Disclaimer: Dan Harmon owns all things 'Community'. Also, I have no ownership in any of the products listed in this, including but not limited to: Denny's Lexus, 'Finnegan's Wake' by James Joyce, Slip N Slide, 'Charlie & The Chocolate Factory', by Roald Dahl, 'Where The Sidewalk Ends' by Shel Silverstein, 'Kung Fu Panda II', the iPhone, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' or 'Nine ½ Weeks'. Geez, I am such a name dropper.

I.

She exited the school slowly, following Britta and Shirley into the mid-day sun and made her way toward her car. As far as last study group sessions went, that was had been a bit of a downer. Pierce would come back, Annie was fairly certain. But they hadn't managed to pick a class for fall semester, leaving the dangling unasked question of if they even would. She knew darn well that the group meant more to her than it did to the rest of them. Everyone else had something or someone else in their lives, but Annie was completely alone. It made her death grip on the other members of the group that much more important.

The girls were recounting their awesome almost-save at the end of a paintball game that had spanned the entire campus as well as a full day. Annie was content to wander behind them and listen as they talked back and forth about their kick ass…ness. She didn't really feel like talking anyway. Actually, all she really wanted to think about was the hot shower and bed that was waiting for her at home. Her tub would be orange for weeks, but it would be so worth it.

"I'll see you there," Shirley called as Britta peeled off and walked the rest of the way to her car solo. Shirley paused, waiting for Annie to join her in the parking lot. "Annie," she squeaked, somehow still upbeat after everything that had happened. "Are you going to Denny's?"

"I don't think so," Annie answered through a yawn. "I'm just going to head home." She shrugged. "I don't want to get stuck at a table with Garrett talking about his countdown to Comic Con."

"Well you wouldn't have to sit with Garret, pumpkin." Shirley looked at her as if she'd lost her mind. "But I understand if you don't really feel up to it."

Annie shook her head slightly. "I'm just really tired," she replied. "It's been a long day."

They walked in silence for another ten feet before Shirley spoke again. "He'll come around, Annie." Annie wasn't exactly sure who she was talking about, so she just nodded her head. "Well, we'll miss you. But I will call you next week, okay?"

"Yeah," Annie responded with as much of a smile as she could muster.

With that, Shirley climbed into her mini van and with a wave, drove away. It was then that Annie noticed her car.

It was completely covered in paint. Green, blue and hot pink splotches coated it entirely. Annie huffed indignantly. Had any other cars gotten this treatment? She hadn't noticed. She slowed her walk to a shuffle, pulling her phone out of her back pack. Was there anyone she could even call? Troy and Abed were probably already elbow-deep in pancakes. She didn't want to make Britta or Shirley come back for her. She didn't know if Pierce was even speaking to her. Jeff would screen her call, she was sure of it.

She could just wash it right now, she would have to eventually anyway. But Annie was so tired that she was on the verge of bursting into tears as it was. She could go out to the street and try to hitchhike. Dressed the way she was and coated in paint, she was likely to have some takers, especially when she gave them her address.

Annie just couldn't quite bring herself to do that.

"That was thorough," she heard from behind her and turned to see Jeff had pulled up behind her. His Lexus was of course perfectly clean, and Annie thought for a moment that it wasn't crazy to think that he'd moved it before any of the real action had ever started the previous afternoon. "Can you drive it?"

Annie shook her head, not really able to form the words she needed to. She bit her lip before grasping the straps of her backpack nervously. "Can I…would you give me a ride home?" He was going to say no. He was definitely going to say no to this.

"Annie, you're covered in paint," he remarked, as if that was all the answer he needed to give. It was. She nodded and turned back toward the paint explosion that was shaped like her car and a moment later heard a dinging. Looking over her shoulder, Annie realized Jeff had gotten out of his car and popped his trunk. She watched curiously as he bent over the back of his Lexus, searching for something. He pushed it closed a few seconds later. He had a towel in his hands. Annie felt a fluttering of hope in her stomach and batted it back down. Walking toward her, Jeff handed her the towel. Was he giving it to her because she obviously needed to wash her car? Or…

"You're going to give me a ride?" she asked hesitantly. She didn't want to thank him before she knew what he doing. Annie was tired of looking like an idiot when it came to Jeff.

