Pairing: Jeff/Annie
Spoilers: Through the finale of Season 4, Jeff's graduation, and dinner with the group
Word Count: 5352
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.

'Love love love! She and Jeff were in love!' Annie couldn't help but singing in her head. Was this course of events what she had expected when Jeff sent an oddly demanding series of texts earlier in the night? No. Was she glad it had happened though? Hell yes, she was!

She couldn't keep from looking up at his face on occasion, just because now she could, without any worries of accusations of having 'a crush' or 'googly eyes' or whatever.

Actually, Shirley would probably still grumble about googly eyes, but now they were justified, not something Jeff and Annie did because they were dancing around each other. If anything, Annie guessed they'd probably just be worse about it. The thought of what that would do to Shirley made Annie stifle a giggle, but it didn't escape Jeff's attention. He'd been keeping his gaze forward, as he guided them back to the study room, with his arm wrapped around her, but occasionally taking surreptitious glances down towards her, which allowed for small blips of eye contact when they happened to sync up in their looks. The energy between them was nearly electric when those would occur, but Annie's aborted laughter broke Jeff out of his Annie-trance, and with her head rested securely against his chest, she could feel his voice as much as hear it.

"What's so funny, shortstuff?"

"I was just thinking about how our friends will react…especially Britta and Shirley. I think you're going to have to watch yourself around Shirley for awhile. Don't eat any brownies…she may spike them."

Jeff looked down at Annie with a look of shock on his face. "How did your mind even go there? You're disturbingly devious."

Annie just buried her face in his chest, which made walking admittedly difficult, and caused a brief stumble. Once they had recovered, she returned the jibe. "You love it, and you know it." Jeff took a second to consider, and his nod appeared to concede the point, but his words were slightly contrary. "Well, I love you. Deviousness? I'm not thinking so much…unless you use it for my purposes, then I'm all for it."

"Wait…are you saying we should become some sort of evil duo?"

Jeff stopped dead in his tracks. "No. Definitely not. Not now, not ever. No." He paused, and appeared to consider something, then continued. "We'd be an incredibly sexy evil couple, and I'm betting you'd look amazing in black leather…but no. And never, ever let Abed hear a word about this discussion." He started them back on their progress towards the study room, and Annie chimed in.

"Yeah, he got a little hung up on that dark timeline thing…probably best not to encourage it."

"No, I don't feel like having to watch out for bone saws again."

"Oh, he'd never hurt you." Annie flushed slightly before asking her next question. "So, you think I'd look good in black leather, huh?"

Jeff smiled down at Annie, "I'm pretty sure you look good in most things. Speaking of…how do you feel about sexy red dresses?"

"Oooooh. I think this is something we'll have to explore at a later date."

By this point, they had arrived in the study room, and Jeff led them to the familiar study table they had spent so many hours around, and leaned back against it, maneuvering Annie with him, so they were both sitting against its edge, side-by-side. Annie figured it was just a quick rest before Jeff grabbed his keys and they left, but then he started talking…which Annie figured, shouldn't really be a surprise. It was Jeff. He talked.

"So, I've been thinking…"

"Mmmhmm?" Annie barely managed a mumble in response.

"You and me…do we even know what 'we' are, besides in love? I mean…we can't really call ourselves lovers, can we?" He paused for a moment, and then added in a quiet aside, not even directed at her; "At least, not yet, anyway."

Annie grinned up at him "I heard that, you know…I think that's called counting your chickens before they're hatched."

Jeff was incredulous. "Counting your chickens…hey, Ma Kent, the 1950's called, and you and your clever witticisms are due back on the farm."

Annie dug a finger into his side and giggled at his yelp. Jeff's only response was to tip her head up, and give her a fake glare, that turned into a long, smoldering look once Annie's laughter died off. Within moments, that look had turned into a passionate kiss.

When they broke, Annie pulled him close again. Even if they weren't kissing, she loved being able to hold him and be held. The new freedom was exhilarating. "Thank you so much for tonight, Jeff. Even with the bad spots…it all ended up good. I love you more than you can realize."

