Chapter Text
The icy wind lashed at Annie’s face, wailing in a discordant warning, as she stepped out of the cab into the resort’s entrance. Dread slowly seeped into her mind, though she couldn't tell if it was an omen or just her anxiety. She pulled the fur-lined hood of her jacket closer to her face and offered Abed a hand out of the vehicle after her.
When Jeff had waltzed into the study room and proudly stated they'd all be going on an impromptu Skiing trip earlier that week, she'd not been totally sold. Skiing wasn't exactly her idea of fun; the thought of hurtling down a mountain at high speeds in the freezing cold made her itch. Now, as she huddled in between Troy and Abed, she was certain this was a bad idea.
Quickly, the cab driver handed them their bags from the trunk and, after silently taking his payment, drove away. She watched the vehicle turn into a tiny model— a diorama exploring the consequences of unplanned vacations or how to avoid an avalanche– until it became nothing more than a tiny blemish on the landscape. There was absolutely no turning back anymore.
Apparently, Jeff had been paid some ‘owed debts’ from a card game between old colleagues from back in his days at the firm. He’d seemed smug, playing up the decision to spend it on a group vacation like it was a charitable deed. Britta had whispered to her that it was because group bookings got a discount; she half thought to herself that it was so he had an audience to show off to.
“H-how does Superman survive living in the fortress of solitude?” Troy muttered through chattering teeth by her side.
“I wish I were a Kryptonian right now,” Abed added in response as the three of them trudged their way towards the resort's lobby.
Annie regretted bringing a suitcase. Every segment of slush and snow caught in the wheels slowed her down as she walked. Jeff had mentioned it would be a bad idea; he'd probably pull his I told you so face when he saw she hadn't listened. In her defence, this suitcase had seen her through every vacation she'd been on since she was fifteen. She knew exactly how to fit everything into it, and when the prospect of the trip was so last minute, it's not like she'd had time to plan anything else.
She resigned herself to battling the slope of the path as they made their way. Every so often, she'd let out a small screech of frustration until eventually Troy stopped to check in with her.
“Are you okay?” He asked, Abed observing her by his side.
“This stupid suitcase won't move normally because of the stupid snow!” She huffed.
“Give it here.” He responded, holding out his hand to take the luggage from her.
Once her battle had been valiantly fought for her (by Troy carrying her suitcase out of the snow), the rest of the walk became a lot easier. They made it to the resort’s main building: a cabin that loomed larger than the others, decorated with string lights. The sliding doors of the entrance closed shut around them, dragging in a cold breeze, and the rest of the group stood up to greet them.
“What took you guys so long?” Jeff asked. He and Britta had clearly arrived first as they'd already had time to check into the cabin and dump their bags. Shirley also seemed to have been there long enough to have a cocktail in her hands, though she was still wrapped up in a scarf.
“The cab driver got lost and went to the wrong resort,” Abed answered.
“It cost us an extra twenty dollars,” Troy complained.
Annie felt the sharp sensation of blood returning to her hands as she warmed up in the foyer. The building’s welcoming exterior mirrored its interior, kitted out in the usual furs and taxidermy with a few indoor plants dotted around. There was also a bar and an assortment of leather couches for guests to relax on. Half of her wanted to collapse down and order a hot chocolate immediately, the other half was just happy to finally arrive at the correct destination.
“Well, we were just grabbing some drinks at the bar. Drop your stuff off at the cabin.” Jeff chucked a set of keys towards Annie, which she struggled to catch with her mittens. “Go to the front desk, they'll give you a site map.”
“Once you've dropped your stuff, you should come back to meet us here,” Britta said, “I want everyone to see how I defeat Winger in table tennis.”
“They're never going to see that happen. I'm undefeated.” Jeff gibed back at her, earning a raspberry blown at him in retaliation.
Somehow, the three of them ended up taking Shirley’s bags with them after they collected the site map. The employee at the front desk was nice, if anything, a little overly apologetic. She seemed to act as if there was a terrible problem they should know about, but she never elaborated. Annie reminded herself that sometimes working customer service was like that, especially if she'd had to deal with people like Pierce.
Speaking of, the oldest member of the study group had not made an appearance in the foyer. Annie wasn't even sure if he'd turned up or not. She’d felt as if asking about him might summon him, and she was already too cold and tired to deal with that right now.
“What the hell?” Annie was ripped out of her thoughts by Troy’s panicked exclamation.
“Man, why couldn’t Jeff pick something non-scary like a trip to Universal Studios?” Troy frowned as he spoke.
Jeff had managed to book the furthest cabin from the entrance of the resort and its main building. According to her quick Yahoo search, the night they’d packed to leave, this resort had access to three different peaks with over seventeen different routes to ski down. Each peak had its own cafe ‘for customers to relax before making their descent!’ and apparently there were also cabins placed further up the mountain than where they’d entered.
Troy placed her suitcase back on the mostly cleared ground as they all stared up at the entrance to the Gondola. On any other day, getting to ride something like this would be exciting; as it was, Annie desperately hoped they didn't have to go out in worse weather. Riding in a small wire-suspended carriage up a windy mountainside as the only means of getting to and from the resort seemed terrifying. She grabbed hold of Abed’s hand, looking over at Troy’s fear-blanched face.
“I’m sure it’s safe enough… Come on guys…” She began to drag Abed forward with her, clutching onto one of Shirley’s bags. Troy stalled for a minute, eyes tracking the ever-moving mode of transport, before he rushed through the winding gateway into the boarding room after them.
A couple close to Jeff’s age were stepping off the cable car as they arrived. They laughed between themselves– dressed in outfits that signified their devotion and possibly also their wealth. Briefly, Annie remembered photos her dad had sent her of his work trips when she was younger; she wished she’d agreed to go with him once, so maybe this would all feel a little more familiar.
“Next!” The worker yelled out, holding the cable car door open.
Quickly, the trio hurried forward, Abed pulling Troy in by the hand. The worker seemed tired and slightly miserable, the perfect image of an ominous ferryman. Secretly, Annie hoped to god that he was close to the end of his shift. She had the slight idea that if he was still there when they were on their way back, he’d punish any sort of hesitation to disembark by sending them round back up to the top until they worked up the nerve to confidently get off. There was always someone out there trying to teach some horribly convoluted lesson, and this didn't seem like the time for that sort of thing.
Annie sat herself opposite Troy and Abed, her knees bunched up against her suitcase. Abed tightly smiled at her, and she returned it, looking over at where Troy was gripping onto Abed’s arm for dear life. As the small car ascended the mountain, Annie found things weren’t as bad as she’d anticipated. Whilst Troy’s eyes were firmly screwed shut, she spent every second of the journey taking in the snow-clad slopes and dusted trees.
In actuality, riding in a cable car was fun. Annie could comfortably imagine riding to and fro from the cabin to visit the reception or go higher up the mountain and spend a day reading in the cafe. She briefly wondered if Troy and Abed had plans for the weekend– none of them had really had the time to discuss it. Their hellish cab journey had been spent either panicking as they got lost or listening to Abed excitedly reel off all his thoughts on the new Inspector Spacetime episode and what it might mean for the overall worldbuilding.
They got off at the halfway stop– or rather, Annie shuffled herself and as many of their bags off the carriage that never stopped moving and counted on the others to follow her.
