Pairing: Jeff/Annie
Spoilers: Through the finale of Season 4, and the steak dinner that Jeff's been waiting 4 years for...and got Tweeted.
Word Count: 2965
Rating: PG-13 (language)
Disclaimer: If I owned Community, you'd all probably absolutely hate it.
Author's Notes: Several non-canonical creative liberties taken in order to make the story fit better...like with the hotel thing. I know from my own business trip experience that there really ARE hotels that will do this, sometimes more slyly than others. So, it didn't make sense to me that they'd just assume Annie was Mrs. Winger...especially when they were clearly in JOINT rooms. It also gave me a good starting point for the resolutions Jeff is pursuing in this story. Also, Jeff strikes me as the sort who'd go through therapists almost like Kleenex...and I rolled with it. I also decided to change the name of this story to something that I felt fit the Community naming conventions better. Finally, allow me to express some personal opinion, since this is my soapbox...with Dan Harmon back, I don't expect him to tell THIS story, but the more and more I write about Jeff and Annie, whether it be my own stories, or my analysis of the canonical episodes...the more I hope that he uses his super-creator power to finally give us the couple we've been longing to see for so many years. Not just for US, but for the two of them too.
Remedial Studies in 360-Degree Rotations/Full Circle
Chapter 2
He waited in the study room. He'd only been there for a few minutes, but in that time, he'd completely redefined pacing.
WHY was he pacing? It was completely incomprehensible. He, Jeff Winger, the man who'd cowed countless opposing councilors, and could have nearly any woman he wanted for a wink and a smile…was nervous. What the hell was that about?
"You're afraid of a little slip of a girl…how did you come to this?"
He recognized the voice in his head as his own, but with a gravelly edge. Memories from earlier in the day came to his head, and irritated him all the more.
"Shut up, I already beat you once. You don't get your way anymore. I've grown beyond you."
"Oh, is THAT what they've deluded you into thinking? Time to find ANOTHER new shink, Winger..if you can find one that won't refuse to keep seeing you after they realize that not only are your issues incredibly deep-seated, but that you aren't really interested in progressing. You're COMFORTABLE. And why wouldn't you be? Letting me be in charge gave us an awesome life…with only one minor hitch. And now that you have your degree, that's solved. So time to step aside again…and tonight should go smoothly. The girl comes, we hit it and forget it, and move on, like we always do."
"Rot in hell."
"What do you think the inside of your head IS?! I'm not going ANYWHERE Winger, I'll ALWAYS be here with you."
His introspection was cut short by Annie's arrival. And just like that, the gravelly voice in his head quieted down, allowing him to focus on the plan he'd laid out…a plan which he'd have to dig up the number for the doctor who was his therapist TWO therapists ago, and give them a call to thank them, no matter how this went.
"Ok Jeff, you got me down here in the middle of the night, and you should know, Greendale in the middle of the night at break time is CREEPY! You could have met me in the parking lot or something." Annie pouted at him, her expression a mixture of genuine hurt and tension. He could nearly feel the darker emotions rolling off her, and it made him sad…why HADN'T he offered to wait in the lot for her? He was too busy thinking about himself, and everything he planned on doing tonight, and got caught up again.
"Annie, I'm sorry. I should have thought about that, really, but I guess I've had a lot on my mind. I really appreciate you coming down here so quickly, but I promise…by the time everything's all said and done, you won't regret it."
She looked back at him, clearly already forgiving him. She wasn't smiling yet, but she wasn't frowning anymore, and was doing the irresistible thing she always did with him where she tilted her head down ever-so-slightly, and looked up at him, biting her lip.
"Do I get a Winger guarantee on that?" she pouted at him.
"You bet. And it all starts right now…but first, I have to lay down some ground rules."
His businesslike manner made her snap out of her half-pouty, half-flirty posture, and lean back against the study room's table, arms folded across her chest.
"Ground rules, huh? Ok...Mr. Hot Shot, hit me with your ground rules."
"First and foremost, you follow my lead, no matter what."
"I'm apprehensive, but whatever."
"Second, while you're indulging me on this little expedition, truth is absolutely required. Definitely nothing outright false, no half-truths for the sake of self-preservation, and no hiding anything."
"Jeff, I'm confused…what do you think I've been lying about?"
"I don't know that you have…I made that rule so YOU would know the nature of everything I tell you tonight, and wouldn't doubt any of it. I can't compel you to follow that one, but I'd appreciate it."
Annie was already bewildered by these odd "rules" Jeff was laying out…but then she realized, this was Greendale Community College. A college where, at one point, a former Spanish teacher had carried out a coup to take over the school…and had gotten them all expelled. If THAT could happen, anything could. She started feeling what she had long thought of as the "Greendale Justification Effect" settle in to her brain, allowing her to just "go with it."
Jeff cleared his throat to get Annie's attention, having seen her go glassy-eyed for a moment, and then continued once she snapped out of her reverie.
"Third, and last rule. I already know that some of what I say to you tonight is going to upset you. I ask that no matter how upset you get, you NOT storm out until I tell you we're done, and I ask that we are able to have some candid back and forth about each issue that arises."
