A/N: Hey guys! So The Match That Lit The Fire was becoming a bit of a downer (don't worry, I'm still updating that too although I think it's gonna be short), so I decided to something light and fun. This is a series of one-shots centered around the general theme of music. Much Ness shall ensue. =) For the sake of the story, please imagine Schmidt has a piano in his room.

I know the little song in this sucks, but I couldn't be bothered taking the time to write something good because then I would want to keep it instead of publish it.

Set after 'Exes' when Nick tells Caroline and Jess that he's been in love with Jess since the moment she walked through the door.

Nick was lying on Jess' bed with his laptop when she came in from the bathroom in his beige and brown plaid shirt.

"Quite a day huh?" Nick laughed.

"Okay, so maaaybe you were right about Berkley." Nick closed his laptop and smirked at Jess.

"Maybe? Really Jess?" She just glared at him playfully. "I can't exactly be mad at him though can I? In fact, I'd be worried if he didn't want to bone you." Jess let out a shocked laugh.

"What?!"

"Well I mean, look at you! He'd have to be certifiably insane not to want to. Better he's into you than a psycho right?" Jess laughed and climbed into bed, tugging at the covers that Nick was lying on. He got up, and slid under them, next to her, propping his head up on his right elbow as she mirrored his position.

"Nick?" His eyes searched hers, waiting for her to continue. "Did you mean what you said earlier?" She bit her lip and looked straight at him.

"Well yeah. I mean I don't think I quite realized it then, but yeah. I've been in love with you since the day I met you." The corners of her mouth turned up.

"So when did you realize it then?" She played with his other hand in hers.

"Well I realized it a little more every day since you got that damn song from dirty dancing stuck in my head, but it was a while before I finally said it out loud to myself. Remember when I went back to your insane student Edgar's garage to investigate?" Jess laughed at the memory.

"I think we were the insane ones Nick."

"Yeah, well, I still don't trust him. Anyway, I was standing in his shed trying to figure out how to get out, when I asked myself why on Earth I was standing in some kid/possible serial killer's shed and I said "yup, I'm in love with Jessica Day, and I don't think it's gonna go away."" Tears welled up in Jess' eyes as she stroked his cheek.

"So what about you Jess, I know it was way way wayyyy after we met, but when did you realize your love for this beautiful face?" He crossed his eyes and stuck his tongue out to the side making Jess laugh.

"Well if it's just a question of your face, I fell it love with that the day we met. I always thought you were hot." Nick let out a spluttery laugh, shaking his head.

"Are you serious?!" Jess just nodded with a smile. "Haha, so when did I become more than a hotty with a body? Was it when I kissed you? Or the thing in the elevator? Or not until Prince's party?"

"I mean I liked you since like, before True American, but I knew I loved you before we started dating. I guess I realized the day of the thing in the elevator but it wasn't because of that, it was before then, in the morning." Nick tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows, urging her to explain herself. "I had just gotten back from my English class, and, well, it had been a pretty exhausting two weeks" Jess tried not to go into detail about her upset over Sam, or her sleepless nights over Nick's kiss. "and even though I've barely played it in like a year, I just wanted to play my guitar or the piano or... my ukulele." An embarrassed look washed over Nick's face as he realized where the story was headed.

Jess struggled to open the door with her bag, a stack of papers, and a coffee cup, balancing in her hands. Nothing monumental had happened that day but she just wanted to cry. She missed Sam – well, maybe she just missed not sleeping alone, things had been so awkward around the loft since the night of True American, and aside from one or two good ones, most of the essays in her hands would be either a bore, or a horribly scarring experience to read. Her week had sucked.

Wanting to shut herself away in her room for the rest of the day until Cece came over later, Jess put her stuff down on the table and started towards her room but stopped when she heard an awfully tinny strum of her ukulele. "Really Schmidt? I mean I know I use your room for the piano, but still, you could at least take my uke to your room, or you know, not destroy it. Uh, he's gonna put up a fight if I say I want it too." Jess thought, but stopped when she heard muttering.

"D, D D D" It wasn't Schmidt's voice. She grimaced as he played the D chord on the wrong fret and it made an awful noise "Damn it!" Nick muttered, not so quietly. Jess waited with her back pressed against the wall. There was no gap in the door, but it wasn't quite closed. She smiled when she heard a minor chord being played with a little more elegance, and he seemed to figure out the D although it took him a while to change.

Jess' mouth opened a little in pleasant surprise when she heard him start to sing.

"I'm not much of a man, never really have been, but when I look into your eyes." He paused. "when I look into your mesmeriz-" he stopped again, unable to make the words fit nicely. "When I look into your stunning blue eyes" Jess' heart beat hard against her chest as her eyes widened and her lef hand met her mouth. Even though she could hear him fine, she edged towards the door, listening s intently as she could.

"I'm not much of a man, never really have been, but when I look into your stunning blue eyes, I know one day I could be. I'd be a better man for you, a better man for you if I ever got you." He slapped his hand against the uke, stopping the sound. "And I'd never let you go." He started playing it more intensely. His ukulele skills weren't great and his voice was a little strained and flat in places, but to Jess it was beautiful. Nick repeated the line, unsure. "and I'll never let you go? Nah, to serial killer-y." Jess suppressed a laugh but quickly refocused to listen to him.

Nick let out a sigh "And again" Nick sighed before he began to sing again. "If I told you, would it make a difference? If you knew all my thoughts, could I change your mind? What would you say, if I let it all out? If I told you, I wish you were mine? I'm not much of a man, never had a reason, I was just a guy, who floated through life. I'm not much of a man, I never really have been, but when I look into your stunning blue eyes, I know one day I could be. I'd be a batter man for you, a better man for you if I ever got you, and I'd- and we would- and together-" He sighed unable to think of a line and Jess heard him prop the instrument up against a wall. She ran towards her stuff on the table and tried to steady her breath as Nick came out of her room. She pretended to have just set the stuff down.

"Hey Nick, whatcha doing in my room?"

"And as you moonwalked away with sweat dripping down your back, I realized that yes, it would make a difference if you told me, because it did, and I did change my mind." A slightly embarrassed smirk covered Nick's face as he looked deep into her eyes.

"So you knew?" He leaned forward and kissed her , softly, but allowing his lips to linger.

"What? How you felt about me? Well I got that from the kiss, but yeah, your beautiful song kinda confirmed it. I googled the lyrics and found nothing, so I figured it was yours?"

"Yeah, that was really all I wrote though. I'm not so good with music."

"It was beautiful and it's been in my mind ever since."

"Oh come on! It's awful!"

Jess leaned down under her bed and picked up her ukulele. Sitting up a little, she played a few chords before she started. She strummed each chord only once as she sung quietly;

"If I told you, would it make a difference? If you knew all my thoughts, could I change your mind?"

"What?! Did you really-" Nick laughed and she started to strum in a steady beat, getting louder.

"You're a wonderful man, who gave me a reason, to be more than a girl, who floated through life. You're an amazing man, I know you always have been, and when I look into your stunning brown eyes, I know you really love me. I'm a better girl 'cause of you, a better girl and I can't believe I got you" She paused in thought for a moment. "Don't ever let me go." Nick dove forward and pressed his lips against hers. She pulled back quickly.

"Ukulele, ukulele! She tossed it to the ground, then turned back to him."

"I love you so much, you know that Jessica?"

"I love you too Nick."