Fic: Ninja Of Love (1/1)
Fandom: Community/Phineas and Ferb
Spoilers: Everything up to S5, S6ish.
Based off loveobsessed999's Ficcy Friday prompt. The Dean books Love Handel as the band at the ‘We Saved Greendale!” dance. Cue Jeff and Annie dancing to “You Snuck Your Way Right Into My Heart,” and someone yelling out along the lines of “Don’t just stand there, kiss her!”
“Greetings, students, faculty, and members of the Save Greendale Committee,” Dean Pelton’s voice echoes across the PA system. “Thanks to Jeff Winger and his Save Greendale Committee’s efforts, the redemption of Greendale from Subway has been accomplished.”
There is a short pause as Pelton catches his breath.
Jeff steals a glance at Annie and then looks intently at his phone, before whispering to the PA voice, “It wasn’t my efforts. It was Annie’s efforts.”
He slouches in his seat, lowering his voice even further, glad that nobody in the SG committee - or, God forbid, Duncan, who is sitting next to him - is really paying any attention. “Annie saved Greendale, not me.”
No one hears since Abed is smiling contemplatively in the direction of the Dean’s voice and cocking his face towards Jeff attentively - he hopes that Abed didn’t overhear his whisper - Britta is shedding her “Grumpy Cat” expression and acting gleeful as she waits.
Shirley is simpering her typical cloying smile, and just as Jeff is focussing his attention on Annie to study her expression - Disney face with a megawatt smile that he knows is gonna melt him - Pelton’s voice breaks his concentration again.
“And so, to celebrate, I’ve decided that we’re gonna resurrect a long-held and well-known tradition from several years ago here at Greendale. We’re gonna hold an ‘all five dances’ this year again, starting out with a “We Saved Greendale’ dance!”
Cheers rise up throughout the school at this prospect.
“Oh, and one more thing: Jeff, you and the Save Greendale committee are in charge of the dance because well, you saved Greendale! Don’t forget to save a dance for me, Jeffrey!”
Jeff rolls his eyes at the Dean’s last statement, muttering under his breath,
“Like that’s ever gonna happen.” He turns to the group. “Aren’t you guys ever gonna get on my case and tell the Dean to leave me alone?”
“So, what should we do for the dance?” Abed asks, completely distracting everyone’s attention from Jeff.
Jeff glances at Annie, who gives him a brief smile. Her look comforts him, reassures him that he’s not gonna be alone against the dean anymore. It’s also the first time she’s met one of his (unsubtle) glances her way, and the little smile she sends him makes him feel relieved and excited at once.
“Book a venue?” Duncan suggests, unsubtly casting a long look at Britta. Britta glowers at him, crossing her arms.
Annie pulls out another large scrapbook filled with dance ideas. Jeff raises his eyebrows.
He knows that Annie has a huge scrapbook brimming with wedding ideas and that this book might’ve been the Dean’s since it’s been clear, for five years, that the Dean loves dances but still.
He’s a bit surprised that Annie isn’t raring to go for this.
“Duncan, there’s no need for a venue, or any booking of one,” Britta retorts. “Dances are at Greendale, in the cafeteria. It’s been like that for five years.”
“To be fair, I was gone for at least two of them,” Duncan grumbles at her. “And, as a result, have forgotten most of the school policies.”
Annie ignores the banter between his friend and Britta. She begins leafing through it quietly, but doesn’t offer any suggestions yet. Shirley peers over to look into it with her so Jeff takes the opportunity to study Annie’s profile.
Her cheek and her lips look so soft he fights the increasing desire to cup her face in his hands and kiss her until they’re both breathless. After a moment, Annie glances up at him. Her gaze intercepts his stare, so he quickly averts it back to his phone.
Seemingly ignoring the little moment they’ve just had, Annie brushes it away.
“So, does anyone else besides Duncan have any ideas?” she queries to the table. “And Chang, stop giving us dance ideas. After the ‘Fat Dog’ dance the Dean still hasn’t recovered from the humiliation.”
Ben shrugs, indicating Jeff, Shirley and Duncan.
“Hey, they went along with it,” he protests. “So don’t put all of the blame on me.”
Annie sighs, rolling her eyes.
“I don’t see why a dance is even that necessary,” Britta says. “And besides, what’s a dance without Troy? Also, couldn’t we put more effort into causes that really need it like people dying in Mexico right now instead of a stupid school dance?”
“Britta, not helping,” Annie replies, a hint of steel in her tone and a glint of her formidable expression hardening her face, “Anyway, Shirley, any ideas? And no bake sales or anything connected to Shirley’s Sandwiches.”
“An-nie, I don’t think that’s very fair,” Shirley says. “My business is very important to me, and could be helpful for the dance.”
“Again, why don’t we just book a venue?” Duncan insists. “I’m sure Abed has some ideas for a venue. Well, I mean, band,” he adds after Britta shoots him a glare.
“In fact, I do,” Abed announces. “I was also planning on bringing along Rachel to it. Given the Dean’s predilection for dances at any time during the year for anything, I was sure that he’d bring it up eventually, so I’ve already asked Rachel to it.”
Jeff stares at Abed, though no one around the table is surprised (Hickey would’ve been if he’d been there, but Hickey had finally clocked in on his retirement from teaching after fifteen years and had moved to New Mexico for some new police work there) since his studies into human character have rarely been proved wrong over the years.
It’s settled though for Jeff.
He’s long known Abed was a shaman, which may prove helpful since Abed is the king of all tropes and also close platonically with Annie in a brotherly way which he thinks may be helpful with -
Jeff’s thought is cut off as Abed continues,
“And yes, Rachel and I have thought of a band already. It’s a group called ‘Love Handel’ from a place called the Tri-State Area.”
Annie noticeably perks up.
“I’ve heard some of their songs.” She adds, grinning. “They’re really good. This is a great idea, Abed.”
The look she gives Mr Student of Human Character inwardly discomfits Jeff somewhat even though he knows there’s nothing there between Abed and Annie thank you very much.
A twinge of jealousy hits him as he watches Abed exchange a smile with Annie. The lucky bastard.
What he’d give to have Annie look at him that way but he hasn’t said a thing because he’s too busy pretending not to unsubtly glance her way even though he knows that she’s been seeing his glances.
“So, Jeff, do you have any ideas?”
Jeff looks up at her this time, his mouth falling open into the wide, happy grin that happens whenever he’s near her. He wants to do something quick to impress her, crap, like what though?
