Pairing: Jeff/Annie
Spoilers: Through the finale of Season 4, Jeff's graduation, and dinner with the group
Word Count: 5225
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.
"Night school?" Annie cocked an eyebrow at Jeff, once they'd reached their destination. She was a little fuzzy headed from lack of sleep and endorphins, given that they'd barely taken time to come up for breath since leaving the bathroom, but she was starting to feel pretty good about everything.
Jeff didn't answer immediately, but instead looked around the room full of computers and printers, constantly running, and then walked towards the high-backed chair behind "Professor Professorson's" desk, and sat down in it with an air of great pleasure.
"You know, I still don't know what this room is even for" Jeff stated, with his hands clasped behind his head, clearly enjoying his relaxation. As he closed his eyes, he continued. "You'd think they'd have taken all this stuff down after that whole ruse was over."
The next thing Jeff knew, there was a weight settling on his lap. He opened his eyes to see that Annie had sat herself across his lap, and was looking directly in his eyes, with rather clear intent. Jeff knew this was a test to see if he'd push her away again, and he had no intentions of failing it. He let his hands unravel from behind his head, and resituated them around her waist, allowing him to both hold her, and provide some amount of support. As he did so, Jeff noted that some previously unnoticed tension drained out of Annie immediately.
Seeing Annie de-tense at his acceptance of her, or even just his lack of rejection stabbed Jeff at the core. He hadn't intended to hurt her…so much had happened tonight that hadn't been in his original, somewhat hastily cobbled together plan. He took the hand that was wrapped around Annie's back, and cupped her far shoulder, pulling her down into his chest.
Jeff sat in silence for a handful of moments, allowing Annie to get comfortable in her position against him, her fingers absently toying with the buttons and stitching on his shirt, Jeff using the hand he had previously wrapped around her back, and then used to pull her in closer to now gently stroke his fingers through her hair. Jeff marveled at the fact that after everything that had happened tonight, they were in this place…where their demonstration of physical affection came as second nature to them. There was no awkwardness or tension between them…everything just felt right.
Jeff felt Annie's voice against his chest as much as heard it in his ears. "Jeff?"
"Mmmhmm?"
"I really like this…" Annie's voice got small, contented.
"Well, Annie, just remember that the next time you take me into a room I normally consider used for the relief of a full bladder, and won't stay out of my personal space. Other areas will bring you much, much better luck than a bathroom…"
Annie responded by pinching Jeff's side, which resulted in him yelping, and grabbing the hand she'd pinched him with. She screwed up her face in determination, and freed her other hand to attack him. Her second hand was quickly captured by his loose hand, and with each of their hands occupied, struggling against the other's corresponding hand, fingers entwined, they battled for dominance for what felt like hours, although they both knew it was actually barely a minute. By the time Annie had exhausted herself, fighting against someone who had a natural advantage in strength, Jeff had found she had shifted her position for better leverage. She was now straddling him straight on, her upper body positioned above his, so he would have to fight against gravity as well as her effort if he wanted to win this little game.
As Annie looked down on him, her hair falling to brush the sides of his face, their eyes connected. As one, they released their hold on each other's hands, Annie's newly freed to cup Jeff's face, and grab his shoulder as they both raced to close the gap between their mouths. Jeff's left hand began a slow trail up and down Annie's back, from between her shoulder blades, down to the small of her back, while his right found an entirely new home supporting her weight by cupping Annie's ass. This new, far more intimate touch than either was used to from the other elicited a small growl from Annie, and Jeff took full advantage of her opening her mouth to do so.
As Jeff's tongue continued its earlier exploration, and at times, was battled back by Annie's in order for her to take charge. Pulses raced, fingers entwined in hair, and pulled gently, animalistic sounds issued in turns. Jeff couldn't remember the last time he was this incredibly turned on by a woman…he'd had so many, this was just another one, right?
Wrong.
As Annie began to grind her pelvis against his, knowing they were both reacting to the hormones raging through them like a couple of teenagers parked in a deserted spot for the first time, Jeff broke the kiss, and pulled his face away from Annie's.
"What's wrong, Jeff?" Annie's face, predictably, looked worried.
"Annie, we HAVE to slow down a bit here." Jeff stated with firmness in his voice. Annie's face clouded…this wasn't the first time he'd suggested such things before this evening, and it typically didn't go well for either of them when he did.
