I have literally been working on this fic here for months. Like, this has been in the works since fucking March, guys. Fucking. March. So, naturally, it's a bit on the long side, but I'm thinking the content more than makes up for that.
Just FYI, there's mention of the whole Cece and Shavy and Elizabeth and Schmidt thing – I wrote that part before the season finale and Shavy running off with Taylor Swift, and I was gonna change it but I kind of need Shavy for a few minutes, so don't read much into anything I say about those four – but I didn't have much of a plan for that bit. This is a Ness fic, damnit; Schmidt can settle his own shit in a different fic.
And, lastly before you read, this one here is dedicated to my dog who turns five today. I've had her for four years and she is a gorgeous siberian husky/german shepard mix, so be sure to send her warm birthday wishes.
Disclaimer: I don't own New Girl or Nick Miller or fancy restaurants or neon frosted cupcakes or those sex coupons Jess likes to make or Nessex or anything like that, so stop bringing it up already damnit!
Title:
Everything Went Wrong (The Proposal)
Fic:
They had only been dating for a year, Nick told himself. Barely a year, but a fantastic year, nonetheless. A year full of passion and excitement and love and not knowing and fun and arguing and chaos and a feeling of completeness and just… Pure perfection.
But still, it was only a year.
People dated for five, six, sometimes ten or more years and they never got engaged or married or anything. And people who got married after only a few months of knowing each other were total idiots, no doubt about it. But a year? That was sketchy territory. Especially when he took into consideration the fact that they'd known each other for two and a half years before they officially started dating…
But again, it was only a year.
No way they were ready to get married already.
So why did he start saving up for a ring after they'd been dating for only two weeks?
And why did he walk into the jewelry store with Cece on his heels to help him pick out a ring when they had been dating for nine months?
And why did he spend the three months leading up to their one-year anniversary planning every detail of the night with OCD meticulosity?
No, they weren't ready to get married at all. But damn it if he didn't give a damn! He was going to ask Jessica Day to marry him if it was the last thing he did! Except, he really didn't want it to be the last thing he did. No, if the Universe could just wait until after their honeymoon night to kill him, well, that'd be grand.
But, ah, he was getting ahead of himself. First, she had to say yes.
And for her to say yes, he had to ask the question, which he couldn't do if he kept trying to talk himself out of it.
He wished he could have had Schmidt or Winston slap him around a bit to get his head out of his ass, but if he asked either of them to do that, he'd have to explain why, taking the whole "secret" part out of his plan.
No, he would just have to get the hell over it himself.
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
At 6:45 PM on the night of his and Jess' one-year anniversary, Nick stood in front of his bedroom mirror and gave himself one last look-over before he would be ready to leave. His hair was combed and tousled in the sort of way that took forever to make it look like it didn't take forever, his face was clean but not shaved – Cece had told him to shave before the big date, but Jess had once admitted that she liked his stubble scratching her face when they kissed, and he damn sure hoped there'd be a lot of kissing and more going on by the end of the night, so he'd chosen to ignore that particular piece of advice – and in the pressed suit and tie he was wearing, he look pretty fucking dapper, if he did say so himself.
The only thing that was off about him was the obvious fear and anxiety in his wide, brown eyes. Well, he would just have to get the hell over it because he was asking Jess to marry him whether he liked it or not. So there.
He slapped himself on the face five or so times and shook his head. It was almost game time.
He walked over to his bed and picked up the small velvet box he had been staring at every day for the past three months.
He hoped she liked it.
Between him and Cece, it had taken them two hours to finally settle on an engagement ring Jess would like.
Two.
Hours.
Every second of every day since then had been spent with him agonizing over the stupid fact that it had taken him two hours to pick a fucking ring. Was it supposed to take that long? How long did it take to pick out a ring, after all? Had he picked the wrong one? Was Cece wrong – would Jess rather a different one they had over-looked or dismissed as one she wouldn't like? What if she was wrong? What if he was wrong? What if she didn't want to marry him?
Everyday, he was filled with doubt, wondering whether he was doing the right thing, if she would even want to spend the rest of her life with a screw-up like him. And everyday he called or texted Cece when to ask for confirmation that he was doing the right thing, that Jess really was in love with him. Just... Thank God for Cece! She was a Godsend! If he had had to go through everything alone, he might have lost his mind. If it weren't for Cece helping him keep his sanity, he might never have asked Jess to marry him.
Every time he needed advice, needed someone to assure him he was doing the right thing, needed someone to go with him to run some errand or set something for this night up, or just needed someone to yell at him for stressing so much, Cece was his girl. Nick was just thankful Jess would be making her her maid of honor; otherwise, he'd have to make her his best man and piss off Schmidt and Winston in the process…
He found it funny – ironic even – that the only person he could trust with his proposing secret not to tell Jess, was, of all people, her best friend – go figure.
Nick tucked the box into his pocket then with a breath. He could do this!
The dozen red roses on his bed were shortly tucked into his arm, his wallet in his pocket, his anniversary gift and card for Jess also tucked into one of his pockets, his keys in his hand.
He was ready.
All he had to do was pick up Jess from Cece's, where both girls had insisted she get ready, and then the night could really begin.
No turning back.
He walked out of his bedroom with his shoulders squared. Their reservations were for the fanciest restaurant in town for 8:00. He'd be out of the loft no later than seven, it was a twenty minute drive to Cece's, ten minutes of chit-chat and oohing and ah'ing, twenty minutes to the restaurant, putting them at the restaurant at around 7:50ish, with ten minutes to spare – just in case.
Nick glanced at his watch, 6:52. Enough time for a bathroom break before he left, he figured. Afterwards, he stood at the sink, water dripping from his hands.
6:56. Four minutes.
His heart was thudding in his chest, face pale, palms starting to sweat under the minute traces of water. God was he nervous!
He had no business to be, of course, he was so damn prepared! He had the ring, the flowers, the reservations, the card, the gift, he had the violinist at the restaurant paid to play one of Jess' favorite songs as they ate dessert, which, had had already arranged, would be a dozen cupcakes with neon-colored frosting all in a small cake pan with the words "Will You?" written in permanent marker or whatever on the bottom. When she asked, "Will I what?" she would look up to see him on one knee with the ring out. "Will you marry me?" he would ask. And then she would say yes, maybe cry a bit, and then they would kiss and the whole restaurant would erupt in applause.
It was fucking perfect, damnit.
Perfect.
