We Should Tell Them (2b/5)
Annie pulled the covers down and crawled into her bed, wearing one of Jeff’s Denver Broncos t-shirts and her favorite pair of Greendale sweatpants as pajama bottoms. His shirt was absolutely huge on her, hanging almost all the way down to her knees. Nowhere near as good as having the real thing there with her, but still nice. She made sure that her phone was resting on her nightstand for when Jeff called, then started reading the book she kept there, trying to fight off the exhaustion coursing through her entire body. She knew she should go to sleep, but she really wanted to wait up for Jeff to call. It was something they shared since they had started sharing a bed; they always talked as they drifted off to sleep. Sometimes about nothing, sometimes just about how their days had been, and sometimes about things that neither of them would ever have talked about anywhere else or revealed to another soul. It had been in bed after a quiet night in watching TV, her head resting on his shoulder, almost asleep, that he told her “I love you”, in a voice just above a whisper, to the point where if it wasn’t for the warm glow spreading throughout her entire body she wouldn’t have been sure he said it. It surprised her how completely open Jeff was during those times, just the two of them, hiding absolutely nothing from each other.
Her body refused to cooperate with her desire to wait for Jeff, however, and she felt her head nodding more and more frequently as the night wore on before snapping back up through sheer force of will. Just before she went completely under, she took a final glance at her alarm clock. 1:57. I guess it took them a little…longer to finish…than he thought it would…she finally gave in to sleep, not hearing the buzzing that came from her phone just a few minutes later.
Jeff tossed his phone onto the couch, looking up at the clock. 2:02. Well, I knew it was a long shot that she’d be up this late. Still, it’d have been nice to get to talk to her before she went to sleep. Stupid Britta. I can’t believe this took as long as it did. He thought about trying Annie again, but decided against it. It’s just one night. I’ll call in the morning, and we’ll go get breakfast. He crawled into bed and waited to fall asleep. And waited. And waited. He couldn’t understand it. Jeff had never been one of those people who could fall asleep instantly; instead, he usually found himself staring up at the ceiling, his thoughts lazily drifting from one thing to the next, uncontrolled by anything but his subconscious. Ever since Annie had started spending the night, he usually passed the time talking about whatever was running through his head. Still, sleep usually didn’t take this long. I wish I knew how Annie did it. She’s usually out of it a minute after her head hits the pillow unless we’re talking. Thinking of Annie alone in her bed across town wasn’t going to help him sleep. He rolled onto his side, staring at the alarm clock on his bedside table. 3:22. I should ask Annie if she still has any recordings of Chang’s Spanish lectures. Those always put me to sleep in minutes. Still unable to get comfortable, he rolled to his other side, looking at the spot where Annie would normally be. For the first time he noticed that even with her gone, he remained on the left side of the bed, leaving her side empty.
"Times New Roman"">Huh. ‘Her’ side. When did that happen?"Times New Roman""> Of course he thought of it like that while she was spending the night, but…it’s kind of cool to know that I still think of it as ‘her’ side even when she’s not there. He thought about rolling more towards the middle of the bed, but instead stayed where he was, staring at her pillow, trying to will sleep to come, unable not to notice how big and empty the bed suddenly felt with only one person sleeping in it, and how it had never felt that way before.
