The Great Cell Phone Caper

[sinecure]

Title: The Great Cell Phone Caper (4/5)
Author: sinecure - My master fic list
Character/Pairing: Jeff/Annie, Chang (misc. characters make small appearances)
Rating: PG-13 (for language mostly)
Word Count: 6,955
Genre: Humor, romance, smut, slight angst
Spoilers: Early season 3, before the hiatus.
Summary: Annie's cell phone gets locked away and she plans a break-in to retrieve it. Jeff catches on to her plans and goes to stop her, but gets roped into helping instead.
Disclaimer: I don't own Community and I make no money off of it.
A/N: So, the Community Big Bang is here! This is my entry, through much blood, sweat, tears, and whinging.
A/N 2: Big, huge thanks to na_thalia for the beta--all mistakes are mine, don't blame her--and teruel_a_witch for the support and shoulder to whinge on.



CHAPTER 4

It was just as scary as Jeff had imagined it would be, but the words felt just as good as his fantasy-mind had imagined. And the tender, stunned expression on Annie's face was better than the feeling he'd gotten test-driving his dream car.

He felt winded and exhilarated, full of warmth and happiness... full of Annie.

"Jeff, I--"

The fans shut off suddenly and her voice reverberated around them.

They both went still, eyes wide. Then scrambled to right their clothes.

He sat back to fasten his jeans, tucking his cock and underwear back in awkwardly. "Crap."

"You can say that again." She was frantically rearranging her bodysuit, which was just as tight and formfitting as before. "Chang--"

"Shh!" He peered around the corner, blinking in the bright moonlight, peering through the library entrance, then darted back. "He's asleep!"

"What?" She laughed, straightening her ponytail.

Jeff darted forward and kissed her, lingering for a minute. His hand found her cheek and settled there. When he drew away, they were both smiling.

Her hand released his biceps. "When we leave here, are we going to go back to the way things were? Because, if we are, I'm prepared to live in these vents for the rest of my life. And possibly take you prisoner."

He laughed, a truly deep, happy sound. "You don't have to change your address. I wanna do this thing between us. Whatever it is. I'm... uh, committed, I guess. Besides, doing this might become noticeable after a while." He kissed her slowly, then breathed words against her lips. "Not kissing you has always been hard, but now...." Another lingering kiss. Then another.

Her eyes were bright and dancing. "Good."

And that was all she had to say on the matter.

She turned serious, darting a quick look around the corner at Chang. "We can get out now. While he's asleep. The entrance isn't locked." She pulled her gloves on one by one, flexing her fingers and glancing at him.

"Obviously he wants us to have to use that door. I say trap."

She shrugged, shaking her head. "Maybe. I can try it and see."

"No, I'll go." He would help her get out of there a free woman if it was the last thing he did.

"Chivalry isn't dead," she said sappily, rolling her eyes. "You know you don't always have to rescue me, right?"

"Yes, Annie, I realize that." Fighting his natural instinct to do just that, he smoothed the wrinkles out of his t-shirt. "But that doesn't change the fact that--"

"I mean it. I'm fully capable of--"

"Annie." He took her arms, trying to impart the seriousness of the situation on her. "You have to make it out, no matter what. I'm expendable--"

"No, Jeff. No." She took his face in her hands, kissing him softly, but he could see a little acceptance there as well. "I won't leave you."

"You have years of school ahead of you. Grades, transfers... I can take the bad mark. You can't."

"Jeff." Her pleading voice made him smile.

"Just tell me this is all worth it. That your phone call is important." And not from that stupid idiot that wasn't worthy of her smile.

She shifted in place, just a little, smile turning down.

His heart stopped for a second, but he brushed off the reaction. "Hey, Louise." He held his hand out.

Her smile was a little sad as she clasped his hand in her own, holding them both to her chest. "Thelma."

"It's time I took one for the team."

She nodded, smiling with resignation, that same look she'd had a minute before, as if it were all inevitable. "I love you, Jeff. And I'm not just saying that because our situation is pretty dire. I really mean it."

He smiled, heart feeling curiously warm and... full, and light. Kissing her one last time, he savored the feel of their first post-I-love-you kiss.

What had happened to not believing in that shit?

That was a question for later.

With a last look at her, feeling like he was leaving her behind so that he could face the feral wolf, he headed back the way they'd come, Annie's words echoing in his head. They sounded even better than his own fantasy words. He was loved.

