a convincingly casual manner. It wasn't. "Oh yeah! Of course! You know, can't complain, Michael Cain."

"That's swell... Christian Bale. Dammit that doesn't work, does it?"

Hard no. Terrible.

"Ah! Kristen Bell. I obviously should have done Kristen Bell. Not as on theme as Christian Bale, but..."

Annie cleared her throat. "What do you want, Jeff."

"Right... So, that was awkward earlier."

Annie raised both eyebrows questioningly.

"At school... " he hinted, not sure why she wasn't picking this up. It had kind of been a big deal not 4 hours ago. "With me and Britta... "

"Ooh psh," she waved a hand dismissively and forced a sharp laugh. It came out more like a high-pitched wheeze. That's unfortunate. "We don't have anything to be awkward about, right?"

He could feel the passive aggressiveness radiating through the narrow crack in the door. "I deserve that."

She glanced sideways again.

"Is someone in there?" Jeff asked suspiciously.

"Nope."

"OK... Then can I come in..?"

"Um, yeah, just... one... Give me one sec." Annie slammed the door in Jeff's face. Scampering back to her bed, she grabbed the toy and gave it another little pat. "We'll pick this back up later, Je-... er... Zac Efron." Stuffing it in her closet, she patted down the covers and rushed back to the door. Smoothing her hair, she glanced over at the bed one more time to make sure nothing looked out of order before opening the door.

"Come on in."

Jeff entered slowly, looking all around. "You hiding some guy in the closet?"

"Ha... Haha," Annie could tell she was acting super awkward. "No."

Jeff smiled, but it faded fast when she didn't reciprocate. He leaned against the back of the couch, hands in his lap. "I know it's late. Is it weird that I'm here?"

"Yes." The word came out colder than she intended, but it worked. Jeff seemed uncomfortable now, and that made her happy. He deserved to be uncomfortable.

"Britta and I are done."

Annie's breath caught in her throat. She expected him to say something else, anything else. But not that. And now he was just staring at her. She maintained eye contact but stayed silent.

"I thought you might want to know."

"Well," she replied aloofly. "You thought wrong. I don't care at all... " Darn it, she hadn't thought that one through. "... Jon Bernthal."

"So is this just a thing we're doing tonight then...?"

The corner of her mouth ticked up against her will. Stop that. "Was there anything else you had to say? Because I was in the middle of a project."

"Yeah, I also wanted to say you aren't... crazy. There is obviously something going on with us."

She thought she had stopped breathing a minute ago, but somehow she stopped breathing again. Was that possible?

"The 'Annie of it all' or whatever," he laughed, but it faded fast when she didn't reciprocate. He looked down at his hands and played with his thumb. "You just took me by surprise. And I didn't want everyone to know our business. Especially because, I don't even know what 'our business' is."

Was Jeff being... honest? Humble? Surely not... vulnerable. Did she actually have the upper hand here? What was he really thinking?

"Jeff, why did you come over here?"

Jeff's eyes shot up to meet hers. Annie could be so damn direct. He loved that about her, but it always left him feeling like a helpless, floundering infant.

"I really don't know."

Pause.

"I thought I was driving to the bar, but then I ended up outside your building. And then I ended up outside your door."

It was her turn to say something God dammit. Didn't she realize how difficult it was for him to be so vulnerable? Wasn't it clear why he was here? (Honestly, he had hoped it would be clear to her because he still couldn't entirely sort it out.)

"That's all I have to say, I guess. Just that I shouldn't have made you feel stupid earlier. That's it. I... apologize."

Her gaze was inscrutable. He could usually read those big doe eyes. But tonight, they were a cold, locked vault.

"Allllright, well, I'll let you go rescue your boyfriend from the closet now." He tried to laugh again. Shouldn't have bothered. Not the slightest reciprocation. "Yeah, I'll just go."

Jeff strode the couple steps back to the door and pulled it open. Her hand moved so quickly, he didn't even realize she had slammed the door shut again until the force nearly shook a framed copy of her Greendale presidential campaign flyer off the wall.

The flyer read: "Edison: Sounds like a great idea!"

Sure. Such a great idea. Internal eye roll.

"Why did you break up with Britta?"

For the first time tonight, Annie wasn't looking at him.

Jeff studied her face. Her cheeks were still flushed (for some reason). The light of the neon Dildopolis sign out the window gave her skin an ethereal glow. Like this woman needed any help looking angelic.

