Based on a Ficcy Sunday prompt from crittab

This should have been Jeff's best birthday in years. It fell on a Saturday, so he could sleep in all day. With no school to go to, no one could bug him and treat his next year closer to death as something to celebrate. It was all perfect – except that it wasn't.

Since Jeff went out of his way to hide his birth date every year, and since the others had their own lives, they wouldn't remember it without Annie reminding them. But this year, she had other things to do that seemed to make her forget all about it.

Today, Annie was out of town visiting a possible graduate school for next year, after being hyped for it all week. Since this made her too busy to do her "day planner" job, she said nothing about Jeff's birthday at all. With that and Jeff's past efforts to cover up his birthday, it's no wonder no one had called or visited or bothered Jeff all day.

Besides, once Annie enrolled at her dream school, she'd go off into the world and never bug anyone about Jeff's birthday again. And once Jeff was back in court by his next birthday and everyone went their separate ways, no one else would be close enough to remember it again. That really was the best case scenario.

On paper.

Jeff hoped he could fall back asleep before paper stopped looking so good. It was only 8 p.m., and he didn't feel like taking advantage of birthday specials at L Street. Maybe he could get drunk at home and pass out early – ironically, those were some of his best birthday moments.

He was set to continue that glorious tradition when he heard his phone ring. It was probably Shirley or Abed or someone who'd just now remembered his birthday – well, they had their chance. Jeff quickly shook off that out of character feeling of disappointment, then answered the phone without seeing who it was.

"Yeah?" he answered gruffly, hoping to brush this aside quickly.

"Jeff?" So much for that plan. Annie always ruined his best plans – and Jeff wasn't ready to remember how that usually worked out.

"Annie?" Well that was stupid, of course Jeff knew it was her. No one could really impersonate Annie, in voice or….other things. Shaking that off, Jeff tried to give more than one word statements after that. "Back so soon?" he quipped – which didn't sound as playful as he wanted.

"Yeah, I'm back in Greendale, if that's what you mean," Annie answered on the other end.

"It did. So I've won the right to know why you're calling me first. Don't make me a sore winner, Annie," Jeff got into joking form, even if he didn't feel like it yet.

"I wouldn't dream of it. I can't, really. After seeing my dream graduate school, I don't want to get greedy on the dream stuff!" Annie cheered, although Jeff's insides were doing something else he didn't want to label.

"So, that much of a nerd's paradise, eh?" Jeff kept trying to joke.

"You have no idea! They have libraries, Jeff! Real libraries with real books! And there's no intro to ladders classes in sight! The monkeys are locked up in cages! And they're nameless!" Annie practically drooled into her phone.

"Okay then. So, are you choosing me to plan your going away party next summer? Is that why you're calling? I have to say, I'd have picked Abed or Shirley for that. At least anyone other than me, Britta, Pierce or Troy," Jeff kept deflecting as best he could. Then he'd feel better after 20 shots.

"No, I'm saying it so you'll understand how hard this is. It has all that and I don't want to go. I'm not going to apply there, Jeff," Annie revealed, to Jeff's lack of understanding.

"I'll need a bit more to follow here," Jeff acted confused to hide his relief. "You drove three hours there and back today, and you're not going? Did they turn you down?" he asked, biting his tongue not to ask who he had to beat up.

"No, we didn't get that far. I just don't want to be there anymore. I drove three hours to get there, Jeff! I'd have to move there so I wouldn't take out loans for gas money!" Annie complained. "And moving is out of the question."

"It is?" Jeff barely asked with self control.

"It wasn't before, but it is now," Annie further teased. "Jeff, I realized something today. If I went to this great school and left my old life behind, I might have loved it at first. But someday, years down the line, when something reminded me I'd forgotten all about you guys….then I'd never forgive myself. I shouldn't, either."

"Annie, you wouldn't totally forget us," Jeff told the both of them. "We've infected you too much. No matter what hospital you run someday, even you can't administer a cure for that. If anything, I couldn't –" With that, Jeff stopped right in his tracks and deflected, "Anyway, you wouldn't do that."

"Wouldn't I? After all my transfer plans in my first three semesters? After finally getting back on my old life plan now? After finally seeing a real school, Jeff? I'd forget most of your names in an instant after a year here! At least I'm scared I would, so I can't do it!" Annie panicked.