Arriving at the cabin, Annie let out a small gasp. What Jeff had been casually calling a cabin was much more of a townhouse. Despite its wooden-clad exterior, the interior was painted mostly white with a stone accent wall where the fireplace sat. She briefly wondered to herself just how much debt Jeff had been owed by his old ‘work buddies’ that could let him afford something luxurious like this.
The building was split in half with a large, two-story height living room. The other half of the building contained the homely kitchen, the kind you might find in a Hallmark movie, shared bathroom, and a spiral staircase up to three bedrooms, a little smaller than her own back in apartment 303.
Annie’s mood picked up a little as she shucked off her downy coat and thick snow boots. She'd never been skiing before, the closest she'd gotten was riding sleds with her brother when they were much younger. Frankly, the idea scared her a little. Britta had promised her she'd convince her to love snowboarding, but after seeing their accommodation, she felt perfectly happy to stay in whilst the others had their fun.
“Woah. The microwave is attached to the wall.” Troy commented in awe as he stood in the kitchen. He and Abed high-fived and muttered something about finally being able to make popcorn in a functional microwave. Their own had broken because someone had tried to use it to boil water again. You could boil water in a microwave; they’d both insisted to her that’s what they did before she’d moved in, but whatever they’d done to demonstrate their point had failed horribly.
“This place is so romantic.” Annie squeaked, running the sheer fabric of the curtains between her hands. She didn't think she'd ever seen windows this tall as she noted how the back wall seemed to be floor-to-ceiling panels of glass overlooking the mountainside and distant cities.
“We should put our stuff in our rooms.” Abed finally suggested after they'd all thoroughly inspected the lower floor.
They poked their head into the first room, noting how it seemed already a little wrecked with bags half unpacked in it. Assumably this was the room Jeff and Britta had chosen, Annie made a mental note of that for later.
Only two other rooms were left. They looked at each other in slight panic. Both remaining rooms had king-size beds, meaning people would definitely have to share. Annie privately cursed the others for choosing to stay and drink instead of being here to explain the room assignments.
“Do you guys know if Pierce is coming or not?” Annie asked the two of them, but neither seemed to be able to answer.
She took to texting Jeff in the hopes the man who had booked the trip could explain what the idea was.
After a few minutes, she got a response that ‘No Pierce was not coming’, this weekend was apparently an important Neo-Buddhist event. She silently thanked God. Jeff, however, did not solve the problem of the beds. He didn't even seem to see a problem, adding to his text that 'one of you guys can sleep on the couch. Seems comfy enough.’
Between them, they decided that Shirley deserved her own room, furthest away from Jeff and Britta, so she didn't have to make any noise complaints. They'd either end up arguing loudly or… something else that Annie desperately hoped she wouldn't have to hear herself. That was, assuming that she would be sleeping in the room and not on the couch.
They hadn't shared a bed between the three of them before. Sometimes they'd fall asleep on the couch during board game nights, or there was the odd occasion when one of them visited family, or one of them couldn't sleep. She was sure the other two had shared a bed on multiple occasions, but she'd never felt the need to ask.
“I guess we're sharing?” She turned to the boys, who seemed to grin in response.
“It's like a sleepover!” Abed replied.
“Yeah! This is gonna be awesome.” Troy added, throwing himself onto the large bed.
Annie began to smile back. A sleepover did make it sound really fun. She shoved the anxieties of her own sleep struggles and the thought of how much body heat three people would generate aside and focused on the fact that she hadn't been to a sleepover since she was thirteen.
This was a far better option than sleeping on the couch. The room was cosy with just the bed and a rug to decorate it. The walls were painted a warm white, and on the one furthest from the door, there seemed to be a hatch.
She watched as Abed walked over and opened it. He muttered a small ‘cool’ to himself before turning back to them.
“Our room is like a fort. We can talk down to the living room from here like lords.” He pointed out the opening to demonstrate his words.
Troy rushed up from the bed to look out from it before spinning around and announcing, “This would be a great vantage point to snipe someone from.”
“What? Why? How would you snipe someone?” Annie asked.
“Pretty easily, just aim my gun out the hatch, it's long enough, I could probably get a good shot without being hit back.” He mimed shooting down at the living space.
“That's not what I–I meant. What reason would you have to shoot someone? We aren't playing paintball here.” She responded.
“No, yeah, obviously. That's why we brought the Nerf guns…” He began to trail off before quickly trying to fix his mistake, “We weren't going to break anything!”
Annie fixed him a look as she thought of the last time they'd started up a foam bullet-based war. Someone in Abed’s film class had wanted to recreate an old western scene in the halls. It was a challenge for who could get the better shot, if she recalled correctly. The Dean had accidentally gotten caught in the crossfire, and suddenly, a campus-wide battle had begun. Greendale didn't seem to be able to go more than six months without turning into a survival game.
“Did you bring mine?” She finally asked, elated when Abed pulled her custom pink painted toy weapon from one of their bags.
She smiled, and Troy seemed to relax a little and smiled back. He'd expected her to get mad at him and shut the idea down. Annie really wanted to try having more fun; Abed had been right about her wanting more immaturity in her life. Plus, they were on vacation– what better time to have fun?
“Yay! Okay, but we only do this when Jeff is out skiing.” She said. Jeff’s exclusion wasn't because they feared his disapproval. Annie knew that if any contest was initiated, he would go to great lengths to win, and she didn't want this trip to turn into an action thriller.
The boys nodded in agreement with her plan. A secret mission for just the three of them, when time allowed it. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, signifying another text from Britta asking where they were.
“We should probably go change and meet up with the others, right?” Annie said.
“Yeah… five bucks says Jeff will be onto his third glass of Scotch by the time we get there.” Troy joked.
****
Squeaking in surprise, Annie barely managed to dodge the ball that flew directly towards her face as they returned to the reception building.
“Sorry!” Britta yelled before rushing over to collect the ball that had bounced off towards the reception desk.
From the looks of the scene that greeted them, Shirley seemed to be absolutely thrashing her. Jeff sat, glass in hand, watching with a smug expression. Beside them, a couple of other guests sat about looking like they'd just come in from the slopes. Their faces were rouged from the cold weather, and their relaxed attitudes made winter sports seem almost exciting. She half expected Abed to make a movie reference.
The three of them made their way over to their friends as Britta repositioned herself at the table and took her serve. Quickly, Shirley hit the ball back with an unexpected level of precision. Annie vaguely recalled a story about Shirley winning some sort of sporting event or other when she'd been recounting her vacation during the summer of their first year; she wondered if table tennis was the sport in question.
She sat down on a couch with Abed and Troy as Jeff heckled Britta.
“Shut up! This is my longest streak! Don't throw me off.” She hissed at him, keeping her focus on the ball.
“I'm proud of you Britta.” Shirley smiled, “But that doesn't mean you're gonna win.” She said as she hit the ball at a force that Britta could barely defend herself against.
“Hah! What was that about claiming to be good at this game?” Jeff laughed at her, taking another sip of his drink.
Britta frowned, pushing the hair from out of her face, before putting her paddle down on the table.
“Alright. I'd like to see you play against Shirley then.” She challenged.
Shirley looked at him expectantly, welcoming the competition. Jeff, however, turned his gaze onto the rest of the group.
“How about we let one of you guys join in?” He asked.
