guess what we'll discover (3/11)
Pairing: Jeff/Annie
Spoilers: Only for the 3x01 episode title
Word Count: 4998
Rating: PG-13, for language
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Description: Jeff gets a new roommate.
Author's Note: I love everyone in this bar. Especially 0penhearts for beta'ing this monstrosity.
~*~*~
It’s a Saturday morning and Jeff’s lounging on the couch with a protein shake in his hand, flipping idly through the channels as Annie sits cross-legged on the floor, folding laundry and making neat, colorful stacks of cardigans and camisoles.
They’ve been living together for over three weeks.
As it turns out, she had actually been getting a pretty amazing deal living above Dildoplis. Every other apartment she finds is too expensive or somehow in an even more appalling neighborhood and all the people currently searching for roommates on Craig’s List run the shady spectrum from should sign up for an episode of Hoarders to has mysterious blood stains on the carpet.
Every time she comes home from another failed apartment search she apologizes profusely and then offers to do something ridiculous like organize his hall closet (Jeff suspects that this is coming from a deep desire to actually just clean the mess in there) but he shrugs and waves her off, saying that it’s not a big deal.
And it’s really not.
It turns out that Annie’s not a bad roommate to have around (and ever since they figured out a bathroom schedule, the awkwardness level’s been kept to a minimum). She keeps things clean and stays out of his way and sticks to the agreement of not nagging and the whole thing is quieter and easier than he expected.
She’s hardly ever around anyway, so.
With Chang - Chang had been like a lost puppy who had nowhere to go and would just lie around the apartment all day watching People’s Court and whining that he was bored and leaving mysterious smells in his wake so that Jeff had to clean the entire apartment until he found the three-week old take out under the couch and yeah, it’s as gross as it sounds.
Annie, though, is always busy and always moving, like she has to fill in all those extra hours between sleeping and working. She hangs out with Abed and has lunch with Britta and baby-sits Shirley’s kids and actually goes and volunteers building houses and feeding the homeless and working at a local day camp on the weekends when the most Jeff ever accomplishes is beating his high score on Call of Duty.
Even when she’s home, she’s organizing or cleaning or threatening to clean something or getting up at 7:00 on a Saturday to do laundry.
“Don’t you ever stop?”
“What?” Annie looks up, confused.
“You know.” Jeff gestures to himself. “Relax?”
She frowns. “Of course.”
Jeff raises an eyebrow and shrugs, then turns his attention back to the television where Phineas and Ferb are building a time machine. Annie stares at him for a second before returning to her folding.
“I relax,” she says a minute later. Jeff laughs at the look on her face.
“Don’t stress out about it.”
“I’m not. But you-”
“Okay. Tell me this: have you ever spent an entire day just doing nothing?”
Annie’s brow furrows, “What do you mean, nothing?”
“I mean this.” Again, he points to himself. “A day of nothing. No productivity. No worries.”
“No worries?”
“Shut up.”
Annie laughs as she starts matching up her socks and rolling them into balls. “I have things to do. Not all of us like sitting around doing… nothing in our underwear.”
“I think you think you just insulted me, but… I can’t be insulted. I’m too relaxed.” He slouches further into the couch with a breezy grin and Annie narrows her eyes at him as she stands up.
“Hmmm. Maybe you’re too relaxed. Is that a beer gut, I spy?” She smirks and flounces toward the kitchen.
“What?!” He looks startled but then catches himself and laughs, “Nice try.” When he thinks she’s not looking through he pulls up his shirt and examines his abs with scrutinous eyes.
“You’re ridiculous,” she says from right behind him and he quickly drops his hand.
“Weren’t we talking about you?”
“You were. I’m ignoring you.”
“Impossible.” Jeff regards her thoughtfully as she sits back down with a bowl of cereal. “Whatever, you probably couldn’t do it anyway.”
“Do what?”
“Spend an entire day doing nothing. You wouldn’t last two hours.”
“Excuse me?”
Jeff shrugs, “It’s fine. You can’t be perfect at everything.” He feigns nonchalance, his gaze on the television.
“Ha!” She yells. And then narrows her eyes at him. He can practically see the wheels turning in her head as she munches on a mouthful of Raisin Bran. “Well, I hope you don’t have any plans today. Because I’m about to prove you wrong. I’m going to relax harder than anyone’s ever relaxed before.” Her voice is strained and tight and Jeff’s eyes widen.
“There’s irony here. I just can’t quite pinpoint what it is, exactly.” He clasps his hands together, steepling his index fingers and tapping them against his lips. Annie lets out a noise of annoyance, sets down her cereal and starts gathering her laundry.
Jeff’s about to say something when she suddenly stops, sends him a haughty smile and puts everything back down. “I’m just going to leave that there. Aaaaaall day.”
“Sure.”
They sit there in silence until Annie side-eyes him questioningly, “So. How do we start?”
Jeff laughs.
~*~*~
She slouches next to him on the couch, her arms folded over her chest. “I’m bored.”
“Good.”
“No one actually enjoys being bored, Jeff.”
He turns away from his video game, “I offered you a chance to play.”
“I’m not good at video games.” Annie picks at an invisible spot on his sofa, her mouth turned up in a scowl.
Jeff checks the time. “Hey, you made it a half hour. You can stop now, you know. Pick your laundry off the floor, go build an orphanage for some needy children or whatever you want.”
“I wasn’t building an orphanage. It was a day camp for inner city kids.”
“See, when you tell me these things, I’m really only pretending to listen.”
“Barely even pretending! You just say ‘uh-huh, uh-huh, cool’ when you’re really concentrating on texting or playing Angry Birds.”
“Uh-huh, uh-huh, cool, yeah, sure, good idea.” He stares intently at the television but there’s a hint of a smile pulling at his lips.
Annie shoves hard at his shoulder, “You’re a jerk.”
“Those words are pretty meaningless when I know you don’t mean them.” Jeff reaches over and flicks at her ponytail. “Look at you, you’re too worked up. This kind of defeats the purpose of a relaxing day.” He grins and she holds his gaze until something warm flickers there in his eyes and she can practically it feel against her skin.
Jeff clears his throat and pulls back, returning his attention toward the video game as Annie sinks lower into her corner of the couch and closes her eyes.
She doesn’t really mean to fall asleep - she just needs to avoid looking at him right now - but after a few minutes she starts to drift off on the distant sounds of gunplay from the game and it’s probably just a weird in-between-sleep-and-awake thing but there’s a moment she’s almost sure that she can feel his eyes on her as she dozes.
