Based on a Ficcy Sunday Milady/Milord prompt from rorge.

After Pierce asked last December when Jeff and Shirley got so close, Annie wondered that herself. Yet at the time, she was more focused on the Dark Knight DVD mess. Then the Glee mess happened and her Jeff and Shirley curiosity was brainwashed out, like the rest of her IQ.

But as time went on, Annie did notice Jeff and Shirley hanging out more. And the way Shirley inspired Jeff to get the sandwich shop case thrown out didn't escape her. Then she noticed Jeff and Shirley spending even more time together that December.

Needless to say, Annie did have better things to think about – like her final half year at Greendale and planning her entire post-graduation life. But although she ignored her curiosity – and a few other funny feelings – she couldn't when she saw Jeff and Shirley walking and laughing in the halls one early December day.

When they finished, Jeff spoke, "Boy, you are the only one who understands me, Shirley." And that drowned out anything else Annie might have heard.

When her mind was clear, she wondered why it was so cluttered in the first place. It should have gone "Awww" since Jeff actually shared something meaningful. He never let himself say that stuff – at least not to people other than Annie. Or so she thought.

Now she had to wonder why she got angry at thinking that. As if she didn't know. As if she actually wanted to admit it. Because it would make Annie upset and ashamed to admit it, she blocked it out the rest of the day.

But it didn't work that Saturday, which is why Annie found herself at Shirley's early that afternoon.

"An-nie! What a nice surprise!" Shirley admitted as she opened the door."But I'm not saving your soul for Christmas for another two weeks. Are you here to get it saved now?" She gasped and celebrated, "Satan must be napping! I might have a real chance this year!"

"No, Shirley, Satan's wide awake," Annie deflected. "I haven't visited you and the kids for a while, so I thought I'd check in." She sold her excuse by heading to baby Ben's room and waving hello to his crib.

"That's nice…..kind of," Shirley said, suspicious and disappointed. But she recovered with, "Well, I have some stuff to do with the business anyway. I guess Ben's Auntie Annie can keep him busy."

"Cool!" Annie said, suppressing the fake tint in her voice. She picked up Ben, despite how heavy he was getting, and dabbled in some baby talk before sitting on the couch. Once she set Ben down and played with him a bit, Annie tried to subtly talk to Shirley. "Is Jeff coming? I mean, if you're doing business stuff, shouldn't your lawyer be there?"

"No, Pierce has him for that next week," Shirley answered. "When it comes to business, I have to let Pierce use Jeffrey one week a month. He wanted it to be three days, but Pierce played hard ball in negotiations. I'd be proud to have a business partner like that if he wasn't so….Pierce-y."

"Yeah, I see how that works," Annie pretended to understand. "So, is that why you've been hanging out more this week? Getting business talk in before Pierce takes him?" Annie asked, then found herself rushing to her point. "Is that why no one understands Jeff like you? When it comes to business and all?"

Shirley looked taken aback, which gave Annie some satisfaction – although she knew it shouldn't have been that much. Finally, Shirley recovered and answered, "That wasn't a business conversation you shouldn't have eavesdropped on."

"Like I didn't know how buddy buddy you and Jeff were since last December!" Annie pieced together. "You beat some obnoxious Germans in foosball and then you became best friends. It's something, really."

"Well, it was fun doing that das butt kicking! Or whatever Germans say for getting beat down!" Shirley insisted. "We were just celebrating the anniversary, that's all."

"That's big enough for an anniversary? Jeff isn't that petty anymore, and I didn't think you were," Annie shared. "I didn't even celebrate my anniversary for beating Annie Kim! No matter how many dreams I had about her tears," she backtracked. "Anyway, my anniversary standards aren't in question!"

"Why are we questioning them, again? It's better than you questioning Jesus, but that's still no way to get into Heaven!" Shirley declared.

"I guess I'll have to settle for best friend heaven, then. Oh wait, you and Jeff are hogging all the clouds!"Annie accused. "Was beating those Germans really all it took to do that? What else happened to make you that close?"

When Shirley looked a little uneasy, Annie figured she got her. But instead, Shirley insisted, "That's not something I'm comfortable talking about, okay?"

