fic: Ain't Nothin' Please Me More Than You (6/?)
title: ain’t nothin’ please me more than you (6/?)
fandom: Community
pairing: Annie/Jeff
rating: NC-17; mutual masturbation
word count: 5,112
spoilers: none really. I’m taking liberties with the layout of Jeff’s apartment; imagine what it was like in Early 21st Century Romanticism without the dining room.
a/n: Ooh boy. This one. This one was written SECOND, in its original form which has been edited pretty thoroughly, out of all of them, if you can believe that. And then I kept coming up with other ideas, and things kept developing, and I can't really imagine getting from the first part to this part, even in its original state, without everything else in between. Thank you forever to dearygirl, most delightful, talented, capslocky beta ever. Title comes from the lyrics to Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Late Saturday afternoon Jeff pulls into his space in the lot of his apartment building and tilts his head, squinting at a familiar car parked in one of the visitor spaces. He gets out and swings his keys around one finger as he walks closer, sure now that he recognizes the car. As he approaches his phone vibrates in his pocket. He almost doesn’t check it, but then he sees the driver’s head tip up and she glances around, her movements impatient.
He reaches into his pocket and taps on the text message alert waiting on his screen. It’s from Annie, asking if he’s free. He double-checks the time stamp on the message against his watch and sees that she did just send it right then. He raises an eyebrow and slips his phone back in his pocket as he continues toward the car. He knocks on the window and leans down in time to see Annie jump almost into the passenger seat and let out a blood-curdling scream of surprise.
“What are you doing here?!” she yells as she forcefully turns the crank to roll the window down.
Jeff cups his hands around his mouth and yells back, “I live here, stalker!”
Annie sighs in concession and picks at a crack in the vinyl on her steering wheel. “I left a book in my locker yesterday and I was on my way back from picking it up, and, well, you’re on my way, so-”
“So you stopped by for a booty call,” Jeff interrupts, grinning, crouching down and resting his forearms on the window opening of her car door.
“That’s not what it is,” she argues, blushing immediately.
“Uh, okay, then what did you plan on doing at my apartment on a Saturday afternoon?”
“I didn’t have a plan, I told you! It was on my way, and I thought I’d see if you were home.”
“And maybe we’d do homework together or sit quietly at a respectable distance and watch something educational on television?” he persists.
“We watched Meerkat Manor last night,” she reminds him.
Jeff smiles and huffs out a laugh. “Uh, yeah, that’s true. I also have video of you blowing me, so…”
Annie rolls her eyes but doesn’t protest. Jeff stretches out a fingertip, running it back and forth along her hand resting on the car door near to his.
“What if we did?” she asks suddenly after a long silence.
“Did what?”
“I mean what if we didn’t do, you know, what we’ve been doing lately.” She turns her hand over under his and stretches her fingers out, uncurling them against his palm until their hands are flat palm to palm, his fingertips at her wrist.
Jeff eyes her and tilts his head a little. His fingers twitch slightly against her skin. “Do you want to stop?”
She shakes her head immediately. Jeff squints and scratches the back of his neck with his other hand. He sighs.
“Me neither. Do you want to, like, date?”
Annie thinks for a moment before wrinkling her nose incredulously. She shrugs and looks down. “That seems backwards.”
He rests his chin on his arm and looks up at her. She looks back and sighs, curls her thumb around his and squeezes his hand. Jeff closes his own fingers around her palm, turns their hands over and brings hers to his mouth, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand.
“Guess so,” he mumbles as he releases her hand.
She reaches up and smoothes a fingertip over one of his eyebrows and they watch each other quietly for a long moment. Jeff takes a deep breath.
“Come on, babe,” he beckons her, standing straight and opening the car door. Annie gets out of the car and stands in front of him, twisting her hands together behind her back and tilting her head as she looks up at him. Jeff squints back down at her and leans in, his thumbs shoved into his belt and a slow smile spreading across his face.
“Are you comin’ in for some booty?”
Annie rolls her eyes as he chuckles at himself against her cheek before giving her a big smacking kiss that makes her cringe. When he stands straight again Annie turns and leans back into the car, cranks the window back up and grabs her purse. As they walk towards his building he knocks an elbow into hers and she shoulder checks him back, making him stumble and laugh.
Jeff pauses for a moment as he keys into his apartment and glances at her over his shoulder.
“Seriously you’ll feel better if you just say it,” he taunts her. “Repeat after me: ’Jeff, this is a booty call. I came over exclusively to enjoy your body outside the constraints of a traditional romantic relationship.’”
Annie scoffs dramatically and brushes past him when he opens the door.
“Not saying it,” she sing-songs.
“Say it! Say iiiiiiiit,” he repeats, tossing his keys on the kitchen counter and shrugging out of his jacket. He turns and faces her, folding his arms over his chest and cocking an eyebrow in challenge. Annie clamps her mouth shut and shoves her chin out at him as she tugs off her own jacket.
He advances slowly, arms still crossed, but he widens his stance and towers over her as she backs up until she’s pinned between the door and his body.
“Say it.”
“You say it,” she counters.
There’s a pause, and Jeff blinks, his brow tightening almost imperceptibly. He raises an eyebrow slightly and Annie takes in a deep breath as she waits, watching him carefully.
Jeff’s expression melts a little and he shakes his head, pinning her with an inscrutable look before turning abruptly and heading over to the couch where he flops down and kicks his feet up onto the coffee table. He fishes the remote out from between the cushions and puts on a show of leaning his chin heavily against his fist, his elbow propped on the arm of the couch. He turns on the TV and begins to flip channels at a leisurely pace.
Annie stands stock still for a long moment, clenching and unclenching her fists at her sides a few times before forcing out a slow silent exhale. She toes off her flats and slides them beneath the stool where she’d set down her coat. She chews at the inside of her cheek, regarding the back of Jeff’s head. His TV flashes slowly from one channel to the next.
“Jeff-” she stops after addressing him.
“Hm?” He glances over his shoulder at her.
She watches him for a beat. A small smile plays at his lips and his eyebrows are slightly raised, expectant and a little amused. Annie lifts her chin even though she can feel a light blush crawling over her cheeks. Jeff just grins and turns back around without waiting for her to finish her sentence and leans his temple back on his fist.
