Lessons in Epic Storytelling, Ch 10/?
Title: Lessons in Epic Storytelling
Chapter: 10/?
Pairings: Annie/Abed, Annie/Jeff, side Britta/Troy
Rating: NC-17 for future chapters
Words: 9875
Summary: Annie enters the study room to a scene of even greater chaos than usual. When the group blames her for their behavior, she sets them down to tell them an epic love story that will reveal every single one of her deepest secrets.
Spoilers: Anything up to and including the season three finale, 'Introduction to Finality'. In fact, several of the scenes in that episode's final montage will find their way into this story as I provide my own events that lead up to them.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. If I had any claim on Community, Abed would be all mine.
A/N: This story is coming a close, guys. Seriously, there's only about three chapters left. But I already have an idea for my next story that I'm excited about. Other than that, I don't really have much to say about this chapter except that I hope you enjoy it. As always, I'd like to thank my livejournal reviewers: fangirl 101, fluffyfrolicker, sassyrogue, who_locked, wingster55, and my three anonymous reviewers. Every single one of your comments is highly treasured. Please read and review! Thanks!
Chapter Ten: Opposing Plans
Study Room
Present Day
"Oh, good," Troy sighed, relaxing back into his chair. "I don't think I would like this story very much if it ended there."
Annie couldn't help the smile that crossed her lips at his perfectly visible relief. Maybe he wasn't all that pleased with her right now, but he still wanted a happy ending to the story.
"Then it's a good thing that there is still considerably more to tell. As you guys now know, I had spent the night with Jeff, but I didn't remember what happened after we went into his bedroom. When I woke up next to him, I really just wanted to go home. Luckily, he...uh, he didn't argue with me over it. He kind of encouraged it."
Since Annie actually did remember what had happened, she edited the events she told the group even as the real memories of that morning washed over her.
ooooo
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Once again fully dressed, Annie paused in the doorway of the bedroom. She stared at Jeff, who was sleeping on his stomach, one arm across the pillow above his head and the other at his side.
She wanted to leave. She didn't want to deal with the awkward scene that she knew would come if she waited for him to wake up. Still, Annie knew that it would be low of her to run off without facing him. She couldn't do that to him, not after she had already used him in a failed attempt to get over Abed. She watched as he reached out to the spot that she had just vacated.
Seconds later, a sleepy pair of blue eyes was blinking over at her.
"Annie?" he asked, his voice thick with exhaustion. "What are you doing?"
She offered him a wavering smile. "I'm going home, Jeff. I want to get back before the others wake up."
His brow furrowed in confusion and Annie could see him struggling to think through the haze of sleep.
"Why?"
Running her hand over her tousled hair, she sighed softly. She couldn't believe that she was about to give Jeff Winger a discretion speech of her very own. All those times that he blown her off, she had never imagined that she would one day do the same thing to him. Only she was even worse. At least Jeff hadn't taken advantage of her feelings as she had his.
"I think it's best if we keep what happened tonight to ourselves," she began, her voice more confident than she felt. "If the group found out, the results could be disastrous."
Pushing the sheet off, Jeff climbed out of bed, unashamed by his nudity. Initially surprised, Annie studiously kept her eyes on his face, her cheeks blazing.
"Again, why?" he questioned when he stopped in front of her. "If we're dating now, don't you think they'll eventually find out? So why should we hide it?"
Annie bit her lip nervously, her heart sinking with his words. He certainly wasn't going to make this easy on her, was he?
"But we're not dating," she blurted out, unable to think of a delicate way to put it. "I think last night proved that we don't belong together, Jeff."
He scowled. "But we're good together. And I know you have feelings for me."
She shook her head. "Not like I did. I've grown up and moved on. I am attracted to you, yes, but I can't in good conscience date you knowing that I don't feel as strongly about you as I should."
He stared at her for several moments, the tense silence growing between them. Annie wished that he would say something. She wished that she hadn't just ruined her friendship with him simply because she couldn't get past Abed. She really wished that she had just gone home when Britta asked her to.
"You should probably leave," he finally said.
His cold tone hurt her, but she knew that she deserved it.
"I am so sorry, Jeff," she apologized, exiting the bedroom.
She knew that he would think she was simply apologizing for not returning his feelings, but he didn't know the full truth.
She felt wretched that she had used him to replace the man she truly wanted.
ooooo
Study Room
Present Day
"I'm confused," Britta announced the instant Annie finished her slightly modified account of the events for the group.
"What's your question?" Annie asked.
Instead of looking at her, the blonde turned to Jeff.
"If you already knew that you and Annie don't end up together before she even started telling the story, why have you been so pissed off all day?"
He glowered at her. "I always suspected that Annie had picked Abed over me even if I didn't think it was any more than a crush on her part. Today she confirmed my suspicions. No matter what Abed has always said, I'm not the hero in Annie's story; I'm the poor sap who gets ditched for someone else. I never even stood a chance. That much has been obvious since she told us about kissing him during paintball. It makes me look like an idiot."
"Awe, Jeffrey," Shirley said, her tone gentle. "You don't look like an idiot. Although I wouldn't approve of you and Annie as a couple, it's nice to know you actually pursued her seriously. That takes a maturity that I've always known you possessed even if you rarely display it. Just go after someone your own age next time, okay?"
Annie felt terribly guilty. She had known that certain parts of the story wouldn't be easy for Jeff, but she had no idea that he was feeling so badly about it. She should have realized that he was more sensitive than he acted most of the time.
"I'm sorry that I've been so insensitive today," she apologized, reaching over to place her hand on his lower arm. "I don't have to finish the story, Jeff. Or you can leave if you want. I wouldn't blame you; you shouldn't have to listen to all of this."