"Jeff…I'm going to keep calm here, given my overreacting and not letting you explain in the bathroom…but you had better have a very good explanation for this." Annie kept her voice overly sugary, and plastered a fake smile across her face, which along with her eyes, made her look slightly manic.
Jeff prefaced his explanation by reaching up, and putting his hand on Annie's cheek, allowing his thumb to lightly stroke the side of her face. "Annie…I'm done with the hot and cold. I think the last few minutes have proven that. But if we keep this up, eventually we're going to follow it through to its logical conclusion, and I don't want to do that here."
Annie nodded, but argued; "But, didn't you and Britta defile our study table your first time? And I can't believe I just mentioned that…ugh. I think I just killed my own mood."
"Yeah…we did, but that's different."
"How is it different? That was our study table, this is some random room we've never seen anyone in, aside from 'Professor Professorson' that one night our sophomore year. It should matter less to you if we do something that might bother others who find out!"
Annie finished her little speech, lapsing into her own thoughts, incredulity dominating her mind, wondering if it was due to her inexperience, especially when compared to Britta, or if Jeff just found it easier to control himself with her, and Britta just made him more…carnally ravenous. Given that Jeff had told Annie earlier in the evening that there wasn't anything 'real' with Britta, but it was all just sex, she could see that being true, but also managed to use that thought to tamp down her jealousy. She wanted to be arousing to Jeff, but she wanted more than JUST that.
"Because you're you, Annie…with Britta, it was a situation where I had an opportunity, and I took it. Call me gross, but that's what it was. I won't pretend I wasn't attracted to her, but we've already been over that!"
Jeff paused momentarily, gathering his thoughts. He knew how he felt…he just wasn't sure how to put it into words that he was comfortable saying. Time to go for broke…and pray it didn't backfire on him. If he missed his chance because of some stupid morality he'd discovered, mostly because of this woman…like he'd already decided, she wasn't just another woman. Missing this one would actually hurt him in places he didn't usually allow himself to get hurt.
"With you, for our first time together, if it ever happens…I don't want it to be in some random place, like here, or even the study room. I want it to be somewhere special. At least in one of our apartments, for God's sake. When I say special, I don't mean it has to be on a beach with a mariachi band serenading us…I just don't want to feel like some high school kid doing it in a car to keep his girl's parents from knowing. If we were to take that step here…I'd feel like I was trying to hide it or something, like I was ashamed of it, and I don't want to do that to you. You're more important than that."
Annie's mouth dropped open, and her eyes softened. Jeff knew that if she did her 'Awwwww' thing, even without Shirley here to provide stereo, he'd likely snap. Even after all these years, and his occasional turn away from the 'Dark Side,' in order to help the group out with one thing or another, he still wasn't used to opening up the way he had tonight. He was the most vulnerable he could remember ever being, even more than when he opened up to his father at Thanksgiving.
"Jeff…I'm pleasantly shocked."
Jeff grinned. "Explanation good enough?"
Annie leaned in and gave him a far more chaste kiss than their more recent kisses had been, "Just one more example of why I love you, Jeff Winger."
She eased herself off of Jeff's lap. He was disappointed, but simultaneously relieved. After spending years denying his feelings for Annie, now that he had started letting them out, it was a little bit like holding back water from a broken dam…the more it was allowed to flow, the more the dam broke. Annie was walking around the side of the room, looking at the various ancient printers and computers that made up Greendale's mythical 'night school.'
"You know what this room reminds me of, Jeff?"
Jeff leaned back in the chair again, remembering the debacle surrounding his fake class in their second year. The thought brought a faint smile to his face, as he recalled tricking the Dean, chasing 'Professorson' through Troy and Abed's blanket-fort (When they entered their friend's construction, and realized they would have to crawl on hands and knees Annie had taken the lead…which Jeff didn't mind in the least,) tackling Annie to save her when he thought she was in danger, after a threatening phone call…but most of all, how much fun he had running around, doing stupid stuff with Annie. Anyone else, and he'd have complained about what they were doing. With her, he just complained that he might lose his free credit. He'd enjoyed the time spent with her too much to focus on exactly what they were doing.
"No ideas, Jeff?" He'd drifted away into his thoughts, and completely failed to answer her question. "Sorry, Annie…just thinking back to that night. It reminded me of a lot of things. What about you?"
