We Should Tell Them (3/5)

[korruptjustice]

An Unexpected Visitor

When Jeff and Annie finally did get out of bed that morning, the rest of the day was spent at Annie's place, packing all of her things into boxes for the move. Fortunately Annie only had a month to month lease, and since it was almost the end of the month, neither she nor Jeff could think of any reason not to have her move out as soon as possible. While they packed, Jeff placed a call to Abed, asking if he would be able to borrow his father's van on Sunday. Jeff had been hoping that Abed would agree, no questions asked, but something must have tipped him off. Jeff didn't know if it was something he said, how his voice sounded, or maybe Abed just had a sixth sense about these things, but once he knew something was up, he was like a shark that smelled blood in the water. Jeff all of a sudden had a lot of sympathy for the witnesses that he had cross-examined back when he was still a lawyer; Abed had picked his flimsy cover story apart in no time at all. Annie had finally given up and grabbed the phone from Jeff's hand with an exasperated sigh.

"Abed, I just have some boxes that I need to bring to Jeff's apartment and it would be easier to use a van instead of making multiple trips in Jeff's car."

"You couldn't fit everything in the car in one trip? Just how much of your stuff are you bringing over to Jeff's apartment?"

"Uh…all of it?" Annie wasn't sure why she and Jeff were trying so hard to keep Abed in the dark about moving in together, especially since he already knew about their relationship, but it really did feel like something they didn't want anyone else to know about until it was already done. Still, it was obvious that Abed wasn't going to let them have the van until he had answers.

"You're moving in together?" Annie waited when Abed paused, and she was suddenly worried. How was he going to react? He had no problems with them dating, but did he think they were going too fast? Did he think they should tell the group first? Abed put her at ease almost immediately. "Strange…I wasn't expecting something like this for another month or so. Some unexpected catalyst must have occurred to accelerate the relationship. Okay, my dad won't let me just lend the van to a friend, but he won't mind if I take it, so I'll help you guys with the move. I'll pick you guys up at Jeff's in the morning, and then we can drive over to Annie's and start loading everything up."

"Thank you Abed." Annie said, and handed the phone back to Jeff.

"Yeah, thanks."

"Cool…cool cool cool."

After the conversation with Abed, there was a renewed determination to get all of Annie's stuff packed up, and other than a brief break to inhale some Chinese takeout for dinner, the two of them worked nonstop to make sure that everything would be ready by the next day. It seemed to take forever, but it was only a little after one in the morning by the time they finished. All of the stuff Annie was taking with her was stacked neatly in the middle of what had been her living room. It was weird to see her entire life reduced to a pile of cardboard boxes, and a strange feeling of melancholy enveloped her, if only for a moment. She looked at Jeff, and the feeling vanished, replaced with a warm glow that she could feel radiating out from deep inside her. The boxes aren't about the past, but the future. Soon, everything I own, all of my stuff, all of me, will be in his…no, in our apartment. It's something brand new…for both of us. I hope we're ready for this.

Jeff came over behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her back into him. "What're you thinking of?" When she looked up at him to answer, he planted a kiss delicately on her forehead.

"Oh, just hoping that we don't screw this up." She stared up into his eyes, looking for reassurance.

"Are you kidding? Of course we'll screw this up. More times than we can count." Not really the answer I was hoping for. Before she could lower her head though, Jeff gave her another kiss, this time on the lips. "You know what though? It doesn't matter how many times we fuck it up, 'cause we'll fix it. Together. Deal?" That was more like what she was looking for, and she smiled up at him.

"Deal. Are you ready to go?"

"If you are. We should grab a couple of boxes now; less to worry about tomorrow." They carried a few of the boxes down to Jeff's car and headed for home. Jeff noticed as he drove that Annie had a grin that stretched from ear to ear the entire ride, and although he didn't realize it, when Annie looked over at him, the same exact grin was plastered all over his face.

It was almost ten the next morning when Jeff's phone rang with an incoming text. The pounding water from the shower, though, kept Jeff from hearing anything. And honestly, even if he had, he wouldn't have had any interest in answering it, seeing as a very naked and very wet Annie was currently pressed against him and occupying all of his attention. "This was a bad idea." Annie said, even as she wrapped her hands around Jeff's neck to pull his lips up against hers. When their lips finally broke apart, Jeff only smiled down at her.