Jeff chuckled, "I dunno…I'm pretty lovable. And I know it." Annie rolled her eyes at this, even though he couldn't see her face. At least his ego was endearing…most of the time.

Jeff finally broke apart from her, and backed away. Annie noticed he fished down into his pocket, and pulled out something in his closed fist. Her heart started racing…Jeff had just been talking about figuring out how they defined themselves as a couple minutes ago. He couldn't be…

"Annie, look…I'm not entirely sure how to say this, but I want to talk about making things a little more official."

"Jeff…"

"No, Annie, just give me a second here, ok?"

Annie nodded, terrified that her fears were going to be justified. She loved Jeff, and she was happier than she could believe that he loved her back, and they were going to take a shot at things, but she knew she couldn't say 'yes' to him if he proposed. Not yet. She crossed her fingers, fully aware of the irony of a girl hoping to not be proposed to by the man they loved.

"Well, Annie, through tonight, as we've covered several times…we went backwards through quite a few of the moments in our mutual past where things went wrong, over and over…and now we're back where it started. We started in the study room four years ago, and we started in the study room tonight. I had my graduation in the study room earlier today, and now, we're ending in the study room, and I like to think we've come full circle, but with some important differences along the way."

Annie crinkled her nose, "But Jeff, like you said…we went backwards. Wouldn't that make it a reverse circle? I mean, I know circles don't have directions or anything…but if we were on a circular track, there'd be a backwards and forwards…"

Jeff gave an appraising, but pained look. "Annie…I know it's in your nature, but do you realize what you've done by engaging in your very Annie-like nitpicking?"

She felt only complete confusion. Jeff was still obviously ramping up to something. Annie shook her head. "No, what?"

"You've taken what was going to be an incredibly romantic moment," Jeff took a break to smirk at her, which still managed to make her feel weak-kneed. "And you Britta'd it."

"HEY!"

Jeff and Annie, both startled, turned towards the study room door, having heard the voice coming from somewhere outside of the room. They looked back towards each other, and then a double-take towards the door. As one, they spoke the single word that they were both thinking, even though they knew they had to be mistaken.

"Britta?!"

There was the sound of scuffling movement outside of the study room, and suddenly, the lights went out. As they were plunged into darkness, Annie instinctively grabbed onto Jeff, who readily reciprocated, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, and pulling her in tight.

Their eyes adjusted slightly, and as they looked to the door, and where they saw the familiar, terrifying, man-scorpion-esque silhouette form they had seen earlier. Jeff felt Annie tense up in his arms, and then felt his own tension skyrocket as sparks appeared at its shoulders. He had no clue what was happening, or how to fix it…but he had a good feeling he wasn't going to be able to use his silver tongue in this case.

The sparks began to move towards them, but instead of heading straight at them, they split up to move around them. From this new perspective of not looking directly at them, Jeff was able to see that he, a grown man, had been scared stiff of sparklers, like children play with on the 4th of July. They were being carried around and around them by a pair running in opposite directions, who were hooting and shouting at them as well.

"Yeah, love!"

"Let's hear it for love!"

After mere seconds, and hearing their voices, Jeff was able to pick out the merry faces of Troy and Britta as their tormentors. He was completely baffled…how did either of them know that Jeff and Annie were here? Or that Jeff and Annie had, in fact, become Jeff and Annie…which Jeff was assuming they knew, from their catcalls.

Suddenly, the last piece clicked.

"Ok, that's enough!" Jeff shouted. He heard a grumbling voice from over near the door, "I told you hooligans that this would just scare them…damn homages. Hey, Andre! Hit the breaker!"

At Shirley's order, the lights came flooding back on, and the scene was suddenly much, much clearer to Jeff. He barked at the two still circling them like flies. "Hey, you two idiots, stop where you are, back up, and stay put!"

They did as he demanded, with Britta ending up sitting on the back of the couch, and Troy being able to rejoin the main group, which consisted of Shirley, Andre, who had just rejoined them, and a black suited…figure, that Jeff had realized was Abed.

