━━ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐎!
❪ too much caffeine intakes ❫

⋆        𝗪𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗨𝗣 𝗪𝗔𝗦 a little bit easier than before for Brooke, now that he had friends to see at Greendale. Although his bones were weary, they were still getting used to waking up early to attend classes on time. He knew his way around (although it was still a bit muddled up, Brooke swears that he knows some paths to his subjects) and had familiar faces to help him when needed.

Things were getting easier in Brooke's life, but he knew not to hold onto that, knowing he would screw up something. After all, that wasn't the first time he had done something like that.

Instead of sitting in his car, procrastinating on the meaning of his existence and why he was here at Greendale in the first place, he was sitting around the table in the study room with the group. Brooke had learned the members' basic information, especially from Jeff's speech at the last study session.

He knew Abed well, seeing that he was the one who introduced Brooke to the group and had the invitation handed to him. Brooke also somewhat enjoyed the pop culture references and the movie recommendations, as they were something to watch during his free time. Britta was next, having good conversations with her and hearing all the stories about her anarchist past and the protests she had been to. She had a fascinating life, and Brooke was impressed by it all. But, of course, Britta wasn't the only one Brooke was impressed by; Annie and Shirley were also impressed. Shirley was getting an education while also looking after two kids of her own, wanting to make a good life for her family, while Annie turned her life around after the argument with Troy, revealing her high school secret. Troy also seemed like a cool guy, making light of conversations and letting his humourous side be accessible, while Pierce seemed like the controversial adult who was still confused that unisex names were a thing.

Jeff was different. Different, Brooke didn't know how different, but distinguishable nonetheless. He had a way with words, seeing that he was a lawyer before coming to Greendale, possibly to fix that mistake. Even if he seemed like an asshole only doing this study group to get to Britta, Brooke couldn't help but see past that, past the thick layers of skin and bone, to see his emotions. Also, they were still debating about the name for the sausage dog doodle, so it was nice to have that sort of banter with Jeff.

"Hellooo? Earth to Brooke!" Annie's voice drew Brooke back, and he chuckled nervously, not realising that he had been zoning out for the past few minutes. Annie gave a friendly smile, and Brooke felt at ease; a feeling of comfort started to rise in his heart. He crossed his arms, liking the feeling around his chest as he waited for the announcements to be finished.

"To increase awareness of homelessness, security has been given binoculars. In campus news, the debate over our library's PA system continues, with some students suggesting its volume be lowered while others question its very purpose. More on that story as it unfolds," the Dean's voice rang throughout the college, questioning Brooke whether or not some of these announcements were necessary, but he was glad to have something fill the void.

"That dude makes a lot of announcements."

"I like it. It makes every 10 minutes like the beginning of a new TV show scene. But, of course, the illusion lasts until someone says something they never say on TV, like how much their life is like TV. See, there, it's gone," Abed rambled on before abruptly ending the sentence with a small smile. Brooke nodded slowly, trying to capture most of his words, and it seemed that he wasn't the only one, as both Annie and Shirley looked concerned.

"I guess Jeff's running late again..." Annie said as she sighed, pointing to the empty chair. Brooke turned his wrist towards him, looking at the watch. His father had gifted him that watch, but a spur of Brooke's anger had cracked the glass screen of the time. He regretted it then, but he doesn't regret it now.

"Oh, what a shame. Maybe we should get started..." Britta said as she reached for the book in the middle of the table, but Shirley waved her off quickly.

"No, no, no, I think we should wait for Jeff before we start," Shirley said as Britta slowly closed the book. Annie felt guilt, her shoulders slumping a little before quickly placing a hand on the table.

"But maybe when Jeff gets here, we could talk to him, as a group, about his tardiness!" Annie said as she looked around the table before placing her hands before her.

Brooke couldn't help but notice the 'girl━next━door' personality representing Annie, but he couldn't deny falling for her charms. It seemed to work for her, suiting her mannerisms and how she presented herself, and Brooke was glad to have that in his life. He supposed it was because his mother was the same.

