4It felt like an eternity until Annie was able to form a coherent thought. But once she regained her higher brain functions the realization of what had just happened hit her. She and Jeff had finally slept together. Not only that, but it had been her idea. A part of her was surprised it happened so quickly. Although truth be told, the last few years had been nothing but build up. It was about time a move had been made.
But as she thought about it a frown settled on her face. If it had been with another guy she'd be grinning ear to ear, wondering how things were going to go. But this was Jeff, and she had no illusions of where this would lead to. Jeff would now become awkward and want to avoid her. Hopefully they'd eventually be able to remain friends, like he did with Britta. But she was smart enough to know that her childish fantasies involving Jeff in any kind of dating or boyfriend scenario were just that: childish fantasies.
Jeff looked at her as she pulled away and started getting dressed. "You okay?" he asked as he started putting his own clothes on.
"I'm alright."
Jeff paused in buttoning his pants as he caught the tone in her voice. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing Jeff. I know how this goes."
"What are you talking about?" he asked.
"I mean I know how things are after you sleep with a woman. You move on." Annie glanced over, a bit surprised at the look he was giving her. "Don't act surprised, it's not exactly a hidden secret. I just want you to know that I'm not going to act like this is something it's not and think we're suddenly going to start dating. I'm not going to become 'crazy love sick Annie' just because we had sex. This was just like you're other hook ups."
Jeff looked at her as she finished getting dressed and strapped her gun holsters back on. Logically he should be relieved at her assumption that this was simple no strings attached sex. And if it was any other woman he would have breathed a huge sigh of relief. But this was Annie. And while it could be annoying and naive at times, deep down he liked that she expected more from a guy then just a meaningless hook up. It proved just how different and special she actually was. He didn't want her to act like everyone else. And even more importantly, he realized that he didn't want to treat her like everyone else.
"Come on," he told her as he pulled them to their feet and lead her out of the closet.
"Jeff wait, where are we going?
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"And if you'll look to your left, you'll see Pampkin's ale house. Legend has it that Ma Barklet, wife of the original owner, was killed in 1949 when a barrel of ale fell over and crushed her to death. And they say on some nights people can actually see her ghost sitting on an empty bar stool, waiting for her husband to find her." The tour guild waited until most of the group took pictures of the building before loudly clearing his throat. "Okay everyone. Let's continue on with the 'walking tour of Greendale ghost sightings'."
Jeff desperately tried not to sigh as the tour group started walking to their next destination. It was partially his own fault they were here right now. Once they got outside Jeff spotted a group of people across the street from the school about to embark on a tour of Greendale haunted hotspots. Immediately he suggested doing that, which was why they had now spent the past forty minutes walking to one inane location after another.
But even though he thought this was stupid as anything, he knew he had to do this. After what Annie said after they'd slept together, he had to prove to her (and maybe also to himself) that he didn't think of her as a woman he was just going to toss aside now that they'd had sex. Which was why he'd pretty much looked for the first thing they could do that qualified as a date.
Though he wished he'd picked something that wasn't so moronic.
As they walked Jeff looked over at Annie, seeing her shiver a bit. She'd left her jacket in her car and her outfit wasn't exactly convenient for a nightly fall stroll. He'd lend her his coat at the start of the tour (and bit his tongue every time she bent her elbows), but could tell she was still cold. "You okay?"
"I'm fine."
"If you want we can go home."
"No, I'm good." True, she thought the tour was kind of stupid. But in a silly amusing way. And she had a feeling this was important for some reason to Jeff.
Besides, having Jeff volunteer to do something like this was a rarity in and of itself. And she wasn't about to spoil it.
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"And now we come to the final, and some say, scariest stop on the tour. Get ready to tighten your sphincter's, as we approach, a grave yard."
"You've got to be kidding me," Jeff muttered as people actually took out cameras and started taking pictures.