"Wait, you don't want to gossip about something? You see how that makes this weirder, right?" Annie pointed out.

"I know, but that's how it's gonna have to be. This is a personal thing between me and Jeff, and it should stay that way. It's something that's just for us, all right?" Shirley tried to wrap up.

"You two have personal things that are just for you?" Annie realized. Once it sunk in, she stayed in silence and let Shirley off the hook.

But as she kept quiet, Annie got more anxious over what she learned, what Jeff and Shirley's personal thing could be – and how Jeff had that kind of bond with someone other than Annie. How their bond wasn't as unique as she thought – or told herself to make things easier.

Annie briefly thought it was because Jeff and Shirley were having an affair. Of course, that was too disturbing and unsettling to imagine for a couple of reasons. So she indulged in healthier paranoia until she left at 3 p.m., knowing Jeff was somewhat likely to be awake by now.

Indeed, when she got to Jeff's apartment, he only looked semi sleepy when he answered her. "I see you remembered my 'No waking me up before 2 p.m. on a Saturday' rule. At least some people in your apartment do," Jeff quipped.

But Annie didn't have time to mock her roommates' lack of personal boundaries. She had business to get to – unfortunately, she forgot to figure out how to do it. Or what exactly she wanted to yell at Jeff for.

Ultimately, she resorted to starting with, "I understand you."

"Okay…..that sounds better than it would have at 1:59, I guess," Jeff shook off. But Annie kept on while she still knew what to say – or why she was even upset.

"No one understands you like Shirley?" Annie cut to the chase. "Does she understand how your parents made you someone you didn't really want to be? Or how you're so annoying and selfish sometimes because you're afraid you can't have friends any other way? Or how the life you thought you wanted doesn't seem as meaningful anymore? Or how you're so scared of showing your feelings, because they might drive away the only real things in your life? Does she know that as well as you do, Jeff?"

"I'm not sure what I'm supposed to know at the moment," Jeff admitted. Annie calmed down enough to give him a better idea.

"I thought I knew that we had a special connection, Jeff. More than your other ones, anyway. I know that doesn't mean we should be together or anything, and I don't even want that anymore!" she confessed before turning away, not wanting Jeff to examine that point.

"We couldn't make anything work in a romantic way, I know that. But having a bond and getting each other in a way no one else did….that made it better to live with. It made me happy to have that much with you instead of nothing at all. If we don't even have that and it was all in my head too, then…." Annie trailed off.

"Then what?" Annie heard Jeff ask a bit uneasily. There were probably wrong, childish things she could read into that too.

"Then I guess we're not special after all!" Annie snapped. "Not like you and Shirley! You've only really liked her for a year, but I guess that trumps our three years of drama! If that's still not enough to understand you like no one else, I guess nothing is! But thanks for letting me know that a Christian housewife means a lot more to you! Oh wait, I had to spy on you to find out, so no thank you anyway!"

Now that Annie had burned off her anger, it allowed her to think clearly again. And it allowed her to actually remember what she just said.

Like that she was spying on Jeff and Shirley's private talk, and that she used Shirley's Christian housewife role as an insult – even though she was a businesswoman now too. And when she recalled all the other things she yelled at Jeff, she laid down on the couch and covered her face up.

"Wow, I just acted like a crazy person again, didn't I?" Annie realized. Well, she realized it quicker than usual – as if that canceled out anything.

"It wasn't in your top five freakouts. Lower top 10 at best," she heard Jeff say. Maybe she should have visited when he was awake enough to be more reassuring. Of course, if she had been smart enough not to visit at all, it wouldn't be a problem.

"What the hell did I do?" Annie pondered. "I acted jealous and irrational for no reason. I got so upset because you had a close bond with someone other than me! I –"

"Acted like I did whenever you were near Rich. Or other men, really," Jeff surprisingly finished.

"Wait, you're admitting you were jealous now?" Annie questioned. Maybe getting the truth out of him in one instance would get her back on track.

"I've said all I need to say on that issue," Jeff shut down. At least it wasn't flat out denial again. But it didn't make Annie feel much better anyway.

