Author's Note:

Hey guys, this is my first ever New Girl / Ness story and I am so excited to write it.

I really hope that you all like it and it's something that you want me to continue.

So this is an AU story in where Nick and Jess meet at the bar first and Coach will more than likely stay in the story, unless I decide to write him out.

Please, read it and review if you like it and want me to continue it.

Paris xx


"What can I get you?" Nick asked the pretty brunette that had just sat down at his bar counter.

"Something strong." She said sniffing a little.

He put down the glass that he was drying and focussed on the girl before him for a second.

Her eyes were blood-shot red. So blood-shot that he almost missed the natural beauty of her light blue eyes. Without another word, he already knew her story.

She was more than likely dumped. A feeling he knew too well himself.

Judging by the look of her tired eyes she had been crying excessively for days on end. Non-stop.

Being a bartender slash unqualified, yet often expected to be a shrink to his customers, Nick had learnt to distinguish a few things. For instance he knew that she was crying because of a break-up, and not because of a death of a loved one or having been laid off her job recently.

This was the kind of crying that he had experienced firsthand when he had broken up with Caroline.

Nick reached for two glasses and the bottle of Scotch.

"Here," she said pouring the liquor into the glass and sliding it towards her across the bar. "It's on the house. You look like you could use it."

The girl picked up the glass in her hand and brought it to her nose quickly to smell it. Had she not seem so heartbroken, he would have laughed at the gesture; but he couldn't find it in him to make fun of someone so helpless…someone so hurt and vulnerable.

"It's Scotch." He said before downing his drink quickly.

"I know." she mumbled, placing the glass back onto the counter. "I've just never had it before. I was thinking of something more like…red wine?"

Nick counted to ten to stop himself from reacting like he would usually do in this situation. Red wine was not something strong to drink. Whiskey, Rum, Vodka on the other hand were. Was this girl serious?

"If you're looking for something strong, this should do the trick." He said nudging the glass forward in her direction. "Try it. You might actually like it."

"Isn't Scotch more of a guy thing, though?" she asked bringing the glass to her lips and taking a small sip. "Ugh that's horrible! Do you have a nice red wine instead?"

"Sure." Nick said taking back the glasses and reaching into the fridge for a bottle of chilled Rosé. "Here you go, but I don't know how strong that' going to be though. You will have to drink the whole bottle to get a kick out of that."

"The bottle is fine. Thank you." she said throwing a hundred dollar bill onto the counter and picking up the bottle from the counter.

Nick watched as the girl took a seat at one of the empty booths, cracked open the bottle of wine and started to drink quickly.

There was something about her that he liked. Maybe it was the fact that he had been in her shoes once. Caroline had been a horrible girlfriend and stringed him along for years; constantly dumping him and then begging him for another chance, before his best friends and roommates put an end to her mind games. And although, now he could say that he was relieved, at the time he was in the worst place emotionally. So regardless of knowing anything to do with her break up, his heart ached for the mysterious girl.

xooxo

"I'm Nick." He said holding out his hand to her, when he had slid into the booth to sit opposite to her.

"Jess." She said shaking his hand.

"How's the wine?"

"You were right. It's not strong at all."

"I figured. That's why I brought over the Scotch. Are you ready to give it another go?"

"Yes. I've already finished this bottle and it's done nothing." She said turning it upside down.

"I can see." he said pouring two glasses of Scotch. "Here you go." He said sliding her a glass across the table of the booth.

"Thanks, Nick." She said quietly, before bringing the glass up to her lips.

"No problem and this is yours," he said passing her the hundred dollar bill that she had given him before.

"No, it's for the Rosé." She mumbled softly, trying to hand it back to him.

"That's an awfully expensive bottle if you think it's worth a Benjamin Franklin, Jess."

"It's fine. You can have it as a tip then."

"It didn't even get you drunk! Look, tip or not, I can't accept this. Thank you," he said closing the money into the palm of her hand, "but it's yours."

"So… how much do I owe you for the wine then?" she asked, frowning a little.

"For the cheap bottle that didn't get you drunk? Nothing. It's on the house."

"Won't you get into trouble for it? I mean, I noticed that this isn't your bar and your manager might not be happy to see that stock is being given away without being paid for."

"How do you now it's not my bar?"

"I saw a man come in with a clip-board and boss your around to do a few things."

"Have you been spying on me?" Nick asked, making Jess blush beet-red.

"No, I mean, I was bored and there's not really anyone else here to talk to apart from that homeless guy over there…so yeah, I saw you two. Are you oklay? You looked kind of scared."

"Of my boss?" Nick scoffed. "No. He is leaving and he is making me in charge until he finds someone else. It's his bar, but he wants to give it up and he needs to find another manager, but he's had no luck so far. So he's asked me to be his temporary manager until someone comes through for the position."

"Why don't you do it?" she asked, looking into his eyes for the first time since he had sat down opposite her in the booth.

"It's not for me." He said pouring another two glasses of Scotch. "Here."