Annie glances around, her eyes skipping over his apartment until they land on the door to the little hall with the bathroom that leads to Jeff’s bedroom. She glances back at Jeff briefly before she pads silently past the kitchen through the open door.
She stands still in Jeff’s bedroom near the foot of the bed. She can hear the TV cutting around between channels as she looks over the bed, sheets strewn across it and a depression visible in one of the pillows. She glances back toward the doorway and takes a little breath of anticipation, already feeling the heat flood to her face as she pulls down the zipper on her skirt and lets it slip over her hips.
Jeff hears something, some small movement, and it makes him mute the TV and turn around again. He’s about to ask if Annie wants to watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or Tropic Thunder when her skirt comes sailing through the doorway that leads to the bathroom and bedroom. It lands in a flowery heap on the floor and Jeff stares at it, grinning in slack-jawed shock.
When sans-skirt Annie doesn’t immediately follow he considers for a moment before asking the question anyway. He turns back around to play innocent and wait for the answer, but he’s met with silence.
He waits, and waits.
Finally he gives up and turns one more time to see Annie standing in the doorway, stripped down to a pale lavender bra and underwear. His mouth falls open, but he manages to find his voice in the time it takes to study her from head to toe with several pauses on the way.
“Hi.”
Annie grins with a devious tilt to her mouth. “Hi,” she mimics. Jeff swallows.
“I thought this wasn’t a booty call.”
“Stop saying booty call,” she grumbles, perching a hand on her hip.
“Okay,” Jeff grins. She glares at him and he just grins back even harder. He clears his throat to try and smooth out his roughened voice and it almost works. “You know I’m totally winning, right?”
“Winning what?”
“Well, you’re already almost naked, and all I had to do was sit here and channel surf.” He points to himself and mouths, “winning.”
Annie gets a look in her eye, a hard, glimmering look, and levels Jeff with it for a moment before disappearing back into his bedroom. Jeff tears his eyes away once she’s gone and blows a breath out through pursed lips. He lets his head drop to the back of the couch and stares blankly at the ceiling. There’s a sound of sheets rustling and he sucks a breath back in, closes his eyes and pictures Annie in his bed. He presses a palm against his jeans.
Annie turns her face into the pillow and breathes in. She closes her eyes and even though the sheets aren’t warm they’re soft and it smells like him and the rush of it is all she needs to slide her fingers into her underwear.
Jeff is about to go into the bedroom and put himself out of his victorious misery when he hears something, just faintly, that makes him stop; Annie’s in his bedroom, alone, ostensibly in his bed unless she was making it for him in her underwear, and that was a sexual moan he just heard, dainty and quiet but unmistakable. He sits back limply and palms himself with less inhibition this time. His eyes are widened and his breath shallow as he listens with all his focus for another sound from her.
It’s strange at first, his cool sheets and her own nerves tensing her up, but she reaches up after a moment and licks at her fingers, then tries again and she’s let out a groan of satisfaction before she can stop herself. She’s not sure at first if he heard her or not but soon she stops caring.
Jeff shucks his jeans and briefs down his thighs, wraps a hand around his shaft and pumps roughly, his eyes screwed shut tight so he can play out the scene of what he can hear from his bedroom in his mind.
Annie sighs in frustration and shoves her underwear off, ignoring where they land on the floor. She fists a hand in Jeff’s sheets and slides a finger inside herself. It doesn’t work to imagine it’s him, not really, but her mind spins out sense memories anyway that make her arch her back and moan again. She hears a weak groan from the living room and freezes for a second before continuing.
Sweat’s gathering at the small of Jeff’s back and on his forehead and all thought that isn’t about her has basically ceased. He hears her moan again, this time a little deeper and louder and it sends him over the edge. He lays there for a moment, all his muscles limp and tingling, his head lolled back and his eyes still closed. After a few moments he tucks himself back in to his underwear, then peels off the t-shirt he’d been wearing, wipes it quickly over his stomach and crumples it into a ball. He stands and kicks his jeans the rest of the way off too.
Annie rolls her head this way and that and curls her toes against the sheets, wound up and hot but unsatisfied. Her hand is starting to cramp and she tries propping herself up on her other hand so she’s half-sitting with her legs bent at the knee and spread, her fingers slipping slick and wet against herself.
That’s how Jeff finds her when he steps into the room.
“Holy fuck,” he breathes out, looking shell-shocked and frozen for a moment. Annie stares back at him, caught between frustration and a flash of panic. Jeff swallows, eyes flicking over her almost frantically. “Do you want-”
“Yes,” she interrupts him.
A split second later he’s kneeling on the bed next to her, catching her reddened lips in a kiss.
He reaches down and places his hand over hers, presses his own fingers against her smaller ones. Annie pulls her hand away but Jeff catches it and brings her fingers up to his lips, sucks them into his mouth and laves at them with his tongue. They stare at each other, eyes dark, as he lets go and reaches back down to slide one of his fingers inside her and start a rhythm of circles with his thumb over her clit. Annie’s wet fingertips rest against his lips for a moment and she lets out a revelatory groan, letting her head drop back and her eyes go hooded.
Jeff shifts them slowly so Annie lies on her back, resting her head on his free arm as he lays at her side with one of her legs bent over his. Jeff never breaks his rhythm, steady and slow, pressing deep inside her. He leans in and spreads soft open-mouthed kisses over her throat and down one shoulder, reaching around to pull aside her bra strap with the tips of his fingers when it gets in his way.
His eyes slide up to hers when he kisses lower and his fingers skim down along the edge of her bra, pulling it slightly away. Annie’s stare is heavy and edged in anticipation as she arches her back up, reaches back to unfasten her bra, and helps maneuver the straps off her arms until Jeff can toss it away. She shudders just slightly as she settles back, feeling far more exposed than she had a moment ago.
She reaches up and pulls him down on top of her, pressing his bare chest to hers and shifting slowly, arching her back to connect with as much of his warm skin as possible. She feels the deep groan in his chest and wraps her other arm around him, burying her face in his neck and letting herself whimper softly at the feel of him crushed on top of her, burying her into his mattress and fucking her deep and soft with his fingers.
