Discretion (5/?)
Pairing: Annie/Jeff
Spoilers: Through 2.05
Word Count: 1580
Rating: PG-13 for language
Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever, owned Community
Description: Missing moment from Messianic Myths and Ancient Peoples
Author’s Note: This takes place directly after the end tag.
Much thanks to 0penhearts for the beta.
V: Acting
“Abed! Wait up!”
Annie weaves through the crowded hallway, out of breath as she catches up with him in front of the double doors. “Can I change in your dorm room? The Dean says that he had all the surveillance cameras removed from the women’s room. But, well, it’s The Dean.”
“Sure Annie.” He glances down at her outfit. “Jeans do seem out of character for you.”
“Well, if you guys had waited for me it would have made more sense.” She loops her arm through his and they step outside into the sunlight. “I wish I could have seen Jeff’s face.”
“It’s can’t be hard to imagine. It was a typical Jeff Winger character moment.”
Annie giggles, “He is kind of predictable isn’t he?”
Abed thinks about this. “His storylines do usually follow similar arcs.”
“Storylines?”
“Unlike yours.”
“Wait. What?” She regards him warily. Whenever Abed heads down this path of meta rationalization it always ends in the kind of uncomfortable self-reflection that’s she’s not really in the mood for today.
“Jeff’s motivations are driven by aspirations of coolness, indifference. What drives you Annie? What really drives you? Last year you were willing to get Chang fired to keep the study group together. But last week you betrayed the school you claim to care about. Why?”
Annie pulls her arm away from him and tugs down on the shoulder straps of her backpack. “I told you. It was because of the flag.”
“Was it?” He’s watching her in a way that is utterly disconcerting. She should have run away at the first mention of the word storylines.
“Annie, do you know why I had yours and Jeff’s characters kiss on my show last year?”
“What?!” she squeaks.
“There was obvious sexual tension building. I figured a kiss would bring resolution so we could continue having bigger, better adventures.”
Annie gapes at him.
“But that didn’t work. If anything, it made it worse. The sexual tension’s still there and we’re not having as much fun.”
Annie’s heart is racing. Abed pulls open the door to the dorms and ushers her ahead of him. She blinks into the dim lighting of the hallway.
“You’re not having fun Abed?” she asks when he falls back into step with her.
He shrugs. “Paintball. That’s what I want. Big. Epic. Messy. But all you guys do lately is talk. Or fight. Everyone seems sad. And I don’t understand that.”
“We went to space last week,” she offers gently. “That was exciting.”
“But I wasn’t there. Not really.”
Annie watches the ground, contemplating what he’s saying. “You don’t understand us? Is that why you created that film?
Abed seems startled. “Maybe.”
He keys into his room and she follows him in.
“If it makes you feel any better Abed, we’re all confused.”
“But you understand that emotion.” He frowns.
Annie’s lips part. She’s never really thought before about what it’s like to be him, to see the world through his eyes.
“I think you understand more than you think you do Abed. That was pretty sweet what you did for Shirley yesterday.”
“We needed an emotional denouement to button the story.”
“Abed.” Annie shakes her head and rests her hand on his arm.
The look in Abed’s eyes shifts from serious to questioning and then, when she offers him a smile, thankful. He smiles back and they watch each other until Annie can feel an embarrassed warm flush spreading across her cheeks.
“Abed.” She makes a twisting motion with her fingers, “Turn around.”
“Gotcha.” Abed spins toward the opposite wall and covers his eyes with his both hands.
Annie turns too, away from him and starts unbuttoning her shirt. She’s just shrugging it off her arms when suddenly the door flies open and Jeff is striding in.
“Abed, do you have- WHA-?” His eyes practically bug out of his head at the sight of Annie standing in the middle of the room in her bra. “THE HELL?!”
Annie yelps, clutching the shirt to her chest, trying to cover herself. “JEFF!”
“WHAT THE HELL?”
“JEFF!” She shrieks even louder.
“SERIOUSLY! WHAT THE-“
“What’s going on? What’s happening?” Abed asks calmly toward the other wall.
“JEFF! GET OUT! GET OUT!”