"You seem to know what you are doing."

"It's complicated." He said sighing heavily. "So, Jess…what brings you here on a Monday morning at eleven am?" he asked changing the subject.

"I was dumped."

"I'm sorry. Are you alright?"

"I'm okay now. I mean, I kind of dumped him like two weeks ago." She said sniffing a little and taking a drink of her Scotch. "He cheated on me."

"He sounds like an idiot." Nick said angrily.

"What?" she said, her voice just above a soft whisper.

"He sounds like a jerk. I hate people who cheat. They are pathetic low-lives and the guy clearly is an idiot if he cheated on you….because you are gorgeous…"

Jess smiled a little and finished her drink as an awkward silence fell over them. Nice going, Miller! Nick thought as he finished his Scotch. He was starting to feel like he had made her slightly uncomfortable. He was on the verge of changing the subject when she spoke.

"We were together for six years." She mumbled. "The weekend before I went away, I was cleaning our house and I found an engagement ring." She said as tears started to fill in her eyes. "I tried it on and then I put it back where I found it and I said nothing. I went to visit my parents the next day. I wanted to talk to my mom, because I was certain he was going to propose. When I came back home earlier, I found him in bed with her."

"Jess, I'm sorry." Nick said reaching out of her hand and squeezing it gently.

"He had been cheating on me for a while. I didn't ask how long, because I was scared to find out. I thought we were happy, you know? I never would have thought he would cheat on me…I loved him so much. Now, I don't know whether the ring I found was for her or me…I never asked. I just left and now it kills me every day, not knowing…" she sobbed, as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Sometimes, it's best not knowing Jess." Nick said, rubbing imaginary circles over the top of her hand that he was still holding onto.

"What about closure?"

"Closure is overrated." He said quickly. "The best way to get over someone who cheated on you and broke your heart is to find someone else. Go out and meet someone new. Play the field for a bit. Have a fling…get your ex out of your system. Trust me; I have been on your end before. My ex-girlfriend she was a horrible person. We were together for almost nine years, and she cheated on me about four different times that I know of."

"Nick, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about me. This was a while ago and I'm over it. Just don't make the same mistake as me, Jess. I loved her so much and I took her back every time, despite how it made me feel, despite that I knew it was wrong. I thought I needed closure too, because I never thought that I would be able to get over her…but closure doesn't make it any better. All it does is make you feel bad. You are just giving the person who cheated, the person who broke your heart a chance to sit there and tell you everything that you did wrong…they are basically explaining why they cheated on you in the first place, Jess. You don't need closure…you need a better boyfriend."

"Do you know any? I'm looking." She said laughing a little nervously.

"You are not going to find anyone decent here."

"I found you." she whispered softly. "You seem pretty decent."

"Okay, I see that the Scotch has kicked in." Nick said standing up from the booth. "My work is done here. It was nice talking to you Jess. I hope I gave you somewhat helpful advice and you get over your ex."

"Where are you going?" she asked, frowning a little.

"I have a bar to run." He said quickly, picking up the empty bottle of wine and his glass.

"But there's no one here."

"I still have a lot to do. It was nice talking to you Jess." He said before walking away.

He wanted to mentally kick himself in the head. Somehow he had the feeling that he had just made things worse for her and that was not his intention at all. He wanted to give her a few words of encouragement, to share with her what his roommates had told him when he had finally gotten over Caroline. But he should have known that girls read into matters differently. Their brains are not programmed the same way that men's are.

So now, as he cleaned up the mess that was left behind the bar, he felt a mixture of horrible and guilt. He had never intended to come across like he had been flirting with her. Sure, she was a gorgeous girl and he was mysteriously drawn to her; but she had baggage. The emotional place that she was currently in, was somewhere that he had no intention of ever reliving, having barely survived himself. And yet, somehow he felt like he had just lead her on, only to reject her at the end.

Nick lifted his head in the direction of his booth and watched as Jess walked quickly into the bathroom, with tears flowing down her eyes.

He felt nothing short of the biggest jerk right now.

xooxo

"Jess?" Nick called out.

He was standing at the entrance to the girl's bathroom, half in and half out, holding the door slightly open with his hand and calling out her name.

She had been in there for over twenty minutes and he was starting to get worried.

"Are you alright? Are you sick? Can I get you anything?"

"Leave me alone." She mumbled.

"Look, Jess, I'm sorry."

"Don't you have a bar to run?" she asked a little sarcastically.

Nick peeked his head inside the empty bathroom and saw which toilet stall she was locked into.

"Jess, can you come out so we can talk?"

"Why? So you can reject me again?" she said stubbornly. "He sounds like an idiot…because you're gorgeous…" she said mocking him a little.

"I didn't reject you." he said lying quickly.

"It sure felt like that. Can you just go now? I want to sit in silence and hate my life."

"I'm coming in." he said ignoring her and walking up to her stall. "Please come out."

Jess sighed heavily and unlocked the door. "What?"