Jeff took a good look at Abed…he was wearing a modified version of his Halloween costume from their second year, where he had been a xenomorph from Alien. Now, however, there was a harness, with a Steadicam mounted in the front, and a boom microphone mounted in the back. When Abed bent over to look in the viewfinder for a shot, it allowed the mic to swing forward, over his head. The whole getup, between helmet, boom, and hunching, made him look eerily inhuman.

Jeff shook his head, "I feel like I'm in a damn Scooby-Doo cartoon. It was the old man dressed as a ghost all along." He took a quick look down at Annie, who was still clinging to him, eyes wide in shock, focused on the knot of their friends, and stammering out fragments of sentences. "I…but…how?"

Abed took this time to speak for the first time. "They did it on Scrubs."

Jeff consciously tamped down his rising anger. They had been kept on the run, and half terrified because Abed wanted to do an homage…and film it, apparently. At this point, Andre chimed in. "I just love a good public display of affection, especially proposals!"

Jeff allowed, given Andre's past, that this was obviously accurate, but something was very wrong here. Before he could say anything, he heard Annie squeak out, barely loud enough for him to hear "Proposal?!"

"Nobody move an inch from where they are now!" Jeff thundered. He leaned down to be able to speak to Annie face to face, loosening himself from her grip. "Hey…stay right here, ok? I'm going to figure out exactly what the hell is going on." Annie just nodded at him. He dodged in to give her a quick kiss, which was met with a collection of groans from the group. Annie was at least smiling as he pulled away though.

He turned to walk towards the main group at the door, when he heard Britta. "Hey, pointy-face! Over here."

As he turned to walk the opposite direction of his initial impulse, he heard Annie ask "Wait…where's Pierce?"

Troy was the one who chimed in with the answer. "Yeah…let's just say that we hope Fat Neil is having a good time with Vicki, because she is going to be ANGRY in the morning, and knowing women, she's probably going to make him pay for it."

Troy ignored the dirty looks Britta and Shirley shot him at his remark about 'knowing women,' and went on. "When the second half of the group arrived an half an hour or so ago, they parked in the lot you guys didn't. Well…Vicki's car is there too. We're guessing she just went home with Neil to get freaky or something. Anyway, as soon as Pierce saw it, he said he was going to 'go do stuff' to it, and he'd catch up. We haven't seen him since."

Jeff just shook his head, and Annie, predictably, let out a shocked huff, following it up with a "That's terrible!"

Jeff just turned to Britta, "Ok, what is it, sourface?"

Britta sneered right back. "So, popping the big question, huh? Finally decided to put on your big boy pants and stop hiding your feelings?"

"Well, Britta, I guess that depends on what you mean by 'the big question.'" Jeff delivered his rejoinder with a completely stoic expression.

Confusion clouded over Britta's face. "Wait…Abed told all of us that you were declaring your love for Annie tonight, and then proposing…" Jeff could only cover his face with his hand, and shake his head before he responded, "Well…he was half right, I guess. That's going to hurt his averages though. There goes his reputation for being all-seeing."

Britta's stunned smile spread across her face, "Wait…you told Annie you loved her?! You sly dog! What did she say? What did she say?"

Jeff's face twisted into a grimace, "Yes I did, and actually, she told me she loved me first."

Britta's playful swat at his arms made him dodge backwards. "Of course she did. You are one lucky cradle-robber, you know that? So…if you aren't proposing, why are you guys still here?"

"Ok…first of all," Jeff said, pointing behind himself in the general direction of Troy, "You have zero room to talk about cradle-robbing. And secondly, she's easily one of the most grown up out of all of us. I mean, have you MET the rest of us?!"

Britta just rolled her eyes at him, but between the half-hearted manner in which she was firing her verbal barbs at him, and the glee he had seen on her face as she ran around Annie and himself with sparklers, recreating a scene from Scrubs at Abed's behest, Jeff was guessing Britta wasn't maintaining her old opposition to Jeff and Annie getting together. Jeff also suspected she still hurt a little from Troy's breakup with her, and he hoped that seeing two of her closest friends becoming something more to each other would help buoy her spirits a little. Jeff realized he would have to be eternally grateful to Britta for her indirect part in making it possible for him and Annie to find each other.

