"Annie, wait."

Jeff came to an abrupt halt to avoid running into her as she turned around.

She smiled up at him, "What's up?"

The sound of Dave Matthews was still drifting in from the cafeteria. Jeff glanced back quickly to where he had been talking to Shirley and Hickey. He had been making his way around the party, pointedly avoiding Annie. But as people slowly drifted away, he saw her start to head out and ran over on impulse. Now standing face to face with her, he didn't quite know what to say.

"Um, crazy day huh?"

Annie smirked. "On a scale from one to Greendale?"

Jeff huffed out a laugh. "So, um, congratulations. And sorry about earlier. I should've known that our best chance to save Greendale would be something insane."

Annie lowered her chin towards her shoulder and gave him a sly smile. "It's been five years, Jeff. You should know by now that normal rules don't apply here. But we never would've made it if you hadn't gotten the door open. What did you even do?"

Suddenly unable to meet her gaze, Jeff instead stared at his feet. God, what am I, twelve? "Oh, you know, it wasn't that big of a deal." He shrugged, "I just thought about this place, and all you guys. I mean, I love you guys, and maybe I didn't realize how much I actually like this place."

"I knew you loved it here!" Annie was beaming, but he detected a slight 'I told you so' undercurrent as well.

Jeff raised a finger in admonition. "Don't. I said like, not love." Annie rolled her eyes, and he shifted uncomfortably before continuing, "But… I guess sometimes you don't realize how important some things are until you're about to lose them."

"Awww!" It never ceased to amaze Jeff how quickly she could shift to the Disney face, and just how many variations of it she had…

He scowled at her, "Yeah, well, don't go spreading that around."

Annie gave a slight nod before patting him on the arm. "Your secret's safe with me." With that, she started to turn away.

"Hey, Annie?"

She stopped and turned back, "Yeah?"

Jeff suddenly felt twelve again. "Uh, one more thing..." He fell silent, long enough that Annie started to glance around furtively. Finally Jeff continued, words rushing out a little faster than he intended, "Sorry all that stuff got dragged out earlier, you know, about me and Britta… getting married…"

Annie tensed, and her face went blank. "Oh. Why would you be sorry about that?"

Jeff hesitated, "Well, you know…" he shrugged, "Awkward…"

For a brief moment Annie looked thoughtful, then a determined look came over her. "Jeff, you don't think I actually care, do you?"

Jeff felt like someone had just punched him in the gut. His mouth hung open for a second before he stammered "No, no, I just… didn't want you to think I thought you cared." As soon as the words left his mouth, he had a strange feeling of déjà vu. He thought for a moment, then shook it off, realizing he must look like an idiot. But then he saw that Annie had a similar look on her face. "Uh, anyway, I guess maybe since we saved Greendale, we need to have one more meeting of the Save Greendale Committee to make it official."

Annie looked momentarily startled, then brightened. "You're right! I'll make an extra big star for this one, or maybe get some sort of special paper. Or glitter paint. Oooh! I could get it laminated!"

Jeff rolled his eyes and stifled a groan, "Yeah… um, good luck with all that."

Annie walked off muttering to herself about potential ideas for decorating the 'Save Greendale' star. Jeff watched her leave, and stood staring at the door after she had gone out. After a moment he realized he never told her the wedding was off. Crap.

"Your secret's safe with me."

Jeff jumped in surprise, and turned to see Abed standing behind him, head cocked to the side.

"Abed. What have I told you about sneaking up behind me and doing commentary?"

Abed took a step forward before continuing. "Sorry Jeff. But I'm not doing commentary this time. I was just letting you know. Your secret's safe with me."

Jeff furrowed his brow and frowned. "What secret?"

Abed looked at the door Annie had gone out, then back at Jeff. Dammit, did he have to notice everything?

"I don't know what you're talking about" he said flatly.

A glint appeared in Abed's eye, "I didn't say anything. You know Jeff, you really have perfected your role. Have you considered starting a business where you coach socially awkward men on how to woo women, while simultaneously ignoring your own happiness? I'm thinking 40% Will Smith from Hitch, 25% Ryan Gosling from Crazy Stupid Love, 20% Ryan Reynolds from The Change-Up, and 15% Megan Follows from Anne of Green Gables."

