For a Brief Moment ‘Abbott Elementary’ Fans Won Last Night

(MAJOR spoilers for episode 16, you have been warned)

It happened. It finally happened. Sure, it took a couple of drinks to get us there—a “Gin and Phonics” and a “Daiqui-reads” to be exact—but after almost two seasons of Abbott Elementary fans gnashing their teeth, Janine and Gregory finally crossed the Rubicon.

they just killed me with this one #AbbottElementary pic.twitter.com/29A0lxEF3E

— sick boy (@waystarrs) February 23, 2023

This is expert-level romantic tension. Gregory’s laser focus on her is borderline erotic in its intensity. It doesn’t matter that you could see the lip lock coming from a mile away, I still had to stifle a gasp. But any pretense of me keeping my cool went right out the window when Janine did that lanyard pull. So dweeby yet so incredibly hot. The perfect summary for these two soulmates, really.

Of course our collective happiness couldn’t last, seeing as this is only season two, and, as I’ve mentioned before, Quinta Brunson has seen fit to make fans writhe in the grand old television tradition of keeping a romantic pairing apart for as long as humanly possible. I’m not surprised that Janine and Gregory shifted immediately to awkwardly sweeping the kiss under the rug; I’m just disappointed.

Six more episodes of Abbott Elementary remain. More than enough time for these two to either get together or drive viewers to the brink of madness. If it’s the latter, I’m definitely gonna need someone to pour me a few “Math-a-ritas.”

Kaleena Rivera is the TV Editor for Pajiba. When she isn’t looking for ways to slip “Janet Whack-son” into a conversation, she can be found on Twitter here.