He slapped himself a few more times before tugging his jacket back into place. He wanted to marry her, he'd known that years ago. Before they started dating, before he fell in love with her, before he kissed her, before he wanted to sleep with her, before he even liked her, he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He had sat across from her with Schmidt and Coach and listened to her Goddamn analogy about horror movies and her life and he didn't think, "This chick is crazy," he thought, "This is the woman I'm going to marry someday." And yeah, that had scared the shit out of him, which was why he had been so reluctant to let her move in. But once he did, once he caved, he knew with each passing day that he had been right in that moment…
He wanted to marry her. That was all there was to it.
Smiling tentatively at himself in the mirror, the words "Mrs. Nick Miller,""Mrs. Jessica Day," "Mrs. Jess Miller," and "Mrs. Jessica Day-Miller" – whatever she wanted to go by – all flashed through his mind.
He could do this.
"Nicholas! Good, you haven't left yet," Schmidt said, suddenly appearing behind Nick in the mirror. Nick flinched slightly as he turned around. It was seven exactly! He had to leave! He didn't have time to socialize and mull about in the bathroom like Schmidt, for some odd reason, liked to do.
"Actually, Schmidt – "
"You have to leave, I know, I just…" he sighed and held up a bright red envelope with Nick and Jess' names on it in Schmidt's oddly effeminate handwriting. He handed it to Nick wordlessly and watched him turn it around in his hands for a moment before continuing. "I know Winston and I didn't make this easy for you two in the beginning, but we didn't… we didn't actually think you two would make it a month, let alone a year. So we got you two a little something. To apologize and to mark this milestone with you two. Congratulations, man." He smiled, shaking Nick's hand and pulling him close for a hug.
"Thank you, Schmidt." Nick said as he pulled back. "This, uh… this means a lot to me." He nodded at him again and tapped the envelope. Schmidt was finally approving of their relationship, then. That was the final push he needed. He could definitely do this now.
That's not to say Schmidt hadn't been happy for them; on the contrary, he had been thrilled that they were both finally in a meaningful relationship, but he just… didn't think dating your roommate was the best idea in the world. And he didn't even try to hide it.
But, ah, the point was that he was coming around, he was approving of them being together, of them dating.
God only knew how he would react when they came home engaged, though...
"Right. Well, you two have a good night." Schmidt said, tucking his hands into the pockets on his khakis as he retreated from the room.
Nick reflected briefly on Schmidt's words – had Cece told him what was going on, what Nick was planning? – but when he glanced at his watching habitually, he found it was 7:05. He had to leave. Now.
With a quick pace, he flew out of the loft with purpose and started his car. As he took the turns through the side-streets to avoid any red lights, which he always seemed to get stuck at, he did a quick inventory to make sure he had everything.
Ring.
Roses.
Card.
Gift.
Schmidt's card.
Balls.
Yeah, he had everything but the last one…
When he pulled up to Cece's apartment building, he made sure his card and gift for Jess were tucked deep into the pockets of his jacket and out of sight – she had said no gifts, but, well, how could he not buy her something to celebrate the most amazing year of his life? And anyway, he knew Jess; she was definitely getting him something – but left Schmidt and Winston's out. He had had nothing to do with it, after all.
Taking in one final breath, he picked up the roses and made his way to Cece's door. One knock, two knocks, three knocks later, Cece pulled open the door with an apologetic smile. Nick opened his mouth to greet her and ask where Jess was, but she beat him to it, wiping the smile off his face with four small words.
"She's not ready yet."
"What d'you mean she's not ready yet? We have to be there in thirty-seven minutes!" he said as she let him into her apartment. He sat down on the couch and sat the roses down next to him as Cece sat down on the other end. How the hell could she not be ready by now? She'd been at Cece's all day – what had she been doing?
"She was almost ready," Cece said, flicking her wrist slightly. "But then… her dress – the one we spent all week looking for – ripped when we zipped it up. Like, the waist and everything fit perfectly, but her boobs were too big; when she tried it on at the store, we didn't account for a date-night push-up bra, so it ripped when I zipped her up. So right now, she's in the bathroom with Nadia and Shivrang trying to pick out a new dress to borrow from one of the billion in this apartment. And then she'll have to pick out some shoes while we re-do her hair and make-up to match whatever dress she picks." She finished with another apologetic smile. Nick groaned and glanced at his watch. Of course this would happen! And on today of all days!
"Can you… I don't know, hurry things up here? Get her ready to go in fifteen minutes or so? It's kind of important we're on time tonight – I've got a schedule to keep here." He told her. But she already knew that it was imperative that they be on time, so she quickly excused herself from the room to light a fire under everything, leaving Nick alone with his thoughts until Shivrang came out – because there was no way any of them would let him stay in the room while Jess changed.
What was Shivrang even doing in Cece's apartment, anyway? They'd broken up months ago, after all; what reason could he possibly have for being there?
On second thought, Nick realized, he didn't want to know; he had enough to worry about tonight as it was, no need to bring the Schmidt-Cece-Shivrang-Elizabeth love-triangle, er, square, whatever mess into it all, as well.
No, he would simply wait it out, walk himself through the steps, the plan he had set up for the night: get in the car, get to the restaurant, get seated at a private table tucked into the back of the restaurant near the windows with plenty of candles lit nearby for mood lighting, they'd order their dinner, some nice wine, then exchange gifts, talk, eat dinner, and then as the waiter was clearing the table, a violinist would wander over and start playing, and then when the cupcakes were served, he would play one of Jess' favorite classical songs, and…
Then he would propose.
She would, hopefully, say yes.
They would kiss, go home, make love, start planning their future.
He had it all planned to a t.
But of course, it all hinged on them getting to the restaurant on time, otherwise everything else would be thrown out of whack.
7:35.
Shivrang plopped down on the couch, then, shaking Nick from his thoughts and worries. Cece would get her ready in time, he was sure.
"Hello, Nick." Shivrang greeted.
"Hey, Shavy. How're things going back there?" he asked, nodding towards the bathroom.
"Fine. Jess picked out a dress, but it was too small in the waist and, well, bust, but, thankfully, I have three sisters, so I know how to sew, so I let it out for her. Now, it fits like a glove."
"Why didn't you just do that with the first dress?" Nick asked, agitated in spite of Shavy's helpfulness.
"Because I didn't know I needed to until after it ripped. The good news is, though, that I'll be able to fix her first dress and take the bust out a bit, so she can wear it some other time." He answered, smiling as he anticipated Nick's thanks. But Nick disappointed when he just nodded and 'hmm'ed at him, crossing his legs and looking up at the ceiling.
