A/N: Oh man, it's been a while, huh? Here are the usual excuses: I'm in graduate school, and am trying to get my 500 hours of internship done before I graduate. Oh, and we bought a house :) that said, I know I could always make time to write- I just haven't.

This chapter is dedicated to the reviewers CrazyStarHunter12 & sarj2490 for being so sweet. I'm honestly so surprised at the angry reviews- I really don't get why someone who hates the A/A ship would read an A/A fic! Hmmm. Anyway, thanks to the others who left positive or helpful comments. I really appreciate it!

Chapter 5: Regrets

It had been pure torture finishing her shift that afternoon. After she left Troy and Abed, Annie had spent a good thirty minutes in the bathroom mentally scolding herself.

Of course it had been Abed! All day, Annie had been trying use her sexual energy to sell products, and she had actually fooled herself into thinking that it had been working. Her cheeks burned as she realized the only person who had actually fallen for it was Abed! He must have been in some sort of womanizing, smooth-talking character. There was no way she could face him- what if he told the rest of the study group?

After splashing some cold water on her face, Annie resumed her post at the booth- after all, she was a professional. As much as she wanted to run home with her tail between her legs, she had made a commitment.

"How was your break?" Trish asked her as she returned.

Annie shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it."

The two models exchanged a look, and returned to passing out drinks. Annie felt a bit guilty, but she stayed silent anyway for the rest of the shift. She kept an eye out for the two robots, but there was no sign of them. Her body felt on high alert all night, and she just couldn't keep a smile on her face. Any time there was a lull in customers, her mind would replay her conversation with the robot man, only this time she knew it was Abed behind the mask.

What must he have thought of her? Was he laughing at her? That didn't seem like Abed. But then Troy had seen them, and what did he think? Why didn't he tell her it was him under the mask? Her mind kept circling back to the moment they touched hands, and her stomach would twist into knots all over again.

The minutes crawled by until Harry came around with envelopes for the three women.

"Thank you, ladies! See you here tomorrow at 9AM. It'll be a bit slower, but we'll still need all three of you."

Annie knew she should tell him that she wasn't going to come back the next day, but she was worried he'd just argue with her. At that moment, all she wanted was to drive home, so instead she just nodded and took the cash.

Walking through the door of her horrid little apartment, Annie couldn't change out of her clothes fast enough. She slipped into her button-down flannel pajamas and washed the make-up off her face. Immediately, she felt a bit better. Looking in the mirror, she tried a smile, but it just turned into more tears. How could she have thought anyone would see her as anything more than the cute young dork?

Later that night, Annie used her neighbor's Wi-fi to look up what character Abed had been playing. After some research, she learned he had been dressed up as Iron Man, aka Tony Stark. According to his profile, he was a flamboyant superhero who loved showing off and wooing beautiful women. Annie comforted herself a bit at that thought- if Abed's character went for beautiful women, then didn't that mean she was beautiful?

Annie sighed. This whole thing had been about being independent and making money, and here she was, back to the same old insecurities she'd been working through since high school. She was so frustrated with being shy and insecure! Was she really going to let one awkward encounter stop her?

She had thought making a move on a stranger was a step in the right direction, but it had only turned into more humiliation. Frowning to herself, Annie realized that it had been too many years for her to take a step backward. Today she had tried being someone new, and it had failed. But that didn't mean she couldn't try again. And this time, she'd be on the lookout for familiar robots.

Her mind made up, Annie set her alarm for the next morning and tucked herself into bed.

When she opened her eyes the next morning, the envelope of cash was right where she left it on the nightstand. Seeing it bolstered her confidence- she was going to make more money today, and become financially stable.

Smiling, she got ready for the convention and tried to push down the worry in her stomach. Every time a thought of a certain friend popped up in her mind, she distracted herself with something else. Today would be a success!

Annie's positive mood lasted until she reached the G6 booth. Instead of the friendly Amazons from the day before, there were two new women next to the boxes of drinks. One had blonde curly hair and was studying her nails intently, as if there was something written on them. Her partner had magenta-colored hair, and was currently applying bright-pink lipstick. She looked oddly familiar to Annie, but she was so surprised to see new women that she couldn't concentrate on figuring it out.

"Hello," Annie said brightly. "Have you seen Trisha or Grace?"

The blonde looked up, as if startled. "Who?"

"The models from the agency... we ran the booth yesterday. Or maybe Harry is around?"

"Look hon," the second one said, putting away her lipstick. "I'm not one of these Comic-Geeks, okay? I don't know any of your friends. We're just here to make a few bucks while these losers ogle my goodies."

Laughing with the other woman, the blonde said, "Harry's the one who gave us the uniforms, remember Sheryl?"

It suddenly clicked for Annie where she knew the magenta-haired woman. "Sheryl Coombs, from Greendale High?" She blurted out. Annie had been friends with her older sister, back in middle school. Once the rigors of high school had gotten its claws into Annie, their friendship had sort of fallen away. But she faintly remembered seeing little Sheryl at their house, playing in her room or at the kitchen table getting a snack.

"Uh, yeah," Sheryl said, narrowing her eyes at Annie. "You know me or something?"

"I knew your sister, Beverly," Annie replied, trying on a friendly smile. "I'm Annie Edison."

"Cool," Sheryl said in a bored voice. "That's Kennedy," she gestured to the blonde, who had gone back to staring at her nails.

"Well, I was here yesterday, and I can tell you-"

"Oh my gosh," the blonde interrupted. "Do you ever stop talking? It's like, way too early for that."

