Chapter Text
"The exam was easier than I thought." Britta said as they made their way towards the Ice-Cream Extravaganza.
"I know! I wish I knew it wasn't going to be so hard. I spent way too much time on the phylums last week." Annie replied.
"Told you. We could've finished rewatching Cougar Town by now." Abed said beside her. He looked normal but Annie could tell he was disappointed.
"Awww Abed, we can finish season 2 tomorrow and then start on season 3. How about it?" She leaned her head on his chest as they continued to walk.
"Cool. Cool, cool, cool." The hand on her shoulder gave a small squeeze and Abed had a tiny smile on his face.
"Oh come on are you guys going to seriously start doing that?" Jeff exclaimed, gesturing to Abed's hand on her shoulder and her arm wrapped around his waist.
"What do you mean?" Annie asked.
"Yes Jeff what do you mean?" Britta repeated with a raised eyebrow.
"Are you two seriously going to start doing P.D.A.s?"
"I don't know Jeff, why can't they? Annie is an independent woman and she has every right to her own body and what she does with it!" Britta rebuttled with her hands clenching.
"Even sex in public?" Jeff raised a challenging brow at Britta while the rest of the group looked on.
"Yes! Because they're Americans. They're free to do whatever the hell they want." Britta poked a finger on Jeff's chest, their faces inches apart. They both fume.
"You're such a hypocrite Jeff." Annie intervened, "You don't see us complaining when you two defiled the study room table." The others nodded their heads murmuring. "Yeah." "It's true."
"Well yes but... But... Okay fine." Jeff's shoulders dropped. "But I'm still going to complain about the P.D.A. thing going on." Jeff added, sounding like a protective parent.
Annie merely rolled her eyes with a huff while Abed replied with a pointed look, "To be fair Jeff we've been doing this for months and you never complained before."
"No way you guys haven't been doing this for months we would've--" Jeff abruptly stopped, his face thoughtful while Abed raised an eyebrow.
"Anyway you'll all understand once you've seen the getting together montage later."
"I don't know about you guys but I want me some vanilla ice cream with extra sprinkles." Shirley said and walked quickly to fall in line for the ice cream, the others stared at each other before they quickly followed suit.
"Jeffrey! I'm glad you could make it!" The Dean exclaimed, running over in a Flamenco outfit. "I've hope everyone is having fun." He touched Jeff lightly on the shoulder.
"They better. We decorated all this."
The Dean rolled his eyes and tsked, "Yeah well, nobody's saying no to free ice cream." He turned and saw the rest of the study group.
"And what happened to you?" The Dean asked Abed while leaning forward towards Jeff, trying to tempt him with his non-existent cleavage.
"My girlfriend is a firecracker." Abed said and tugged Annie flush against his chest.
The Dean placed his hands on his hips, "Ohh! Well that's exciting, who is it?"
The study group looked at the Dean with mixed expressions of wonder and concern. Abed merely shrugged and gave a small kiss to Annie's temple before relaxing his hold.
The Dean tilted his head and raised an eyebrow at the group. "Is nobody going to tell me? Ugh fine. Nobody tells me anything." He walked off in a sour mood.
Britta turned abruptly towards the group. "Ok. What was that?"
"Yeah you guys were flirting right in front of him and everything." Troy agreed and looked at the couple only to flinch back at the pointed stares they both gave him.
"Alright geez, calm down." Troy patted his chest.
"About time." Leonard said off the side while eating his ice cream on a bench.
"What are you talking about Leonard?" Jeff heaved a deep breath at having to talk to Leonard.
"They've been going at it for ages. I'm fed up with all the touching they do."
"Shut up Leonard." Annie retorted while Abed tilted his head towards them. "He's the only one that noticed right from the start.
"Really?" Jeff asked looking mildly insulted.
"Noticed what?" Pierce asked while looking at everybody.
Annie just shook her head and asked Abed what ice cream he wanted to get.
"I'm hoping they have banana split ice cream, whipped cream and pop rocks."
"The perfect meal." Troy nodded and they do their signature handshake.
"Abed can you ride with me back to your apartment?" Jeff appeared and grabbed his shoulder. They've already eaten their ice cream and were preparing to go watch the montage in the apartment.
Abed looked at him for a second and Jeff added. "Alone."