"Oh, come on now. Don't use that word around Abed. If you want me to chat with Jeff, I will do it! We got a bond going, sort of like brothers," Pierce said, and Brooke couldn't help but give a small, soft chuckle. Luckily, his hand was covering his mouth, so it was muffled and hard to hear for Pierce.

"I hope your mom didn't make you take baths together because one of you would have been like 30," Troy said, which got Annie and Shirley giggling while Pierce looked at him with a scowl.

"Jeff probably comes late, so he doesn't have to endure your delay. Sorry, Abed," Pierce said, pointing his words towards Troy before giving the nod to Abed, reaching out to him. Abed did the same, but Pierce pulled away quickly, making it a strange, awkward interaction between them.

"Hey, will you guys have some self━respect? You are obsessing over someone who does not give you a second thought. Meanwhile, in Guatemala, journalists are being killed by their government!" Britta spoke as Shirley's eyes widened at the information she was giving.

"What's happening in Guatemala?"

"Nothing."

"Journalists are being murdered?"

"Believe me, every day in that country, people are being killed for speaking out, and the worst part of it is when it's all over━", Britta started to speak, secretly appreciating the fact that the study group was now more focused on her, rather than the lateness of Jeff.

"Spoilers."

"━it's going to be as if it never happened. Also, hey, Abed, real stories. They don't have spoilers. You understand that TV and life are different... Right?" Britta spoke as she grabbed Abed's hand, rubbing his shoulder to reassure him. Abed nodded, understanding, but before he could give any counter━arguments, Jeff had walked through the doorway, resulting in everyone cheering for him. Jeff smiled as he started to walk around the table, greeting everyone with their greetings.

"Brooky! How's Wilhelm going?" Jeff said as he placed a hand on Brooke's shoulder. Brooke responded by patting his hand, giving a smile as he looked up.

"Carlos is going great, Jeff!" Brooke said with a smirk, and Jeff pouted jokingly, dragging his hand off Brooke's shoulder before moving on to Annie.

"Milady."

"Milord."

"Hey, baby!"

"Hi, sweetie."

"Vitamin P."

"Morning, Jeffery. People were jazzed to see me, too!"

"Word them up."

"Word them everywhere."

"Good entrance."

"Thank you; it was for you."

Each greeting was perfect for each person, matching their personality, and Jeff's interaction with each one of the study group members made sense. So it was no wonder Jeff was charming, and Brooke couldn't help but notice that. But, of course, he wasn't going to fail his three goals straight away, so he looked back at his Spanish book in front of him and focused on that instead. That said, it was also to not focus on the awkward interactions between Jeff and Britta.

"Britta."

"Hey, Jeff. I think there's something that the group would like to talk to you about!" Britta said, actively ignoring making eye contact with Jeff. Then, the group started sputtering, including Brooke, claiming nothing to talk about and making excuses.

"Okay, if you're gonna study with people, it would be cool of you to show up on time," Britta said, annoyed that no one was stepping up to the plate. Jeff raised his eyebrow, looking around before smirking at Britta.

"Oh, were you waiting? Well,━" Jeff said innocently as he looked at the study group. Brooke immediately shook his head, and so did the rest. Britta sighed in defeat. She was still willing to press on in the fight. "━I guess it's because you spend the first 20 minutes discussing your interesting personal lives and cool emotional problems. I feel like I never have anything to offer," Jeff said, and Brooke couldn't help but feel bad. He cursed his heart for taking control of his body and begged for the mind to take over.

"No, look, the truth is my life is emptier than this three━ring binder. Annie, do you have any Spanish notes that might fit in there? Wow! Double━spaced. Thank you. Oh, look, Brooke also drew our little dog to keep in this folder so it doesn't look so empty. Thank you, Brooky! So what's a guy gotta do to get a C around here?" Jeff said as he sipped his drink, leaning back on his chair. Everyone laughed instead of Britta, who was speechless and stared at Jeff, sighing in defeat again.

