Jeff dabbed some antiseptic onto the largest scrape on his knee and tried in vain to think of one good reason why he'd thought putting Annie into a spandex outfit had been a good idea. He hissed quietly at the stinging sensation, then applied a bandage. He returned the first aid paraphernalia to his safe and pulled on a pair of jeans and a gray shirt. The humidity still hung heavily in the air after his shower, and it didn't exactly help his state of mind to know that Annie had used the same shower less than thirty minutes earlier. Lathering her long, dark hair as hot, steaming water ran in rivulets down her slick, smooth–

God dammit!

He needed to get his head straight before he went out to face her again. She'd looked damn good at the fitness center, and she knew it. And what's more, she knew that he'd noticed. Fortunately, she seemed to buy his story about getting over an inner ear infection as the reason he'd tripped so many times on the treadmill. But the way she'd been strutting around, it was like she wanted him to notice. He'd never seen her openly flaunting her sexuality before. She was usually sexy without even trying to be, or even seemingly realizing it. If she learned to harness that power as a tool… Well, the world, and more specifically Jeff, was in trouble.

Okay.

Let's start with the premise that Annie is hot. That's just an objective truth, and thinking it no longer made Jeff feel like a dirty old man. After all, it's not like he was the only one that thought so. Even Britta got jealous of Annie sometimes. So, there was nothing wrong with that. He had a friend who happened to be female and who also happened to be very attractive, and occasionally he took notice of those facts. What of it? She'd certainly done her share of checking him out over the years. It didn't have to mean anything.

The bigger question was why she was suddenly trying to get his attention. She'd never done it before, even back when she used to pretend to be married to him. Well, there was a certain Santa's little helper outfit, but he'd chalked that up to the glee–club–induced hysteria they'd all experienced. Even that morning there had been no inkling of any forward behavior on Annie's part. Which probably meant it was Corinne's influence. They'd been in that room for too long to have done nothing other than picking out clothes, and Annie had seemed far too chummy with her after they'd emerged. Not to mention the way Corinne laughed when he saw Annie's outfit.

Yep, it had to be Corinne. That woman was pure trouble. Not only was she constantly looking at him like he was a piece of prime steak that she wanted to devour, but her incessant comments made him feel like an awkward teenager. Jeff had certainly been on the receiving end of suggestive comments from women before, but most of those had been from women he was already trying to pick up. Corinne, however, was the first senior citizen to make such comments to him, and he had no idea how to handle it. He knew how to deal with someone like Pierce if he made inappropriate comments to a young woman at Greendale; he'd tell him to stop being disgusting and move on. But he couldn't say something like that to Corinne, could he?

At any rate, Jeff figured that Corinne must have devised that gym scene as a means of torturing him. He wasn't entirely sure why Annie had gone along with it, though, and the last thing he needed was Corinne influencing her. This was something he'd have to keep his eye on.

In the meantime, though… two could play the torture game.

Jeff pulled off the gray shirt he'd only just put on and strode confidently out to the living room. Annie was sitting in one of his reclining chairs with her legs tucked up under her, reading a magazine. The chair was facing the television, though, so she didn't notice him at first. He walked behind her and over to the closet by the kitchen that housed his washer and dryer. There he made a show of digging through some clothes he'd left folded in a laundry basket, until he picked out a white undershirt. They were all white undershirts, but Annie wouldn't know that. Having selected one, he straightened and turned back towards the bathroom.

Annie was still flipping through her magazine.

Jeff frowned and cleared his throat. "Sorry, forgot to grab an undershirt." There were plenty of clean undershirts in his bedroom, and the shirt he'd chosen to wear didn't need one anyway, but Annie wouldn't know that either.

She didn't look up. "Why would you be sorry about that?"

"Um… you know, just didn't mean to be walking around without a shirt on."

Annie flipped another page. "It's your condo, Jeff, don't mind me. Just let me know when you're ready."

Jeff frowned again and headed back to his bedroom. He stuck the stupid undershirt into a dresser drawer and put his gray shirt back on. He added a belt and shoes, then returned to the bathroom to do his hair.

When he entered the living room again, Annie had put away the magazine and was rocking slowly, her chin perched on her fist. "I was thinking," she said as he approached her chair, "I have a couple things I need to get out of my car. Do you mind if we make a trip out to the parking garage?"