Annie’s hand slides down over his shoulder to his arm, her fingers resting limply over the muscles flickering in his forearm as Jeff quickens his rhythm, presses a little more firmly with his thumb when her head falls back and she starts to tense.
He watches her while she comes; her back arching deep, the twitching muscles of her inner thighs as they clamp around his wrist while he pumps his fingers inside her, her toes curled in his sheets.
He slides his fingers from inside her and touches her softly until she squirms away. Jeff lets his hand rest next to her hip and stays slumped over her for a moment, sliding his nose and mouth against the curve of her breast, and listens to the pulse pounding in his head and her heavy breaths fanning out hotly over his temple.
Annie, her eyes still closed, reaches up and runs her fingers through Jeff’s hair behind his ear, scratching lightly, and when he sighs weakly she presses on his shoulder and he rolls onto his back next to her, snagging her hand and holding it against his chest. They lay like that quietly for a few minutes before she takes in a breath and rolls over, up onto her knees next to Jeff’s hips and gives him a soft smile as she slides her fingers beneath the waistband of his underwear.
“Oh,” he says, reaching down and taking her wrists gently, “I already, uh.”
“Oh.” Annie stops and settles back beside him. “In the living room?”
“Yeah.”
“W-when you heard me.”
“Uh, yeah.” His hands wrap lightly around hers and he rubs his thumbs over her knuckles, grinning up at her.
“Okay. Well.”
She actually looks a little disappointed and Jeff stares at her for a second, disbelieving.
“Are you sad?” he asks, a little incredulously. Annie blushes and glances down, pulling her hands from his and sliding a fingertip along the cut of the muscle at his hip.
Jeff watches her. “Just give me a few minutes.”
She crawls over him and straddles his upper thighs, leaning her weight on her hands on the mattress. Jeff reaches up and crosses his arms behind his head, looking over Annie’s completely bare body perched on top of him. They contemplate each other silently.
“You like being naked, don’t you?”
She shrinks a little at first but she does grin back at him and shrug coyly.
“Sometimes.”
“Annie, nobody wears skirts as short as yours because they don’t like a little air on their skin.”
She leans her weight to one hand and pokes at his chest.
“What about you? You’ve been naked in public like a hundred times since we started at Greendale.”
“Uh, the average amount of clothing we wear on a given day is like ten-to-one.”
“Because you’re a giant.”
“Because you would rather be wearing nothing. Those cardigans aren’t fooling me.”
“Neither is your fancy underwear,” Annie shoots back, and sneaks her fingers down to snap at the waistband for emphasis.
Jeff uncrosses his arms and grabs Annie around the waist, flipping them quickly so she’s flat on her back with him braced above her, nudging her legs open with his knees. “You were saying, kitten?”
“Nevermind,” she murmurs, smiling up at him. She braces herself up on her elbows and asks softly, “Has it been a few minutes yet?”
She reaches down and presses one hand against the crotch of his silky cotton underwear, grinning cheekily all the while. He huffs out a laugh that turns into a groan at the end when she squeezes. Together they work his briefs off and Jeff kicks them across the room.
Annie pushes at his chest to get him to roll over but Jeff stays braced on one forearm above her and slides his other hand over her shoulder and down to her breast. She sighs and closes her eyes, working her hand over him blindly as he feels her up.
“Would you . . .” Jeff trails off into a grunt at a twist of Annie’s wrist.
“Hm?”
“Can I watch you again?”
Jeff rolls her nipple between two fingers and her mouth drops open soundlessly. The movement of her hand slows but doesn’t stop.
“Watch . . .” she doesn’t really try to finish her sentence, her voice faraway and distracted.
He works his way up from dotting her neck with kisses to whisper at her ear, “Touch yourself for me.”
He reaches down between them, slides his fingers gently over her wrist and pulls her hand away, turning it and guiding it between her own legs. He’s pulled away enough to look her in the eye and she watches him, her cheeks flushed deep pink and her lower lip caught between her teeth.
“Is this okay?”
“You wouldn’t rather- I mean-”
“Oh, god, Annie that has nothing to do with it. This is just-” Jeff glances down and sees Annie’s fingers starting to move under his, slowly pressing and circling almost unconsciously.
He pulls his hand away and slides it over Annie’s thigh, a breathy groan falling from his mouth.
“Something different?” She finishes. Jeff looks back up at her, eyes hooded and dark.
“Yeah,” he breathes out. “Exactly,” he adds, watching Annie slide two fingers inside herself and reach down with her other hand to keep working at her clit. “That’s . . . so fucking beautiful.”
Annie catches his eye and the corners of her mouth quirk up. He palms at himself a few times before committing to it and wrapping his hand around his dick and starting firm steady strokes. She looks down too and for a second Jeff’s hand stutters to a stop but she whispers quickly, “Keep going. I- I like it.”
Jeff rests his forehead against hers and Annie tilts her chin up to kiss him. He pulls away after a moment and stares unabashedly now, tearing his eyes away only to lean in and press a distracted kiss along her jaw now and then.
Annie shifts her hips until she finds a perfect angle and mews, tipping her head back as Jeff leans down to lave his tongue at one of her nipples and then the other. Annie stares down as his tongue swirls out and then his lips close and pucker when he sucks, a smile stretching his mouth when she groans and arches up into him.
“Oh god . . . do you think-” Annie starts, at the same time Jeff asks, “Should I-”
They laugh shakily and Jeff waits for Annie to continue.
“Do you think we can-” she lets out a short groan, “synchronize?”
There’s this little gleam in her eye and Jeff grins at her and chuckles under his breath. He leans in and sucks at her earlobe before asking, “Are you close?”
She nods erratically and leans into his mouth again, raising her chin. Jeff hesitates for a moment, still pressing kisses over her neck.
“Should I move? If I stay here . . . you’ll . . . get messy.”
Annie looks down, at the heated space between them, all their skin exposed. She feels her neck and chest grow hotter just watching Jeff’s fist moving in a faster pace than before, the muscles of his thighs and stomach tense and hard, braced above her with her comparatively soft pale legs spread wide around his.
“Oh god,” she sighs again, braver as she pumps her fingers in and out and rolls her hips into the motion. “No, stay,” she adds around panting breaths, turning her face up to his. “Get me messy.”