~*~*~
“Mmm. How long was I sleeping?
“Um, about an hour. You move a lot in your sleep.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s cool. I… You looked cold.”
“Oh. Thank you.”
“Yeah.”
~*~*~
“Why is she taking him back?! He cheated on her!” Annie looks over at him in exasperation as if he has something to do with the horrible decision making abilities of a bunch of over-tanned famewhores.
They’re still on the couch, three hours into a Jersey Shore marathon. Annie’s legs are crossed, her knee pressed into Jeff’s thigh. She’s got a bowl of popcorn in her lap and a can of Sprite propped up on the other knee as she eyes the woman on screen with a scowl. “The people on this show are horrible.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s the point.”
She shakes her head, appalled, and turns her attention back to Sammi and Ronnie who are currently engaged in post-reconciliation canoodling. Jeff watches her. “I can’t believe you’ve never watched the Jersey Shore before.”
Annie shrugs, “ I didn’t have cable at my apartment. It was too expensive. And my mom never let me watch TV at her house, so.” She shudders at the goings-on onscreen. “What does she even see in him? He’s gross.”
Jeff snorts loudly and gets up, patting her on the knee. “I don’t think anyone with actual self-respect will ever understand. You want Chinese?”
“Mmmhmmm.” Her eyes don’t leave the screen as she slowly reaches for a handful of popcorn. And okay, it turns out that Annie’s better at this relaxing thing than expected. Or at least somewhat. She is getting awfully worked up about these people. But it makes sense. A complacent Annie would be much too disconcerting.
Jeff’s rifling through the drawer of takeout menus as Annie continues to yell at the television, when suddenly the lights flicker once and then in a loud descending hum, go out completely and plunge the apartment into a weird, dim silence.
“Um.” Those both freeze as if they aren’t completely sure for a second what’s just happened.
Jeff groans and flicks the light switch. “Power’s out.”
Annie blinks at the blank television screen. “Now what?”
~*~*~*~
It’s nearly 4:00 and the power’s still out. Jeff calls the electric company, has a brief conversation with a woman he can barely understand and then hangs up, throwing the phone somewhere under the coffee table and throwing himself down dramatically on the couch.
“The entire neighborhood’s out. The electrical grid was overloaded. Or something. It could be hours before it’s back on.”
Annie sighs loudly and turns another page in her book. She’s curled up in the armchair, her legs hanging over the side as she reads. “And I could have been out doing something productive with my day.” She’s practically tsking at him like this is his fault.
“Hey, you were the one who took up the challenge, Miss I’m Gonna Win at Fucking Relaxing.” He can’t quite hear her response but she mutters something about glass houses and he tunes her out and throws an arm over his eyes because, whatever, he so does not do that.
The apartment’s already getting uncomfortably warm and he tugs on the collar of his shirt and groans inwardly. They’ve opened the windows but it’s 95 degrees outside and only the hint of a breeze wafts in at unpredictable intervals. It’s going to be unbearable soon.
A few minutes later he hears her book slam shut. “It’s hot,” she whines. Jeff peeks at her from under his arm and he can see that the little tendrils of hair at the nape of her neck are starting to stick, damp with sweat, to her skin. He imagines moving over to her, pulling her down to the floor and showing her all the much more interesting things they could do to make her even hotter.
Shit.
“Right. Okay. Get up. We’re going out.” He stands up quickly. Annie’s head rolls back and she looks about ready to start whining some more so he grabs her hand and pulls her out of the chair.
“Jeff! I’m not dressed to go out!”
“Well go put some shorts on, whatever. It doesn’t matter.”
Annie looks doubtful as she heads towards the bathroom. “Where are you taking me?”
“You’ll see.”
~*~*~*~
“This place is creepy.”
“But see, now you don’t feel underdressed, do you?”
Annie glances around, settling next to him on a barstool. She’s driven past this place a hundred times and never once considered walking in - passing it off as skeezy and possibly infested with bugs, or perverts. The neon sign above the doorway is always partially unlit, buzzing and crackling as if it’s threatening to go completely out at any moment; the grimy, possibly-used-to-be-a-different-color-than-gray paint is cracked and peeling; there’s one trashcan sitting by the door in a constant state of overflow; and no matter what time of day it is there are always a few lonely beat-up cars in the dirt lot that serves as a parking lot.
Inside is pretty much…. No, exactly what she expected - sad and dirty. A handful of random pictures hang slightly askew on the wall, two of which are the exact same picture of a young John Wayne; there’s a pool table in the corner; a few tables strewn about; and about five patrons who all look like they hadn’t left in days.
This is not where she pictured Jeff hanging out but he seems comfortable, like he’s been here a million times as he flags down the bartender, a tall beefy guy with a head full of frizzy hair.
“Hey, Jeff.”
“Hey, Kenny. My usual?” Jeff turns to Annie in question but she just stares at him. He smirks. “And she’ll have the same. Oh, and throw in a basket of fries.” Once Kenny nods and walks away Jeff leans into her, “Their fries are pretty good.”
Annie continues staring at him.
“What?”
“Well.” Annie looks around, unsure of how to phrase it, “This place doesn’t exactly scream, frequented by Jeff Winger, wearer of $300 jeans. This isn’t where you come to…?”
Jeff follows her gaze to a woman at the back of the bar wearing an oversized sweatshirt with a Mickey Mouse emblazoned across the front, slouched over a glass of something amber. “No!” He says indignantly. “Please. This is where I come when I want a beer and to be alone.”
“Oh. So you took me to the place where I’m most likely to assaulted by a sexual offender.” Annie scoots further forward on her seat as if she’s afraid of contacting some kind of disease from the cracked vinyl.
Jeff watches her with a grin. “Snob.”
Annie gasps.
“Don’t worry. It’s harmless in here. Trust me.”
Kenny comes back and plunks two beers down in front of them. Annie smiles at him. “Thank you.”
He winks. “Milady,” and walks away.
Annie’s eyes widen a little as she glances sideways at Jeff. He laughs and holds up his beer. “Cheers.”
~*~*~*~
“I think he misses Troy.”
“How can you tell?”
“Jeff.”
“I’m just saying. Troy acted like he was going off to war. Abed just sort of,” Jeff tilts his head to the side and gives a short little wave. “It was a little one sided.”