"No problem, I can show you the rest of the complex while we're at it." Annie climbed off her chair and followed him to the closet where he fished out their respective coats. On their way down to the lobby, Jeff extolled the association's amenities, from the extravagant, such as monthly wine tastings, to the more practical, like 24/7 guard service and security monitoring. "The buildings are even connected to dual power grids, so both grids would have to go down before we'd lose power."

"Wow." Annie seemed at a loss for a response and Jeff hoped he hadn't come off as pretentious. "In our building we have… candles."

The elevator door opened and they stepped out into the lobby. The oak desks and end tables, the gold trim everywhere, the fine leather chairs… all those things he'd found so tasteful and inviting when he'd toured as a prospective buyer suddenly seemed overly garish. Even the marble floor was spotless, despite the awful weather outside.

"Uh, you know, it's not that big of a deal." He led Annie through the lobby as quickly as he could. The parking garage was immediately adjacent to the main lobby, and they went through the entrance that provided direct access. Once in the garage, Annie took the lead, heading to the visitors' section where she'd left her car the night before. The garage was cold, being open to the air, but at least it was covered, which prevented the cars from being encased in ice like the outside world had been.

The driver's side door of Annie's Honda opened with a groan and she slid inside the car. The only contents Jeff could see though, aside from seats and a steering wheel, were a few stuffed animals propped up against the rear windshield.

"Did we come all the way out here for your stuffed animals?"

Annie looked up from where she had been fiddling with a lever on the car and gave him an annoyed look. "I'm trying to get the trunk open. The lock on the back doesn't work, and you have to get the interior release just right in order to–" A thunk sounded from the back of the car and the trunk lifted up a couple inches, causing Annie to pump her fist in victory. "Yes!"

She climbed out of the car and went around to the trunk where she pulled out a backpack and slung it over her shoulders. She then closed up the car again and locked it before turning to smile at Jeff. "Ok, that's all I needed."

Jeff eyed her suspiciously. "Please tell me that's not your schoolwork."

Annie registered a brief look of surprise. "What?"

Jeff sighed. "It is your schoolwork, isn't it?"

"I have a test next week."

Jeff gave her a knowing look. "Have you already studied for it?"

Annie hesitated and directed a wary look his way. "No…"

"Yeah, I'm calling BS," Jeff said through a smirk.

"Fine," Annie huffed. "I studied for it, but I always go back and review again."

"You do realize that the school will be closed all week, right?"

"You don't know that!" Annie protested.

Jeff rolled his eyes and found it difficult keep his voice from sounding patronizing. "I do know that, Annie, it's Greendale. Two years ago, that black mold you tried to get rid of closed down the mycology building for over a month."

A look of consternation crossed Annie's face. "I kept saying that needed to be cleaned, but no one listened to me."

"And that was only mold. This," Jeff gestured towards the ice outside, "is an actual disaster. There's a better chance of Troy not crying at the ending of The Lego Movie than there is of Greendale being open this week."

"Wait," Annie knitted her brow together, "that just opened last week, have you seen it already?"

Jeff's eyes widened slightly. "That's not important."

"Aww, Jeff!" The corners of Annie's mouth had started twitching and he knew he'd missed his chance to deny everything. "Why didn't you text me? I'd have gone to see it with you! Was it good?"

"We are not having this conversation right now." Jeff turned and began striding quickly towards a nearby stairwell, causing Annie to have to jog to catch up.

"Geez, Jeff, it's not anything to be ashamed of." Annie drew even with him as they began ascending the stairs, but her latest words caused him to stop and face her.

"Annie, what I do on my own time and in my own moments of weakness is my business. Now can we drop it please?"

"Fine." Annie crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow at him. "But first you have to tell me if you liked it," she finished teasingly.

Jeff stared at her a moment, but Annie was clearly set on getting an answer. "It wasn't terrible," he said grudgingly.

Annie dropped her mouth open in mock surprise. "Wow, it must be really good to get that kind of review from Jeff Winger."

"Annie…" he growled.

She raised her hands defensively. "Dropping it. Dropping it."

Jeff turned and resumed climbing the stairs.

"Where are we going?" Annie was having to work pretty hard to keep up with his pace, so Jeff forced himself to slow down a bit.