Jeff groans, the sound buzzing out against her temple and finished with a curse muttered weakly.
“You are so - fuck - where did you come from?” Jeff babbles under his breath, raising his head and staring at Annie’s face. She lets out little half-voiced moans with every breath, her brow furrowed as she stares downward, focused on the way Jeff’s hips are moving just slightly now in rhythm with his hand.
“Jeff, god, don’t stop, I can’t- I can’t wait,” she whispers back urgently, finally craning her neck up and rolling her hips hard into the deep twisting motion of her fingers, squeezing and rolling her clit with her other hand.
She feels it when Jeff comes moments after she does - the mattress moving under his knees as he thrusts into his hand, hot liquid spilling over her stomach and chest, and his last tense short groans deep and loud in her ear when he drops his forehead to the pillow next to her. Her hands rest limp between her thighs and she rubs two fingers together a few times, feeling the slick soft wetness covering them all the way to her knuckles. She turns her head and leans her cheek against Jeff’s jaw.
After several moments Jeff braces himself up so he’s sitting back on his heels with her legs still spread open around his. He lets his hands drift over her thighs and stares down at her. Her eyes have fallen closed and she lies still except for deep almost shuddering breaths.
“Hey,” he whispers hoarsely.
She stirs and turns to look at him. She returns the little smile pulling at his mouth as he crawls back over her and kisses her neck, scrubbing his stubble against her skin until she shrugs her shoulder up and squirms away with a weak shove at his chest. Jeff laughs and rolls to his side next to her, still propped up on one elbow and staring greedily at his come spread all over her stomach and breasts.
Annie stretches her arms over her head and squeaks at the height of it before bringing her hands back down and pressing up on her elbows to take a look at herself. She drops down after a moment and lets out a long breath, her knees now brought together and tilting from side to side. She turns her head to look up at Jeff.
“I’m messy,” she says softly. Jeff nods enthusiastically with widened eyes and she laughs and nudges against him with one arm.
“Does it bother you?” he asks quietly, scooting down to rest his temple on his fist.
Annie shakes her head at first slowly and then more decisively. She opens her mouth to add something, then closes it. Jeff smiles and runs his free hand briskly up and down her thigh a few times.
“You can shower if you want. There are clean towels in there.”
He gestures to the bathroom with his eyes. Annie presses up on her elbows again and kisses him, reaching up with one hand and splaying her fingers over his jaw to tug him closer before she pulls away. Jeff watches, eyes glazed and heavy-lidded as she rolls to her side and climbs out of his bed, pausing to collect her bra and underwear from his floor on the way. He flops to his back and closes his eyes.
Annie stands at the sink and stares at herself in the mirror. Her reflection stares back at her - mussed hair, dark eyes, reddened cheeks and mouth. She watches as little rivulets of milky white slide slowly downward over her skin, the trails feeling sticky and cool. She turns on the faucet in the shower to let the water heat up, then finds herself stepping back in front of the mirror again, pausing with a long look into her own eyes before she turns and steps into the shower.
When Annie steps out of the bathroom, redressed in her underwear and bra and rubbing a towel over the back of her neck, Jeff looks up from where he’s standing at his dresser, having just slipped on a new pair of brightly-striped briefs.
Annie pauses and tilts her head at him, smiling. “To look at the rest of your wardrobe, no one would guess you like such loud underwear.”
Jeff glances down at them and shrugs. “I’ve never gotten any complaints.” He catches her eye and smiles a little.
Annie shrugs as she comes closer, reaching over to hang the towel on a hook on the back of his open closet door.
“That’s not where that goes,” Jeff whines slightly, eyeing the towel.
Annie steps into his personal space and her hands go to his hips, her fingertips slipping over the elastic band of his briefs.
“What’s up?” he asks softly.
She just looks up at him silently for a few more moments before averting her eyes and shaking her head slightly.
“Nothing,” she murmurs, reaching up to curl her arms around his neck and pull him down for a kiss. Jeff lets her, wrapping his own arms tight around her waist and lifting her up so her feet dangle a few inches off the floor. Annie gasps a little with the movement and smiles against his mouth, wiggling her toes against the air. When Jeff lets her slip back to the floor he trails his hands up her arms and cups her face in his hands briefly, studying her. She tilts her head against his fingers.
“What?”
Jeff smirks, leans in and kisses her again, and this time it’s slower, barely there and overwhelmingly gentle.
“Nothing,” he mutters, holding her gaze pointedly as he takes a small step back and lets go of her. “You still want to watch a movie?” he adds mildly.
Annie rolls her eyes around a little grin. “I never planned on watching-”
“Aaaa-HAH!” Jeff bellows, startling her as he rears back and points a finger in her face triumphantly. “Admit it! Ad. Mit. It.”
Annie folds her arms, glaring up at him for a moment before she turns to slink out the doorway toward the living room.
“Oh no,” Jeff calls, following her quickly, “No, no, you have to admit it. This was a-”
Annie whirls around and points her own finger in his face. “DON’T say it.” She flattens her palm over his mouth.
“Booty call,” Jeff finishes, the words muffled by her hand. He grins against her hand too, and pumps a fist in victory.
“Whatever,” she mumbles and starts to smile back without really meaning to before she spins on her heel to leave and Jeff chases after her.
Annie squeals and breaks into a run for a few steps until Jeff tackles her over the back of the couch where they land in a heap. She makes a show of elbowing and kicking at him, but eventually they settle, Jeff sitting up with his back against the armrest, one leg stretched out along the cushions and the other foot resting on the floor. Annie lays on her back with her head on his stomach and one arm looped over his bent knee. Jeff manages to find the remote and turns on the TV.
“Whatcha wanna watch, kiddo?”
Annie picks at her nails and glances up. “I don’t care,” she says distractedly. In a few moments she smacks at Jeff’s knee indignantly.
“Jeff we are not watching porn!”
“Just like ‘this is not a booty call’?” he parrots back. “And may I remind you, we made porn last time.”
Annie clutches at the remote with both hands and worms it free from his hand to change the channel.
“Hey,” he says after a few minutes, nudging her with his leg. “You, naked girl, you left your skirt on the floor. You know, in the course of not booty calling me.”