Abed knew he wanted to talk about the relationship he has with their youngest study group member, in hindsight Abed predicted this would happen so he nodded and went to find Annie.
She was talking to Britta when he found her. Unbidden a small smile formed on his face at the sight of her.
He's lucky. Very lucky. Like he said to Annie he predicted he'd never marry, and he still holds that thought high over his head. Abed doesn't tell her this. It's not that Abed believes it would actually happen, that they break up somehow, but he acknowledges that there is a chance they could.
Abed tries not to think about it too much, he feels like he might not make it if they do. He's not strong enough for that.
"Abed! You ready to go?" She beams at him and it takes him a second to process the question.
"Yes but Jeff wanted to talk with me alone."
Annie and Britta both frowned at the statement. "You don't have to do that Abed." Britta said and he shrugged, "I know. But I think he's going to do a shovel talk. I didn't think I'd get one before so I'm pretty excited for it."
Annie still looked concerned. "It'll be fine Annie." He said.
"Alright, but tell me if he does anything funny." Annie conceded and Abed got confused, why would Jeff try to make him laugh during a shovel talk. Abed just nodded anyway and walked back to Jeff's car.
"Let's go?" Jeff asked and slipped inside his car.
Abed sat in the front seat, any man to man talk deserved an equal seating arrangement.
Jeff started the car and they both stared at the road for a few minutes. Abed was just waiting for Jeff to speak.
"How long have you been attracted to Annie?" Jeff finally breaks the silence.
"From the first day, she's definitely part of the top most beautiful women on campus Jeff."
"Not like that but..." Jeff tried to find the right words. "... considered her as someone you wanted, romantically."
Abed pondered for a few moments, "I don't know."
Jeff gives him a glance before turning his eyes back on the road. Abed looked down with his brows furrowed. "It just happened. One day Annie just became... More."
"And when did that day happen?" Jeff asked.
"Sometime after we kissed during paintball."
Jeff abruptly stepped on his breaks and Abed felt the force throwing him forward, his breath left him and only the seatbelt preventing him from a head on collision with the windshield.
"You kissed during paintball?!" Jeff bellowed in shock. "Which one?!"
Abed stretched his neck to work out the kinks before replying, "The second one, against City College."
"How!"
"I was Han Solo and she was Leia."
Jeff shook his head in disbelief. "So, you two kissed while you were playing a character?"
"Pretty much yeah."
"And then after that you started viewing her as someone you'd be romantically involved?" Jeff asked with his forehead furrowed.
"No. I cut off any feelings that might've developed from both ends right from the start. Annie, on the other hand, started getting closer to me and we developed our friendship afterwards." Abed explained and looked over at Jeff, "You'll see in the montage."
Jeff contemplated for a few seconds before slowly easing his car to move again. They sat in silence as they reached the apartment.
When the car stopped Abed started to unclasp his seatbelt. "Abed." Jeff said and he paused, Abed let the seatbelt zip into place and sat back to look at Jeff.
Jeff looked at his eyes searchingly, "You're really serious about her, aren't you?" He asked in a quiet tone.
Abed didn't hesitate to reply, "I do, very much." He looked out the windshield. "We went through some stuff on our own. And I... I don't think I'll make it if I lose her." Abed looked down before looking back at Jeff, his face serious.
Jeff let out a deep sigh and ran a hand down his face, "I care about you. Both of you. And I don't want either of you to get hurt."
Abed smiled and clasped Jeff's shoulder, "We will but we'll handle it. Thanks Jeff, you're very important to the both of us."
"Now let's go see a montage." Abed grinned and Jeff mirrored with his own as they both stumbled out of the car and into the apartment building.
Abed found Annie pacing outside the hall nervously. She was worrying her lip until she caught sight of them, she visibly relaxed in relief and happily skipped towards him.
He opened his arms and she melted into his embrace. Her sweet scent of vanilla and marshmallows waffed over him as he buried his face in her hair.
"There you guys are. You two were taking a long time we--"
Bzzz
"--we ordered pizza. Let me go get it." She giggled and slipped past him to retrieve the pizza.
Abed smiled at her retreating form before ushering Jeff into the apartment. The study group were around the dining table speaking in low tones.
"Jeff!" Britta exclaimed. "Oh you guys were sure taking your sweet time to get here."
