::Good evening Greendale. I'm Liz Gretchen with your five p.m. evening news weather forecast. It seems, as was predicted last night, that cold front from the north has moved over Greendale to mix with the heavy precipitation that started this morning. While right now we just have to worry about tropical level rainfall, with the temperature dropping that precipitation will turn into freezing rain, most likely around seven tonight. It is heavily advised that you stay indoors tonight for your own safety as the freezing rain warning will remain in effect until tomorrow morning, making driving particularly treacherous. There is the possibility of large scare blackouts due to the likelihood of frozen power lines and downed trees. Power officials are advising that if your power does go out, not to call until tomorrow morning unless it is an emergency.::

Jeff muted the volume on the television, not that surprised by what he heard. For the past few days all everyone had been talking about was the possibility of an ice storm coming. While it sucked that it was arriving on the first day of winter break, he knew it would have been worse if it had come during finals and disturbed them. (If he had to retake another class like he had with Biology, he would have been royally pissed.)

Originally the group was supposed to meet at Annie, Troy and Abed's place to kick off winter break with a Parks and Recreation marathon. But Shirley had gone into hyper worried mom mode and convinced the boys to cancel the marathon, followed by calling everyone and telling them to stay inside for the night. Normally Jeff would have put up an argument, but Shirley's voice got really scary and he couldn't help but promise her he'd stay inside and not risk his life going to a bar to pick up floozies (her words, not his).

As he got up and looked out the window Jeff wasn't really regretting his decision. It was already pouring about as badly as the T-Rex scene in Jurassic Park. If it kept up like this and turned into freezing rain it would be a real hazard out there. So he was fine with staying inside where he was safe and warm.

He went around gathering some candles in case the power did go out when he heard a frantic knocking at the door (the super really had to get his buzzer fixed). Jeff looked through the peephole and quickly opened the door, completely shocked as to who was at the door.

"Annie?"

"H-h hi J-J-Jeff," Annie stuttered out as she stood dripping in the hallway. It would have been an understatement to say she was merely wet. She looked like she had just jumped into a pool. Jeff moved out of the way as she walked in, tightly gripping her sopping wet book bag as her teeth chattered from the cold. "I-I-I was o-o-o u-u t a-n-n-n-d-."

"Annie, you're dripping everywhere." Before she could protest Jeff pushed her shivering form towards his bathroom. "Take a shower so you can warm up and not freeze to death. I'll put your clothes in the dryer and get you something to wear in the meantime."

"Okay," she managed to get out. Jeff shoved her (backpack and all) into his bathroom and switched the heat light on before closing the door and getting a plastic grocery bag for her clothes. He came back to the bathroom and knocked on the door. "Um, are you descent?"

"Yeah!"

Jeff opened the door, seeing that she had so far just taken off her jacket and cardigan. Her dripping wet shirt was clinging to her, making her breasts and curves stand out even more than they normally would. Jeff desperately tried not to openly stare as he handed her the grocery bag. "Put your stuff in here and I'll put them in the dryer." With that he turned right around.

"Jeff."

Jeff ground his teeth in frustration and internally groaned before turning back around. "Yeah?"

"Where's your soap and shampoo?"

"It's under the sink. Hold on a sec." Jeff went over and opened the cabinet door, revealing his toiletry safe. He moved his body to block her view of it as he turned the combination and opened the safe, pulling out some items before locking it back up. "Here's soap, shampoo, a hair brush and my hair dryer, and towels are in the other drawer. Is there anything else you need?"

"No, I'm good," she said in a small voice.

"I'll be right outside. When you're ready just hand me your bag of clothes." Before she could say anything else Jeff quickly walked out and closed the bathroom door before leaning against the wall. After a few minutes the door opened a crack and a small hand slipped through the space holding a bag of wet clothes. Without a word Jeff took the clothes before Annie pulled her arm back in and closed the bathroom door.

As Jeff went down to the basement and put her clothes in one of the dryers he wondered how this visit was going to go. Over the last two months, things hadn't been going great between them. While she wasn't ignoring or avoiding him per say, he knew she had become more distant with him then she'd been in the past. She wasn't on his case anymore when he tried to avoid doing stuff, and she didn't give him those special secret smiles she used to reserve only for him. He used to wish she would just leave him alone. But now that she had, he found he missed the way she used to act around him.