His mouth still gaping, he turns around and kind of smacks into the doorframe as he lurches out of the room.
“WHAT THE HELL?” He yells again when he’s on the other side of the door, having left it open a crack.
“Annie? Are you still here? What’s going on? Did Jeff see you naked?”
“NO!” Annie grabs her blouse from her backpack and yanks it over her head.
“Ohhhhhh,” Abed says reverently, “This is just like Friends.”
“THIS IS NOT LIKE FRIENDS!” Annie and Jeff both yell.
“Sure it is. Remember, Chandler sees Rachel naked. In order to even the score she has to see his-”
I AM NOT SHOWING ANNIE MY PENIS!” Jeff yells.
“WHAAAAAAT?!”
Annie wrenches the door open and stares at Jeff incredulously. To his credit, he looks a little sheepish. A couple people have stopped in the hallway to stare.
“Okay. I probably shouldn’t have said that so loud.”
She stares at him, horrified as he walks back in and stands between her and Abed, looking back and forth between them with narrowed eyes.
“No,” Abed is musing, “Annie’s already seen you naked. Technically this is only fair.”
Annie’s face turns an even more impossible shade of red.
Jeff looks down at her blouse, then back up at the ceiling quickly, “Okay, someone needs to explain what’s happening here.”
“Nothing.” Annie answers quickly. She looks to Abed to back her up and realizes he’s still facing away from them with his hands over his eyes.
She rolls her eyes, “You can look now Abed.”
“Cool.” He drops his hand and blinks at them. Annie crosses her arms over her chest, still feeling weirdly naked. The room is infused with the tense aura of awkward.
Jeff clenches his jaw. “So. Are you two….?”
Annie doesn’t answer. Her eyes are darting frantically back and forth between the two men in the room.
Abed frowns at him, “Why would it matter?”
Jeff’s freezes and Annie’s heart maybe stops a little. “What?” they ask simultaneously and then glance at each other. Jeff averts his eyes quickly.
“It doesn’t,” he finally says slowly.
Annie feels a surge of annoyance. Abed looks about ready to launch into a pop-culture heavy explanation of this little scene and its ramifications but she cuts him off before he can start, and grabs her bag off the ground.
“Well then, it’s not any of your business. What Abed and I do. In his room. Alone.” She smirks at Jeff and flounces from the room without looking back.
Her eyes intent on the ground, she practically sprints out of the dorms and as soon as she’s a far enough distance away she stops, covers her cheeks with her hands and slumps against the wall with a groan.
~*~
When she rounds the corner she spots him almost immediately at the other end of the hallway. He’s texting and not paying attention and for a second she thinks she can blend into the crowd and pass him by without his noticing. The oh hey, I saw you half naked and in Abed’s dorm room and haha that was weird conversation is not one she’s ready to have.
But then he looks up, locking eyes with her and he’s far enough away that she can’t totally read his expression. His right eyebrow arches curiously and Annie sighs as they begin to weave their way through the crowded hall toward each other.
“So.”
“So.”
He’s flipping his phone around in his hands and she focuses on that, not wanting to meet his eyes now that he’s standing a foot away.
“About earlier…” he says slowly.
“It never happened,” she cuts him off.
He looks at her, unsure. “Really?”
Annie nods frantically, “Yup. I’m not even sure what you’re referring to right now.”
His jaw twitches, lips quirking into a side smile, “Nothing. I am talking about nothing right now. These are just words. That mean nothing.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
Annie continues nodding and gestures down the hallway with a wave of her hand, “I have to go. To class. Not because… But I have class.” She clamps her mouth shut and bites the side of her tongue to keep from babbling.
“Right. Yeah, me too.”
Her fists are clenched at her sides as she edges past him and she just wants to go to class and forget that this entire day ever happened but even with her back to him she can still feel his gaze and against her better judgment she looks back over her shoulder.
The look she sees in his eyes makes her feel suddenly weightless because there’s need there, mixed with a little confusion.
She offers him a tentative smile. He grins back, tension visibly leaving his shoulders and an hour later when she’s sitting in class pretending to take notes her fingertips still seem to buzz at the memory of the slow shiver that spread through her body when he winked and turned away.