Annie smiles to herself and keeps flipping channels while Jeff trails his fingertips through her hair absentmindedly.
fandom: Community
pairing: Annie/Jeff
rating: NC-17; mutual masturbation
word count: 5,112
spoilers: none really. I’m taking liberties with the layout of Jeff’s apartment; imagine what it was like in Early 21st Century Romanticism without the dining room.
a/n: Ooh boy. This one. This one was written SECOND, in its original form which has been edited pretty thoroughly, out of all of them, if you can believe that. And then I kept coming up with other ideas, and things kept developing, and I can't really imagine getting from the first part to this part, even in its original state, without everything else in between. Thank you forever to dearygirl, most delightful, talented, capslocky beta ever. Title comes from the lyrics to Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Late Saturday afternoon Jeff pulls into his space in the lot of his apartment building and tilts his head, squinting at a familiar car parked in one of the visitor spaces. He gets out and swings his keys around one finger as he walks closer, sure now that he recognizes the car. As he approaches his phone vibrates in his pocket. He almost doesn’t check it, but then he sees the driver’s head tip up and she glances around, her movements impatient.
He reaches into his pocket and taps on the text message alert waiting on his screen. It’s from Annie, asking if he’s free. He double-checks the time stamp on the message against his watch and sees that she did just send it right then. He raises an eyebrow and slips his phone back in his pocket as he continues toward the car. He knocks on the window and leans down in time to see Annie jump almost into the passenger seat and let out a blood-curdling scream of surprise.
“What are you doing here?!” she yells as she forcefully turns the crank to roll the window down.
Jeff cups his hands around his mouth and yells back, “I live here, stalker!”
Annie sighs in concession and picks at a crack in the vinyl on her steering wheel. “I left a book in my locker yesterday and I was on my way back from picking it up, and, well, you’re on my way, so-”
“So you stopped by for a booty call,” Jeff interrupts, grinning, crouching down and resting his forearms on the window opening of her car door.
“That’s not what it is,” she argues, blushing immediately.
“Uh, okay, then what did you plan on doing at my apartment on a Saturday afternoon?”
“I didn’t have a plan, I told you! It was on my way, and I thought I’d see if you were home.”
“And maybe we’d do homework together or sit quietly at a respectable distance and watch something educational on television?” he persists.
“We watched Meerkat Manor last night,” she reminds him.
Jeff smiles and huffs out a laugh. “Uh, yeah, that’s true. I also have video of you blowing me, so…”
Annie rolls her eyes but doesn’t protest. Jeff stretches out a fingertip, running it back and forth along her hand resting on the car door near to his.
“What if we did?” she asks suddenly after a long silence.
“Did what?”
“I mean what if we didn’t do, you know, what we’ve been doing lately.” She turns her hand over under his and stretches her fingers out, uncurling them against his palm until their hands are flat palm to palm, his fingertips at her wrist.
Jeff eyes her and tilts his head a little. His fingers twitch slightly against her skin. “Do you want to stop?”
She shakes her head immediately. Jeff squints and scratches the back of his neck with his other hand. He sighs.
“Me neither. Do you want to, like, date?”
Annie thinks for a moment before wrinkling her nose incredulously. She shrugs and looks down. “That seems backwards.”
He rests his chin on his arm and looks up at her. She looks back and sighs, curls her thumb around his and squeezes his hand. Jeff closes his own fingers around her palm, turns their hands over and brings hers to his mouth, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand.
“Guess so,” he mumbles as he releases her hand.
She reaches up and smoothes a fingertip over one of his eyebrows and they watch each other quietly for a long moment. Jeff takes a deep breath.
“Come on, babe,” he beckons her, standing straight and opening the car door. Annie gets out of the car and stands in front of him, twisting her hands together behind her back and tilting her head as she looks up at him. Jeff squints back down at her and leans in, his thumbs shoved into his belt and a slow smile spreading across his face.
“Are you comin’ in for some booty?”
Annie rolls her eyes as he chuckles at himself against her cheek before giving her a big smacking kiss that makes her cringe. When he stands straight again Annie turns and leans back into the car, cranks the window back up and grabs her purse. As they walk towards his building he knocks an elbow into hers and she shoulder checks him back, making him stumble and laugh.
Jeff pauses for a moment as he keys into his apartment and glances at her over his shoulder.
“Seriously you’ll feel better if you just say it,” he taunts her. “Repeat after me: ’Jeff, this is a booty call. I came over exclusively to enjoy your body outside the constraints of a traditional romantic relationship.’”
Annie scoffs dramatically and brushes past him when he opens the door.
“Not saying it,” she sing-songs.
“Say it! Say iiiiiiiit,” he repeats, tossing his keys on the kitchen counter and shrugging out of his jacket. He turns and faces her, folding his arms over his chest and cocking an eyebrow in challenge. Annie clamps her mouth shut and shoves her chin out at him as she tugs off her own jacket.
He advances slowly, arms still crossed, but he widens his stance and towers over her as she backs up until she’s pinned between the door and his body.
“Say it.”
“You say it,” she counters.
There’s a pause, and Jeff blinks, his brow tightening almost imperceptibly. He raises an eyebrow slightly and Annie takes in a deep breath as she waits, watching him carefully.
Jeff’s expression melts a little and he shakes his head, pinning her with an inscrutable look before turning abruptly and heading over to the couch where he flops down and kicks his feet up onto the coffee table. He fishes the remote out from between the cushions and puts on a show of leaning his chin heavily against his fist, his elbow propped on the arm of the couch. He turns on the TV and begins to flip channels at a leisurely pace.
Annie stands stock still for a long moment, clenching and unclenching her fists at her sides a few times before forcing out a slow silent exhale. She toes off her flats and slides them beneath the stool where she’d set down her coat. She chews at the inside of her cheek, regarding the back of Jeff’s head. His TV flashes slowly from one channel to the next.
“Jeff-” she stops after addressing him.
“Hm?” He glances over his shoulder at her.
She watches him for a beat. A small smile plays at his lips and his eyebrows are slightly raised, expectant and a little amused. Annie lifts her chin even though she can feel a light blush crawling over her cheeks. Jeff just grins and turns back around without waiting for her to finish her sentence and leans his temple back on his fist.