Troy got up from the couch, taking the paddle from the table. He held the ball in his hand, ready to serve, as Shirley stayed on to defeat a new challenger. Britta whooped, sitting down on the arm of Jeff’s chair.
Another guest walked over to the fireplace and added a few logs before lighting it. Immediately, the room began to take on a warm orange glow against the darkening sky of an oncoming evening snowstorm. The clock on the wall read 5.30 pm, meaning that the slopes had likely closed for the day. Soon, an influx of people would be heading towards the large building, passing through to its bar and restaurant in the adjoining rooms.
Despite the temperature rising, Annie shivered a little, leaning into Abed’s side. He looked over his shoulder down at her before upturning his palm in silent invitation. She took his hand in hers, running her thumb along his skin. Mapping his hand out in her mind, she noted each tiny detail of it. Abed always had hands warmer than her own, softer too; she enjoyed holding hands with him.
“Why?” Annie whipped her head up to Troy's exasperated yell.
“Did I say I'd go easy on you?” Shirley smiled in a way that Annie could only imagine came from raising three boys almost single-handedly.
“I give up.” Troy threw the paddle back on the table before flopping down on the other side of Abed, “Someone else take my place.”
Everyone glanced over at Jeff. It took a while for him to look up from his BlackBerry, intently engaged in something. Britta snatched the device out of his hand.
“Hey! What the hell?” Jeff yelled up at her. “That was important!”
“Losing games on your phone isn't important, Jeff.” He shrank down a fraction as she looked over the screen, “We all want to see you compete against Shirley.”
“But Shirley looks tired, guys, we should let her rest.” Jeff span out.
“I'm good. I can handle myself just fine. I get to decide when I take breaks.” Shirley stated plainly.
The remaining Skiers filtered in through the door, their coats frosted in fresh snow from the impending storm. They brought a chill with them, briefly, laughing with each other as they headed through to the bar. Jeff tried to make some excuse about his own lack of sobriety and then backpedalled at the idea of not being able to handle day drinking. Everyone continued to stare him down in anticipation, blocking off any conversational exit he could try to make.
“Alright, alright,” he held up his hands in surrender, “if you wanna see me destroy a poor, strong and independent mother and beloved member of our group, I guess I really can't deny you that.” He downed the remnants of his drink and placed it on the coffee table in front of him.
“Prepare to never show your face in front of one of these things ever again.” He skewered as Shirley took her serve.
The game was intense and, surprising no one, Jeff lost. He had managed to get Shirley to miss a serve, but then the two of them had demanded someone pull up the official competitive rules, and after that, he stood no chance. Slowly, perhaps due to the excessive exchange of shit talking or because there wasn't much else to do other than eat or sit in the bar, other guests started to congregate around their game. Troy had been actively keeping score, and Britta had been valiantly cheering Shirley to victory.
The additional audience made Jeff’s defeat visibly more damaging to his ego. He grimaced to himself and mumbled about how it was unfair because Shirley had extra practice. While most of the group mocked him, some of the guests took pity on him. One man even bought him a commiseratory drink– it wasn't Jeff's liquor of choice, but he still took it anyway. Annie laughed along with the atmosphere, though her energy didn't quite pick up its usual high. She was tired and hungry and more comfortable silently observing the whole thing next to Abed.
“You’re falling asleep mid-scene. Are you trying to cut away?” Abed turned his attention to her.
“Huh?” She looked up at him, an air of what might have been concern on his face as he looked back at her.
“You know everyone is here, right? If we cut away, it will go to Pierce at his Neo-Buddhist event.” He continued, she briefly glanced over to where Jeff had begun a new game with another guest.
“I’m just hungry, I think, Abed. It’s warm in here.” Annie responded, thinking over the fact that they had a kitchen in the cabin and wondering if anyone had bought food or if they’d be eating in the restaurant.
“Yeah. Your hand is clammy.” Annie instantly snatched her hand from his at the comment.
“Abed!” she said in offence.
Troy looked over at them, breaking away from the circle of people that had formed around Jeff’s new game, blocking the view from where they sat. His face was painted with slight panic and concern, whilst they didn't clash heads as much as they used to, misunderstandings and arguments were still an occasional inevitability between her and Abed. Troy often took on the role of mediator, he was good at interpreting both of them and had gotten much better at deflating the situation before things got forging-a-crime-and-breaking-into-the-landlord’s-apartment level catastrophic.
“What’s wrong?” Troy asked.
“We’re breaking into subplots. We should go eat.” Abed smiled at him, standing up abruptly.
“Oh yeah, I haven’t eaten since like three pm.” Troy looked over Abed’s shoulder at where Annie was still sitting, “You wanna eat at the restaurant or go back to the cabin?”
“We didn’t bring any food…” she replied, insinuating that despite her sleepiness, they really didn’t have much of a choice.
Troy quickly turned back to the crowd, who were erupting into laughter and cheers as Jeff seemed to either win or lose another game. He quickly searched through the crowd for his target and grabbed Britta by the sleeve, dragging her away from where she was hurling an elated insult at (presumably) Jeff.
“What?” She huffed, not liking being dragged away from her entertainment.
“Um…You and Jeff got here early, right?” Troy asked.
“Yeah…?” She met his fumbling with her own confusion.
“Did you arrive with time to stock the kitchen or are we meant to be eating at the restaurant?” Abed continued Troy’s question.
Britta paused for a moment, thinking about the question, “Uhhh… hold on,” she finally said before disappearing back into the crowd. Annie could vaguely make out the sound of Jeff and her talking over the chatter before Britta reappeared.
“So, Jeff is drunk. You guys can eat in the restaurant if you want. I don't think I can drag him away right now.” She began to back away into the crowd “Oh! And Jeff brought the essentials, but don’t touch the wagyu– or do, I kinda wanna see if he’ll cry over it.” She shrugged with a smile before she was swallowed into the mass of Skiing jackets and thermal clad bodies.
“Wagyu as in… the steak?” Troy questioned as he slowly spun back to the others. Abed shrugged in response before mentioning something about Jeff becoming a cliche.
They both looked at Annie, waiting for her call. She’d sat awkwardly and watched the whole thing, feeling less comfortable now she had no one to lean against. Suddenly things felt loud and uncertain and she wasn't really sure why she wasn't having fun like the others. This should be fun! A free vacation with her closest friends, away from Pierce. Deep down she knew she could probably destroy everyone here at table tennis– her aunt had a set up at her house and she’d spent every summer visit playing against her brother and cousins, yet she didn't feel like stepping up to the challenge. She frowned, half expecting Abed to pass her a chocolate although he’d stopped that ritual a while ago.
“Can we just go back to the cabin? It’s getting late and it looks like it’s starting to blizzard out there.” She indicated towards the window where a storm was picking up, fogging the air with snowfall.
“Sure.” Troy smiled at her, offering her a hand up off the couch.
As they passed the reception desk on the way out they noted that the employee was engaged in a very active phone call. She glanced at them as they went to open the door, wide eyed, opening her mouth to speak to them before getting cut off by whoever was on the other end speaking hurriedly at her. Annie could make out something about ‘having to close’ and ‘yes I’ll issue a warning’ and ‘no i know, the grit order didn't arrive I’m really worried, can you please send-’, she didn't manage to process anymore as the door shut behind her, cutting off indoors.
