There's Only One Girl In the World For You (39a/?)
Title: There’s only one girl in the world for you (39a/?)
Author: lapacifidora
Spoilers: Season 1 and into an AU Season 2
Rating/ Warnings: PG-13, for the time being
Word Count: 1,659 (3,414 total)
Disclaimers: Not mine. Although I think Dan Harmon knows this friend of mine and based Troy on her… The title comes from a Wreckless Eric song.
Author’s note: This is for shan21non ’s Ficcy Friday prompt for Greendale’s inaugural study abroad program. I’m not totally pleased with this chapter, but rather than keep reworking it, here it is. This is for: ravenecho , who’s going to be job hunting; lilyayl , who made some excellent points after the last chapter; retrokink , who’s finally resurfaced; and jheaton , who gave me some excellent, non-fic related advice.
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 a/ b | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 a/ b | Chapter 21 a/ b | Five Times… | Chapter 22 | Chapter 23 | Chapter 24 | Chapter 25 | Chapter 26 a/ b | Chapter 27 | Chapter 28 | Chapter 29 | Chapter 30 a/ b | Chapter 31 | Chapter 32 | Chapter 33 | Chapter 34 a/ b | Chapter 35 | Chapter 36 a/ b | Chapter 37 | Chapter 38 |
***
Annie could feel six sets of eyes focused on her.
(When she glanced to the side, Jeff was still buttering that damn piece of toast. She wasn’t sure why: It wasn’t like he actually enjoyed eating carbs. Although he had been eating toast - and other foods that actually had flavor because they had more than two grams of fat - the entire time they’d been in Canada.
Annie had a succession of frightening thoughts: What if she’d given Jeff an eating disorder? What if she’d turned him into a comfort eater? Oh, God, what if he got fat? Annie frowned a little: She didn’t care if Jeff got fat. Then her frown deepened: But she was pretty fond of the way he looked right now. Then a line appeared in her forehead as her lip curled a little in disgust: Was she really that shallow? Britta cleared her throat, and Annie was pulled from her thoughts.)
“Annie, I’m sorry.” Britta looked embarrassed. “I didn’t mean to put you on the spot like that.”
“I did.” Abed shrugged when the group looked at him askance.
“It’s fine.” Annie forced a smile. “It’s a legitimate question.” She took a sip of her coffee, staring down at the steaming liquid. She didn’t have to glance over at Jeff to know he still wasn’t looking at her, and she wondered if dumping the rest of her coffee over his head would be enough of a diversion that she wouldn’t have to answer Abed’s question, and explain why Vaughn had brought her back to cam- Annie’s thoughts ground to a halt, and her eyes snapped to Abed’s face. “Wait. What makes you think Vaughn brought me back to campus?”
“I saw you there when I was leaving the Tranny Dance.” Abed tilted his head to one side. “I assumed you returned just before the ambulance arrived to take Professor Duncan to the hospital.” Abed stopped, and he glanced from Annie to Jeff, his eyes widening. “Unless you arrived just after-”
“No!” Annie leaned forward, and Jeff finally looked up from his plate. “No, you were right.” She laughed uncomfortably. “Vaughn was driving, and I was looking out the window, and I realized that-” She paused, struggling for an explanation. “I realized that I was following a guy I’d been dating for all of three months to Delaware so he could play hackey sack. It was illogical.” Annie’s voice had grown softer as she spoke, and when she paused, she realized the only sound was the faint tick of the wall clock in the kitchen. “I didn’t want to be that girl who does one stupid thing and regrets it the rest of her life. And I hadn’t told my parents I was planning to transfer with Vaughn-”
“You were what?” Shirley’s fork clattered to the table.
“Plot twist.” Troy nodded sagely.
“Not really.” Abed piped up. “Annie never would have transferred to another school with Vaughn: She’s far too pragmatic.” He took a sip of coffee and swallowed before he continued. “Besides, she’d never be able to pull off cutting off practically all her hair.”
“Look.” Annie’s palm connected with the table top, and everyone’s eyes, even Jeff’s, swung toward her. “I was going to transfer to Vaughn’s new school. I wasn’t going to come back. I was sitting in the passenger seat of his van, and I realized that living in the moment is all peachy keen when you talk about it, but actually doing it is something else entirely.” She took a deep breath, trying to steady her voice. “I’m not the girl who lives in the moment. I’m the girl who types up her class notes, then backs them up on an online server and an external hard drive. I like structure.” She stood up from the table, the legs of her chair thumping as it rocked away and came back down to rest. “I thought leaving with Vaughn was a big, serious thing, and moving cross country would make me feel like more of an adult. And then I realized it just made me feel like a mug.” She turned and walked stiffly from the dining room.
A moment later, they heard the pounding of her feet as she ran up the stairs. The group exchanged confused and distressed looks. Pierce coughed.
“Awkward.”
***
Annie held her cell phone to her ear as she paced at the foot of the bed, listening to the ringing on the other end.
“Edison, Hahn and O’Malley. This is Rose, how can I help you?”