"I mean, 'break up' is a strong term," he shrugged off such a label. "I wouldn't call what we did 'dating.'"

Annie shifted on her feet. It was an imperceptible move away from him, not toward him. Shit. Red alert. Wrong thing to say.

"Once you knew, it just felt wrong. It felt like I had disappointed you. And I never want to do that."

"You ended things because of me?"

When those blue eyes flicked up to meet his, he felt his whole stomach collapse right onto the floor.

Jeff had built his entire career on words. The ease with which they flowed... the subtle ways in which he could manipulate them... the power they wielded over juries and judges and women in bars. He was so awesome at words. But right now, the words just weren't coming.

What was this power that Annie held over him? From the first time she let her hair down in debate prep... to that night outside the transfer dance... to stolen hugs in supply closets. How did she manage to make him forget himself with every single piercing look into his soul?

Jeff reached out and brushed the soft tendrils of hair away from Annie's face. Her eyelids fluttered but never actually closed. He stroked her cheek. And maybe he was imagining it, but maybe he heard a little sigh.

"When you asked Rich out, I couldn't stop picturing the two of you... you know... together. It was like my whole body was on fire or crushed under an avalanche of self-loathing or like my entrails were being ripped out inch by inch."

"Metaphors are hard." There was finally a hint of a smile on Annie's lips.

"It really sucked. You looked today the way I felt then. And that sucked even more. You don't deserve to feel like that, ever."

Annie's words said, "The ego on you, thinking you could make me feel like that." But her eyes – still locked on his – said something else.

Their relationship was almost entirely based on eye contact, but he wasn't sure if he'd ever dared look at her this long before. It was nice. And scary. And with every millisecond that passed, he became more sure that he never wanted to look away again.

He realized his hand was still on her cheek. He tried to move it, but his mind seemed to have lost control over his body. The hand didn't budge. She didn't seem to care.

"Annie, I would do anything to never see that look of betrayal on your face again."

Finally, she smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "That's sweet, Jeff. But I have no say over who you're with or what you do or how it makes me feel. We're... friends."

"Good friends," he responded.

"Great friends." Her smile seemed a little more real now.

"The best."

"Do you just always have to have the last word or...?"

"Almost exclusively. Hi, I'm Jeff." He extended his hand. (The stubborn thing had finally agreed to drop from Annie's cheek.) She shook it.

And finally, she laughed. After the long day they'd had, it was an even more beautiful sound than usual.

"So, resolved then?" he asked.

She gave a sly smile. "Resolved."

They melded into a familiar hug, his head resting on top of hers and her arms tight around his waist. He sensed her smile against his chest. Maybe coming over wasn't such a bad idea after all. She felt so soft and warm and she smelled so good...

"Are you smelling my hair?"

His eyes flew open. "Did you just ask if I'm smelling your hair? No, Annie, I'm not smelling your hair. That would be a really weird thing to do."

"Whatever you say, Jennifer Grey."

Jeff chuckled under his breath, and Annie reluctantly pulled away from the embrace. "So," she said, "do you want to grab some food or something?"

"I don't eat after 8 p.m. Extra calories so late slows down the metabolism. This," he lifted his shirt and pointed at his abs, "takes discipline. You're welcome, by the way."

"Uh huh," she put on that Disney face that always seemed to work. "But how many extra calories do I rate?"

"For you? I guess I'd... get some sushi…" (Hell, he'd get a double bacon cheeseburger at midnight if it got her to flash that smile.) "...Jim Belushi."

"Hey!"

Jeff recoiled with a cheeky grin as Annie swatted his chest. "Unless you need to finish your project." He looked around the overly tidy apartment, unsure what project she could have possibly been working on. Nothing was even slightly out of place.

"Maybe I'll just finish another time."

Annie walked over to the closet and carefully slid the door open enough to grab a dress. Zac Ef-... er... Jeff was still sitting on the little shelf where she tossed the toy earlier.

"Just let me get changed," she said, hurrying into the bathroom.

Inside, she clutched the sink and stared at herself in the mirror. She looked... God awful. Wow. This was going to take some time.

Jeff's voice trailed in from beyond the bathroom door. "Hey, Annie, I'm just going to shut your clos-... HA! What is this?"

HŒUHHHGHH!

Notes: So let's, as a group, just pretend that "HŒUHHHGHH!" is how you spell Annie's signature gasp. Some stories really need sound effects...