He frowned at her thoughtfully. "I've already listened to the rest of it, so I may as well stick around. Besides, it's not like I can go anywhere now, is it?"
Although Annie was confused by that last sentence and the way the group became immediately restless, she brushed it off. She had more awkward encounters to cover.
"So after I left Jeff's, I took the bus home," she explained. "It was only five in the morning, so I thought I would be able to sneak in, but as Britta already told you guys, she caught me."
ooooo
Sunday, January 20, 2013
After entering the apartment, Annie shut the door quietly so she wouldn't disturb Abed in the blanket fort. Turning around, she was startled to find Britta standing in the living room, a glass of water in her hand. Letting out a startled squeak, Annie dashed for her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.
Leaning against the wood, she tried to calm her heart rate. Oh, this wasn't good. There was no way that Britta wouldn't know exactly where she had spent the night. Setting the problem aside to deal with later, Annie changed into her comfiest pajamas and climbed under the covers.
Sleep was a long time coming.
It felt like she'd only been out for minutes when she was harshly shaken awake. Reaching out blindly, she slapped away the offending hands.
"Annie Edison, I swear to Shirley's God that if you don't wake up right now, I'll dump water on you."
Britta's voice was so threatening that Annie had an instant mental picture of soggy, ruined sheets. That, more than anything else, convinced her to turn her head and blink up at the blonde.
"You wouldn't," she muttered sleepily.
"I would," Britta rebutted, her expression stern. "So just wake up. We need to talk."
Groaning because she knew exactly what the other woman wanted to discuss, Annie rolled from her side onto her back and stared at the ceiling.
"Go ahead," she mumbled. "Start yelling at me."
Britta appeared genuinely confused.
"Why would I yell at you?"
"Because I went home with Jeff last night," she admitted guiltily.
"Oh, Annie. Sleeping with Jeff isn't a bad thing even when it's a mistake. He can be pretty irresistible. That's why so many women have had sex with him at least once," she offered sympathetically.
"Not Shirley," Annie pointed out, glancing at Britta when she sat down on the side of the bed. "She was single for nearly two years and she never stayed with him. She must be smarter than both of us."
The blonde immediately stated, "She had sex with Chang. She fulfilled several lifetimes of mistakes with that one."
Amusement working its way through her misery, Annie propped herself up on her pillow.
"So if you don't want to yell at me, then what do you want?" she questioned curiously, no longer as anxious about the conversation.
The blonde's face was earnest when she answered.
"I want to make sure that you're okay. You had quite a bit to drink last night."
The caring tone and unexpected support that Britta was offering nearly broke Annie. It would be so easy to unload some of her burdens onto her friend. However, she owed Jeff her silence about what happened the previous night. Plus, she didn't want to see the pity that would surely appear if she explained about the whole thing with Abed and Robin. Annie bit back a sigh. She was going to have to lie or at least obscure the truth.
"I'm fine, Britta. I knew what I was getting myself into last night when I made the decision to go home with him."
Britta's lips pursed as she considered Annie's answer.
"Are you two a couple now?" she finally asked.
Annie shook her head. "I turned him down before I left. He, uh, he didn't take it well."
"Probably not," her roommate agreed easily. "Jeff doesn't like to be told no when he wants something."
They were quiet for a minute before Annie asked the question that she knew she had to if she didn't want the group to be affected by her poor judgement.
"Could you please not tell anyone about what happened last night?"
Britta nodded. "Sure."
She stood to leave and Annie breathed easier. That hadn't been nearly as painful as she had expected it to be.
"Oh!"
Britta paused on her way out the door to glance over her shoulder at Annie.
"If you don't want anyone else to know, you should probably talk to Abed, too. I think he waited up for you last night. He's smart, so I'm sure he already figured out where you were."
As her friend exited the room, Annie slumped back down and pulled her pillow over her head. She let out a muffled groan of frustration. Of course she'd have to ask Abed to keep quiet. How messed up was that? She had to ask the guy she had feelings for not to tell their friends that she had spent the night with someone else in an effort to get over him. There were just so many things wrong with that sentence!
"Are you trying to suffocate yourself?"
Annie shook her head, the still-in-place pillow moving with her, at the sound of Abed's voice.
"Good," he said simply. "Because you're doing it wrong and I wouldn't feel comfortable teaching you how to do it right."
Lifting the pillow, Annie stared at him in bewilderment. What a weird thing to say, even for him. He was standing in the doorway to her room, still dressed in his pajamas with his hair mussed. He was highly appealing in his disheveled state and Annie bit her lip to keep from launching herself across the room at him. When she realized that he was gazing at the spot where her lip was sucked in, she let go and popped it back out. His staring really wasn't helping her with her restraint.
"Stop looking at me," she insisted before dropping the pillow back down.
"Sorry," he replied instantly, his voice emotionless.
Silence descended on the room, making her squirm uncomfortably. Once again she could feel a question rising in her, but she didn't want to ask. She really didn't want to ask. She could feel the tension building in her spine that guaranteed she would, though. In an effort to prevent it, she bit her pillow. The texture of the pillowcase was annoying between her teeth so she let go. The instant her mouth was free, she voiced her question quietly into the cushion.
"What, Annie?" he asked immediately.
Growling softly, Annie took the pillow off her face and sat up.
"I said, how did your night with Robin go?"
She tried to keep the scowl off her face and the attitude out of her voice, but she could tell that she was unsuccessful, even if Abed didn't seem to notice.
His face was completely impassive. "I achieved my objective."