“He doesn’t show his emotion the same way the rest of us do. I think that’s okay.”
“Huh.”
“What? What’s that face for?”
“There’s no face. Just… nevermind.”
Annie glares at him. “You’re…”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
~*~*~*~
With chin in hand, Annie watches the six o’clock news flickering silently on the television mounted above the bar. She absentmindedly runs her finger around the rim of empty beer glass in front of her.
Finally Jeff sighs, “Promise you won’t tell anyone?”
Annie grins slowly and nods. She presses her lips together and mimes locking them, then holds out the imaginary key. Jeff rolls his eyes as he pretends to take it and throw it over his shoulder.
“Okay.” He leans in and Annie follows his lead, their heads tilted close together. “I’ve never… learned to ski.” Annie’s eyes widen a little as if she’s waiting for him to continue. When he doesn’t she pulls back with a sigh.
“That’s not… Jeff! That’s not a secret.”
“You knew?!” he exclaims in mock horror.
“That’s not what I mean.”
“Annie, I don’t have secrets.”
She turns back toward the television but under her breath she starts humming the melody to George Michael’s “Faith.”
“Wow. NOT cool. How many times have you watched that thing anyway?”
Annie shrugs, “It never gets old.”
“I’m glad my embarrassment causes you so much amusement.”
“Aww, Jeff.” She pushes at his shoulder so that he tilts away. “Don’t be sad.”
“Pshhh. I’m not sad. I do need another drink though.” He signals to Kenny for another round of beers.
Annie watches his profile, then leans in and lowers her voice. “It’s okay, you know.”
Jeff looks at her, and there’s a seriousness to his eyes - something unguarded - that’s only there for a second before his typical wall of snarky indifference goes back up and he laughs, “That I can’t ski? Cause I don’t know. I’ve been told that it’s a pretty unforgivable offense.”
There’s a momentary surge of annoyance in her chest because why can’t he just… But Annie shakes it off. “Well, your secret’s safe with me.”
“Thanks.”
~*~*~*~
Three hours and two beers later, Jeff is lounging back in a chair against the wall, his legs stretched out long in front of him and crossed at the ankles. The alcohol running through his veins leaves him feeling pleasantly buzzed as he watches Annie through heavy eyes.
She’s standing in front of the dartboard, eyeing it with a clenched jaw as she angles her body and takes a deep breath. And then another.
“Oh. My. God. Just throw it.”
“Shh. You’re ruining my concentration.” Annie licks her lips, takes another breath and finally throws the dart with a flick of her wrist. They both watch as it sails through the air and hits a spot just above the board. It sticks to the wall for a brief second before clattering to the ground.
“Ugh!”
“How. Do you keep doing that?” Jeff laughs through his words. “You’ve been practicing for hours.”
Annie scowls and stomps over to grab the dart off the ground. “Maybe, you’re just a bad teacher.”
“Or maybe, your hand-eye coordination sucks.” He stands up and stretches his arms above his head, “I think it’s time to give up.”
“No! Jeff, practice makes perfect.”
“Uh, if you’re planning on perfecting that? Then you’re going to be practicing for a loooooong ass time. And this places closes at 2:00.”
“I wouldn’t insult the woman with the sharp, pointy objects in her hand, if I were you.”
Jeff holds up his hand in surrender. “Okay, okay. Go for it.”
Annie turns toward the board again, but as she lines up the dart, Jeff steps in close behind her and circles his fingers around her wrist. He drops his other hand to her waist. Annie throws a startled glance up at him but then relaxes and lets him guide her movements. This time when she throws the dart, it flies straight and sticks to a spot two inches to the right of the bullseye.
“Yes!” She throws her fist up in the air and bounces a little on the balls of her toes, reaching up to wrap one arm around Jeff in a victory hug. He laughs and allows himself to be pulled down.
“Seriously, you suck at his game,” he whispers in her ear.
She smacks him as she pulls away but she smiles and backs up toward the bar. “And just for that, you have to buy me another drink.”
Jeff grins and follows.
~*~*~
“Britta?”
He glances sideways at her. “Not anymore.”
“Not even just sex?”
Jeff raises an eyebrow and Annie purses her lips together, seemingly surprised at her own question. He laughs. “Uh. It’s been awhile.”
“Hmm.” She flushes and chews at the end of her straw. After her last beer she had called it quits and moved onto ice water and another basket of fries.
“So, tell me,” he starts. Annie looks up at him with bright eyes and he’s pretty sure that he could get her to answer any question he asked right now. “What actually happened with Trevor?”
Her shoulders slump slightly. “Nothing.”
“Annie.”
“It’s…” She shifts uncomfortably. “He got jealous.”
Jeff stills, “Of wh... what?”
“The group.” Annie rests her chin on her palm, turning away from him slightly. “He said he was tired of always coming second. So. I made a choice.” She sighs a little and finally meets his eyes, “It was kind of a no-brainer.”
Jeff nods, not sure if he should feel smug or guilty. Or even terrified at the idea that some guy, some day, was going to come first.
They’re quiet for a long moment and Jeff takes the chance to really look around the bar for the first time all night. The woman in the Disney sweatshirt is still there near the back but it’s after ten on a Saturday so it’s a little more crowded now - there’s a middle-aged man in a business suit a couple seats down the bar, a couple in the corner booth making out sloppily, and a group of guys around Annie’s age playing a game of pool and occasionally breaking into loud shouts of laughter as they pound back pint after pint of beer. A mousy waitress with fake boobs that Jeff recognizes from past visits is leaning next to the beer tap, examining her nails.
“Maybe we should get married.”
Jeff whips his head back around to stare at Annie, “Huh-what?”
She laughs. “All of us. Just, get married to each other and move to Utah and live on a communal farm, or something.” Her voice is a little dreamy as she closes her eyes, seemingly picturing this. Jeff wonders how drunk she actually is.
“So you and Britta and Shirley can be sister-wives?”
Her eyes open as she nods, “And you and Troy and Abed would be brother-husbands.” At the disturbed look on Jeff’s face, she giggles. “Oh! But don’t forget Pierce.”
“Annie, this conversation is disturbing enough as it is.”
“Awww, he wouldn’t want to be left out though. Oh! I know. He can be the wise old grandpa figure that sits on the porch in a rocking chair and plays the harmonica. The kids will love him.”
“First, wise? Really? Think about your choice of words there. Second, I thought we were talking polygamy, not an episode of Little House on the Prairie. And third, kids? Jeff shudders.
