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The adventure had begun. The Greendale crew were on the road in Elroy's RV. Troy's ship crashed on a rocky coast and now he's depending on them to pick him up. The reunion everybody has been waiting for was just a few states away.
Britta's eye was stained with a bruise for an unknown reason. When asked about it, she pretended like it was something traumatic, which probably meant it was something lame she didn't want to admit to. Being so mysterious was difficult around Abed because he insisted the black eye was simply to add dramatic effect to the story.
As the sky darkened, the more exhausted the group became. Each new star left them drowsier. Most of them were were scattered around various places. Annie and Abed sat on one side of the booth together. Fingers intertwined beneath the table, his head resting on hers.
"I'm not sure how much longer I can stay awake." said Elroy. Jeff used his phone to Google where they were.
"There's a big pit stop in a few miles. We can make a stop there and then I can take over driving for a while." Jeff got up to show Elroy the directions.
"I don't trust you to drive my house, Jeff." said Elroy. The gang all glanced at Frankie.
"Fine I'll do it." she said.
The van mostly emptied out when they got to the pit stop. Scattered around to get gas, take bathroom breaks, buy snacks. All but Annie and Abed. The comfortable atmosphere filled with just the distant sounds of the road. To Annie, there was something bittersweet about it. She knew this wasn't the last of their friendship, but she thought maybe it might be the peak of it.
"Whenever we find Troy, you'll forget about me." said Annie.
"What?"
"Well not forget forget, obviously. Hopefully. I just mean... We were never this close before Troy left."
"That's not true." Abed said. "We've had our own arc since season one. We're our own Phoebe and Chandler, remember?" He squeezed her hand for emphasis.
Annie smiled. "You say that now..."
"I've tried to keep developing our relationship. We've had lots of moments pre-Troy's departure. The psych experiment, second paintball, me asking you to move in,
"Abed–" Annie let go of his hand.
He stopped talking. He looked into Annie's eyes. She looked disappointed.
"Have you only been my closest friend because you thought it will look good on TV?"
That confused Abed. He was carefully thinking of what he chose to say next. Before he could think of a sentence, Annie stood up.
"Whatever. I'm going to go check on Britta."
***
Britta was in the bathroom feeling the puffiness of her face. Annie stood next to her, carefully.
"Hi, Britta." She didn't want to seem like she was only there to complain, but it was all she could think about.
"Hi?" Britta said. "Is this a girl talk moment?"
"Would that be okay?" Annie asked.
"Suuure!" Britta said, trying to sound genuine.
"What do you do when you realize that you aren't your best friend's best friend?"
"What?"
"Abed and I only became BEST friends after Troy left and now that he's coming back... What if maybe this whole time he was just pretending. Putting me in the Troy-void that I can't truly fill. Obviously, I miss Troy, but I don't want to end up a third wheel!"
Britta took a moment to process everything being told to her. When she understood, she took a breath and started a small laugh.
"You're being ridiculous! You know Abed loves you, right?" Britta said.
"I know but... He likes me just as much as all of you. I guess I thought we were something more."
"You don't mean..." Britta glared at Annie.
"No. No of course not. Well... maybe... That's not the point!"
"Have you talked to Abed about this?" Britta asked.
"I tried... He's so hard to talk to about these things. Sometimes it's like he's speaking a whole other language." Annie sulked.
"Well... I think that's your problem. To be his best friend, you need to be willing to learn his language." Britta said.
Annie looked up at Britta and smirked.
"I think that was the best girl-talk you've ever given."
Britta lit up. Or at least, as best she could with a beat up face.
"Really?"
"Yeah! Sorry it had to be about a man." Annie laughed.
***
Annie climbed back into the RV to find Abed pacing around the few feet of empty space. He ran his hands through his hair over and over.
"Annie! What was that? I'm sorry I was talking like we're on a show again, I know you all hate that, but what were you trying to say? Do you not want Troy back? Or you do but then you don't want to be my friend? Are you trying to make me choose between–"
Annie hugged him as hard as she could.
"It's okay, Abed. Of course we'll all stay friends. I just have a lot going on in my head tonight. We all do. I'm so sorry."
Abed was breathing hard but he hugged her back.
"Do you promise?"
"I promise."