He leans back in his chair, deliberately angling it so that it’s diagonal with her chair. He wonders, how in the hell, how his damn body language towards Annie hasn’t exposed to the group yet how obviously he feels about her. Upon thinking it over, he realises that he prefers their obliviousness.
“I think we should hire a band and book a venue,” he says, too fixated on Annie to notice how dumb he’s sounding and too much like Duncan. “I really like Abed’s idea of Love Handel so let’s go with that one.”
Annie sends both him and Duncan a look that warns get on the same page with the rest of us.
“Okay, for one, booking a venue is out of the question,” she responds; a hint of her formidability in her voice again, “given that this is a dance to celebrate saving Greendale. The band is doable though, and Abed and I will get to work with the Dean to contact them and he can book them for us. Or, more likely, Abed will.”
Abed gives Annie thumbs up after that statement.
Jeff hangs his head, a low groan escaping from his mouth. Impressing Annie is harder than he’d thought, especially after the incident down in Borchert’s bunker. Sometimes he wonders if she really has given up on him, but that’s so un-Annie that his mind revolts against the idea. He sends Abed a desperate, wordless look, pleading I need your help.
After the Save Greendale Committee is finished hashing out the details for the dance (Jeff intentionally making sure that Annie gives him the “hard” tasks so that he won’t let her do everything and so he can make sure to stay close to her) Abed accosts Jeff in the hallway that leads to the library.
“Jeff, do you have something that you want to tell me?” he asks. Jeff notes the measured look in his eyes and wonders if Abed’s long suspected already, in the past two months that have transpired, what actually caused his burst in Borchert’s lab. “Or anything that you need help with?”
Abed tilts his head, appraising Jeff. Jeff feels like he’s being weighed in the balance and wonders if he’s been found wanting, since Abed’s stare is pinioning him. He can almost hear Abed saying this is about Annie, isn’t it? So you’ve finally admitted to yourself that you love her?
Jeff rakes his hands through his hair in frustration,
“Well, I’m afraid not,” he quips. “Unless you can perform wondrous acts.”
“Hey, I did play the role of Jesus once for Shirley’s movie.”
“Yeah, and none of us have forgotten,” Jeff adds with a sarcastic raise of his eyebrows. He grips Abed’s arms almost desperately.
“I need your help with a special woman.”
“Annie?” Abed guesses immediately. “Just so you know, Jeff, you’ve been extremely unsubtle with your glances towards her since we saved the school.”
Trust Abed to see right through me, Jeff thinks.
“Yeees!” he exclaims. “And I need your help since you know every romantic trope inside and out and I need to impress her. Are you sure that Love Handel will work?”
“Jeff, you have enough command of romantic tropes on your own,” Abed (unhelpfully) chooses to point out. “You using Held Gaze on Annie since our first year was enough to do you both in.”
“Well, Love Handel is coming back on their Farewell Farewell Farewell Tour after disbanding and getting back together again, and given how it worked for Linda and Lawrence at another Farewell Tour, I’m sure it’ll work for you as well. Go find a rose, Jeff,” Abed instructs. “I’m perfectly willing to help with this. Took you long enough.”
“I thought you hated will-they won’t-they and romantic subplots,” Jeff grumbles. “You did at least during our first and second years.”
Abed shrugs,
“When it happens to someone as chemistry-less and incompatible as you and Britta, yes, that’s true. I should’ve stopped myself from trying to wed you two during our second season premiere. Also, Jeff, you haven’t been that much into romance either, like me. But we’ve both softened over the years, thanks to the group and the good women who came into our lives. On the other hand, unlike you and Britta, it’s fun to try and push you and Annie together, mainly because you two are so clueless about how you really feel, so it’s somewhat hilarious to watch.”
He leans in close to Jeff, lowering his voice to a whisper. “Just so you know, I was the ACB last year and sent in that garbled phone call about you and Annie chasing the ‘ACB’ to get close to each other. I’m glad that it succeeded, to some extent.”
He gives Jeff a mischievous grin and then saunters away. Jeff just stares after him, dumbfounded.
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……
Dean Pelton ambushes Annie on her way to his office. Annie rolls her eyes. Ever since the day down in Borchert’s bunker, Pelton keeps trying to wrangle a theory out of her about who she thinks caused Jeff’s blast of human passion.
Annie has some suspicions that it may possibly have been her and her alone, but there’s no way she’s confiding that to Pelton.
“So, who are you going with to the Love Handel concert?” he queries, his eyes as bright and frenetic as any squirrels.
“Dean, it’s the dance, first and foremost,” Annie sets him straight. She didn’t once call him a “single-cell organism” and said he had “no nerve” for nothing. Honestly, if he was really so set on Jeff Winger, God forbid that he actually do it properly and not stalk her poor friend.
Fortunately, his pathetic attempts at rousing Jeff’s interest in him have never worked, thus Annie was never jealous of him, unlike the complicated feelings that accompanied learning about Jeff and Britta’s friends with benefits “relationship” that Abed exposed.
In fact, she has long rather pitied the Dean since his greatest love is Greendale, the school, and he’s been pretty much married to his job ever since she came here after pulling herself out of her drug addiction.
“And in answer to your question, possibly no one,” she replies.
“Well I was hoping that Jeff might save a dance for me at the concert, but who knows. I have seen him looking at you in a way he never looks at me, ever,” the Dean mutters with a little wail in his voice.
Annie stares him full in the face, her expression one of complete astonishment.
“Well, you must be reading into things, Dean, since I don’t think he’s ever felt that way about me.”
Pelton gazes at her a bit appraisingly.
“So you’re not remembering how much he got into that kiss of yours at the debate? Your kiss affected him so much Simmons felt it hard enough that his glasses popped off.”
Annie laughs sarcastically even as pink crests her soft cheeks.
“What on earth on you bringing that kiss up for, silly Dean? I only did that to win a debate. It was never about stealing poor Jeff Winger’s heart without him even realising it.”
Annie’s doe eyes widen as it hits her what she just said and she quickly excuses herself from the Dean as hope enlivens the pink on her cheeks.
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,” she murmurs. “Is that really what happened?”
She finds her way to the study room and plops into her seat, feeling breathless. Britta appears at the door to the library. She immediately notices her emotional commotion. Annie hurries to conceal the pinkness on her face.
“Annie, is something wrong?” Britta wonders, her tone casual and less brusque than Annie’s used to.