A grin stole across his face.

"Jeff!"

Pausing in mid-crawl at the sound of Annie's hissing voice calling to him, he glanced over his shoulder. "Annie?"

She crawled up behind him suddenly, eyes bright, excited. "Chang's definitely asleep. His phone went off and he didn't even flinch."

"He is a deep sleeper." He thought for a second. "That I know that is disturbing."

Her hands flailed a little. "We should make a run for it."

Jeff opened his mouth, but Annie had already made up her mind. She was halfway down the vent already. Ass shaking.

He wasn't going to be able to get hard for a while, but it wasn't going to be for lack of wanting to. Following after her, he watched the sway of her ass, mesmerized by the back and forth movements. When they reached the library vent, Jeff squeezed past her with a quick finger to his lips. "He could still be faking." Peering around the corner, he saw Chang in the same position he'd been in before.

Not proof, but not not-proof. Chang sometimes slept in the same position all night. He'd gone to bed with Chang asleep on his couch, arm hanging off, leg dangling, head twisted almost backwards, and woken up to find that he hadn't moved a muscle.

Other times he was all over the place.

"Maybe." Turning back to Annie, not wanting to leave her, but knowing he had to, Jeff sighed. "We should go separately. I'll go through here to draw his attention in case he's faking. You go back to where we came from, double back and sneak out that door." He pointed toward the library.

Pausing for a second, he kissed her again, palm cupping the back of her head as he watched her.

"Who's the call from?"

Straightening her gloves, she looked at him curiously. "What?"

Fakely innocent.

His stomach dropped. "Annie...."

"Quick, before he wakes up." She pushed at him, urging him to go, but Jeff held his ground.

"What aren't you telling me? Is the call from just anyone? Someone you could've missed it from and it wouldn't have made a difference? Was all this for nothing?" That was one theory. But there were others pressing into his brain.

Theories he didn't like.

Theories like Danny. And Danny and Annie. Together. Even though he and Annie had just had sex in an air vent at their school. Sure it wasn't the most romantic setting ever, especially for their first time, but that shouldn't matter. They loved one another.

They hadn't fucked.

It wasn't just sex.

They'd made love. He'd made love for the first time in his life.

And she was cheating on him with Danny!

What the fuck?

"It's important," she said, keeping it vague before trying to clarify without actually clarifying. "I mean, it's-- it's a call I need to... or want to take." She rolled her eyes and shook her head a little. "Need to take. But--"

"But what?" he demanded. Her eyes wouldn't focus on him; a hard feat with their foreheads nearly touching. Feeling nausea rise in his throat and belly, he let go of her. "Annie--"

"Let's just get out of here, Jeff. Please." She darted a look down at his watch. "I only have 20 minutes."

A hard knot began to form in place of the nausea. But he didn't push her. "Fine," he agreed, watching her do everything she could to not look his way. "Fine. Ready?"

She nodded, eyes sliding his way for the briefest of moments. "Yeah."

"Go on. I'll wait for three minutes, then go out. I'll meet you outside if I get out. Wait until you see me in the study room before trying to leave."

She nodded, turning to go.

He sighed her name, not wanting to leave things on a bad note, just in case, even if he did feel like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Turning just her head, she lifted her eyes to his. "No, Jeff. Let's just go. We'll make it."

Watching her disappear down the vent and around a corner, he waited three minutes, then quietly made his way to the vent exit. Chang was still still. Jeff was pretty sure he wasn't faking, but Chang was full of surprises. And saws.

Fingers pressing against the vent, Jeff waited until the catch released, then paused. Waiting. Listening. Watching Chang like a hawk. His heart pounded in his chest, thumping loudly enough that Chang should've been able to hear it.

But there was no response from him.

Swinging the vent door all the way open, Jeff crawled out, un-folding his body like a contortionist on a bender. There wasn't a lot of grace in his movements. Once he was out, he stopped to look at Chang, vent door caught in his hand. Chang was out like the clichéd light.

Glancing up, he saw Annie at the doorway, watching him, looking amused at his ungainly display. Narrowing his eyes at her, wishing she hadn't seen that, he pointed at the doors. Hand over her mouth, holding in laughter, she turned and crossed to the doors.

