We Should Tell Them (1/5)
Jeff moaned into the mouth of the beautiful woman who was currently straddling him on the study room couch as she used her teeth to gently pull on his lower lip. “We really shouldn’t be doing this.” Annie smiled, feeling his moan on her lips more than hearing it, before letting out a long, low moan of her own when Jeff wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her closer, at the same time grinding against her. Despite his words of protest, he obviously had no intention of stopping. Annie decided to tease him just a little bit. Breaking off their kiss before either of them passed out due to lack of oxygen, she brought her lips close to his ear, whispering in the sultriest voice she could manage.
“You really want me to stop?” She shifted lower and started to nibble on his neck, knowing exactly what it did to him.
She got the reaction she was hoping for when Jeff let out a sharp gasp. He ran his fingers up her side, lightly cupping her breast, causing another, even louder, moan. “Stop? God, no. I meant we really shouldn’t be doing this here. Everyone just left like five minutes ago. Someone from the group could come back and catch us. I think we’d be better off…studying…at my place.”
Annie felt her skin flush even more, to the point where she felt like she would burst into flame. “Well, you know how much I like to…study. Still, that is an awfully long way away. Are you sure it will be worth my while?” She flashed him her naughtiest smile.
Jeff couldn’t help but grin as he looked up into Annie’s eyes, usually so innocent looking, now clouded over with lust. The nearly four months that they had been dating had been amazing, but the last three weeks where Annie had shared his bed nearly every night had been quite possibly the greatest time of his, or anyone’s, life. It wasn’t even the sex, which was admittedly fantastic and only getting better as Annie grew more and more confident in the bedroom and in herself, but just laying there with his arms wrapped around her as they both slowly fell asleep was a feeling he had never really experienced before, or even really thought about. It scared him, but in a good way that left him feeling nervous and excited and he didn’t know what else. He just knew he wanted to hold onto that feeling, and her, for as long as possible. Still, from the tone of her voice he could tell they wouldn’t be falling asleep until much later tonight, after they had thoroughly exhausted each other. He was just about to lift her up and carry her to his car when suddenly, the study room door swung open and Abed rushed into the room.
“Forgot my mechanical pencil.” Abed picked his pencil up off the table and turned back without sparing a glance at the stunned faces staring at him from the study room couch. He was already opening the door on his way out by the time Jeff and Annie had even started to react to his sudden intrusion.
“Abed, wait! It’s not what it looks like!” Annie stopped him just before he left, grabbing his arm and pulling him back into the study room while at the same time trying to smooth her disheveled appearance, ignoring Jeff’s muttered, “It isn’t?” He had considered getting up to try and stop Abed himself, but in his current…condition, it seemed less embarrassing to remain seated.
“I’m pretty sure it is…,” Abed said, fixing her with that look he had, as though she was some type of exhibit for study, before turning to stare at Jeff. “…oh wait, now I see. You think I still didn’t know about the two of you yet.” While Abed had been talking, Jeff had finally stood up from the couch and walked over behind Annie, placing his hand lightly on the small of her back. At Abed’s words, however, he quickly pulled his hand away with a start, as if she was a still hot oven.
“What…what are you talking about?” Jeff realized just how ridiculous it sounded even as he was saying it, especially given what he and Annie had been doing when Abed walked in, but his first reaction when confronted with any truth he didn’t want to admit was always to deny everything. Not that such a strategy had ever worked that well for him in the past. Hell, he and Annie probably would have started dating at least a year ago if he hadn’t been so quick to deny to himself how he really felt about her. Abed tilted his head to the side, his eyes seeming to look straight through Jeff. Jeff held his gaze for only a couple of seconds, then sighed, placing his arm over Annie’s shoulder. “How?”
“Honestly, I’ve been expecting this since the beginning. Remember when I predicted how you and Annie would make out shortly before the debate?”
“Yeah, you said that you’re able to know how we’ll react in certain situations because you know our personalities or something. But that whole incident was a onetime thing at the beginning of freshman year…well, actually more of a three or four-time thing stretched out over the period of a year, but that’s not the point. We just started dating four months ago…plus you had Shirley getting chased by a werewolf.”
“I threw that in because I knew I would have to convince Shirley that I couldn’t predict the future. And I’m still holding out hope for this Halloween.” His lips turned up into a quick smile before he continued. “But you’re missing the point…do you know why I’m able to accurately predict your behavior? It’s because I observe everything, and I remember it all. Since the beginning of the group the number of times that you glance at each other when you think no one else is looking has steadily increased, but since we’ve come back for this year it’s risen nearly 300%. Also, you’ve become exceedingly careful not to touch, yet whenever you do come into contact with each other, the reaction is…pronounced, to say the least. There’s also the way you arrive together. Frankly, I’m surprised none of the others have noticed it.”