"No," he rolled his eyes. "I thought I would leave you here." He turned back to his car. "Yes, you can have a ride, Annie. But if you get any paint on these seats, I swear to God I will give Chang your address and-"

"It's mostly dried," Annie answered as she rushed around to the passenger seat and meticulously laid the towel out on the seat before settling herself next to him. "This is a nice car," she noted as he put his car back into drive.

"Thanks," he replied in a way that made her sure that he heard that a lot. Probably from women. Not that she cared. "You said you're going home?" he asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.

"Yeah," she answered as she clasped her back pack to her chest.

He looked over at her, surprised. "You're not going to Denny's?"

"I'm pretty tired." Jeff's hand stayed on the gear shift between them, his strong fingers only inches from her thigh. Which she wasn't thinking about at all. "I think I'm going to sleep for three days." Annie glanced around in the ensuing silence, noticing Jeff's cowboy hat in the back seat, probably relegated there when she'd gotten in.

She was almost surprised he hadn't asked her to sit in the back.

"Which street is it?" he asked as the wheel spun gracefully under his hand.

"Third?" Annie replied. "Third and Spring." She looked over at him, waiting for the shoe to drop. Yep, there it was.

"Annie," he said after a pregnant pause. "That is…the ghetto." She shrugged. "You don't really live there, do you?"

"It's not that bad," she shot back, irritated to be defending her home to yet another person. "It's really cheap," she added.

"Whatever," Jeff answered as he pulled onto her street. "I can't believe you actually live above Dildopolis. I thought Pierce was just being subversive."

"Well," Annie said before pursing her lips. "Thanks," she said quietly as he slowed to a stop and put in the car in park. "I don't think there should be any paint on the seat, but if there is I will pay for it."

Jeff gave her a small smile. "Or you could save your money and get an apartment that isn't in the Greendale crack district," he replied as she opened her door. "Hey, Annie?" She paused, holding her breath in her lungs. She bit her lip before hazarding a glance toward him. He was watching her, eyebrows furrowed slightly. "You…" She waited for him to finish his thought, her own eyebrows raising questioningly. "You kicked ass today," he finally said. She gave him a smile. "Seriously, you were totally awesome."

Every instinct inside of her told Annie to turn it around on him, tell him that he was the awesome one. But she held it in and instead simply climbed out of the Lexus silently. "Thanks," she called out to him a split second before she slammed the door. Turning, she sauntered to the rickety stair at the side of the building that led to her apartment.

It wasn't until she was three quarters of the way up that she heard him pull away from the curb.

II.

Melvin Dewey was the worst human that had ever lived.

When Annie had scored the part time job at the public library, she'd been ecstatic. Spending all day indoors, no manual labor, helping people find books? She'd done that kind of thing in previous summers without even getting paid for it. Denise, the lead librarian, had even recognized her when she'd dropped off her application earlier in the summer.

And while she did love the job on principle (you could be stuck digging ditches her grandfather's voice rang in her ears), days like this she kind of wished everyone would just find books online. Because that afternoon across town, all of her friends were having a perfect summer barbeque to celebrate baby Ben being a month old. Even Chang was there, probably drinking all of Shirley's imported beer and showing people his belly button for no apparent reason.

Annie looked forlornly at the tall stack of books on the cart that still needed to be put away. As she reached for a copy of 'Finnegan's Wake', her phone beeped from her pocket, letting her know she had a new text message. Forgetting about her job completely, Annie pulled her phone out. Jeff had sent her a picture. She opened it and couldn't stop the giggle that escaped.

Britta-covered head to toe in what looked like shaving cream.

She looked pissed.

Annie pulled up the keyboard on her screen and typed quickly. LOL, what happened?

An answer came almost instantly, as if he was waiting for her to respond. She got caught in the middle of Troy & Abed's pie fight. She didn't really enjoy it.

Doesn't look like it. How long is everyone going to be there?

A while. What time are you off?

Not til 7.

We're going out after this though. You should come.

Who all is going? Annie knew better than to go out drinking with Jeff and Britta.

So far just me and Troy.

Annie frowned. Not Britta?

No. Why?

Just surprised.

Why?

She was hoping he would just drop it, but of course the one time she wanted him to, he wouldn't. Thinking for a minute about the best way to phrase it, she finally typed in a response.

I thought you guys were a couple now or something.

No.

