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: 4396
Rating: PG-13 (language)
Disclaimer: If I owned Community, you'd all probably absolutely hate it.
Author's Notes: I take liberties with character's motivations and thoughts...but that's kind of the name of the game if you're going to write fan fiction. I try as hard as I can to stay within the limits of the developed character though.

"That's it, Edison…10 minutes are up. Let's get moving." Jeff ran his hands down Annie's arms, sparking a sharp inhalation of breath, and bringing her head, previously leaning back onto his chest, nestled just underneath his chin, a ray of moonlight directly striking her face, forward into an upright position.

"You fall asleep or something?" Jeff worried…he knew it was late, but they weren't close to done with his plans…he didn't want to go through all the set up just to have her falter at the finish line.

"Not even close, Winger. Just relaxing." It was the truth, too. She wasn't remotely sleepy, but 10 minutes of just being held by Jeff in the dark proved too tempting to do anything but enjoy the sensations running over her senses. His smell, his warmth, the memory of his stubble on her lips as she'd kissed his cheek, the way he made her feel safe, no matter what else happened…there was pretty much zero chance she wasn't going to make the most of every second she was allowed. But now, even though he'd indulged her on this little side trip, it was time for her to yield to him again, and let him take charge.

Besides, she was excited to see what happened next. Thus far, Annie was counting pretty much everything that happened in the positive column. On one hand, she worried that the other shoe would drop soon enough, and she'd have to pay the piper…and at least three other metaphors she was desperately trying to mix in there. On the other hand, she didn't want to psych herself out of just enjoying it. Maybe for one of the first times in her life, her luck had changed, and she might actually get something wonderful happening to her for no real reason.

She liked that idea, and was willing to run with it until proven otherwise.

How did she do this? Jeff flat out didn't understand how she could be so happy when he'd unveiled so many unpleasant and unattractive truths about himself. Shouldn't she be recoiling when she learned that there was so much about him she didn't know, or flat out misunderstood?

Regardless, he'd started this, and he was going to see it through. No matter how much it scared him that he might lose her he had to go through with this. If he lost her, he'd likely lose everyone, since the fact of the matter was Annie was far more likable than him at her core. Jeff may have charm, but Annie was genuinely wonderful, and by now, their group had to see the truth behind each of them. Besides that, she was still going to see all of them on a daily basis at school, besides him, and Pierce. And Jeff knew that Pierce would choose Annie over him 8 times out of 10. At least the old man would opt for a "sausage fest" if Jeff wanted to go to the barber sometimes…

He was resolute though. Even if everything she learned tonight made her hate him, she'd learn it all eventually. Best to rip that bandage off now. Before, he'd always had school to keep them together, but now…go big or go home.

He'd already given her the notice to get up and get moving, and she'd sat up, but leaned back against him again within a relatively short amount of time. He growled at her, "C'mon, Annie…we've got to move, or we'll never get done." She let out a sound that Jeff was reluctant to classify as a whine, moan, or whimper, as she tipped her head back and nuzzled his earlobe with her nose before slowly extracting herself from his lap, and standing with a languid stretch.

God. Damn. Since when was she so affectionate? This wasn't like public Annie at all. Jeff was starting to get the feeling that Annie-with-just-Jeff was turning out to be somewhat of a different beast than Annie-with-the-study-group, or Annie-texting-Jeff, or even Annie-with-just-Jeff-and-tons-of-other-random-peop le-in-a-hotel-bar. They'd even shared a long car ride alone, but Troy and Abed were right in front of them, and had an obnoxious habit of switching lanes, slowing down, and pulling up alongside them, doing the horn-blowing motion, usually reserved for drivers of 18-wheelers. Then they'd pull back ahead of them, Troy laughing uproariously, and Abed with his typical inscrutable expression. This was the first time Jeff could remember they were really, truly alone, with no phones, no chance someone else was going to burst in at any time. Even if there had been other times, both of them were increasingly growing more comfortable with expressions of affection towards each other, both physical and verbal…so maybe Annie's behavior wasn't so unusual, but he sure wasn't used to it, by any means.

"Jeff!"

He snapped out of his self-absorption to see the hand she held out to him on the ground. "Shouldn't I be the one offering to help YOU up here?" he smirked at her, as he took her hand, and felt her at least try to assist pulling his mass up off the floor. He'd have to give her an A for effort, anyway.