With a tight smile down at the blond, Jeff pulled her in for a hug. "You have to take good care of her, you know? You may be the so-called leader and all that, but she's the favorite." Jeff could only chuckle in response, "Honestly, I think we both know she'll be taking care of me as much as I will be her…"

It was then when Jeff heard Abed call from behind him. "Jeff! I'm a little worried that some of the darker scenes might not turn out…how do you feel about reshooting using 'day-for-night' techniques?" Jeff squinted his eyes shut as if pained, and released Britta. "You'd better go talk to him. Send your girlfriend over. I'll keep her from feeling all left out." Jeff nodded, and headed over to the larger group, stopping by Annie on the way. "Hey, why don't you go hang out with Britta for a few? Things seem to be…interesting. I'm trying to sort them out." Annie smiled and nodded at him, but before she let him move on, pulled him down for a kiss on the cheek and a whispered "I love you" in his ear.

Jeff could feel himself blushing and a strange, pleasant sensation in his stomach, like electricity. He approached the group of his friends, and immediately Andre pulled him in for a handshake, and congratulations. Jeff braced himself. "Ok…Britta told me. You guys should know, I'm not proposing to Annie tonight."

Sure enough, here it came. Predictably, Shirley was first. "Say what?!" her voice seemed especially shrill tonight. Jeff made a slicing motion with both of his hands, and steadied himself, but it didn't work, due to Abed stealing the initiative from him. "Jeff…everything pointed towards a proposal from you tonight. You got Annie down here the night after you graduated, just her and you, and took her all over campus, and tried to redeem yourself for the times you felt you hadn't done something right in your past together. It was cool…I almost felt like I was watching Quantum Leap, but with less of a body-swap gimmick."

Jeff boggled at him, "Abed…exactly how long have you been following us?" As always, Abed maintained his composure and stoic look as he answered Jeff. "We got here about 10 minutes after Annie did." He pointed over at Troy, who Jeff just now noticed was wearing a black jumpsuit similar to Abed's, but with the harness and helmet removed. "Troy handled the outdoor shots, and I did indoor shooting, and we'll use security camera footage where we need to. Of course, your choice of using the hallway at times made it difficult to get a good shot without you noticing me…as you noticed."

"Abed, how many rooms have security cameras, and how do you know about all of them?" Jeff was feeling oddly violated, and wondered exactly when the cameras had been installed. Abed's answer didn't make him feel better.

"If it has a door, it has a camera. Freshman year, I managed to convince the dean that the then-current compliment of security cameras wasn't adequate, and that more needed to be installed. I also got him to wire them for sound…and give me access to the control system."

"Why?" Jeff practically shouted, exasperated.

"I figured I could probably find some interesting footage to do a piece on. Never did…until now. I figured two of my closest friends dancing around each other for years before deciding to commit to each other on the graduation day of one of them would be a winner." Abed's voice took on a definite tone of wheedling "I've got the release forms for you to sign with me…" but when Jeff turned on him with his darkest glare, Abed backed off, "we'll talk about it later. Just give it some thought. By the way, I picked these up in the hall when you guys were running from me." Holding out his hand, he offered what Jeff recognized as Annie's keys to him. Suddenly, Jeff realized what had hit him in the leg when he had scooped Annie up to 'rescue' her.

"Actually, would you mind hanging onto them? And maybe…dropping Annie's car off at my place? I was going to give her a ride, and this way, I still can, and she'll have her car when she wants to leave."

Abed considered it for a minute, and offered a bargain. "Sure…but only if you sign the forms and do a couple of re-shoots."

Jeff glared. "Fine, but Annie and I both get production credits on it, and final sign-off on the finished product."

"Done." Abed passed Annie's keys back to Troy, who was grinning, Jeff thought, like an idiot.

Shirley decided she'd been ignored long enough. "Ok, that's enough about from Spielberg about his little movie here. Jeffrey, if you aren't proposing…what are you doing with that girl? Abed filled us in about what you've done already…and we saw you pull something out of your pocket, so what on God's green earth is going on?"