When the expected pain pierced her heart, Annie turned her face away from him to stare at the wall next to the bed. Apparently he had 'fixed things'. It wasn't like she had expected anything less, but it hurt all the same to hear that he had been successful. Especially when her own night had been a complete failure.
"You and Jeff corrected the story's trajectory last night."
Startled that he would approach the subject so bluntly, Annie swiveled her head around to stare at him.
"What?" she asked, caught off guard.
He was expressionless. Annie had gotten quite good at reading his emotions recently, but everything about him was so stoic in that moment that she didn't have a clue what he was thinking or feeling.
"You stayed the night at Jeff's. The original plot line is once again intact, minus the abnormality of Troy and Britta's relationship."
Annie was unsettled by how emotionless he was. The two of them had been kissing a mere two weeks ago, and now...what? It just didn't matter to him? She knew that he had chosen Robin, but shouldn't he be at least slightly disturbed by the idea of her with Jeff? Heaven knew that she was completely traumatized by the thought that he had slept with Robin last night. The more she thought about it, the more miffed she grew. Did their kisses really mean that little to him?
"I'm not dating Jeff," she clarified in a tight voice. "But it's nice to know that I would have your full approval if I did."
Okay, so using sarcasm probably wasn't the best way to get to Abed. He usually didn't catch on to it. Still, she was so angry that he was so fine with her sleeping with Jeff that she naturally resorted to the less than pleasant tone.
"Of course I approve," he answered in his normal monotone, proving that he had missed the subtlety of her tone. "As long as you're happy, Annie."
"But I'm not dating Jeff," she repeated insistently. "So please don't tell anyone else about where I was last night."
He cocked his head to one side and studied her for a moment before nodding.
"Your secret is safe with me."
The he left the room. Once he was gone, Annie was stuck in a state of mixed emotions. She was utterly confused, very angry, and completely hurt. He didn't seem at all perturbed by the fact that she had stayed at Jeff's last night. But she could have sworn that even if he didn't want her, he had cared on some level. Why else would he have kissed her to begin with?
Feeling distinctly upset, Annie sunk down on the bed and pulled her pillow back over her head.
Today seemed like a good day to disappear.
ooooo
Study Room
Present Day
For once, nobody interrupted Annie, but she felt like she needed to add some light commentary at this point before moving on to the next major event.
"I spent the rest of that day hiding in my room. I practiced my dancing since I knew that filming would restart on Abed's movie soon and I read ahead in a couple of my textbooks. I thought a lot about the different conversations that I'd had with Abed, especially what he had said to me the day that Britta moved in. I finally figured out what he had meant when he had explained why he was dating Robin that day. Mostly, though, I was just preparing myself for the next day at school. I knew that it was going to be awkward when the study group met and I had to be in the same room as both Abed and Jeff."
She paused to glance around the room at her friends, her eyes lingering on the two guys. Jeff still seemed upset and Abed was as impassive as ever.
"And, boy, was I ever right," she continued. "The topic of that day's study session didn't help either."
ooooo
Monday, January 21, 2013
"The ending wasn't a happy one," Abed asserted confidently. "It would be out of character for Claire to maintain her relationship with Bender, Andy probably didn't stay with Alison, and they still had to deal with the same family problems when they went home. At best, the ending was neutral because it's doubtful that anything changed on Monday."
Clearly frustrated with trying to argue that The Breakfast Club had a happy ending, Shirley let out a long sigh.
"Okay, Abed. Let's just move on. What's the next movie on the list, Annie?"
They were studying the chapter about teen movies. Since Abed was quite a fan of teen movies, they had all seen most of them at least once because of him. Annie, Troy, and Britta had seen most of the movies several times, courtesy of living with him. Unsurprisingly, pretty much the entirety of the John Hughes catalogue was on their list.
Annie frowned when she saw the next movie.
"Pretty in Pink," she read.
"The legacy of that one is obvious," Britta said with a roll of her eyes. "Obviously the Blane versus Duckie debate is the main thing that movie contributed to pop culture."
"Which is really silly," Troy contributed. "Because it's obvious who Andie should have picked."
"Duckie," said Abed, Britta, and Shirley at the same time that Jeff, Troy, and Pierce said, "Blane."
"Why would she pick Blane?" Britta asked. "He was a jerk who ditched her when his friends disapproved."
Troy grimaced. "They pressured him into it, and he did eventually tell them off. In high school, it's really hard to even be friends with whoever you want when you're popular, so the fact that he did finally date her was really brave."
Annie ignored the look that Troy cast at her. She knew that there was a part of him that still felt bad about ignoring her back then, but it didn't matter to her anymore. They were friends now and that was what counted.
"But Duckie loved her the whole time. He didn't care what anyone else thought about her," Shirley pointed out.
"Blane's rich. Duckie's poor. The end," Pierce chipped in as if it should be completely obvious.
"Shut up, Pierce," Britta snapped at him.
"Duckie was just a chump who couldn't man up and tell her he loved her," Jeff threw in. "At least Blane had the balls to go after her."
The way that Jeff was looking at her was a little more difficult to ignore than Troy. He was clearly holding a grudge for her using him and then rejecting his feelings. Annie stared down at the movie list, pretending to read.
"Duckie was objectively a better match for her," Abed stated, his voice lacking inflection. "They were from similar socio-economic backgrounds, shared the same interests, and were part of the same clique at school."
Annie felt the moment that his gaze settled on her. She knew that he expected her to back him up; they may have argued about several of John Hughes' movies, but they had always easily agreed that Andie belonged with Duckie. However, after their conversation yesterday and a bit of thought about some of Abed's previous words, Annie felt a bit less supportive of him than she normally would have.
Lifting her eyes from the book, she glanced at Jeff and then Abed.