She exhaled loudly, feeling a ridiculous amount of relief at that. It wasn't any of her business, but she couldn't help herself from making sure. So it's over?

The amount of time she had to wait seemed excruciating, although it was only about three minutes in real world time-keeping. If Annie could pull the question back into her phone, she would. Just as she was about to put her phone away, it beeped again.

Yes.

Oh.

Annie shook her head, not really believing she'd just handled everything that badly. She definitely should not have asked Jeff about his relationship with Britta. Just because he wasn't still sleeping with the blonde didn't mean anything, and it surely didn't mean what she wanted it to mean. Her phone beeped again.

Any other questions about my personal life?

Cringing at his question, Annie answered quickly.

Sorry!

It's okay. See you later?

Maybe.

Call me when you're done. I will let you know the plan.

K.

She put her phone away and went back to work, determined not to obsess about the conversation for the rest of her shift.

To her credit, that plan stayed intact for two and a half minutes.

III.

Jeff stepped off of the treadmill and picked up his water bottle to take a drink. A four minute mile was not bad, but he knew he could do better. His eyes followed a red head to the stair-climber, lingering on her spandex-clad ass for a much shorter period of time than they usually would. He mentally congratulated himself on being a such a gentleman before turning away and heading toward the locker room to collect his stuff.

Just as he stepped into the smelly concrete cell, his phone rang from his gym bag. He moved forward quickly and pulled it out. Annie was calling him.

Annie never called him.

"Hello?" he answered, his curiosity piqued.

"Do you know anything about how to hook up a Slip N Slide?" she asked by way of greeting.

Jeff stilled, then smirked. "Do I seem like the type of person who would know how to hook up a Slip N Slide, Annie?" She let out a frustrated sigh and Jeff chuckled. "Is your pool party a bust?"

"I don't know how to do this," she whined. "I hooked it up to the water, but I am not strong enough to get the faucet on!"

He shook his head as he picked up his things and walked to his car, giving a nod to the guy with no neck who worked the counter. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked.

She huffed in response. "I'm babysitting, and I can't make the water come out of the hose."

"You're babysitting?" he asked, not sure why the concept was so crazy to him. "Who for?"

"Shirley and Andre went out of town for the weekend," she explained as Jeff pulled out of the parking lot and turned into traffic. "And I'm watching the boys."

He wrinkled his nose. "All of them?"

"There's only three, Jeff." He rolled his eyes. "And one of them can't walk yet, so he's pretty easy."

"Yeah, except for the part about him being a poop machine." Jeff pulled his sunglasses out and put them on as he drove in the direction of Shirley's house. "Annie, shouldn't you be trying to teach these children something?"

"Jeff!" she shouted in an exasperated tone and Jeff bit back another chuckle. "There is no one else for me to call."

"Really?" he asked.

"Yes," Annie answered. "Troy and Abed went to the movies, Shirley isn't answering her phone, Britta didn't even know what a Slip N Slide was."

"That surprises you?" Jeff asked as he turned onto Shirley's street. It was probably meant to be that his gym was only blocks from her house.

"No," Annie replied dejectedly. "Thanks anyway."

"Wish I could help," he answered and let her hang up before pulling into Shirley's driveway. He could hear them in the back yard and took his time walking around the house and toward the back to meet them. Annie was knelt next to the side of the plastic slide as the boys wrestles nearby. Jeff wordlessly stepped over to the water valve and checked it. It wouldn't turn, but he bent over it and exerted enough pressure on it to get it open. He heard the water rush through the hose that was connected to it and a moment later, Annie squealed excitedly. She turned toward the faucet and froze at the sight of him. He pointed to the valve. "You have no upper body strength, Annie."

"Did you do that?" she asked, bewildered.

"Yes?" Jeff responded.

Then she was flying at him, a mass of tiny pale girl in polka dotted red lycra. She threw her arms around him, hugging him fiercely. "Jeff!" she shrieked gratefully as she clung to him, pressing herself against him in a way he was trying valiantly to ignore. "I can't believe you came!"

"I was only a couple blocks away," he replied as she finally stepped away and dropped her arms from him. He let his eyes rake over her very quickly before turning his attention to Jordan and Elijah, who were now happily slipping. And sliding.

"Thank you so much," she said as she clasped her hands over her heart. "This was really nice of you."

