I typed this up as a note on my iPhone during a long car ride, when I was particularly bored, so I'm gonna admit to you right now that it isn't my best work. But, no point in not publishing if it's finished, right? Oh, & I couldn't spot any typo's, but autocorrect is a bitch, so if I've missed something and there's a word in there that doesn't make sense, I apologise, and please review and let me know!

I've made a tumblr, I'd love it if you'd check it out; pepperwoodswife

Bright Pink

"I can't believe I'm letting you do this…" Nick sighed, shaking his head in disbelief as he watched the nail polish brush glide over his fingernail, leaving a bold, bright pink trail behind.

He was sat on the floor of the living room, cross legged in front of his girlfriend, watching intently as she painted his nails with a deep look of concentration on her face, one hand holding his own in place as the other guided the brush in its movements.

Her dark, curly hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, a few loose tendrils framing her face, and she was wearing one of those ridiculous, yet cute pyjama outfits of hers, a pink one with yellow ducks repeatedly printed on it.

Occasionally, Nick would reach up with his free hand and brush the hair out of her face, and she'd blush and quickly look away, or make a flirty little giggle noise that made him want to throw the damn nail polish over his shoulder and ravish her on the very floor that they were sat on.

Jess chuckled softly at his words, the kind of sound that made Nick involuntarily smile and get that damn swirly feeling in his stomach again. Butterflies, he thinks he heard Jess refer to them as, once.

"Really, you can't believe it?" She asked him, glancing up at his face with a small smile, one which Nick happily returned, causing her to return her gaze to his fingers again as a light pink flushed her cheeks, her smile broadening as she did so.

"I mean, you do love me, so it can't come as much of a surprise, really…" she trailed off, setting to work on painting the next fingernail, and this time, it was Nick's turn to chuckle at her. Why did she have to be so damn adorable?

"Yeah, Jess, I love ya" he said, bringing his free hand to her face and gently tilting her chin upwards, forcing her to meet his gaze, before leaning forward and gently pressing his lips to hers, their mouths moving together in a soft, tender rhythm.

Since Nick had first told Jess that he loved her 2 months ago, she would consistently bring it up, in any way that she deemed possible. Usually, it was as an excuse, like yesterday, for example, when Nick had asked her why she got to drink the last of the milk, and she had replied with; "Because, Miller, you love me".

Nick wasn't complaining, though, definitely not. Because whenever Nick would agree with her and confirm that he did, in fact, love her, she would tell him that she loved him too, every time.

And nothing compared to the feeling of having Jessica Day tell him that she loved him.

Jess pulled away from Nick, a content little sigh escaping her lips as she did so, and she rested her forehead against his with closed lids, before saying so quietly that it was almost a whisper; "I love you too, Nicholas".

Yeah, nothing compared to that feeling; the sudden warmth that rushed through him, those damn butterflies making a reappearance in his stomach, and the way that everything else in the world seemed to blur, leaving just the two of them, and nothing else seemed to matter anymore.

Hell, when did he become so damn corny!?

"Nick!" Jess scowled, suddenly pulling away from him and frowning as she glanced down at his hand, shaking her head slightly. "You made me smudge!"

Nick looked at his hand, and couldn't help but chuckle as he noticed she had, in fact, smudged the nail polish, and that he now had a not so subtle pink line trailing down his finger, which Jess quickly caught with a piece of cotton wool.

"I don't know why you're laughing, Miller," She began, a mischievous smile appearing on her face as she soaked a fresh piece of cotton wool in nail varnish remover, before bringing it to his nail and wiping the colour away. "Because now I'm gonna have to start painting this nail all over again".

He opened his mouth to protest, but stopped when the sound of the front door opening startled him slightly, and he groaned as he realised that Schmidt and Winston had returned home from the gym earlier than he had expected; they'd definitely have something to say about this.

"I'm just saying, Schmidt, that you can't walk up to a random girl and start hitting on her"

"Winston, don't be ridiculous! That's how most couples meet these days!"

"Not when she's getting dressed, Schmidt, and you're in the women's changing room!"

The two of them bustled into the apartment, their argument being cut short as they both noticed Nick and Jess on the living room floor, and they simultaneously began to laugh, causing Nick to turtle face at them, and provoking an eye roll from Jess.

"Go on, laugh all you want!" Nick called over the noise, scowling at his two roommates, and Jess smiled triumphantly as she finished painting the last fingernail, pulling back slightly to admire her handiwork.

"Aw, they look so pretty" She cooed with a smile, which only caused an increase in Winston and Schmidt's laughter, and Jess couldn't help but feel bad for Nick.

It had been a sweet thing for him to do, to agree to let her paint his nails, when she had complained earlier that there was nothing on the television and that she was bored, and now he looked so flustered and defeated, nodding his head as he accepted the laughter and the cruel insults that they threw his way.

"God, Nick, I didn't know that you were so in touch with your feminine side!" Winston chuckled, hanging his jacket on the coatrack behind the door and setting his gym bag down at his feet, earning an approving laugh from Schmidt.

"Are you going to change your name to Nichola?" Schmidt asked, walking over to the dining table and tossing his car keys onto it, before turning back towards them and teasing further; "Then, you could have a sex change, and you and Jess could become a lesbian couple".