Annie glances around, her eyes skipping over his apartment until they land on the door to the little hall with the bathroom that leads to Jeff’s bedroom. She glances back at Jeff briefly before she pads silently past the kitchen through the open door.
She stands still in Jeff’s bedroom near the foot of the bed. She can hear the TV cutting around between channels as she looks over the bed, sheets strewn across it and a depression visible in one of the pillows. She glances back toward the doorway and takes a little breath of anticipation, already feeling the heat flood to her face as she pulls down the zipper on her skirt and lets it slip over her hips.
Jeff hears something, some small movement, and it makes him mute the TV and turn around again. He’s about to ask if Annie wants to watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or Tropic Thunder when her skirt comes sailing through the doorway that leads to the bathroom and bedroom. It lands in a flowery heap on the floor and Jeff stares at it, grinning in slack-jawed shock.
When sans-skirt Annie doesn’t immediately follow he considers for a moment before asking the question anyway. He turns back around to play innocent and wait for the answer, but he’s met with silence.
He waits, and waits.
Finally he gives up and turns one more time to see Annie standing in the doorway, stripped down to a pale lavender bra and underwear. His mouth falls open, but he manages to find his voice in the time it takes to study her from head to toe with several pauses on the way.
“Hi.”
Annie grins with a devious tilt to her mouth. “Hi,” she mimics. Jeff swallows.
“I thought this wasn’t a booty call.”
“Stop saying booty call,” she grumbles, perching a hand on her hip.
“Okay,” Jeff grins. She glares at him and he just grins back even harder. He clears his throat to try and smooth out his roughened voice and it almost works. “You know I’m totally winning, right?”
“Winning what?”
“Well, you’re already almost naked, and all I had to do was sit here and channel surf.” He points to himself and mouths, “winning.”
Annie gets a look in her eye, a hard, glimmering look, and levels Jeff with it for a moment before disappearing back into his bedroom. Jeff tears his eyes away once she’s gone and blows a breath out through pursed lips. He lets his head drop to the back of the couch and stares blankly at the ceiling. There’s a sound of sheets rustling and he sucks a breath back in, closes his eyes and pictures Annie in his bed. He presses a palm against his jeans.
Annie turns her face into the pillow and breathes in. She closes her eyes and even though the sheets aren’t warm they’re soft and it smells like him and the rush of it is all she needs to slide her fingers into her underwear.
Jeff is about to go into the bedroom and put himself out of his victorious misery when he hears something, just faintly, that makes him stop; Annie’s in his bedroom, alone, ostensibly in his bed unless she was making it for him in her underwear, and that was a sexual moan he just heard, dainty and quiet but unmistakable. He sits back limply and palms himself with less inhibition this time. His eyes are widened and his breath shallow as he listens with all his focus for another sound from her.
It’s strange at first, his cool sheets and her own nerves tensing her up, but she reaches up after a moment and licks at her fingers, then tries again and she’s let out a groan of satisfaction before she can stop herself. She’s not sure at first if he heard her or not but soon she stops caring.
Jeff shucks his jeans and briefs down his thighs, wraps a hand around his shaft and pumps roughly, his eyes screwed shut tight so he can play out the scene of what he can hear from his bedroom in his mind.
Annie sighs in frustration and shoves her underwear off, ignoring where they land on the floor. She fists a hand in Jeff’s sheets and slides a finger inside herself. It doesn’t work to imagine it’s him, not really, but her mind spins out sense memories anyway that make her arch her back and moan again. She hears a weak groan from the living room and freezes for a second before continuing.
Sweat’s gathering at the small of Jeff’s back and on his forehead and all thought that isn’t about her has basically ceased. He hears her moan again, this time a little deeper and louder and it sends him over the edge. He lays there for a moment, all his muscles limp and tingling, his head lolled back and his eyes still closed. After a few moments he tucks himself back in to his underwear, then peels off the t-shirt he’d been wearing, wipes it quickly over his stomach and crumples it into a ball. He stands and kicks his jeans the rest of the way off too.
Annie rolls her head this way and that and curls her toes against the sheets, wound up and hot but unsatisfied. Her hand is starting to cramp and she tries propping herself up on her other hand so she’s half-sitting with her legs bent at the knee and spread, her fingers slipping slick and wet against herself.
That’s how Jeff finds her when he steps into the room.
“Holy fuck,” he breathes out, looking shell-shocked and frozen for a moment. Annie stares back at him, caught between frustration and a flash of panic. Jeff swallows, eyes flicking over her almost frantically. “Do you want-”
“Yes,” she interrupts him.
A split second later he’s kneeling on the bed next to her, catching her reddened lips in a kiss.
He reaches down and places his hand over hers, presses his own fingers against her smaller ones. Annie pulls her hand away but Jeff catches it and brings her fingers up to his lips, sucks them into his mouth and laves at them with his tongue. They stare at each other, eyes dark, as he lets go and reaches back down to slide one of his fingers inside her and start a rhythm of circles with his thumb over her clit. Annie’s wet fingertips rest against his lips for a moment and she lets out a revelatory groan, letting her head drop back and her eyes go hooded.
Jeff shifts them slowly so Annie lies on her back, resting her head on his free arm as he lays at her side with one of her legs bent over his. Jeff never breaks his rhythm, steady and slow, pressing deep inside her. He leans in and spreads soft open-mouthed kisses over her throat and down one shoulder, reaching around to pull aside her bra strap with the tips of his fingers when it gets in his way.
His eyes slide up to hers when he kisses lower and his fingers skim down along the edge of her bra, pulling it slightly away. Annie’s stare is heavy and edged in anticipation as she arches her back up, reaches back to unfasten her bra, and helps maneuver the straps off her arms until Jeff can toss it away. She shudders just slightly as she settles back, feeling far more exposed than she had a moment ago.
She reaches up and pulls him down on top of her, pressing his bare chest to hers and shifting slowly, arching her back to connect with as much of his warm skin as possible. She feels the deep groan in his chest and wraps her other arm around him, burying her face in his neck and letting herself whimper softly at the feel of him crushed on top of her, burying her into his mattress and fucking her deep and soft with his fingers.
Annie’s hand slides down over his shoulder to his arm, her fingers resting limply over the muscles flickering in his forearm as Jeff quickens his rhythm, presses a little more firmly with his thumb when her head falls back and she starts to tense.