Annie rolls her eyes. “Is the idea of having kids really that horrifying?”
“Kids in general, no. But raising kids with our group of friends? Yes. Half the time we can’t even decide on a place to go to dinner. Merging everyone’s parenting styles?”
“Oh.” Annie looks troubled.
“Not to mention the fact that Abed will insist on naming them all after iconic television characters. So unless you’ve always dreamed about having a son named MacGyver.”
“Noooo. What about Lucy?”
“Homer.”
“Rachel.”
“Buffy.”
“I actually knew a Buffy in high school… She was kind of a bitch.”
Jeff chugs down the last of his beer. “It’s a sign.”
“That we shouldn’t get married?”
He looks over, something twisting low in his stomach. Her eyes are playful though. “Yup. It would never work.”
Annie nods gravely. “Too bad.”
“Yup.”
A beat later she tilts her head to the side, deep in thought. “You know, the more I think about it though, MacGyver would actually be a pretty cute name for a-”
“No.”
~*~*~*~
It’s still warm outside when they exit the bar sometime after eleven. Annie’s face is a little red and flushed as she walks backwards, facing him, and Jeff follows her with a smile, reaching out an arm to pull her to the side before she backs into a lamp post.
“Careful, drunky.”
She laughs and twirls around so she’s next to him. Her arm loops through his. “This was a good idea.”
“The multiple beers?”
“No. Relaxing. Hanging out together. We’ve never done that before.”
“Annie, we hang out all the time. We’ve been living together for three weeks.” He hits the unlock button on his car and goes around to open the passenger side door for her.
“You know what I mean.” She moves to slide into her seat but then pauses, “Jeff, you’ve been drinking.”
“I’ve had four beers over the past seven hours. We’re three blocks away. I’m fine.”
Annie scrutinizes his face, getting up on her toes to look at his eyes. “Are you sure? Follow my finger.”
“Annie.” He bats her hand away but she slips away from him and crosses her arms over her chest.
“I’m not getting in.”
“Oh good god. Look. I’m fine.” He alternates touching his nose with both fingers, then stands on one leg, feeling like an idiot. “See? Now get in the car.”
Annie sighs, “Better safe than sorry.” But she looks appeased and finally gets in. When Jeff starts the car she immediately starts messing with the radio.
“Hands off.”
“Grouch.” She sticks her tongue out at him, and then Jeff wants to smack himself in the face a little bit because he actually returns the gesture, making her laugh.
They drive the few blocks back to his apartment, with no incidents, the streets quiet and empty at the late hour. When they pull up into the parking lot of his complex though it’s obvious that the electricity is still out. In the safety of the car, with the air conditioning blasting, they both peer up at the kitchen window to Jeff’s apartment. Annie’s nose scrunches up. “It’s probably really hot in there.”
“Ugh.” Jeff rests his head on the steering wheel, accidentally hitting it too hard and honking the horn.
“You’re going to wake up all your neighbors.”
Jeff looks up with a groan but then his eyes catch sight of something out the window - a cool, refreshing something. “Come on. I have an idea.”
Annie follows him out of the car but stops when she sees him heading toward the locked gate of the pool.
“Jeff!” She hisses loudly, “We’re not allowed to. It’s after hours.”
“Oh come on. These are special circumstances. Live dangerously. I’ll give you a boost.”
Annie still looks troubled but it is still uncomfortably hot, so. She sighs and moves toward him, stepping up onto his knee like he indicates and reaching for the top of the gate to pull herself up. She struggles a little to get all the way over until Jeff grasps her waist and helps and then she drops easily to the other side.
Jeff cocks his head and watches her through the bars, “I could just leave you here, you know.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“They’d find you here in the morning, the hooligan that broke into the pool after hours.” He shakes his head in mock sadness. “It’s always the ones that look innocent, right? What will people say?”
Annie tries to smack at him through the bars but he dodges away laughing and then easily hoists himself up and over the gate. He’s realized though that this might not be the most ingenious plan. What are they going to swim in? Their underwear? Cause that would be a bad idea. Very bad.
Right?
But Annie’s kicked off her flip-flops and is sitting at the edge of the pool, dangling her legs into the cool water and not looking in any way like she’s about to strip off her clothes. Jeff drops his phone and keys on a lounge chair and then rolls his pants up as much as possible and joins her, the bottom of his jeans still dragging heavy into the water.
They sit there, shoulder to shoulder, in comfortable silence, the only sound coming from chirping crickets and the soft lap of water at the sides of the pool. Annie forgets about the possibility of getting caught and her entire body seems to unwind and unravel until she leans into him and rests her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes.
Jeff looks down at her, then edges slightly closer so she doesn’t have to leans so far but at his movement she stirs a little, turning her face into the fabric of his tee-shirt and sort of nuzzling his arm with her nose before pulling away and blinking sleepily at him.
“I win.”
“What?” He’s genuinely confused at the look of self-satisfaction that spreads across her face.
“I win. You didn’t think I could spend an entire day doing nothing. And I did. So, ha!”
“You’re ridiculous.” Jeff shakes his head, looking up at the sky.
Her predictable gasp is cut short as just then, with a loud hum, the apartment complex buzzes back to life - lights flickering back on in windows, the streetlamps in the parking lot flooding the place with a brightness that is almost blinding after sitting out in the moonless night.
Someone in one of the apartments shouts, “Finally!” and Jeff looks over his shoulder in the direction of the noise. Annie takes advantage of his distraction and shoves at him, hard, and it catches him off guard enough that he slips sideways and topples into the pool with a shout. He comes up sputtering, and immediately lunges toward her.
“Oh no you don’t.” She’s trying to stand up but she’s laughing too hard and Jeff gets to her before she can get away. He tugs on her arm and she struggles for only a second before he overpowers her and she’s crashing into the pool with him, shrieking loudly.
“Shhhh. We could get in trouble,” he mimics her earlier concerns but she only splashes him with a face full of water. “Hey!” Jeff reaches and gets an arm around her, pulling her closer to ward off another attack. She continues kicking even as she’s pressed against him and they’re both near hysterics as he struggles to keep a hold on her.
Somewhere nearby a door opens and then slams and they both freeze, breathing hard.
“Jeff?” she whispers.
“Crap. Go. Go.” He hoists Annie up out of the pool and then as fast as possible, in wet heavy clothes, they get back over the gate and run toward his apartment, laughing the entire way.