"So you're scrapping your life plan just to be near us?" Jeff recapped. "I'm supposed to say, 'No, we're not worth it,' by now, right?" he double checked.

"I'm not scrapping the whole plan! I just want to revise it so I'm near my friends. If that means a less accomplished graduate school nearby, and running a hospital in 15 years instead of 10….it's a small price to pay," Annie assured.

"Annie, you're not the kind of person who'd easily believe that," Jeff reminded.

"I wasn't much of any person until I met you guys!" Annie declared. Jeff instinctively wanted to object, but Annie beat him to the punch.

"Jeff, in a few months, we won't all be together at Greendale anymore. Then we might lose touch and fade away from our lives. That's unacceptable to me. I mean, you guys saved my life," Annie admitted.

"I'm a complete person because I met all of you! So going back to the same incomplete, one track person I was before sickens me. If I leave you behind for my career, even after all you did for me and all you made me become, I'd be no better than my parents. I'd be worse than them! Not even grades and careers are worth that, Jeff! I wouldn't have known that without all of you, so I just can't leave you behind that easily. Or ever. I wanted you to know that," Annie finished.

"Who'd you warm up on before you told me? Troy and Abed? Shirley? Please tell me you were exhausted enough to try Britta," Jeff tried to joke, in lue of doing or saying anything else.

"You're the only person I've told, Jeff," Annie disclosed. "I figured you'd want a heads up first. Graduation or no graduation, graduate school or hospitals or whatever, I'm not leaving you. Any of you!" she added a little quickly.

"I'm going to have the career and the friends if it kills me, and it probably will a few times! But it's worth it to keep all of you in my life. So, you've been warned," Annie warned.

"I'll, um, raise the terror alert, then," Jeff resorted to using.

"Really? That's the most topical joke you've got?" Annie asked.

"Hey, I was smart enough not to use it on Britta….again. Give me that much!" Jeff comically asked, as if his insides were stable.

"I drove for six hours today, so I'm too tired to be strict," Annie joked, somehow doing a better job of sounding stable. After a few more seconds, she said, "Oh, right on cue, there's another Troy and Abed mess to clean up. I'll call you back, okay?" she asked and then hung up before Jeff could answer.

There wasn't much Jeff could say anyway. Especially since knowing how to feel was hard enough. He should have hated himself and the group for holding Annie back like this – and feeling that usually made things easier. His totally normal relief over Annie not going away should have been shameful too.

Instead, he just came back to Annie not wanting to leave – because they saved her life. She had a lot to do with it too, but she still thought they saved her. She thought he saved her. That wasn't right at all.

But she was staying because they/he saved her and made her better. They were graduating soon and she still wanted them/him in her life. She didn't want to abandon them/him now that her life path was on track again! She wanted to prove she could have it all!

That leaving Greendale and getting her old life back didn't mean she had to give up…..certain things. That these next several months wouldn't have to be the last she shared with the study group. That this wasn't the end of it all. For her or maybe even –

Well, now Jeff was entering silly town – located 1,000 miles away from Tinkle Town, hopefully. The whole notion had to be silly. It just had to be. Better to realize that now before getting his hopes up and getting let down. After learning that lesson for 35 straight years, it'd be stupid to forget it now.

But Annie wasn't leaving him or anyone after May. By definition, that meant he wouldn't be drifting apart from one….friend. And if one was staying, she'd make the rest stay by sheer force of will, especially since it was Annie. And since she wouldn't make everyone fail things to stay together anymore, she'd actually succeed. Which meant these really weren't their final months together.

Which meant no one would abandon anyone.

Of course Annie wouldn't. Someone as shamefully abandoned as she used to be would never inflict that on anyone. She just proved it again today.

This should have been a banner birthday for Jeff, with no one to bother him or point out his shameful age or anything. But it wasn't until that phone call, and all it implied, that his birthday was truly brightened up.

At least that's what girl Jeff would say – although the lines between girl Jeff and real, manly Jeff were getting blurry lately. Thankfully, the phone rang again before Jeff dwelled more on that.

Still, he had to suppress girl Jeff when he saw that Annie had called back. Yet she was sent to her room by the time Jeff answered and gruffed out, "So, Troy and Abed dead yet?"

"I let them live this time," Annie responded. "Anyway, now that I don't have to dig any holes, I can talk a little more." After a pause, she talked, "So, I've droned on enough about my Saturday! Tell me about yours!"