"Yeah, but this way I can make sure we go back to the way we were on the way here" she said, as she shifted her hand in his grip now that he was standing, and re-laced their fingers together. "If I left it up to you, you might conveniently forget about doing this…" she tossed him one of her signature coy grins that he'd only ever seen her give to him…and he'd watched to see if anyone else ever got them.

Well, she wasn't shy about wanting to hold hands with him again. That had to be a good sign, right? Jeff decided he'd see if she was still in a hand-holding mood after this next stop, and after stretching (and dragging Annie to her toes as he stretched his arms upward, and she strained, unwilling to relinquish his hand,) he began to walk.

They passed through the halls towards a door outside, and once they reached it, Jeff stopped, and pulled an unfamiliar keyring out of his pocket, and reaching out, unlocked the door.

"Jeff…I guess I hadn't even thought about it before, but where did you get keys to the school?"

He grinned, "Greendale takes care of its distinguished alumni."

She wasn't sure what to make of that…did he and Pierce get campus keys when they graduated? After all, if he was considered a distinguished alumni (and since he was already a lawyer, she could definitely see that being possible) than Pierce certainly was…then again, this WAS the school that built a Luis Guzman statue, a key was entirely believable.

Jeff opened the door, and ushered her out, allowing the door to close behind them. They stepped out into the night, with the full moon high in the air, allowing for high visibility and dramatic shadows from the buildings and trees. A light wind caused rustling in the leaves, also causing the shadows to shift. Neither Jeff nor Annie took notice of anything unusual in the movement…after all, it was just another quiet spring night. Neither one caught the subtle shift in the dark shapes that couldn't be accounted for by the wind through the trees.

They walked mostly in silence, hands clasped tight together. The only disturbance came when Jeff asked Annie if she was warm enough, which came as a relief to Jeff when she told him that it was…since he wasn't wearing a jacket. Besides, the last time he loaned her a jacket, he came off as a bit of an asshole, and he had already kicked himself after the fact in that particular instance. He didn't apologize for his love of clothes…but he cursed the fact that he was stupid enough to wear something that he was worried about when he took Annie to a dance. Even if he hadn't offered it, and she hadn't been cold, there was always the chance of something else happening to it. However, he HAD offered it, and she had been cold and accepted it…and then he proceeded to be the world's biggest idiot when he could have been showing Annie how much he cared about her.

Jeff knew that deep down, part of that was probably his subconscious aversion to caring about others. He'd been hurt enough in his life that he tried to shut people out. That's why he pursued a career where he couldn't care about anyone but himself. He'd do the best for his client, whether they were good or bad. Morality all centered around him, and whoever was paying him.

That sort of thought enabled his morally relativistic behavior that allowed him to be "faster than bacteria" with women, and only have friends who shared this same viewpoint, and cheat his way to the top by taking the easy path. Then he got caught…and Greendale happened, and everything changed. He used to be the one-night stand king, and he kept it up for a while, even had a completely non-emotional fuck buddy in Britta…but even that eventually gave way, and Jeff had been celibate for an astounding amount of time, especially for a man-whore like himself. Mindless sex with random women had just gotten boring. So, he, who used to measure the time it took to conquer any given woman in a matter of hours, was now on a 4 year clock with Annie Edison. Granted, he hadn't really been pursuing her for most of that time, but he had an interest in her for most of it, whether he had admitted it previously or not. His former friends had all abandoned him as soon as he was caught, making only token efforts, like when he ran into Alan at school, and Jeff remembered Alan's ulterior motive, and wondered if Alan would have done anything friendly at all if he didn't think he'd get anything out of it. Alan didn't matter though, because while he'd lost his old "friends" he had new, devoted friends who had proven themselves time and again, in the most arduous circumstances. There was a good reason he considered them family. Finally…he'd cheated his way to being a lawyer in the first place, but now he'd actually earned it. Granted, he avoided hard work as much as possible, but no one could deny that he was legitimate now.