The seconds ticked away then, as he let his mind swirl in a continuous loop, going over all the details he had planned, all the thought and months he had spent making sure this night would be perfect. Funny how the girl who everything was for was the only person who could upset the whole night.
Shivrang picked up a magazine off the table when Nick proved to be unresponsive and left him to his thoughts, letting the silence have its way as the minutes went by.
7:50.
Finally, the bathroom door clicked open then closed again as Cece and Nadia walked out beaming. Nick's head snapped up when he heard their feet on the floor. It was about time! He grabbed the roses and jumped to his feet, smoothing the wrinkles down and tugging his jacket back into place.
He looked to Cece expectantly, anticipation and curiosity over-taking his impatience and agitation. He really wanted to see her, wanted to know if the wait was truly worth it or not. With Jess, it always was, but in this case… Well, this dress had better be pretty damn phenomenal.
"Is she ready?" he asked when Cece didn't say anything. She smiled and nodded, oh, was she ready!
"Jess, come on out, babe." She called.
Nick heard the bathroom door click open again and held his breath as it slowly opened, his eyes widening as he took her in.
Oh yeah. It was worth it.
A sly smile on her face, Jess stood there with her hands holding a clutch she'd obviously borrowed from Cece to match the gorgeous purple dress she had on. It had a plunging neckline, yet it was still appropriate for public viewing. It was slit up the side and showed off one of her legs, her long, long legs… The dress was accented with just the right amount of ruffles on the bodice, and ribbons just along her bust-line, her cleavage popping just so…
He was almost positive he was gawking, his mouth hanging open, but he just didn't care.
"Turtle boy like Nadia dress?" Nadia asked, noting his expression.
"Turtle boy love Nadia dress." He mumbled with a smirk, making Jess blush slightly. If they were alone, he would have forgotten completely about dinner and just ripped it off her right then and there…
"Ahem." Cece cleared her throat to snap Nick out of it, remind him of the time and the fact that they had to get going. He shook his head and walked to meet Jess, holding up the roses to her with a wide smile to match her own.
"These are for you."
"Thank you." She said as she took them from him, sniffing them before walking forward and taking his outstretched arm. Neither one of them mentioned how pointless it was for him to bring the roses from the loft to Cece's place – as they were just going to wind up back at the loft anyway– as they said goodbye to everyone in the apartment. Cece lent Jess a purple wrap to go with the dress, and then they were gone, settling into Nick's car to enjoy the ride.
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
They arrived at the restaurant at 8:05, but surely, Nick reasoned, those five minutes didn't matter much, they would still get their table. He had paid extra just to make sure of it, after all...
"I'm sorry, sir, but that table is already filled." The hostess at the restaurant with some fancy French name he couldn't actually pronounce told him when he asked about their table. His eyes widened as he glanced back to Jess, she was waiting for him to signal to her, standing by the wall admiring the paintings hanging there and milling about with other couples waiting to be seated.
"What do you mean it's already filled?" he leaned forward on her podium and dropped his voice to a tight, angry whisper to avoid alerting Jess. "I paid extra to make sure I got that table specifically."
"Yes, you paid extra to get that table specifically at eight o'clock."
"It's eight oh seven! You couldn't hold it for five minutes?"
"It's a first come first serve basis, sir."
"But you guys take reservations!"
"Yes, but the reservations are only good if you arrive before or at the time the reservation has been made for."
"But I paid for that table specifically."
"Yes, but you weren't here for the reservation, so we gave it to a couple who was already here."
"Look, miss," he seethed, getting frustrated and angry. Deep breaths, he reminded himself. Deep. Breaths. "The entirety of my night depends on us getting that table. If we're not seated at that table, nothing else is going to go right tonight. Look, you see that girl over there? The one in the purple dress with wavy hair?" he asked, switching tactics when it was clear that logic and reasoning was not going to work on this girl. Emotions, proposals, love, that was sure to change her mind. She looked to be the romantic type, after all. "That is my girlfriend, and hands down the best thing that's ever happened to me. Tonight's our anniversary and I've been planning this night for months now, because… I'm going to ask her to marry me tonight." Saying it to this idiotic hostess, to anyone, really, made it real, realer than talking about it with Cece did, realer than going through it all in his head, realer than anything.
And it made him happy, freer even. Finally, someone else knew! And even though that "someone" was some bitch hostess who made him want to put his hand through a wall, it was still enough to ease the burden on him ever so slightly. Ever. So. Slightly.
"Oh." She said, face falling into a look of consideration, her mouth set into a thoughtful line as she turned this new bit of information over in her mind. Her hazel eyes flicked from Nick's expectant, impatient, giddy face to Jess in her gorgeous dress, chattering animatedly with a woman in a red, floor length dress with fiery hair and blue eyes, her hands floating through the air as she recounted a story of some sort. She seemed to be considering something before she turned her attention back to Nick with a sigh as she tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear. She really was a sucker for a good love story, but…
"Look, sir, that table… I would give it to you if I could, but there really is a couple at it currently. However," she added, and on the slim chance that she was about to offer him some sort of hope, he glanced at her nametag so he could thank her properly. Jill. Her name was Jill. Well, Jill had better have some damn good news for Nick; he hadn't just learned a new name for nothing, after all. "They haven't received any sort of food yet. If you could convince them to switch tables, then it's all yours." She told him, glancing back towards the dining area.
Nick's mouth turned into a frown as he considered this. It was one thing to smooth-talk a hostess, but another to try to convince a couple to relocate from a primo table like that one…
Still, it was worth a shot.
"Okay, I'm… I'm gonna go try to, uh, talk to them." he nodded, quickly making his way back to Jess to explain to her that he would just be a moment before turning on his heel and quickly striding away from her so as to avoid her questions.
It wasn't easy, but somehow he managed to convince the couple at their table to switch with them. After feeding them his proposal story, the woman gushed and convinced her date that they just had to let him have the table. One hug and a reluctant handshake later, Nick returned to the hostess and led Jess by the arm to the table. He pulled out her chair for her and pushed it back in, smiling at her as the hostess left them in peace with their menus.
8:30.
Better late than never, he figured.
"So what was that about?" Jess finally asked, looking over the menu she held in front of her. Nick opened his own menu and glanced over it. Thank God for English translations, otherwise he wouldn't know what the fuck he was going to eat.
"Nick?" she looked over the top of her menu, her curious look, innocent though it may have been, burning a hole into his own menu.