Jeff gaped at him. "Anne of Gr… What? No, I'm not…"

Abed barely noticed his objection. "We can play with the percentages if you like. Or maybe mix in some Bradley Cooper. But I'm telling you, my gut instincts on these things are usually right."

Jeff rubbed at the sudden pain in his forehead. "Abed. No."

Abed gave a disappointed sigh. "Fine. And I won't tell Annie that she's how you opened the door in Borchert's lab. But don't you think you should?"

Jeff froze. He stared at Abed for a moment before continuing slowly in a low voice, "I'm going to say this one last time. I don't know what you're talking about."

Undeterred, Abed kept right on in an annoyed tone, "You don't have to say it again, because I know that you do know what I'm talking about. After the door opened, I saw you looking at her. You turned away, but I still saw."

Jeff tried to swallow the lump that was rising in his throat, "I looked at all of you; she was just last in line."

"That may be true" Abed allowed, "But then why try to hide it like you did?" Abed gestured back towards the cafeteria. "Besides, I talked to Borchert. That's not how Raquel works. It's not a cumulative effect, she needs a blast of passion in one instant to for it to work. So if Annie was last, then that means it was because of her."

Jeff fixed Abed with a mischievous grin. "How do you know it wasn't because of you, and I just looked at her as a cover?"

Abed's tilted his head and his eyebrows raised, "That would be an amusing plot twist, and a good misdirect. I'd also have to reevaluate my opinion of Pierce's social acumen. But I don't think audiences would appreciate following the plot line of your unrequited love for me."

Jeff snorted, "Unrequited? You broke my heart, Abed."

Abed smiled, "Ok Jeff, you can keep playing your role. But it's been five years. Audiences want to see a resolution. And so does Annie. Even I know that she's not going to wait around for you forever." Abed turned and walked back into the cafeteria. As Abed entered, a slumped, shaggy figure shuffled out towards Jeff, sandals scraping along the linoleum floor. Jeff was surprised there wasn't an aura of stench surrounding Borchert given his appearance, but he had mentioned something about a shower down there…

Borchert shambled up to Jeff and stuck his face in close, squinting through his glasses, "Heeyyy. Jeff, right?" Borchert may have had a shower, but apparently no toothbrush. Or mouthwash. Jeff stepped back slightly and rubbed his face, crossing one arm under the other and leaving his hand to guard his nose.

"Hi… Borcher… Um, actually, what do I call you? Russell? Russ?"

Borchert scrunched his face up, snorted, wheezed, and then loudly cleared his throat. When he spoke, his nasally voice was still tinged with phlegm. "Well actually, you can call me boss! I was just talking to Dean Pelton about my role as vice-Dean. Greendale doesn't have a computer sciences department anymore, so until I can get one started again I'm going to be helping oversee some other departments, including law."

Jeff paled and looked into the cafeteria. He could see Dean Pelton dancing awkwardly with Garrett and Starburns. The Dean saw him looking, stopped, and winked. Jeff suddenly had the urge to go down and lock himself in with Raquel for good.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Annie sat hunched over in her car, forehead pressed against the top of the steering wheel. To say this day had been an emotional rollercoaster would be about the biggest understatement of the century. She had been frantic for days, and now she was just exhausted. This morning she had been desperate and hopeless, and Jeff's casual sarcasm had just been too much to handle. After running into Ritchie, Carl and the Subway rep, her despair had turned to anger. When they found the note from Greendale's first dean, she couldn't remember having ever been more excited. She had a brief flash of embarrassment as she remembered Jeff and Britta's horrified expressions as she, Abed and the Dean had danced around the study room.

By the time Shirley and Hickey had arrived with the campus blueprints, she had thought she was going to explode. Excitement switched to shock and horror as Duncan flew across the room and the wall caught fire. But that was nothing compared to the shock that came next. Jeff was yelling about things being over, half of her feeling like a schoolgirl being scolded, and half of her wanting to yell right back at him. The Dean had said something she couldn't remember when Jeff pulled Britta close.

"Britta and I are getting married."

The sheer absurdity of it was too much to bear. "What?!"

"Married? Well you're gonna need way more doves than this."

