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“Hey, so…I had fun tonight,” Rachel said, moving to tuck her hair behind both of her ears.
“Yeah, me too,” Annie replied, unable to think of a more elaborate or substantial response in the moment. Apparently, attempting to keep up with Rachel during several rounds of the Cotton Eyed Joe had taken a lot out of her.
“Um, you don’t think that you’d maybe like to go out with me sometime, do you?”
Annie beamed. “I don’t think that I would like to. I know that I want to.”
—-
“I have a date tonight,” Annie thought as she entered the halls of Greendale the next morning, “I have a date tonight!”
It was hard to focus on schoolwork and committee meetings when Annie knew there was a date with a gorgeous woman waiting on the other side. None of the rest of it seemed to matter in the grand scheme of things, since it all paled in comparison.
Rachel had insisted on planning the date herself to surprise Annie. Usually, Annie didn’t like surprises, but she decided to make an exception for her.
“Rachel can surprise me however she wants,” she’d decided, convincing herself that it would be fun to let someone else take the planning lead for once.
Annie also made the executive decision not to tell any of her friends about the date. She didn’t particularly feel like coming out to them right then and there, or having them involve themselves too heavily with her personal business. She loved her friends, but knew firsthand how nosy they could be.
So she didn’t say anything. After the day’s committee meeting, she closed her binder, packed her bag, and headed home to get herself ready.
“I’m going out tonight, so don’t plan on me for dinner,” Annie told Abed on the drive back to apartment 303.
“Where are you going?” Abed asked in return.
“Um…I don’t know. An old friend is in town, and they’re going to pick me up. I guess we’ll drive around, stop somewhere eventually,” Annie said nonchalantly.
Abed furrowed his brow. “It’s not like you to be a ‘go with the flow’ type. You always need a plan, and usually need to be in control.”
“Usually. Sometimes I can let go, though. If I really want to.”
—-
These days, Annie usually dressed in business casual clothes that weren’t too flashy and wore soft, barely there makeup. However, tonight, she put on a lavender pantsuit that she’d found at Goodwill and been saving for a special occasion and added some gold shimmer eyeshadow to her lids.
As she was applying the eyeshadow, she took a good look at herself in the mirror and took a step away from it.
“Why am I doing all of this?” she thought, “This isn’t like me. I’ve never done this much to impress a date before.”
Another voice in her head, one that Annie was sure had been long dormant, decided to pipe up.
“You’ve never done this much to impress a man before.”
As Annie looked herself over in the mirror again, she realized something. This all was her. The fitted pantsuit, the fun makeup, the loose, gentle curls; this was the most authentic to herself that Annie had looked in a long time. Maybe it was the fact that lately, she had been too absorbed in making improvements to Greendale to put much thought into her appearance. Maybe it was the fact that she hadn’t been on a proper date in over a year. Maybe it was Rachel, maybe it was the sheer fact that this would be her first date with a woman. But something was driving Annie to be truer to herself than she’d ever allowed herself to be before.
The ringing of her phone jolted Annie out of her internal monologue and back to the real world. She grabbed it off of the top of her dresser, saw that Rachel was the one calling, and quickly answered.
“Hey! What’s up?”
“Your ride awaits,” Rachel replied. Annie swore that she could hear the other woman’s smile through the phone.
“Alright! Coming right down,” Annie said.
“Excellent! See you soon.”
Right as Rachel hung up, Annie flew to the mirror and scrutinized every part of herself one last time before collecting her purse and leaving her room.
“I’m heading out! Have a good night,” she called to Abed.
“You too. Text when you’re on your way home,” he called back.
“Of course. You might be asleep when I get back, so I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Abed poked his head out of his room to give Annie a wry smile. “I’m sure that I won’t be. But I’ll see you tomorrow regardless.”
—-
It didn’t take Annie long to race down the stairs and through the front door to a green VW bug that she instantly identified as belonging to Rachel. She softly knocked on the passenger’s side, startling the woman in the driver’s seat. However, Rachel quickly recovered and unlocked the car to let Annie in.
“You scared me! I…wow.”
Annie gave her a quizzical look as she settled into the seat. “Wow, what?”
“You look…amazing, Annie. Shit, I feel underdressed,” Rachel said, looking down at her own striped t-shirt and corduroy suspender skirt.