“I’m not crying because of Jeff, if that’s what you’re curious about.” Annie doesn’t realise that her defences are up. “In fact, I wasn’t crying at all. I was planning for the dance/concert.”
“Well, if you need any help I’m here for you, girl,” Britta simpers at her. Annie raises her chin proudly, not letting Britta see how her friend’s habit of talking down to her irritates her. “That band Abed spoke of sounds really great… I wish Troy could be here though. I miss him. And I feel lonely within the group at times, with Troy gone and Shirley gonna be leaving soon…”
Annie gets up from her chair. Time to return to work.
“Well, I’m not exactly a magician, but I’ll have to see what I can do about Troy,” she grins thinly at Britta. Taking her hand, she pulls Britta along with her to the cafeteria. “Come on, we need to make sure that the soundstage is being properly set up.”
“By whom?” Britta whimpers, her eyes widening.
“Hmm, I think it’s Leonard and Neil, c’mon Britta!”
…..
Jeff paces anxiously inside his apartment. Texts from Annie and Abed have alerted him that the dance is “a go” and that the preparations for the night have gone well.
Hours ago, after Abed left him slack-jawed in the library hallway; he’d gone home, mulling the entire situation over. In the car, he slaps his forehead with his head as it hits him that he doesn’t even know what song (s) Love Handel is known for and what crazy scheme Abed has up his sleeve involving the band to coax him into letting his feelings for Annie into the open. I mean, it’s not like Annie and I are even dating… we haven’t even held hands and haven’t kissed since the night of the Tranny dance… what am I getting myself into? Dammit Abed!
He sighs, sliding through some candid snapshots of Annie he’d captured on his phone camera without her knowing. One slide shows Annie in a blue sundress, sleeveless, her Disney face lit up with joy. The other slide shows her tilting her head at him in a light teal sweater as she laughs at something he’d just said.
Jeff pauses as he goes through the pictures, his finger brushing over on one slide. In it Annie wears a purple dress - not too dissimilar from one Slater might’ve worn but Jeff would rather forget Slater forever - that accentuates her princess qualities. It’s conservative, but short enough to tease the imagination, and it summons all of Jeff’s memories of that fateful night when he’d cradled Annie in his arms, pulling her closer to his chest, kissing her like she was the answer to life itself to him…. he’s desperate for another experience like that again, and he longs to know if Annie is too.
Will taking a chance on Abed work? Or is he really just that desperate for her touch and for the feel of her soft lips burning into him again? He knows now, that while the pleasures of her mouth upon his would be gratifying, he wants so much more than just sex with her. He wants her. He wants to wake up next to her each morning. He wants children with her - maybe three - he wants to spend a life with her, as many years as Shirley’s God would allot them both, he wants it. Just imagining it awakens latent desires within him.
His fingers fumble with his phone as he quickly dials the number for Love on Run, a service specialising in romantic emergencies and based out of the Tri-State Area, the same region Love Handel hails from.
Of course he’s not gonna ignore Abed’s advice. Abed is a shaman after all! But what’s wrong with a little initiative? He rationalises as he makes the call.
…….
It takes only maybe ten minutes before Jeff hears a knock on his door. A man of medium height with a black mustache stands at his door. In his hands he’s got a clipboard with information for his Love on the Run clients.
Jeff exhales a sigh of relief.
“Wow, I’m really glad you could make it,” he says, shaking the man’s hand.
“And what exactly is your emergency? Please tell me you haven’t forgotten your anniversary, my Gram-O-Ram is exhausted from salvaging all of those emergencies in the Tri-State Area.”
“I…. um… well… my emergency is that I need the courage to admit to the woman I love that I love her,” Jeff states, trying to sound more confident than he actually feels.
The Love on the Run manager visibly perks up.
“Annie? The go-getter leader of the Save Greendale Committee?”
Jeff bites back a groan as he takes the clipboard from the manager to sign off for the roses.
“Am I really that obvious about how I feel about her?” he asks, tempering his question with his usual sarcastic tone.
The man chuckles as he hands over to Jeff a massive vase of beautifully red and luscious roses.
“Anyone who has eyes can see that you’re helplessly in love with her,” he explains. “Why, when Abed told the Tri-State Area what he thought had happened Phineas and Ferb created an entire celebration for it in the streets of Danville.”
Jeff quirks his eyebrow at the man as he places the vase on his mahogany desk, his fingertips brushing against the soft petals of the flowers that he’s sure Annie will love if he doesn’t duck this up and succeed in possibly losing her entirely.
His apartment door closes and Jeff raises his head. He rushes to the door but the Love on the Run businessman is gone.
Who the hell are Phineas and Ferb, he wonders as he sets to preparing an elegant meal to take Annie back home to after the dance. His guess is that they’re friends of Abed, though he finds it strange how neither he or the group have heard much about them in their five years knowing Abed.
Jeff’s so engrossed on the connection between the odd duo called Phineas and Ferb that he accidentally sets the bouquet of roses on fire.
Oh God dammit! Jeff growls inwardly. He desperately attempts to save the bouquet but it’s too late: all of the roses have gone up in smoke, except for one. It’s now blackened with soot, but hints of red gleam through.
Jeff picks it up - being careful to avoid the thorns - with a sigh. He shakes his head, self-doubt plaguing him, wondering how in the hell this is even going to work.
…..
Twilight falls over Greendale in shades of dark blue and purple as students and teachers arrive for the “We Saved Greendale! Dance.”
Britta finds Jeff shyly clasping his one rose, a mischievous smile on her face.
“Well, would you like at this!” she crows. “Jeff Winger actually coming to the celebration dance for Greendale, and wearing his best suit; I never saw it coming.”
“Britta, not helping,” Jeff grits out between clenched teeth.
“Soooo, did you ask someone out to the dance?” Britta prods at him.
A wave of panic crosses Jeff’s face before he smoothes it away hurriedly.
Britta raises her eyebrow at him; doubt creased all over her features, yet wisely decides to say nothing.
“Yeah, Annie,” he whispers. “Except she doesn’t know yet.”
“Hey guys!” a voice says behind them, bright and sparkling like a river.
Jeff and Britta pivot to face the vision in front of them. Jeff’s eyes widen incredulously. Annie stands before them in a chic red dress. It has a very short skirt that leaves plenty to the imagination. Jeff blinks, nearly dropping his flower.
“So, do you guys like it?” Annie asks, her face wreathed in joy.
Britta crosses over to Annie, placing her hands on Annie’s shoulders.
“Annie, you look fantastic.”