By this point, they were rounding the side of the cafeteria (or 'cafetorium' as Dean Pelton insisted on referring to it, even though the gymnasium across campus was used as an auditorium as often as the cafeteria was,) and Jeff spied their destination. He quickened his pace and led Annie by the hand to the table right outside the lounge section of the cafeteria building. He took a seat at the corner of one of the benches, making it clear Annie should join him. She released his hand and sat on the corner of the bench closest to him. She looked at him across the small portion of table between them, and allowed a big, closed lip grin to spread across her face. At a picnic…ish table, late at night, tons of moonlight. If he was Mark Ruffalo, she'd almost feel like this was one of her romantic comedies. But he wasn't. He was Jeff. Which to her, was even better. She was nearly tempted to start twirling her hair as she drank in the sight of him in the cold light, but thought better of it.

"Ok, Jeff…what's so special about this table?"

Jeff cleared his throat, and launched directly into it. He was really in it now. This stop held the potential to be make or break.

"Well, Annie. As you know, when Shirley remarried Andre, she asked me to give a speech. I wasn't doing a great job at it. Turns out I have a lot of unresolved issues when it comes to marriage, romance, and families…and I ended up doing some pretty dumb stuff that day, as I'm sure you can remember."

Annie was taken slightly aback. The only thing she could remember Jeff doing that she thought was actually dumb was nearly marrying Britta. "Jeff…what are you talking about?" She glanced over his left hand to see if there was a ring she hadn't noticed, somehow. "Did you and Britta end up…getting…y'know, married?"

She didn't expect his laugh to be so loud. He looked her directly in the eyes and said "Hell. No." Annie visibly relaxed.

"Britta and I just get that dumb competitive thing going…especially when we get a little drunk. We've actually had talks about it in more lucid, non-competitive times, and we think it might just be a little bit of our self-loathing coming out, and making us lash out…and when we get together, we just egg each other on and feed off of each other. We both know neither one of us can really hurt the other with it, so it's safe to metaphorically pull hair and scratch at eyeballs. We're like punching bags for one another. It's not healthy, but it's a release valve."

Annie frowned at that idea. "I kinda get the punching bag thing, but Jeff Winger, self-loathing?"

Jeff gave Annie a sad smirk. "Now, don't get me wrong, Annie…you and I both know I'm incredible, but even I don't like things about myself. It's just that there's far more things I know about me that make me awesome than things I don't like."

This was all true…what he didn't offer to Annie was the fact that while he knew he was an amazing guy, attractive, self-possessed, intelligent, charming…he could go on and on for hours, but this wasn't the time. While he was all of these things, and he knew the majority of women would be lucky to get his attention, he also knew two critical truths that hurt his self-esteem badly.

First, while he was great, Annie was better.

Second, Annie was so much better than him, that he didn't deserve her. Even after all this time, all he could worry about was how much he could damage her. Ruin her. That wasn't fair for him to do, and it was part of the selfishness that 'Old Jeff' would have engaged in without a second though. Now, however, he had to consider on one hand that maybe he wasn't giving Annie enough credit for her strength. After all she'd overcome on her own, maybe she could handle keeping him from destroying the magic that made her who she was. On the other hand…did someone as wonderful as Annie deserve being exposed to that sort of risk, when she'd already undergone enough, or should she be shielded from it, and Jeff's selfishness contained?

For now, Jeff had sworn to be honest, and let the cards fall where they may. May the Lord that he may or may not believe in have mercy upon the soul he wasn't sure existed or not…

He took a deep breath. Time to face the music. "Annie…you've known for a very long time that I've been opposed to marriage, opposed to long-term commitments, and opposed to generally letting anyone get too close to me, right?" Annie simply nodded her confirmation, and Jeff continued. "I'm not like Britta…I'm not out protesting marriages or anything. If someone else wants to go for it, I may have a choice remark or two, but ultimately, I'll support them like I did Shirley. For me though? It just hasn't been my thing."

Annie had never been more riveted to what Jeff was saying before. This was definitely time for "serious issues."

"Well, my therapist and I have been talking, and we've come to the obvious conclusion, which you may have already guessed from the speech I ended up giving for Shirley's wedding, since you shot down my Webster thing, and I'd had a few scotches…my commitment issues are likely based on the fact that my father leaving at such an early age made me doubt commitment and relationships, and feel unsafe about them."