"I currently find that I'm torn between Blane and Duckie," she finally spoke up. "Duckie seems like the best choice, but he obviously didn't love her enough if he couldn't just tell her how he felt. At least Blane was able to do that much, although he was definitely the more stereotypical choice and probably buckled to peer pressure and broke her heart shortly after the movie ended."
She could tell that Abed wasn't at all happy with her opinion.
"You always picked Duckie before. Why would you change your mind now?" he asked, his voice tinged in confusion.
Annie kept her expression as neutral as possible but couldn't help the note of annoyance that entered her tone.
"Maybe I considered all of the facts from a more objective point of view. If Duckie really wanted to be with Andie, wouldn't he have made some sort of move on her? Wouldn't he have confessed his feelings for her?" she questioned sharply.
"He asked her to prom," Abed immediately noted.
"As friends," she reminded him, emphasizing the last word. "He didn't ask her to be his date romantically."
"It was implied when he asked her. It should have been obvious to Andie how he felt about her. Anyone watching the movie would be able to see it even if the love triangle wasn't such a common trope."
"Andie shouldn't have been expected to read his mind. If he wanted to go to prom with her as something other than friends, then maybe he should have said, 'Hey, Andie. Want to go to prom, but not as friends because I'm actually desperately in love with you?'," she argued, deepening her voice briefly before picking it back up to her normal pitch. "If he wanted her to pick him, actually telling her that he was even an option might have been a good thing."
"He shouldn't have had to tell her," he repeated. "It was clear to everyone watching the movie."
Annie was well-versed enough in Abed's mannerisms to know that he was starting to get frustrated with her arguments. However, she just couldn't help herself. As ridiculous as it seemed, this entire argument was rubbing her the wrong way. Maybe it was because she had found herself considering Abed's words from the day Britta moved in while she was hiding in her room yesterday. As she had thought about them, she had started to feel like he had been telling her that he had feelings for her; that he had only picked Robin because he didn't care as much about her and that was easier. But if he did have feelings for her, Annie, then...
"Then why did he encourage her to be with Blane at the end?" she finally voiced the question that had been bugging her since she had figured out the meaning of Abed's speech that day, changed slightly to suit the current conversation. "If he had real feelings for her, then shouldn't he have let her know instead of sending her off to chase after some other guy? No, what I think, after closer consideration, is that Duckie only had feelings for Andie because she was convenient. If it had been anything more than that, he would have told her at some point during the movie, especially when he realized that she was going after a guy who was obviously going to break her heart later. Not to mention how easily he moved on with that other girl at the end of the movie."
Silence fell over the room when she finished her impassioned speech. Slightly embarrassed, Annie looked around at the rest of the study group. Most of them appeared thoughtful, but Jeff seemed angry. Annie could only pray that he hadn't picked up on anything between her and Abed because if he had, then he would know that he was Blane in this scenario which would mean that she had just insulted him by saying that he would have broken her heart if they dated. She didn't think he would have, not purposely at least, but Blane certainly would have hurt Andie as soon as the peer pressure got to him.
"I heard that Duckie was gay," Pierce offered.
"He was not," Annie and Abed said simultaneously.
"That's just what I heard," the older man stated defensively, sinking back into his chair petulantly.
Annie frowned. "There's nothing wrong with being gay, Pierce, but..."
"If Duckie had been gay, it would have invalidated a large portion of the movie's plot," Abed butted in to finish her thought.
"Things would have been easier for Blane if Duckie was gay," Jeff muttered under his breath.
Annie wasn't sure if anyone else had heard him, but she wasn't about to comment on that particular insight.
"You still haven't addressed my points, Abed," she observed instead. "Does that mean that I win this argument?"
"No," he disagreed stubbornly. "Duckie loved Andie. He told her to go after Blane because that was who she wanted and he wanted her to be happy, even if it meant that she was with someone else. It's a simple plot device that is often used to settle love triangles where both romantic interests are likable. And they only included the other girl so that Duckie, who was clearly a sympathetic character, could have a happy ending too, since test audiences didn't respond well to the initial ending where Andie wound up with Duckie."
"So sometimes the plot has to be adjusted to please the audience?" Annie asked pointedly.
Abed nodded. "Sometimes, but often the initial plot has greater integrity."
"Even when it's not what the characters want?"
The quiet that fell between them was intense. Annie could feel the others watching them, but she kept her eyes on Abed. She was aware that her last question was off topic since the movie could have gone either way, but she didn't worry about that. She just hoped that he understood the subtext of her question, although she doubted it. Conversational nuance wasn't exactly his strong suit, but maybe if he didn't get it now, he would if given some time to process her words.
"I think we can all agree that arguments like this one are the legacy that the Duckie/Andie/Blane triangle contributed to pop culture," Shirley finally said. "Give us the next movie, Annie."
The sound of her name drew Annie's attention away from Abed. As she looked down at the list, she was uncertain if Abed had understood that she wasn't arguing about Duckie's feelings for Andie.
She was trying to shed some light on his feelings for her.
ooooo
Study Room
Present Day
"Man, we are stupid," Troy lamented.
"I know," Britta agreed. "How did we not see that argument for what it was? Even if we didn't know that anything was going on with the two of you, we should have picked up on the fact that something was off."
Annie chuckled. "It's okay, Britta. Even a psych major can't be expected to see everything that's going on around her. But, yeah, when I look back at that day, I'm a little surprised that no one noticed why I was so upset through the entire debate."
"Did you understand what she was trying to say, Abed?" Shirley asked curiously.