Just before he could spit out some lie or another, a waiter appeared at their table and sat down two glasses of champagne, explaining in a controlled, almost monotone mid-western accent, "Compliments of the couple down there." Jess and Nick looked over simultaneously. It was the couple who had given up the table for them. Nick nodded his thanks with a smile as Jess waved, a smile gracing her face as well.
When they turned back around, the waiter was gone, having not even bothered to take a drink order. Perhaps he wasn't their waiter, then…
"Who are they?" Jess asked, picking up her glass and sniffing the bubbly concoction.
"Oh, um… An old buddy of mine from… law school." He lied, eyes back on his menu. The guy looked like a lawyer, at least, so it can't have been much of a stretch.
"Do you want to so say hi to him?"
"Um… No." he said, looking up to meet her wide, wondering eyes. She was just determined to get him to lie to her as much as possible, wasn't she? "I was… I mean, that's why I came back here before. I saw him and came to say hi. I didn't want to disturb our dinner together or anything, so…" he shrugged, picking up his own flute of champagne to take a sip.
Thankfully, the conversation ended promptly when a new waiter appeared and they ordered their dinner and a bottle of wine, then finished their gifted bubbly as they laughed about some story Jess was telling.
After they calmed down and the conversation lulled slightly, Nick rubbed his hands together nervously, clearing his throat as Jess waited patiently, eyebrow raised up into her bangs.
"Did you grab that card from Schmidt and Winston?" he asked, checking his own pockets for his gift and card and, of course, the ring…
"Uh-huh." She nodded, reaching into her clutch to pull it out. She waved it in front of herself, narrowly avoiding the flame of one of the candles. "Should I open it or do you want to?"
"Nah, you go ahead." He shook his head and watched her slowly slide it open, slipping the card out and then reading it, a slow smile gracing her face as she read the words and then opened it, one of her hands coming up to hold the inside of the card.
"This is cute – they paid for a weekend at a hotel for us." She told him, handing him the card across the table. His curious eyes scanned the card and the slip of paper inside with a confirmation number and the dates they would be there. He chuckled to himself as he read Schmidt's message about not wanting to hear them have anniversary sex so if they could please wait until they got to the hotel that weekend, both him and Winston would be very appreciative. And yes, he added, he already put some money into the douchebag jar for that little comment…
"Well, that's awesome, but I don't know if I'm going to be able to wait that long to take you." Nick winked at her, closing the card and sliding it back over to her to put back into her clutch. She blushed and shook her head, a coy smile giving way to her approval of his statement.
"I don't know if I'll let you wait that long to take me." She told him, playing with her clutch some more. He knew what she was doing then: she was waiting for an opening to give him his present – they weren't supposed to get each other something, after all, so how could she bring it up? She was so damn cute, he thought to himself as he reached into his pocket for the card with a smile. He might as well ease at least one of their nerves.
"Since we're on the subject, I… got you a little something." he finally said, sliding the card and small, wrapped gift box over to her. The satisfied and suddenly much calmer look on her face told him he had been right: she had gotten him something.
"I thought we weren't doing presents." She reminded him as she reached back into the clutch for another card and a box slightly bigger than the one he'd given her.
"Yeah, I thought we weren't." Nick nodded, picking up her card with a nod as she did the same. Always the card first, he noted as he slid a finger under the flap and pulled out a colorful card that just screamed Jess before he even opened it and read the rhyming, suggestive message on the inside and then her handwritten message that was sweet and also very suggestive and ended with "Love Jessica." He smiled wider as he glanced over and saw her smiling at his own card. He had signed it, "Love Nicholas." They were just so in sync…
"So why did you get me something, then?" she asked, setting the card down gently on top of the pink envelope it'd come in.
"Well," he sat his card down as well, then leaned towards her with a flirtatious sort of smile, and a serious sort of look in his eyes. Explaining his reasoning to her couldn't hurt matters. In fact, it might even help his case once the big moment came. "How could I not buy you something to celebrate the most amazing year of my life?" he asked, the look on her face giving way to her thudding heart and her reciprocation of his feelings.
Jess reached a hand over and took Nick's own, stroking it gently as she smiled at him. Yes, that had definitely earned him some brownie points, that was for sure. "Plus," he added with a sly smile, "I knew you'd get me something, and I didn't want to look like a jackass." Jess smacked his arm playfully and took her hand back with a teasing huff. He smiled to let her know he was joking and she picked up her gift box.
As she carefully lifted the top off of it, Nick felt his heart pick up and his hands start to sweat again. This gift he had picked out all on his own. No Cece there to poke and prod him into getting something different, something Jess would like more, this was all him. Hopefully, he had made a good decision, but if not… Hopefully the end of the evening would more than make up for that.
"Oh my God, Nick!" she squealed, reaching into the box and lifting up the necklace he had carefully placed into it. "I love it so much!" she told him, his face flushing with pride as she admired it. It was unique, that was for sure, with a black cord that was somehow very, very glittery yet sophisticated at the same time. The pendant at the end was her birthstone, held on at the top with a piece of colored metal that didn't make it look too gaudy, and in the center, it was hollowed out with the shape of a heart and filled with water and, what do you know, more sparkles. He figured it was just up her alley. Sure, it wasn't exactly date-night jewelry, but it was the sort of thing she could wear out and about whenever she so pleased, and he was sure that was the sort of thing she'd enjoy more than something she could only wear when they went some place nice.
"Help me put it on." She demanded, standing up and walking over to his side of the table.
He stood up and took the necklace from her, letting his head fall down to near her ear to whisper to her as he finished securing it around her neck and carefully scooped her hair from inside the prison the cord momentarily created for it, "This isn't exactly a date-night necklace." His warm breath on her neck lingered for far too long, sending a shiver down her spine as she spun around to face him, a coy smirk taking over as Nick's eyes melted against her sweet form. His thought of ripping her dress clean off her popped back up, but this was neither the time nor place for that sort of behavior. Too many people around...
"And this isn't exactly date night behavior." Jess told him, pulling him down for a deep kiss, tugging gently on his hair as she groaned in pleasure.
"Ahem." Their waiter appeared with their food then, interrupting their fancy-restaurant make-out session. Jess blushed and made her way back to her seat, Nick's wide, pride smile disarming her slightly as their food and wine was placed in front of them. The waiter gave them a knowing, almost perverted look and then walked off, Nick calculating in his head just how much of the tip their episode accounted for.