Jeff was surprising himself by tearing up. He was being honest with a woman he had incredibly deep feelings for on a level he wasn't normally comfortable with. It was an unusual situation for him to be in. These were emotions that 99% of the time, he didn't even realize he had, and here he was spilling them to the one person he should probably be hiding them from the most…the one person who they'd likely drive away the quickest, and who he wanted driven away the least.

Still, she deserved to see how absolutely messed up he was. If she didn't see it now, it'd just be more painful whenever she finally came to realize it.

"Anyway, Annie…turns out that just maybe, 'nut up and die alone' isn't the best strategy…or maybe even the one I really want. I don't know if I'm ever going to want to get married, or even serious with anyone for a really, really long-term thing, but I know I'm not ruling it out entirely anymore. It isn't something I'm going to actively seek out, but if I meet the right woman, then I'm going to go directly against my own old advice. I'm going to nut up and go for it."

Annie smiled at him, doe-eyed, and not free of tears herself. They weren't tracking down her cheeks like they were with his, but they weren't far off.

"Jeff, what about kids? Do you want to be a dad someday if you ever met this supposed 'right woman?'"

Jeff tried to force himself to meet her eyes, but couldn't. "Yeah, Annie…if the girl I end up with wanted kids, it's certainly something she and I could discuss. If she doesn't want them, I wouldn't push it, but after having met my dad…after spending some time with him, and my half-brother…and Britta, for some reason I still don't get. Anyway, I don't think I'm necessarily destined to be just like him if I ever had kids. And now he isn't some specter haunting my past, making me wonder why he did the things he did to my mom and myself. I've got a better idea of why he was such an ass, and what I can do to avoid that."

Annie could practically feel herself about to lift off. Jeff was saying nearly everything she wanted to hear, and even the stuff that wasn't directly along the lines of what she wanted, she could still work with, like the fact that even though he wasn't convinced he wanted to get married, if he found the right woman, he wouldn't run from it anymore. Could tonight get any better?

"Jeff, why are you telling me all this?"

"Annie, do you remember what advice you gave me when I was sitting at this very table, asking you to help me with my speech for Shirley's wedding?"

Annie smiled, and reached out, touching the left side of his chest. "Of course…I told you to look in your heart, because I knew there was something real in there."

Jeff nodded soberly. "Well, I looked in there…and besides the Macallen that I ended up indulging in to the point of making a total ass out of myself, let's just say that there's a reason I always worry so much about what you think about me, and how safe you are, and the things I want to do with you, like a paired costume, or ski trip, or even helping you make my apartment 'a little more Annie'…it's pretty simple, really Annie. You're very important to me."

Annie couldn't get out any words. She actually couldn't manage anything more than a sound somewhere between a whimper and a choked laugh. Her mind was a blur at that moment…and while she felt completely out of control, she somehow, paradoxically, felt wholly in control of herself as she leaned forward.

Her lips pressed against Jeff's, and she drew him into a kiss.

Her thoughts were exploding. It felt so right and familiar, she couldn't believe they hadn't kissed since their first year, and even then, it had only been twice…three times if she wanted to count her kissing him after the Tranny Dance as one, and his return kiss as another. It felt so right. She wanted nothing more than to keep this moment going as long as she could. His scents, the touch of his warm lips as he returned her kiss…

Wait…

He wasn't kissing her back. He wasn't reacting at all. If he was reacting, which she was starting to realize he was, it was a subtle pressure of pulling away from her, creating a strain on her arms, which she'd wrapped around his neck.

Why wasn't he kissing her? What was wrong with her? She'd humiliated herself all over again! Somehow, beneath her mental self-castigation, she heard him whisper.

"Annie…we can't."

We can't? What was this all about? What was with the hugging, and hand-holding and cheek-kissing and the snuggling at his locker? What was all this leading up to? What did he mean they couldn't? God…had she been misreading everything all night? Was he leading her on? Was this another one of his sick games, but now he was playing with her instead of Britta? Well, hell with that…she wasn't playing.

Annie pulled back from Jeff abruptly, tears in her eyes, and stared him down. She didn't see what she expected. There wasn't a gleam of triumph, like he'd had when Britta admitted she didn't really love him during the debacle at the beginning of their second year. He had sorrow in his eyes…even with tears. What was with this guy tonight anyway?

Didn't matter. She'd had enough.

"You ASS." She managed to spit the words out at him.

