title: tread carefully

characters: jeff winger, annie edison

setting: greendale community college parking lot, september 2009 (post-Pilot)

pairing(s): very light jeffxannie, and jeffxbritta

word count: 507

Things were becoming risky when one of them followed him out to his car. And it wasn't even the one Jeff desired to see.

Evasive maneuver clearly didn't work on this group, who, by the way, had successfully guilt-tripped him about his previous actions a good three times over the course of their study session. It was almost deplorable, and clearly had to be fixed right away, before things became more complicated than they already were.

And he really should have gathered throughout this time that Annie Edison could become very persistent very fast.

"Jeff!" she called out, hurrying up to reach him before he could escape to his car. His shoulders rose up ever-so-slightly, their tenseness taking away from his calculated casual/cool demeanor.

He turned to face her, his expression just as carefully arranged as the hair atop of his head. Annie stopped short, looking like quite the little picture of surprise that he actually responded to her call. Blue eyes didn't twinkle so much as sparkle as she caught her breath and rushed into words. "I noticed that you were distracted throughout most of the study session-" (oh did she now?) "and I wanted you to have these!" Annie thrust a small packet of papers into his hands without even waiting for his consent. Impatience somewhat erased and curiosity vaguely picked, Jeff dragged his gaze away from her and down to the present crunched in his grip. His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets at the sight of what was there.

"It's all of our Spanish study notes so far," Annie explained. "I copied them from my notebook. Everything that's highlighted is what should be on the test tomorrow." She bit her lip in a nervous but flirtatious schoolgirl sort of way, no doubt completely unaware that she was even doing it.

Eyes on the prize, Winger. Britta. Diploma. Success.

The road to easy street wasn't without a few bumps, though. It just involved the right sort of handling. "Annie, I-"

"Of course, this isn't a get out of jail free card, Jeff!" she was quick to add over any protests. Perfect. "This is just until you get back on your feet. We're only one week in, and you seem really smart, so I'm sure that'll be no problem!" Annie beamed, bright, girlish, and petrified. An oddly endearing combo.

Jeff blinked, unsure for what felt like the billionth time that day if he should feel insulted or flattered. Considering the company, he went with the latter. He wondered if she did the same for the rest of the group.

"Scout's honor." Jeff lifted his right hand in a mock gesture over his heart. Annie smiled. "This will be the first of what is sure to be very few times." With a self-indulgent smirk that worked as dual charm against her, Jeff grasped one of Annie's hands and brought it to his lips. One quick brush against the knuckles and a murmur of "M'Lady," and she practically turned to goo.

If only Britta was so easy.

Annie giggled, and even offered a small curtsy in return. "M'Lord."