As Jeff stood in front of the motel he was pretty sure this would fall under one of those 'it seemed like a good idea at the time' insistences. By the time he and Annie were finally able to leave the hospital it was just about 9 o'clock. The hospital desk worker told them there was a motel up the road if they wanted to stay in the area for the night. They decided it might be best to stay there then have someone pick them up in the middle of the night. So after finding out it wasn't completely filled up they called the group to let them know what was happening.

The group was of course concerned for them because of their crash (Jeff's predictions as to how they'd take the news turned out to be fairly accurate) and they wanted to come get them. Jeff and Annie had to listen to them argue on speakerphone on who could and couldn't go (Britta and Pierce were too drunk, Abed needed to first download appropriate music for a road trip adventure). Finally Jeff and Annie were able to tell them they found a place to stay for the night and they would call them in the morning.

Of course, the plan didn't seem that great once they actually arrived at the motel. For one thing, it looked like the Bates motel. Jeff kept expecting to see Anthony Perkins jump out in a wig holding a knife. Then when Jeff went to check in he discovered that they only had one room available, meaning he and Annie would have to share it. He had hoped they could get rooms next to each other and hang out until they went to bed. Sharing a room together seemed like it would be adding gasoline to a fire.

Jeff looked over as Annie came back from the convenience store next to the motel, holding a large paper bag. "They only had one room left." He said.

Annie's eyes widened in surprise for a moment. "Oh, ok. I'm sure it'll be fine. Let's just get inside, I'm freezing."

They walked over to room seven and unlocked the door. As they went into the room the first thing they noticed was there was only one large bed in the room. Jeff looked at it apprehensively before stepping back out of the room. "I'm just going to see if they have a roll away bed or something."

Annie grabbed Jeff's arm and pulled him back inside as she closed the door. "Don't be silly. We're, both mature adults. We can share a bed without worrying about…" They looked at each other before she let out a nervously giggle. "I'm just going to use the bathroom."

Jeff sat down on the bed and grabbed the remote, only to see the TV remain turned off. He checked to make sure it was plugged in and tried the power button on the TV itself, but it didn't turn on. "The TV doesn't work."

"What was that?" Annie said over the sound of water running in the bathroom sink.

"I said the TV doesn't work!"

Annie came out of the bathroom, twirling a hand towel wrapped around her neck. "Oh. I haven't missed seeing the ball drop in years."

"I can't remember the last time I was sober enough to see the ball drop."

She raised an eyebrow as she grabbed the paper bag and sat down on the bed. "I'm sure you've spent the last several new years in bed with some woman at a party, having a good time while everyone outside is counting down the ball drop. 'Ten, nine, eight.'"

Jeff let out a laugh as he joined her on the bed. "You've got a dirty mind Ms. Edison. What did you end up getting from the seven eleven knockoff?"

Annie turned the bag over and dumped the contents onto the bed. Most of it was snack food like candy, cookies, snack cakes, chips, soda. But there was also a container of chicken fingers among the items. Annie opened the container and held it up to Jeff. "There was only one container left so we'll have to share. The guy guaranteed they were made this afternoon."

"Right, cause convenient store workers are always full of integrity." Jeff took a chicken finger and bit into it. "Not bad. Not as good as the ones at Greendale, but better than I expected."

"Maybe you just need to have a little faith in people's word." Annie said as she helped herself to a finger.

"Annie, I was a lawyer. I lived and breathed not only my own lies, but the lies of everyone around me. Believe me, most people aren't honest."

"I know people lie Jeff. I just like to think not everyone lies about every aspect of their life."

Jeff chewed on another chicken finger as he opened a can of coke and took a sip. "Well, you're one of the rare people who can make others not want to lie. Or at the very least feel bad about it when they do."

She looked at him for a moment before chuckling. "How do you always do that?"

"Do what?"

"Know exactly what to say to me."

Jeff thought about what she said as he took another drink of coke. Sometimes he felt like he had no idea what was the right thing to say when he was with Annie. And other times it was like she was the easiest person in the world for him to talk to.

"You're probably the person I try the least to manipulate. I kind of just barrel through with you. Sometimes I end up saying the right thing, and other times I clearly don't. But basically you're the person I'm most honest with."

Annie inched over and pressed her hand over Jeff's forehead. "Are you sure you're fine after what happened? Cause this doesn't sound like the Jeff I know."

"After what happened today I'm kind of feeling a new need for honesty with you." He looked into her eyes, feeling like he could get lost in them as he often did. "Annie, when I came to all I could think about was you. The whole time I kept thinking 'she has to be all right, because if she isn't'…" Jeff stopped as he felt himself choke up.