Jeff hurried after her, pace quickening once he was past Chang. He breathed a sigh of relief and ran to Annie. "We made it." Grabbing her hand, he pulled her through the doors, not surprised when the alarms went off, jangling loudly. "Come on," he yelled, dragging her to the right, immediately out of sight.

From there, they ran along the building, hearing Chang shouting above the noise, but his voice grew more and more distant with each step; he was headed toward the other side of the lot.

Jeff pulled Annie behind him to the street, breath panting out and relief flowing through him.

They were free. Finally. It felt like they'd been stuck inside the school for months.

Annie jerked to a stop behind a large oak tree, pulling him with her. She was grinning, full of relief and excitement. Standing up on tiptoe after looking at him for a few seconds, she pressed her mouth to his, then dropped back down, like the night of the Transfer Dance.

Feeling like it was all playing out again, but unable to react differently, he stared back, then drew her in for a kiss. Just as much passion, just as much want and need. But so much more.

"I love you," she breathed against his mouth, warm breath wafting over his lips. "I have for a long time."

"Since that night?" he murmured.

She shrugged a little uncertainly, biting her lip. "I think so. Maybe."

His arms tightened around her as he was transported back to that time, that night; glimmering lights hanging from the library, Britta waiting. Slater watching him.

Annie telling him she was leaving for good, but not the others.

And it occurred to him that maybe he'd loved her for a long time, too. Maybe.

Something had been between them, something more than just a kiss.

"I think I lied," he told her.

Annie's face fell and she started to step back, but he held her still.

"No, not tonight. I mean about the reasons for not answering Britta and Michelle that night." He'd never admitted this even to himself, never told her, never explained about that night, but the words were coming now because he couldn't stand the look on her face. "I figured I was thinking about you so much because you were leaving. I didn't want you to leave, but it was more than that. I mean, I thought-- I thought about you as an alternative to them, to Britta and Michelle. My mind kept returning to you, but I didn't know why. I thought it was just because I wanted a way out of the position they'd put me in. But maybe it was more than that. I mean, you were more than that to me, so why not?"

She smiled softly and he felt his chest tighten at the sight. He loved her smile.

"From that night on, Annie, despite me saying it was a mistake, despite me telling you to forget about it, I haven't been able to forget it."

Her hands were bare again, her gloves nowhere in sight. She caressed his jaw with her thumb and he closed his eyes, leaning into her touch.

"Since then, I've had this fantasy of you and me. Together. Like, in a house, with a damn dog."

"A dog?" she asked bemusedly, probably still on the part where he'd basically admitted to wanting to spend the rest of his life with her. Married or something.

"Yeah." He shrugged, then pulled her along with him to his car. "Come on. I'll give you a ride and we'll come back for your car later. We can't risk getting caught."

"I'm not a dog person," she called to him, amused.

Hand tightening on hers, he opened her door, urging her inside. "I always had you pegged as a dog person. Cats?" He slammed the door and went around, climbing in with a quick glance around for Chang, but there was no sign of him.

"Nope. Not a cat person either."

Relief poured through him. Britta was a cat person and he really didn't need another one of those around, trying to cutesy him to death with the furry little critters and the furry little outfits she put them in. "Turtles? Pigs, maybe? Uh, bovines? Equines?"

"No," she laughed, nudging his shoulder as he pulled into the empty street. "Birds. I like the cages and the way birds sound when they sing. It's beautiful."

Jeff shuddered. "Birds are loud and messy."

She mock-frowned his way. "Dogs bark, drool, crap everywhere, and piss out their territory."

Eyes on the rearview mirror, he glanced her way. Was he really reduced to thinking they were being followed? There was no one back there. They were home free and he was paranoid. "Birds screech, fling birdseed, sing, and screech some more."

"Birds," she insisted with a playful grin. "I want ten of them."

He couldn't help the smile that lifted his lips. "Dogs. One big, huge one."

"Are you bird-dogging me?" she asked in her best De Niro. It was adorable. When he just nudged her shoulder, an audible sigh left her and she stretched, hands on her thighs. "This is what happy feels like."

A half-smile curved one side of his mouth as warmth poured into his heart. "I make you happy? God, he was turning into a sappy romantic. It was disgusting.

Annie turned in her seat, duh look on her face. "Jeff. Yes. I-- you've been my best friend for going on three years and now--"

"Now?"

