"Pierce?" Annie lightly knocked on her bedroom door, trying to figure out what was going on with him. It was two in the morning and she really wanted to get to bed.

After Jeff had come over the five of them watched the rest of Blade, with Abed suggesting afterwards that they make it a triple feature and watch all three Blade movies. Jeff and Britta left just before they started the third movie. Troy decided to turn in twenty minutes after the third one started, leaving Annie and Abed to watch the rest of the movie by themselves. When it was finally over she shockingly discovered that Abed had fallen asleep (she could recall only one other time he had fallen asleep before a movie or TV show was over.) Now she just wanted to go to sleep herself. But first she had to get Pierce on his way.

"Pierce? I'm coming in, so please be decent." She turned the door knob and opened the door, seeing him sprawled on top of her comforter, snoring like he had inhaled a turned on vacuum. Annie groaned as she closed the door. She knew she probably should have expected this, but it didn't make it any easier to see.

Well now what, she thought. She didn't have the heart to wake Pierce up, but she now had to find a place to sleep. Her options were to either sleep in Troy's recliner, not wake Abed up and crash in his bed, or take a sleeping bag and camp out in the dreamatorium.

While there technically was a bed open she decided on sleeping in the dreamatorium, in case Abed woke up later and wanted his bed. She checked the closet but didn't find the sleeping bags there. She groaned as she remembered the guys had used them for something in the blanket fort. She quietly crept inside, hoping she could find them without disturbing Troy.

She froze as a light switched on, revealing Troy lying on the bottom bunk. "Annie?"

"Troy. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." She whispered.

"What are you doing?"

"Pierce fell asleep on my bed, so I'm getting a sleeping bag so I can sleep in the dreamatorium."

Troy glanced upward, seeing that Abed's bunk was empty. "Where's Abed?"

"He fell asleep in his chair."

"Then just take his bed."

"But what if he wakes up and-."

"Annie, when Abed falls asleep he's dead to the world. He's not getting up. Just take it."

"Ok." She said as she slipped off her flats. She didn't even notice that Troy had gotten up until a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants were gently thrown at her. "Here you go. So you have something to sleep in."

"Thanks Troy." She went into the bathroom and changed into the sleep clothes. It was too late to do her complete bedtime ritual, so she settled for just washing her face and brushing her teeth. When she came back Troy was back in his bed, staring up at the underside of Abed's bed. "Good night Troy."

"Night Annie."

She hoisted herself up, struggling a little before she managed to pull herself onto the bed. She got under the covers and adjusted the pillows until she was comfortable. She wrapped her arms around a pillow and was about to close her eyes when something she had wondered about earlier passed through her head. It's late, she thought. It can wait until morning. Don't bring it up now. Don't-

"Troy. Are you awake?" She whispered.

"Yea." He groggily answered.

"Why did you erase that message from my phone?"

Although it was dark she could make out his confused face. "What?"

"Before with Britta when we were pretending to be Blade. After you texted her you erased the message from my phone so I wouldn't see it. Why?"

He paused for a few moments as she waited for an answer. "You know."

"No, why?"

"Annie, you're smart. I'm sure you can figure it out."

"Why don't you just tell me?"

"Because I didn't want to upset you, ok." He said, much louder then he intended.

Annie climbed off the bed and switched on the bedside light before sitting on the edge of Troy's bed. "Why would that upset me?"

"Because." He said with exasperation. "Because I know how you used to feel about me. And I figured if I said something nice to Britta, it might upset you. Kind of like how she was with you when she found out you liked Vaughn." He finished in a low voice.

Annie was silent for a few moments as she thought that over. It had been so long that she didn't even register that Troy might think she still thought of him that way. She scooted closer until she was next to him. "Troy, listen. You are one of my closest friends. And I care about you deeply. But, as far as all that goes…" She stopped to think, hoping she chose her words carefully. "It's in the past. You're a great guy, and objectively cute. But I don't feel anymore…" She stopped to run her hands through her hair as he looked at her. "What I'm saying is, if you like someone you don't have to hide it from me. I'm honestly fine with it."