The corners of his mouth turned down faintly. "I was confused initially. I spent that night sorting through her arguments because I had the distinct feeling that I had lost, which never happens to me when debating media. Once I filtered the information through common romantic movie tropes, I was finally able to see her motivations in the correct light."
When he stopped talking, Annie picked up the story again.
"Of course, I didn't know if I'd gotten through to him, and even if I had known, I thought that he was still with Robin. I was determined to move past him, but this time I was going to do it in a healthy way. Instead of rebounding with someone else and hurting them as I had Jeff, I was simply going to focus on the other areas of my life. One of those areas was Abed's movie, which we resumed work on that weekend."
ooooo
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Annie stared around the room at the bustling crowd of students. Occasionally one of them would catch sight of her as they passed and laugh.
It was the day that she had been dreading. Abed had called them all to the auditorium to shoot her dancing scene, so Annie was once again standing next to the stage in her bunny costume. She had already removed her coat, but given the looks that she was drawing, she really wished that she had left it on. She sighed. At least she'd get the discomfort of being so scantily clad in front of everyone out of the way before she was on stage.
"You should get into place," Abed directed, stopping in front of her after checking the positioning of the two cameramen.
Annie nodded. "Okay."
Her nervousness immediately spiked, though, and she couldn't move. Why, oh why, had she agreed to this? Abed's film, his very grade, depended on her and her ability to dance sexily, but she didn't know if she was capable of doing what he needed her to. She had practiced, yes, but that was in her own bedroom. She just prayed that she wouldn't freeze when she was in front of everyone.
"You're my best option."
Abed's flat reiteration of his confidence in her gave Annie courage. Taking a deep breath, she climbed onto the stage and took her place in the wings. Peeking around the curtains, she watched as Abed called everyone to order and got them into their seats before taking his own seat in the center of the front row. The students quieted down and Abed called for action.
One of Leonard's hipster friends brushed past Annie onto the stage, a microphone in hand.
"And now welcome everyone's favorite dancer to the stage: Tiffany!"
When Annie's character's stage name was called, she squared her shoulders, lifted her chin, and walked onto the stage, passing Leonard's friend as he exited.
Taking her place in front of the pole, Annie panicked when she saw all of the people staring up at her. Immediately, her eyes sought out Abed. When she found him, she relaxed slightly. If she just ignored everyone else, if she pretended that she was dancing for him and him alone, then she could probably get through this. He was her friend and he hadn't laughed at her when she had failed miserably rehearsing this scene three weeks ago. Yes, she could do this as long as she thought about Abed and only Abed.
When the song began, Annie started to sway her hips with the beat. As the music washed over her, she began to dance. She tried her best to remember all of the seductive moves that she had learned over the past weeks. Moving backward, she grabbed the pole and swung around it, lifting her feet off the ground. When she landed back in front of it, she leaned back against it. Reaching her hands above her head to grasp the pole, she arched her back to thrust her chest up and out before flattening her back against the metal again. Annie continued in the same vein, pulling out every last one of the moves that she had learned by watching Youtube. She kept the beat of the music and focused on the thought that it was just Abed out there watching her.
When the song ended, Annie smiled out at the applauding crowd. Her character was supposed to be a very friendly dancer. That was part of the reason why she finds herself dealing with a stalker in the movie: because she seemed approachable and wasn't afraid to socialize with her customers. Seconds later, she left the stage and heard Abed call cut.
Annie hid backstage and listened to Abed dismiss the other students. Now that the music had stopped and she was off stage, she was mortified to think about the dance that she had just performed. She really hoped that it had been acceptable instead of ridiculous like she thought it probably was because she couldn't stand the thought of having to do it again. If Abed couldn't use the footage, then he would have to get a new lead. She definitely wasn't willing to dance like that again.
"Annie?"
Abed's voice sounded several minutes later after the room had quieted. Humiliated, Annie sneaked to the edge of the curtains and peeked around them. When she saw that the rest of the students had cleared out, she stepped onto the stage and hurried down the stairs. Abed was waiting at the bottom of them for her.
"Are we done with this scene?" she asked, speeding past him toward the sanctuary of her coat, which she had left over the back of the seat that he had used.
"Yes. I have to edit it, of course, but you won't have to dance again," he replied tonelessly.
Pulling her coat over her arms and immediately feeling better for the coverage, she turned around.
"So I did okay, then?" she questioned nervously. "The footage is usable?"
As embarrassing as the entire performance had been, she really wanted Abed's approval. She wanted to know that he at least had found her dance sexy and not awkward. She shouldn't want him to think that, not when he still had a girlfriend, but she wasn't entirely logical when it came to him.
She shifted nervously when he stopped just inches from her.
"Your performance was excellent," he praised her in a flat voice. "I told you that you were the right choice."
There may not have been any sort of emotion in his tone, but his eyes were burning with a heat that caused her own barely restrained desire for him to immediately flair up. When he reached out for her, she froze. Her last shreds of sanity were yelling at her to run. They said that if she let him kiss her now, she would never recover from her addiction to him. She was so busy fighting with her lust that she didn't move away before he pushed her hair back from her forehead. When he slid his hand down her temple to cup her cheek, Annie leaned into his touch, her eyes starting to drift closed. He felt so good. The alarms in her head picked up volume as did her heartbeat, and Annie realized that she needed to get away from him. For her own sanity, she couldn't relapse; she couldn't kiss him.
Opening her eyes, Annie pulled away from him.
"I have to go home. I have a test to study for," she got out, her voice choked.
She didn't wait for his response. She just hurried away from him as quickly as her legs would carry her.
ooooo
Study Room
Present Day
"Annie, I'm so proud of you for walking away when you wanted to," Shirley declared happily before adding, "Not that you needed to since Abed was single."