“Hi, Rose. It’s Annie.”
“Annie! How’re you doing, dear? I was just asking your father this morning when you were due back, and he said you’d be home in about two weeks.”
“That sounds about right.” Annie tried for a carefree tone. “I was wondering if my dad was with a patient?”
“No, dear. Let me just transfer you.”
“Thanks.” Annie took several deep breaths, but finally sighed and walked into the closet, closing the door behind her and settling on the floor against the back wall. She pulled her knees to her chest, leaning her forehead against them and tucking her skirt around her legs.
“David Edison.” Annie’s breath caught in her throat at the sound of her father’s voice.
“Dad?”
“Sunshine!” Annie’s eyes stung, and she sniffled. “What’s wrong? Whose legs do I have to break?”
“No one.” Annie chuckled wetly. “Didn’t you take a Hippocratic oath?”
“Sure.” David laughed. “Doesn’t mean we don’t have criminals in the family.”
“Like who?”
“I’ve told you my cousin Tobias’ family was involved in organized crime.”
“What?” Annie hiccoughed. “Oh my God. Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously.” Annie could hear her father slurp something over the line.
“Daddy.”
“Sunshine.”
“Are you drinking coffee?”
“No.”
“Dad.”
“It’s decaf.”
“Didn’t Dr. Welby tell you not to drink coffee?”
“He did.” David took another sip. “He also told me I should only be drinking decaf tea.”
“And?”
“Dr. Welby is an impertinent little man who doesn’t understand the simple joy of a well-made cappuccino.”
“Dad, you shouldn’t have that much caffeine.”
“And like I said: It’s decaf.” Annie could hear her father set the mug down on his desk, and then the faint click-click-click as he tapped something out against his keyboard. “Sunshine, it’s Saturday morning. Why are calling?”
“I just wanted to say ‘hello.’”
“Sunshine.”
“I wanted to check what you were getting Mom for Hanukah.”
“Sunshine.”
“And I was wondering if you thought Bubbeh would want a collectible spoon from some place up here.”
“Anne.”
“Dad.” Annie pressed her forehead against her knees, scrunching her eyes shut. “I don’t know what to do.”
“About what?”
“Well, you know my friend Jeff?”
“The one who won my everlasting approbation by threatening to kill the little bastard who attacked you?”
“That’s the one.”
“What do you need to do about Jeff?” David slurped his coffee again, and Annie was silent for a moment, waiting for him to figure it out. When she heard the clank his coffee mug and soft cursing, she knew he was mopping up sloshed coffee. “Annie, is there something going on between you and that boy?”
“Sort of.”
“And you’re upset with him?”
“Kinda.”
“I’ll kill him.”
“Dad.” Annie sniffed and sat up, leaning her head back against the closet wall and wiping at her eyes. “I don’t want you to kill him.”
“I see.” David was silent for a moment, and Annie could see his furrowed brow and intense stare in her mind’s eye. “I don’t need to dig your grandfather’s hunting rifle out of the garage, do I?”
“What? No!” Annie’s eyes popped open, and she shuddered. “No. Trust me: A thousand times no.” She sighed heavily. “I just- I don’t know how to tell what he wants.”
“Have you tried asking him?”
“No. Why would I do that?”
“Oh, Sunshine.” David huffed a laugh. “You and this boy need to sit down and have yourselves a serious talk.”
“But, Dad-”
“But nothing, Anne.” David cleared his throat and assumed his sternest tone of voice. “If you want to be treated like an adult, you need to act like one. And that means asking this Jeff of yours what he’s thinking and what he wants, and then being honest about what you want. And, God help me for saying this, figuring out if there’s a way to compromise so that you both get what you want.”
“What’s wrong with compromise?”
“Sunshine.” David sighed wearily. “You’re my brilliant little princess. If I had my way, you’d never have to settle for anything less than exactly what you want. But I’m just your crazy old father, so what do I know?”
“Oh. Thank you.”
“So, enough of this seriousness. Has anything exciting or unusual happened since Thanksgiving?”
“Uh.” Annie stared straight ahead at the closet door, wondering if there was anything she could say that wouldn’t somehow lead the conversation to, ‘Well, now that you ask, Jeff did give me an orgasm, which was a new and interesting experience.’ She swallowed thickly, and was about to answer when she heard a steady, repetitive beep-beep. “Oh! That’s the call waiting. Hold on.” She pulled the phone away from her ear and glanced down at the screen: JEFF WINGER CALLING. “Um, Dad, I’m gonna have to call you back. I kind of need to take this call.”
“Of course, Sunshine. I’ll talk to you later. And remember what I said: You mess with the bull, you get the horns.”
“What?”
“Sorry. Wrong coming of age reference. Uh. You need to go to the mattresses?”
“Whatever, Dad.” Annie paused, struck by a wish that she was sitting across the table from her father, so she could go round and give him a hug. “Love you.”
“Love you, too, Sunshine. Be good.” A click indicated David had rung off, so Annie tapped the ‘accept call’ button and put the phone back to her ear.
“Hello?”
***