"Anni-" she cut him off "No…no fancy speeches this time, Jeff. Hell with you. I'm tired of being made a fool of, and I've worked too long and too hard to respect myself to bow and scrape at your feet. I don't know if you thought this would be some big fun game tonight to see how crazy I was about you or something, but I'm done."

With that, Annie stood up, and turned to storm off. She paused briefly, and turned back to him. He wasn't looking at her, but rather, straight ahead to where she'd been sitting, appearing to be caught in a cross between panicking and furiously trying to think. He wasn't watching her, which gave her all the opportunity she needed to lay a well-deserved open-handed slap along his left cheek.

It hurt her palm, but the loud cracking sound and watching him recoil, followed by the look of total shock on his face were totally worth it.

Now she could turn and storm off.

She hadn't gotten more than a few steps off when she heard him call after her. "Annie!"

She ignored him.

"ANNIE!"

She heard louder, quicker footsteps behind her. He was chasing her. Don't run, Annie…just keep your pace. Can't let him be in control here.

He caught up to her, and grabbed her arm. She whirled on him, fire in her eyes, ready to do whatever she needed to do to tear free. She wasn't going to let him humiliate her again.

"Annie. Please stop."

"Why the hell should I? You want to play more fun games with my emotions?"

"No, Annie…I'd think you'd see that I've been as open about my inner emotions tonight as you, and that's not a normal thing for me. There's no games going on here."

Annie scoffed. "What the hell was that back there then? One second you're telling me that I told you to look into your heart, and you ended up realizing how important I am to you, and the next you're like a dead fish when I kiss you?! I mean, what the fuck, seriously?"

Jeff knew Annie was really mad when she started breaking out the serious curse words…words he, Britta, Pierce and Troy threw around like punctuation…Annie only used when, well…never.

He turned absolutely serious. He knew he had to sell this.

"Annie, you're a woman of your word. You and I agreed to some rules for tonight, and you're dangerously close to breaking two of them."

Annie rolled her eyes at him. "You're playing the rules card on me? After THAT?"

"Annie, I specifically made the rule of you not storming off until we're done because I knew some things would upset you. I told you this back in the study room, which…incidentally, was the last time you slapped me tonight. You were pretty mad then too, if you remember?"

Annie nodded, and her tears began in earnest, rolling down her cheeks unashamedly. She'd been so hurt and so humiliated tonight. Jeff felt his heart breaking…hurting this woman was never his intention, but he knew it would happen at points tonight. He just didn't expect it to happen right now. Why had she had to kiss him?

Jeff moved in to hug Annie…he had to comfort her. As soon as he got close, her head snapped up, and something in her eyes made him back off.

"Hey…it's ok. I just wanted to try to make you feel better."

With a voice that made her sound like she was barely holding back her rage, she replied "Don't you DARE touch me."

"What? I'm just trying to help."

"Maybe later…if you manage to make up for all this shit, but you had better keep your hands off me for now, Winger."

Jeff nodded sadly. Tonight had taken a turn it wasn't supposed to. He always wanted to be there for Annie, and now she wasn't going to let him.

"Well, you're in charge, and you've managed to keep me from leaving…now what? Let's get this over with, shall we?"

Jeff nodded again, and motioned with his hand as he started back towards the cafeteria. He walked slowly to let Annie catch up, but didn't attempt to take her hand, or offer her his elbow once she was at his side. She kept her arms hugged tightly around her midsection, making it obvious she had no interest in any sort of contact with him.

He'd done it…he'd ruined her.

A/N: Another extensively rewritten chapter. Originally...there wasn't a kiss, and there wasn't all this angst, but honestly...it had built up too close to it by that point, and it just felt flawed to have Jeff tell Annie she was very important to him, which hadn't been said in the "Prime Timeline" before, but had led to a kiss, or a scream interrupted near-kiss in all of the "timelines" where it WAS said, and then have it not lead to one here. What happened here will allow the events of future chapters to flow better, I promise. Don't give up hope!

Also, I ought to mention...if anyone has questions, or wants to discuss this story, feel free to hit up my tumblr which is at daneblr dot tumblr dot com. I'm having a lot of fun writing this, and I've gotten to have some fun discussion with some people. I'm happy to answer anything, and it may help the story improve as new possibilities occur to me. Spoilers will be posted behind cuts to preserve your innocence.