Nick Miller was exhausted- who knew that so many people would want to celebrate Valentine's Day in his bar?! Still, closing time had eventually rolled round and now he was waiting for the elevator, hoping that Jess had liked the flowers he'd put in a vase on her dressing table, ready for when she came home from work.

Empty jam jars counted as vases, right?

It was their first Valentine's Day as boyfriend and girlfriend and he'd wanted to make it special, but work rotas have a way of messing up hypothetical plans and so he'd spent the night instead liquoring up unhappy singles and trying not to throw things at the overly happy couples. Meanwhile, his lovely Jess was spending the night with her exercise books and marking pens. Great one, Miller, he thought.

The elevator doors pinged open and Nick unlocked the front door to 4D to find it as quiet as he would expect, considering it was well past midnight. On his way to the fridge, something by the sink caught his eye; it was a tray not unlike the one on which he had prepared "Winston's birthday breakfast" many months ago. He walked over to it and found to his delight that there were two still cold bottles of beer, a chicken sandwich, a bowl of strawberries and -huh- a card with his name on it. Resisting the urge to sink his teeth into the sandwich, Nick picked up the card and opened it.

Dear Nick, the card said.

Happy Valentine's Day! I'm waiting in your room, it's awfully lonely in here without you.

Love,

Your secret admirer

Nick picked up the tray and practically sprinted to his room, hoping beyond hope that this was Jess and not a prank on Winston or Coach's part. Or indeed Schmidt and his well-meaning but warped way of showing affection…

Sure enough, when he opened the door, it was Jess who was sat on his bed. Nick couldn't think of many things better to come home to, but there was one thing off about the whole scene… His girlfriend was mostly concealed behind a bright green and woolly…something.

"Jess, what the hell are you knitting? That thing's bigger than you are, practically!"

"Well you got home so late! I had to do something to occupy myself!" Jess smiled in what she hoped was a saucy way (the line between saucy and scary is a very thin one), gently laid the admittedly enormous scarf down behind her and stood up, waiting for Nick's eyes to bulge… Which they did right on cue as he fully took stock of the situation: his girlfriend had left him a makeshift dinner and waited in just her underwear for him to get home from work. On Valentine's Day.

"Jesus, Jess, you're wonderful. Do you have any idea how freaking wonderful you are?" he said before quickly crossing the room and wrapping his arms around her.

"I wanted to surprise you," Jess said into his shoulder. "How was work?"

"Work was…aw, who cares about work when you're in the room, Jessica Day?" Nick answered. She blushed and smiled again, this one more joyful than saucy. Oops.

"I like this," he murmured, gently tugging at a crimson bra strap.

Jess' thanks got caught stuck in her throat as his hands started to wander a little lower. Nick's palms skimmed over dark red lace and his lips met hers in what some would class a searing hot kiss and Jess buried her hands in his hair, moaning softly. Hearing her make noises like that because of him made the last of Nick's resolve crumble and within seconds he was tugging off his shirt and laying her down on the bed. Jess quickly unbuckled his belt and, after a moment or two struggling, successfully unbuttoned his jeans and pulled them off of him as fast as she could manage.

They locked eyes and seemed to be suddenly engaged in a goofiest smile competition (Jess won, of course) as they grinned lovingly at one another.

"Now, Jessica," Nick said. "As lovely as this little red number is, I'm afraid I'm going to have to take it off so that I can-" Jess was too quick for him and had already taken her bra off and tossed it to the floor.

"I want you so badly, Miller," she murmured.

Well, that was all the encouragement Nick Miller needed.