━━━━━━

⋆        𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗢𝗞𝗘 𝗖𝗟𝗢𝗦𝗘𝗗 𝗛𝗜𝗦 Spanish book, his hand lingered on the cover as he stood up from the table. The rest of the group was also packing up, seeing that it was a good study session. Brooke looked over to Jeff, who was fiddling around with his folders, looking through the different sets of paper in his arms. Before he talked to him, hoping to continue his banter, Brooke stopped as Britta stepped out of her chair. Jeff was entirely focused on her, getting the paper out of his hands to give to him.

Brooke backed off, focusing on his books instead, placing them in his messenger bag. His glasses slowly slipped off his nose as he adjusted them. Brooke had broken the glasses' bridge and tried to fix it with tape, but one layer wasn't enough, so adjustments would have to be made every few minutes. Brooke bit his lip out of frustration as his Spanish papers wouldn't fit into the bag, and his glasses slipped off slowly.

"I swear to god, if you do not stay, I will tear you apart," Brooke whispered angrily, a little louder than he had planned. In the end, he had just shoved the papers into the bag, ignoring the tears happening to the edges. As he looked up, he locked eye contact with Jeff, who had raised his eyebrow toward Brooke.

"Please don't tear me apart," Jeff said as he chuckled, putting his hands up as he surrendered jokingly, and Brooke couldn't help but feel embarrassed, knowing that someone was listening to his angry rant. Jeff noticed the red tint appearing across his cheeks, and he smirked.

"That was not targeted towards you; please know that," Brooke said as he lifted his bag to his shoulders, walking towards the door as Jeff did the same thing. The pair walked side by side, their shoulders matching each other's heights. It was pretty unusual, seeing that Jeff's height had compared to Brooke's, because it was rare to find something like that, and it seemed perfect for the pair.

"Oh, I know otherwise. I would have filed custody for Wilhelm━"

"Carlos, his name is Carlos, and you know that!"

"Okay, whatever you say," Jeff said, singing the last section of the sentence; Brooke gave a soft chuckle, and Jeff smiled. Brooke sighed and couldn't help but keep eye contact with Jeff, who did the same thing. Before they could continue the conversation, Britta had walked past, and Jeff's focus switched to her while Brooke stood next to him, holding his folders close to his chest.

"Listen, Jeff, you're cute but selfish and narcissistic to the point of near━delusion," Britta said as she handed Jeff what seemed to be a birthday card he had given her and walked away before Jeff could counter her statement. Brooke raised his eyebrow at the conversation before Jeff sighed and grinned slightly. Pierce walked beside Jeff, and Brooke immediately rolled his eyes, knowing that Pierce would say something he shouldn't do due to his behaviour.

"She said I was cute."

"Tell you what, you take her. I have less to prove. But, you know, Jeff, you can't pursue people so desperately. It starts to creep them out," Pierce started to speak, and Brooke bit his lip from scoffing out loud, worried that he might get the wrong idea ━ , but it was funny seeing Pierce being a bit hypocritical. "Why don't we get a beer? I'll advise you, and we can have what the kids call a sausage fest. Brooke can come, but it would be awkward with the three of us!" Pierce said as he patted Jeff's back before nodding towards Brooke, who, in response, raised his eyebrow and shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm not much of a sausage guy, Pierce. Maybe next time," Jeff said as he started to walk away before looking at Brooke, directing him to come without letting Pierce know. Brooke subtlety nodded before looking at the ground, following behind Jeff. Jeff took a sip from his milkshake, and the pair finally walked at the same pace, the height difference making an appearance again.

"Britta playing the long game?" Brooke questioned Jeff, who chuckled as he nodded before shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, if it's a slow burn, then so be a slow burn," Jeff said, and Brooke tilted his head slightly, catching eye contact with Jeff. Brooke thought it was strange that he could make friends from his first day, but he was glad it didn't take a while to find a small group at Greendale, especially with someone with whom he fell into the perfect footing. The pair walked a few more paces in the hallway before parting ways, with Jeff patting Brooke's back, and Brooke responded to the small act.