Nodding in understanding Annie took Jeff's hand and held it, gently running her thumb over his wrist. "I know. It was the same with me. I kept trying to find you and see if you were ok. They had to physically stop me and threaten to give me a sedative if I didn't calm down."

"That's my Annie. Never give up without a fight." Jeff said as he brushed some hair out of her face. As he touched her face they looked at each other, feeling that familiar feeling of attraction between them. Jeff ran his hands down her sides as they leaned into each other. Just before their lips met Annie pulled away, hissing in pain.

"Annie, are you ok? I didn't-"

"I'm just a bit tender from the crash."

"Well, we don't have to…I mean…I'm happy just being with you."

Annie grinned as she opened a package of M&Ms. "Who would have thought big bad cool guy Jeff is really a softy at heart." She said as she playfully tossed a green one at him.

"Hey!" He laughed as he grabbed a package of junior mints. "Two can play this game." They spend the next few minutes throwing candy at each other, their aim growing worse as they went on from laughing so hard.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Wait, you were seven when you saw your first slasher movie?" Jeff said in surprise.

After their candy fight (where the room had become littered with junior mints and M&Ms) they had both gotten comfortable on the bed and dug into the rest of the snacks Annie had gotten, while learning previously unknown tidbits about each other.

"I would have figured you'd see movies about rainbows and kittens until you were at least in your teens."

"Jeff!" she mocked indignation as she took a chip from the open bag. "I didn't mean to see it, it was an accident."

"And how does a seven year old see Scream accidently?"

"One weekend I woke up early and went downstairs to watch TV so I wouldn't wake up my parents. When I had gone to bed the night before my Little Pony Princess video, shut up." She scolded as Jeff laughed. "Was in the VCR. So I pressed play and instead of my movie I saw Drew Barrymore answering a ringing phone. My parents must have watched it after I went to bed and left it in the VCR."

"And you kept watching it."

"At first it seemed ok. And then…" She shuttered at the memory. "I basically sat there clutching my stuffed bunny in terror until the part where she's hanging from a tree. Then I just started screaming and crying until my parents ran into the room. For months after that I had to sleep with the hall light on and I'd freak out anytime the phone rang."

"Wow. Not only did you see a really scary movie at seven, but you saw the scariest part. No wonder you were frightened."

"What was the first horror movie you saw?"

Jeff thought about it for a second as he helped himself to a handful of chips. "It was one of the Friday the 13th movies. I went with friends to see some animated movie and we ended up sneaking in to see it."

"Were you scared?"

"No. Maybe a little." He admitted as Annie gave him one of her signature 'Annie Looks'.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"So you spent all night helping Britta find her cat? Aw!" Annie grinned lovingly as she imagined Jeff searching for the visually impaired feline.

"Ok, first of all Annie, that thing was anything but cute. We found it in about two minutes. But the damn thing kept running away as soon as you'd get near it. We weren't searching for it all night; we were more chasing and trying to herd it all night. And second, it really was your fault."

"How was it my fault?"

"You asked me to drop off notes for Britta because she was sick. I did and when I opened her door the stupid cat ran out."

"It was still good you helped her. Both in getting her cat and giving her class notes when she had the flu."

Jeff grinned, enjoying that he was about to burst Annie's bubble. "Annie, Britta wasn't in class that day because she had the flu. She had gone out drinking the night before and was too hung over to come to class."

Annie's eyes widened as she absorbed this information. "That liar! Well, next time she's sick and asks me for notes, I'm going to now need medical confirmation."

"So now not only does Abed have rules against lending out movies, now you have rules against giving out notes."

"Well, maybe I'll let someone else take notes. It'll be nice to take a break."

"Annie, you couldn't stop taking class notes if you tried."

Annie rolled her eyes as she glanced at the clock on the bedside table, sitting up in surprise. "Jeff, it's after 1am. We completely miss ringing in the New Year."

"Really?" Jeff said as he also sat up. "Hu? I would have thought we'd at least have heard others yelling out 'Happy New Year'."

"Well, it might be a late, but Happy New Year Jeff."

"Happy New Year Annie."

They started to go in to hug, but almost instinctively they instead kissed. This time they didn't try to touch each other. But when they pulled back several minutes later both of them felt a little light headed.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"The last time I saw my dad was when I was ten."

Annie sat in silence, listening intently to Jeff. Jeff never talked about his father. She wasn't even sure how the topic had come up. But somehow he had decided to open up to her about it.