"No problem," he replied as breezily as he could while trying not to look at her. She looked like a fifties pinup, all milky skin and round curves. He was not supposed to be thinking these things about her. Annie was off limits.

Probably.

"Do you want to stay?" she asked as she tipped her sunglasses up to appraise him with a smile.

Jeff shook his head. "Nah," he answered. "That's okay."

She cocked her head to the side. "You sure? It's fu-un."

Jeff chuckled at her sing-song tone. He hadn't been on a Slip N Slide since he was little. Sensing the crack in his armor, Annie stepped forward into his personal space again.

"You know you want to," she pressured him and Jeff looked down at her, feeling his chest get hot and itchy instantly. It was almost kind of sad the way she could do that so easily.

"For a little while," he finally conceded and Annie clapped her hands together before pulling him toward the sheet of wet plastic.

IV.

Jeff wandered down the aisle, pretending to check titles. This was definitely a bad idea. If he happened upon the wrong person, things could fall apart very quickly for him. He glanced down and made eye contact with a boy about eight years old, who wrinkled his nose at the tall man.

"Everything in this room is edible." Jeff's ears perked up at the faint sound of a voice he knew very well. "Even I'm edible." He walked to the end of the aisle he was in before turning around the corner and laying his eyes on her. She was seated on a chair, surrounded by small children, reading to them from a hardcover book. On her head was a princess hat. Jeff couldn't help rolling his eyes good naturedly. "But that would be called canibalism. It is looked down upon in most societies." An egg timer on the small table next to her went off and Annie closed the book. "Okay guys," she stated as she stood from the tiny chair. "I will be back in about twenty minutes, and the first person here gets to pick the book." Jeff let a small smile turn his mouth up before ducking back around the corner instinctively.

This was a bad idea. How had he managed to get all the way here without realizing that?

"Jeff?" he heard her say from behind him and winced before turning around to face her. She stood at the other end of the aisle, still wearing that damn hat and holding the book she'd clearly just finished reading. Jeff took a deep breath. "What are you doing here?" she asked, not as suspiciously as she should have to find him lurking in the children's section of the public library.

His palms were actually sweating. What was happening to him?

"I was just in the neighborhood," he answered with a slight shrug. "And I thought I might like to check out a book." He pulled a nearby book off the shelf. "'Where The Sidewalk Ends'." He looked back up at her. "That sounds like a page turner."

"Okay," Annie chuckled uncertainly. She began scanning shelves to find where to put her book. She wasn't even really that intent on finding out why he was there. He could just turn tail and leave right now and Annie would merely think he was slightly odd.

She was so pretty. Had she always been this…pretty? Like, distractingly so.

"I was just…" Jeff stepped toward her, jamming his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He kicked at the stained carpet with his boot. "What are you doing tomorrow night?" Jeff asked as casually as he could. Annie didn't glance up from the shelf, intent on finding the book a home. Jeff inwardly groaned.

"Um, nothing that I know of. What's up?" How was it that every other time they'd ever been within ten feet of each other, she'd been nothing but completely attentive to him and now, when he needed her to actually be looking at him, nothing?

"I…" Jeff rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and glanced up and down the aisle before stepping closer to her. "I was just wondering if you wanted to see a movie."

Annie was frowning deeply, checking the decimal places carefully. "Yeah, sure. Who all is going?"

Shit.

"Um…" He winced, knowing there was no way out of any of it now. "Me?"

She stilled and turned to face him, her face very…cautious? Was that what it was? Hopeful? That one sounded a lot nicer. What if she said no? He literally had not even thought of that possibility. Jeff's stomach twisted painfully. And still, Annie was staring at him. He looked at her face closely, waiting for her to say something. But she didn't. She simply stared, with those wide blue eyes. Oh. She was waiting for him to say something.

Shit.

He closed his eyes briefly, knowing what she wanted. "Annie," he sighed. "This is so junior high," he complained a moment later. Annie stiffened visibly before giving a curt nod in his direction. Jeff cleared his throat. "Annie," he tried again. "Would you…" Jeff exhaled. "Would you go…out with me?"

The smile she gave him in response was blinding in its brilliance and made the entire thing worth it. "Yes," she answered in a surprisingly sweet tone as she tried to smother her tremendous grin. He tried to swallow his own grin, but failed.

