A/N: Thanks for your support everyone, especially tmvg! I love reading the comments so keep it up :) As for the other story with similar elements featuring Annie and Jeff, this is a really common plot for fanfiction and I'm sure the author wasn't copying me and probably hasn't even read this story. We're all using someone else's characters anyway! Besides, our stories are actually very different because the characters are different and they take place at different times. Thank you ana and Cass for pointing this out. This chapter is even shorter, but the next one will hopefully be up by tomorrow.

The smell of something delicious roused her. Annie felt much more lucid after her short nap, as if the color saturation of the dorm room had been cranked up a notch while her eyes were closed.

Abed had rinsed out the cereal bowl and was pouring soup into it from a steaming saucepan. She smiled. He noticed she was awake and handed her the bowl and a titanium spork. "Chicken and stars," he said. "It was my favorite growing up, so… careful though, it's hot."

Annie nodded and blew gently on her sporkful of soup before raising it to her lips. Abed sat on the couch across from her, reading a book for one of his media studies classes. When the soup was cool enough, Annie lifted the bowl and drank from it like a mug, careful not to splash it on herself.

"What am I going to do?" she said, trying to keep the maudlin edge out of her voice. It was a legitimate question.

Abed looked at her thoughtfully. "Well," he said, "you could see a counselor. You could stay here. You could go back to your apartment. Or if you've changed your mind about the hospital or the police, you could go there."

Annie shook her head. "No police. The number of sexual assault cases that end in an arrest, even when the victim knows the assailant, is abysmally small." She swirled the soup dregs around in the bowl, trying to find constellations in the little noddle stars.

He froze for a moment. "Annie," he said calmly. "Did you know your assailant?"

She flushed slightly but continued talking in a steady voice. "It's actually much more common that way. I mean, everyone thinks of… that… as the whole dark alley stranger thing, but statistically speaking that's much less common. Although I guess that was an alley, technically. It was definitely dark. Or do alleys have to be open at both ends?"

Abed was still staring at her. He should be a police interrogator, Annie considered briefly. There was a gentleness in his eyes that made her want to tell him everything.

She took a deep breath. "Okay, I knew the guy. He lives in my building, in the apartment above me. At first when he moved in I actually thought he was kind of cute, you know, in that quiet, dangerous way. Oh God, I've probably flirted with him by accident! He must have seen me taking out my trash and just thought..."

"If he really thought you wanted it, why did he bring a knife?" Abed interjected, legitimately curious.

Annie shook her head. "That's the thing. The knife was just sitting there on the ground. I was going to pick it up on my way back in. Our landlord keeps a lost-and-found box. So when he tried to… kiss me, I pushed him away and I thought he was going to leave, but then must have seen that knife and… yeah. But… he didn't really hurt me except when I tried to fight back. I mean, I basically hit my own cheek against the wall. And I don't think he was planning to cut me at all, I just… squirmed… too much. Although I guess it was generally… rough? He seemed like he was in a hurry, and I haven't… very much, ever… anyway. After… afterwards, I was in shock, kind of, and he… he stroked my hair. Then he dropped the knife and went back into the building. I could see his light go on upstairs. I just left. Went to the bus station, and, well." She took a deep breath, relieved at how easy it had been to relate these details. Maybe she would be okay after all.

"Annie," Abed said, his throat sore. He hoped his voice didn't sound odd. There was a pause while Annie looked at him expectantly. "Have you had all your tetanus shots?"

Annie almost laughed with relief, imagining a million other probing questions she couldn't or didn't want to answer. "Of course, Abed."

They sat quietly while she set her bowl on top of the TV. "I should go back there," she said, feigning resolution. "At least for a few minutes, to get some stuff together. After that… do you think I could stay here for a couple days? You can have the top bunk."

Abed nodded. "Deal. Do you want me to come with you? I'm not very good at moral support but I've memorized a lot of comforting phrases."

Annie's face melted in relief. "If you don't mind," she said.

Not ten minutes later the two were side by side on the bus, Annie wearing the same Star Wars t-shirt and too-large sweatpants with her ballet flats. Abed sat silently, a wide-eyed look of childish curiosity on his face as they wound through Annie's terrible neighborhood. They reached her stop, and Annie tugged on the sleeve of Abed's hoodie to alert him. He tore his eyes from what appeared to be a drug deal in progress across the street to follow her down the block to her building.

Abed noticed how Annie averted her eyes as they walked past the small gap between apartment buildings where the dumpster was. He wondered if the knife was still there. He wondered if that was too gruesome a thing to think.

Annie had her key on a hairband around her wrist and she opened the front door easily. Her heart began beating extra fast, a paranoia settled around her stomach. What if he was there? What if he walked down those stairs right now. Abed was here, she was safe, but what would she do? She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he'd hurt her. At the same time, though, she wanted him to know exactly how badly he'd hurt her. She wanted him to feel it for himself.

The fear was making her slightly sick and she reached for Abed's hand. He laced his fingers through hers, and she didn't mind that her palms were clammy because this was Abed, and he wouldn't leave her. With that in mind, Annie took a deep breath and headed upstairs. Abed followed, painfully aware of the pressure that he was exerting on Annie's hand. Tight was reassuring, he supposed, and she was certainly gripping his hand with some force, but he didn't want to crush her fingers. He settled on a gentle but not limp hold. When Annie gripped tighter, he ran his thumb along the soft curve of her hand in what he hoped was a soothing manner.

She let go when they reached her apartment, hastily locking the door behind Abed. Annie stood still for a moment, head tilted up, and Abed realized she was listening. There were faint footsteps overhead and Annie paled. Worried she might fall over or something dramatic like that, Abed stepped closer to her and placed a steadying hand on her back. "It's okay," he reassured, trying extra hard to inflect right.

Annie nodded. "I'm going to change and pack a few things. Could you, maybe…?"

"Wait in the hall? Got it," Abed agreed, exiting. He heard the door lock behind him. "I'll be right here," he called. He waited for a moment before sprinting up the stairs and finding himself at the door of Annie's upstairs "neighbor," barely out of breath. He felt afraid. That was an easy emotion to pin down, one that was part of the evolutionary make-up of most animals. This wasn't a movie, he wasn't playing a character, there was no script dictating how this would end. This wasn't some plot twist full of predictable tropes and a pre-scripted happy ending. He was just Abed, and the man behind this door was a real, violent criminal. With one last deep breath, Abed reached up and knocked.

A/N: Cliffhanger! Remember, reviews = inspiration and inspiration = more chapters!