Chapter Text
“Britta wanted that on her wedding?” Annie asked not fully believing Jeff’s story.
“I was as surprised as you. Its Britta we are talking about, but she still wanted to keep the tradition of throwing the bouquet.”
Annie Edison and Jeff Winger were finally sitting on a table on a fancy restaurant on a date. She looked as beautiful as ever in the blue dress she was wearing. While he looked amazing and younger in a grey suit.
Jeff had overthought about everything that could go wrong the whole afternoon and so far none of the things in the list had happened. He was enjoying everything.
All was going well. So Jeff bit his tongue when he meant to ask Annie why she didn’t go to Britta’s wedding, it could make everything awkward and ruin this night. He figured that was the same reason why Annie had not asked why he never called her after she left. Those conversations would be a problem, but they were a future problem.
“How was your salmon?” she asked, trying to find a new topic of conversation.
“Much better than the food at yesterday’s bar.” He said.
“I thought the food was alright. How did you find that bar?”
“I figured that having a scotch after a day in court made me feel better. Especially when dealing with witnesses like you.” He teased
Annie made an offended face.
“Is that how you treat your dates.” She said with a checky smile.
“I was hoping you were more than a date.” confessed Jeff making Annie blush a little bit.
“I guess it depends on what else you have in mind for tonight.” she joked.
“Then you’ll be disappointed to know that I didn’t think of anything else.” Jeff said
“Really?” she teased.
“Is not like I had a lot of prep time and it’s not like I thought about this date for the better part of 6 years.”
Annie smiled at that, back at Greendale she also daydreamed about how a date with Jeff Winger would be like some times.
Jeff asked the waiter for the check and took his wallet out to pay.
“Jeff we should split the check.”
“Don’t worry I got this. By the way you’ll receive my monthly bill in the next few days, I’m not a cheap lawyer after all.” Jeff teased again.
“I don’t think you could get me off a speeding ticket.”
“I could get you off from a lot worse things.”
Jeff got up from the table and offered his arm.
“Milady.”
Annie smiled.
“Milord.” She responded as she got up and took his arm.
They were walking on a park near the restaurant. Lanterns on the side illuminated the path for them and other groups of people.
“Where are you taking me?” Annie asked
“A spot I like in the park.” Said Jeff as they continued walking holding hands.
“Do you come feed the birds with the other grandpas?” Annie joked.
Jeff shot a killer glance at her. Annie suddenly felt her hand was being gripped harder.
“Oh come on is a joke.” She said making her Disney princess eyes to Jeff.
“Ha ha ha.” Said Jeff sarcastically. “I actually jog here in the mornings.”
“That makes sense, you look great.” Said Annie getting closer to Jeff.
Jeff smiled at the compliment and started to lean down for a kiss. Just before their lips met Annie pulled away.
“For your age.” She joked again
Jeff sighted.
“You know you are no longer a 20 something either Miss Edisson.”
They finally arrived. The place was a small square with a few benches that connected to a small lake in the middle of the park. The city’s buildings and the moon were reflected in the water.
“Wow” she exclaimed
“I know.”
“It is a really nice spot. Do you bring all your girls here?” joked Annie as he tuned to see Jeff’s reaction.
He smiled.
“I have never brought anyone here. Lawyer’s honor.”
“Really?” She said not believing it.
“I swear. This is a special spot and It deserves a special girl.”
“Oh, how lucky I am of being one of your ‘special’ girls” she said with sarcasm.
Jeff chuckled. He came closer to her. He put his hands on her face. Looked directly into her eyes.
“Annie, you have no idea how much you mean to me.”
Annie smiled and closed the distance between them.
Everything felt right with the world. But the only thing in her mind was why couldn’t they have this sooner? This connection they shared was not new, it had been there since Greendale. So what changed, was she not enough for him then?
She stepped away from him creating distance between them.
“Why didn’t you call me?” she finally decided to ask the question she have been avoiding for the last two days.
Jeff sighted. He knew they would have to talk about it eventually.
He remembered being in front of the airport. Sitting in his car with his hands on the wheel. The engine running. But he couldn’t leave. He knew this could be the last time he could see her. She wasn’t coming back, and Jeff thought he made peace with that until this moment. Before his subconscious told him to run inside the airport to try to get a last look of her at the least. And he did run, but he was too late, he managed to see a head covered with brown hair crossing security before it. After that, Jeff took a few minutes to get his thoughts together. She deserved someone better. He always knew that. And she was still so young with so much potential. She needed to live, so her leaving was for the best.
But it was still hard on him. Everything changed, but some things changed for the better. For example, the next lecture he taught, he came into the classroom prepared, with an actual lesson planned that he worked on for days. He was done with putting the least effort on everything he did.
Jeff wanted to be better.
“The reason why I never tried to call you is because I didn’t want you to come back.”
“What do you mean?’
“I wanted you to walk forward without looking back. You always deserved to be somewhere better than Greendale and you deserved someone better than me. But we had this between us, and I couldn’t risk you changing your mind. Even if I really wanted you to come back, I knew it wasn’t good for you, it was good for me.”
“So you thought I would just go back you whenever you asked like I am not my own person?” she asked
“To be honest, it would have been more probable that I decided to follow you whenever you went than you coming back. Either way I didn’t want to hold you back, so I didn’t risk it. I wanted you to do everything you wanted and to be happy.”
She was finally getting the answer she wanted for years. And while it made her mad it was not directed to him. It was anger to everything else in the universe. Why couldn’t things be different. Annie definitely achieved what she wanted when she left Greendale. Her resume was filled with crazy mistakes instead of crazy lies as she put it back then. But every time she achieved something it was always bitter sweet knowing all the people that she left behind. It wasn’t like she was unhappy now. One of the main reasons she decided to take the internship in the FBI was because the chance was there so why not take it? She feared regretting not doing it.
In those 8 years she learned a lot and grew so much in all the aspects. But now, meeting Jeff again, she would always question whether she should have stayed, because if she did maybe they would have 8 more years together.
“I’m sorry. I know it was stupid. But I could not think of anything else then. I never wanted to hurt you.” He apologized.
“You always had to be the one to shoulder all the responsibility.” She expressed tired.
Annie took a deep breath. Look around, it was a perfect night, and instead of enjoying it they were talking about things that happened years ago.
“You did hurt me, but I guess your heart was in the right place. Meanwhile I didn’t go to Britta’s wedding because I was so mad at you, which is a little dumb because it’s not like I couldn’t have called you. And to be honest Britta getting married before me made me a little mad, she spent years telling me she never wanted to be a wife and then she gets married before me. What the hell!”
Jeff couldn’t stop a small chuckle from escaping his mouth. Annie laughed too.
“Jeff. we will never know if there was a better way to do things. So where does that leave us now?” she asked.
Jeff had decided what he wanted since they were seating in the bar 24 hours ago.
“I want to be with you Annie. For the long run. I wasn’t ready then, but I am now.”
She looked at him and came closer. She grabbed his hands.
“Well, then we are going to end our professional relationship. I think you can get disbarred again if somebody find out you are dating a client.” She teased smiling.
Jeff Winger grinned back.
“I can always go back to Greendale. You know. Incredible things happen in that place.”