"Okay," he replied with a shrug. "Okay."

"Okay," Annie echoed.

Okay.

V.

He parked his car three blocks from her apartment. There was just no way in hell he was going to leave his baby in the middle of her neighborhood. It would be getting dark any hour now. No way. As a result, Jeff had been walking for several minutes, slowly. He was early, and knew from the last fifty years of dating that you were never supposed to be early. You might walk in on the secret rituals they performed while getting ready.

Although, he had spent seventeen minutes on his own hair. He just hadn't been able to get the right look.

He passed a woman who looked to be about his own age, but lived much more fully apparently. He gave her a polite nod and was treated to a toothless smile. Trying not to retch right in her face, Jeff moved on quickly, intent on his target.

Annie.

He still wasn't quite sure what had compelled him to do it. Well, that was a lie. He knew why he wanted to do it. She was smart and fun to be around and hot as hell. It was just a little bit like dancing through a land mine. There were about nine hundred and thirty-seven ways this could blow up in their faces. They hadn't discussed what movie they were going to see ahead of time, actually they had barely talked about any of it at all. Jeff figured that was probably better, given Annie's propensity for planning everything so specifically. They would fly by the seat of their pants. And if things got horrible, he could always claim he'd just meant as friends. Right? Had he called it a date?

Crap. He couldn't remember.

Jeff climbed the wooden outdoor staircase to the second floor of the building Annie lived in, careful not to touch the railing, which was covered in bird poop. Once inside, things didn't get much better. The dingy yellow walls and dark ratty carpet trailed down the hallway, illuminated by halogen lighting in the ceiling. A cat glanced up at him, ready to pounce before scampering in the opposite direction. A foreign man in a stained wife beater opened up a door ten feet away and stared at him.

If he died in this hallway, it would probably count as a really bad first date.

He stepped in front of Annie's door and knocked. There was a scuffle inside before she called his name. "How many people did you invite to this rat hole?" Jeff muttered through the door to her. A moment later, the door was whipped open and Jeff's heart stopped.

Annie stood before him in a white camisole, black pencil skirt and three inch heels. Her wet hair hung in a tousled mess around her shoulders. He would have thought he was interrupting her in the middle of getting ready except for the practiced sultry look she had on her face.

And the fact that she clearly was not wearing a bra.

Jeff sucked in a lungful of air through his mouth before glancing back toward the man who had been loitering in the hallway. The man stared back, non-plussed at the tableau that was in front of him. Jeff scowled deeply before ushering her into the apartment and shutting the door behind himself. "This is how you answer the door in this building? How often do you get raped here?" he asked angrily.

"I knew it was you," Annie argued, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Annie," he barked out before stopping dead. She was staring down at her floor, a worried crease between her eyebrows. "You did this for me?"

She jerked one shoulder up. "I just thought…" She didn't finish her thought, biting her lip.

"Thought what?" Jeff asked, feeling something his stomach squirm. "That that's what this was about?"

"Well, even if I did, I would be justified to think that." She quirked an eyebrow at him meaningfully and Jeff frowned in response. "But that wasn't what I was…doing."

He ran both hands through his hair, frustrated by her but mostly frustrated by the waves of desire washing over him and making it hard to concentrate on their argument. "Okay, so what were you doing then?"

"I didn't want the situation to be confused." Jeff frowned. "I didn't want you to be able to claim this wasn't a date." She shrugged . "Also, I thought it would be the best way to get rid of the giant elephant in every conversation we have, which is the fact that you just stopped having sex with Britta." With a shake of her head, Annie ran a hand through her damp hair, not even realizing what a seductive image she was creating.

Jeff exhaled slowly. "You…thought the best way to deal with those problems was to seduce me into having sex with you before our first date?" he asked incredulously. "Wow."

Annie blustered slightly. "Just forget it."

He stepped toward her, his own arms crossed over his chest, and stared her down. She visibly shrank under his gaze and Jeff let his mouth turn up the tiniest bit. "You really want to do this?" he asked.

"Well," she started, clearly ready to make her case. "I just know that if we go to the movie, I will be thinking about it the entire time." Jeff smirked, willing her to continue. "And I will be panicking about whether or not to try this and worrying about you blowing me off when I do work up the nerve." She gave an exasperated sigh. "I just wanted to be able to relax on our first date, and I thought the best way to do that would be to have sex at the beginning of the evening." She glanced up at him through thick lashes. "It's called being pragmatic, Jeff."