"You didn't seem to think so when I suggested it." He bent down, lightly nipping at the skin just above her collarbone. She moaned, her entire skin flushing a bright pink.

"Well, that's because when you suggested it, you said it was only because we were already running late, and it would be quicker to shower together than it would be to each take a separate one."

"Wow, and you fell for that? I thought you were supposed to be the smart one in our group, Annie." He teased, and she playfully slapped his chest.

"Well, your logic seemed sound at the time. And maybe I'm just extremely gullible for any idea that involves the two of us getting naked in a very small space." She kissed him again, hard, then reluctantly pulled away. "But seriously, Abed will be here any minute, and we should at least be dressed enough to let him in so he doesn't have to wait in the hallway."

Jeff reached behind her and shut off the water. "Fine. But only because the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can spend the next two days not leaving our bed." He slid open the shower door and reached out to grab a towel, rubbing it all over her body, drying her off. Annie didn't fail to notice that certain parts of her were dried off first and more thoroughly than others.

"Hmmm. I like the sound of that."

"What? Two days of nonstop sex? I'm glad you approve." Jeff grinned wickedly.

"No. Our bed. Although I guess that sex thing sounds fine too."

Jeff chuckled. "You know, it's really not fair that you can make me amused and horny at the same time. That, plus the doe eyes, plus you're formidable face…I'm gonna end up completely whipped, aren't I?"

"What makes you think you aren't already?" Annie smiled and batted her eyelashes at him, and Jeff felt his heart start racing. He realized she was absolutely right, but he couldn't bring himself to care. After all, she had him wrapped around her finger way before they had started dating. He remembered telling her that he would be willing to break a light sweat for her, trying to make it seem like it wasn't that big a deal. But it was. At the time, he wasn't even willing to break a light sweat to help himself; if he had, he would never have ended up at Greendale in the first place. But he wanted to make Annie happy, to make her smile at him. He still did, even more than before.

"Now, we need to get out of here and get dressed. Abed will be here any minute." She leaned up and kissed him a final time, then turned and left the bathroom. "And hurry up! Remember, the sooner we're done, the sooner we get to the endless sex."

"You are so sexy when you're bossy, you know that?" Jeff called out to her.

"Please, you think I'm sexy no matter what I'm doing. You've told me so."

"Yeah, but only cause it's true." Annie left the bedroom, now dressed, with her still damp hair plastered down to her head. I really should have made sure to grab the box that I put the hair dryer in last night. Or that I had just left it in his closet instead of bringing it home with me in the first place. She couldn't believe how long ago that seemed, when it had only been a couple days ago. So much has changed since then. She was distracted from her thoughts by the ringing of Jeff's cell phone. She picked it up. "You got a text from Abed." She read his message, and frowned. Jeff came out to the living room and saw her expression.

"What's it say?" She shrugged, as though she couldn't make sense of it, but read the message to Jeff.

"In elevator. Is it clear? Can't stall any longer. Respond now." She tossed the phone over to Jeff, now sitting on the couch, who looked at the message and gave a shrug of his own.

"That sounds weird even for Abed…hold on, there's a missed message from him sent earlier this morning." Jeff clicked to the previous message and bolted up off the couch. He turned quickly towards Annie, all the color drained from his face. "Get your stuff. We need to get you out of here. Now!"

"Jeff, what is it? What'd he say?"

"He said he's not alone!" He handed the phone to her and she looked at Abed's previous message.

on the way. britta w/me. cant get rid of her. get annie out of there!

Annie felt a surge of fear twist her stomach into a knot. If Britta saw her in Jeff's apartment at 10:00 on a Sunday morning, her hair still wet from the shower…there's no way even Jeff could talk us out of this one. She ran around the room, gathering up her shoes and coat and trying to get ready to leave. Jeff went to the apartment door and opened it, listening. He heard the elevator chime at the end of the hall. Closing the door, he turned back towards Annie.

"They're already here. You're not gonna get out in time."

"Okay, so what do we do?" Annie didn't like the high pitch her voice had, but she had more pressing concerns at the moment. She knew it already didn't have much chance of ending well when they planned on telling Britta about them. Her walking in on it, no explanation or advanced warning? Catastrophic.