"Alright, let's dig in." he said, picking up a fork and twirling it about.
Jess let out a chuckle as she picked up her wine glass, and held it out to him as she said, "Here's to a wonderful night."
Nick smiled and picked up his wine, clinked it against her glass and nodded, "To a wonderful night."
They ate their dinner then, talking about nothing in particular the whole time through, enjoying being out and about in a fancy restaurant and celebrating their first year together.
"Oh!" Jess exclaimed half-way through the meal, gesturing for a passing waiter to refill her glass as Nick raised an eyebrow curiously. "You never opened your gift," she explained, pointing towards the gift box still sitting in front of his plate.
Ah, so he hadn't. He had been so caught up in making sure that Jess enjoyed hers that he had forgotten all about her gift to him, – especially after their kiss and the waiter interrupting him. Now that he thought about it, everyone in the restaurant had probably witnessed their make-out session, had probably been enjoying it, too. Proving his thought right: only perverts took their dates to fancy restaurants for date-night when it wasn't an important night for them.
"Right, I forgot all about it – you want me to open it now?" he asked, reaching out to pick it up as she nodded enthusiastically. What could it be, he wondered, that had her so… giddy? Knowing Jess, it was probably –
Oh dear Jesus.
Nick's eyes widened as he took in his gift. Sitting there on top of some white fluff, was a very pink and green piece of paper that both amused and aroused Nick at once –
"Redeemable for one free night of hot, nerdy sex that works for both of us." He read aloud, laughing as he met her flirtatious, suggestive gaze. "Oh my God, Jess. I love this, so, so much." He told her, taking it out and turning it over in his hand. It was on thick, decent paper, that was for sure, and it was just… Perfect.
"I thought you would. I mean, I know you've seen them before, but whenever I gave them as gifts in the past, I was never with anyone long enough for them to redeem them, but, well, I figured you'd want to redeem it as soon as possible. I thought about giving you more than one because I knew you would love to have a few laying around, but then they wouldn't mean as much whenever you got one so I – "
"Jess." Nick interrupted gently, leaning forward and touching her hand lovingly. "I love it. It's perfect. Thank you so much." He told her.
Jess smiled at him. "You're welcome." Then she picked up her fork again and they resumed eating, Nick making one final remark as he tucked the coupon into his jacket pocket, trying to decide if he would redeem it tonight or at the hotel that weekend.
"Now when you say nerdy…"
Jess shook her head as he took another sip of his wine. He was just trying to be cute, and she was falling for it. She always did.
The rest of their meal passed much too quickly for Nick's nervous heart, because the next thing he knew, their dishes were being cleared and the waiter was asking if they were ready for dessert. When they both said yes, Jess a bit more enthusiastically than Nick – she really loved dessert, what could she say? – he nodded and walked off, leaving Jess confused when he didn't offer a dessert menu or stick around to find out what they wanted.
"That was weird – how is he going to know what to bring us?"
"Oh, I… I took care of that already." He told her, trying to brush it off as he looked around for that violinist… He was supposed to be there at their table playing now, as they waited for the cupcakes to arrive. He was supposed to play some random song and then, once the tray of cupcakes actually arrived, he was supposed to play one of Jess' favorite classical songs… But where the hell was he?
"Really? When did you do that? And what did you order?"
"Um… I just… when I made the reservations, I gave them special orders for a special desert I thought you'd enjoy more than anything they serve here." He explained off-handedly, trying not to seem too stressed out right now. The proposal could go on without the violinist, of course, but it was supposed to be, like, mood music or something. And he had already paid the rat bastard, anyway. He had better show the fuck up…
"That sounds… Nice. I wonder what it is?" she asked wonderingly, but Nick wouldn't budge, not even for that wide-eyed innocent look of hers that usually got her whatever she wanted. No, this would be much better to remain a surprise, he reminded himself, smiling and telling her she would just have to wait and see.
Sensing that she wasn't going to get a straight answer out of him, Jess excused herself from the table to use the ladies' room, promising to be back in a flash. Nick told her to take her time and then, once he made sure she was really out of sight, jumped to his feet and sought out the manager of the place, who, thankfully, was working the bar that night due to them being short-staffed.
Nick had dealt with the stocky, balding man in front of him preparing some sort of fruity cocktail Nick only ever made for Winston, and sometimes Jess and Cece on his off nights, on the phone. He was the one he had set pretty much the whole night up with, so he was the one to talk to. He was the one who could, hopefully, sort this whole thing out.
"Hey, Scott, right? We talked on the phone? I'm Nick Miller – the one who was going to propose tonight?" he said once the man's green eyes were on him, having served the drink and coming back to Nick, his next "customer" as it was.
"Right, I remember you. That woman you had with you that one time, the model chick? She scared about half my staff with threats that if any of them messed this night up she would castrate them. She's not the one you wanna marry, is she? 'Cause, son, I know she might be pretty, but she'll be the death of you." Scott warned, his well-earned wrinkles and aged eyes telling Nick he knew this from first-hand experience.
"No, no. That was – that was Cece, she's Jess' best friend. No, I could never marry her – she scares the shit out of me. The one I want to marry is much nicer, trust me." Nick said, chuckling slightly as he checked around for Jess. Girls usually took forever in the bathroom, but that was when there was more than one of them, and since it was just her, she couldn't take too long. What could she be doing? Peeing, washing her hands, maybe touching up her make-up and hair, and then, unless she called Cece, she'd be done and back at the table. That couldn't take longer than five minutes. He had to hurry his ass up, then.
"Right, smart man. So, what can I do for you? How's the night going? Everything going according to plan?" he asked slyly. He would have noticed a proposal scene, of course, so he wanted to know how close Nick was to actually proposing.
"Yes. I mean, kind of. We got here a bit late and I had to do some finagling to get the table I wanted, but since then everything's gone good. Until now. That violinist was supposed to be at our table around now and I don't see him anywhere." Nick explained, checking for the thousandth time to make sure he still had the ring tucked away.
"Oh – Freddy. Yeah, he… He called in today with the flu – Jill should have told you when she seated you, but she just started here yesterday, so I wouldn't expect her to know much about your whole plan…" Scott explained apologetically. Nick seethed, that damn Jill was going to be the death of him, forget about Cece.
"But I paid extra for a violinist to be at our table when dessert was served." Nick protested, taking his frustration out on innocent Scott. Thankfully, though, Scott didn't take it too personally; outbursts and people venting on him came with the territory, after all. Especially in a restaurant like this.
