Chapter Text
It wasn’t the best summer for Jeff Winger. He was forced to retake biology after the sudden absence of Professor Kane as their teacher. But he made it all the way through and actually managed to study and prepare for their final. Retaking biology brought the group closer together so they ended up hanging out almost every day at Greendale and some days out of Greendale.
Sometimes, they’d have dinner at Troy, Annie, and Abed’s apartment. Sometimes, they’d have barbecues with Shirley and her family. They even sometimes had dinner at Pierce’s house, which was surprisingly enjoyable.
And now, a week from the start of their senior year at Greendale, Jeff was lying across his couch mindlessly scrolling through the endless cable channels. He seemed to be scrolling forever until he stopped on an episode of M.A.S.H. Jeff was chuckling at one of Hawkeye’s stories to Radar when a knock occurred at the door. He certainly wasn’t expecting anyone on a random Monday night, but he managed to get himself up and walk towards the door.
He opened it to find Britta, a bottle of wine in hand. She waltzed into the apartment and Jeff mumbled “sure, come on in.”
Britta ignored him and opened up the bottle on his kitchen counter. She reached into a cupboard, grabbing two glasses, and walked back towards the counter.
“What are you doing here?” Jeff asked Britta as she began to pour two glasses.
“We’re gonna talk, whether you like it or not.”
“What is there to talk about?”
“You and Annie.” She replied bluntly.
“Britta, there is no me and-” Jeff started, before being cut off.
“Oh give it a rest, will you? You can lie to yourself, but you can’t lie to me.”
“I don’t want to do this right now.” He responded, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Jeff Winger doesn’t want to talk about his feelings? Shocker!” She said, waving her hands in the air.
“There are no feelings to talk about.” He said.
Obviously, that wasn’t true. Jeff had been battling his feelings with Annie for over two years now, unable to bring himself to a reasonable conclusion. There were always two conflicting parts of him. One telling him that he was an old, disgusting pervert and that men shouldn't pursue women 12 years younger than them. The other telling him that love doesn’t revolve around age. And shit, did he just say love? Luckily, he was snapped out of his thoughts by Britta scoffing.
“Yeah, sure there aren’t Jeff.” Britta laughed. “You two staring at each other all day is just platonic, right?”
“Why are we talking about this? Why do you even care?” Jeff said, not answering Britta’s question.
“Quit being so deflective Jeff, you can’t deny things forever. Some day, Annie’s gonna go off and marry a prince and you’ll be left thinking ‘what if’.”
“Just answer my question,” Jeff replied.
“Answer mine.” Britta countered, raising an eyebrow.
“Okay, fine. I have some feelings for Annie.” Britta pumped her fist and began to dance around the room.
“Score for Britta! I win!” She screamed, continue to dance randomly.
“Britta, you’re not on Dancing with the Stars and you’re not a therapist.” She frowned and walked back to sit down next to him, downing her second glass of wine.
“So…..what are you gonna do?” She asked, looking towards him.
“I’m not gonna do anything because there’s no need to do anything.” He replied a little too quickly, resulting in a raised eyebrow from Britta.
“Let me get this straight.” She said. Jeff rolled his eyes and prepared for yet another lecture. “You have feelings for her and she has feelings for you and you’re gonna do nothing?”
“She has feelings for me?” Jeff inquired, instantly realizing how much like a 13-year-old girl who found out her crush liked her he sounded. He was becoming weak. What was Annie doing to him? And why did he like it?
“Yes, you idiot. A woman has feelings for Jeff Winger, so surprised?”
“Whatever, I don’t care.” He lied.
Britta rolled her eyes and snorted a little at him. “Sure you don’t.” She giggled again and began to pour herself another glass of wine. However, before she could, Jeff stopped her.
“You’ve had enough Britta, I’m already gonna have to drive you home.” He stated, annoyed.
“Fine.” She answered, crossing her arms over her chest. She then pointed at Jeff and spoke again. “But we’re not done with you, mister. Why don’t you want to admit anything?”
“There’s nothing to admit.” He grumbled, boiling with anger.
“Jeff, when are you gonna stop being a Grinch and let people in?”
“I’m not a grinch.” He grumbled again.
“People can’t help you if you keep closing yourself off.”
“I don’t need to be helped!” He yelled.