"Obviously, here is the final resting place for many residents of Greendale. And it's possible that on a night just like this, some poor lonely soul might be wandering the earth trying to finish something that plagued them in life. That concludes our tour. If you'd like to make donations, it would be greatly appreciated. Have a good, and spooky, night."
"That may have been the worst thing I've ever suffered from." Jeff finally said as people actually gave the inane tour guide money. "Seriously," he groaned as Annie gave the guide a dollar.
"What?"
"You actually gave that guy money."
"He was entertaining."
"You thought that tour was good?" he asked.
"Okay, yes, it was lame. But I still enjoyed it."
"Well I'm glad one of us did."
"If you hated it so much why did you insist we go?" she asked Jeff, folding her arms across her chest.
"I wanted…I wanted to do something that was a date, okay."
Annie's face softened as she uncrossed her arms, a soft smile creeping up her face. "So this was supposed to be a date?"
"What else would you call taking someone on the worst ghost hunt ever?"
Annie chuckled at that, before the smile left her face. "Wait. Did you just do this to try and prove what happened in the closet wasn't just a one night stand?"
"No…not exactly." He sighed, wishing she wasn't smart enough to see through his fly by the seat of his pants plan. "This is pretty new territory for me. I generally just date woman so I can sleep with them. So going out with someone after we've had sex…hopefully you're bright enough to see that it means something."
He figured he said something right, since Annie wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. She then pulled back, taking hold of his hand. "Come on."
"Where are we going?"
"We're going to try to find a ghost," she said playfully. "I mean, we are in a possibly haunted graveyard."
"Seriously? I had enough of ghosts on the tour."
She giggled when suddenly she heard a snapping sound, like twigs breaking. "What's that?"
"What's what?"
"I just heard something."
"Annie, come on. This ghost thing is getting old."
"Jeff I swear I heard something." She grabbed his arm as the sound of crunching leaves was heard. "There. Over there."
Jeff looked ahead, starting to grow concerned. "Stay behind me." He slowly walked forward, making sure Annie was blocked by whatever might come at them. "Hello?"
Suddenly they both yelled as a caped figure lunged out at them. The figure fell back at a gun was fired at him. Jeff looked at Annie, seeing her holding one of the prop guns from her holster. "What the hell? You shot him?"
"I panicked, okay!"
"OW!" They both whipped around as they saw that the caped man was Professor Garrity. "I think I hurt my ankle there."
"Professor Garrity?" Annie asked. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to get my prop guns. I told you to return them and instead you took them out of the school."
"So you decided to stalk us," Jeff angrily asked.
"I was trying to make a dramatic point. And that is that prop guns should not be taken out of the school. Now…" He held out his hand, beckoning for his theatrical property back.
"Here, you can have them back," Annie said as she took them from her holsters and handed them to the Professor.
"Thank you. Though next time I'd appreciate it if you didn't fire them at me, even if it is just a prop. Haven't either of you ever seen The Crow?" He started walking away when he turned back at them. "Though I will say, if you decide to invite me to your wedding I'll have one hell of a story to say in my toast."
The two of them looked at each other as Professor Garrity walked away, shocked at what they had just heard. "So, he's crazy," Annie quickly said.
"Bat shit nuts. Did he think he was an actual vampire, jumping out at us like that?"
They both laughed nervously, trying to work through the awkwardness Sean's words had left. But as Jeff looked at Annie in the moonlight he thought about it, and realized he wasn't feeling the complete disgust he usually felt when the thought of marriage entered his mind.
"Well, I should probably get home," Annie said, pulling Jeff out of his thoughts.
"Okay," Jeff said uncertainly. "I mean, if you really want to. But it's still kind of early. We can do something else."
"Like what?" she asked, her eyes shining brightly.
Jeff slowly smiled as an idea came to him. It was a bit mean considering how she felt about scary movies. But it could also have some advantages. "How about we go to the movie theater on Willis Street. They always show classic horror movies on Halloween."
"Um, sure," she said uncertainly.