"See you in Spanish, Brooky," Jeff smiled before walking away, giving finger guns to a group of females who giggled. Brooke adjusted his glasses, running his hand through his curls as he turned on his heel, secretly holding a grin.

━━━━━━

⋆        "𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬 𝗢𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗜𝗡 a while, a student will ask, Señor Chang, why do you teach Spanish? They say it just like that. Why do you teach Spanish? Why you? Why not math? Why not photography? Why not martial arts? Surely, it must be in my nature to instruct you in something ancient and secret, like building a wall you can see from outer space!" Chang said as he walked around the classroom before stopping between the desk aisles. Brooke leaned on his hand, twirling his pen around as he listened to Chang, who was still glancing around the classroom.

"Well, I'll tell you why I teach Spanish. It is none of your business, okay? Now, I don't wanna have any conversations about what a mysterious, inscrutable man I am!" Chang started to speak as he spoke in a high━pitched voice before giving an exaggerated laugh, which caused Brooke to cover his mouth from the random joke. He looked over at Jeff, leaning back in his chair, smirking at Brooke.

"I am a Spanish genius! In español, my nickname is El Tigre Chino!" Chang yelled as he leaned into Shirley and pretended to bite her, representing a tiger. Shirley immediately widened her eyes in shock as she leaned back while Chang straightened his back, glancing around the classroom again. "Because my knowledge will bite her face off! So don't question Señor Chang, or you'll get bit. You bit!" Chang spoke, and Brooke did not know how to react to the conversation, so he stayed quiet, biting his lips to not disturb Chang's speech. Chang was silent for a moment, looking around the classroom before chuckling.

"Okay, Friday mañana, we'll be conversing with the rest of the class, using phrases we learned in unit one. You'll be partnering up in pairs of dos. Heh. So if you look under your desk, you will find a card with either a picture or a word, okay? Por ejemplo, Blondie, aqui, has a card with a picture of a house on it,━" Chang said as the students around Brooke started to grab their cards, Brooke included, to see who their partners would be. Brooke's card was a picture of a book, and he was unsure who his partner was as he looked around, glancing from his seat to see if he could see anyone he knew was his partner. Brooke assumed that Jeff had his card, but it wasn't a match, which bummed Brooke out a little because he wanted to do the assignment with him.

"━So that means the person with the card with the word "casa" on it is her partner. Comprende, Star━Burns? See you Friday, find your partners, and have a great day. And what do we say at the end of every class?" Chang said as he stood in the front of the classroom, constructing the class to speak simultaneously, which seemed awkward, as some were out of time, talking in broken Spanish.

"Hasta luego! Come on, hands. Ninety per cent of Spanish. Hasta luego!" Chang said as the class repeated the saying but with gestures added to their speech. The course started to pack up, and Jeff had already walked toward Britta; Brooke noticed the shirt change as he glanced over to Abed, who was now wearing Jeff's previous shirt. Brooke chuckled to himself as he started to pack up, a little bummed out that he couldn't figure out who his partner was before they left the classroom, but he was caught off guard when another student walked up to his desk.

"Oh! Hey, Annie, how are you?" Brooke said as he smiled, putting his bag over his shoulder.

"Hey, Brooke! Do you have, uh, libro?" Annie said as she held out her card, and Brooke grinned as he held out the card, seeing as a connection between the two. Annie jumped on the spot, excited to see she was partnered with someone she knew, just as Brooke had done.

"Okay, are you free this afternoon so we can get a headstart on the project? I want to be able to get this done to a high standard! Maybe get on the good side of Señor Chang at the beginning of the semester," Annie said as the pair walked out of the classroom. Brooke nodded in agreement, checking his watch for the time.

"I should be free! I'll be at the library after lunch running through the Music Theory papers anyway, so I can get us a room beforehand. Can we study after your planned protest? I overheard you and Shirley talking about it, so I don't want it to overlap with the project," Brooke said, and Annie nodded, writing on a notepad that seemed to have a schedule written on it. She waved goodbye before running to catch up with Shirley to get started on their protest bake sale, and Brooke waved back. He sighed as he walked alone towards the doors that led to the courtyard, hoping to get a bit of sunshine.