"Oh, right," Annie said, trying not to be hurt. "I'll just let you guys adjust. Let me know if you have any questions."

Sheryl rolled her eyes, while Annie perched on the edge of a box. The exhibition hall was slowly filling. It was much less crowded on a Sunday morning, and Annie was easily able to spot Harry when he walked in the entrance.

"Hey, I'm just going to use the bathroom," she told them, eager to get away.

"Whatever," said Sheryl.

Walking away from the unpleasant women, Annie shouted across the hall, waving her arms. "Harry!" She shouted, waving her arms. "What happened to Trisha and Grace?"

"Oh, them!" Harry said, and Annie realized he looked flustered. One half of his face still had morning stubble, and his tie was crooked. "Their agency called- I guess MTV is filming a reality show in Denver, and they got an audition at the last minute. Threw a real wrench in everything- I mean, I was so short staffed already! Don't worry, though, I found someone to keep you company." He gestured at the two women, who now had their phones out and seemed to be texting.

Annie's smile faded. While she was happy for the two models, she still didn't want to be stuck with these new women.

"Are we staying until 6 again?" She asked, hoping for a negative.

"I think so- I know it's slow right now, but a lot of people wait until the last minute to check out the exhibit hall. Friday and Saturday are all about the seminars and such, so today's our day to hook them!"

"I'll try my best, boss," Annie smiled, but his phone was already ringing, and he walked away.

"Well, I guess I'll get back to it, then," she said to herself. Turning back towards her booth, she realized it was a bit more crowded. She reasoned to herself that it would be ok to do a loop around the room before returning to her booth. Sheryl and Kennedy wouldn't be able to see her, and Harry had already left.

'I'll just look at the other booths, size up the competition', she rationalized to herself. That, and she had absolutely no desire to spend more time with the grumpy girls.

All the vendors had their wares out, and Annie was soon sucked in to the wonder of it all. She loved seeing the costumes around, and everyone was so friendly. She chatted with a girl selling corsets for a while, and even indulged in imagining herself in one. Not that she would have any place to wear it, but it sure looked good on the girl selling them.

Checking her watch, Annie realized she had been wandering for nearly an hour! Her conscience kicked back in and she felt bad for abandoning her booth for so long. It's not as if Harry was paying her to shop!

Promising herself that she'd make up for it by handing out twice as many samples, she turned her feet back towards the G6 booth. By now the hall was teeming with people, making it hard to see where she was going.

She heard rather than saw her booth, and recognized the bored tone of Sheryl's voice. "I don't know, weirdo. Look, we gave you the drink, now scoot."

Annie frowned to herself. That didn't sound like the friendly customer service Harry expected. She moved to approach the booth, her vision blocked by a woman wearing large Angel wings.

"She should be here," Abed's voice replied, and Annie froze, listening in. He sounded slightly more frustrated than his usual monotone. "I'll just wait until she comes back."

"Ugh!" Kennedy sighed disgustedly. "You've been here too long already. Just go back to your geek dungeon. Haven't you learned by now that girls like us don't go for nerds like you?"

Sheryl giggled. "Yeah, I thought that was made clear in high school."

Annie still couldn't see Abed's face, but just picturing it made her burn with anger. Who the hell did these girls think they were, talking to Abed like that? He was the last person in the world who deserved to be treated cruelly.

Besides, he had made it perfectly clear to their group that he could get girls any time he wanted. She was so sick of people judging him before they got to know him!

Pushing the Angel out of the way, Annie saw Abed, his face blank, studying the women in front of him. Before she knew it, her feet were moving and her arms wrapped around his neck.

"You found me!" She said brightly, gazing up into his brown eyes.

Abed's mouth quirked the way it did when he was processing human behavior. His eyebrows furrowed, and a little line appeared on his forehead.

Not thinking, just acting, Annie raised up on her tiptoes and brought his head down to her level. Their lips pressed together in a kiss- at first Abed stiffened, then his hands gripped her arms. It was fairly chaste, as kisses go, yet Annie felt something stir inside her that suggested much more. His lips were warm and soft, and she felt his hands tentatively wrap around her waist.

He pulled away first, leaving Annie flushed and panting more than she'd like to admit.
"I think it was you who found me," he said, voice lower than usual.

Her thoughts were moving a mile a minute, but Annie clamped down on them firmly. Now was not the time to analyze, she told herself! Turning around, she faced Sheryl and Kennedy. Their faces were a mix of disgust and surprise, and Annie entertained the catty thought that they looked quite unattractive with that expression.

"We are being paid to represent a company," she scolded them. "A professional company. While you may lack the human decency to treat others with respect just because it's the right thing to do, I would have thought you'd have enough brain cells to understand that it's also not good business."

"Whatever," the blonde rolled her eyes. "Sheryl, let's take our break."

The two models stalked away from the booth, and Annie was left alone with Abed, her lips still swollen from the kiss. Suddenly she felt all her righteous courage leave her, and she felt herself quickly returning to her usual bundle of nerves.

"Uh, sorry about them, Abed," she offered.

"Nothing to apologize for," he said, a faint smile across his face. "Looks like you lost your helpers."

Annie waved her hand, "Oh, it's fine. I can handle the booth on my own."

"If you want, I can stay and help."

"Abed! I wouldn't ask you to miss the convention. Besides, I bet Troy is missing you. Go, enjoy yourself."

Abed shook his head. "It's Sunday- all the best stuff is over by now. Just tell me what to do."

Annie smiled, relieved he hadn't asked about the kiss- or brought up their encounter from the day before. "Well, if you're sure..."