When he got back upstairs Jeff went to his bedroom and started searching for something Annie could wear while her clothes dried. Finding her a shirt was no problem. Even if it was huge on her it wouldn't make that much of a difference. But finding her bottoms that fit, that was a different story. Unless he had suspenders (which he certainly didn't), anything he gave her she would have to hold up with her hands to keep from falling down. Finally he found a pair of pajama pants with a draw string waist. Even if the legs would be way too long, at least they'd (presumably) fit around her waist.

He took the pile of clothes and went to the bathroom. The shower was turned off and he could hear the hair dryer going. "Annie! Can I come in?"

"Yeah!"

Jeff opened the door and was hit was a thick blast of steam. He waved his free arm until he was able to see Annie. She was standing by the sink wearing nothing but a towel, holding a textbook as she dried it with the blow dryer. He tried to ignore how much skin was showing, and how hot she looked with damp hair, as he put the clothes on the toilet seat. "Here. Wear these until your stuff dries." He quickly left before she could say anything.

Jeff went back to the couch and unmuted the TV. After about twenty minutes he heard the bathroom door open, followed by Annie walking into the living room wearing the clothes he gave her. The shirt was almost down to her knees, and she had rolled the pant legs up several times so she wouldn't trip over them. She ran his hair brush through her still damp hair as she sat down at the opposite end of the couch. "Thanks for the clothes and everything Jeff."

"I'm sure it'd be frowned upon if I let you freeze to death. I am curious why you came here sopping wet in the first place."

Annie sighed deeply as she set the brush down on the coffee table. "I went to get some flashlights in case we lose power." She paused as she groaned in anger. "Troy and Abed were using the ones we had for a lightsaber fight and broke them."

"That sounds about right."

"So I went out to get some more before the ice storm hit. But on my way my car broke down a couple blocks from here. And when I tried calling them for help I couldn't get a signal."

"Yeah, this area is weirdly selective with cell service. This building is fine, but I know the ones next to here have terrible reception."

"So since I was close by I figured I could use your phone to call Troy and Abed. But then I got soaked coming over here and…" She faded out as Jeff already knew the rest. "I guess I'll call them to pick me up and I'll get my clothes another day."

Jeff glanced out of the window. The rain looked like it was in between being water and ice. By the time the guys came and got Annie they would be driving back on icy roads. "Annie, the rain is already becoming ice out there. I don't think anyone should be out there driving now."

"Well, what else am I supposed to do? Just stay here?" she said sarcastically. She giggled at the notion, but stopped when she saw the look Jeff gave her. "Wait, you're serious?"

"It's not exactly ideal. But I don't want you or anyone risking their life when you're already safe indoors."

She let out a huff at the 'ideal' remark before thinking about his offer. Right now she was safe here and the guys were safe at their place. If she left or had them come get her they would at best have to navigate in this downpour. But more likely they would get caught in the ice storm. And she would never forgive herself if something happened to them because of her.

"All right. Can I borrow your phone so I can call Troy and Abed? Mine got ruined from the rain."

Without a word he handed her his phone, continuing to channel surf as Annie got up and went away a few feet to make her call. After a couple minutes she came back and gave Jeff his phone back as she resumed her spot on the couch. "So what's the status with the boys?"

"Troy was shocked that you let me use stuff from your toiletry safe, and then said we should start taking in wayward animals if it gets really bad outside. Abed just said that this situation could lead to a development in both of our characters."

"Troy's been spending too much time with Britta. The last time I took in a wayward animal Chang ended up sleeping on my couch," Jeff said, completely ignoring Abed's remark. He cringed at the memory of his time living with Chang as he continued to flip through channels.

"Jeff, just pick something already."

"My TV, my rules." He glanced at her through the corner of his eye, seeing the annoyed look on her face. She continued to look at the channels flip by without looking at him, and she wasn't Disney Eyeing him or overtly trying to guilt him, and yet he still felt bad about it. "Here, knock yourself out," he said as he handed her the remote before focusing on his phone.

