Warning: Profanity, nudity, and suggestive themes.
Note: This is one of those times where Nikki didn't move to Nunavut.
A/N: While working on the final chapter of "Your Room or Mine?" I got a cute, fluffy idea for a one-shot and I definitely wanted to write it out before I drove myself crazy, lol. I also got a less cute, more explicit idea that I plan on writing out as well. At this rate, I might start a one-shot/drabble collection centered around Jonesy and Nikki. Who knows? It may happen.
Anyways, hope you enjoy!
An intriguing idea struck Nikki during one of her boyfriend's late-night visits, leaving her wondering why it had never crossed her mind before.
Soon enough, she brought it to his attention, leading to a trip inside her bathroom.
She dimmed the lights, filled the tub with hot water, and added plenty of bubbles as well as her favorite lavender oil. Jonesy plugged his phone into a nearby speaker and chose his most "romantic" hip-hop and R&B playlist, flirted with her as she drew the bath for them, and patiently waited for her.
They undressed and slowly immersed themselves in the water, sitting opposite each other.
Both of them revelled in the warmth of the water, the atmosphere, and each other's presence. The rest of the world didn't exist as long as they were in the bathtub, as if they were in their own (bubbly) dimension. Nikki was the first to speak after enjoying five minutes of comfort.
"Can't believe we never thought of doing this before," she said as her head lolled back and her lips curved into a smile.
"I know right? Of all the things we've done together, I wish we would've done this one sooner."
She sighed. "Better enjoy it now; it won't happen very often in college."
"Ugh, don't remind me." He groaned. "Screw college."
"For someone who wanted to have the time of his life a few weeks ago, you don't sound so excited."
"I mean, it's not that I'm not excited—the parties are gonna be killer—but it's going to be so much work and so much to get used to and so much change."
All of it making sense now, she said, "Oh, I see the problem now: you're not ready to adapt to college yet."
"Are you?"
She shrugged. "High school was shitty, so, yeah, I'm ready for change."
He stared at the mountain of bubbles sitting atop the water, doubtful.
"Come on, Garcia." She gazed at him with compassion. "It's not like you're the only one going through this. We're all going through this, even Jude." She emphasized Jude's name because he originally wanted to take a gap year, but decided a community college would be better for him; seeing all his friends moving faster than him made him want a sooner starting point for himself.
Jonesy perked up, meeting her gaze. "You have a point."
"Don't I always?" she asked, her voice unsurprised.
He grinned at her, running a hand up and down her leg. "Leave it to my girl to always know what to say."
"That's my job. What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't have your back?"
"A friend with benefits," he joked with a smirk on his face.
"Shut up." She snorted and kicked her foot in his direction.
While laughing, he said, "Hey, watch where you aim that thing."
"That 'thing' is my foot, and I'd rather not." She kicked her foot at him once again, just for kicks.
After they stopped laughing and grinning hard, another peaceful moment of silence occurred, pulling them back into their dimension. They let the warmth of the water and the calmness of their surroundings do all the talking, at least until Jonesy saw his girlfriend rubbing lavender body wash on her skin.
"Aha! So that's why you always smell good."
"Yep, you caught me red-handed." She put the bottle aside and eyed him. "You got me giving all my secrets away."
"Any more I should know about?" he asked with a curious eyebrow raised and an impish smirk perched upon his face.
"Honestly?"
He nodded.
"I really wouldn't mind some champagne right now. It's really more of a want than a secret, but…"
"Now that you mention it, I could really go for some, too. I think our first bath together is something worth celebrating."
"Are you agreeing with me just because or are you serious?"
"I'm seriously agreeing with you just because."
"You're so stupid," she joked, rolling her eyes.
"If you meant stupid sexy, then—hell yeah—I am, baby." He wagged his eyebrows at her.
"How about stupid and sexy?"
"Stupid sexy—take it or leave it."
"I'll take it… for now."
He made eyes at her, but she stuck her tongue out at him.
As they let more time pass, with her reclining and closing her eyes and him playing around with the bubbles, Jonesy felt like this was his second home. If he sought love, camaraderie, and a little bit of mischief, all of those things could be found at Nikki's home—in smaller, more manageable doses than in his own home, at least.
Her home slowly became his own, especially after she opted to stay in Toronto instead of leaving for Nunavut. He slept in her bed often, watched anything on late-night television with her, ate dinner with her and her parents, among other things. He found a lot of time being spent at her place, which grew more and more familiar to him with each stay.
"I always feel really comfortable when I'm over here, babe. It feels like su casa es mi casa."
She leaned forward, intrigued. "What makes you say that?"
"It's just that your crib is way more peaceful than mine's been lately. Courtney's been going back and forth and back and forth about finally moving out. Then there's Jen freaking out because she kissed Wyatt last week and now they're going on a date or whatever. My parents are going crazy about Emma"—who had turned two this year—"drawing all over the house with her markers. Robbie's having some middle-child crisis shit or whatever; I don't know. That only leaves Diego, who's been dating three different girls at the same time; I gotta admit, something about that makes me proud. It's the Garcia charm."
After rolling her eyes at him, she said, "That does sound like a lot, but things aren't always shits and giggles over here. My mom's all in 'distress' now that I'm heading off to college, but it's not like I'm going far; I'm only a half-hour away from the city. But anyways, my sister's suddenly showing up in my life again; apparently she's getting a divorce from her husband. Big surprise." She laughed dryly. "Then there's Jen"—she grinned—"who came over my house two days in a row freaking out about Wyatt."