"Grab your stuff and get to the bedroom. I'll try to get her out of here as soon as I can."

"What about the boxes?"

"I'll think of something; just go. And just in case she does figure it out and kills me, I love you." He gave her a quick kiss and pushed her towards the bedroom. "If she does kill me, avenge my death!" It was forced levity, but he wanted to show Annie that there was nothing to worry about. He winked, and was rewarded when he heard her giggle right as the bedroom door clicked shut. Almost as soon as she was out of sight a loud knock came from the entrance. He considered not even answering it, but knew that Abed and Britta would have had to walk right by where his Lexus was parked on their way into the building, so pretending that he wasn't home wasn't really an option. And besides, Britta knew how to pick locks, and while he hoped Abed would try to stop her if it came to that, he didn't know if his friend would be able to outside of physical restraint.

He opened the door and looked at his two friends. "Hey Abed. Britta, what a surprise." Jeff nearly cringed at the sound of his voice. When did I start to suck so much at lying? He stepped back from the door, allowing Abed and Britta to enter his apartment, hoping she didn't pick up on the tone of his voice. Fortunately, she seemed too intent on ragging on him to realize how weird he sounded.

"I can't believe you made Abed bring the DVDs you wanted to borrow all the way over here instead of picking them up yourself." Jeff shot a quick glance at Abed, who held up a stack of DVDs and gave Jeff a brief nod.

"Actually, Britta, Jeff and I were gonna hang out and watch them together, but I had something come up and I figured I should at least bring them over in case he wanted to watch them by himself." Abed checked to make sure Britta wasn't looking before shooting a look at Jeff. Jeff wasn't certain, but he was pretty sure Abed was trying to ask if Annie had managed to get out before they got there. Jeff gave him a tiny shake of his head, and then rolled his eyes towards the bedroom door, hoping Abed would figure out what he was trying to communicate. Abed gave an almost imperceptible nod, signaling that he understood.

"So what are you doing, anyway? I seem to remember you saying that you had plans for all weekend." Jeff turned back to Britta, who just shrugged at him.

"Eh, the plans kinda fell apart. I dropped by Troy and Abed's to see if they wanted to hang out, but Troy had some family thing and Abed said he was heading over here, so I figured I would tag along to kill time." As she spoke, she noticed the boxes piled up in the corner. "What's up with those?"

"Oh, it's some stuff from my old condo that I just brought out of storage."

"Really? Why now?"

"I don't know. I guess I'm starting to realize that this place is going to be my home, at least for a couple more years, and I might as well get used to it and unpack." She nodded and flopped down on the couch. Jeff allowed himself a tiny smile and breathed a sigh of relief. I can't believe she bought that. We might actually get out of this…

"Is that Annie's backpack?" Britta pointed to the bag that was leaning against the far side of the couch. Jeff's mind froze. How did we miss that? Although on second thought, it was pretty easy to see how both he and Annie had overlooked it. It was tucked away against the couch, out of sight from the rest of the apartment. In fact, the only way you'd be able to notice it was if you sat on that end of the couch and then looked over the arm of the couch. So of course that's exactly what she did. He noticed that she was still looking at him, the backpack now pulled out in front of her, waiting for him to answer. He tried to pull himself together. I can talk my way out of this. I used to be a lawyer, damnit. I can talk my way out of anything, trying to ignore the fact that even on his best days, Britta could see through his bullshit with ease.

"What? Uh, yeah, I guess it is. She must have left it over here last night." He leaned in conspiratorially, as though he had something to share that he didn't want anyone else to know. "Look, don't tell the rest of the group, 'cause I'm a little embarrassed about this, but I've been having a little more trouble this year than usual, so she's been tutoring me." Not great, but not bad for a moment's notice. Hell, I might still be able to get out of this. But Abed was shaking his head, and he noticed that the suspicion never left Britta's eyes. Crap.

"Come on, Jeff, this is Annie we're talking about." She said, laughing. The laugh sounded forced, like she was trying to keep the mood between them light. An interview, instead of an interrogation, Jeff realized. She hasn't put it all together yet. But she's about to, and she wants to keep pumping me for information in the meantime.