She gave him a brief look of surprise before she flipped around before settling on The King of Queens on TBS. While she watched the antics on the television she thought about this strange turn of events. She hadn't been back here since she had seen Jeff naked almost two months ago. And now she was going to spend the night. It just seemed really weird.

Annie glanced at Jeff out of the corner of her eye, seeing him do whatever he always does when he's on his phone. It pained her that they were both sitting here not saying a word to each other. Even though Jeff was a closed off kind of guy she used to be able to still talk to him. Maybe not about deep personal things, but they could still engage in conversation. But now they weren't even doing that.

It wasn't all his fault either. She had been so focused on herself this semester that she hadn't bothered to go as out of her way like she usually did. Maybe if she had made more of an effort things wouldn't be like this now.

Though if she was honest, she was still annoyed at Jeff for not showing as much interest in her as she wanted him to. This semester had been life changing for her, and she would have liked if he had been there for her more. But if anything he went more out of his way to not be involved in her life. That got under her skin, and made her resentful towards him. Though she felt bad for letting her anger get in the way of their friendship, since they didn't have much time together before they were out of Greendale.

"Is this show ok with you?" she asked him.

Jeff glanced up at the television. "I guess. I don't really watch King of Queens much. Seinfeld's after it. I'll watch that if I'm home."

Annie smiled as she heard that. "I love Seinfeld. Troy doesn't like it though. He thinks it's boring and nothing really happens. So I only watch it if he's not around. Who's your favorite character?"

Jeff thought about it for a second before answering. "Overall I always liked George's parents the best. Though Jerry's mom reminds me of my grandmother. Of the regulars probably George. What about you?"

"When I was younger Kramer was my favorite character. But now I probably like Elaine best." She looked at him tentatively out of the corner of her eye. "Do you like Family Guy? Because there's a three hour block on right after Seinfeld."

"Yeah, I like it."

Annie smiled as she settled back again the couch and relaxed. It also didn't escape her notion that soon Jeff put his phone down and actually focused on the shows.

They spent the evening watching first two episodes Seinfeld, and then three hours of Family Guy. As they watched TV the weather outside steadily got worse and worse. The rain fully turned to ice, and relentlessly pounded down on the outside world. Several times Annie flinched when she heard a particularly hard pop of an ice pellet hitting the window pane.

By the final Family Guy episode the lights started flickering. Jeff got up and put the candles he had gathered at different places around the apartment. Then he lit a couple after the power went out and then came back on a couple seconds later. The electricity finally completely gave out just as Conan was starting, leaving then in near total darkness.

Jeff picked up his phone, which he had plugged in to charge when the lights started flickering, and saw that it only had two bars of battery life in it. "Great. Power's out and my phone isn't fully charged."

"Maybe you should have charged it while we were watching TV."

"Thanks for telling me that now." He turned it off to conserve power before getting up and lighting the rest of the candles. "So now what to you want to do?"

Annie shrugged as she looked up at him, the pounding of ice all the more prevalent from their silence. "I don't know," she said as a yawn escaped her. "I'm kind of tired."

"Yeah. And there isn't much to do here without power. I guess we can just go to sleep and figure out what to do tomorrow morning."

"Okay. If I can just get some blankets and a pillow I'll-."

"What are you talking about? You're sleeping in my bed." He quickly amended his statement as he saw the look on Annie's face. "I mean you'll take the bed and I'll sleep on the couch."

"Jeff, it's your home. I'm not-."

"Annie, I'm not making you sleep on the couch. Also, Chang slept on there for months. I'm not subjecting you to that."

Annie cringed at that thought before reluctantly taking him up on his offer. "Okay. Do you have a spare toothbrush?"

"Aren't you a fussy houseguest." He smirked at her before heading to the bathroom and digging one out of the drawer. As she brushed her teeth and washed her face Jeff got a spare blanket and pillow and put it on the couch before changing into sweatpants. When he was done he opened his bedroom door and saw Annie in the kitchen getting a glass of water. He waited until she came over to him. "Okay. Need anything, we both know where I'll be."

Annie nodded before smiling at him. "Night Jeff."

"Night."