"Yeah well we had a lot to talk about."
Abed slipped into the blanket fort and silently changed into his favorite set of green pyjamas and then went to work into setting up the TV. Troy was already done preparing the popcorn and started setting up the dining chairs around the TV to fit seven people.
"Pizza!" Annie shouted by the door and they all cheered.
"Alright let's watch this bad boy." Abed murmured to himself and sat in his favorite chair. Annie placed the pizza on the coffee table and they all reached for a slice.
Annie perched on the arm of his chair with a pizza in one hand. She sat to his right so that the others would have a better view of the TV. Her arm slipped around his shoulder and he relaxed against her hold.
"I can't wait to see it." Annie said with excitement and guided her pizza to his lips and he took a bite.
They both sat in comfortable silence sharing the slice between them as the others settled into their chairs. Abed looked around and his chest felt warm at the sight of all of the study group members sitting down to watch on of his works.
"Ready?" He asked and they murmured in agreement as he unpaused the video.
I don't know when it started, the growing attraction to Abed.
The narration starts with Annie's voice. The scene showed a clip of Annie looking at Abed from across the study room table. Her blushing cheek on her palm, and she was trying but failing to keep her lips from smiling fondly at him. Abed wasn't doing anything in the scene, they were all listening to Pierce monologue about his summer in Bora Bora.
Abed started with this clip because it wasn't from their montage shoots, this was from one of his older projects, even before their fateful paintball incident. He remembered coming across this clip for the first time and getting confused. Abed knew what that look meant but he didn't want to believe it could be real.
So he dismissed it.
But for some reason he kept going back to that clip, over and over again, he'd watch her eyes go soft and her lips pull back in a smile while watching him. Abed.
This was when he started to notice her.
Maybe it was the Don Draper impression that first got my attention?
Scene turned to a reenactment of the Don Draper incident. The naked want on Annie's face was clear as day. He slowed down the clip of their face inching together so that he'd have more seconds before he had to pull away. The pure disappointment on her face was real.
She had practically jumped him after the scene ended and they made out on the cold classroom floor. Not included in this version of the montage.
Or maybe it was the Han Solo and Leia kiss under a gushing spray of orange paint.
Scene changed to the reenactment of their first kiss. Their second kiss was exactly how he'd imagine it to be, sans the paint, but with all the pent-up emotions gushing forth it was magical. Like Annie, Abed didn't want the kiss to ever end, but the bitter taste of the paint was starting to bother him.
I could still remember his lips that were both soft but firm, the way his tongue mapped the insides of my mouth and the electrifying sensation spreading through my entire body like I've been struck by lighting.
"Okay. Did you really need to narrate all that?" Shirley said from somewhere behind them.
"Well Shirley, I didn't know we were going to show this to you guys." Annie replied and after many months spent studying sarcasm Abed could tell she was being sarcastic.
Abed grabbed Annie's hand, the next couple of scenes will be his voice over. He wondered if she'll react like he predicted she would. Abed's eyes traced the way the orange paint dripped down her face.
I did it on purpose.
Annie tensed next to him as on screen Abed pulled away.
I wanted to be Han Solo for many reasons. One of which was to experience the rogue bad boy archetype.
The Abed on screen smirked and wiped away the paint on her cheek.
I also wanted a reason to tease her again like Don Draper. To pursue her like I've always wanted to.
Annie gasped and her hand tightened against his.
Maybe right from the start I've always liked her. But I knew someone like me will never get to have her.
"Oh." Abed heard Annie and Shirley making a sad noise at the voice over. Cue scenes of Annie talking with Troy, walking with Jeff, and unsteady shots of Annie with Vauhn.
When Annie tried to continue the moment in paintball, I had to stop it, for my own sake more than hers, or else things will change and I wouldn't be able to walk away.
But something did change... I asked her to move in with us.
Video taken from Twitter documenting Annie's move into their apartment, their antics in her old apartment and subsequent redecorating of Troy and Abed's room into Annie's room as they moved into the blanket fort.
Something is different with Annie. I didn't think much of it at the time, but the way she acted towards me had changed.
Scenes of Annie finding reasons to sit next to Abed in the cafeteria, in class, or in their apartment. She would lean over his personal space many times over the course of a single day.
