W/N: Somebody requested I continue this, so I am! I have a lot of thoughts about this but I honestly see it as something Jeff could really have gone through. The way he was raised, the way he is now - well. I'll let you draw your own opinions, but I'm not adverse to discussion/commentary! Feel free to review with your own opinion.

Annie came back the next day, as she'd promised. Abed came with her; he'd gone through a load of checks in the morning, and they'd finally said he could go home - as long as somebody checked in on him and he came straight back if there were any further effects from the drugs. So when the pair of them turned up, he was sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing the same clothes he'd worn the day before. Blackberry in hand, he was tapping and turning it between two fingers on his knee, jiggling slightly as he waited. Blue eyes turned towards hers as she came in, smile spreading his lips. "Out of power." he explained, holding up the dead phone, before getting to his feet. The only really sign of his previous day was the slight pallor of Jeff's skin and the way his shoulders sloped forward ever so slightly.

"So what did they say?" Annie asked, quietly, as they went to leave the hospital, all the paperwork already having been handed in. He looked down at her, at her pleading face, and smiled again.

"Just the usual hospital drivel. Have someone keep an eye on me, don't do it again, take it easy, come back if anything develops." he shrugged, "I don't think I've ever let my hair look this bad in public." Jeff added, lightly, and when she giggled his smile spread to a toothsome grin. More seen now than it had been when they first met, that was for sure. "I'll be fine. Don't worry." patting Annie on the shoulder, he let his hand drop again, as they cleared final security and were released from the jail. (In Jeff's mind, at least.) Automatically, he went to get in the front, then realised what he was doing, and moved to sit in the back instead. Abed had already started the engine when he pulled his belt on.

Then Annie sat next to him.

Surprised, Jeff looked around at her, and she smiled up at him, doing that little half-shrug Annie always did when she was a little uncertain of herself. Neither of them spoke about it, though, as Abed pulled out of the car park. He was a good driver. Honestly, first of all that had surprised Jeff, but after a bit of thought he'd figured it wasn't that confusing. Abed was a computer, after all. Turning his head, Jeff stared out the window, but was quickly drawn back - by her hand on his forearm. Raising an eyebrow, he tried to prompt her to get to the point. It worked.

"So, um, Jeff. You said the doctors said you needed someone to keep an eye on you, right?"

"Yeah… why?" he extended the 'yeah', sure he knew where this was going.

"Well, why don't I come round and make sure that nothing happens? I mean, I know how to cook, and you know that I won't let you do anything stupid, so-" she spoke over him rolling his eyes.

"Annie, I don't actually need someone watching over me, you know that, right?" Jeff responded, with a sigh, picking a loose string off his sleeve, "It's just - y'know. Make sure someone phones you in the evening and that."
"Jeff," crap, she had that tone of voice she gained when she was determined to get what she wanted. The Disney pout was going to be close on its heels - and there it was. "The doctors said they need you to be supervised, and I really think you should listen to them." her eyes dropped ever so slightly. "You really scared us, Jeff. I don't think you realised how close you were to - y'know… dying." she looked close to tears. Damnit.

"Alright, alright, Annie. Fine. But I don't have a spare bedroom, and no, that's not me trying to get in your pants." he conceded, "So you'll have to go home tonight. Got it?" she beamed and nodded, apparently overjoyed by getting to keep an eye on him. He leant back in his seat again, resuming staring out of the window. "And why are you getting Abed to drive you around? You have a car."
"It's in the shop." Annie shrugged slightly.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay too, Jeff." Abed said from the front, proving he'd been listening, "And it made more sense for us to carpool. Plus, Annie's driving is unsafe."

"Hey!" Annie squeaked, "I'm a very safe driver." the traditional pout popped up, but Jeff just smirked, not interrupting.

"Anyway," Abed continued, "Annie's right, Jeff." a scowl from the teacher in the car, who hated to admit that he definitely knew they were both right. "You need observation in case something happens. Plus, your emotional state is probably unstable, judging by your actions yesterday, and you need someone to mediate that. Annie is good at reading emotions. Me, not so much."