Blushing faintly, Annie nodded. "Yeah. There was a lot of miscommunication going on at the time. I thought that Abed was still seeing Robin. He apparently thought that I knew that they had broken up, although I very definitely didn't know that. So I was very confused about why he seemed to be trying to kiss me again."
Britta let out a small laugh, and Annie glared at her. There wasn't anything funny about that time in her life. It had been all uncertainty, pain, and difficulty.
"I'm sorry," the blonde apologized, shaking her head. "It's just that all of this could have been avoided if you had just talked to each other. It seems silly listening to you lament about almost kissing him when we know that he was free at the time. You still haven't told us if you two are actually a couple now, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if you aren't. Neither of you really seem to have it together in the story."
"Don't say that," Troy pleaded. "Of course they're together. That's the only way they could have a happy ending."
"They're dating, alright," Pierce announced. "Haven't you all seen the gross googly eyes they've been aiming at each other the whole time?"
"Hey! You're right!" Britta agreed, and then frowned. "I will never admit that I just said that Pierce was right."
"You don't have to," Pierce said smugly. "I heard it."
The blonde let out a frustrated noise. "Stop talking, Pierce." Her psych major face slid back into place. "Abed, I'm sure that you were confused, too. How did you handle that?"
Annie watched as his brow furrowed before he answered.
"Since I thought that Annie knew that I had broken up with Robin, I wasn't sure what I had done wrong. After several hours of consideration, I decided that I must have chosen an inappropriate approach. Between her avoidance of the kiss and what she had said during our discussion about Pretty in Pink, there was only one logical conclusion. Annie wanted to be pursued properly, and by trying to kiss her, I had skipped a step. I was unfamiliar with courting women, however, because they normally approach me first. So I spent the next week studying several romantic movies to find a proper method to use. I eventually decided that, given her character, Annie would prefer the tactic of a typical Disney prince. So I started looking for a way to save her."
Annie gawked at him in disbelief. "Abed, you know that I'm not a damsel in distress, right?"
"I know that," he acknowledged, emotionless. "But you like heroes. You proved that with your response to me when I was in character as both Han and Batman. I needed to find a way to make you see me as a hero. I thought that you would want to kiss me again then."
This was just too much. When Annie had began this story, she had known that she would be telling her friends things that they hadn't already known. She'd had no idea that she would learn so much in the process, too. The thought that Abed would go to so much effort for her was very warming. But, talk about being at odds. While she was trying to get over him, he was trying to win her over. And rather effectively, at that.
"If you were aiming to be a hero, then you succeeded at the beginning of February," Annie admitted, beaming shyly at him.
ooooo
Saturday, February 2, 2013
"I just need you to go from your car to the door. Start off at a normal walk, but when you hear Brian's footsteps behind you, speed up and then start running," Abed instructed Annie.
They were standing in the parking lot of their apartment building, preparing to film one of the scariest scenes in the movie. It was the scene where Sarah's stalker finally catches up to her. Sarah was due to get into the building just in time and escape, but it was a big scene because it was where she finally starts to face the realities of dealing with a stalker. This scene was also the one that would send her to stay with Naveed until she was safe again, leading to some sweet moments between their characters.
"Why do I have to wear this costume again?" she asked. "Couldn't I just wear jeans and tennis shoes instead?"
She glanced down at the short black skirt that she was wearing. She was freezing in it despite the fact that she had her coat on, but she couldn't argue the effect. At least she would look like she was shivering in fear. She was worried about the shoes, though. Annie never wore stiletto heels; she preferred flats. While she had spent the last week walking around the apartment in the stilettos to get used to the balance issues, she wasn't sure how she was going to successfully run in them. At least the parking lot was a fairly even surface, although a bit more gravelly than she would have preferred.
"That wouldn't be as dramatic," Abed pointed out. "The heels add tension because the audience will worry about one of them breaking or you falling, allowing the stalker to catch you."
Annie groaned. Okay, so that made a lot of sense, but it didn't mean that she had to like it.
"We'll do this a couple of times. On the first run, I'll keep pace with you so that I can film you close up, so try to look properly scared. The second time, Robert and I will film you from either end of the parking lot so that we can have distance shots that show Brian behind you."
Pulling her coat around her and feeling thankful that the movie was set in the winter so that she could leave it on, Annie practiced looking scared while she waited for Abed to get his camera settled at the proper height.
"Ready," he finally said. "Action."
Annie started walking from her car at the far end of the parking lot, Abed right next to her with his camera pointed at her. When she heard Brian's footsteps behind her, she sped up, allowing nervousness to surface on her face. His speed picked up, so she started running to the building, wobbling slightly on her heels and fixing on her best terrified expression.
When she reached the door, she quickly pressed a few buttons on the fake pad that was supposed to make it look like a secure building, pushed the door open, and entered just as Brian reached the building.
"Cut," Abed stated, lowering his camera as Annie exited the building. "You did well. You have one more trip to make."
She carefully walked back to her starting point. She had survived one run across the parking lot without hurting herself, so she was pretty happy about that. Clasping her hands, she waited for Abed to take his place at the building while Robert, the other camera man, took a few steps behind her. When Abed gestured for her to come toward him, she started walking. She repeated her journey to their building, feeling much more confident this time when she started running.
The confidence was short lived because she stepped down wrong, lost her footing, and pitched forward, landing hard on her right knee. Letting out a cry of pain, she immediately dropped back onto her butt, grasping the throbbing area. Staring forward, she saw that she had landed on a fairly sizable chunk of sharp stone.
She was lost in a world of pain when Abed knelt next to her.
"Are you hurt?" he asked, worry tinting his tone.