"What do you mean by that?" He hoped that turning the questions on her would distract her, buy him more time.

"Well, you know what I mean. She freaked out when she couldn't find her pen. There's absolutely no way she'd forget her backpack. Which means…" Jeff could almost see another puzzle piece lock into place. "…that she's here right now." She shot at a death glare at Jeff, cutting off any protest from him before it even reached his lips. Instead, she scanned the apartment, her eyes settling on the closed bedroom door. "Annie…" Everyone in the apartment stared at the door. Nothing. "Annie, I know you're in here. You can come out now." Another long pause and the door slowly swung open. Annie walked out, a big smile on her face, although Jeff noticed that it didn't reach her eyes, which were darting around frantically.

"Oh hey, Britta, I didn't hear you come in!" Annie's voice was too happy, making it obvious to everyone that she was hiding something. Jeff decided to take some solace in the fact that the only person in the room who didn't already know what she was hiding was already suspicious, so it wasn't like Annie was giving anything away anyway.

"Uh, Annie, what are you doing in Jeff's apartment, in Jeff's bedroom in fact, this early on a Sunday morning?" Britta's eyes narrowed and Jeff could practically hear the click of the next piece of the puzzle locking in.

Annie blushed at the implications in Britta's question, but seemed to steady herself quickly. Her smile came back to a more realistic level; she shrugged innocently. "Jeff and Abed invited me over to watch movies with them today." Her voice was steady, and she kept her eyes locked with Britta's, the very picture of a girl with nothing to hide. Jeff was impressed. He had seen devious Annie before, but it was a rare event. Even knowing the truth, he was almost willing to believe her.

"Bullshit. Abed didn't mention you when he told me about watching movies, Jeff tried to pretend that you weren't here, and you were hiding in the bedroom." Jeff could almost feel his heart stop. Any second now, all those little clues are going to come together, and she'll know. This will not end well. Jeff looked over at Abed. He still had his typical passive expression, but Jeff noticed that his eyes were opened wide and constantly flicking back and forth between Annie and Britta. He knew what was coming as well as Jeff did, but like Jeff, there was nothing he could do to prevent it. Britta looked at Annie more closely, almost studying her. "And why do you look like you just got out of the shower?" Click. Jeff instinctively began sliding as far from Britta as he could, but she had already whirled towards him, eyes burning with anger. Uh oh.

"You slept with her! I can't believe it!" Jeff raised his hands in a defensive gesture, eyes wide with panic.

"What are you talking abou…"

"Oh, don't even try to deny it! What is wrong with you? She's 20 years old, and you're taking advantage of her! You're practically old enough to be her father!"

"Listen, it's not like that." Jeff tried to explain, desperate. He didn't get the chance, though, as all of a sudden Britta's hand shot out and slapped Jeff in the face. Hard. The loud crack rang throughout the apartment, echoing around the room. Jeff rocked back, a hand flying up to his right cheek, which was already turning red. He stared at Britta in shock, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Britta's hand dropped limply to her side, her face frozen in disbelief, just as much as Jeff's.

"Jeff…I'm…that was out of line, I'm sor…" She didn't get to finish her apology. Annie strode across the room and delivered a slap of her own that made Britta's seem like a gentle caress in comparison.

"Don't you dare try to act like Jeff is some monster taking advantage of a helpless child!" Annie's eyes blazed with a fury that Jeff had never seen before. Britta was obviously stunned at the turn events had taken, and could only stare blankly. Annie's hand rose again, but Jeff saw it quickly enough to step in and gently grab her wrist, holding the hand back from delivering another devastating blow. At his touch, Annie looked up at her hand in surprise, like she didn't even realize what she was doing, then guiltily lowered her arm back to her side. The momentary distraction was enough for Britta to relaunch her (now strictly verbal) assault.

"You're sleeping with him? Annie, he's like…fifteen years older than you! He's almost old enough to be your dad!"

"We are not sleeping together! Well, I mean, we are, but….well, we're not just sleeping together, okay? It's more than that." She sighed. "Look, we didn't want you to find out this way, alright? We were going to tell you and the rest of the group…eventually…but we've been dating for…awhile now, and it's serious. We're serious."

"Annie, please, just 'cause you occasionally watch a movie together before you end up doing it, or he orders Chinese take-out in between rounds in the sack doesn't mean you're dating!"