* * * * *
"Times New Roman"">
Annie awoke shivering, her bedside lamp still dimly illuminating her bedroom, her book fallen to the floor. She blinked, trying to clear her eyes, and finally got them focused long enough to make out the time on her alarm clock. 4:37. Ugh. That’s when she noticed that not only was she shivering, she could actually see her breath, steaming out of her mouth in little puffs. What the hell? Annie almost never swore, but she figured waking up at 4:30 in the morning to a subzero apartment was a situation where profanity was entirely justified and appropriate. She stumbled out of bed, nearly tripping over the pair of slippers she had left sitting at the foot of her bed, and walked over to the radiator that ran all along the opposite wall. Stone cold to the touch. Well this is great. She pressed her head against the window, blocking the light to see outside. A vicious wind was whipping around the building, tossing snow drifts around and making it look like it was a blizzard out there. And judging by the feel of the glass, the temperature had continued to plummet. Muttering to herself, Annie slid on her slippers, then rummaged through her closet to pull out a large Greendale hoodie, sliding it over herself. She headed towards her apartment door, then turned back to her bedroom. Screw it, she thought, and yanked her blanket off the bed, wrapping it around herself as best she could before exiting her room and heading towards the landlord’s apartment. The hallway was just as cold as her apartment, and she found a small crowd of tenants already gathered at the landlord’s door. Her brain was still groggy, but she was eventually able to decipher that the landlord wasn’t there, nor was he answering his phone. Annie groaned to herself, knowing that the heat wouldn’t be back on anytime in the near future. She staggered back to her apartment and flopped down on the couch. Now what? She thought for a minute, then went and grabbed her cell phone. He was probably asleep anyway, but it was worth a shot. Are you awake? She didn’t really expect an answer, and was surprised when she got one almost instantly.
yeah whats up?
The heat’s out in my building.
be there in 10 minutes. "Times New Roman"">He’s there in seven.
Jeff almost couldn’t help laughing at her as he loaded the half asleep Annie into the front seat of the Lexus. She was still wearing the sweatpants and hoodie, but her feet were now encased in boots that came up almost to the knee, along with a pink scarf wrapped tightly around her neck and covering half her face, along with a matching set of earmuffs. He’s pretty sure her gloves match too, but she still has the blanket wrapped so tightly around her that he’s surprised she can even breathe, and her hands are buried deep inside for warmth. She looked ridiculous, but Jeff didn’t say anything, because she also looked warm, or at the very least warmer than he was. It’d only been about five minutes since Jeff had left the heat and comfort of his car, but he’s convinced that he will never be warm again.
The ride back to his building was uneventful, with the only trouble arising from trying to wake Annie up enough to get her out of the car and actually up to the apartment. Jeff finally managed to stumble through the door, most of Annie’s weight supported against his shoulder. He plopped her down on the couch and began pulling her winter gear off, even managing to finally get the blanket away from her and removing her hoodie.
“Hey, I was looking for that shirt.” He smirked, hoping to get a reaction out of her, but instead getting nothing but a tired grunt. He sighed. “Okay, fine, let’s get you to bed.” He picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, gently placing her down on her side of the bed.
Her eyes just barely opened. “Thank you, Jeff.”
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">He looked down at her and smiled. “Oh, all the work is done, so you’re awake now?” She grinned sheepishly.
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">“Little bit.”
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">“Think you can stay awake for another minute? It’s something important.”
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">“…Okay.” Jeff left her on the bed, but was back before she even realized it.
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">“I have something for you. Hold out your hand.” Annie looked at him curiously, but did as he asked. He took her hand in his, and she felt something small and metallic pressed into her palm. Annie opened her hand, and looked down at the small key that rested in her hand. She looked up into Jeff’s eyes.
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">“I was going to give you this as a Christmas present, but after spending half a night without you here with me I can’t think of a single reason to wait another second before giving this to you, let alone an entire month…Also you’re Jewish. Which doesn’t matter, but I just wasn’t sure how we’d be celebrating this year…and I’m rambling. What I’m trying to say is, you already know where the spare key is kept and you let yourself in whenever you want anyway, but I want more than that. I want you to have your own key. You spend every night here anyway…but I don’t want you to just be sleeping here; I want you to be here, all the time. Annie, do you want to move in with me?”
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">She didn’t say anything. Instead, she flung her arms around his neck and pulled him into what he could only describe as the most mind-blowing kiss he had ever received in his life, slowly pulling him down on top of her as she laid back onto the bed.
When the kiss finally broke, Jeff smiled down at her. “Can I just assume that was a yes?” She beamed up at him and nodded. Looking into her eyes, he’s convinced that the entire world could end right then and there and he wouldn’t even notice or care as long as she was there with him. Suddenly neither of them were feeling very tired, and in fact the sun is starting to peek over the horizon before they finally do fall asleep, and its past noon before they wake up, in their bed, their arms still wrapped around each other.