Britta’s compliment, if possible, makes Annie glow even more. She pulls Britta towards her in a brief hug before turning to Jeff with an expectant smile. Britta takes her leave after a few moments, sending Jeff an encouraging smile and a wink as she goes.
“Annie…. well…. you look amazing,” Jeff breathes, covertly hiding the rose behind his back. “I… um… would you like to come to the dance… with me… as my partner.”
Annie’s smile grows wider and tears - happy tears - glisten on her lashes. She gives him an imperceptible nod as he strides over next to her. Her proximity to him is intoxicating as the spaces between their bodies close.
They’re now standing outside the cafeteria, unsure if to go in or no. Music filters through the doors in unfamiliar strains.
Jeff smiles at Annie, offering her his arm. Annie’s eyebrows raise and quirk at him in that little gesture she does only for him.
“Jeff…” she says, a little note of hesitation in her voice blended with an underlying squeal of excitement, “what’s this?”
“Oh, just our old thing that we do… did… done… O Saviour of Greendale.” He fastens his eyes on her, pulling a Disney face of his own as Annie giggles in disbelief.
“Jeff, I didn’t save Greendale,” she protests. She still hasn’t taken hold of his arm, much to his disappointment. “You did.”
“Wrong!” Jeff half-shouts at her, wishing with each moment that she’d just take his arm like old times; wishing this wasn’t so difficult… “Do you remember Borchert’s bunker? The headset?”
“Yes,” Annie says in such a tiny voice he has to strain to hear her. “I thought, I dunno, it’s so silly, but that it might have been me. But that doesn’t even make sense since you were engaged to Britta then, so that was me just being ridiculous. Again!”
“Annie, you’ve never been ridiculous,” Jeff says, holding her gaze. “Never to me.”
Annie lets out a disbelieving chortle.
“So if it was me that got us out of there, what ignited your burst? Our kiss five years ago? My breasts? Come on, Jeff, give it up.”
“Guys!” Rachel bursts through the door wearing a microphone headset. “Oh good, you’re halfway there already with the confessions stuff. Abed wants you two both inside the cafeteria now.”
Annie holds her head high, avoiding Jeff’s gaze. He’s relieved when she finally slips her arm through his arm.
Rachel leads them to right underneath the stage, where Abed is standing with a tall skinny boy with red hair and a pretty brunette on his arm. Nearby, Duncan is talking to a green-haired young man with a British accent. A young woman dressed in black leather stands next to him, her hand on his shoulder.
Rachel looks back at Jeff and Annie standing together, looking bewildered.
“What is this?” Annie hisses at Jeff.
“Oh, just somethin’ Abed and I threw together,” Jeff answers out of the side of his mouth.
“You still haven’t told me what prompted your burst of human passion,” Annie continues.
Rachel starts speaking into her microphone headset.
“Abed, they’re reaching the end of the confessions point. Tell Love Handel to begin playing the single now.”
Abed signals with a flick of his wrist for the band to start playing their hit single. A guitar riff intro explodes into being.
I should’ve known from how I felt
When we were together
Jeff turns to face Annie, intently holding her gaze.
“Annie, I didn’t think about that kiss or your boobs down in the bunker. I thought about you.”
He pulls the hidden flower from behind his back, holding it in front of his chest.
And even more when we were apart
You tiptoed in
And you got under my skin
You snuck your way right into my heart
“Thought about me how?” Annie murmurs, focussing on the rose. Her eyes light up at the sight of it, even though it’s blackened and grimy - a symbol of himself. He holds it out to her, preparing to wince inwardly if she doesn’t take it.
The velvet touch of her fingers sweep against him as she takes the rose from his hand, pinning it onto her dress. The gesture makes him want to sweep her into his arms and kiss her until they were both breathless for letting her accept him giving of himself to her.
He holds out his hand to her, asking her to dance. She places her hand in his as he draws her close to him. Their bodies blend together as they fall into the steps of a slow dance, breathing in each other’s rhythm as their legs move in sync. Them being so in sync awaken an old memory in Jeff of the first time they’d realised how well they just fit together - like two peas in a pod.
(We make such a great team! - I know, we’re so in sync, like a perfect duet or great seeee. Hey Professor Whitman!)
“Jeff?” Annie’s gentle voice pulls her out of his reverie. “You still haven’t answered my question.”
I put up barriers to shield my emotions
A wall that you could never break apart
But like a ninja of love (ninja of love)
Rappelling down from above (rappelling down from above)
“It was just you,” Jeff confesses. “I thought about what made you you, Annie, and it all came back to our little endearments for each other. You snuck your way in so many years ago, Annie, and I can’t shake you out of my system.”
You snuck your way right into my heart
Oh yeah
Annie smiles at him, one of her big smiles full of light and hope and happiness but there’s a little shock in it, too. Yet, somehow, there’s no trace of disbelief.
Around them, other couples have begun dancing to the song as well. Real Neil and Vicki, the two odd-looking boys and their girlfriends, Shirley and Andre, among others and Britta is even dancing with Duncan, complete with her usual sour expression.
There’s a brief commotion as Troy comes running up to her, transforming Britta’s grumpy face into a genuine smile. Troy asks Duncan if he can cut in, which Duncan allows, taking Britta into his arms. The joy between the two is palpable as Troy twirls Britta with one hand. Nearby, Abed shares a secret smile with Rachel, giving her a wink.
Annie quirks her eyebrow at him as he melts inside again, the two of them seemingly alone in their own universe in an island of swirling couples.
“Milord?”
“Milady.”
The light focussing on them flickers in and out momentarily, distracting Jeff and Annie from their moment.
Abed is standing on top of the stage with a megaphone.
“Don’t just stand there, kiss her!” he urges.
The rose falls to the floor as Jeff leans toward Annie. Their lips collide with each other’s in a sort of visceral longing and desire as Annie sinks into him, pulling him closer to her with an unbridled intensity.
Behind them, a cheer goes up from at least fifty people scattered throughout the audience, but neither Jeff nor Annie can hear them. All they can hear is the pounding of two hearts uniting as one soul and the privilege of faithfulness and hope - on both their parts - ransomed in full.
Overhead, a light show blooms into life above them with hearts popping into clear view as Jeff leans his head onto Annie’s forehead, wanting nothing more than to stand there, holding her close to him. Their lips meet again in a symphony of desire til it seems that they are no longer two bodies, but one. The world dissolves except for each other’s eyes. Annie smiles up at him, and Jeff knows that, at last, he is truly home.
