A/N: I am going to apologize in advance to some readers out there. I feel I need to tell you that Annie is my favourite character in the show, but I think some of you Annie lovers will be disappointed and possibly upset with how she acts in this chapter. To be honest, I took a risk, and hopefully you guys like it. Reviews are welcome as always!

He's a jerk. He's a big mean jerk.

Annie kept telling herself this so that she wouldn't be swayed by his natural charm when he talked to her. She sat awkwardly in the library waiting for Jeff. She knew what this was about, and she didn't really want to discuss it. She knew however that she owed this much to Jeff for giving him the cold shoulder for 3 weeks now. So she just sat there waiting for him, hoping that this would be over with as soon as possible so she could return to the solitude of her room.

Jeff walked in awkwardly, and sat on the couch next to her. "Hey..." he said hesitantly. Annie looked down at her lap, refusing to look into those stupid Winger eyes and said "Hi." Jeff then sat up abruptly and got right to it. "Annie, look. You've been acting a little distant from me since I told the group about Nat and that really sucks. I get it though, I do. I know it must suck given our past feelings for each other but-"Annie interrupted him. "You know something, Jeff? I think that might be the first time you directly stated you have feelings for me, and it only took you a new girlfriend to admit it. Can you even possibly imagine how that makes me feel? When you're on the market you can't say anything but as soon as you're taken you're as open as Pierce's last seven marriages." She huffed and got up, ready to just leave him there and go cry in her room when he grabbed her arm. "Let go of me, Jeff. Don't worry, I could care less about you and Nat." Jeff eased his grip on her arm but didn't let go just yet. "Annie, please give me a chance to explain." Annie pulled her arm away and began walking out the door, leaving Jeff by the couch. But suddenly, she heard him call out to her.

"I haven't stopped caring about you!"

As much as her brain wanted to keep walking, Annie's feet betrayed her as she turned around. She made sure to keep her angry face on though. When it became clear she was waiting for him to go on, Jeff walked up to her again. "Annie, I don't blame you at all for being upset. I just want to explain to you why I did this the way I did." He took a deep breath before continuing, " When I met Natalie I liked her a lot, but I was afraid of what you would think if you found out. But then I knew Abed would figure it out somehow, so I opted to tell him in private at Shirley's dinner a couple weeks ago. But then Shirley caught me and Abed talking, and I was forced to tell her about Natalie as well." Jeff's reasoning did little to change the expression on her face. "So that's it? You were afraid to tell me because you knew it'd upset me, but then just decided to do it anyway because of Shirley's big mouth? And now you think everything will be all fine and dandy between us since it's out in the open?" Jeff sighed, as he was beginning to get frustrated with her. "No, I know everything isn't fine and dandy. But would it really have been any better if you found out by accident? Annie, we both know that would have been worse. I knew either way you'd be upset so I went with the lesser of two evils and told you guys up front. And now I still feel terrible because you're mad at me. Just because I'm seeing someone doesn't mean I haven't stopped caring about your feelings. Lately, it's felt like I've been losing you as a friend and that really sucks."

Annie didn't say anything at this, but her expression softened somewhat and she looked down at the floor. Jeff then lightly grasped her shoulders, bringing Annie's attention back to his eyes. "Look, I know this doesn't change things between us, and I'm really sorry. I'm not gonna act like this doesn't suck for you because I know it does. I just want things to go back to normal. I would love that." Annie studied his face and knew Jeff was being sincere. She also knew that this was probably very hard for him to do, and admired that he wasn't just avoiding her like she thought he would. She let out an exasperated sigh and let her arms fall to her sides. "Jeff, you have really stupid eyes." Jeff laughed and smiled, happy that the tenseness of the conversation was beginning to frizzle out a bit. "Look who's talking, Disney princess." Annie couldn't help but giggle the slightest bit at his comment, before she went in to hug him. "I'm sorry too, Jeff. I know it couldn't have been hard for you to do this, and I guess I was being a little immature." Jeff shook his head as he pulled away from her. "No, you had every right to be upset. I don't even expect you to be cool with all of this just yet. But I'm just happy things will hopefully start getting back to normal. I'll try if you do." Annie smiled at him, "Of course." Jeff now looked much more relaxed and his cool demeanor had returned. "So, I guess I'm gonna go now. I'll see you tomorrow Annie. And thanks for listening to me and accepting my apology. It really means a lot."

"Jeff, wait!"

He turned around and noticed Annie was now the nervous looking one. "Um, are you gonna let us meet her at some point?" Jeff looked stunned, but regained his composure rather quickly. "Are you sure you want to? I know it's still a little too soon. Maybe we should let things simmer down a bit first." Annie shook her head and fixed her gaze upon him once more. "No, I'll be cool. I mean, if you actually found a girl who you don't just want to be a one night stand then I definitely want to see what she's like. And if we like each other, maybe I can still make a new friend out of all this." Jeff looked unsure about this, but nodded his head. "I was actually thinking of having a little get-together with all of us at my apartment this weekend so you can all meet her. You are of course welcome to come, but only if you feel comfortable. And by the way, I would love it if you two got along. She's great too, so I'm hoping it works out that way." Annie smiled at him before walking out the door. "I'm sure it will, Jeff. Oh, and I'll be there."