“Sure Jeff, you’re an ignorant jag who can’t admit his feelings and uses sarcastic quips to get away from serious things, but you don’t need help at all.” She replied sarcastically.
Jeff heavily breathed out and spoke again, lowering his voice this time. “Even if I needed help, which I don’t.” He clarified. “Why would I come to you?”
“Because I’m your friend and I, you know, care about you and stuff.” Britta countered, looking away.
“Why do you care about setting me up with Annie?” He asked.
“I’ll admit, I think Annie deserves better than you. Like way better. Like waaaay better.” Britta said, laughing.
“I get it, Britta.”
“Do you?” She responded. “I don’t know what Annie sees in you, but she sees something. What I do know, is that you two make each other happy and I can’t get in the way of that. Annie somehow gets you, she’s right for you, Jeff. But you can’t keep denying it, she’s not gonna be waiting forever.”
He considered what she had said. Annie did get him. For some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to disappoint her. Sure, he could blame it on her big, doe eyes. But he knew it was more than that. Age was definitely an issue but in the moments they shared together, the long looks and stolen glances, all he could think about was her. Age didn’t even seem to matter in what he felt for her.
And Britta was right, she wouldn’t be waiting forever. He’d already denied her and played with her feelings enough, maybe it was time he actually did something.
“Fine Britta, you win. Now let me drive you home.” Britta began to wave her hands in the air again but Jeff motioned for her to stop by raising his hand. “And if you say anything about you winning or therapizing me, I will leave you on the side of the highway.”
She quickly nodded, grabbed her purse, and walked to the door. Jeff would never admit it, but Britta actually helped him a lot.
***
Jeff thought about his conversation with Britta way more than he’d like to say he had. Her words constantly resounded in his head. “She’s not gonna be waiting forever”. Shockingly, Britta was right. And that’s what messed Jeff up. If even Britta saw how idiotic he was being, he should be able to as well.
So he devised himself a plan. He couldn’t deny himself any longer, he wanted to tell her. He needed to tell her.
He’d wait until the back to school party with the study group at Shirley’s house. When they finished dinner, he’d pull her aside and tell her how he felt. That he couldn’t lie to her or himself any longer. Even if she’d say no, it wouldn’t be fair if he didn’t tell her.
So Jeff thought about what he’d say, he had a whole Winger Speech planned. He’d say something generic about wanting to be with her. How she was so beautiful, smart, driven and so much more.
But with just a couple days until the party, Jeff concluded that he didn’t want to do something scripted that he had planned out. Although all those things were true, he didn’t want to have to convince himself of that through some highly organized and thought out speech. He needed to just be honest, to her and himself.
Now, just a few hours before the party, Jeff was freaking out. He nervously paced back and forth through his apartment, going to the bathroom every so often to make sure his hair was perfect. He put on his favorite blue shirt and jeans, checked his hair one last time, and walked out the door.
It wasn’t a big deal. He’d tell her and what would happen, would happen. Then why was he so nervous? He’d used his words many times before to get people out of life-changing charges yet he was still nervous about telling a petite brunette about some dumb feelings.
He was still nervous as he got on the road to head to Shirley’s house. He kept telling himself it didn’t matter, but it did. For most women, Jeff would buy them a drink, tell her a joke or two, talk about his job as a fancy lawyer, and take her home. But Annie Edison was different. He didn’t want to sweet-talk her into his bed, he wanted to genuinely tell her how he felt. He cared about her more than any other woman ever.
He was still nervous as he arrived at Shirley’s house and began to walk to the door. He was anxiously swinging his keys around his finger as we went and knocked on the door. He heard some rustling behind the door before the door opened. Annie stood in the frame and his heart stopped.
He mentally scolded himself for being so whipped and averted his eyes from her gaze. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, seeing her brow furrow. She cleared her throat. “Uh, come on in.” She gestured inside for him to enter.
He cleared his throat as well and walked inside. Instantly, he smelled the scent of pizza in the direction of the kitchen. He walked towards it, away from Annie, and saw Shirley taking the pizza out of the oven. Her eyes brightened when she saw him.
“Oh Jeffrey, you made it!” She said excitedly, putting the pizza down on the table to go and hug Jeff. Jeff pulled into the hug. Shirley had become less like a mother figure and more like one of his best friends. They were oddly similar and that’s what made them so close.
