A/N: Okay, to make up for taking forever before, I'm going to try and make it up by posting a few chapters today and tomorrow. Happy New Year!
Disclaimer: I don't own the show or the characters. But believe me, if I did...
Just then, Annie's dad walked in. "Hey, guys!" he called. "I brought cake!"
Everyone grinned and headed to the kitchen, Troy and Pierce fighting over who would get the bigger slice.
Jeff was the last one into the kitchen, trying to hang back and talk to Annie for a minute, but Shirley and Britta took her to the front so that she could have the first piece.
It wasn't until after everyone had gotten their cake that Jeff saw Annie's dad for the first time.
He wasn't a terribly remarkable-looking man, but something about him looked vaguely familiar. Jeff just couldn't place him. He got a bad feeling though, and, as much as he tried to shake it away, he couldn't.
Still, he tried to get through the rest of the party without thinking about whatever it was that was giving him a weird feeling about this guy.
It wasn't until a few hours later, though, that something had been able to fully put it out of his head.
Mostly everyone had left by now- Pierce had had to go attend to a "lady friend," Shirley had to get home so the babysitter could leave, Britta was taking care of one of her sick cats, Chang was at home trying to reconcile things with his wife, Starburns and Pavlo, who had surprisingly hit it off, were going to try a new bar in town, and Troy and Abed had announced that there was a Kickpuncher marathon on that they weren't going to miss- but Jeff had stayed to help Annie's mother clean up.
He hadn't noticed where Annie had gone until a few minutes later, when he passed by one of the windows and saw her sitting outside.
She looked so peaceful sitting outside, rocking back and forth on the little hammock that had been set up. He smiled to himself as he saw her playing with the necklace that he'd gotten her.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jeff saw something move. He looked and saw a shadow, moving slightly, inching away from its spot in one of the bushes outside, getting nearer and nearer to the small figure lounging on the hammock a few feet away.
Jeff tried to ignore it- it was probably a stray cat or something that had snuck into the Edison's backyard- but the figure grew and grew, until the shadow was as tall as a person.
Jeff stood still, trying not to be overcome with fear for Annie, because, of course, there was no way it was anything but his imagination out there.
But the shadow was getting closer and closer to her, and his heart was racing, and what if he was wrong? What if it wasn't his imagination, and someone really was out there?
With the shadow only a few feet away, Jeff threw open the door, startling Annie.
"Oh, Jeff!" she said, jumping up. "I didn't know you were still here."
"Uh, yeah," said Jeff slowly. "I was just, uh, helping clean up, and I was wondering where you wanted a few of the things that were left out."
"Oh, I'll come help you," said Annie, getting up and walking towards the house. "I'm sorry," she said. "I really thought everyone had left, otherwise I wouldn't have come outside."
"It's okay," said Jeff, smiling at her, though he was still dealing with his pounding heart. "It's your birthday, you deserve to relax."
"Thanks, Jeff," she said, going past him into the house.
Jeff closed the door right after she got inside, and he could've sworn he heard a twig snap right near the hammock as he did so.