"What does this look like? An hour-long episode of The Office? There's pickaxing and electric zapping!"

Annie had started shaking her head convulsively. She could hardly wait for the Dean to finish speaking before she blurted: "Don't even acknowledge it. We are not acknowledging this. You guys are ridiculous together!"

"We're ridiculous? What do you call this?!"

"Secret trapdoor!" She could've kissed Abed right then.

"BOO-YAH!"

Annie allowed herself to slip further back into the memory. She had been excited to find the entrance to the old computer science department, but also glad for the distraction. As she had lowered herself into the darkness, her anticipation was growing again, but so was a pit in her stomach. As the group split up to search the lost section of Greendale, she watched Jeff and Britta head off together, squabbling over whose light was better. The pit in her stomach dropped, she couldn't breathe, and she felt a wave of tears coming. She somehow managed to make her way into an empty room before she completely lost it in front of everyone. Why? Why was this happening to her? The unbidden tears started flowing, she shook her head, trying to clear it away. She shouldn't be crying. Why was she crying? Jeff and Britta made an awful couple, but they're her friends, if they had a chance to be happy together, then shouldn't she be happy for them? She hadn't had long to contemplate.

"Anything in there?" Annie turned to see Abed behind her.

She tried to collect herself before responding, "Just spider webs and…" her voice cracked, "beanbag chairs…" she waved her hand to ward off the light he was shining in her face.

"Oh don't cry. The importance of lumbar support hadn't been establish…"

Huh? "It's not that!" Abed looked chastened. "It's just… even if we do save Greendale, which Greendale will we be saving? First Pierce dies, then Troy leaves, now people are…"

"Getting married?" Annie looked at Abed, eyes wet with tears. For someone who claimed not to understand emotions, he could be remarkably perceptive about them sometimes. Abed launched into a soliloquy about a Jeff/Britta TV pilot and the show they were all on, and somehow she had found herself actually feeling better by the end. And she only had to interrupt his developing once.

"Thank you, Abed."

"You're welcome." She smiled at him. "I have a girlfriend."

"What?"

Abed motioned between them, "You were about to start a kiss lean?"

On second thought, maybe he's not so good with emotions… "I was not!"

"Fine. Let's go find treasure."

Annie lifted her head from her steering wheel and smiled at the memory. Truth is, she had wanted to kiss him, but not like that. She thought back to the second paintball game, when they really had kissed. It had been passionate, and for a while she had wondered if she had been missing something between them. If only he acted like Han Solo or Don Draper more often, then… then he wouldn't be Abed. She sighed and glanced at her steering wheel, then raised her hand to feel under her eyes. Her fingers came away wet. Oh God, this again?

Annie closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, concentrating on the rise and fall of her chest. Why was she crying? She knew the reason, she just didn't want to admit it. "Sometimes I wish I'd never met you, Jeff Winger" she whispered. Why was it so hard for her to get over him? It shouldn't be hard. He's gross. He's gross, he's self-centered, he's a jerk, he's old, he's a mess, he doesn't know what he wants or what's good for him, he's a jerk, he's a jerk, he's a jerk. But sometimes… sometimes he wasn't a jerk. Sometimes he wasn't self-centered. Sometimes he could be warm and caring. And he was fun to hang out with, and sure he's lazy, but he's actually pretty smart, and he has this way of looking at her that makes her melt, and she knew he never looked at anyone else that way, and god when he takes his shirt off…

Annie felt herself blushing and gave herself a shake. Nope. Can't go down that road, not again. Annie sighed. She thought she had been past this. Well, mostly. Sure, she still daydreamed once in a while, but she had only married Jeff twice this semester, which was a personal best since the fall of freshman year (that one had still been dominated by Zac and Troy). And all those imaginary weddings to Brent Underjaw did not count. She just had never met him and needed to imagine what he looked like. It's not her fault that Jeff has the closest physique to a pole-vaulter of all her male friends. Ugh. She still hadn't completely forgiven Abed for that one.