"And I said too much on this one. If it even is an issue," she admitted. "Jeff, I'm sorry. I know how hard it is for you to be really close with people. I guess I let myself think I was the best exception. But the important thing should be that you're opening up to people….whether it's me or not."

That was the best closure she would get, so she got up and stated, "Well, I suppose that's resolved now. So I'll see you on Monday, Jeff."

Annie figured if she left now, she could save her tears and self-loathing until she got to the car. But just as she reached for the door, she was frozen by two words.

"Tinkle Town," she heard Jeff say, for reasons she couldn't possibly fathom.

"Um, where's that?" Annie carefully asked.

"It's not a place, it's my nickname," Jeff sighed and admitted as Annie turned around. "When I was a kid, there was a girl who humiliated me in foosball and made me….have one little accident. When I got called Tinkle Town for it, I made myself into who I am today. And last December, loe and behold, I found out that bullying girl was Shirley."

Annie's jaw halfway dropped, thinking they were in one of Abed's movies for a second. But Abed was doing a werewolf cop movie today, so that couldn't be it.

"Somehow, we came to terms with our shared past, and we've been getting closer ever since. We honored that anniversary a few days ago, which is probably where you did your spying," Jeff predicted, and Annie saw that the timing did fit.

"Oh God, that's why Shirley didn't want to tell me!" Annie realized. "God, I owe her an apology…..but I should yell at her for hurting young you first! But I should hug you two for making up….but I should freak out that you met so long ago!" Annie changed her mind one last time. "Wow, the things you miss while you're breaking a DVD. As if I wasn't guilty enough about that!"

"Ah, so while I had my life shattered, you broke a DVD. It makes total sense to compare the two," Jeff pretended to admit.

"Hey, your adventure didn't have Abed Batman, so there!" Annie teased, but quickly got serious again. "Not that it wasn't dramatic and important. And something I'm really sorry you had to go through," she assured before smiling a bit. "But it's something I'm glad you're okay with now. If you could be closer friends with Shirley from it, then I should be proud of you. Because I am," she complimented.

"Well, I'm not totally okay," Jeff corrected. "Other than Shirley and my shrink, you're the first person I've shared this with in over 20 years. I mean, I had to tell my mom back then, so I could change schools and get money for better pants. But after that…" Jeff stopped.

"God, I really am sorry now, Jeff," Annie meekly said. "I think I do need to go. I promise I'll never tell anyone else, but I, I should go."

"Wait, I hadn't made that a compliment yet!" Jeff called out.

"How can you do that?" Annie stuck around to find out.

"Look, Annie…..when I told Shirley no one understands me like she does, I didn't explain how," Jeff started. "She gets me because she truly knows where I came from, and how bad it was for me back then. She showed me the past doesn't have to define who I am now, since it doesn't for her either. On that level, she gets me like no one else can. But all you guys do that on other levels!"

"We do?" Annie inquired.

"Right, I mean, Britta certainly does! She's a woman I slept with who still argues with me all the time! But she's actually someone who still cares about me, for some reason," Jeff commented. "Abed gets me because….well, who else can get people like Abed can? That goes for Troy, too." Annie semi-giggled at how true that was.

"I'm sure even Pierce and the Dean get me in rare levels too. And I'd rather leave it there before my brain throws up," Jeff backed off. "Anyway, Shirley's just one person who understands me like no one else, in her own way! You're another one!"

"Okay then, how do I understand you, Jeff? I had my theories, so what are yours?" Annie made herself ask.

Jeff paused, which made Annie think he'd hit his feelings barrier for the day. Perhaps she was lucky it took this long to go up. And yet it was shattered again when he finally spoke. "You accept me, Annie. All of me. No one else in the group really does that. Maybe no one in my whole life has," Jeff laid out.

"Shirley might like me more now, but she'll never get over my whole agnostic thing. Britta still never lets me off the hook for being a capitalist dick. Pierce will never stop bashing me for my alleged gayness, either. And Abed and Troy won't get it through their heads that I'll never get Inspector Spacetime!"

"Jeff, it's really not that hard. Not if you start with Geneva's season, anyway. That's the best one, really," Annie plugged.