"Now, you're more. I love you. And? I get to actually tell you that now." She leaned over, seat creaking, and planted a kiss on his cheek.

He tossed her a quick look and a smile, feeling the same way she felt. Free and unencumbered. The worry and the constant vigilance had weighed heavily on him, but now that was gone. "I lo--"

Her phone began to ring and her eyes widened almost comically. That wasn't unencumbered. That wasn't free. That was worry, and it was aimed his way. She stared at her phone, then him.

Jeff pulled the car over, then turned off the engine as her phone continued to ring. "Gonna answer that? Or is it a telepathic call? And, if that's the case, why did you need your phone so badly?"

"Jeff," she chastised, glancing at her phone. "I--" She yanked on the door handle and pushed it open as she answered her phone, leaving the car at the same time. All Jeff could hear was 'hello' before the door slammed shut.

And he was fine with that.

It probably wasn't Danny.

She smiled a little, listening, not paying him any attention anymore.

And he was fine with that.

Danny was probably home in bed, curled around a sock with Annie's name on it--

Hands wrapping around the steering wheel, he watched her chuckle.

Fine with it.

Smile wider.

Fucking fine.

Twirl her hair!

Not fine with that.

Opening his car door, he got out, eyes fixed on Annie's fingers. Still twirling.

"...home." Pause. "Yes, I'm alone." She sounded almost annoyed, almost indulgent. "No, I don't have a boyfriend, Danny--"

He grabbed the phone from her, ignoring her startled cry. "Actually, yes, she does have a boyfriend. And she's out with him right now. You see, we just had sex--"

"Jeff! What are you doing? Give me the phone!" She made a desperate grab for it, but he was taller. He used his elbow to block her.

"--and we're going to have even more sex when we get home."

"Oh, my god." She paced away quickly, then came back, hands over her forehead. "No, we're not if you don't give me that phone!"

"Who the hell is this?" Jeff heard in his ear.

Jeff held his hand over the phone speaker. "The hell, Annie?"

"Jeff, please, just give me back my phone!"

"Yeah, I don't think so." Uncovering the speaker, feeling like she'd... cheated on him while he stood there and watched, he stayed out of Annie's reach. "And it was some pretty great sex, I might add--"

Annie squeaked loudly.

"We're planning on having more. Really soon." Although, with the way she was alternately glaring at him and looking hurt, he doubted that part was true. Why was she-- this guy was-- "What the hell, Annie? You fuck me while waiting for a call from Danny the Dumb?"

Unbelievable.

"No," she snapped, slapping him hard across the chest. Really hard. It wasn't a fond smack, it was pissed off, bang-his-head-onto-the-table angry. And then she hit him again.

"Ow!"

"I don't know who you are, but you'd better put my--"

Jeff lowered the phone, watching Annie with a frown, not quite sure he was in command of the situation anymore. Or if he was reading it right. His judgment when it came to Annie and other men was iffy at best.

Leap first, ask questions never.

He could no longer hear the ramblings of Danny, and he was grateful. If he didn't hear what Danny and Annie were up to, then he didn't have to know the details of what had been going on between the two.

While she supposedly loved him.

That's what hurt the most, and it did hurt. It was fucking painful. His chest felt like it was being tied into impossible knots and his insides were strangling him, all while Annie blithely ignored him.

It wasn't that she'd been with someone else, in whatever capacity. It wasn't that she'd found someone while he'd ignored her and pushed his feelings for her down as deep as they would go and then told her to pretend nothing had ever happened between them. She was entitled to date whoever the hell she wanted.

Even Danny.

He'd slept with a lot of women over the years since knowing Annie, even while he had feelings for her.

So, it wasn't any of that. It was that she was talking to Danny now, flirting with him. And twirling her damn hair like they hadn't just had sex and started down the path to some kind of a relationship.

It was that she'd lied to him about Danny when he asked her who the call was from, it was that she'd slept with him while fucking some other guy.

Fuck!

Annie glanced at him, tears in her eyes, face flushed and hot, hair sticking to her heated skin, hand over her mouth. She looked furious.

Rational thought snapped back into his head and he hung up the phone, heading toward her. "Annie--"

"Don't!" She backed away, looking at him like he'd hurt her. "That was..." she barely got the words out. Her voice broke and the tears fell. "That was my dad, Jeff. And you just-- oh, god." She bent over, beginning to hyperventilate.