"Not that it's any of your business, but we were going out for three months before we ever slept together. And we go out to dinner all the time! Usually in restaurants three towns away just so we don't have to worry about running into you or someone else from the group."

"Well, congratulations for making him work for it a whole three months before you gave it up to him. It doesn't change the fact that it's what he was after from the beginning!"

Jeff slowly backed away from the two screaming women. He'd never seen Britta this mad before, and the only time he'd seen Annie anywhere near this angry ended with him getting punched in the face, and he's pretty sure that was only a mild dislike compared to what Annie is feeling right now.

"Abed, how's this play out?" Jeff whispered to his friend, who was staring at the scene before him, his face blank, but his eyes open wide, absorbing every detail. Anyone who didn't know him wouldn't have noticed, but Jeff is convinced that this is the most surprised he's ever seen Abed in all the time he's known him.

"I…I don't know."

"How do you not know? You're Abed; this is your thing!"

"Jeff, the predictions I make regarding human behavior are based upon knowing the genre I'm operating in. Typically, our group has always been as something like a wacky sitcom, and if that's still the case then we'll be fine, since dramatic moments never last long and any fluctuations that fracture the group dynamic are resolved within an episode or two. But this..." he gestured to the argument raging in front of them. "…this feels more soap opera than sitcom. Frankly, your evil twin could show up and both Annie and Britta could announce that they're pregnant with your child and I wouldn't be surprised. If the rules have changed, anything goes at this point."

Jeff looked at Abed in terror. He was pretty sure he was kidding about that last part, but he still found himself frantically trying to remember when the last time that he had had sex with Britta. Seven months ago, right? So she'd definitely be showing by now… I'm safe there anyway…I think. But what if it's Annie instead? He paused, waiting for the same feeling of horror to wash over him that had when he thought of Britta being pregnant, but it was…strangely absent. Huh. Before Jeff could fully process that last thought though, his attention was dragged back to the two women arguing in front of him. Apparently Britta had decided to replay the age card while Jeff had been distracted. He could have told her from personal experience that it was a mistake.

"I realize I'm not as old as you, Britta, but you have no right to treat me like I'm some child. I wanted this relationship as much as Jeff did; probably more. I'm not the naïve idiot you seem to think I am. I pushed for this, and it was my choice to get involved with him. He didn't trick me or seduce me or whatever you seem to think he did. Besides, you can't accuse me of being immature when I'm the more adult behaving one in this relationship!" Jeff thought about raising a protest to this last point, but just shrugged instead. You couldn't argue against the truth. Well, you could. In fact, he'd actually made a really good living doing just that. But now really wasn't the time, he decided.

Britta had no problem responding to that point. "Exactly! The guy you're sleeping with has the emotional maturity of a 12 year old, and you expect me to believe that he even has the capability of taking you and this "relationship" seriously? Annie, you should know better than that!"

Jeff had heard enough. He knew that Abed had said that it would have to be up to Annie to convince Britta, but even he had said that the rules had changed, and Jeff was too far past his breaking point to remain silent.

"Alright, that's enough! First of all, I'd like to think that the last year has raised my maturity level to at least that of a 15 year old." He gave Britta a charming smile, as if to reassure her, before allowing it to vanish from his face completely as though it had never been there. His eyes grew cold and hard as he stared her down, and when he spoke again, it was just above a whisper, like he was making every effort to remain in control. "And second, you can insult me all you want, but you do not get to question the level of my commitment towards Annie, nor the seriousness of my feelings for her. Because if you insist on continuing to question my dedication to the woman I love, and make no mistake, I am very much in love with her…" He paused when he saw Annie beaming at him, and now raised his voice, allowing some of the rage he had buried to spill into his words. "…then you can get the hell out of our apartment."

"…You're living together?"

"Yes, we are." Annie said. "Or at least we will be once the rest of my stuff is moved in. That's actually why Abed came over today. We're using his van to pick up the rest of my things to bring them back here." Annie nodded towards the boxes that Britta now realized belonged to her. Jeff noticed the hint of smugness that crept in Annie's voice when she spoke. "What does that do to your theory that it's just about sex?" Annie would ordinarily never take such pleasure in proving Britta wrong, but she was still seething from the way Britta had reacted, and if she was being honest with herself, she was more than a little hurt that Britta had such a low opinion of both her and Jeff.