"Just want to show you something."

"Oh. Well, anyway," Annie continued, reverting back to their previous topic, "I know there's probably some damage to the campus, but they can shift classes around as necessary while cleanup is underway. Plus, the county has brought in extra workers to help get the roads clear. I think there's a good chance Greendale will be open by midweek."

Four years earlier, he might have thought she was being naïve. But he'd since learned that Annie was just relentlessly optimistic. In this case, her optimism involved school not being cancelled. A sentiment with which Jeff was completely unable to identify.

"Besides," Annie was saying as Jeff pushed open the door to the top level of the garage, "even if school is closed all week, I'll still need to–" she cut off as she took in the view from the top of the building.

It was one thing to look out a window at what nature had wrought, but it was something else entirely to have a nearly 360-degree view of it. Annie gasped softly as they carefully approached the waist-high wall that ran around the edge of the roof. Someone had spread liberal amounts of deicer pellets around the surface, but large patches of ice were still present.

Jeff's condo was actually part of a complex of four buildings interconnected in the shape of a diamond. The main lobby was at one point of the diamond and also linked to the parking garage they were now in. In the center of the diamond was a large courtyard, though from their current vantage point they could only see the ice-covered rooftops of the surrounding buildings. A long driveway stretched from the lobby and parking garage to the gated exit, beyond which was the main road. If you took a left out of the gate, it would lead towards some local shopping centers and the main part of town. To the right, however, was mostly undeveloped land.

Jeff pointed across the driveway to a large open expanse of land, parts of which were glistening in the sporadic sunlight. "You see where the fence ends over by the woods?" Annie nodded. "The complex owns all the land up to there, then all the way down the tree line over there." He pointed to spot off in the distance, at least half a mile away.

"Why did they buy so much land for a complex this size?" Annie asked.

"Well, they're not done building," Jeff replied. "Talk is that they're going to add at least another set of buildings this size, and add some more amenities, like maybe a pool or tennis courts."

"You mean that's not your pool down there?" Annie giggled as she pointed to a small frozen-over pond.

Jeff rolled his eyes. "Ha ha. There's supposedly some sort of fountain installed in there, but I haven't seen it."

Annie hummed to herself as she considered the potential future developments Jeff had described. "Isn't the ground too uneven to build another complex like this?"

Jeff had wondered the same thing when the condo representative had told him their plans. "Apparently it's not that difficult to level it out." There weren't any major hills or anything, but most of the land rolled between peaks and valleys as high as eight to ten feet.

"Hmm," Annie mused as she shifted her attention to the wooded area beyond. "The trees look kind of like Troy and Abed do when we help out at Shirley's Sandwiches."

Jeff scanned the tree line; most branches were sagging grotesquely under the weight of the ice. It gave each tree the appearance of being profoundly tired. "I'm guessing their arms don't actually fall off though."

"You wouldn't know it, based on how much they complain," Annie grumbled.

Jeff huffed out a laugh. "How'd you even get them to help in the first place? Did Shirley guilt them into it?"

"Believe it or not, they suggested it."

Jeff's eyebrows shot up. "You're kidding!"

Annie shook her head. "They got the idea after watching Half Baked."

It had been a while since Jeff had seen that movie, but he vividly remembered the scene where one character quit his job in fast food. As inappropriate as it would be to reenact that scene at Shirley's restaurant, he understood the impulse, especially at a place like Greendale. "So, um," he coughed to cover up the fact that he was trying really hard not to laugh, "how did that go?"

A devious smile slid across Annie's lips. "Well, they don't seem to understand the concept that sound travels. I had a talk with Shirley and told her what they were planning. So, she put them on stockroom duty, and I work the register."

Jeff found himself mildly disappointed. When he had first arrived at Greendale, he'd considered giving a similar sendoff at his graduation. Despite being drawn away from that path by a lovable group of misfits, there would've been a certain catharsis in knowing that someone else had pulled it off.

"You know," Jeff directed a smirk at Annie, "I never took you for a bully. A hall monitor, yes, but not a bully."

Annie wrinkled her nose at him. "A bully? What do you mean?"

"Well," Jeff shrugged, "just that Troy and Abed trying to outsmart you isn't what I'd really call a fair fight."