I liked it. I didn't grow up with much human interaction, and I craved these moments more and more.
On screen Annie cries over The Notebook and Abed brushing her tears away. Annie falling asleep while watching movies with Abed, he lifts her up in his arms and putting her to bed. It happens again and again. A few scenes show them both falling asleep wrapped around each other in the blanket fort.
I was addicted to his smell. It calmed me, gave me comfort. I started looking for it whenever I'm upset.
"Huh. So it really has been going on for months." Britta said from behind Troy.
"Told you." Abed replied with a brief look.
I started to notice my shirts going missing. I thought the landlord was stealing it.
On screen Annie skuttled into her room holding an old graphic tee. She clutches it against her chest and up to her face.
"Not gonna lie that's kinda creepy Annie." Troy commented and Annie busied herself with another slice of pizza to hide her blush.
Scenes of Annie wearing Abed's shirt to bed and even around the apartment when no one was around.
In the months she was with us, we'd become closer.
On the screen Troy, Annie and Abed act out scenes from Inspector Spacetime inside the Dreamatorium.
"That's what you guys do in there?" Jeff asked in disbelief but they ignored it. The Dreamatorium is an important place for the three of them.
They take turns making meals in the tiny kitchen like a choreographed dance squeezing in and around each other to get the things they needed.
The three staying up well into the night and into the next morning watching Lord of The Rings. Doing homework together and even playing Dungeons and Dragons with Neil.
I may not have the same nostalgia, but I will always cherish the memories we made in front of the screen
Abed could hear Troy sniffling as he burst into tears. Abed turned and caught Britta giving Troy a hug as he cries into his hand.
Jeff had a peculiar look on his face. No one else knows other than the people who live in apartment 303 how much Annie has integrated herself into their small world of TV and make-believe.
On screen snippets from his documentary project about an average student in Greendale played.
"Oh my God it's on fire." Britta said with her mouth hanging open at the storage closet engulfed in flames.
"Faulty wiring." Annie said, grabbing a handful of popcorn as the duo on screen find ways to extinguish the flames.
"There's an escape tunnel?!" Troy exclaimed. "That's so cool!"
Abed smiled as scenes of them unconsciously feeding each other appear, Annie holds a popcorn to his mouth and he accepts just as the Abed on screen feeds a tired Annie a piece of french fry in the cafeteria.
It hasn't all been well.
A few of the scenes involved the study group and they remained oblivious as Annie takes care of a nearly catatonic Abed when he found out there were reshoots in Cougar Town.
Annie dragging him away and whispering comforting words as she slowly rocks him back to reality.
The scenes shifting through clips of Annie cupping his face, petting his hair, rocking him against her chest appear, sometimes with Troy alongside them and sometimes without. They're all for a multitude of different reasons and Abed almost couldn't get through editing the parts without Annie's help. Daylight Savings still giving him the chills when he thinks about it.
On screen Annie bursting into tears after her brother called to cancel their date, Abed pulling her on to his lap as she hiccups through her heavy sobs.
Annie and Abed ignoring each other after he accidentally destroys her diorama, then the subsequent montage of them spending the whole night making a new one.
Then a reenactment of the Dreamatorium incident.
"What the hell..." Jeff pointed at the screen, "Why am I in the middle of this?"
I thought she was in love with Jeff, but apparently not.
The group watched in disbelief as Annie explained she wasn't in love with Jeff, just the thought of being loved, and they made a face of understanding once Annie laid out what love meant to her.
"Knowing Abed he probably didn't pick up on the nuances." Britta dryly said to Jeff who nodded in solemn agreement.
Pierce was starting to snore, he had fallen asleep somewhere at the beginning and no one bothered to wake him up.
Annie tightened her arms around him when on screen Abed finally confessed to liking her. "Love you." She whispered against his ear and he smiled.
We weren't always the best roommates.
The group watched Troy and Abed destroying her room trying to film a pillow fight, Annie cleaning up unfinished food and accidentally breaking his things. Abed rearranging her stuff and arguing over what to eat for dinner.
"You guys went through a lot of stuff in this apartment huh?" Jeff asked.
"In all likelihood we probably wouldn't have gotten together if Annie didn't move in." Abed replied.
Change is pretty scary, but Annie taught me it wasn't as bad as I thought.