Spoilers: Everything up to S5, S6ish.
Based off loveobsessed999's Ficcy Friday prompt. The Dean books Love Handel as the band at the ‘We Saved Greendale!” dance. Cue Jeff and Annie dancing to “You Snuck Your Way Right Into My Heart,” and someone yelling out along the lines of “Don’t just stand there, kiss her!”
“Greetings, students, faculty, and members of the Save Greendale Committee,” Dean Pelton’s voice echoes across the PA system. “Thanks to Jeff Winger and his Save Greendale Committee’s efforts, the redemption of Greendale from Subway has been accomplished.”
There is a short pause as Pelton catches his breath.
Jeff steals a glance at Annie and then looks intently at his phone, before whispering to the PA voice, “It wasn’t my efforts. It was Annie’s efforts.”
He slouches in his seat, lowering his voice even further, glad that nobody in the SG committee - or, God forbid, Duncan, who is sitting next to him - is really paying any attention. “Annie saved Greendale, not me.”
No one hears since Abed is smiling contemplatively in the direction of the Dean’s voice and cocking his face towards Jeff attentively - he hopes that Abed didn’t overhear his whisper - Britta is shedding her “Grumpy Cat” expression and acting gleeful as she waits.
Shirley is simpering her typical cloying smile, and just as Jeff is focussing his attention on Annie to study her expression - Disney face with a megawatt smile that he knows is gonna melt him - Pelton’s voice breaks his concentration again.
“And so, to celebrate, I’ve decided that we’re gonna resurrect a long-held and well-known tradition from several years ago here at Greendale. We’re gonna hold an ‘all five dances’ this year again, starting out with a “We Saved Greendale’ dance!”
Cheers rise up throughout the school at this prospect.
“Oh, and one more thing: Jeff, you and the Save Greendale committee are in charge of the dance because well, you saved Greendale! Don’t forget to save a dance for me, Jeffrey!”
Jeff rolls his eyes at the Dean’s last statement, muttering under his breath,
“Like that’s ever gonna happen.” He turns to the group. “Aren’t you guys ever gonna get on my case and tell the Dean to leave me alone?”
“So, what should we do for the dance?” Abed asks, completely distracting everyone’s attention from Jeff.
Jeff glances at Annie, who gives him a brief smile. Her look comforts him, reassures him that he’s not gonna be alone against the dean anymore. It’s also the first time she’s met one of his (unsubtle) glances her way, and the little smile she sends him makes him feel relieved and excited at once.
“Book a venue?” Duncan suggests, unsubtly casting a long look at Britta. Britta glowers at him, crossing her arms.
Annie pulls out another large scrapbook filled with dance ideas. Jeff raises his eyebrows.
He knows that Annie has a huge scrapbook brimming with wedding ideas and that this book might’ve been the Dean’s since it’s been clear, for five years, that the Dean loves dances but still.
He’s a bit surprised that Annie isn’t raring to go for this.
“Duncan, there’s no need for a venue, or any booking of one,” Britta retorts. “Dances are at Greendale, in the cafeteria. It’s been like that for five years.”
“To be fair, I was gone for at least two of them,” Duncan grumbles at her. “And, as a result, have forgotten most of the school policies.”
Annie ignores the banter between his friend and Britta. She begins leafing through it quietly, but doesn’t offer any suggestions yet. Shirley peers over to look into it with her so Jeff takes the opportunity to study Annie’s profile.
Her cheek and her lips look so soft he fights the increasing desire to cup her face in his hands and kiss her until they’re both breathless. After a moment, Annie glances up at him. Her gaze intercepts his stare, so he quickly averts it back to his phone.
Seemingly ignoring the little moment they’ve just had, Annie brushes it away.
“So, does anyone else besides Duncan have any ideas?” she queries to the table. “And Chang, stop giving us dance ideas. After the ‘Fat Dog’ dance the Dean still hasn’t recovered from the humiliation.”
Ben shrugs, indicating Jeff, Shirley and Duncan.
“Hey, they went along with it,” he protests. “So don’t put all of the blame on me.”
Annie sighs, rolling her eyes.
“I don’t see why a dance is even that necessary,” Britta says. “And besides, what’s a dance without Troy? Also, couldn’t we put more effort into causes that really need it like people dying in Mexico right now instead of a stupid school dance?”
“Britta, not helping,” Annie replies, a hint of steel in her tone and a glint of her formidable expression hardening her face, “Anyway, Shirley, any ideas? And no bake sales or anything connected to Shirley’s Sandwiches.”
“An-nie, I don’t think that’s very fair,” Shirley says. “My business is very important to me, and could be helpful for the dance.”
“Again, why don’t we just book a venue?” Duncan insists. “I’m sure Abed has some ideas for a venue. Well, I mean, band,” he adds after Britta shoots him a glare.
“In fact, I do,” Abed announces. “I was also planning on bringing along Rachel to it. Given the Dean’s predilection for dances at any time during the year for anything, I was sure that he’d bring it up eventually, so I’ve already asked Rachel to it.”
Jeff stares at Abed, though no one around the table is surprised (Hickey would’ve been if he’d been there, but Hickey had finally clocked in on his retirement from teaching after fifteen years and had moved to New Mexico for some new police work there) since his studies into human character have rarely been proved wrong over the years.
It’s settled though for Jeff.
He’s long known Abed was a shaman, which may prove helpful since Abed is the king of all tropes and also close platonically with Annie in a brotherly way which he thinks may be helpful with -
Jeff’s thought is cut off as Abed continues,
“And yes, Rachel and I have thought of a band already. It’s a group called ‘Love Handel’ from a place called the Tri-State Area.”
Annie noticeably perks up.
“I’ve heard some of their songs.” She adds, grinning. “They’re really good. This is a great idea, Abed.”
The look she gives Mr Student of Human Character inwardly discomfits Jeff somewhat even though he knows there’s nothing there between Abed and Annie thank you very much.
A twinge of jealousy hits him as he watches Abed exchange a smile with Annie. The lucky bastard.
What he’d give to have Annie look at him that way but he hasn’t said a thing because he’s too busy pretending not to unsubtly glance her way even though he knows that she’s been seeing his glances.
“So, Jeff, do you have any ideas?”
Jeff looks up at her this time, his mouth falling open into the wide, happy grin that happens whenever he’s near her. He wants to do something quick to impress her, crap, like what though?
