AN : just a bit of fluff I came up with to pass a 3 hour train journey. Only slightly awkward when the slightly elderly man next to me was looking over my shoulder as I wrote, but heh. Image found here : . /eb91f499776dfe0437d1e0b3e9a694b2/tumblr_mq2w8w1Vj h1r3fkfio1_ . Hope you enjoy- let me know what you think!

At 11.30pm on Tuesday night, Nick Miller was woken by an anxious tapping at his door.

"Nick," Jess hissed. "Nick!"

He groaned, wondering what could have necessitated this late-night visit; Jess' Mom, Joan, was in town, so Nick had presumed that they were spending the evening together. As he got out of bed, he tried somewhat in vain not to let Sleep Nick and his incredible imagination get too carried away. Perhaps she just wanted him to fix something.

Nick opened the door to find Jess, pink pyjamas and all, beaming angelically at him. Something was not right.

"What is it, Jess?" he asked.

Jess opened her mouth to answer, conscious of the fact that her "roomfriend" was currently shirtless.

"It's my Mom," she said. "She's hooking up. In my room."

Nick blinked several times to digest this revelation. (And to remove the mental images from his brain.)

"Um, what?"

"She went out for dinner with 'an old school-friend'," Jess explained. "I got back from Cece's, thinking we'd watch a film together or something and there she was. Not alone. Naked."

"Right…so what does this have to do with me?" Nick was having trouble seeing the link between him and Joan's sex life.

Jess cast her big, blue (and ridiculously adorable) eyes downwards and took a small breath.

"Well I wondered…I mean…'cause, you know, there's that drip over the sofa and the shadows look like dinosaurs…but obviously it might be weird…"

"Jess," Nick interrupted, "what's up?"

"Can I stay in your room tonight? Like, on the floor is fine, wherever, I won't be a burden. You won't even notice I'm here," she promised earnestly.

"Uh…yeah. Yeah of course! I'd love you to," Nick said. The last four words hung in the foot between them and they smiled awkwardly at each other.

Nick opened his door dully now, motioning for Jess to follow him. She laid down on his floor, pushing a few stray boxers to the side. As Nick was about to climb into his (unmade) bed, the ridiculousness of the situation hit him.

"Come on, Jess," he said, his voice suddenly husky. "You can't sleep on the carpet. There's plenty of room for the both of us; I won't lay a finger on ya." (Not this time, anyway, he reasoned to Sleep Nick.)

"Ok," Jess said, taking off the burgundy hoody she'd been about to use as a duvet. She sat on the side of the bed, trying not to let Sleep Jess (who was surprisingly similar to Sleep Nick) get too excited.

"Won't lay a finger on ya," she whispered to herself, before sliding gingerly under the warm duvet and falling asleep within minutes.

On the other side of the bed, Nick Miller was wide awake. Jess was in his bed. Jess was in his bed. Jess was in his bed. Funnily enough, he'd always imagined such an occasion slightly differently, but that did not change the fact that every single part of him was alert. He sighed, rolled over and decided that sleep wasn't really that important.

Despite this decision he must have drifted off at some point, because at 02:42 (according to his digital clock", he and Jess woke to the sound of her Mother…having fun.

"YES DUNCAN, YESSS" were not the first words that Jess would have chosen to be woken by, particularly considering who they were being screamed by.

"Sounds like your Mom's enjoying herself," murmured Nick with a smug grin on his face that made Jess want to shove him.

Once she'd properly opened her eyes, Jess almost jumped out of the bed as she realised just how close to each other she and her "roomfriend" had been sleeping.

Resisting the urge to roll both further from and closer to Nick, Jess closed her eyes and hoped that the noises would have stopped by the time she opened them again.

"Is this what you meant when you said that you wanted your Mom to find happiness?" Nick asked, already well aware of the answer.

Jess was disappointed with herself at not being able to think up an appropriately cutting response and was instead forced to flick Nick's ear.

"Ah come on, you know I didn't mean it," he smiled, waiting for Jess to say something.

Unfortunately for Nick Miller, his half asleep voice had ignited all kinds of sparks in Jessica Day and it was all she could do not to snog him then and there and be done with the weeks of post-kiss sexual tension.

"Jess? You ok?"

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm fine. Nothing like waking up to the sounds of 'Duncan' pleasuring my Mother."

Nick turned away from her to rifle in the drawers of his bedside table, leaving Jess to wonder what she'd done to offend him. However when he surfaced, he was holding his portable CD player (for Nick Miller was still of the opinion that iPods "would never catch on").

"Here you go," he said, handing her an earphone whilst putting the other in his ear. "Maybe the sweet sounds of Mumford and Sons will drown out the not so sweet sounds of your Mother having sex."

The next time they awoke (07:08 according to the trusty digital clock), it took a second for Jess to notice that Nick's arms were wrapped around her waist. A huge grin appeared on her face as she realised that this had been her best night's sleep in so long. She began to stretch, wary of waking a still snoring Nick.

Maybe her Mom should meet up with 'Duncan' more often…