“Oh, nonsense! You look great, too. I just…never get the chance to wear this. And this felt right.”
Rachel smirked. “I’m glad. You should wear it more often, I really can’t stress enough how good you look in it.”
Annie felt her cheeks begin to flush as Rachel turned the key to start the car.
“You mean it?”
“No, I just like giving people compliments that I don’t mean only to let them down later and make them feel worse about themselves,” Rachel deadpanned. Annie rolled her eyes as they turned out of the parking lot in front of her apartment complex.
“Well, in that case, thank you very much for letting me down gently,” she responded sarcastically. She paused to look down the road they had turned onto and assess the direction they were traveling in.
“Say, where are you taking me? Or is that still a secret?”
“Still a secret. But I promise, you’re going to love it,” Rachel said.
“Oh, I don’t doubt it!” Annie said excitedly, “And, um…I’m not worried. Something about you just makes me trust you, for some reason.”
She could see Rachel’s broad smile, even though her date was keeping her gaze locked in the road ahead. “That’s really sweet. And I hope you still trust me after I reveal my taste in music.”
Annie raised an eyebrow inquisitively as Rachel pressed a button that made the car’s speaker system flick on and begin blasting music. It took her a moment, but Annie quickly identified the song and couldn’t help but laugh.
“Mr. Brightside?!”
“You see…I had a phase in middle school. And I never really grew out of it.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Annie said, starting to nod her head along with the song.
Rachel glanced over to her date for a moment and flashed her a broad smile. “I know. And I’m glad you feel the same way.”
—-
It wasn’t long before they were pulling into another parking lot, Annie still having almost no clue where they were or what activities Rachel had planned for them.
“How much longer until you share your itinerary?” Annie asked as Rachel was pulling into an open spot.
“Oh…there’s not so much an itinerary as there is this one activity.”
“Well…when do I get to know what the one activity is?”
Rachel chuckled. “Someone’s really patient, huh.”
“I have been extremely patient!”
“Alright, well, I’ll tell you. Only because that little nose scrunch you just did was really cute and we’re here now,” she said with a gentle laugh.
“I did a little nose scrunch?” Annie asked, visibly perplexed.
“Yes, and it was adorable! Well, anyway…this park hosts an acting troupe that does Shakespeare in the Park, and tonight, they’re performing A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I packed us a picnic dinner so that we can sit on the lawn and watch while we eat.”
Annie let out a small squeal before quickly slapping one hand over her mouth. “Really?! That’s…that’s the most thoughtful date anyone has ever planned for me.”
“Really? I would have expected that someone like you would have been on a bunch of crazy awesome dates by now.” Rachel reached into the backseat and moved a blanket out of the way to reveal a full picnic basket, which she grabbed and pulled onto her lap.
“Well, you can’t expect much from straight men,” Annie grumbled.
“I suppose you’re right about that,” Rachel said with a sigh, “Anyway, shall we?”
—-
“So, you’re majoring in forensic science, right?” Rachel asked.
They had set up their picnic on the crest of a hill overlooking the wooden stage and were currently taking their time to eat before the show started. Rachel had packed them a rather classy picnic, including toasted bread, soft cheeses, various thinly sliced cured meats, grapes, and a small bottle of rosé to split.
“Yeah, I am!” Annie replied as she was spreading some brie over a slice of bread.
“What got you onto that path? Like, how did you find it?”
“Well, for my first few years at Greendale, I thought that I wanted to work in hospital administration. And then I actually got out and worked in the field for a bit and it was…depressing, honestly. Granted, I didn’t have the exact job that I wanted, but I hated spending so much time in hospitals.”
“Yeah, I can’t imagine that’s very fun,” Rachel said.
“Yeah. It’s not,” Annie sighed, “Anyway, I’d already taken some forensics classes in my fourth year and really loved the subject. So, when I came back, it just made sense to major in it.”
Rachel took a sip of rosé and nodded. “Never would have guessed that you were a forensics gal just by looking at you.”
Annie laughed. “Well, what does a forensics gal look like?”
“I don’t know! I guess I just picture someone with their hair up in a messy bun, lab coat on, with big glasses and bags under their eyes.”