Annie snorted. "Oh please. I let them get away with plenty. But I draw the line at anything that will cause actual harm, physical or otherwise."

Jeff cracked a half smile. "So, what's it like, being the only adult in that apartment?"

Annie considered for a moment. "Oh, I don't know… I'd say it's a lot like our study group meetings whenever Shirley wasn't there."

Jeff raised his eyebrows. "Wow. Wow."

Annie grinned at him and any snarky comebacks he'd been considering died on his lips. Ah, well, he could let her have this one.

They spent a few more minutes surveying the view from the top of the garage before heading back inside. For the final part of the mini-tour, Jeff took Annie over to one of the other buildings to show her the in-house spa.

Annie's eyes went wide when she saw where they were. "Oooh!" She was practically bouncing out of her shoes. "Do you think we can get massages?"

He'd been about to say, 'why not', but suddenly remembered that a massage would entail lying in close proximity to a naked Annie, covered only by small, strategically placed towels.

"Uh…" Jeff scrambled to think of an excuse, but the mental image he'd just had was impeding his brain functions. By the time something came to him, Annie was already opening the glass door. "I'm not sure if they're open with the weather and all," he said quickly.

"It looks like they are," Annie replied excitedly as she stepped inside. Jeff had no choice but to follow.

"They're, uh, probably all booked, you know. We should really–"

"Actually, you're in luck!" a slightly-too-perky blond woman piped up from behind a nearby counter. "Our two o'clock appointments cancelled due to the weather, so we have an open slot."

"That's perfect!" Annie gushed. "That would give us enough time to grab a quick lunch and then come back."

Jeff could feel the trap closing in on him. If he didn't think of a way out soon…

"Um, I don't know…"

"Please, Jeff?" Small, delicate hands were suddenly clutching his, and the Disney eyes were in full effect.

Every instinct he had was screaming that this was a bad idea. But those eyes were not going to be denied. "Fine," he grumbled, then tried to hide a smile as Annie hopped in place and clapped.

Jeff gave his unit information to the woman at the counter, flirting with her just a little in an effort to distract himself from Annie's vivacity.

It was already after 1 o'clock, so they quickly headed back to Jeff's condo to get lunch before returning to the spa. All through lunch and the walks back and forth, Annie bubbled on about how excited she was for the massage, especially since her back had been bothering her a bit. By the time they made it back to the spa, some of Annie's enthusiasm had rubbed off on Jeff, and he found himself almost looking forward to it.

He did, however, resolve to change as quickly as possible, so that he'd already be face-down on the table by the time Annie walked in. Better to just avoid any… complications.

"Welcome back!" the blonde from earlier said as Jeff entered the spa right behind Annie. "My name is Kirsten, and I'll be one of your masseuses today." She shook Annie's hand, then turned to shake Jeff's, her smile widening even further. "Now, if you'll please follow me, I'll show you to the changing rooms."

She led them down a hallway to a pair of open doors on opposite sides. "Right in here, miss," she said as she showed Annie into the room on the left. "Just come out when you're ready. Alex will be here in a moment and can take you to the massage room."

Annie thanked her and disappeared into the changing room. As the door swung shut behind her, Kirsten turned to face Jeff, her eyes sparkling. "And I'll be taking care of you today, Mr. Winger."

Jeff briefly regretted flirting with her earlier, but right now he had a bigger concern. "So, um, who's Alex?"

"Oh, don't worry," Kirsten said brightly, "Alex is one of our most popular masseuses. Almost as good as me," she added with a giggle. "I'm sure your friend will be happy."

"Yeah, but…" he said distractedly as he entered the changing room.

"Now, if there's anything you need, I'll be right outside," she said with a wink, then closed the door behind him.

Jeff stared at the door for a moment before glancing around the changing room. It was small, but lavishly appointed, yet the scented oils and relaxing music weren't doing much to soothe him. His initial concern over being naked near an equally unclothed Annie was now compounded by the prospect of having a frisky masseuse's hands all over him while some muscled stud similarly groped Annie. This was shaping up to be an even bigger disaster than he'd imagined.

Oh crap. He needed to change.

Jeff shook himself out of his malaise and shed his clothes as quickly as possible. He grabbed one of the terrycloth bathrobes, cinched it around the waist, and pulled the door open.