"Shut your mouth, Schmidt!" Nick retaliated, and Jess prayed that he wouldn't clench his fists like he usually did when he was angry, ultimately ruining her handiwork. "Jess was bored, and I was being a good boyfriend".

"A good girlfriend, you mean" Winston corrected him with another laugh, and Schmidt made his way back over to him, high fiving him and laughing along with him.

"You know what's really sad, though?" Jess asked softly as she stood up from her seat on the floor, looking down at Nick and smiling at him reassuringly as he flashed her a questioning look, before returning her attention to her other two roommates, who were now staring at her, waiting for her to continue.

"What's sad is the fact that yeah, Nick does have bright pink nails right now, but he's the one who's going to be having sex tonight, not you two" She added with a casual shrug of her shoulders and a tight lipped smile, and then it was Nick's turn to laugh as he saw Schmidt's jaw tighten in frustration, as he saw Winston's face drop as the realisation hit him that yeah, Jess was right.

Wait a minute, did Jess just say that he was having sex tonight!?

Well done, Miller, well done, you glorious bastard.

"Actually, you're wrong, because-"

"No, I'm exactly right" Jess interrupted Schmidt, folding her arms across her chest and tilting her head at him. "Cece's at her parents for the weekend, meaning no sex for you…"

She turned towards Winston, then, and pointed at him with her index finger, before adding; "And you're not having sex, because Daisy is also out of town, so unless the two of you are having sex with each other…"

"What!? Don't be ludicrous, Jess!" Schmidt exclaimed, looking genuinely insulted. "What a disgusting thing to say!"

"I'd rather be dead" Winston grumbled, yelping in pain slightly as Schmidt turned to him with a scowl and smacked him on the back of the head, hard.

"Hey, you could do a lot worse than me, you scoundrel!"

Jess turned back towards her boyfriend with a triumphant grin on her face, pleased with herself that she had been successful and had managed to get under Schmidt and Winston's skin, just as she had intended to.

Nick quickly got up from his seat on the floor, and smiled at her lovingly, before closing the distance between them and pressing his lips to hers once more. Jess' arms immediately came to wrap around Nick's neck, the action causing his body to be pressed even closer to hers, and Jess practically shivered under his touch as his hands came to rest on her hips.

Dimly aware that they weren't alone in the room right now, and knowing that she'd probably rip his clothes right off of his body if he carried on trailing patterns with his fingertips up and down her sides like that, she reluctantly pulled away from him.

She took one of his hands in her own, (thank God for quick drying nail polish), and lead him in the direction of her bedroom, the two of them barely aware of the sounds of Winston and Schmidt arguing still in their living room.

"Nick?"

"Yeah, Jess?"

"I'm definitely painting your toenails tomorrow".

"I must say, Nick, I'm digging the new look"

"Thanks, Big Bob" Nick replied with a chuckle, tapping his friend on the shoulder as he pushed another drink towards a waiting customer, who laughed upon noticing the not so subtle colour of Nick's fingernails.

When Nick had woken up this morning, he had stared at the beautiful, sleeping woman lying next to him in bed, and he had found himself wondering what he had ever done in his life to deserve somebody like her.

She loved him so, so much, and as he brushed his fingertips lightly across her cheek, he smiled as he thought about just how much he loved her, too; her smile, her laugh, the pretty dresses that she wore, the way that she sang in the morning, her-

Wait a minute, why were his fingernails pink!?

Shit.

He had scurried around the loft, desperately trying to find that bottle of nail polish remover that Jess had used last night, but it was nowhere to be found. It wasn't in the living room (where he was sure she had left it), and it wasn't in the kitchen, the bathroom, or Jess' bedroom, either. He had even searched in Schmidt and Winston's bedroom's, convinced that this was their doing, and that they had purposely hidden it to piss him off, but it wasn't there.

Jess had woken up, then, emerging from her bedroom wearing the shirt that he had worn the previous night, (the one that she had torn from his body and threw across the room, but let's not get into details), and she had tried to help him find it, but it was no use. It had vanished.

Nick had cursed Schmidt and Winston for being at work right now, where he couldn't demand that they hand it over.

And then he cursed Shane, for asking him to work the day shift, and he had reluctantly gotten dressed and headed off to work, knowing that if he left it any later, he would be late.

It was no secret that Shane hated him enough already, after he had ended things with her to be with Jess, so the last thing that he needed to do right now was turn up late to work.

Granted, he probably shouldn't turn up to work wearing bright pink nail polish, either, but at least he was here, and on time, right?

"Let me guess, it was your girlfriend, right?" Bob asked, interrupting Nick's thoughts as he motioned towards Nick's fingers, an amused smirk on his face at just how bright they were.

"Yeah, she did" Nick replied with a nod of his head, grabbing a cloth and beginning to wipe down the bar with a sigh.

"I've been there" His colleague replied, and Nick turned back towards him with a small smile.

"Your girlfriend's painted your nails before?"

"Nah, my daughter. If you ever have a kid of your own, and it's a girl, you'd better be prepared for her to give you some pretty scary makeovers".

Nick laughed at Big Bob's response, resuming his actions in wiping down the bar, and he smiled warmly as the image of a beautiful, smiling, blue eyed little girl with dark, curly hair flooded his mind.

"You okay, Nick?"

"Better than ever, Bob"