Jeff stared at her.

Holy crap.

His jealousy had gotten him into trouble before with both Annie and Britta, but this? Holy crap didn't quite cover it.

He stood, frozen, staring at Annie. At what he'd done to her; how he'd hurt her, humiliated her. What the hell was wrong with him? Crap. Her dad? Starting toward her, unsure of what the hell he was going to say or do, he jerked to a stop when her phone began to ring. He stared down at it like it was shrink-wrapped in the plague.

Annie's head darted up and she stared at the phone. "Oh, my god," she moaned. "I-- I can't."

Jeff swallowed thickly and exhaled. This was on him. He'd fix it. Pressing the call button, he answered, voice neutral. "Hello."

Annie's eyes were wide enough to pop out of her head.

"Sir, before you, rightfully, yell and--"

"Rip you a new one, son?"

"Yes. Um, sir. Uh, this was a joke. A badly done joke that I was playing on your daughter. We're at-- we go to Greendale together?" He winced at the sound of his voice rising at the end. He could sell an idea, sell a defense, and usually had juries eating out of his hands in a courtroom, but Annie's dad made him nervous. He'd faced countless judges and sold, not only ridiculous defenses, but his own law degree, to all of them.

But he didn't think he was selling his lame excuse to Annie's dad.

Crap.

Annie still looked hurt and furious. And scared.

"You thought that was funny?"

She furiously wiped the tears from her cheeks and drew in a steadying breath.

"Uh... no? I mean, when I thought you were a guy who's been bugging her to go out with him, sort of, yeah." Annie sent him a 'what the fuck are you doing?' look. He shrugged helplessly, shaking his head, mouthing, 'I don't know' back at her and she stomped toward him, taking the phone from him.

"Dad." She motioned Jeff to stay there and went a few yards away.

Jeff couldn't hear much of what she was saying, but he got the gist. A lot of yes, sirs and no, sirs. He felt like crap. What the hell was wrong with him? He wasn't that guy.

Except that he was.

Vaughn. Rich. The Black Rider. Abed. Every one of those men had made him furious with jealousy. The Black Rider had had his not-so-good-looking hands all over Annie. Jeff had gone home the night after their victory, gotten drunk and composed several mocking texts to Annie; he was still surprised she'd forgiven him, though their first week back, she had asked him to stop being her friend. That'd kind of come out of the blue.

Just his irrational behavior with an axe? Or residual anger over him telling her she'd fall for any man who flirted with her?

Probably both and deservedly so. He'd been an ass to her.

"Yes, dad. ...yes. No, I-- dad, it's not... no. No, dad. Daddy!"

Jeff groaned. Daddy sounded a hell of a lot like Danny.

Annie stopped and took a deep breath. "Dad, stop trying to run my life," she told him in a low voice.

Then she hung up and turned her phone off.

Her eyes were on the still bright display when she rejoined him. "SO." She looked up at him with eyes filled with acceptance. "My father doesn't like you."

Jeff acknowledged that with a nod. He couldn't say he was upset, since he didn't know the man, but from hearing Annie's side of the conversation, he wanted to tell her good riddance. But he didn't. He felt guilty enough already.

She took another deep breath, raising her eyes to his. "And neither do I right now. I mean, what if that had been Danny?"

"Then I'd react the same way." He stared at her in disbelief. "You were flirting. I mean, twirling your hair? Really?"

"Ew. Jeff. Gross!"

"Yeah, kinda."

"No! I mean. Ugh. Jeff, that's not--" Visually calming herself with a deep breath and a quick closing of her eyes, she loosened her shoulders. "That's not my point. You can't just grab my phone and tell random people that we're having sex. It's sort of... douche-y."

While he had to admit she was right, he still felt justified. "Well, Annie, you can't flirt with random men on the phone after we just made love. That's also douche-y."

"It was my dad! You read too much into it. God, you can't keep doing that. What you did was beyond Rich and Vaughn. It was-- you had no right to do that."

"Uh, I call bullshit. You're my..." He struggled for a word, a phrase, something that didn't sound ineffectual and wrong.

She crossed her arms and shrugged her whole body. "What, Jeff? Yeah, we had sex, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything!"