"I know, and I'm sorry about that, but Freddy was our only violinist on staff, so there's nothing I can do about that. I can refund the money you paid or I can take it off your bill – whichever you'd prefer." Scott offered, still apologetic.
"Ah, just…" Nick sighed with a shake of his head. "Just… send me a check…" Noticing he was obviously deflated, Scott apologized once again and sent him off with two complimentary glasses of champagne – it was the least he could do, he explained.
As Nick sat waiting for Jess to return, he went over the night's events in his mind. First, Jess wasn't ready when he got to Cece's apartment because her dress had ripped, so they were five minutes late, their table was given to a couple that he had to explain his situation to, he had to lie to Jess at least half a dozen times or so to cover his big plan, and now… Now the violinist wasn't there.
Things were so not going according to plan, but he would not be discouraged. As long as they didn't screw up the cupcakes – please, please God let them have gotten the cupcakes right! – this night could still be saved.
"Sorry it took me so long – the woman who sent over the champagne earlier was in the bathroom and we started talking," Jess began, appearing in front of Nick and picking up her drink to take a sip. Nick's heart froze in his chest, God, that woman! Please don't let her have said something, please don't let her have said something, please don't let her have said something –
"Yeah? What did you two talk about?" he asked, glancing over to the table where the couple had been before. It was empty now, the plates cleared and a new basket of bread placed there for the next couple to be seated. They were gone. Good.
"Oh not much – she was in a hurry; her and her fiancé had to get home – he has to get up early so they didn't want to stay out too late." Jess said, still sipping on her drink as Nick watched her expectantly. Did she know? Dear God, did she fucking know? She seemed to be toying with him, but whether it was intentional or if she was just being Jess he couldn't tell… Either way, it would be the death of him, he was sure…
"What did you talk about, though?" he asked, insistent.
"My, you're awfully curious tonight. Anyway, like I said, not much. She said she liked my dress and I told her that I borrowed it from a model friend of mine to celebrate our one-year anniversary. She's here because her and her fiancé never go out much so he brought her here to make up for it and to butter her up 'cause she wants to have their wedding in New York and he wants to stay here and have it in LA because all of their family is here, but she's always dreamed of having her wedding in New York because she just loves the night life there and fell in love with the lights and skyscrapers when she vacationed there with her family when she was nine years old, so the wedding plans are on halt until they can come to an agreement on that and he thought bringing her to the fanciest restaurant in town would help change her mind, but she said she still has her heart set on New York so who knows what they're gonna do?" she paused to take another sip and to catch her breath.
Nick gave her an incredulous look. "I thought you guys didn't talk about much? That sounds like a lot more than "not much" to me."
"It's not much for a girl. Trust me, that conversation could have gone on for a lot longer than it did. Anyway, we exchanged numbers and we're hoping to get together next weekend for a double date or something – doesn't that sound fun? You get to hang out with your old law-school buddy and I get to talk about wedding stuff with his fiancée – Everybody wins." She explained, giddy with the idea. Oy, just another lie for him to cover up once the night was over. Well, once the night was over and the ring was on her finger, he might be able to tell her the truth about all these little white lies he was telling to make the proposal special, but, until then, he would have to keep track of all of them. Damnit, all he wanted to do was ask this amazing woman to marry him – why was the Universe making that so damn hard?
"Right…" he looked away, glancing out the windows near them for the first time that night. The view was breath-taking, of course. He could see as many stars as possible in LA, and the nightline of the city, a full moon and just the right amount of cloud cover. For a city night, it was gorgeous, but he didn't regret not staring at it more when he looked back to Jess, smiling at him as he caught her eye, reaching her hand out to take his. A wonderful night, indeed.
"Your dessert, Sir and Madame." The pervy waiter from before said with a smile, setting the tray of neon colored cupcakes down in front of them and walking away. Jess gasped in surprised and giggled, looking to Nick with that giddy, excited smile of hers that lit up the whole room, putting the candles and stars to shame.
"Nick! What is this? Neon-colored cupcakes?"
"Yep." He answered proudly, picking up a green one from the edge of the tray. "Don't you like them?" he asked with mock hurt in his voice.
"I love them! It's… neon-frosted cupcakes! In a fancy restaurant! This is just… so cool! How did you come up with this?" she demanded, picking up a pink one near her.
"It just came to me. You know what a genius I am." He told her with a wink, biting into the cupcake in his hand. She stifled a laugh and bit into her own, moaning in pleasure as she realized how good the cupcakes tasted. Finally, something was going right tonight!
They enjoyed the cupcakes in near silence then, ordering two glasses of, of all things, milk when the waiter came back around and downing two each before they realized they'd probably only get one or two more down each before they would either throw up or explode – they were still so full from dinner, after all. So Jess took six of the cupcakes, went around the tables to other couples dining, and offered three tables two of the cupcakes each. No one said no.
Finally, Jess came back to the table and reached into the tray to take out the last cupcake, Nick having already shoved his down his throat so she would be able to see the letters at the bottom once she came back to get hers. He hadn't checked it out to make sure that the message was written correctly, but when he'd reached in to take his cupcake he had seen the letter 'w' so he had assumed all was well, that the universe was done dicking him around and was going to let him propose now.
Her eyes fell towards the bottom of the tray as she pulled out the last neon-blue cupcake, her smile twisted into a look of confusion.
This was it.
Nick's heart pounded and he reached around in his pocket for the ring. Once she read what it said, asked the question he knew she was bound to ask, he would pop down on one knee and ask the question he'd been preparing for all night. All she had to do was say –
"William? Who's William?" she asked, finally looking back up to face him. His heart dropped as her words hit him. William? Why would she say – ? Curious and defeated, Nick took his hand from inside his jacket and left the ring where it was, glanced inside the tray and saw that at the bottom, instead of saying "Will You?" it said "William."
Fucking. William.
What?
"Um… must just be, you know, a chef pissed off about a special order or something." He suggested with a shrug. Jess narrowed her eyes in contemplation for a moment, but then shrugged as well, accepting his explanation as fact as she finished off her cupcake and drinks.
They left the restaurant not long after that. Nick paid the bill and left a lousy tip, planning to call up Scott first thing in the morning to complain about, well, everything. Their anniversary was supposed to be magical, damnit, but instead it was a total bust. And Nick blamed that damn restaurant and that damn pervy waiter they had. Bad vibes and all that jazz...
As they made their way through the streets of LA and back towards the loft, Nick sat seething, making all the small talk Jess wanted him to, but contributing little to the conversation himself.