"He came over to pick up some dress shirts. I stood in the hallway as he searched his closet for them, while my mother kept yelling at him, telling him what a terrible person he was. When he came out of the bedroom he knelt in front of me and said 'Jeffrey, I have to go away for a while. But I promise I'll see you again. I'll come by in a few weeks and take you to a football game. Just you and me'. And then he left. And I never saw him again,"

"Jeff." Annie softly said as she gently placed her hand on his forearm.

"At first I would wait by the phone for him to call, telling me he was coming by to take me to a game. Every time it rang I thought it was him. But it never was. Then when he didn't come I blamed my mom, thinking he wouldn't come by because the two of them always fought. Then I blamed myself, thinking I had done something to make him not want to see me."

Though he didn't make a sound a few tears ran down his cheeks. As he wiped them away he looked at Annie, who had a little smile on her face. Her eyes widened as she quickly held up her hands. "No Jeff, I swear I'm not making fun of you. It's just, you didn't pretend you had allergies or anything stupid like that to try and defend yourself for crying. It's nice." As she started ducking her head in shame he put his finger under her chin and raised her head back up.

"I am sorry Jeff."

Jeff pulled Annie in closer to him, putting an arm around her as she leaned into him. They laid on the bed in silence, not saying anything while he absentmindedly played with her hair.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Don't get one on your lower back."

After laying in silence for a while they started talking about lighter topics. After discussing various things their conversation veered into the topic of tattoos, specifically what she should get and where it should go if Annie decided to get one.

"What's wrong with one on your lower back?"

"Because that's where almost every girl gets a tattoo. If you're going to get one rise above the cliché. And besides, do you really want to go around with a tramp stamp for the rest of your life."

"Why do they call it a tramp stamp?"

Jeff laughed, enjoying when Annie's naïveity came out (which happened less and less the longer he knew her). "Its call a tramp stamp because generally a woman with a tattoo on her lower back sleeps with people easily."

"Oh! Really!" She said in a high voice before shaking her head. "Ok, then that's out. What about on the inside of my arm?"

"That's a good place. Just don't get a guy's name, because you'll feel really stupid when you break up with him and you're stuck with his name for the rest of your life."

"Well, what if I knew I was going to be with this guy for the rest of my life?" She said as she ran her fingers on the inside of Jeff's arm.

Jeff gently wrapped his fingers around hers as he looked into her eyes. "If that's the case, I'd only do that if you knew the guy wanted to be with you for the rest of his life."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Sunlight hit Jeff's face as he opened his eyes. He didn't even remember falling asleep. He looked down and saw Annie sprawled completely on top of him like a cat. Her shirt had ridden up during the night, revealing her lower back. She's too good for a tramp stamp, Jeff thought as he gently petted her hair. It was odd, he thought. He wasn't the kind of guy who liked touching woman's hair. But for some reason he couldn't help playing with Annie's hair.

It took some maneuvering, but Jeff managed to pull himself out from under her without waking Annie up. After using the bathroom he opened the front door and stood in the doorway. A man in a wrinkled tux and a woman in a little black dress were packing up their car. They both were wearing paper party hats and carrying noisemakers.

Jeff wasn't sure where things stood with him and Annie at the moment. Aside from their fairly chaste kiss they hadn't really done anything last night. And yet he couldn't remember ever feeling closer to anyone before then he felt right now. They had both opened up, telling each other things they rarely, if ever, talked about.

He kept trying to deny that they had anything between them. But last night seemed to prove that she was special to him, in a way he didn't think he could ever find. Yesterday also proved how fickle fate could be. He almost lost her yesterday. He couldn't take the chance of letting her go only to have her taken away from him.

Jeff looked over as Annie squirmed and gently moaned. He sat down next to her as she opened her eyes. "Morning Annie."

"Morning Jeff. What time is it?"

Jeff glanced over at the clock. "Almost 8:30."

Annie sat up, rubbing her eyes. "I wish I could have gotten my bag so I'd have change of clothes with me. I don't even have a toothbrush or-."

"Annie." She looked at him with her full on Disney look as he suppressed a yawn. "About last night."

"Jeff, you don't have to say anything."

"Annie, last night was amazing." Her eyes seemed to get even bigger as he kept talking. "I know we didn't do anything except talk, but I've never felt closer to someone then I have right now."

"Jeff."

"Annie, yesterday I was terrified that you were no longer in my life. And…" He hesitated, not wanting to sound too cheesy. Oh fuck it, he thought, I'm saying what I feel. "I don't want to lose you or not be with you anymore. I-." Before Jeff could finish his sentence Annie's lips met his, silently confirming they were more than friends right now.

They spent the next two hours making out on the bed, only leaving when the motel manager came by to remind them they had to check out.

I swear this was originally just supposed to be a friend story, but it seems the shipper in me couldn't help it heading in the direction it ended up in.