"I meant what I said before." He said, when she was finally standing in front of him. "You are gorgeous, I just-"

Jess crushed her lips against Nick's so quickly and without a moment's hesitation that she surprised even herself. She moaned loudly when Nick responded with such force, deepening her kiss and using his tongue to flick small circles into her mouth. The kiss was nothing like she had ever experienced before in her life. It was hot and urging, desperate on her part and passionate on his and she could taste the Scotch that laced both their breaths.

When they pulled apart for air, Jess instantly became to feel embarrassed. She nervously fidgeted with her hands in front of her.

"I'm sorry-" she said before Nick's lips cut her off mid-sentence.

Jess opened her mouth wider, allowing Nick to take full control over her mouth. She moaned loudly when his tongue found hers again and started to trace circles around it. He laughed a little at this, which resulted in a small jab in his stomach.

"Ouch, I'm sorry." He said pulling away.

Jess giggled loudly and leant in forward to kiss him again, pulling away however inches from his lips.

"I'm not usually like this…" she said blushing. "I don't 'come onto' guys." She said using her hands as inverted commas.

Nick wanted to tell her that he knew, but he didn't want her to take it as some kind of insult. He decided to act surprised.

"Really?"

"I think you are right. I need to get Spencer, my ex, out of my system." She said before biting down hard onto her bottom lip.

Seeing her do this drove Nick insane instantly. He wanted her.

He wanted her so badly.

"And how are you going to do that?" he asked, trying to see if they were on the same wavelength.

He definitely did not want to take advantage of a drunk, heartbroken girl.

"You." she whispered, pulling him into the bathroom stall and locking the door behind him. "I want you, Nick."

He was on the verge of telling her that the feeling was mutual, when her soft lips came crushing down on his again.

xoooxo

"So that was…unexpected…" she said as she re-clipped her bra and reached for her floral dress.

"Yeah," Nick said running his hand through his hair. "I think I bruised my butt."

They had ended up in his work office. He had told her that the bathroom was not the best place to have sex, seeing that at any moment someone could walk in on them and report them. She was kind of relieved and had later told him that she had a fear of germs.

"Do you want me to help you clean this mess up?" she asked when she was fully dressed.

"I can do it." he said pulling up his trousers. "Wow, we really trashed the place."

"It was worth it though." She said blushing slightly. "Thanks for giving me exactly what I needed."

"No problem at all, Jess."

"So, I should get going. I have this thing at one."

"Is it one already?" he asked looking at the watch on the wall, before pulling on his shirt.

"Yeah, almost why?"

"Uh, there's something that I need to do. That's all. I better hurry up and clean this room before Nate comes to relieve me for my break." He said bending down to pick up a few boxes and paperwork that they had thrown off the desk in their moment of passion.

"So, I'll see you around, I guess." She said shifting her feet nervously.

"I hope so." He said standing up when the room was semi-tidy. "Can I get your number maybe?"

"How about I just visit you at work? My phone is disconnected." She said lying quickly. "But, I know where to find you know."

"Okay." He said smiling at her.

"I got to get going, but this was fun Nick." She said before kissing him softly on the cheek and walking out.

xooxo

"So we are just waiting on our other roommate." The guy that was called Schmidt said.

"Where is he?" Coach yelled impatiently.

"Relax, dude. He knows it's at one." Winston, the other guy said to his friend.

"So, Jessica was it?" Schmidt said, putting on a flirty voice that she instantly did not like. "Tell us a little about yourself."

"I'm a school teacher. I love to sing. I recently got dumped…two weeks ago, to be exact and I can't keep crashing at my best friend's place, so that's why I need to find a new place to live."

"So you're single now?" Schmidt said smiling to the others and raising his eyebrows up and down.

"Hey, don't get any ideas." Coach said sternly. "We all agreed that we needed a girl in here, but we are not to sleep with her."

"What?" Jess exclaimed loudly. "You guys thought that you would sleep with me?"

"No, we all signed a roommate agreement saying that the girl we chose to be our roommate is not to sleep with any of the guys…it makes things complicated." He said continuing.

"Good, because no offense, I don't want to sleep with any of you." she said quickly. "I mean, you all seem like nice guys but I'm kind of seeing someone."

"I thought you were dumped?" Schmidt said angrily.

"I was, but I met someone…today, actually." She said blushing a little.

"Someone moved on fast." Schmidt whispered to Winston.

Jess was about to call him on that, but the front door to the loft opened suddenly and the other roommate they were waiting on walked inside.

"Sorry that I'm late guys. Is she here?" he asked, closing the door.

"Nicholas, I was worried sick about you! You are half an hour late. Why don't you answer your phone?!" Schmidt snapped, sounding more like a concerned parent than a friend.

"I'm sorry, I'm here now." He said freezing in his tracks.

He could not believe his eyes. "Jess?" he asked as his eyes widened visibly in shock.

"Nick?" she asked, feeling equally as surprized.

xooxo

Review? Love it? Hate it? Thoughts?

Thank you

Paris xxx