Jess was curious, conflicted, but then just pissed when they walked into the loft and Nick was still brooding like a thirteen-year-old boy forced to go shopping with his mother. Just what the hell was his problem anyway? she wondered as they walked into the loft in silence.
Nick locked the door behind him and stripped off his jacket, loosened his tie as he Jess sat her things down on the counter, turning to watch him walk to the fridge for a beer. For such an awesome restaurant, they didn't have any sort of beer there, and a beer… was exactly what he needed after the bust of a night he'd just had.
"How was dinner?" Schmidt asked, appearing at the counter with Winston and Cece, who had just showed up at the door just before Jess and Nick walked through. She wanted to see how it had gone, obviously, and having to spend a few awkward minutes making small talk with Schmidt was definitely worth it. And with Winston around, at least it hadn't quite been as awkward as Cece knew it was capable of becoming.
Jess walked around and picked up a vase, filled it with water and deposited her roses into it then sat it down on the counter near Nick, who was standing there, jaw set, trying not to break his beer bottle.
He was fucking screwed!
He had wanted to propose to her, like, that night. It was going to be special and magical and something she would remember for the rest of their lives together, but instead everything had gone wrong and now he had an engagement ring and no plan! What the hell was he going to do now?
"It was fine. I mean, it was amazing! That place has really good wine and then Nick had these neon-colored cupcakes delivered for dessert and we ran into an old buddy of his from law-school and his fiancée is just the sweetest girl! It was really awesome… Until the ride home." She admitted, more to Cece than to Winston and Schmidt. Nick couldn't argue with her there; the ride home had been a bummer for both of them, what with him being so down and everything.
"Wait, a buddy from law school? Since when do you keep in touch with those people?" Schmidt demanded, looking to Nick.
"I don't. That's why she said we ran into him." He replied off-handedly. The lies came easier when they were unimportant, when he was depressed and it was just Schmidt he was telling them to and they didn't mean as much. He didn't feel quite as guilty lying to Schmidt as he did lying to Jess.
"And what happened in the car ride home?" Winston asked as Cece subtly made her way over to the counter, she pretended to admire the roses, but in reality she just wanted to shoot Nick a look, wondering just what the hell he was playing at and why there wasn't a ring on her best friend's finger.
"Nothing. That's exactly it. Nick was moping about something the entire ride home and barely said a word." She answered. Of course, this led to a plethora of questions. What was his problem, had something happened between him and his law-school buddy, had they over-charged, was there something wrong with the food, was it that they served no beer, what – what could possibly be the matter with him?
"God, would you guys lay off!" he finally exploded, slamming his beer down on the counter top. "Nothing happened – that's exactly it, nothing happened." He finally answered, feeling his anger and frustration coming to the surface. If he wasn't careful, he'd wreck this night completely, and there was still anniversary sex to be had…
"What do you mean? Was something supposed to happen?" Jess asked, dumbstruck. Was she finally piecing it all together, he wondered. His attitude, his nervousness, the way his hands had been sweating, the look of fear and anxiety in his eye – was she starting to figure it out?
"No, nothing. Never mind – it's not important." He said, turning to walk off to his room to plan some more, think of an even better way to propose. Of course, it would probably take another three fucking months, but was that really such a big deal if it meant someday marrying Jessica Day?
"It's not nothing, Nick. Just… tell me." Jess asserted, grabbing his hand and turning him around to face her.
"I said it's nothing, Jess." He repeated, not believing it himself.
"That's a lie, though."
"Oh, so that's the lie?" he laughed, bitter and angry. "That's the lie? That's the lie you picked up on? Nothing else tonight set off your lie-dar? Not the, "oh I was just saying hi to an old law-school friend," not the "I already said hi," not the "I just thought you'd like this better than their food," not the "I don't know who William is" – "
"Wait, who's William, though? I really wanna know."
"I don't know, Jess! That was a mistake! They made a mistake! It was supposed to say "Will You" – I don't know how the hell they got William from that, but it was a mistake. A God damn mistake!" he erupted.
Schmidt, Winston, and Cece all stood as still as Jess, all but one wondering what his outburst was about.
Nick exploding in anger like this was nothing new, of course, but usually they knew just what it was he was yelling about. His outbursts had become a bit more uncommon ever since he and Jess had started dating – she seemed to calm him down the most when things were great between them and piss him off the most when things were not so great – but they still happened often enough that they weren't surprised when he finally let loose. From the way the veins in his neck were bulging, they should have figured it was coming the second he walked through the door.
"Why would you lie about all that?" Jess asked softly, still not understanding and not quite taking the bait he was offering to start a fight.
"Because! I had a plan, Jessica. This whole night was supposed to be perfect! We were going to get to the restaurant early, get the best, more romantic seat in the house, we would exchange gifts and eat dinner, and then when dessert came a violinist was supposed to come over and play that stupid classical song you love so much and then when the tray was empty it was going to say "Will You" and you were going to say "Will I what" and then I was going to say "Will you marry me" and give you the stupid ring I spent forever with Cece in that stupid jewelry store picking out and it was going to be fucking perfect! But then everything had to go wrong! Everything. Down to the dumbest little detail! It all went so wrong, Jess. The plan just fell apart…" he said, finally calming down, his breath coming in huffs as the loft fell silent.
Schmidt and Winston – both just as shocked as they could be expected to be after finding out that Nicholas Miller had planned to propose – looked to Jess, wondering what she was going to say, what she was going to do. Nick had just revealed he was going to propose – what could she possibly say –
"So that's what you've been so upset about? The night being ruined?" Jess asked, incredulousness and anger rising in her voice. Now – now – she was taking the bait, even if he hadn't actually meant to start a fight…
"No, the night was perfect, but my plan – "
"Who cares about your stupid plan, Nick? You could have just asked – you didn't have to make such a fuss about it."
"Oy…" Schmidt rolled his eyes and walked past the couple, they were going to start arguing now and it was sure to take them a while. Might as well get some snacks and settle in on the couch so they could be comfortable as they enjoyed the show.