The trio successfully pull off the pillow fight scene sans the honey, the bedroom is absolutely covered in feathers but the trio cackled loudly as they fell off the bed and onto the floor.
Abed putting away his unfinished food in a container for later instead of leaving it out on the counter.
Annie and Abed agreeing to a schedule for buttered noodle nights and Abed putting things back to order after he's done with his projects.
"Wow. You guys have a better and healthier relationship than I do with the last ten guys I've dated." Britta said with her eyebrows raised.
"I agree Brit-ta. I wasn't so sure at first but I think this relationship is doing you both wonders." Shirley added as on screen Abed tried to kiss Annie in public but got interrupted by Troy.
"Troy you've been there for almost all of this. How come you didn't know they were together?" Jeff asked waving his hand at the TV.
"It's true. We stopped hiding it from Troy earlier on and thought we had his approval when he didn't say anything." Abed said.
Abed and Annie were holding hands as they walked the halls. Fondly feeding each other food in the cafeteria and Annie even started wearing his cardigans to school.
"Why are you guys pointing at me when they do that at school?!" Troy gestured towards the screen as Annie side-hugged Abed in front of Jeff.
Then scenes of Britta talking to Annie who had Abed's arm around her shoulder. Pierce asking the duo directions to the cafeteria for the fifth time while they held hands.
Shirley passing by the couple having a picnic against a tree on the campus grounds. Annie was doing the required reading for biology while sitting between Abed's legs. He had his chin resting on her shoulder with his arms around her waist as he studied the textbook alongside her.
They've started doing outdoor study sessions a few months ago and it was surprisingly doing wonders for their grades.
Britta started to mumble, "I guess... I guess we were too caught up in our own lives that we hadn't noticed something so obvious right in front of us."
The group watched as the two had a date in Sbarro.
"In the movie I would have never gotten a chance with you Annie. I'd maybe get a fleeting kiss in a best case scenario before you run after the leading man. I'm a side character Annie, and yet here we are."
"You make me so happy Annie, and I hope I can make you happy too."
"Aww." Someone let out as a sigh and Troy started sniffling again.
"You do Abed, so much, you're the first person I run to when I get upset. The first person that comes to mind when I succeed."
Abed dragged Annie closer until she was sprawled on his lap, moving her against his chest as his favorite part in the montage played.
"I love the way you smile, I love the way you express yourself, I love the way you act and I love your unending passion for the things you enjoy. You taught me how to be myself Abed, and I'm so grateful to have met you."
"I love you Abed."
"I love you too Annie."
The credits rolled and everyone was silent save for a few runny noses.
Abed turned to the group, "I have another unfinished version but that one is for our eyes only and none of you will ever see that one. Ever."
Troy had a confused look on his face but Britta quickly shook her head when he started to speak.
"Well. I'm happy for you guys." Jeff gave a smile. "I wasn't so sure at first but now I see you both have this figured out already."
He paused and looked at everyone. "And, I realize we haven't been good friends to you both. Friends aren't supposed to be blind to whatever is happening. We should've seen this right from the start, and we didn't. Like Britta said we have been too caught up in ourselves to notice what's happening right in front of us."
"Yeah. I'm happy we even got to see this montage, I can't believe I missed it." Troy agreed with a put-upon look on his face.
"It's okay Troy." Abed said and raised his hands for their signature best friend handshake.
By the time the group left it was already nearing midnight. They woke up Pierce and Troy retired to the blanket fort.
Annie invited Abed to stay with her for the night in her bedroom, he waggled his eyebrows and she laughed.
"I'm glad they're all okay with us together." Annie said while changing into her night clothes.
"I predicted they would be. We're their friends." Abed said while reclined against the pillows and enjoying the view.
"I guess I wasn't sure how they would accept us." Annie smiled as she slipped into her bed and into his open arms. Nuzzling into his shoulder she asked, "Did we water the yams today?"
He buried his face into her hair and shrugged, "I don't know."
She yawned, "We'll check tomorrow if it bloomed." Annie didn't hear his response but could hear his steady breathing, she smiled and slowly drifted off to sleep.
Abed blinked his eyes open. Staring down at her he still couldn't believe they got together, even with the montage it felt like a dream.
He pressed his lips on the crown of her hair before relaxing back. "I love you Annie."