Jeff didn't reply. Yep. Not wrong. Ugh. Friends. Who could live with them? Who could live without them? Well… he wouldn't be alive without them, he supposed. Abed pulled up outside his apartment, and Jeff got out of the car after Annie. Leaning in to the window, Jeff smiled at Abed.

"Thanks, man. Means a lot." Abed just nodded. Patting the younger man on the shoulder, Jeff turned and continued up the steps, glad to be at his own home again. "Wait." he whispered, catching Annie's shoulder. She turned, raising an eyebrow, and he gestured at Dean Pelton's door. "Go listen." he murmured, "If he's in there, you're on Dean-flecting duty. Deflecting! Duty." he correct, "God, I'm catching it." she muffled a chuckle, before moving away to the door. Leaning her ear on the door, she waited a moment, before looking back at him. "I can't hear him." she called.

Hushing her, Jeff scurried over, and listened too. "Okay, he's definitely not in there, he would've attacked me when he heard my voice. Good." he gave her a grin like his old self, before opening the door, letting her in in front of him. It looked the way it had yesterday, before he'd gone in to work, and there was something calming about that. "Alright. Uh. Get comfy or whatever, I'm gonna grab a shower, alright? Something feels wrong about wearing the clothes I passed out in." she nodded, looking around the space. There was a recycling bin near the door - full of empty glass bottles, mostly scotch ones. Most of the place was tidy, just a little scruffy, but there were glasses with faint, sticky golden marks in the bottom scattered around. Jeff didn't seem to think anything was weird with it, moving off to the bathroom, shutting the door firmly behind him.

When he emerged, feeling considerably better than he had before he went in. Hair wet, a towel around his shoulders and the other around his waist. Annie looked up, perched on the sofa, and then immediately started shuffling things around, tidying around her. But from the looks of the place, she already had tidied, considerably. His eyes raked around his apartment, picking up the lack of glasses, the dishwasher churning - mugs on the tree, etcetera. She must've emptied and loaded it again.

"You, uh. You tidied." he said, pretending he didn't notice the way her eyes kept flickering to and away from his still-damp form. Flattering.

"Well, y'know. I wanted to help." she offered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "And I couldn't work out how to turn on your TV, so…"

"Yeah. Sure. I'm… gonna get dressed." he jerked his thumb at his room, before vanishing into it. Then returned, throwing the door open. "You tidied my bedroom?" he hissed, and her cheeks flushed. "Annie! That's my room! It's - private!"
"I was just - trying to help!" Annie responded, in the way that he knew meant she knew what she'd done wrong. "Jeff! How much booze do you have in this place?" changing the subject, clever, but he was still angry. And damp.

"That's besides the point, Annie! I get you want to take care of me, and that's sweet, but you need to understand that I am an adult, and I can take care of myself-"

"So much care that you ended up dying in hospital!"

There was silence, and he exhaled sharply, before turning and shutting the bedroom door firmly behind himself. For almost ten whole minutes, silence reigned in the apartment.

Guilt had clawed it's way into Annie, and it took everything she had to not get up and nervously tidy the place up even more. She sat on the sofa, not daring to move, rubbing at her eyes with a tissue and nervously wondering if he'd passed out.

But when the time had passed, Jeff opened his bedroom door, leaning against the wooden siding. His arms were folded, face serious. "Alright." despite the hard face, his voice was soft. "I'm sorry, Annie. I've had a trying couple of days, and I… don't respond well to not being in control of my life. As you might've noticed. So maybe -" he glanced at the clock, it was almost 1pm. "We can go out for a nice, friendly late lunch, and play pretend that I am definitely okay, and when I feel like I am in total control of myself, we can come back here and watch trash TV and do absolutely nothing. Does that work for you?"

Annie smiled.

"That works. Alright." her eyes went down to her hands. "And if it helps, Jeff. I'm sorry about tidying your room."