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"Why did I talk you into letting me watch A Nightmare on Elm Street?" Annie asked as they exited the theater. "I'm going to have nightmares tonight."
"Careful. Then Freddy Kruger will come and get you," Jeff said as he ran his fingers up her arm.
"Stop that!" Annie yelled, swatting his hand away. "You're mean."
"Come here." Jeff put an arm around her, feeling some of her annoyance slip away. "I don't know how you can hate horror movies. What about that werewolf story you told everyone on Halloween a few years ago?"
"That was a story. I'm fine with scary stories and books…most of them. But I just don't like horror movies. There's a reason I never saw any Freddy movie before."
"Well to be fair, you didn't actually see the whole movie tonight either," he whispered in her ear.
Annie blushed at that one. During each scary moment Annie ended up grabbing onto Jeff whenever she was frightened. And eventually this lead to them making out for the whole second half of the movie. As it was she had no idea how Freddy ended up being defeated.
"Wait?" she asked as she looked up at Jeff. "Did you suggest seeing a scary movie so I would get frightened and we'd make out?"
"And I thought you were the clever one." He grinned as she playfully slapped him on the chest. "Completely worth it."
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"It's not a kid's book Jeff, its young adult."
"That's still a kid's book."
Annie groaned, taking a sip of her coffee to stall their argument. After the movie they walked around town for a while. Annie was a bit hungry, so they ended up stopping at a diner to get something to snack on.
"I still think you'd enjoy it."
"Annie, I'm not reading Perks of Being a Wallflower. Isn't it a girly book anyway?"
"No. It's about a lonely high school freshman boy who meets some friends who make his life better. I read it in high school and loved it. Though I think I can relate to it better after going to Greendale. But trust me, it's really good. And it's definitely not a kid's book. There's sex and drug use and other adult situations," she finished playfully.
Jeff laughed as Annie wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "You're cute when you're silly."
"Thanks." She reached for the last mozzarella stick, before pulling her hand back. "Did you want it?"
"It's all yours." Jeff watched as Annie popped the stick in her mouth, trying not to think too many dirty thoughts as she swallowed and licked her lips. "So…what are you reading now?"
"I reread Catching Fire last week since the movie is coming out soon. And I just started reading The Ocean at the End of the Lane. What about you, are you reading anything?"
"Not at the moment. Though I keep meaning to read Threat Vector."
"You like Tom Clancy?" Annie asked.
"I've read a number of the Jack Ryan books. So I'd wouldn't mind reading another one."
"I've never read any of them. Would I like it?"
"They're good if you like espionage and stuff like that. I'd say try one and see if you like it."
"How about…I'll read a Jack Ryan book if you read Perks of Being a Wallflower," Annie countered with a grin.
Despite how annoying her grin was, Jeff wouldn't help smiling along with her. "Fine. You've got a deal."
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"I should really get inside," Annie moaned as Jeff pulled her into yet another kiss. They'd been standing in front of her build for the past ten minutes. But every time Annie tried to go inside, Jeff kept giving her another reason to not go up yet.
"Just a few more minutes." He said, his voice muffled from his lips being pressed against hers.
"What if Troy or Abed comes out here?"
"I don't care."
At that Annie pulled away, looking at Jeff suspiciously. "You don't care if one of them finds out about tonight? And they tell the rest of the group."
"Annie, I technically just went on three dates with you and actually had a good time. Plus, there was the pretty amazing sex we had in the closet." He chuckled at the blush spreading across her face before continuing. "I don't know where this is going, but I'd like to see where it leads to."
"So, you actually want to try it?" Annie asked. "You want to date and tell the group we're together?"
Annie watched as Jeff took his phone out and pulled her into him, heading the click of his camera as he kissed her. He worked the screen for a few moments before he showed her his phone. "That answer your question?"
Annie looked at his phone, seeing that he'd just sent the picture to the group with the caption 'we're dating as of now. ttyl'. She smiled as she pulled Jeff into another kiss, both of them ignoring their phones buzzing with incoming texts.