Twelve Days - December 24 - Jeff/Annie
Title: Playing by the Rules
Challenge: The Twelve Days of Christmas!
Prompt: Community, Jeff/Annie, kissing in the snow.
For: bowserbabe
Word Count: 894
Rating: PG
Notes: Posted late by request! Happy birthday, bowserbabe!
Summary: When they started dating, Annie was the one to bring up discretion.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue!
*
When they started dating, Annie was the one to bring up discretion. She worried the word was too pointed--
(And he did, in fact, raise his eyebrows and say, "Okay. You let nothing go.")
--but she explained that, at this point, it was best they keep things quiet for a while. So they would know where they were going before they dealt with what everyone else thought of them.
(But, well, maybe she did mean for it to be pointed, to remind him that he did hurt her, and to remind herself of the hair-twirling frenzy she went into last year. To remind herself that she's no longer the girl who followed Jeff around like a puppy, or even the one who spent the summer waiting to see him and was somewhat more practical, less sure that wanting to pursue something with him was a good idea, than the aforementioned hair-twirler who pointed out how they technically *frenched.*)
She laid out a plan, one which featured both common sense rules and ones she decided should be rules based on the ways she'd watched secret relationships unintentionally become public knowledge. ('No kissing in the study room or anywhere else where our friends might suddenly appear' falls under both categories.) Towards the end, when she advised him to *not* let it slip he was seeing only one woman, Jeff was smiling at her, eyes narrowed slightly.
"You do know you're thinking this through too much, right?"
Part of Annie believed he was right, but didn't admit it, since her strategy for having a secret relationship was sound and, as it turned out, easy to stick to. Jeff would make a comment about his latest (imaginary) conquest, Annie would act grossed out in a way that didn't seem too over-the-top (which could signal she was putting on an act, or come across as a flash of jealousy, which would also seem suspicious). She didn't touch him any more or any less than she used to. He didn't walk with her to a class that was out of this way. They didn't walk too close together or let their hands lightly touch as they did so (to reiterate: with appropriate distance between them). On campus, that was. When they were on their own time, she did throw out the rules (though she sometimes found herself thinking, "I'm invading his personal space"), except for one:
No kissing in public.
She knew this was ironic considering the fact that the first two kisses they shared were both in public places (one where they literally had an audience), but she didn't want to do anything that would draw attention to her and Jeff; doing so almost seemed like tempting fate. One kiss, and suddenly the study group would appear, chaos would break out, and maybe she and Jeff wouldn't be able to handle it.
But, then again, what would the study group assume if they saw them now, emerging from a grocery store the day before Christmas? (They were spending the holiday together, since Annie's father was in Florida with his new girlfriend and her family, and Jeff's mother had let holiday get-togethers fall by the wayside after the divorce.) Annie decided, in that moment, she would tell whoever it was who stumbled upon them that she and Jeff had run into each other and she was helping him load up his car. There were several holes in the story -- Why would Jeff need help? Where was her car? Her groceries? -- but she doubted she'd be forced to use it. She merely liked having a strategy.
And, somehow, keeping herself on her toes at moments like that made it easier to enjoy the ones in which she let her guard down. Like driving back to his place, snow lightly beginning to fall as she looked out the window at the grey sky, at the Christmas decorations lighting up some of the houses. When she was younger, she always saw winter as something dark, depressing. Something associated with her parents trying so hard to fit together -- not that religion was their only problem -- and, later, them ceasing to try. Something associated with her being acutely aware of the friends she didn't have, the places she wasn't invited to. But, for the past few years, she's seen the appeal of winter. Of the holiday season.
(A couple weeks ago, they all got together to watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. She found herself wanting to hold Jeff's hand.)
After they were back at his place, as she was emerging from his car, she felt the cold air hit her skin. The snow followed, falling heavier now and sticking to her coat. She smiled to herself, then at Jeff. They met at the trunk and, before she heard the beep that signaled he was opening it, he leaned closer.
"You know," he said, "there's nobody around."
Annie assumed she knew what he meant and her suspicions were quickly proved correct as his lips pressed against her own. She almost pulled away on reflex, but it was true: there was no one around to spot them. They could do this here. If she *wanted* to, and right now she did. She felt his hand on her back as the kiss deepened, felt the snow continue to fall on her skin.
When they pulled apart, she smiled at him again. And kept smiling.
END
Challenge: The Twelve Days of Christmas!
Prompt: Community, Jeff/Annie, kissing in the snow.
For: bowserbabe
Word Count: 894
Rating: PG
Notes: Posted late by request! Happy birthday, bowserbabe!
Summary: When they started dating, Annie was the one to bring up discretion.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue!
*
When they started dating, Annie was the one to bring up discretion. She worried the word was too pointed--
(And he did, in fact, raise his eyebrows and say, "Okay. You let nothing go.")
--but she explained that, at this point, it was best they keep things quiet for a while. So they would know where they were going before they dealt with what everyone else thought of them.
(But, well, maybe she did mean for it to be pointed, to remind him that he did hurt her, and to remind herself of the hair-twirling frenzy she went into last year. To remind herself that she's no longer the girl who followed Jeff around like a puppy, or even the one who spent the summer waiting to see him and was somewhat more practical, less sure that wanting to pursue something with him was a good idea, than the aforementioned hair-twirler who pointed out how they technically *frenched.*)
She laid out a plan, one which featured both common sense rules and ones she decided should be rules based on the ways she'd watched secret relationships unintentionally become public knowledge. ('No kissing in the study room or anywhere else where our friends might suddenly appear' falls under both categories.) Towards the end, when she advised him to *not* let it slip he was seeing only one woman, Jeff was smiling at her, eyes narrowed slightly.
"You do know you're thinking this through too much, right?"
Part of Annie believed he was right, but didn't admit it, since her strategy for having a secret relationship was sound and, as it turned out, easy to stick to. Jeff would make a comment about his latest (imaginary) conquest, Annie would act grossed out in a way that didn't seem too over-the-top (which could signal she was putting on an act, or come across as a flash of jealousy, which would also seem suspicious). She didn't touch him any more or any less than she used to. He didn't walk with her to a class that was out of this way. They didn't walk too close together or let their hands lightly touch as they did so (to reiterate: with appropriate distance between them). On campus, that was. When they were on their own time, she did throw out the rules (though she sometimes found herself thinking, "I'm invading his personal space"), except for one:
No kissing in public.
She knew this was ironic considering the fact that the first two kisses they shared were both in public places (one where they literally had an audience), but she didn't want to do anything that would draw attention to her and Jeff; doing so almost seemed like tempting fate. One kiss, and suddenly the study group would appear, chaos would break out, and maybe she and Jeff wouldn't be able to handle it.
But, then again, what would the study group assume if they saw them now, emerging from a grocery store the day before Christmas? (They were spending the holiday together, since Annie's father was in Florida with his new girlfriend and her family, and Jeff's mother had let holiday get-togethers fall by the wayside after the divorce.) Annie decided, in that moment, she would tell whoever it was who stumbled upon them that she and Jeff had run into each other and she was helping him load up his car. There were several holes in the story -- Why would Jeff need help? Where was her car? Her groceries? -- but she doubted she'd be forced to use it. She merely liked having a strategy.
And, somehow, keeping herself on her toes at moments like that made it easier to enjoy the ones in which she let her guard down. Like driving back to his place, snow lightly beginning to fall as she looked out the window at the grey sky, at the Christmas decorations lighting up some of the houses. When she was younger, she always saw winter as something dark, depressing. Something associated with her parents trying so hard to fit together -- not that religion was their only problem -- and, later, them ceasing to try. Something associated with her being acutely aware of the friends she didn't have, the places she wasn't invited to. But, for the past few years, she's seen the appeal of winter. Of the holiday season.
(A couple weeks ago, they all got together to watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. She found herself wanting to hold Jeff's hand.)
After they were back at his place, as she was emerging from his car, she felt the cold air hit her skin. The snow followed, falling heavier now and sticking to her coat. She smiled to herself, then at Jeff. They met at the trunk and, before she heard the beep that signaled he was opening it, he leaned closer.
"You know," he said, "there's nobody around."
Annie assumed she knew what he meant and her suspicions were quickly proved correct as his lips pressed against her own. She almost pulled away on reflex, but it was true: there was no one around to spot them. They could do this here. If she *wanted* to, and right now she did. She felt his hand on her back as the kiss deepened, felt the snow continue to fall on her skin.
When they pulled apart, she smiled at him again. And kept smiling.
END