“The only reason I don’t fit that description is that there’s no need to wear the lab coat all the time,” Annie reasoned.
Rachel shook her head. “There’s a few reasons you don’t fit that description.”
Annie felt her face flushing again as she bashfully looked down at the ground and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. “Um, well…what are you majoring in?”
“English. With a plan to get an education degree from another school, if I can transfer next year, knock on wood,” she answered, knocking on her head for luck.
Annie giggled at the action. “That’s cool. I think teaching would suit you.”
“Yeah?”
“Oh yeah. You have a really relaxing voice.”
“If my voice is too relaxing though, my students might fall asleep! I don’t want that,” Rachel pointed out.
“I guess you’ll have to find ways to keep them engaged, then.”
“I guess so.”
A few moments passed with Annie and Rachel both eating their charcuterie in silence, both a little unsure of where to take the conversation next.
“Um, I’m not exactly sure if this is a first date topic, but…how did you figure out that you liked girls?” Annie asked timidly.
“Oh, that’s easy. I had an unhealthy obsession with Kim Possible when I was growing up and once kissed a girl that looked like her on the playground. I never looked back after that,” Rachel answered. “What about you?”
Annie chuckled softly. “My story’s a little more complicated. It’s all very new to me, you know? I didn’t start questioning until almost a year and a half ago. I thought that I had a crush on one of my male friends for a really long time. Like, an embarrassing amount of time. But one day, one of our other friends helped me realize that I only liked the idea of being in love with him and having him love me back. I didn’t actually want to date him, if that makes sense.”
“No, it totally does,” Rachel assured her, “Comp het is a bitch.”
“It is! And, uh, he wasn’t the only person I had those feelings for. There were others, but realizing that he, specifically, was unobtainable and just a safe person for me to project my feelings onto made me think about who I would actually want to feel those feelings with. And every one of my answers was…not a man.”
Rachel smiled and reached over to gently squeeze one of Annie’s hands. “I, for one, am very proud of you for figuring yourself out. It can be a very weird, long process for lots of people, and I’m glad that you had the courage to embark on that journey.”
Annie’s face lit up as she squeezed Rachel’s hand back. “Thank you. For saying that. I haven’t really told anyone else about any of this. It’s…nice to talk about it with someone who understands.”
“Of course! Any time. I-“
Rachel was cut off by a sudden swell of orchestral music. The two of them looked down towards the stage to see that several actors were moving to take the stage.
“It’s starting!” Annie squealed. Rachel released her hand so that they could both continue eating and sipping their rosé, but paused to squeeze Annie’s hand three times first.
Annie looked over and gave her a quizzical look. “What does that mean?”
Rachel gave her a gentle smile. “I’ll tell you someday. It might be a while before I do, but I promise, I will.”
Annie wanted to ask a follow-up question, but her attention was quickly captured by Puck’s opening monologue. Rachel’s attention followed, though it lingered on studying Annie’s profile and wide smile for a moment first.
Everything seemed well and good in Athens - as well and good as it was supposed to be in the play, of course - until Helena was in the middle of telling the audience about her love for Lysander. It was right then that a few stray clouds that had been circling above the park decided to begin sprinkling rain onto everyone below.
“At least it’s only a drizzle. This should probably pass,” Rachel said. Her and Annie packed up the food and rosé just to be safe, anyways. And that was a good thing, since she’d just delivered some famous last words.
It only took another moment for the sky to open up. The rainstorm could only be accurately described as a torrential downpour that sent almost everyone in the park running.
“Quick, grab the blanket! I’ll get the basket!” Rachel directed. Annie did as she was told and bunched it up in her arms before they took off running towards Rachel’s car. She was thankful that they’d been at the top of the hill and not down in the valley by the stage, since it would have been much harder to get back up to the parking lot.
It was only about a minute before Rachel had her trunk open and they were throwing the picnic supplies into it. Annie took a second to wring out her hair as her date slammed the trunk closed and they both swung into the car.
“Well, that was fun!” Rachel said sarcastically.
Annie laughed. “That sure was…unexpected.”
“It certainly was. And as such, I didn’t have a backup plan. Is there anywhere else indoors that you might like to go?”
