Jess bounced out of bed. She was thrilled that Nick had come back to the apartment. She wasn't even exactly sure why she was so happy, but it felt good to know that Nick wasn't rushing into a big mistake with Caroline. After the night in the desert, she was glad she had reached him and made him think about what he was doing.

Or not doing, as it turned out, she thought to herself with a smile. She quickly showered and dressed and headed out to the kitchen to grab some breakfast.

Nick's back spasmed as he woke up slightly earlier than intended. He had slept on the floor in his bedroom as it was too late to get his bed back up from the moving van when he had returned the previous night. He rolled over and got to his feet, thinking that a nice hot shower would probably fix his back enough to go get his stuff reinstated to his room.

He was correct about the shower. The pounding hard, red hot water had removed the kinks from his back. He luxuriated under the stream for a few more minutes than was strictly necessary before wrapping a towel around himself and heading out to the kitchen to grab a coffee.

Jess was standing in the kitchen, reading a magazine resting on the countertop while she ate cereal. He smiled as he noticed her humming along to a song that was only in her head.

Nick went and grabbed the pot of coffee and poured some into the biggest mug he could find. He blew on the hot liquid and took a gulp, smiling as it warmed his gullet all the way down.

Jess looked over and gave him a slightly milky grin.

"Hey, Nick."

"Mornin' Jess," he replied, returning her smile.

"Are you gonna bring your stuff back up today?" She had a strange look in her eyes that Nick couldn't quite place.

"Yeah, Jess, I just want to get it all back to normal as quickly as possible."

"Do you need help? I'm free all day."

"I'd really appreciate that, Jess, but only if you've got the time to spare." She still had that strange look. It had spread to the rest of her face now.

"Sure, Nick," she said. "Not a problem at all."

"Where are the guys?"

"They went out for the day," Jess told him, leaning closer and narrowing her eyes. "I think they didn't want to help with bringing your stuff back, but that's an unsubstantiated rumor at this point." Nick chuckled at the conspiratorial tone in her voice.

"You're probably right," Nick said, leaning in even closer and matching her tone. "I think I'd prefer not to have to listen to Schmidt's griping all day anyway." Nick looked into her eyes and saw the strange look intensify.

Jess could feel his breath on her skin and had to use every iota of her self control to not look down at his naked flesh with beads of water sparkling attractively on it. She was trying desperately to not let the attraction she felt reach her face.

She wasn't entirely sure where it had come from, but she had been noticing him more and more recently. Most of the time, he was just scruffy Nick who was her friend. But on the occasions where he did something unexpected, like come into the kitchen wearing nothing but a towel, she couldn't help but get butterflies in her stomach.

Deciding not to get in her own head, Jess made sure she looked him in the eyes.

Nick saw the strange look disappear and raised his eyebrow slightly.

"Jess, are ya ok? You're looking at me kinda intensely."

Jess's eyes widened and she jumped a little. "I'm fine, just eager to get the show on the road."

Nick shook his head, wondering, as he always seemed to, what was going on in Jess's brain. "Ok, I'll go get dressed and we can get to the manual labor portion of the day."

As Nick walked away, Jess let herself appreciate his form. His muscular back, covered in beads of water, made her mind flash with images of her nails digging into his flesh. She licked her lips as a fleeting image of ripping off his towel and running her hands through his hair flowed unbidden through her brain.

"Come on Jess," she murmured to herself as his door closed. "He's your roommate!"

Nick got dressed quickly. He only had a few of his things in his room, so it didn't take long. He pictured the look on Jess's face and tried to figure it out for a moment as he buttoned his shirt. He furrowed his brow and frowned, shaking his head and giving up as he returned to Jess in the kitchen.

They spent the morning bringing boxes up from the van. They worked well together, keeping the atmosphere light with joking banter; they didn't need to voice what they needed from each other, it just happened effortlessly.

Once all the boxes were upstairs and only the heavy, awkward items remained inside the van they decided to break for lunch. Nick offered to take Jess to a sandwich shop, but she insisted that she'd make him something. Nick agreed without too much protest - she was a fantastic cook.

Jess quickly made some rather excellent grilled cheese sandwiches. They sat down on the couch wearily and tore into the sandwiches, not quite realizing how hungry they were. They sat back after they had finished, smiling and sated.

"I'm not sure we're gonna be able to get the rest until the guys get home," Jess said, a little sadly. She had wanted to help Nick to restore normality as quickly as possible.

"Yeah," Nick agreed. "As strong and manly as I am, I don't think we can get a bed up the stairs with just the two of us."

"We can just start unpacking the boxes for now," Jess said, getting up and heading towards Nick's bedroom.

Nick smiled at her back, appreciating how infectious her enthusiasm was, as well as how she always seemed to be able to help him. He grabbed a couple of bottles of cold soda and headed to his room, handing one bottle to Jess before sitting on the floor next to her.

"Thanks for helping, Jess," he said quietly, not looking at her. "And thanks for being normal with me, despite me being such a damn mess."

Jess's heart melted. "No problem, Ni-"

She was interrupted by the loudest boom she had ever heard. Nick and Jess's eyes locked, their faces wearing identical looks of fear and shock. There was another boom, so loud that they could feel it through their chests, bringing dust down from the ceiling in its wake.

There was a third and final boom, which shook the room around them. Suddenly, the world had gone into slow motion as Nick saw the ceiling begin to cave in over where Jess was sitting. He leaped to his feet with inhuman quickness and ran over, pushing her out of the way of the falling debris. Jess went flying across the room, skidding to a halt in front of his cupboard door.

"NICK!" Jess screamed, wild eyed with pure panic as she saw rubble and furniture from the roof pile down on top of him. "NO!"