She turned her head, and beamed at him. Jeff felt himself taken totally off guard by the power of her smile when she was truly happy, especially happy with him. If he'd ever doubted the fact that Annie could get just about anything she wanted from him, that doubt was gone. He fully acknowledged (to himself…never to Annie, and definitely never to anyone else. Well…maybe someday to Annie, once he was sure she wouldn't abuse it, or maybe just if she ever asked…or maybe he'd just tell her) that he was completely whipped for her.]
"It just reminds me of a lesson that you started teaching me when we were debate partners, and I like to think I demonstrated how well I learned during the fake conspiracy class investigative outing you and I had."
Jeff raised an eyebrow at her, "Oh yeah, what lesson is that?"
Annie fully turned and started walking back towards him. "Jeff, you should know this one better than anyone…you even complimented me on it that night. I've gotten pretty good at going 'off script' when the situation calls for it, you know."
Jeff grinned, and Annie sat herself on a corner of the desk near him, reclining on an elbow slightly, reminding Jeff of nothing more than a torch singer, draping herself across a piano in a high-end bar. Jeff had to restrain himself from taking advantage of their respective positions to sneak a glance up her skirt. Oddly enough, he felt comforted by this urge…at least he knew he was still himself at the core, even though he had to acknowledge that what Annie was saying was true, and never more so than tonight.
"I guess I HAVE had a bit of an effect on you and some of the less-than-scholarly aspects of your education, haven't I?" he asked, leaning forward, to bring his chair to its upright position, before standing. He placed his left hand on Annie's left shoulder, and began to slowly circle around the side of the desk, using her as an orbit point. "Of course, you've done the same to me." He stopped in his slow walk partway around her, bending over to give her a quick, gentle kiss before resuming in his course. "I mean…look, I planned all this to be some huge, romantic gesture to you. Yeah, we've improvised from time to time, deviated from what I had planned, but for the most part…we've stuck to what I had thought we would."
Annie looked at him with a non-subtle amount of adoration. "Well, Jeff…if I get any say in the matter, I'd offer you a compliment, because I think you've done an excellent job with the whole thing. You've hit some speedbumps, but everything's gotten worked out, right?"
Jeff nodded, once he'd reached the far side of the desk, he'd let his hand drag off of her shoulder as he paced the room.
"I need you to understand how impressed and proud I've been by your ability to adapt to situations, Annie. Both tonight, and in the past. Our confrontation with the dean…the debate…you're an all-around impressive young woman."
Annie smiled at Jeff…it was like a switch had been turned with him. All his old iciness and the distance he tried to create between them for so many years were gone. It was refreshing. Annie actually felt less doubt about her own desirability than she had in ages. She hoped Jeff would come to his endgame soon enough. She was tired, and she wanted to find out what laid in store for her, and the two of them once his plan was completed.
"You know what?" Jeff suddenly stopped pacing, and turned to Annie. "It's time for me to follow my own advice a bit. C'mon…I'm deviating from the script a little bit."
Jeff grabbed Annie's hand, and practically dragged her out of the room, and down the dark halls of Greendale.
They stopped in a large, open part of the hallway, where the roof came to a domed skylight. The moonlight poured in, making this the lightest possible part of the hall. Jeff knew that if the enigmatic creature from earlier was around, there was no way it could miss seeing them, and there's no way they would be able to see it. Annie just felt like she was in a spotlight on a stage, and her world was reduced to her and Jeff.
"Ok, Jeff, you decided to go 'off script' and drag us out here, what's neat about this spot?"
Jeff turned to regard Annie, and in doing so, moved into her space, facing her directly. He put his hands on her hips in a familiar manner, as if he had no fears of whether or not she would accept such a familiar gesture. After everything they'd been through that night, maybe it was right that he feel so comfortable with her, but he wondered if they might be moving too quickly. After all, the flame that burns brightest…
"Annie…after we finished with our showdown with the dean, we gathered with the rest of the group out here. It was one of those times that I think I'll remember forever. No worrying about studying, no big crisis, no Abed being absurdly meta…just enjoying the company of the seven of us. Then, of course, Abed and Troy decided making the front page of Greendale's newspaper was 'too mainstream' and brought the whole blanket fort down around us."
Annie nodded, she remembered that night, and felt the same as Jeff…except she felt it had been slightly more nerve wracking than he seemed to, with her feelings and hurt being exposed that night.