Brooke found an empty table with a good amount of sun shining, sending the warmth towards the empty benches. Brooke placed his bag on top, grabbing torn papers at the edges to work on as he sat. Brooke started to whistle before attempting to work on his homework, but he was distracted by the protests in the courtyard, with Shirley and Annie giving cupcakes away. Brooke leaned on his hand, biting the pen's edge as he tried to work out the equations before them.

"Why did I decide to do fucking Calculus? What part of me wanted to do this?" Brooke said as he stared at the paperwork before him, the numbers merging into a jumbled mess. Brooke groaned as he slammed his forehead on the table, letting the pen fall out of his hand. Brooke sighed as he took off his glasses, wiping the sleep out of his eyes, doing everything he could to get out of his Calculus paper.

"Oof, did I catch you at a bad time?"

"All the time is a bad time when you're doing number work," Brooke said as he tilted his head to the side to catch a glimpse of Jeff sitting across from him.

"How did Spanish go with..." Brooke started to speak, wondering who Jeff got as a partner. Jeff rolled his eyes, checking his watch as he rested his chin on his hand.

"Let's just say I'm losing my mind with Pierce."

"Pierce? Oh, no, you got the bottom of the barrel, my friend. Yikes, well, at least I'm with Annie," Brooke said as Jeff chuckled before taking Brooke's Calculus paperwork, glancing at it with a confused expression. Brooke looked through his bag, hoping to find his calculator, but all he could see were screwed━up paper balls and forgotten pencils at the bottom.

"Jeez, are you good with maths or something? Do these seem complicated to you? No wonder I didn't do maths in my last years of high school," Jeff said as he gave back the papers, while Brooke sighed as he crossed his arms, holding himself close.

"It runs in the family, but I regret taking this course. I hate numbers so much, but it pleases my father ━ so, not much to do," Brooke said with a chuckle as he shoved the paperwork back into his bag, not wanting to look at it much longer. Jeff cocked his eyebrow towards Brooke but didn't press the matters any further, which Brooke respected (without even realising that they shared something in common). 

"If I ever need some calculations, I know the guy," Jeff said as he chuckled, which made Brooke smile. 

"Well, at least Carlos has a dad who can help with maths homework!"

"Yeah, hopefully, Wilhelm doesn't turn out to be a maths nerd because that would not work for me," Jeff said as he emphasised the name, and Brooke tsked as he shook his head, disagreeing as he threw a paper ball towards Jeff. Jeff was caught off guard as he gasped and returned the ball that Brooke dodged at the last minute. The pair exchanged a look that couldn't explain anything between them, not realising that the day was passing before their eyes, forgetting about their Spanish project due in the morning.

━━━━━━

⋆        𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗢𝗞𝗘 𝗛𝗔𝗗 𝗡𝗢𝗧 slept a wink, and it was apparent.

He clutched onto a travel cup of coffee for dear life as he repeated the Spanish phrases in his head, not wanting to forget them straight away. He had spent all night working on all his classes' paperwork and met up with Annie in the morning in the study room to work on the project. Annie repeatedly apologised for the two having to do a morning session, having worked hard at the protest, but Brooke didn't mind it, knowing that she was working hard nonetheless.

His hand was shaking, but that was solely because of his caffeine intake, and he was still going ahead with his fourth cup of coffee. Brooke took a sip quickly as he headed towards his desk, the papers scattering across the desk. Brooke sighed, reaching down to the ground to pick up the ones that fell, bumping his head. 

"Ah, fucking hell," Brooke said as he hit the table back, then sighed, realising what he had just done. He was arguing with an object ━ which was an excellent start to the day. Abed turned around, watching the action before him, and tilted his head to the side.

"Are you talking to the table? Brooke?" Abed said as Brooke stared blankly before realising that the study group had all turned around to see him. Brooke stuttered, opening his mouth like a deer in headlights. 