The trees surrounding the resort had turned stark white in the weather, it was admittedly beautiful, like a postcard or a scene from the hallmark movies Britta insisted she only watched to make fun of. Troy wrapped an arm around Annie, she wasn't sure if it was for her comfort or his own.
Quickly, they made their way to the Gondola. The same worker from before was operating the system, he continued to scowl. In an aim to avoid any hassle they all hopped into the cable car with seemingly practiced eagerness.
This time the journey felt a lot less magical. The wind howled horribly, whipping the snowfall into something more threatening. If Troy had been scared the first time he seemed absolutely mortified now. Annie could understand, being trapped in a slow moving glass pod being carried up a mountain in poor weather conditions wasn't exactly relaxing.
“Abed?” her voice came out in a higher pitch than she’d anticipated.
“Yeah?” Abed looked up at her from where he and Troy were sitting.
“Are there any horror movies where people get stuck on a ski lift? I kinda feel like we’re in one right now.” Annie didn't know why she was asking the question.
“Hmm… probably. I haven’t seen any of them, though. It does seem like the kind of staging they’d use for the ‘two white women get isolated in an extreme situation’ trope.” He replied.
Thankfully, they made it off the gondola with relative ease. As soon as they were out of the doors, Troy tried to play his fear off as if it had never happened. He strode out into the snow with an urgency he tried to disguise as an air of confidence. Annie knew He didn't like to appear too vulnerable, even if she had watched him cry over High School Musical.
“I can't see anything.” Troy called out, “Abed?”
Annie felt Abed tap them both on the shoulder, “I’m here.”
“I don’t remember how to get to the cabin,” Troy yelled over the weather, eyes scrunched up against the blizzard.
“It’s okay, I do.” Abed grabbed onto both of their hands, beginning to blindly lead them in the direction they came.
The resort’s pathways were decorated with small lights, allowing them to see some semblance of direction to move in. Annie trudged forward, gripping Abed’s hand and leaning into Troy for dear life. She thought about how Jeff, Britta and Shirley would probably be at their impromptu tournament long enough to see this storm through. She kind of wished the three of them had just gone to the restaurant instead, even if she had no idea what kind of menu it had.
“You know. I always wondered what it would be like to be on Hoth.” Abed paused, grimacing against the snowfall, “I feel like I finally completely understand what it was like to be Han Solo rescuing Luke now.” If anyone else had been with them, there would've been some snarky retort at the comment, Annie and Troy, however, kept quiet in the cold.
They fought forwards against the conditions until they made it to the cabin’s door. Annie rummaged around in her pocket for the key with numb hands as the other two clumsily tried to form some kind of barrier around her against the snow. The weather was freakish; they didn't get this kind of thing back in Greendale. It did snow, but it had been a while since the snow had been this heavy– then again, this kind of weather was necessary for the sport carried out here. You needed heavy snow to prolong the skiing season.
Eventually, she managed to unlock the door, sending the three of them tumbling through the threshold.
“Oh, thank god.” Troy leant against the kitchen island, “I’m so happy we’re back inside.”
“I’ve decided, I am not a fan of the cold,” Abed said.
Annie shrugged off her wet coat, hanging it up on a coat rack by the door before moving to pull off her boots. The snow was rapidly melting in the warmth of their cabin, and she felt the unpleasant sensation as it dampened her hair and clothing. The warmth of showering called to her; as she got up to go grab her toiletry bag, she noticed Abed struggling with his own boots.
“Need a hand?” she asked him.
“Yeah. You tied them too tight, I don't have the dexterity to undo it,” he replied, unabashed about needing assistance. They smiled at each other as she helped him. Annie was glad she could do things like this, and it didn't embarrass him.
“Can you help me, too?” Troy suddenly asked, sitting on the counter, his feet swinging at her eye level from where she had knelt down.
Annie gasped in lighthearted outrage, “You’re perfectly capable of untying your shoes yourself, Troy!”
“I know,” he sighed dejectedly, "I just wanted to be included.”
“Fine,” She rolled her eyes at him, grinning a little before moving over to untie his shoes too, “But don't say I never do nice things for you.”
“Thank you, Annie.” They both chorused as she went upstairs to grab her things.
After the initial contrast of shutting out the outside wore off, Annie became aggressively aware of how cold the actual cabin was. Once in her room, she walked over to the weird hatch and leant out of it. Troy and Abed had, in the mere minutes she'd been away from them, initiated some kind of play fight with the couch’s decorative pillows.
“Hey guys!” She called down to them, “Can you turn the heating up? It’s really cold in here.”
“Sure thing, your majesty.” Abed flourished with a theatrical bow before he and Troy abandoned their makeshift weapons to go search for the thermostat.
She blushed a little, laughing at how stupid they could be sometimes. Not that they were stupid in a measure of intelligence, although they certainly made some dumb decisions, things like this were just silly and a little childish and wildly endearing to her.
Annie had grown up daydreaming about adult romances– that sounded inappropriate now she thought about it– falling for a coworker, enemies to lovers style, or fixing the ‘bad boy’ kind of character. Hell, she’d daydreamed enough about who she perceived Troy to be in high school. The popular jock finally seeing the loner nerd for all her beauty in a way no one else ever had. He’d learn how to be himself more, and she (the outcast) would be finally devoid of loneliness. In a way, that dream really had come true; she just hadn't been the right nerd to carry it out.
Reality never quite played up to any of her fantasies; however, the romances she’d chased were always vaguely disappointing. Real men who dated her would only keep up the cliches she read about for so long. Things got boring trying to be a grown adult.
Now she’d ended up living with two people who brought a different kind of fantasy, and with them, she was safe to exist comfortably in a land of make-believe. Troy and Abed had taught her that it was fun to eat ice cream for breakfast. They'd host elaborate tea parties for her stuffies and chivalrously kiss the back of her hand. Life with them wasn't just taxes and bars and buying a new dress in the hopes a friend would get married soon and you'd finally get to wear it. It was continuing to do the fun things like puppet shows with flashlights in blanket forts, and getting to make out a little too.
The wind battered at the windows, enough to make her want to shutter them. Anxiety crawled up her spine, snowstorms were unpredictable. Annie pulled her phone from her pocket, bringing up their group text chain. She typed out a quick message asking what the others' plans were, if Jeff had been drunk fifteen minutes ago when they broke off, she wasn't sure who would be a reliable person to message, so it was safest to go for all three of them. She left her phone on the bed before going downstairs to shower. Smiling at Troy and Abed as they’d already begun to flip through the TV channels, looking for something to watch.
All thanks had to go to Jeff’s lame work friends for losing to him and giving her this. Despite the terrible conditions and nauseating sports promised to her tomorrow, the cabin was a dream of luxury. As she scrubbed the complimentary shampoo into her hair, she stopped herself from spinning off into considering if dating Jeff got more perks like this. The idea made her shudder a little in horror; she really hated whatever part of herself was drawn to him like that. The fantasy of every forbidden romance novel she’d read during the fall of her junior year of high school haunted her with each thought she’d ever had about him. Plus, she really didn't want to get in between whatever will-they-wont-they he and Britta had seemed to engage themselves in until the end of time.
Annie tried to think about other things, like her latest collage project. She was designing her dream garden as a side project– the scrap paper was to be used for her next diorama. It had Mediterranean themes and cute-shaped hedges– some of them were things Troy and Abed would think were cool too. She'd have a beautiful painted wall to hang planters off, some of that part of the collage was taken from images of Naboo.