"When the blankets came down, you and I seemed to react instinctively, I remember ducking towards the area with the most room as what was supposed to be our ceiling collapsed on us…and you did the same, which brought us face to face with each other."
Annie got the feeling she knew where Jeff was leading with this. Her heart began fluttering with anticipation.
"Tonight was supposed to be about fixing the mistakes between us…I've done a pretty bad job of it so far, but this is one I think I can manage. I regretted not doing this then, so I'm going to make up for it now."
With that, Jeff's right hand moved up to cup the back of her head, and his face moved towards hers. As time seemed to move at a glacial pace as Jeff moved to kiss her, every fiber of Annie's being was shouting at her to move in towards him as well, but she was rendered paralyzed by her emotions. She couldn't believe everything that had happened tonight…and she knew her next move.
Their lips finally met, and time sped back up for Annie. She eagerly returned his kiss, even though it wasn't the first that night, it was one of the most important, due to what it represented to her. By bringing her out here, she realized that Jeff was owning up to his mistakes of the past, and doing what he could to make things better. She was resolved…he was worth the effort she was about to commit to.
They kept the kiss brief, but intimate, Jeff had moved his hand back down to the small of her back, and Annie had wrapped her arms around his neck. Even after their faces moved apart, neither one made a move to break the embrace they were in, both looking deeply into each other's eyes, and sharing a coy smile.
Suddenly, Annie felt her legs swept out from under her, and she let out a gasp of surprise. A fraction of a second later, she realized that Jeff had picked her up again, bride-crossing-the-threshold style, and was lowering himself to the floor, her along with him.
Once Jeff had seated himself cross-legged, and situated her in his lap, arms still around his neck, he turned his face back to hers. Annie cocked an eyebrow at him in question.
"Sorry…it's hard to stay bent over like that for long." He said to her with a grin.
Annie just rolled her eyes. "Well, maybe you should have thought about that before you decided to get so damn tall!" she sniped at him with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. Jeff merely nuzzled her neck in response while he chuckled at her.
"So, was this considered off-book for you, coming out here?" she questioned him, hoping it would lead into her recent resolution. It was really something he ought to know about.
"Well, it wasn't in my initial plan for the evening, so yeah…I guess it was." Jeff admitted to her, loving the sensation of holding Annie in his arms.
Annie gave him another beaming smile. "It was cute. Even with the ups and downs, I've appreciated everything you've done tonight. I'm thinking it's been well worth it."
"Yeah, Annie, it's definitely been worth it. I just have one question about everything." Jeff's face twisted slightly with concern, giving Annie a slightly unsettling feeling.
"What is it, Jeff? You've kind of got a captive audience here."
"Do you think we're moving too fast with everything? I mean…up until half an hour ago, we hadn't kissed for three years, and now we're acting like a couple that's on honeymoon or something." As he asked this, Jeff felt the bottom of his stomach drop out. He had to ask it, but it was probably the single question that could damage what was happening between them the most. If Annie came to her senses and realized how much better she could do…
Annie released her hold from around Jeff's neck, and draping her right arm over his shoulder for support, she gently stroked his cheek with her left, and gently kissed him. "No…I don't. I think we're letting years of dancing around each other catch up with us."
Jeff slowly opened his eyes from the last kiss, his heart pounding, but his stomach settling. He felt like he may have dodged a final bullet that may have kept them apart. Annie continued to speak "In fact, I think it's my turn to go a little 'off-script' now…kind of."
Now it was Jeff's turn to look at Annie questioningly. She didn't keep him in suspense. "Well, you know that I actively pursued Troy for a bit, right?"
Jeff nodded his head off to the side in a sardonic manner "Well…if by actively, you mean passive-aggressively, sure." Annie just pressed her lips together and waggled a finger at him in mock annoyance. "Ok…new ground rule. You just say yes to everything I ask until I'm done, got it?" which earned a chuckle from Jeff. "Annie…you can get me to agree to a lot of things, but me agreeing blindly to agree? Fat chance, babe."
Annie gave off an exaggeratedly exasperated sigh "Fine! And babe? Really? Ugh. You can do better than that."