He leans back in his chair, deliberately angling it so that it’s diagonal with her chair. He wonders, how in the hell, how his damn body language towards Annie hasn’t exposed to the group yet how obviously he feels about her. Upon thinking it over, he realises that he prefers their obliviousness.
“I think we should hire a band and book a venue,” he says, too fixated on Annie to notice how dumb he’s sounding and too much like Duncan. “I really like Abed’s idea of Love Handel so let’s go with that one.”
Annie sends both him and Duncan a look that warns get on the same page with the rest of us.
“Okay, for one, booking a venue is out of the question,” she responds; a hint of her formidability in her voice again, “given that this is a dance to celebrate saving Greendale. The band is doable though, and Abed and I will get to work with the Dean to contact them and he can book them for us. Or, more likely, Abed will.”
Abed gives Annie thumbs up after that statement.
Jeff hangs his head, a low groan escaping from his mouth. Impressing Annie is harder than he’d thought, especially after the incident down in Borchert’s bunker. Sometimes he wonders if she really has given up on him, but that’s so un-Annie that his mind revolts against the idea. He sends Abed a desperate, wordless look, pleading I need your help.
After the Save Greendale Committee is finished hashing out the details for the dance (Jeff intentionally making sure that Annie gives him the “hard” tasks so that he won’t let her do everything and so he can make sure to stay close to her) Abed accosts Jeff in the hallway that leads to the library.
“Jeff, do you have something that you want to tell me?” he asks. Jeff notes the measured look in his eyes and wonders if Abed’s long suspected already, in the past two months that have transpired, what actually caused his burst in Borchert’s lab. “Or anything that you need help with?”
Abed tilts his head, appraising Jeff. Jeff feels like he’s being weighed in the balance and wonders if he’s been found wanting, since Abed’s stare is pinioning him. He can almost hear Abed saying this is about Annie, isn’t it? So you’ve finally admitted to yourself that you love her?
Jeff rakes his hands through his hair in frustration,
“Well, I’m afraid not,” he quips. “Unless you can perform wondrous acts.”
“Hey, I did play the role of Jesus once for Shirley’s movie.”
“Yeah, and none of us have forgotten,” Jeff adds with a sarcastic raise of his eyebrows. He grips Abed’s arms almost desperately.
“I need your help with a special woman.”
“Annie?” Abed guesses immediately. “Just so you know, Jeff, you’ve been extremely unsubtle with your glances towards her since we saved the school.”
Trust Abed to see right through me, Jeff thinks.
“Yeees!” he exclaims. “And I need your help since you know every romantic trope inside and out and I need to impress her. Are you sure that Love Handel will work?”
“Jeff, you have enough command of romantic tropes on your own,” Abed (unhelpfully) chooses to point out. “You using Held Gaze on Annie since our first year was enough to do you both in.”
“Well, Love Handel is coming back on their Farewell Farewell Farewell Tour after disbanding and getting back together again, and given how it worked for Linda and Lawrence at another Farewell Tour, I’m sure it’ll work for you as well. Go find a rose, Jeff,” Abed instructs. “I’m perfectly willing to help with this. Took you long enough.”
“I thought you hated will-they won’t-they and romantic subplots,” Jeff grumbles. “You did at least during our first and second years.”
Abed shrugs,
“When it happens to someone as chemistry-less and incompatible as you and Britta, yes, that’s true. I should’ve stopped myself from trying to wed you two during our second season premiere. Also, Jeff, you haven’t been that much into romance either, like me. But we’ve both softened over the years, thanks to the group and the good women who came into our lives. On the other hand, unlike you and Britta, it’s fun to try and push you and Annie together, mainly because you two are so clueless about how you really feel, so it’s somewhat hilarious to watch.”
He leans in close to Jeff, lowering his voice to a whisper. “Just so you know, I was the ACB last year and sent in that garbled phone call about you and Annie chasing the ‘ACB’ to get close to each other. I’m glad that it succeeded, to some extent.”
He gives Jeff a mischievous grin and then saunters away. Jeff just stares after him, dumbfounded.
Read More
……
Dean Pelton ambushes Annie on her way to his office. Annie rolls her eyes. Ever since the day down in Borchert’s bunker, Pelton keeps trying to wrangle a theory out of her about who she thinks caused Jeff’s blast of human passion.
Annie has some suspicions that it may possibly have been her and her alone, but there’s no way she’s confiding that to Pelton.
“So, who are you going with to the Love Handel concert?” he queries, his eyes as bright and frenetic as any squirrels.
“Dean, it’s the dance, first and foremost,” Annie sets him straight. She didn’t once call him a “single-cell organism” and said he had “no nerve” for nothing. Honestly, if he was really so set on Jeff Winger, God forbid that he actually do it properly and not stalk her poor friend.
Fortunately, his pathetic attempts at rousing Jeff’s interest in him have never worked, thus Annie was never jealous of him, unlike the complicated feelings that accompanied learning about Jeff and Britta’s friends with benefits “relationship” that Abed exposed.
In fact, she has long rather pitied the Dean since his greatest love is Greendale, the school, and he’s been pretty much married to his job ever since she came here after pulling herself out of her drug addiction.
“And in answer to your question, possibly no one,” she replies.
“Well I was hoping that Jeff might save a dance for me at the concert, but who knows. I have seen him looking at you in a way he never looks at me, ever,” the Dean mutters with a little wail in his voice.
Annie stares him full in the face, her expression one of complete astonishment.
“Well, you must be reading into things, Dean, since I don’t think he’s ever felt that way about me.”
Pelton gazes at her a bit appraisingly.
“So you’re not remembering how much he got into that kiss of yours at the debate? Your kiss affected him so much Simmons felt it hard enough that his glasses popped off.”
Annie laughs sarcastically even as pink crests her soft cheeks.
“What on earth on you bringing that kiss up for, silly Dean? I only did that to win a debate. It was never about stealing poor Jeff Winger’s heart without him even realising it.”
Annie’s doe eyes widen as it hits her what she just said and she quickly excuses herself from the Dean as hope enlivens the pink on her cheeks.
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,” she murmurs. “Is that really what happened?”
She finds her way to the study room and plops into her seat, feeling breathless. Britta appears at the door to the library. She immediately notices her emotional commotion. Annie hurries to conceal the pinkness on her face.
“Annie, is something wrong?” Britta wonders, her tone casual and less brusque than Annie’s used to.
“I’m not crying because of Jeff, if that’s what you’re curious about.” Annie doesn’t realise that her defences are up. “In fact, I wasn’t crying at all. I was planning for the dance/concert.”