Annie quickly lost herself to the fantasy. She wasn't a professional at dreamatorium shenanigans yet, but she was good at spinning a story in her mind. She imagined the garden much larger than was rational, sprawling out beyond her dream home. She'd have a nice patio area to eat lunch in and read books. On warm evenings, she would sit on her white swing bench and admire her roses until Troy or Abed, or maybe both of them, would come and find her. They'd be dressed vaguely like they were adventurers in an Indiana Jones movie– avoiding the secret booby traps that were hidden about the garden in order to get to the hidden treasure and–
Annie turned off the shower. Her daydreaming had gotten away from her. She'd stopped planning her dream garden and started imagining stupid storylines that involved Troy and Abed. Something loud in her mind whined about how ‘it was a good dream, though!’ and she couldn't help but admit it was right.
As she wrapped her hair in a towel, she let the dream continue.
Deeper into the garden they'd go, following an antique map. Troy would question if this was really the right way to go, but Abed would be determined. She paused her thoughts, enjoying the idea of Abed playing another Harrison Ford character. The idea was wildly appealing, she tabled it for later.
Somewhere deep in the forest– was it a forest now? – They'd find the hidden entrance of an ancient tunnel system. Cautiously but determinedly, they'd enter. Troy would probably be a little scared, but he's really brave, especially for the people he loves. She'd weave ahead of the traps, scouting out the area. When she'd look back, Abed would be just about to step on a trap she'd forgotten to mention. How could she forget?
Abed and Troy would share a wide-eyed glance, Abed not moving his foot from the pressure plate. Quickly, Annie would run back to him, yelling at Troy to jump back before pulling Abed out of the way of a sheet of arrows– no, a hoard of snakes– no, nothing. They'd fall to the ground, wrapped in each other's arms, but no threat would immediately arrive. It was a false alarm!
They'd let their guards down too soon, perhaps. As she’d push herself up from the floor, checking over to see if Troy was okay, she'd see the fearful look on his face. Behind her, a horrible grating sound of stone slowly moving would begin as an opening would appear to let water rapidly flow through. They'd all look at each other in fear as they'd notice large walls had appeared, entombing them in this part of the tunnel.
This isn't how things were supposed to go! Annie and Abed would desperately search for an exit, as Troy would ball up his shirt in the hopes of blocking off the water. Eventually, as the water would hit her waist, she'd tell them it was no use; they'd not be getting out of this. They'd be scared, but if they were going to drown, then at least they'd all be together. She'd cling onto them, smiling sorrowfully as they'd each share a kiss goodbye in turn, making the most of their final breaths and–
Annie jumped at the sound of someone knocking against the door.
“Annie!” Troy anxiously yelled through the door.
“What is it?” She replied.
“I really gotta use the bathroom. Also, your phone keeps ringing, but we promised not to touch each other's stuff!”
She quickly unlocked the door, Troy shoving past her and closing the door behind him. She felt a little bad; locking the bathroom door was a habit, and if he'd needed to use the bathroom that badly, she wouldn't have minded. Maybe it was a little gross to be showering whilst someone peed beside you, but so was touching the shopping cart that someone had sneezed on or eating toast that had fallen on the floor for roughly six seconds or more.
“Are you okay?”
“Huh?” She looked up at where Abed was leaning over the back of the couch, observing her.
“You're crying. We still haven't eaten yet. Do you want food? I brought noodles with me. I didn't trust Jeff to bring them. I can make noodles for you.” He gesticulated each point of his sentence as he said it.
“Oh…yeah, that would be nice.” She smiled a little, bringing a finger up to wipe at her eye.
Perhaps the daydreaming had gotten a little too compelling and tragic. This was her own fantasy, damnit! Why did they have to drown together at the end?
“You didn't answer my question about if you're okay or not by the way.” Abed had moved to the kitchen, rummaging through cupboards in search of the right pot.
“Oh…”
He turned to face her, his expression seemingly running through an entire database of something she didn't quite understand.
“It's nothing really… It's embarrassing.” She pulled at her hair, twirling it around her fingers and curtaining herself off from the conversation.
“I don't think crying is embarrassing but if it makes you feel better I once cried because I thought about Dick Grayson.” Abed said, she blinked back at him, “I wasn't even thinking about all the sad things in his story. I just thought about him for too long. But again… I don't think that's embarrassing. So I won't judge you by whatever you say.”
“Okay, well… I was daydreaming about us going on an adventure.”
“Nice.” He smiled at her.
“Yeah. Actually, it was pretty fun! We were searching for lost treasure together– Indiana Jones style.”
“Double nice!”
She smiled back at his enthusiasm, “We were evading all the traps, but then you accidentally stepped on one I didn't warn you about, and we got stuck in a room filling with water, and we couldn't get out…” Annie sniffled a little, “If I was gonna drown in a trap, I would want to be with you guys, but also why did it have to end like that?”
“It doesn't. The great thing about original fiction is that you get to decide exactly what happens. It's not like this is an actual movie plot you were following, so… we can make edits.”
Abed frowned suddenly, breaking away from their conversation to assess which pan was going to be more efficient at cooking food. He seemed to decide on the smaller of the two, planning to cook each portion individually so they would be even.
“Uhm…” Annie grabbed his attention back. “Would you be able to help me edit the story?” She asked.
“Definitely. Can you talk me through the details again, but in more depth? What did the room look like? Maybe you couldn't spot anything, but you only had one perspective. I bet Troy and I could find something.”
She walked him through every thought she’d had, allowing Abed to pry for further details and dredge up her plot holes. Scripting the story with a co-writer was fun; Annie sort of wished she and Abed could do this sort of thing more often, it suited her more than roleplaying in the Dreamatorium. They’d really fleshed out the setting when Troy pounced on her back, earning a squeak in response.
“What’s up?” He grinned, looking between the two of them.
“We’re retconning Annie’s daydream so it’s more realistic,” Abed informed him, putting the second batch of noodles into the pot.
“So it has a happy ending also.” She added.
Troy nodded along as they caught him up to speed, supplying ideas for the traps they would evade. They agreed it would make a much better plot if the fated trap was encountered once they’d find the treasure. Perhaps they’d grab it (a beautiful diamond full of ancient power), and that is what would set off the trap. Annie had to admit that if this was a fantasy, then they got to avoid unrealistic carelessness. In fact, Abed suggested, whilst serving everyone’s noodles, the trap would be horribly complex and devious and totally unavoidable. Over a mouthful of food, Troy supplied their escape. As the room would begin to flood, he’d notice a button at the bottom of the pool, it would be tense as he swam down to hit it. Annie and Abed would be wracked with fear as he took a while to resurface, but then the water would start to rapidly flow away, and to their relief, Troy would reappear.
As the three of them flopped onto the sofa, they finalised the final segment of the plot– emerging from the tunnels and returning home with the treasure. Abed described exactly how their picture would look in the papers and the great evening they’d have at the bar celebrating their success. Annie beamed. This was a much better ending.
“Thanks you guys.” She smiled warmly at Abed, “This is so much fun!”
Troy flopped into her side, passing the remote he’d grabbed over to Abed so he could choose a channel. “Did you check your phone? I can’t hear it ringing anymore, so I'm guessing that means everything is fine?” he asked.