A tiny thrill ran through him when he saw that the door to Annie's changing room was still closed. A smiling Kirsten was waiting for him though, so he eschewed the fist pump he'd been ready to do.

Kirsten led him further down the hall to the massage room. As he entered the softly lit room, the first thing he noticed was a white massage table directly in front of him. Surrounding it were a series of curtains which were drawn closed on the sides, but open at the end he was facing. Standing to his left was a pixyish brunette, who appeared to be waiting patiently outside another set of drawn curtains. Jeff was momentarily flummoxed, until the brunette stepped over and extended her hand. "Good afternoon, Mr. Winger, my name is Alex," she said with a smile.

Relief flooded through him, and Jeff smiled broadly back at her as he shook her hand.

"I'll be taking care of Annie today, but you'll be in good hands with Kirsten here," she continued.

Shit. Annie had beaten him into the massage room after all. At least the curtains were drawn, so there was no–

A sudden shock coursed through him, causing his muscles to tense. His eyes had involuntarily wandered over to the curtains, thinking that there was no danger with them drawn closed. Except that from the angle where he was, a small sliver of an opening allowed him a glimpse of pale white skin. Some of it in places he'd seen before. But the rest…

Jeff averted his eyes as quickly as he could and cleared his throat. "Uh, great. Looking forward to it," he muttered as he entered the area where he'd be getting his massage. He hastily pulled the curtain closed behind him and immediately ran his hands over his face and up into his hair, ending with them clutching the sides of his head. He was slightly worried it might explode if he didn't.

The image of Annie, partial though it may have been, was still burned into his mind. He didn't think he'd ever be able to get that image out of his head. But the thing was, he wasn't sure he wanted to.

"You're being awfully quiet," Annie dropped heavily into one of the recliners and stretched languidly. "Didn't you like your massage?"

The massage had been surprisingly enjoyable. It was what happened prior to it that was the cause of Jeff's silence. He hadn't meant to see Annie like that, but it made him feel guilty nonetheless. At the moment, it wasn't just speech that was giving him difficulty, but even looking at her. The whole thing was a rather uncomfortable reminder of what a woman she had become.

"It was uh… it was fine," he mumbled as he tapped in the code to unlock his phone, desperate for any sort of distraction.

"Hmph. Well mine was fantastic!" Annie stretched again and hummed contentedly. "I think I fell asleep for a bit," she chuckled.

"You did." Jeff thumbed down the list of notifications on his phone.

"How do you know that?" Annie sounded as though she might still be half asleep.

He had three missed calls. Two from a paralegal that worked for him and one number he didn't recognize. "I could hear you."

"I do not snore," Annie sounded too relaxed to even muster up much indignation.

"I didn't say you did." He glanced over, expecting just to see her profile, but she had rotated the chair so that she could look at him. Her body was sprawled in the chair like a discarded blanket, and she was directing a lazy expression his way. "I could just tell, you know? The slow, even breathing." It was the same breathing he'd heard the night before, when he'd wrapped his arm around her and held her close…

She smiled slowly and her eyes drifted closed, and before he knew it, he was moving towards her. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to do when he reached her, but something was making him–

Annie's phone suddenly chimed to life and her eyes snapped open. Jeff quickly raised his own phone to his ear as though he was checking his messages and continued past her into his bedroom.

He closed the door after entering and left his hand pressed against it to steady himself.

What the hell was that?

He retreated several steps from the doorway and took a few deep breaths, slowly beginning to feel normal again. He wasn't quite sure what to make of what had just happened, so he decided that even though it had been a cover, checking his messages was something he did indeed need to do.

He had two voicemails, the first of which was his paralegal with some case information. The paralegal had been stuck inside with nothing to do, so had been reading up on some briefs and come across something important that they'd both previously missed. Jeff made a quick note on a scratch pad and shook his head. The kid was good, but needed to learn how to relax. Why anyone would be working on a day like this was beyond him. He chuckled to himself and glanced at the door. Who else did he know that was like that?

The second message brought some unexpectedly good news. It was the bar from the previous night calling to tell him that they'd found his wallet, and would hold it for him until the weather cleared up. He briefly wondered whether the staff had ended up trapped at the bar. Well, there were worse places, he supposed. At least they'd have plenty to drink.