“Well, if you need any help I’m here for you, girl,” Britta simpers at her. Annie raises her chin proudly, not letting Britta see how her friend’s habit of talking down to her irritates her. “That band Abed spoke of sounds really great… I wish Troy could be here though. I miss him. And I feel lonely within the group at times, with Troy gone and Shirley gonna be leaving soon…”
Annie gets up from her chair. Time to return to work.
“Well, I’m not exactly a magician, but I’ll have to see what I can do about Troy,” she grins thinly at Britta. Taking her hand, she pulls Britta along with her to the cafeteria. “Come on, we need to make sure that the soundstage is being properly set up.”
“By whom?” Britta whimpers, her eyes widening.
“Hmm, I think it’s Leonard and Neil, c’mon Britta!”
…..
Jeff paces anxiously inside his apartment. Texts from Annie and Abed have alerted him that the dance is “a go” and that the preparations for the night have gone well.
Hours ago, after Abed left him slack-jawed in the library hallway; he’d gone home, mulling the entire situation over. In the car, he slaps his forehead with his head as it hits him that he doesn’t even know what song (s) Love Handel is known for and what crazy scheme Abed has up his sleeve involving the band to coax him into letting his feelings for Annie into the open. I mean, it’s not like Annie and I are even dating… we haven’t even held hands and haven’t kissed since the night of the Tranny dance… what am I getting myself into? Dammit Abed!
He sighs, sliding through some candid snapshots of Annie he’d captured on his phone camera without her knowing. One slide shows Annie in a blue sundress, sleeveless, her Disney face lit up with joy. The other slide shows her tilting her head at him in a light teal sweater as she laughs at something he’d just said.
Jeff pauses as he goes through the pictures, his finger brushing over on one slide. In it Annie wears a purple dress - not too dissimilar from one Slater might’ve worn but Jeff would rather forget Slater forever - that accentuates her princess qualities. It’s conservative, but short enough to tease the imagination, and it summons all of Jeff’s memories of that fateful night when he’d cradled Annie in his arms, pulling her closer to his chest, kissing her like she was the answer to life itself to him…. he’s desperate for another experience like that again, and he longs to know if Annie is too.
Will taking a chance on Abed work? Or is he really just that desperate for her touch and for the feel of her soft lips burning into him again? He knows now, that while the pleasures of her mouth upon his would be gratifying, he wants so much more than just sex with her. He wants her. He wants to wake up next to her each morning. He wants children with her - maybe three - he wants to spend a life with her, as many years as Shirley’s God would allot them both, he wants it. Just imagining it awakens latent desires within him.
His fingers fumble with his phone as he quickly dials the number for Love on Run, a service specialising in romantic emergencies and based out of the Tri-State Area, the same region Love Handel hails from.
Of course he’s not gonna ignore Abed’s advice. Abed is a shaman after all! But what’s wrong with a little initiative? He rationalises as he makes the call.
…….
It takes only maybe ten minutes before Jeff hears a knock on his door. A man of medium height with a black mustache stands at his door. In his hands he’s got a clipboard with information for his Love on the Run clients.
Jeff exhales a sigh of relief.
“Wow, I’m really glad you could make it,” he says, shaking the man’s hand.
“And what exactly is your emergency? Please tell me you haven’t forgotten your anniversary, my Gram-O-Ram is exhausted from salvaging all of those emergencies in the Tri-State Area.”
“I…. um… well… my emergency is that I need the courage to admit to the woman I love that I love her,” Jeff states, trying to sound more confident than he actually feels.
The Love on the Run manager visibly perks up.
“Annie? The go-getter leader of the Save Greendale Committee?”
Jeff bites back a groan as he takes the clipboard from the manager to sign off for the roses.
“Am I really that obvious about how I feel about her?” he asks, tempering his question with his usual sarcastic tone.
The man chuckles as he hands over to Jeff a massive vase of beautifully red and luscious roses.
“Anyone who has eyes can see that you’re helplessly in love with her,” he explains. “Why, when Abed told the Tri-State Area what he thought had happened Phineas and Ferb created an entire celebration for it in the streets of Danville.”
Jeff quirks his eyebrow at the man as he places the vase on his mahogany desk, his fingertips brushing against the soft petals of the flowers that he’s sure Annie will love if he doesn’t duck this up and succeed in possibly losing her entirely.
His apartment door closes and Jeff raises his head. He rushes to the door but the Love on the Run businessman is gone.
Who the hell are Phineas and Ferb, he wonders as he sets to preparing an elegant meal to take Annie back home to after the dance. His guess is that they’re friends of Abed, though he finds it strange how neither he or the group have heard much about them in their five years knowing Abed.
Jeff’s so engrossed on the connection between the odd duo called Phineas and Ferb that he accidentally sets the bouquet of roses on fire.
Oh God dammit! Jeff growls inwardly. He desperately attempts to save the bouquet but it’s too late: all of the roses have gone up in smoke, except for one. It’s now blackened with soot, but hints of red gleam through.
Jeff picks it up - being careful to avoid the thorns - with a sigh. He shakes his head, self-doubt plaguing him, wondering how in the hell this is even going to work.
…..
Twilight falls over Greendale in shades of dark blue and purple as students and teachers arrive for the “We Saved Greendale! Dance.”
Britta finds Jeff shyly clasping his one rose, a mischievous smile on her face.
“Well, would you like at this!” she crows. “Jeff Winger actually coming to the celebration dance for Greendale, and wearing his best suit; I never saw it coming.”
“Britta, not helping,” Jeff grits out between clenched teeth.
“Soooo, did you ask someone out to the dance?” Britta prods at him.
A wave of panic crosses Jeff’s face before he smoothes it away hurriedly.
Britta raises her eyebrow at him; doubt creased all over her features, yet wisely decides to say nothing.
“Yeah, Annie,” he whispers. “Except she doesn’t know yet.”
“Hey guys!” a voice says behind them, bright and sparkling like a river.
Jeff and Britta pivot to face the vision in front of them. Jeff’s eyes widen incredulously. Annie stands before them in a chic red dress. It has a very short skirt that leaves plenty to the imagination. Jeff blinks, nearly dropping his flower.
“So, do you guys like it?” Annie asks, her face wreathed in joy.
Britta crosses over to Annie, placing her hands on Annie’s shoulders.
“Annie, you look fantastic.”