He watches her while she comes; her back arching deep, the twitching muscles of her inner thighs as they clamp around his wrist while he pumps his fingers inside her, her toes curled in his sheets.
He slides his fingers from inside her and touches her softly until she squirms away. Jeff lets his hand rest next to her hip and stays slumped over her for a moment, sliding his nose and mouth against the curve of her breast, and listens to the pulse pounding in his head and her heavy breaths fanning out hotly over his temple.
Annie, her eyes still closed, reaches up and runs her fingers through Jeff’s hair behind his ear, scratching lightly, and when he sighs weakly she presses on his shoulder and he rolls onto his back next to her, snagging her hand and holding it against his chest. They lay like that quietly for a few minutes before she takes in a breath and rolls over, up onto her knees next to Jeff’s hips and gives him a soft smile as she slides her fingers beneath the waistband of his underwear.
“Oh,” he says, reaching down and taking her wrists gently, “I already, uh.”
“Oh.” Annie stops and settles back beside him. “In the living room?”
“Yeah.”
“W-when you heard me.”
“Uh, yeah.” His hands wrap lightly around hers and he rubs his thumbs over her knuckles, grinning up at her.
“Okay. Well.”
She actually looks a little disappointed and Jeff stares at her for a second, disbelieving.
“Are you sad?” he asks, a little incredulously. Annie blushes and glances down, pulling her hands from his and sliding a fingertip along the cut of the muscle at his hip.
Jeff watches her. “Just give me a few minutes.”
She crawls over him and straddles his upper thighs, leaning her weight on her hands on the mattress. Jeff reaches up and crosses his arms behind his head, looking over Annie’s completely bare body perched on top of him. They contemplate each other silently.
“You like being naked, don’t you?”
She shrinks a little at first but she does grin back at him and shrug coyly.
“Sometimes.”
“Annie, nobody wears skirts as short as yours because they don’t like a little air on their skin.”
She leans her weight to one hand and pokes at his chest.
“What about you? You’ve been naked in public like a hundred times since we started at Greendale.”
“Uh, the average amount of clothing we wear on a given day is like ten-to-one.”
“Because you’re a giant.”
“Because you would rather be wearing nothing. Those cardigans aren’t fooling me.”
“Neither is your fancy underwear,” Annie shoots back, and sneaks her fingers down to snap at the waistband for emphasis.
Jeff uncrosses his arms and grabs Annie around the waist, flipping them quickly so she’s flat on her back with him braced above her, nudging her legs open with his knees. “You were saying, kitten?”
“Nevermind,” she murmurs, smiling up at him. She braces herself up on her elbows and asks softly, “Has it been a few minutes yet?”
She reaches down and presses one hand against the crotch of his silky cotton underwear, grinning cheekily all the while. He huffs out a laugh that turns into a groan at the end when she squeezes. Together they work his briefs off and Jeff kicks them across the room.
Annie pushes at his chest to get him to roll over but Jeff stays braced on one forearm above her and slides his other hand over her shoulder and down to her breast. She sighs and closes her eyes, working her hand over him blindly as he feels her up.
“Would you . . .” Jeff trails off into a grunt at a twist of Annie’s wrist.
“Hm?”
“Can I watch you again?”
Jeff rolls her nipple between two fingers and her mouth drops open soundlessly. The movement of her hand slows but doesn’t stop.
“Watch . . .” she doesn’t really try to finish her sentence, her voice faraway and distracted.
He works his way up from dotting her neck with kisses to whisper at her ear, “Touch yourself for me.”
He reaches down between them, slides his fingers gently over her wrist and pulls her hand away, turning it and guiding it between her own legs. He’s pulled away enough to look her in the eye and she watches him, her cheeks flushed deep pink and her lower lip caught between her teeth.
“Is this okay?”
“You wouldn’t rather- I mean-”
“Oh, god, Annie that has nothing to do with it. This is just-” Jeff glances down and sees Annie’s fingers starting to move under his, slowly pressing and circling almost unconsciously.
He pulls his hand away and slides it over Annie’s thigh, a breathy groan falling from his mouth.
“Something different?” She finishes. Jeff looks back up at her, eyes hooded and dark.
“Yeah,” he breathes out. “Exactly,” he adds, watching Annie slide two fingers inside herself and reach down with her other hand to keep working at her clit. “That’s . . . so fucking beautiful.”
Annie catches his eye and the corners of her mouth quirk up. He palms at himself a few times before committing to it and wrapping his hand around his dick and starting firm steady strokes. She looks down too and for a second Jeff’s hand stutters to a stop but she whispers quickly, “Keep going. I- I like it.”
Jeff rests his forehead against hers and Annie tilts her chin up to kiss him. He pulls away after a moment and stares unabashedly now, tearing his eyes away only to lean in and press a distracted kiss along her jaw now and then.
Annie shifts her hips until she finds a perfect angle and mews, tipping her head back as Jeff leans down to lave his tongue at one of her nipples and then the other. Annie stares down as his tongue swirls out and then his lips close and pucker when he sucks, a smile stretching his mouth when she groans and arches up into him.
“Oh god . . . do you think-” Annie starts, at the same time Jeff asks, “Should I-”
They laugh shakily and Jeff waits for Annie to continue.
“Do you think we can-” she lets out a short groan, “synchronize?”
There’s this little gleam in her eye and Jeff grins at her and chuckles under his breath. He leans in and sucks at her earlobe before asking, “Are you close?”
She nods erratically and leans into his mouth again, raising her chin. Jeff hesitates for a moment, still pressing kisses over her neck.
“Should I move? If I stay here . . . you’ll . . . get messy.”
Annie looks down, at the heated space between them, all their skin exposed. She feels her neck and chest grow hotter just watching Jeff’s fist moving in a faster pace than before, the muscles of his thighs and stomach tense and hard, braced above her with her comparatively soft pale legs spread wide around his.
“Oh god,” she sighs again, braver as she pumps her fingers in and out and rolls her hips into the motion. “No, stay,” she adds around panting breaths, turning her face up to his. “Get me messy.”
Jeff groans, the sound buzzing out against her temple and finished with a curse muttered weakly.