“We don’t arrive together!” Annie said with a pout, and Jeff had to smile. After all, that had been her idea.
“Precisely. Jeff walks in exactly 12 seconds behind you every day so that you’re never seen arriving together, despite the fact that you often walk together in the hallways when you think no one from the group is around. This has to be intentional, since random chance and the fact that you often come from the same class to here together would dictate that you would both arrive here at the exact same time at least occasionally. All of which points to a deliberate attempt to disguise your behavior, and that means that the two of you are hiding something. And you’re equally as careful in allowing Annie to leave the study room before you, Jeff, although I haven’t decided if that’s more subterfuge or you simply like watching her butt as she leaves.”
Annie gave a small gasp. “Jeff!” She slapped his arm, but couldn’t conceal the small smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth and made her face glow, nor could she hide the slow blush that crept up her cheeks. Jeff rubbed his arm where she had slapped him, but held up his hand, cutting off Abed before he could speak again.
“Wait just a second!...I stared at her ass way before we ever started dating. That doesn’t prove anything!”
“Jeff!” Her voice was a high pitched squeak now, but she made no attempt to hide her smile. Abed, though, ignored her second outburst.
“True, but back then it was kind of this confused leer, like you were attracted to her but didn’t know how to react because you thought it was inappropriate…now it’s a lot more affectionate. Softer, I guess. Warmer. It’s pretty much how you look at her now when you think no one else is paying attention to the two of you. Just lower. By the way, you two are getting really good at looking at each other without making it look like you’re looking at each other.”
Annie slowly wrapped an arm around Jeff’s waist, unsure of how to act with him with Abed right in front of them, but realizing that there wasn’t any point in trying to hide anything from him anyway. “So, why haven’t you told the group yet if you had all this figured out even before we did?”
Abed looked at her as though the thought had never crossed his mind, and remained silent for a minute. Finally, “A story is never very interesting if the characters are just told what’s happening by the director. They need to either discover it for themselves, or be told about it by the people involved in a shocking confession scene. For purposes of the story, I’d go with the first one, even if it is a little cliché and played out, but for the sake of the group I hope you pick the second one and let everyone else know about this eventually.”
Jeff looked down at Annie and sighed. “He’s right. We do need to tell the group about this, and soon. If they accidentally found out about us, it could tear the group apart, and we had a hard enough time getting Pierce to rejoin after the end of last year.” Abed shook his head.
“I don’t think you have to worry about that Jeff. Maybe if this was a year ago, it might have torn us apart, but we’ve grown together as a group a lot over the course of the last year, even with Pierce’s temporary setback. I’m not saying it would be a pleasant experience for any of us, but I do think the group would manage to hold together. Truthfully though, it’s drama we don’t need, and it’s not really a risk I’d be willing to take at this point.”
Annie looked at Abed. “If that’s the case, why not use your observational powers and tell us how you think everyone would react if we told them about us; that way we know what we’re getting into and how to best handle it.”
“I really shouldn’t Annie, for the same reason I haven’t told them what you’re up to. It wouldn’t be right to interfere with the story…” Abed’s train of thought stopped dead when Annie slowly opened her eyes wide and looked up at him, pleading, tears just beginning to form. “Disney eyes…no fair.” He hesitated for a moment, and then turned to Jeff. “You’ve been teaching her to weaponize them.” Jeff just shrugged.
“Believe me, I’m just as much a victim of them as you are, if not more so. How do you think she kept getting me to do stuff I didn’t want to before we started sss…” Annie slapped him in the arm. “…taying up late at night talking?”
Abed cracked a tiny grin at that. “A successful last second word swap. Troy would be proud.” He looked back at her; she was glaring at Jeff, almost scolding him with her eyes, but he could still see the smile trying to break out over her face despite her best efforts to be mad. When she noticed that Abed was looking at her again, though, she instantly switched back to Disney eyes, and also added a little lip quiver for good measure. He decided to relent before Jeff got mad at him for making her cry, even though they both knew it was an act.
“Fine. Pierce considers Annie his favorite, and he’s going to be very protective of her. Jeff, he’s gonna want to know that you’re serious about this, and he’ll threaten to destroy you if you break her heart. Take his threat seriously; not because it is, though I wouldn’t doubt it, but because it will show him that you are serious about the relationship. Once he realizes that, he’ll be supportive. Crude, but supportive. Also, he’ll probably call you gay at some point.”