Annie walked up with Troy and Abed to Jeff's apartment where the rest of the group had already gathered. The boys had told her that she could stay home if she wanted, but she still wanted to go with them. Above all, she wanted to be happy for Jeff, and if she was able to connect with Natalie then she was convinced that she'd be able to at least enjoy tonight.

The truth was, even though there were mixed signals being sent by Jeff in the past, Annie didn't want things to get weird between them. They were still best friends, and she felt bad for not really talking to Jeff over the course of these past few weeks. She knew that he thought she'd react like this, so she wanted to prove to him that she could be fine around him now. She'd gotten through worse things in the past anyway; things that unresolved feelings couldn't hold a finger to. She could get through this easily. And realistically, she should be able to. It's not like anything had really developed between them in almost two years now anyway. And she still thought Jeff was surprisingly considerate for thinking about her feelings regarding Natalie despite this.

He was not being a huge jerk. He was NOT being a huge jerk.

When they knocked on the door, a woman opened it and smiled at them brightly. She had wavy red hair and a pretty decent figure. Annie noticed she wasn't wearing anything revealing though, and she actually looked rather modest. Annie respected that, and smiled back at her. "You guys must be the remainder of Jeff's friends! I'm Natalie." She stuck out her hand, and each of them took it as she led them inside. Troy and Abed introduced themselves, but got distracted quickly when they noticed Jeff's large television and ran over to the living room. As Annie removed her coat she introduced herself. "I'm Annie. You're very pretty by the way!" Natalie beamed at the compliment. "Thank you! So are you! Jeff has told me a lot about you. You sound like a wonderful person, Annie. I'm very much looking forward to hanging out more!" Annie couldn't help but smile as the thought of Jeff talking about her in a good way to his girlfriend registered in her mind. Jeff sauntered over to her and hugged her quickly as she finished taking off her shoes. "You made it! I trust you two have introduced each other already?" Annie shook her head at him. "No Jeff, we were just awkwardly standing around here waiting for you to do it for us." Natalie laughed and Jeff looked a little embarrassed as they made their way into the living room with the others.

Annie took a moment to look around Jeff's apartment. It was a spacious area that looked very classy. She always imagined it would look something like this. He had leather couches and a big TV in his living room, and his kitchen had rather expensive looking cabinets and appliances. She was especially surprised at how clean it was, but she suspected Natalie probably made Jeff clean up for tonight. She giggled to herself a little.

Annie then looked for the rest of her friends. Abed was perusing Jeff's movie collection, while Troy was talking to Britta by the stereo. Annie quirked an eyebrow. Something was up with them lately. They had been talking a lot more recently than they usually did, and although it looked casual it was weird not seeing Troy with Abed as much as he usually was. Shirley was of course in the kitchen, checking on the dinner that Natalie and Jeff had been preparing. Jeff had asked the group not to worry about bringing food, so Shirley looked as though she was going through some serious pie-making withdrawal right now. Pierce meanwhile was sitting by Jeff's mini bar making himself a drink, occasionally glaring in Jeff and Natalie's direction. Annie assumed that this was because Jeff had proved him wrong about his belief that his girlfriend was in fact a man.

Annie decided to go and join Abed on the couch, as he was now perusing through the different channels on the TV. Annie also secretly wanted to be around Abed so that he could distract her from Jeff and his girlfriend with his pop-culture references and interesting conversation. She wanted to be happy for them and get to know Natalie, but she still didn't want to engage with them that much tonight. She already knew it'd be uncomfortable for her after a while. She was only human after all. Natalie walked up to them shortly after Annie had plopped down on the couch, and Annie did her best to plaster a polite smile on her face. "Can I offer you two something to drink?" she asked. "I'll have a beer if you have it, thanks" said Abed. Natalie nodded and smiled at him before turning to Annie. The younger brunette contemplated this for a moment. She came here with the intention of not drinking, as she knew that it probably wouldn't lead to good things if she did. She wanted to try and be happy for Jeff tonight, and she was afraid that alcohol might ruin her chances. As she sat there though, looking at Natalie's gorgeous features, she could feel the jealousy rising up in her again. She knew it was unfair, and she really did want to just relax and enjoy the night.

Well, one couldn't hurt.

"If it's available, I'll have a screwdriver," said Annie after a moment. Natalie grinned at her and said "Coming right up" before walking to get their drinks.

It had been two hours. Jeff's stereo had been turned on, and Annie was dancing ridiculously with Britta and Troy. The three of them were clearly intoxicated, but just how much Jeff didn't know. Abed was sitting with Pierce at the mini bar, and Natalie was letting Shirley help clean the dishes from their dinner. Jeff was with them as well, but wasn't helping so much as just standing next to them. Natalie of course didn't mind, and Shirley was too busy trying to be a better helper than his girlfriend to notice. Shirley was going on about Ben and being a Christian and Natalie was remarkably able to listen intently and converse with her. She amazed Jeff sometimes, and this was one of those times. Anyone else would have wanted to kill themselves by this point. Jeff left them to go sit in the living room with Annie, who looked pretty tired from dancing.