Spoilers: Only for the 3x01 episode title
Word Count: 4998
Rating: PG-13, for language
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Description: Jeff gets a new roommate.
Author's Note: I love everyone in this bar. Especially 0penhearts for beta'ing this monstrosity.
~*~*~
It’s a Saturday morning and Jeff’s lounging on the couch with a protein shake in his hand, flipping idly through the channels as Annie sits cross-legged on the floor, folding laundry and making neat, colorful stacks of cardigans and camisoles.
They’ve been living together for over three weeks.
As it turns out, she had actually been getting a pretty amazing deal living above Dildoplis. Every other apartment she finds is too expensive or somehow in an even more appalling neighborhood and all the people currently searching for roommates on Craig’s List run the shady spectrum from should sign up for an episode of Hoarders to has mysterious blood stains on the carpet.
Every time she comes home from another failed apartment search she apologizes profusely and then offers to do something ridiculous like organize his hall closet (Jeff suspects that this is coming from a deep desire to actually just clean the mess in there) but he shrugs and waves her off, saying that it’s not a big deal.
And it’s really not.
It turns out that Annie’s not a bad roommate to have around (and ever since they figured out a bathroom schedule, the awkwardness level’s been kept to a minimum). She keeps things clean and stays out of his way and sticks to the agreement of not nagging and the whole thing is quieter and easier than he expected.
She’s hardly ever around anyway, so.
With Chang - Chang had been like a lost puppy who had nowhere to go and would just lie around the apartment all day watching People’s Court and whining that he was bored and leaving mysterious smells in his wake so that Jeff had to clean the entire apartment until he found the three-week old take out under the couch and yeah, it’s as gross as it sounds.
Annie, though, is always busy and always moving, like she has to fill in all those extra hours between sleeping and working. She hangs out with Abed and has lunch with Britta and baby-sits Shirley’s kids and actually goes and volunteers building houses and feeding the homeless and working at a local day camp on the weekends when the most Jeff ever accomplishes is beating his high score on Call of Duty.
Even when she’s home, she’s organizing or cleaning or threatening to clean something or getting up at 7:00 on a Saturday to do laundry.
“Don’t you ever stop?”
“What?” Annie looks up, confused.
“You know.” Jeff gestures to himself. “Relax?”
She frowns. “Of course.”
Jeff raises an eyebrow and shrugs, then turns his attention back to the television where Phineas and Ferb are building a time machine. Annie stares at him for a second before returning to her folding.
“I relax,” she says a minute later. Jeff laughs at the look on her face.
“Don’t stress out about it.”
“I’m not. But you-”
“Okay. Tell me this: have you ever spent an entire day just doing nothing?”
Annie’s brow furrows, “What do you mean, nothing?”
“I mean this.” Again, he points to himself. “A day of nothing. No productivity. No worries.”
“No worries?”
“Shut up.”
Annie laughs as she starts matching up her socks and rolling them into balls. “I have things to do. Not all of us like sitting around doing… nothing in our underwear.”
“I think you think you just insulted me, but… I can’t be insulted. I’m too relaxed.” He slouches further into the couch with a breezy grin and Annie narrows her eyes at him as she stands up.
“Hmmm. Maybe you’re too relaxed. Is that a beer gut, I spy?” She smirks and flounces toward the kitchen.
“What?!” He looks startled but then catches himself and laughs, “Nice try.” When he thinks she’s not looking through he pulls up his shirt and examines his abs with scrutinous eyes.
“You’re ridiculous,” she says from right behind him and he quickly drops his hand.
“Weren’t we talking about you?”
“You were. I’m ignoring you.”
“Impossible.” Jeff regards her thoughtfully as she sits back down with a bowl of cereal. “Whatever, you probably couldn’t do it anyway.”
“Do what?”
“Spend an entire day doing nothing. You wouldn’t last two hours.”
“Excuse me?”
Jeff shrugs, “It’s fine. You can’t be perfect at everything.” He feigns nonchalance, his gaze on the television.
“Ha!” She yells. And then narrows her eyes at him. He can practically see the wheels turning in her head as she munches on a mouthful of Raisin Bran. “Well, I hope you don’t have any plans today. Because I’m about to prove you wrong. I’m going to relax harder than anyone’s ever relaxed before.” Her voice is strained and tight and Jeff’s eyes widen.
“There’s irony here. I just can’t quite pinpoint what it is, exactly.” He clasps his hands together, steepling his index fingers and tapping them against his lips. Annie lets out a noise of annoyance, sets down her cereal and starts gathering her laundry.
Jeff’s about to say something when she suddenly stops, sends him a haughty smile and puts everything back down. “I’m just going to leave that there. Aaaaaall day.”
“Sure.”
They sit there in silence until Annie side-eyes him questioningly, “So. How do we start?”
Jeff laughs.
~*~*~
She slouches next to him on the couch, her arms folded over her chest. “I’m bored.”
“Good.”
“No one actually enjoys being bored, Jeff.”
He turns away from his video game, “I offered you a chance to play.”
“I’m not good at video games.” Annie picks at an invisible spot on his sofa, her mouth turned up in a scowl.
Jeff checks the time. “Hey, you made it a half hour. You can stop now, you know. Pick your laundry off the floor, go build an orphanage for some needy children or whatever you want.”
“I wasn’t building an orphanage. It was a day camp for inner city kids.”
“See, when you tell me these things, I’m really only pretending to listen.”
“Barely even pretending! You just say ‘uh-huh, uh-huh, cool’ when you’re really concentrating on texting or playing Angry Birds.”
“Uh-huh, uh-huh, cool, yeah, sure, good idea.” He stares intently at the television but there’s a hint of a smile pulling at his lips.
Annie shoves hard at his shoulder, “You’re a jerk.”
“Those words are pretty meaningless when I know you don’t mean them.” Jeff reaches over and flicks at her ponytail. “Look at you, you’re too worked up. This kind of defeats the purpose of a relaxing day.” He grins and she holds his gaze until something warm flickers there in his eyes and she can practically it feel against her skin.
Jeff clears his throat and pulls back, returning his attention toward the video game as Annie sinks lower into her corner of the couch and closes her eyes.
She doesn’t really mean to fall asleep - she just needs to avoid looking at him right now - but after a few minutes she starts to drift off on the distant sounds of gunplay from the game and it’s probably just a weird in-between-sleep-and-awake thing but there’s a moment she’s almost sure that she can feel his eyes on her as she dozes.