Winston walked to the fridge and grabbed three beers as Cece sauntered over to the couch, plopped down, crossed her legs, and took a beer and some chips from each of the boys as they sat down on either side of her. They cracked open their drinks and sat in almost silence, making passing comments about what Jess and Nick said and to eat their snacks as the argument started. These two were always arguing it seemed, but they worked so well together, even when arguing, that it would be ludicrous for them to split up. And anyway, watching them fight was entertaining enough that it saved them money on electricity and movie rentals. So there was that…
"Didn't have to – Jess, I worked my ass off on this thing for the past three months to make sure that it would be perfect! I made such a fuss about it because you're worth it! Every fucking mind-numbing second I spent on that phone making calls and out shopping and getting the shit I needed to get this night done was worth it, because you're worth it! I just wanted this night to be perfect, damnit!"
"Well who told you to do all of that? You're just so – "
"Who told me to do all of that? I spend three damn months planning everything – "
"And who the hell uses cupcakes anyway? I mean, you're a grown ass man – "
"Any normal woman would be ecstatic that I spent so much time planning such an awesome night for her! The least you could do is – "
"Any normal man would have just gotten down on his knee – "
"Oh, so I'm now not normal – "
"Well neither am I –"
"And for your information, I was planning on getting down on one knee – "
"Why are you so upset about this anyway? So a couple of things went wrong – "
"A couple of things? Try the whole damn night! But do you care, noooo, you're just – "
"Of course I care! I love you, you idiot, but you're – "
"I love you, too! But you're just – "
"I'm just what, Miller? I'm. Just. What."
"You're just pissing me off so much right now! Right now, we should be in my room having awesome anniversary/engagement sex, and you don't get just how pissed – "
"Is that what this is all about? Sex? We have sex literally all the – "
"That's not what this is about! I just want to marry you, and I put all this thought and planning into this and nothing went right and you don't even – "
"I care, okay? And I'm sorry your plan got so messed, but it's not my fault – "
"I never said it was your fault – "
"Really? Cause it kinda seems like you are and you're pissing me off so much right now, Miller! I love you, and I'm sorry your plan didn't go like you wanted it to, but that doesn't mean you have to be a pouty baby about the whole thing! It's our anniversary – this is supposed to be a happy night, damnit, and you're just making it so stressful and making me really mad and just – "
"Shut up, Jess! Just… Shut up and marry me!" Nick yelled, his breath hot on her face. They were so close now – they always seemed to be whenever they argued. They gravitated towards one another and the more passionate the argument, the closer they were to one another by the time it ended.
"Wh-what?" Jess asked, heart thudding as his words hit her. Sure, he had said he'd planned to propose earlier, but when he actually said the words to her… her heart sang in her chest, threatening to bust out, coating her hands in a sheen of sweat just to drive the point home.
"I said… shut up and marry me." He repeated, slower and more deliberate, reaching into his pocket as he caught his breath. On the couch, Schmidt, Cece, and Winston ceased their snacking and commentary, eyes wide and sitting up straight as they waited to see what she would say. Of course, she would say yes… Wouldn't she?
Nick pulled out the small velvet box and opened it, showing it to Jess as he repeated the words a third time, her blue eyes taking in the ring he hoped to God she loved. It was almost simple, just the right amount of bling that he could afford set in a lotus pattern, so very much a flower and so very much as Jess-like as the necklace she was wearing around her neck. He hoped she liked it. "Shut up and marry me already."
"It's much more romantic without the "shut up" part," Jess laughed, wiping tears of happiness away from her eyes as she looked at him. Was this really happening? Was he really asking her to marry him? She had thought about it – of course she had thought about it! But to hear those words actually fall from his mouth – and only a year after dating – it was… Too good to be true.
"You said I should just ask."
"But you didn't ask." She told him, teasing now as the reality began to sink it. He had asked her to marry him. She was going to say yes. "And you're not even down on one knee."
"Alright, fine." He complied, bending down onto one knee, still holding the ring out for her to see as he said. "Marry me, damnit. Please." He added for effect, just in case she decided to bitch about that next…
Jess leaned down, smiling, and grabbed his scruffy face, pulled him up to kiss her, barely holding the ring in the box as he was caught up in the moment. "Is that a yes?" he asked, smiling against her skin as her face rubbed against his beard in a teasing sort of way that usually drove her mad.
"Mmm. Ask me again." She murmured with half-lidded eyes.
"Shut up and marry me." He said, smiling.
"Okay. Yes. Yes." She whispered between kisses, leaning against the counter as he planted kisses up her jaw and slipped the ring onto her finger, barely missing a beat before he reconnected himself with her lips, smiling into her kiss as she brought her hands up behind his head and knotted her fingers through his hair.
Maybe it wasn't so bad that his plan had fallen through, he thought to himself as she pulled back and grabbed his hand, tugging him towards her bedroom as their friends broke up; the show was over, and unless they were ready to hear some weird shit, they knew it was time for them to clear out and let the newly engaged have some time to themselves. There would be time for congratulations and gushing come morning after he straightened out all the lies he had told.
Hopefully, Nick would be able to convince Jess to cancel that date with that couple they had met at the restaurant; otherwise, it was going to be a very awkward weekend for them…
In the meantime, Nick had a coupon he was pretty sure he could get extended to a two-nighter, if he played his cards rights…
Fin.
"Shut up and marry me!" C'mon, guys, who else is in love with that line? C'mon – admit it. Admit it. Ad. Mit. It.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that fic. And if you did, fear not; I've got quite a few more Ness fics in the works. And since it's summer and I am now a high school graduate – Go class of 2013! – I've got time and a reason to focus on my fanfiction for a few months at least. After that, though... I don't know, man. The summer after graduation is always so confusing and shit. Like, I'm done with high school and I should be focusing on the next part of my life, but I don't know what I want to do with my life, I don't know what I'm going to do with it, and I don't even know if I want to go to college, but everyone else in my life just expects me to go and spend more time in school even though I really don't want to, so...
The only thing I know for sure about my future is that I want to write. Other than that, I don't know anything.
So, to distract myself from everything until I get it all figured out – if that ever even happens – I plan on writing quite a bit of New Girl fanfiction this summer. So yay for that.
Also, I'm sort of planning a sequel for this one right now, but it could be a couple of months before anything actually materializes because I don't have much thought out for it. But I thought you should know about it anyway, so you'll be on the look-out for it in the future.
If anyone's interested, I do have a tumblr and there's a link on my profile page. I use the same name there as I do here: Hisa-Ai. So my url would be the standard tumblr url with hisa-ai as the beginning part. Sometimes I post stuff about fics I'm working on, so you could stay updated – if you're interested.
Anyway, tell me how much you loved this and let me know all the time I spent on this was worth it. (I'm mostly kidding, but, you know, feel free to tell me that anyway if you want to.)
Always,
Hisa-Ai.