He blinked at her. He had to have misheard her, right? She couldn't be reducing what they'd done to mere sex. Okay, it hadn't been great for their first time. There'd been some issues, but. "Sex? We had sex, Annie?" Staring at her, even now finding her gorgeous in the moonlight that shone through the trees, he mentally slapped himself for getting sidetracked. "That-- I didn't-- that wasn't just-- sex, Annie? Really?"

"You don't believe in love."

Shoe effectively dropped.

"You said it yourself." Her wide eyes were filled with doubts and he hated that.

How could she possibly doubt him now?

"So, what, I'm supposed to just take your word for it that suddenly you're in love?"

"That's called trust, Annie, which is something I do believe in. And, for the record, just because I don't believe in something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It doesn't even mean that I can't eventually be proven wrong about it." He frowned down at her. "Where's this coming from suddenly? You were fine about us before, but now you think I'm a liar?"

"You're a liar, yes. Absolutely, Jeff." Dropping her arms, she tucked her hair behind one ear. "We all know you lie. You tell us you lie."

"Okay, while true, that doesn't mean I'm lying about this. And, you know, you've been known to lie too. Just wanted to get that out there."

"Right," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "Because I'm the one who's lied about there being anything between us. I'm the one who has a habit of running when things get too real between us. That's all me. Yep, I--"

"Sarcasm can be abused, Annie."

She just stared back at him.

Exhaling heavily, he threw his arms out, at a loss as to how to prove himself to her. She was right; there was no reason for her to believe him. "Before tonight, we were friends. Good friends. One might even say best friends. That's also something I said I didn't believe in, right?"

"Yeah." Her posture loosened the slightest bit, but she wasn't giving in completely. She wasn't going to make this easy for him, and she probably shouldn't.

"Troy and Abed? They couldn't be more best-friend-y if they tried. I believe in that. I believe in them."

There was the smallest, itty-bitty-bittiest curving of her lips upward.

There was the smallest, itty-bitty-bittiest answering relief in his chest, which loosened enough to let him breathe again. He hadn't even realized how tense he'd become.

"Annie, just as I've opened myself up to new experiences and new things since meeting you guys and learning to love you all individually, I also very recently decided to open myself up to letting my feelings for you actually register inside my thick head. I can't pretend that I don't love you anymore, and I don't want to." He stepped a little closer, feeling her warmth, smelling her familiar scents.

She dropped her stiff posture with a sigh. "So, where does that leave us then?"

"I don't know. Lovers? Boyfriend/girlfriend, which sounds so juvenile that I can almost smell the paste and glitter."

Her eyes softened a little and, sensing an opening, he drew her in for a hug. Relief poured through him completely when she relaxed against him and he let his shoulders loosen. "Jeff, I love you. And you--"

"Yeah. I do, Annie. I am in love with you, and, admittedly, still freaking out about that a little, but I told you, I'm in this thing with you, wherever it takes us."

She wrapped her arms around his waist. "How about we just try that for a while then, before we decide where this is heading, if anywhere. Just-- I don't think I can do this tonight. I'm tired and my nerves are shot, plus I'm still freaking out about my dad. This whole night has been... a disaster."

He felt like she'd punched him in the gut.

"Oh, god, Jeff. Not us. Obviously not us."

"How did you--"

She set her hand on his arm, which was wrapped around her back. "You're squishing me."

Releasing his tight hold, he chuckled and settled his lips on the top of her head. "Sorry."

"It's fine. Except when I need to breathe." She drew back and grinned at him. "But seriously, I should probably get home before Troy and Abed start to worry." Her smile grew. "Though, it's sweet that they do."

Jeff's arms tightened around her again, but not suffocating-ly so. "We all worry about you."

He heard the smile in her voice. "I know."

"For the record, why didn't you just tell me the call you were waiting for was from your dad?" It'd have saved them both so much time and him so much fucked-upedness.

"Mnf wnm menabmamsd."

"What?" He lifted her face from his chest.

"I said I was embarrassed. My parents kind of suck." She shrugged and pulled free as far as he'd let her. He kept a loose hold on her, irrationally afraid she'd run away from him. "I didn't want you to know... I mean, it's stupid now after everything, but." She sighed heavily, brushing her hair from her forehead when the wind kicked up. "My mom called me out of the blue the other day to tell me that my dad's in China."

She paused, wide-eyed, looking at him as if he was supposed to be as shocked as she was.

"Okay."