Jeff walked towards her, and her slate eyes went back up, meeting his own bright ones. He was wearing the cobalt shirt, a throwback to their early days, even tighter now, another button open at the neck; skinny jeans. He looked almost like his old self. Even his hair had been styled up. No wonder it had taken ten minutes. He'd calmed down with self-pampering.

"Annie, it's fine. You were… just trying to help. And you've learnt your lesson. Right?" she nodded, and he smiled. "Right. Good. There's a little café just down the road that's pretty nice. Sound good?" Annie nodded, and Jeff offered her his hand, "Milady."

"M'lord." she said, taking it, and letting him pull her to her feet. Together, they walked out of the apartment.

It was a nice little place. It was just after lunchtime, so fairly quiet. Him and Annie sat at a corner table, a mug of coffee in front of him and a mug of hot chocolate in front of her. He'd paid, so she had cream and marshmallows on top, stirring with the long spoon provided. His hands were wrapped around the coffee mug, not drinking, but the silence was quite comfortable.

"You still look tired." Annie said, quietly, "You sure you didn't need a nap, instead of stimulants?" she suggested.

"Annie," Jeff's response was dry, "I don't think I could cope with a day like yesterday without coffee." she smiled slightly, "It's like you and chocolate. It just helps." she nodded with the smile back on her face, her expression softening his own. "I gotta say, even if you did violate my privacy, I'm glad you decided to stay. I wouldn't've liked to be alone in my condo today." the words weren't said, but they both knew he meant with the booze.

"Jeff, um. I wanted to ask." she dipped the spoon in and out of her drink as he raised an eyebrow, "What you mentioned in the hospital. Are we going to talk about that?" immediately, he let go of his drink and slouched back in his chair, and she did her mini-panic thing. "Oh, Jeff, no, don't worry, it's fine, I shouldn't've mentioned it -"

"Not here." he replied, keeping his voice low, "That's… not something I can talk about in public. I trust you, Annie, alright? But I've never told anyone. Not even my shrink." he let his eyes meet hers again, trying to entreat her to understand. Without warning, she leant forward, taking his hand. Surprise crossed his features, and he gave a tight smile, letting her hold it with both hers. "I'm fine, Annie. I've been fine a long time."

"Fine enough to pass out in your office?" she whispered, and he scowled.

"Are you ever going to let that go?" she shook her head, and Jeff groaned. "You're evil. Pure evil."

"I know." Annie replied, in a voice as sweet as sugar.

Taking a gulp of his drink with his free hand, Jeff leant back in, before resting his elbow on the desk. His eyes met hers again. "So, can I ask you something?" she nodded, listening. "Did you try to open my hair-care safe?"

They were laughing as they opened the door to his apartment again, and all Annie could see was how Jeff had brightened up. He was swaggering again, arms and hips loose, that smile back on his face, and she couldn't help but beam back at him. After seeing him in that hospital bed, so pale, with that heart monitor -

"What?" he'd seen the way her face fell. "Annie? What's wrong? I thought we were having fun.." he asked, that slight frown, the traditional Jeff Winger head tilt and squint in her direction.

"I was. I am, Jeff. I was just - thinking about yesterday. About you in that bed-"

"Annie-"

"No, Jeff, you can't keep brushing this off! It was serious. We're all so, so worried about you. And spending a couple hours with you is good, and I do like hanging out, Jeff, but I wouldn't've forced you to let me come 'round if -"

"I knew this was a plot! I knew it! You're just here to stop me drinking and-" "I'm here to stop you from trying to kill yourself!" Jeff recoiled at the anger in her voice, mouth dropping, blinking rapidly at her.

"You think I really want to kill myself?" he said, all the relaxation of the visit to the coffee shop gone. "The group - really thinks I want to kill myself?" she nodded, eyes wide and damp, pouting slightly. "Annie, why in the hell would you think that?! I don't think you've noticed, but I'm not the kind of man to deprive people of my face, alright?" Jeff gestured at himself.