Her thoughts drifted back to Jeff. He had always said that marriage was stupid, sworn that he would never settle down. But he had settled down a little, and she had always thought that if he ever decided to settle down in other ways, that maybe… But no. He was marrying Britta. And that meant that he would never… she forced down another wave of tears. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and shuddered. Ok Edison, you can do this. She thought back on what she had said in Borchert's lab. As her mind sifted through the words, a feeling of peace began to settle over her. She had to let Jeff want what he wants, and that's Britta, not her. In her mind's eye she saw Jeff sitting at the study room table, chair tilted back, slouched and staring at his phone. He looked up and smiled at her, and a warmth spread throughout her body. Until finally, he had to look away. "Goodbye" she whispered.

Annie wiped her eyes and glanced up at the window of her and Abed's apartment. It was dark, meaning she was the first one back. She reached over and grabbed her backpack, grumbling as the bag fell open, spilling its contents. She stuffed the traitorous items back into her bag, making a mental note to throw out those stupid PowerBall tickets (actually one of her more sane ideas for saving Greendale). She turned back to exit the car and…

Let out a bloodcurdling scream.

The momentary terror passed, and Abed's face, still squished against the glass of her driver's side window, was now definitely laughing. She kicked the door open, knocking him back. "Abed, I'm going to kill you!"

Abed was still laughing as he said "Ok, this is officially the best day of my life."

Annie glared at him. When he didn't stop laughing, she gave an indignant huff, stuck her chin in the air and stomped towards the building entrance. Abed followed her, still chuckling to himself.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jeff was slouched in his usual position in front of Table Mk II. He thumbed through the apps on his phone, debating if he had time to start a game of Fruit Ninja or Bejeweled. Annie and Shirley were bustling about their side of the table, preparing for the final Save Greendale Committee meeting of the semester. Abed sat in his usual spot, scribbling furiously in a notebook. Jeff observed them for a moment, then went back to his phone, wondering when and why he had started showing up early for things. It had been so much easier when everyone else was waiting on him.

Duncan and Hickey entered the study room, each dropping heavily into their respective chairs. For some reason, Hickey didn't appear as surly as he usually did. But when Jeff caught a whiff of Duncan, he was pretty sure he knew why. "Hey buddy. Found a new drinking pal?"

Duncan rolled his head towards Jeff and puffed out a breath. Jeff was amazed there wasn't a haze that accompanied it. "Not that it is any your businesh, but yesh." Duncan raised his hand in a mock toast to Hickey, and much to Jeff's surprise, Hickey returned the gesture. "So Jeff. Are we on for the Liverpool game againsht Mancheshter Shitty?" Duncan paused for a moment, then giggled, "Shitty."

Jeff rolled his eyes and glowered at Duncan. "If you think you'll be sober by then."

Duncan nodded erratically before slurring "Shure. But no promishes about after the game. Be a good chap and remind me tomorrow though. I'm not going to remember thish."

Jeff noticed that Annie, Abed and Shirley had stopped what they were doing and were staring at Duncan. Abed seemed indifferent, but Annie and Shirley were displaying looks of obvious disapproval. Finally, Annie piped up "Professor Duncan, don't you have finals to grade? You shouldn't be getting drunk during school hours."

Jeff had a momentary flash of annoyance as he remembered the stack of papers that awaited him back at his desk. Duncan's head lolled towards Annie and he gave an indignant huff. "I'll have you know, Mish Edishon, that with you no longer in my clash, the shtudentsh actually appreshiate my progreshive method of teaching." He gave a satisfied nod, and lifted his feet up onto the table, knocking Annie's binder off in the process. The binder popped open, papers scattering across the floor, causing Annie to yelp in dismay.

Annie scurried under the table and began gathering the dispersed notes on to-do lists, committee agendas, meeting minutes, project roadmaps and various permits. Shirley gave Duncan a threatening look before finally kneeling to help Annie. Duncan, oblivious to the minor catastrophe he had just caused, began humming happily to himself. Jeff was in the midst of fighting an internal battle over whether he should also help, when Britta walked in. Jeff shifted uncomfortably as she plopped down in her seat. They had both been pretty casual about breaking off their imprudent engagement, but Jeff hadn't talked to her about it, and didn't really want to. There seemed to be an uneasy truce between them, which was fine by him. He figured eventually things would return to normal.