Shooting up out of her seat, Annie felt panic flood through her. Troy jumped with the shock of being dislodged from her shoulder before flopping over, his head landing in Abed’s lap. She’d completely forgotten about the situation at hand. Everything had felt so normal and homely, discussing stories and eating noodles, the idea of checking her phone to see if anyone had replied to her had completely slipped her mind.
Quickly, she rushed upstairs to their room where her phone lay neatly on the bed. She grabbed it, clicking open her screen to see six missed calls, one voicemail and a couple of texts. She opened the voicemail first, hearing all three of her friends on the other end of the line.
“Put it on speaker!” She heard Britta yell.
“It's a voicemail, Britta. It doesn't need to go on speaker. Annie didn't answer us.” Shirley replied.
“Okay, guys, just…focus… we need to warn her and explain the situation.” Jeff interrupted them. “So. We finished the game and Liam took us to dinner–”
“It was a comsiter–comisit–comisieratory dinner… shut up, I know how to pronounce it! Anyways, because Jeff lost!” Britta cut him off.
“Lord, give me strength. You two are useless,” Shirley muttered. “Here, give it to– Hi Annie. We have a sliiight issue. The receptionist won't let us out of the building.”
“They've shut down. Blizzard preparations or something. Apparently, this stupid resort surrounded by nothing but snow isn't prepared for large amounts of it– yes, I know I booked it, Britta– Anyway, it sounds like things are going to get really bad, guys, so try to wait this out, yeah? We’ll come get you as soon as we can… okay, you can stop the message now, Shir–” Annie listened as Jeff’s half-slurred voice got cut off as the message ended, leaving her to sit alone with the news she'd been given.
She knew this vacation was a bad idea. The conspiracy bubbled up within her, screaming that they had to be cursed. After a few seconds, the panic started to really kick in. The urge to space out and pace overwhelmed her, but the need to plan was stronger.
Annie rushed to the hatch and tossed it open. Troy and Abed practically fell off the couch as she yelled down to them,
“Guys! Turn the TV channel to the local news right now!” Her voice was shaking a little bit, words accidentally coming out with more bite than she intended.
“Did something happen?” Abed asked as he untangled himself from Troy and searched for the remote.
“Was it bad?” Troy asked, beginning to mirror Annie's panic.
With a small self-satisfactory cheer, Abed found the remote, switching through the channels until it hit the local news. Annie bounced on her heels, waiting for information, but soon realised her panic-fuelled mistake. The reporter on screen was sombrely talking about international politics, not a snowstorm in the Rockies.
Troy looked up at her in prolonged confusion, “Is this what your phone was ringing about?”
“No… I'm stupid, I just– I thought– hold on!” She yelled back down before disappearing into the depths of the room and clicking through her phone. In the past hour and a half, Jeff and Shirley had tried to call her at regular intervals. Seemingly after the hour mark, Jeff had given up and began texting her. As she skimmed through each one, it felt as if she were reading through someone's live tweets. Perhaps that is what Jeff was doing on his phone all the time.
The vast majority of the texts involved him complaining about the three of them being too busy playing make-believe to check their phones. Jeff had also sent her some mistyped nonsense and two texts that looked distinctly like they'd been typed by Britta. There was one final message however, sent the most recent of anything that read: receptionist says storm worst of year. Gondola is shut down and they R not allowing anyone out here til tomorrow. Will try 2 call U guys when better signal. Good luck. For some reason, he’d added a thumbs down, a cigarette and a monkey emoji to the end, but she didn’t try to decipher it.
Through the doorway, she could see the window outside, a blur of grey and white flickering past. The snowfall felt like the fur of some giant beast, stalking the cabin, waiting to swallow them whole. Snow sports are a terrible idea, and staying on a mountain in February is a terrible idea. She cursed Jeff and the way he could weaponise his influence into making anyone want to do anything and wholeheartedly believe it will be fun… at least initially.
She wanted to go home, to their apartment, where the radiators barely worked but also probably wouldn't be needed. It was forecast to rain in Greendale, the perfect weather for a trip to the bookstore. She wanted her room with her laptop, her stationery, and her textbooks. There could be a pop quiz on Monday, how would she pass if she was buried in the snow.
“Annie?” She looked up at where Troy had called out from the doorway. He and Abed were cautiously loitering, as if she was the pigeon that had gotten stuck in their apartment last month when someone accidentally left the bathroom window open.
“Jeff and the others aren't coming back tonight.” She began.
“Woah, the game is that intense?” Troy asked.
“No. They finished the game… it's… the receptionist won't let them out because of the storm, and Jeff said it’s going to get really bad, and I'm… I knew this trip was a bad idea!” Annie threw herself down onto the bed, head in her hands.
Vaguely, she heard Troy whisper about how that meant they probably wouldn't have to go skiing down the really big slopes tomorrow, and Jeff couldn’t get mad at everyone for being inexperienced. The whispering exchange between him and Abed continued for a while; she half wanted to snap at them that she could hear them, and it was not helping! Before she could pull her head from her hands, they both fell into silence, and then she heard someone shuffling towards her, and Abed put an anchoring hand on her shoulder.
“Maybe this is a good thing.” He stated.
Annie looked up at him then, an annoyed mess of confusion. How could this be good? This was a whole new situation she’d never even remotely planned for. Her therapist was wrong for telling her not to make a ‘worst-cases scenario’ binder because how could ‘unnecessarily catastrophising’ be that bad when they're now stuck in a catastrophe that she has no plan for.
“Abed. This is not a good thing! We don't know how long we’re gonna be stuck here. What if we run out of food? Or begin to hate each other from the forced proximity? Or something worse could happen, and we wouldn't be able to call anyone for help because there’s no signal right now!” She spiralled, scanning across Abed’s face as he seemed to think over what she was saying.
“This is basically a glass episode! You hate those!” She tried to emphasise her point on his terms.
“You mean a bottle episode?” He corrected, “Yeah, I do. The ‘snowed in trope’ sucks, it’s the kind of thing used in Hallmark romcoms or low budget Thrillers where one of us gets cabin fever and… oh. But The Shining is set in the Rockies and that’s a really good film- plus this narrative already feels too long to be our regular episode narrative structure…” Abed began to trail off into his usual film ramble.
“Abed!”
“Sorry. Anyway, as I was saying, this isn't going to be something I hate because we can avoid all the terrible parts of the trope. There will be no spontaneous love confessions because we already know we love each other. Plus, we live together, so I think it’s possible to avoid getting sick of each other. I think we’re a pretty strong cast, this is a bonding episode for us… or a spin-off film… plus we don't have to awkwardly overhear Jeff and Britta or them complain about us… or hear Shirley snore really loud.” He attempted to comfort her.
“Shirley snores so loud! She fell asleep once when we were studying together for our project in basket weaving class– I thought she was dying!” Troy butted in, despite her anxieties Annie laughed a little at the mental image.
“Do you feel better now?” Abed asked, something gentle in his seemingly inane expression.
“A little? I still feel… scared. But your speech was really helpful. You’re right that we’ve learned how to make a good team! If I had to be stuck anywhere, I’m glad it’s with you guys,” she smiled, a genuine smile, laying her hand over where Abed’s rested on her shoulder.
Suddenly, Troy gasped, rushing to where his backpack lay in the corner of the room. He knelt on the floor rummaging around through it, tossing out two Nerf guns, a Spider-Man comic, what might have once been a sandwich before it was seemingly bulldozed, and two bottles of Gatorade before finding what he was looking for. Clumsily, he turned back around to the others and thrust something into Annie’s lap.