"Uh, yeah, I'm present; you can continue the conver━" Brooke said, nodding softly, showing that he was engaged in the conversation now, despite the encounter with the table earlier.

"Out of curiosity, how much caffeine have you had this morning?" Shirley said as she became concerned, and Brooke lifted to sip the coffee, only for Shirley to snatch it from his hands.

"Yeah, no more coffee for you, sweetie."

"You know what Pierce did? That's crazy?" Britta started to speak as she continued the earlier conversation that Brooke tuned out of, but this time, he was paying attention. She looked over to Jeff, who crossed his arms, took a sip from Brooke's coffee, and shrugged, wondering what she was talking about. "He offered me 100 dollars to switch cards with him so that he could be partners with Jeff. I think he thought getting closer to Jeff would bring him respect in the group. I think he spent his whole life looking out for himself and would trade it all for a shot at some family," Britta said before she shrugged her shoulders, copying what Jeff had done earlier. Brooke noticed the facial expression that Jeff had dropped, and he could sense the regret.

"Hola, class. All right, it's time for our presentations. First up was supposed to be Jeff and Pierce, but Pierce explained the situation to me. There was a falling out, things were said, people were betrayed," Chang said as he stood in front of the classroom, and Brooke noticed Pierce putting on a tiny hat slowly while Jeff sank slowly in his seat.

"Jeff, having heard Pierce's side of the story, the thing to do would be to give you a C and let Pierce do his presentation alone. If that sounds fair to you?" Chang said as he faced Jeff, who was making a tough decision, before shaking his head.

"That doesn't sound fair to me at all. I understand if you don't wanna be my friend. But this thing that we've created is bigger than both of us, and it deserves to be done right," Jeff said as he stood up, walking to the front of the classroom where Pierce stood. Brooke was impressed with Jeff standing up and doing the project with Pierce, even when he had told Brooke what happened in the first place.

"Okay, um, guys, why are there costumes involved? These are short conversations. They're not supposed to━"

"━take your breath away? Well, tough. You ready, amigo?"

Five minutes later, Brooke had witnessed Jeff and Pierce's project, and he was shocked. Brooke was speechless, unsure of how to describe what he had seen, and it seemed that he wasn't the only one who was also confused about such a scene. Abed started clapping as the two did their big finale, and Brooke joined in, wanting to make sure he wasn't left alone, ━ even if he wasn't sure whether or not to clap.

"F. F━minus."

"What? Did you say S?"

━━━━━━

⋆        𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗢𝗞𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗗 𝗝𝗘𝗙𝗙 and Britta have a conversation and have just finished, seeing Britta walk away, waving to Brooke before pacing down the hallway. Brooke crossed his arms, trying to hide a smirk by biting his lip as Jeff walked toward him.

"Wow, so uh, how did that go for you?" Brooke said as Jeff sighed before Brooke realised that Jeff was still holding his coffee cup and handed it back to Brooke. He thanked him softly, his fingers grazing Jeff's momentarily, but it was overlooked immediately. Instead, Jeff responded with a small smile as he scratched the back of his neck. 

"Yeah, ensure Wilhem never sees his father do that."

"Oh, what a bummer! I recorded it for his 16th birthday to embarrass his friends, oh, and also to embarrass you," Brooke said as he held up his phone, which did have a recording of Jeff's performance, and Jeff's mouth gaped open in shock.

"No... You would never do that━ You would never!" Jeff said as Brooke giggled before he started to run down the hallways, with Jeff chasing after him.

"Please, it's a memory for Carlos!"

"No, Brooke, don't you dare!"

𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒!
✶ in love with brooke <3 also this may have been a brooke/jeff centric chapter, with some appearances, but that is there for a reason, i honestly wanted to build more of their friendship (teehee more like being bfs together) but next chapter will have more of brooke interacting with the rest of the group! i also wanted to shine some light on brooke's daddy issues </3 but hey, bfs who have daddy issues stay together

𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗞𝗦 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚!