Fic: It's Always Open Season On Princesses Part 12
Title: It‘s Always Open Season On Princesses Part 12
Spoilers: Through Season 2
Word Count: 3067
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Dan Harmon still owns this.
AN: I love your guys. Words cannot express how grateful I am to y’all. So, instead I will sing some Queen to you!
You’re my sunshine
And I want you to know
That my feelings are true
I really love you
You’re my best friend!
“Scusa me,” Rich sang loudly.
Annie grinned over at him, singing along. “But you see.”
“Back in old Napoli,” Rich answered.
“That’s amore!” They finished together, singing along loudly with the stereo as Annie pulled into the driveway. She put the car into park and glanced at Rich. “This was so great, Rich.” Together, they climbed out of the car and walked to the front door, Rich carrying the bag of extra clothes they were traveling with.
“It was wonderful,” he agreed amiably. “We sure did have a full day.”
They had woken up early, determined to spend the whole day out and about in Lazio, the region in which Pierce’s house was situated. Driving south, they’d ended up in the town of Sperlonga, where Annie and Rich had spent the entire morning at a museum boasting a large collection of sculptures. Annie had been slightly surprised at the relief she felt from having Rich with her. He seemed to have a mental catalogue of the history of the works they were looking at. When Annie had asked, Rich had demurely stated that he’d been an Art History minor in school. Charmed, she had allowed him to lead her through the museum in its entirety, pointing out techniques that she didn’t notice at first glance. Rich took everything in with wide eyes, clearly ecstatic, and Annie could only feel in awe of the works as well as the man she was enjoying them with.
After a light lunch at a restaurant right on the expansive beach, they’d made their way to the crowded waterfront. One large umbrella rental later, Annie and Rich had settled themselves on the perfect sand on the most beautiful beach Annie had seen. They had spent the remainder of the day sunning and swimming and watching the locals, so completely desensitized to the utter beauty that was around them.
As Annie pushed the door open, a wonderful scent wafted toward her and she inhaled deeply, smiling. They moved forward toward the kitchen, their flip flops making thwapping noises against the hard wood floors all the way. Sergio smiled up at Annie widely when she entered the kitchen and she couldn’t contain her yelp of excitement as she hurried over to him.
“Sergio! What are you making?” she cooed as she looked over his shoulder, trying to ignore the musky male scent that was coming off of him. He turned around and she realized she had stepped way too close to him in the first place, because now they were almost pressed up against each other. Annie sucked her lower lip into her mouth nervously, meeting Sergio’s impossibly dark eyes.
“Spaghetti ala carbonara,” he murmured to her before smiling at her in a way that made Annie’s stomach twist in a rather delicious way. She grinned at him in response before he stepped away from her to address Rich. “Come e andata la giornata? How was your day?”
“Fantastic,” Rich answered as he leaned against the kitchen counter. “We actually went to the Grotta di Tibero,” he went on in an almost moony manner. Annie chuckled at this. “It was amazing.”
“I see you went to the beach as well,” Sergio stated as he gave them each a once over and Annie felt herself flush at the attention. The red bikini she’d packed had seemed fairly conservative when she had bought it the previous week, but she had realized upon putting it on under her clothes that morning that half of it had disappeared between the store and her suitcase. When Annie had stripped off her skirt and tank top that afternoon, she’d noticed several appraising gazes as well as muttered responses from men, all of which made her feel more uncomfortable than they should have. Afterward, still wet and sandy in places, she and Rich had simply laid towels down in the car and not bothered to put their clothes back on. “Bellisima.”
Annie blushed, knowing that particular word. She turned her head to look at her own shoulder. “But I think I am burnt.” Gathering her hair over the opposite shoulder, Annie frowned down at her pinkening skin. “Rich?” she asked pitifully as she glanced back at him.
“Yeah,” he answered as he approached her from behind. “You look like you got a little bit of a burn there, Annie.” She let her face fall into a pout. He gingerly moved one of the thin straps holding her top up and Annie hissed. “Oh, yeah. There is some definite color here.”
“Oh no,” Annie whined. “My skin is just too sensitive.”
“The good news,” Rich noted as he let his fingers linger on her hot skin, “is that by tomorrow, it will probably just be a tan.” Annie let her hair fall back into place.
“Really?” she asked, perking up quickly as she turned to face him.
He nodded. “Definitely.”
She smiled at him before giving a little hop. Sergio chuckled and Annie spun toward him just in time to see him turning away, a smile on his face. She stared at him for a moment in silence, watching the way his defined back muscles moved under his tee shirt as he set to work chopping something. Belatedly, she shook herself and cleared her throat. “I think I’m going to go take a shower, get all of the extra sand out of…” Annie made a generic gesture toward her body.
“Yeah,” Rich chuckled easily. “I’ll help Sergio with the cooking. Maybe I can pick up some things.”
Annie gave a small awkward wave to them before making her way upstairs to her bedroom. She carefully took off her bathing suit and rinsed it out in the tub before laying it to dry over the lip. Approaching the large mirror over the sink, Annie scrutinized her sunburn, gently tracing a finger along the pale lines the bikini had left on her skin. Thankfully, her tan lines were where few were likely to see them. Or, if things kept up the way they had been, no one would see them. Britta had told her to sleep with strangers which Annie had though was a rather terrifying and vulgar idea.
Then she’d met Sergio. Britta was right. Sex definitely didn’t have to mean strong feelings or any kind of relationship. It could just be sex. Awesome sex with an Italian man. Dropping her hands, Annie continued to study herself critically, looking at her own breasts. She wondered if she could properly seduce him, even if she’d wanted to. She had always been embarrassed by her body in the past, her extra weight an albatross around her neck. But after rehab, Annie had managed to drop weight. It was amazing how much weight you could lose when you were too broke to eat. The first time Vaughn had seen her without most of her clothes on, he’d worshipped her, rubbing his patchouli-smelling hands everywhere she’d let him. It had been liberating. But since then, she’d had literally no sexual interaction with anyone. Even that one time she’d tried to kiss Britta, she’d been rebuffed.
Was there something wrong with her?
She let her hands feather over the top of her breasts before smoothing down her ribs to land on her waist. Her head cocked to the side. Then there had been Jeff. Jeff had seen her naked only ten days ago and his reaction had been to avert his eyes and run for the hills as quickly as his expensive cowboy boots would take him. Did she look like a little girl? Was that the problem?
Frowning at her reflection, Annie stepped away from the mirror to turn the shower on. It stood in the corner of the room, separate from the large whirlpool tub, with frosted glass doors covered in intricate etching. She let the water run lukewarm, hoping to counteract the steady increase of pain to her skin. Stepping in, Annie shuddered for a moment at the temperature before allowing her body to relax under the cool spray. The water soothed her shoulders and the backs of her calves, where the burning seemed to have been the worst. She spun slowly under the showerhead, rinsing all the remaining sand from her body before she started gently soaping her skin. Annie regularly took cool showers in the summer; the window air conditioner in her apartment only worked half the time. But the weather in Colorado so far that spring had been extremely mild, almost cold for the season. In fact, Annie had only taken one other cold shower in the last six months.
And she was back to Jeff. To her credit, Annie had spent the entire day with Rich, not giving Jeff even a fraction of a thought. It was only when left to her own thoughts that she managed to think about him, so she was improving. She knew something strange had happened the previous night, well- afternoon back at home, when she’d called Abed. There had been some sort of ruckus in the background, followed by Abed gently reassuring her that he thought she would find out on her own. What did that mean? Did Jeff act like he was going to call? He hadn’t even returned the group text she’d sent to everyone when she’d first arrived in Italy. Sure, she hadn’t actually meant to send it to him, but in retrospect was glad she had. When given the chance, Jeff would always let her down. Annie just needed to focus on that.
And she was getting better at it.
The plan would just have to be to stay busy, stay focused. It made it much easier for her to ignore the hole in her heart she was still mostly aware of at all times. Dwelling on it was not accomplishing anything, was it? No. She would just have to stay busy.
And maybe try to seduce Sergio. She could do that.
Right?
She stepped out of the shower, fully cleansed and wrapped an over-sized fluffy towel around herself before padding back to the bedroom. She needed something comfortable, something that wouldn’t rub against her sore shoulders too much. Annie’s eyes scanned over the new additions to her wardrobe slowly, arranged by color and length.
When Camilla had first pulled her into the Gucci store, Annie had balked immediately. If she bought one of those dresses, she would have to live in it, drive it, and eat it. But without missing a beat, the older woman had pulled out a thick wad of money, assuring Annie everything was on her. After convincing her to try on over three dozen pieces between Gucci and Prada, Annie had somehow left with handfuls of expensive sundresses, stiff satin pencil skirts, silk blouses in bright colors and strappy sandals with heels so high she was sure she’d never manage to wear them and walk at the same time. Her fingers lingered on the strapless yellow dress that Camilla had insisted upon. Its full skirt fell to her knees, where it poofed out slightly, especially if she spun. When she’d emerged from the dressing room wearing it, Camilla had instantly said she looked like a fifties housewife, claiming she needed to own it. Annie couldn’t really understand if calling her a housewife was a compliment or not, but the salesgirl had nodded approvingly, so she’d just gone along with it.
She stepped back into the bathroom to look in the mirror and cocked her head to the side searchingly. It was way too formal for eating spaghetti in the kitchen with Rich for the evening, but the lack of any sort of support system of straps cutting into her sunburn trumped the formality of the look. It didn’t hurt that the dress really looked fairly nice on her. There was a muted, buried hope that Sergio would like it, but Annie wasn’t sure what would happen if he did.
Sex. That’s what she would do.
She would sleep with him as soon as he let her.
Annie gathered her still-damp hair up into a slightly messy twist before allowing herself more time to agonize and left the bedroom quickly, forgoing shoes altogether for the evening. She quietly padded down the marble staircase, the stone cold under her bare feet. When she entered the kitchen, she found Sergio and Rich speaking to each other quietly, their heads together in a conspiratory fashion. Annie eyed them curiously in silence for a moment before approaching. Sergio backed away from Rich the second his eyes met Annie’s, his face changing in an instant. A wide smile slid onto his face and his dimples miraculously appeared at the apples of his cheeks. She felt the flush take over her skin.
Yes. She could definitely do that.
“Incantevole,” he murmured in her direction before turning back to the pan he was frying in. Annie and Rich had spent a full hour on the beach that very afternoon practicing common Italian words, and that was one she remembered. Feeling emboldened, Annie came around the island and settled next to Sergio at the stove.
“What happens now?” she asked him quietly, peering over his shoulder.
He grins at her almost knowingly. “I will drop the spaghetti into the pan,” he explained as he did so. “I stir in the eggs, the cheese, and the butter.” Annie watched as he filled the pan and pulled it off the stove before stirring it together. He dipped a fork into the pan and twirled a piece of spaghetti around it before lifting it to Annie’s waiting mouth. “Taste, bellisima.”
Her tongue snaked out of her mouth before her lips wrapped around the tines of the fork he was offering her. The flavors all melted in her mouth and she let out a low hum as her eyes fluttered closed. It was rich and smooth and creamy and perfect. “Why does the pasta taste so good?” she asked, covering her mouth as she spoke.
“Casalingo,” Sergio answered. “It’s homemade, Anna.”
She nodded in understanding before chewing and swallowing. “It’s wonderful.” She turned to look at Rich, who was watching them expectantly. “Did you try it yet, Rich?”
He nodded. “Yeah,” he replied. “While you were upstairs.” He shook his head dubiously. “It’s amazing.” Annie nodded in agreement, letting her tongue slip out to lick her lips surreptitiously before catching Sergio’s eye. His attention snapped to her from somewhere behind her and he smiled in an almost knowing manner.
“You’re going to stay and eat, right?” she asked him in a tone that sounded slightly breathless to her own ears.
His eyes narrowed warmly at her. “If you would like me to, yes.” Annie nodded, not trusting her voice anymore. “Then I would be honored to, of course.” He turned back to the stove before spinning to present her with a plate. She smiled shyly at him before accepting the plate of food and walking to the dining room, holding herself as gracefully as she could as her bare feet made a slight slapping noise against the floor.
It was only a minute later when the two men joined her, one carrying a bottle of wine and one carrying a salad bowl. Together, they ate and laughed and enjoyed each other’s company for hours. At one point, Rich turned on the stereo system, filling the main floor with the gentle sounds of guitar music. Bolstered by the half glass of wine she’d drunk and the constant attention she was receiving from Sergio, Annie stood and pulled Rich to his feet to dance. His hand eased against her hip gently as he moved her lithely in circles around the large dining room. Sergio’s deep laughter urged her on as she spun in the doctor’s arms. It was almost as if she could see the entire thing in slow motion, as if it were a film, with the Italian man’s eyes on her form as she unwittingly charmed her way into his life. The song ended and Annie broke away, laughing as she brought her hands up to her warm cheeks. It seemed like in the next instant, Sergio was collecting her into his own strong arms and she was moving again. The sensation of dancing with Sergio was completely different than dancing with Rich had been. Rich was proper, kept their elbows locked correctly, as if he watched ‘Dancing With The Stars’ on a weekly basis. Dancing with Sergio was all spontaneous hip contact and fingers grazing her skin in ways that made her nerves sit up and beg for more.
She had only had a partial glass of wine, right? Her head was buzzing in a way she hadn’t felt since high school. The sunburn had made her skin overly warm to begin with it, but she was feeling her stomach heat up quickly too as Sergio’s hand tightened around her waist.
It was only the sound of the doorbell that pulled Annie out of her fuzzy stupor. She looked curiously over at the two men, who also seemed confused about the sound. “Camilla?” Rich asked Sergio.
“It could be them,” Sergio agreed, dropping his hands from Annie’s form altogether. Annie felt the loss instantly. Shaking it off, she made her way to the front door.
“Wouldn’t they just come in?” she called over her shoulder. “They did that the other day as a way of introducing themselves.” She chuckled to herself as she grasped the door knob and yanked it open.
And then her stomach fell out of her body to the floor.
No, what was lower than the floor?
It fell to the basement.
He pulled his sunglasses off of his face and Annie could see the dark circles under his eyes, his general unkemptness. He stood before her in wrinkled clothes, a messenger bag slung across his chest and a pair of battered flip flops on his feet. “Hey,” Jeff murmured tiredly.
Something was grabbing her roughly around the throat. Fear was choking her. Fear, humiliation, every horrible feeling she’d ever had in her life. Her breath picked up steadily until she was full-on hyperventilating. It was some kind of cruel joke, wasn't it? Annie did the only thing she could think of at that moment.
She reached forward and slapped him across the face before stepping back into the house and slamming the door.