Annie was a bit troubled by Jeff's prediction that he would be upsetting her, but managed to squeak out an "Uh-huh" while nodding her head.
"Good…then this is as good a place as any to start. First of all, you need to understand that I'm not COMPLETELY crazy…this is an exercise that was recommended to me by my old-old therapist. In fact, it's the REASON they're my old-old therapist. With how things have been going lately though…I decided to give it a shot."
Annie got laser-focused on Jeff at that moment. He was actually taking a therapists advice, and he wasn't even doing it with Britta to prompt him…usually "therapizing" moments tended to take place with her pushing him into it, which inevitably made a mess that he'd then have to clean up. Without Britta here though…she had no idea what it meant.
"Ok, Annie…here goes. Remember that trip we took with Troy and Abed? We were going to ski while they went to their convention?"
Annie nodded, feeling her chest tighten. That had been an incredibly embarrassing trip for her. Jeff had managed to talk it out with her, but she still felt some shame and humiliation from the memories. Why was he bringing this up right now? They'd resolved this issue!
"Well, you weren't here for this part, but Abed and I stopped off in the study room before we left. This was the last place I went before we took off…which is why I'm doing this here NOW. Part of the exercise is 'returning to the scene of the crime' so to speak, to give the moment an anchor in the present for resolution, or some other nonsense. It's all psychobabble, but I figured if I'm going to do this, I may as well do it right."
Jeff could tell when he looked at Annie's face that she was completely lost and bewildered. He needed to get onto the message quick before he lost the ability to engage her. She had a good attention span, but eventually she was going to get bored if he didn't act.
"Ok…well, I have to ask you before I get onto saying what I have to say. Was there anything that prompted you to play the part of 'Mrs. Winger' when we went on that little excursion?"
Annie felt her worst fears coming true. She'd already paid the price for this once! Wasn't that enough? She could hear the little voice in her head talking to her in the snidest, snottiest tone she knew herself capable of. "Just walk out. He doesn't deserve your tears. He doesn't deserve your time. What was he thinking, that after four years, he'd call you, get you to drop EVERYTHING, and come play his humiliating little games with him? It's like high school all over again. No one sees your value, and thinks you'll dance to whatever song they play."
Annie was torn between walking out, and speaking up. She looked over at Jeff, seated at his normal seat (no, remember, Annie…his OLD seat. He's graduated now,) while she leaned backwards between Britta and Abed's seats. He was looking at her expectantly. That settled it. She'd agreed to his rules, and he'd warned her. She WASN'T a little girl anymore, and she could handle whatever big, bad Jeff Winger threw her way.
"Actually, yes there was. I'll follow your rules, and be completely honest and forthcoming here. I HAD done the pretending/fantasizing thing about us being married before, but I wasn't even thinking about it…much, until I picked up the phone to order room service, and they addressed me as . Happy?"
Jeff just sighed and looked down at the table.
"Yeah…I figured it might be something like that. Annie, given what you told me that day about your experiences on vacations…well, I'm guessing you didn't know that a lot of hotels, especially higher end ones, and MOST especially ones that are geared to mixed clientele…such as one that might see guests that are there for business, guests that are there with their families, or even guests that are there for affairs have several ways, some discreet, some less so…of finding out who you're travelling with. It's almost like a safety mechanism they've figured out to keep from embarrassing their guests by referring to, say…a co-worker you're travelling with as your spouse."
Annie felt like she'd just passed through a sheet of ice…what was Jeff saying?
"What are you saying?" she asked, realizing that if she wanted an answer, asking in her head wouldn't get her any closer.
"I'm saying that…a hotel like the one that we were staying at, in close proximity to a ski resort, and a convention center...well, they might be interested in knowing their guests well enough to not embarrass them."
Annie felt tears welling up in her eyes.
"Jeff…?!"
"So…they might have addressed you as Mrs. Winger…because that's how I checked us in. I told them you were my wife."
Annie wasn't actually crying yet, but she could feel hot tears running down her face…he'd HUMILIATED her, and then made HER feel bad about it. And he wasn't even looking up at her to see what this little revelation was doing to her. She'd had enough. She stood up, walked over to where he sat, still looking down, and slapped his cheek. HARD. Not "I just found out you slept with Britta, then made out with me" hard, but enough to let him know he'd better not ignore her like this if he was going to humiliate her.
"OW! Annie, what the fuck?!"
"How DARE you drag me down here in the middle of the night just to hurt me like this. Was that your big plan? Make sure Annie knows what a fool you've made of her this whole time? HUH?!"
Jeff actually looked remorseful (and his cheek looked uncomfortable too, which gave Annie a tiny amount of satisfaction.)
"Look, Annie…NO! I wasn't even finished yet! God! This isn't easy, and it's not all scripted or anything…so I can't just spit it out all at once! Will you sit down?"
Annie pulled out Britta's chair, and sat, still glaring at him with her arms folded.