“You can write a plan!” He suggested enthusiastically.
Annie looked down at the tattered notebook he’d handed her. It distinctly looked like something they would’ve been given in high school. She wondered if it had ever been taken out of his bag before.
“And we can help you! Abed is like a master of running simulations, and I’m like his apprentice. He’s been training me, like in Karate Kid, only without the karate.” Troy smiled at her.
“It’s true. It’s like this entire cabin is now entirely a Dreamatorium. Plus, you can make it one of your to-do lists, so that this whole trip can have a plan with no set boundaries of time.” Abed added, moving to sit down next to her.
Annie beamed, her eyes watering just a little. Binders had (and always would) been her safety net. They were a way of organising her thoughts and ideas in a physical format with nice colours to code and the ability to reorganise and scrap pages if necessary. Annie could trust a binder to reliably function as a place to collect and store any information she needed. Yet here she was, no binder at hand, only two boys who loved her enough to collect and store all the information she needed in their own minds. A colour-coded tab system was infallible, but it didn't compare to the warmth in her heart as she watched Troy and Abed use their collective knowledge to draw out her favourite page format in the notebook laid out on her lap. Whatever this was was better than any romance novel she’d ever read.
The next hour was spent creating ‘Cabin Trobedison’s Snowed-In To-Do List’. Annie sat, buried in a mountain of pillows and quilts stolen from all of the rooms and spare linen closet– the others didn’t need them anyway, with the way the storm was headed, they wouldn't be returning any time soon. Troy lounged on the end of the bed, sheet wrapped around his pyjamas in mimicry of an ancient Greek philosopher, throwing ideas back and forth with Abed, who paced the room. Their plan had come together as follows:
- Create the ultimate blanket fort
- Make hot chocolate
- Tell the best bedtime story
- Itemize the food supplies
- Show Annie the Adventure Time DVDs !!
- Fight an epic battle
- Play board games
- Let Jeff and the others know everyone is okay ASAP!
Troy and Abed sandwiched Annie on either side as they proofread the list together over her shoulder.
“I think this is the final draft.” She said, running over the underline of the title to make sure it was the correct amount of bold.
“I still think we should’ve added some more of my ideas…” Troy said, hooking his chin over her shoulder.
“No way! Last time you tried to do science experiments, you made some sort of horrible chemical, and we had to call poison control!” Annie argued back, “And this time, if you did that, we wouldn’t be sleeping over at Jeff’s apartment, we would be freezing to death in the snow!”
“Fine…” Troy hung his head in shame, choosing not to die on such a hill.
Annie shivered, her hair was still wet from her shower, and if she didn’t use a hair dryer on it, she knew it would form odd curl patterns, which would be bad because it would ruin (to use Abed’s style of phrasing) her character design. Stretching out a little, she handed the list off to whoever’s open hand was first available.
“I’m gonna go dry my hair in Shirley’s room.” She clambered off the bed; no one was particularly fond of the sound of her hairdryer. She half wished they’d invent a silencer for them like they have for guns.
“You guys should work on the fort for when I get back!” She chirped, grabbing what she needed from her suitcase.
“Right away, your highness!” Troy and Abed said in unison, saluting her as she left the room.
****
Drying and styling her hair didn't usually take too long, but it was always long enough to be a little overstimulating. If Annie didn’t care so much about making sure all her hair lay down neatly in the correct direction, she’d rush through her routine like she did when she was ten, before her mom instilled ideas of presentability into her. Regardless of how long the activity actually took, Annie was certain it shouldn’t have been long enough to be confronted with the sight that met her as she left Shirley’s room.
The small hallway that bridged together the bedrooms was transformed. Snow-smothered windows were hidden away by drawn curtains, and a trail of pretty little paper snowflakes hung from the ceiling. Something in the back of her mind yelled about how putting tape on the walls of a holiday rental would be bad for the deposit, the tiny laidback part of her brain reminded her that Jeff had paid for this and the resort had left them stuck in a blizzard so they could probably get away with a little tape.
“Psst!” Annie was drawn out of her awe by a whisper coming from their room, “This way!”
If she’d thought the hallway was impressive, it was only a fragment of the craftsmanship within their room. Annie had almost forgotten about the great war between Pillowtown and Blanketsburg; clearly, the peace treaty led to collaboration between two of the best architects to ever grace a linen closet. The fort that Troy and Abed had constructed was more easily described as a palace. The room wasn’t large, and yet somehow they’d managed to fit ornate details like braided blanket cornices and pillow columns supporting a gable roof.
“What do you think?” Abed smiled at her from where he stood, bedsheet robe still over his pyjamas, a towel around his shoulder like it was a fur pelt.
“H-how did you guys even… I wasn’t gone that long, was I?” She gawped.
“We’ve been working on the plans for months.” He pulled a piece of paper from behind his back, “You see, ever since the end of the war, Troy and I have been trying to plan the ultimate Fort. We’ve been hosting covert meetings–”
Annie unintentionally made a small ‘ohhh’ sound under her breath. For the past few months, Troy and Abed would start acting weirdly suspicious and awkwardly avoid explaining why they needed her to go out and renew the same library book on ‘how to knit’ over and over again. She’d assumed they’d wanted her out of the apartment for other reasons; it had been starting to bother her, as much as she respected that they had their own dynamic without her, she had really thought they’d all been working to a place of better communication about that kind of thing. This, however, made the time they’d gotten really defensive when she’d offered to take their three books on architecture and construction to be renewed alongside the knitting book make a lot more sense.
“–to research and organise this project. We completed the plans last week and did a test run in the apartment whilst you were out bowling with Jeff, Britta and Shirley. I know you said you were going to stay late and study, but the Dean tweeted about Jeff’s victory. I know it was about settling a bet between the four of you. I know Britta lost and had to clean Jeff’s car, leading to their current status as ‘will they’ in their ‘will-they-won't-they’ dynamic.” Abed paused for breath, reeling off everything casually as if he hadn’t explained more information than even Annie had known. Troy was right, Abed really did know everything.
“I–” Annie began, but Abed continued.
“Don’t worry, we’re not mad. We were designing a secret fort, and you were playing secret bowling, so really, we’re even.” Abed smiled at her before offering out his hand, “Would you like the tour?”
Annie took his hand and nodded. Abed showed her around the bedroom fort, apparently it was dubbed ‘Palais de Trobedison’ by Troy using his secret talent of inventing ship names. Perhaps it was the beauty of expensive resorts, or maybe there was some pocket dimension that Troy and Abed kept bedding in, because the Palais de Trobedison wasn’t the only part of the fort. Attached to the small window that led to the living room was Abed’s grappling hook.
“Abed.” Annie interrupted his explanation of the private quarters they’d designed for her plushies.
“Yeah?”
“Why did you bring your grappling hook with you?” Annie asked in concern.
“Oh… I thought it might be useful in case anyone fell in a cave or something.” Abed replied earnestly.
“What?”
He shrugged in response, “I don't know. It happened in an episode of Leverage last season. It was on when I had to feed Britta’s cats that time she went to ‘a friend’s wedding’ in New York.”
As she looked down through the window, she saw that the rope was attached to the patio door handle.