Looking up at him through watery eyes, she nodded.
"Let me see," he demanded.
Annie moved her hands from her knee so that he could see what was wrong. Being that she was the health administration major, she also leaned in to examine the injury, but it was too dark for her to have a good view. When she tried to bend it, a sharp twinge ran through it, causing her to gasp, so she left her leg flat on the ground. She stared at the back of Abed's head as he leaned in close.
"It looks bad, Annie. There's a lot of blood and rocks. I should probably take you to the hospital," he finally announced tonelessly.
Wow. It must look horrible if he was recommending a trip to the hospital given his phobia of doctors. Then his words fully registered, and panic shot through her.
"No! You can't. I don't have insurance because my parents kicked me off of theirs when I got out of rehab. I can't afford a trip to the hospital."
"Annie..."
"Please, Abed," she pleaded desperately. "Just help me back to the apartment. I can get a look at it under the light that way."
She expected him to offer her his hand so that he could pull her into a standing position, so she was completely shocked when he instead crouched down and picked her up off the ground. He had one arm wrapped around her back and the other under her legs. Feeling unstable, Annie wrapped her arms around his neck. She kept her left leg straight because it hurt far too much to bend it.
"You don't need to carry me, Abed. I'm sure that I could walk perfectly fine if you just helped me," she protested.
He ignored her, and she could privately admit that she was glad for that. Abed's arms were quite comfy. If it weren't for how horrible her knee felt, she would be perfectly happy right now. Then again, she wouldn't be in his arms if she wasn't injured.
Being careful of her leg, he maneuvered them through the building's door which Brian had opened. After Abed effortlessly carried her upstairs, the drama major, who had followed them, opened the door to 303. Abed quickly dismissed him and Robert for the night before kicking the door shut behind him. He carried Annie into the bathroom and set her down on the edge of the counter.
Once again, Annie found herself marveling at how strong he was. He didn't look like he should be able to carry her all the way from the parking lot to their apartment, but he had done so easily. He didn't even seem to be out of breath. Then again, maybe it shouldn't be so surprising. She had seen (drooled over, actually) his arms on several occasions and they were quite impressive.
Lifting her leg and ignoring the pain as best she could, Annie looked down at her knee. She grimaced when she saw that the skin had been torn from the area, leaving a fairly deep hole. There were several small rocks embedded in the wound and she was bleeding. Reaching down, she brushed away the loose rocks and probed the area around the gash. She let out a hiss. It was definitely going to bruise and it would probably hurt to walk for a while, but at least it didn't feel broken.
"Could you get the first aid kit out of the cabinet? Oh, and some soap and a washcloth?" she asked Abed, who had been watching her silently.
He moved around the bathroom, gathering the items, and then handed them all over to her.
"Do you need stitches?" he asked, sounding concerned.
She shook her head. "I'm pretty sure I don't, but it'll depend on whether I can stop the bleeding."
She started by washing the wound the best that she could. Taking the first aid kit from him, she started digging out the supplies that she needed. Once she had placed the items she needed on the top of the pile, she stared down at her knee again and frowned. Swiveling around, she opened the medicine cabinet and dug her tweezers out. Pouring alcohol over them, she made sure that they were thoroughly sterilized before leaning over the leg that she had stretched out. She started plucking out the pebbles that she hadn't been able to brush or wash away. It was not a pleasant process.
"Do you need help?"
Letting out a small cry as she pulled out a particularly large fragment of stone, Annie took her attention off of her work to look at her roommate. His brow was slightly furrowed and his lips were turned down at the corners. Between those signs and the stiff tension in his shoulders, she could tell that he was worried and possibly feeling a little helpless. Although she knew how horrible those things felt, she couldn't think of anything for him to do.
"I think I've got it," she said.
While he watched her, Annie finished pulling the rocks out and dropped the tweezers. She unclenched her jaw with a quiet hiss. Closing her eyes, she prepared herself for the rest of the process. Although alcohol wasn't strictly necessary, she wanted to make sure that the hole was clean and wouldn't get infected. Still, she knew that it would sting like heck.
"You don't have to stay here," she pointed out to her quiet roommate as she applied pressure to the wound. "I'm sure I can handle this on my own."
"You might need help," he responded.
Annie stared up at him. He had a determined look on his face, so she bit back a small smile. Between carrying her upstairs and his insistence that he be here to help her, he was acting like her own personal hero. She certainly felt special in that moment.
"Okay, then," she replied easily.
As soon as the bleeding thankfully stopped, she washed the injury with soap and water once more before picking up the bottle of alcohol. Clenching her jaw so that she wouldn't make any noise, she poured the clear liquid over her knee. The pain was so strong that she felt tears rise in her eyes and she couldn't stop a small whimper from escaping her throat.
"Are you okay?" Abed asked the instant he heard it.
He stepped up so that he was right next to her, close enough to touch. Annie had always been a wimp about pain, so, unable to help herself, she reached out and grabbed one of Abed's hands with her left while she trickled more alcohol on the wound with her right. She felt him stiffen at the contact, but when fresh pain from the new bout of alcohol hit her, she clenched his hand. When she finally loosened her grip as the sting wore off, Abed gave her a comforting squeeze back.
As wonderful as the contact felt, Annie pulled her hand out of his. She needed both to apply the antibiotic ointment and wrap her knee. The ointment was easy enough, and taping clean gauze over the gash went smoothly. However, when she started to wrap bandaging around her knee, she found that she couldn't get the angle right.
"Hey, Abed?"
He was still standing right where he had been when she held his hand.
"Yes, Annie?"
"Could you help me out, please?" she questioned, gesturing helplessly at the bandaging that was dangling to the side of her leg.