"You know what…I'm not getting into it with you guys. I've had a very, very long night, after having a long day, and yes, I got myself into this, but I certainly didn't ask for this to be a group outing. Now, I'll tell you that yes, Annie and I are now together, and no, you can't convince me that it's the wrong thing to do. And no, I'm not proposing to her, not now, maybe not ever. Maybe I will…maybe I'll do it next Thursday! But frankly, that's between Annie and me, and you will all find out afterwards, not before and not during unless I suddenly get very prone to public displays of affection, or you all follow me around again like crazed stalkers!"

Jeff paused for a minute to take a breath, but totally missed Abed and Troy whispering to each other.

"Awesome…Winger speech to give heightened dramatic tension and ultimately, assist in the denouement."

"You still filming?"

In response, Abed gave a low-key nod to the security camera that covered the study room. "Besides producing what I think may end up being a film with awards potential, tonight's developments have other significant advantages."

Troy looked at his friend in confusion. "Like what? Jeff gets to bang another hottie? Potentially in our apartment where we'd have to listen? Yeah, Abed…that'll be awesome."

Abed shook his head, "No, Annie won't be living with us much longer anyway. She and Jeff'll move in together pretty quick. I give it a month, month and a half at the outside. No…with the two of them together, this ensures that we'll never lose Jeff. We probably wouldn't anyway, but we would always run the risk that his old life and morals would take him over again. Annie won't ever let him abandon the group though. This gives us increased cohesiveness."

"Ok…the Jeff part is pretty cool, and it'll be nice that these two can stop being stuck eternally flirting…and Annie'll be happy she's finally got her guy, but we're losing her? Dude, that sucks."

"Yeah, but we all have to move forward with our lives at some point. Besides, with her room freed up, you know what that enables us to do?"

Troy's curiosity was piqued. "What?"

"A return of a full-sized Dreamatorium." Abed, already whispering, filled his voice with hushed excitement. Troy, on the other hand, seemed skeptical. "I dunno man…I kinda thought we were mostly past that." Abed just gave him a deep, searching look, and Troy quickly caved. "Ok, we can give it some thought…"

Grinning, the duo did their handshake.

In the meantime, Shirley was saying her piece to Jeff after recovering from the shock of his speech to the group. "Jeffrey…I understand you don't want to be told what to do, but I need to make one thing very, very clear to you." Shirley allowed her voice to get dark and intimidating, "If you ever hurt that girl, so help me, I will find you, and I will snap you in half. You got me?" Jeff allowed a grin to grow on his face, "Shirley…I'm going to do my best to avoid it, but I guarantee, just knowing myself; that I'm going to make Annie cry at least once in our relationship…probably multiple times. Just know that I'm going to be trying to be a better man for her."

With that, Shirley pulled Jeff in for a hug. "I know you will, sweetie. You'll make her happy…but when you upset her, just better watch yourself." Jeff just nodded, and kept silent as Andre put in his final piece of advice. "You just remember, like I told you when you were plastered, and nearly married Britta…it's a lot of hard work. Get yourself ready for that now." Jeff gave a simple thanks, and offered Andre his hand, who took it, and pulled him in for a backslapping hug…but quietly included some more whispered advice. "When you two get in a fight, call me, we'll go for a beer and vent some steam together. You've got my number."

Jeff smiled, knowing that even if they talked tough to him, his friends loved him, and loved Annie, and had both of their backs. Him and Annie getting together wasn't just about the two of them loving each other, but helped form a more stable core that the study group could continue to revolve around, even after they all graduated, especially if they started moving away.

"Hey, guys…I know I was pretty upset, but I was pretty surprised too, and I'm not going to pretend that I wouldn't have preferred to have tonight alone, but…thanks for caring. Now…do you think Annie and I could have a little time? We'll see you all soon, I promise."

The rest of the group demurred, and began to leave. Troy called out across the room, "C'mon Britta! Let's leave the lovebirds to their…bird stuff."