She gave Jeff a split-second to let that sink in, watching him visibly reel in shock. It was a minor complaint, but she hadn't ever been fond of 'babe.' She had tolerated it with Vaughn, not wanting something so small to cause a rift between her and what held the potential to be her first 'grown-up' relationship. As it stood…she barely even thought about it that way these days. They had dated a few months, and didn't ever get further than kissing. Vaughn was out on 'vision quests' and 'cleansings' and other things she just didn't get, too often for them to build a real relationship. They were 'boyfriend and girlfriend,' but she realized later how little that had actually meant to either of them, other than they could both claim that they weren't alone. When she had decided to stay in Greendale, she didn't shed any tears, and neither did he.
With Jeff…things were different, and she was about to raise the stakes. "Anyway, I pursued Troy, and you…and I don't think you can deny that I was fairly aggressive there." Jeff nodded in assent and unconsciously reached up to grab his nose. "Well, I don't know if Troy ever told you about the blanket I loaned him when I got roped into helping him with a date he wanted to plan, thinking that he might be asking ME out."
Jeff grinned. "I seem to remember Troy rambling slightly incoherently about you and some blanket…but I never really got it. I'm dying to know what this was all about now."
Annie smiled up at Jeff, riding the line between genuinely sweet, and threateningly sweet. "Well, it was the blanket my grandmother used to court my grandfather. Now…I guess it's not really necessarily the normal way of things in our society, but it definitely isn't unheard of either, and I think I've proven I'm rather comfortable with it, and it's definitely part of my familial tradition in some respects…"
Jeff looked at Annie with an eyebrow raised, and rapidly shook his head, communicating a lack of comprehension and understanding. "Annie…you're starting to ramble. What are you talking about?"
Annie firmed up her posture as much as she could while remaining in Jeff's lap, and switched to what Jeff recognized as her "formidable" tone. "Jeff Winger, I am officially courting you! I've told you a few times tonight that I love you, and I stand by that. And I know you're not ready to say it to me yet, and that's ok. But after everything that's happened tonight, I know there's something real between us, and so I'll stick to it until we're ready for the next step…so, there it is. Jeff, you are hereby courted!"
Jeff couldn't keep from chuckling…she was just so EARNEST, and serious about the whole thing. She was too cute for words. Still, he had to say something. He eased her off of his lap, and stood up, holding out his hand to help her get up as well. Once she was standing, he pulled her in for a gentle kiss, and once it broke, he responded.
"Ok…so I'm courted. I just hope your feelings aren't hurt when this ends up being the world's shortest courtship."
Annie frowned. "What the hell does that even mean? A few minutes ago, you stop us from getting all hot and bothered, and you talk about 'our first time together,' and now you're saying that this is going to be a short courtship? Jeff…where do you see this relationship going?"
By this point, Jeff had taken her by the hand, and was leading her towards an exit door. He didn't even turn to look at her when he said "The quad."
"Jeff…that isn't what I mean!"
Now he stopped, whirled to face her and look her directly in the eyes. "Actually Annie, you'll be surprised to find out that it's exactly what you mean."
Annie had to admit at the least that her curiosity was piqued as she followed Jeff out of the building and onto the campus grounds.
A/N: Ok...got a few things here.
Last Chapter: I apologize for the ups and downs there. It was intended to be "humorous." Sorry...I know it was a weak joke, but I was endlessly amused by Jeff's reticence to get steamy in a public restroom, and Annie's failure to let him explain properly...and then Jeff's taking advantage of the situation to probe for information. I think with this chapter, you'll see we're back on track.
Next Chapter: Only two more (and an epilogue) to go! I tend to think of the next chapter as the "John Galt" chapter...if you're familiar with that reference, then you may have an idea of what's in store next chapter. No matter what though, we're nearing the end.
Tumblr: as always, I'm available on my tumblr to discuss anything...it can be related to this story, Community in general, or just random chat. daneblr is my tumblr name, and there's a link in my profile. If you ask a spoilery question, my answer will be posted behind a cut to preserve those who wish to avoid spoilers.
This story in general: The more and more I write, the more confused I am about whether I ship J/A in part because they remind me of me and my wife, or if I'm just reading me and my wife's relationship into how I see these two. Regardless, I'm definitely putting a good part of myself and my relationship into this story. My wife WAS the aggressor at the beginning of our relationship, and...well, I think I'm going to go into more detail about such things when I do a "Ficcing Lessons Learned" series on my tumblr once this story is over.
Thanks again for reading, everyone. I hope you continue to enjoy as we're getting close to the end, and I appreciate your comments and criticisms. Don't be afraid to poke at my flaws...the longer this story gets, the more of them I find (again, to go into my lessons learned...)