He pulled back and smelled the pizza. It was horrible, but Jeff learned that baking one of the things that kept Shirey sane so he went along with it. “Mmm smells delicious.” He lied. Shirley seemed to smile as she perked up and began to set the table. Jeff walked to the den and noticed the study group, Andre, and Shirley’s kids strayed across the room.
He heard a few “Hey Jeff”s and “Jeff’s here”s as he sat down on the open space on the couch next to Abed. He was intently focused on the episode when Shirley called everyone in saying it was ready. Andre, Elijah, Jordan, and Ben went to sit outside on the deck while the study group sat at the table inside.
They filed into their typical seats as they dug into the homemade pizza. It tasted just like it smelled, but it seemed the other study group members didn’t want to hurt Shirley’s feelings either. They all made faces of pretending enjoyment except for Pierce.
“This tastes horrible!” He shouted, spitting his food back onto the plate.
“Pierce!” Annie shouted, shooting a look of disapproval in Pierce’s direction.
“What? It does!” He replied.
“That’s o-kay, not everyone has to like my food,” Shirley said a fake smile across her face.
“Oh thank god,” Troy spoke up, also spitting his food on his plate.
“Does anyone like my pizza?” Shirley asked with anger boiling in her voice. The remaining group members looked around the table at each other. Simultaneously, they smiled at Shirley awkwardly.
“Abed, you’re like a robot, do you like my pizza?” Shirley asked. She was being highly passive-aggressive, a sign of her bottling of a ton of rage.
Abed raised a finger and answered. “Well, robots don’t have taste buds. But, as a neutral voice and pizza advocate, this is terrible.” He said bluntly.
Shirley frowned before speaking again. “Whoever doesn’t want to eat my pizza, doesn’t have to. But if you don’t eat it, just know that you’re throwing hours of work from a hardworking mother away.” She said passive-aggressively.
The rest of the dinner went by fairly awkwardly. Pierce, Troy, and Abed sat there too scared to ask to look through Shirley’s fridge for more food while Jeff, Annie, and Britta tried to swallow Shirley’s dinner. All The While, Shirley was looking expectantly at everyone.
After dinner, everyone filed into the den to watch shows on Shirley’s TV. Abed scrolled through the channels for a while before finally stopping on an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Picard had just gone missing during an archaeological trip on an unknown planet when Shirley asked the group a question.
“So how were your summers?” She asked. “You know, besides retaking biology.”
Britta instantly spoke up, as if she’d been waiting to say it. “I actually went to South America to protest deforestation and the dehabitation of animals in rainforests. Did you guys know that-.” Britta was cut off by a sea of groans and pillows thrown her way. She pouted and returned to watching the television.
“Actually, Abed and I have an announcement,” Troy stated.
“You’re pregnant?” Pierce asked, laughing to himself. Everyone glared at him. “What? It’s funny, they’re gay and they said they have an announcement.” The group continued to glare.
“Anyways, Abed and I are starting our own film-making club for the school,” Troy said.
“Oh, that’s nice!” Shirley replied.
The group bantered about the club for a while before Annie asked Jeff what he did over the summer. Jeff froze and his heart stopped again.
“Uh, you know. Just hung out.” He managed to get out, choking on his words.
“Go to any bars, Jeff? Pick up any women?” Britta asked, raising an eyebrow.
“No,” Jeff responded, annoyed by the conversation. He knew what Britta was getting at and wanted her to cut it out. But she persisted.
“Jeff Winger not sleeping with women? Why could that be?” Britta asked knowingly. Jeff wanted to throw the pillow at her but he knew the group, especially Abed, would catch that something was going on. He surveyed the looks of the other members of the group. Shirley was looking at him sternly, probably for committing ungodly sins. Abed had an eyebrow raised, most likely analyzing Jeff’s every expression. Pierce had dozed off in the corner, a bit of drool spilling down his chin. Troy was just watching Levar Burton in awe on the TV. And Annie looked around the room, clearly uncomfortable.
“Doesn’t matter.” He mumbled. “What did you do this summer, Shirley?” Jeff asked, changing the conversation. Britta glared at him, but the conversation continued around them about Shirley’s boys’ day camp and how she sometimes worked as a counselor.