While Jeff was confronting the group, however, Britta and Annie were having a bit of a heart to heart. Annie approached Britta's spot at the couches with a little trepidation, remembering the last time she had started a relationship with someone who had been an interest to Britta in the past. The older woman comforted her with a smile though, and Annie felt less nervous, but still allowed Britta to take the reins to start.

"So, finally landed the big one, huh?" Annie couldn't read the tone in Britta's voice…friendly, but with an undercurrent she just couldn't identify.

"Yeah…are you, y'know, ok with this?" Annie asked with some timidity.

Britta's demeanor immediately changed, Annie's question must have struck some sort of nerve within her, and she brightened up considerably. "Annie, of course I am. I'm happy for you. If anyone deserves to find someone that makes them happy, it's you…and if anyone can keep that jag in line, it's you."

Annie couldn't hold it in anymore. "Ohhhh, Brit-ttaaaa!" She practically yanked the blond into her arms for a hug. When they broke the hug, however, Britta noticed a new look of terror had surfaced on Annie's face. "Britta…I'm scared about what Abed said. Jeff's said some things that implied Abed was right before you guys got here. I'm not ready to get married! I mean…obviously I want to someday, but I want to actually date the guy first, y'know, and then there's all sorts of other factors to consider, and-"

Britta patted Annie's arm to get her attention. "Annie, power down…I should probably have let him tell you this himself, but you don't need to worry, Jeff isn't proposing tonight."

"He's not?"

"No…looks like Abed misread something in his tea leaves or whatever."

"Huh…that'll hurt his averages. Maybe he needs to recalibrate the Dreamatorium."

Britta wasn't sure which she found stranger, the fact that both Jeff and Annie expressed a concern for Abed's averages when it came to predictions, or the fact that Annie seemed to condone the use of Abed's imagination enabler. Either way…it was a comforting sign that maybe their most studious friend wasn't as 'normal' as everyone else seemed to think, when held up next to the rest of the group. She really did belong with them.

Just then, they heard Troy call out "C'mon Britta! Let's leave the lovebirds to their…bird stuff."

Annie and Britta exchanged a look as Annie mouthed "bird stuff?" to Britta. Britta just shook her head, and hugged Annie again, quietly telling her "Hey…you take good care of him too, but if he ever puts a toe out of line, we're going to be there to beat his head in, got it?"

Annie nodded at Britta as she headed towards the door, swinging a punch at Jeff as she passed him, making him wince and hold his upper arm. Jeff walked back to Annie, grateful to get to be alone with her again. "So…yeah, our friends are super awesome, huh?"

"Don't be sarcastic, Jeff. They were just trying to be sweet."

"Ok, but I need to make sure you understand, and please don't be pissed…I'm not proposing to you tonight."

Annie grinned at Jeff, he looked so worried that she was going to be upset that he wasn't asking her to marry him before they'd even had a real first date as a couple. "No, dummy…I'm not mad. I'm relieved. It's too soon."

Jeff let out a massive breath of air. "Oh, thank God! You have no idea what kind of pressure I'd been feeling there…I mean, I just got you, and I don't want to lose you already, but I really, really don't want to get engaged yet. I mean…I want us to be official and together, but I don't want it to be legally binding!"

Annie chuckled at how much Jeff was visibly relaxing since she'd told him she wasn't ready for marriage, but decided to take a jab at something he'd said, since she was getting a bit of a suspicion about some of his behavior earlier in the evening. "So…official, huh? Like, girlfriend and boyfriend?"

Jeff immediately stiffened. Annie had found the issue. "Ugh…I hate those terms. Way too high school." Annie scoffed, and open-hand slapped Jeff right where Britta had punched him, eliciting a yelp. "So, is that why you've been trying new nicknames for me all night?"

"Well…I mean, I thought that just maybe jumping straight into girlfriend and boyfriend might be too fast for you, plus I really hate saying them, so I figured if I found something…" Jeff trailed off weakly.

"What? You figured you'd introduce me as 'Annie, your princess,' or 'this is my sweetness, Annie?,' because those don't sound the least bit creepy, do they, Jeff? And after four years…no, Jeff…we can jump straight into the titles."