He tapped his phone to disconnect from voicemail and stared at his door. He could hear Annie's voice through it, though he couldn't tell what she was saying. Even just the sound of her voice, though, made him feel…

He didn't know what it made him feel. It had been such a strange day, he felt emotionally exhausted. He shook his head and sighed deeply. One thing was clear though: he'd made a big mistake in allowing himself to drift apart from the study group. He'd need to rectify that.

He gathered himself and headed back out into the living room. Annie was pacing back and forth in front the television, her phone still pressed to her ear.

"…nothing we can really do about it," she paused for a moment, looking disappointed. "I was looking forward to seeing you too, but I don't see how it's going to work. Maybe you can visit next week instead?"

Who was she talking to? It clearly wasn't one of the study group members. And why was she twirling her hair like that? Annie glanced up and saw him, and he could've sworn she looked anxious, as though he'd caught her in the act of… something. Jeff lowered his gaze and headed to the kitchen, doing his best to pretend that he wasn't listening.

"I don't know what their plans are now." Another pause. "Well, if they're both here, then you can just sleep in my room."

What?!

Jeff yanked the refrigerator open so hard that some beer bottles fell out and clattered on the floor, causing him to miss some of what Annie was saying.

"…not that big of a deal."

Oh sure, having someone sleep over in your room. Not a big deal at all. Jeff scooped up the fallen beer bottles and returned them to the fridge, but kept one for himself. He opened it over the sink in case it had been shaken too much, then turned around and leaned against the counter and took a long pull.

"Well, I'll talk to them and let you know, ok?" Annie's conversation sounded like it was winding down. "Ok, sure. Yes Anthony, I–"

Who the hell is Anthony?

Annie smiled widely. "Ok, I will. I love you too. Bye."

I love you too.

Jeff's head was suddenly swimming. Annie hadn't mentioned being in a relationship, but the topic hadn't really come up. She was single the last time he'd seen her. It had only been eight months; shouldn't that be too fast for sleeping over and "I love you too's"?!

I love you too.

It shouldn't bother him. He'd had his chance with her, and he'd had very good reasons for holding back. Very, very good reasons. Reasons that applied just as much now as they had in the past. Annie was free to date whomever she wanted.

I love you too.

So why did it feel like his chest was caving in?

"Sorry." The proximity of Annie's voice caused Jeff to jump. She had apparently joined him in the kitchen after ending her phone call. "That was just–"

Jeff could feel the words coming unbidden, and he regretted them even before he blurted them out. "So, you're in love huh?"

Annie recoiled in surprise. "What?"

The anxious look was back. Just further confirmation of what he'd heard. "Who is it this time? Another listless drifter, or goody-goody doctor?"

"What are you–"

"Wait, I know. A prepubescent man-child obsessed with football and movies."

Annie's mouth dropped open. "Jeff, that was really mean."

He shrugged. "I'm just listing the guys that seem to be your type."

Annie narrowed her eyes at him. "Well, good thing you left jackass lawyers off the list."

"So, which one is it?" Jeff said through clenched teeth.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Annie almost shouted.

Jeff rolled his eyes. "Oh please. You just told that Anthony guy that you love him."

Annie looked utterly dumbfounded. He wasn't sure why. She must have known that he could hear–

"Anthony is my brother!"

Her words were like an electric shock from which his brain needed to reboot. It wasn't a quick process. His face probably looked pretty stupid too.

Annie's looked plenty mad, though.

"Gotcha?"

Annie was already shaking her head. Yeah, he wouldn't have bought it either.

She turned and walked briskly out of the kitchen. Jeff hurried after her.

"Annie, please, I'm sorry." She reached the coat closet and pulled it open. "I don't know what came over me."

Annie pulled her coat out and spun to face him. "Well I do. You were jealous!"

Jealous? That was just absurd. "No, I was just–"

Annie jabbed a finger into his chest. "You don't get to be jealous over anyone I date."

Jeff was taken aback by the forcefulness of her tone. If he could only make her understand–

"Annie, really, I was–" She pulled open the door to his condo and stepped through it. "Where are you going?"

"Away."

The sound of the door slamming shut in his face provided a marked contrast to the silence that followed.