Jonesy chuckled. "It seems like everybody in the gang's hooking up."
She laughed, too. "It does, doesn't it? I hope Jude and Caitlin know they're next."
"Looks like we started a trend, Nik."
"We did, didn't we?"
"I'm loving this rhetorical-question thing you've got going on."
Narrowing her eyes at him, she said, "Ugh, you're such a pain in my ass."
"But I'm the pain in your ass that you love."
"It seems that way." She sighed in resignation. "But I do love you, Jonesy."
"I love you too, Nikki." It always warmed his ears to hear her say that, to hear those words fall out her mouth. They confessed their love for each other over a year ago, but it was a new feeling each time. She truly softened him up. "And if you need to talk about anything—your sister, your mom, Jen—I'm here to listen to you. I'm here for you. Always know that."
Her lips curled into a smile. "Thanks, Jonesy." It always warmed her ears to hear him say that, to know that he had her back just as much as she did for him. Though she hurled insults and teases his way quite often, he was nothing short of amazing.
"Anytime." He gazed at her. "You know, I'm beginning to think the only thing that isn't hectic or crazy in our lives is our relationship."
"Got that right." After brief silence, she asked, "Jonesy?"
"Yeah?"
"You know how you said you're always here for me and you'd do anything, right?"
"Uh-huh. What's up?"
"Mind massaging my feet right now?" She stuck her foot in his direction.
"Oh, hell no," he said, shoving her foot back into the water.
"You did not just push my foot away."
"If you didn't shove it in my face, maybe I wouldn't have pushed it."
"And now you won't get another thing shoved in your face either."
In retaliation, he splashed water at her.
Sitting upright, she said, "Now our relationship is gonna get hectic. This calls for payback."
"Bring it on, baby," he taunted.
She splashed water in his direction and he did the same yet again.
Flinging a mound of bubbles at him, she said, "You're going down, Garcia."
"Not if you go down first, Wong."
"We'll see about that."
"We will, won't we?"
"Who's the one with the rhetorical questions now?"
"Still you, Nik."
Their play fighting and trash-talking continued for what felt like forever; time didn't exist between them, it seemed. A winner didn't exist either.
"To tell you the truth, I don't think either of us won this round," Jonesy said once he calmed down.
She smirked. "Maybe neither of us won. Or maybe neither of us lost. Depends on how you look at it."
"Yep, it all depends on perspective."
She glanced over the edge of the tub. "Yeah, because from my perspective, it looks like we got water all on the floor."
He looked over the edge, too. "Shit, we did."
Her focus shifted to his face, especially his lips. "We can take care of that later. It's no big deal, because from my perspective, I'm wondering why I haven't kissed you yet." She couldn't believe another thing hadn't crossed her mind until now.
Licking his lips and anticipating hers, he said, "And, suddenly, your kiss is all I'm thinking about."
She made her way towards him, sitting in his lap and pressing her lips against his once she did.
He chuckled when they parted. "Kiss me again and maybe I'll rub your feet."
"Hell, I'll make out with you if you rub my feet and massage my back."
He purred, sliding his hands toward her hips.. "If you keep straddling me like this, I'll blow your back out."
Her eyes widening, she lightly shoved his shoulder. "Jonesy!"
"Don't act like you're not turned on right now."
She rolled her eyes. "Why do you have to be stupid sexy?"
"It's a gift and a curse, babe." Giving it more thought, he said, "Actually, it's more of a gift with side effects."
Ignoring his musings about being "stupid sexy," she said, "So how about we set up an itinerary for tonight? We'll clean up the floor and hop in bed, where you can rub my feet and massage my back. After all, I'm bound to be sore after you blow it out."
His eyes lit up with excitement. "Did I ever tell you you're the best girlfriend ever?"
"You've said it a hundred times before, but I don't mind hearing it more."
"Someone's getting cocky."
She stole a kiss from him. "I'm learning from the best."
After cleaning the bathroom floor and rolling around beneath her sheets, she received a much-deserved back massage from her boyfriend, learning how good compromise felt.
As his hands tended to her back, she sighed. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say we both won our little splash-fight earlier."
"No kidding. It's like we both won the Super Bowl and now we're heading off to Disney World."
She snorted. "Nice simile."
"Thanks. Took me two seconds to come up with it."
"That's evident."
"Hey, don't insult the man with the magic fingers who's massaging your back."
"Did you seriously just call yourself 'the man with the magic fingers'?"
"You of all people should know how magical they are," he teased.
She could practically hear his eyebrows wagging at her. "Ugh, you and your nonstop innuendos. You're pulling out all the rhetorical devices tonight, aren't you?"
"So are you, with all those rhetorical questions."
"Hey, that's only one device and I'm entitled to it."
"It's two if we include your sarcasm."
She blinked once. "Wow, I'm having a conversation about rhetorical devices with Jonesy Garcia of all people… I've taught you well." He truly was a travel writer's boyfriend.
"I'm learning from the best, baby."
She grinned. "And I'm loving how tonight's been going."
"Same. Sounds like we should do bath night more often."
"I agree." She sighed. "In a perfect world, every night would be a bath night."
"Our world ain't perfect, but I don't mind going for it every night."
"Knowing you, we're probably talking about two different its."
"And I'm the one with the innuendo."
"That's because you are."
He paused before confessing, "Yeah, you're right."
"Aren't I always?"
"How long are you going to keep that up?"
"Until we fall asleep. You know, that could take a while."
"Dammit."
"More rubbing, less complaining, Jonesy."