Spoilers: Through 2.05
Word Count: 1580
Rating: PG-13 for language
Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever, owned Community
Description: Missing moment from Messianic Myths and Ancient Peoples
Author’s Note: This takes place directly after the end tag.
Much thanks to 0penhearts for the beta.
V: Acting
“Abed! Wait up!”
Annie weaves through the crowded hallway, out of breath as she catches up with him in front of the double doors. “Can I change in your dorm room? The Dean says that he had all the surveillance cameras removed from the women’s room. But, well, it’s The Dean.”
“Sure Annie.” He glances down at her outfit. “Jeans do seem out of character for you.”
“Well, if you guys had waited for me it would have made more sense.” She loops her arm through his and they step outside into the sunlight. “I wish I could have seen Jeff’s face.”
“It’s can’t be hard to imagine. It was a typical Jeff Winger character moment.”
Annie giggles, “He is kind of predictable isn’t he?”
Abed thinks about this. “His storylines do usually follow similar arcs.”
“Storylines?”
“Unlike yours.”
“Wait. What?” She regards him warily. Whenever Abed heads down this path of meta rationalization it always ends in the kind of uncomfortable self-reflection that’s she’s not really in the mood for today.
“Jeff’s motivations are driven by aspirations of coolness, indifference. What drives you Annie? What really drives you? Last year you were willing to get Chang fired to keep the study group together. But last week you betrayed the school you claim to care about. Why?”
Annie pulls her arm away from him and tugs down on the shoulder straps of her backpack. “I told you. It was because of the flag.”
“Was it?” He’s watching her in a way that is utterly disconcerting. She should have run away at the first mention of the word storylines.
“Annie, do you know why I had yours and Jeff’s characters kiss on my show last year?”
“What?!” she squeaks.
“There was obvious sexual tension building. I figured a kiss would bring resolution so we could continue having bigger, better adventures.”
Annie gapes at him.
“But that didn’t work. If anything, it made it worse. The sexual tension’s still there and we’re not having as much fun.”
Annie’s heart is racing. Abed pulls open the door to the dorms and ushers her ahead of him. She blinks into the dim lighting of the hallway.
“You’re not having fun Abed?” she asks when he falls back into step with her.
He shrugs. “Paintball. That’s what I want. Big. Epic. Messy. But all you guys do lately is talk. Or fight. Everyone seems sad. And I don’t understand that.”
“We went to space last week,” she offers gently. “That was exciting.”
“But I wasn’t there. Not really.”
Annie watches the ground, contemplating what he’s saying. “You don’t understand us? Is that why you created that film?
Abed seems startled. “Maybe.”
He keys into his room and she follows him in.
“If it makes you feel any better Abed, we’re all confused.”
“But you understand that emotion.” He frowns.
Annie’s lips part. She’s never really thought before about what it’s like to be him, to see the world through his eyes.
“I think you understand more than you think you do Abed. That was pretty sweet what you did for Shirley yesterday.”
“We needed an emotional denouement to button the story.”
“Abed.” Annie shakes her head and rests her hand on his arm.
The look in Abed’s eyes shifts from serious to questioning and then, when she offers him a smile, thankful. He smiles back and they watch each other until Annie can feel an embarrassed warm flush spreading across her cheeks.
“Abed.” She makes a twisting motion with her fingers, “Turn around.”
“Gotcha.” Abed spins toward the opposite wall and covers his eyes with his both hands.
Annie turns too, away from him and starts unbuttoning her shirt. She’s just shrugging it off her arms when suddenly the door flies open and Jeff is striding in.
“Abed, do you have- WHA-?” His eyes practically bug out of his head at the sight of Annie standing in the middle of the room in her bra. “THE HELL?!”
Annie yelps, clutching the shirt to her chest, trying to cover herself. “JEFF!”
“WHAT THE HELL?”
“JEFF!” She shrieks even louder.
“SERIOUSLY! WHAT THE-“
“What’s going on? What’s happening?” Abed asks calmly toward the other wall.
“JEFF! GET OUT! GET OUT!”
His mouth still gaping, he turns around and kind of smacks into the doorframe as he lurches out of the room.