"Well!" She shrugged heavily. "My dad doesn't go to China. He doesn't go anywhere. But mom said he was in China and wanted to talk to me. She said it sounded important. They don't even really talk anymore since the divorce, but since I cut myself off from them, they go through each other to communicate with me."

"Sounds fun."

"Really fun. I'm the go-between when they argue, and they're tag-team guilt machines when I don't do what they want. I got tired of it and I'd planned this big conversation with my dad, in my head, where I told him and my mom to leave me the hell alone."

"Did I ruin it?" He gazed down the empty street, watching a piece of torn paper blow across the lanes. It still amazed him how dead Greendale could sometimes be. Dead enough that his and Annie's entire conversation and argument had gone un-observed, even on a city street in the middle of town.

"No. All it took was him demanding I move back in with them after you so elegantly told him about my personal life." She rolled her eyes at him, chin on his chest. "But they weren't there for me when I needed them, so... they can live without me until they decide they want to be a part of my life in more ways than forcing me to talk to them."

"Good for you."

"It felt good to get that off my chest."

"Yeah, it probably would've felt better if I hadn't nearly ruined it. I'm sorry, Annie. I shouldn't have grabbed the phone; it was beyond stupid."

"Yeah, it was."

He kissed her forehead, then the top of her head. "I'm really sorry."

Hugging him briefly, she rested her cheek against his chest. "You should be."

"And you shouldn't be embarrassed about your family. We all have fucked up families to some degree. At least your father wasn't a drunken, abusive, conman who left your mom when you were six."

"Yeah." Her arms tightened again.

"And he's not a creepy, racist Colonel Sanders. I hope?"

"No," she countered, smoothing her hand down his chest in a comforting manner. "He's just a racist, uncaring, emotionally uptight jerk who cares more about reputation than family, just like dear old mom."

"How did we ever manage to end up halfway sane?"

"We might not be. Or one of us might not be anyway."

He chuckled.

Annie sighed against his chest. "It felt really good standing up to him. I mean, when they decided I shouldn't go to rehab, I stopped talking to them, but I didn't let go completely. It's been a rough few years between us. They still demand that I do things their way, and they're always trying to manipulate me into doing them, like this call with mom being all cryptic and hinting that something might be wrong."

"My mom's pretty good with the guilt too. Why do you think I haven't told her I was disbarred and had to go back to school?"

"Because you avoid any and all forms of work and that would've made you make more of an effort than you like?"

"No," he mockingly growled. "Her guilt is a mighty, mighty thing."

"Parents suck."

"Pretty much." Jeff inhaled, enjoying the feeling of having her in his arms without guilt, without the need to hide his responses to her. Without interruption. They stayed wrapped around one another for another minute before Annie spoke.

"I really should go."

"No, you should come home with me. Annie, I don't want us to go our separate ways and then have to plan a time to talk to you in order to discuss our new relationship. I want to be in our new relationship." He placed a kiss on the top of her head, staring down the darkened street. Lips near her ear, he whispered huskily, "I want to be in you.

She shivered and he felt her drop a little in his embrace, like her knees had gone out. Her nails clawed into his back and he thought that maybe he was right; her legs had given out. "You know how to say all the right things," she whispered thickly.

He drew back, looking at her, observing her. Things were too tense between them, too filled with tension of so many kinds; sexual tension, anger, frustration, awkwardness. Seeking to lighten the mood, he let a leer slide up his lips. "Hey, sweetheart, wanna go back to my place and--"

"Don't ruin it," she laughed, swatting at his chest.

"--play--"

"If you say 'hide the salami' or 'hide the sausage' I'm leaving you alone to play with yourself tonight."

"Wanna watch?" His voice was just as thick as hers, though wickedness had crept in.

Her laughter died, smile frozen on her lips. "More than anything," she breathed and his cock twitched. "Do you wanna..." she trailed off, leaving him to finish the sentence in his head.

He held his hand out flat at waist level. "This? Is me getting my career back. This?" His other hand flew up, stretching all the way, three feet or more past his head. "Is how much I want to watch you play with yourself." He grabbed her, holding her close so she could feel him hardening. "And this is what you do to me."

"I wish I had hardening body parts as proof of how much I want you, but alas, I just... get so wet." Her eyes dropped to his lips, lashes fluttering against her pale cheeks before rising back to his eyes. They were heated and lust-filled.