Jeff held Annie’s hand in hers and smiled down at her. “He doesn’t need to worry about how serious I am. It took two years to get to this point and I don’t plan on going anywhere.” Jeff was surprised at just how true those words were. While he had realized his relationship with Annie was different from the moment it had begun, it was the first time he’d admitted to her (and if he was honest, to himself) just how committed he already was. The pre-Greendale Jeff Winger probably would have taken off running at this realization, but instead he just felt a strange surge of…contentment well up inside of him. Annie beamed back up at him, real tears in her eyes this time, and he knew that he saw many of the same thoughts in her bright blue eyes.
“Neither do I.”
“Troy won’t be a problem. There may be some initial feelings of jealousy, since he knows that Annie had a crush on him at one point, but he won’t be too mad since he realizes that he never reciprocated those feelings. Plus, he’ll realize that Jeff being in a stable relationship eliminates the possibility of him getting back together with Britta, who Troy is just starting to realize he has feelings for, though I don’t think he fully realizes the extent of them yet. Speaking of Britta, she’ll be the most outspoken about your relationship. She’s going to think that Jeff is taking advantage of your youth and naivety, Annie. You’re going to have to convince her that you’re the one that pushed for this relationship to begin, which I’m assuming is true since Jeff taking the first step in this after the conflicted feelings he’s been having towards you for over a year would be a major out of character moment for him at this point in his character development. You’re first instinct is going to be to break out the Disney eyes on her, but you have to resist - they’ll only remind her of how young and vulnerable you are in her mind. Save those for Shirley; she’ll be more susceptible to them. With Britta you’re going to have to be formidable and determined, and Jeff, you’re going to have to shut up and resist making any sarcastic comments. Britta won’t listen to anything you say; it’s going to have to be on Annie to convince her.”
“Okay, I can do that.” Despite her obvious nervousness, Annie had a look on her face of steely resolve, and Jeff knew that Britta would be in for a surprise if she tried to push Annie on this topic. While Annie had certainly matured in the eyes of the study group over the past year, they still didn’t always take her seriously, and he knew that would prove to be a big mistake. Annie’s determination when fighting for something she really wanted was nigh unbreakable; the fact that she and Jeff had ever gotten together was all due to her pushing for what they both wanted, but only she was willing to admit.
“And finally, Shirley. She’ll be happy for you two, although concerned about the age gap and the possibility that you’re living in sin. She’ll start dropping what she thinks are subtle hints about marriage almost immediately. The only problem you may have with her is if you fail to win Britta over. She may be able to convince Shirley of the idea that Jeff is taking advantage of you.”
“What about you, Abed? You haven’t really said what you think about all of this?” Annie asked.
“I got your back in this if things go bad and I’ll do what I can. But most of this is going to come down on you guys. You’re going to have to convince them yourselves. I should be able to get them to listen, but after that it’s all on you.”
“Thanks, Abed.” Annie reached over and hugged him. “And thank you for not telling the group about this yet.”
Jeff grinned at him. “Yeah, even if we don’t totally believe your reasons for not telling them.”
For the first time, Abed looked confused. “What do you mean? I hate spoilers, and this is a huge one. The group deserves to find out organically, in a manner that feels natural to the ongoing narrative. It makes sense for me not to tell them.”
“Yeah, you do hate spoilers. But while you may not say anything, I know you love impressing the group with your awesome analytical powers even more.”
Abed just shrugged. “I don’t have any real proof. They wouldn’t believe me anyway.”
“Maybe not, but they’ll remember you said it, and when the reveal happens, you get to sit there and remind them that you called it. So come on…why haven’t you told them yet?” Jeff fully expected Abed to go on a long spiel about how having a secret relationship is good “character development” and the adversity they go through once it’s revealed will be the set-up for their “season arc”. But Abed managed to surprise him when he finally spoke.
“If you feel the need to keep it secret for now, I’m not going to ruin that. You’re good for each other. Jeff, you’ve become less cynical and bitter. Annie, you’re more relaxed, yet also more assertive when trying to get what you want. But most importantly, you guys are my friends, and you seem happy together.”
“We are.” Annie and Jeff said it at the same time, their faces breaking into warm smiles, before Annie reached up and kissed Jeff gently on the lips.
“Cool…cool cool cool.” Abed started to leave, then turned back suddenly. “If you’re gonna go back to what you were doing when I came into the room, do you think you could do it somewhere else? I sleep on that couch sometimes, you know.” With that, he turned and left the room, heading back to his dorm where Troy was waiting for him to start their annual horror movie marathon, which would not end until the annual Greendale Halloween party began the next night. Jeff turned towards Annie. “Milady?”
“Milord.” She took hold of his arm and they walked out of the study room together, Annie leaning against Jeff as they walked. They both felt remarkably free now that their secret was out there, even if it was only one other person who knew it. But those thoughts didn’t linger long. Instead, she looked up at him and gave that mischievous smile that turned his legs to jelly and set his pulse racing all by itself.
“So…more “studying” at your place?”