~*~*~
“Mmm. How long was I sleeping?
“Um, about an hour. You move a lot in your sleep.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s cool. I… You looked cold.”
“Oh. Thank you.”
“Yeah.”
~*~*~
“Why is she taking him back?! He cheated on her!” Annie looks over at him in exasperation as if he has something to do with the horrible decision making abilities of a bunch of over-tanned famewhores.
They’re still on the couch, three hours into a Jersey Shore marathon. Annie’s legs are crossed, her knee pressed into Jeff’s thigh. She’s got a bowl of popcorn in her lap and a can of Sprite propped up on the other knee as she eyes the woman on screen with a scowl. “The people on this show are horrible.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s the point.”
She shakes her head, appalled, and turns her attention back to Sammi and Ronnie who are currently engaged in post-reconciliation canoodling. Jeff watches her. “I can’t believe you’ve never watched the Jersey Shore before.”
Annie shrugs, “ I didn’t have cable at my apartment. It was too expensive. And my mom never let me watch TV at her house, so.” She shudders at the goings-on onscreen. “What does she even see in him? He’s gross.”
Jeff snorts loudly and gets up, patting her on the knee. “I don’t think anyone with actual self-respect will ever understand. You want Chinese?”
“Mmmhmmm.” Her eyes don’t leave the screen as she slowly reaches for a handful of popcorn. And okay, it turns out that Annie’s better at this relaxing thing than expected. Or at least somewhat. She is getting awfully worked up about these people. But it makes sense. A complacent Annie would be much too disconcerting.
Jeff’s rifling through the drawer of takeout menus as Annie continues to yell at the television, when suddenly the lights flicker once and then in a loud descending hum, go out completely and plunge the apartment into a weird, dim silence.
“Um.” Those both freeze as if they aren’t completely sure for a second what’s just happened.
Jeff groans and flicks the light switch. “Power’s out.”
Annie blinks at the blank television screen. “Now what?”
~*~*~*~
It’s nearly 4:00 and the power’s still out. Jeff calls the electric company, has a brief conversation with a woman he can barely understand and then hangs up, throwing the phone somewhere under the coffee table and throwing himself down dramatically on the couch.
“The entire neighborhood’s out. The electrical grid was overloaded. Or something. It could be hours before it’s back on.”
Annie sighs loudly and turns another page in her book. She’s curled up in the armchair, her legs hanging over the side as she reads. “And I could have been out doing something productive with my day.” She’s practically tsking at him like this is his fault.
“Hey, you were the one who took up the challenge, Miss I’m Gonna Win at Fucking Relaxing.” He can’t quite hear her response but she mutters something about glass houses and he tunes her out and throws an arm over his eyes because, whatever, he so does not do that.
The apartment’s already getting uncomfortably warm and he tugs on the collar of his shirt and groans inwardly. They’ve opened the windows but it’s 95 degrees outside and only the hint of a breeze wafts in at unpredictable intervals. It’s going to be unbearable soon.
A few minutes later he hears her book slam shut. “It’s hot,” she whines. Jeff peeks at her from under his arm and he can see that the little tendrils of hair at the nape of her neck are starting to stick, damp with sweat, to her skin. He imagines moving over to her, pulling her down to the floor and showing her all the much more interesting things they could do to make her even hotter.
Shit.
“Right. Okay. Get up. We’re going out.” He stands up quickly. Annie’s head rolls back and she looks about ready to start whining some more so he grabs her hand and pulls her out of the chair.
“Jeff! I’m not dressed to go out!”
“Well go put some shorts on, whatever. It doesn’t matter.”
Annie looks doubtful as she heads towards the bathroom. “Where are you taking me?”
“You’ll see.”
~*~*~*~
“This place is creepy.”
“But see, now you don’t feel underdressed, do you?”
Annie glances around, settling next to him on a barstool. She’s driven past this place a hundred times and never once considered walking in - passing it off as skeezy and possibly infested with bugs, or perverts. The neon sign above the doorway is always partially unlit, buzzing and crackling as if it’s threatening to go completely out at any moment; the grimy, possibly-used-to-be-a-different-color-than-gray paint is cracked and peeling; there’s one trashcan sitting by the door in a constant state of overflow; and no matter what time of day it is there are always a few lonely beat-up cars in the dirt lot that serves as a parking lot.
Inside is pretty much…. No, exactly what she expected - sad and dirty. A handful of random pictures hang slightly askew on the wall, two of which are the exact same picture of a young John Wayne; there’s a pool table in the corner; a few tables strewn about; and about five patrons who all look like they hadn’t left in days.
This is not where she pictured Jeff hanging out but he seems comfortable, like he’s been here a million times as he flags down the bartender, a tall beefy guy with a head full of frizzy hair.
“Hey, Jeff.”
“Hey, Kenny. My usual?” Jeff turns to Annie in question but she just stares at him. He smirks. “And she’ll have the same. Oh, and throw in a basket of fries.” Once Kenny nods and walks away Jeff leans into her, “Their fries are pretty good.”
Annie continues staring at him.
“What?”
“Well.” Annie looks around, unsure of how to phrase it, “This place doesn’t exactly scream, frequented by Jeff Winger, wearer of $300 jeans. This isn’t where you come to…?”
Jeff follows her gaze to a woman at the back of the bar wearing an oversized sweatshirt with a Mickey Mouse emblazoned across the front, slouched over a glass of something amber. “No!” He says indignantly. “Please. This is where I come when I want a beer and to be alone.”
“Oh. So you took me to the place where I’m most likely to assaulted by a sexual offender.” Annie scoots further forward on her seat as if she’s afraid of contacting some kind of disease from the cracked vinyl.
Jeff watches her with a grin. “Snob.”
Annie gasps.
“Don’t worry. It’s harmless in here. Trust me.”
Kenny comes back and plunks two beers down in front of them. Annie smiles at him. “Thank you.”
He winks. “Milady,” and walks away.
Annie’s eyes widen a little as she glances sideways at Jeff. He laughs and holds up his beer. “Cheers.”
~*~*~*~
“I think he misses Troy.”
“How can you tell?”
“Jeff.”
“I’m just saying. Troy acted like he was going off to war. Abed just sort of,” Jeff tilts his head to the side and gives a short little wave. “It was a little one sided.”
“He doesn’t show his emotion the same way the rest of us do. I think that’s okay.”
