There wasn't enough beds for everyone.
Why was there never enough beds for everyone?
It was late into the evening and Abed had drifted off on the couch during a movie with Troy and Britta, who unaware of their surroundings had fallen asleep leaning against each other covered by a blanket. Shirley had decided to step out of her room for some coffee when she found Annie sitting on top of the kitchen counter, reading as always.
"Oh, shouldn't you go to bed Annie dear? It's getting late and you've got a busy day of hiking tomorrow! Oh it sounds like so much fun."
"Ah, yeah I'll be going to bed soon, I just wanted to finish this chapter. Are you coming with us?"
"No. I'm going to stay here with Andre and the kids. I don't want to leave him with all the responsibilities. Oh, and It'll be nice to have the place to ourselves for a couple of hours."
She kissed Annie's forehead and whispered goodnight, while pointing at the trio asleep near the rug in the living room, giggling to herself. Shirley didn't know how they would sleep. During unpacking, they had realized that there wouldn't be enough beds for everyone. One person would need to sleep on the couch, while the four others would have to double up on the two remaining beds. If she was being completely honest, she didn't really care all that much. She was in a beautiful cabin with both of her families and that was all she needed to know. Not to mention, she didn't have to fight for the main room.
Jeff was outside the cabin, needing some time alone after the karaoke and Monopoly that they had put him through earlier in the evening. As a child, he wasn't much of a wilderness explorer. He enjoy playing outside with his friends and all, but only if he wasn't being forced into a lord of the flies reenactment. His mother had tried to put him in Boy Scouts, but Jeff had launched an all-out war at her until she gave in and let the boy spend his Saturdays watching television instead. He had known at an extremely early age that he was perfectly suited for law.
He stepped into the cabin to find that Abed had stayed on the couch and Britta and Troy had decided to share a cot on the floor near the fireplace. Obviously Perry wasn't hiding this thing between her and Troy. He would have to force it out of her at some point this weekend.
Which meant…
There was only one bed and he would have to share it with the one person he had been avoiding the whole day.
He casually walked into the small dimly light room, to find that Annie was nowhere to be found. As he threw himself onto the bed, crossed his arms behind his head, and had started to drift off, Annie walked into the room.
"Uhm excuse me Jeff, what are you going to do about this? I can't exactly sleep on the floor you know."
"Well, I'm not going to so just lay down okay? You guys want to get all Bear Grylls tomorrow, so I at least need to sleep in a bed tonight. Oh and I'm not about to face Britta's wrath by waking her up. She looks mighty comfortable with Troy's arms around her if you know what I mean."
"But. This is so.. Do I have to do everything?"
Annie stormed out of the room, and tapped Abed softly on the shoulder. He just winked at his closest friend and said flirtingly, "go to bed, Annie. We'll cuddle in the morning okay?"
Defeated (seeing as she totally agreed with Jeff on the Britta front), She stepped back into the room and prepared herself for not getting any sleep whatsoever.
The small bathroom was located to the right side of the room, facing the bed. As Annie finished her bedtime routine, her mind was racing. He didn't even fight her about sharing a bed. If anything, Jeff should have been the first to protest about how inappropriate this would be. It felt as if they had switched places and Annie was the one with all the insecurities about this evening. Her heartbeat was extremely elevated and it was blatantly obvious she would be up all night, making sure that she didn't snore or drool.
By the time Jeff finished getting ready, Annie was already lying down on her side of the bed. The outline of her body covered by the sheets make his stomach fall apart and he wasn't sure he could go through with this. He wanted nothing more than to sleep next to her, but he knew he wouldn't hear the end of it the following morning, Abed TV reference included. He hadn't fought with her about the change of sleeping partners seeing as there was nothing he could do about the situation. Britta was extremely content to be resting with Troy and Abed seem to be getting a kick out the whole debacle.
So he laid down. Next to Annie. Annie was lying in the same bed as him.
Lost in her thoughts, Annie couldn't sleep. She had closed her eyes as soon as she heard the door knob of the bathroom turn. Suddenly, the left side of the bed sunk down.
She was lying down next to Jeff Winger. She had dreamt about this all of last year, and here it was, happening to her. Little Annie Adderall would have never imagined this actually happening to her. Her junior year of high school, she had convinced herself that she would eventually turn into an old cat lady. Yes, she eventually did lose her virginity during a certain Madonna song, but that was besides the point. She had mentioned her fantasy to Abed during a game of truth or dare, and it was starting to become obvious that he had been planning for this.
Only inches away from each other, she was suddenly overwhelmed by her surroundings. It wasn't like she imagined it would be and it was driving her crazy. He should be passionately kissing her neck as she whispered dirty things that she would never actually say in real life into his ear. Not lying awkwardly next to each other, their backs turned away. But she couldn't back down from this. He always saw her as love-struck Annie and she had told herself that she wasn't going to be that anymore. After he had called her out during the last diorama meeting, something in her snapped. She was Annie Edison, Badass. Not Annie Edison, milady. She couldn't keep doing this to herself. Most of all, she couldn't expect him to change for her. He had made it clear that his interests were only of the friendly sort.
Was she awake? He just wanted to kiss her.
While he now hesitated doing so because of her age, the girl could kiss.
He was so tired of avoiding her. He didn't want to lose her to Abed, Vaughn, Rich, or the Black Rider. He missed catching her glancing his way throughout the day and marking abs tallies on the side of the study group table. He might have jumped the gun during that particular group meeting where Abed reveled about he sleeping with Britta throughout the year and it hurt her. But he was feeling attacked at the moment and his lawyer instincts came out in those situations. He cared about Annie, and he was definitely attracted to her, but he didn't know if it could ever be anything more than that. When Annie started to become distant and aloof to his charms, is when it started to eat away at him. He wanted to be facing her right now, watching her breath rise and fall. He closed his eyes, hating himself for not going to bed earlier, or maybe for not having the courage to pull her towards him and end his suffering.
OKAY! So I think I have an idea where I'm going with the next two chapters (or hell, it might just be one HUGE 4th chapter). Hopefully you're liking this so far and I'll probably have it done by Wednesday night latest? No promises though, I'm currently on a job hunt! Wish me luck everyone.