Before Jeff could stop himself to think about what he should be doing, he stepped into her personal space and tipped her head up toward him and kissed her languidly. Annie immediately responded to his kiss, pressing herself against him as she wrapped her arms around his ribcage and his hands sunk into her tangled wet hair. When he pulled away a minute later, she looked up at him, mussed and panting.

"You make a very good point," he muttered with a smile.

Annie slipped her tongue out of her mouth to lick her lips and Jeff groaned low in his throat. "Take off your pants," she commanded with a gleam in her eye.

Who was this woman?

"Ladies first," he answered with a wave of his arm to her skirt.

"So," she quirked her mouth up on one side. "Can we go to the late show?"

"Yes," Jeff replied before she'd even fully gotten the question out of her mouth. "The panda will keep."

Annie's eyes softened. "You'll take me to see that?" she asked in a completely different tone.

Jeff let his eyes move down her form slowly, lingering where he'd never allowed them to before. "I think I'll owe you at least that much."

Annie scrunched her face up in an adorable flurry of embarrassment before she bent to pick up the remote for her iPod dock and tilted it over her shoulder. A second later, the heavy brass opening strains of 'You Can Leave Your Hat On' blared through her speakers and Jeff laughed gleefully at it.

"You weren't even born yet when this movie came out," he pointed out over the volume of the song.

Annie's hands landed on his shoulders as she gently pushed him back onto her couch. "Well, I've got a whole fridge full of food that says I still got the point." She waggled her eyebrows at him and Jeff growled and let his eyes roll back in his head before focusing on her small capable hands trailing down the front of his shirt.

"For future reference, you…" he exhaled, trying to keep himself under control as she let her hands slide further south. "You are very good at this, but it's not really necessary to put this much work into it Annie."

"Oh," she replied with wide eyes as she stood straight. "I don't have to if you don't want me to."

Jeff sat up quickly, snaking his hands around her hips to still her. "Maybe just remember for next time," he murmured as he pulled her down on top of him.

VI

"Corn dog."

Jeff turned his head toward her, clearly disturbed. "Excuse me?"

Annie stared up at the ride in front of them before glancing at him. "I am hungry for a corn dog," she explained.

He frowned. "I have literally never said that in my life." Annie rolled her eyes. "How can you put that stuff in your body?"

She took a tiny step forward, bouncing on the balls of her feet for a moment before answering him. "Jeff, some people don't care about that kind of thing."

"Take advantage of it now," he answered in an authoritative tone. "While you've got a perfect indestructible twenty year-old body." Annie felt her cheeks heat up and looked back over her opposite shoulder in the hopes that Jeff wouldn't see it.

It had started with Troy calling Abed and suggesting a road trip to Six Flags. In the end, they'd all piled into Shirley's mini van and driven to Denver to partake in a day of roller coasters and fried food. When Annie had mentioned that she wanted to ride the 'Boomerang', she'd gotten no response at all. Troy and Abed were in the middle of recounting their epic ride on the Tower of Doom, which had apparently dropped them a zillion feet in three seconds. Britta and Shirley had wandered off together on the search for frozen yogurt and Annie had found herself looking forlornly at Jeff.

She hadn't expected it to work, but was learning fairly quickly that she couldn't really know what to expect from him. They'd been doing…whatever it was that they were doing for three weeks and five days, not that she'd been counting. Hanging out most nights, sleeping together almost every night. Annie wasn't sure what void she was currently filling in Jeff's life, but would be damned if she was going to be the first to talk about it. Like clockwork though, even on the days they'd barely acknowledged each other more than a text or two, he would show up at her apartment, complaining about her Russian neighbors and asking what deals were going on at the store below her. It was fun and easy and for the time being, Annie was just going to enjoy it.

"So," Annie started in what she hoped was a conversational tone. "What were you and Britta talking about on the way up?" She stared at the ground as she took one more step forward. This ride better be awesome for how long they'd been waiting in line. When she looked up at him, he was shooting her a wary look.

"I don't remember," he replied slowly. Annie nodded. "I ended up next to Britta because you immediately squeezed in next to Abed and whispered with him the whole way here."

