Well, here's the next chapter. It was a little hard to write, and I think I might end the story here. Regarding Lexlady's review, I laughed so hard when I read it. Yeah, pregnancy… that's a pretty big thing to forget. Hmm. Kinda seems like something Britta would do, right? Meh, not really, hence the summary change. Thanks for pointing that out. I probably should consider a betareader. I'm just too lazy. And to tvlover84, I'm kinda leaving that one up to interpretation. I'm leaning towards this explanation though: Jeff and Annie made the hasty assumption that the baby was Jeff's because they didn't know Britta was sleeping with Troy. In their minds, Jeff was the last person she slept with. Britta didn't correct them because she figured it would be easier, but the baby never actually was Jeff's. And side note: If I do continue, I'll probably be updating less because school is starting back up and I have a show in less than three weeks. Let me know what you think! Enjoy :)
And now there is not as much rejoicing.
The group sits around their usual table solemnly. Everything is resolved, right back where things used to be, but apparently Britta has some pretty big news. Last time Britta had big news, it was not what they expected, so everyone is kind of on edge right now. Britta finally enters the room, looking like nothing out of the ordinary is going on; pretending like it is just another day.
"So what's up everybody?" she asks. She is met with dubious and annoyed stares. She swallows. She knows what they want, and yeah, she said she would tell them. She was planning on it, if only to make them happy. She could not bring herself to say it aloud though. She refused to admit it.
"What's up with you, Britta?" Jeff prompts. She avoids everyone's questioning gazes. Annie softens.
"Look guys, let her gather her thoughts, maybe she just isn't ready to talk about it yet. It's been a rough week," she smiles sympathetically at Britta who returns the smile hesitantly.
"I… I…" Britta cannot say anything else. She runs out of the room.
"Someone should go after her," Troy suggests frantically. "Probably a girl. Just in case it's… a… girl problem…" Troy grimaces. Shirley prays that Annie volunteers so she will not have to. Shirley probably will not be able to help Britta's most likely sex-related problem anyway. Then again, Annie is presumably a virgin so Shirley might have more insight on the situation. Shirley opens her mouth to speak, but is drowned out by Annie's loud declaration.
"I'll go!" she chirps. "Be glad to." Annie exits the room with a skip in her step. Jeff watches her leave. Shirley raises a single eyebrow. Why is Jeff watching Annie like a hawk? Why is she so happy?
Happy was not the right word for it. Annie was thrilled. Britta was not pregnant with Jeff's baby, which meant Annie and Jeff could be… well, Annie and Jeff. No, Jeff and Annie. No, Jennie! Annie smiled to herself at their couple name. She knew that Jeff would hate it. They were not official yet, but she could feel they were close. Actually, Britta was not pregnant with any baby which meant no one would have to deal and emotional, swollen, psychotic, and hormonal Britta. Everyone was thrilled by this, except Pierce. He still was unaware of the whole situation. Maybe Abed was not exactly thrilled. Who knows how he felt about anything?
Annie found Britta sitting against the wall in between two bookshelves in the library. She smiled at her compassionately and sat down next to her.
"Hi," Annie nudges her. Britta does not respond. "Are you okay?" Still no response. Annie takes that as a no. "You want to talk about it?" She gets a smirk!
"You're my best friend, Annie," Britta told her. Annie smiles proudly.
"Aw, Britta, you're my best friend too," Annie assures her. Britta smiles back at her, discreetly wiping away a tear. "Why are you crying?" Annie coos.
"I lied to you," she admits.
"I forgive you, whatever it was," Annie promises. Britta shakes her head.
"Don't promise me that yet, I haven't even told you. The baby was never Jeff's. There actually was never a baby, which we know now, but it would've been Troy's. I told you and Jeff because you're the best friend I have and Jeff, well, I don't really know why I told Jeff. You guys just assumed it was Jeff's, and I didn't correct you because I figured it would've been easier that way. I know now that it wasn't. It was selfish of me, and I'm sorry," she explains apologetically. Annie smiles sadly.
"It's okay, really. I probably would've done the same."
"No, you wouldn't have," Britta chuckles. She sighs deeply. "I can't have kids."
"What?" Annie asks.
"Yeah," Britta clarifies solemnly. "I'm sterile."
"I'm sorry."
"I never wanted kids anyway," she resolves. "I mean, that's what men see women as, right? Baby-making machines…" her voice trails off.
"Sure," Annie agrees.
"That's what we're categorized as. That's what society has made us out to be! But we can do anything that a man can, Annie, and we can do it better," Britta concludes.
"Right," she nods.
"But what if I meet someone who wants babies, and I want to have their babies?" Britta shows her vulnerability. Annie purses her lips.
"We could sit here all night going over what ifs, Britta. But the bottom line is you can't have kids of your own. You could adopt if you wanted to," Annie offers.
"What if Troy wants kids of his own," Britta argues. "I wouldn't be able to have them. Then he wouldn't want me," she whimpers, burying her head in her knees. "I don't know why he wanted me in the first place."
"Because you're you," Annie chuckles. "Everything about you is amazing," she insists. Britta rolls her eyes.
"Easy for you to say," she scoffs. Annie smirks.
"It is easy for me to say, because I know you." Jeff comes from around the corner then.
"Britta," he says. She looks up at him warily.
"How much did you hear?"
"Only the tail end of it. Look, not that I care, but you do know that you are better than you think you are, right? You're just designed not to believe it when you hear it from yourself," he reminds her. She smiles a little.
"Thanks, Jeff," she responds quietly.
"Whatever," he grumbles, walking back into the study room.
"Should we go back?" Annie suggests.
"I don't want to talk about it," Britta sighs.
"You don't have to. I could tell them for you," she offers. "Or we could just wait until you're ready." Britta nods.
"Yeah, I think I'll wait," she decides. Annie stands, brushes her hair out of her face, smoothes her clothes, and offers a slender hand out to Britta. The older blonde takes it gingerly, pulling herself up. The two walk back into the room together and take their seats.
"For the last time," Troy is saying when they enter, "Black Widow and Hawkeye are not Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. They don't even look similar! So what if both of the girls are gingers?"
"We're not getting into this now," Abed tells him. Troy relents, turning his gaze to Britta. He grins at her sweetly. She smiles back and nods slightly. Jeff looks at Annie expectantly as she sits down and she responds with a smirk. Shirley stares at Jeff with her wide matronly eyes. He ignores her, as he usually does with authoritative figures in his life, but he looks away from Annie.
"Alright," Jeff snaps the group back to reality. "Let's study for the history test."
"No, not yet," Pierce stops everyone. "Alright, now we can study," he tells them. As they study, Dean Pelton watches from the outside.
"They all have it so perfect," he sighs wistfully.
Oh, if only he knew.
Alright, I think that's the last chapter. I don't know. What do you think?