"So I can see now why we don't see your dance moves very often," he joked as he sat down. Annie looked up at him, and he noticed that her face was a lot redder that he last remembered it being earlier in the night. "Shut up Jeeeeffff," Annie slurred. She moved a little closer to him and Jeff began to get slightly uncomfortable, so he moved further down the couch. "How much have you had to drink, Annie?" She sat up and looked at him with unfocused eyes. "Jeff, you don't have to worry. I've only had like 3 screwdrivers." Jeff looked concerned. "It doesn't look like that. It looks like you've had a bit more than that." She glared at him, clearly offended. "I didn't! Just ask Pierce! He made 2 of them for me, and they were sooooo much better than my first one." Jeff facepalmed at this new information. Well that explains it, he thought. "He probably made them way too strong Annie." Annie turned away from him now, and looked over towards the kitchen. "Jeff, I'm totally fine. Actually, I'm better than fine. I'm like, fantastic. Almost as fantastic as you and the gorgeous redhead over there." Jeff suddenly became uncomfortable as he glanced at Natalie, who was now done dishes but still conversing with Shirley in the kitchen. He turned his attention back to Annie, who was looking back at him with those big, blue, but glossed over eyes. "Well that's great, Annie. I'm glad you're having a good time. Just don't drink anymore, alright? If you excuse me, I'm gonna go speak with Pierce for a second." But suddenly Annie grabbed Jeff's arm, their roles now reversed. "Can I tell you a secret, Jeff?" Jeff hesitantly nodded, wanting more than anything to just get off the couch before his girlfriend came to join them. Annie pulled him back onto the couch before leaning in to whisper to him. "I've been looking for like any reason to hate your girlfriend tonight, but she's like, soooooo nice and perfect in every way and it's kinda ticking me off a little bit, y'know?" Jeff's expression went more serious, as he removed his arm from Annie's grip. "I thought you said you were gonna try and be friends with her?" Annie shook her head, and Jeff frowned. "I did try, Jeff! But she's just like, so likable! There's nothing wrong with her! And there just has to be, because remember what you said to us about Rich? Nobody is that good a person!"

Annie's voice had risen to a new volume, causing everyone else to look at her, including Natalie. Jeff felt extremely uncomfortable, and tried desperately to change the subject. "Look, that's all in the past Annie. Why don't I just get you a glass of water and we can all sit down and watch a movie or something?" Abed suddenly chimed in with a simple "Cool" before moving to once again look through his movies for something suitable to watch. The rest of the group soon followed to the living room, finding places to sit and get comfortable. Annie instinctively moved closer to Jeff on the couch again, and Jeff tried to push her away slightly so that Natalie could sit next to him. But when she had clung to his arm, everyone had noticed and was simply staring at them. When Annie started snuggling even closer, something inside Jeff snapped.

He fiercely tugged away his arm from her and stood up, causing everyone to gasp. "Annie! You need to stop this, alright? Look, I tried to make things as comfortable here for you as possible, and I was really hoping you could have at least tried to do the same for me! I told Natalie wonderful things about you that are all completely true, but right now you're being childish. Listen, there is nothing going on between us anymore alright? I'm actually happy and committed to someone for the first time in my life, so you need to get over the fact that it's not with you!"

The seconds that followed were the longest Jeff had ever experienced in his entire life, but he didn't care. He had warned Annie that tonight might have been uncomfortable and was actually trying to spare her feelings, but she had taken that gift and thrown in right back in his face. He knew alcohol was to blame, but that never fully excused someone from acting completely stupid. He knew that on some level Annie had wanted to make things uncomfortable for Jeff and Natalie, and it was pissing him off. His girlfriend didn't deserve this.

Literally nobody was speaking, and after a moment, Natalie had surprisingly stepped forward to try and diffuse the situation. "Okay, you know what? Maybe we should just call it a night. I'm sure this is getting uncomfortable for all of us." Annie turned around and glared at her. "Oh will you just save it, Miss Perfect? You have no idea how this group works. We fight all the time! I'm sure you and Jeff will have plenty of time to get comfortable later anyway." Jeff glared at her, standing in front of his girlfriend. "Annie! You can't just talk to my girlfriend like that! She's literally done nothing to you, and you're being extremely disrespectful!" Annie didn't say anything, but turned around and stormed out of his apartment, completely forgetting her jacket.

A long awkward silence followed, before Jeff simply said "Party's over guys" while walking into his room and closing the door quietly. The group hastily collected their things and apologized to Natalie, before leaving. Troy made sure to leave extra quickly so he could catch up with Annie to drive her home. Jeff collapsed onto his bed and buried his face in his hands.

Tonight was going to be a long night.