"You make jokes all the time." she said, quietly, "Even in the first semester, when you were homeless. You constantly make comments about suicide notes, about dying. How can we know you didn't have some meaning behind it?" Annie said, pushing past him, sitting heavily on the sofa. "Don't think we haven't noticed, Jeff. You always hang out on the edge. At the dance, with Chang. You remember that? You just… hung back. Watching. In the third year, at the housewarming party? Everyone was dancing and you stood there and watched. You haven't changed that much." she swallowed hard as Jeff slowly sat next to her on the sofa, staring at her, eyes slightly widened and jaw slightly open. "I spent a lot of time with addicts. And a lot of addicts try to end it. I've seen the signs."

"I'm fine!"

"No you're not!" and she was crying again, and he got to his feet, uncomfortable. Going into the kitchen, he reached for the bottle that had been there earlier, but found it gone. Muttering a curse, he stared around the kitchen, not sure what to do.

"Jeff…" Annie took a deep breath, "Please talk to me. I'm sorry, I'm getting emotional, and I know that's hard for you." he looked over at her.

"Annie, shut up. You're digging a hole. Just- give me a minute." and she did, thank god. Rubbing at his eyes, then his jaw, he slowly walked over to the sofa and sat down again. "The last time I wanted to do that, I'd just been debarred. I thought there was no excuse, no way that I could get back to it, and I … fell apart. I tried the obvious method, first." as he spoke, he was undoing his watch strap. When it was removed, Jeff offered his arm to Annie; the white line across his wrist drew her eyes. Then, cautiously, she gripped the underside of his arm, before slowly trailing a finger over the mark. He let his eyes meet hers, seeing how the tears had bubbled up again, and slid his arm free, putting the Rolex back on with stiff movements.

"As you might've guessed, it didn't work. All I did was ruin some bed sheets and lay there long enough to realise it was no good. And it hurt. I don't know if you've met me, but pain isn't my favourite thing." she nodded, with a faint hint of a smile. "So I tried the obvious other way. The way that's supposed to hurt the least." Looking down at his hands, Jeff couldn't help but let a little shame slip into his voice. "Nobody was going to find me, which was what messed it up the time before. Nobody was going to stop me. So I drank most of a bottle of Vodka - I think I was trying to punish myself in more ways than one - and I took a handful of the antidepressants my shrink had given me. Only time I ever took them." he snorted. Annie reached out, grabbing ahold of his hand, and this time he let her.

"Who found you?" she whispered.

"Nobody."

"What d'you mean, nobody? You're alive! Somebody must've found you."

Jeff shook his head slightly, "I, uh. A lot of people would say I came to my senses, but I wimped out. I'm a coward, Annie. I panicked, made myself throw up until nothing else would come up. Had a shower, wrapped my wrist, went to sleep in crunchy sheets. I woke up in the morning, so I guess I got it out of my system in time." Annie looked up at him, then jerked across the small space, wrapping her arms around his chest. Slightly startled, he wrapped his arms back around her, letting her cling to him. "You aren't in any danger of me trying to kill myself, Annie. I may be a self-centered, egotistical bastard who doesn't respected anyone but himself - but those kinds of people don't kill themselves. They either change into the type of people who would, or wimp out." resting his cheek on her hair, he sighed.

"Now can we please stop fighting and just order a pizza or something?" Jeff murmured, "Have I spilt my guts enough?" Annie released him, leaning back, and he met her eyes. "That was a long time ago, okay? I've changed. I just wanted to be younger, not … not gone. I have too much here to stay for now, alright?"

"Aww." she said, quietly, tilting her head with a little smile. "Yeah. Okay. Pizza sounds good." he got up to go get the landline phone, but she got ahold of his wrist, holding him still. "Thank you. For trusting me." Jeff nodded slightly, then went and got ahold of his phone. While he was ordering, Annie pulled out a tissue, wiping her face clear and trying to get ahold of her feelings. Looking at him as he talked on the phone, she wondered how he'd gone from - that - to the strong, cocky man she'd known at college - to a teacher, her best friend, and … someone she thought she might actually love.