Annie paused to think for a moment. While she was doing so, she looked out through the windshield to the top of the hill. There, several people were gathered in a tight circle, appearing to be swaying to a beat that no one could hear. The rain already was letting up the tiniest bit, the sun beginning to peek through the layer of clouds.
Right then and there, Annie did something that she had struggled to do for almost her entire life. She made an impulsive decision.
“Follow me.”
She opened the door and stepped out into the parking lot, already feeling the rain hitting the top of her head. An intrigued Rachel wasn’t far behind and followed Annie back out to the open field.
“I want to dance with you again, like on the night we met. But without all of our friends watching and all of the other Greendale dance crap. I just want to dance in the rain with you,” Annie explained. She held out her hand to Rachel, who was looking at her like she was gazing directly into the sun.
“Shall we?”
It didn’t take any more convincing for Rachel to rush towards Annie and lace their fingers together. She threw her free arm over Annie’s shoulder, prompting the brunette to wrap hers around Rachel’s waist. They didn’t have any music to give them a tempo, no fairy lights to provide any ambiance, no classmates to side eye them like at the Fat Dog for Midterms dance. They just had each other, a decent amount of rain to soak their clothes all the way through, and a minimal amount of ballroom dance training to carry them through.
They started out by swaying along to nothing in particular. However, after a few moments, Annie started softly singing a little tune.
“Coming out of my cage and I’ve been doing just fine, gotta, gotta be down, because I want it all.”
Rachel blinked incredulously. “You’re not…”
“It started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this?” Annie continued, an almost wicked smile spreading across her face as she gained more confidence and started singing louder.
“It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss!” Rachel joyfully joined in. Annie giggled as they started moving to the faster tempo, still tangled up in each other, but bouncing like they weren’t.
“Now I'm falling asleep, and she's calling a cab while he's having a smoke and she's taking a drag! Now they're going to bed, and my stomach is sick, and it's all in my head.” They kept singing, only getting louder and more boisterous. Annie attempted to spin Rachel, the attempt more or less failing as her dripping wet hair smacked Annie in the face in the process. But neither of them seemed to mind as they kept on doing what they were doing.
“But she’s touching his chest now! He takes off her dress now! Letting me go.”
Annie grinned as she watched Rachel close her eyes and lean into her, clearly in a state of near total bliss.
“And I just can’t look! It’s killing me and taking control.”
They were yelling by the time they reached the chorus, Rachel pulling back and grabbing both of Annie’s hands as she began to jump around in several of the small puddles that had already begun to form on the flat parts of the terrain.
“Jealousy, turning saints into the sea, swimming through sick lullabies, choking on your alibis. But it’s just the price I pay! Destiny is calling me. Open up my eager eyes! ‘Cause I’m Mr. Brightside.”
Maybe it was the power of The Killers’ best hit single that made the rain slowly come to a stop. Maybe it was the warm energy between Annie and Rachel. Maybe it was just the way that the water cycle works. No matter what the case was, the rain dissipated, and the low-in-the-sky sun was revealed again.
“You know, I never would have guessed that you’re the kind of person who would have that song memorized,” Rachel said, looping her arms over Annie’s as she rested them on Rachel’s shoulders.
Annie shrugged. “There’s a lot you wouldn’t guess about me, apparently,” she said with a smirk.
Rachel looked up at her in awe for a moment, her expression portraying a certain amount of disbelief. “Well, um…correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that this might be the part where we should share our first kiss.”
“You’re not wrong,” Annie replied, near breathless as she leaned forward to press her lips to Rachel’s.
Annie had always wondered what others were on when they talked about seeing fireworks when they kissed their partners. She’d certainly never had any kisses like that before. Luckily, now, she didn’t have to wonder anymore.
When they pulled apart, all either of them could do was look at each other in awe.
“How can someone still be so beautiful after getting this drenched?” Annie thought as she studied Rachel’s face. Her hair was stuck to her cheeks in wet clumps, water was dripping down her forehead, and several small raindrops were hanging off the tips of her eyelashes. And she was beautiful.
“Wow. That was…”
“The best kiss I’ve had in a long time,” Annie completed wistfully.
“Yeah. I mean, I haven’t had very many kisses lately, but that one…shit, Annie. Would you, uh…maybe want to do that again?” Rachel asked timidly.
Annie couldn’t nod vigorously enough before diving right back in.