He rolled his eyes at her, "Fine…yes, I want you to be my…*sigh* girlfriend. Is that ok with you?"

Smiling at getting her way, she wrapped her arms around his neck, to pull him in for a kiss. "For the record, I like it when you call me your lady."

As their mouths neared each other, he whispered "Milady."

Just before their lips touched, she responded with her own whisper. "Milord."

A fraction of a second after they began their kiss, they both broke apart chuckling. Annie was the first to recover. "Are you laughing for the same reason I'm laughing?"

"I think so…is it because those, while adorable, are also really damn cheesy?" Annie just nodded in agreement.

"Fine then…you're my girlfriend, and we'll save the milady stuff for…occasions where incredible corniness is appropriate. Otherwise, how about we're just 'Jeff and Annie?' We'll emphasize the 'and' if we have to."

Annie smiled up at him. "I like that. Now…I think we were in the middle of something?"

Jeff looked confused for a moment, then comprehension dawned. "Oh, right…"

Annie couldn't tell if he was just playing, or if he had really forgotten about kissing her, but she didn't have to worry about it for long, as Jeff moved in to kiss her as passionately as she'd experienced thus far. He broke it off before long, however, looking deeply into her eyes, and using the thumb of the hand he was cupping her face with to stroke her cheek. Annie whispered out again, "Jeff, I really do love you."

Jeff's eyes softened, and he returned her whisper. "I love you too…just, I'm still new at all this, so if I'm not as good at saying it yet-"

"Totally understood."

"Thanks. Why don't we get going? We've spent more than enough time here. Let's go spend some time being 'us' in a place that isn't Greendale?"

Annie smiled at her boyfriend as he went over to flick off the lights. "Ok…but you have to always remember that Greendale got us together, so don't be so mean to it."

Jeff just grimaced at the idea of having to reduce the snarkiness he directed to his new alma mater, and reached down to entwine his fingers with Annie's, and as a pair, they left the room.

FIN.

"love is the ability to face the world together; hand in hand, side by side."
-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

A/N: Ok...story's done. That's all there is.

Well, yes...I'm still going to add an epilogue, and I consider it canon for this little story, but really, this is the end of the main story, and the epilogue is an end tag. It's still going to tie up a few last loose ends, and it'll be cute...but it's mostly fun, goofy stuff. Feel free to read it, or consider this the end. This was written so it could be an ending if something horrible happens to me before I get the epilogue up.

Ok...I went off the rails a little bit with some characterization in this chapter. I apologize. It was in service of the story, and I really, really tried to minimize it. For the record, I really do think Jeff and Andre would be pals. I just suspect Mr. Warner is busy/expensive. Off camera, Jeff and Andre hit the bars all the time. I'm sticking to that idea.

I've started my "Lessons Learned" (hashtag: #lessonslearned) series of posts on my tumblr (daneblr) if anyone wants to see what I'm going to try to do better if I should ever write fic again. This way, you can call me out when I fail miserably. Of course, as always, if you have questions about anything at all, like this story, Community, my life, cellular mitosis...hit me up there. I love talking. Just try to get me to stop...

The quote at the end is only a partial quote...and I don't even think it's the one I wanted to use. I vaguely remembered someone's senior quote from my old high school yearbooks...but I can't find them. Wife must have stashed them somewhere deep in storage. Anyway, this one seemed close, but here's the full text for reference. "Love does not consist of each of us admiring the other. Yes, it starts from there, but afterwards (if it is to continue being called love), we must both look outwards, together, and in the same direction. For love is the ability to face the world together; hand in hand, side by side. Falsely yours, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry"

So, while I'll probably repeat a lot of this at the end of the epilogue, for those who don't continue, let me just thank you for sticking with this for so long, and for your feedback, your encouragement, and your criticism. It is deeply, deeply appreciated. I'm grateful to Dan Harmon and the rest of the writing, editing and production staff of Community for their part in creating these characters, and to the actors, especially Joel McHale and Alison Brie, for giving us what I consider one of the best romances on TV that I've ever seen...even if it wasn't supposed to happen this way.

Again, thank you all.