“How about you Annie, what did you do this summer?” Troy asked. Annie beamed at Troy’s question.
“Well, I went to this summer program for students aspiring to work in health management. And we did a bunch of dioramas, and got to meet with different advisors about roles we could potentially take nearby!” She said cheerily.
“Any boys?” Britta asked teasingly. Annie blushed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Before she could respond, Andre and the boys came back in.
“Ice cream time!” He shouted. Shirley’s boys and Troy and Abed ran to the kitchen behind Andre leaving Annie, Jeff, Britta, Shirley, and a sleeping Pierce. Jeff walked over to pierce and slapped him on the knees a few times.
“Eartha Kitt!” Pierce yelled while stirring. He looked around seeing the confused looks on his friends' faces. “I’m sorry, I was just having a very detailed sex dream where-”
“Okay!” Jeff shouted, cutting off Pierce. The group walked over to the kitchen, greeted by Troy, Abed, and Shirley’s boys fighting over a tub of vanilla/strawberry/chocolate ice cream.
“I want chocolate!” Troy shouted, nearing tears. “It’s not fair!” He stormed off, wiping his sleeve over his eyes.
Jeff fought back a chuckle and Annie slapped him on the arm. Jeff looked meaningfully at Annie and she glanced back. He didn’t know how long they stayed like that before Britta cleared her throat and they both looked away awkwardly.
“Jeff, a word?” Jeff nodded and Annie walked away keeping her head down. He thought he saw a little blush across the side of her cheeks, but he killed the thought when Britta took his arm and dragged him out of the room.
“You can’t keep doing this Jeff.” She said, glaring at him.
“Doing what?” Jeff said, playing dumb.
“Come on, you can’t keep pushing this away. Especially after our conversation, it's not fair to her.” Britta responded.
He sighed heavily, looking around everywhere but Britta’s eyes. “Fine, I’ll tell her. Just please, I want to do it at the right time.”
“Okay, but if you don’t tell her, I will. And then she’ll see how much of a coward you are. Just do it, Jeff.” She flipped her hair away and strutted out of the room. Somehow, he’d managed to let Britta win.
He sighed again and walked back to the kitchen. Everyone had cups of ice cream and were digging into them, even Troy who had managed to get the chocolate he’d wanted.
Annie pointed a cup with a scoop of Vanilla ice cream towards him. “Want some?” She asked, eyes wide as ever. It was almost impossible to reject her but he didn’t want a hard day at the gym tomorrow, especially with whatever would happen tonight.
“No thanks, Annie. I need to keep this.” He said, gesturing towards his body. She rolled her eyes and suppressed a giggle.
“Come on Jeff. One scoop couldn’t hurt.” She gave him her doe eyes and he just couldn’t say no. Annie could probably get him to kill someone with just her eyes. He wasn’t lying a few years ago, she became dangerous.
He reluctantly took the ice cream and began to dig into it. He’d need another day at the gym but it actually tasted really good. Maybe he should loosen up and eat more junk. Oh god, first Annie got him to write in a stupid journal and now he was eating junk food.
When Jeff finished his ice cream, he washed the cup in the sink and walked back to the living room where Troy, Abed, and Britta were watching more Star Trek. Jeff leaned back in the recliner and zoned out as Troy talked about not being able to disappoint Levar over the TV while Abed was arguing with Britta about whether Kirk or Picard was the better captain.
The rest of the group slowly filed back in and they fell into a comfortable silence watching TV. It was a nice moment. Pierce wasn’t being racist, Britta wasn’t complaining about the machine, and Abed wasn’t making any obnoxious references. They sat in that comfortable silence for what was probably hours until they heard a knock at the door.
“Who’s gonna get it?” Jeff grumbled, noticing how everyone was probably too lazy to get it. The group all shot their fingers to lay at the tip of their noses, except for Annie. She frowned but got up and began to walk slowly towards the door.
Jeff diverted back his attention to the TV before he heard some giggling from the front door. He slowly got up as well and started towards the front door. As he got closer, he saw Annie laughing and twirling her hair. Confused, he walked closer and closer. Finally, he arrived at the door and saw a guy with wavy, dirty blonde hair probably a half foot smaller than him.
Nervously, he asked, "Who’s this?”
She looked between the two men. “Oh Jeff, this is Daniel.” She said. “My boyfriend.”