Britta’s compliment, if possible, makes Annie glow even more. She pulls Britta towards her in a brief hug before turning to Jeff with an expectant smile. Britta takes her leave after a few moments, sending Jeff an encouraging smile and a wink as she goes.
“Annie…. well…. you look amazing,” Jeff breathes, covertly hiding the rose behind his back. “I… um… would you like to come to the dance… with me… as my partner.”
Annie’s smile grows wider and tears - happy tears - glisten on her lashes. She gives him an imperceptible nod as he strides over next to her. Her proximity to him is intoxicating as the spaces between their bodies close.
They’re now standing outside the cafeteria, unsure if to go in or no. Music filters through the doors in unfamiliar strains.
Jeff smiles at Annie, offering her his arm. Annie’s eyebrows raise and quirk at him in that little gesture she does only for him.
“Jeff…” she says, a little note of hesitation in her voice blended with an underlying squeal of excitement, “what’s this?”
“Oh, just our old thing that we do… did… done… O Saviour of Greendale.” He fastens his eyes on her, pulling a Disney face of his own as Annie giggles in disbelief.
“Jeff, I didn’t save Greendale,” she protests. She still hasn’t taken hold of his arm, much to his disappointment. “You did.”
“Wrong!” Jeff half-shouts at her, wishing with each moment that she’d just take his arm like old times; wishing this wasn’t so difficult… “Do you remember Borchert’s bunker? The headset?”
“Yes,” Annie says in such a tiny voice he has to strain to hear her. “I thought, I dunno, it’s so silly, but that it might have been me. But that doesn’t even make sense since you were engaged to Britta then, so that was me just being ridiculous. Again!”
“Annie, you’ve never been ridiculous,” Jeff says, holding her gaze. “Never to me.”
Annie lets out a disbelieving chortle.
“So if it was me that got us out of there, what ignited your burst? Our kiss five years ago? My breasts? Come on, Jeff, give it up.”
“Guys!” Rachel bursts through the door wearing a microphone headset. “Oh good, you’re halfway there already with the confessions stuff. Abed wants you two both inside the cafeteria now.”
Annie holds her head high, avoiding Jeff’s gaze. He’s relieved when she finally slips her arm through his arm.
Rachel leads them to right underneath the stage, where Abed is standing with a tall skinny boy with red hair and a pretty brunette on his arm. Nearby, Duncan is talking to a green-haired young man with a British accent. A young woman dressed in black leather stands next to him, her hand on his shoulder.
Rachel looks back at Jeff and Annie standing together, looking bewildered.
“What is this?” Annie hisses at Jeff.
“Oh, just somethin’ Abed and I threw together,” Jeff answers out of the side of his mouth.
“You still haven’t told me what prompted your burst of human passion,” Annie continues.
Rachel starts speaking into her microphone headset.
“Abed, they’re reaching the end of the confessions point. Tell Love Handel to begin playing the single now.”
Abed signals with a flick of his wrist for the band to start playing their hit single. A guitar riff intro explodes into being.
I should’ve known from how I felt
When we were together
Jeff turns to face Annie, intently holding her gaze.
“Annie, I didn’t think about that kiss or your boobs down in the bunker. I thought about you.”
He pulls the hidden flower from behind his back, holding it in front of his chest.
And even more when we were apart
You tiptoed in
And you got under my skin
You snuck your way right into my heart
“Thought about me how?” Annie murmurs, focussing on the rose. Her eyes light up at the sight of it, even though it’s blackened and grimy - a symbol of himself. He holds it out to her, preparing to wince inwardly if she doesn’t take it.
The velvet touch of her fingers sweep against him as she takes the rose from his hand, pinning it onto her dress. The gesture makes him want to sweep her into his arms and kiss her until they were both breathless for letting her accept him giving of himself to her.
He holds out his hand to her, asking her to dance. She places her hand in his as he draws her close to him. Their bodies blend together as they fall into the steps of a slow dance, breathing in each other’s rhythm as their legs move in sync. Them being so in sync awaken an old memory in Jeff of the first time they’d realised how well they just fit together - like two peas in a pod.
(We make such a great team! - I know, we’re so in sync, like a perfect duet or great seeee. Hey Professor Whitman!)
“Jeff?” Annie’s gentle voice pulls her out of his reverie. “You still haven’t answered my question.”
I put up barriers to shield my emotions
A wall that you could never break apart
But like a ninja of love (ninja of love)
Rappelling down from above (rappelling down from above)
“It was just you,” Jeff confesses. “I thought about what made you you, Annie, and it all came back to our little endearments for each other. You snuck your way in so many years ago, Annie, and I can’t shake you out of my system.”
You snuck your way right into my heart
Oh yeah
Annie smiles at him, one of her big smiles full of light and hope and happiness but there’s a little shock in it, too. Yet, somehow, there’s no trace of disbelief.
Around them, other couples have begun dancing to the song as well. Real Neil and Vicki, the two odd-looking boys and their girlfriends, Shirley and Andre, among others and Britta is even dancing with Duncan, complete with her usual sour expression.
There’s a brief commotion as Troy comes running up to her, transforming Britta’s grumpy face into a genuine smile. Troy asks Duncan if he can cut in, which Duncan allows, taking Britta into his arms. The joy between the two is palpable as Troy twirls Britta with one hand. Nearby, Abed shares a secret smile with Rachel, giving her a wink.
Annie quirks her eyebrow at him as he melts inside again, the two of them seemingly alone in their own universe in an island of swirling couples.
“Milord?”
“Milady.”
The light focussing on them flickers in and out momentarily, distracting Jeff and Annie from their moment.
Abed is standing on top of the stage with a megaphone.
“Don’t just stand there, kiss her!” he urges.
The rose falls to the floor as Jeff leans toward Annie. Their lips collide with each other’s in a sort of visceral longing and desire as Annie sinks into him, pulling him closer to her with an unbridled intensity.
Behind them, a cheer goes up from at least fifty people scattered throughout the audience, but neither Jeff nor Annie can hear them. All they can hear is the pounding of two hearts uniting as one soul and the privilege of faithfulness and hope - on both their parts - ransomed in full.
Overhead, a light show blooms into life above them with hearts popping into clear view as Jeff leans his head onto Annie’s forehead, wanting nothing more than to stand there, holding her close to him. Their lips meet again in a symphony of desire til it seems that they are no longer two bodies, but one. The world dissolves except for each other’s eyes. Annie smiles up at him, and Jeff knows that, at last, he is truly home.