“Huh.”
“What? What’s that face for?”
“There’s no face. Just… nevermind.”
Annie glares at him. “You’re…”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
~*~*~*~
With chin in hand, Annie watches the six o’clock news flickering silently on the television mounted above the bar. She absentmindedly runs her finger around the rim of empty beer glass in front of her.
Finally Jeff sighs, “Promise you won’t tell anyone?”
Annie grins slowly and nods. She presses her lips together and mimes locking them, then holds out the imaginary key. Jeff rolls his eyes as he pretends to take it and throw it over his shoulder.
“Okay.” He leans in and Annie follows his lead, their heads tilted close together. “I’ve never… learned to ski.” Annie’s eyes widen a little as if she’s waiting for him to continue. When he doesn’t she pulls back with a sigh.
“That’s not… Jeff! That’s not a secret.”
“You knew?!” he exclaims in mock horror.
“That’s not what I mean.”
“Annie, I don’t have secrets.”
She turns back toward the television but under her breath she starts humming the melody to George Michael’s “Faith.”
“Wow. NOT cool. How many times have you watched that thing anyway?”
Annie shrugs, “It never gets old.”
“I’m glad my embarrassment causes you so much amusement.”
“Aww, Jeff.” She pushes at his shoulder so that he tilts away. “Don’t be sad.”
“Pshhh. I’m not sad. I do need another drink though.” He signals to Kenny for another round of beers.
Annie watches his profile, then leans in and lowers her voice. “It’s okay, you know.”
Jeff looks at her, and there’s a seriousness to his eyes - something unguarded - that’s only there for a second before his typical wall of snarky indifference goes back up and he laughs, “That I can’t ski? Cause I don’t know. I’ve been told that it’s a pretty unforgivable offense.”
There’s a momentary surge of annoyance in her chest because why can’t he just… But Annie shakes it off. “Well, your secret’s safe with me.”
“Thanks.”
~*~*~*~
Three hours and two beers later, Jeff is lounging back in a chair against the wall, his legs stretched out long in front of him and crossed at the ankles. The alcohol running through his veins leaves him feeling pleasantly buzzed as he watches Annie through heavy eyes.
She’s standing in front of the dartboard, eyeing it with a clenched jaw as she angles her body and takes a deep breath. And then another.
“Oh. My. God. Just throw it.”
“Shh. You’re ruining my concentration.” Annie licks her lips, takes another breath and finally throws the dart with a flick of her wrist. They both watch as it sails through the air and hits a spot just above the board. It sticks to the wall for a brief second before clattering to the ground.
“Ugh!”
“How. Do you keep doing that?” Jeff laughs through his words. “You’ve been practicing for hours.”
Annie scowls and stomps over to grab the dart off the ground. “Maybe, you’re just a bad teacher.”
“Or maybe, your hand-eye coordination sucks.” He stands up and stretches his arms above his head, “I think it’s time to give up.”
“No! Jeff, practice makes perfect.”
“Uh, if you’re planning on perfecting that? Then you’re going to be practicing for a loooooong ass time. And this places closes at 2:00.”
“I wouldn’t insult the woman with the sharp, pointy objects in her hand, if I were you.”
Jeff holds up his hand in surrender. “Okay, okay. Go for it.”
Annie turns toward the board again, but as she lines up the dart, Jeff steps in close behind her and circles his fingers around her wrist. He drops his other hand to her waist. Annie throws a startled glance up at him but then relaxes and lets him guide her movements. This time when she throws the dart, it flies straight and sticks to a spot two inches to the right of the bullseye.
“Yes!” She throws her fist up in the air and bounces a little on the balls of her toes, reaching up to wrap one arm around Jeff in a victory hug. He laughs and allows himself to be pulled down.
“Seriously, you suck at his game,” he whispers in her ear.
She smacks him as she pulls away but she smiles and backs up toward the bar. “And just for that, you have to buy me another drink.”
Jeff grins and follows.
~*~*~
“Britta?”
He glances sideways at her. “Not anymore.”
“Not even just sex?”
Jeff raises an eyebrow and Annie purses her lips together, seemingly surprised at her own question. He laughs. “Uh. It’s been awhile.”
“Hmm.” She flushes and chews at the end of her straw. After her last beer she had called it quits and moved onto ice water and another basket of fries.
“So, tell me,” he starts. Annie looks up at him with bright eyes and he’s pretty sure that he could get her to answer any question he asked right now. “What actually happened with Trevor?”
Her shoulders slump slightly. “Nothing.”
“Annie.”
“It’s…” She shifts uncomfortably. “He got jealous.”
Jeff stills, “Of wh... what?”
“The group.” Annie rests her chin on her palm, turning away from him slightly. “He said he was tired of always coming second. So. I made a choice.” She sighs a little and finally meets his eyes, “It was kind of a no-brainer.”
Jeff nods, not sure if he should feel smug or guilty. Or even terrified at the idea that some guy, some day, was going to come first.
They’re quiet for a long moment and Jeff takes the chance to really look around the bar for the first time all night. The woman in the Disney sweatshirt is still there near the back but it’s after ten on a Saturday so it’s a little more crowded now - there’s a middle-aged man in a business suit a couple seats down the bar, a couple in the corner booth making out sloppily, and a group of guys around Annie’s age playing a game of pool and occasionally breaking into loud shouts of laughter as they pound back pint after pint of beer. A mousy waitress with fake boobs that Jeff recognizes from past visits is leaning next to the beer tap, examining her nails.
“Maybe we should get married.”
Jeff whips his head back around to stare at Annie, “Huh-what?”
She laughs. “All of us. Just, get married to each other and move to Utah and live on a communal farm, or something.” Her voice is a little dreamy as she closes her eyes, seemingly picturing this. Jeff wonders how drunk she actually is.
“So you and Britta and Shirley can be sister-wives?”
Her eyes open as she nods, “And you and Troy and Abed would be brother-husbands.” At the disturbed look on Jeff’s face, she giggles. “Oh! But don’t forget Pierce.”
“Annie, this conversation is disturbing enough as it is.”
“Awww, he wouldn’t want to be left out though. Oh! I know. He can be the wise old grandpa figure that sits on the porch in a rocking chair and plays the harmonica. The kids will love him.”
“First, wise? Really? Think about your choice of words there. Second, I thought we were talking polygamy, not an episode of Little House on the Prairie. And third, kids? Jeff shudders.