"Let's see….slept in, stayed home, did nothing, got out shots for tonight…..that's all the droning I've got," Jeff exclaimed. He figured he wouldn't add that Annie and everyone else forgot his birthday too. At least this could cover for Annie's birthday gift and save him some money – as if he could get away with that.

"I'm glad I could play a last minute role in that epic saga," Jeff practically heard Annie smirk.

"I'm learning to live with it myself," Jeff joked/sincerely answered.

Being that ambiguously soft gave Annie enough teasing/awww'ing material for the next few minutes. By then, they were settled back into their usual pattern of teasing/bantering/making each other feel better about their day. Jeff got Annie to spill more about this 'real' graduate school – yet his jokes about Greendale's inferiority weren't as biting as usual, somehow. That was becoming a nasty habit lately.

Yet when Annie needled Jeff's Saturday sleeping, he was more inclined to hit back about how Annie couldn't do her Saturday studying today. But of course, she did some practice studying and Greendale class work at graduate school after all. Yet this just made it easier for Jeff to needle her and get the last laugh.

Jeff couldn't remember the last time he did this much with one person on his birthday. At least with someone he knew who had her clothes on. Although he was having more of these talks with Annie lately, it felt different today. More special, as girl Jeff might say.

She reared her head to suggest that Annie should know what day it was, since it might keep her on the line. "Listen Annie, I-" Jeff started before getting cut off.

"I'm sorry, Jeff, I should hang up soon," Annie deflated him. "I've had a long day and I still have some things to do, so I should get off the line."

"Oh. Okay, I guess we both have Saturday routines to get back to," Jeff covered up. "So, I'll see you Monday, then."

"Yeah, I'll see you too," Annie casually wrapped up. "Hold on, let me just say one more thing."

"All right, let's have it," Jeff proposed. Instead of words, however, he heard a knock on the door over the phone.

Jeff felt annoyed and relieved that Troy and Abed were knocking on Annie's door and prolonging the call. But then he heard that same knock through the phone and…..near his door?

There was just no way. How could there be?

Yet something propelled him to go to the door and check it out. Before he even thought to peek through the peephole, he opened the door right up.

When he did, he saw Annie standing in front of him, holding a cell phone in her right hand – and holding a cupcake with a birthday candle in it in her left hand.

And while Jeff's jaw was dropping, Annie met his bug eyed gaze with the smallest, yet perhaps softest and most loving smile he'd ever seen from her. That notable feat almost made his jaw drop even more.

Although they could see each other now, Annie still talked into her phone and said that one last thing – "Happy birthday."

Then she put her phone away, took advantage of Jeff's defenseless state, and wrapped her arms around him while still holding the cupcake. By the time she was done, Jeff was stable enough to put his arms around her, so she stuck around for a bit longer.

Once Annie broke away and closed the door, she managed to clear up a few things. Namely that she realized that stuff about leaving everyone behind near the end of her visit – after realizing she'd forgotten Jeff's birthday. Forgetting her best friend's birthday – her words – just to visit a school she couldn't let herself attend drove a few things home.

After she drove home, she decided to come over and make it up to Jeff. But she had enough of driving today, so she made her first phone call to him on a bus – which meant the background noise wasn't from some Troy and Abed game. Then she hung up not to scold Troy and Abed, but to get off the bus and buy Jeff a cupcake and a birthday candle. When she got back on the bus to Jeff's apartment, she called him again to distract him until she arrived in person.

By the time Jeff took it all in, Annie was ready to light the candle. After Annie and his conscience reminded him he had no choice, Jeff blew out the candle and pretended to make a wish. Yet in his head, girl Jeff droned about how his wishes already came true today.

Annie took out the candle and nearly smooshed the cupcake onto Jeff's mouth, but showed him mercy. Once she let him eat it regularly, Jeff had to admit it was good, for a non-Shirley cupcake. Although Annie wished she'd remembered fast enough to get him a real present, Jeff told her it was enough – and even meant it.

It took 35 years, and disaster upon disaster in the first 18 years, yet Jeff finally felt like he had a birthday worth celebrating. It might not even be ruined once Annie realized she didn't tell the others what today was too. Maybe not even when she called them, made them come over and kept Jeff up well past his actual birthday.

But Jeff would wait 45 minutes until he let Annie figure it out. Besides, 45 extra minutes of solo Annie time was a pretty good birthday gift to himself.