Duncan's eyes popped open, "Britta!" he exclaimed, dropping his feet to the floor again and pushing some papers out of Annie's reach. Britta gave him a withering look, but he continued, "I was wondering if you would do me the honor of allowing you to escort me to the St. George's Day gala at Snookers. And before you ask, yes, I will be dressed in tails." Jeff was momentarily amazed at Duncan's ability to become lucid so quickly.

Britta had the distinct look of a deer caught in the headlights. "Um," she swallowed, "I think I have a thing with…" She glanced around the table for help. Finding none, she finally shot Jeff a glare and finished, "with Jeff. Yeah. I have a thing with Jeff."

"With Jeff?" Duncan scoffed, "Come now, Britta. There's no need to be frightened." He lowered his voice to a mock whisper, "It's not a real dragon."

Britta scrunched her face in confusion. "Dragon?"

Duncan nodded. "Why else would you be reluctant to accompany a stylish gentleman such as myself? You don't really expect me to believe you'll be with Jeff, now that your wedding is canceled."

A loud thud sounded from the table, followed immediately by a groan. Shirley's voice wafted out from underneath, "Oh! Are you okay, pumpkin?"

Annie replied in a tremulous voice, "I'm… I'm fine. I just bumped my head." Annie extricated herself from under the table, clutching her binder in one hand, and rubbing the back of her head with the other. She gave Duncan a wary glance before placing her binder protectively on the counter behind her seat.

Duncan looked ready to launch back into his awkward attempt to pick up Britta when the Dean and Chang entered the room. Jeff seized the opportunity to avoid any more discomfort by announcing "Ooookay! Everyone is here, so let's call the fall/spring semester's final meeting of the Save Greendale Committee to order." Annie squeaked excitedly while Britta gave Jeff a grateful look.

Chang took his seat, while the Dean positioned himself between Jeff and Britta. "Excellent idea, Jeffrey." The Dean placed his hand on Jeff's shoulder. Jeff eyed it and sighed. This would need to be dealt with sooner rather than later.

Jeff banged the gavel declared "The meeting is now in session. Miss Edison has the floor."

Annie sprung from her chair looking like a kid on Christmas morning. Or Hanukkah morning. Did Hanukkah have mornings? Jeff wasn't sure. "Ok everyone!" Annie said in a singsong voice, "Only one item on the agenda for today, the actual saving of Greendale! Annnnnnnd…" Annie pulled out a pink cutout of a star with 'Save Greendale' written on it. Jeff was surprised to see that she had reneged on her plans to elaborately decorate it. Annie held up the star triumphantly, "Mission accomplished!" She turned and placed it reverently on the wall under 'Done.'

As the group clapped, Jeff watched as Annie took her seat. He gave her a lopsided grin and banged the gavel again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Annie sat on the study room couch, rubbing absent-mindedly at the sore spot on her head, and trying not to think too much about what had led to it. The lump had finally subsided, but she figured she'd probably end up with a bruise. At least her hair would cover it, if so. In her lap was a packet of information from the Greendale Police Department regarding her summer internship. It wasn't going to be glamorous by any stretch of the imagination, but at least it was a paid position. Money would still be tight, but she was confident she wouldn't need to get a second job. Assuming Abed keeps paying his share.

Abed had spent the last week watching marathons of Armageddon, Deep Impact, Meteor, and Asteroid. She wasn't sure where this obsession with apocalyptic movies had come from, but he was supposed to be looking for a job. When she pressed him on it, he insisted that the job could wait. He was doing important research and needed to be prepared for every eventuality. If he stops paying rent again, then he can just move back into that stupid blanket fort when I find a third roommate. The Craigslist search had not gone well so far. Annie shuddered as she remembered the day Alan, of all people, had shown up to their apartment:

"Alan!" she squeaked, "What are you doing here?!"

Alan fixed her with a sleazy smile and sauntered in, even though she hadn't invited him. "Heeeey, look who it is. How are you doin', kitten?"

Annie was starting to panic. "Alan, why are you here? You're not allowed to be here, you need to leave. I'm showing our apartment to a prospective roommate soon."

Alan leered at her. "From Craigslist right? That's me baby!"