“You are so - fuck - where did you come from?” Jeff babbles under his breath, raising his head and staring at Annie’s face. She lets out little half-voiced moans with every breath, her brow furrowed as she stares downward, focused on the way Jeff’s hips are moving just slightly now in rhythm with his hand.
“Jeff, god, don’t stop, I can’t- I can’t wait,” she whispers back urgently, finally craning her neck up and rolling her hips hard into the deep twisting motion of her fingers, squeezing and rolling her clit with her other hand.
She feels it when Jeff comes moments after she does - the mattress moving under his knees as he thrusts into his hand, hot liquid spilling over her stomach and chest, and his last tense short groans deep and loud in her ear when he drops his forehead to the pillow next to her. Her hands rest limp between her thighs and she rubs two fingers together a few times, feeling the slick soft wetness covering them all the way to her knuckles. She turns her head and leans her cheek against Jeff’s jaw.
After several moments Jeff braces himself up so he’s sitting back on his heels with her legs still spread open around his. He lets his hands drift over her thighs and stares down at her. Her eyes have fallen closed and she lies still except for deep almost shuddering breaths.
“Hey,” he whispers hoarsely.
She stirs and turns to look at him. She returns the little smile pulling at his mouth as he crawls back over her and kisses her neck, scrubbing his stubble against her skin until she shrugs her shoulder up and squirms away with a weak shove at his chest. Jeff laughs and rolls to his side next to her, still propped up on one elbow and staring greedily at his come spread all over her stomach and breasts.
Annie stretches her arms over her head and squeaks at the height of it before bringing her hands back down and pressing up on her elbows to take a look at herself. She drops down after a moment and lets out a long breath, her knees now brought together and tilting from side to side. She turns her head to look up at Jeff.
“I’m messy,” she says softly. Jeff nods enthusiastically with widened eyes and she laughs and nudges against him with one arm.
“Does it bother you?” he asks quietly, scooting down to rest his temple on his fist.
Annie shakes her head at first slowly and then more decisively. She opens her mouth to add something, then closes it. Jeff smiles and runs his free hand briskly up and down her thigh a few times.
“You can shower if you want. There are clean towels in there.”
He gestures to the bathroom with his eyes. Annie presses up on her elbows again and kisses him, reaching up with one hand and splaying her fingers over his jaw to tug him closer before she pulls away. Jeff watches, eyes glazed and heavy-lidded as she rolls to her side and climbs out of his bed, pausing to collect her bra and underwear from his floor on the way. He flops to his back and closes his eyes.
Annie stands at the sink and stares at herself in the mirror. Her reflection stares back at her - mussed hair, dark eyes, reddened cheeks and mouth. She watches as little rivulets of milky white slide slowly downward over her skin, the trails feeling sticky and cool. She turns on the faucet in the shower to let the water heat up, then finds herself stepping back in front of the mirror again, pausing with a long look into her own eyes before she turns and steps into the shower.
When Annie steps out of the bathroom, redressed in her underwear and bra and rubbing a towel over the back of her neck, Jeff looks up from where he’s standing at his dresser, having just slipped on a new pair of brightly-striped briefs.
Annie pauses and tilts her head at him, smiling. “To look at the rest of your wardrobe, no one would guess you like such loud underwear.”
Jeff glances down at them and shrugs. “I’ve never gotten any complaints.” He catches her eye and smiles a little.
Annie shrugs as she comes closer, reaching over to hang the towel on a hook on the back of his open closet door.
“That’s not where that goes,” Jeff whines slightly, eyeing the towel.
Annie steps into his personal space and her hands go to his hips, her fingertips slipping over the elastic band of his briefs.
“What’s up?” he asks softly.
She just looks up at him silently for a few more moments before averting her eyes and shaking her head slightly.
“Nothing,” she murmurs, reaching up to curl her arms around his neck and pull him down for a kiss. Jeff lets her, wrapping his own arms tight around her waist and lifting her up so her feet dangle a few inches off the floor. Annie gasps a little with the movement and smiles against his mouth, wiggling her toes against the air. When Jeff lets her slip back to the floor he trails his hands up her arms and cups her face in his hands briefly, studying her. She tilts her head against his fingers.
“What?”
Jeff smirks, leans in and kisses her again, and this time it’s slower, barely there and overwhelmingly gentle.
“Nothing,” he mutters, holding her gaze pointedly as he takes a small step back and lets go of her. “You still want to watch a movie?” he adds mildly.
Annie rolls her eyes around a little grin. “I never planned on watching-”
“Aaaa-HAH!” Jeff bellows, startling her as he rears back and points a finger in her face triumphantly. “Admit it! Ad. Mit. It.”
Annie folds her arms, glaring up at him for a moment before she turns to slink out the doorway toward the living room.
“Oh no,” Jeff calls, following her quickly, “No, no, you have to admit it. This was a-”
Annie whirls around and points her own finger in his face. “DON’T say it.” She flattens her palm over his mouth.
“Booty call,” Jeff finishes, the words muffled by her hand. He grins against her hand too, and pumps a fist in victory.
“Whatever,” she mumbles and starts to smile back without really meaning to before she spins on her heel to leave and Jeff chases after her.
Annie squeals and breaks into a run for a few steps until Jeff tackles her over the back of the couch where they land in a heap. She makes a show of elbowing and kicking at him, but eventually they settle, Jeff sitting up with his back against the armrest, one leg stretched out along the cushions and the other foot resting on the floor. Annie lays on her back with her head on his stomach and one arm looped over his bent knee. Jeff manages to find the remote and turns on the TV.
“Whatcha wanna watch, kiddo?”
Annie picks at her nails and glances up. “I don’t care,” she says distractedly. In a few moments she smacks at Jeff’s knee indignantly.
“Jeff we are not watching porn!”
“Just like ‘this is not a booty call’?” he parrots back. “And may I remind you, we made porn last time.”
Annie clutches at the remote with both hands and worms it free from his hand to change the channel.
“Hey,” he says after a few minutes, nudging her with his leg. “You, naked girl, you left your skirt on the floor. You know, in the course of not booty calling me.”
Annie smiles to herself and keeps flipping channels while Jeff trails his fingertips through her hair absentmindedly.