He didn't answer, but he did immediately relocate himself so that he was next to her knee. He was too tall to work effectively while standing, so he squatted down. When his hand slid up her calf to hold her leg steady, a shiver of electricity ran up her spine. Using his other hand, he quickly and efficiently wrapped the bandage around her knee and then taped it in place. Although he had worked fast, Annie's skin burned where his hand was resting. She needed him to let go before he realized that she was getting aroused from the combination of contact and his position between her legs.
When he continued to hold her calf even though his work was done, Annie started wondering why he hadn't let go yet. She was just considering the best way of taking her limb back when he did something that erased all of her thoughts.
He pressed a soft kiss to her thigh just above the bandage.
Standing up, Abed stared down at her, his normally blank expression edged with awkwardness.
"If you're done, I can help you into the living room," he offered tentatively.
Annie couldn't speak. What he had just done...there was nothing sexual about that kiss. Using her experience at reading his expressions, she could see how nervous he was. The thought that she was the reason why; that maybe his action had thrown him off as much as it had her, made her feel all tingly. She smiled up at him.
"Okay," she agreed.
He circled his arm around her waist on the right side and Annie placed hers over his shoulder. He helped her off the counter. She really hoped that by Monday she'd be able to walk on her own, although she was currently in too much pain to turn down Abed's help if he was offering it. Her favorite roommate guided her out of the bathroom.
"What were you guys doing in there?"
Troy was standing near the bathroom door. His expression and tone were both suspicious.
"I hurt my knee during filming," Annie explained nervously.
She didn't know why she felt anxious. She and Abed hadn't been doing anything in the bathroom. She placed the blame on the fact that Abed's kiss had completely rattled her.
"Really?" he asked, immediately looking at her legs. "Hey, you did. Can I see it? Does it look awesome?"
Annie rolled her eyes. "Since you asked, I'm fine, Troy." He had the grace to look sheepish. "It's a really deep gash but the bleeding stopped so I'm not going to get stitches. So, yes, you'll probably think it looks awesome. I promise to let you see it the next time I clean and wrap it."
"Cool," Troy breathed out.
While he went into the bathroom, Abed helped Annie to the living room. He settled her in his recliner before taking Troy's and turning on the TV.
"Abed?" she asked curiously.
Nobody ever sat in his recliner when he wanted to watch TV. He had run Annie off several times when she was reading and he had decided to watch a movie.
He glanced over at her and simply said, "You're hurt and you seem to like my chair best."
Then he turned back to the TV and started flipping through the channels. Annie took that as the cue that he had nothing more to say, so she reached down and let the footrest out so that she could stretch out her leg. Once it was properly positioned, she snuggled back into the cushions and breathed in the scent of Abed that clung to the chair. She wondered how awful of a person she would be if she tried to talk Abed into dumping Robin.
Because she wanted him all to herself more now than ever before.
ooooo
Study Room
Present Day
"You lied!" Troy cried accusingly, pointing at Annie. "You told me earlier that there was nothing to keep secret about you coming out of the bathroom together but there was. Abed kissed you."
Annie flinched back from Troy. "I wasn't lying. He really did help me with my injured knee and that kiss wasn't anything like the previous ones. We chose to keep that little part to ourselves, so there wasn't anything for you to keep secret. Anyway, all three of you helped me wrap my knee at one point or another. Abed was just the only one who kissed it each time." She sent a sweet smile at him. "That always made me happy."
"Wow, Abed," Britta exhaled in awe. "You carried her to the apartment. You held her hand while she was in pain. You wrapped her knee, and you kissed it to make her feel better every time? You really were in full hero mode. Are you sure that you weren't playing a character?"
"I am," he confirmed. "I was just being me."
Annie grinned triumphantly at the rest of her friends. "See. I told you he has emotions."
"You weren't doing all of that just to screw her, were you?" Pierce asked, mistrust on his face. "Because while I'm normally all for a guy doing what he's got to do to get in a girl's pants, I might have a problem when that girl's Annie. And it would be just like a brown person to lie."
"Pierce!" yelled several voices.
He scowled at them. "Fine. I retract the brown person comment, but I stand by the rest of it."
"Didn't you just say that you think they're dating?" Britta asked.
"Yeah, but what if I'm wrong? It's not like she has a dad to hire people to maim anyone that hurts her."
While Annie didn't exactly approve of his methods, she did find it heartwarming that Pierce was looking out for her in his own special way.
"Pierce, it's Abed," Shirley pointed out. "He's probably the least likely person to fake caring about Annie just to do unholy things with her."
Britta, Troy, and Annie all nodded their agreement with that statement.
"Jeff?" Pierce asked. "You used to be a douche. What do you think?"
Annie cringed. Really? Did Pierce really have to ask Jeff for his opinion? Jeff, who was already upset that he didn't hold Abed's role in her story? When their unofficial group leader stayed quiet, Annie just grew more anxious.
"I agree with them," he finally replied, his tone defeated. "If I have to trust someone other than myself to watch out for Annie, Abed's the best choice."
His response was touching to Annie. That was the mature side of Jeff that she, like Shirley, had always believed was there, even when he did his best to hide it.
"Thank you, Jeff," she murmured seriously, meeting his eyes. "You have no idea what it means to hear you say that."
He frowned. "I trust Abed, but you and I still need to talk when you finish your story."
She nodded, lowering her gaze to the table. Even if she wasn't off the hook, she was happy to hear that he wasn't going to hold anything against Abed. She didn't want their friendship ruined over her. Frankly, she didn't think she was worth that.
"We'll talk soon then because there's not much more left to tell now."
Chapter Eleven: A Massive Revelation