“WHAT THE HELL?” He yells again when he’s on the other side of the door, having left it open a crack.
“Annie? Are you still here? What’s going on? Did Jeff see you naked?”
“NO!” Annie grabs her blouse from her backpack and yanks it over her head.
“Ohhhhhh,” Abed says reverently, “This is just like Friends.”
“THIS IS NOT LIKE FRIENDS!” Annie and Jeff both yell.
“Sure it is. Remember, Chandler sees Rachel naked. In order to even the score she has to see his-”
I AM NOT SHOWING ANNIE MY PENIS!” Jeff yells.
“WHAAAAAAT?!”
Annie wrenches the door open and stares at Jeff incredulously. To his credit, he looks a little sheepish. A couple people have stopped in the hallway to stare.
“Okay. I probably shouldn’t have said that so loud.”
She stares at him, horrified as he walks back in and stands between her and Abed, looking back and forth between them with narrowed eyes.
“No,” Abed is musing, “Annie’s already seen you naked. Technically this is only fair.”
Annie’s face turns an even more impossible shade of red.
Jeff looks down at her blouse, then back up at the ceiling quickly, “Okay, someone needs to explain what’s happening here.”
“Nothing.” Annie answers quickly. She looks to Abed to back her up and realizes he’s still facing away from them with his hands over his eyes.
She rolls her eyes, “You can look now Abed.”
“Cool.” He drops his hand and blinks at them. Annie crosses her arms over her chest, still feeling weirdly naked. The room is infused with the tense aura of awkward.
Jeff clenches his jaw. “So. Are you two….?”
Annie doesn’t answer. Her eyes are darting frantically back and forth between the two men in the room.
Abed frowns at him, “Why would it matter?”
Jeff’s freezes and Annie’s heart maybe stops a little. “What?” they ask simultaneously and then glance at each other. Jeff averts his eyes quickly.
“It doesn’t,” he finally says slowly.
Annie feels a surge of annoyance. Abed looks about ready to launch into a pop-culture heavy explanation of this little scene and its ramifications but she cuts him off before he can start, and grabs her bag off the ground.
“Well then, it’s not any of your business. What Abed and I do. In his room. Alone.” She smirks at Jeff and flounces from the room without looking back.
Her eyes intent on the ground, she practically sprints out of the dorms and as soon as she’s a far enough distance away she stops, covers her cheeks with her hands and slumps against the wall with a groan.
~*~
When she rounds the corner she spots him almost immediately at the other end of the hallway. He’s texting and not paying attention and for a second she thinks she can blend into the crowd and pass him by without his noticing. The oh hey, I saw you half naked and in Abed’s dorm room and haha that was weird conversation is not one she’s ready to have.
But then he looks up, locking eyes with her and he’s far enough away that she can’t totally read his expression. His right eyebrow arches curiously and Annie sighs as they begin to weave their way through the crowded hall toward each other.
“So.”
“So.”
He’s flipping his phone around in his hands and she focuses on that, not wanting to meet his eyes now that he’s standing a foot away.
“About earlier…” he says slowly.
“It never happened,” she cuts him off.
He looks at her, unsure. “Really?”
Annie nods frantically, “Yup. I’m not even sure what you’re referring to right now.”
His jaw twitches, lips quirking into a side smile, “Nothing. I am talking about nothing right now. These are just words. That mean nothing.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
Annie continues nodding and gestures down the hallway with a wave of her hand, “I have to go. To class. Not because… But I have class.” She clamps her mouth shut and bites the side of her tongue to keep from babbling.
“Right. Yeah, me too.”
Her fists are clenched at her sides as she edges past him and she just wants to go to class and forget that this entire day ever happened but even with her back to him she can still feel his gaze and against her better judgment she looks back over her shoulder.
The look she sees in his eyes makes her feel suddenly weightless because there’s need there, mixed with a little confusion.
She offers him a tentative smile. He grins back, tension visibly leaving his shoulders and an hour later when she’s sitting in class pretending to take notes her fingertips still seem to buzz at the memory of the slow shiver that spread through her body when he winked and turned away.