Britta didn't seem to take the news well. Her mouth hung open in shock, then snapped shut hard enough that Jeff could hear her teeth click together. But she wasn't defeated yet.

"What do you think the rest of the study group is going to think when I tell them about this?"

Jeff had been waiting for her to bring them up, but it still made him nervous. He truthfully didn't know how the rest of the group would react to this news, especially if they heard it from Britta instead of him and Annie. It wasn't their reaction to the relationship that scared him (well, Shirley's possible reaction did), but the fact that they had been hiding the relationship from them since mid-summer could be devastating to the rest of the group. They had a history of trust issues that they had managed to work through, but Jeff and Annie basically lying to them since mid-summer (a lie of omission, but still a lie) could undo everything from their previous two years together.

"I would hope that you'd be willing to wait until we're ready to tell them ourselves before saying anything, but honestly, I don't really care if you tell them at this point. It's not going to change anything except for the fact that we could stop going three towns over every time we went out on a date out of fear of being caught. And it would be nice to kiss Jeff in public at Greendale instead of dragging him into a janitor's closet whenever we get the chance."

Jeff leaned over so he could whisper in Annie's ear. "Uh, I don't think everything we do in those closets would be safe to do in public, no matter how many people knew about our relationship." His hot breath tickled her ear, sending shivers down her spine, and she blushed at the memories Jeff stirred up. Britta just looked at the two of them in disgust.

Annie shook her head, clearing the pleasant images from her mind, then turned her attention back to Britta. "The point is that Abed already knows, Pierce and Troy aren't going to care, and while Shirley may be mad initially, I think she'll come around when she realizes that this is something both of us want, and that we're happy together. And honestly, I don't think I would care if every single one of the group disapproved of us. It wouldn't change anything that I feel for Jeff."

"And it wouldn't change anything for me, either." Jeff said, wrapping an arm around Annie's shoulder and pulling her close.

Britta rolled her eyes and groaned in frustration, but whether it was due to her last argument coming up empty or the display of affection between the two was impossible to say. Instead, she grabbed her jacket and stormed towards the door. "I don't care what you say. This is wrong, and you can't expect me to keep quiet about it, and I'm sure as hell not going to stay here and be forced to watch you two be all…" she waved her arms in exasperation. "…whatever the hell you are!" She slammed the door of the apartment behind her.

Jeff looked around the suddenly quiet apartment. Annie looked devastated and near tears, but Abed, while his face retained its usual neutral and unreadable expression, had one finger raised into the air, a gesture that somehow seemed surprisingly hopeful. Upon seeing Jeff's questioning gaze, Abed gave a small shrug, then turned to look at the door. "Wait for it…"

They didn't have to wait long. A knock came, and while Jeff fought down a momentary surge of panic (it is physically impossible that Britta could have called Shirley and had her drive all the way across town in less than a minute!), Abed eagerly went and opened the door. Britta was standing there, her shoulders slumped, staring down at her shoes.

"He's my ride." She jerked her head in Abed's direction. "And I'm damn sure not paying $30 for a taxi back to where I left my car, so hurry the fuck up and get this over with so I can get the hell out of here." Still without looking at Jeff or Annie, she turned and walked back into the hall.

Abed allowed himself a tiny smile. "Classic sitcom…everything's gonna be fine." Jeff merely shook his head. He really wished he could share Abed's optimism, but the fact that Britta refused to say another word to either Jeff or Annie in the three trips back and forth from Annie's old apartment was not encouraging. And the death glare they received any time they tried talking to her didn't particularly bode well either. When the last of Annie's stuff was finally brought up from the van to her new home, Britta left, still without saying a word to either of them. Abed watched her leave, then turned back towards the two of them and gave an apologetic shrug before following her out the door.

Jeff collapsed down onto the couch, ignoring the boxes stacked all over the apartment. Annie sat down beside him, and he pulled her into him until she was snuggled up against him, her head resting on his shoulder. They didn't say a word. They just sat together, Jeff's arm wrapped around her, waiting for the inevitable fallout and wondering just how bad things were going to get.