"Wha… What?" Annie stammered, "No, no, the email said his name was Mike Oxbig." Annie gasped as the realization of what she had just said hit her.

Alan grinned, "It sure is baby. Now why don't you show me the rest of your place, and I'll show you what a good roomie I can be."

Fortunately Abed had picked that moment to emerge from his room, but it took the threat of calling Jeff to come over to finally get Alan out of their apartment. After that fiasco, Annie had briefly considered two things: trying to convince Rachel to move in herself, and a restraining order against Alan.

The sound of Shirley's voice pulled Annie from her reflection, "Bye Ann-iee. I have to pick up Jordan and Elijah from karate." Annie popped up and gave Shirley a quick hug goodbye, before settling back on the couch. She fingered the internship packet, debating whether to read through it for the sixth time. She decided to live dangerously and skip the extra review, since she had already memorized the date, time, building, room number, directions, and the name and badge number of the officer she was to meet with on her first day.

Shirley's departure had left Annie momentarily alone in the study room. Abed had left to pick up some things from the film department, and she was just waiting for him to get back so they could go home. Britta had bolted immediately after the meeting ended, claiming some kind of cat emergency. Though Annie suspected it was mainly to avoid having to attend Duncan's St. George's Day celebration, whatever that was. Jeff and the Dean had left to help Duncan and Hickey back to their respective offices so they could sleep off their intoxication. And Chang… Chang had left to do whatever it was that Chang did.

After his latest betrayal, even Annie hadn't wanted to let Chang back in the group. But Chang apparently hadn't been finished with unexpected betrayals. Instead of taking the job on the school board Carl had offered him, Chang had gone to a lawyer and given a deposition. Included in the deposition was testimony about how Carl and Ritchie had stolen millions of dollars from Borchert, and wrongfully, and with reckless disregard for their safety, imprisoned him, Annie, Jeff, Abed, Britta, and the Dean. He even went so far as to include information on what Carl and Ritchie had known about his own attempt at being a warlord. Chang had informed Carl and Ritchie that the deposition would stay private, so long as none of the wronged parties decided to press charges. And the wronged parties had informed them that charges would not be pressed so long as they left Greendale in peace. Chang had even returned Borchert's money to him, minus the cost of his rather shocking dental work.

Annie shook her head wonderingly. Troy and Abed were right, Chang was like the Colin Farrell of people.

"Oh hey. Did everyone else leave?"

Annie looked up to see Jeff standing in the doorway. She was still feeling impulsive from her decision to not read the internship packet a sixth time, so she chirped "Nope! Everyone's still here. Come on in!"

Jeff rolled his eyes, but strolled into the room anyway. Annie eyed him as he went over to his seat at the table and pulled the chair out. He was about to sit down when it seemed to occur to him that they were on opposite sides of the room. He pushed the chair back in, and meandered over to the couch opposite Annie. He started to sit on the armrest, thought better of it, and finally plopped down on the cushions.

"Jeeeefff. Are you ok?"

Jeff flinched. "Huh? Oh. Yeah. Fine. Why?"

Annie frowned at him. "Weeellll, right now you're displaying what my criminology textbook defines as socially deviant behavior."

Jeff's eyes flicked towards her briefly, then down at his hands. He bobbed his head a few times, then said "Yeah… you're right. Sorry. I'm just out of it. I should probably get going. I have to finish grading final papers." His mind made up, he placed both hands on his knees and stood. "I'll see you later. We uh, we should get together soon. Have a non-lame party to celebrate saving Greendale."

He turned and walked towards the door. Annie's mind was racing. Why is he acting like this? He hasn't been this weird since… something in her head clicked into place, since he apologized after we saved Greendale. Jeff was almost to the exit. Annie lurched off the couch, clutching her papers close to her chest as she blurted, "I'm sorry your engagement didn't work out!"

Jeff froze. He didn't turn around, but she could hear him say ruefully, "No you're not. You were right. Britta and I are ridiculous together." He stood still for a moment, then walked out.

Annie stared at the empty doorway until she realized she was pressing her left wrist so tight to her chest that it was cutting off the circulation. She shook her hand to dispel the tingling sensation, then gathered up her things. Time to go find Abed. She needed to be somewhere else.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~