"I'm sure it is. At least you can let it go when I have better things to do!" Jeff praised. "You let it go for a lot of things. I used to think you were naïve and childish for it, and that I had to save you from me. But it's getting easier to think it's because you know me, all of me, and you still accept and care about me. And you know I'm all about doing things the easy way."

"And yet I like you anyway. Hard to believe sometimes, but I do," Annie joked, if only to avoid getting sentimental.

"I know!" Jeff played along, then got back on track. "Seriously, though, look what you did in here. When you weren't impersonating jealous me, I mean. Everything you said when you got here proves how much you get me. And when I told you about Tinkle Town, you didn't pity or mock me. You just supported me and then got proud of me."

Annie swelled with more pride as Jeff continued. "I couldn't get that from anyone else. And that's why you're the last person I'm ever telling that to! There's that compliment I teased you about!"

"Long way to get there, but I'll take it," Annie responded, still trying to be funny instead of sappy. It was nice to have Jeff carry that load for once.

He finished with, "Well, take this, Annie. Shirley understands me in her own special way, like everyone else. But no one has ever understood or gotten me in every way like you have, and no one ever will. And I don't think I want them to. Not just because I'm emotionally damaged and hate mushy stuff. It's also because….I don't want that connection with anyone else but you."

"Jeff…." Annie squeaked, losing her battle with sentimentality. "I've never heard you say that to anyone else before. Guess that proves I am special."

"Well, therapy's been moving along for me lately, so…." Jeff left hanging.

He didn't want to spoil he was saying this ahead of schedule – and there was more he still hadn't given away yet. As if therapy and Annie in general hadn't inspired Jeff enough to speed this along. But it looked like he could save the big confessions for the holidays, as planned.

"Okay then. I was a jealous freak and you still made me feel special. Now I should quit while I'm ahead," Annie swore as she got up. "I'm sorry, thank you so much, you know the drill," she tried to laugh off. But instead of leaving, she gave into her sappier instincts and hugged Jeff, despite doing little to earn a hug since she got here.

Yet Jeff let it slide and hugged her back anyway. This made him almost forget he wasn't confessing that….other stuff until later. But maybe he could start laying the groundwork now.

After she sadly – but almost understandably – said they couldn't be together, Jeff would have to up his game soon anyway. At least to make the odds of rejection a little lower.

"You know, I am awake enough by now to get a pre-dinner drink. But I'm sure you could keep me from nodding off, just in case," Jeff tried to propose.

"Is that your way of asking me out?" Annie asked into his chest, before correcting herself with, "Not that you mean it's a date! I mean, unless you do, but if not, that's cool too!" Yet she sighed and muttered, "Why can't I quit while I'm barely ahead today?"

"I don't know. But we can try to figure it out over drinks. Do you want to go out and talk about your screw-ups with me?" Jeff hoped he asked well enough.

Annie reassured him by smiling and answering, "I'd like that. I mean, if you're really that bored with Shirley." But this made her gasp and realize, "Crap, I've got to tell Shirley I'm sorry for today! We have time to fit that in, right?"

"It's okay, I can bail you out on Monday. I have that affect on her by now," Jeff bragged. "If that doesn't work, we can just invite her for drinks next weekend. After a week of legal work with Pierce, I'll need an extra person to handle my tab."

"I'm glad we're both that important to you," Annie joked as best she could.

"You totally are," Jeff sincerely quipped. Maybe if Shirley saw him and Annie act like that, she wouldn't use her manhood cutters when she found everything out. But if a year of close friendship hadn't made her that merciful….

Jeff shook his head again at the lengths he'd go to make both these women happy. Yet considering what they each saw in him and gave him in return, it was too late to mind the cost now.

But there was still one thing he'd do to make Annie happy that he'd never do for Shirley. Namely toss out a "Milady" as he opened the door for Annie. Once she tossed a "Milord" back and left with him, he tried not to think about the other things he only wanted to do with her soon.

And vice versa in Annie's case, though she'd gotten better at containing those thoughts lately. Yet despite not knowing how she wouldn't have to get any better soon, she was still pretty happy. Being with someone who got her like Jeff did could do that.