“What are you guys even using this for?” She cautiously prodded at the rope.
“Oh… It’s an emergency escape route! Troy tested it out just before you finished drying your hair.”
Annie leaned her head further out of the window, scanning for any sign of Troy below. It was impossible to spot him amongst the city of sheets, a small labyrinth within the once open plan of the living room.
“I can’t see him… Troy?” She called out his name, Abed, coming to stand over her shoulder.
After a few minutes of silence, Troy yelled out in response, “Yeah?”
“You good?” Abed shouted after.
“Uhhhh….” They heard a rustling, “I think I’m lost? I was trying to install one of the chandeliers, and the ceiling collapsed down on me.” Came his reply.
Abed muttered something under his breath about being ‘lost at sea’ and ‘sea of blankets’ as if he were trying to make a pun, but he ultimately gave up on it.
“Hold on! We’ll come rescue you!” He finally shouted down at Troy before dragging Annie away to the lower floor with him.
They found Troy eventually, sandwiched in a small space between the kitchen island and the dining table. He became a little teary-eyed when they unwound him from the sheet he’d managed to get wrapped up in. After that, Annie added a part of the plan numbered ‘1a. Dismantle the lower grounds of Palais de Trobedison and clean up’. Neither Troy nor Abed had been particularly fond of the amendment, but since the structural collapse of one room, it would take up too much valuable hot-chocolate-making time, so demolition was the only way forward.
Once the living room was organised and tidy, spare sheets returned to their original rooms, Annie felt the pull of sleep drag at her shoulders. No matter how tired she was, with the loud sound of the blizzard still raging and no news from the others, she knew she wasn't going to be able to sleep yet. Plus, Troy and Abed had been so eager to help out with the list, even if she wanted to close her eyes and wake up when the weather was calmer, she wanted to try and complete as much of it as she could.
“Do we have the ingredients for hot chocolate?” She asked, voice laden with lethargy as she rested against the sofa.
“I brought some from our emergency supply,” Troy glanced over at Abed, "I'll replace them when we get home if you promise not to change the hiding place again and leave thirteen riddles as clues to find them.”
“What?” Annie asked.
“Before you moved in with us, Troy took something from the emergency kit we have without consulting me first. In retaliation, I changed the hiding place and created an elaborate and encrypted riddle system that would lead the seeker on a thirteen-step scavenger hunt to find it.” Abed explained, “I didn’t tell Troy where they were because you moved in and I didn't trust him with that secret. How did you crack the code?” He asked Troy.
“Dude! It was so awesome. It’s taken me like three weeks to figure it out. I failed my CompSci exam because of how much time I spent on it!” Troy praised Abed’s work.
Abed grinned in response and initiated their signature handshake, punctuating it with a kiss that was almost cute enough to make Annie forget Troy’s confession.
“Hold on. You failed our CompSci exam?” She nearly screeched.
“I was probably gonna fail anyways?” He smiled at her sheepishly.
“If I knew you were struggling I would’ve tutored you!” she couldn’t believe him sometimes.
“Aw man. That would’ve been hot… Would you tutor me if I re-sat the exam?” He offered.
“Okay. But you better get an A.” Annie pointed a stern finger at him.
“I’m sure I will if the great Annie Edison is tutoring me.” He complimented her sweetly, somehow managing to get himself off the hook.
The hot chocolate they made wasn't the highest ranking amongst all the ones they’d made in the past, but it was still pretty comforting. Abed had a specific method that he always followed, something his Sitti had taught him in his childhood. They couldn’t use vanilla extract like usual, but they did manage to find whipped cream that Jeff had apparently bought. Annie chose to believe it was to be used for some sort of fancy coffee as a cheat in his diet; any other context wasn’t worth venturing into.
“What’s next on the list?” Troy asked as he handed her a mug.
“Oh! Well, it’s–” She pulled the small folded piece of paper from her pocket, “ Telling the best bedtime story?” Annie tried to cull the embarrassment out of her. She was allowed to engage in childish things, especially for comfort. The joy of being an adult is getting to enjoy the things you did as a kid, and also doing more mature things too.
“Cool. Cool cool cool.” Abed nodded, standing with his own mug in hand, “Shall we take this upstairs?”
As if in some sort of sick homage to the murder mystery genre, suddenly all light was snatched from the room. Before Annie could process the power cutting out, Troy unleashed a blood-curdling scream.
“Ow, why did you do that?” She mumbled, covering her ears with her free hand.
“Sorry,” Troy said, trying to cover his behaviour with an awkward and unnecessarily masculine cough.
“Murder mystery reference. Nice.” Abed praised into the darkness.
The three of them stumbled around in the dark, hands outstretched, looking for each other. Annie found Abed standing next to her, his arm bumping against hers.
“Does anyone have a flashlight so we can get upstairs? Or their phone or something?” Annie asked, but before anyone could respond, the light flickered back to life.
“They must have a backup generator or something…” Abed began, trailing off after catching sight of Troy.
With a look of mortification, Troy stood staring at the floor. His shirt was stained with the remains of his drink, and the rest of it lay in a harrowing puddle amongst the shards of his mug. The classic reveal of a murder mystery casualty. Annie felt bad for him; she knew how much he liked the shirt he was wearing, and it would probably stain. A more urgent thought came to mind as she remembered how hot her own drink still was.
“Are you not burned? Take your shirt off!” She yelled at him in panic.
“No? What? Wait, really?” Troy’s face flickered through a reel of emotions before he began to scramble to divest himself of the garment.
As it turned out, he had somehow managed to miraculously avoid getting scolded– a benefit of wearing thick winter clothing, or perhaps just sheer luck. Troy changed into comfier pyjamas once they’d made their way back to their room. He flopped down onto the bed with the others, a slightly dopey smile on his face.
Lethargy hooked its talons into Annie’s shoulders. Her eyes hung low with a weight like a woollen cardigan caught in a rainstorm. As she sank further into the impossibly soft nest of pillows Abed and Troy had so expertly constructed, she shivered a little, the kind of thing that could be put down to the cold or her exhaustion in equal measure. Both boys anchored themselves more to her sides, creating a protective cocoon of heat around her. Sleeping under a heated blanket didn't compare to sharing a bed with two people. If it were back in Greendale, Annie knew she’d overheat, but here, stuck in a blizzard, she couldn't be happier with the situation.
Annie chose to abstain from telling the tales of bedtime. In a rare moment, she conceded that Troy and Abed were far better at telling stories like this. The insistent urge to win in the back of her mind created a promise that she would tell them an even better story tomorrow night if they were still stuck here. She’d tell something about superheroes or robots or time travel or time-travelling super robots fighting dinosaurs or time-travelling mutant heroes fighting evil robots. There would be an epic battle, with a complete narrative arc, and a beautiful almost-tragic romance. Every story had to have a romance, how else was she meant to engage and root for the characters if she didn't know how much they loved each other or what was at stake.
The wind knocked furiously against the walls of the cabin outside. The great beast of the blizzard desperately trying to claw its way inside. Their fort of blanket and pillow stood strong, bathed in a soft light that was dim and comforting. Annie tuned out the howling, focusing instead on Troy and Abed’s sleep laced voices as they told her their tale of an epic adventure. She stared up at the white sheets above her, slipping into a place of security as she pictured herself and the others on their epic quest to rescue a far off kingdom from evil monsters and dragons.