Chapter Text
His face has always been his money-maker.
His perfect, beautiful face is now twitching in pain, blood still staining it after a quite harsh collision with a petite fist.
First day of year two and he has started it with an engagement out of spite, with the whole group hating him and with an almost teenager almost breaking his nose.
He shouldn't have kissed her. He should have known better. It wasn't just that he was a man, a monster who craved young flesh, it was also that she didn't feel so young at times.
She definetly didn't feel young that night, she felt like the most mature woman he has spoke to all night long.
While Slater and Britta were butting heads in a petty competition of public love declarations, she figured out her future while riding to the sunset with her hippy boyfriend, she figured out where she belonged and took the bold decision to stay.
The other bold decision she made that night was kissing him, tentatively, his decision to kiss her back with passion was, yes, bold too, but otherwise very very stupid.
But her eyes shined a lot under the starlight and he was so overwhelmed and she seemed so mature and pretty. Twenty seconds he has regretted for two months, especially after the days after texts from Annie, who seemed to have lost all the maturity he saw in her the day before.
After all she was just acting accordingly to her age and her romantic experiences, he was the one to blame.
So he pulled a disappearance act. He avoided every text message from every member of the group, he started going out in the fanciest bar, because none his friends was cool enough for those places.
He sent Annie a few messages as school time approached, asking her to be discreet, to forget about what happened, because it was just a mistake, a huge one.
Another mistake was starting that cringe fest of a relationship with Britta, and maybe Annie was right, they are two sick damaged people who thrive on competition and getting on each other nerves.
But it seemed such a good idea to get Britta to confess that in reality, she couldn't love him less, that she just wanted to win at something for once. And in true Winger fashion he went for the crazy revenge, without caring less of hurting someone's feelings.
But he hurt her feelings, because he was blind about how strong that crush was, so she hurt his face and now he is actually kind of blind because his eye hurts like hell.
The frozen peas pack he put on his face is melting, his nose is still pulsating and Abed's words are still resonating loudly in his head: "In real life we have people like you!".
How could he became their villain in the span of one hour? How could he lose the respect he built in a whole year?
He has to fix it.
It's a sudden move, an impulsive decision, he grabs his precious BlackBerry and composes her number. It rings for a minute, and he really thinks that, instead of fixing the precarious situation, he could make it really worse.
He should hang up, but he waits...
"Hey, it's Annie, what's up?... Just joking, I'm busy and can't answer, but leave a message!"
"Hey, it's me, Jeff, I know you don't want to hear me, but I wanted to let you know my nose is better, but I have to remember to never mess up with you again. I'm sorry. I behaved like a douche today. I wanted to win that sick competition with Britta without caring about who I could hurt in the process. You are a great friend Annie, you deserve respect, and I'll make sure to give it to you in the future, that's all I have to offer, and it's a great tool. Goodnight Milady".
To send or not to sent? That's the question.
He wants to apologize, he wants to let her know he respects and cherishes their friendship, but he is afraid that this could backfire. She has an obvious crush on him (because, let's be frank, who wouldn't have a crush on him?) and despite that fateful kiss he can't reciprocate, because he is not a lecherous man like Pierce.
Maybe it's better to deliver a big public speech in class tomorrow, more effective, more powerful. Yes, it sounds like a brilliant plan.
(Turns out it wasn't. He started delivering his speech about respect with a swollen nose and a fractured study group and he woke up two hours after delivering it in the nurse's room, with a mended friendship, but almost choked to death).