Annie rolls her eyes. “Is the idea of having kids really that horrifying?”
“Kids in general, no. But raising kids with our group of friends? Yes. Half the time we can’t even decide on a place to go to dinner. Merging everyone’s parenting styles?”
“Oh.” Annie looks troubled.
“Not to mention the fact that Abed will insist on naming them all after iconic television characters. So unless you’ve always dreamed about having a son named MacGyver.”
“Noooo. What about Lucy?”
“Homer.”
“Rachel.”
“Buffy.”
“I actually knew a Buffy in high school… She was kind of a bitch.”
Jeff chugs down the last of his beer. “It’s a sign.”
“That we shouldn’t get married?”
He looks over, something twisting low in his stomach. Her eyes are playful though. “Yup. It would never work.”
Annie nods gravely. “Too bad.”
“Yup.”
A beat later she tilts her head to the side, deep in thought. “You know, the more I think about it though, MacGyver would actually be a pretty cute name for a-”
“No.”
~*~*~*~
It’s still warm outside when they exit the bar sometime after eleven. Annie’s face is a little red and flushed as she walks backwards, facing him, and Jeff follows her with a smile, reaching out an arm to pull her to the side before she backs into a lamp post.
“Careful, drunky.”
She laughs and twirls around so she’s next to him. Her arm loops through his. “This was a good idea.”
“The multiple beers?”
“No. Relaxing. Hanging out together. We’ve never done that before.”
“Annie, we hang out all the time. We’ve been living together for three weeks.” He hits the unlock button on his car and goes around to open the passenger side door for her.
“You know what I mean.” She moves to slide into her seat but then pauses, “Jeff, you’ve been drinking.”
“I’ve had four beers over the past seven hours. We’re three blocks away. I’m fine.”
Annie scrutinizes his face, getting up on her toes to look at his eyes. “Are you sure? Follow my finger.”
“Annie.” He bats her hand away but she slips away from him and crosses her arms over her chest.
“I’m not getting in.”
“Oh good god. Look. I’m fine.” He alternates touching his nose with both fingers, then stands on one leg, feeling like an idiot. “See? Now get in the car.”
Annie sighs, “Better safe than sorry.” But she looks appeased and finally gets in. When Jeff starts the car she immediately starts messing with the radio.
“Hands off.”
“Grouch.” She sticks her tongue out at him, and then Jeff wants to smack himself in the face a little bit because he actually returns the gesture, making her laugh.
They drive the few blocks back to his apartment, with no incidents, the streets quiet and empty at the late hour. When they pull up into the parking lot of his complex though it’s obvious that the electricity is still out. In the safety of the car, with the air conditioning blasting, they both peer up at the kitchen window to Jeff’s apartment. Annie’s nose scrunches up. “It’s probably really hot in there.”
“Ugh.” Jeff rests his head on the steering wheel, accidentally hitting it too hard and honking the horn.
“You’re going to wake up all your neighbors.”
Jeff looks up with a groan but then his eyes catch sight of something out the window - a cool, refreshing something. “Come on. I have an idea.”
Annie follows him out of the car but stops when she sees him heading toward the locked gate of the pool.
“Jeff!” She hisses loudly, “We’re not allowed to. It’s after hours.”
“Oh come on. These are special circumstances. Live dangerously. I’ll give you a boost.”
Annie still looks troubled but it is still uncomfortably hot, so. She sighs and moves toward him, stepping up onto his knee like he indicates and reaching for the top of the gate to pull herself up. She struggles a little to get all the way over until Jeff grasps her waist and helps and then she drops easily to the other side.
Jeff cocks his head and watches her through the bars, “I could just leave you here, you know.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“They’d find you here in the morning, the hooligan that broke into the pool after hours.” He shakes his head in mock sadness. “It’s always the ones that look innocent, right? What will people say?”
Annie tries to smack at him through the bars but he dodges away laughing and then easily hoists himself up and over the gate. He’s realized though that this might not be the most ingenious plan. What are they going to swim in? Their underwear? Cause that would be a bad idea. Very bad.
Right?
But Annie’s kicked off her flip-flops and is sitting at the edge of the pool, dangling her legs into the cool water and not looking in any way like she’s about to strip off her clothes. Jeff drops his phone and keys on a lounge chair and then rolls his pants up as much as possible and joins her, the bottom of his jeans still dragging heavy into the water.
They sit there, shoulder to shoulder, in comfortable silence, the only sound coming from chirping crickets and the soft lap of water at the sides of the pool. Annie forgets about the possibility of getting caught and her entire body seems to unwind and unravel until she leans into him and rests her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes.
Jeff looks down at her, then edges slightly closer so she doesn’t have to leans so far but at his movement she stirs a little, turning her face into the fabric of his tee-shirt and sort of nuzzling his arm with her nose before pulling away and blinking sleepily at him.
“I win.”
“What?” He’s genuinely confused at the look of self-satisfaction that spreads across her face.
“I win. You didn’t think I could spend an entire day doing nothing. And I did. So, ha!”
“You’re ridiculous.” Jeff shakes his head, looking up at the sky.
Her predictable gasp is cut short as just then, with a loud hum, the apartment complex buzzes back to life - lights flickering back on in windows, the streetlamps in the parking lot flooding the place with a brightness that is almost blinding after sitting out in the moonless night.
Someone in one of the apartments shouts, “Finally!” and Jeff looks over his shoulder in the direction of the noise. Annie takes advantage of his distraction and shoves at him, hard, and it catches him off guard enough that he slips sideways and topples into the pool with a shout. He comes up sputtering, and immediately lunges toward her.
“Oh no you don’t.” She’s trying to stand up but she’s laughing too hard and Jeff gets to her before she can get away. He tugs on her arm and she struggles for only a second before he overpowers her and she’s crashing into the pool with him, shrieking loudly.
“Shhhh. We could get in trouble,” he mimics her earlier concerns but she only splashes him with a face full of water. “Hey!” Jeff reaches and gets an arm around her, pulling her closer to ward off another attack. She continues kicking even as she’s pressed against him and they’re both near hysterics as he struggles to keep a hold on her.
Somewhere nearby a door opens and then slams and they both freeze, breathing hard.
“Jeff?” she whispers.
“Crap. Go. Go.” He hoists Annie up out of the pool and then as fast as possible, in wet heavy clothes, they get back over the gate and run toward his apartment, laughing the entire way.