He leaned down for a kiss, slow and--

She pulled away from him, putting some space between them.

"No-- we shouldn't... right now. Not before we deal with your jealousy. The-- you can't keep doing this, Jeff. Your jealousy is a problem. That phone call could easily have been from a college recruiter. Or it could've been my boss. Or, oh, I don't know... my dad?"

Anger poured off of him because he'd lost what he so badly wanted. Her warmth was gone, her soft body and flowery scent were too far away and not coming back soon enough. "Then stop flirting with your father. And if any recruiter or boss got that kind of response, then they'd have a lawsuit on their hands."

"You'd know."

"Evil lawyer joke, perfect zinger." He rolled his eyes and leaned against his car.

"Jeff... why do you keep doing it? Are you always this jealous with your--"

"No." He sighed, losing most of the anger, realizing that she was well within her rights to ask him what the hell was wrong with his insane jealous streak. Pushing away from his car, he took her by her arms, which were crossed over her body like she was cold. "Look. Annie. I don't know why I get so jealous with you. Probably because my actual feelings are involved and we're not just... all the other women I've slept with? That was just sex."

She gave him a hard look and he knew he wasn't going to like where the conversation went next.

"Really, Jeff? Britta? Slater? Come on, you were jealous of Vaughn when Britta was with him."

Granted. "Not like I was when you were with him. I--" He closed his eyes, sighing heavily before opening them again, feeling the little white lie in his stomach. It was true that he'd been jealous of Britta and Vaughn, very jealous, but that'd been before-- they hadn't... it was different for them then. And he actually had been more jealous of Vaughn and Annie, he just hadn't realized why at the time.

Not completely.

Annie didn't look convinced.

"You were so!"

"Not like with you," he insisted truthfully, shrugging. "Like Britta said, I didn't want his stupid, hippie hands anywhere near you. I thought up a billion scenarios for stopping him from touching you."

"Yeah, but that was because you thought Vaughn was too old for me."

"No."

"Because you and I had kissed--"

"No. Well, partially. Annie, I've only ever been like this about you."

She pointed at him as if he'd lied and she'd just caught him. "Pierce said you were unhappy after seeing Slater with another guy."

"True. But that was ego and pride more than--"

"Bullshit! Jeff, why can't you just admit you're a jealous guy?"

"Because I'm not! Except with you."

"Am I supposed to feel special? Flattered? Because I don't. Mostly, I just feel tired. If this is what it's going to be like all the time, being with you... then I don't think I can--"

"Annie, don't." He sounded more pleading than he liked, but he didn't care. "I'll stop. Short of you, I don't know, sleeping with someone else, I'll keep my mouth shut. I swear. Mum's the word from now on." The desperate tone of his voice seemed to have an impact on her, because she sighed and looked into his eyes. He felt like she was looking into his soul.

Hopefully, she'd like what she s--

She kissed him, standing on tiptoe, nothing touching him but her lips. "Three chances."

"Mmm." Threading his hands into her hair, he drew her closer, unable to keep from touching her any longer.

"I mean it, Jeff. Three strikes and I'm gone."

Lips warm and wet from hers, he nodded. "Okay. But, for the record, I'm fine with you getting jealous. I'm fact, I intend to flirt with the dean just to rile you up."

"Jeff!" She smacked him; he was beginning to love the way she hit him.

He was sick.

"Don't you dare!"

He smiled. "Jealous?"

"No. I just don't want you leading the dean on. It's mean."

"Maybe, but it'll be worth it.

"No, it won't. I'm never going to be jealous of the dean. Really. Never."

He snickered quietly.

"Go on, snicker all you want, but I'm not going to get jealous."

"Uh-huh."

Hugging him tighter, she breathed deep and relaxed her shoulders. "I guess we could go to your place. I'll just call Troy and Abed and tell them I'm staying with my cousin or something."

"Great. There's something there that I want you to see."

"It's your bed, isn't it?"

He fought a grin, but lost the battle. She rolled her eyes.

"Let's get my car first. I'll need it to go home and change in the morning. And I have Bio notes in it."

"You're planning on studying?" he asked incredulously, pulling back to stare at her. "I'm pretty sure you're going to be busy. Very busy. All night."

She snorted, heading around the car to the passenger side. "Got a lot of confidence in your prowess, don't you?"

"A lot," he agreed.

-
Chapter 5