He looked at her as she glanced around at the designs on the sheet walls. While he wasn't exactly sure what 'objectively' meant, he seemed to figure out what she was saying. She liked him as a friend, but not romantically. He thought about it, and found he wasn't bothered by hearing that. Normally that wasn't something he liked hearing from girls. But it was actually kind of a relief to finally know exactly where they stood with each other.

"You're not just saying that Annie?"

She looked back over at him. "No. Whoever you like and want to date, I'm fine with it. As long as it's not my mother!" She shrieked.

"Don't worry, that won't happen." He laughed. They both inched over as he opened his arms and they fell into a hug. She closed her eyes as she leaned into him. It felt similar to what she had felt when they hugged on his twenty first birthday, only deeper and more comforting.

As they pulled back he looked at her seriously. "Do you ever wonder though? What would have happened if we had dated in high school?"

Annie absentmindedly ran her fingers over the bed sheets as she pondered his question. Truthfully she had given that some thought. And she had pretty much come to her own conclusion. "I've thought about it. And I think now that it would have been terrible. We were different people then, and ran in completely different circles. I mean, I only went to football games to watch you. I had no interest in it otherwise. I think if we dated in high school we would have made each other miserable. Also, you were a bit mean back then." She finished in a small voice.

She was afraid he might get mad or upset at her last statement. But instead Troy seemed to grow sad. "Maybe it would have been better if Britta had met me back then."

Even though Annie's heart broke at hearing that she kept her tears in check for Troy's sake. "Troy, listen to me. You are a good guy. And Britta…for some reason has trouble liking herself, and because of that turns to guys who treat her like crap."

"I know." He said flatly.

"But listen Troy. When Jeff came by he told her some things, basically that we can't keep hating ourselves and if we can stop doing that we won't be drawn to people who treat us badly. And I think it got through to her. She found out we had been texting her as Blade and was ready to run to him. But after Jeff talked to her she stayed here, even after everything she earlier did. I think she's starting to realize she wants to be with someone who treats her the way she wishes she could treat herself. Does that make any sense?"

"I think so."

"Just give her some time. But I think tonight was a big step for her."

Troy nodded his head as he loudly yawned. "Can we talk tomorrow? I'm falling asleep here."

"Sure. It's late. I'm tired too." She smiled as she got up from his bed. She frowned a little as she looked at Abed's bed. "I just wish I had one of my stuffed animals."

"Oh…yea." Troy guiltily reached under the sleeping bag beside his bed and pulled out a stuffed giraffe.

"Popsicle!" Annie reached over and took the plush toy into her arms. "Why is he in your room?"

"We…were kind of using him for a movie. He was a giant alien giraffe and we had army men trying to defend the lego city."

As she held the giraffe the frown on her face melted. "Normally I'd be mad, especiallysince I've told you guys not to go in my room without permission. But I'll let it slide because I now have a stuffed animal to sleep with tonight."

"It's really that important?"

She fidgeted uncomfortably as she held the animal protectively against her chest. "When I was in rehab we were given stuffed animals to help us sleep at night. So we could have something to hold if we were scared and needed comfort. And since then, I've just slept better if I have one or two in bed with me."

She waited for Troy to laugh at her, but instead he had a look of sympathy and affection on his face after hearing her story. He nodded his head towards Popsicle. "Is that…was that the one you had..."

"Oh, no. I got Popsicle in high school." She was quiet for a moment before she said "It's Samantha, my blue seal. My councilor gave her to me my first night there."

"Do you want me to sneak in your room and get her?"

"You don't have to do that. I have Popsicle. And I only sleep with Samantha if I'm really upset about something. Otherwise she stays safe on my shelf."

Troy nodded his head before he unexpectedly hugged her. Annie hugged him back before she climbed back up onto Abed's bed. She got back under the covers as Troy turned off the light and got into his own bed.

"Night Annie."

"Good night Troy." Annie happily said as she hugged Popsicle and closed her eyes.