"Look, I did it because I couldn't think of what else to call you. I didn't feel right just calling you my 'friend.' You're more than that, and you know it. I could have said 'best friend,' but I'm not a 14 year old girl…I couldn't say girlfriend or fiancée, and to be honest…sometimes, even with as stupid as I think marriage is, *I* wonder what it'd be like to be married to you too, OK?!"
His volume and rage built all through the last couple of sentences, with the final words shouted, while he half-rose out of his chair.
Annie was stunned even more than she had been by his previous admission. She felt a whole mix of emotions running through her head…and she wasn't sure which was the strongest. All she knew for sure was that she was utterly confused. It felt like pieces of her world that she'd managed to get comfortable with were flipping upside down.
"Jeff, why are you even telling me this? I thought we'd managed to put all of this behind us," she sniffled at him.
He looked up, meeting her eyes completely, "Because I want to clear things up between us. As of today, I'm officially done at Greendale…but there are still issues between you and me that need to be resolved. I don't have that with anyone else in the group. Pierce and I will have issues until we're both dead...I just accept that. Britta annoys me like a sister, but we're on the same page with everything. Same thing with those two clowns you call roommates. Shirley may, in fact, be the person in the group who gets me the best when I'm at my weirdest, and I certainly get her, but you…you and I have a few stumbling blocks that I HAVE to get cleared up. You're too important to me to risk letting this get away from me. I've been thinking about this for some time now…and I've got a few things to put right between you and me.
So this…this was the first, and I need you to listen to this. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for allowing you to get humiliated, I'm sorry I didn't come clean immediately after I realized how this might have happened. Now, to be completely fair to me, I didn't even THINK about how I'd screwed up right away…I was too in the moment, and to be perfectly honest, checking you in as my wife just felt…natural. If any man at that hotel had asked, as long as you were out of earshot, I would have proudly claimed you. However, when I'm having drinks thrown in my face, I'm not exactly thinking 'Oh, hey...is Annie mad because I said she was my wife? I really ought to figure this out.' No, I'm thinking 'COLD! WET! ALCOHOL BURNING EYES!'"
Annie giggled at this last part, as he imitated his own reaction to having drinks thrown in his face, and started cleaning up the moisture on her face as he continued.
"So, once I figured it out, I should have said something, but by that point…it was passed, and it would have only made me look bad. I figured, I had nothing to gain from it, and you weren't upset about it anymore, so why bother? I should have recognized that I was being selfish, and that what I had to gain from it was the fact that maybe, even if it didn't clear up any residual embarrassment of your own…at least we could have been embarrassed together."
Annie felt herself melting inside now, like she always did when Jeff got honest. She actually started smiling at him, and then mischievously decided to poke a bear that had just gotten to sleep.
"I notice you didn't apologize for hitting on that Thoraxis fanatic…"
"Annie…remember what I said in the bar? IF we were married. We weren't, and aren't. If I'm ever tied down, even to something as non-legally binding as a girlfriend, I'll be a one-woman man. But until that point, I'm free to flirt with anyone I please"
Annie just smirked at him, and as he stood, she mirrored him. She felt like he was a bit lost, so she closed the short distance, and they naturally fell into a hug together.
"Thank you, Jeff. That really DID make me feel a bit better. I'd managed to bury that, but it was still there bothering me in the background. I think this finally managed to put it to rest though."
"Glad to hear it…it helped me too, even if my face hurts."
She winced, looking up at the clear red mark, she followed her urge to reach up and softly caress it. "I'm really sorry. You've managed to hurt me a lot in the past, and it's been an emotional day. But, still…if this was your big plan, it was worth it. Thank you for doing this for me."
Jeff just looked down at her and cocked an eyebrow. "First off, thank YOU, both for coming, and for following all the rules. That little soul-baring you just did? That's exactly the kind of total honesty I was hoping for. So, we agree…the hotel issue, resolved?"
She pulled back slightly so she could see his face better.
"Resolved."
She couldn't stop her eyes from darting back and forth between his eyes and his lips. He was so close…and despite the fact that her heart was thundering in her ears and her equilibrium was all off and time wasn't moving at its normal speed and oh God why had everything slowed down and was he really going to kiss her for the first time in years and she'd waited so long for this…
"And you're absolutely crazy if you think this was the entire plan. I'm not done putting things right." His voice, slightly husky, but stopping short of being tinged with gravel shocked Annie out of her bewilderment, and at the same time, broke out of her grasp. She immediately felt like something had been taken from her. All she wanted was to be back in his arms, clinging tightly to him, like a pillar of strength. A warm, muscular, handsome pillar of strength with great hair…Annie shook her head slightly and realized Jeff was holding out the crook of his arm for her.
"Milady?"
Smiling up at the familiar term of endearment that she'd only ever heard him use for her, she took it, contenting herself with this small piece of him to hold onto for now.
As they approached the study room door, Annie suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, which held Jeff back too.
"Annie, what's wrong?"
"Jeff…I thought campus was deserted except for us?"
"It is…it's break. Even the janitors are off today, and Greendale doesn't have a security force anymore, since…Chang…" Jeff trailed off. She knew the situation well enough that he didn't have to explain it.
"Well, I could swear I just saw something move."