They'd been discussing the differences between the last 'Harry Potter' movie and the book, based on the trailer he'd shown her on his iPhone. Annie screwed up her face for a moment. "We kissed," she announced as she moved forward again.

"What?" Jeff asked, clearly surprised. "In the van?"

"No," Annie chuckled, but stopped when she saw the look on his face. "During paintball?"

Jeff digested this slowly. "This year or last year?"

"This year," she answered quickly.

He didn't answer for a long period of time. Annie looked over at him, worry lines forming on her forehead. Finally, Jeff met her eyes. "Really," he stated. He frowned. "I thought you guys were weird."

"It so wasn't a big deal," Annie rushed to say. "I just thought you should know."

"Jeff?" a voice called from ahead of them. A short balding man with a mustache approached them, a wide smile on his face. "I thought that looked like you!"

"Keith," Jeff greeted, mirroring the other man's smile and giving him a firm handshake. "What are you doing here?"

Keith rolled his eyes. "Family outing. Which means I buy them fifty dollars worth of crap they're never going to look at again and watch them get on rides."

Jeff chuckled. "Sorry." Keith's eyes moved toward Annie then, who gave him a tight-lipped smile. "Oh, right. Keith, this is my girrl…" Jeff's eyes widened in horror. "…friend," he finally finished lamely.

"Annie," she filled in for him with an awkward chuckle as she shook Keith's hand.

"Nice to meet you," Keith answered. "Well, have fun on this ride guys. My son looked like he was having fun on it."

"Awesome," Annie said, pumping her fist.

"Yeah, but then he got off and threw up," Keith finished with a grimace.

"Awesome," Jeff repeated in a brittle sarcastic tone.

Keith glanced into the distance. "Well, I have to go spend some more money. Will I see you around the firm more soon?" he asked.

"Oh, I hope so," Jeff stated with a nod.

"It was nice to meet you Annie," Keith smiled at her and Annie returned it blithely. Then, to Jeff he added, "you should definitely bring her to the next party." With that, he beat a hasty retreat, leaving them in an awkward cloud of dust. Jeff moved forward with the line and Annie watched him in silence.

"Do we…." he broke off and have her a sideways glance. "Do we need to talk about this, or…?"

Annie shrugged as non-chalantly as she was able to. "No."

"Really," Jeff answered flatly.

She stopped and turned toward him fully. "Jeff, whatever may or may not be happening with us, I have decided that it is up to you to define it." She whirled away from him again, her hair whooshing behind her. "Besides, between the two of us, you're definitely the flake about relationships."

"Whoa," he cut in. "How do you figure that?"

"I'm sorry," Annie glared at him sarcastically. "Was that a stroke you just had a minute ago?"

He rolled his eyes in response before they began climbing the metal stairs in tandem and made their way to an empty spot in the car. "I panicked," he finally whispered to her harshly.

"I got that," Annie cracked as she slid into the seat next to him. They sat silently as the nine-fingered carnie clicked their safety bar into place. Jeff's hands instantly clamped onto it and Annie shot him a confused look.

"Okay, I may have not been very forthcoming about my joy of roller coasters," Jeff said hurriedly.

Annie's eyes bulged and she moved closer to him. Jeff," she admonished softly. "Why didn't you say something?" He shrugged his shoulders. "The scary man already bolted us in," she announced in a worried tone. Jeff shrugged silently again. "Jeff…"

"You were giving me…the eyes," he stated pointedly. "What was I gonna do?"

Annie frowned. "I wouldn't have made you come on here with me, you know."

The ride lurched forward and Jeff closed his eyes tightly. "I've kind of got my own thing going on here. Can you pick a fight with me later?" Annie rotated her head to look at him. He was afraid of roller coasters and had gotten on one for her.

He'd just called her his girlfriend.

Why was she picking a fight with him?

"Maybe I won't get a corndog," Annie murmured and Jeff let one eye open slightly.

"I just don't want you to taste like that," he replied and Annie felt her heart jump in her chest.

She smiled. "How about funnel cakes?" she asked as they slowly started their ascent.

"Funnel cakes I can work with," Jeff answered with a nod.

Annie bit her lip nervously. "Would it make…do you…do you want to hold my hand?" she asked hesitantly. Jeff's eyes flew open and he gave her a small smile.

"Yes."

Together, they went over the edge.